Here’s the nutrition stats for today (23/05/09):
protein: 225g
carbs: 285g
fats: 168g
calories: 3594
finally results! lets see em
Here’s the nutrition stats for today (25/05/09):
protein: 227g
carbs: 209g
fats: 199g
calories: 3578
So this is the last nutrition entry for the 12 weeks, did well with protein seen as i only had 5 meals and 1 didn’t really include a ‘true’ source of protein. Switched the carbs and fats around again, overall i’m pretty happy. When i bought the shopping on thursday i didn’t really think too much about the end of this week, so considering this i dId pretty well. Tomorrow i’ve got final measurements and progress pics to take and then i’m gonna provide a big summary.
Hi everyone, so its been 12 weeks, has flown by, so now I’ve got the final measurements taken this morning. I’ll list today’s measurements, then put the change over the 12 weeks in brackets. I’ll try do a summary of the most significant changes at the bottom. I’ll also up the photos in the next few posts.
Here’s my current stats:
all taken upon waking 25/5/09 after going toilet
Weight: 192 lbs (up 20 lbs)
Supra-illiac: 17mm (up 5 mm)
Body fat: 17% (up 3.6 %)
Lean mass: 159.36 lbs (up 10.75 lbs)
Fat mass: 32.64 lbs (up 9.25 lbs)
waist: 33.94 (up 1.76 inches)
chest: 40.31 (up 1.81 inches)
left arm: 12.88 (up 1.7 inches)
right arm: 12.5 (up 1.32 inches)
left forearm: 11.31 (up 0.81 inches)
right forearm: 11.37 (up 0.87 inches)
left thigh: 23.75 (up 1.75 inches) (*questionable measurement accuracy)
right thigh: 24.18 (up 2.06 inches) (*questionable measurement accuracy)
left calve: 14.31 (up 0.19 inches)
right calve: 14.37 (up 0.06 inches)
Right so overall my weight is up 20lbs over the 12 week period. The body comp stuff suggests that LBM went up by 10.75lbs, with an increase in fat mass of 9.25lbs. I’m not sure how accurate this is as i am probably not the most accurate at measuring the skinfold, but I think what’s important is that weight has gone up and though a percentage of this is fat, there is probably a bit of muscle gain there too.
The waist measurement went up by 1.76 inches over the 12 weeks, mostly increasing in the first few weeks, over the last few I’ve got it to increase very little with weight still going up. This measure gives an indication of the fat gain over the 12 week period.
The chest measure went up by 1.81 inches which is think is pretty good, but what do I know I’m not exactly an expert. This measure also gives a indication of an increase in width of the back, lats etc. From what I’ve noticed over the 12 weeks my chest has definitely grown a bit, with a change in how t shirts fit generally.
The arm measures have also increase significantly over the 12 weeks. My left arm went up by 1.7 inches and the right went up by 1.32 inches which i am quite happy with. There was also an increase in forearm measures, to a lesser extent. The left forearm went up by 0.81 inches, whilst the right went up by 0.87 inches, which I don’t think is too bad seen as I’ve done no direct forearm work.
As far as legs go, both thigh measures have increased significantly. The left thigh went up by 1.75 inches and the right thigh went up by 2.06 inches. Although this seems a pretty good increase, i think these measures in particular have been pretty inaccurate. However, again, as above, there has definitely been an increase in girth as I’ve noticed changes in how pairs of jeans fit, becoming a lot tighter. For the calves, the change has been minimal, with increases of 0.19 and 0.06 inches for the left and right calves respectively.
So overall I’m pretty happy, although I’ve gained quite a bit of fat (as you’ll see from the pics which will follow), I have gained some muscle as well as evidenced by the increases in most of the measures listed above. The exact amounts of each is hard to estimate due to several factors, but I would guess there has been a 50/50 gain in muscle and fat. At the start I gained quite a lot of fat due to the shift in calories (naively going from cutting on 2300 calories to bulking on 3600, not a good idea really), but towards the end I tightened up the nutrition and limited fat gain and started to see increases in muscle.
This has been a great learning experience, I think doing it this way, on my own using trial and error, will be of great value in the long run. It has also taught me the patience I will need, as it takes years to build an appreciable amount of muscle, so I think this is a great start. From here i’m gonna have a week off and then get back to it, consistently lifting heavy year round, with a moderate caloric surplus to support muscle growth at a slower rate. I now know the rough amount of calories I need to support muscle growth which will be of value.
I’m wanting to start a lifting program like starting strength or a variation (without squats due to equipment limits) with lots of compound movements, where I can gain a lot of strength, which will be a great investment with regards to my long term training. I also reckon if i have a caloric surplus in place, this will result in some gains in muscle. Again referring to the above gains etc, it must be noted that for a large part of the 12 weeks I haven’t done any back squatting at all, and very little deadlifting, so i think this makes the gains more impressive. I reckon if I can start deadlifting and maybe doing some squats, I will see large gains in the future. I think one of the most important lessons I learned was to make sure i was improving the weight used and/or reps completed each session. This is definitely an important point, as there would have been very little progression had I not made sure of this. Just looking back through the training log I will be able to see the increase in strength over the last 12 weeks.
The food log was also an important factor, I’ve logged probably 95% of all the food I’ve eaten over the last 12 weeks, which I think is pretty good. The consistent logging of food allowed me to better change the calories, protein over the course due to the measurements. The measurements were very important (even though a couple were a bit inaccurate) as they went hand in hand with the food log as way of monitoring progress and making informed decisions on what to do next. Anyways, thats it, 12 weeks gone, I’ve enjoyed it, thanks for reading and following my progress for any of you that have. I’m gonna upload the final pics from this morning on there own in a bit and then do the before and after shots later which everybody loves.
If you’ve read all this you are rewarded for your patience with a shitty joke, which I happen to love.
Why is there no T.V in afghanistan?
Because of the telly ban…
Front
Side
Back
Legs
I hope you guys appreciate the fact i’ve tried to make the pics similar to before, unlike on the supplement ads where the after shots their all tanned and posing. I’m just wokring on the before and afters now.
so i’m having problems getting the before and after pics to post together so you’ll have to bear with me for a while.
Front Before
[photo]22578[/photo]
Front After
[photo]22579[/photo]
Side Before
[photo]22580[/photo]
Side After
[photo]22581[/photo]
Back Before
[photo]22582[/photo]
Back After
[photo]22583[/photo]
Legs Before
[photo]22584[/photo]
Legs After
[photo]22585[/photo]
So that’s the end of my log, any comments are welcome…
Keep going with the mass quest…Deadlifting heavy will bring your back up. Train with intensity, and listen to your body.