Chris's diary

I did get to the gym last night and pretty much completed my workout. Gym was extremely busy last night so, had to skip a couple of things to maintain momentum. Had a swim instead of cardio (I know it is technically cardio but, it was a fairly liesurely swim) and a sauna. Batteries feel a bit recharged today so, might get down there for back and biceps training later on. There will be some new machines in a few weeks which will hopefully help me mix things up a bit as I feel my routine is becomeing stagnant and needs an overhaul.

Next week I plan to take some pics which I will post in a month or so along with newer ones which will hopefully show a marked improvement. I need something to kick start my motivation.
 
Well shortly after the previous post, I sustained a rotator cuff injury and haven't really been able to train since then. I've tried to maintain a bit of cardio but, nowhere near my previous levels.

I now have the equipment, a shoulder that seems to be working again and so I can feel myself becoming motivated!

Current wait is 160lbs - no idea what my BF% is atm but would guess at 14 - 15%. I'm doing a full body workout twice a week at the moment with weights that won't agitate my shoulder again. Hopefully this will build quickly and I will be able to increase my weights and split my routine before long. Trying to get 30 - 60mins cardio in 4-5 days a week. I'm totally out of the habit of fasted cardio in the morning - it'll be a struggle to get that going again....
 
45 mins on the bike today. Plenty of aches & pains from working out earlier in the week....good pains that I have missed over recent months :) Won't have chance to do anything more until middle of next week as I'm going away.

I plan to sit down and properly work out my macros and calories next week aswell. Not looking forward to eating properly again! lol
 
Okay, I can't resist! I shall do an hour on the X-trainer before going out tonight and then I won't do anything til next week!!

Could it be that I'm already getting the cardio bug again??!! ;)
 
I seem to have been having trouble connecting to the forum lately. Not sure if its my connection or if the forum is just slow.

Anyways, only been doing cardio this week as I need to order a new utility bench before I can properly sort out my weights.

Still getting in about an hour a day, apart from yesterday when I had to work late.
 
ChrisJG said:
I seem to have been having trouble connecting to the forum lately. Not sure if its my connection or if the forum is just slow.

Anyways, only been doing cardio this week as I need to order a new utility bench before I can properly sort out my weights.

Still getting in about an hour a day, apart from yesterday when I had to work late.
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Chris the site has been slow for a couple of weeks or so. There working on a solution, just to let you know its not your connection.

One has to work with what they have and do their best. ROCK WITH CARDIO if this fits the goals you seek, young man.

Rock on!...........wish ya the best of luck.


Best regards,


Chillen
 
Thanks Chillen, good to know its not a local problem ;)

Ordered my utility bench today so, shouldn't be long before I can put together a proper routine again. Trying to buy some dumbbells too - at the moment I just have bars and plates and it bugs me having to swap out the plates all the time!!

More cardio yesterday and more tonight - it'll give me a chance to watch some of the seemingly endless episodes of UFC Unleashed that seem to be accumulating on my sky+ Hard drive!! (Off to see the real thing on Sat night - can't wait! :D )
 
Today was good. No, even better than that...today was the best workout I've had in over 6 months! :D

I've decided not to faff about with a full body routine and have opted for a 3 day split. Started today with chest & triceps and, even though I'm nowhere near back up to speed in terms of the weights I'm lifting, I really did feel like I was working hard. Went on to do 45mins x-trainer afterwards.

Utility bench, a few more weight discs & protien should arrive this week so, I can really sort out my gym. I'm looking to order a set of dumbbells and a rack and maybe a lat pulldown attachment for the new bench. Then I will really be able to make my training comprehensive :)

Feeling good atm - shoulder feels normal.
 
The last couple of days have been very productive. Yesterday, I did my first HIIT session for a while. I kept the high intensity periods down to 30 seconds to begin with to remind my body what to expect. I'll be increasing this gradually to get back up to a full minute each round. Did 20 mins in total and really felt it.

Today my utility bench arrived and my home gym is nearing completion. The dumbbell set has been ordered which will make the whole process a lot easier. I think I will then have somewhere near to 300kg in total so, there will be no excuses for not being able to find thre weight combinations I need.

I've also formulated my diet pretty much. I'm looking to take on board somewhere close to 1800 calories a day comprising about 45% protien, 35% fat and 20% carbs. My maintenance level I've worked out to be about 2300 so this should give a good healthy deficit to get the fat-burning fires started. The next couple of weeks will basically be experimentation and then I have a week away which will not be entirely healthy!

Todays workout was good - I did legs & shoulders. The shoulder excercises worried me the most as I haven't done things like lat raises since before my injury but, I kept the wights light and, so far all appears to be well.

Feeling very motivated at the moment :D
 
Ok, here is basically what I'm going to be eating for the next couple of weeks:-

Meal one (7am): Muesli with skimmed milk, black coffee & flaxseed oil cap

Meal two (10am): grilled chicken breast, broccoli & olive oil.

Meal three (1pm): turkey sandwich with lettuce (and marmite) on wholemeal bread, 2 scoops whey protein.

Meal four (4pm): Protein shake with skimmed milk

Meal five (7pm): grilled chicken breast, broccoli & olive oil.

Meal six (10pm): desert spoon of natural peanut butter, 2 scoops whey protein.

According to fitday (which I think is slightly underestimating the calories) this amounts to 1750cals - 46% protein, 30% fat, 24% carbs which is close enough to what I was trying to achieve. Will be sticking to this for the next couple of weeks to see how it works. Then, after my week away, I'll be switching to rice instead of broccoli for a couple of weeks.

I have also made another improtant decision. I am not going to be a slave to the scales this time round. I am not going to weigh myself of measure my bf% at all - instead, I intend to rely solely on the mirror to guage my progress. I have found to often in the past that, if I have been working hard and feeling that I've made good progress, my motivation can be halted by a single weigh in. I am going to be looking only for changes in body composition which hopefully will keep my motivation levels high.

HIIT tonight - perversely, I'm quite looking forward to it!! :D
 
That's an excellent decision - getting away from the scales will be a liberating experience. One that hopefully assist you in your lifelong goals.
 
stingo said:
That's an excellent decision - getting away from the scales will be a liberating experience. One that hopefully assist you in your lifelong goals.
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I think you're right Stingo. Its all too easy to get disheartened if you're not achieving the numbers you want. However, lets say for example I train hard for 2 weeks, weights & cardio. At the same time, I eat very clean and feel that I should have dropped a lot of bodyfat. I weigh in and find I've only lost 1lb. This would be a disapointment whereas, who is to say that 1lb loss isn't made up of a 2lb muscle gain and 3lb fat loss? I have some BF% scales but, feel that they are too inaccurate to bother with. If I'm happy with what I see in the mirror, the numbers are no longer important :)

Last night was HIIT again. Still only 30 second roundsw with 90 second recovery but, managed an extra round so, 5 mins warmup, 8 x (30sec intense, 90 recovery) 3 mins cool down (all on the bike). Then went on to do another 15mins steady state on the X trainer.

Back & biceps tonight and 2nd day of my diet. Went well yesterday although chicken & brocolli at 10am still seems a bit strange! lol
 
Thanks NBS, it certainly is tricky getting back into the swing of it so, I appreciate the words of encouragement :) I found it tough for two very different reasons. Firstly, I wanted to be sure I'd waited long enough to start lifting again without risking further injury and, secondly I had developed a very different routine which was hard to break in order to fit workouts and extra meals back in.

Today was back & biceps. I think I could have done with another back excercise. I had deadlifts, bent over rows (dumbbell) and shrugs. Will look to add another next week. 40 mins intervals post workout. Not high intensity but, moderate.

All in all, felt good :D

Diet is going well - hot food at 10am still feels strange but, I think I'll get used to it pretty quick. The 3 hr gap between meals feels alot longer in the evenings than it does in the mornings. lol
 
Today has been good, apart from feeling pretty bloated this afternoon which I can only put down to too much water, too quickly! I really do need to try and pace myself a bit more.

HIIT on the cross-trainer today which, to begin with, I found much harder than the bike but, as I reached my 8th round, I felt stronger so went for a 9th. Following my cooldown of 3 mins, I was still feeling good so did a few more, lost track in the end but, total time on the machine was a little over 42 mins.

Chest & triceps tomorrow and then Sunday will be a rest day.

I'm beginning to notice a different in the mirror already. Vascularity is returning to my arms and I'm beginning to notice some definition returning. The temptation to step on the scales and quantify this visual progress had been hard to resist but, resist it I have. :)
 
ChrisJG said:
25 mins skipping
50 mins stepper
25 mins treadmill (4 intervals)
15 mins cross trainer

Skipping is seriously frustrating, definitly not as easy as it looks. Kept getting the damn rope wrapped round my ankles! lol

Luckily there is a guy working at the gym with a martial arts background who said he will book an hour with me and go through the basics of ropework. My calves are killing me at the moment. Luckily, I'm not due back at the gym until Monday...
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Hello, Chris:

Chris's Bliss:

Chris's mental Hiss is never Amiss and remains a oceanic Abyss and as a result can Piss his personal power of Bliss. Here Chris, Hiss!

oh......well........Im crazy......just ask NBS-4Life......LOL :)
 
lol - Chillen, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of craziness from time to time ;)

Take this morning for example, for the first time in my life, I actually weighed my cereal before putting it in the bowl :D
 
ChrisJG said:
lol - Chillen, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of craziness from time to time ;)

Take this morning for example, for the first time in my life, I actually weighed my cereal before putting it in the bowl :D
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wow! that is serious! do you have a triple beam scale or something?

weighing your food! holy cow!

I'm such a baby in the nutrition department.

FF
 
I know what you mean - it feels a bit serious too! lol. But, this time round, I am determined to use a bit of science rather than just trusting to luck and using 'the force' ;)

It was just a cheapo plastic scale that I bought the other day. It basically tells me that my macros and calorie intake are correct based on the correct weights of each food (or at least it will once I've worked out all their weights!)

Hows this for serious. Week after next, I will be house sitting for my parents. THey have no gym (obviously) so, I'm taking dumbbells and running shoes even though I'm technically supposed to be on holiday. I will probably be eating out and drinking some beers that week so, wanted to stave off the guilt by compensating with a bit of excercise!!
 
ChrisJG said:
lol - Chillen, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of craziness from time to time ;)

Take this morning for example, for the first time in my life, I actually weighed my cereal before putting it in the bowl :D
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LOL! As long as your not counting the arm movement to put the cereal in the mouth as "reps" and "light weight training", and counting the calories burned "during the chewing exercise", we are all good! :)

Keep rocken my friend...... :)

Chris keeps Rocking!

Chris is ROCKING and this is not SHOCKING as it puts more smarts in his mental STOCKING!

ROCK ON! CHRIS!

Wish you the best, Young man.

:)
 
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