PANGGG!!!! - London Marathon here i come!

I've decided to start a new journal.  My previous one was interspersed with some on/off training and i had to take some time out due to other things, so i'm effectively starting again. My previous journal can be found here: http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/new-start-june-2008-4-month-progress-pic-added-page-3-m347072.aspx
 
A quick refresh on the progress during my previous journal...
June 2008 - 67.9kg

 
Nov 2008 - 78kg

 
 
During my time off, my weight has been fluctuating between 80-82kg - weighed on morning of 8th February at 80.5kg.  The past couple of weeks i've been reviewing myself, and upped the cals.  Weighed in this morning at 83kg.  According to the Tanita scales, i'm around 21% BF, whilst i accept that these are by no means accurate, using the same scales throughout should give a reasonable indication of direction with regards to the BF%.
 
My goal over the next few months is to increase my body weight to 90kg's, and reduce my BF% to around 17%.  My diet is not perfect, however, i'm comfortable that it's something that i can maintain without working too hard at it, as opposed to a perfect diet that is difficult to keep up.
 
Another thing i note is that i dont drink anywhere near as much water as i should be doing.  Thats something i have never really done either, so i've been making a concerted effort to drink more water, and have been drinking 1.5liters a day whilst at work in an effort to increase my overall water intake.  Its probably still not enough, but its a step in the right direction and a heck of a lot more than i usually take in!
 
I had to sell my power cage/bench etc to make room for a baby.  I have a little more space in the garage now, so i'm waiting for delivery of a pair of squat stands and a 6' bar.  I'm also looking for a bench to go with the stands so i can make the most of the space i have available.  Squat stands should arrive today some day!
 
Planned routine...
I'll be starting out slowly, as i'll be getting back into the swing of thangs, but i dont expect that to take too long.  I'm planning workouts to look a little like this (3x8):
A
Squat
Bench press
Military press
Random Tricep
B
Squat
BO Rows
Shrugs
Random Bicep
 
Although whilst i'm waiting for a bench, it'll be squats, OH press, BO rows, shrugs etc.  I guess thats what i'll do whilst i settle back into it all.
 
So...
3 months
7kg gain
3% BF loss
 
I'll re-assess after 3 months
 

Good luck mate
Hope you have had a shave now aswell

no mate, i keep the fluff to annoy the missus.

if anyone has any good, cheap bench recommendations then im all ears.  Bear in mind that the missus will expect a similar monetary value spent on makeup/flowers/kittens n ****, so price is important

Some benches here:

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/strength-equipment/weight-benches-and-free-weight-systems/adjustable-weight-benches

I know you've said you're on a budget but one thing I wouldn't scrimp on is a good bench, you may save a few quid but you will regret it and soon want to buy a new stronger one. At the end of the day it's your safety so play on that and I'm sure she'll let you spend a bit extra.  Try ebay as well as there's some bargains on there. Good luck with your training.

thx, thats where the squat stands (which still havent arrived) are coming from.

Theres a Bowflex 3.1 on ebay near me at £50 ending shortly, but cant find weight specs online anywhere for it

drinking the target 1.5liters whilst at work has been sooo much easier today, so i reckon the bladder must get used to the quantities and adjust.  Think i'll have another week at that, then increase to 2liters.

Squat stand/barbell still not arrived and i'm assuming it wont now. Maybe tomorrow.

Have eaten a few too many cals at work today too, thanks to a couple of cnp proflapjacks, big yoghurt, decent portion of chicken stir fry with rice and some savoury bits. reckoning on around 1500+cals.   Makes up for a shoddy brekky as i was rushing out the door.

Target cals that i aim for roughly 3000e.d give or take.  I'm not going to get so hung up about the numbers, just keep eating regularly.

diet over the weekend was ****e, but think i kept the overall cals with help from my buddy, Papa Gigi and his BOGOF pizza with delivery.

Squat stands have finally arrived this morning, so iv not had a chance to clear a space for them or set them up yet, although at least it looks like i'll be able to get some squats done this week.  Need to sort some tunes out for the garage.

..

i'm so dissappointed with the sevice from powerhouse fitness.  I've had stuff from them previously with no problems. 

The stands and 6' bar were ordered last monday.  They were despatched on thursday.  The delivery driver delivered yesterday and the missus took in the delivery as i was working late.  But, only the stands were delivered, no bar!

Looking at the Parcel Force labelling, it would appear its parcel 2 of 2, suggesting that 1 of 2 is missing.  I'm going to contact Powerhouse today and see if they can get this sorted, but it looks like it was a parcel force error that hopefully powerhouse can resolve.

If it all goes belly up and powerhouse say its not their issue and they cant get it sorted, i'll definitely be taking my business elsewhere in future.

Browsing the Decathlon website (theres one a couple of tube stops away from where i work), they say that their barbells are 27mm diameter... i'm a bit unsure if that is the same as 'standard' weights, which i always thought were 1".  Anyone know?

I'm also having problems with Powerhouse at the minute, it's a shame as well as last time I dealt with them they were great. They missed 40kg of weights of my order and two weeks later I still haven't seen anything.

As for the barbell it sounds like a standard bar.

bit of further investigating (parcelforce track n trace), and it shows that parcelforce were advised of 2 boxes, they collected 2 boxes, and have delivered 1 box.  Sounds like a p*ss poor bit of delivering and not Powerhouse at fault.

Like you BBC, powerhouse have been brilliant in the past and i have recommended them to friends as well.  I hope they get their act back together/change their courier.  Good luck with getting the weights

So, the mystery of the missing bar has moved along.  I rang Powerhouse last night, it was out of hours so i left a voicemail.  They called me back this morning at 8:55 (they open at 9) and took the various details as per previous journal entry, then said they'd get back to me.  They called again about 20 minutes later - the 2 boxes were collected by Parcelforce but got seperated, Parcelforce have despatched it seperately and it should arrive tomorrow :)  fingers crossed!

BBC

As for the barbell it sounds like a standard bar.

i just went on a trip to Decathlon to check out their gear, and guess what? the barbells/dumbells etc actually ARE 28mm... note to self - dont buy stuff from there cos it wont fit :D
 
shame, cos the prices were pretty decent

diet yesterday was a fail boat.
a ½ portion of Serious mass first thing, followed by cereal and coffee (im up very early, coffee is normal standard procedure), then into work.  a CNP proflapjack, then... FAIL!! one of the guys had just become a dad, so he brought snacks in for the team... i ended up scoffing 4 Krispy kreme donuts, a ccouple of chicken drumsticks, half a bag of doritos, a big handful of pringles, some french bread, which i stuffed with 'chunky chicken tikka' and more doritos, fruit juice, coca cola, and some large chocolate cookies.

then at home, had more cereal, a good portion of chicken in blackbean sauce with rice and another ½ portion of Serious Mass...
 
Barbell STILL hasnt arrived.  Turns out, both packages went from Glasgow to the hub in coventry.  1 was then sent to Chelmsford and delivered to me, the other was sent to romford (instead of chelmsford), held onto for a few days, then sent back to coventry.  It has now arrived at chelmsford and is out for delivery today.  Why Romford couldnt have just done a quick van run to Chelmsford depot is beyond me.

Hurrah!  Barbell arrived, so i chucked some weights on and did some squats!

stupid really... i guess i was just so anticipating being able to use it that i rushed into it with no warm up.  Although the weight wasn't particularly heavy, it was the first time i've done proper squats in a while, and sank them good and deep.  Pretty sure i pulled a muscle on my inside upper right thigh - if theres one thing that i pull or strain, its usually that one, always suffered from it, back from when i was doing my TKD.

The stands i got arent as good as i'd hoped - the feet on them 'come in' to my footing area, and the spotters dont extend beyond these feet.  This means i have to mount up, and step forward away from the stands to avoid the feet, and makes the spotters completely redundant. 

I'm not too sure that they would work particularly well with a plain bench either - i dont really want to shell out 60-100 notes for a plain bench and find that actually, i'd have been better off with a regular benchpress bench that come up so regularly on ebay that they can be picked up for peanuts!
 
One thing i have noted, is that its much harder to find the time to train now we have a baby in the house!  I get home from work, the missus needs to talk for a few hours (one day she'll actually run out of things to talk about), baby needs feeding and putting to bed etc etc.  Its going to be tough and perhaps i need to re-think the timeframe for my goals, i may have been a bit optimistic.

Hi mate, lol at the fail diet yesterday! Oh well it's only one day so I'm sure you're back on track now.
 
Shame about the stuff from Decathalon, good job you checked. So which stands have you ordered? Can you post a link or pic from the website?

£63 from powerhousefitness


unrelated...  desperately looking for a fish tank. 
i have a large tank, with an Oscar - known for their size, intelligence, and ability to eat anything smaller than itself - safe to home with piranha's.  And also some convicts - small fish but with a right nasty temperement. again, safe with piranha's due to their aggression and speed.
the convicts have been battering hell out of the Oscar and the missus texted me earlier to say he's bleeding now, so i need to isolate him for a while...
i have 1 spare small tank that is too small for the Oscar even temporarily, and another tank that has a rainbow crab in, so he cant go in there, so only option is to buy another!

its like a fukn zoo at our house!  rats are on the landing, rabbit is in the kitchen, crab and fish in teh lounge... small tank in babies room for removing baby convicts whilst rehoming them (convicts breed in a matter of days, and regularly).

I know it's not much use telling you now but it would of been better to spend a bit extra and get a proper rack like above. You should however be able to bench press using your stands. As for the fish, no idea!

dcurzon


i have a large tank, with an Oscar

The wench has two of them , one is absolutly huge and the other is abit smaller and a few other fish

Ballbag AKA onefatidiot

dcurzon


i have a large tank, with an Oscar

The wench has two of them , one is absolutly huge and the other is abit smaller and a few other fish

hehehe!  so you would probably be as surprised as i was to find mine getting a right kicking from a 3" fish!  i'm slowly filtering out the female convicts, which should reduce a lot of their aggression and give the O a bit of peace...