Andy's Journey

[Parraeels4ever]

Okay, the story so far.
42 years old weighed 118 Kg or 259 pounds.
You know the deal go to the doctors, told overweight & cholesterol is high, need to do something about it. On top of all this, family & friends telling you that you are over weight. Well after 4 years, I finally found myself in a space where I actually did something about it. Now its about me.

Prelude. I work 12 hour arvo shifts. This is why I start at 09:00am for meal 1. I finish work at 01:50am & I'm in bed by 02:15. Yes I know sleep is a problem, but I cannot sleep any longer.

In October 09, I commenced personal training crusade, which has now become Andy's journey. I am so fortunate that I have found this site, so a big thankyou to Vamp & Swanso5 who have assisted in motivating me to commence a journal & provide assistance on diet & training programs thus far. I look forward to being apart of this community.

I really do need everyones help, 'cause I am very much a newbie to diet & weight training programs.

So fast forward to todays date. 21/01/10.
Weight 92kg - 202 pounds(I actually got to 90kg but have put 2kg back on)

So this is basic program & Diet.
I would luv to seek advice from the broader community of shapefit.

Goals
To achieve defined muscle definition. (Okay lets say to look Buff)
To maintain a weight between 85kg - 187 pounds / 87kg - 191 pounds. (I have failed at this several times)

Training Program
Monday - 4 Sets of 6 reps
Squats - 90kg
Bench Press - 65kg
Seated Row - 90kg
Shoulder Press - 70kg
Dips (At this stage no additional weight added)

Tuesday
1 hour mountain bike ride. Hills, fire trails, single tracks

Wednesday
Leg Press - 90kg
Hamstring curls - 40kg
Cable crossovers - 70kg
Wide grip pull ups
2 Arm alternate bicep curls - 20kg each arm (3 x 10 each arm)
Skull crushers - 35kg

Thursday
Jog 600mtrs (Jog to park)
Sprint combo's - 6 x 400mtr (Jog 200mtr - Sprint 200 mtr - jog 200 mtr - Sprint 200mtr etc)
Jog 3.2km

Friday
Deadlift
Dumbbell lunges
Dumbbell incline bench
Chin Ups
Need another exercise or two here

Saturday
Jog - 6.5 km

Sunday rest

Diet
I have no real idea on a 7 day week program. I will be actively watching this forum to seek advice. I will post what I am eating initially, too I can settle in on a pattern.

So here goes.
Andy's journey start date 21/01/10

Day 1
09:00 - Oats, Muesli & nuts with skim milk
- Skinny cap, 1 sugar (Not normal thing but was spending quality time with the wife)

11:15 - I have not trained for 4 days so today I did a double workout. I know it's not ideal, but was not happy about putting 2kg back on. Thursdays is weigh day.
- Jogged a gnarly heartbreak 600mtr hill to the park.
- 6 x 400mtr sprint jog combos.
- Jog 3.2km
- Actually did this in 29 degree heat which is not ideal, but kids still on school holidays & I needed to train.
- Got home & completed 100 mtrs freestyle swim + 100 mtrs breathstroke.

13:00 - Salad, fetta cheese, 95gr Tuna

14:00 - Gym workout
- As per Monday's program above. I couldn't help myself & I did a few extras. Bicep curls, Pec Dec + 5 min fitness test program on the deadly treadly.

15:00 - Protein Shake

17:00 - Orange

20:00 - Diced chicken & Veges

22:00 - Small tub Jalna Yogurt (I will add seeds next time)

23:30 - 30gr natural mixed nuts.

_________________________________________

So this is it, first day. Initially journal will be a regular daily update to seek advice & to settle in on a pattern. Then I will go weekly as an overview.

In advance I will thankyou all who post a reply. I look forward to building relationships with you all. I also look forward to watching your programs.

Regards
Aussie Andy.

[Boss Man]

Day 1
09:00 - Oats, Muesli & nuts with skim milk
- Skinny cap, 1 sugar (Not normal thing but was spending quality time with the wife)

(I'd add more Protein in there like Eggs, Chicken, Ham etc etc)

I'd eat something here about 11:00, so you don't go too long without food. Something like Low Fat Chese, Peanuts a small Sandwhich etc etc.)

13:00 - Salad, fetta cheese, 95gr Tuna

(That's okay, but go easy on the Tuna as it's Mercury rich. I'd alternate it with something like Chicken, Turkey etc etc.)

15:00 - Protein Shake

(Fair enough)

17:00 - Orange

(Don't really need Fruit in the PM, except for things like Cucumber, Tomatos or Peppers. So you could alter this for a Sandwich or other snack options. maybe include Tomato, or Cashews for Carbs perhaps.)

20:00 - Diced chicken & Veges

(Good)

22:00 - Small tub Jalna Yogurt (I will add seeds next time)

23:30 - 30gr natural mixed nuts.

(I'f add the Nuts to the Yoghurt, so you combine the nutrition, and then you don't eat so soon after the previous time.)

[swanso5]

great job so far

- 7hrs is about what i get a night but you don't want less
- i would suggest purposefully maintaining 90 - 92kgs so your body "resets" and then you can lose again
- do sprints on sat, doing them thu can't be doing anything for your fri workout
- stop the jogs too

[Parraeels4ever]

Day 2 - 22/01
Pulled up no problems from the run & sprint combo's 21/01. This surprised me 'cause I have never done sprint combos before.
I did struggle with the squats from the previous day. I have gone back to the video training exercise on this site to reset myself on technique. Once again have never done squats before. Main issue is where the bar sits across shoulders. It hurts neck. Any way will work through this.

09:00 - Oats, Muesli & nuts with skim milk
11:00 - Banana

12:30 - Up the street with wife & kids shopping, time running out to go to work so I had lunch up the street. Just to blend in with the wife & friends that we were with I had a shared skim milk Choc milkshake & 2 handfuls of hot potatoes chips. I really disliked the milkshake & felt really blotted afterwards, but I was just trying to blend in and not make anyone feel uncomfortable. I am going to have to be more stronger & make better choices when out. The skim milk part I thought was a good idea, but I just felt blotted & sickly to be honest. 2 handful of hot chips was also not a great diet balanced meal. I had no time to have anything else.

14:15 - Gym workout. Running late, cannot find new gym plan. I will just make this session up.
All 4 x 6 sets & reps. First 4 exercises performed in pr's & last three all together to speed the session up.

Pr 1 - Bench press - 70kg
- 2 Arm bicep curl - 70kg
Pr 2 - Lat pull down rear - 65kg
- Barbell row - 70kg
Threes - Dips
- Flat bench Dumbbell fly 20kg each arm
- Shoulder Press 70kg

15:00 - Protein shake - 250mls skim milk
17:00 - 30gr mixed natural nuts
20:00 - Sheppards Pie with a small amount of salad.
22:15 - 200 gr Jalna yogurt mixed with seeds.

At least three to four ltrs of water. Nothing else consumed other then what has been mentioned.

Thankyou to both Bossman & Swanso5 for commenting. I have already taken on Bossmans advice with diet. I will focus more on protein content over the long weekend. I have not had time to implement all suggestions. I realise more so then anything else that I need to focus on preparing meals – with well thought out meals initially until it becomes instinctive for me. I have a very good wife, who has always done all of the cooking, I cannot expect to lay all of the responsibility onto wife for meal prep, so I am going to get better at this.

Swanso5 - If I move Thursday's workout to Saturday & remove the jog component, What do you suggest I do on the Thursday?
Program would be - Monday - Gym, Tuesday - Cardio, Wednesday - Gym, Thursday - ??, Friday - Gym, Saturday - Cardio

Also to everyone - Are gym sessions intense enough. aim is to keep increasing the weight to maintain intensity. I only have 5 exercises on the Monday, 6 on the Wednesday & 4 on the Friday. I feel that this is not enough. Any ideas on different exercise(s) that I can include? Initially I am feeling I should have at least 6 exercise(s) for each day. I used to be doing 8 - 12 exercises in the one session, but through assistance provided already, I have cut them back to as is indicated within.

clear challenge is not to do extras. I now understand the need for balance between, Sleep, Diet, Weights & Cardio.

Does anyone know the trick to uploading photos. All pics are in jpeg format & under 300kb, yet the system will not allow them to be uploaded. I just want to put a face to the name for u all.

[swanso5]

thu - rest

6 exercises is plenty, give them their all

[Parraeels4ever]

I'm new to this, so when I ask questions it is about naivety. I am not questioning the integrity of your posts.

You have indicated that 6 exercises is enough.

I only have 5 exercises for the Monday & 4 for the Friday. I was looking for advice on an additional exercise for the Monday that will compliment already existing 5 exercises for the Monday. Likewise with the Friday another two exercises that will compliment the existing 4 exercises that I have for the Friday. Any ideas? I could certainly think of three exercises, but I am looking for the most effective ones that compliment program & assist in me achieving goal.

I am looking at building myself up to clearly defined muscle tone. I am really struggling with the lack of time to training. I am not doubting you, just it does not seem to be a lot. I hear you saying give them ya all & I will, it just does not seem like much. 18 weight exercises over three days, 2 cardio days a week & 2 rest days. Is this enough to build myself up?

I understand that I will need to take a leap of faith with the program & go hard. That is the good thing about this journal. I can review. So I am going to follow program as detailed within without extras.

[swanso5]

- add a reverse lunge to minday
- take out crossovers and add reverse lunges and face pulls to wed and replace ham curls with romanian deadlifts
- add db rows and single arm shoulder press to fri

[Parraeels4ever]

Day 3
07:00 - 1 x Banana.
Only 5 hours sleep at best. Needed to get up & take one of sons to football training. I was going to train with the team so I only had a light meal. It wasn't too bad getting up early, (07:00 all ready 31 degrees) çause I went for a swim in the ocean. Temp today was 41 degrees.

11:00 - Oats, Muesli & nuts with skim milk.
- Got caught up talking & didn't train , the weather had soemthing to do with it as well, also not wanting to be left behind by a bunch of young fit 15 year olds!!

12:30 - Weight watchers snack - Crackers.
- Not a big fan of this stuff & I do not relay on using it, but it does come in handy when you are out. I consider it better then the alternative. (Buying something out at the shops) Went shopping at probably a difficult time of the day, but I need to work around these things.

14:00 - Toasted sandwich - Tomato, Turkey, Lind Seed Soy bread
- Orange
Eating all over the place, due to shopping & kids footy training

16:00 - Skinny cap, 1 sugar & 3 plain biscuits.

17:00 - 1/2 dozen choc wrap lollies with cream fills.
- This is where the poor eating for the day is catching up with me. Sugar cravings!!

18:30 - Chicken Stir-fry

19:30 - Ice cream
- Wife went out with the kids, I was board & was still suffereing sugar cravings, had yet another week moment. Not a good day.

20:00 - 3 handfuls of grapes.
- Still hungry - Can you believe it. AT LEAST THIS WAS A BETTER CHOICE!!

20:30 - Workout. 5 Hill jog sprint combo. Some hills are probably 35% incline & I did sprint them. I actually felt good.
- Now I was feeling guilty about days eating. I went pretty hard, Probably ran the hills 3 times. Not sure of the distance, I will measure tomorrow. It was a fairly impulsive decision to train, so I am not even sure how long it took (Probably 25 min). I have been taking advice from Swanso5 & Vamp & doing combo training that increases heart rate, then it settles back down & re-increase heart rate etc. So not a lot of distance was covered but it was intense.

21:00 - Protein Shake - 250mm skim milk

At least 3 ltrs of water.

This is honesty test, so I have included everything that I have consumed. Lessons here is that if I don't start the day real well, I feel very hungry at nite. I will need to work on this.

[Parraeels4ever]

I haven't posted for a few days. I have had 4 days off work due to the Australian Day long week end. I have had two party's to go on consecutive nites, so I thought I would do best & eat as well as I could & have a few drinks. Well have a few drinks I did. I did manage to eat okay, however I did get into a few nibble’s as I was still playing cards at 04:00am at one of the parties.

last post was Saturday 23/01 where I went for a 5 combo hill run. That run ended up being 3.5km, so it was a pretty good run. I felt okay on the Sunday, But on the Monday I knew I had legs.

Sunday Morning 24/01 - rest
Monday morning 25/01 - 4.5km run + 5 body weight exercises
Tuesday morning 26/01 a 6km run in the morning with a 3.5km walk & 7 x 400mtr sprint/jog combo drills in the arvo.

I know I am doing a lot of cardio. This is for five reasons.
1) whole routine has been thrown out the door with a change of shifts
2) kids are on holidays, so its really hard just to train at all
3) gym is at work, so with 4 days of, it is hard to get to the Gym
4) Probably main reason - I am not always eating properly (Junk food) & on the weekend I drunk a lot of alcohol. So you could say it is a bit of self administered punishment. I do this to ensure that weight stays in check.
5) If I continue to train hard, I will stay more focused.

This week the kids go back to school, so hopefully I can settle back down into a routine.

Obviously may main concern is the over training & not putting muscle on. I have pulled back a fair bit on the training based on advice. I have stated that I do more cardio to keep weight in check. The aim is not to eat poorly & that will stop me overtraining. Hopefully with the kids back at school, I can get back to three days gym & 3 days cardio as described above without any extra's.

A question. With professional footballers in Australia that play rugby league. How is it that they can do cardio in the morning with weights in the afternoon & they don't burn muscle? I know you will say diet, but why can I not introduce myself to this type of routine?

[swanso5]

they don't run for 45+mins, maybe sprints

oh and they're professional athletes, they weren't doing that when they were amatures with jobs and time constraints

[Parraeels4ever]

Yeah good points Swanso5

I really am trying to cut the running out. I guess until you mentioned the 45min straight thing I hadn't really considered it that way.

As I said the main reason I run is when I eat or drink bad. Morale to the story don't eat or drink bad food.

Hopefully with routine getting back into some type of order, I can hit three cardio days & three weight days on the actual days as nominated and stick to the plan with no extras.

Swanso5, I know you suggested that Thursday be a rest day, but at this stage I will look at using the deadly treadle on the Tuesday with some mountain bike trails for 45min. The Thursday I plan to do a 5 hill combo jog/sprint session for 45 min. There is very little flat track stuff here, but there is opportunities for me to lower heart rate & then build it back up again. Finally the Saturday I will do the 10 x 400mtr sprint jog combo's - I do this on grass so it is not as taxing.

In the meantime I know I need to eat every 2 hours with plenty of protein & I will continue to work on this

Thanks for your comments.
I have changed a lot of things based on the sensible logical advice that you have provided. Cheers

[Parraeels4ever]

Late start to the day.

10:30 - Oats, nuts & muesli - Dash of skim milk.
- 1 egg
- Skinny cap with 1 sugar. (Was really strong here, we had visitors with lots of biscuits & cakes & I had nil)
- Got up at 10:00

12:45 - Turkey, egg & tomato on 2 pieces whole meal bread. No butter

14:00 – Gym work out

1) Squats 4 x 6 @ 90kg – Got through but struggled
2) Bench Press 4 x 6 @ 70kg – Got through but struggled
3) Shoulder Pres 4 x 6 @ 75kg – A little tough but okay
4) Seated Rows 4 x 6 @ 90kg – No problems
5) Dips 4 x 6 – I made sure that I went all the down & back. I will add weight next time
6) Reverse lunges. – 4 x 6 LR – 20kg each arm. Way to easy.

Seemed to be really tired today. I dare say it would have something to do with the cardio training previous few days. However I got through it. I may add 5kg seated rows & add 5kg in weight for dips. gym at work doesn’t really have a set up for dumbbells + 20kg, so I will need to muck around and make dumbbells up that are greater in weight then 20kg for the lunges. 20kg was far too easy. I also will not be too far away from having to increase the reps per set, ‘cause I am either maxing out the weight on few of the workstations or just about there.

15:00 - Protein shake

17:00 - 30g mixed natural nuts

20:00 – Small serving of beef stir fry with noodles + Heaps of Vege’s

22:15 – 200g Jalna Yogurt with seeds

I have maxed out the weight on the shoulder press, chest Press & only have 10kg left on the seated row equipment. Question - Do I increase reps within sets? Do I increase sets? Do I change exercises where I will not max out the weight?

Tomorrow - Thursday weigh in. I hope I am in the 90kg (Under 200lbs) range!!!

[swanso5]

you can't be doing reverse lunges right if 20gs each arm was "too easy"

[Parraeels4ever]

First week completed.

Firstly Swanso5 - Yeah fair point - I was probably a little carried away with the 'too easy" comment. The reverse lunges were manageable & I can do more. To your point of not doing them correctly, I went back to the video immediately after doing the reverse lunges to see if I was following the correct technique. I have never done them before & I am really focussed on completing all exercises 100% correctly in order to achieve the best results but importantly to ensure that I don't get injured. I have no interest to lift heavy weights by taking shortcuts. I guess I can focus on getting a little longer in stride and a little lower on the lunges.

Day 1 - Week 2
07:30 - 2 kids out of three back at school 2day. The other goes back 2morrow. I actually had to take one to the doctors, so I have had another one of those horrible days with routine.
- Not a good start to the day. Today is weigh day & I have put on another 600gr. Weight is now 92.6kg. That is about 2.2kg of weight that I have now put out back on. Not happy!!. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this, so I will take measures to control. Reason 1) Change of routine, 2) Less cardio, 3) Too much alcohol & nibbles on the weekend, 4) Now eating back at the canteen at work & meal sizes are larger. 5) Concerned with taking two protein shakes a day, 6) Not enough balance in diet.

08:00 - Oats, nuts & muesli with a dash of skim milk + 1 egg

13:00 - 6" Subway meatballs roll.

17:00 - 1/2 a small bowl of fruit chunks. (Pineapple, Orange, Water & Rock melon/ Honey due)

20:00 - Beef stirfry with veges (Half serv)

21:00 - Gym workout
- Leg Press 100kg. Have maxed out workstation, will need to go a larger leg press. 4 x 6
- Romanian Deadlift. 60kg. Focus was technique. Have not done before. Going up was no worries. Coming down I was very cautious as I am worried about back. I know you are to use your legs & butt. I will need to keep an eye on this. 4 x 6
- Pec Dec 50kg 4 x 6. Will change to Incline Military press next week
- Wide grip pull ups. Really struggled here. I probably only did 2/3 clean with 2/3 @ 3/4 to 1/2 attempts. 4 sets
- 2 arm bicep curls. Ezy bar. 4 x 6 - 35kg. Tough but got through it
- Skull crushers. Ezy bar. 4 x 6 - 35kg. Tough but got through it
- Cable face pulls. 120kg 4 x 6. I am sure technique was okay, but again another first. I will review technique again to ensure that all is okay.

22:00 - The other half of the 17:00 fruit chunks

23:30 - 30gr natural mixed nuts.

First week was very disjointed for a number of reasons. aim this week is to settle into a routine. Another aim is to get weight initially under 90kg. I hope to achieve this by end of Feb. (I am on holidays for a week in Feb)
Weights again today, I really struggled with. I only had 4 1/2 hours sleep & have not eaten properly, so I am putting a lot down to that. I will look at vits also to assist.

Any suggestions from anyone on first week would be appreciated.

[swanso5]

reverse lunge depth - back knee to floor

reverse lunge stance length - front lower leg is at 90 degrees in the bottom position