Friday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Food Intake:
100g Chicken Breast
2 x Wholewheat Tortillas
Peppers, Red Onion, Lettuce & Tomato
Salsa

100g Chicken Breast
2 x Wholewheat Tortillas
Peppers, Red Onion, Lettuce & Tomato
Salsa

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Still discomfort in shoulder

Halos / pumps 3 x 5
Goblet Squats 3 x 5 @ 16kgs KB
TGUs 6/6 @ 16kgs KB in 6 mins

Two Handed Swings - 8/12 secs for 63 rounds @ 16kgs
(5 swings every 8 secs for a total of 315)

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

Can of tuna
Baked Potato
Peppers, Red Onion, Lettuce & Tomato
Salad Cream

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 x Wholewheat Tortillas
Peppers, Red Onion, Lettuce & Tomato
Salad Cream

Back on track.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles


Food Intake:
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
2 scoops protein powder
1/2 banana

5 eggs (1 yoke)
1 cup Brown Rice
2 cups Stir Fry Veg
Black bean Sauce

12" 'godfather' pizza
Chocolate fudge cake
Ice cream

Refeed day - bit like sunday, more than likely too much. I'm not too concerned though, if I find that I haven't lost any weight this week (which I still wouldn't bet against) it can count as a maintenance week. Apparently it's good for your body to take a break from calorie deficit every 8-12 weeks by eating around maintenance calories. I had one planned for a couple of weeks time.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Workday

Food Intake:
SuperShake
2 scoops protein
300ml skimmed milk
1/2 banana
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup oats
tsp Cod Liver Oil
Spilled it so I only got about 1/3 of it for brekkie before I ate two of the following:

3 x Wholemeal Pitta Pockets
100g Chicken
1 slice Bacon
Tomato & Letuce
Salad cream

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
Green Tea

1 slice of chocolate
5 chocolate digestives
1/2 pint of milk

Hey I had to make up the spilled calories in some way!! Worked reasonably hard today so even with the sugar addiction shining through I'd still have been easily in deficit. So no worries there, but I would like to be getting more KB practice under my belt. I'm working again tomorrow so it ain't gonna happen then either.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles


Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 cup Brown Rice
2 cups Stir Fry Veg
Hoisin Sauce

100g Chicken
1 cup Brown Rice
2 cups Stir Fry Veg
Hoisin Sauce
3 Chocolate Digestives

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

TGUs 5/5 @ 16kgs KB in 5 mins
Goblet Squats 5 x 3 @ 16kgs KB

Two Handed Swings - 8/12 secs for 60 rounds @ 16kgs
(5 swings every 8 secs for a total of 300)

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

sunday roast dinner
apple pie & ice cream

Tuna, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato and salad cream
2 x wholemeal Pitta bread
2 x Slice of carrot cake
5 Chocolate digestives
1/2 pint of semi skimmed milk

Ooops - may have over done it today on bumping my caloires up. TWO slices of carrot cake and FIVE chocy digestives is just greedy! I did go for 2 long walks today so not to worry.

My shoulder is still a bit sore and I felt it especially when I needed to floor press the KB on my right side at the start of TGUs. Z-Health drills take the pain away, but only temporarily it seems.

Still, overall I am hurtling towards my goals and feeling better and looking better by the day!

Sunday weigh in:

200.4lbs @ 31% on tanita scales / 26.5% accumeasure calipers

Both worked out at a tiny amount of LBM loss and the vast majority of the 2.6lbs loss coming from BF.

I am very happy with my progress which takes me up to just under 18lbs in 6 weeks (I think thats when I started off).

So no changes necessary for the coming week. I have been reading A LOT on nutrition lately and have a lot of good solid ideas on what to do when weight loss stops or slows. But if it ain't broke then don't fix it!

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Bit of discomfort in shoulders today again

Few sets of 5 Goblet Squats @ 16kgs
5 GTG sets of 6 Assisted Pull ups
3 mile walk

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 cup Brown Rice
2 cups Stir Fry Veg
Schezwan Sauce

100g Chicken
1 cup Brown Rice
2 cups Stir Fry Veg
Hoisin Sauce

Friday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Bit of discomfort in shoulders today - TGUs?

Few sets of 5 Goblet Squats @ 16kgs
5 GTG sets of 6 Assisted Pull ups
Good long walk before breakfast

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 cup Brown Rice
2 cups Stir Fry Veg
Schezwan Sauce

Can of Tuna
1 Large baked potato
1 cup peppers
Red Onion, Tomato & Lettuce
Cajun Dressing

Sleeping patterns are messed up with work recently and I spent Friday catching up with a good 1 1/2 hr sleep in the afternoon. Also as I write this on Saturday I slept in until 10:30 this morning which was over 10 hrs sleep last night.

I've noticed in the past that I sleep a LOT when I'm losing weight well. I had weighed myself on Wednesday to see I had gained on Sunday's weigh in, but I felt confident that I would have lost that and more when I jumped on this morning.

Down to 201lbs and the scales read 31% BF (which is lower than last week but not necessarily accurate).

Thursday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Assisted face the Wall Squats 2 x 5 @ 16kgs KB
TGUs 4/4 @ 16kgs KB

Two Handed Swings - 8/12 secs for 60 rounds @ 16kgs
(5 swings every 8 secs for a total of 300)

Food Intake:
SuperShake
2 scoops protein
300ml skimmed milk
1/2 banana
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup oats
tsp Cod Liver Oil

4 x Wholemeal Bread
100g Chicken
1 slice Bacon
Tomato & Letuce
Salad cream

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
Green Tea

Was working on Thursday but it was an easy day and I got back early. Really enjoyed the training which surprised me a little as I only got 3 hours sleep the night before.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Pull Ups - 1 @ BW.....yay!!

Food Intake: Maintenance calories (and probably a little bit more!)
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

Mars bar & cup of tea

100g Chicken
3 whole wheat Tortillas
1 cup peppers & red onion
Salsa & guacomole

100g Chicken
1 whole egg
1 cup brown rice
2 cups stir fry
Hoisin sauce

Mars bar & cup of tea

Haven't done any training in the last few days as I've been steady at work. Tonight though, fuelled by chocolate, I thought I'd try a pull up as I passed by the bar on my way to the clothes line. (Time was when I'd pass by the clothes line on my way to the bar but that's another story!)

Easy at the bottom, had to pull hard for the last few inches and barely got my chin over the bar. It will get a easier as I lose weight obviously, but good to see I managed one at this weight. Might be good for 5 when I drop another 20-30lbs and then I can look into the HKC.

Tuesday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Working all day

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

Can of tuna
4 x wholemeal bread
1 cup peppers
Cajun Dressing

Can of Tuna
1 Large baked potato
1 cup peppers
Red Onion & Lettuce
Cajun Dressing

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Work day: Knackered.

Food Intake:
SuperShake
2 scoops protein
300ml skimmed milk
1/2 banana
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup oats
tsp Cod Liver Oil

4 x Wholemeal Bread
Can of Salmon
Peppers & Letuce
Cajun Sauce

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

TGUs 2/2 @ 16kgs KB
Assisted face the Wall Squats 2 x 5 @ 16kgs KB

Two Handed Swings - 8/12 secs for 60 rounds @ 16kgs
(5 swings every 8 secs for a total of 300)

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

sunday roast dinner
cheesecake, ice cream and cream (mmmmm)

Chicken and stuffing sandwich
2 x wholemeal bread
Slice of carrot cake
3 cookies
1/2 pint of semi skimmed milk

Probably went a little bit overboard today with the calories and actually feel a little bloated and tired. Not to worry though I have a physical week coming up and I did a fair old session of training today as well.

TGUs were good and I felt like I could do a few more of those no worries. I think that the swing session I'm doing is spot on for me; not too gruelling but plenty challenging and gets the sweat dripping.

Sunday weigh in:

203lbs @ 31.1% on tanita scales

A drop of over 4lbs in fat and an increase in 2lbs of muscle this week! I could live with that!

Unfortunately I have no idea if it's true or not as the scales are just so irregular and from what I've read across a few different sources, very inaccurate. I've never actually believed I was over 30% flab anyway.

Apparently much more accurate (but still only a guide) are the accumeasure calipers I bought this week. According to a study conducted by the NSCA they gave pretty accurate results as compared to the gold standard of underwater weighing all from a reading taken from one site of the body. Good enough for me.

From now on they will take the lead from all the other means of determining my progress including, scales, mirror/pics, measurements and strength levels. Also as it turns out my bodyfat % reading is around 4% less with them! Yay! So I've instantly lost 8lbs of fat and gain 8lbs of muscle. Now if only I can bottle it and sell it.

This is my rather long winded way of saying that I'm changing focus for the way I determine progress. In the end it doesn't matter as I may reach my target and decide that I've still too much BF or even not enough. It is simply a more reliable way to give me some idea of my progress and when I may need to change things up.

Incidently I do not need to change things up currently; I'm dropping steady at a sensible rate** with only a general measuring of foods using cups and by eye. So everthing stays as is: bring on the massive sunday lunch and dessert!

**I was wondering about the rate of fat loss and where the 1-2lbs per week comes from and if there were exceptions to the rule or not. You see a lot of diets claiming 20lbs in 20 days or read testimonials where bigger guys/gals have lost up to 4lbs per week while still maintaining or increasing muscle mass and strength. mc had told me earlier in the week that I was losing too fast but in the next breath saying as long as I was eating over 75grams of protein per day she doubted I'd be losing muscle. I told her that I had it to lose though, and she told me that it didn't matter.

From experience I disagree with this statement. I've lost a stone or more in a month without feeling any weaker when I've been 35-50lbs overweight. Though I don't have training/body comp data to back it up. I did find reference to a study though which does side with me.

Basically speaking if carrying a lot of excess fat you can create a bigger calorie deficit without your body panicing, going into stravation mode and canabolising muscle. This can be true up to a limit of around a 4lbs lose per week. After this it seems that muscle loss will kick in despite even massive stores of fat. We'd need a 14000kcal deficit for 4lbs a week.

As you become leaner though you need to be more and more conservative with your deficit to the point where bodybuilders / fitness models will create a deficit where they may only look to lose 1/2 lb per week so that they lose none of their precious muscle.

The upshot of it all is that 1-2lbs is the middle of the road recommendation to the average person who isn't massively overweight and doesn't want to get shreaded. At either end of this scale there is certainly scope for increasing and decreasing it. As I'm beginning to see more and more with this business it comes down to the (relevant) numbers.

As for me, I'm happy with what I'm getting and as I said will be changing nothing. I have a heavy work schedule coming up this week so it will be interesting to see the effect the extra calories burned will have on my body comp.

Saturday

Z-Health - first day I've missed doing Z Health since I started this blog again. Writing this on Sunday (still not having done any today so far) I can tell you that I still feel pretty good and in no pain. Don't know how long it would take the pain to come back, nor do I have any intention of finding out. DO YOUR Z HEALTH EVERYDAY!!

GTG assisted Chin Ups - about 50 reps

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
3 whole wheat tortillas
1 cup peppers
Salsa & Guacomole

Can of Tuna
1 Large baked potato
1 cup peppers
Red Onion & Lettuce
Cajun Dressing

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

"naked" TGUs 5/5
Assisted face the Wall Squats 2 x 5

GTG assisted Chin Ups - about 25 reps only

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 whole egg
1 cup brown rice
2 cups stir fry
Hoisin sauce

100g Chicken
1 whole egg
1 cup brown rice
2 cups stir fry
Hoisin sauce

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

"naked" TGUs 5/5
Assisted face the Wall Squats 2 x 5

Two Handed Swings - 8/12 secs for 60 rounds @ 16kgs
(5 swings every 8 secs for a total of 300)

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 whole egg
1 cup brown rice
2 cups stir fry
Hoisin sauce

1 Can of Tuna in water
1 Medium Baked Potato
Peppers, Red Onion and Lettuce
Cajun dressing

Been ages since I've had a baked potato - t'was lovely!

Training went well tonight. When I first did a few TGUs a little while back I was wrecked after only a couple of them. Tonight's by comparison felt easy....I may add weight.

I also think that I am getting very close to a proper squat. I had an aha moment tonight after doing face the wall squats and did a bw squat to just about paralell with an very upright posture for once. I think I learned the muscles I need to use. It's only taken me 3 or 4 years!

Swings were very easy on the lungs but I was sweating rightly and the muscles in my legs will no doubt feel it tomorrow. Good session though that had me finishing with a smile on my face and feeling really good.

I got some accu-measure calipers in today. I don't trust my tanita scales for body fat readings, they are all over the place day to day. I'm hoping the calipers can give me a more accurate display that I'm losing fat and not muscle though I'm not exactly sure of what way will be best for me to use them.

Swing Sets/Reps Clarification

Cheers Paul - good to know I have at least one visitor ;)

MC timed me doing a set of 5 swings: worked out at 8 secs. Then she said "Oh this will work out perfectly! At least it does with cyclists, so it should for swings." I'm a guinea pig I think.

So the craic is to do a set of 5 swings (8 secs on) and then rest for 12 secs. Repeat for 20 mins which is 60 rounds.

I thought to myself that there's no way I'd get close to going for 20 minutes, but it was actually pretty easy. Though my glutes and hams have been letting me know about it ever since.

Should be noted that my focus at the minute is fat loss and practice of the three lifts for HKC.

I also discussed how I'd get up to some decent numbers in swings in the past and just be absolutely ravenous, then break down and binge....for around 2 months. The reply was that there was absolutely no need for that level of work if I was looking for fat loss. I should be lossing a steady 1-2lbs per week and feeling stronger as the weeks go by with my KB practice.

Sounds good to me!!

Wednesday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Work Day: Messed around with a few TGUs and GTG sets of pull ups. Very stiff and sore from the swing session on Monday and the physical work over the last few days.

Back had been giving me a little cause for concern but managed to hold up to the lifting, dragging and twisting.

Food Intake: Up calories on Wednesday
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 cup brown rice
2 cups broccoli
Cajun dressing

100g Chicken
1 cup brown rice
2 cups broccoli
Cajun dressing

Galaxy Chocolate Muffin
1/2 packet of Maryland Choc Chip cookies
While I watched the "Noisy Neighbours" getting pipped for 4th spot by Spurs!

Tuesday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Work Day: No training

Food Intake:
SuperShake
2 scoops protein
300ml skimmed milk
1/2 banana
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup oats
tsp Cod Liver Oil

100g Chicken
50g Wheat Pasta
Peppers & Tomato sauce

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
Green Tea

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Session with mc - went over TGUs, Swings and Squats. Pretty good overall, few little tweaks here and there for the TGUs, swings are solid and the squats are coming along. We talked diet for a while, but I think I am pretty solid there too. She suggested a few ways to incorporate all the stuff I'm working on into practice and fat loss sessions - I will post when I get some notes through .

I did a swing session after based on one of things she mentioned:
Two Handed Swings - 8/12 secs for 56 rounds @ 16kgs
(5 swings every 8 secs for a total of 280 in about 19 mins)

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 cup brown rice
2 cups broccoli
Cajun dressing

100g Chicken
1 cup brown rice
2 cups broccoli
Cajun dressing

Tweaked my back a little doing the swings so I stopped short of the 20 min/60 set mark. Doesn't seem to be too much wrong with it but will monitor.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

Sunday Lunch - Roast beef
Gateau, Ice cream and Cream

100g Chicken
3 x Wheat Tortillas
Peppers
Salsa
Guacamole

Lost another 1.5lbs this week so 13lbs in a month. My BF% went up from last week though. It may be a blip from my scales as I was at under 33% last night - or it may be to do with fitday playing tricks on me. I'm looking for 600kcals per meal (extra calories on wednesday and sunday) which I worked out from fitday. I was making dinner tonight and saw from the packaging that the tortillas are 200kcals each. I think I need to go through my food quantities again now to make sure I'm getting the right amount. Also I need to weigh them for a little while until I can get a good idea of portion sizes.

I have been doing some fat loss research and it seems that there are three compontents to fat loss; Calorie Deficit, Cardio and Resistance Training. I've been out walking before breakfast everyday for cardio but I've had no real resistance training to speak of. Could this be why my scales say I'm losing muscle?

I have another session with mc tomorrow so I can put this to her and see what she considers the formula for fat loss.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
3 fish oil capsules
Green Tea

100g Chicken
1 cup brown rice
2 cups broccoli
Cajun dressing

100g Chicken
1 cup brown rice
2 cups broccoli
Cajun dressing

I know that this has turned into just me listing my food intake in the last week, but that should change soon. I haven't been doing the pull ups / squats / TGUs with enough regularity to include them here. I should be having a session with mc this coming week and getting some stuff for fat loss to do.

Friday
Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Food Intake:
SuperShake
2 scoops protein
300ml skimmed milk
1/2 banana
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup oats
tsp Cod Liver Oil

100g Chicken
3 Wheat Tortillas
Salad
Salsa & Gaucomole

5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
Green Tea

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Food Intake:
5 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
2 cups Stir fry veg
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 cup skimmed milk
Green Tea

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans
1 cup of rice

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans
1 cup of rice

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG Pull Ups with jungle gym
GTG BW Squats

Food Intake:
4 Eggs ( 1 yoke)
Stir fry veg
1/2 can Green lentils
Green Tea

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans
1/2 cup of rice

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans
1/2 cup of rice

1/2 soda farl with marmalade


HKC is a no go for June - I tested bw pull ups and can't quite manage even one. It seems silly to me going even if I did just manage to scrape through for a pass - I'd be on the backfoot trying to be able to pass RKC in under a year. I'm so far out of shape it isn't funny and I need to get myself in order before I consider thinking about teaching anyone else. My focus is on fat burning, I have approx 50lbs of it to torch. I outlined this to mc and she agreed with my decision.

So - I've been off to a flyer with my diet of the last 3 weeks - 11lbs lost and about 1.5lbs of that muscle. If I'm losing muscle then my diet is too aggressive ie I need to be taking on more calories. I can't afford to lose any from my carcass.

So after a fair bit of research over the last few days I've come up with a strategy along with meal plans which goes something like this:

Intermitent Fasting (IF) - 8 hr feeding 16 hr fast daily
Eat 3 times per day (nothing new so far)
Eat 1800kcals (calculated to provide 20% calorie deficit - increase of around 500kcals)
Macro Split: 50 Carbs / 30 Protein / 20 Fat (big increase in carbs!!)
Drink 6 pints+ of water per day
Twice per week bring calories up to maintenance level (zig-zag method)
1 hr Walk before breakfast when possible
KB prog to be arranged

Adhere to it, check results, and adjust as necessary. Simples....but not easy I think the biggest problem might be eating enough calories at each meal - high volume of food when its "clean". I'll weigh in weekly but ain't expecting too much this week of transition.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

At work all day

Food Intake:

Bacon Bap with onions (token veg!)

Egg and onion sandwich
Brown bread 2 rounds

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans

Still working on the details of new eating routine.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
Aim for 100+ reps each
TGUs - 5 reps each side

Food Intake:

4 Eggs (2 yokes)
1 Cup Stir Fry Veg

Snickers Ice Cream

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans

Chilli with Black & Kidney Beans

Fruit Log
8 choc chip cookies
1/2 Pint of milk

"This is the last splurge day I intend having" - I wrote that about 10 hours ago LOL. I'm in a little bit of a transition and I've got caught napping. It's all good, I forgive myself. Not too much damage done and I'll be back in the saddle tomorrow.

Diet is going to get a bit of a shake up this week, probably won't look too much different from what I've been writing down up to now. There will be more calories though and the macro split is going to change - depending on the amount of it, I may eat 4 times a day. Details when I iron them out.

Sunday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
Aim for 100+ reps each
TGUs - 5 reps each side

Food Intake:

Toasted Farl of Soda bread
Marmalade
3 rashers of bacon

Snickers Ice Cream

Sunday roast dinner
Mint Cheesecake with ice cream

More mint cheesecake and ice cream

Pancake and marmalade
8 choc chip cookies
Pint of milk

This is the last splurge day I intend having - I really don't enjoy them at all. I felt sick a lot of yesterday and writing this on Monday morning I don't feel tip top either. Surely I could simply work a few treats in through the week rather than pump myself full of sugar in one hit.

That said I've done pretty well on this diet. I've lost just over 11lbs in 3 weeks - but the concern I have is that over 1lb of that has been muscle - I really don't want to be losing any. I haven't got much to be losing! I intend looking a little bit longer term and losing the weight slowly so as to protect muscle. I'm also aware that I'm not exactly doing any heavy weight training at present which is an aid to preserving muscle mass.

I'm researching a less aggressive approach where I'm looking to lose a steady 1-2lbs per week with no muscle loss (and possibly some newbie muscle increase fingers crossed).

Saturday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
Aim for 100+ reps each
TGUs - 5 reps each side

Food Intake:
4 Eggs (2 yokes)
1.5 cup frozen stirfry veg
Green Tea

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Friday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Food Intake:
Egg and Bacon Sandwich

Tuna Sandwich

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
Aim for 100+ reps each
TGUs - 5 reps each side

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1.5 cup frozen stirfry veg
Green Tea

Chicken & Lentil Curry

1 can tuna with a little salad cream

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Came very close to eating a snickers ice cream today - in the end I opted for the tuna after I told myself the following a few times - this feeling of discomfort is only temporary, and I can handle it. Been feeling very, very hungry this week and I hope that its reflected on the scales come sunday.

On the go all day today so I had to just get a few things in when I could. At work tomorrow so I'll have to hammer the TGUs at the weekend.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
Aim for 100+ reps each

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1.5 cup frozen stirfry veg
Green Tea

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Watched a series of videos on youtube by Dr Cobb before my z health practice this morning. I've been coasting through them latlely so today I was very deliberate and concentrted on opening up the joints - wow, I felt fantastic after and my joints felt very free and smooth moving.

I also had a go at a few TGUs Kalos Sthenos style. Even doing them "naked" I found that I was pretty gassed after only a few each side. That aside I thought my form wasn't too bad and mc tells me it is time to add them in. I'll be alternating them with squats and building up to 10 mins daily from now on.

Tuesday 20th April

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
At work yesterday so only got a few of each of these

Food Intake:
1/2 Turkey, Ham & salad roll

1/2 Turkey, Ham & salad roll

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Monday 19th April

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with jungle gym
Aim for 100+ reps each

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1.5 cup frozen stirfry veg
Green Tea

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Chicken & Lentil Curry

Everything going well. Need a bit of a kick up the arse in doing squats now as they seem to have stalled at just below parallel. Got a bit bored of the food I was eating so I found a few recipes that conform 100% to the plan I'm on. Lovin' this curry....so far!

Something that I haven't been putting down is the amount of water I've been drinking. On a regular day at a minimum is 6 pints or 3 litres. When I'm at work however it's at least 4 litres and probably more - especially now when the sun is shining. I've read a lot of times in the past about mistaking hunger for thirst and I've definitely found that a pint of water can take my "hunger" away. It also helps me keep the numbers of pull ups climbing as I do them everytime I go past the bathroom!

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps
GTG Chins with Jungle Gym - 50+ reps

Food Intake:
6 x Lemon and raisin pancakes
3 x Bacon slices
1 tsp honey

Prawn cocktail
Turkey and ham dinner with ALL the trimmings
Vanilla Cheesecake

5 x Snickers Flapjacks
2 x Snickers Ice Cream

2 x Lemon and raisin pancakes with jam
2 Fingered KitKat
4 x Digestive biscuit
1/2 pint of milk

.....feel a bit sick now. A few of the posters on the Tim Ferris thread pointed out that they got very good results hammering the cheat day, so that's what I've done. Let's see what happens then.

Weighed in at 207.5lbs @ 33.5% this morning - just over 10lbs in a fortnight isn't bad.

Rigged up the jungle gym and have been able to get closer to the volume that I'd like.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front
GTG Chins with 2 x #1, #2 & #3 powerbands

Food Intake:
4 Eggs (2 yokes)
1.5 cup frozen stirfry veg

Southern Chicken
1/2 tin refried beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

Southern Chicken
2 slices ham & a little cheese
Green Tea

Wasn't especially hungry from lunch time onwards. I have been eating more beans/lentils this week than the first week, along with a bit more carbs from my work days. Think I can kill two birds with one stone this coming week by changing up my standard meals to a chicken and lentil curry recipe I found. I can cut back on the lentils that go into it and take some curry with me on the lorry when I'm working.

Tomorrow is my go wild day and I fully intend doing just that. I've had a full packet of snickers flap jacks in my bedroom since last sunday - I'm happy to report that I didn't come close to eating any of them this week.

I'm finding it more difficult to do as many chin ups per day as I would like - this is because my chin up bar is down 2 flights and out the back of the house. I'm going to rig up my jungle gym somewhere handy and use both of them to up the daily numbers closer to 100.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front

Food Intake:
2 rounds bread
Bacon & Cheese

2 rounds bread
Bacon & Cheese

5 Eggs (2 yokes)
1 cup frozen stirfry veg

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen stirfry veg
1 tsp salsa

Southern Chicken
1/2 tin refried beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

Southern Chicken
1/2 tin refried beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

GTG BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps
GTG assisted pull ups using 2 x #2 & #3 powerbands - 50+ reps

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen stirfry veg
1 tsp salsa

Chargrill Chicken (Reggae Reggae)
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

Chargrill Chicken (Reggae Reggae)
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

Very chuffed with the progress I'm making with my squats - getting deeper and deeper all the time. Easy to do these anywhere so I tend to be doing more of them than pull ups; really need to make more of an effort in that respect.

With the pull ups I have been doing a little experimenting with head and eye position. I always titled my head back to look up to the bar in the past, but I have found a real difference in keeping it neutral and my eyes looking straight forward. I've been cuing myself to focus on driving my elbows into my sides and they are already feeling easier.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - around 30 reps today

Food Intake:
Half a roast beef and salad roll as I forgot to take my lunch

Other half of roast beef and salad roll

Chicken and salad baguette I forgot to take with me

At work today all day so gtg pull ups were out. If anyone is interested work at the minute is pulling on a hose as thick as a coke can for 3-4 hours on a 30 secs on 45 secs off fashion. I do this while wearing overalls and waterproofs, so on a day like today were the sun was out it gets a touch warm in there.

Its physical stuff for sure, but good for aiding a lot of the stuff I want to do with a KB (or should that be the other way around?). mc showed me how I could alter my position slightly to take most of the work off my back and onto my hamstrings which has helped immensely.

I'm only out a couple of days a week and I'm treating it as a day when it's ok to put a few extra carbs in my body - they easily get burned off.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps
GTG assisted pull ups using 2 x #2 & #3 powerbands

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/2 tin black beans
1 cup frozen stirfry veg
1 tsp salsa

2 Turkey Burgers
1/2 tin black beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

2 Turkey Burgers
1/2 tin black beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa
1 tsp guacamole

I'm going to give it a shot for the HKC in June. I only intend going for it if I can pass it and offset the cost of the RKC which intially means being capable of doing 5 pull ups. Currently I can't do one.

mc has formed a plan for me though. The early registration ends on May 15 - the plan is to hammer gtg pull ups and squats until then. I test and see how I'm doing. I have another session in the bank with her so we can take a look at my swing and TGU then.

I'm skeptical but I'll give it my best. If it doesn't work out, I lose nothing but I'm still better off than I am now...win/win.

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Rag Dolls / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Little niggles in the lower back at times today - probably reintroduced the rag dolls too soon, they seem to be no good for me at present.

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps

Weigh in: 210lbs @ 34.9% lost 8 lbs

Food Intake:
French Toast and Bacon x 3

Chicken "sunday" dinner
Apple Tart and ice cream

A packet of mini chocolate caramel brownies
A packet of snickers flapjacks

I felt like I could have eaten more! Though having a quick read through the Tim Ferris blog comments I may have undereaten today compared to some of the ones on there......still 20 minutes of today left though ;)

Today:

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Pain free today. I'll add in the rag dolls again tomorrow to see how they go. Shoulder felt really good too.

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen stirfry veg
1 tsp salsa

2 Burgers
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa

Sirlion Steak
1/3 tin lentils
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa

Today:

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

Had an issue with my lower back on the right hand side. Was advised by mc to ditch the Rag Dolls and add in more thoracic and hip work until pain subsides. On a positive note the nerve glide used before doing my shoulder work on the right side is working to eradicate the pain I had there.

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps per day
Already beginning to see improvement here - although I'm not doing them near a mirror I'd say that I am at least at parallel before the curve in my spine starts to go.

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/2 tin black beans
1 cup frozen stirfry veg

2 Burgers
1/2 tin refried beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa

2 Burgers
1/2 tin black beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa

Getting a little bored with beans now but I have lost a shed load of weight this week. Water, fat whatever, it has been motivating to say the least and people have commented already!

I'm better mentaly prepared for it this time though - I expect it to be tough. The discomfort is only temporary and I can stand it. Not long to the big feeding frenzy.

Thursday

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

3 PERFECT movements each side (use a mirror to check alignment)

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps per day
Did a few sets using a "post" to aid with depth. These are now in instead of wall squats with KB.


Food Intake:
2 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/2 Chick & Bacon Baguette with salad

1/2 Chick & Bacon Baguette with salad

3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1 cup frozen stirfry veg

Back Again!!

OK - lets give this another shot. No longer at the Olympic Weight lifting due to all sorts of factors. I have fallen in love with KBs again...but I'm not allowed to touch them just yet.

About 5 weeks ago I woke up and tried to get out of bed. It was staggering how shot my body felt. I had pains in my knees, back and shoulder and felt stiff all over. It's like I was closer to 96 than 36. I have a choice wether or not to go through life like this or not....I chose not.

I contacted MC who is an FMS/Z Health/KB guru and she has been steering me on the right path. Currently I am working on correcting movement with z health drills which has worked to remove most if not all the pain I was feeling. I also wanted her to help me out with my Goblet Squat, TGU and Swing with the goal of doing a HKC later in the year.

The last session we had I mentioned how I was looking forward to getting started into some "real" exercise. You know - heart thumping, sweat inducing, man sized exercise to carve the fat off me. She had one word for me - diet!! 20 mins HIIT or drop a couple peices of toast out of what you eat. So at present here is the plan, session details to follow.

Tim Ferris' Diet Plan
MCs Advice

Today:

Z-Health
Ankle Tilts / Ankle Pulls / Hip-Leg Circles / Rag Dolls(Lumbar Circles) / Thoracic Glides / Neck - Turns, tilts, glides / Shoulder Circles - top, bottom, front across, side back (Nerve Glide for shoulder pain throughout day)/ Elbow Circles / Wrist Circles

3 PERFECT movements each side (use a mirror to check alignment)

BW squats to above parallel Arms out in front - 50+ reps per day

Every other day: Wall work with KB - Squat down and lever (curl), put it down and stand up

Food Intake:
3 Eggs (2 yokes)
1/3 tin black beans
1 cup frozen stirfry veg
1 tsp salsa

1 Burger
1/3 tin black beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa

1 Chicken Kiev
1/3 tin black beans
1 cup frozen veg
1 tsp salsa

Shutting Down the blog.......

This is my last post. I'll no longer be posting my training on here.

Thank you to everyone who has followed it, I've enjoyed writing it and I have greatly appreciated your support.

Of course I would greatly appreciate your continued support on my new blog found here :)

"Baby needs new shoes....."

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists

Warm Up - Shoulder Dislocates / Achilles Stretches / Quad Stretches / Squat Stretches / Shoulder & Wrist Stretch 2 x 10

Snatch High Pulls / Snatches / OH Squats / Power Cleans / Split Jerks 3 x 3

Session A
Power Snatches - 5 sets 3 reps - 40kgs 1 x 45kgs, 1 x 45kgs (PR)
Overhead Squat - 5 sets 3 reps - 22.5kgs
Pull for Clean - 5 sets 3 reps - 55kgs
Power Cleans - 5 sets 5 reps - 45kgs
Jerk from Racks - 5 sets 3 reps - 45kgs
Back Squat - 3 sets 5 reps - 55kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - 2 sets of 12

Stretches

Comments: Pretty much over the cold I had now and I'm feeling stronger and healthier. I felt stronger in a lot of these lifts today, but my form and flexibility still has a lot of catching up to do. Rome wasn't built in a day though.

We were using 10kg bumper plates for the first today - sorry I should really have put Hang in front of most of the exercise descriptions in previous sessions. I not sure if it made it easier or not pulling from the deck, but it sure does feel good to let the weight bounce from droppin' it.

Got to save up now for some shoes. Weights were going under my heels for the squats, and under my toes for the cleans.....it seems I don't know where to be putting my weight!!

Shuffle

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists

Warm Up - Shoulder Dislocates / Achilles Stretches / Quad Stretches / Squat Stretches / Shoulder & Wrist Stretch 2 x 10

Snatch High Pulls / Snatches / OH Squats / Power Cleans / Split Jerks 3 x 3

Session C
Split Jerks from rack - 5 sets 3 reps - 45kgs
Power Snatch - 5 sets 3 reps - 30kgs
Overhead Squat - 5 sets 5 reps - 20kgs
Back Squats - 5 sets 5 reps - 45kgs
Standing Press - 5 sets 3 reps - 45kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - 2 sets of 12

Stretches

Comments: Had to do a bit of shuffling around this week.....Maurice wanted to go shopping yesterday!! He didn't even buy me anything nice :(

Cold seems to have cleared up and I felt better able for this session today. That said I struggled for speed and consistancy. My key learning point of the day was thinking not about lifting the weight in the Jerks but on getting me under it with a wider split. It felt so much lighter and faster when I approached it this way.

Over Head and Back Squats are still more about the stretch and it was killing me as I tried to get as low as I could for each rep. I've been doing my warm up a couple of times daily to aid my flexibility, but it is going to take a Herculean effort to keep doing it. I absolutely hate it, which usually means it is the thing I need most.

In the middle of the session today Maurice left to take a call. He told me it was the World Over 65 y/o record holder from N Ireland. He can C&J 132.5kgs and Snatch 97.5kgs at around 95kgs - not bad for a pensioner.

Flat Eric

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists

Warm Up - Shoulder Dislocates / Achilles Stretches / Quad Stretches / Squat Stretches / Shoulder & Wrist Stretch 2 x 10

Snatch High Pulls / Snatches / OH Squats / Power Cleans 3 x 5

Session B
Power Clean - 5 sets 3 reps - 40kgs
Power Snatch - 5 sets 3 reps - 30kgs
Push Press - 5 sets 5 reps - 40kgs
Clean Deadlift (Fast) - 5 sets 5 reps - 80kgs
Smith Machine Press - 54321 reps - 47.5kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - set of 12

Stretches

Comments: Thanks for the comments guys. I am fortunate to have a coach so near to hand, and believe me I intend to soak up all I can from him. It is very like the DL experiment, only not so frequent. I've read that the Bulgarian W/L team do the same thing - finding a max for that day and then doing the work sets 5-20kgs lighter depending on their schedule.

Todays session was a bit flat and I needed lighter weights. Can't seem to shake this head cold and general lack of energy. The food intake has suffered a lot, but apparently I have put on 3lbs of muscle and no fat. I'm off food shopping in a bit and I'm going to clean it up and fill myself full of steak and eggs this week.

In complete contrast to the last session I felt that I started poorly and finshed stronger. There was no speed in any of the first 3 lifts - the last 2 felt easier for me.

I really need to get my arse in gear and do some flexibility stuff on my own. I've read some good stuff on the work I need to be doing and it just boils down to doing it a couple of times a day now.

Its a funny old game...

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists

Warm Up - High Pulls/Snatches/OHS/Cleans/Jerks with the bar

Session A
Power Snatches - 6 sets 5 reps - 35kgs
Overhead Squat - 5 sets 5 reps - 20kgs
Pull for Clean - 5 sets 5 reps - 40kgs
Power Cleans - 5 sets 5 reps - 45kgs
Jerk from Racks - 5 sets 3 reps - 40kgs
Back Squat - 3 sets 5 reps - 50kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - 1 set close to failure

Stretches

Comments: Felt really good warming up, thought that I was all but over my cold and was feeling plenty strong. I was whipping the empty bar about and making that really satisfying SLAM with my feet on the snatches. It turned out to be a game of two halves, I felt like I could have gone heavier on the first 4 exercises but by the time I got to the Jerks I was going downhill. Endurance wasn't there today.

Saying that, overall it was a good session. Egged on by Maurice I was getting deeper and deeper on the OHSquats. He had me hold bottom position for a bit on the last rep of each set. It was agony for me but at the same time the bar felt lighter, like I had better control of it and better balance. Also on my Power Cleans I was focusing on trying to whip the elbows round. I found that the more aggressive I was in doing this the easier it felt.

Maurice's philosophy - with beginners anyway - is to lift with good form with a weight that you can handle on that day. This is why some of my weight selections may not be making sense. When my conditioning, technique and strength all start to catch up then the weight selections will fit. That's why I have the odd stand out weight like Pressing from my last session and then doing less this session on Jerks.

Third session

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists

Warm Up - Snatches/Cleans/Jerks/Squats with the bar

Session C
Split Jerks from rack - 5 sets 3 reps - 42.5kgs
Power Snatch - 5 sets 3 reps - 30kgs
Overhead Squat - 5 sets 3 reps - 20kgs
Back Squats - 5 sets 5 reps - 50kgs
Standing Press - 5 sets 3 reps - 45kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - 2 sets of 12

Stretches

Comments: Still carrying a stinking cold. Every evening before training so far I haven't thought I'd make it, but I've felt better the next morning. We are still taking it easy on the intensity and zipping through the sessions so it hasn't been too tough.

Technique is still a work in progress obviously and it varies from OK to Bollocks. I haven't been of mind or body to practice on my own with a stick so far, but I expect it to get better along with my flexibility when I do start. I guess the best example of this today was the OH Squats. In the first few sets I was all over the place and not very deep. In the last few though I was getting down pretty deep with good balance and solid overhead. It was the first time I ever felt that I could handle more than just the bar.

Going back into a gym is funny as well. There is so much posing, gossiping and ridiculing of people's weight totals going on it's hilarious. I've promised Maurice though that'll I'll stop all that and concentrate on the training from now on ;)

Sickboy

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists

Warm Up - Snatches/Cleans/Jerks/Squats with the bar

Session B
Power Clean - 5 sets 3 reps - 40kgs
Power Snatch - 5 sets 3 reps - 32.5kgs
Push Press - 5 sets 5 reps - 42.5kgs
Clean Deadlift (Fast) - 5 sets 5 reps - 60kgs
Smith Machine Press - 54321 reps - 45kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - 2 sets of 12

Stretches

Comments: Over the weekend I thought I'd be doubtful for this session. Firstly I had my shoulder on ice for 2 days - it was the worst it has felt in months. Then I went downhill and felt really run down - think I have a bit of a virus. Fortunately I was feeling better on both accounts this morning and while it was an easy session I went through it better than I thought I would.

We alternated sets and exercises straight through again and I found that I wasn't huffing and puffing as much as the last session. All the weights are still within my limits but I have noticed that I can't move the bar that fast. Hopefully that will come as I go along, after all speed strength or power is one of the aspects Oly lifting trains.

I've got myself the ultimate training aid - a broomstick - and hopefully now I can get a bit of practice in between sessions.

So it begins.....

Mobility
Ankles, Knees, Hips, Shoulders and Wrists
(All the places you need for Oly Lifting; all the places I need work on!!)

Warm Up - Snatches/Cleans/Jerks/Squats with the bar

Session A
Power Snatches - 6 sets 5 reps - 35kgs
Overhead Squat - 5 sets 5 reps - 20kgs
Pull for Clean - 5 sets 5 reps - 40kgs
Power Cleans - 5 sets 5 reps - 45kgs
Jerk from Racks - 5 sets 3 reps - 40kgs
Back Squat - 3 sets 5 reps - 45kgs
Hanging Leg Raises - 1 set close to failure

Stretches

Comments: Started training proper with Maurice today. He gave me a print out with 3 sessions to do per week. This is to get me fit for lifting and I'll be on it for about a month. He wants me to be motoring through it and get some conditioning out of it too.

As far as the weights above go sometimes I worked up to that weight, others straight in and just left on because they were handy. It isn't about going as heavy as possible at this stage. Looking for some conditioning, finding my level and correcting gross technical errors I suppose. It was great to have Maurice there telling me rep for rep what was going well and what wasn't.

For now I'll only be doing some mobility/stretching and practicing lifts at home with a wooden dowel. At some point I'd like to throw in a little grip work, a few TGUs and some swings, snatches or sprints. That'll be down the road though and only if I feel it is necessary.

I have also cut back on the milk and decided to see how I get on with a sensible diet and 3 sessions per week. I honestly don't mind if I lose or put on a little - just as long as overall I lose fat and gain muscle. I still have the measurements I took when I was starting my hypertrophy stage, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I'd also liked to have done the Max Jones Quadrathlon to see what improvements I'd make. I might test my vertical and broad jump - but I'd be keeping those (small) figures to myself! ;)

I got some cracking resources yesterday off my good mate Paul - some dvds and a FANTASTIC book by Tommy Kono. Highly instructional and incredibly inspirational. I could get really into this weightlifting lark.

Schooled!!

Met up with yet another gentleman of a weightlifter today. At over 70 years old Morris has aged well. He looks in his 50's and lifts fast! He told me his knee was a little sore today, but he was stunned because "I never get any aches or pains". He also introduced me to his friend Duke who has DL'd 192.5kgs at 57kgs. He looked like he was 80!! I'm beginning to wonder if Olympic Weightlifting is the elixir of life.

Everyone I talked to told me that I was in very good hands - and I was. He took me through the Snatch and Clean, with hang and power variations. He even had me trying the split snatch and split clean. He lifted with me rep for rep, and all his lifts had more snap and power to them.

Not only can he lift, he can teach which is what I'm most interested in. After we did push presses, he told me a few things which helped ground me and made the lift feel more solid. I was fine on bench presses (just not enough weight for my liking). While I was there though I got him to take a look at me DLing. I did it the Pavel way - braced before going down, got tight, descended and lifted it when I got my hands on it. He told me to get down, make sure my back was flat, then brace and "you'll think this sounds silly, but pull yourself into the ground." It didn't sound silly at all, I do it for my overhead stuff, but I've never thought of applying it to the DL. I did a very comfortable double with 130kgs, felt it in the hamstrings more than I usually do. I was very impressed with just that tip alone.

It's obvious I can learn a lot from Morris. He doesn't have the facilities that the club in Belfast has, but I think that given my present circumstances he is my best option. I'll give it a go with him for a while and see how I get on. If it doesn't work out then the club in Belfast is always there. I've got to talk to him later, but if he tells me he can take me to a 100kgs C&J we're in business.

Edit: "100kgs? Oh, I should think so. " - he'll tell me anything I think, but I've got myself a coach. Start Friday morning :)

Oly Practice

Warm Up
OH Squats
Pumps
Halos
3 x 10

Barbell
Hang Power Snatch: 20 kgs x 5, 22.5 x 5, 25 x 5, 27.5 x 5, 30 x 5
Hang Power Clean:30 kgs x 5, 32.5 x 5, 35 x 5, 37.5 x 5, 37.5 x 5
Clean DL & Shrug: 37.5 kgs x 5, 40 x 5, 45 x 5, 50 x 5, 50 x 5
Push Press: 30 kgs x 5, 32.5 x 5, 35 x 5, 37.5 x 5, 40 x 5
Front Squat: 30 kgs x 5, 35 x 5, 37.5 x 5, 40 x 5, 42.5 x 5
OH Squat: 20kgs x 5, 20 x 5, 20 x 5

Stretches

Comments: Still in limbo with the coaching, but I shall get onto the N Ireland House of Sport tomorrow to get contact details of my local club for a chat. In the meantime it was a dry day overhere so I could get out back and practice a little bit. I'd really be dependant on the Great British weather if I tried to do any overhead stuff at home with a barbell.

Out of all the training resources I have my absolute favourite has always been Jimmy Schultz's Olympic Style Manual and DVD. So today I started into the first program detailed in that. I was using conservative weights and really trying for good form on each lift. I've got to say though that my form went from the sublime to the ridiculous....well maybe not sublime, but decent (though I really need a coach to check it was even that). Not from too much weight, in fact I generally found it to be a bit better when the weight got heavier. Overall it went quite well. I found it to be just about right for the amount of stress it accumulated on my wrists, also my shoulders were getting pretty tender from racking the barbell.

The program also calls for 3 sets of Bench Presses at the end. I was going to do some Half Get Ups as I have nowhere to bench. But the OHSs were terrible and I was getting a bit tired so I just decided to wrap it up there. I'll just do this routine until I get myself sorted with one coach or another.

I managed to put on 1lb this week. Not much of a return out of the 3 pints of milk I have upped my daily intake to. Still according to the BF percentage it is all muscle so I'll take that every week, all year long!! Plus I ate a 12" pizza by myself last night as a treat so I can't complain really. ;)

Mess Around

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
1 x 10

Barbell -
Hang Snatches @ 20kgs
OverHead Squats @ 20kgs
Hang Cleans @ 20kgs / 30kgs
Push Jerks (with split) @ 30kgs
Front Squats @ 30kgs
3 sets of 5

Back Squats @ 30kgs
3 sets of 10

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1
Right Knee - 1
Lower Back - 1
At some stage though I think I'll need to add wrists to this list.

Comments - Still a little up in the air as far as who's training me and where at this stage, so I just decided to do a light practice on my own. I thought I'd throw the ego out the window and just do barbell complexes. Gotta say though that it was plenty for a lot of the exercises. And even though I was in no hurry you can get tired enough by the end.

No surprise to me is that I need to do a lot of work on my flexibility. Squatting today was all done with 3/4" heel raise, and I struggle to get my elbows up and my wrists back for the rack in the clean and front squat. But its new and exciting and I look forward to getting really into it.

Strength Odyssey

"Why do we fall? ......so we can learn to pick ourselves back up." Bruce Wayne's father in Batman Begins

Mouse - thanks for the support and encouragement, I'm way ahead of you though. I sent an email to the N Ireland Weightlifting site last night about the clubs and finding a good coach. I got a reply straight away. Gina told me that she'd be training near me today and that I should pop down and see her.

I turned up in jeans expecting to just get some info out of her, but she had me DLing and Squatting a bit to see my form. She and her husband Martin gave me some good pointers - and told me my form was terrible!! "Stop sticking your arse out!!" Haha. They also filled me in on the powerlifting scene here. Apparently it isn't great - everyone out for themselves, club members generally train on their own at different times and there isn't much sharing of information until you show good promise. Not what I wanted to hear.

She said though if I wanted to join the gym she uses then they'd sort me out anytime they happened to be in. Good as gold - Martin is an ex-Commonwealth Games cyclist, and Gina has been tearing up records over here in PL. I felt what I really needed though was a wizened old coach like Mickey from Rocky. When pressed Gina told me that I needed to see George Mcguinness, he'd helped her out when she first got started.

So I got in touch with George just after I left the gym. I told him that I'd be interested in lifting at a meet for the craic and he told me that he coached PL and Oly Lifting!! My ears pricked up - I thought no one here did Oly Lifting. I arranged to meet up with him earlier this evening and he put me through my paces.

The gym is falling to bits but has bags of character - two Oly Lifting platforms and everything else you need (with exception of the glute-ham machine that they don't have anymore). George has Parkinson's and talks a bit slow and quietly, but I didn't let that fool me. He stood with me for about 2 hours sorting out my form, flexibilty etc. I've spent money on books, DVDs, courses on all sorts of different subjects, but I can't remember the last time I learned so much. He didn't even want to take any money off me either!!!

After I'd been admonished by a couple of the instructors for "sticking my arse out" I started to do better. I managed to snatch 40kgs no worries, and C&J'd 60kgs. Then he started talking about throwing me into a meet in Scotland in a few months! We'll see.

I've spent my whole day training or talking about training. My back was never anything but solid, even my knees and shoulders were spot on. The only fly in the ointment is that the club is miles away. It would be a bit much for me to travel up and down x 3 per week. There is a guy who is a bit closer unbelievably, but failing that George suggested that I go up to see him 3-4 times a month to work on the technical stuff and he can give me a program then to work on assistance stuff by myself.

I'm starting to get sore now, my traps will ache tomorrow, wrists and legs from doing all manner of squats for flexibility and strength. But today was the best training day I think I've ever had. What a difference 24 hours can make.

Nightmare......

.....my hypertrophy phase has finished before it got started. When I was trying to figure out the weights I'd need to start out with on Saturday it didn't go well. Somewhere between DLing and Squatting (with light weights I may add) something was up. It didn't hurt but it didn't feel right either. Next morning I was tying my shoe laces when I got a really strange sensation. The best way I can explain it is if you have ever seen steel bridge swaying violently - it isn't broken per se, but it's structure is far from stable. That's the feeling I get - doesn't hurt but it's far from stable.

I hadn't heard a peep out of it since, but my confidence doing DLs was shaken so I opted for the following:

Chin - Single top of the minute - 7 decent reps: in line with the EDT strength protocol. I was planning on adding weight once I got to 15 singles.

Snatches 24kgs - 15 mins PR zone: I was aiming for around 140 and had tried them out a couple of times without any back trouble. I got to 84 in around 8 minutes when I got the same feeling in my back right round my kidney area. I stopped instantly.

It isn't sore now...at all. But I don't have much confidence in it. The mind is willing, but the body isn't it seems. I had already decided that I needed to join a club before I deadlifted again - its obvious I can't do it right on my own. Maybe that should be my next move. I'll stay focused on my diet while I figure it out.

I Got Milk

Starting my new focus on hypertrophy.....well from now I guess. I took lots of measurements this morning which I'll post in 4 weeks along side my progress. The plan is pretty simple, I'm adding in some milk to my diet and switching to EDT style training 3 times a week.

There are quite a lot of sites and books I've come across recommending milk as an excellent mass builder - though it would seem that results are mixed as to how much is fat. Mark Rippetoe suggests that milk along with his program starting strength will sort out those who are too skinny or those who are too fat. Regardless, I am feeling very protective of my gains in weight loss (if you see what I mean) so I'm not going to 'GOMAD' with the gallon of milk a day approach right out of the blocks. I drank 2 pints today and will stick with this for a week and monitor from there. I'll up it as long as I am not gaining too much fat - and hopefully in line with the amount of work I'm doing in my sessions.

On that note, I had a bit of a play around to get an idea of the weights I need to using for this new program. Man I have lost so much strength it ain't funny! So, I've decided to start off a bit conservatively and hopefully it should come back to me quite quickly. Its also a good idea as I've discussed before how I reckon big jumps in volume on the training side lead me to eat lots more crap to feel less tired.

So I'm looking to strike a balance with it, but still get results. Next session will be Tuesday.

Listless

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
SLDL - contra sports lift @ 16kgs
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Swings 'n' stuff - 15 mins
10 Sw @ 32kgs x 3
10 Sw @ 24kgs x 6
LCCJ @ 24kgs 5 e/a x 3
10 Sw @ 24kgs x 4

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1
Right Knee - 2
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Switched the cook hip lift for some SLDLs with the 16kgs. Form was terrible, but it was a wake up for the glutes. They will get better in short time.

One of those days when I really couldn't be bothered - never a good sign. I think that I am just about ready for a shake up. I already lost my gain from last weekend and another pound more. I am teetering on the brink of the scale weight starting with "13" - it seems like a dream when I last weighed in the thirteens.

The extra protein seems to be helping me hang onto my precious little muscle, but today prehaps it feels likeI'm losing too much too fast. So rather than the 18 reps top of the minute I played around a little and took my time between sets. I also wanted to see how the shoulder coped with a few LCCJs as they will be in soon.

I have a spreadsheet that I fill in with my weight every now and then. The worst is in late August which is 223lbs at 36% BF - 80.28lbs fat and 142.7lbs LBM. The best so far is today 196lbs @ 28% BF - 54.88lbs fat and 141.12lbs LBM. Not too bad, but I still need to swap 35lbs of fat for 35 of muscle. I think next week is time for EDT and MILK!!

Get on up there

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cook Hip Lift
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Half Get Ups - 10 mins
24kgs x 10 e/a

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 2
Right Knee - 1
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Good session this. My right shoulder was feeling really weak compared to the left and I didn't think I was going to get past 4 before dropping weight. I concentrated on getting tight and pressing it from the floor strongly and was able to keep on going. I think it is some kind of PR actually, I'm pretty sure I never went past 5 e/a on Prog Minimum before. Would be cool if I could manage the 32 each side before I switch.

Old Red Eyes is back

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cook Hip Lift
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Swings - 10 mins
17 Sw @ 24kgs - top of the minute
Total - 170

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1
Right Knee - 1
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Back after a boozey weekend packed with full English breakfasts and 3 course dinners (thanks NHS!!) I was happy to step on the scales only 3 lbs heavier. And according to the ever-so-fickle BF% function 2lbs of Fat and 1lb of LBM. So not a complete disaster. I did take my jungle gym and gymboss with me but neither of them saw the light of day.

So back to the task at hand and I was clever enough to have enough good food in the fridge for my return. So I ate clean and did a reasonable amount of work with the swings. Felt absolutely great as I racked up the first pain free session in who knows how long....prehaps even ever!!

So a couple more weeks of Prog Minimum and weight loss focus then a shift to muscle and EDT.

Life in the old dog yet.......

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cook Hip Lift
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Swings - 9 mins 30
20 Sw @ 24kgs - 30:30
Total - 200

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1
Right Knee - 1
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Seeing as I'll be taking the entire weekend off I thought I'd crank up the intensity for a one off session to see what I've got. Was doing 20 reps at 30s on 30s off right up until the 9th set. After that I cranked them out in sets of whatever I could take. Hit 200 a few seconds before the gymboss beeped for 9 mins 30. Quite happy with that considering I haven't done anything close to that level for months.

My grip is buggered and it's quite hard to type this out but all the other problem areas were quiet today....too quiet some would say!!

Titan Challenge, EDT and Armani

Mouse - the op is for my brother, apparently he needs me to nurse maid. That Titan Challenge post is an interesting read. I have, in my own way, be doing a kind of version of the get up ladders. 2 or 3 floor presses (my sticking point for right shoulder) before going up to supporting myself on my arm. I have recently started adding in the 24 for a few reps before dropping to the 16 for more volume. I hadn't considered doing a heavy day then a high volume day later in the week.

I am only going to stay on a prog minimum template until the end of this month - but I can definitely use some of this going forward. Thanks for the link.

Here's what I have planned for the EDT Martin:

3 times per week. Alternating A/B sessions. Keeping mobility, corrective warm up and stretches.

Session A
A1: DL
EDT Strength Protocol - 10 mins

B1: Sandbag Squats
B2: Chins
15 mins PR zone

C1:Wrists
15 mins PR zone

Session B
A1: HGU
EDT Strength Protocol - 10 mins

B1: LCCJs Left
B2: LCCJs Right
15 mins PR zone

C1:Neck
15 mins PR zone

Strength zone work on the areas that I have my goals set for. Multi-joint whole body exercises for bulk and conditioning side effect. Then finally weak areas I need to strengthen and increase size. I'll probably take a lot of measurements before I start.

On fitday I have calculated that by drinking 2 litres of full fat milk a day it will obviously increase my calories but keep the same macronutrient ratio. Apparently it is a proven method of weight gain but there are no gaurantees on how much fat there will be. I'm up for the experiment for a month, but I need to be very careful and not get carried away with eating.

As far as the clothes go, I might just buy a new belt.....I've got a lot more body comp changes in mind, and very little money. ;)

Sometimes the clothes do not make the man.....

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cook Hip Lift
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Half Get Ups - 10 mins
24kgs x 7 e/a
16kgs

Swings - 5 mins
10 Sw @ 32kgs - top of the minute
Total - 50+

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 2
Right Knee - 1
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Feeling a lot more relaxed today, though still a bit fuzzy what with the headcold. Spent most of the day cooking myself some lentil soup with a joint of ham thrown in for good measure, and the spanish chicken I'm off to eat now. Should be enough to do me all week.

I have to accompany my brother to England over the weekend for an operation so I won't be getting a break tomorrow. I'll do Wednesday and Thursday and have 3 days off then - trying to exercise damage limitation when I'm living in it up at the NHS's expense!!

Tonight's was another good session. Able to do more HGUs with the 24kg, but I have to squeeze that handle hard and power breath it up each time from floor press. Once it is up there it is no trouble. The trouble I do have however is that my jeans are falling off me! I'm going to have to fork out for some new threads.....its all money, money, money :(

Braindead

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps eac

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cradle Walk
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Half Get Ups
24kgs 2 x 2 e/a

Swings - 10 mins
15 Sw @ 24kgs - top of the minute
Total - 150

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 2
Right Knee - 1
Lower Back - 1


Comments - One of those days when nothing seems to be going right and a bit scatter brained to boot. Still have a bit of a headcold that I can't shake. Haven't felt like this in a while.

I could probably have done with a rest if truth be told but I needed an outlet for my frustration, so I did a decent but not overtaxing swing session. I'm still working within myself though I do think all the weight loss catching up with me a little. Maybe too few calories for too long. I'm hoping that I'm close to 185lbs by the end of February anyway but I'll switch up the training and the diet to gain muscle for up to 4 weeks then regardless. Then shift focus back to fat loss again after that.

I couldn't be happier with how I've so far, a loss of around 25lbs to date. Also I have enough left to loss that I think I'll gain muscle and loss weight when I shift plan.

Half get Ups

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each
GTG Squats 0.75" heel lift

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cradle Walk
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 0.75" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Half Get Ups - 10 mins
24kgs x 5 e/a
16kgs

Swings - 5 mins
10 Sw @ 32kgs - top of the minute
Total - 50+

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 2
Right Knee - 2
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Dropped the heel lift another 1/4" - I've tried a few doorway tests without a heel lift but I seem to have the same sticking point. No worries, I reckon it'll be a case of one day I'll just kinda fall down past it and I'll be a proper squatter then.

Little bit of progress on the HGUs. 24s pretty easy on my left and I got some out of the right before the floor press was too much. Then I dropped to the 16 and was doing 2-3 floor presses for each HGU in sets of 2-3 on each side. I guess they added up over the time.

I was still feeling a bit frisky after this so I did some swings with the 32 - again all well within my limits.

Martin - I seem to remember a podiatrist telling me she thought that I had worn away cartilage in my right knee. It's really an acute pain which I got again today stretching my achilles. Ensuring that I'm lined up helps it. But in general I do get the same problem you refer to with my knees on flights, or stuck in cars etc.

I have also discovered that there is a powerlifting scene alive and well in N Ireland. I have put out the feelers and might join a club in the summer. I want to do a few more phases to make sure I rid myself of my niggles and get my body weight under a bit more control.

Swinging Back into Action

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cradle Walk
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 1" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Swings - 10 mins
12 Sw @ 24kgs - top of the minute
Total - 120+

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1
Right Knee - 3
Lower Back - 2


Comments - Had an overnight stay in mainland UK on Wednesday. Coming back on Thursday I was stuck in the airport after a 4 hour delay due to snow. By the time I got back sleeping was the only thing on my mind.

No worries, swings today, get ups tomorrow and reign back on the weekend treats because everyone knows that I overdid while I was away. Start back into the routine come Monday.

Tonights session was very easy considering I still haven't managed to shake the headcold from earlier in the week. I actually racked up more than 120 reps because I was very focused on my swing form and forgot to count a few times. Back felt a little bit stiff in cobra stretch and my knee gave me a bit of jip doing the calf and achilles stretches. Shoulder feels really good.

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
35 reps each

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cradle Walk
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 1" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Half Get Ups - 10 mins
Sets of 3 reps @ 16kgs twice as many floor presses on right hand side

Stretch Routine
Held for 30 secs

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1
Knees - 2
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Got a bit of a head cold today so I thought I'd play it by ear and just stop if I felt a bit tired or whatever. As often happens though I banged out a good steady session when least expected. Both shoulders feel really good, in fact with exception of a little bit of discomfort in my knees every now and then I feel tip top.

Same but different

Daily Joint Mobility Complex
Ankle Circles
Hip Circles
Mike Boyle's Thoracic exercise
Shoulder Circles
Egyptians
Neck - Up/Down & Side/Side
Wrists - Up/Down & Circles

35 reps each

Extras
Pumps
Deep Squat Variations 1" heel lift
1x10

Warm Up/Corrective Exercises
Shoulder Rotations
Trunk Rotations
Cradle Walk
X Band Walk
OH Squats with 1" heel lift
Pumps
Arm Bars @ 16kgs
1 x 10

Swings - 10 mins
10 KB Sw @ 24kgs - top of the minute
Total: 100 reps

Stretches
Hamstrings
Shoulder Dislocates
Calf
Achilles
Quads
Cobra stretch
Glutes
Hips
Groin
Decompression Hangs
Held for at least 30 secs trying to extend stretch when able

'O' Rating
Right shoulder - 1* Wooohooo!!
Knees - 2
Lower Back - 1


Comments - Time to mix it up a bit if only to keep me sane. So I've got slightly different mobility drills and warm up exercises.

I trained first thing this morning so I went through it all in one go. I've put pumps and Squats as extras because I did them twice this morning and I didn't need to in my opinion. In future they'll only be done once if I train in the morning.

Changed to top of the minute swings which is similar in reps but more efficient. Half the reps and rest but all quality, powerful reps. Also decided it was time I started timing my stretches and taking them a little more seriously. I was pretty close to being able to rest my head on my knees on the hamstring stretch - which is probably the result of losing a bit of my belly.

Ate quite a lot over the weekend - but most of it was centred around meat and I found that I'd actually lost more weight at this mornings weigh in. A quick play around in fitday on Friday revealed that I really need to be getting more protein. I have lost a bit too much muscle since I started. I was also a little low on the calories so justing plugging in a few bits of chicken should work out well.

Incidently this will give me around a 50% Fat, 25% Carbs and 25% protein split. I am doing my family's head in losing all this weight while gorging on fat. Haha