ok man that was an intense read.. some of that stuff was like -> *mind-blown*
As for feeling like you've trained all these years and have nothing to show for, you're not in that boat alone.. I mean even I have completely sabotaged myself and the progress I have made, many many times.. I got ridiculously good at computer programming/computer security (~10 years of hardcore studying/interest), basically threw that out the window. I was damn good at basketball, play my entire life, then just stopped playing after my last Division-1 tryout at FAU.. Turned to boxing, did great, broke my hand, 2 years of hard work disappear.. In that time I achieved insane fitness, over which the next 2 years of my vert training, disappeared. Now I'm back into vert, sprinting, conditioning, everything. I'm approaching it more of a lifestyle this time, instead of just obtaining numbers.. I mean I do have lots of numbers in my log, but I'm not letting those numbers own me, like they did with nearly every other phase of training I have ever done in my life.
My point with that is, I think one thing that is important for you, is regardless of training from here on out, you have to have fun doing it while avoiding movements that will hurt your knees/back etc.. Instead of trying out all types of training protocols and diets, a very simple approach would do you well.. One of the best things on the planet for fat loss is just going out and walking for 1hour or more. You can make that more fun by running submax or max ~20 yard sprints with nice recovery in between.. So basically, my advice is to try and improve your overall fitness while SLOWLY progressing strength..
Overall fitness will come from:
- walking
- interval sprints (tempo/submax)
- progressing your ability to handle maximal sprints (~60m, 200m)
- jump rope (intervals)
- bodyweight exercise proficiency (pullups, dips, pushups, walking lunges, pillars)
vertical jump, speed, power, everything, will be more effected by how well you improve your ability in those areas, rather than improvements in squat/deadlift/plyos etc.. this is because, work capacity is key, so is body compositions, and overall fitness...
So my advice, from reading your intro, is to focus more on just having fun with training & staying healthy, which will allow for more sessions per week and help you more with body composition..
Of course you can still get in those squats/deadlifts/bench etc, but I would put way less importance on those lifts (say 1-2x/week).
As for diet, again, I really am for just getting into a "clean style of eating" rather than any kind of special diet.. For example, this is what works for me:
- late training days: wakeup (milk/banana), a little later (my biggest meal, veggie stir fry + chicken or burger etc), pre-training(half glass milk/banana), post training: 1-2 glasses of milk/banana
- early training days: wakeup (milk/banana), training, post-training (my biggest meal, same as above), a little later (milk/bananas)
- visiting my mom (1x/week): wakeup (milk/banana), training, post-training (milk), later (some dinner + ice cream)
I have found that to work great for myself.. I only eat one big meal, full of fiber/veggies, with tons of protein from beef or chicken.. the rest of the day is pretty much milk/bananas.. sometimes ill throw in a turkey sandwhich before sleeping on double fiber bread etc.. so i get tons of fiber each day, and enough protein.. it took a few weeks to get adapted to this kind of eating, i was used to eating way more, but once i did it was fine and i feel soooooooooooooooooo much better..
i don't drink sodas or eat any junk, so that also helps.
so my point there is, just try and figure out a nutritional strategy that fits your lifestyle and is moderately high in fiber/protein while being void of junk.. junk once a week isn't too bad, but only limit it to that.. junk to me is stuff like ice cream though, which honestly, isn't that unhealthy imo.. stuff like cakes/soda is way worse.
anyway ill be checking out your log in a bit, probably should have read that first, might have just regurgitated some things that you already are doing!
peace man !!!!
