Did session 3 last night (Sun 19/9). Chest felt great (1 extra rep in all three work sets), but a bit jaded for the second half (still single extra rep in both back and shoulders - did 1 hour cardio at 3pm, not to mention the cleaning, probably not a good idea on a workout day). Also carrying a slight back strain from squats the other day.

Moved in another belt notch today, but weight is same - shirt feels tighter around the top though.

Rep targets for work sets are 8, 6, 5

Dumbbell Bench Press
--------------------------
Warm-up - 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
32.5x9 (95%)
35x7 (100%)
37.5x6 (100%)

Dumbbell Shrug
------------------
Warm-up - 20x10
32.5x8 (95%)
35x6 (95%)
37.5x5 (100%)

Dumbbell Row (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
35x8 (100%)
37.5x7 (100%)
40x6 (100%)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
-----------------------------
Warm-up 12.5x12, 15x10
20x9 (100%)
22.5x6 (100%)
25x5 (100%)

Ignore your weight mate. If your pants are getting looser but you are the same weight then you have lost fat, added muscle. Just what you want!

Today (20/9) was legs and arms. Still carrying a back strain from squats last week - upped the warm-up somewhat to try to avoid it again. Kept it light on the squats, on 45 sec intervals (great fun, still breathing). Thought I was going to improve on biceps, but fell to pieces at the end (maybe it was the squats...). Tris were good, but picking that last set off the rack is a pain, started arching on the last rep - must find a training partner.

Dumbbell Squats
-------------------
Warm-up - 20x15, 20x15, 20x15
20x20
20x20
20x20

Dumbbell Curl (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up - 12.5x10
17.5x9 (95%)
20x6 (100%)
22.5x4 (100%)

Close Grip Bench Press
--------------------------
Warm-up - 20x10
50x8 (90%)
65x6 (100%)
70x3 (100%)

Couple of days off now while I travel, probably do some cardio.

Cardio last night (22/9) - 70 min fast walk. Abs 3x15.

Lower back tight but not as sore.

Upped the whey to twice a day.

Cardio again tonight (22/9) - 65 min fast walk.

Lower back sore again.

Started journaling nutrition.

Looking forward to upper body tomorrow.

Decided to add nutrition.

Upping the protein gradually, moderate carbs, low fat. More fat to lose, trying to keep the cals down.

Currently losing a bit slower, but have increased the cals to go with the higher intensity workouts. Upped the cardio to try and compensate.

Weight static from last week, but waist still feels smaller. Feel much fitter (carrying less weight, about 18 lbs since beginning Aug).

Whey twice per day, drinking more water.

Multi-vit, b-complex and glucosamine every morning.

Tue 22/9
----------
8am Whey in water, 2 x wholemeal toast with honey
11am 1/2 packet nuts (motorway service stations are sh*te for protein, maybe I should go for milk)
1.30pm Tub cottage cheese, 1/2 bagel
6.30pm Protein drink
8.30 pm CARDIO (70 min)
9.45pm 1/2 packet nuts, 1/2 bagel, whey in water (crap hotel)
5 x tea/coffee throughout the day

Wed 23/9
-----------
8am Tub cottage cheese
9.30am 1/2 bagel
12.45pm Tuna and cheese ciabatta
4pm Tub cottage cheese
9.30pm Whey in water, banana
10pm CARDIO (65 min)
11.15pm Turkey sandwiches (4 x wholemeal bread, portion turkey), tomatoes
5 x tea/coffee throughout the day

Decided to up the carbs a bit on workout days (but not cardio days).

Decision day today, working away all next week so only have until Sun to get the workouts in, which means a max of 3 days rest (and I want to hit everything twice).

Lower back still troubling, so decided to skip legs until next week (always been bigger anyway - I like doing legs so they'll soon be back).

So, may as well do arms with chest/back/shoulders - should be a fun workout. That way I can do the same again on Sun (although I'll decide on the day whether to do my usual routine or a higher rep one).

So for today:

Nutrition:

8:45 Vits, whey in water, 2 x wholemeal toast with honey
11:00 Chicken breast, dash soy, 3 mini tomatoes
1:15 4 large eggs scrambled, 2 x wholemeal toast
4:45 Whey in skimmed milk, 2 x wholemeal toast with honey (extra carbs for the workout)
7:00 UPPER BODY WORKOUT
8:15 Whey in water (30g protein)
8:45 Glass skimmed milk
9:00 2 x homemade steak burgers, rice, dash soy
5 x tea and coffee throughout day

Workout:

Target reps 8, 6, 5. Weights in Kg, per dumbbell.

Dumbbell Bench Press
--------------------------
Warm-up - 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
32.5x10 (95%)
35x7 (100%) failed on 8th
37.5x5 (100%) failed on 6th

Dumbbell Shrug
------------------
Warm-up - 20x10
32.5x9 (95%)
35x7 (95%)
37.5x6 (95%)

Dumbbell Row (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
35x10 (95%)
37.5x7 (95%)
40x7 (100%)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
-----------------------------
Warm-up 12.5x12
20x8 (95%)
22.5x6 (95%)
25x6 (100%)

Dumbbell Curl (alternate)
-----------------------------
17.5x8 (95%)
20x6 (100%)
22.5x4 (100%)

Close Grip Bench Press
--------------------------
50x8 (90%)
65x5 (95%)
70x4 (100%)

Back still tight but not as painful. Doing a bit more cardio warm-up to start with.

Bench - felt good on first set, did 2 extra reps which seemed to weaken the other sets. Will probably try holding the first 2 work sets to 95%, to get max reps out of the last set (heaviest weight). Think I'm learning why people do n x n, probably easier to gauge effort.

Shrug - only started this a couple of weeks ago so didn't push too hard. Starting to push a bit now, weights should start to go up (all 3 sets up in reps).

Row - really felt good, extra reps on all (2 on 2!) - will put weights up next full-on session.

Shoulder press - dropped a warm-up set, plenty warm already! Also kept first 2 sets at target reps, to keep something back for last set. Seemed to work, as got 2 extra reps on max weight (plus a 2/3, nearly got it up but spine felt like it was about to explode....).

Curls - knackered by this point, dropped the warm-up, managed to make same reps as when in legs/arms workout.

Tris - dropped the warm-up, dropped a rep on second to last set, added one on last! Half an inch wider hand position seems more stable. Very last rep was probably the longest rep I've ever performed, seemed like 10 secs to get it up (didn't want to have to roll it down my body, never thought that I could just widen the hands out and bench it (doh - never mind, made me do it though)).

Finally dawned on me today that moving up a set of dumbbells means 2.5Kg extra each side, hence 5Kg extra - quite a bit on lower weights....

Had root canal treatment this afternoon - wonder if the anaesthetic held me back at all....

Really tired this morning, hard to get out of bed. Must start going to bed earlier. Feel a bit bloated too.

Day off all exercise today, think I need to consolidate.

Nutrition:

8:00 Whey in water (24g protein)
8:30 Vits, 2 x wholemeal toast with honey (must get some variety)
12:00 Tuna, 2 x wholemeal bread, light mayo, 4 mini tomatoes (must work out how many carbs in the mayo). 3 cups of tea
2:30 Cup low cal chocolate
4:15 Whey in water (24g protein). Small piece choc fudge (daughter saved it specially for me....)
7:00 Tin kipper fillets, spoon cottage cheese, 3 mini tomatoes
10:15 Tub cottage cheese
6 x tea and coffee throughout day

Decided to leave 1/2 an hour between whey and rest of meal.

Found out today that I don't have to go down South until Tues, so now have an extra day for the next session.

Pick a couple of sets of new dumbbells up tomorrow, looking forward to making use of them next time...

Sat 25/9

Feeling tired again, can't get out of bed. Have to sort it, as it gives me less time to eat.

Nutrition:

10:00 Whey in water (24g protein)
10:30 Vits, Small bowl oat cereal (jesus, look at the sugar for only a 50g helping, have to chuck that out)
12:45 Tuna (with light mayo) & cheese on 2 x wholemeal toast
3:30 Whey in milk (24g protein)
5:15 FAT BURNING
6:30 Whey in water (24g protein)
7:00 3oz cheese
8:30 Chicken, mushrooms
2 x tea, 1 x low cal chocolate throughout day

Exercise:

Fat burning (been catching up on the other threads, apparently what I do is not cardio) - 65 min fast walk.

Picked some new dumbbells up today, wish I'd let them deliver them (but I couldn't wait another week). Realised that my back "strain" is external muscle, not spine related. Decided to move my gym around to accomodate the new sets on the racks ('cause they're sooooooo heavy) - worked out that as I moved all the dumbbells twice, I moved 1650Kg, which must constitute a workout of some kind (back certainly thinks so).

Not had a beer for 8 days.

Sunday morning - good news is that the scales finally seem to be catching up with how I feel, 3lbs down (funny how you quote it in lbs rather than Kg) - bloat and "bung" seem to have gone. That puts me at 217, 21 lbs down on 238. I've decided today is a good day to carb up, and I do have a workout tonight...

Sun 26/9

Great session today, best I've ever had! I think the extra protein is really having an effect, because I'm on reduced carbs...

Nutrition:

Cheat day, or at least lots of carbs.

10:00 Whey in water (24g protein) - still can't get out of bed...
10:30 Vits, 2 x wholemeal toast with peanut butter
1:00 Tuna, light mayo, 2 x wholemeal bread
3:30 Glass grapefruit juice
4:15 Whey in skimmed milk (24g protein), banana
7:30 WORKOUT
8:30 Whey in water (32g protein)
9:15 Breadcrumbed chicken, dip, noodles (large portions!)
Try and sneak another whey last thing.

Workout:

Now that I don't have to go South tomorrow, I decided to split as I was before. As I've increased reps on most work sets over the last week or so, I decided to up weights on most work sets. Kept first two work sets to target reps to save something for last set. Shoulders was the only one I failed on, but then I was being a bit optimistic. Think I'll have to watch them though, as they seem like candidates for overtraining.

Target reps 8, 6, 5. Weights in Kg, per dumbbell.

Dumbbell Bench Press - increased 8 and 5 rep weights by 2.5 Kg
--------------------------
Warm-up - 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
35x8 (95%)
35x6 (90%)
40x5 (100%)

Dumbbell Shrug
------------------
Warm-up - 20x10
35x8 (95%)
37.5x6 (95%)
40x5 (100%)

Dumbbell Row (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
37.5x8 (100%)
40x6 (100%)
42.5x5 (100%)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
-----------------------------
Warm-up 12.5x12
20x8 (95%)
22.5x6 (95%)
27.5x1 - too heavy, 25x5 (100%)

Shoulders felt a bit "strange" during bench, may try doing a warm-up set for them before bench next time.

Also thinking that the third warm-up set for bench and row may be heavier than necessary, thinking about reducing it (more left for the work sets).

Summary - best day I've ever had. Probably need an extra rest day before the next session though.

Mon 27 Sep.

Back is fairly tight after yesterday's session, looks like I'll be missing legs today, which means it's just arms...

Shoulders are a little sore, need to keep an eye on them, may skip them next workout.

Decided to work out what my diet looks like in protein, cals etc.

Nutrition:

8:00 Whey in water (24g protein)
8:30 Vits, 2 x wholemeal toast
11:30 325g cottage cheese
2:30 Chicken breast, dash soy, 5 mini tomatoes, 50mm cucumber (ish)
5:45 Whey in water (23g protein) (apparently strawberry flavour has 1 g less than banana?!?)
7:30 WORKOUT
8:00 Whey in water (31g protein)
8:45 4 large eggs, scrambled with 50g cheese (jesus, look at the fat content)
11:30 Whey in water (23g protein)
5 x tea throughout day (200ml skimmed milk)
100 ml grapefruit juice throughout day

Breakdown of food:

Prot--------Carb-------Fat
24----------1.4--------- 2.2
7.2--------- 27.1--------1.7
36.4--------11.4--------7.2
32----------8------------1.5
23----------2------------1
31----------3------------2
40----------4------------37
23----------2------------1
6.6----------10----------0
0------------8------------0

Totals:

Prot 223
Carb 77
Fat 54
Cals 1683

I guess I need to consider upping the cals a bit, although I have a fairly slow metabolism (OK, think it's stopped) and I do have more fat to lose (hence I want to keep the carbs down to less than 70 if I can). For now I'll up the whey to 31 g each serving, and try and eat a bit more protein.

Workout:

Dumbbell Curl (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up 12.5x12
17.5x8 (95%)
20x6 (95%)
22.5x5 (100%)

Close Grip Bench Press
--------------------------
Warm-up 20x12
50x8 (90%)
65x6 (100%)
70x5 (95%)

Curls - finally managed to get 5 on the last set, after a couple of seconds pause before the last rep (and maybe a tiny cheat).

Tris - also managed to do full reps on last 2 sets.

Overall, workout was short, and didn't feel too strenuous, but I made the reps. Maybe my arms are finally getting stronger.

Next couple of days will be fast walks for fat loss.

Tue 28/9

Non-weights day today.

Nutrition:

7:30 Whey in water (31g protein)
8:00 Vits, 2 x wholemeal toast
11:00 250g cottage cheese
2:00 120g turkey, 2 potato farls, 4 small tomatoes
5:00 Whey in water (31g protein)
8:30 Whey in water (31g protein)
9:00 FAT BURNING (65 min fast walk)
10:15 120g turkey, 1 potato farls, 4 small tomatoes
5 x coffee throughout day (semi-skimmed milk)

Exercise:

65 min fast walk (need to change the route, I pass at lease 20 kebab/fish/curry/pizza shops).

Think I'm starting to look smaller, but the waist is still coming down so I'll stick to it for a while longer yet. I was hoping there was a 196 pounder underneath, but it's looking more like a 182....

Nearly forgot - abs 3x15

Wed 29/9

Non-weights day again.

Nutrition:

7:00 Whey in water (31g protein)
7:15 2 x wholemeal toast with honey
8:15 Vits
10:30 Whey in water (31g protein)
1:00 120g chicken, 2 potato farls, 4 small tomatoes
4:15 Whey in water (31g protein)
8:30 Whey in water (31g protein)
9:00 FAT BURNING (65 min fast walk)
10:15 120g chicken, 1 potato farl, 4 small tomatoes
5 x tea & coffee throughout day (semi-skimmed milk)

Exercise:

65 min fast walk.

Feeling fairly flat, going to up carbs a bit for weights day tomorrow.

Thu 30/9

Been really looking forward to this session. Unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations. I meant to have extra carbs today, but unintentionally had less (so I made up for it after the workout). I'm blaming the poor session on that, although I did go straight in after a four hour drive. I also don't think my shoulders have fully recovered. Also had to go for full upper body, as I'm away again next week. Definitely taking the next 2 days off.

Nutrition:

6:45 Whey in water (31g protein)
7:15 Scrambled eggs, mushrooms, 2 x wholemeal toast
10:30 Whey in water (31g protein), 4 mini tomatoes
12:00 Large tuna & mayo, green salad
4.15 Vits
4:45 Whey in water (31g protein)
7.30 50g salted peanuts
9:30 WORKOUT
10:30 Whey in water (31g protein), teaspoon honey, small glass grapefruit juice
11:00 Chicken, 3 x wholemeal bread
2 x coffee throughout day (semi-skimmed milk)

Workout:

Dumbbell Bench Press
--------------------------
Warm-up - 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
35x7 (95%) - failed a rep
35x6 (90%)
40x4 (100%) - failed a rep

Dumbbell Shrug
------------------
Warm-up - 20x10
35x8 (95%)
37.5x6 (95%)
40x5 (95%)

Dumbbell Row (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up 15x15, 22.5x12, 27.5x10
37.5x8 (100%)
40x6 (95%)
42.5x5 (95%)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
-----------------------------
Skipped this today - bit concerned with right shoulder.

Dumbbell Curl (alternate)
-----------------------------
Warm-up 12.5x12
17.5x8 (100%)
20x5 (95%) - missed a rep
22.5x4 (100%) - missed a rep

Close Grip Bench Press
--------------------------
Warm-up 20x12
50x8 (90%)
65x6 (100%)
70x3 (100%) - missed 2, think I'd talked myself out of it by this time.

Looking back my failures were mainly on push movements, I did better on pull (and they were easier).

Let's see what Sunday brings...

We are all one.

Journal: http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/tm.aspx?high=&m=162565&mpage=46#2947626

Good luck with your workout on Sunday and well done so far.

I noticed you've had the occassional salad, but you don't seem to have much in the way of veg. You mention you want to lose fat, but looking at your diet I think you may not be eating enough. Only my oppinion.

Thanks, you're probably right.

I'm not a veggie person, but I must try and eat more green stuff. I love fruit, but I'm trying to keep the carbs below 70g.

I think I probably need to up the cals a bit, but I think that will have to be more protein - I may up the carbs a bit too, just to see what happens.

I think I need to ask the nutrition guys for a review, now that there's something documented.

And any way, I don't want to waste away (hard to watch yourself getting smaller, you get quite attached to what you have)...

We are all one.

Journal: http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/tm.aspx?high=&m=162565&mpage=46#2947626

Fri 1/10

Rest day today (well, apart from the 480 mile round trip for a workshop).

Have various pains around the shoulder, so suspect it's just overtraining rather than a recurrence of my joint/tendon problem. Probably going to change close grip benches for something else, as I'm fairly sure it only started when I started them.

Also have general mild DOMS in biceps, chest, traps, lats - I rarely get them anyway, especially in biceps, and if I do it's usually after 48 hours, so I may just do legs on Sun to give the rest a rest (lower back problem is barely noticeable now). Only got 5 hrs sleep last night, which could be a factor.

Nutrition:

5:15 Whey in water (31g protein)
6:00 Chicken, 2 x wholemeal bread
8:00 100g cheese
8:30 250ml semi-skimmed milk
11:30 Whey in water (31g protein)
1:30 Chicken, 2 x wholemeal bread
4:45 Vits
6:00 200g Cottage cheese, Chicken, chinese vegetables (AD - thanks for the veg advice. Oldest Daughter - thanks for the chinese...)
Evening - 3 1/2 beers - major cheat, thought I'd better walk home to try and compensate a bit...
1:30 30 min fast walk
2:00 Tin fish, whey in semi-skimmed milk (31g protein)

So a cheat day really on food, looks like Sat/Sun will have to be strict. Could be hard as I'm taking the youngest to the cinema.

We are all one.

Journal: http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/tm.aspx?high=&m=162565&mpage=46#2947626

Sat 2/10

Another rest day.

Trying to up the protein a bit.

Nutrition:

11:00 Whey in water (31g protein)
11:30 100g cheese, 2 x wholemeal
12:00 500ml skimmed milk
2:00 Protein bar (20g protein, 13 g carbs)
3:00 50g brazil nuts
5:30 Whey in water (45g protein)
6:30 Vits
7:45 1 1/2 chicken breasts, green veg, 1 mini tomato
12:00 Whey in skimmed milk (45g protein)

Successfully managed to avoid all treats at the cinema (hence the protein bar and the nuts).

We are all one.

Journal: http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/tm.aspx?high=&m=162565&mpage=46#2947626

Sun 3/10

Finally back to workout day.

Shoulders and rest of upper body still feel a bit stressed, so decided to check out my lower back and do a short set of dumbell squats.

Nutrition:

9:45 Whey in water (31g protein)
10:15 Vits, 2 x wholemeal toast with peanut butter
10:30 500ml skimmed milk
12:30 Chicken breast, wholemeal bap
1:00 100g cottage cheese
3:30 Whey in water (45g protein)
7:15 Whey in water (31g protein)
7:15 WORKOUT
7:30 Whey in water (31g protein)
8:00 3 oat cakes, 150g cottage cheese, 4 mini tomatoes
8:15 2 homemade steak burgers
0:00 Whey in skimmed milk (31g protein)

Workout:

Dumbell squats
------------------
Warmup - Bodyweight x 10, 20x10, 27.5x10
35x8
40x8
40x8

Did reps slow and controlled, with 45 sec intervals between sets (almost enough time to get my breath back...).

Good news is that I got no reaction from my back (during workout or next day). Next time I do legs, time to up the weight (now I need a squat rack, think I'll use the bar instead).

Next couple of days will be fat burning (away from home), which means upper body will have had 7 days rest - looking forward to the next upper body workout.

We are all one.

Journal: http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/tm.aspx?high=&m=162565&mpage=46#2947626