3rd Dec - today's lifts

I only worked out once last week, which was a bit disappointing. Today, I didn't want to push myself on squats, so I just did 70. I pressed 30 - found it easy. I deadlifted 105. Although I am not sure that the final lift I locked out. Although this could have been due to the fact I had difficulty gripping the weight as it slipped out of my hands. Need to buy chalk to improve grip.

27 Nov 12

Missed Friday's workout. Mondays' workout was post-poned until today. Did: Squat: 70KG. I repeated this from last Wednesday because I felt my balance was going on to the ball of my foot too much. I also struggled on the last x2 reps of my final set when I had improved my technique. Today, I felt as though my balance was improved. I still felt as though it rolled forward onto to the ball of my foot, but I also feel as though I kept my heel on the ground, which I am happy about and will consider it a pass. I will proceed to 72.5 KG next work out (Thursday) I also need to get weight lifting shoes. I will get chucks initially and look to get some serious weightlifting shoes in the first quarter of 2013. Bench I did 40KG. It felt heavy but I only needed to rest a few mins between sets. Next workout 42.5 DL: Did 102.5 Last rep felt tough. Looking forward to 105! Next workout is Thursday, targets are: Squat 72.5 Press: 32.5 DL: 105. Also need to buy microweights.

Todays workout

Wednesday 21st Nov. Squatted 70KG. I lost my balance a little coming out of the bottom. I have a habit where I roll my balance forward to the front of my foot, toward my toes as I lift off. I think I like to try use the momentum here. I am going to read up on tips to prevent this. I bench pressed 35KG. I did not do deadlifts today. Will try for 105 on Friday.

Enjoying that feeling on a day after you've worked out, and it's like 'it feels good to have used my body today'

workout

Missed my Friday workout as I had a night out on thursday which impacted my sleeping schedule. Today - Monay, 19 Nov I did: 67.5KG squat 30KG overhead press 100KG Deadlift.

I've spent much of my time today thinking about my next workout. Since I injured my hand, and have moved to the UK, my return to progress has been slow. However, I've been here for approximately 10 weeks now, and am getting into the rhythm of things again. Last workout on Wednesday, 14th November I squatted 65KG and Deadlifted 95. Both were reasonably tough, but still acheivable. I am excited about the prospect of getting my squat to 70KG and my DL to 100KG. I try to DL 100 tomorrow, and to squat 70 on Monday.

Long-term Targets

My long-term target is to reach 70KG bodyweight and to achieve the following lifts: 95KG bench press 125KG squat 150KG Deadlift.

Weight

Today I weighed in at just under 76KG. Progress.

Mid-Term Strength Goals

Mid-Term strength goals are: 90KG Bench Press 130KG Squat 155 Deadlift I imagine bench will be the hardest of these to achieve.

Enjoy the Journey

I remember in 2005 reading on the back of a Wheaties box with a photo of freshly crowned NBA champion Tim Duncan a quote from the man himself "enjoy the every-day struggle". Back then it seemed like sage advice and something I wanted to take from someone who had achieved at such a young age. And even though I tried to implement it into my life, I really do feel as though only just now am I starting to understand how to apply it. Take my weight-training for example. I started in December 2011 (7 months ago) with a simple goal of 'working out consistently for a year' and not much else. Apart from getting stronger and improving my physique. But I didn't really set any expectations for myself. Between December to May, I for the most part achieved my primary goal. I missed two or three workouts for that period, but for the most part I consistently worked out three times a week, every week, every month. I also made some decent progress in my strength during this time, too. My most notable achievement was taking my deadlift from 70KG up to 132.5, bordering on 'intermediate' strength levels. And then, toward the end of May I had my first major setback: international travel. I went to both England and America to see the world and visit family and friends. Though I had good intentions (but clearly not enough planning) I only worked out once over this two week period while overseas. Once I got back, did I feel like working out? Not really. It was a full two weeks after returning home before I got back into the weight room again. My diet over this now four week period was also particularly bad, as I did not pay attention to my macro-nutrients. Particularly protein and carb intake. What happened? I lost 4KG during this period, but I lost muscle and gained fat. So, two weeks ago on the 16th of June over the weekend I took some time to myself and re-dedicated myself to working out, and figuring out what I was going to do. My goal? Lose fat while retaining strength. My first workout back in the gym was somewhat of a wakeup call. I knew that I had to lift 'light' weights as I would not be able to pick up where I had left off. I tried to deadlift a modest 100KG for 5 reps and achieved only x3. Ouch! Since then, it has been a slow road to recovery in the gym and today I was able to successfully deadlift 105KG for five reps. Nowhere near where I have been, but an improvement on where I was x2 weeks ago. Progress. "Enjoy the every-day struggle". There are many ways to look at the above. Am I disappointed in my regression? Yes. Is it my own fault? Yes. Is there a lesson to learn? Yes. Have I achieved something over these six months? Yes. It is what it is.

my weight.

I weigh 78KG today.

email sent to brother james

I find it funny man. I really enjoy working out. Not actually the work itself, but once I’ve completed it, I get a great sense of accomplishment from completing a workout. This morning I deadlifted 120KG. I did not think I was going to get the last rep done; but I did. And I’m real happy about it. But no matter how many times I get that feeling, I dread the moments before working out. I hate waking up extra early, I get nervous before I start my squats ... I really hate the anticipation of it all.

But gee it feels great to succeed.

Trying to turn around that feeling. You said to me once that if you’re not a little nervous before a lift something is wrong. And I guess that’s part of it. Getting under the bar to do squats is not easy .. So it’s a good thing to be worried.

Anyway, I did well today.

Squat 92
Press 32.5 (tougher than expected)
DL 120

I was too tired to do chins right away and was running short on time, so I will complete them when I get home.

I had a lot of anticipation leading up to this workout – I haven’t slept real well lately and have been very tired at work the past x2 weeks. So when I got home, I went straight to sleep between 6 and 6:30. I woke up around 8.30, got up, had about 500g of steak, watched GoT and then back to bed around 10.30. I woke up at 5.30 this morning and felt great; refreshed and ready to work. Still would have liked to sleep in a bit longer ;) but good overall.

new milestone

yesterday I squatted 90KG.
I failed an attempt at bench of 60KG.

Struggling with my overhead press technique.

milestone

So on Saturday I squatted bodyweight at 84KGs. This was the 10th Feb, 2012.

Tomorrow is Valentines day and I plan to squat above bodyweight for the first time.

I have not gone above 84KG in more than a week now and it seems my weight has plateaued. I need to eat more to actively encourage my body to grow.

I have also noticed that I am starting to struggle with the weight increments at this stage. Definitely a lack of nutrition is an issue at this stage.

body weight results

I got a new dexa scan done today. This measures your body composition. I also had one done on 4th Jan 2012. Here are the total results:

FAT - 15.78KG > 19.14KG (3.3 increase)
Muscle - 57.96KG > 61.64KG (3.67 increase)

Previously I was 21.4% body fat, now I am 23.7% bodyfat. Mildly concerning, but really the muscle gains are more impressive.

IF I could continue these results for another 8 weeks I'd be 68KG muscle and 25.74KG fat, and around 97KG total.

Weights

Last Saturday I smashed the weights that I struggled with in my prior post.

I squatted 72.5 - comfortably in fact.
I benched 52.5. It was a struggle, but I didn't fail.
With the deadlifts, I wanted to work on my form so I kept the weight at 90KG. Next time I will definitely need to take this up to 92.5.

This morning I woke up early before work to get into the gym. For the first time, I didn't feel like getting out of bed. Something I am going to have to nip in the bud because I can't afford to have those feelings.

I did complete the workout. I squatted 75. I overhead pressed 30KG. The press feels as though it's beginning to get tough.

Looking forward to working out on Thursday morning.

Plateau

I sent this email to my brother after today's workout:

Man, so many things about my workout today were bad -

obviously it started with sleep - didn't get much
then I took BCAs - usually I scull, but as I got halfway through today my stomach really started to hurt, so I had to slow down and drink at a more regular pace.
squats - now I changed my technique so my arms at a higher angle as we discussed yesterday - good news - I can tell the form is much better .

the bad news - it just got a whole lot tougher! On the first set, I got really tired on my 4th rep and I thought I was going to fail and I in fact lost my footing on the 5th rep - I stumbled backward a few steps, recovered, and completed the rep and set.

Second set - I was really having trouble - the 4th rep I only just managed to power through. I considered stopping because I had never failed squatting before and was worried about what might happen if I couldn't get back up - but I though STUFF IT and went through with it anyway.. Now, the final rep was actually relativeley easy, but I noticed on my way back up that my arms were low again. So basically, I was using my arms to support the lift and that's why it was easier. I also noticed both arms were somewhat strained, so it re-inforces that the new tech is improved.

I considered dropping down on the 3rd set to 70KGs but really focusing on good form, but I decided to push through on 72.5 - again very challenging. I had a lot of trouble with keeping balance on my feet and unable to dig my heels in. I did it - but the tech wasn't great.

So this leaves me with a question - what do I do? Maybe I drop down to 70KGs and try to focus on really good tech and see how I go?

Maybe I do 72.5 one more time (I may get stronger) and see how that goes?

What do you think?

Then I went to the press - I did my warm-up, but then I felt like I was about to throw-up, so I had to sit-down for a few mins before completing my first set. Then I did the sets without too much difficulty - though I did feel like throwing up just a little bit after the second set.

Then I had x2 sweet, sweet mammoth fuels and actually struggled to down them - but I got'em in.

I'm pretty tired now man.

I'll be glad to have you there for our Saturday work-out, you can see how I am going and give me any pointers, plus if I am going to fail squats it'll be good to have you there as a spotter just in case. I'll feel more free to just go all out and not have to worry about it as much.

So yeah. That's my workout. What do you think?

This Saturday's workout will complete 1 full month of lifting weights going back to NZ. Haven't missed a single workout yet, which I am pretty happy about.

Although I really consider the NZ workouts to be a primer and the real lifting didn't begin til we got back.

I feel like I am starting to plateau out now - squats, bench and deadlifts are all extremely tough now. The press isn't so bad - because halfway through NZ I reset the weight to 20KGs. But I can kind of wait for that to get tougher..

On the other hand - I'm squatting 72.5 and weigh 77KGs as of this morning.
Benching 52.5 (failed last) and my LBM is just 58KGs - not bad.
Deadlifted 90KGs on Monday - nearly 15KGs more than my body weight.

Obviously not 'strong' but not easy lifts, either. If I could get squats to 80, bench to 60 and DL's to 100 - they will all be lifts. Won't be easy, but. Never is, I guess.

Sorry for the essay man.

Body Weight Change?

Yesterday I weighed 79.5KG.
This morning 76.5 ..

What the!?!

I went from an all-time high in weight to dropping to my lowest since returning from NZ on new years day (77).

Possible contributing factors: drank beer on Saturday night (today is Tuesday) perhaps their was built-up water retention from this, and could have contributed to lack of muscle growth? Unsure.

Also, I did a work-out yesterday morning and played playground ball in the afternoon - basically my calorie usage went up, and I didn't increase my calorie consumption. I failed to even record what I ate for the day yesterday. BIG fail on my part.

Perhaps partial laziness? Perhaps didn't want to think about it? I just wanted a day off from everything - I had been seeing progress to date and it had been working so just go with the flow and try to keep things in order. That's a mistake and I need more mental focus. Need to record calorie and protein intake on a daily basis. Need to make sure I am getting this right so that in the future if I am seeing lack of progress in my workout I can look back and see what I may have done wrong. Diet is a huge part of this.

What else?

Oh yeah, yesterdays workout - I had my first fail since beginning the weights in late December.

Squat: 70KG - done - have found squats easier since switching from sneakers to chucks
Bench: 52.5 - fail. The weights seemed impossibly heavy. Also, on second and third sets I inadvertently lifted my left leg off the ground to try and gain power. I should be pushing them against the ground to get strength from my legs and upper body.

I am sure that as I lift heavier and heavier weights, my technique will improve. If I do not, it will make it harder to lift the heavier weights. Gotta watch this space.

I am really looking forward to when I can bench 60KG. This will be a really positive sign of achievement and getting stronger.

Deadlift - 90KG - I did 90KG last time as well, but didn't feel confident so I wanted to do it again. This time felt better, my form was better. I didn't feel like I nearly injured my back as I did last time. So now I am confident to return. My only issue is, I took about 10 seconds between reps. A lot of this was due to the mental strain of the weights. I was scared to lift them. I gotta overcome this and power through next time.

One of the reasons it has been taking me time between reps is that I need to 'reset' my form. That is, stand-up, re-grab the bar, and go back down. Not only am I physically resetting, but this is leading to my mental re-set between reps as well. Which takes more time. Just need to improve basically, which I am sure will happen as I get used to the weights.

Off-day today. Weights tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

Body Goal

I want to get to a BMI of 23.

To do this, on 8% body fat, I would need to have 69KG of Lean Body Mass, 3.5 KG of Bone and 6KG of fat.

So I need to lose 9KG of fat, and add 10KG of muscle.

GOAL

to get to 90KG by end of March.

Starting Strength - Novice Effect

I read this as well. Very interesting.

http://startingstrength.com/articles/novice_effect_rippetoe.pdf

1 day later

it's just over 24 hours since I received the result of my body scan and found out I am 21% body fat.

It's changed things. I feel so bad about myself now. I'm overweight. It really is unbelievable because everyone says how skinny I am. I've known I have a gut, but I didn't realise the extent of it.

Anyway, I am glad I had the scan done. I've found a new source of motivation. I really want to get GOOD at fitness. I want to be STRONG. I want to have low body fat. I want to be proud of my physical condition. The scan just hammered home how bad things have gotten, I can't wait to sort it out.

Looking forward to my workout tomorrow in the AM.

new year new body

So in x2 weeks in NZ over the Christmas break I put on approximately 4 kilos.

I had a body composition assessment done today. Here are the results:

58KG lean mass
3.5KG bone mass
15.8 KG as fast.

21% body fat !

This morning I lifted some weights:

65 KG squat - challenging, but completed convcingly
50kg bench - very difficult!
90KG deadlift - VERY difficult

Going to re-do the 90 deadlift next work-out.

Will advance the bench to 52.5