Louise's Journal towards the IFBB World Championships - Italy 2009

Yesterday I trained back and did some extra tricep training.

I have good width to my back, so i'm mostly now working on my inner back right now. Some work on the pulley rows etc.. In the morning I went for a jog.. This isn't something I normally do but I just wanted to clear my head. Really enjoyed it so that was my cardio done.

I ended up spending a very long time in the gym yesterday... but that was more about watching my partner and the big lads training legs. It was pretty horrendous to watch lol.

I just want to thank Kimberley, Mark and a couple of others (I know you are reading this) for putting me back on track.. the last few days have been difficult but I appreciate you all no end. XX

I have attached two pictures of my changes over the last 3 weeks.. Hopefully you can see the difference! Helps that I have the same training stuff on so you can see a bit better - well I hope anyway. Think my abs and shoulders are coming through.
 
Lou x

Ypu can def see you have dropped bodyfat hun, your abs are alot more out in the 2nd pic, cant see shoulders coz of hair, but they are looking really good in the 2nd photo!!  Its good you have great support as some days are so hard and with the encouragment of close people around it really helps.. keep doing what you doing hun x

Thank you Carly.. It has been hard lately. Diet doesn't bother me at all (i'm weird like that lol, but I do miss muller rice!).. Just other things. I won't go on too much x


I forgot to mention in my post that yesterday that I actually had my first bout since last year of hypoglycemia. I find this a really unpleasant experience but I now know when they're coming and how to control them. My dextrose tablets stay in my hand bag ! lol :-) But it certainly wipes me out for a little while.

Lou

I forgot to mention in my post that yesterday that I actually had my first bout since last year of hypoglycemia. I find this a really unpleasant experience but I now know when they're coming and how to control them. My dextrose tablets stay in my hand bag ! lol :-) But it certainly wipes me out for a little while.

Wouldn't it be better to proactively prevent them though, Lou?   I get them, but I also know how to prevent them; now they only happen when I am out and about and haven't planned them.

Aah yes - thats what Mark says too.
It was my own fault to be honest -  I do try and be careful and plan to make sure it won't happen. I have only ever experienced it a few times before, and only when contest dieting. I think it caught me out of the blue! x

Pics look great Lou, all your hard work is paying off hope your issues get sorted and you can go full out again!! good luck.....

Mmm, I always have a bar in my bag for emergencies, but it's usually hubby that'll nudge me to say I'm starting to lose the plot and had I better nibble on something!
xx

I had my dextrose hehe :D They are actually quite tasty when on a diet as well !

Thanks Micky - i'll be ok ;-)

hey lou, definate improvement in the abs in those photos!  really tightening up!

Sorry to hear you have had a rough few days, but good to hear everything is back on track!

I get bad hypos if i dont keep diet right, like james says best to prevent them if you can!  Horrible feeling though, so fingers crossed you dont get it too many times

So no more hypo attacks this week thankfully :-)

This morning I went power walking - although I had a bit of pain in my knee's which aggravated my walk.

This afternoon I have trained bi's and tri's.
My workout went something like this:

• Bodyweight dips - on the dip bar!
• Skull crushers
• Tricep pushdowns
• EZ Bar curls
• Standing bicep curls

All around 4 X 15.. This was a pretty basic work out really.. but my biceps don't require much stimulation. My triceps are a bit weaker, but i've managed to bring them up slightly by doing heavier kick backs in the off season.

I am still doing to do another cardio work out later today, but I may have to stick to cycling as my right knee is sore.

X

Hey :)

Yesterday I trained glutes/hams.. pretty good work out as my glutes are aching a lot today.
My training went something like this:

• Walking lunges (across the gym floor and back 4X)
• Wide stance squats (using just the olympic bar)
• Lying leg curl (around 25kg)
• Single standing leg curl (15kg)

All around 4 X 15..
I normally do more for glutes but I was a bit short on time and needed to fit in my cardio. My cardio was 30 minutes on the stepper/cross trainer.

The piece of cardio kit i've been using is quite impressive - it's a cross trainer although the stepping motion goes so high that it turns into a stepper. Difficult to explain! but it's almost like using a stair master.

Mmm, we have those at DL, although I do prefer the stairmaster, but great.
xx

This one is from Precor hififi! Is that the same? it's pretty good!
I can rarely find stair masters these days.. we did have one at a fitness first I used to train at.. but sadly no more. They are real good tho!

Ack I must admit now, the one thing I really dont like about contest dieting is the amount of water I have to drink! well actually it's not so much the amount of water because I quite like it.. it's the amount I have to constantly go to the toilet lol! I am in and out all day long... it's really quite annoying.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that

L x

No, ours aren't precor, you and your fancy high tech equipment
Our are Lifefitness, standard issue, aparently called a summitt trainer:
Summitt Trainer

When is the Italy show? October? How much wtaer are you drinking from how far out? I tend to avaerage 3L a day normally, 1 of those being taken at gym.
xx

Gosh! that summit trainer looks quite fancy tho lol :)

The Italy show is on 17th-18th October, same weekend as the British Finals.

At the moment I am drinking around 3 litres a day - sometimes more. I always have a bottle of water in my hand to be honest !

Just hammered my legs...... they are killing!!!!!! ack!

9 weeks out!!!!!! Gosh, how exciting...!

Thought I would detail a shoulder work out!
My shoulder training is minimal because they're quite big!
So... during my last workout it went along these lines:
 
Bent over lateral raise
Shoulder press
Lateral raise
Front Raises
All 4X20 2.5kg db.

Today has just been a cardio only day..
I did around 30 minutes of power walking today. Also took my dog for a jog
Actually I did train abs outside in my garden.. I have a freestanding vertical knee raise/chip and dip machine in my garden, so I use it to train my abs. It's a pretty good piece of kit.

It could hardly have been a long walk with Chico lol ;0)

Sounds like things are going well again . Those summit climbers are fabulous, I used one for 20 mins after training my legs last Thursday and I still have DOMS now LOL!!

ElfinTan


It could hardly have been a long walk with Chico lol ;0)

LOL
Chico is faster than me! he pulls me along like he's some sort of blood hound haha ;-)
 
 
Anyway!...
Been sooo busy this week, but training is all going to plan.
 
So far this week i've trained glutes/hams, & back.. all fun work outs.. well actually glutes is harsh - but still needs must lol!
 
At the moment i've increased my calories a little as I am leaning up so quickly. I had my coach & my partner telling me off for not eating enough. Although I do stick to my diet exactly as it is, like I said it's stuck on my fridge and i'm not one to deviate from the plan!! However I didn't think I would come into condition like I have so quick.. So with a slight increase in calories it's keeping me where I am for now, and i'll start making more changes a few weeks down the line.
 
I will be going to see my coach soon as I really like her opinion of how i'm looking, and exactly what needs improving. You know what its like when you're dieting, you start to loose touch of how you're *really* looking..!
 
I'll let you all know how that goes!
 
 
Oh kitty - I just read what you did after leg training - hehe I like your style! that's hard going! x

Sorry for the lack of updates - i've been so busy lately, it's all catching up with me!

Today has been a cardio only day.. I decided to go for a run which I don't normally do when contest training but I really fancied it because of the lovely weather we've had today. I went out for 40 mins.

Later on I did my usual power walk of 20 mins.

Tomorrow i'm training back! can't wait for that work out. It's one of my faves. I'll be mostly working on my middle back, trying to bring out the detail some more.

I decided to take some measurements today so see how i've changed since I started dieting. I do find bodybuilding diets amazing as week by week you can see yourself change!

My weight is now 9.13 stone - although my other scales said 10..
My waist is now 25 inches.

8 weeks to go now!