[quote]cavalier wrote:
“Blag”?? That reminds me. Last night had a really weird dream where I was in England and it was a completely alien place, couldn’t figure out what was going on.[/quote]
It is a completely alien place cav…and no, nobody knows what the fuck is going on , least of all this government !!!
My dim-witted government can out-weird your dim-witted government any day.
Took a bit of time out this week, feeling really fried after my last shift of 5, just had a good long walk instead of training, was a good 3 hours out on then trail though.
This is a small section of the trail down by the local river.
Oh wow, your trails are pretty too. Im dreading the thought of the snow and no biking.
Nice on the PRs!
Cheers upscale !!.
Today.
Cold grey morning and had a hell of a time waking up and getting on with stuff, mind you i was still awake at 05.00 so didn’t do very well for sleep.
Last week of fat loss programme, staying away from the scales though. Had a look at myself in the mirror at the gym–distinctly leaner all round but with some defintely noticeable skin fold where fat is breaking up–not pretty !!
So : walk to gym ,short route.
Warm up complex x2, 1 round at 55lbs ,1 round at 66lbs, after having followed the discussion about gm’s i made a conscious effort to get down a bit further and tighten my butt a bit more.
Main work : squat paired with decline press ups. Basically 1 set of either 10 or 5 squats and i set of 8 press-ups (progression from 6 per set).
Aim was to increase weight on every set by starting with my weaker front squat and progressing to my slightly stronger rear squat so:
Fs 77lbs 1x10 1 set decline press up (8)
Fs 88lb 1x10 “”
Fs 99lb 1x10 “”
Rs 99lb 1x8 “”
Rs 110lb 1x5 “”
Rs 121lb 1x5 “”
Rs 132lb 1x5 “”
Rs 143 1x5 “” 8 sets of 8 decline press up total.
Secondary work
Lat pull down paired with bench dips
Something like :
121 lb 1x0 1 set 10 dips
130 1x10 “”
134 1x10 “”
Then
143lbs 1x5 5 weighted dips (22lb)
150lb 1x5 “” 33lbs
158lbs 1x5 “” 33lbs
165 lb 1x5 44lbs
170 lb. 3. 3 . 66lb
Finishing wok.
Cable tri push down 3x10 (cant remember weight)
Foam rolling/stretching.
Protein shake and banana, cold walk home.
Also put in my letter ending my membership at the gym, 3 months to o.
Impressive weights, Nurse! And after only a few months of training.
Todays work.
Last night–seriously disturbed sleep pattern again, still awake at 04.00 after a short sleep earlier in the night.
Consequently got up feeling crap.
so : fasted cardio walk 40 minutes, then protein shake and breakfast.
pm walk to gym, grey overcast and cold.
warm up complex x2 1@ 55 lbs 1 @ 66lbs.
Main work today bench paired with deadlift.
Bench sets :
BB warm up 1 1x10
66lb 1x10
88lb 1x10
99lb 1x10
110lb 1x5
115lb 1x5
115lb 1x5
110lb 1x5
121lb 3.3.
Dl
132lb 1x10
176lb 1x10
198lb 1x10
220 1x5
231 1x5
Tried a set at 242 but back feeling all over the place so dropped back to 220
Dropped again to 176 for 2 sets of 8
Deload at 132 lb for set of 10.
Other work :
chins 3x5
Bench dumbell row 66lb 3x5
Dumbell flye 26lb 2x10
Dumbell bench press 30lb 2x10
Traedmill, maximum ascent at walking speed over 20 mins = 900 metres.
Walked home.
Seriously hard work today, cold sweat throughout, possibly due to poor sleep and severely carb restricted diet this week.
Doing great things BN. Don’t let the extra skin get to you. As someone who lost a lot of weight you just have to accept it and use it as a reminder of where you were.
Nice trail picture, looks so relaxing.
Don…trail is part of my summer time walk to work !!, that is one of the rivers that comes off dartmoor–i used to swim quite regularly upstream of there in a deeper pool.
I suspect that this stage of fat loss is the uncomfortable and ‘ugly’ one, though not posing --when i was getting changed at the gym (full length mirrors there) i had a good self examine, if i stretch up a bit (tend to slouch) there is a lot more definition in my body, face is leaner too !!.
(still felt like crap though)
Todays work.
had to run around in the car to get things done hence no walk to gym, shame as it was a nice day compared to yesterday (steady heavy rain)-yesterday had the whole day off, didn’t even walk.
So : treadmill wam up (yawn) then usual barbell complex warm up 2 rounds, usual weight.
Todays main work = squat paired with decline press ups. Plan was to start with front squat at 35g (77lb) and keep adding weight (based on Dan john 'big 55 workout ie 3x10 and 5x5).
So
Fs 77lb 1 x 10 decline press up 1 set of 8
Fs 88lb 1 x 10 “”“”
Fs 99lb 1 x 10 “”“”
Moving onto rear squat
110lb 1 x 8 “”“”
121lb 1 x 6 “”“”
132lb 1 x 5 “”“”
143 1 x 5 “”“”
154 1 x 5 “”“” total 8 x 8 decline press ups.
Then : i wanted to increase weight on the bar but knew that i wouldn’t be that safe with lots more so tried partial range sets with the safety bars set just a couple of stops below the starting position–probbaly only 8-9 inches range of movement but i want to get used to having more weight on my back …so :
Partial sets
176 lbs 1 x 5
187 lb 1 x 5
Next :
Similar deal with lat pull down ie 3 x 10 and 5 x5 pired with unweighted, then, weighted dip.
Can never remember the weight progressions properly but something like :
110lb 1 x10
130 1 x10
134 1 x10
140 1 x 5
143 1 x 5
152 1 x 5
160 1 x 5
173 3. 3. total dips 55 as well.
Other stuff : messed about with the cable pull machine playing with kayak/canoe/archer moves.
Had a quick plank.
Foam rollin.
Protein shake and drove home.
[quote]big nurse wrote:
Can never remember the weight progressions properly but something like :
[/quote]
Do you have a training log? Just a small notebook or something to scribble down what you did?
[quote]cavalier wrote:
[quote]big nurse wrote:
Can never remember the weight progressions properly but something like :
[/quote]
Do you have a training log? Just a small notebook or something to scribble down what you did?[/quote]
No–i just try to remember the progressions, it’s easy with the free weights but the lat pull down machine has a very strange weight progression plus a couple of smaller weights that can be added in.
EDIT… actually i do keep a detailed journal at home but don’t take it to the gym, appalling at leaving things lying around.
Fridays work.
Horrible weather again and didn’t feel like having even more wet kit hanging around in the house so drove down to gym.
Treadmill warm up 10 minutes followed by barbell warm up complex x2 rounds.
Main work : bench paired with bench dumbell row. Aim today with bench was to do more work in my higher weight range, aiming to get 5 reps on any weight even if it had to be split sets. Failed on the 132 but that is a near 1rn anyway.
Bench sets.
BB warm up 1 x 10
66lb 1 x 10
88lb 1 x 10
99lb 1 x 9
110lb 1 x 5
115 4+1
121 3+2
132 2
126 2.2. 1.
121 3.2
110 1x5
Dumbell row/bench
66lb 2 x 5
70 2 x 5
75 1 x 5
70 1 x 5
secondary work :
Rear squat paired with chins.
Rs 110 lb 5 x 5
Chins 5 x 5.
Finishing work :
Treadmill workout aiming for maximum height gain over 20 minutes with running intervals…aim was 1000 feet and 2 miles.
Result was 1019 feet and 1.75 miles.
Roundup time.
So : 6 weeks ago i set to with a plan to get a bit lighter and leaner by shaving off some body fat, and, in the process hopefully hanging onto what little muscle i have.
This is a bit of a report on how things went–or didn’t.
Starting weight was just under 84kg and 19.2% bf according to a pt friends scale.
First 2 weeks of the plan : high protein/reduced carbs + lots of fasted walking + usual weight training looked really promising with my actual weight dropping into the 82s easily. I did as yo would expect dump a whole load of water.
Strange thing then was that on the next round of shifts my actual weight bounced right back to just below where i started --and hasn’t budged since. I added in more high intensity work, did more walking outdoor etc etc, even tidied up the diet just a bit more.
Still–end of 6 weeks and my best dry weight was around 82.5–but even then it’s bouncing up again now. So on the basis of weight alone it was a major disapointment ! , however i am distinctly a bit leaner all round and some obvious ‘skin’ folds (fat bits) are noticeably smaller, so its not all doom and gloom.
The really weird thing is that i feel slightly more muscular !!, i must do some more pics as it seems to me that my upper body looks distinctly different, now i only really get to have a good look in the long mirrors in te changing room at the gym but there is defintely more mass in my upper arms…it was only a couple of weeks ago that i had a wtf moment when i flexed my arms a bit bb style and thought ‘wtf’ is this ie jeez it’s a bicep (never had them before) and 'where did they just appear from ??.
Objectively–all of my weights numbers have gone up ie deadlift 1rm now 135kg , bench 1 rm now 62.5 etc etc. And significantly stronger below my 1 rm numbers ie able to push more weight for longer.
So despite being on a fat reducing diet i seem to have developed some more muscle as well !!, shouldn’t happen i can hear everyone saying !!.
Well…did a lot of head (and arse) scratching !!.
Re-read everything i could on beginner gains and it is possible that i have simply had a spurt of beginners muscle development probably suported by eating a high protein diet mainly at the right time in relaltion to my workouts…ie getting a protein shake and carbs immediately after a workout and getting in more protein in the hours after a workout and before sleep.
It looks to me as though this was simply the wrong move at this stage…that at this stage ie within the first year of weight training i could and should expect to put on more muscle growth than i probably ever will again …and that i should simply ‘let rip’ and allow my body to do that.
Upshot and short version is that the new plan will be to train harder and add in gradually more carbs ( and a little more protein) and just see what happens over the next 6 months, then if i have put on some fat ( i will try to avoid too much) take another swipe at it in the summer next year.
First day out with the new aproach (today) was an eye openner, instead of struggling after about 30 minutes i was still hard at it on the hour lifting and still ready for a blast on the treadmill at the end.
Bit of a look around the area where i do a lot of my outdoor training.
The obvious diagonal shadow line in the centre is one of the steeper trails, i don’t use it much as it has become heavily eroded by the mountain bikers–and they do tend to come hurling down it mainly airborne.
Quick video clip of the area where i do a lot of my outdoor training. View is at the top of my hill sprint course, to the right is a plantation area where i set up my original exercise stations.
Mewing noise at the start is one of our resident buzzards.
Last attempt.
Damn, that looks steep. No wonder a simple walk is such a workout.
If what you did over the past 6 weeks worked so well for you, why in heavens name are you messing with it? In this ara, when you find something that works you keepmdoing it until it doesn’t.
[quote]giterdone wrote:
Good job on the deads.
The weight gain can be muscle growth. The mirror and / or measurements are a better guide for progress. I would ditch the scale for a while.[/quote]
I’m going to go ahead and quote myself. As you have already seen, the scale will lie to you about progress. It is not a weight number you are shooting for; it is less body fat. If you keep looking to make the scale number go down, you will likely under-eat which will affect you strength & muscle gains.
You are doing great. Keep at it.
[quote]Canada_K wrote:
If what you did over the past 6 weeks worked so well for you, why in heavens name are you messing with it? In this ara, when you find something that works you keepmdoing it until it doesn’t. [/quote]
Kent.with al due respect i think you may have mis-interprted what i have said ,ie :
That as a very ‘beginner’ beginner i may be ,and suspect i am , in that early growth phase when what my body wants to do is put on some muscle and that this first year/18 months will be the best time and the best chance that i will ever have to do this.
The last 6 weeks have clearly been good for fat loss but excrutiatingly hard for the actual lifting.
The change will only be quite small in terms of diet ie just adding some carbs to gradually bring me up to and then slightly over maintainence eating.
This weeks powerful lesson has been how much stronger my workouts can be when i am fuelled up rather than when depleted.
So the changes will be more work per workout , more sessions and slightly more food.
