# rfc's journal



## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Thought I'd start a journal to keep tabs on my progress. I am 23 years old, 5'11", 13 stone 4 lbs (186 lbs/84.5kg). I am trying to gain strength but I've also got a bit of a belly which I'd like to lose, but I figure it'll be better to put on some muscle first then lose the fat later. I've been training about 4 months now and have put on 6 lbs so far and made progress on my big lifts.

This is me right now:



This is my current diet:

*Breakfast - 6:45am*

50g whey concentrate

Shreddies 60g with 200ml semi-skimmed milk and strawberries

500mg vit C, omega 3 tab, glucosamine tab

587 cals, 56g protein, 69g carbs, 9g fat

*Mid-morning snack - 10am*

Peanuts 30g

Almonds 30g

2 boiled eggs

Lettuce/celery

474 cals, 27g protein, 8g carbs, 39g fat

*
Lunch - 1:30pm*

Chicken breast and cucumber sandwich, brown bread, light mayo, flora light

Apple

463 cals, 32g protein, 53g carbs, 14g fat

*
Afternoon snack - 4:30pm*

Can of tuna with light mayo

Banana

426 cals, 35g protein, 43g carbs, 14g fat

*Workout - 5:45pm*

*
*

*
Post-WO - 7:15pm*

*
*

*
*Whey concentrate 50g, dextrose 40g

380 cals, 42g protein, 44g carbs, 4g fat

*Dinner - 8pm*

Varies a lot, but something like:

Chicken breast

Oven chips

Mixed veg

551 cals, 37g protein, 66g carbs, 16g fat

*Before bed - 11pm*

Pint of semi-skimmed milk

500mg vit C, multivit, omega 3 tab, glucosamine tab

278 cals, 20g protein, 28g carbs, 10g fat

*
Total*: 3159 cals, 249g protein, 310g carbs, 105g fat

At the moment I am following the Westside for Skinny Bastards program. This was my workout yesterday (upper body max effort)

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 14, 40kg x 8, 50kg x 6, 52.5kg x 5

Flat DB bench press - 18kg each hand x 7,7,6,5

DB bent-over single arm rows - 18kg x 12,10,8,7

DB rear delt flys - 5kg x 12,12,12

DB side bends - 23kg x 11,11,10,8

I am doing upper body max effort mondays, lower body wednesdays and upper body repetition day fridays. Am thinking about changing program to starting strength though because maybe WS4SB has too many isolation exercises for a beginner and it only has room for squat OR deadlift once per week?

For cardio I am doing bike riding for about an hour 2-3 times a week, depending on the weather and 'weather' I can be ar5ed, lol

Feel free to post any comments or criticism.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

So yesterday I did lower body - First time doing squats in a couple of months as I only joined a gym last week and before that didn't have any way of doing squats safely, also the first time I've done them ATG as opposed to parallel. Only did one set of single leq squats for each leg because my quads were knackered after the full squats and I figured they didn't need any more training this week. Also need to remember to ask someone at the gym how much the fixed barbells and dumbbells weigh, the weight plates are marked but I don't know how much the bars weight, which is making it difficult to compare to what I've been doing at home. Anyway:

Barbell squat - 20x12, 30x10, 40x7, 50x3

Barbell single leg squats - 20ishx9

Hamstring curls - level 1x9,9,10,11

Standing calf raises - level 3x15, level 7x10,11,11

Legs are pretty sore today! Tomorrow I am busy so I'm doing my upper body repetition day today instead of tomorrow.

I'm more and more tempted to start doing Starting Strength instead as I enjoy doing the compound exercises and would like to be squatting AND deadlifting every week. I need to find out if my gym has smaller plates though so I can increase the weight gradually - they only seem to have 5kg and upwards, apart from a random pair of 2.5lb plates I've seen lying around. 10kg is far too big a jump in weight for me at the moment.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

After that legs workout I did my repetition day the day after;

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 10, 35kg x 12,12,12

Barbell overhead press - 20ish kg x 10,10,9

Skull crusher - 15ish kg x 9,9,10

Lat pulldown - level 8 narrow grip x 12,12,8, level 8 wide grip x 10,10

Barbell seated preach curl - 15ish x 3, 10ish x 10,10,14

Abs - Situp x 15, holding 10kg plate x 5, holding 5kg plate x 5, Crunch machine level 5 x 12, Bicycle crunch x 20 per side, Situp x 4

At the weekend my diet and rest was pretty awful tbh, although on Monday my weight had increased to 13 stone 7 / 189lbs. I was busy with an assessment centre for a job that I've been going for at the start of the week and coupled with not getting enough sleep at the weekend meant I missed my max effort workout on monday and my lower body day was delayed til thursday:

Barbell squat 20kg x 12, 30kg x 10, 40kg x 8, 50kg x 6, 60kg x 3

Barbell lunge 40kg x 2 (too heavy!), 30kg x 8,8,8

Seated leg curl - level 3 x 12, level 6 x 8,8,8

Standing calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 7 x 13,13,13

I was pretty glad that despite the abuse my body took over the weekend that I still gained 10kg on my squat. Legs were still horrendously sore the next 2 days. On Friday i did my repetition day:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 35kg x 13,13,14

Barbell overhead press - 20ish kg x 11,11,11

Skull crusher - 15ish kg x 9,7,5

Curl machine - 5kg x 8,8,5

Lat pulldown - level 8 narrow grip x 12,9, level 8 wide grip x 7,7

Abs - Crunch machine level 10 x 8,8,8, Bicycle crunch x 20,20, Lying leg raise x 7,6, Crunch machine level 10 x 2

Made progress on bench and ovehead press, but seemingly at the expense of tris which struggled on the skull crushers this week. Also forgot to do lat pulldown before bis so my bis were already quite dead when i did my lats, so i couldn't manage as many reps. Slightly disappointed with this workout apart from the 1st 2 exercises, must eat and sleep better this week and hopefully i'll get those reps back.

Today I went for a 13 mile bike ride.

Also i'm thinking about starting creatine, haven't been taking it as it doesn't seem to help everyone and i wanted to train for a bit without it so when i do take it i'll have a better idea of whether it's helping me, also moneys been tight the last few months. Thinking now might be the time to try it, got a bit more cash in the bank and might be starting a better paid job soon, so i might add some to my next myprotein order.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Did my upper body max effort day today, am pretty please as I benched 60kg for the first time, for 3 reps.

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 15, 40kg x 9, 50kg x 7, 55kg x 5, 60kg x 3

Flat DB bench press - 18ish kg each hand x 8,8,8,8

DB bent-over single arm rows - 18ish kg x 11,11,11,9

DB rear delt flys - 5ish kg each hand x 13,13,13

DB side bends - 23ish kg x 11,11,9,7

i have developed a bit of an imbalance in my obliques it seems. A couple of months ago i had a big bicycle accident and landed heavily on my right hip, oblique and elbow, and couldn't get full ROM on one side when I was doing side bends. My right oblique gave up a couple of reps before my left did on the last couple of sets.

Also put on another pound so I'm up to 13st 8 / 190 lbs.


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## Gza1 (Aug 6, 2007)

good luck mate, the skinny ba$tards routine is good, im thinking of trying it in a few months agen


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Cheers man. I'm definitely getting good gains on it so far, bench press 36kg x 3 -> 60kg x 3 for example.

Today I did a 14 mile cycle.

Thinking about cutting my diet down though, been reading articles today suggesting a natty trainer can't gain more than around 2lbs lean body mass per month, whereas i've been gaining 1-3 lbs per week, and have definitely been putting on fat, although I have been eating more than my diet sometimes. I think i've been using that i'm bulking as an excuse to eat extra crap that i don't need to, for example when people bring cakes into the office and stuff.

Had to buy some new work trousers the other day as my waist size as gone up to 36", and i need some new shirts as well as they're getting tight around the belly. They're also tight around the chest but i think i carry most of my fat round my middle, i'm an apple shape definitely.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Leg day today:

Barbell squat BW x 10, 20kg x 12, 30kg x 10, 40kg x 9, 50kg x 7, 60kg x 3

Barbell lunge 30kg x 9,9,9

Lying leg curl - level 2 x 8,8,8,8

Standing calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 8 x 13,13,13

Not too happy with my lack of progression on squat but at least i progressed on everything else. Felt a sharp pain in my left knee on 2nd rep of lunges though which was a bit worrying, but didn't get it again on any other reps (if i did i would have stopped). Don't know if perhaps my form is off on the lunges.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Did another 14 mile bike ride yesterday, same route but in the opposite direction. Only took me 2 more minutes than Tuesday which is OK seeing as my legs were weak from leg day. Took some body measurements before I start cutting:

Chest 40.5"

Waist 41.5" fully relaxed (although i'm a 36" waist in trousers)

Right bicep 13.375"

Left bicep 13"

Right thigh 22.5"

Left thigh 21.5" :confused1:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Last Friday:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 12, 40kg x 12,12,12

Barbell overhead press - 25ish kg x 6,6,7

Skull crusher - 15ish kg x 9,6,5

Lat pulldown - level 8 narrow grip x 10,10 level 8 wide grip x 8,7

DB hammer curls - 10ish kg x 8,8,8

Abs - Crunch machine level 11 x 8,8,8, Roman chair hanging leg raise x 10,10,10

Again I couldn't improve my skull crushers, decided to change exercises next week. Didn't do any bike riding last weekend as I was away. Went to Alton Towers on the Saturday though so did a fair bit of walking.

Monday:

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 15, 40kg x 10, 50kg x 8, 55kg x 5, 60kg x 3

Flat DB bench press - 18ish kg each hand x 9,9,9,9

DB bent-over single arm rows - 18ish kg x 11,11,11,11

DB rear delt flys - 5ish kg each hand x 12,12,12

DB side bends - 23ish kg x 10,10,10,7

Didn't progress on my max effort bench this week for the first time since I started this program. Also stayed the same weight as last week. Started taking creatine, 10g a day for 3 days then 5g a day. Also changed my diet, to start shedding this belly:

*Breakfast - 6:45am*

50g whey concentrate

Shreddies 30g with 100ml semi-skimmed milk

500mg vit C, omega 3 tab, omega 3+6+9 tab, glucosamine tab

380 cals, 48g protein, 31g carbs, 9g fat

*Mid-morning snack - 10am*

Peanuts 30g

Almonds 30g

Half a chicken breast with nandos sauce

Lettuce/celery

473 cals, 33g protein, 10g carbs, 34g fat

*Lunch - 1:30pm*

2 boiled eggs

Half a chicken breast with nandos sauce

Apple

317 cals, 30g protein, 19g carbs, 13g fat

*Afternoon snack - 4:30pm*

Can of tuna with light mayo

Banana

426 cals, 35g protein, 43g carbs, 14g fat

*Workout - 5:45pm*

*
Post-WO - 7:15pm*

Whey concentrate 50g, dextrose 40g, creatine 5g

380 cals, 42g protein, 44g carbs, 4g fat

*Dinner - 8pm*

Still varies a lot, but will be avoiding carbs as much as possible and just having meat and veg.

Chicken breast

Mixed veg

216 cals, 38g protein, 8g carbs, 3g fat

*Before bed - 11pm*

300ml of semi-skimmed milk

500mg vit C, multivit, omega 3 tab, glucosamine tab

Total: 2339 cals, 235g protein, 170 carbs, 84g fat

Will see how it goes with this for a few weeks and lower the carbs and fats a bit more if I'm not losing weight. Don't expect to lose weight this week due to starting creatine.

Thursday:

Barbell deadlift 20kg x 15, 40kg x 15, 60kg x 12, 80kg x 10, 100kg x 9, 120kg x 1, 110kg x 3

Barbell single leg squat - 25kg x 8,8,8, 30kg x 8

Lying leg curl - level 2 x 8,8,8,9

Standing calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 9 x 12,13, level 10 x 12

Was going to do squats this workout but there were a load of lads doing rows in the squat rack and I didn't want to wait, so instead i went back to deadlifts. Got too greedy after repping 100kg for 9 as my previous best was 100kg for 3, and thought I'd jump straight to 120kg. Realised that was a bad idea and then dropped back to 110kg. Felt like the creatine definitely helped this workout. Also didn't get DOMS as bad as I normally get.

Friday:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 13, 40kg x 13,13,13

Barbell overhead press - 25ish kg x 7,7,7

Tricep pressdown - level 6 x 8,10, level 8 x 8,7

Lat pulldown - level 8 narrow grip x 10,10 level 6 wide grip x 10,10

DB hammer curls - 10ish kg x 9,9,9

Abs - Crunch machine level 12 x 8,8,8, Bicycle crunch x 22,17, Situp x 3

Felt pretty knackered by the end of this workout and got a bit lightheaded. Definitely feeling a little bit hungrier with the decreased carbs, might need to look at my pre workout nutrition so I'm not running out of energy mid workout.

Today I cycled to and from the footy so got in about 11 miles of cycling


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Did a 20 mile cycle on Sunday which was good, knackered my legs though.

Did upper body max effort yesterday:

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 15, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 60kg x 3, 62.5kg x 2

Dips - BW x 2,1 , negative dips x 8,8

DB bent-over single arm rows - 17.5 kg x 12,12,12,10 (12 with left arm)

DB shrugs - 17.5kg x 12, 20kg x 12, 25kg x 6, 22.5kg x 8

DB side bends - 22.5 kg x 11,11,9,9

Again couldn't progress with my max effort lift, felt I was lackingh energy so did less warm up reps to try an conserve energy. Tried to increase by 2.5kg but failed on 3rd rep. Tried dips instead of DB bench press - found out I am crap at them so did negatives instead. Bizzarely I am noticing I am stronger with my left arm on single arm rows, even though I'm right-handed and my right side is stronger for every other exercise. Perhaps it's because I always start with my left arm because I think it's weaker, I am tiring out some muscles which are used for both sides. Next time I will try starting with my right and see what happens. Swapped to shrugs because I like them and haven't done them in a while, so took a bit of experimentation to find a suitable weight.

I am 0.4 lbs heavier than last week, but I only started cutting mid-week and it's still early days with the creatine. I think I look a little bit leaner today so I'll keep the diet the same for a couple of weeks and drop the cals down more if I'm not losing weight. I've been a bit hungrier without all the carbs but it's all in the mind, feeling confident I have the willpower to stay off the junk.

My goal is to fit comfortably back into all my 32" waist trousers and jeans which are hanging in my wardrobe unused. At the moment I'm a 36" waist in trousers so I reckon I'll need to drop 2 stone or a little less. At a pound a week that should take 28 weeks, so I'm setting myself a target of March 1st to get it done. After that I should have some decent definition, and I was a lot happier with my body shape when I was a 32" waist.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Rested Tuesday, and did max effort lower body Wednesday:

Barbell deadlift 20kg x 15, 40kg x 12, 60kg x 10, 80kg x 8, 100kg x 8, 110kg x 4

Barbell single leg squat - 30kg x 8,8,9,9

Lying leg curl - level 2 x 9,9,9,9

Seated calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 9 x 12,12, level 10 x 12

Was going to do a bike ride yesterday but it was p1ssing it down so I didn't bother. Weighed myself this morning and have dropped to 188.2 lbs, 2.4 lbs less than Monday. Very happy with this, although some loss will be water, at least it shows I'm doing it right, and my laziness yesterday didn't seem to hurt. Repetition upper body later today.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

Bump for later.

I'm pushed for time now, but I'll read it all later. You are very similar to me mate, sub'd


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Cheers man :thumbup1:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 14, 40kg x 14,14,13

Barbell overhead press - 30kg x 6,4, 28ish kg x 6

Tricep pressdown - level 8 x 8 (solid bar) level 8 x4 (ropes) level 8 x 10, 9 x 8 (solid bar)

Negative chinups - 5,4,3

DB hammer curls - 10ish kg x 7,5,2

Abs - Crunch machine level 11 x 8,7,7, Bicycle crunch x17,17, Situp x 4

Sooo...I suck at chins. Absolutely knackered my bis doing them hence the missed reps on the curls. Was also surprised at trying the rope tricep pressdown how much harder it was than using a solid bar. Again felt a bit dizzy and knackered at the end of sets towards the end of this workout. Going for a bike ride in a bit.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Did a 14 mile bike ride on Saturday, nothing on Sunday though as I got smashed on Saturday night, which didn't help and meant I put on weight to go back to 189.6 lbs. Also had Monday off as I still had bad DOMs from the chinups and was pretty tired from the weekend abuse.

Yesterday:

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 15, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 60kg x 3

Flat DB bench press - 17.5kg each hand x 9,9,9,9

DB bent-over single arm rows - 17.5 kg x 12,12,11,8

DB rear delt flys - 5kg each hand x 10,10,10

DB side bends - 22.5 kg x 10,10,10,8


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## jonb19 (Jan 14, 2010)

Havent looked through it all but good info, ive sort of done what your looking at just to say it can be done....

My tips ( and i know nothing),

Dont go by the scales.......will just scare you into eating to little, slowing everything down and eat muscle.... go by waist size/belt size for fat loss

Take pictures every 3/4 weeks.......i do and its the only way i can see change, my Mrs says ive lost it :whistling: but nice if you can see it yourself..

And, suprise....eat clean and well, a cheat every so often, maybe once a week is fine, but you 'smash it' and youve lost what youve gained.

Lift Heavy........ once your form is right, get into the compounds and you will grow...

Im 32 waist from a 36/38 at the start of the year although i admit im big boned whaterever that means....

Anyway keep it up and stick with it, the weight will move up and down ( slowly down is fine, to much and skinny fat) but stick with what your waist is doing to get the right direction. 

*Edit, just checked the diet, looks good, i went to low..... 1500 cals and just killed me and my workouts, yours seems around right, but again ' i know nothing'.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Cheers, yeah I am going by waist and belt size as well, belt has got a bit looser I think and I think I look a little bit leaner. If I avoid drinking too much I should make progress. Saturday was a big mistake, I never intended to get as drunk as I did, and I fell asleep in the middle of the party as well.

Did lower body max effort today:

Barbell deadlift 20kg x 15, 40kg x 12, 60kg x 8, 80kg x 6, 100kg x 4, 110kg x 6, 120kg x 4

Barbell single leg squat - 30kg x 9,10,10

Lying leg curl - level 2 x 10,10,10,7

Seated calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 10 x 12,12,12

Didn't feel as tired during this workout as I have done in the last few - I've been making an effort to get more sleep which probably explains that, and it's shown in that I set a personal best in my deadlift. With the lower calories and keeping the exercise the same it's more important than ever that I get enough sleep to avoid getting burnt out. Very happy with my deadlift, used alternate grip for the first time today, in the last 2 sets, which really helped me lift more. Last week lifting 110kg the bar was almost rolling out of my fingers.

Thinking about changing the days on which I do my routine as I always seem to get a lot more DOMS after the repetition day than the max effort day, so I figure it would be better to have 4 days rest after the repetition day before I hit my upper body again, rather than 3.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

You're doing really well mate, don't beat yourself up about the weekend p1ss-up!


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## lazy (May 5, 2010)

Good luck mate, from an East stand regular


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

lazy said:


> Good luck mate, from an East stand regular


Cheers, I was in the East stand today, in Y25. Not too hopeful about this season after the first few performances, especially if we don't get in at least another CB.

Did my 14 mile bike ride route on Thursday in only 51 minutes, not quite sure how I managed that after a leg day but pleased with it.

Friday:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 14, 40kg x 14,14,11

Barbell overhead press - 27.5kg x 7,7,5

Skull crusher - 12.5kg x 12,12,12

Negative chinups - 4,3,2

DB hammer curls - 10ish kg x 7,5,4

Abs - Crunch x 12,12,17, Roman chair hanging leg raise x 10,10, Bicycle crunch x 17,17,17

Strength is going down a little bit but less than I expected. Back down to 188.0lbs on Friday and am being good so far this weekend - went out last night but drove in so I wouldn't be tempted to drink too much. Biked to and from the football today so got in 10 miles.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Did a 19 mile bike ride today in 1 hour 16 minutes. Cycling performance has definitely increased since I started taking creatine, especially uphill.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

rfc said:


> Did a 19 mile bike ride today in 1 hour 16 minutes. Cycling performance has definitely increased since I started taking creatine, especially uphill.


Glad it's working for you, but I thought creatine only helped with explosive muscle stuff rather than endurance. You do say uphill has improved the most though, maybe that's the explosive part they mean. Either way, well done mate.

When you gonna visit my journal then? :thumb:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Hobbio said:


> Glad it's working for you, but I thought creatine only helped with explosive muscle stuff rather than endurance. You do say uphill has improved the most though, maybe that's the explosive part they mean. Either way, well done mate.
> 
> When you gonna visit my journal then? :thumb:


Yeah I just seem to be able to push for longer up hills, maybe it's a bit of a placebo effect as well, I do think I've been making myself push a bit harder when I might have eased off for a couple of minutes before. Visited your journal you cheeky fvck :lol:

Today:

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 12, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 60kg x 3

Flat DB bench press - 17.5kg each hand x 10,10,10,11

T-bar rows - 30kg x 10,7, 25kg x 7,7

DB shrugs - 22.5kg x 8,8,7,6

Crunch machine level 12 x 8,8,8

Felt strong this workout - I feel like my body has adjusted to the lower level of carbs. After feeling pretty tired for a couple of weeks and lacking strength in workouts I feel better now. Probably could have squeezed another rep out on the 60kg or got 62.5kg for 3 on my max effort lift, but didn't have anyone spotting me so decided to save my strength for the DBs. Smashed my previous best on the DBs though. Moving up to 20kgs next time. Tried out T bar rows for the first time, quite liked them but started too heavy.

Somehow gained a pound from Friday to go back to 189.0 lbs, but measured my waist and I've lost an inch, so not worrying too much. Thinking about upping the cardio though - maybe trying to get about 20 miles of cycling 3 times a week, and might start doing 20 mins or so cardio after weights.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

rfc said:


> Yeah I just seem to be able to Visited your journal you cheeky fvck push for longer up hills, maybe it's a bit of a placebo effect as well, I do think I've been making myself push a bit harder when I might have eased off for a couple of minutes before. *Visited your journal you cheeky fvck * :lol:
> 
> Today:
> 
> ...


Hehe :beer:

My weight is staying pretty constant, but then again I'm not exactly starving myself :whistling: . All my clothes are looser and I need to put new holes in my belts so something is working. I've still got a fat belly though, we seem to carry our fat in the same place :cursing: .

I need to up my cardio really, but I'm hesitant to change anything until I've sorted my fainting thing with the docs.

I like your lifts, they are giving me something to aim for without being too far away from where I am presently.

Keep it up fella :thumbup1:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

After a rest day yesterday which was nice, back in the gym today:

Barbell squat BW x 12, 20kg x 12, 40kg x 8, 60kg x 4, 65kg x 3

Barbell single leg squat - 30kg x 10,10, 35kg x 10

Lying leg curl - level 2 x 10,10,10,10

Standing calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 11 x 12,12,12

This workout felt very good - I'm progressing in all my lower body lifts even though I'm losing weight. Went too heavy on the calf raises though, wasn't really getting full ROM on the last few reps of the last set. Almost looking forwards to the DOMS tomorrow 

Gonna do a nice long cycle tomorrow as well, rain or shine.


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## Gza1 (Aug 6, 2007)

how you finding the routine mate?


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Gza1 said:


> how you finding the routine mate?


It's good I think, all my big lifts have been going up, and are staying the same or till going up since i started cutting. I like the variety of exercises you can do, and I think the 2 different bench press workouts, one heavy low reps and one lighter for high reps hits my chest nicely - it's probably my most improved body part since i started the routine around 4 months ago.

3 months ago my max bench press was 38kg x 3, and deadlift was 44kg x 5. Now they're at 60kg x 3 and 120kg x 4. I'm quite into my cycling and the program fits nicely around that - I've considered doing Starting Strength but I don't see how I could do the same amount of riding whilst squatting heavy 3 times a week without either the riding or the squats being seriously affected. I do enjoy squatting and deadlifting though and would really like to do both every week, which the program doesn't allow for.

Did a 20 mile bike ride today, in 1 hour and 32 minutes. DOMS from yesterday wasn't actually that bad except in my hip adductors, but my legs were fairly fatigued. Also my dad thinks I run my tire pressures too high (they're at 85 psi which is the upper limit for my tyres) and let some air out of the tyres without telling me :cursing: so that would have slowed me down a bit.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Yesterday:

Weight down to 187.2 lbs :thumb:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 14, 40kg x 14,14,15

Barbell overhead press - 27.5kg x 7,7,7

Skull crusher - 17.5kg x 8,8,6

Negative pullups (hammer grip) - 5,5,2

DB hammer curls - 10kg x 7,5,4

Abs - Crunch x 14,14,14, lying leg raise x 10,10,10 Bicycle crunch x 17,17,17

Pleased with yesterday's workout, strength up. Although this was probably helped by a fairly carb heavy pasta bake for thursday dinner, and big pub lunch on Friday. Ate far too much crap on Friday night with my mates though, so I decided that rather than just do 20 miles today and tomorrow, that I'd do 2 marathons on my bike to burn off some extra calories. Did 26 miles earlier and felt quite quick. Doing another 26 tomorrow which is going to be a bit harder.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Did another 26 miles on the bike today. Feel great and it wasn't really that hard. My time today was 1 hour 50 minutes, forgot to time myself yesterday to compare though. Felt a little slower but not as slow as I thought I'd be.

Gonna have to hit the gym earlier than usual tomorrow as it's only open 10 til 2. Probably going to be packed as well!


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 12, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 62.5kg x 4

Incline DB bench press - 17.5kg each hand x 8,8,8,6

T-bar rows - 25kg x 7,7,7,7

DB shrugs - 22.5kg x 7,7,7

Crunch machine level 12 x 10, level 13 x 10,10,10

Fairly pleased with this, upped my max effort lift but had a spotter and think he may have been assisting a little bit - whereas i don't really like them touching the bar unless i actually fail. Never mind...

Weight up from friday to 188.0 lbs, but that wasn't unexpected. Still a pound lighter than this time last week.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Yesterday:

Barbell squat BW x 12, 20kg x 12, 40kg x 8, 50kg x 4, 60kg x 3, 70kg x 3

Barbell single leg squat - 35kg x 10,10,10,10

Lying leg curl - level 3 x 7,7,7,6

Standing calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 10 x 12,12,12

Squat's going up which is good.


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

Nice to see progress rfc :thumb:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

xpower said:


> Nice to see progress rfc :thumb:


Yeah I'm really happy that some of my lifts are still going up on this cut, I was prepared for them all to start dropping like flies. I guess I'm still getting noobie gains.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Had a bit of a crap half-assed workout yesterday:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 15, 40kg x 15,15,15

Barbell overhead press - 27.5kg x 8,6,7

Skull crusher - 17.5kg x 7,7,7

Pullups (hammer grip) - 1,1, Negative chinups x 1

Abs - Crunch x 15,15,15,15, Situp x 14

By the time I got to pullups I really couldn't be ****d any more. Have got fvck all sleep the last week and just felt tired and depressed. Skipped bis and just did some abs then went home. Been feeling a bit run down the last few days, probably overtrained because I'm not sleeping enough. Proved myself right by sleeping for 13 hours last night.

Got the next week off work and then I'm starting a new job which is going to be a challenge to my routine. I'll be working as an engineer for a large utilites firm and I'm going to be training for 2 years. In the week I'll be staying away from home around 150 miles away in their training centre and all my meals will be provided for me. I don't think I'm going to be able to cook for myself or keep things in the fridge/freezer. I din't know what the situatino with breaks is going to be either. They do have a gym at the site, but I didn't really get a proper look at it - I did see it has a smith machine but I don't know if it has free weights. Im only going to be home at weekends - driving home on friday evening and back on sunday night/monday morning.

I'm a bit worried really as I'm not sure how it's all going to work and can see a real prospect of my training and diet going down the sh1tter.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

Just try to fill the gaps with whey, that should do the trick.

Gratz on the new job btw!!!


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Hobbio said:


> Just try to fill the gaps with whey, that should do the trick.
> 
> Gratz on the new job btw!!!


Cheers mate. Yeah I guess worse comes to worse I just take a load of shakers and whey with me and have shakes or protein bars in between meals. Bought some tasty bars with fairly low carbs from myprotein with my latest order.

Had a lazy weekend, did another marathon on my bike in 1 hour 53 minutes on Saturday, but did fvck all yesterday. Got some serious sleeping in though. Gym earlier:

Flat barbell bench press - 20kg x 20, 30kg x 12, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 57.5kg x 3, 65kg x 3

Flat DB bench press - 20kg each hand x 8,8,8,6

T-bar rows - 26.25kg x 7,7,7,7,7

Barbell shrugs - 47.5kg x 9,9,9,11

Abs - Bicycle crunch x 22,22,22, Crunch x 10, Situp x 10,5

Bench press new PB, no spotter this time so I know the reps counted :thumb: Probably could've done another one but didn't risk it. Was going to do chinups instead of rows because I'm crap at chinups/pullups but all the chinup bars were being used so I just did the rows instead. Did a proper abs session after this workout, think I'll do this after both max effort and repetition day from now on, my abs seem to recover quite easily, and I love bicycle crunches.

Been eating a bit more over the last few days but forgot to weigh myself this morning. Not bothered though as my strength is going up. Feel really good now, catching up on sleep has been great and must've helped with my lifts. Can't wait to break my PB squat on wednesday


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

Nice work rfc,keeping it going nicely :thumbup1:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Legs today:

Barbell squat BW x 12, 20kg x 10, 40kg x 8, 55kg x 3, 65kg x 3, 75kg x 2

Barbell single leg squat - 37.5kg x 10,10,10,10

Lying leg curl - level 3 x 7,7,7,6

Seated calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 10 x 12,12,12

Didn't hit 3 reps on my last set on squat, perhaps I should have just gone for 72.5 instead. Never mind, I already planned to switch back to deadlifts next week anyway.

Someone at the gym said my squat form was off and they're probably right. He said I lean too far forwards and don't stick my ar5e out enough, but this seems to be quite unnatural for me and I feel like I'm going to lose my balance if I try to stick my ar5e out further. Will have to take a video at some point I guess.

Made no progress on leg curls but did progress on single leg split squats, and although i used the same weight on seated calf raises as 3 weeks ago the last time I did them, I still got full range of motion on all reps unlike last time. My calfs were wrecked afterwards, was taking a p1ss afterwards and my legs were shaking loads. Pushing the pedals down in my car was a challenge as well lol.

EDIT: Also, weighed myself this morning, and I'm down to 185.4 lbs. Happy days, that's 5 lbs down from my heaviest. Changed my diet a bit, I'm carb cycling now so on non workout days I don't have much carbs apart from at breakfast.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

Hi mate, decent leg workout for you too I see 

Quick q, when you say BW for your first set of squats do you mean bar only, or with no bar. Cos if it's bar only you really should count the weight, it doesn't lift itself you know! Also, if you're hitting much bigger weights do you need to have 2 very light warm up sets? 75kg for 2 would kill me atm though, well done!

Good job with the weight loss too!


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Hobbio said:


> Hi mate, decent leg workout for you too I see
> 
> Quick q, when you say BW for your first set of squats do you mean bar only, or with no bar. Cos if it's bar only you really should count the weight, it doesn't lift itself you know! Also, if you're hitting much bigger weights do you need to have 2 very light warm up sets? 75kg for 2 would kill me atm though, well done!
> 
> Good job with the weight loss too!


Yeah it's not too bad, feels a bit too easy now though, feel like my quads could take some more punishment...but I already added an exercise more than the program I'm following has, so I'll leave it for now while I'm still gaining.

BW is no bar, the 20kg set is with just the bar. Could be right about the warmup sets, I do 5-6 mins on the bike anyway before I get into the rack. I haven't always doen the bodyweight ones first, but I guess it doesn't make a huge difference either way.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

Fair enough mate 

I usually warm up on the treadmill or the bike for 5 mins too, then I don't bother with light warm ups. I probably will start doing so when my lifts get heavier though (and my definition of "light" changes lol), don't fancy tearing any muscles


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Today's session:

Barbell bench press 20kg x 20, 30kg x 16, 40kg x 16,16,15

Barbell overhead press - 27.5kg x 8,7,7

Skull crusher - 17.5kg x 8,7,6

Pullups (narrow grip) x 1+4 assisted, Assisted pullups x 4,4,4

Barbell seated preacher curl - 17.5kg x 6,6,5

Abs - Crunch machine level 12 x 11,9,9, Bicycle crunch x 22,22,17

This workout was pretty tough, and took 1 hour 55 minutes including warmup and stretching afterwards. Must've been taking lost rests between sets...Did assisted pullups pushing myself up with 1 leg and slow negatives - they're bloody hard though! Don't see myself getting much stronger at these while I'm cutting, most of my lifts apart from the big 3 are stalling, but decreasing bodyweight should mean bodyweight exercises get easier.

It's a bit weird as well, when I first started benching my right side was stronger (I'm right handed) but now my left side seems to have overtaken - I failed on the 16th rep on my last set of bench press today, but my left arm got to full extension - my right didn't quite make it. It's been the same the last few times I've failed a rep while benching. Probably need to check my form, I find my wrists get a little bit sore after benching sometimes, but I think taking glucosamine helps.

Next week is going to be very different, I'm staying at a hotel 150 miles away for work, it has a gym but it looks like more of a fitness/spa type thing. Just hope they have a barbell, bench, dumbbells and a pullup bar - if they do it's all gravy. Going on sunday evening but will hopefully get some cycling in around the F1 and football this weekend.


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Monday:

Flat DB bench press - 8kg each hand x 22, 14kg each hand x 14, 20kg each hand x 8,8,8,8

Incline DB bench press - 18kg each hand x 8,7,5

DB bent-over single arm rows - 16 kg x 10,10,10,10

DB shrugs - 20kg each hand x 10,10,10

Abs - Bicycle crunch x 22,22,18, Crunch x 10

Tuesday:

20 mins rower, 20 mins stationary bike, 15 mins treadmill

Wednesday:

Flat DB bench press - 6kg each hand x 20, 12kg each hand x 15, 18kg each hand x 10,10,13

DB overhead press - 10kg each hand x 8,8,10

Tricep pressdown - level 4 x 10, level 6 x 7,8,9

Lat pulldown narrow grip - level 6 x 10,10

DB hammer curls - 7kg x 8,8,12

Abs - Bicycle crunch x 22,22,22 DB side bend 20kg x 10,10,8

Well, it was an interesting week - was working near Nottingham for 3 days then we went on a trip to Wales, and now I'm back in Reading for the weekend. New job's going pretty well. Was in a hotel for the week and diet has been ok considering...Took protein shakes, protein bars, nuts and bananas with me, so been having something like:

Breakfast - Protein shake + weetabix & milk

Mid-morning - Protein bar

Lunch - Depends on what work canteen was offering, but salad is always available, so been having salad plus whatever hot meat is on that day

Afternoon - Peanuts + almonds, plus banana if workout day

Dinner - 2 course meal at hotel - just trying to go for something meaty with low carbs and avoiding dessert, did have dessert a couple of times though - hard to resist when it's getting covered by work!

PWO shake after workouts, and no pre-bed meal. Will be easier once I've got my company car, was supposed to have it already but they fvcked up and I'm not getting it til next week...At least then I can buy more food form the supermarket or something.

No barbells at the hotel gym - bit ****e so had to make do with DBs that only went up to 20kg. Next week i'm staying at a training centre which has a smith machine, dumbbells and a few fixed barbells, but nothing really heavy. Decided that I'm going to switch my training days, upper body max effort on Mondays, upper body repetition on Thursdays and legs on Saturdays - that way I can go to my gym at home and use a proper barbell for deadlifts and squats.

Also thinking about doing both deadlifts and squats on leg day - working up to a 3RM in one of the 2 first, and then doing something like 4x10 in the other. I feel like my legs are up to it and it should be fine if i'm going heavy in one and relatively light in the other...I like both exercises and feel I should be doing both every week, but my schedule and the equipment avaialble doesnt allow for separate days. Any thoughts on this?


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

Hi mate, glad the new job's going well :thumb:

I'm doing stiff leg deadlifts and squats on leg day, along with dumb bell lunges and calf raises and I go as heavy as I can with everything.

Seems to be working fine for me mate :thumb:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Hobbio said:


> Hi mate, glad the new job's going well :thumb:
> 
> I'm doing stiff leg deadlifts and squats on leg day, along with dumb bell lunges and calf raises and I go as heavy as I can with everything.
> 
> Seems to be working fine for me mate :thumb:


Cheers man - decided to go for it...

Barbell deadlift - 20kg x 15, 40kg x 12, 60kg x 8, 80kg x 7, 100kg x 5, 120kg x 5, 130kg x 5, (140kg x F, 135kg x F)

Barbell squat - 50kg x 8, 45kg x 8,8,7

Barbell single leg split squat - 37.5kg x 10,10,10

Lying leg curl - level 3 x 7,7,5,4

Seated calf raises - level 3 x 15, level 10 x 13,13,10

Dumbbell toe raise - 12.5kg x 10, 20kg x 10,10,10

This was a pretty intense workout! Beat my deadlift PB by 10kg and a rep - tried to go even heavier but couldn't get 140kg off the ground (almost passed out after I let go!), then dropped it down to 135kg and managed to do half a rep but couldn't straighten out fully. I'll do less warm up sets next time and aim to hit 135kg. After that did 4 sets of squats and 3 sets of single leg squats. Quads and back were pretty toasted after that. Must've hit my hams hard as well as I dropped some reps compared to the last couple of weeks, either that or I was just a bit bonked after the deads and squats. Also added in tibialis anterior work as these were pretty sore after the treadmill last week, and I think they might be a bit weak compared to my calves.


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

Nicedeads

More PBs :thumb:


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

Wow! You really smashed the deads today eh?

Top work fella


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

xpower said:


> Nicedeads
> 
> More PBs :thumb:





Hobbio said:


> Wow! You really smashed the deads today eh?
> 
> Top work fella


Cheers guys. I think deads are my favourite exercise. It's a great feeling to bash out a PB set, and know I'm lifting 1.5 x BW off the floor.

Bet I'm going to be in pain tomorrow, the DOMS is already kicking in in my glutes lol. Going to try and get a bike ride in tomorrow, after I change the flat tyre, but I have to leave in the afternoon to get back to Nottingham for work.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

You'll be fine mate, if you smash out PB sessions like that you're bound to ache afterwards


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

Hobbio said:


> You'll be fine mate, if you smash out PB sessions like that you're bound to ache afterwards


It's fine, actually I kind of enjoy the DOMS 

Forearms, back, quads, glutes, hams and calves all sore today.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

rfc said:


> It's fine, actually I kind of enjoy the DOMS
> 
> Forearms, back, quads, glutes, hams and calves all sore today.


Mate, I love it when I get DOMS too. It's rare for me, but I do enjoy it in a perverse kind of way :whistling:

That bike ride will get the blood pumping round anyway, exercise always helps me shake the aches :thumbup1:


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## rfc (Mar 23, 2010)

14 mile bike ride done, in 55 minutes. 4 minutes off my best time for this route, not bad considering how my legs feel! Would have done a bit more but a bit pushed for time today, took a while to fix the puncture as well.

Off to Notts in a bit, hopefully I will be able to get my company laptop working this week, but otherwise I will update next weekend.


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## Hobbio (Jul 9, 2010)

OI! Where you at then??!!


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