I went to the gym every day for a year. Here are my results.

I'm 28 years old and 5'8". Last year, I challenged myself to go to the gym for a whole year. By "every day" I mean every day of my scheduled work outs, which was around 5-6 days a week.

The only days I missed were 2 weeks where I went on vacation.

I started out at 195 lbs last Feb, finished my cut last Oct at 157, and completed a bulk recently at ~167.

The 8 month long diet was the worst experience I've inflicted on myself, and that alone is motivation to never get fat again.

My current goals are to get stronger. I want to hit the 1k club by September.

Progress pics

My lifts improved from: last Feb -> Oct (end of cut) -> now (end of bulk)

These are 1 RM's:

• bench: 115 -> 185 -> 225

• deadlift: 185 -> 300 -> 360

• Squat: 155 -> 250 -> 295

• OHP : 85 -> 105 -> 135

Routines:

Feb16 - Apr16 - StrongLifts : changed to SL. I always get SS and SL mixed up. The two programs are pretty similar.

Apr16 - May16 - ICF

June16 - Oct16 - Reddit PPL

Nov16 - Now - 2Sun's 5/3/1 with my accessories

My takeaways:

StrongLifts:

Great program designed to get people lifting who have not done so before. The program itself is so simple, and the initial time commitment isn't big. ICF is just SL + curls. Either program is fine.

Reddit PPL:

Once I started to enjoy lifting weights, I looked for a program that had me going more frequently. I had a lot of fun doing this program, as it got me going to the gym to lift more frequently. I think new lifters will be able to get a lot out of it, but once you hit numbers that bump you to intermediate level, there are better programs.

2Suns 5/3/1:

My favorite program. I was able to make very consistent progress on this. The initial volume made me feel like shit, but my body got used to it after 2 weeks. I never thought I could hit a hit a two plate bench, but somehow that happened after 3 months of doing this.

Diet:

I try to eat flexibly. When bulking and cutting, I aim for around 1 lb a week.

My first cut was at a very severe deficit (1.5 - 2 lbs a week), but now that I'm a lot leaner, I can do a more normal deficit.

150 g protein, split up carbs and fat

bulk: 2.8-3k calories

cut: 1.8k

Foods: chicken, pork, steak, cat, eggs, rice, lentils, beans

I'm Asian, so I stuck to eating mostly rice, stir fries, with a lot of baked or grilled meats. For both cutting and bulking, I try to eat as clean as possible and cook my own food on weekdays, but on weekends, I go out to eat and eyeball. I don't drink any alcohol.

Really appreciate this subreddit for having useful advice. I literally just followed what the wiki told me to do and in the end, I'm pretty happy with my results.

The biggest change to my everyday life is the improvement of my posture. I'm a software engineer and you can see my caveman posture in the first pic. I used to get back pain randomly and I was just terribly out of shape since I was fat. Now, my posture has improved significantly and I rarely feel tired anymore.

Proof: some months I hit 31, the least # of times I checked in was in 20 in Dec due to holidays

EDIT: this received a lot of replies, I will try to reply to every comment asking for specific questions on what I did. Thanks for the gold.

Frequent questions and answers:

Did you do any cardio?

• Yes - Graph of steps over time - My cut ended in Oct, so I stopped doing as much cardio.

• I only did low impact cardio like elliptical or incline walking. My heart rate is around 120. I set the resistance to a setting where it's comfortable enough where I can spam "Well played" in Hearthstone using one hand and not fall off.

• I do cardio when I bulk and cut. Obviously more during a cut. I use the HR reader from my fitbit to gauge my cardiovascular health. I started off between 70-80 RHR. Now it's between 50-55 normally, and 55-60 during a bulk.

• My commute to work involves walking a bit. I walk probably 4 miles a day minimum.

Diet specifics?

• Graph of weight over time - the visualization here smooths over, but if you connected the actual data points, my weight spikes up and down every day by 1-3 lbs

• IIFYM. Weight loss is all about calories. Learn to not let everyday flucs demotivate you. Certain foods cause bloat and water retention. Sodium and carbs are the biggest culprits. I've lost as much as 5 lbs of water weight overnight before. You need to track calories accurately, as well as weigh yourself daily and use averages as a benchmark.

What program should I pick?

• Consistency >>>> program. A "bro" who consistently goes to the gym on a 5 day bro-split will make much better progress than someone who's half assing their way through an optimal program. Pick whatever program you enjoy doing and fits into your schedule.

• Any good program has progression built in. If you aren't increasing the weight week after week, you will not get stronger.

Random thoughts about training.

• Learning to safely fail and not have to use a spotter helped the most. For my AMRAP sets, I do them until literal failure. For squats, this might mean that I can't push up and have to set the barbell on the metal handles. For bench, this means I usually do the roll of shame once a week. Having a spotter is nice, but you can't expect to have a spotter every time you work out.

• Don't let failure demotivate you. People go through ruts in life. Stress might cause you to not lift as much as the week before. You need to get over failure and accept that it's a natural part of life and progression.

Supplements

• fish oil, creatine, caffeine, ephedrine, zma, vitamin D

• Don't take EC (caffeine, ephedrine) or ANY drugs without doing research on what the effects are. Always start with a small dosage to assess tolerance. If you have preexisting heart problem, don't take this.

• http://www.livestrong.com/article/117527-risks-eca-stack/