Summer rippin' through HIIT and Bouldering!

[bergen]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Björgvin and I’m a 24 year old graphic design student residing in Reykjavík, Iceland. I’ve been following this website for probably around 2 years. I’ve learned A LOT about the way the body works - what’s right in nutrition, and what works in exercise. But although I’ve probably used a lot of what I’ve picked up in small quantities here and there to improve my body somewhat, I’ve never managed to put up a concrete plan and follow it for a certain period of time. So now I’m going to attempt to do that, and I hope everyone here helps me out!

The Story So Far

Let me begin by saying, I’m in no way in the worst shape of my life. After hitting around 85 kg (187 pounds) at one point, I’m now around 76 kg (167 pounds). But as you can see on these pictures, I can do a lot more to get ripped and add muscle mass. I’m gonna start on a cut, and I think around 70 kg (154 pounds) at the end of it would look quite nice. I’m 180 cm btw (5’11“).


Pictures taken tonight, May 18th.






So what type of activity do I plan to use to achieve my goals? Well... The only constant exercise I’ve had throughout the years has been football (soccer). Almost always 5-a-side or 7-a-side, indoor and outdoor. More constant movement than long runs, but it’s good exercise and I’ve got really strong legs as a result of it.
When my friend introduced me to bouldering two months ago I saw that it was the perfect way for me to improve my upper body strength (which I’ve always been lacking) and improve my frame. It promotes functional strength and flexibility, something that I’m very interested in - Being light is a plus, and I really don’t want to be big. On top of it all, the less fat you’re carrying around, the easier it is to climb, so that’s a great incentive for extra cardio work!
So my strength training will basically be climbing-related exercises like pullups, pushups, hangs and more of that nature. I’m first and foremost interested in doing exercises using my own bodyweight - it makes sense for the type of strength I need for the bouldering. I’ll put up a routine for strength training days tomorrow.

For the cardio, I’ve always been really interested in HIIT. Getting more done in less time and adding to my lung capacity sounds like a great plan! And it sounds more fun... And I think that totally wearing myself out during cardio will feel great and get me up in the morning, instead of the mindless boring 45 minute jog snoozefest I’ve tried out in the past. So I found this article: http://musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp and then I decided that my first goal (70 kg) would be set in 8 weeks time. So, on July 14th I’ll hopefully weigh myself and find out I’m around 70kg - but of course my eyed progress will be the man goal. The number is a yardstick, but if I look ripped and feel good at that point in time I’ll be very happy, no matter my weight (which I know is never a good indicator).

So! Here’s my basic exercise plan:

Get out at 8:30 all days
Mondays: HIIT (Start at 30 sec jog 30 sec sprint for 10 minutes)
Tuesdays: Strength training (Outdoor bodyweight exercise routine)
Wednesdays: HIIT (Same as Monday)
Thursdays: Strength training (Outdoor bodyweight exercise routine)
Fridays: HIIT (Up by one minute)

So this is my base. What gets added on to this depends on my working hours - and injuries! I’m taking a rest from football because of an annoying groin problem that I want to get rid of. Doesn’t really affect me doing anything else at the moment - I hope it disappears completely very soon.

This week I’m working evening shifts from 3 pm to 10 pm. So this week will look like this:

Monday:
8:30 HIIT 12:00 Bouldering
Tuesday:
8:30 Strength training
Wednesday:
8:30 HIIT
Thursday:
8:30 Strength training 12:00 Bouldering
Friday:
8:30 HIIT
Saturday:
12:00 Bouldering

The HIIT is the key in my opinion - I’m gonna follow it vigorously.

Nutrition

Okay - here comes my weak point. I’m a sucker for sugar. Always have been. On the plus side I don’t smoke and I don’t drink alcohol - and I don’t do drugs. So if I kick the sugar habit, I’m in business baby.

I know what foods are good for me and which ones are bad - and I’m going to concentrate on eating clean for now. I’ve been messing around with fitday trying to figure out how to plan my macronutrient split but I need a bit more help before I can pull that off. I think clean healthy eating should help me for the first few days and spur me on. I WILL be trying to improve on planning the nutrition though. All in good time.

So this is it for tonight. I’m going to finish my last glass of Coke for the foreseeable future, get to sleep and get up early for the HIIT action!

Questions

I’m gonna end every post on summarizing questions that might help me on my way to a better body - if anyone feels they have the answer, be it specific or a general one, It would be much appreciated.

1. Counting the calories and macronutrients is proving to be a bit of a learning curve for me. How did you do it in the beginning?
2. Do you know about any killer workout plans that just involves working with your bodyweight?

[bergen]

Woah! Just got in from my first HIIT session....

I have to be honest - after 2 sprints I thought "how the fuck am I going to finish this?!" I felt like I was knackered. But in reality I wasn't really tired - just my lungs acting up. So I stuck to it, timed my runs, and finished the whole 10 - the last two in incline on the way home (although not at the same speed as the others - just at the maximum I possibly could at the moment).

Great workout, I needed a good 10-15 minutes to cool down outside while stretching... but I'm still sweating!

I'll do another 10 minutes on Wednesday and on Friday I'll up the ante - by 1 or maybe 2 minutes.

Now for a quick shower and on to Bouldering at 12.

[Jedi]

Originally Posted by bergen

[b] 1. Counting the calories and macronutrients is proving to be a bit of a learning curve for me. How did you do it in the beginning?

HI Bergen and good luck with your goals.

at the beginning I weighed and measured everything daily and used fitday.com to track daily calories and to learn especially about macronutrients..... I eventually bought a different software, www.dietpower.com, which I still use daily to track cals/Macros/exercise

[bergen]

Originally Posted by Jedi

HI Bergen and good luck with your goals.

at the beginning I weighed and measured everything daily and used fitday.com to track daily calories and to learn especially about macronutrients..... I eventually bought a different software, www.dietpower.com, which I still use daily to track cals/Macros/exercise

Thanks man!

Yeah for some reason I hadn't thought of looking for standalone programs... which is very weird because I'm on a Mac and the independent developer market there is very strong.

And lo and behold, I found something called DietController - didn't manage to get a very close look at it before I went to work, but it looks cool and it has gotten good reviews.

I went bouldering at noon - alone for the first time, usually I go with two of my friends. So instead of friendly motivation I had some music to pump me up. I had a good short 1 hour session, I went hard at the walls and I finished a problem (what you call a certain route in bouldering) that I have been trying to finish for a few weeks! I was stoked and really pumped, veins everywhere. It seems that having to come here and account for my actions, both to myself and those who are reading, is extra motivation indeed.

I'm at work now, I'll try to use the free time I have to do something about my nutritional plan.

[bergen]

Okay, so the plan for tomorrow morning is this:

Pushups
Split Squat Jumps
Pullups
Bridge
Alternating Bicycle Crunches
Jump Squats
Hangin knees to chest
Calf Raises
Bent Over Mornings
Burpees

I'm going to aim at 15-20 reps for each one - I'm pretty sure I won't handle that for some of those (like the pullups - I suck at those). I'll just have to see and try it out.

I'm going to sleep!

[bergen]

Originally Posted by bergen

Okay, so the plan for tomorrow morning is this:

Pushups
Split Squat Jumps
Pullups
Bridge
Alternating Bicycle Crunches
Jump Squats
Hangin knees to chest
Calf Raises
Bent Over Mornings
Burpees

I'm going to aim at 15-20 reps for each one - I'm pretty sure I won't handle that for some of those (like the pullups - I suck at those). I'll just have to see and try it out.

I'm going to sleep!

Okay that plan didn't work out - as I woke up at 8:30 (far later than I was planning) and had to go to my school with a friend of mine to chuck out endless amounts of stuff for an advisor there (in exchange for lowered intution of course).

So we spent two hours hauling out sofas, space seperators, and tables to be thrown in the garbage. It was quite a workout actually - and when we had dead times we were searching for places to climb inside the school, dynoing from one beam to another, climbing on the outside of staircases, so basically we were very hyper and active.

Not the ideal workout - but I worked up a good sweat during it all and it's better than nothing I guess.

But dropping from the schedule shant be tolerated no more!

[bergen]

Ah! Okay time for an update.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I had to continue throwing out stuff from school. I was going to run after that but ran out of time. Bugger! Instead I took a double set this morning, first the following:

Pushups
Split Squat Jumps
Pullups
Bridge
Alternating Bicycle Crunches
Jump Squats
Hangin knees to chest
Calf Raises
Bent Over Mornings

15-30 repetitions each (I suck at some of those things, especially the upper body workouts, so I couldn't manage 30 everywhere)

Then I went out for my 10 minute HIIT session as listed above.

On saturday I'll do the strength workouts along with my climbing to add up for the day I lost on tuesday.

My nutrition has been better than usual - I've completely cut out the sodas and sugary treats, and my mornings are very stable - oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs and bananas with a protein shake after workouts. I'm still not counting calories, haven't had the time to work out the plan and start bringing packed lunch to work... Hopefully next week.

[bergen]

I'm going to post pictures every sunday night. And I guess I need to buy batteries for my weight as well!

[bergen]

Hi everyone!

Okay, I haven't updated this since Thursday.... lazy me. I've been blown a tad off course from my original plan, but I think I've made up for it. I've more or less managed to keep my overall goals for the week - and this journal was a fantastic motivator to do just that! Yesterday and Today I pulled myself together, knowing I'd have to answer to the world - and myself on here sooner or later.

So on Friday I woke up very late and couldn't get my running in. Naughty me! I managed to keep my nutrition together though, and on saturday I had a very good bodyweight strength training program, very similiar to the one above - adding some burpees as well as some hindu squats. Today (sunday) I fell a bit nutrition wise - I bought some coke and a bit of candy and as I was eating it, watching TV with my friends who were very hungover, I started feeling guilty. "I'll have to let my journal know I just did that...."

So I stood up, put the coke down, and went outside. I did some stretches, some pullups and chinups, and did a 11 minutes of HIIT. I felt fantastic! And I can already feel my lungs responding to the program - the first time I was feeling wretched after 2 minutes, now I felt pretty good until the 4th or 5th, despite my nutrition not being up to scratch.

I came back, and did some hangs on a bar, both one-armed hangs and two-armed hangs. I have a climbing session tomorrow, I hope I'll do good. I'm still feeling my groin a bit though - don't like it. I'll give it a week more before I'll even try to play football again.

So, to recap the week:

3 HIIT sessions (2x10 minutes, 1x11 minutes) - check! exactly what I was aiming for
3 bodyweight routines (as mentioned above - check! and I added some stuff before HIIT sessions as well, like today)
1 climbing session - I was going to go 3 times, but because I'm working evening shifts it's barely possible. I'll try to get 3 trips to the bouldering gym this week
Overall nutrition - okay, can do better, but I feel okay about it.

So, I haven't had a perfect week but the best thing is I've managed to pull myself up from the mistakes very very fast. I think it's important and a very new experience for me - usually if I drop the plot once I'm off it for a decent while.

Here are the pictures for this week:




Oh one more thing! Okay not a big deal for many of you I guess... but for me it was fantastic motivation and praise! A girl this weekend commented on how good my arms were starting to look! I've always had very scrawny arms - When I flexed them they'd barely move, let alone harden. I have of course noticed that they've gotten a bit bigger since I've started climbing, but now other people are starting to notice! If that doesn't spur you on I don't know what does. Here's one flex picture for added measure (and a personal reminder for the future):



Next post for tomorrow, after my bodyweight routine and climbing session!

[bergen]

Did a good bouldering workout this morning with some strength work as well (pullups, pushups, hangs, et cetera). Completed a new route as well!

I cooked up a mean batch of chicken breast, brown rice, mushrooms, tomatoes and mais for the next few days to take with me to work and such.

12 minutes of HIIT planned for tomorrow.

[bergen]

Okay so yesterday my lungs were hurting bad and my fingers really sore after the bouldering... I decided to take a day off. I did 12 minutes of HIIT today, fyrst time I did it fasted btw. I'm not sure if it's better... I'm gonna ask better in the newbie forums.

Finally got some batteries for my scale! This morning when I woke up I weighed in at 75.5 kgs. Which means I've probably lost somewhere between 0.5 kgs and 1 kg in the last week, which I'm very happy with. I did say that 70kgs in 8 weeks was a goal but in all fairness I'm looking more at my body comp so... I'd say anywhere from 70-73 kgs (with obvious visual improvement) would be good results. I'll just have to get some caliphers and measuring tape soon...!

[bergen]

Just wanted to share with you the state of my hands after last monday's climbing session!



it's getting better already hehe... but I've had problems with my hands being too dry and then I get these problems. Of course they're part of the game when you're bouldering...

But I found this site through a discussion on here yesterday:

http://beastskills.com/

And I love it! I think a lot of the exercises there are a fantastic addition to my workout schedule. I'm trying to move it up a notch everytime I do it, adding variations, upping reps, less rest between sets, et cetera. Today I realised I can't even do a proper handstand... so that's going to be rectified. Balance and core strength sound like great things to work out, so I'll be hungry to master some of the techniques portrayed there. They also have tips on removing callouses on the hands and such - good stuff.

So today I did a good workout consisting of:

Pushups (20)
Bridge (30 seconds)
Alternating Bicycle Crunches (30)
Jump Squats (30)
Hangin knees to chest (20)
Calf Raises (30)
Bent Over Mornings (30)
Chinups (7)
Hang (30 seconds)
Pullups (5)
Ab crunches (30)

Then I did some Handstands and tried to do an L-seat. I have to do it on my fingers though so I couldn't really manage it - I have very short hands. But it looks like a great exercise for finger strength.

I'm going to buy a fingerboard for practice as soon as I can. Or making one... not sure yet. I think I'll buy one.

[bergen]

Okay, this journal hasn't been updated for about a week.. That's because I've been injured.

I had a groin strain that was keeping me back during my HIIT, and I couldn't play football. That injury is still there, and I somehow managed to add to it a bruised heel on my left leg! So both of my legs are a bit crooked and I can't do any running and not really a lot of lower body workouts though.

What I can do is bicycle, and boulder! And I've been keeping that up. Went off-road mountain biking last weekend and it was a lot of fun. I'm keeping active as I can, but I have had to postpone this plan I had for a few weeks I guess. Until these injuries heal up a bit.

I'm planning to come back stronger and more focused than ever! Until then, it's upper body only, and just keeping active in general.

[LarssonCrew]

This sounds weird, but do you use gloves while bouldering?[which I assume is rock climbing?].

Only, my hands are REALLY dry, in the summer after a shower when I dry my hands start flaking, it's horrendous. Still, maybe some cream on your hands would prevent such bad blistering.

Still , looking good. Excellent English if you're Icelandic by the way.

[bergen]

Originally Posted by LarssonCrew

This sounds weird, but do you use gloves while bouldering?[which I assume is rock climbing?].

Only, my hands are REALLY dry, in the summer after a shower when I dry my hands start flaking, it's horrendous. Still, maybe some cream on your hands would prevent such bad blistering.

Still , looking good. Excellent English if you're Icelandic by the way.

Hey man, thanks for posting!

Yes Bouldering is Rock Climbing, although I mainly climb in an indoor gym. I have always had dry hands, that picture was taken after a pretty hardcore session... But since then I've bought a preventive cream and found ways to reduce the calluses on your hands, so I don't have such problems now. But no I don't use gloves, I haven't seen anyone at my gym use gloves to be honest.

And yes I'm Icelandic, so thanks for the compliment!

[bergen]

Okay, so I'm getting back to speed after the injury problems... It's still bothering me but I'm maximising what I can do. Went on an hour bike ride yesterday and had a two hour climbing session at the gym. I'm shaking up my bouldering, going easier routes with a more controlled and technical approach, slow and precise movements to build up extra strength. A relatively easy problems becomes so much more intense when you are thinking about form and going at minimal speed. I'm also trying to improve my pinch capability in certain pinch-heavy routes.

I'm progressing my pushups to diamond pushups and finger pushups.

I'm off work in an hour - then I'm going off-roading on my bike again with some friends!