I've decided to document my progress this year and this is a great place to do it.

I am currently doing 2 cycles of Pendulum Bodybuilding which will last for another 7 weeks. After that I'll take a well deserved week off. So far I've gained 2lbs in two weeks and hopefully continue to gain at a rate of 1lb per week. So in 7 weeks I'll be about 10lbs heavier than I was when I started Pendulum. That'll make me about 160lbs or so.

I might spend a few weeks cutting after that but I'll see how it goes. Ultimately I'm aiming for 152-154lbs at 7% BF. At 5'7" that should be pretty damn good shape to be in :cool:

18 March 2004

Today is an off day so no training. Tomorrow is strength training with Sqauts, Bench Press and Deadlifts. All done with 8 sets and only 2 reps each set!

I'm going to try and lift 220lbs on the squats. At least 150lbs bench press (extreme weak point) and over 200lbs deadlift.

It's gonna be fun :D

19 March 2004

Just come back from my workout and while I'm waiting for my rice to cook (wholegrain of course ;) ) I'll post my thoughts.

Even though I didn't feel 100% this morning I still had a good workout. I hit my targets except for bench press.

Bench Press: 138lbs
Squats: 220lbs
Deadlift: 232lbs

I'm quite happy with my deadlift since I haven't done them in a while. My bench press just sucks but I don't really think it's as good as an exercise as the other two.

Next week is back to hypertrophy training. Can't wait!

20 March 2004

Here are some size goals that I hope to achieve in the next few months.

Height: 5'7" (Can't do anything here)
Upper Arms: 14"
Forearms: 11.5"
Chest: 41"
Upper Legs: 24"
Lower Legs: 14.5"

could u explain deadlifts to me? Or a site where they are shown? Thnx

The almighty deadlift, it's a killer!

Here ya go: http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/exdetails.asp?exid=164

Have fun!

22 March 2004

Wow I'm pretty consistent with this journal thingee. I wonder how long that's gonna last?

Anyway another day, another workout. Leg day and it really made me sweat! Doing front squats with a 5 second eccentric contraction really is tough to do.

I leg pressed 330lbs for 10 reps which is a new record for me. I know I can do more!

23 March 2004

Chest, back and shoulder day. Really good workout to my surprise! I thought it was going to be one of those workouts but every lift I felt stronger than last time. My form is improving as well and that's helping a lot. I'm also stretching properly before my workout now. Since I've hurt my left tricep I've consciously tried to do things that will prevent anymore injuries. All good!

As far as my bulking goes I've gained a good pound a week in the past few weeks, so right on track there. Once again, all good!

27 March 2004

I went out last night for a meal and a beer. My first beer in a few months! Wow, that is not like me :D

Well, I ate pretty well regardless. So today I went to the gym for an arms workout. Once again I'm lifting better and heavier. My progress doesn't want to stop and I put that down to my copious amounts of rest and good food. I try to optimise my recovery as much as possible these days to help build muscle as fast as I can without steriods.

Time to eat...

28 March 2004

Just a quickie. So far my gains from the last 4 weeks of bulking :db:

Weight: Gained 5lbs
Height: Still 5'7" - doh!
Arms: 1/2 inch bigger
Upper Legs: 1 inch bigger - 23" woohoo!
Lower Legs: 1/2 inch bigger
Chest: Not sure but at least an inch bigger 40" or so

Cool, I love making progress :D

30 March 2004

I've decided to cut my bulking short and start a mini-cut next week. It'll probably last 4 weeks and hopefully I can lose 5lbs of fat in that time while keeping my current muscle.

My workout will be EDT then for those 4 weeks.

01 April 2004

Another change, EDT is scratched of the list and instead I'll put together my own program.

I want to focus on chin-ups. It'll be a 3 day split that'll also involve a little grip training.

A rough outline:

Monday:

Incline chin-up
Three-position static holds
Lat pulldown to the front (chin grip)
Partial chins
Plate pinch

Wednesday:

Squats
Dynamic lunges
Romanian deadlift
Leg curl
Seated dumbbell press
Lateral raises

Friday:

Dips
Close-grip bench press
Dumbbell bench press
Incline flies
Weighted crunches/leg raises

Something like that.

05 April 2004

Today was my first day of cutting. I'm going to do a 4 week cut and then see how I look/feel. I weighed myself yesterday at 159lbs.

I want to get to a single figure bodyfat percentage. Hopefully with my current diet and routine I'll get there easy.

I'm doing Turbulance Training for the next month and that'll help boost my metabolism and burn fat like crazy! Had my first workout today and it's short but a killer. Since I can see the possiblilty of drowning in my own sweat (yuck) I've bought a dri-fit top to workout in. Hope it helps or Woeisemma is gonna pay ;)

All good.

19 April 2004

I have been thinking lately a lot about how I should workout for the next few months. I want to lower my body fat and gain more muscle before summer really hits.

I've done a lot of reading recently on making programs and periodization. In a couple of weeks I'll finish my current workout and then will take a week off. I'll then start a 12 week program I've come up with.

Basically it'll be split into 4 lots of 3 weeks. Since it takes roughly 3 or so weeks for your body to adapt to any type of resistance training. Got to keep my body guessing to grow!

Here's an outline:

Week 1–3: Hypertrophy Phase (2x6-8 slow eccentrics 2-4 secs)
Week 4–6: Strength Phase (5x5 fast controlled eccentrics)
Week 7–9: Metabolic Hypertrophy Phase (2x8-10 very slow eccentrics 3-5 secs)
Week 10–12: Hypertrophy Phase 2 (2x6-8 slow eccentrics 2-4 secs)

Weeks 1-6 + 10-12 I'll eat roughly 2,600 calories a day, but during the metabolic phase I'll up my daily calories to 3,000 for an anabolic response.

The exercises will stay the same except for the strength phase I'll do mainly compound movements.

I believe this will work wonders in lowering my body fat and gaining some more muscle.

19 June 2004

Wow I can't believe it has been 2 months since my last journal post. How lazy am I?

My mind has been making it's noise and I've finally decided to cut for a while to get a low BF%. I'm around 152lbs and would like to lose about 10lbs of fat to get the 'ripped' look. Then when I do bulk I'll be able to monitor my progress with ease.

The past is not important to me so I won't go on about what I've done training wise. I'm about 13% BF now so I'll try and get to 8-9% in 2 months. I'm middway through a HST and have lowered my calories a little. HST has really boosted my metabolism and coupled with golf in the weekend and the odd driving range praccy I don't need any further cardio. All good.

I'm aiming for a 35p/45c/20f split on average. I've decided that low carb diets aren't special and are ultimately a sneaky way to lower calories. So my main aim is a calorie deficit of around 200-500 calories each day.

I''ll post about once a week to update my weight and my feelings on the change my body will undertake through my journey.

Even though I don't post much now I do read a lot of other journals. I draw a lot of inspiration from them all so, thanks!

04 July 2004

Crap...

time just flies when you're busy with life. So no update last week although it would of been short due to the lack of working out. I didn't go to the gym for various reasons but have started week 5 of HST this week gone and now entering week 6.

HST is really shining through this past week. I feel stonger in all my lifts and have lost a little fat as well without extra cardio. I'm probably half a percentage lower in BF than 2 weeks ago and now planning to be about 11% in 2 weeks. So if all goes well I'll be around 10% at the end of July, fingers crossed!

I've had a little more alcohol recently and drank a few drinks on Friday and Saturday night. I don't feel bad about it because I enjoyed it and it hasn't really affected my progress since I can get straight into my routine the next day. Although I tend to drink more spirits than beer which helps in the calories department. Yay for Vodka and jack Daniels!

I have two more weeks of HST and then I'll prepare my next HST session.

11 July 2004

Another week, another entry into my journal. Things are going well. I caught my reflection in the mirror today before it had a chance to get away and I was pleasantly surprised. For once I can see my progress and I like it.

I feel that I need 4 - 6 more weeks to get some badass abs since I can see them peeking through now without flexing. So I'll take some photos in 2 months or less for everyone to rip apart :D

I did post some photos a few months back and will probably do a before and after post. Once I reach my cutting goal I'll start to slowly add more muscle, I need bigger arms!

The past week I've done my workouts as usual and added a HIIT session which woke me up. I'll do HIIT about 3 times a week now to speed up fat loss. I did drink a crap load of alcohol one night this past week but that was going to happed no matter what.

Have a great week everyone!

18 July 2004

My training plan for the next week...


... nothing (except for the odd bit of HIIT)

Decided to stop my first HST cycle after the second week of 5's since my joints started to feel the pressure. Already planned my next HST cycle which starts in 7 days.

I like HST and the idea of full body workouts. I've gained a little muscle but I also went to a restricted calorie diet half way through so could of gained more on a different diet.

By the end of my next cycle I should be quite lean and then will probably bulk up a little on my third HST cycle.