Yep it's time to get my ass out of bed and hit the gym. It's also time to stop stuffing sausage and egg sandwiches, pringles, donuts and chocolate encrusted cakes in my gob!
01/12
93.6kg / Bodyfat 30.5%
Morning: 30 minutes heavy bag / 10 * calf raises / 30 minutes sauna
I waned to do 60 minutes on the bike this evening while watching the Arsenal game but as I approached the 40 minute mark the tank was emptying and I was going slower and slower even though I was on a low intensity .... I was fucked!
Morning: 40 minutes heavy bag + suit / 15 minutes sauna (5 + suit)
I bought myself one of those sauna suits and tried it out today. I wore it for my 40 minute bag workout and it really makes things harder. I then kept it on for 5 minutes in the sauna and now I know how a turkey feels around about 11:00 on Xmas day!!
Evening: 60 minutes bike
14/12
Morning: 45 minutes heavy bag + suit / 30 minutes sauna (10 + suit)
15/12
Evening: 45 minutes bike
16/12
91.4kg / Bodyfat 28.8%
Morning: 30 minutes heavy bag + suit / 4 * barbell curls / 20 minutes sauna (5 + suit)
Evening: 70 minutes bike
17/12
Morning: 15 minutes heavy bag + suit / 6 * benchpress (max 3*80g) / 20 minutes sauna (5 + suit)
My diet has been really poor over the last few days and I've also skipped the gym once or twice.
The sauna broke in the gym a few days back and that kinda pissed me off as I was spending quite a bit of time in there each morning and it also meant that I was less inclined to hit the gym.
So now it's the start of November and I really want to make a big effort to get back ino good shape before the end of the year. These are probably the most important months because if you can get in shape for the start of the year then you can use January - March to get super ripped for the summer.
01/11 - Target 88.0kg
Morning session - 60 minutes heavy bag / 4 * barbell curls * 21 reps max 40kg
Yep the battle for a chiselled physique continues, albeit accompanied by the burden of trips to the coast and the associated gallons of Hoegaarden and chips/burgers/fried breakfasts, etc.
So here's my effort at the gym this morning ...
10/08
88.4kg / Bodyfat 27.0%
01/10
93.0kg / Bodyfat 30.0%
Shamefully my blog activity has pretty much matched my physical activity over the last few weeks. I basically replaced all of my training with eating and drinking! But hey it was a great Summer!
So now it's back to the gym and diet with a vengeance! I'm aiming for sub 80kg by the end of the year. By my calculations that's approximately 1kg per week which is definitely achievable.
I thought that I'd concentrate a bit on my cardio this week in order to shift a few pounds. I don't usually use the glider machine, it's the kind of cross country ski thingy where you stride out and push and pull the handles at the same time. I thought I'd give it a go to make a bit of a change and thought I'd do 20 minutes but fuck me my glutes were burning after about 5 minutes! I'll do 20 minutes next time ...
Evening session - 30 minutes bike
15/10 - Target 90.7kg
Morning session - 30 minutes bike
Evening session - 30 minutes bike
16/10
Morning session - 30 minutes heavy bag / 15 minutes rowing / 15 minutes bike / 15 minutes sauna
17/10 - Target 90.4kg
Morning session - 35 minutes heavy bag / 15 minutes glider / 15 minutes sauna
I jumped back on the gliding machine this morning and upped my time from 10 to 15 minutes although it's fucking hard work!! It probably doesn't look as though I'm gliding ... more like an old guy stumbling along, sweating like a pig and moaning and gasping for air!
Evening session - 40 minutes bike
18/10
Morning session - 30 minutes heavy bag / 4 * barbell curls * 18 reps max 32kg / 15 minutes sauna
The sauna in the gym is broken at the moment which is a pain in the ass as it was a bit nippy this morning and it would have been nice to site in there for 30 minutes.
23/10 - Target 89.4kg
Morning session - 30 minutes bike / 4 * barbell curls * 20 reps max 18kg
It's now reached that time of the year where it's compulsory to go and get shit faced every time the sun comes out.
I think that I've done well to stay below 90kg for quite a while now and I've dipped under 85.0kg once or twice. However, this achievement always seems to co-incide with a spell of good weather, and each time I've decided to hit the coast and this obviously sees my weight go back up a few kilos. My recent trip to Ramsgate/Whitstable/Herne Bay/etc and subsequent few days of munching my way through anything edible in the house saw me nearly break through the 90.0kg barrier (in the wrong direction).
Now in the past few years my target was always sub 90.0kg, and therefore anytime that I took my foot off the gas, for drinking and munching, I'd always end up back at a steady 95.0kg, and then when I let things slip completely I'd be back up over the dreaded 100kg mark.
Now in terms of weather the next few weeks usually give us some spells of some lovely hot sunshine and present the opportunity to fuck off back to the coast and sit in the sun. The mid term forecast is for some nice weather to arrive in a couple of weeks time, so therefore I'm smashing the gym and strict diet again in order to get as far under 85.0kg as possible. If I can get a good couple of weeeks under my belt before I get lured by the sun and alcohol then I reckon that I can hit sub 83.0kg by 10/07.
30/06
86.0kg / Bodyfat 25.4%
Well I hit my lowest ever bodyfat percentage so that's a great incentive to get it down below 24% and then keep going! I've probably got another week or so of training before my next visit to the coast so I should be able to hit sub 84.0kg before my next beerfest.
01/07
85.2kg / Bodyfat 25.0%
29/07
89.1kg / Bodyfat 27.5%
Well the sun decided to make an appearance so I abandoned the gym and my diet and smashed into the Hoegaarden!
After at least a couple of weeks of laziness I dragged my sorry arse out of bed this morning and once again journeyed to the gym. I did 30 minutes on the heavy bag and 15 minutes in the sauna. I actually didn't feel too bad at all but was expecting to be around the 92.0kg mark when I stepped onto the scales, so I was well happy with 89.1kg.
I'm going to blitz it over the next week so I should be down to 85.0kg by 06/08.
Morning routine : back - 30 minutes heavy bag / 4 * wide grip chins / 4 * reverse grip chins / 4 * seated lat pulldowns / 4 * seated rows / 5 minutes gloveless bag / 30 minutes sauna
Had my first day back at the gym for just over a week and boy did I need it!
As mentioned previously we had popped down to the coast last weekend and indulged, as we do, in many beers and loads of munch. Unfortunately I carried on eating upon my return and munched my way through several burgers, loaves of bread, cereal, home made bread pudding, fish fingers, biscuits, Friji milkshakes, cakes, chunky kit-kats, bars of white chocolate, tuna ... you name it I ate it! In fact as the week progressed I just became hungrier and hungrier!
So enough was enough and now I'm back on my gym and diet routine. I got to the gym at about 07:30 and had a good workout on the heavy bag followed by a back routine and then 30 minutes on and off in the sauna.
Last week I piled on about 4kg so I'd like to think that I can shed this over the next few days and get back to 84.0kg by 08/06. It might be a big ask, but if I managed to put it on in 8 days then surely I can get it back off in the same amount of time? I'll try hard ...
02/06
87.2kg / Bodyfat 26.6%
Morning routine : back - 15
minutes heavy bag / 4 * crunches / 10 * calf raises / 15 minutes bike / 4 * straight leg raises / 4 * leg raises / 15 minutes sauna
Evening routine :27
minutes bike
Food : protein shakes / tuna /
I REALLY do need to get down to 80kg so I'm going to work and diet like a motherfucker for the next few weeks to see how far I can get by the end of June.
03/06
86.6kg / Bodyfat 26.4%
09/06
Morning routine : back - 45
minutes heavy bag / 6 * barbell curls / 30 minutes sauna
It's got to that stage of the year when I normally give up on the gym and start eating like a pig and most importantly drinking alcohol like a fish. I've had a few days away from the gym and back on making and eating curries, but now I really must knuckle down and get sharp for the summer months.
14/06
89.1kg / Bodyfat 28.3%
15/06
86.7kg / Bodyfat 26.5%
OK yesterday I got back on the training and diet with a vengeance. NO carbs, two sesssions of training and 250 press-ups during the day. NO late night snacks. Back to the gym this morning and then weighed in 2.4kg lighter than yesterday ... let's fucking have it!!
As mentioned towards the end of my last post I have been eating way too many carbs over the last couple of days, so I need another purge. This time I will do a strict 4 day diet with minimal carbs and plenty of light cardio in order to get back under 96.0kg.
We have another excursion to the coast planned for 24/05 so I really need to knuckle down and push for sub 95.0kg before I go out on another 48 hour binge.
I didn't train yesterday and ate too much, including some bread, chocolate and lots of cereal. Therefore my weight and bodyfat percentage crept up again. So now it's four days of intense diet and exercise to get down to below 96.0kg by 15/05.
00:00: protein shake & cereal 04:00: cereal 06:30: protein shake 09:00: protein shake 13:00: boiled chicken & 2 egg whites 16:00: tuna & broccoli 19:45: tuna & broccoli & 2 egg whites & 1 cracker 22:30: protein shake
13/05
86.7kg / Bodyfat 25.9%
Morning routine : calves & hamstrings -
20
minutes rowing @ 10 cals per min / 12* calf raises / 4 * bent over hamstring stretches / 6 * lying hamstring curls / 10 minutes rowing @ 10 cals per min / 20 minutes sauna.
Daytime press-ups : 100
04:00: protein shake 09:30: protein shake 13:00: boiled chicken & 2 egg whites 16:45: protein shake 20:00: tuna & 2 egg whites 23:00: protein shake
14/05
Morning routine : quads -
10
minutes bike / 4* smith machine squats (max 65kg) / 4 * lunges / 6 * leg extensions / 10 minutes bike including 3 * out of seats / 20 minutes sauna.
Daytime press-ups : 140
09:30: protein shake 11:45: tuna & 1 egg white 15:15: tuna &2 egg whites & small roast spud 19:00: protein shake & 1 banana 21:45: boiled chicken & 2 egg whites & 1 cracker 23:30: protein shake & 2 scoops of porridge
15/05
85.9kg / Bodyfat 26.0%
Morning routine : back & abs -
30
minutes heavy bag / 6 * 6 reps reverese grip chins / 4 * lying leg raises / 4 * full crunches / 4 * hanging leg raises / 4 * stright leg raises / 35 minutes sauna.
Daytime press-ups : 160
So I'm back under 86.0kg and now aiming to go sub 85.0kg before 24/05 as we're probably off to the coast for another beer and food binge on 25/05.
It's 10:22 and I'm going to attempt to do 300 press-ups today instead of my usual session on the spinning bike as my legs are still fucked. Update: I managed to do 160.
04:00: protein shake 09:00: protein shake 12:30: boiled chicken & 1 small roast potato 15:30: tuna & 1 roast potato 19:00: protein shake & 1 banana 22:00: tuna & 2 slices of toast 23:30: protein shake & 1 banana
16/05
Morning routine : back & calves -
40
minutes heavy bag / 10 * calf raises / 15 minutes sauna (hot blast)
Evening routine : 30 minutes bike
03:00: protein shake & 1 banana 09:30: protein shake 12:30: tuna 15:30: protein shake 19:00: tuna 22:30: protein shake
I've got to say that 85.0kg is proving to be a fucking hard nut to crack! OK I had some cereal during the night, which is not ideal, but apart from that I'm pretty much eating fuck all. I had a good workout this morning so I'm going to be ultra strict on the diet over the next 24 hours, absolutely no carbs at all, in order to get well below 85.0kg by 24/05 as the beerfest has been booked for next weekend, so no doubt I'll put on a few pounds.
All that I can think about at the moment is a big motherfucker burger. Something like this ...
Luckily there are at least 2 places in Ramsgate that serve-up similar burgers, albeit on a smaller scale. The Royal, which overlooks the marina, offers a 1/4lb burger with bacon, a fried egg, salad and relish, along with a lovely plate of fries. There is also a late night burger place on the high street which offers equally tasty flame grilled burgers.
Fuck this is torture!
02:00: protein shake & cereal 05:00: protein shake & cereal 08:30: protein shake 12:00: boiled chicken 15:30: boiled chicken 18:30: protein shake
21:30: tuna
18/05
84.9kg / Bodyfat 25.5%
02:00: protein shake & cereal 05:00: cereal
I tried SO hard yesterday but when I wokeup in the night I just headed straight for the cereal box. i think that I just need to chuck the rest of the cereal in the bin ... that should do the trick! I also had some lovely cramp in the calves during the night, obviously due to my calf workout on 16/05 and my well balaned diet.
I'm not training today, as I have a zillion other things to do, so I'll take some time later to re-assess where I'm going over the next few days.
Well I was back to the the gym after a 6 day break and there were both positives and negatives. I started with a 30 minute session on the heavy bag and I felt sharp and full of power. However, when I moved on to do sone chin-ups I felt like a right fat bastard and realised that I'd probably added quite a few pounds.
So when I got home i jumped on the scales and looked down to see that I had ballooned up to 89.1kg! Now I'm not particularly surprised. I didn't put on too much weight during my couple of days down on the coast despite drinking over 20 pints of lager and consuming numerous burgers and chips, but the subsequent 3 days of eating shit (following my hangover day where I felt rough as a badgers ass) definitely didn't help. Over those 3 days I indulged in:
cheese omelettes
jam & chocolate spread
loads of bread
loads & loads of sugary cereal
chocolate
Now all of this was on top of my usual protein shakes and tuna, so it's no wonder that I piled on the pounds.
So this morning I dragged myself out of bed and hit the gym.
I don't feel particularly hungry at the moment so I should see the first kilo disappear quite quickly. I need to punish myself for being a naughty boy so I'm going to smash into the cardio in order to get back down to sub 96.0kg as quickly as possible. If I work hard then I think that I could reach this by 17/05. This then means that I should be able to hit sub 94.0kg by the end of May. Ideally I wanted to be sub 93.0kg but we'll just have to see how it goes.
09:00: protein shake 14:15: 1/2 portion of tuna 18:15: tuna 23:00: protein shake
Anyway, I'm glad that I'm getting myself in shape for the end of May as that'll be just in time for the 82 degree heatwave that we're going to have according to some prick writing for The Mirror. Now I'd love it if that actually happened but what a complete load of bollox eh?
01:00: protein shake & cereal 04:00: protein shake 07:15: protein shake 09:00: protein shake 11:45: tuna & broccoli 15:45: tuna & 1 cracker 19:00: protein shake & 1 banana 21:30: tuna & runner beans & broccoli 23:00: cereal
I've been eating way too many carbs in the form of sugary cereals and porridge and today I also had a small amount of pizza and a few chips. So now I'm going to have a four day purge to get back to under 96.0kg.
OK I'm off to the coast for a couple of days from 01/05 so I'm going to have the best part of 4 days to train hard, eat clean, and see how much weight and bodyfat I can lose before I smash into the beers on 01/04. I'm going to cut out pretty much ALL carbs. My weight has actually increased slightly over the last few days and that is down to eating too much muesli and porridge. So for the next 72 hours it's going to be boiled chicken, tuna in water and protein shakes ... yummy!
Morning session : quads & cardio - 30 minutes heavy bag including 4 * 25 bodyweight squats / 4 * lunges / 6 * leg extensions / 4 * hack squat / 15 minutes heavy bag / 30 minutes sauna
Daily press-ups :210
I had a great morning workout and my shoulders feel fried from the heavy bag workout. I was watching Vladimir Klitschko last night and noticed how he plants himself on his front foot when he jabs and throws that straight right. I tried this and my punches were much stronger and I felt as though I was really smashing the fuck out of the bag.
07:30: protein shake 11:00: protein shake 13:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 16:45: protein shake 19:15: tuna in water & boiled carrot/broccoli/sweetcorn 21:00: protein shake
I'm going to try and do as many press-ups during the day today, probably 10 at a time and this will burn calories and mean that I don't have to jump on the bike tonight, which is good as my legs are fucked after this mornings workout
28/04
86.4kg / Bodyfat 26.3%
Morning routine : calves & abs
- 30 minutes heavy bag / 12 * calf raises /
6 * hanging leg raises / 4 * crunches / 4 * leg raises & planks superset / 15 minutes
sauna
Daily press-ups :100
Felt quite drained this morning, which is a good sign, and it took me a good 10 minutes to really get going on the heavy bag. My power had really dropped, due to the lack of carbs, although the session was a good one and I could only manage 15 minutes in the sauna before I felt completely fucked.
Shot to Asda to get some more chicken and tuna and then weighed-in at my best figures yet. If I persevere for today and tomorrow then I should easily get under 86.0kg and sub 26% bodyfat.
00:00: protein shake 04:00: protein shake 07:30: protein shake 09:30: protein shake 12:30: boiled chicken & runner beans 16:30: tuna & broccoli 19:30: protein shake 22:30: protein shake
My bodyweight stayed the same but my fat percentage dropped, which is exactly what I want, so good stuff.
00:00: boiled chicken & runner beans 04:00: protein shake 07:00: protein shake 09:00: protein shake 14:30: tuna & 1 cracker 18:00: boiled chicken & 2 egg whites 20:30: protein shake
I'm sat here eating my boiled chicken and egg whites and dreaming about the Double Sausage & Egg McMuffin that I'm going to absolutely destroy in approximately 36 hours time. If I'm really hungry then I might even have 2, and at 565 calories per muffin that's a fucking huge slab of fat that will go straight to my belly! It's a ritual that I have when I head for the coast. I partake of my local MacDonalds for some good old tasty greasy food before we hit the road and this acts as a great sponge for all of the beers that we consume once we get to the coast.
I'll make sure sure to keep a record of exactly what I eat and drink over and it'll be interesting so see exactly how much weight I will put on over a course of 2 days of binge eating and drinking. I'd guess that I'd balloon to 90kg maybe, but even if I did then I'd guess that I should be back to 96.0kg by the 07/05 at the latest, then it's onwards to sub 93.0kg by the end of May?
Weighed-in at 85.6kg so target achieved and I'm well happy. I'm thinking that a steady 80kg would be a good target weight, so I will see how much I weigh after my 2 days down on the coast and then set the end of May goal which I would imagine will be around the 83.0kg mark maybe?
04:00: protein shake 09:30: protein shake 12:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 14:00: protein shake & 1 banana & muesli 17:00: tuna & 1 egg white & slice of toast
A few little treats slipped into my diet today, including a couple of chocolate biscuits and a few small alphabet waffles ... and oh they tasted So nice!!
Evening routine - 60 minutes bike including 5 out of seat sprints
I
had a crack at lowering my 1000M time on the Concept II rower and
managed to get my time down from 4:36 to 4:20. I was probably rowing at
80% effort so I could possibly get down to nearer the 4:00 mark by the
end of the month.
07:00: tuna & 1 slice of bread 11:00: protein shake 13:45: boiled chicken & broccoli & small piece of potato 17:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 20:00: protein shake 23:00: protein shake
I can't believe that my bodyfat percentage is as high as 26.9%, but even so I'll be working and dieting REALLY hard over the next few days to get this as low as possible. I do find that my willpower can fade during the late evening and during the night were I often wake-up very hungry so I need to be super disciplined to stay away from the cereal at 02:00 in the morning, not matter how hungry I feel!
I woke-up this morning and really thought that maybe my calorie/food intake over the last 24 hours might have been a bit excessive. I had some carbs in the form of bananas and an apple and I thought that my weight would definitely increase ever so slightly, so I was amazed when I came back from the morning gym session and weighed-in at 86.7kg! It may be that the inclusion of the protein shakes and the evening cardio sessions on the bike are helping to gradually decrease my weight and bodyfat percentage? Really really pleased ....
It would be nice if I could stay at the same weight for the next 5 or 6 days and maybe decrease the bodyfat percentage. Maybe if I tried a very low carb diet combined with a more cardio focussed training routine then this might work?
00:00: protein shake 04:00: tuna & chopped onion/celery/apple & 1/2 slice of bread 07:00: protein shake & 1 banana & 1 scoop of porridge 09:15: protein shake 10:15: tuna & 1 egg white & 1/2 slice of bread 14:00: tuna & small potato & 1/2 slice of bread 17:00: protein shake & 1 banana 20:00: boiled chicken & 1 1/2 slices of toast
I'm just SO FUCKING HUNGRY! It's Monday tomorrow and the start of the week, so I really need to concentrate on being strict, just for 7 days, so that I can start looking a bit sharper at the end of the month .... easier said than done though as all I can think about is food!!
21/04
00:00: protein shake & bowl of cereal and porrridge & chocolate 04:00: protein shake & bowl of cereal and porrridge & chocolate 10:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg & 2 slices of toast 14:00: tuna & 2 slices of toast 16:00: protein shake & bowl of porridge & cereal 20:00: fried egg & bacon sandwich 23:00: 3 slices of bread & jam
Oh it all went pear shaped last night! My willpower completely evaporated and I had 2 big bowls of cereal and porridge and even a few bits of easter egg! It then went pear shaped again today. It got to about 20:00 n the evening and I just had to have a fried egg and bacon sandwich followed by a bacon sandwich. My guard was well and truly down and I followed this with 3 slices of bread and jam. I might even have had another bowl of porridge and cereal but I was too stuffed and too tired to remember!
Back down the gym and back on the diet wagon today. I had plenty of energy following the last 24 hours of stuffing my face and I tore into the heavy bag and probably had my best session. I gave it a damn good thrashing! I then managed to incline press 30kg dumbells which is my best effort so far, but way short of the 100lb+ boys that I could do when I was a much younger man!
09:30: protein shake 12:00: tuna & 1 egg white 15:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 18:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg & 1 slice of toast 21:30: protein shake & porridge
I dragged my heels a bit this morning so decided to have a bit of a push in the gym and improve my 1000M time on the rower. I managed to get my time down to 4:07 and I was probably rowing at 90+ effort and could just dip under 4:00 if I pushed towards a maximum effort. However the rest of my workout was pants! I just didn't have any stamina and kept running into a brick wall as far as number of reps was concerned so I did what I could and then hit the sauna for 20 minutes.
07:00: protein shake 09:30: protein shake 12:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 16:00: protein shake & muesli & 1 banana 19:00: tuna & 2 small slices of wholemeal toast 22:00: protein shake & musesli & porridge & 1 chocolate ring donut
My diet was going SO well I'm now finding it so hard to avoid carbs, especially in the afternoon and late evening when the cravings start to kick-in. I keep telling myself that I want to be under 86.0kg in less than 7 days time. My willpower is great in the morning but as the day progresses I can't helping thinking about cereal, bread, cakes, etc.
So OK, just seven more days and then I might pop down to the coast for a couple of days to celebrate my wedding anniversary. If I can get down to sub 86.0kg then that means I can let my hair down for 48 hours and if I come back weighing 89.0kg then I'll easily be able to shave that off in a few days , get back to sub 86.0kg and then head for the low eighties.
24/04
Morning routine : cardio & abs - 45 minutes heavy bag / 6 * hanging leg raises / 4 * crunches / 4 * leg raises / 30 minutes sauna (struggled with the heat/humidity this morning)
Evening routine : 60 minutes bike
Oh dear! I had a severe overnight relapse and steamed into the donuts that my grandchildren failed to eat!! My missus had also bought some muesli and I had to crack into that as well for a huge sugar overload.
So when I rolled out of bed this morning I didn't even reach for a proten shake. Nope, it was straight to the gym for a cracking cardio workout. No more muesli, donuts, porridge or carbs until I get to sub 86.0kg!!!
02:00: protein shake & 2 chocolate ring donuts 09:30: protein shake 13:45: 1/2 portion of tuna & broccoli 17:30: tuna & 2 lices of wholemeal toast 22:30: protein shake
06:30: tuna & broccoli & 1 slice of wholemeal toast 09:00: protein shake 11:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 14:30: protein shake & banana & 1 scoop of porridge 18:30: boiled chicken & 2 egg whites & 1 small slice of wholemeal bread 21:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white
26/04
Evening routine : 40 minutes bike
Skipped the gym this morning as I felt quite tired and my body needed 24 hours rest.
00:00: protein shake & muesli & 1 scoop of porridge 10:00: protein shake 13:00: tuna & 1 small slice of wholemeal toast 14:30: small pieces of pear & clementine 16:30: tuna & 2 small slices of wholmeal toast 20:30: tuna & 1 egg white & 2 small slice of wholemeal toast
Over the last few days I have noticed that I have become more aggressive, on-edge and irritable. I can have a great morning workout where I literally fall out of the sauna at the end of the session, however, by mid-afternoon I seem to have more energy that wants to escape and I really fancy punching something! I might try to include some midday cycling into my routine but it coincides with the start of racing and I also think that it can hinder leg development by not giving the quads time to recover, especially in the 48 hours following a hard quad workout.
Now thinking about it I can put these emotions down to either having an increase in testosterone due to my quite intense routine or maybe it is caused by the recent small addition of carbs back into my diet? I suppose that I will have to monitor how I progress and I'll be keeping a close eye on my weight to see if I need to scale back on my carbs again. As mentioned previously I want to hit sub 88.0kg by 16/04 which will then allow me to get down to sub 86.0kg by the end of April..
05:30 In addition to the above I have found that my sleeping pattern has been somewhat haphazard. I'm experiencing tiredness mixed with a buzz that you get from hard training and this means that I'm not getting that deep, peaceful and refreshing sleep. The only time that I manage to get this is when I come back from the gym and immediately jump into bed and have a snooze of about 90 minutes at around 11:00 - 12:30. I think that I'll start listening to my Hemi Sync recordings again as these have worked wonders in the past and have been fantastic for getting me into that deep sleep mode.
Trained back and abs this morning. On my warm-down on the Concept II rower I timed myself over 1000M on level 10. I probably rowed at about 65% effort and clocked a time of 4:36. I had previously spoke to a rower there who mentioned that anything under 8 minutes for 2000M was OK (I'll check this the next time that I see him).
05:30: tuna & 1 slice of toast 11:00: tuna & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 15:00: boiled chicken & 1 boiled egg 18:45: tuna & 1 egg white & broccoli & 1 slice of toast 23:00: bowl of porridge and cereal and 1 banana
I felt so tired in the evening that I hit the sack at around 20:00. I probably overdone the carbs in the evening and overnight so I'll check my weight again after the gym tomorrow.
09/04
Morning routine: quads & hamstrings - 20
minutes bike / 4 * hack squats (max 80kg) / 6 * leg extensions / 6 *
hamstring curls / 15 minutes bike with 4 sprints / 15 minutes sauna
06:15 Struggled out of bed this morning and thought about having a day off but felt OK once I got going. I succumbed to a bowl of cereal in the early hours so now I have to work a bit harder and be a bit more strict on my diet in order to continue my progress.
Had a great leg workout and then popped to Asda for more chicken and broccoli.
03:00: 8 tablespoons of porridge 11:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 15:00: tuna & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 18:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg & 1 slice of toast 21:00: big bowl of porridge and friji milkshake and chunky kit-kat
I think that I might blitz my arms over the next week and just concentrate on biceps, triceps, forearms, calves and abs along with a super strict diet and cut out all the carbs again. I can combine this with light cardio such as rowing, boxing and cycling. I also think that time in the sauna really counts towards my cardio as it keeps my heart rate elevated. That should get me do down below 88.0kg by the 16/04 then I'll post some updated pics.
05:45 I ate some shite last night. I've been working hard and my weight is down so I let myself go for a few hours and munched some crap, including 2 Friji milkshakes and 2 chunky kit-kats. However, as mentioned above I'm now going to go ultra strict for the next few days, up the cardio and blast arms, calves and abs.
02:00: friji milkshake and chunky kit-kat 06:00: tuna & 1 slice of toast 10:30: small portion of tuna & 1 slice of toast 14:30: small portion of tuna & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 18:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & broccoli 23:00: 8 tablespoons porridge
I'd love to be able to do a planche, but my wrists are very skinny, so I've started doing some exercises to improve my wrist flexibility and strength. These exercises also target the triceps, so I'll be doing some more of these this morning in the gym.
I ordered 6kg of whey protein yesterday, so that should ensure that I get take in protein every 3 hours and alleviate the boredom of chicken and tuna! I really need to be eating six meals per day in order to consume the 180g+ of protein that is recommended.
I've got 4 days to get to my next mark which is sub 88.0kg so I need to keep strict on my diet and avoid the Friji that is sitting in the fridge and the chunky Kit Kats in the cupboard! It's definitely a good test of self control.
I busted my bollox in the gym this morning yet when I jumped on the scales I had actually gained weight! Fuck .... I'll have to eat even less and train even more!
03:00: 8 tablespoons porridge 10:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 13:45: tuna & 1 slice of toast 17:15: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 21:00: tuna & 1 slice of toast
06:00: tuna & broccoli & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 09:45: boiled chicken & broccoli & 1 egg white 15:05: 1/2 normal portion of tuna & 1 egg white 21:00: tuna & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 23:00: bowl of porridge & cereal
So finally hit 88.0kg! I'll purposely keep my food intake to a bare minimum today so that I can shave a bit more off before the 16/04 and give myself 2 further weeks to lose 2kg and therefore hit sub 86.0kg by the end of April.
Don't you just love it when you're on a really strict diet and some fucker in a house nearby decides to crank-up the barbecue and start cooking delicious smelling burgers/sausages/steaks and God knows what else. What an inconsiderate BASTARD!!
14/04
Woke up this morning and my body felt shattered so I decided to have a lay in bed and skip the gym for today. I actually rolled out of bed at about 09:30 so definitely needed that extra sleep!
I couldn't help but launch into a bowl of porridge and cereal last night. I was tired and my willpower had been eroded and boy it tasted lovely. Luckily my protein arrived this morning so I slurped that down then headed to Asda for some more tuna, chicken, soy milk substitute and greens.
06:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 09:30: protein shake 12:30: tuna & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 15:15: protein shake & 2 scoops porridge 18:00: 4 pints of Carling 22:00: tuna & 1 slice of toast & some chips
I went out this evening with my wife, eldest son and his girlfriend (who is very nice indeed). I was a bit worried that I might be well pissed after one pint, but I indulged in four and felt remarkably fine. I did take the precaution of drinking Carling instead of Stella so that might have helped. I do like Stella Artois, but ten pints can cause some alarming side effects ....
I stretched the vocal cords on the karaoke and had an enjoyable evening. On the way home I was all set for a kebab and I was literally a few yards from the kebab house and then my willpower kicked-in and I decided to refrain (self-control or what eh?). Instead I went home and had some tuna fish, albeit with a few of the wife's chips.
I felt absolutely fucked in the gym this morning. I just had no power and I ended up just going through the motions using tiny weights. The missus and my eldest son are both under the weather so maybe I'm fighting the start of a bug? I'm going to have to make another good push in the next two weeks in order to drop another 2kg and get to sub 86.0kg by 01/05.
01:00: big bowl of porridge & cereal 06:30: protein shake 09:15: protein shake 12:30: tuna & 1 egg 17:30: tuna & cabbage & leeks 20:30: protein shake & 1 scoop of porridge
I timed myself again on the rower over 1000M and strangely clocked the exact same time as what I did on 08/04 which was 4:36. I was rowing at about the same effort so next time I'll push a bit harder and aim for sub 4:20 and maybe get down to somewhere nearer 4:00 by the end of April?
Weighed myself after the gym and didn't know what to expect so felt great when the scales showed sub 88.0kg!
02:00: protein shake 07:00: protein shake & 1 scoop porridge 10:15: tuna & 1 egg white (and honestly that tasted fucking fantastic!) 14:00: small portion of tuna & 1 egg white (springwater version tastes like shite) & protein shake 17:45: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 22:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white
My weight had increased slightly this morning so now I know that I have to get back to a zero carb diet for the next 2 weeks and also monitor my intake of protein shake as it's easy to guzzle too much! I'll probably take it with water instead of soy milk in order to further lower the calorie intake. I will also have to avoid getting up during the night and heading straight for the protein powder.
03:00: protein shake & 2 scoops of porridge 07:00: protein shake 10:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 14:00: tuna & 1 egg white 17:30: protein shake
Morning routine: back - 20 minutes rowing / 6 * wide grip chins / 4* reverse grip chins / 4 * bent over rows / 4 * lat pull down / 4 * reverse grip pull downs / 10 minutes rowing / 30 minutes sauna
Evening routine: 40 minutes spinning bike
06:00 The alarm went at 06:00 and I jumped out of bed like a coiled spring. I'm going to make sure that I get up before sunrise every single day this month. I did well in March and probably only overslept maybe 5 or 6 days, but for early April the alarm is set for 06:00 on the dot. Halfway through the month it will move to 05:30!!
I have performed this training/diet regime in previous years and have been down to around 88kg in the a couple of times in the last 5 years. Unfortunately this always seems to co-incide with the start of Summer and the start of the professional beer drinking season. This has previously meant that I then proceed to drink myself silly throughout the Summer and end up back at 100kg by Xmas. However this year a few things have changed:
it's not quite Summer yet so I feel less inclined to go out on the piss
I'm more focussed on getting ripped this year and hitting that elusive sub 85kg mark
the last of my local boozers closed last year so my options for drinking locally have been severely diminished, plus the fact that the remaining pubs are shite-holes
I want to get super fit for my usual cycling/beer drinking trips down on the coast
I'm getting to that age where keeping myself in shape gets more and more important every year
I've always enjoyed training and going to the gym, so that part of the program is quite easy for me. The gym that I joined is fairly basic but has all of the necessary equipment and weights etc and also has the added advantage of being relatively cheap, local, having a good heavy bag and a sauna. So in April I'm going to make the most of it and make sure that I do the following:
train at least 5 days per week in the gym: I tend to warm-up on the heavy bag for at least 30 minutes and this gives a great cardio and shoulder workout without having to always do leg based work such as running or cycling. It's also a great stress reliever and I love punching stuff!
increase the cardio: I'll finish each session with around 15 minutes of cardio at a very low intensity to burn some extra calories and to act as a warm-down.
stretching: I have only just started to incorporate stretching into my routine. Way back in the day I did a bit of Kyokushinkai karate and was quite flexible so I need to get stretching again.
My diet was pretty good in March. I cut out biscuits, cakes, fatty foods such as egg/bacon/sausages/burgers/kebabs etc. I also dropped my carb intake and hardly touched bread or cereal. In April I'm going to go super strict and pretty much follow a pre-contest bodybuilders diet. This means:
almost zero carbs: no bread, no cereals, no sugar. My main weakness in this area is that I often wake-up in the middle of the night craving carbs. This is usually followed by a trip to the kitchen and a bowl of cereal ... well no more!
protein: my main sources of protein have been boiled chicken, tuna and egg whites. Now I normally eat tuna in oil which has a relatively high fat content, in fact over 10%, whereas tuna in spring water has less than 1% fat. Tuna in oil also has twice as many calories. Now I munch through quite a few cans of tuna every week so I'm going to substitute tuna in spring water for tuna in oil, although to be honest tuna in spring water tastes fucking horrible!
I do like a cup of tea every now and then, but this means that my milk intake can be quite high. I really like soya so I have switched to soya light which is 22 calories per 100 ml as opposed to 65 calories per 100 ml for milk.
Morning routine: quads - 20 minutes bike / hack squats (max 70kg) / lunges / leg extensions / 10 minutes bike / 20 minutes sauna
Evening routine: 30 minutes spinning bike
06:25 Both the diet and training were spot-on yesterday. I just need more of the same for the next 29 days!
I woke up at 03:00 and took the opportunity to dig into some tuna and broccoli before going back to bed ... oh yummy!
OK, let's get some insspirational videos stacked up for this month ...
Hit the gym at 08:00 and did a 20 minute warm-up on the bike followed by hack squats (maximum weight now 70kg), 4 sets of lunges and then a few sets of leg extensions to failure. Then warmed-down with 10 minutes on the bike followed by 20 minutes in and out of the sauna .... and I felt fucked!!
06:05. Had a great night's sleep. My biceps were aching from my back workout 01/03 so hit the gym and concentrated on chest, triceps and calves. Had a good workout, came home, ate and then had a great hour or so sleep.
06:15: boiled chicken & 1 egg white (try eating that shit at 06:15 = yuk!) 11:00: tuna & 1 egg white 14:15: tuna & peppers/chillis/onions/tomatoes (tastes like crap and starting to test my resolve) 17:45: boiled chicken and a few small pieces of potato
I just really do fancy a 1/2lb flame grilled juicy burger with lots of bacon, cheese and burger sauce.
04/04
Morning routine: hamstrings and abs -
20 minutes rowing / bent over hamstring raises / 5 sets
of lying hamstring curls / 4 * hanging leg raises / 4 * crunches / 4 * leg raises / 4 *
planks / 30 minutes sauna
Evening routine: 25 minutes spinning bike
06:02 It's nice to be able to roll out of bed and get the garden door open and enjoy the fresh air. OK, it's not a perfect morning weather or even smog-wise, but it's still nice and relaxing. Getting up this early also means that I can prepare my food (chicken is boiling) and get my gym stuff ready.
I did wake-up at around 02:30 and felt hungry, so had some tuna and even a slice if bread (as you do) but then had some of those weird dreams that you tend to have if you eat just before you sleep. Unfortunately none involved fit young woman prancing about without any clothes on ....
Hit the gym again this morning and trained hamstrings and abs. Finished with a go in the sauna, came home, ate and had a 90 minutes kip.
02:45: tuna & 1 slice of bread 10:45: boiled chicken & 1 egg white 13:00: tuna & 1 egg white 17:00: tuna & 1 egg white 23:00: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast
My willpower with regards to my diet is now really being tested. My daughter is currently frying some chips and all that I can think about is kebabs and burgers .... arrrgghhhh!!
05:50 Sprang out of bed forgetting that I had reset my alarm for 05:45 ouch! I was in the gym by 07:20 and had a good back workout even though my energy levels were super low.
Journeyed down to my local Asda and bought myself some porridge and bananas which I think I'll take in a small quantities before my workouts. I also purchased 8 donuts, unfortunately not for me but for my grandkids who unsurprisingly love them! Other goodies that made their way into my trolley were Mars bars and chunky Kit Kats .... all for my youngest son who moves scaffolding around all day, so he needs the extra energy.
Now I would have weighed myself but my scales decided to completely fuck up. One minute I was around 89kg and then 2 seconds later I ws 87kg! Now I really wanted to know how much I weighed, and all this bollocking about started to fuck me off. I tried jumping up and down on them but this only made things worse. There was only one option left ... I took them out to my garden and beat the shit out of them with my sledgehammer and then threw the mangled remains in the bin. The missus seems to think that I have some sort of anger management issue? Suppose I'll have to pop down to Argos tomorrow and get some new ones!
06:00: tuna & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 11:30: boiled chicken & broccoli & 1 egg white 14:30: boiled chicken & broccoli 18:30: tuna & boiled cabbage & leeks yummy 21:30: boiled chicken & 1 egg white
I think that I need to get some low fat/low carb protein powder so that I can take on protein every 3 hours without having to force chicken and tuna down my throat at every meal time.
06/04
89.8kg
Morning routine: quads -
20 minutes bike / 4 * lunges / 6 * leg extensions / 4 *
25 bodyweight squats / 10 minutes bike /
15 minutes sauna
Evening routine: 50 minutes spinning bike
06:05 Felt pretty knackered this morning. Trained quads and there was no-one else in the gym!
Shot down to Argos to get my scales, got home and wieghed-in at 89.8kg, so finally under 90kg hurray!! Apparently the scales can also measure body fat percantage so I'll give that a go once I work out how to do it.
03:00: 8 tablespoons of porridge & 1/2 banana & 1/2 ring donut! 06:15: boiled chicken & 1 egg white & 1 slice of toast 07:15: 1/2 banana 10:00: tuna & boiled cabbage & leeks 13:00: boiled chicken & 3 egg whites & 1 slice of toast 16:45: tuna & 1/3 jacket potato 20:15: tuna & 1 slice of toast 21:00: 8 tablespoons of porridge & 1/2 banana
06:00 In terms of my diet I think that this is where it will start to get hard. I've let a few carbs creep back into my food intake over the last few days, but now I need to make a push over the next week or so to get down to sub 88.0kg as the last time that I was that low was over 15 years ago.
I purposely don't check my physique in the mirror every time that I go to the gym or bathroom as I think that it's harder to spot the gains. I always wear sweatpants and a sweat top while training (that's until I get ripped) and the last time that I checked my physique was last possibly last Tuesday. So I'll take a look after training today and see if I can afford to tighten-up my diet a little in terms of portion sizes. I'll also do my BMI and fat content on my new scales and maybe take a couple of update pics.
11:00 Just back from the gym and I think that my physique has definitely improved over the last week.
I jumped on my new scales and weighed-in at 89.1kg but I was shocked to see that my body fat was reading 28%. Now that seems well high as I'm getting fairly defined in the abs. I suppose that I will have to monitor this reading and even if it is incorrect at least it's a starting point and I'll obviously be looking to decrease this figure over the coming weeks. I'll also stick to my current diet as the weight seems to be coming off nicely, so I'll be looking to hit sub 88.0kg by 16/04.
