Not a good week really.
I ended up having a bit of a cheat weekend after all, good few beers on Friday with a fair bit of drunken eating after, followed by a good old portion of sausage and chips from the chippy on Saturday.
This week started off ok, good session down the gym Sunday followed by trips to the gym for some running on Monday and Tuesday morning, purely because I find out next week if I've won a place in the marathon and wanted to give my legs a stretch to see how I fared.
Wednesday, back down the gym for weights but not a good session at all, all over the place really and I probably didn't get anything out of it. That was followed by the mother of all benders on Wednesday afternoon before heading to Wembley, not much eaten at all that day but yesterday was hangover food all the way.
I've had the odd chunk of white bread in the evenings and other little things like that, basically my discipline has gone somewhat this week. However, a planned bender on Sunday has now been scrapped as I want to get myself back on track. So it's the gym tonight, hopefully a good weekend and then back to normal with any luck.
Technically this should be my final week before my first set of measurements, I may give it another week after that as I'll have a week off from the gym but I'll see how this week goes.
Another thing, my calfs are killing me, have been since Wednesday. I don't know if it's due to me getting too pissed and therefore too dehydrated, as I sometimes tend to cramp up in the calfs after a heavy drinking session, but I've not had this much aching before.
Friday, 23 November 2007
Friday, 16 November 2007
Week Six
Week six is now in the bag and another three workouts under my belt this week.
Neil recommended to me that I have a couple of blowout days and forget about the training but I think I'll hold off on that, I can't seem to tear myself away from the gym!
As far as my workouts go, I have ditched the smith machine in favour of the new rack they have at my gym. I started on Tuesday night with 65kg on the squats but on't think my form was that great. However my hamstrings were given a right seeing to, I've never had DOMS from the smith but I've only just recovered now from it after proper squats! I went back this morning and managed to do 4x8 with 80kg, much better form too, so I was really happy with that considering it's only 20kg off my smith squat weight.
I'm also doing a barbell press now instead of using dumbells, the first time I've ever done these as well and they seem to be going ok, although I'm still only on a total of about 45kg but I'm sure in time the weight will come.
In fact, I was so into my workout this morning that I came away feeling really good about myself. It only took me five hours to realise that I'd forgotten to do bent over rows! I still managed to get a dumbell shoulder press, lat pulldows and deadlifts in there as well but thinking I had a spare set to do I went for bicep curls instead of BOR's. Just totally forgot about them!
I'll have a few beers tonight and maybe tomorrow as well, I'll take advice given to me by Neil on board and rather than a whole blowout weekend maybe I'll just be carefree and eat a bit more than I usually would.
Two weeks to go until my measurements, will be interesting to see how I've done, although looking at some progress pics from people on the MH boards, I can tell it's going to take months and not weeks to get to where I want, now I fully appreciate that it's given me the motivation to carry it on over Christmas.
Neil recommended to me that I have a couple of blowout days and forget about the training but I think I'll hold off on that, I can't seem to tear myself away from the gym!
As far as my workouts go, I have ditched the smith machine in favour of the new rack they have at my gym. I started on Tuesday night with 65kg on the squats but on't think my form was that great. However my hamstrings were given a right seeing to, I've never had DOMS from the smith but I've only just recovered now from it after proper squats! I went back this morning and managed to do 4x8 with 80kg, much better form too, so I was really happy with that considering it's only 20kg off my smith squat weight.
I'm also doing a barbell press now instead of using dumbells, the first time I've ever done these as well and they seem to be going ok, although I'm still only on a total of about 45kg but I'm sure in time the weight will come.
In fact, I was so into my workout this morning that I came away feeling really good about myself. It only took me five hours to realise that I'd forgotten to do bent over rows! I still managed to get a dumbell shoulder press, lat pulldows and deadlifts in there as well but thinking I had a spare set to do I went for bicep curls instead of BOR's. Just totally forgot about them!
I'll have a few beers tonight and maybe tomorrow as well, I'll take advice given to me by Neil on board and rather than a whole blowout weekend maybe I'll just be carefree and eat a bit more than I usually would.
Two weeks to go until my measurements, will be interesting to see how I've done, although looking at some progress pics from people on the MH boards, I can tell it's going to take months and not weeks to get to where I want, now I fully appreciate that it's given me the motivation to carry it on over Christmas.
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Wednesday 14th November
Well, I'm approaching the end of week six, so only two weeks to go, and I have to say I think I've failed in this challenge. Although I'm looking better tensed, relaxed there's absolutely no difference whatseoever, and there's been no weight loss whatsoever either.
I don't understand it, from my point of view my diet has been spot on, I haven't eaten any crap at all for the past six weeks and I've never been so disciplined, and I'm working out three times a week and every session pretty much leaves me feeling worked. I've basically done everything asked of me but have not seen any results.
My typical diet over the past weeks is as follows:
8am - Protein shake and 45g of oats with skimmed milk
11am - Protein shake, tuna salad
1pm - Mixed fruit
3pm - Chicken/Turkey breast with sliced pepper
4pm - Apple/fat free yogurt 150g
6pm - Mixed steamed veg with any one from tuna steak/steamed fish/sirloin/turkey/chicken
10pm - Fat free yogurt 150g
I've ben running on a calory deficit and I ensure I always get the right amount of protein every day, having two portions of turkey/chicken/tuna in the evening to make this up if I have to.
Carbs have pretty much been non existant in my diet other than a pre workout banana first thing in the morning on workout days plus the dextrose in my pwo shake.
So I'm at a loss as to why it hasn't worked for me. I suppose these things don't work for everyone but I'll see out the last couple of weeks and post my results up here.
On the weights side, I used a squat rack for the first time yesterday and also changed to a barbell chest press for the first time as well, so I'm looking to continue with those and see where I go. I'm still enjoying the exercise and the healthy eating, so overall I'm happy with the way I've lived for these past six weeks so it's been excellent in that respect. However I applied to do next years marathon back in the summer and I find out next month whether I've been accepted. Only a one in five chance but if I do get in my training will obviously have to change to cardio to prepare for that, otherwise I'll stick with the weights and maybe try a slow bulk over Christmas and winter and try the plan again next summer. The thing with weights is that now I really want to see how far I can go in terms of lifting and it's going to take a bulk to help me do that.
I don't understand it, from my point of view my diet has been spot on, I haven't eaten any crap at all for the past six weeks and I've never been so disciplined, and I'm working out three times a week and every session pretty much leaves me feeling worked. I've basically done everything asked of me but have not seen any results.
My typical diet over the past weeks is as follows:
8am - Protein shake and 45g of oats with skimmed milk
11am - Protein shake, tuna salad
1pm - Mixed fruit
3pm - Chicken/Turkey breast with sliced pepper
4pm - Apple/fat free yogurt 150g
6pm - Mixed steamed veg with any one from tuna steak/steamed fish/sirloin/turkey/chicken
10pm - Fat free yogurt 150g
I've ben running on a calory deficit and I ensure I always get the right amount of protein every day, having two portions of turkey/chicken/tuna in the evening to make this up if I have to.
Carbs have pretty much been non existant in my diet other than a pre workout banana first thing in the morning on workout days plus the dextrose in my pwo shake.
So I'm at a loss as to why it hasn't worked for me. I suppose these things don't work for everyone but I'll see out the last couple of weeks and post my results up here.
On the weights side, I used a squat rack for the first time yesterday and also changed to a barbell chest press for the first time as well, so I'm looking to continue with those and see where I go. I'm still enjoying the exercise and the healthy eating, so overall I'm happy with the way I've lived for these past six weeks so it's been excellent in that respect. However I applied to do next years marathon back in the summer and I find out next month whether I've been accepted. Only a one in five chance but if I do get in my training will obviously have to change to cardio to prepare for that, otherwise I'll stick with the weights and maybe try a slow bulk over Christmas and winter and try the plan again next summer. The thing with weights is that now I really want to see how far I can go in terms of lifting and it's going to take a bulk to help me do that.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Wednesday 7th November
A word of advice. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances join David Lloyd in Weybridge!
Having looked forward to this for the past couple of days, I had a bad start in that I've been up since 02:30 with an unwell son, but decided to go to the gym anyway. I got there nice and early at 05:45 ready for a 6 start, but then found out they only open at 6 on Tuesdays and Fridays! So I hung around and although the gym itself is very nice, the free weights section was abysmal!
NO squat rack
Only ONE Smith Machine which looked about 20 years old. It was an effort moving it without any weights on, let alone loaded up with 90kg!
The dumbells looked prehistoric
You had to walk all the way past the cardio equipment to get to the dips/chin ups
Very limited space in which to work
It was all so out of date it's unbelievable to think people pay £80 a month for that. Then the changing rooms - They had a grubby feel about them as well.
Cannons piss all over them. Think Rocky IV, Rocky trains out in the snow, Drago has a state of the art gym to train in. That's the difference we're talking here. So I had a half arsed workout making the best of what I had and now I cannot wait to get back to Cannons on Friday morning!
It's a shame because the rest of the gym was just what I want, but £80 a month? I'd be pissed off if I was paying half that.
Anyway, rant over, the show goes on.....
Having looked forward to this for the past couple of days, I had a bad start in that I've been up since 02:30 with an unwell son, but decided to go to the gym anyway. I got there nice and early at 05:45 ready for a 6 start, but then found out they only open at 6 on Tuesdays and Fridays! So I hung around and although the gym itself is very nice, the free weights section was abysmal!
NO squat rack
Only ONE Smith Machine which looked about 20 years old. It was an effort moving it without any weights on, let alone loaded up with 90kg!
The dumbells looked prehistoric
You had to walk all the way past the cardio equipment to get to the dips/chin ups
Very limited space in which to work
It was all so out of date it's unbelievable to think people pay £80 a month for that. Then the changing rooms - They had a grubby feel about them as well.
Cannons piss all over them. Think Rocky IV, Rocky trains out in the snow, Drago has a state of the art gym to train in. That's the difference we're talking here. So I had a half arsed workout making the best of what I had and now I cannot wait to get back to Cannons on Friday morning!
It's a shame because the rest of the gym was just what I want, but £80 a month? I'd be pissed off if I was paying half that.
Anyway, rant over, the show goes on.....
Monday, 5 November 2007
Monday 5th November
I'm definitely back on track!
The neck injury has all but cleared up and Friday night I had the best session I've had for months, I came away from the gym feeling drained but really happy. Thankfully as I'd hoped, the gym was pretty empty what with it being a Friday and I had more time to dedicate. It was a 3x12 session and it meant I managed to fit in all three sessions last week after all.
I only get 35 minutes in the mornings as I have to get showered and home in time to feed my son and get ready for work. The one thing I realised on Friday was that having more time really made a difference, I didn't feel rushed and could put more into it. David Lloyd couldn't have timed a leaflet drop any better as I was considering going to have a look anyway, but they're offering free membership until January so I went and had a look around on Saturday. I was slightly disappointed with the free weights section, no squat rack from what I could see and only one Smith machine as opposed to the three at Cannons, plus it looked a bit cramped compared to Cannons. The rest of the club though was a definite improvement, especially the baby pool which is quite important to me as I take my son regularly.
The problem is that with any gym you need to use the facilities before you can judge and it pissed me off that they were not prepared to give me a free guest pass, especially as I told them I was looking for a family membership. Who's going to sign up without knowing what they're getting into? Plus I wanted to know what it's like first thing in the morning, if it's busy then I'll stay where I am, but again I need to use it to find that out. Normally I'd have told them where to go but they open at 6 which is perfect for me, plus I have a mate who's a member there so it means every now and again I could have a training buddy. So I went onto ebay and bought a day pass for £7, which will hopefully come in time for me to use on Wednesday morning. At least then I'll know whether to stick with Cannons or take the plunge with David Lloyd. If it's not busy at 6am then I will, as this will give me an extra half an hour gym time, meaning I can put a lot more into it, especially on the 4x8 sessions as time seems to be very limited when doing these.
As far as the weekend went I had a few beers on Saturday night (well, more than a few) but resisted the hangover blowout and again ate well. I was up nice and early this morning again despite having a day off work and again had more time on my hands to complete a good 4x8 workout. It will be interesting to see my measurements in three and a half weeks, I swear my arms have got bigger, not sure about the rest of me though.
I'll hopefully be able to report back on Friday about David Lloyd at the end of what is week five. By the way, does anyone suffer with serious wind? I swear it's the protein, my guts are all over the place at the moment and it's far from pleasant!
The neck injury has all but cleared up and Friday night I had the best session I've had for months, I came away from the gym feeling drained but really happy. Thankfully as I'd hoped, the gym was pretty empty what with it being a Friday and I had more time to dedicate. It was a 3x12 session and it meant I managed to fit in all three sessions last week after all.
I only get 35 minutes in the mornings as I have to get showered and home in time to feed my son and get ready for work. The one thing I realised on Friday was that having more time really made a difference, I didn't feel rushed and could put more into it. David Lloyd couldn't have timed a leaflet drop any better as I was considering going to have a look anyway, but they're offering free membership until January so I went and had a look around on Saturday. I was slightly disappointed with the free weights section, no squat rack from what I could see and only one Smith machine as opposed to the three at Cannons, plus it looked a bit cramped compared to Cannons. The rest of the club though was a definite improvement, especially the baby pool which is quite important to me as I take my son regularly.
The problem is that with any gym you need to use the facilities before you can judge and it pissed me off that they were not prepared to give me a free guest pass, especially as I told them I was looking for a family membership. Who's going to sign up without knowing what they're getting into? Plus I wanted to know what it's like first thing in the morning, if it's busy then I'll stay where I am, but again I need to use it to find that out. Normally I'd have told them where to go but they open at 6 which is perfect for me, plus I have a mate who's a member there so it means every now and again I could have a training buddy. So I went onto ebay and bought a day pass for £7, which will hopefully come in time for me to use on Wednesday morning. At least then I'll know whether to stick with Cannons or take the plunge with David Lloyd. If it's not busy at 6am then I will, as this will give me an extra half an hour gym time, meaning I can put a lot more into it, especially on the 4x8 sessions as time seems to be very limited when doing these.
As far as the weekend went I had a few beers on Saturday night (well, more than a few) but resisted the hangover blowout and again ate well. I was up nice and early this morning again despite having a day off work and again had more time on my hands to complete a good 4x8 workout. It will be interesting to see my measurements in three and a half weeks, I swear my arms have got bigger, not sure about the rest of me though.
I'll hopefully be able to report back on Friday about David Lloyd at the end of what is week five. By the way, does anyone suffer with serious wind? I swear it's the protein, my guts are all over the place at the moment and it's far from pleasant!
Friday, 2 November 2007
Week Four
Well, I was back in the gym yesterday so I only missed one session. It was a risk because I was (and still am) feeling my neck but I left out the shoulder presses and lost 10kg from the deads and it held out fine, so I was happy with how it went. I'm going back to the gym tonight to make up the lost session, hopefully being a Friday night it won't be too busy.
I had seven pints on Tuesday, I hadn't had a drink for ten days and fancied a few, it doesn't worry me to do that though, my body doesn't seem to get affected too much by alcohol as long as it's not every night. I've got a birthday bash to go to tomorrow night but I'm planning on driving, whether I do or not remains to be seen but the fact I want to get up at 1am on Sunday morning to watch the Calzaghe fight might just help me out. Then hopefully I'll be back to normal from Monday.
I've decided that this is the halfway point to my first lot of measurements, eight weeks should hopefully be enough to allow me to get somewhere towards where I want to be and it's the week prior to me having to go into hospital for an operation to repair torn cartliage in my nose of all places, plus it's before all the Christmas festivities start. If I've made good progress it should be enough to keep me motivated towards what could be a disastrous month. If I haven't made any gains, well who knows whet December will be like, I just hope I don't blow it out and start all over again in January.
Anyway, the diet is still going absolutely fine so no problems there, plus I'm enjoying the gym sessions once again, which is something I lost a few months ago. Now I'm back to the stage where I get the hump if I miss a session which can only be a good thing.
I had seven pints on Tuesday, I hadn't had a drink for ten days and fancied a few, it doesn't worry me to do that though, my body doesn't seem to get affected too much by alcohol as long as it's not every night. I've got a birthday bash to go to tomorrow night but I'm planning on driving, whether I do or not remains to be seen but the fact I want to get up at 1am on Sunday morning to watch the Calzaghe fight might just help me out. Then hopefully I'll be back to normal from Monday.
I've decided that this is the halfway point to my first lot of measurements, eight weeks should hopefully be enough to allow me to get somewhere towards where I want to be and it's the week prior to me having to go into hospital for an operation to repair torn cartliage in my nose of all places, plus it's before all the Christmas festivities start. If I've made good progress it should be enough to keep me motivated towards what could be a disastrous month. If I haven't made any gains, well who knows whet December will be like, I just hope I don't blow it out and start all over again in January.
Anyway, the diet is still going absolutely fine so no problems there, plus I'm enjoying the gym sessions once again, which is something I lost a few months ago. Now I'm back to the stage where I get the hump if I miss a session which can only be a good thing.
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