Introduction to London Runner

Training Training Logs
1

Intro;
Age: 24

Height: 178cm / 5’10in

Weight: 94Kg / 207.2lbs

Neck: 40.6cm / 16in

Chest: 104cm / 41in

Arm: 36.8cm / 14.5in at highest point under shoulder.

Waist: 101.6cm / 40in

Forearm: 31.7cm / 12.5in

Wrist: 16.5cm / 6.5in

Hip: 104cm / 41in

Thigh: 64.7cm / 25.5in at highest point.

I have taken 3 different Body Fat Percentage tests and I’m not sure which one to go by. One at a Cholesterol website says my BFP is 18%, another says it is 24% and the Navy method puts it at 32%.

For the sake of this site and my training plan, until I can get an exact measurement, I will go with the 32%

Diet;
Due to the work I do and the amount of exercise I get, I have determined that my caloric intake should be 2100Kcal a day, and to loose the extra weight and fat, I should drop it down to a maximum of 1700Kcals a day.

I have been working very hard at my diet with weighing and counting the relevant grams in everything I eat. At the moment I average about 1500Kcal a day which fluctuates on occasion between 1300 and 1700Kcals. I have only been this strict about my diet for the last month or so, so it may be a while before I see any major changes.

Most of my protein comes from meats, poultry, fish and whey protein shakes.

Most of my Carbohydrates come from fruits and vegetables although I limit my fruit to before 2pm.
I try my best not to eat after 8pm, although when I am really hungry, I will have a protein shake.

My Average Intake (mean for the last week);
Protein: 128g
Carbohydrates: 95g
Fibre: 24g
Sugar: 48g
Fat: 50g
Saturated Fat: 14g
Poly: 4g
Mono: 12g
Salt: 3g

Supplements;

Cod Liver Oil: Vitamin A and D 100% RDA*, EPA 70mg, DHA
100mg. *=Recommended Daily Allowance.

Vitamin E Oil: 268mg.

Zinc: 15mg.

Ginkgo: 250mg.

Ginseng: 500mg.

L-Arginine: 500mg.

Pomegranate Extract: 350mg.

Fibre-Sure: 5.8g per heaped teaspoon.

2

My Training;
I started hitting the gym and training around the age of 16, I would workout in the gym at least 3 times a week. I did not have any specific training plan of any specific goals, so it only lasted for about a year until I stopped.

Throughout the rest of college and university I had not trained at all apart from playing football (soccer) twice a week with other out of shape friends. I also smoked from the age of 17 to the age of 23. And I also did a lot of drinking from 18 till 23.

So hear I am now, at the age of 24, I have been off cigarettes for about a year and a half, I hardly drink any more. I have been playing racket sports for about 2 years now, and took up squash 6 months ago. I also took up running 3 months ago. My first month was not so serious, so I could ease myself back into fitness so I could start taking it a bit more seriously.

Now I run 4-5 times a week with sessions lasting half an hour with me slowly increasing the intensity and duration every week. I play squash 1-2 times a week with sessions lasting around an hour and a half.

I also do some kind of core training every two days, as runners need really strong cores, with most focus on training the Transversus Abdominis, Obliques, and the Psoas Major/Iliacus to limit excess movement in my hips and upper trunk when running.

At the moment I do not do any strength training of weight lifting, but it is something I want to add to my arsenal pretty soon. I am also going in for surgery on my right leg next month which will mean I will have to stay away from running during my recovery period, which will be the ideal time for me to start my strength training, at least on my upper body.

My Goals;
I have many goals which I wish to achieve, and a lot that have come and gone, such as to give up smoking and cut down alcohol to once every two months.

My other goals include;
I want to have a BMI between 21 and 24, which means I need to drop my weight to around 76Kg / 167.5lbs.

I want to have a body fat percentage of between 5% and 8%.

I want to run the London Marathon in a black Spiderman costume but not look as puny as Tobey Maguire.

I want to banish my beer belly for good and stop letting out notches on my belt.

I want to win medals (race/marathon) without joining the army.

I want to be a great health and fitness role model for my family, my friends, and eventually my children (got to meet the right girl first).

That’s about all for my Introduction to others at this site. I would appreciate any positive recommendations anyone can make in regards to my diet and training, and anything they think I should read to help me along my way. I have a lot threads in my favorites, so people can get an idea of what I’ve been reading.

I look forward to getting to know everyone a little better over my time here.

Thanks,

London Runner.

3

Sometimes it takes a while for the thread to post on the forum and for us to see it.

Also, you wrote a really long introductory post and didn’t end with a question to be skipped down and read.

Congrats on quitting smoking. And drinking, I guess.

So… you basically want to drop fifty pounds of fat while continuing to train for running.

FIRST, read the stickies at the top of the beginner’s forum. Click on the ‘beginner’ banner at the top of the page and they should be the first four forum topics. Read especially Vroom’s thread. It should be the third one down. That’ll give you a lot of background information and provide you with a lot of options for diet and exercise through the articles it indexes.

SECOND, eat more, specifically protein and fat. Protein helps keep/build muscle, but it also helps you recover from workouts. Fat provides energy without necessarily causing an insulin reaction and having a minimal chance of excess energy being stored as fat. Your Baseline should be about 2000kcal.

I understand this is more than you’re currently eating. If the additions are protein and fat, it shouldn’t add fat to your body. Also, it’ll help with…

THIRD, lift. There are tons of great programs indexed in the stickies. If you can get going right away, stick to bench press and pullups for your upper body and squats and deadlifts for your lower body. Sets should be around 3-4, reps should be 4-6, the weight should be challenging, but not impossible.

Your surgery will likely prevent you from training lower body for a time. Continue to train upper body, and go walking (if you can). It’s not ideal, but it might be the best you can do.

Post any questions you have in this thread. We’ll be glad to help you out.

4

Thanks Otep, I’ll look into those today and If I have any questions I’ll be sure to ask.

The reason for the long introduction, was because I didn’t want to miss anything out that people would have to ask me for later.

5

As far as I remember CT had a very intensive upper body program for Bartl (Physique Clinic) when he injured his knee the first time. Maybe you check this out.

Best regards, stefan

6

[quote]stefan2k wrote:
As far as I remember CT had a very intensive upper body program for Bartl (Physique Clinic) when he injured his knee the first time. Maybe you check this out.

Best regards, stefan[/quote]

Thanks for the tip Stefan, I managed to check out the Bartl thread, and read it from start to finish in one day. I think he’s made fantastic progress and has been a great inspiration to me and where to start my own program.

Due to the fact that Bartl and myself have similar starting stats and goals, I think I can use his diet and training plan as a template for my own goals.

I’ve already started on the diet today, I’m going to keep up with the running that I was already doing, I feel I’ve already conditioned my legs to my weight so it should be OK.

Other then that I will be doing weight training to maintain my muscle during this fat loss period.

I’m posting photo’s below of my start so I can keep track of my progress.

LR

7


Another pic from the side.

8

349×507 17.5 KB

Last one in jeans.

9

Excellent.
Doing the programs as written leads to good results. Good luck.

10

Thanks, I will be pretty much follwing CT’s training program for Bartl word for word.

11

Ok,so this is 2 days into the new diet and one day training.

About the diet, I really thought I’d end up starving myself but I actually feel rather full after meals. The celery in the mornings is rather uneventful but I get through it. It used to take me about 10 minutes to devour breakfast but now it takes about 30, I read somewhere that eating your meals slow is a good thing.

I have no problems with the broccoli, lettuce or cucumbers, and I’ve yet to have a meal with the cauliflower, but I’m not a big fan, so I can’t wait for that one.

Also CT’s diet for Bartl had him eating between 24-39 grams of carbs a day but I’m going to keep it under 30, because I read in one of CT’s articles that people with a body fat % over 20 shouldn’t have more then 30g of carbs a day.

I’ve now done a proper body fat percentage test which puts me at just under 25%, it actually makes me feel a little sick knowing that just under a quater of my body is fat.

About the training! Wow is that fucking hardcore. I’m not even using weights as heavy as Bartl did, that’s a mssive range of exercises, but I think I need to find a new gym to workout in, the one I went to today is like the Globo Gym that Bartl talks about from Dodgeball. Most of the people that work in there are either unfit or fatter then I am.

The cardio for me was 20 mins of jogging and 20 mins on a rowing machine. I love running anyway, so neither of these were a big chore.

I saved my question till last for those that like to skip posts and offer a little help, so here goes.

I’ve seen websites that have a start and finish position but non really show what a good form for each exercise is.

Q/ Does anyone know of a website that shows all the exercises?

12

[quote]London Runner wrote:
Q/ Does anyone know of a website that shows all the exercises?[/quote]

http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm
www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html
http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?tid=109&__N=Video%20Exercises

13

Thanks goochadamg, that’s exactly what I was looking for.

*Edit: The plan’s going good so far, down to 91Kg this morning 28/4/08 or 04/28/08 for the Yanks.

Next Weight measurement will be at the end of the month.

14

Down to 90Kg / 198.4Lbs as of this morning. Felling pretty good about it too.

If I’d never found T-Nation and never read Bartl’s thread, I’m pretty sure I would have been stuck in the same boat for another few years.

Q/I feel I have pretty bad form when doing exercises like squats and deadlifts, How light should this weight be to practice perfect form?

15

[quote]London Runner wrote:
Down to 90Kg / 198.4Lbs as of this morning. Felling pretty good about it too.

If I’d never found T-Nation and never read Bartl’s thread, I’m pretty sure I would have been stuck in the same boat for another few years.

Q/I feel I have pretty bad form when doing exercises like squats and deadlifts, How light should this weight be to practice perfect form?[/quote]

As light as you need it to be to get the technique right.

I would say if you are learning a new lift or trying to perfect the form then stick to less weight and reps in the 10-12 range, you def don’t want to be reaching failure but maybe a couple of reps short of it. This way you can perform the lift more often each week without burning out on it or overtaxing your lower back recovery and the more you practice a move the better the technique will get! Just add weight slowly in small increments.

If you need to stop and reset yourself in mid set then do it. Any bad technique you don’t correct will be magnified when the lifts get heavier, so it’s vital to get this right in the beginning.

If you can, try and get a video of yourself doing the lifts then you will be able to see exactly what you are doing and what needs correcting and you can revideo in a few weeks and see if you’re on the right track.

16

Down to 89Kg / 196.2Lbs this morning, and I haven’t even dropped the kids off at the pool yet!

About me putting video’s up here of my form for you guys to look at, I’ve been told by the staff (“Trainers”) at the gym that;

“You can not have any camera phones, cameras or any recording devices in the gym area, even if it is only to film yourself”

Fucking Idiots, I’m going to speak with management next time to discuss this.

LR

17

[quote]London Runner wrote:
About me putting video’s up here of my form for you guys to look at, I’ve been told by the staff (“Trainers”) at the gym that;

“You can not have any camera phones, cameras or any recording devices in the gym area, even if it is only to film yourself”
[/quote]

What was their reasoning for this? I can understand them being wary of ppl filming others, but it’s pretty crap if you can’t film yourself!

What gym do you go to?

18

Management should understand. THey probably won’t, but they should.

A lot of times, camera’s and footage are forbidden because it implicates an attempt at corporate espionage. They don’t want you filming their layout, and then going to a competitor and copying it.

If you make it clear you’re showing your squat form to a bunch of anonymous people on the internet…

well, good luck.

And good job on the fat loss too. 2lbs/week is very good.

19

I haven’t been on in a while, but I’ve lost a little more fat.

Down to 86.5Kg / 190.3 Lbs, the weight loss seems to be slowing down because I seem to be putting on muscle, so I’m waiting to get myself some BF moniters to keep a proper track on changes.

The management at my gym are never available, either never there or they never want to talk to me.

I think it may be because it’s one of the leisure complexes where part of the 2012 Olympics are being held, so they may think I have bad intentions, or they might just think I’m a perve.

I met someone the other day, who looked like he knew what he was doing, he said I was doing just fine, and maybe needed some tweaking in form.

About Supplements?!
I’m thinking of ordering;
Superfood, Spike, BCAA, HOT-ROX, and Carbolin 19.

Are these good for me?

LR

20

Biotest supps work, and work well, if you can afford them.

They’re not magic, but they can increase your progress.

‘good’ is a very relative term.

I’ve found the most cost-effective supps to be creatine and fish-oil, but that’s just me.