Day 31: The toughest workout in 6 months

So I awoke this morning again quite surprised (seem to be a lot of those this week) at how little pain I was suffering in my legs. Yes they were heavily aching, I certainly knew I had done a hard workout yesterday but they were not painful!!

So it was time for the gym, legs felt good by this time having been up and around all morning. Remembered to get my BF re-checked and then it was time for the HIT incline run.

HIT Incline Run

For those of you who are not familiar with this one, it is the incline that changes at 1 minute intervals rather than the speed. This is all performed at constant speed of 10 kph:

1 minute at 1% incline
1 minute at 3% incline
1 minute at 6% incline
1 minute at 10% incline

As with the sprint HIT you repeat the above 5 times which gives you a total of 20 minutes.

So this is the picture, a few stretches and then it was off, felt OK at 1%, not bad at 3%, 6% pretty good, 10% here come the jelly legs!!! Back down to 1% again, this is gonna be tough. So it continued minute by minute. So came the 20th minute and I was thinking OK this is it nearly there. BUT as most of you who regularly read know I always put in a 21st minute. Well maybe because of the tough workout yesterday I will let it slide today, my legs are really dieing here? Not sure if I can go another minute

So I used a shreddi mind trick.........accountability. I thought what I am going to write in my blog tonight, will I get away with 20 minutes or will someone spot it? Well regardless of that I want the best I can get from each session when I workout so I dug in for the 21st minute. Not only is there a 21st minute but the purpose of this is to always better your previous attempt even just by a small amount, well on Sunday I ran this at 12% so today I cranked it up to 13%, this was such a killer but I kept thinking about now, my accountability to you guys and also to myself, I made this commitment to Adam that I would shred hard for 14 days and I am going to live up to my word, as I suspect you all will and are currently.

The 21st minute ended and I was destroyed, I can safely say that due to the lower body weights the day before that that was my hardest workout in the last 6 months. So the run was over. I had a couple of minutes to catch my breath.....that's not the end of the workout merely the first half.

15 minute ab session

So I caught my breath and then grabbed the fitball and medicine ball and started the fitball crunches and oblique crunches along with various other no name exercises. Finishing with the forwards plank for 1 minute and then 2 side planks for 30 seconds a piece. I was exhausted but as I said a few posts ago also exhilarated!!!

Party tomorrow night!! So it will be a really short post tomorrow, it's my wife's end of year party, free bar, free party food....mmmmmm. I have saved all my cheat meals for this and next week to have in this one evening. So I will limit myself to 8 pints and 3 plates of food. Yeah right!!! But seriously, I am going to have 2 pints and not a drop of alcohol more and some food but I will go for the healthy food there and watch the portions. I have not had a cheat meal since the shred started and I will not have another after this until it ends. Moderation, that's the key and I have not drunk any alcohol for over 3 weeks now which for me is amazing!

Oh yes before I go, nearly forgot my BF re-test? Well it averaged out this time at .... wait for it.....13.2%!!!! So it looks like (and I still can't quite comprehend it) that the stats were correct!! I managed to lose 2.4% BF in 5 days!!!

Until tomorrow....

Day 30: It could have gone 2 ways today....

So I decided that due to my great results yesterday and the fact that I felt unwell I would reward myself with a few days rest and relaxation, few nice meals and fully recover, after all I lost over 2% BF so I can east a few cheat meals???

Well before you all post how arrogant I have been above, this is the first way that I could have started my blog today and one of the outlooks I could have taken on this whole process.

Hopefully all of you that regularly read this will find the first paragraph hard to swallow as it is indeed not the outlook I take on this whole process and indeed life. I had a 5.30 am start to drive 90 minutes to the office today and felt good after a nights sleep, after 8 hours or so I had another 90 minutes home, kids tea, eldest to football, wife picked him up, meanwhile I had the youngest in bed asleep so then it was time for the workout.

So in short, I could have taken the easy route, I had a good set of results, I was under the weather, but it is all about perseverance and continual improvement, daily accountability to quote Adam.

Now if had I been really ill that would have been a different story. As has been stated in several other blogs you do need to be able to respond to when your body does indeed need rest and if you are fighting an infection that is manifesting some bad symptoms you need to let your immune system deal with it, rather than burning all your energy at the gym otherwise it will just take much longer to recover.

Feeling Better

So as I am sure you have gathered I am feeling much better today. Don't know what happened yesterday but it knocked me for six but with no lingering after effects!!

Apologies if anyone was expecting BF stats part 2 but I was halfway through my weights when I realised duh! As I said yesterday it's not a time I would recommend to do a BF test during or after weights as it does seem to effect the reading quite dramatically.

So I think I may wait now until Sunday, as Friday is cardio and Saturday is rest.

Supersets Lower Body

If you are are not sure what supersets are then please refer back to my Day 25 post.

So today I thought was going to be quite straight forward and not too hard.....wrong!! As you may have noticed in my blog I do not really do many weights on the lower body. My way of thinking is I work this part of my body doing all the running, cross trainer etc etc. I was recommended to train my legs hard so I am trying it out. I did some testers last week but this was the real thing, 4 exercises that was it!!!

10 x barbell squats
10 x dumbbell lunges

1 minute rest after the 2 exercises then repeat 3 more times, a total of 4, then...

10 x barbell deadlift
10 x dumbbell step ups

1 minute rest after the 2 exercises then repeat 3 more times, a total of 4

Well before I was even halfway I was really feeling it and was initially worried about my HIT incline run tomorrow. Now having completed it I will just be happy if I can walk down the stairs in the morning unaided. To say I am sore is an understatement, I am having flashbacks to Adams video yesterday. But this is indeed what it is like when you engage new muscles in an activity they are not used to. It shows that it worked!!

On another note, I was squatting 70kg today which I thought was quite light but there were 3 other guys training on the free weights tonight and we were all talking. These guys lift much heavier than me on the upper body but do almost no cardio. They made a comment about the last time they did squats and not being able to work and then they were all having a go in my rest periods. I was amazed to see that they struggled, one of them was all over the place just in doing 10 reps and I did 4 set of 10 with the lunges in between. So they were spending all their time in the gym working back, chest and arms and literally nothing on there legs. I was really surprised!!!

So another hard workout today which felt good and I will see how I am in the morning, I am still going for the incline run no matter how much it hurts, even if I just have to crawl real fast on the treadmill.

Well it's getting late now and I need some sleep so I am gonna visit all you blogs and then fall unconscious somewhere, hopefully it will be my bed!! Keep shredding guys, day 5 has finished so we are now a third of the way there.

Until tomorrow....

Day 29: Stats day....two massise shocks.....

I have to start by apologising to Christy. Sorry for taking so long to post today. I have been feeling progressively worse all afternoon and was not sure if I would get the stats in today, I was just going to post something like please tune in tomorrow but I am feeling a bit better so here goes....

So going back to yesterday's post there were 2 things planned for today, firstly my BF stats and then secondly to measure my heart rate during my HIT sprint run.

Body Fat History

81kgs & 17.9% BF (19-Sep-2007) 14.49 kgs fat
80kgs & 17.2% BF (26-Sep-2007) 13.76 kgs fat
80kgs & 16.0% BF (03-Oct-2007) 12.80 kgs fat
79.5kgs & 15.9% BF (10-Oct-2007) 12.64 kgs fat
79kgs & 15.5% BF (17-Oct-2007) 12.24 kgs fat
79kgs & 15.4% BF (24-Oct-2007) 12.16 kgs fat

The goal is 6% BF loss in 10 weeks, 5 weeks (halfway) had me to 2.6%. This week has been no holds barred eat clean and shred hard (where have I heard that before?!?).

Sooooooooo today's stats and the first massive shock.

Today's Stats

78kgs & 13.1% BF (29-Oct-2007) 10.21 kgs fat

I could not believe this and to tell you the truth still do not. I did take 3 separate measurements and they were all identical. The week that I lost 1.2% above I could visually see a difference but this time I could not. Also there has been only 5 days since the last measurement. I am going to get additional measurements in the week to confirm today's reading and think it will verify this is wrong.

So what could have happened?

I have been drinking lots but it is possible that I was dehydrated today and this can effect electronic readings, this is one possibility?

I did a really heavy upper body workout yesterday and with handheld measurements I have proven (not on this blog but in the gym) that your BF measurement can dramatically change if you have performed a hard weights session, however this was one measurement before and another straight after. Is it possible that my workout from yesterday is still influencing my BF reading today? This I cannot answer, but I will be at the gym tomorrow evening (providing I am feeling better) and I will take another reading.

Also I am looking in a mirror when looking for changes but fat is stored all over the body so it is entirely possible I have lost it from say my back!

Just going back to the stats though, assuming this is true, I have lost 1kg of body weight but have lost 2 kgs of BF. So I must have also put on 1kg of muscle. Now don't get me wrong I was really pleased to see this but to have done this all in 5 days is just a bit too amazing. I have had false positives before without knowing it and they can be a bad shock when you realise that they were wrong and can really knock your motivation.

So Stats day will continue into Tuesday and maybe Wednesday....

Then my second massive shock

I wanted to get to the gym early today to do my sprint HIT run before my personal training session. As I said yesterday both my PT and I were curious to what my HR reached during this. I thought based on previous runs that it would exceed 220 bpm.

Today's Workout

1 min 6kph
1 min 12 kph
1 min 14 kph
1 min 16 kph

then

1 min 6kph
1 min 13 kph
1 min 15kph
1 min 17kph

repeated 3 times and then I final cycle of:

1 min 6kph
1 min 12 kph
1 min 14 kph
1 min 16 kph
and then comes the dreaded 21st minute, and today this entire minute was run at 17kph.

So any guesses to what my HR reached, I was shocked, it only reached a maximum of 188bpm. I was expecting this to be much much higher based upon the final 2 minutes and was really pleased as to how much my cardio fitness has come on in 3 years of stopping smoking!! My ultimate goal is not some much a physique transformation but I know that I will get it by reaching 10% BF but my fitness is what I am looking at overall so this was just amazing today. What was even better was that by the end of the 1 minute warm down my pulse was already back down to 160 and falling fast.

I had about another 1 -2 minutes before starting a gruelling 25 - 30 minute ab session, this was following by some stretching and then 10 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer. So all in all this was a BIG workout today with hopefully (TBC) some fantastic stats.

I will keep you posted and I am really sorry for the lack of comments on everyones blog today but I have really been feeling awful this afternoon, not sure what it is, there is a nasty viral infection going around the town currently so I am hoping it will not effect the group shred any.

Again I hope you all are shredding as hard as me and are putting in that little bit extra to see some amazing results.

Take care everyone and I will hopefully come see all your blogs tomorrow and enthuse you all!!!

Until tomorrow....

Day 28: A natural high...

The clocks went back in the UK last night so I went to bed usual time last night as I new the kids would have no regard for this and to be sure they were up at 6am new time but they were good and snoozed for a bit, then I got up around 7.20 and made them breakfast and tucked into a big bowl of cereal myself.

Next an hour or so of pre gym warm-up ironing!!! Then it was time to get down the gym.

RTP Group Shred

Before the routine another round of encouragement for all the RTP group shredders, Day 3 of 14 and everyone is doing an amazing job. Thanks for all the great comments and words of encouragement.

Supersets Supercharged

I really wanted to make up for yesterday so I did my usual 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill and then is was straight into it. There was no rest between groups of exercise and then 1 minute between sets i.e. bench press then seated rows then 1 min rest then again:

10 x barbell bench press
10 x seated rows
1 minute rest then go again 3 more times

10 x standing shoulder press
10 x wide grip pull downs
1 minute rest then go again 3 more times

10 x close grip bench press
10 x upright rows
1 minute rest then go again 3 more times

I then did 2 sets of 10 of ez bar bicep curls and 1 set of 10 dumbbell flys, this was the bit extra, I just couldn't help myself!

Natural High

I get this almost always from intense exercise. I come away from the gym with a great feeling, even though you are warn out form the routine you have this buzzing feeling that invigorates you and you still feel full of energy.

Change to Stats Day

Well due to personal reasons stats day is changing and will now be Monday's. I am gonna be very interested this week as I will have lost 2 days worth of fat burning and one of the days was a rest day. So tune in tomorrow for the new BF stats. It's gonna be an intense cardio and abs session tomorrow with my PT. I am gonna get down there early so that I can do my sprint cardio HIT session. I'm going to wear a HR monitor tomorrow as both I am my PT are curious as to how high my pulse gets to by the end of that 21st minute. I'll let you know tomorrow!

Until tomorrow....

Day 27: A very painful rest day....

That was tough....tougher than any day in the gym. Day 2 of the RTP group shred and it is my rest day. I was pretty sure I should honour my rest day and everyone has agreed with that.

I knuckled down and ate as clean as I possibly could, I have stayed active all day, hoovered the whole house, been swimming with the kids, shopping in the village, up and down the stairs!!!

But tomorrow I will get my chance when I have the start of my new routine, I think this week I may taylor the cardio days slightly just to give it some more punch, but I am going to be pushing it to the max for the next 6 days until that next rest day. Look in over the week because I am going to take the cardio to a whole new level....

To the other 16 group shredders (Bec, Massimiliano, Josh, Joni, Flashback!, Suzette, Christy, Dougal, Diane, Debbie, Miriam, Michael, Sammy, Katie, Lynda, Alex), way to go for day 2, and here is looking to day 3.

Until tomorrow....

Day 26: Cardio and Abs, Day 1: Group RTP Shred

14 RTP Group Shred Kick-Off

WoW what a day. I nearly forgot to blog with everything that has been going on!!

Firstly:

Adam, I am sure everyone will join me in saying thanks for bringing everyone together this is massive. Thanks for all the support past and present and the best of luck to you finishing your shred and completing your 1st year of daily accountability and fingers crossed another sixer!

I have had the day off today as my wife is working and it is half term so have been out and about with the kids but it is has also meant I have had some extra time to visit most peoples blogs who are participating in the group shred, sorry if I have missed you, let me know and I will come knocking. It looks like most other people have been doing the same.

Today I have been blown away with all the support and kind words from you all, Christy, Sammy, Debbie, Lynda. I wish you all the best and will continue to look in daily on your blogs, period!! I hope you find my blog useful and please, if there is anything I can help with or anything else you would like to see included just let me know.

Motivational HIT Cardio Incline Run

Well I managed to get to the gym when my wife was on her break and I made it count today, I was so stoked with all the support. I went back to the HIT incline with a vengeance, here is today's:

21 minutes on the treadmill, 10KPH at all times:

1 min at 1% incline
1 min at 3% incline
1 min at 6% incline
1 min at 10% incline (last time I did this is was 9%, but your support sent this to 10% for each cycle...thanks)

I repeated this 5 times, that makes 20 minutes. The final minute is always added to increase from the last time , this is the minute you wave goodbye to the pain barrier, grit your teeth and make it count. So today I pushed the incline for the whole 21st minute up to 12%. Boy I was pleased to see the incline reducing when the time ran out, but I felt energised.

20 Minutes Ab workout

Then it was a 20 minute ab workout, again normally it is more like 10 but today I took it to the max. Weighted fitball crunches and side obliques, forward plank, side plank, leg raises, and about 3 others which I have yet to find a name for. Well, by the end of that 20 minutes my abs were done

Tomorrow is supposed to be the rest day but I am really stuck as to whether to rest. Normally it is a really important day and much needed time for the body to mend and repair so that it can live to burn the fat more efficiently another week. BUT should the body be rested in the midst of a shred, not sure....Any ideas?

Well I will sleep on that one. Good luck again one and all and if your not joining in I hope this is giving you the inspiration to start your own fitness journey.

Until tomorrow....

Day 25: RTP Group Shred & Supersets Upper Body

RTP Group Shred Countdown

It is currently early in the morning in Osaka, current base for RTP.com. In around 14 hours or so the first public group shed pics will be posted on the RTP site and mine will be included (10 people doing in the public shred). There are also a number of people (9 I think) doing a private shred, the only difference is that they will post the pics on their own blogs.

So please show your support by using the comments in this blog and also by going to RTP.com, the link is in the Blog Links section on the right and supporting everyone who is taking part. This is not a group competition, each person including myself are using it to either kick off a new start or to add additional motivation to are existing routines.

We are also joining in this to show are support for Adam, this 14 days are the last 14 in his Mission 3 and will see out the first year of his RTP blog, so we are showing are appreciation by joining in with him....Good Luck Adam.

Supersets

I tested out the new routine today as there were some new exercises for me and it went well. I reckon there will be a few aches and pains tomorrow!!

So what are supersets...supersets are essentially two exercises performed back to back that target opposing muscle groups, namely one agonist and one antagonist muscle group. Examples of such muscles are the biceps and triceps, hamstrings and quads, and chest and back

I will go through the exact routine's from Sunday onwards when I start in earnest. I will see how this goes but I will give it 110% focus over the next 2 weeks. I have to admit that I am still slightly skeptical about the drop in cardio but we will see what the results are like over the next 2 weeks.

This, I think is what it is all about, trying new methods and see if they work. Remember we are all different, so it may work for most but not for you and this is what can be most frustrating when you are trying to improve your fitness or lose fat. There are very few 100% guarantee's only opinions, recommendations, techniques and it is then down to you to try them, evaluate, tweak until they work for you or until you move on and try something different.

And remember just because you got great results in the first 3 - 4 weeks does not mean they will last forever, the body will adapt and in my experience generally quicker than you think so keep it guessing and change your routines, nutrition regularly.

That's it for me today, remember to check this blog and the RTP blog over the next 14 days, tomorrow is Day 1, it's going to be an interesting 2 weeks.

Until tomorrow....

Day 24: It's Stats Day again....(Week 5) Halfway!!

Well continuing from yesterday's blog, this week has not been great from a nutrition point of view in the evenings that is, the temptation got me 3 nights in a row. This is the first time in over 14 weeks though so I am quite pleased that I have gone this long and also that it was not an all out binge, it was an evening pudding.

The main thing is though that I have not fallen off the wagon, you do need to kick back at times in moderation or you will end up having an all out binge or just get fed up and stop all your efforts. I believe it's about moderation.

Historical Measurements

81kgs & 17.9% BF (19-Sep-2007) 14.49 kgs fat
80kgs & 17.2% BF (26-Sep-2007) 13.76 kgs fat
80kgs & 16.0% BF (03-Oct-2007) 12.80 kgs fat
79.5kgs & 15.9% BF (10-Oct-2007) 12.64 kgs fat
79kgs & 15.5% BF (17-Oct-2007) 12.24 kgs fat

The goal is 6% BF loss in 10 weeks, 4 weeks had me to 2.5%. So I have already held my hands up to a not so great week nutrition. My new routine kicks in for earnest tomorrow also so I will be very interested on what effect this has, more weights and less cardio!!!

Today's Stats

79kgs & 15.4% BF (24-Oct-2007) 12.16 kgs fat

So at the halfway point I have lost 2.6% BF which equates to 2.33kgs of pure fat which is 5.1 pounds. I have also put on 0.25 kgs of muscle, not much but it is going in the right direction. Hopefully the second half of the 10 weeks will see a difference. It will be interesting...

Today's Workout

Well I was going for something very different today but unfortunately the treadmills in the gym could not handle the job. The Bruce Treadmill Test calls for an incline of 22% and the gyms despite being very good can only manage 15% so my PT set-up one of the Wellness internal programs. Feel free to have a go at the above if you have access to a treadmill that can handle it, just Google the test name and you will get the details.

Basically it is a test which measures your VO2 Max, go to this link for more information on VO2 max and a nice table to tell you where you place:

http://www.runningforfitness.org/faq/vo2.php

VO2 max is: VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen in millilitres, one can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight.

So basically the more O2 you can utilise per minute per kg the more intensely or longer you will be able to exercise. My VO2 max came out at just above 47, and I am in the 30 - 39 age group category. Next week I shall try this without talking and paying more attention to the intervals that are set. This test was conducted on a stationary bike but there are various different tests which can be found here:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/vo2max.htm

After this there was about 20 minutes of abs and then 10 minutes on the treadmill varying the incline and then the speed. So overall it was a fun and informative session today.

Go ahead give it a try.

Weight supersets tomorrow, confused about supersets, read tomorrow for a full explanation.

Until tomorrow....

Day 23: 10 reps(+) x 4 sets

Yep you guessed it another weights session, I am still aching from Sunday's!!! It's all good though. I must admit I have let things slip for a few days now, mainly in the evenings getting a sweet tooth, but I think occasionally you need to let your hair down a little, I was still eating clean all day, just that dessert in the evening for 3 days on the trot, but hey that is the first time in 14 weeks that I have eaten like that, and I do not feel like I went completely overboard either like I have done in the past.

Anyway today was back to eating clean for 100% of the day, still tweaking that nutrition trying to find a good or better balance, I think that's all you can do in an effort to keep a varied and interesting diet that keeps your metabolism fired up.

Today's Routine

My usual 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill followed by:

12 x Upper back machine
12 x leg extension
15 x lower back
10 x barbell squat
20 x half superman (you lift opposite arm and leg and then down and then the other)

This was repeated 4 times in all, the last rep of the superman was swapped for a Fit ball hyperextension x 20. That really got my lower back.

Nutrition

Then it was straight home for a big tuna salad, about 150g of tuna, a couple of big tomatoes and a third of a cucumber all mixed together with some sweet chili sauce to taste, and a couple of slices of multiseeded bread to get some carbs in. Late afternoon I finished off the tuna about another 100 g or so with an apple. So this is around about 70g of protein.

Breakfast was Kelloggs Sustain, it's a relatively new cereal with added protein, so that started the day with around 15 - 20g of protein.

Supper later will be A chicken breast with brown rice, I will stir fry the rice in some peanut oil and eggs and add a few veg so that should be around about another 40 g of protein maybe more. I am starting to think about meals much more closely now and am cooking a lot more from scratch

Remember to drink loads of water, I have had nearly 2 litres today and this is pure water, and I will have another litre more yet.

Tomorrow is stats day, I am aiming for no change BF wise I have eased off this week in anticipation of my new routine which should be starting later this week. I have kind of started it already with less cardio more weights but the weights will be even more structured!!

Something New for all to try!!!!!!

Oh and I have a completely new exercise for tomorrow...something different that everyone can try if they like, tune in tomorrow and see and if you feel like giving it a go i would be interested in your results

Day 23: Back to the Cardio Sprint

It has been 2 weeks now since I last did the HIT Sprint Cardio run so I thought I would give it a go today and see whether 2 weeks off has made any difference.

The verdict....

I managed to continue where I left off. It was back at day 10 when I last did this and my last 40 seconds in the 21st minute was run at 17kph.

So today I managed:

HIT Run (each interval is for 1 minute, each cycle is 4 minutes)

Cycle 1: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph
Cycle 2: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
Cycle 3: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
Cycle 4: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
Cycle 5: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph, 16 kph (one final extra minute). The last 50 seconds I pushed it to 17 kph

I still had a bit left in the reserves but not much.

Ab Session

This is my new hopefully with better results workout session, so now I am doing abs with each cardio session. So it was around 10 -15 minutes on the mat. Using the fit ball with a 5kg medicine ball to add a little extra weight, then various other floor exercises.

Basically after about 12 minutes of constant work and switching of exercises my abs were completely sprung. I really need a rest after the forwards plank and 2 side planks, they were killers.

Back to the weights tomorrow and then Wednesday is going to be another cardio session but this is going to be a real different session. Stay tuned, this is one that everyone can attempt. more to follow on Wednesday.

Until tomorrow....

Day 22: Compound Weight Training

Back to training today, shame about last night but I guess you can;t win them all!!

So it was mostly compound weights today in the gym and it took the shape of the following, the usual 5 minute warm up on the treadmill and then:

10 x Shoulder press
10 x lat pull down
10 x low row
10 x bench press

Calf raises in between to keep the pulse rate up. I also did mixed in 10 chin ups and around 3 sets of wide grip biceps on the ez curl bar. Felt really great afterwards. Struggled with the bench press as I do not normally do these, I did have a spotter most of the time just incase but the weights were not that heavy that I would do myself any damage had I not been able to lift it!!

I must admit I was pretty knackered after it all as each of the above were working several sets of muscles rather than just isolating a particular one.

Right not much else today, just chilling with my family and enjoying the fabulous weather again ;-))

Until tomorrow....

Day 21: Training Overhawl

Rest day today so not much happening, just eating healthy and getting some regular exercise swimming with the kids and walking around the supermarket!!

Next week is going to see my training turned upside down in order to try and revitalise things. The cardio is going to be toned down, with a more structured ab program on the these days and then the weight days are going to become more structured and increased to 3 sessions per week. Each weight sessions is going to now concentrate in compound exercises rather than isolation ones which I have been tending to go for up until now. Compound exercises work several muscle groups all at once, a primary muscle and then one or more secondary muscles.

We will see how this goes over the next few weeks. I consciously need to try and get more protein into my diet as well.

That's it for today, just a short post, big match tonight!!!

Until tomorrow....

Day 20: Some interesting advice!

So overnight I had a great email from someone who offered me some advice on training. The long and the short was that I was not doing enough weights and I was doing way too much cardio. So we have been bouncing a few emails back and forth and so I thought as my fat loss has been slowing with my current techniques that I would give the advice a try. I still need to get the full workout pinned down but here was today's workout. I will add that this is not a radical change from what I have been doing just further tailoring:

Today's Workout

Started with a 10 minute ab workout comprising fit ball crunches, fit ball obliques again both of these using the 5kg medicine ball for an added complexity, not sure what you call the next one but you lye flat with the fit ball between your ankles and your arms stretched out behind your head and then raise your arms and legs up lifting the ball with your legs and then take the ball with your hands and then lower them but never quite touch the floor, do that 20 times and if your abs aren't screaming then your a whole lot better than me, then I finished with a forward plank and sides planks.

Next it was the trusty old HIT Incline run

1 min 1% incline
1 min 3% incline
1 min 6% incline
1 min 9% incline with the last minute at 10%

There was no 21st minute today as next comes something different, for me at least. Weights after a HIT session. As this HIT incline run really nails your quads I did not want to go for the extra minute as I had squats and leg extensions to do today.

Weight Session

10 x Upright barbell row not sure of the weight, I think around 25 -30kg
10 x Leg extension 30kg
10 x Triceps Standing Overhead Barbell Triceps Extension 20kg
10 x Barbell Squat 70kg

Repeated this 4 times but the final 2 times the upright barbell row was swapped for 10 x Shoulder press at 40kg

Now I do not normally don't work my legs much with weights due to the running and I was still aching from the shoulders and back yesterday so by the time that was over I had worked up a nice even all over body ache!!! But it felt good...

Rest day tomorrow and the BIG match later on, good luck to SA and of course England.

Until tomorrow....

Day 19: Weight training back and shoulders -15 is the magic number

Well after a reasonable outcome yesterday from the weigh in it was time for some more hard graft today concentrating on the whole back and shoulders. Again I was lifting heavy and going for 15 reps, not worrying if I needed a small breather during the set. But no rest between sets just straight onto the next exercise.

I started with my usual 5 minute warm up on the treadmill and then it was into the following:

15 x shoulder press
15 x lats machine
15 x upper back machine
15 x low row
15 x lower back machine

Then it was 10 calf raises per leg and start again. I repeated this 5 times today as I added the lats machine this time compared to last week.

I'm going to change my weights around next week a bit so that I focus on the back and arms during both sessions.

Nutrition

Today is my re-feed day so I can eat pretty much what I want although I am being pretty good, shredded wheat for breakfast, couple of pieces of marmite on toast mid morning and a banana, Cheese and chutney sandwich for lunch with some crisps and then chicken and a baked potato for tea. In between I have had over 3 litres of water as well. It is hard to keep remembering to drink that much and you certainly go to the bathroom a lot more often but then hey, it burns more calories with more trips to the loo!!!!

Well I'm going to chill out now.

Until tomorrow....

Day 18: End of Week 4 Stats

Another week over, can't believe I am 4 weeks into my 10 week session already and I have been blogging for 18 days straight now. It really does help the focus. Thanks Adam.

So it's stats day, lets have a reminder of the previous facts and figures:

81kgs & 17.9% BF (19-Sep-2007) 14.49 kgs fat
80kgs & 17.2% BF (26-Sep-2007) 13.76 kgs fat
80kgs & 16.0% BF (03-Oct-2007) 12.80 kgs fat
79.5kgs & 15.9% BF (10-Oct-2007) 12.64 kgs fat

The goal is 6% BF loss in 10 weeks, 3 weeks had me to 2%. Well it is not as fast as to start with but I think I hit a plateau.

So this weeks figures are:

79kgs & 15.5% BF (17-Oct-2007) 12.24 kgs fat.

Whilst I am not over the moon with this weeks results I cannot be too despondent as this is about 400 grams of fat which is around about 1lb of fat in a week. So whilst it is not quite the 0.6% I need to lose per week I am still on schedule due to the fast start. I just need to get the metabolism grinding over faster in the coming weeks to ensure that I lose the 0.5% over the next week to get me to 3% by the half way mark which is next week and then I want to get off to a blistering start to the second half.

So what's at stake here?

Well the biggest stake here is the fact that if I complete my goal....scratch that...when I complete this goal in 6 weeks I will be at 12% BF, something I have never achieved. Even now at 15.5% I am leaner than I have ever been in my life and it feels great, I have more energy, concentration, it's great!!!

The prize though...well in my first week of this 10 week session I was given a box of my favourite chocolates as a thank you for fixing a friends computer!! Great I thought, this is not going to do my fat loss much good as you cannot eat just one of these, they are really moreish, once you start...

Then I thought hey, keep them and use them to train hard and when you reach your goal then you can indulge a little. I have also promised half to my personal trainer if she can help me achieve this goal and she loves chocolate. So they now have prime position in my office at home where I can see them all day long, and I am pleased to say they are still all present and the box is unopened.

Today's Workout

Today was the PT session after the stats were taken I had a 10 minute warm-up on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes of abs, starting on the fit ball doing crunches, try holding a 5 kg medicine ball with straight arms above your head, that really changes fit ball crunches. Then it was the oblique crunches on the fit ball, tuck the medicine ball into your neck this time. Then there was a whole series of different exercises that killed my abs off. I can't remember half of them but you can find a whole host of ab exercises in the resource section to the right.

Then I did a few pull-ups and chin-ups just to see if I could. Managed 4 wide grip pull-ups and 9 chin-ups which I was quite pleased with!! Then it was into some more upper and lower back exercises. Tomorrow I will do them in earnest. I want to concentrate much more on my back now as I have not really been pushing it as much as I think I should have been.

Then it was a final sprint on the rower, 1000 metres as fast as you can. I managed 3 mins 30.5 seconds, had a bit left in the tank but the quads were still tired from the double incline HIT runs I did.

OK that's me for today.

Until tomorrow....

Day 17: Double cardio part II

OK, so day 2 of the double cardio. This is essentially the same as yesterday but with a slight push on the HIT run. I always try to increase the run slightly. Still trying to find the right mix for the incline HIT.

Today's Workout

HIT Incline Run

1 min at 1%
1 min at 3%
1 min at 6%
1 min at 9%

I repeat the above 5 times and today the last 1 minute was at 10% and then a 21st minute at 10% incline after. I still felt that I a bit left in the tank so I will have to evaluate for Friday's session. I will continue this routine for another 2 weeks and then change again.

Cycle (10 minutes)
5 minutes at effort level 6 keeping 100 - 105 rpms
5 minutes at effort level 10 keeping 90 - 100 rpms

Hand Bike (10 minutes)

10 minutes at effort level 8 (120 watts) maintaining a constant 70 rpms

Elliptical Cross Trainer (5 minutes)
I alternate this to work the calf muscles more, the 1st, 3rd and 5th minute are performed on your tip toes or ball of your foot.5 minutes at effort level 12 maintaining 140 spm


Being the second day in a row it really hits you. I find with the incline training it gives you more of an all round workout, you are not out of breath quite as much and I do not think your pulse rate goes as high compared to the speed HIT run but it gets your quads much and so makes the bike that much harder. I hope that with 3 weeks of this that it will improve my speed sessions though.

Another Stats day

Well its Stat's Wednesday tomorrow, we will see how I measure up to last week. This is the end of week 4 so almost half way there. I need to be at 3% BF loss next week to be half way to my goal!!! I can't exercise any more than I am so it is down to finding the right mix of variety in the exercise to keep the body guessing and also nutrition.

Current Fitness Levels

I would have to say that currently I am the fittest I have been in my adult life. I am running faster and for longer periods than I have done before and am lifting heavier also.

To give you an idea of the weights I am currently doing:

Hammer curls with the tricep bar at 31 kg (68lbs) x 10 reps
Squat 70kg (154 lbs) x 10 reps I can go heavier here but have just not tried
Triceps exercises are with 20kg (44 lbs) this is both arms at once for 15 reps
Chest flys are 12 kgs (26 lbs) per arm
Lower back I can manage 65 kgs (143lbs) for 10 reps
Low row I can go 65 kgs (143lbs) for 10 reps
Shoulder press 40 kgs (88lbs) x 15 reps

I also like to row 2000 metres and my current time for that is 6minutes 56 seconds but I have not done this for a few weeks now as it takes so much out of your legs that you cannot do the HIT runs!!

Now I don't know if the above is good on not based on others (comments are welcome I would be interested) but for me it is much heavier than say 6 months ago

In tomorrow's post I will give you the new stats and a brief analysis why I think they are good or bad and will also introduce you to a great and i think fun way to test your physical endurance every once in a while!!!

Until tomorrow....

Day 16: Cardio Double

Well it's back to the 2 day cardio session and I felt great after today's session again. I performed the incline HIT run again but this time with the following gradients:

1 min at 1%
1 min at 3%
1 min at 6%
1 min at 9%

Repeated this 5 times and then did the final 21st minute at 10% incline. After this was the standard exercise on the bike and hand bike. No elliptical cross trainer tonight as the gym was closing!! Still adjusting my nutrition plan after last weeks poor showing on the stats day. I think I am going to try something I read in Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle eBook and up my fats slightly as I am taking very little in.

Tom talked about doing this and about the unexpected and pleasing results that he obtained from it. It's all trial and error though. Lets see what happens on Wednesday.

Until tomorrow....

The Store is Open

If you need some new training gear then head on over to http://www.rtp-store.com/ to grab yourself some new gear it looks pretty great. Designed by Adam Waters himself!!!

Day 15: So we made it to the final!!

Well we made it to the final in the end so now I am cheering for 'Dougal's' SA to come through also. Good luck mate.

The weekend is almost over, back to work tomorrow. It was back to the gym today after a nice rest day yesterday. Biceps, triceps and chest today and it was the magic 15 again.

The routine today was:

The usual warm-up for a weights session, see Day 8.

15 x hammer curls using the tricep bar
15 x Lying-Supine Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
15 x dumbbell flys

I was going pretty heavy today. Once finished I did a few sets of concentration curls and then called it quits. It was a hard workout with no rests between the 4 sets that I did.

Then it was home for lunch.

It was such an amazing day, really hot that I took the kids for a bike ride. They go on their bikes and I run behind them. It's easier to catch them if they fall that way. Plus I get more exercise running than going on my bike!! It was not far though about a mile round trip, but hey it all counts!!

Back to some serious cardio tomorrow.

Until Tomorrow....

Day 14: Rest day.....think I'll go buy a new t-shirt.....needs a snazzy logo on it.....any ideas anyone?

A much needed rest day today. Time to let the body rest, heal, build and relax. I said at the end of yesterday's post that I may do a short ab session but then thought back to why it is most people including myself take a rest day.

Your workouts are generally pretty intense, and they are important, right? Of course they are without them you would not be able to burn the calories which in turn reduce the fat or lift the weights that build the muscle.

Well the rest days are there for a reason which can easily be forgotten. Your body is not unstoppable and if you want to may continuous progress you need to give it that time to grow and recover from the stress that you have put it through during that previous week. If you don;t rest up a bit then you increase the risk of either burning yourself out, not progressing as quickly as you could do or most important of all cause yourself an injury which could set you back many weeks.

Since I started my 10 week personal training sessions of which I am now on my second I have been ill once which was extremely mild, I lowered the intensity of my workouts but it was mild enough to carry on with them. Touch wood this will continue. Likewise I have not had any injuries so far either (fingers crossed) none soon!! I put this down to the right balance of nutrition, exercise and of course rest, if you can balance them all (which is the hard bit and I am continually adjusting to try and find it!!) then you should see good progress towards your goals and remain injury free.

Day 13: Time to change a bit

So cardio today and I decided that I would change this slightly from speed to gradient to give the intensity. The rest of the workout remains the same, the HIT run is now:

1 min at 10kph incline 1%
1 min at 10kph incline 3%
1 min at 10kph incline 6%
1 min at 10kph incline 8%

Repeat 5 times and I added a 21st minute as with the other HIT sessions and performed the whole minute at 10% incline.

I still burnt the same amount of calories as I did on the other HIT run but it felt much easier so I will change straight away to 1%, 3%, 6% and 9% and see how that feels.

Nutrition plan for today was exactly the same as Day 12, except lunch was later at about 13:30 and tea is a roast chicken salad, skin removed!

Well rest day again tomorrow but I think I will do a short ab session at some time.

Until tomorrow....

Day 12: Man what a day.....and what is Adam up to now?

I am gonna get a workout aren't I, am I, aren't I????

The washing packed up last week and the new one was supposed to be delivered this afternoon so I planned an evening workout. So as you would expect it it turned up at 9am this morning...go figure. Ahh well I will go for a lunchtime session then, no problem!! That is until 10:30am when the wife's car breaks down, so back to an evening workout!!

I finished work and really could not be bothered after the kids were in bed, I was tired and just wanted to flake out, I thought about my blog tonight? mmmm!! Went and got changed made my drink and waited for my wife to get home and then went for my weight session....and boy it was a hard session tonight.

It was back and shoulders tonight. The usual 5 minute run to warm-up see Day 8 for details then as last Sunday's was with regards to reps. You gotta get to that magic 15:

15 Shoulder press
15 lower back machine
10 Calf raises each leg (rest period)
15 low rows
15 upper back machine
10 calf raises each leg (rest period)

Do that 6 times and your all done!! Because of the large muscle groups it does not take long until you start to gasp for air so beware you will need at least one rest per set maybe 2 towards the end. You know you've been to the gym after this one!!

Nutrition Plan
Well it was back to the carb tapering today and this was my what I had today:

Breakfast, 7:45: 2 shredded wheat with milk, I hate milk though so I eat very little of it, coffee with dash of milk
09:00 - Coffee with dash of milk
10:30 - Banana and around 3/4 litre of water
12:30 - Tuna Salad, contains, 185g tin of tuna in brine, 3 small teaspoons of garlic mayonnaise (I know but you have to enjoy your food, it's only a small amount) 2 large tomatoes chopped and around a third of a cucumber diced and all mixed together, and about another 3/4 litre of water
17:00 - Apple
20:00 - Chicken sticks with a large salad

That's pretty much it on the low carb days, sometimes a bit of toast as well in the mornings. The evening meals change each day but the breakfast and lunch tend to stay the same!! The times will change also depending on what else is going on with the family.

Until tomorrow....

Day 11: End of Week 3 Stats

Well what a week this has been for Adam so far. I can't wait to see the news clip when it's released.

OK..so today is the weekly weigh in. Below is a reminder of the progress so far in this 10 week session:

81kgs & 17.9% BF (19-Sep-2007) 14.49 kgs fat
80kgs & 17.2% BF (26-Sep-2007) 13.76 kgs fat
80kgs & 16.0% BF (03-Oct-2007) 12.80 kgs fat

The goal is 6% BF loss in 10 weeks, 2 weeks had me to 1.9%. Well I went in the right direction this week but it was not a patch on last week:

79.5kgs & 15.9% BF (10-Oct-2007) 12.64 kgs fat

So this brings it to 2% in 3 weeks, so I am still on track to reach my goal. But what went wrong this week....? Well I think it was all to do with portion control this week. The week before the meals themselves dictated the portion size as they were mostly lean meats with large salads. However, last week contained a lot of home cooked meals where I could choose to a certain degree at least how much I could consume. These also more than likely had more hidden fat and carbs in than anticipated!

So I will continue being healthy and will get back to being very diligent when it comes to portion control.

It's funny last week I was really motivated from the great BF loss but this week I am even more motivated to make improvements next week although I am very pleased to see that last weeks measurement was not a blip in the curve.

Nutrition Plan

As promised if I lost BF this week I would start disclosing my nutrition plan. Well as with exercise this needs to be varied and continually changing to keep the body guessing and to keep it interesting and enjoyable.

Over the last 4 weeks I have been following a carb tapering / re-feed nutrition plan.Uhhhhh??

What this means is that for 3 days I taper the carbs that I eat during the day so in my plan I eat either no or very very little starchy carbs after my lunch. Just fibrous carbs in the form of a bit of fruit and loads of vegetables. Then on the 4th day I do what's called re-feed. Basically you can eat whatever you want and there are 2 outcomes at this stage:

1. You completely pig out and binge eat and compromise all the progress you have made over the past 3 days OR
2. You eat more freely, some cheat foods are allowed as well as carbs all day but ensure that rather than having a calorie deficit you eat your full quota of calories or only slightly more, thus not compromising the previous 3 days

On rare occasions point 1 may be the option, purely just because from time to time you do need to kick back a bit but these should be kept for special occasions and should not be a regular occurrence.

Point 2 has many benefits:

1. You gain little or no fat on your re-feed day
2. It prevents your body going into starvation mode as you regularly eat a full amount of daily calories
3. By using this day to include one or two of your favourite less healthy foods it gets rid of the cravings and prevents the binge eating when they get too great
4. The extra carbs will boost your energy levels so that they do not fall too far as they can do on longer periods of low carbs

So there you have it, it's quite simple really but I have found that it works well for me so far, especially as my evening meal is usually late 19:30 to 20:15. Limiting the starchy carbs at this time has really helped.

I will put up some of meal plans in later posts as this is what I have found hardest.

Oh yes and before I forget you need to drink loads of water, I drink about 3 litres of pure water a day, not including drink with meals and workout drinks, see Day 9 for further details.

Until tomorrow....

Day 10: Congratulations Adam

Firstly just wanted to give a great big Congratulations to Adam Waters who has moved one step closer to his dream today and the few people who have read this blog will probably have come via Adam's, so I am sure will say the same, if not the link is at the side. He inspired me to start writing this and I hope that people will find it useful as the hardest thing I have found is getting real time real life information and seeing how things work as they go along.

Considering this was day 2 of the cardio it felt really good and I managed a full 40 seconds at 17 kph at the end and still felt like I had a bit left in the tank, but only a bit. This was the only part of the session that increased but the cycle, hand bike and cross trainer were all kept to the high end of the limits today. The cardio is certainly on the up currently. Friday is the next session but I have a new routine marked out for Friday. No speed increases this time, should be interesting!!

Today's Routine

HIT Run (each interval is for 1 minute, each cycle is 4 minutes)

• Cycle 1: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph
• Cycle 2: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 3: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 4: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 5: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph, 16 kph (one final extra minute). The last 40 seconds I pushed it to 17 kph

Cycle (10 minutes)

• 5 minutes at effort level 6 keeping 100 - 105 rpms
• 5 minutes at effort level 10 keeping 90 - 100 rpms
  

Hand Bike (10 minutes)

• 10 minutes at effort level 8 (120 watts) maintaining a constant 70 rpms
  

Elliptical Cross Trainer (5 minutes)
I alternate this to work the calf muscles more, the 1st, 3rd and 5th minute are performed on your tip toes or ball of your foot.5 minutes at effort level 12 maintaining 140 spm

Well tomorrow is stats day again, I will be really interested to see whether there have been any changes this week. Last week I could see a definite change for the best but this week I cannot!! Guess we will see tomorrow. Gonna have a killer ab session tomorrow and then some heavy squats and a few upper body weights. As promised I lose BF again then I will start to blog my nutrition plan also. Nothing overly complicated about it but I want to make sure that it works first!! Who know I may even start to post a weekly pic!!

Congrats again Adam, I hope you read this, the journey is hotting up not least the end of M3 is in sight.

Until tomorrow....

Day 9: Water!!!!

Water

Today's workout is below but firstly I wanted to spend some time talking about water. Generally in whatever you read regarding fat loss or weight loss there are the cardio routines, the weights sessions, nutrition, calorie deficits. These are stressed to a very high degree. If you want to lose fat then you must follow various and differing opinions on the above some of which I will give you my own experiences in later posts.

However, very few articles ever mention water. This is possibly the most important and often most overlooked part of any fat loss program. Every process and metabolic pathway that takes place in the human body requires water. It is also required to flush out the toxins and other harmful waste products. If you have ever seen information in articles it usually mentions 8-10 glasses of water per day. Well in a recent article that I read it has been determined that this is the absolute minimum that you should be drinking per day and if you exercise regularly you should be drinking a lot more.

If you do not drink enough the effects are many and varied but needless to say if you are only partially dehydrated this will have a negative effect on your workouts and thus slow you from reaching your goal. It may also contribute to your tiredness as well as many other issues.

Many experts say that in order to work out how much you need to drink you need to know how active you are and a good measure of this are the number of calories you burn:

2000 calories burnt requires 2809 ml (~3 litres)
2500 calories burnt requires 3400 ml (~3.5 litres)
3000 calories burnt requires 3844 ml (~4 litres)

So as you can see if you have even a relatively low calorie intake you should be drinking a lot more than what is generally recommended. This is pure water over and above your tea / coffee, your workout drink etc. It takes dedication to make sure you drink enough just as it takes dedication to go to the gym each day and to eat healthily but it is probably the one thin that most people forget/

If you haven't been drinking enough then get yourself a good size water bottle and fill it 3 - 4 times per day and see the difference it makes. Combined with a good exercise program and nutrition plan it will make a big difference.



Another hard HIT workout, anything in red is an increase since the last HIT session:

Today's Routine

HIT Run (each interval is for 1 minute, each cycle is 4 minutes)

• Cycle 1: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph
• Cycle 2: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 3: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 4: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 5: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph, 16 kph (one final extra minute). The last 30 seconds I pushed it to 17 kph

Cycle (10 minutes)

• 5 minutes at effort level 6 keeping 100 - 105 rpms
• 5 minutes at effort level 10 keeping 90 - 100 rpms
  

Hand Bike (10 minutes)

• 10 minutes at effort level 8 maintaining a constant 70 rpms

Elliptical Cross Trainer (5 minutes)

I alternate this to work the calf muscles more, the 1st, 3rd and 5th minute are performed on your tip toes or ball of your foot.
5 minutes at effort level 12 maintaining 140 spm

Until tomorrow....

Day 8: All over again....

Well after a nice day of rest it was back to it. Today was chest, biceps and triceps. I opted for a new routine that I saw the other day. The trick here is to go heavy but to knock out 15 reps no matter what, even if you need to take a quick rest pause. Just take 3 or 4 deep breaths and then carry on, if you need to take 2 then that's fine just get to the magic number 15.

The usual 5 minute warm up on the treadmill see Day 5 for full details then into the weights.

I performed the following:

15 hammer curls using the tricep bar
15 Lying-Supine Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
15 dumbbell flys

Then it was a 10 calf raises per leg during the rest and back to the start. Repeat 4 times then collapse...only kidding but you should be pretty worn out after that with virtually no breaks.

Again go as heavy as you can and take the rests if you need them but this should only be enough for 5 deep breaths maximum before restarting. If you can manage the complete 15 then it is time to up the weight!!

So that is it with regards to my workouts. Tomorrow sees the start of another 2 days of cardio, I will continue to punch up the final seconds so that each session is slightly more. If I get another positive weigh in then I shall start to share my nutrition plan with you as this has been one of the hardest things to get right for me.

Until tomorrow....

Day 7: Rest Day

Time to chill...as much as you can with 2 kids running around!! No but seriously I really think that kids help you to relax in that they clear your mind of all your other thoughts, work problems etc etc.

No workouts at all today and I think this is just as important as all the trips to the gym. Your body needs time to recover, time grow and time to mend. If you don't give it this time then I believe that the results you see will take longer to materialise and more importantly you run a serious risk of injury which could set your training back considerably.

When I set his goal I was very clear with myself that I would not turn my life or my families life upside down to accomplish this. By this I mean I use no supplements at all, no protein shakes no creatine, nothing. I am not saying that these are bad or anything like that I just wanted to prove that you could reach your goal of fat loss without the use of them. I also eat fairly ordinary meals. Don't get me wrong I eat healthily and I ensure that I am in a calorie deficit in order to burn the fat.

I do enjoy a drink at the weekends and a few nibbles, it helps me unwind after a stressful week. I don't go overboard though and everything in moderation I believe will in the long run help you and this is what I want my kids to learn. There is nothing wrong with a bag of crisps but a chocolate bar but moderation is the key. My eldest son understands this quite well and knows the difference between healthy and not so healthy foods!

I will go into my specific nutrition plan in the coming weeks...

With regards to exercises I have found a great body building site: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

This is in the resources section on the right hand side. I use it to keep my weight sessions as varied as possible. The site is excellent. There is a wealth of information in some of the articles and information on how to amend your workouts depending on what you want to achieve. The exercise section above is fantastic. You can search through all of the specific muscles groups and select isolation (one specific muscle) or compound (a primary muscle and one or more secondary muscles) exercises.

There are pictures of how to keep good form and also video clips to show you one or 2 reps. So there is no reason why your weight sessions need get boring as you can change them each session you perform.

Back to the gym tomorrow for another bicep, triceps and chest session. Must make sure to steer clear of the squats this time as Monday and Tuesday are the dreaded (but fun!!) double cardio!

Until tomorrow....

Day 6: Another cardio session?

Yes indeed another cardio session. As I have said in other posts, fat loss is the goal here so I do 3 HIT cardio sessions per week. This one was the same as Monday and Tuesday but again squeezing that bit extra at the end.

Made a big mistake doing all those squats yesterday though. The run was really tough due to aching quads but I still managed to get through it with out going off the back of the treadmill...just!

Today's Routine

HIT Run (each interval is for 1 minute, each cycle is 4 minutes)

• Cycle 1: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph
• Cycle 2: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 3: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 4: 6 kph, 13 kph, 15 kph, 17 kph
• Cycle 5: 6 kph, 12 kph, 14 kph, 16 kph, 16 kph (one final extra minute). The last 20 seconds I pushed it to 17 kph

Cycle (10 minutes)

• 5 minutes at effort level 6 keeping 100 - 105 rpms
• 5 minutes at effort level 10 keeping 90 - 100 rpms

Hand Bike (10 minutes)

• 10 minutes at effort level 7 maintaining a constant 70 rpms

Elliptical Cross Trainer (5 minutes)

I alternate this to work the calf muscles more, the 1st, 3rd and 5th minute are performed on your tip toes or ball of your foot.

• 5 minutes at effort level 12 maintaining 140 spm

So now to the weekend, how good can I be?!?! Tomorrow is my rest day so instead of some exercise routines I will explain some of the things that I don't stop doing during my quest to reach my goal. Also I will share some resources that I use.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Until tomorrow....

Day 5: Low Reps, High Weight

Even though I am trying to lose fat and not put on muscle I have found that swapping constantly every 3 or 4 workouts either by adjusting the weights up or down or increasing or decreasing the reps helps to keep that lean muscle whilst loosing the fat.

Today's Routine

Only a short post this evening as I have a late meeting I need to take.

Well it was all about shoulders, upper and lower back and during the rest periods I was working my calves and quads:

Quick 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill, starting at 10 kph for a minute, increasing by 1 kph each minute so finish off at 14 kph. Again you should feel nice and warm after this but not be exhausted. Adjust the speed so that during a 1 minute warm down your breathing returns to normal, should around about 30 - 40 seconds into warm down.

12 x Shoulder press
12 x Incline Bench Pull
14 x Lower back machine
12 x Reverse Flys
10 x Calf raise - one leg at a time
10 x Barbell Squat

Have a quick drink and then do it all over again, no rests apart from a quick drink and stretch. I repeat this 6 times. Again I will not list the weights that I have used as this is very much down to the individual. I use the heaviest weights I can manage 12 reps with though to get the muscles stimulated.

That takes about 6 minutes per full rep so a 36 minute weight session plus the warm-up run. Your heart rate remains high though due to the lack of rest. Your muscles do get a chance to rest hence the order that I perform these in.

Tomorrow is Friday and if I have motivational issues it is usually Friday evening or Saturday.

Until tomorrow....

Day 4: End of Week 2 Stats

Wow, what a powerful motivational effect today's stats have produced. As a reminder below are the stats so far since the start of my new 10 week session:

81kgs & 17.9% BF (19-Sep-2007)
80kgs & 17.2% BF (26-Sep-2007)

and this weeks blew me away...

80kgs & 16.0% BF (03-Oct-2007)

That means I have not only not lost any lean mass I have actually put on some muscle and have dropped 1.2% BF in a week. Whilst I was shocked and initially thought that this is too much, the fact that I have not lost any weight is extremely pleasing.

Oh, and I did take 3 separate readings, two of which were 16% and the third was even lower, so I went with the higher of the values.

So I am now well on track for reaching my goal. If I can lose BF over the next week (i.e. for 3 consecutive weeks) this will be the first time that I have been able to lose consistently over this period.

After this it was then time for my personal training session. I keep to having these session as I find that they really help to keep you motivated, enable you to try new exercises which you can then incorporate into your schedule which in turn adds more variety for you and stops you from getting bored and just as importantly stops your body from reaching a plateau. It is also fun to workout with someone else for an hour rather than just battling with the machine!!!

Today's routine was a 10 minute warm-up on the bike, 30 minutes of killer abs and lower back, all types of exercises using the fit ball, medicine ball and just your body weight, I know I am gonna hurt tomorrow! Next came around 15 minutes of weights, 2 sets of 20 each dumbbell flys, chest press and lying dumbbell tricep extensions, the twist for these is that they were all performed on the fit ball. This great for working all the core muscles at the same time. You need to go slightly lower on the weights as you also have to keep a close eye on your balance. The closer your feet are together the harder it is to balance and the harder your core muscles need to work. Makes a real change from using the normal weights bench.

Then it was a warm down for 10 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer, 5 minutes to end the session and 5 minutes more to make up for the time I skipped yesterday as time ran out. This was performed in the usual fashion 1 minute on tip toes to work the calf muscles and then 1 minute normally...

Heavy weights tomorrow, shoulders, upper and lower back with thighs and calf's between sets.

Until tomorrow....