My first setback!
Having pulled a muscle on Friday, I felt ok to hit the gym this morning and thought by laying off the shoulder presses I'd be fine. Wrong! I am now in absolute agony and may well have just put myself in a period of enforced lay off from the weights. I managed to do the rest of my routine ok but after my workout I really felt it and now I'm struggling to relive myself of the pain.
Just as I was really getting into the swing of things as well, I've just managed to go alcohol free for the first weekend in god knows how long, and my diet over the weekend was fantastic. Yesterday I was bored and knew I should give myself an extr day of rest as far as weights went so I actually went for a 7.5k run just for something to do and really enjoyed it, but then coming from a heavy cardio background I do miss it sometimes and enjoy the odd run or cycle.
If I end up losing a week to injury it will really get me down, I just hope I stay disciplined enough to keep my diet on track and don't fall behind on my targets. It's plenty of ibuprofen tablets and heat wraps for me over the next couple of days, my next workout was due to be Wednesday but it looks highly unlikely that will be the case, I just hope I can get back down the gym by the weekend.
Monday, 29 October 2007
Friday, 26 October 2007
Week Three
Well into the plan now and this week's been quite a good one if you discount my poor workout on Monday. I've managed to get through two birthday parties without touching any of the pizza, potatoes, bread, sausages etc. and I've eaten really well again this week. The longer I go the easier it seems to get, whereas I would usually had a blip by now, so everything seems to be going to plan.
Wednesday I went back to the gym and did a successful 12x3 workout and today I was back for some 4x8. I started off a bit sluggish and managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder doing the military press, so I had to lose the last set of those, but once I hit the squats, bent over rows and deads I really got into it and came away feeling very satisfied.
I've managed to increase the weight on the last three exercises slightly and my 4x8 now looks something like this.
Incline chest press (dumbells) - 44kg (22 each side)
Military press - 20kg (I hate this exercise!!)
Bent over rows - 50kg
Squats - 90kg
Deadlifts - 75kg
Ok, so I'm not going to tear up the record books with those weights but it's an improvement by about 20kg from three weeks ago on those last three sets so I'm happy with that, and hopefully I can get more out of it in the next three weeks. I might ditch the military press in favour of a dumbell press as I know I can lift at least 10kg more doing that.
Overall I'm fairly happy with the way things are going, I certainly feel more healthy and better about myself and I'd say I look a bit better when tensed, even if I'm still not happy with the way I look relaxed. The weight isn't coming off either but at 13 stone 2 and 6 foot 1 I'm happy with my weight anyway so it's not really an issue.
This weekend should be a healthy one, I'm not going out and unless I have a few beers at home it should be an alcohol free weekend, with plenty of chicken, fish, vegetables and of course protein to see me through!
Wednesday I went back to the gym and did a successful 12x3 workout and today I was back for some 4x8. I started off a bit sluggish and managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder doing the military press, so I had to lose the last set of those, but once I hit the squats, bent over rows and deads I really got into it and came away feeling very satisfied.
I've managed to increase the weight on the last three exercises slightly and my 4x8 now looks something like this.
Incline chest press (dumbells) - 44kg (22 each side)
Military press - 20kg (I hate this exercise!!)
Bent over rows - 50kg
Squats - 90kg
Deadlifts - 75kg
Ok, so I'm not going to tear up the record books with those weights but it's an improvement by about 20kg from three weeks ago on those last three sets so I'm happy with that, and hopefully I can get more out of it in the next three weeks. I might ditch the military press in favour of a dumbell press as I know I can lift at least 10kg more doing that.
Overall I'm fairly happy with the way things are going, I certainly feel more healthy and better about myself and I'd say I look a bit better when tensed, even if I'm still not happy with the way I look relaxed. The weight isn't coming off either but at 13 stone 2 and 6 foot 1 I'm happy with my weight anyway so it's not really an issue.
This weekend should be a healthy one, I'm not going out and unless I have a few beers at home it should be an alcohol free weekend, with plenty of chicken, fish, vegetables and of course protein to see me through!
Monday, 22 October 2007
Monday 22nd October
Well, into week three and I've hit a stumbling block. I had a terrible nights sleep last night due to my boy being up and down all night, but still dragged myself out of bed to go to the gym this morning as tomorrow is his birthday which means a gym free day, plus I knew I wouldn't have the energy tonight.
As soon as I got to the weights I realised I wasn't up for it at all but set out to do my 4x8 routine regardless. It was one of the worst workouts I've ever done, and although I increased the weight on the bent over rows and squats, my form wasn't up to scratch and I've ended up doing my back in. I've had a history of back problems but have found that deads and bent over rows have helped strengthen it, but I made the mistake of increasing weight when I knew I wasn't up to it.
So, I had nothing in my back to do the deads and called it a day. As it turned out the deads were the only things I didn't manage but it put a downer on the start of the week as I hate not coming out of the gym feeling I've achieved something. Now I'm just hoping that I get some decent sleep and rest under my belt and that my back sorts itself out ready for a fresh workout on Wednesday morning.
As far as the food plan goes, the one thing I have changed on Neils advice is now I won't eat mackerel after my workout, it's porridge all the way for me now in the mornings and on workout days the mackerel is now consumed in the afternoon instead.
I've done ok over the weekend, other than a £100 shop on fish, chicken etc! I resisted temptation of a bender for the rugby and stayed in and watched it instead. I had five cans to drown my sorrows but five cans has to be better than nine or ten pints! Then yesterday we had a party for our son and there was a buffet on offer, the usual crap, pork pies, sausages, everything you'd expect and everything that would usually have tempted me, especially the sausages. However we also had a whole salmon that had been cooked so I opted for that with some salad and felt very pleased with myself at the end of proceedings, so at least I've proved I can resist temptation when it's put in front of me.
I've just got to get a killer workout under my belt so I feel back to normal once again...
As soon as I got to the weights I realised I wasn't up for it at all but set out to do my 4x8 routine regardless. It was one of the worst workouts I've ever done, and although I increased the weight on the bent over rows and squats, my form wasn't up to scratch and I've ended up doing my back in. I've had a history of back problems but have found that deads and bent over rows have helped strengthen it, but I made the mistake of increasing weight when I knew I wasn't up to it.
So, I had nothing in my back to do the deads and called it a day. As it turned out the deads were the only things I didn't manage but it put a downer on the start of the week as I hate not coming out of the gym feeling I've achieved something. Now I'm just hoping that I get some decent sleep and rest under my belt and that my back sorts itself out ready for a fresh workout on Wednesday morning.
As far as the food plan goes, the one thing I have changed on Neils advice is now I won't eat mackerel after my workout, it's porridge all the way for me now in the mornings and on workout days the mackerel is now consumed in the afternoon instead.
I've done ok over the weekend, other than a £100 shop on fish, chicken etc! I resisted temptation of a bender for the rugby and stayed in and watched it instead. I had five cans to drown my sorrows but five cans has to be better than nine or ten pints! Then yesterday we had a party for our son and there was a buffet on offer, the usual crap, pork pies, sausages, everything you'd expect and everything that would usually have tempted me, especially the sausages. However we also had a whole salmon that had been cooked so I opted for that with some salad and felt very pleased with myself at the end of proceedings, so at least I've proved I can resist temptation when it's put in front of me.
I've just got to get a killer workout under my belt so I feel back to normal once again...
Friday, 19 October 2007
Week Two
Ok, so the second week is now out of the way and I've had a fairly successful week. A pretty heavy drinking session last Saturday was surprisingly followed by a healthy Sunday as far as eating went, no crap whatsoever, and I even managed to eat pretty well on the Saturday itself, just the alcohol let me down!
Three workouts followed, Monday, Wednesday and this morning. It's getting harder to get out of bed in the mornings, especially as the car's been iced over the past couple of mornings, but I'm proud that I've managed to motivate myself to get up and get out. This mornings workout was well worth it though, really took it out of me!
I'm alternating now between 4x8 and 3x12, so I'll do heavier weights on say Monday with 4x8, then Wednesday slightly lower weights but 3x12, so on and so forth. I know Neil suggests an even lighter session of 3x20 but I haven't got time to fit that in. Still managing to slightly increase the weight on the deads and squats, I'm about 15-20kg away from where I was a few months ago though before my enforced lay off so hopefully I'll be back there in a few weeks.
As far as the diet plan goes, well I've had fish every day this week, Mackerel fillets PWO and tuna steaks on non workout days. Plenty of chicken and turkey breasts as well, and I've ditched the pre-packed sandwich fillings in favour of ham and turkey off the bone from the deli counter. It's quite a bit more expensive but I feel healthier just buying it so it softens the blow on the wallet.
Carbs are well down as well, I have a food doctor bagel at 11am each morning and that's about it. Here's a rough idea of my diet each day as it stands.
Breakfast - Banana and a bowl of porridge (Mackerel instead of porridge if I've been to the gym)
11am - Food doctor bagel with ham/turkey off the bone, spinach and mixed salad, whey.
1pm - Mixed fruit.
3pm - John West tuna light lunch.
4pm - Fruit, 0% fat yogurt
6pm - Either chicken/turkey breasts, sirloin steak or tuna steak, with plenty of veg.
10pm - Whey, with a 0% fat yogurt
I know this could possibly be cleaned up a bit, especially around lunchtime but I feel good about myself and it's doing me good. The only blip I've had this week was Tuesday when I had a Nando's double chicken burger, but as it was chicken I didn't feel TOO bad about it! Any comments on this diet would be appreciated though, any tips or advise would be appreciated.
I stepped on the scales yesterday and must admit I was quite deflated to see that I'd lost absolutely nothing and had in fact gained a pound. However a quick trip to the MH forums and my mind was put at ease, after all it's all about how I look and I'm pleased with the way that's progressing, even after just one week. Another consideration is that this week I've naturally found my water intake increasing by about two litres a day to four and a half/five litres. So I've managed to get the scales out of my mind and will purely concentrate on the mirror from now on, along of course with measurements in a few weeks time.
So overall, other than the booze and the Nando's it's been a good week, hopefully this will be a drink free weekend and I'll have another good week!
Three workouts followed, Monday, Wednesday and this morning. It's getting harder to get out of bed in the mornings, especially as the car's been iced over the past couple of mornings, but I'm proud that I've managed to motivate myself to get up and get out. This mornings workout was well worth it though, really took it out of me!
I'm alternating now between 4x8 and 3x12, so I'll do heavier weights on say Monday with 4x8, then Wednesday slightly lower weights but 3x12, so on and so forth. I know Neil suggests an even lighter session of 3x20 but I haven't got time to fit that in. Still managing to slightly increase the weight on the deads and squats, I'm about 15-20kg away from where I was a few months ago though before my enforced lay off so hopefully I'll be back there in a few weeks.
As far as the diet plan goes, well I've had fish every day this week, Mackerel fillets PWO and tuna steaks on non workout days. Plenty of chicken and turkey breasts as well, and I've ditched the pre-packed sandwich fillings in favour of ham and turkey off the bone from the deli counter. It's quite a bit more expensive but I feel healthier just buying it so it softens the blow on the wallet.
Carbs are well down as well, I have a food doctor bagel at 11am each morning and that's about it. Here's a rough idea of my diet each day as it stands.
Breakfast - Banana and a bowl of porridge (Mackerel instead of porridge if I've been to the gym)
11am - Food doctor bagel with ham/turkey off the bone, spinach and mixed salad, whey.
1pm - Mixed fruit.
3pm - John West tuna light lunch.
4pm - Fruit, 0% fat yogurt
6pm - Either chicken/turkey breasts, sirloin steak or tuna steak, with plenty of veg.
10pm - Whey, with a 0% fat yogurt
I know this could possibly be cleaned up a bit, especially around lunchtime but I feel good about myself and it's doing me good. The only blip I've had this week was Tuesday when I had a Nando's double chicken burger, but as it was chicken I didn't feel TOO bad about it! Any comments on this diet would be appreciated though, any tips or advise would be appreciated.
I stepped on the scales yesterday and must admit I was quite deflated to see that I'd lost absolutely nothing and had in fact gained a pound. However a quick trip to the MH forums and my mind was put at ease, after all it's all about how I look and I'm pleased with the way that's progressing, even after just one week. Another consideration is that this week I've naturally found my water intake increasing by about two litres a day to four and a half/five litres. So I've managed to get the scales out of my mind and will purely concentrate on the mirror from now on, along of course with measurements in a few weeks time.
So overall, other than the booze and the Nando's it's been a good week, hopefully this will be a drink free weekend and I'll have another good week!
Friday, 12 October 2007
Week One
Having read Neil's plan it's fairly straightforward to follow. Putting into practice though could be another matter. You have to start somewhere though and I started on Tuesday. It's hard trying to revamp your whole diet and it can be quite expensive, but so far I've managed to do it. Before I couldn't be arsed to steam veg and therefore rarely ate it, but I've had it every day so far this week, along with fish every day, plenty of chicken and turkey and of course the obligatory sirloin!
So my diet's pretty much getting itself sorted, but that's the easy part. I put in an order for protein as I was due to run out any day, and now the hard work starts!
I went down the gym last week and they have brought in new machines and equipment all round, however this has led to a decrease in space around the free weights are, making it even harder to use the equipment you want at the time you want. The gym gets really busy of an evening and you can easily end up losing motivation or not doing the routine you want. There was only one thing for it, I'll have to do my workouts before work.
The gym opens at half 6 and this is what time I aim to get there. The one good thing about having a baby who's a year old (in my case anyway) is that he acts as my alarm clock. Every day between 5 and half 5, he wakes up without fail. On Tuesday he woke me at 5:40, the ideal time for getting up to get to the gym for when it opens. Today it was 5, a bit earlier than I'd have liked but I was up nonetheless. It's amazing how an early morning workout can put you in a good mood for the rest of the day, plus the gym is empty at that time so I've got the place to myself.
My workouts are still taking shape, on Tuesday it was Deads, Squats, Chest Press, Chin ups and dips (although I'm ashamed to admit the latter two are assisted at this time). Today it was Chest Presses, Deads, Military Press, Bent Over Rows and Bicep Curls. All 4 x 8.
Thirty five minutes, gives me time to shower, get home, feed the lad, get ready for work and get to work for 9. Perfect!
First week almost complete and so far so good. However I have a stumbling block tomorrow in that I'm off to Wembley for the football and then watching the rugby, so it will be a bit of a session. I'm not going to allow myself to get obsessive over this so I'll allow myself a good drink every now and then, but it's the hangover and the temptations to eat absolute shit that's the hardest part, so if I can get through Sunday with a minimum of fuss I'll be pretty chuffed with my first weeks work.
So my diet's pretty much getting itself sorted, but that's the easy part. I put in an order for protein as I was due to run out any day, and now the hard work starts!
I went down the gym last week and they have brought in new machines and equipment all round, however this has led to a decrease in space around the free weights are, making it even harder to use the equipment you want at the time you want. The gym gets really busy of an evening and you can easily end up losing motivation or not doing the routine you want. There was only one thing for it, I'll have to do my workouts before work.
The gym opens at half 6 and this is what time I aim to get there. The one good thing about having a baby who's a year old (in my case anyway) is that he acts as my alarm clock. Every day between 5 and half 5, he wakes up without fail. On Tuesday he woke me at 5:40, the ideal time for getting up to get to the gym for when it opens. Today it was 5, a bit earlier than I'd have liked but I was up nonetheless. It's amazing how an early morning workout can put you in a good mood for the rest of the day, plus the gym is empty at that time so I've got the place to myself.
My workouts are still taking shape, on Tuesday it was Deads, Squats, Chest Press, Chin ups and dips (although I'm ashamed to admit the latter two are assisted at this time). Today it was Chest Presses, Deads, Military Press, Bent Over Rows and Bicep Curls. All 4 x 8.
Thirty five minutes, gives me time to shower, get home, feed the lad, get ready for work and get to work for 9. Perfect!
First week almost complete and so far so good. However I have a stumbling block tomorrow in that I'm off to Wembley for the football and then watching the rugby, so it will be a bit of a session. I'm not going to allow myself to get obsessive over this so I'll allow myself a good drink every now and then, but it's the hangover and the temptations to eat absolute shit that's the hardest part, so if I can get through Sunday with a minimum of fuss I'll be pretty chuffed with my first weeks work.
An Introduction
Ok, I'll start by telling you a little bit more about me. I'm 30 and currently weigh 184lbs. This is the heaviest I've been for some time, I was 170lbs a couple of years ago.
I have always been of the mindset that cardio = fat and weight loss. I started reading the Mens Health forums about 10 months ago and used to read the comments on cardio being no good for fat loss and refused to take it in. My reasoning for this is that I used to be a very keen cyclist, 200+ miles a week, on the bike day in day out. Back in 2001 I weighed 198lbs until I found the bike, then the cycling helped me lose around four and a half stone, so I knew that cardio helped with weight loss.
Now because I'd done cardio near enough every day for five years, I was not prepared to listen to the arguments, although looking back I realise that I hardly had any muscle on me at all other than my legs. I started weight training back in February when I joined a gym and did four months of this, eating 'better' than I was and seeing some improvements to my physique. However, a series of events led to me being unable to train for over two months and now I realise that I was just plodding along, seeing some improvement but not enough for the work I was putting in.
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