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 By: Josh Englehart
Name: Josh Englehart
Before:
Current: How long I have been lifting: Seriously for about 4 years.
I was always an athletic kid growing up - I loved playing basketball and football. I just never had the passion (or height) for basketball, and never had the size for football. When I was 14-15 years old I started smoking (never start kids) and I continued to play sports at home and sometime on school teams. I ran track while I was still smoking! I felt like cigarettes kept me skinny and I never had any trouble with breathing or anything so I kept on. Well as I got older, around 17-18 years old, I could feel the strain cigarettes were starting to take on me. I had an older brother who was born with the lung disease cystic fibrosis and he would've given anything to have two healthy lungs so he could play sports. So guilt was also playing a role in my quitting smoking.
In 2001 I lost my best friend to a self-inflicted gun shot, and he was in his early 20's. So I put a lot of things in perspective with choices I was making in life, because when all things go wrong, what's the only thing you have left? Your health.
  Click Image To Enlarge. Josh Englehart. So I stopped smoking and in the process I gained 20-30 lbs of fat! I went from a skinny 150lbs to a soft 178lbs - I was so depressed. So all I ate for months was salads and water, and I jogged everyday. I could tell my body was breaking down and I was doing something wrong. I fell down to a 145lbs! I was not "cut" or "shredded" like I thought I would be, I was skin and bones. I started to learn how much diet plays a role in having a good physique. So I started to read, and read, and read about good clean foods to eat with high calories. And I learned how much protein I should eat. In this time I lost my brother Ryan to disease, so my motivation was really up to do a 180 on my lifestyle. Winter 2003 I saw a picture of myself at 150lbs and freaked out. I knew I had to eat a lot more food and workout hard to achieve whatever goal I set for myself. I dreamed of hitting 200lbs, but never thought I could do it. But trying wouldn't kill me, would it?
 Click Image To Enlarge. Josh Englehart.
I basically lived by some simple rules: Eat like a machine and train like you're crazy! I love lifting weights. The physical challenge, the sores you get on your hands from lifting, its great! I had some old weights lying around. All I had was some dumbbells with some plates. I put on the heaviest weight I could lift at least 6-8 reps, doing 3 sets. Kept my workouts short but fierce. In the first week I gained 2 lbs! I am thinking, "Of what?" I don't see any fat, or muscle. I kept lifting, kept eating, lifting, eating, it just became routine. People started to notice the changes, and that makes you feel like getting more! I kept reading websites (especially Bodybuilding.com) and books on exercises and diet regiments. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to hard-gainers (which I am) a clean, high calorie diet is. Food is vital in your mission to gain quality mass. Lifting weights everyday and eating a burger and chips now and then won't get it! I learned that if you really wanted to grow you would eventually have to either buy a gym set-up, or just join a gym. I don't have $4000 so I joined a YMCA. WOW! I made tremendous gains the year I was there. All these machines and free weights, it was great. About 6 months working out there I noticed my weight had hit 192lbs... I realized that I could catch my goal of 200lbs. So I ate and trained, ate and trained.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Josh Englehart. Then I went to the doctor to get a physical and the nurse weighed me, (w/o my shoes on) and it said 205lbs! I couldn't believe it. I hit my goal. All this in a year and a half of lifting, staying focused, dedicated, and eating right.
(I eat the same thing 6 days out the week and give myself a cheat day)
 Click Image To Enlarge. Josh Englehart.
Favorite part of body to train: Shoulders and triceps I do a 4 day split routine with usually one day of maxing out on squats and bench to see where I am at.
Chest Routine:
Biceps Routine:
Legs Routine:
Triceps Routine:
Back Routine:
Shoulder Routine:
*I love drop sets because they are great for adding size. It keeps your muscles guessing and makes it harder for your body to reach a plateau. I also train my abs 3 days a week. I try to keep it to 2-3 different exercises for my stomach. I also try to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night... THAT IS CRUCIAL!!! Your body only grows while you are resting it!
My advice to anyone who wants to be a muscle head, thin, or just lose a few pounds of fat or gain a few pounds of muscle, is to be patient. True results come in time. Be smart and consistent with what you eat, and the way you train. Don't play number games when hitting the gym. If you are there to try to impress and not results, you are there for the wrong reason and you will fail. You just have to keep at it. Some people's bodies are more stubborn, but sooner or later, they are forced to change.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Josh Englehart. You can look any way you want to physically, you just have to want it bad enough. Being fit and healthy has to be a life changing decision. Habits must be broken, and new ones made. A good saying to go by is, "If it was easy, then everyone would be doing it." Good luck!
Josh Englehart Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here! Visitor Reviews Of This Article!
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