Getting into shape with the Summer Challenge

K-town

hey linda

what you have got to keep remembering is muscle weighs more than fat, and as you have said your measurements have gone down and thats all that matters. i have been reading your log over the past few weeks and you dont need to lose weight. yes maybe you want to tone up but not actually lose pounds on the scale.

i can understand that you are doing all this work but the numbers on the scale are going in the wrong direction and i know that can be disheartening but the main thing is, your waist size, etc are decreasing.

dont feel too bad:D

x

lindak

I know I can visibly see results and measurement are going down and that is all that matters ! But I am defo not gonna weigh myself every week I dont think it reaslistic for me anyway! But thanks for the advice

lindak

Got a brisk walk in last night .

This morning I done 35 mins circuit workout:

Good Bodyweight warm up

90 sec High intensity treadmill
30 sec rest

10kg D/B Split Squat
10kg D/B Press
30sec Isolated plank
10kg D/B on arm row ( each arm)
10kg D/B Reverse lunge

60 Sec High Intensity treadmill

90 sec rest !!

Done this circuit 4 times.

Food today:

7.00 Apple Pre Workout

8.30 Slender pro Post Workout

9.30 Banana , yogurt, seeds, strawberries

11.30 small handful of nuts

1.00 Lettuce, 2 small tins of tuna, 1 slice of turkey, small slice of light feta cheese, 1 tbsp of light mayo, tomatoe, cucumber, onion

4.00 Ryvita multiseed, 1 slice of light cheedar cheese

7.00 extra lean mince beef meatlballs ( 5 small), 70g of whole wheat penne pasta, canned tomatoe with garlic & chilli.

Tiriel

Wow I don't know how you do that first thing in the morning after just an apple, well done! The circuit sounds great - keeps you moving and makes it less monotonous. I see you have included more cheese in your day to day foods, I love cheese so I'm almost afraid to buy any - portion control is tough! Keep up your good work

lindak

Food today:

8.30 - Small handful of nuts

9.00 Banana, Yogurt, Seeds, Strawberries

11.00 Apple & small handful of nuts

1.00 Omlette ( 3 eggs, drizzle of milk & 1 slice of low fat cheese) with side salad ( lettuce, onion, tomatoe , cucumber) & 40g mixed nuts

4.00 ryvita & 1 slice of low fat cheddar cheese

7.00 Slender Pro

8.00 Chicken breast in oven with small drizzle of olive oil and mixed peppers & 4 baby potatoes & sprouts , petite pois & brocolli

Gym tonight was good :

Squat - 20kg x 10 , 40kg x 10 , 50kg x 12 , 50 kg x 12, 50kg x 10
Lunge 50kg x 12 x 3
deadlift - 50kg x 6, 50kg x 6 50kg x 4 ( was tough this week uped the weight )
Pully seated row - 30kg x 5 25kg x 7, 30kg x 6 25kg x 6, 30kg x 6 25kg x 5
lat pulldown wide grip - 35kg x 5 30kg x 7 ( x 3)
supersetted with
lat pulldown reverse grip - 35kg x 10 , 35kg x 8 , 35kg x 8
bent over barbell row - 15kg x 12 x3
bench press - 30kg x 6 , 30kg x 5 , 30kg x 5
incline bench press 20kg x 12 x 3
flat bench fly - 20kg x 10 x 8 x 8
bodyweight dips assisted with band - 8, 3 , 3
military press - 15kg x 12 x 3
t raise 5kg eachx 12 x 3

15 mins cardio

Tiriel

lindak wrote: »

Ye tell me about it I love cheese and had left that and nuts out of my diet for so long because I was incapable of monitoring my portions but what i have done is I buy sliced cheedar so that im not cutting it and putting half in my mouth at the same time!

That is a brilliant idea! Thanks I got some peanut butter today actually and I'm looking forward to a snack now at 11am, corn cake and peanut butter mmmmm

lindak

Gym this morning :

Squat 20kg x 10 , 40kg x 10, 50kg x 12 x 12 x 10
Lunge 50kg x 12/12/12
Deadlift 50kg x 4 /4/3 - These are tough !
Chin up 30kg 8/8/ 25kg x4
Overhead D/B Row10 kg x 12/12/12
Bent over posterior raise 16kg x 12/12/12
Straight arm cable pushdown 15kg x 8 / 10kg x8/8
Push up on smith machine - level 6 x 10 / level 5 x 10/8
Barbell curl 15kg x 15/12/12
Hammer Curl 8kg x 12/12/12
Tricep dip legs on bench with weight on lap 3kg 10/10/8
Overhead D/B Extention 12.5kg 10/10/10
kickbacks 8kg 10/10/10

15 mins interval on cross trainer

Food Today:

8.30 - Banana, yogurt, seeds -Pre Work out

10.00 Slender pro

11.30 Some mixed nuts - post workout

1.00 Omlette ( 3 egg& small amount of cheese) lettuce , onion, tomatoe,cucumber

4.00 Ryvita & slice of light cheddar

7.00 2 small cod fillets(240) & 3 baby potato, kale, sprouts, brocolli

9.00 Mandarin & small hanful of nuts

My friends are coming over to mine tommorrow night, I am gonna make mealballs with my own tomatoe and chilli sauce and il make myself whole wheat pasta . So this way I know it is healthy I will also watch my portion aswell & will make a salad with it. I know they are gonna bring desert & drink but I am definatley not gonna have any I will save myself till next weekend. Fingers crossed anyway

lindak

Last night went well resisted all cream cake and alcohol ! HAd pinapple chunks when they were having cake.

Yesterdays Food

9.00 Banana, Yogurt, Seeds, Strawberries Pre Workout

12.30: Slender Pro & apple - post workout

2.00 2 slices of brown bread, chicken pieces, lettuce tomatoe, onion & 30g of mixed nuts

5.00 apple & small amount of nuts

8.00 70g whole wheat pasta, 2 large mealball, sauce ( canned tomatoe, garlic, oregano, basil, chilli)

9.00 400g of pinapple chunks

Went to the gym yesterday and done 30 mins step class, 20 mins interval cross trainer.

lindak

Today is a rest day.

Food :

10.00 Banana, Yogurt, Seeds, Strawberries & apple

12.00 small handful of nuts

1.30 Salad ( lettuce, tomatoe, cucumber, onion, sweet corn, 1 slice of turkey, fetta cheese, small amount of ceasar dressing)

3.00 Ryvita & 1 slice of light cheddar cheese

6.00 Piece of lean striplion steak & 3 baby potatoe, green beans, sprouts, brocoli

9.00 30 g of mixed nuts

lindak

Meaurements for week 6

Thigh - 21.5 - No change
Chest - 32.5 - No Change
Bicep - 10.5 - No Change
Wrist - 6 - No Change
Waist - 24.5 (-.5)
Hips - 32 - No Change
Top of legs - 22 - No Change
Knee - 15.5 - No change
Calf - 11.5 No Change

Not much of a change this week although I fell much leaner. Although last night I added up total inch loss over the last couple of weeks and that included with the .5 i lost this week is 10.5 inches !! really hapopy with that

Food Today

9.00 Banana, Yogurt, Seeds, Strawberries, & Apple

11.00 Ryvita & slice of low fat cheese

1.00 Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoe, onion , 1 small tin of tuna, 2 slice of turkey breast, small amount of feta cheese, drizzle of low fat ceasar dressing

4.00 30g of mixed nuts

7.00 Slender Pro

8.00 chicken breast and stir fry veg

Gym tonight -

Bench press - 4sets of 8 ( 30 kg)
Reverse grip pull down 3 sets of 12 ( 40kg)
Squat - 50kg x 8, 52.5 x 8 , 55kg x 8, 60kg x 8 ( really happy with this just goes to show you how much more you can actually squat or lift fif you try )
Lunges - 4 sets x 10 (55kg)
Parallel bar dips Body weight on a band - 4 sets of 8 dips
push pull superset on smith machine -

20 mins HIIT on treadmill

Bit of a crap workout had to wait on everything tonight so didnt work that much of a sweat. But on the other hand I got a personal best on my squat !

eclectichoney

lindak wrote: »

Gym this morning :

Squat 20kg x 10 , 40kg x 10, 50kg x 12 x 12 x 10
Lunge 50kg x 12/12/12
Deadlift 50kg x 4 /4/3 - These are tough !
Chin up 30kg 8/8/ 25kg x4
Overhead D/B Row10 kg x 12/12/12
Bent over posterior raise 16kg x 12/12/12
Straight arm cable pushdown 15kg x 8 / 10kg x8/8
Push up on smith machine - level 6 x 10 / level 5 x 10/8
Barbell curl 15kg x 15/12/12
Hammer Curl 8kg x 12/12/12
Tricep dip legs on bench with weight on lap 3kg 10/10/8
Overhead D/B Extention 12.5kg 10/10/10
kickbacks 8kg 10/10/10

My God lindak - lunges, 12 reps with 50kgs: I'd be dead! seriously impressive, not to mention the squats. have you been lifting long? (please say yes )

lindak

Thanks , Well I suppose the last year, But I still have loads to learn ...

lindak

Gym this morning-
Done a 30 min dynamic run - was tough but new and enjoyable

Food today:

7.00 - Banana pre workout

9.00 - Slender Pro

9.30 Banana, Yogurt, Seeds, strawberries

11.00 Handful of nuts

1.00 Lettuce , onion, tomatoe, cucumber, 2 slices of turkey, 1 small tin of tuna, small amount of feta cheese, drizzle of low fat ceasar salad dressing & apple

4.00 Ryvita & 1 slice of low fat cheese

7.00 Chicken breast, stir fry veg & brown rice

justsomebloke

ok you really need to learn how to sub in other exercises into your routine if you can't get to one piece of equipment. Also as you are doing a full body workout you don't really need to be worry about which body part you hit first, as in your next session you can go back and hit the other body part first instead.

Also tell your BF(i'm assuming that was him that you were working in on at the bench) that he isn't a bad squatter and has better form then most I've seen in Northwood, however tell him that he should try and hit the same depth with the bar as he does with his free squats. Also he may need to work on his flexibility and also play around with his foot positions as his low legs seems to become a bit wobbly when he is nearing and coming up from the bottom of the squat

lindak

Im have actually changed around a bit. Started last night with something different.

Bench press - 4sets of 8 ( 30 kg)
Reverse grip pull down 3 sets of 12 ( 40kg)
Squat - 50kg x 8, 52.5 x 8 , 55kg x 8, 60kg x 8 ( really happy with this just goes to show you how much more you can actually squat or lift fif you try )
Lunges - 4 sets x 10 (55kg)
Parallel bar dips Body weight on a band - 4 sets of 8 dips
push pull superset on smith machine -

That was my workout last night and then 20 mins hiit ! I was a nightmare last night ! Waited for everything !

Il tell him you said that ! His legs were sore this morning he said that they are like led !

Hanley

It's mad that you can squat 60kg x8 and struggle with 50kg x4 on deadlifts!!

lindak

its my hands when im deadlifting ! and there is no room in the gym i always feel like im in the way !

lindak

Gym today was ,

Bodyweight warmup - squat, moutain climbers, x cross climbers, lateral lunge

Deadlift - 50kg x 5 , 50kg x 5 , 50kg x 4

FBI Circuit x 4

90 sec high intensity treadmill
30 sec rest

12.5kg x 12 DB spilt squat
10kg x 12 DB Bench press
35 sec isolated plank
12.5kg x 12( each arm ) one arm DB row
12.5kg x 12 reverse lunge

30 sec rest
60 sec high intensity treadmill

90 sec rest

Food today:

9.00 Banana, yogurt, strawberries, seeds

11.00 30g Nuts

1.00 lettuce, cucumber, tomatoe, onion, 1 small tin of tuna, 1 slice of turkey, low fat ceasar dressing

4.00 slender pro - post workout

5.00 ryvita & 1 slice of low fat cheese & couple of almonds

7.00 2 egg omlette with 1 slice of low fat cheese, & 3 baby potatoe cooking in oven with drizzle of olive oil and pepper

lindak

Have some squatting tonight and as much as I hate the thought of it I reckon Im gonna drop the weight and try and get deeper with my squat ! I keep trying to do this without dropping the weight but I reckon im just gonna have to give in and drop the weight

BossArky

Yeah, go for it. I thought I was squatting 80kg back around last Sept... however it was really only crappy half squats.

Based upon video feedback from Hanley and Tribulus on here I dropped the weight and concentrated on form. Now I'm squatting to full depth (I think) and my legs are getting stronger.

I went from 80kg (bad form) to 20-40kg (re-learning) and recently got up to 93kg (proper form). It took about 6 months but I'm glad I did it.

Main problem with half squats is that you are only really using your quads. This started to give me knee pain as the knee was pulled up by quads, as hamstrings weren't helping out. Going deeper utilises the hamstrings more.. to balance the equation.

lindak

Ye I know Im not going as deep as I should , as much as I hate the thought of dropping the weight I think its best to get the best form. At the moment I am squatting around 50kg dont know what to drop back down to ? any suggestions ? Or maybe il just know when I try it ?

Hanley

Start with the bar, do sets of 5, add 5kg per set until you can't get a set of 5 anymore.

Make sure you're getting down on every rep of every set. That's about the easiest way of finding out tbh. It won't be a TRUE max set of 5, because you'll have done a lot of work before hand, but it'll give you a good baseline to work from.

lindak

brilliant thanks !! Il give it a try tonight and let you know tommorrow.

BossArky

If you are in a squatting rack then the lowest it would be safe to drop back to is 20kg (just the bar) i.e. if you have a mini barbell of 10kg on your back and topple over backwards as you try and "sit back into it" there will be nothing to catch the mini barbell as the squat rack is too wide for it.

Try squatting at home with nothing on your back at all. I was doing this over xmas each morning and toppled over a few times, but I think it helped. Concentrate on sticking your bottom out a lot, whilst keeping back straight. Feels weird but should work.

Hanley

Make the concious effort to open your knees up on the way down too (that is try to spread them).

Think of it this way, ass go back AND down, knees open up and make sure to keep your chest and head up too.

lindak

Im gonna go on youtube and look at some form aswell !

lindak

Gym tonight reduced the weight and squated much deeper, dropped to just the bar to make sure form was correct for a couple of sets and then managed to keep for squating 40kg !

5 mins warmup
bw warmup - 10 x bw squat, bw lunge, bw squat lateral, bw lunge lateral
20 x mountain climber, x body climber, kneeling pushups

Bench press 30kg x 6 x 5 sets
wide grip lat pull down 35kg x 8 x 4 sets
Squat 20kg x 10, 20kg x 10, 40kg x 12 x 4 sets - much deeper and definatley best choice to drop the weight to get better form
parallel dips assisted with band 10, 8 , 8, 6
deadlift 50kg x 5 (then dropped weight for same reason as squat) 40kg x 10 x 3
DB 1 - leg RDL's - 3 sets of 10 each leg - balance wasnt that bad but will work on it over the next couple of weeks
push pull superset on smith machine- BW Pushups & BW Inverted row. 5 sets of 5 reps this

core -
Grashoppers 3 sets of 20 (10 each side)
side hips dips with 10kg - 3 sets of 20 ( 10 each side)

HIIT - 20 mins on treadmill - 60 sec @ 14.5 incline 1.5/ 90 sec walk @ 5 incline @ 1.5

was good workout tonight ! back in the gym tommorrow morning before work will log it tommorrow

food today:

9.00 - banana, yogurt, seeds, strawberries

11.00 - ryvita & 1 slice of low fat cheese

1.00 lettuce, 2 small tin of tuna, low fat ceasar dressing, cheese, onion tomatoe, cucumber & apple

4.00 small handful of nuts & kiwi

7.00 Slender Pro

8.30 7oz of round steak mince, fried with drizzle of olive oil, carrots, peppers, onion, mixed peppercorn, worchester sauce, tomatoe puree, chilli & 1 baby potatoe & sprouts

9.00 small handful of nuts

eclectichoney

BossArky wrote: »

If you are in a squatting rack then the lowest it would be safe to drop back to is 20kg (just the bar) i.e. if you have a mini barbell of 10kg on your back and topple over backwards as you try and "sit back into it" there will be nothing to catch the mini barbell as the squat rack is too wide for it.

Try squatting at home with nothing on your back at all. I was doing this over xmas each morning and toppled over a few times, but I think it helped. Concentrate on sticking your bottom out a lot, whilst keeping back straight. Feels weird but should work.

Thanks for this BossArky (I thought i was the only person who lost balance sometimes doing bodyweight squats ) Sorry for crashing your log linda

lindak

Gym this morning !

Superset session x 3

45sec rest between set


Superset 1
1 leg step up with 10kg 12 each leg
10kg D/B incline press x 12

45sec rest

Superset 2
Reverse lunge ( elevated with step) 12.5kg x 10
1 arm d/b row 10 each arm 10kg

45 sec rest

Superset 3
SB hamstring curl x 10
alternate shoulder press 10kg x 10

45 sec rest

Superset 4
nosebreaker 12.5kg bb x 12
bb bicep curl 15kg x 12

90sec rest and then repeat x 3

Food today :
7..00 Banana pre gym

8.00 Slender pro

9.00 Banana, yogurt , seeds, strawberries

11.00 ryvita & 1 slice of low fat cheese

1.00 3 egg omlette & 1 slice of low fat cheddar

4.00 hanful of mixed nuts

7.00 7oz lean round steak mince, onion carrot, peppers, worchester sauce, miced pepper corn & sprouts

Al_Fernz

Hey Linda,

This is the first time I've looked at this log and it's quite impressive.

Just some other things that might help you get depth into your squat. Put a can of coke (or diet!) directly under where you are going to squat and make sure that your backside touches off the can. That way you will be sure that you're going ATG.

Another exercise that might help at home would be to place an object that you can pick up (i.e. shoe) about 6 inches away from the wall. Squat down ATG and pick the object up - that way you are getting down and your form will be solid because you are so close to the wall that if you round your back in any way your face should hit off the wall.

Keep up the good work and good luck!!