Mark's Mission

Well,

Start of with a bit about me I guess

I am 23 have done various sports over the years  including Athletics when I was a kid and have done Taekwon-do for 12 years for fun/fitness and self defense.

I am a Chef, so my hours are sometimes ****, but means I can cook and eat on job sometimes :) which I am hoping will help with my diet planning!

I have always struggled with fat, when I started catering college I manged to get up to 14.9stone... people around me were telling me "you're not fat" or "its all muscle" I didnt beleive them and rightfully so.
I have always been conscious of how I look and it stops me from doing things I like, Dating, swimming, being confident, I am sure some of you can relate to this.

I decided to lose some fat by joining a gym a couple of years ago, I didnt know how important nutrition is until recently, I am now keen to get in shape and prove some people wrong and more importantly prove to myself I can  and will acheive what I set out to do, I normally do with everything else and I WILL achieve the physic I am looking for, one day!!


I am not unfit, but I dont look "fit" so starting from tomorrow I will be posting by training and my diet, for my own reflection and for critique, be harsh I dont care it will spur me on.

will be posting some pics soon!!

some of my pictures taken back in april 2009 . I weighed around 11.5 stone here






I still think I might have gyno, despite being abit overweight....anyone ideas on bodyfat i these pics? I will post up some new pics soon, but look similar o these with a little more muscle imo

Photos of me, taken Just now 14th July 2009








So since april to july those are my pics, havent changed as much as I would have liked! But only started a diet recently, time will tell!

I hope i can look back on these pictures one day and be happy, as I am far from happy at the moment

Lesson today with trainer

Deadlifts, followed by 200 Meter sprint on rower
went like this

Deadlifts
100kg - 5 Reps
200 Meters rower

Then repeat 4 times, I am still new to deadlifting, was pretty happy with 100kg as its about the 5th time of doing them, and my back was still aching from the last workout I did, plan to up the weight though, but want my form to be exact!


Power Cleans
Today was really a form session, not about the weights... I have never done power cleans but told they are a great exercise, so was doing about 15kg, nothing I know, but as mentioned was a form session not weight based

Cable Chest Press and Leg raises
This is going to be part of a circuit style session, starting soon the leg raises are when you grab the bar and bring the knees to the chest, not as in laying on he floor lifting legs, though still abs excercise i guess

10kg - 20 reps
5 Leg Raises

15kg - 15 reps
5 Leg raises

20kg - 8 reps
5 leg raises

25kg - 4 reps
5 leg raises

This was mainly so I know what to expect in a circuit rotuine, there will normally be no rest between sets.

Hammer Curls, Bicep Curls

Working on some Hammer Curls today, taught my something I didnt know that hammer curls did for the biceps that regular bicep curls dont, went like this with no rest bweteen hammer curls and biecp curls

Hammer Curls - 10kg x 10
Bicep Curls - 20kg x 10

Hammer Curls - 15kg x 10
Bicep Curls - 20kg x 10

Hammer Curls - 15kg x 10
Bicep Curls - 20kg - failure, with assisted negative reps at the end.

I was tired at the end of it, and wasnt a bad session.... with another rest day I know I can lift more, but then did some new things today so wanted form to be right before lifting heavier.

Diet will be posted later

Diet today:

11:00
25g whey, 5g creatine in juice
3 eggs, 2 pieces granary bread, olive oil spread
1 Omega 3 cap

12-1:00 Train

Postworkout Shake
50g Whey, 1 Banana in water

1:45
1 Small Jacket potato
1/2 Tin Tuna, sweetcorn
Mixed veg - carrots, peas


4:00
2 Oatcakes, 1/2 chicken breat, natural yogurt
1 Apple

6:00 Beef stir fry

9:00 25g whey, 200mls skimmed milk

Prebed, 125g quark.

I ahve to admit, I have 3 quality streets today :(

well today, here goes

Felt knackered all day today, which for some reason is not unusual! Was really tempted to have a rest day but, went along for some cardio and isolation excercises including

Treadmill
15 Mins 9-10km/h
15 Mins - Crosstrainer, says burnt 165 calories, but who knows

Was pretty hot and tired after that, but went on to do a few isolation excercises

Hammer Curls
Abductors, inside/outside
Ab Crunches/Machine

All in all was in gym for  an hour today, was going to be a rest day but felt I should go, also did a fair bit of cycling, from home to work/gym and back again... a fair few miles clocked up by that alone.


Diet Today, - not as planned but still not terrbile

8:00ish
35g Oats, skimmed millk
Blueberries
25g Whey, 5g Creatine, 1 Omega 3 capsule
200mls Orange Juice
200mls Grapefruit Juice


11:00
Egg Sandwhich
(Egg Mixed with greek yogurt, 2 slices granary bread, mixed leaves)

3:00
2 Eggs, 1 slice wholemeal bread
I dont normally repeat meals, but was in a hurry, lots of eggs today, but think should be ok?

Gym

5:00
I chicken breast
 mixed veg (carrots, peas, sweetcorn, g beans)
Poached Egg
1 Apple

11:00
125g quark - Prebed, with blueberries

I have a small slice of a banana cake, my sister made for me, as I got a promotion at work today, it wasnt nice :) so I dont need to worry bout the caloires in that anymore lol

hi mark! your really not as bad as you probably think but I of course understand it doesnt matter what I or anyone else thinks its what you think! Its difficult to comment on your routine yet as its not had chance to all be on here do you use the personal trainer every session? diet looks ok how often are you planning to do cardio and can you write down your workout plan down
i.e. monday chest, tris
      tuesday legs   etc etc

Hi mate

Thanks for looking and the comment, I understand what you mean and I have thinned out alot of the years, but I know what I want to to look like and I am one of those people, never happy until I have acheived

I am using my trainer once a week, I mainly got a trainer to help with rotuines, and show me compounds lifts, i.e squats, deadlifts, supersets etc all of which I knew nothing about until recently!

Cardio wise, I was told not to orry too much, as my lessons were quite intense with short rest periods.... but I am now adding in some cardio hope to do cardio of 3 sesssions X 30mins a week, plus my cylcing to work/gym etc.

My routine is set to change, but at the moment looks like this

Day 1
Bench Press
 
Chin ups
 
Cable x over
 
Seated Row
 
Bosu Pressup
 
Bent Over Rows
 

Day 2
Deadlifts
 
Mil Shoulder Press
Leg Ext
 
Cable Shoulder Press
D.B Flyes
Rev Crunch
Plank
Rope Crunches

Day 3
Incline Bench Press
Bent Over Rows
Pec Deck
Seated Row (wide grip)
Rope Curls (Bicep)
Laying Tricep Ext

Day 4
Squats
 
Power Cleans
 
Hamstring Curls
4 Point Press (D.B Shoulder)
Cable Rotation
D.B Crunch


Well was at gym today doing the rotuine listed above Day 1

Bench Press

Currently bench pressing:
50kg X 10 Reps X 4 sets

Cable cross over, cable chest press and then bosu pressups, these are done in this order and then completed 4 sets, so like a circuit/superset.
Once I am on the final set, I do pushups to failure....I can definately feel my chest working

Cable Cross Over - 15kg (Total Weight) x 12 reps
Cable Chest Press - 15kg (Total Weight) X 10 Reps
Bosu Pressups - 10 Pressups

Seated Row
Seated row 35kg X 10 reps x 4 sets, will try 40 next time, sure I can do it

Bent Over row
20kg X 10 reps X 4 sets

Weght not very high on Bent over row, I can lift more but I can feel it working top of my back/shoulders, so not sure whether I need to lift heavier or not really?

Cardio
15mins Treadmill - 9.5-10km/h
15 Mins Cross Trainer - Level 12

Was tired by end of it, definately felt ok for a workout

Diet Today

8:00
Chicken and scrambled Egg - (was going to be an omelette lol)
25g Whey, 5g Creatine
200MLS Orange/Grapefruit Juice

10:00
Turkey with greek yogurt, 2 oatcakes

11:30
Jacket Potato, 1/2 Tin Tuna

2:30
1 Slice Granary bread, sliced smoked salmon

GYM

5:00 - Post workout
25g Whey, 1 Banana

5:30
Egg Sandwhich, mixed leaves  - (2 slices grananry bread, 2 eggs and yogurt)

11:00
1/2 Chicken Breast, cauliflower and asparagus

1:00
125g quark, blueberries

roll on tomorrow

here goes today

Well thankfully today was a rest day, am shattered today for some reason and glad I had a rest.

Woke up at 2pm, so diet was abit weird in terms of timing, but still not bad I dont think, just maybe spaced to close together, shouldnt be a problem though should it?

2:00  30g Oats - skimmed Milk

3:00 40g Pasta, Turkey, Low fat Mayo

4:00 Egg Saniwch (2 eggs, 2 slices granary bread and mixed leaves)

5:15 Baked Haddock, Broccoli, mixed veg (peas, corn, g beans)

7:00 50g Whey, 200mls Skimmed Milk

9:00 Lean Steak (Benefit of being a chef that cooks meat and fish all night :)

Also, had a weight watchers chocolate bar, not that terrible, but not ideal I know

Hopefully diet no looking to bad so far? I struggle the most with diets rather than training!

Legs at gym tomorrow!

Diet looks good mate, better than mine keep it up!

cheers mate, been looking at your journal a few times mate...looking pretty muscular for your age :) and lean too

Here goes today

Bloody busy day at work, shot to gym for an hour in break then got back to work to feed 120 people :( bloody knackered now!

Training today:

Squats - 80kg x 10 reps X 4 Sets -
I know you should normally use higher weights with lower reps, but I still am new to these and want my for exact, still felt good workout though, so fairl happy

Leg Extentions - 65kg x 10 reps x 4 sets

Leg Curls - 35kg x 10 reps x 4 sets
Used they machine where you lay down and bring the legs up, working the hamstrings, not a machine I normally used but seemed to work more with less wight than the seated leg curl

Leg Press  - Varied the weight on these
70kg x 10 reps x 1 set
80kg x 10 reps x 1 set
90kg x 10 sets x 2 sets
Next time will use a higher weight to start with I think, thats it for today only had 1 hour but still not a bad session I think, my legs are still aching

Diet Today

8:00 - 2 Weetbix with Skimmed milk

10:00 2 Oatcakes, turkey, light mayonnaise

12:00 Tuna omlette (1/2 tin tuna, 3 eggs, raw cabbage, 20g goats cheese)

2:30 PREWORKOUT - 40g whole grain Pasta, turkey, light mayo

5:00 POSTWORKOUT - 50g Whey, 25g Dextrose

5:30 Egg Sandwhich (Granary bread, light mayonnaise)

1:00am (Late finish at work tonight!) - Stir fried beef, with veg

Have to say, had 2 slices of serrano ham and a small slice of banana loaf :( but overall hoping diet is somewhere near on track.

Paying off my mortgage so options are limited until new tenants are in, whenever that will be!

well, no gym today... legs are aching alot from yesterday, work up at 2pm! and started work at 3, gm tomorrow

Diet today, not as planned and meal timings not ideal I guess but here goes

2:00
2 weetbix, skimmed milk
25g Whey
5g Creatine

3:30
Oat and seed muffin (not the sweet kind ;) )
Smoked Salmon
2 Poached eggs
Very similar to eggs benedict without the hollandaise lol

5:00
Omlette Comtaining:
2 Eggs
Red onions, peppers, tomato, goats cheese, beef, peas, broad beans... was lovely
Mixed Leaves
300mls Grapefruit Juice
1 light strawberry Yogurt

7:00 50g Whey, 200mls Skimmed Milk

11:00 Roast dinner containing
Pork (not ideal I know, but is a cheat meal really)
Cabbage, Broc, Cauliflower
1/2 Yorkshire Pudding
5 Small roast potatoes

So sundays are my cheat day, with the roast dinner....

Also had a slice of beef and 1 chocolate truffle....... trying to ween out the small bits that add up throughout the day!!!

Here goes today

Gym workout today:

Bench Press
55kg x 2 sets x 10 reps
50 kg x 2 sets x 10 reps

Pec Dec
55kg x 4 sets x 10 reps

Seated Row/Pulley
40kg x 4  sets x 10 reps

Hammer Curls
15kg x 10 reps x 10 sets
Laying Tricep Extentions
8kg x4 sets x 10 reps - will be adding more weight to these!!

Tricep Pulldowns
20kg x 1 set x 20 reps
17.5ks x 1 set x 20 reps
15kg x 1 set x 20 reps
12.5 x 1 set x 20 reps....... was very hard work, arms were shaking a while after it lol

Legs are still aching today, lol look like a cripple at times ha ha

Diet Today

9:00 3 Eggs, 1 slice granary bread

11:30 Stir fried lean beef, veg
             Light Strawberry yoghurt
              300mls grapefruit/orange juice

2:00 1 Slice Granary bread - 1/2 tin tuna

GYM

Postworkout
50 g whey, 1 Banana shake

5:00 Haddock,5 new potatoes, broccoli and mixed veg
         3 slices baguette, tomato kecthup - should have skipped the baguette???

7:30 50g whey, 30g oats and semi skimmed milk

Thats it for today.... hoping I am on the right lines.... though I seem to get better looking pumps at the gym, I dont seem to be losing fat :(

Today

Gym

Cable Shoulder Press - 10kg x 10 reps x 4 sets and straight away followed by
Dumbell Flyes - 8kg x 10reps x 4 sets

Seated Shoulder Press (Dumbells) - 20kg x 10 reps x 4 sets
( I can lift more than this, but I cant get the initial lift into position before starting lol )

Military Press 20kg x 10 reps x 4 sets
(Will add some more eight next time, just like to know my form is good, which it seemed to be)

Ab Crunches - 25kg x 10 reps x 4 sets

Cable Rotations - 10kg x 10 reps x 4 sets

Cardio
Treadmill - 9.5km/h for 15 mins
Cross Trainer - 10 Mins

How are things looking? Should I consider different rep ranges ETC?

My next weight session will be with my trainer.

Diet Today
25g Whey, 5g creatine

9:00 2 Eggs, Smoked Salmon 1 piece granary toast

11:00 Jacket Potato, Tuna Mayo, Mixed leaves and 1 apple
              200mls, Grapefruit and orange juice

2:00 Egg Sandwhich - 1 peice of granary bread, 1-2 eggs

GYM

Post workout
50g Whey, and 1 banana

5:30 Baked Cod, mixed veg with brocolli and 2 slices white baguette, tomato ketchup

11:00 stir fried turkey, veg

Also had 2 small chocolates and 1/2 a chicken breast in the day.

So things looking ok so far? I need to stop the little chocs here and there I know!

reps are fine mate, everyone reacts better to a certain amount of reps etc but being as your still relatively new to all this I would stick at about 10reps once you start dropping the reps and you begin wanting to lift heavier and heavier your form can suffer.
on your previous comment on Bent over Rows I would recommend having a look on youtube and seeing how its done, I recently found out I had been doing it wrong and can now already lift nearly 10kgs more, I wasnt keeping my elbows close to body and was also lifting it to high up my torso just a thought!
do you do your 4days of your routine over a one week period? or is it just a rolling 4day split? only reason I ask is that theres a fair few body parts getting worked more than once in a week and you could findyourself working a muscle that is still recovering from the last time it was used. ie dayone uses bench press for chest and then on day 3 your doing more chest work, it could be counter productive

not trying to be critical! just trying to help! I must complement you on your diet though! (apart from the 2pm breakfast!) 

Appreciate the feedback, cheers!

Ok will bear that in mind, 10 reps for now it is then... It was my trainer that showed me the bent over rows initilly so I think my form is ok, though will take your advice and youtube just in case...

I know what you mean regarding the workout/recovery... i do the 4 days over the week, an usually try to do chest one day and then If I need to do chest again I will take a rest day/do different body part the day before, make sense? Generally speaking I dont suffer to much with resting periods in muscles. I will take your advce on board though, and i think my rotuine is set to change soon

Thanks for the feedback on the diet, I know this is the most important area and one I find a struglle, esp working with food all day lol

Out of interest does it matter if you wake up late an eat late? I know its not ideal, but does your body react to it? I.e oday I woke up late, because its my first day off in 8 days, and only recently had breakfast, as long as its healthy and timed reasonably ok, is there a problem?

cheers again! Apprecaite anyones feedback

I get up at varying times due to no school etc and i eat whenever i wake up. The main thing i aim for its adequate carbs before workout and protein and carbs after. Listen to your body mate.

Makes perfect sense cheers mate.... bty how long you been trainin for? Just curious thats all

Hi... have you set yourself a specific target? bf% and target weight?

Hi Flanders

You know what.... I dont even know my current body fat, any guesses appreciated by anyone... weight itself isnt important to me, how I look is.

I am training and eating well at the moment, but my goals are a little confusing.... I want to be leaner, but have more muscle... at the moment my trainer said not worry about cutting or bulking just training hard and eating properly, and taking is a step at a time.