The get un-sleepy-ified diary

Sleepy

After reading G'em and Dragan's cut diary's yesterday I got inspired to hit the gym for the first time since April and attempt to clean up my diet a little. If you guys can put yourselfs through those kind of punishing regimes, I think I can manage the gym three times a week!

I'm a 5' 10", 26 year old guy who's never been in optimum shape. I've been reasonably fit in the past when I was doing life-guarding classes at 17 and managed to avoid being over-weight through a combination of walking around town (lived in Galway where everything is a walk away) and having physical part-time jobs (stacking minerals in a supermarket) etc but three and a half years of a sedentry job, a crap diet and only making it to the gym/pool in fits and starts has me in the worst shape of my life.

I've got a skiing holiday booked for mid-February that I need to be back into some sort of reasonable shape for and would just like to be fitter and in better shape in general (usual male problem of a beer gut and lack of general definition).

From what I've learned from past attempts to cut I'm drinking about 3 litres of water while at work, eating breakfast again and eating better food with an eye on the calorie/fat/protein contents.

My main problem in my previous attempts to get in shape have consistency. I do great for a month or so before something like illness keeps me out of the gym for a week and I can't pick myself back up to go again. This usually happens a couple of weeks after I hit the point where I'm seeing the initial results, i.e. slightly trimmer, more muscular etc. so I'm hoping this diary will help me over that.

I've a new flatmate and she came along to the gym with me last night so hopefully having someone I'd be letting down by not going will help me through the evenings when I just don't feel like it.

I'm also trying the photos method of judging results, took the first depressing photos this morning, and praying nobody roots through my camera before I get a chance to hide them somewhere on my laptop!

Due to work, I'm not going to get a chance to hit a gym again before Sunday evening (maybe a pool session or some medium intensity cardio over the weekend but no lifting) so I did drop sets to failure on all my lifts yesterday (feeling it today but the pain is the good kind, letting me know I did something right).

Sleepy

So, one week later. My diet has been far from ideal (two take-outs over the weekend) but it's definitely better than before, I've been watching the carb intake, ensuring I get plenty of protein and going for more salads, snacking on fruit etc. Also making an effort to drink at least 3/4 litres of water a day.

Hit the gym again last night and took it a lot easier than last week. By thursday I could barely move my shoulders so I think I totally over-did it at my first go back. Last night's workout consisted of:

Rowing Machine - 10 minutes at a moderate pace
Step Machine - 5 minutes at level 8
Pec Deck - Level 5 for twenty reps, Level 7 for ten
Lat Pulldown - Level 6 for 20 reps, Level 8 for 10, Level 10 for five

Was tired going in and disappointed with how early I left but a combination of being wrecked and not wanting to over-do it again resulted in me leaving feeling I could have done a lot more. Hadn't got my swimming gear with me which was about all I felt able to do after the rest. Left in pretty bad form but I feel a lot better today. Hoping to go back tonight with swimming gear and hit the gym before the pool.

tribulus

Good luck with this.

One thing though, take it easy on the drop sets, use them sparingly and certainly not on every exercise in the same workout - no wonder you were wrecked!

Keep us updated

Dragan

Alright dude, best of luck with it man, if you ever need to get some help with a program, diet or whatever then just post in the main fitness forum. Lots of clever people around here to help out!

Sleepy

Dragan wrote:

Alright dude, best of luck with it man, if you ever need to get some help with a program, diet or whatever then just post in the main fitness forum. Lots of clever people around here to help out!

OK, so this fell by the wayside over christmas andI pretty much stopped doing anything until 3 weeks ago when I went for a skiing holiday to Austria. Pre-holiday I was up at about 13.5 stone which I shed a bit of over there (A skiing holiday always reminds me of how easy it is for those in Hollywood to sculpt their bodies - having 6 hours a day to exercise must be great!).

So, back from the holiday and the endorphins are flying. I hit the pool thee day I got back, went to the local gym in Monkstown the day after that (fine but way too crowded - ditto their pool), hit the pool again 2 days later and went up to the WestWood in Leopardstown the following Saturday to take a look at the place.

Went swimming again on the monday and then last wednesday we got a fax into the office from the Westwood offering a four day trial so took them up on that, went in Thursday and basically totally over-did it on upper-body work. It's four days later and my left tricep still isn't right. Went in again on Saturday and did 20 mins on the treadmill ranging between levels 5.5 and 9 mostly at about 8.7, ten mins on the bike, some leg curls, leg extensions, back work and situps before doing another 10 on the treadmill at a pretty consistent 8.8 with about 4 minutes after of taking it at a walking pace as a cool-down before what I felt was a pretty well deserved sauna.

I've since joined up to the WestWood which was previously something I've always considered to be ridiculously over-priced and still do tbh. However, I'm hoping the fact I'm paying so much for membership will help keep me motivated. I did, however, get another pretty swift kick of motivation when I got onto the scales/bmi calculator machine. At 5'10" I weigh 13 stone 2 giving me a BMI of 26.6. I know BMI's aren't exactly accurate for those with low body-fat percentages but I'm not one of those people. My body fat percentages are probably terrifying (and I'm sure I'll find out just how terrifying when I get my first assessment in the gym this week). The positives to take on this is that between the last time I weighed myself (about a week before the skiing) I was 13 stone 8 so I've lost 6lb in the last three weeks while developing my strength a little too.

My diet's still not great, eating out too much, drinking too much and still having an all out cheat once a week or so (damn Dominoes and their tastiness when drunk!). I have however, managed to make breakfast a much more regular meal and my diet when not cheating is much much better. The diet I'm aiming for and achieving maybe 4 days a week, having a good stab at 1 day and completely failing on the other 2 would be something like:

9:00 - Breakfast bowl of spelt muesli with blueberries and natural organic yoghurt (getting addicted to this) and a mug of green tea (kinda dubious about the health benefit claims of this but I really like it)

11:00 - 180gm carton of Innocent Smoothie, will probably have had a second green tea or a coffee between breakfast and lunch as well.

1:00 - Lunch this changes a lot, can be a bowl of soup and a small bread roll, a chicken tomato lettuce and mayo wrap, a baguette of some sort or I might have my main meal of the day and go for a roast with veggies

6:00 - Dinner (unless I'm at the gym then it's more like 8pm) Thai Rare Beef Salad / Spaghetti Bolognase (home-made, more sauce than pasta) / Grilled Chicken Salad / Salmon and Veggies

8:00/9:00 - Pineapple and Yoghurt

What I can notice myself is that I'm missing some sort of planned afternoon snack which is resulting in the odd chocolate bar/couple of biscuits when in work. Must look into preparing something. Wondering would a protein supplement be a complete waste of time or would I be better off trying to just eat more tuna/chicken etc...

As always any advice is greatly appreciated, I'm a complete novice at this (though maybe that can change over the next year?) and although my motivation is better than it's ever been (I do think part of that is down to having shelled out and gotten myself access to some decent facilities - a trip to the gym is so much easier to look forward to when there's a nice sauna / jacuzzi / steam-room / plunge pool session to look forward to after your workout!) it's great to even just take the time out to write something like this so if you're still reading, thanks, and thanks to all those who've written the stickies, the dietary advice, training ideas and simply some of the inspirational posters who've documented the extremes they go to in a quest for strength / power / health.

The Walsho

All the best man, hope you can stick with it this time!

Sleepy

Thanks king, think it'll be easier to stick to now that I have a gym membership for somewhere I'm actually looking forward to going when I finish work (though how much of that is novelty value at the moment is certainly up for debate.

Went in this evening after work and got a great pump going on my chest with the pec deck, overhead lift and seated bench a couple of sets on the leg curl, couple more on the leg extensions and followed this with my first 15 minutes of straight running on the treadmill at level 9. I know 2k is a puny distance but when I'm just coming off the cigarettes it feels great

Hit the pool for a few quick laps before sauna and home. Today's diet:

Breakfast 9am - Muesli, Yoghurt, Blueberries with a mug of green tea
Morning Break 11am - smoothie
Lunch 1pm - Roast Turkey, Mash potatoes, cabbage, carrots and gravy from the carvery (interested to learn calorie levels if anyone could give a rough estimate?)
Dinner 8pm (post workout) - Bowl of Avonmore tomato and basil soup and a roll with two cans of tuna

I know I should have eaten something in the afternoon pre-workout and should be eating smaller quantities more frequently and this is something I intend to work on (loaded up on the multi-packs of tuna in Dunnes this evening!). Tomorrow I'm going to arrange a session with a trainer to get a gym plan done out on Wednesday night.

Sleepy

First off, a thank you to Dragan for possibly the best work-outs of my life. When I said hi on my way in I didn't think there'd be much more than that or maybe a few words later so set about hitting the fly machine. Was kind of surprised (and delighted) to get the offer of a training session. I hope I didn't hold you back too much! If I ever get to three quarters of the weights you're lifting I'll be a happy camper!

So the session itself as well as I can remember it. I'm going to need to learn to note my weights and count my reps better as much of this is probably inacurate! Would appreciate any corrections Dragan, particularly on weight.

Treadmill Warmup
Lvl 5 for 1 minute
Lvl 9 for 4 minutes

Fly Machine: Warmup, 40 x 10 x 2

[enter the dragan]

Dumbell Benchpress - 10(?) x 25(ish), 14 x 12, 14 x 11
Bent Over One Arm Rows - 12 x 10, 24 x 10, 24 x 10 (for each arm)
Military Press - 20 x 10, 30 x 6, 30 x 3 (including bar )
EZ Bar Bicep Curl - 30 x 10, 20 x 10, 20 x 7 (fail)
Cable Pressdowns - 30 x 10, 30 x 10, 30 x 10

[exit the dragan]

3kms on the Treadmill at lvl 9 completed in a little over 20 minutes.

12 laps of the pool to stretch out, sauna, plunge-pool.

Thoughts on the workout:

1. My left shoulder was letting me down badly throughout, particularly on the Military Press so I'm definitely going to need to get a program of some kind to develop it. Think it must be a hangover from my life-guarding days that my right shoulder is that bit stronger than my left.

2. My shoulders and arms were giving in well before my chest on the bench press, if I can strengthen them, I'm sure that weight can be upped quite easily.

3. Maybe I should have thrown in some Lat Pulldowns to complete the upper body work?

4. My form was awful throughout, really need to work on it. I may have to just grin and bear the indignity of doing the military press with just the oly bar until I can get the form right.

5. I think he may have been showing off a little but holy **** can Dragan lift!

6. The treadmill felt great tonight. 20 mins shows a nice improvement on the 15 I managed on Monday night and my shoulders, chest and arms were pumping during it.

After my shower, I stepped onto the BMI monitor again and got a reading of 13 stone 3. For about 2 seconds I was gutted, all this work and I'd put on weight! After that initial shock I saw myself in the mirror and realised that this isn't about losing weight any more. Even post-workout induced pump, I can see already that I'm in better shape than I was. There's still a hell of a lot of fat to shift but my muscles are more defined than they were even just a week ago and that means they're heavier than they were so I'm taking it that at least that 1lb is a gain in muscle tissue and that whateve adipose I have burnt off, I've put on the same amount of weight in muscle tissue. I'm starting to see how lifting and exercising isn't necessarily all about weight or strength goals but as much about the process of getting there.

{edited for Dragan's corrections on exercise names and weights}

tribulus

Perhaps Dragan had you doing his one arm DB snatches?

He's not quite as angry as you'd expect huh?

As for the lats, a free weight version is usually better, so BB or DB row, or chins/pull ups.

Keep it up.

g'em

Sleepy wrote:

After my shower, I stepped onto the BMI monitor again and got a reading of 13 stone 3. For about 2 seconds I was gutted, all this work and I'd put on weight! After that initial shock I saw myself in the mirror and realised that this isn't about losing weight any more. Even post-workout induced pump, I can see already that I'm in better shape than I was. There's still a hell of a lot of fat to shift but my muscles are more defined than they were even just a week ago and that means they're heavier than they were so I'm taking it that at least that 1lb is a gain in muscle tissue and that whateve adipose I have burnt off, I've put on the same amount of weight in muscle tissue. I'm starting to see how lifting and exercising isn't necessarily all about weight or strength goals but as much about the process of getting there.

what a wonderfully healthy attitude!! And yes D was showing off, but he pulls it off wonderfully . Great session, now keeep the momentum going and give it socks next time round too.

Dragan

Sleepy wrote:

First off, a thank you to Dragan for possibly the best work-outs of my life. When I said hi on my way in I didn't think there'd be much more than that or maybe a few words later so set about hitting the fly machine. Was kind of surprised (and delighted) to get the offer of a training session. I hope I didn't hold you back too much! If I ever get to three quarters of the weights you're lifting I'll be a happy camper!

Ah no worries dude, i was more than happy to help out, and don't worry about it at all, i had a great workout!

Dumbell Benchpress - 15 x 25(ish), 20 x 12, 20 x 11
One Arm Upright Rows(?) - 20 x 10, 40 x 10, 40 x 10 (for each arm)

I think on the dumbell bench presses you were using the 14's???
And the second excercise was Bent Over One Arm Rows ( for zee lats ) and you were using 24kilos?

3. Maybe I should have thrown in some Lat Pulldowns to complete the upper body work?

If you have the energy do a back excercise for width ( chins , pulls, dumbell rows ) and one for thickness ( seated cable rows, face pulls, deads, barbell rows )

4. My form was awful throughout, really need to work on it. I may have to just grin and bear the indignity of doing the military press with just the oly bar until I can get the form right.

I wouldn't say awful by any means, there are just weaknesses in certain muscle chains the need to be worked on, but dropping back the weight and concentrating on the lift will be a great way to work on them.

5. I think he may have been showing off a little but holy **** can Dragan lift!

Just a little bit But i DO have a rep to maintain!!

I'm starting to see how lifting and exercising isn't necessarily all about weight or strength goals but as much about the process of getting there.

Enlightenment, it's a beautiful thing.

Sleepy

Thanks for the corrections there Dragan, thought the plates on the dumbells I was using were 5 kilos so I've even further to go than I thought.

Trib's right though, I wasn't really expecting such a cheerful disposition!

I'm a little stiff this morning, but in a 'this feels like I'm getting results' way. I know once the DOMS kicks in tomorrow, it'll be a 'wtf did Dragan get me to do?' pain but a short session in the pool will take care of that before my training sesssion on Saturday morning with Ross.

Thanks for the encouragement G'em, you can take some of the credit for the attitude, the only reason it's healthy is because I've been reading so much here for the past few weeks/months.

I'm feeling 'un-sleepy-ified already, and if you notice my handle on the teamtest forum, I've moved back to my original internet handle: 'Sleep Comes Tomorrow'. I used this when I was in college and it was partly a nod to the David Kitt song but moreso a reference to the fact I'd be out partying most nights and sleeping half the day. The things we get away with and even take pride in during our youth! :rolleyes: Starting to get in shape is just one of many changes I'm making to improve myself at the moment so the handle means something else to me now: today I improve myself, rest can wait til tomorrow.

Dragan

Sleepy wrote:

Trib's right though, I wasn't really expecting such a cheerful disposition!

I suppose the important thing there is that I post from work, where as you met me in my home!

Sleepy

Have a session booked for tomorrow with Ross in Westwood so thought I'd hit the gym for a gentle session just to get some blood flowing through my muscles to alleviate the DOMS I've been having since Wednesday. Nothing too bad but my back muscles were a little tender and my left shoulder is a bit sore.

Dumbbell Bench - 8 x 10, 8 x 10, 15 x 11, 15 x 10
Military Press - 20 x 10, 20 x 8, 20 x 10
Bent Over One Arm Rows - 24 x 10, 24 x 10, 24 x 10
Cable pressdowns - 30 x 10, 30 x 10, 30 x 10
Dumbell Bicep Curls - 12 x 10, 12 x 11

Pool 20 laps alternating every second lap.

Thoughts:
Went a bit harder than I probably should have with a more full-on session tomorrow but no pain, no gain. Got a lovely pump out of the Dumbell Bench's, I really like that lift and felt a lot stronger in it today (possibly because I hadn't done the dozens of reps with low weight and fly beforehand this time round). The military press is still very weak, just used the oly bar and felt like a child playing with my older brother's weights but I'm not going to get anywhere if I just go in and do a few sets of 2/3 reps of 30's in crappy form (was a bit nervous about adding weight without the benefit of a spotter). The rest of the workout was relatively straightforward, remembered Dragan's advice not to over-work the biceps so quit after two sets even though I definitely had a third in me.

My whey arrived this afternoon. Got the strawberry flavour and am hugely surprised at how tasty they are when made with low-fat milk. I had one with water before my workout and one with milk as soon as I got home from it. Hoping the extra protein will help me get through tomorrow so will probably have another before I hit the hay tonight.

Sleepy

Really wasn't feeling up to it today, was out with friends last night and had a very late one. Managed to drag myself off the couch at 6 and went up with the intention of just doing a few laps but got there and realised I didn't have my swimming cap so decided to do a bit of lifting. There was no plan there for me so I just worked out as I felt like it rather than using any set workout.

Dumbbell Chest Press - 30 x 10, 30 x 10, 30 x 7 (fail)
Bent Over One Arm Rows - 24 x 10, 24 x 10, 24 x 10
Dumbbell Tricep Extension - 6 x 6, 4 x 10
Cable Pressdown - 20 x 10, 20 x 10, 20 x 10
Leg Press - 40 x 10, 70 x 10, 70 x 10
Standing Military Press - 25 x 10, 25 x 10, 25 x 7 (fail)
Galileo Pulldown - 3 sets of 10 reps, can't remember weight but it was tough!
Galileo Fly - lvl 4 x 10, lvl 8 x 8, lvl 8 x 5
Galileo Arm Curl - lvl 4 x 20
Crunches 20, 20

Found the Tricep Extensions really difficult. Seemed to be more an issue with my supporting muscles than a lack of strength in the triceps themselves, was finding it next to impossible to maintain decent form so I switched to cable pressdowns instead. Even though the leg-press still quite terrifies me (it feels like stepping into a guillotine!) I got a nice pump in my legs, absolutely loved how they looked in the shower afterwards. My knees looked tiny between my calves and thighs. Shocked The military press is really coming on as well. I could barely rep the oly bar at this last week but managed the first two sets pretty comfortably today. Kinda hoping there's some DOMS about to kick in so I know I worked myself hard enough because I'm not going to make it to the gym again until Wednesday because of some other commitments. Might try get into the pool Tuesday morning but I'm going to be working 9 to 10 tomorrow and Tuesday so it'll be difficult.

Sleepy

Left work shattered last night having had only 5/6 hours sleep Monday and Tuesday nights but was determined not to miss three days in a row so packed my back and headed up to the gym and now very, very glad I did.

Warmup - Treadmill 5 mins (1 @ 5.4, 4 @ 8.7)

Dumbell Bench Press - 17.5 x 11 (PB), 17.5 x 10, 17.5 x 7 (fail)
Leg Press - 80 x 12 (PB), 80 x 10, 80 x 10
Standing Military Press - 30 x 10 (PB), 30 x 8 (fail), 30 x 4 (fail)
Squat - 30 x 11
Deadlift - 30 x 10
T-Bar Row - 20 x 10, 20 x 10
Lat Pulldown - half stack 10, 10, 10 (almost screamed on the last rep of the third set!)

Treadmill - 30mins (2 @ 5.4, 28 varying between 7.4 and 9.3)

Cooldown - Pool for approx 20 laps alternating breast-stroke and front crawl

Thoughts:
My t-shirt was soaked through and clinging to me leaving the gym floor which I always see as a sign of a good workout. Feel a bit silly adding PB's in at this stage since I'm just a beginner but it'll motivate me so I'm doing it. V. happy with the increases I'm seeing on my bench press and military press. Dragan could tell you how miserable my last attempt at 30k on this was. Probably should have left a little more time between the first and second sets but I'll chalk that down as a learning experience. The leg press was nice too, first lift I've done that's close to my own bodyweight and was *so* tempted to add another 10k to the bar just to say I'd lifted more than myself. The squat, deadlift and T-bar rows were the bad parts of this workout, really struggling to keep good form and that's why they only got a set each. I have another session booked with Ross on Saturday and I'd like to work on my form more with him before trying to hit the weights I think I can lift on these.

The treadmill was an interesting experience last night. I think it's the first time in my life I've ran for 30 minutes without having to drop to a walk. There were a few times on this when I reached quite a zen mindspace when I couldn't feel any pain in my calves and my mind went kind of blank. Paul J. described this far better in one of his journal entries but it was quite an experience.

In other bad news, my diet is slipping a little, life's getting in the way a little and making it harder to prepare proper meals for myself. I'm still sticking to the 5/6 meals format pretty closely but what I'm eating isn't always as clean as I'd like. Add to this that I've crept back onto the cigarettes. Aiming to come back off them on Monday (I've always found it easier to have a target for this rather than just deciding 'that's it, I'm off them'.

So, mixed progress overall, some things are improving nicely and at least I know what to do in the areas I am slipping in.

Sleepy

Lunch time swim - Newpark School Pool

50 lengths alternating front crawl and breast-stroke.

Sleepy

Cheeky Lunchtime Session*

Warmup - 5mins Treadmill @ 9.4

Dumbbell Benchpress - 17.5k x 10, 17.5k x 10, 17.5k x 6 (fail)
Leg Press - 80k x 10, 90k x 10, 90k x 10 (PB)
Standing Military Press - 30k x 10, 30k x 7 (fail), 30k x 4 (fail)
Squats - 30k x 10, 30k x 10
Dumbbell Curls - 15k x 8 (fail), 10k x 10
Cable Pressdowns - 65lbs x 10, 65lbs x 10, 65lbs x 10 (PB)

Thoughts:
The weekend was an absolute disaster in terms of the diet (most cals on Saturday were in the form of Guinness) and I'm going to have to quit the fags again That said, even drunk I'm managing to avoid fast-food and went for chicken wraps/brown bread sandwiches instead of kebabs when dining on the move. Not good but it could have been a lot worse if I'd behaved as I normally do when drinking.

Today's workout really was just a 'get the blood pumping' quickie. I ran out of time before getting to do any back work done. The bench and military press felt really hard today and I'm dissapointed not to have made the sets. I was leaving shorter gaps between my sets than usual trying to be quick and it cost me. The leg press represents my first lift of more than my bodyweight so very happy with that, can't wait for the day when I can bench that much! My triceps are absolutely shredded from the Pressdowns. It really is depressing how weak my arms are!

Going to start the routine Ross did up for me tomorrow night. Haven't had DOMS in a week or so and incredibly, I miss it! Does this mean I'm turning into a masochist? :eek:

*read as 'I was out of the office for the morning and ducked into the gym for an hour before coming in to work'

Sleepy

Finally got round to trying out Ross's program and even though I had to rush through it, I'm feeling it today:

format: weight x reps x sets

Lat Pulldown (reverse grip) - half stack x 10 x 3
Deadlift (from about 10" off the rack with added row) - 40 x 10 x 3
One Arm Rows - 25 x 10 x 3
Bench Press - 20 (ex-bar) x 10 x 2, 20 (ex-bar) x 5 (fail)
Incline Bicep Curls - can't remember the weight of the barbell, 10, 8 (fail)
Low Row - 85lb x 10 x 3

The gym was pretty busy last night so I had to improvise a bit with the program, switch around the order of some of the exercises, alternate some of the exercises (ditched t-bar for one arm rows, dumbbell presses for a barbell (first time using one to bench!), dumbell bicep curls for a barbell) and I was having a nightmare of a day so only had 45mins to get through it. Ran out of time so wasn't able to do my d/b flies.

The reason I was in such a rush? I'd only gone and locked my feckin keys in the boot of my car so had to be out of the gym in time for a taxi. In retrospect, I should have booked the cab for half an hour later than I did but you live and learn I suppose. Then to top things off, I broke my feckin' glasses in the dressing room Rolling Eyes

Enjoying the burn I have in my shoulders and upper back today, feels like I did some good. Dissappointed that I didn't have longer to get through the program fully and that I failed on a few of the sets that I've completed before. Was absolutely shattered going in and it showed. Probably should have just gone home last night and gotten a decent nights sleep so I could hit the gym properly tonight. Was good to see Dragan up there again and from watching an animal looking super-set he was doing, can't wait to read his own entry.

Dr4gul4

Keep it up lad, how heavy is the half stack ?

and go get sum contact lenses

Sleepy

Well, the plates in the Westwood are just numbered 1 to 20, there's no indication of weight on them so I've no idea?

Contact lenses? I've thought about them but I'm currently thinking that if I can get myself into a shape I'm happy with by summer, I'm going to splurge and reward myself with some laser surgery... "Sleepy's Extreme Makeover" will be coming to a crappy digital channel near you!

Dr4gul4

i'll have a look @ the 1 in TF to morrow nite, but im guessing that if there are 20 plates on it, and the 1 in TF goes to 127.5 KG then ure lifting about 60 Kg's.

This is all guess work of course


Try sum squats maybe also, there quite easy to work in if you're doing Bench press's and Deadlifts.

Sleepy

Squats are day 2 of my program

hunnymonster

Sleepy, which westwood are you in? In Clontarf the latt pull down etc in the old spinning room have weights on the stacks. In both kgs and lbs.

Dragan

Hey Sleep, you best to use the Lat Pull down near the low row you were using yesterday, just to the left of it on the other side of the cable cross overs.

It's numbered and weighted, in both lbs and kgs and has better track and control than the other older ones. It's also a lot higher, so you can get zee stretch on.

Sleepy

Sweet, cheers Dragan.

I'm in Leopardstown hunnymonster.

Sleepy

Missed my Cardio on Wednesday due to my mishapo with my keys so went up to get some in last night.

Treadmill - 32 mins, 4.2km done in 2 min walk, 13 minute run, 2 min walk, 13 minute run, 2 minute walk
Pool - 20 laps alternating front crawl and breast-stroke.
Sauna / Plunge Pool

Shoulders are pretty tight today and were telling me that maybe swimming wasn't such a good idea as soon as I hit the pool. Got a nice sweat built up on the treadmill though so happy enough with it.

I have to go out to a client's site this afternoon which means putting on a suit (if I'm in the office I just wear jeans and a t-shirt or whatever) so I ironed and threw on a shirt and noticed in the mirror that my shoulders were filling it out a lot nicer than they used to which got me to wondering if my 'other' suit would fit me now too...

The last time I tried the suit on was before my skiing holiday in February and then I couldn't do up the three buttons on the jacket without looking like a Leitrim farmer that was holding his trousers up with bailing twine. This was the suit I got for my graduation for college when I was a lot slimmer. Today, it fits like a glove

Sleepy

So, life got in the way and this was my first workout since last Thursday. Not good. Glad I went for a split program now so I can go in again tonight though.

Leg Day

Warm-up - Treadmill for 5 minutes

Squat - 50k x 10, 50k x 9, 50k x 10
Incline Leg Press - 80k x 10, 80k x 10, 80k x 10, 80k x 10
Leg Curls - 50 x 10, 50 x 10, 50 x 10, 50 x 10
Leg Extensions - 50 x 10, 50 x 10, 50 x 3 (fail)

Cool down - Some Power Clean and Jerk's with the oly bar (no weight til I get the form right). Thanks for the instruction Dragan, I definitely owe you a pint or two at this stage!

Pool - a pisssy 6 laps. Sad

Thoughts:
Screwed up right at the start by only doing 3 sets of the Squat, I was so keen to start doing them (was my first proper go at doing sets of squats) that I went straight for the rack without consulting my workout sheet, this should have been 4 sets. Still, they felt good. I got my behind below my knees for about 80% of them and I can see why they're considered the lift. Had a nice sweat going from the second I stepped out of the rack. From here, things got difficult. The leg press was agony from the second set and my third and fourth were done with no inconsiderable amount of grunting and mumbling curses under my breath. The leg curls were pretty much the same and the extensions simply weren't happening past the second set which had numerous pauses between every two/three reps. My legs felt like jelly at this stage and my back was pretty tight from the squats. I honestly thought my legs were going to go from under me on my way down to the changing room which I'm going to take as a good sign.

Dr4gul4

Ohh i know sum 1 who's gonna have DOMS tomorrow !!!!

im still recovering from sunday, so be carefull

good set of squats though, 50 K is very decent (i should be doing the same now )

Sleepy

As long as the DOMS stays off til tomorrow I'll be fine, tonight is chest, back and arms night

Sleepy

Hit the gym last night which was probably a mistake.

Dumbbell Bench Press - 20kg x 10(PB), 20kg x 6, 17.5kg x 10, 17.5kg x 7
Dead Row - 40kg x 10 (four sets)
Assisted Pullups - 10, 7, 4 (not sure of the level of assistance but I was having to make them ridiculously easy.
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 20kg x 10 (two sets per arm)
Bicep Curls - 8k x 10 (two sets)
Cable Pressdowns - 75lbs x 10 (three sets)

Thoughts:
That looks a little better up above than it felt. I completely blew the session through my insistence that I was gonna bench 40kg tonight. Couldn't actually manage any more than the 8k dumbbells at the end. Got a great pump on my forearms from the dead rows and yeah, the 20k dumbbells went up but overall I'm pissed off.