Right, so basically I've recently turned 21, only been bodybuilding for about 2 years on and off.

I feel like one of the main things that has let me down is not noting my progress, or having anyone critique what Im doing, so I thought It would be a good idea to start making a progress journal

I feel like at the moment I have an acceptable shape, and I am proud of my achievements so far, especially because I used to be a podgy git!

Recently Ive started a job in London, and have had to change my gym habits, having not gone to the gym in 2 months Im finding myself going mad, worrying that Ill loose the little muscle I do have, as well as all my strength.

Over the next 6 months Im going to join the local gym and go at lunchtimes, which also means changing my workout length, and planning precisely when and what Im going to eat.

My main goal is to get a good, solid shape to my body, strength and physical size aren't priorities, however I don't want to be "slim" or "skinny"

The only measurement I have at the moment is that I weigh 70kg, which I think is about 11 stone.

I was hoping that not only by posting on here will it help me to monitor my progress, but also hopefully, I can get some feedback from people a lot more experienced than me.


So onto my diet, one of my main problems.
Yesterday consisted of:

08:45 - Bowl of maple, nut and chocolate cereal
11:00 - 1 MP Max Meal Replacement, 1 Cup Strong Black Coffee
14:00 - Chicken Tikka Massala, Mixed Veg Rice, Buttered Naan Bread
16:00 - 1 Cup Strong Black Coffee
18:30 - Spicy Homemade Meatballs with a few chips
21:30 - Frube

Now I know that this is shocking, but this was a bit of a strange day when it came to food, and is not what I eat every day

My plan is the following:

07:00 - 1 or 2 Bowls of instant porridge, possible one scoop of Whey
10:00 - MP Max MRP
12:30 - Chicken sandwich or 2 chicken rolls (brown bread of course) or chicken with half a cup of brown rice
13:30 - TRAIN!!!!
14:30 - (Or whatever time is immediately following training session) Double scoop of Whey (40g) with 95g of Maltodextrin
16:00 - Not sure what to have here, maybe another MP Max MRP, as I am sitting at a desk
19:00 - Some sort of meat dish with 1 cup of pasta or half a cup of rice, trying to replace the over-the-top meals my mum does!
22:00 - Whey Shake? Pint of Milk?

Lets see if I can keep this up!!!

In terms of routines, I haven't quite decided which to do. I never know if I am undertraining or overtraining, but apparently I will be talked through a personal routine when I join the gym, so if they suggest one I will note it down here.

Im gonna get some pictures up soon of what I look like at the moment so that people can see what kind of shape Im in at the moment and hopefully give me some pointers.

Thoroughly looking forward to getting back on track again and I thank anyone who is kind enough to lend a hand with picking my routine to pieces!!!

Well I've just dug out this old thread and thought I'd update it as I haven't done so in a while!

Basically, I joined the gym and have been aiming to go as often as I can. Missed a few workouts for various reasons but on the whole it's been quite good.

My weight is now about 80kg and although a very small bit of that may be fat (can't see as much definition in my shoulders any more), I have generally stayed the same body shape.

Main problem at the moment is that I can't seem to decide whether to begin eating more and try and get bigger, or to try my hardest to loose as much body fat as possible. I've always had a bit of podge and I'm not really fussed about being as big as possible, so I'm thinking of changing my training to pretty much all cardio, in an attempt to cut the fat fast. Not 100% sure if this is a good idea though, or whether it would be best keeping training as 3 days weights and 2 days cardio.

Today's Workout:

Pullups: x8, x5, x4, x4
Barbell Rows: 25kg x 6, 25kg x 6, 25kg x 6, 25kg x 6
Machine Row: 59kg x 10, 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8

Felt pretty good. Made sure not to use my whole body to pull the weight and tried concentrating hard on my back doing the work. My pullups have improved a fair bit which is obviously a good sign, especially seeing as I have gained weight since I started.

I'm gonna post some pictures up here at some point so that I can track my progress a bit better, and maybe someone will be kind enough to suggest whether I "bulk" or "cut".

Yesterday's session:

Barbell Curls: 10kg x 10 (warmup), 10kg x 10(warmup), 25kg x 8, 25kg x 8, 25kg x 8
Seated Inclince Curls: 12kg x 6, 12kg x 6, 12kg x 6

Dips: x8, x8, x8 (sort of use these as a warmup)
Close Grip Bench: 12.5k x 8, 12.5k x 8, 12.5k x 8
Pushdowns (Bar): 40kg x 8, 40kg x 8, 40kg x 8

My arms aren't actually sore today, not sure if that's a good sign or a bad sign.

Yesterdays routine:

Bench Press: 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 6, 30kg x 6
Flyes: 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8
Incline Dumbell Bench: 16s x 8, 20s x 8, 20s x 5, 20s x 5
Dips: x8, x6, x6

Decided that I would go back to the routine that the "personal trainer" gave me when I first joined my current gym. I was originally making some good progress on it so I have no idea why I stopped, so instead I'm just changing the order of the exercises around. Also, it will allow me to do some cardio on tuesdays and thursdays which I need to do more of.

ORIGINAL: phoenix707

Yesterdays routine:

Bench Press: 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 6, 30kg x 6
Flyes: 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8
Incline Dumbell Bench: 16s x 8, 20s x 8, 20s x 5, 20s x 5
Dips: x8, x6, x6

Decided that I would go back to the routine that the "personal trainer" gave me when I first joined my current gym. I was originally making some good progress on it so I have no idea why I stopped, so instead I'm just changing the order of the exercises around. Also, it will allow me to do some cardio on tuesdays and thursdays which I need to do more of.

Good going starting a journal mate, definatley helps me.

whats going on there mate, you can DB fly your bench weight? Not following this.

Sign up please help me get a PS3!!!! Free DVD's for 2 weeks

Journal
http://www.muscletalk.c

Cheers for the reply.

I just wanted to keep all of my progress in one place really, and I thought this forum would be a good place to do just that, plus if anyone wants to provide constructive criticism them they can

As for the flyes they're machines. I don't know whether that makes any sense. I've never been very strong in my arms to be honest so I don't know if this is why.

I need to get some pictures up soon.

my advice would be to drop the number of sets down and up the weights.
you also want to eat more, dont think about cutting the food... get bulking
basically your going to get fatter, but you will also gain muscle... then you cut to strip the fat at a later date.

get your diet posted in the diet section mate as it looks like it could do with some work.
have you thought about cooking chicken pasta etc and eat it at your desk?
asda do packs of sealable pots for about £2 for 5 you can also get frozen chicken from asda for £4 per kg.

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Ahhh yes the diet.

Well since I posted the above quite a while ago, I've cleaned up my diet considerably.

I Am A Myth I had a look at the first page of your blog and I'm exactly like you in the fact that I find it hard to eat/drink in the mornings. Plus I get up at 6:30, and then have a 1 and a half hour train journey to work to deal with . With that in mind my diet for the past few days has been this:

06:30-7:00: Protein shake (20g unflavoured whey) + banana
10:00: 1/2 cup scottish oats with water + 2 pints of milk/handful of nuts
12:30: Chicken Breast + cup brown rice/pasta in some sort of sauce
13:30: Protein shake (40g unflavoured whey + CEE + maybe some guarana)
14:00: TRAIN!
15:00: Post-workout shake (40g unflavoured whey + 40g-70g Maltodextrin)
16:00: 2 pints of milk
19:00: Dinner (tends to be whatever mum makes, but I try and eat all of the meat and less of the carb rich stuff)
21:30: 1/2 pint of milk, maybe a scoop of whey
22:30: SLEEP

The above is a rough guide and most days I stick to it, sometimes the odd meal changes depending on what I can get my hands on, but being at work its hard to have all the food there and prepare it etc, hence the massive amounts of milk. We only have a microwave and some days I just dont feel like eating.

I've been looking up about intermittent fasting. Anyone had any experience with it here for fat loss?

My aim at the moment, and I've finally decided on this, is to loose fat first. Onion I understand what you are saying but for me personally I'm too scared of getting/staying fat. By common standards I'm not "fat", just some stubborn bellly fat (like a lot of people I'm sure) but I've never been a slim guy and I keep changing my mind as to what to do. So basically I'm biting the bullet and going for fat loss, because ultimately size doesn't bother me. I've got the rest of my life to get bigger and I'd rather get into a good shape and then bulk properly.

mate, wont happen.
if you decide to cut now, and then bulk later, when you bulk you will add fat.

if i was you i would read through all the articles above (top of site) and maybe ask a few people in the training section on their views.

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Today's workout:

Chin-ups: x8, x5, x5, x3
Barbell Rows: 25kg x 7, 25kg x 7, 25kg x 6, 25kg x 6
Machine Rows: 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8
Seated incline dumbell curls: 12kg x 5, 10kg x 5, 8kg x 7

Chin ups are a biiiaaatttcchhh. It's so hard to get better at them, but I'm making myself do at least one more each week, even if it's just an extremely slow negative.

Currently drinking my last 2 pints of skimmed milk before I head home from work and I keep burping! Warm milk is definately not the most refreshing drink on a warm day

Motivational video of the day :
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6OGMjwKEgM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6OGMjwKEgM[/url]

Today's Routine:

Bench Press: 30kg x 8, 30kg x 8, 30kg x 7, 30kg x 6
Machine Flyes: 30kg x 10, 30kg x 10, 30kg x 10, 30kg x 10
Incline Dumbell Bench: 20s x 7, 20s x 7, 20s x 5, 20s x 5
Dips: x7

Ran out of time to do any more dips, my boss had a go at me twice last week for coming in 5 minutes late from lunch

Biking on my non-lifting days is going well. Doing 30 minute hill programs, each time increasing the length by 5 minutes or increasing the level by 1. Thinking of starting some HIIT as it would hopefully mean less time in the gym, better results and less chance of muscle loss.

My gym membership runs out on the 28th of this month. Eeeep! Got to decide whether to join up for another 3 months or just do some stuff at home. I have a feeling if I don't join and go for another few months, my diet will go to pot, plus I don't really have any possibility of exercising at home.

Arghhh choices!!!

Right so yesterday I gave HIIT on the bike a bit of a go.

I think it went well, felt pretty ill at the end. Basically did the following:

5 minutes - level 2, keeping at 80rpm (warmup)
30 seconds - level 3, keeping at 80rpm
30 seconds - level 5, keeping at 140 rpm
repeated this 7 more times, so 8 times in total, making 8 minutes
5 minutes - level 1, keeping at 70-80rpm (cooldown)

Im gonna do this tuesdays and thursdays from now on, and every week hopefully increase the length of time I go for by one minute, so another rest/jog interval.

Hopefully this counts as HIIT. Any ideas anyone?

What an absolutely enraging work out. From the moment I started I just didn't have any energy.

No idea why, because I've actually eaten more today than I have for the past few days

Chin-ups: x8, x6, x5, x3 (Had to make the last of each set VERY slow)
Barbell Rows: 25kg x 7, 25kg x 7, 25kg x 7, 25kg x 7 (Didn't really feel it as much)
Seated Row: 60kg x 6 (Machine was being used)
Machine Rows: 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8, 67kg x 8

I ran out of time again, and I just didn't feel like doing any more, which is a shame because it seems to always be my biceps that get left out. I'm tempted to do a few weeks of more shoulder/arm orientated work as I think they're lagging quite a bit.

I HATE having crap days. Puts me in such a bad mood.

I've decided that I'm going to stick to my meal plan, but if I feel hungry then I'll have a small bowl of scottish oats. 100 odd calories isn't gonna hurt, and would probably actually help me in the long run.

My tittys are shaking after that workout!

Incline Dumbell Press: 20s x 8, 20s x 8, 20s x 8
Smith Machine Bench: 30 x 7, 30 x 7, 30 x 7
Dumbell Flyes: 10s x 10, 12s x 10, 12s x 10 (Did these nice and slow and made sure they were nice and wide)
Dips: x10, x6

I feel great after that one. Mixed up the exercises a bit this week which I've got to stop doing so often, otherwise I find it hard to make constant progress. All in all feeling quite good, mainly concentrating on my bike sessions, mainly HIIT style but if I can't be bothered to do a legs day I'll do 30 minutes on the bike hill program style.

Well last week I had a break from the gym. Had one bike session on monday and then a Stronglifts session on tuesday but that was it. Basically down to splitting up with my girlfriend and feeling like utter ****. To be honest it did me good. Over the weekend I loosened up on the old diet and just enjoyed the company of my friends. Making sure I had chicken and brown rice and had a meal every 3 hours was just stressing me out too much. I needed a break from everything and time to concentrate on having a laugh.

Today I feel so good for it. Much more positive. I've broken all contact with my now ex and I don't have to worry about being paranoid about her making me feel like ****. I'm treating myself better and putting much more effort in with work and my friends. I was able to lift more today than last time and I swear my tricep is poking out a bit more after a few extra days of rest, although that could be a pure mental thing

Incline Dumbell Press: 20s x 10, 20s x 8, 20s x 8
Flat Bench: 30 x 8, 30 x 8, 30 x 8
Dumbell Flyes: 12s x 10, 12s x 10, 12s x 10 (FEEEEL the stretch)
No Dips as I ran out of time

Im going to start doing an arms day and a shoulders day in my workout, as I feel they're lagging, compared to the thickness of my body. Other than that I'm quite happy with how my body is shaping up. I'm not very big, but thats not what Im aiming for at the moment.

Enjoyable session today. Just realised I forgot to write down my back session from last week. Oops!

Incline Dumbell Press: 22s x 6, 22s x 6, 22s x 6
Flat Bench: 32.5 x 6, 32.5 x 6, 32.5 x 6
Dumbell Flyes: 12s x 10, 12s x 10, 12s x 10
Dips: x 8, x 8, x 8

Diet is going ok, although I do need to be more strict with it at the weekends!

Try on chest day doing this:

Light weight, 20 rep warm up, db incline press then flyes.

Then, a weight you can manage for 3 sets of 12 (incline press) do 1 set 8-10
Flyes with normal weight for 1 set 10
Incline for 8-10 reps
Flyes 10 reps
Incline 8-10 reps
followed by flyes again.

Aim for the 10 reps every time, the DOMs from this are killer to start with, finish the chest exercises off with 1 set max parrallel dips, and then 2 sets 10 dips.

In reality it is just supersetting DB incline press with flyes , but in practice it is fairly brutal, gives a proper good pump.

Thanks for that, I might have to give that a try. What sort of results have you got from doing that?

Also, would I rest after doing the flyes or go straight from one to the other with no rest?

I always give myself a 30 second rest. Hve only done it a few times, so dont really know about results, just feels good. I have had the best results doing 5X5 for compounds and 3 X 10 for isolations!

Right, yesterdays session:

Pullups: x8, x7, x5, x4
Barbell Rows: 25kg x 10, 25kg x 10, 25kg x 10
Machine Rows: 75kg x 8, 75kg x 8, 75kg x 8
Wide Grip Pull Downs: 30kg x 10, 30kg x 10, 30kg x 10

Today I've been trying another day of Intermittent Fasting. Was going pretty well, but at lunch time I gave in and had a caramel frappacino from Starbucks!

I have from now until about 9 o clock to eat the remainder of my days worth of calories.