Hey guys,


After one year of being around on this site and a cutting and maintenance cycle I’m afraid I let myself go a little around october-november. Took it back up in december and I figure a journal is the best way to get my workouts and progress to the next level.

I’m european so I’m used to using the metric system for measurements but I’ll convert for all you non-metrics out there.

Age: 31 (male)
Length : 175 cm (5’9)
Weight : 71 kg (156 pounds)
Estimated Body Fat is around 16% after my november measurements
Daily Calorie Goal is 2100 = with a 40/40/20 macronutrient breakdown.


Basically I’m not at all happy of my progress so far. I am losing my patience a little bit with the fat around the belly and waist area. It’s so hard to get it off. But I WILL do it. Pics will follow in a couple of days , and you’ll see I still have quite a bit of work left.
Oh and I have to stop drinking alcohol in the weekends , because I suspect that is holding me back from reaching my goal substantially.

My goal is very clear : I want to achieve 9% Body Fat , while preserving muscle.
I am very much committed and will not rest before I have accomplished my goal (don’t take this literally).

John has been a huge inspiration for me and for my workouts I’m following his initial workout plan. So that’s right : 7 days of going to the gym , never long workouts but always short and intense.

Today It’s HIIT Training on the elliptical:

5 minute warmup
1 minute intervals
4 minute cooldown

And I’ll be finishing up with 120 situps – 2 mins side plank

I am really looking forward to my workout … the only thing that will suck is of course the new years resolution crowd at the gym. But I guess I’m one of them now too ;-)

I am really looking forward to my workout … the only thing that will suck is of course the new years resolution crowd at the gym. But I guess I’m one of them now too ;-)

Just make sure you're amongst the few that actualy stick with it.
:gl:

Just make sure you're amongst the few that actualy stick with it.
:gl:

Very True. Where I workout is actually more of a "wellness club" than a gym. Lots of "cardio bunnies" :tu: , old people on ellipticals , aerobic classes , dance classes , saunas , swimming pools , tanning beds , ...
and only a small corner with actual equipment for weight training.

The New Years Resolution Crowd - as I call them Is a lot bigger in this place. You see a lot of people doing exercises with really bad form and no drive or intensity. Coming to the gym and getting dressed is already sufficient as a workout for them.

I discovered I have a gym 2 houses from me , but it is known as a 'hardcore gym'. The proprietor used to play in porn movies and used to be a professional gigolo. :o The gym is associated with use of steroids. So I'd rather associate myself with cardio bunnies than with ex-gigolos.

But perhaps I should check it out because of the price : it's a good 400$ a year cheaper.

Did a nice intense HIIT training on the treadmill yesterday. I did get some worried looks. I guess I looked like I would start vomiting all over my elliptical. But High Intensity is High Intensity and I really pushed myself to the limit.
Afterwards I did some abs exercises so generally a good workout.

I read the stickies again on the beginners forum just to remind me of the core basics of nutrition and exercise.

Only bad point about my day yesterday was that I drank about half a glass of champagne at a new year's party. I did manage to stay off the potato chips and other greasy snacks that were on display.

I also ate a tray of anchovies in olive oil figuring that that had some protein in it. I hope I'm right.

Today it's leg day. I think :)

Today it's leg day. I think :)

Don't you just love leg days ...:dreamy:
Why did you do abs after cardio?

Don't you just love leg days ...:dreamy:
Why did you do abs after cardio?

Basically because I'm following John's initial training schedule.
Would you do abs first ? Or abs on a different day altogether ?

Abs exercises don't take all that long and I usually don't isolate them from other exercises. I just do them 3 times a week ,usually after cardio or on leg day.

Wow , you really made me think about it now. Sometimes you think you're doing fine , but maybe you aren't !

I'm a beginner myself:lol: however, it's best to do strength exercise before cardio. i also do them on leg day, and i tend to do very few isolated abs exercises (but i'm a girl) and i do them alternately with the leg ones just because i don't feel like doing them at all, and it's easier this way:D
have you made any 'cardio bunny' friends yet?:lol: seriously, don't you feel like 'converting' them?:D

:gl: DjCoax :tucool:

abs are the one body part that I personally think it's okay to do after cardio.... I wouldn't do anything else after cardio, especially after a HIIT session... but I think you're okay with the abs

and I agree... I'd rather workout at the "cardio bunny" gym than at a steroid using gigolo's place :lol:

have you made any 'cardio bunny' friends yet?:lol: seriously, don't you feel like 'converting' them?:D

Well , my girlfriend works out at the same gym :whistle:...

Well , my girlfriend works out at the same gym :whistle:...
that's not what i mean you cheeky....:spank::spank::lol::lol:

Went to the hospital first yesterday and I have to get my "wisdom teeth" pulled out. That sucks.

They will put me to sleep completely and pull out the 4 wisdom teeth, plus another one that "cannot be saved" , and then they will put one of the teeth that was pulled inside the hole of the fifth one.

I'm not looking forward to that. Apparently I'll have to spend 5 days off from work and training and stay at home completely drugged with painkillers and only eating liquid food.

But that's in february. There is however one thing that the doctor said that struck home with me. She said that if I was to be a professional athlete , I couldn't possibly be at my best , because I have some sort of infection going on in one of my teeth and my defense systems are concentrated on this one point.
Is that really so ?

But I make it sound like I have the breath from hell , and that's not the case.

Anyway : yesterday was leg day. The squats were gruesome : when you see the blood vessels turn red in your legs you know you haven't been training legs enough. I really feel it in my legs , but I like the feeling of being sore.

For the rest , my girlfriend is leaving on a business trip to Memphis,Tennessee and that's not so great , but on the other hand It'll be easier to follow my diet. She doesn't diet along with me so we have to prepare separate meals , which is not so practical.

I'll take some time next week to drop in on some old friends.

But I make it sound like I have the breath from hell , and that's not the case.
aha:whistle:
i'd have to take those out too, but i keep postponing it. i don't think they'd put me to sleep though.


Anyway : yesterday was leg day. The squats were gruesome : when you see the blood vessels turn red in your legs you know you haven't been training legs enough.
http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a035.gif

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a035.gif

I was pretty surpised too , it's the same when you run for 5 km at a heavy pace and you're not trained for it : your legs turn red and start itching.
It has to do with blood circulation or something.

I was pretty surpised too , it's the same when you run for 5 km at a heavy pace and you're not trained for it : your legs turn red and start itching.
It has to do with blood circulation or something.
yes, well, i suppose you can experience veins popping out because your body fat is low. it sounded like a horror movie though, for an instant:D

Went to the hospital first yesterday and I have to get my "wisdom teeth" pulled out. That sucks.

They will put me to sleep completely and pull out the 4 wisdom teeth, plus another one that "cannot be saved" , and then they will put one of the teeth that was pulled inside the hole of the fifth one.

I'm not looking forward to that. Apparently I'll have to spend 5 days off from work and training and stay at home completely drugged with painkillers and only eating liquid food.



all four wisdom teeth at once :eek::eek::eek:

I had the two on my left side taken out last September and went to work three hours later. was a matter of 5 minutes and thanks to paracetamol it didn't hurt that much. the two on the other side will be taken out next week. I hope recovery will be as speedy as last time, I went back to the gym the next day, even if for an easy going cardio session only.... this time I won't go back to work on the same day though, work isn't as busy as it was then.

anyways, it sounds like your wisdom teeth story is a bit more complicated than mine!!! poor you! :no:

yes, well, i suppose you can experience veins popping out because your body fat is low. it sounded like a horror movie though, for an instant:D

Well , that was not what I was referring to ! It was more what they call the runners itch :

Here's what I found on the mighty internet on the question of "why do my legs itch when I run" :

A. Don't worry; you aren't alone on this problem. It usually occurs during exercise performed after a long period of inactivity. The itching is not on the skin, it is inside the skin. You see, there are millions of tiny capillaries and arteries inside our muscles which expand rapidly due to the demand for more blood that is brought on by exercise. When our bodies are sufficiently fit, these capillaries remain open allowing maximum blood passage, but, when unfit and inactive, they tend to collapse, allowing only minimal blood passage (which is sufficient for a sedentary person, however). The rapid expansion of these vessels causes adjacent nerves to send impulses back to the brain which are interpreted as an itch.
The problem should go away once you have increased your fitness level.


:cool: I guess i have to up my fitness level

anyways, it sounds like your wisdom teeth story is a bit more complicated than mine!!! poor you! :no:

Yeah well , i recently found out (after 30 years mind you) that my regular dentist (a friend of my parents) wasn't actually doing his job very well.
Okay he's cheap , but basically he didn't spot holes on checkups and he waits until you're in pain before he does anything.

I'm now going to a very good one. He's expensive but very professional and determined to help me out.

I just realized I haven't posted my workout schedule in this thread yet. Which is kind of vital :)

You might notice that the workload is a bit heavy at the beginning of the week and rest days are at the end. This is because of practical reasons and because of the fact that I need the weekend to do other stuff too.
First I was planning to go EVERY day with no restdays , but that is just not realistic.
And I know myself , When I train 6 days on a 7 days schedule I will feel bad.

So here goes:

Monday: Abs + HIIT (24mins)
Tuesday: Back & Bicep + HIIT (12mins)
Wednesday : Abs + HIIT (24mins)
Thursday : Quads , Calves & Hamstrings (no HIIT)
Friday : Rest
Saturday : Pecs , Delts + Triceps (morning) - Indoor Soccer Game (afternoon/evening)
Sunday : Rest

The Soccer Game is a regular appointment every saturday from september to june (end of season).

Okay he's cheap , but basically he didn't spot holes on checkups and he waits until you're in pain before he does anything.
:eek::nope:





You might notice that the workload is a bit heavy at the beginning of the week and rest days are at the end. This is because of practical reasons and because of the fact that I need the weekend to do other stuff too.

Thursday : Quads , Calves & Hamstrings (no HIIT)



i thought about this for a moment and then realized you were probably referring to HIIT in the first half of the week. are you sure you'll have enough energy for the rest, even though it's 'easier'? for me, the most intense workouts are always legs and as days. how come everything is concentrated in the first three days of the week? i've never tried that. i suppose i go easy on myself by always planing one rest day in between (unless i do cardio only).:)

The soccer game sucked. We lost to a bunch of 16 year old kids because of the fact that one of our players got sent off in the first half so we were down a man. With no substitutes on the bench , that meant that we got run over. You can’t plug all the holes in your defense when you’re a man short.
To give them credit , they pulled it off and they played very very aggressively.

But anyway , today is the first day of being on the Anabolic Diet. To be completely honest : it gives me the creeps. Eating so much fat and not getting fat .. Eating fat and getting fat have been linked so heavily in my mind that I really need to get through a mental barrier for this one. But I read the book , made my calculations and I have now revised a shopping list.

So tonight , after the gym , it’s straight to the food store to get me some wonderful meat , cheese and eggs. Along with some of the good veggies of course.

I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

Allright,

I'm back. I don't know why exactly I haven't updated this in 3 months, but I simply lost track of this journal. I'm going to get back on the track.

The diet i got as good as handled : i'm allowed one day where i can go off the charts. Couple of beers and a pizza perhaps. Due to lots of business and social gatherings with food and drinks , i'm allowed to choose when that day falls. Of course , when I say one day , I mean one meal. I'm not going on binges.

For exercise i'm doing a 4-day split with some cardio on the non-weightlifting days.

Here is the schedule :

4 Day Split
Day 1 (Monday):
Chest/Biceps/Abs-
DB Flat Bench - 1 set of 4-6 reps (perform 3-4 sets of warm ups before getting into your heavy set)

Hammer Strength Incline (or Barbell Incline Press if you have a spotter, or Smith Incline Press with no spotter) - 1 REST PAUSE SET (refer to bottom of page what rest-pause is) equaling 12-20 reps.

Flat Bench Press - 1 set of 15-20 reps

Cable Flies (or Pec Deck Machine) - 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Incline DB Curls (or Alternate DB Curls) - 1 set of 6-8 reps

Barbell Curls or Curl Machine - 1 REST PAUSE SET of 12-18

Body Drag Curls - 1 set of 15-20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YItJcwyS1ZE (never let the bar come off your torso)

Weighted Cable Crunches (or Med Ball Crunches) - 3 sets of 10-12

Day 2 (Tuesday):
Legs

Squats - 1 set of 4-6 (Again warm up as long as needed before hitting this one heavy work set)

Leg Press - 1 REST PAUSE SET of 15-20

Leg Extensions - 1 set of 15-20

Straight Leg Deadlifts - 2 sets of 10-12

Leg Curls - 2 sets of 10-12

Calf Raises - 1 set of 20 (when performing calf raises, go down into the deepest stretch you can hold then explode up, slowly lower it to the deepest stretch, count to 20 and repeat.)

Day 3 (Wednesday):
Cardio or Off

Your choice

Day 4 (Thursday):
Shoulders/Triceps

DB Seated Shoulder Press - 1 set of 4-6 (as many warm up sets as needed before this work set)

BB Seated Military Press - 1 REST PAUSE SET of 10-14

DB Lateral Raises - 1 set of 15-20

Reverse Grip Bench - 1 set of 6-8 (Reverse Grip Bench (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise3/P2110017.jpg) - you place the bar further down on your chest and there is no need to go down and touch your chest since we are concentrating on hitting our triceps the most)

Close Grip Bench - 1 REST PAUSE set of 14-18

Overhead Rope Pull From Low Pulley - 1 set of 15-20 (Rope Extension (http://kbierek.powweb.com/shapefit-pics/triceps-exercises-cable-rope-overhead-tricep-extensions.gif))

Dips - 2 Sets of Max Amount


Day 5 (Friday):
Back/Abs

Deadlifts - 1 set of 4-6 (warm-up first)

Hammer Grip Lat Pulldowns - 1 REST PAUSE set of 10-16

Wide Grip Seated Row - 1 REST PAUSE set of 10-16

Pullups (whatever grip you can get the most with) - 1 set 15-20 (or 3 sets of get as many as you can)

Face Pulls - 2 sets of 12-15 (Face Pulls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XjAgPZcrpQ))

Sprinters Ab Circuit - Ab Circuit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izDf0MCR2DU) Do each exercise 15-20 times, rest 45 seconds, repeat 3x total

Yesterday was fun : I did the chest/bicep/abs thing and really enjoyed it.
The incline bench press was really hard, but today i'm all sore and that's the way I like it.

As for diet:

Having a meal plan and eating the same stuff over and over again may be useful , but I'm trying to keep planning to a daily habit and not go plan for weeks in advance.

This morning I noticed we were out of oatmeal. So I fixed myself a protein powder milkshake with a banana thrown in. I am disgusted with the ON Whey Cookies & Cream taste. It was good in the beginning but now I start to retch and the shake nearly spouted out again.
Hope I haven't ruined anyones appetite.

Today ... it's legs day and I'm looking forward to it.

Leg day.


I have mixed feelings about leg day. It's difficult not to fall into the pitfall to think that you're legs get a sufficient workout when doing cardio. It doesn't come even close.

One of my goals in the future is to have my own home gym. I'm getting fed up of waiting in turn for dumbbells , barbells and squat machines to free up. When you want to get a good and quick session in , it's very annoying to have to wait.
Right now , our house is a bit too small , and the wife has already taken control of our basement to make it in to her workshop. She creates paintings in her spare time. I'm fully supportive of her hobby , that is now actually catching on in fact (she's actually is selling the things for real €)

So hopefully , in a couple of years time , when we buy a new home (this one is temporary and meant to be rented out or sold off) I will get a room to work out in. I would LOVE that.

I am green with jealousy over John's Titan :drool: . I start drooling when I see the thing. Especially the thread i with the pic with all the parts spread out : it's like IKEA on steroids !

Today , I'm taking the day off of working out. I deserved it.

I spent my day off with all kinds of household chores and i got about 2 pounds of chicken breast out of the freezer , cooked them all up.
Cooked up some broccoli and made me some meals for the days to come.

These are my last days on the job that I'm currently working and it will promise to be pretty testing nutrition-wise.

I'm having lunch with the HR Manager , she'll be asking questions as to why I'm leaving. Then tonight there's a going away drink.

Friday evening a birthday party , Saturday my local football game followed by a party from a rather well known manufacturer of women's lingerie. The wife is having girls night out , and a friend managed to get us on the guest list. It's comparable to Victoria's Secret.Not good for my hormones.

I won't be drinking one drop of alcohol and keep a 100% Strict diet , i'm just too involved and i feel very bad when I slip up. I'm going to get a lot of flak from a lot of people. But I won't cave as I have caved before.

I have to go all out or I don't succeed. There is no middle ground and I have commited myself to get to that 9%