Sorting myself out!

Insect Overlord

Thanks to g'em's Boards Better Body Super Challenge 2011, I've made my mind up to kick a few bad habits and hopefully pick up a few better ones. I intend to make a number of changes over the next eight weeks.
The intention is to get healthier and generally fitter, with some specific goals to aim for.

Fitness:

• One hundred push-ups (link)
• Two hundred sit-ups (link)
• Two hundred squats (link)

I'll set aside an hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to follow these programs. I intend to start each programme at Week 1, even though the initial tests suggest I could skip to Week 3. I will do this because I will also be training for self-defence/ju jitsu on the Tuesday and Thursday of Weeks 1 & 2.

It is likely that I will also be playing indoor soccer for at least 90 minutes a week most weeks. Any week when I do not have ju jitsu and soccer, I will go for 75 minute walks or 30 minute runs on at least two the days when I'm not doing the other exercises.

Diet:

• Alcohol: no more than 10 units per week, but probably considerably less than this.
• Take-aways: none.
• Chocolate: minimum 70% cocoa, max 1 bar per week.
• No cakes, biscuits, sweets, crisps, buns.

I'll be adding to these lists as time goes by. Living at home with the parents means I'll often have to eat whatever they're eating for dinner, but they've been told not to give me plates of junk-food.

Measurements and Stats:

• Age: 22
• Height: 5'11"
• Weight: 193lbs
• Chest: 39 inches
• Belly: 37 inches
• Waist: 35 inches
• Thigh: 23 inches
• Upper arm: 13.5 inches

Target Weight: 178 lbs

I'll update with my exercise plans and food diaries pretty much every day for the duration of the Challenge.

Here's to eight great weeks!

Insect Overlord

Plan for day one:

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: Nutrigrain Bar. Banana. Chicken, cheddar & lettuce sandwich; 2 slices whole grain bread.

Dinner: Probably roast chicken and ham, roast potatoes, turnip, cabbage, carrots.

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.

Exercise:
Warm-up: 5 minute jog, dynamic stretches, 30 star-jumps.
Push-ups: 10, 12, 7, 7, minimum 9 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Squats: 13, 16, 9, 9, minimum 13 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 15, 18, 10, 10, minimum 14 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 5 minute jog, stretches.

One hour of in-door soccer in the evening.

Insect Overlord

Warm-up run: 5:47.

Max push-ups: 15

Max squats: 50

Max sit-ups: 25

Cool-down jog: 06:57

Total Time: c.40 minutes.

Feeling delighted with myself!

Indoor soccer tonight is going to be murder though... >_<

Insect Overlord

End of Day Two:

Had an unplanned 35 minute walk into town to get my bike fixed.

Cycled home, roughly 15 minutes of a sprint. The new tubes in the tyres made an unreal difference!

Ju Jitsu training nearly killed me. I've been getting sudden cramps in my calves, chest and one side of my stomach. While I'm going to miss it quite a lot, it's probably for the best that I'll be taking a break from the club after next week. Keeping up 3 hours of martial arts training per week on top of the push-ups, sit-ups, squats, jogging and cycling would probably do me damage if I attempted it over more than a fortnight.

Food for the day:

2 Weetabix, full-fat milk, spoon of honey; 1 mug of tea with 1 flat teaspoon of sugar; 1 banana; 1 mandarin orange.

4 chicken fajitas with cheddar cheese and spicy tomato salsa. Tea.

1 glass of orange juice, 1 glass of cranberry juice.

Insect Overlord

Plan for day three:

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: Tomato and pasta soup; banana; bread w. marmalade.

Dinner: TBC

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.

Exercise:
Warm-up: 5 minute jog, dynamic stretches, 30 star-jumps.
Push-ups: 10, 12, 8, 8, minimum 12 - maximum effort. 90 seconds between sets.
Squats: 13, 16, 13, 13, minimum 16 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 15, 18, 15, 15, minimum 18 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 5 minute jog, stretches.

metamorphosis

Hey, you train with drifter with self defense don't ya? It's something iv been considering taking up for a while, something new like. Im thinking about taking it up after Barcelona marathon in March.

Best of luck with the log. Nice to see more Limerick heads over here!

Insect Overlord

metamorphosis wrote: »

Hey, you train with drifter with self defense don't ya? It's something iv been considering taking up for a while, something new like. Im thinking about taking it up after Barcelona marathon in March.

Yeah, I've been training with him since this time last year! 'Twas himself sent me the contact details for the club when I went searching for Mike Carroll's phone number. It's a great little club, I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

metamorphosis wrote: »

Best of luck with the log. Nice to see more Limerick heads over here!

Thanks. And best of luck with the marathon!

Anyway,

Second Work-Out Complete.

Warm-up run: 5:40.

Max push-ups: 20

Max squats: 40

Max sit-ups: 22

Cool-down jog: 06:03

Total Time: c.40 minutes.

I'm seeing an instant improvement in my running times, which was the last thing I expected! I've always been a slow runner, so cutting seconds like that is great. I'll probably increase the running distance over the next few weeks if I keep getting stronger.

I'm a little bit disappointed to have hit a lower maximum of 40 squats, but I had a feeling something like that might happen after training last night.

I've probably been over-doing the sit-ups this week (had to do a lot of core-work in training last night, so my recovery from Monday was pretty much non-existent) so to finish with a max of 22 this evening is fine.

The diet is proving easier than anticipated so far. I'll probably pig out a bit this weekend and work it off again next week with the higher minimum targets.

Dinner for today: Roast beef; 3 roast potatoes; fried onions; peas; sweet-corn.

Insect Overlord

Plan for day five:

Breakfast: Porridge, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: Small portion of lasagne.

Dinner: TBC

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.

Exercise:
Warm-up: 5 minute jog, dynamic stretches, 30 star-jumps.
Push-ups: 11, 15, 9, 9, minimum 13 - maximum effort. 120 seconds between sets.
Squats: 15, 20, 13, 13, minimum 18 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 17, 22, 14, 14, minimum 20 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 5 minute jog, stretches.

30 minutes of in-door soccer in the evening, so I'll have to do this early enough tomorrow.

Insect Overlord

Quick reflection on Day 4:

Took things handy today. Went as far as the shop and back on my bike, nothing strenuous.

Training this evening was also light enough on the physical side. Quick warm-up, lots of drilling of techniques on the ground. Did 15 minutes of ground-sparring at the end. Great aerobic work-out, the perfect tonic after three days spent focusing on push-ups, etc.

Had lasagne and garlic bread for dinner. Probably not great for the diet, but the only other food I had was a bowl of porridge so I should get away with it!

Insect Overlord

Warm-up run: 5:01

Max push-ups: 20

Max squats: 50

Max sit-ups: 29

Cool-down jog: n/a

Total Time: c.40 minutes.

I actually thought my phone had malfunctioned when I saw the time for my run! :eek: Just over five minutes for the route I'm running is brilliant for me. I might make it a target to run it within four minutes by the end of the Challenge.

I didn't do a second run, for two reasons: I had to pick someone up and I didn't have enough time to do the run first; and I have to play an indoor soccer match at 7:30 so I didn't want to be exhausted before that.

All in all, it's been a hugely successful first five days.
The scales will tell me tomorrow morning exactly how successful the weight-loss has been.

Insect Overlord

Warm-up: 10 minute jog, dynamic stretches, 30 star-jumps.
Push-ups: 14, 14, 10, 10, minimum 15 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Squats: 19, 19, 13, 13, minimum 20 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 21, 21, 15, 15, minimum 22 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 10 minute jog, stretches.

Food to be decided tomorrow.

Insect Overlord

Warm-up run: n/a
Max push-ups: 17 (total: 65)

Max squats: 100 (total: 164)

Max sit-ups: 31 (total: 93)

Cool-down jog: n/a

Total Time: 23 minutes.

Shocked at my squats. One hundred is a massive increase in my PB (previously about 80 at a martial arts grading last year). Should be able to double my maximum push-ups by Friday, and the sit-ups are improving steadily.

I'll make up for the lack of running today with a longer jog before my work-out on Wednesday, and possibly some cycling too.

Insect Overlord

Brief summary of Day 9:

Breakfast: Crepe with fruit and whipped cream; mug of tea.

Lunch: 2 steak wraps w. onions, mushrooms, peppers, cucumber and natural yoghurt.

Snack: Berry and apple crumble. Banana.

Dinner: Roast pork; potatoes (2 boiled, 5 small roasted); carrots, peas, broccoli.

Dessert: Small chocolate cheese-cake.

Over-all: Loads of fruit and vegetables in there, which is great. Got some much-needed protein too. Definitely too many carbs, but I'm still happy enough. Did a very intense training session last night so that's keeping up my exercise requirements.

Insect Overlord

Plan for day ten:

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: Tomato and pasta soup; two slices whole-grain brown bread. Small bowl of Fruit & Fibre. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Dinner: TBC

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.

Exercise:
Warm-up: 20 minute jog, dynamic stretches.
Push-ups: 14, 16, 12, 12, minimum 17 - maximum effort. 90 seconds between sets.
Squats: 19, 22, 16, 16, minimum 23 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 21, 24, 18, 18, minimum 26 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 6 minute jog, stretches.

Insect Overlord

Run: 23:17
Max push-ups: 17 (total: 71)

Max squats: 50 (total: 123)

Max sit-ups: 28 (total: 109)


Total Time: 60 minutes.

I'm a little bit disappointed with the run time. I used to walk to secondary school in 22 minutes. The route I took tonight was roughly 4km (to the school, around the block and back) and I hoped to run it under 22 minutes. 23:17 is an alright first attempt though, at under six minutes per kilometer. I should be able to cut it to 20 minutes next week, if I prepare properly. I was thinking of trying out the couch-to-5k challenge. Not so sure I'll be needing that now though.

From one point of view my max push-ups could have been better, but my totals keep increasing in line with the programme so I can't complain about that. Same applies to my sit-ups.

I only managed 50 squats tonight. My legs were a bit tired after the run, but it was a pain in my right knee that made me stop. The muscles still feel fine.

Ten days in, I'm very happy with how things are going.

Now for a bowl of hot stew.

Insect Overlord

Plan for day twelve:

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: TBC

Dinner: TBC

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.

Exercise:
Warm-up: 5 minute run, 50 star-jumps, dynamic stretches.
Push-ups: 16, 17, 14, 14, minimum 20 - maximum effort. 120 seconds between sets.
Squats: 22, 22, 19, 19, minimum 27 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 24, 25, 21, 21, minimum 30 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 6 minute jog, stretches.

Not confirmed, but probably 30 minutes of indoor soccer in the evening. Will go for a cycle if there's no football on.

Insect Overlord

Max push-ups: 25 (total: 86)

Max squats: 57 (total: 139)

Max sit-ups: 40 (total: 131)

Total Time: 34 minutes.

Did this 24 hours ago, forgot to update before now though.
Might go for a run tomorrow, but a long spin on the bike might suit me better.

Insect Overlord

Plan for day fifteen:

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: TBC. Hopefully a berry and banana smoothie, with low fat vanilla ice-cream, orange juice and a table-spoon of wheat-germ.

Dinner: TBC

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.

Exercise:
Warm-up: 5 minute run, 50 star-jumps, dynamic stretches.
Push-ups: 14, 18, 14, 14, minimum 20 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Squats: 19, 24, 19, 19, minimum 27 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 21, 27, 21, 21, minimum 30 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 6 minute jog, stretches.

One hour of indoor soccer in the evening as well. Should be wrecked by Tuesday!

Insect Overlord

Max push-ups: 22 (total: 82)

Max squats: 33 (total: 114)

Max sit-ups: 30 (total: 120)

Total Time: 34 minutes.

Did this late last night, much later than I should have done.

All of my figures were lower than I was hoping for. However, I think that's fair considering I played an hour of indoor soccer earlier in the evening.

I also cycled into college and back yesterday. The aggregate time for the trips was just over 30 minutes, with the first half of the distance being almost entirely up-hill. I pushed myself to sprint most of the route home too. All in all, a very productive day. I got some cardio & stamina work in on top of my conditioning/muscle work-out, and I kept a close eye on what I was eating too.

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, honey, low fat milk. Mug of tea.
Lunch: Granny Smith Apple, mandarin orange, banana, bottle water.
Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese (with durum wheat pasta, if that makes a difference! )
Snack: 5 Werthers caramel sweets.

Insect Overlord

Breakfast: Porridge and honey with a tea-spoon of wheat-germ (something I'm experimenting with for the first time this week).

Lunch: Banana, apple, ham & turkey sandwich.

Dinner: Home-made Shepherd's pie.

Snack: Bowl of Fruit'n'Fibre.

Didn't get much exercise in today. Was absolutely wiped out after yesterday. Managed to cycle into college, which is better than nothing I suppose.

Plan for day seventeen:

Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, low fat milk, spoon of honey. Mug of tea, half teaspoon sugar.

Lunch: Hopefully a berry and banana smoothie, with low fat vanilla ice-cream, orange juice and a table-spoon of wheat-germ.

Dinner: TBC

Lots of water, 200 mls orange juice, and probably 2 more mugs of tea as well.
Exercise:
Warm-up: 5 minute run, 50 star-jumps, dynamic stretches.
Push-ups: 20, 25, 15, 15, minimum 25 - maximum effort. 90 seconds between sets.
Squats: 27, 34, 21, 21, minimum 34 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 30, 38, 23, 23, minimum 38 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 6 minute jog, stretches.

Insect Overlord

Run: 05:07
Max push-ups: 25 (total: 100)

Max squats: 37 (total: 140)

Max sit-ups: 40 (total: 154)


Total Time: 40 minutes.

Bike: 2x 16 minutes.

That's my first time doing a run around the block in two weeks. Taking a few minor obstacles into consideration, I'm pretty much exactly where I was on the 14th when it comes to that route. I've been neglecting it though. I still want to be doing that lap in as close to four minutes as possible by the end of next month. That might be unrealistic, but it doesn't feel too extraordinary.

My max squats are way down from what I was doing earlier. I've been trying to refine my technique, using YouTube videos to guide me. I've changed my stance to alleviate the discomfort I was getting in my knees. I also started to push through my heels a lot more, and the difference in how it feels in my upper legs is enormous. I'm hoping to see another big jump in my leg power over the next four work-outs. The aim is to start maxing over 50 again as soon as possible, even while the aggregate total from the first four sets keeps rising too.

I've completely changed my approach to sit-ups as well. The technique I was using was putting a strain on my back, and I was cheating with arm-momentum to inflate my totals. Again, on-line tutorial videos have steered me in the right direction. I've changed to proper stomach crunches, keeping my chin up instead of straining my neck. The pains in my stomach last night were a burning testament to improved technique there too.

The push-ups are getting difficult. It'll depend on how Work-out 3 goes this week, but I may end up repeating a week to make sure I'm hitting my targets properly. There's no point kidding myself and pushing on in the programme if I'm not getting the technique right at this stage. I might ask someone to spot me on the next set to make sure I've got my posture right.

I should be moving on to my ninth work-out today, Day 19, but I think I'll leave it until Sunday. I'll be playing indoor soccer tonight and doing a 2-hour sparring course tomorrow, so over-training would do me no favours. I'll do next week's work-out on Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening and Friday afternoon to get my rhythm back.

Insect Overlord

Plan for day twenty one:


Warm-up: 5 minute run, 50 star-jumps, dynamic stretches.
Push-ups: 22, 30, 20, 20, minimum 28 - maximum effort. 120 seconds between sets.
Squats: 30, 38, 27, 27, minimum 40 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 33, 42, 30, 30, minimum 45 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 6 minute jog, stretches.

There's a slight chance I'll be asked to play a soccer match on Sunday morning, so I'm not sure how that'd impact on my plans. I'll wait and see.

Insect Overlord

Run: 04:59
Max push-ups: 29 (total: 121)

Max squats: 43 (total: 165)

Max sit-ups: 43 (total: 178)

Looks like I'll be moving my work-outs to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays to facilitate Gaelic Football training in the next few weeks!

Anyway, delighted with today's session.

Now for a nice big dinner!

Insect Overlord

Plan for work-out 10:


Warm-up: 5 minute run, 50 star-jumps, dynamic stretches.
Push-ups: 21, 25, 21, 21, minimum 32 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Squats: 29, 34, 29, 29, minimum 43 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Sit-ups: 32, 38, 32, 32, minimum 48 - maximum effort. 60 seconds between sets.
Cool-down: 6 minute jog, stretches.

Bike: 2 x 15 minutes across town.

Insect Overlord

Well, as it turns out, I never got around to doing work-out 10. I'll pencil it in for sometime in the next fortnight.

My work-out plan has totally fallen by the way-side at this stage. I was three weeks into the 100 Push-Ups, 200 Sit-Ups and 200 Squats programmes, and I should have been finishing week five today. Alas, I got fatigued last week and decided a break was required.

I got back on track with a trip to the gym on Wednesday morning. The college weights room was empty because everyone had been out for Rag Week the night before, so I had it all to myself! Got to use the rowing machine for the first time ever, did 1000 metres in 4:10. Tread-mill, exercise bike and cross-trainer also came in useful. Tried a few chin-ups and discovered I can only do them in sets of 1. >_< Then I did some dead-lifting, squats and barbell rows. Started off with light enough weights to get the technique right.

I went back first thing this morning and had the whole room to myself again. Started off the same as Wednesday, except I did my 1000m row in 3:52 this time around. Managed to do chin-ups in sets of two as well. A small step in the right direction. Increased my squats from 40kg to 45kg, and then up to 50kg. Dead-lifts and rows up from 30kg to 40kg. I'm still afraid to risk more than 30kg on the bench-press without a spotter though.

Add to that an hour of indoor soccer on Monday, 100 minutes walking on Tuesday and a 30 minute walk yesterday and I've actually had a pretty decent week. I'll probably drop back to Week 3 for the different challenges whenever I restart them. I'm confident I've mastered them beyond what's covered in the first 2 weeks, but I don't fancy jumping back in at Week 4.

Insect Overlord

Oh, and if anyone is actually reading this thing, feel free to reply/ask questions/offer advice/take the piss!

It's weird having nearly all the posts in one thread.

Sangre

C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!

Desire to Aspire

Well done so far, you've made some decent progress. Just keep at it, and you'll reach your goals soon enough.

I think you may have inspired me to start a log here.

Best of luck with your plan! Keep up the good work!

Insect Overlord

Quoting myself from C&H, I hope nobody minds!

Insect Overlord wrote: »

I did another 90 minutes in the gym this morning. If my legs weren't wobbling like jelly now, I'd feel like a fighter jet MADE OF BICEPS!!!

I upped my time on the treadmill and the cross-trainer, matched my time for last Friday on the rowing machine and did a combined 2.3 miles on the bike. Started really pushing myself on the squats as well:

3 x 5 x 50kg
3 x 5 x 60kg
2 x 5 x 70kg
1 x 5 x 80kg
1 x 5 x 90kg.

I think the last set was just above my body-weight. Haven't weighed myself in two weeks. The aim is to start with that as my minimum target by this day next week. (I'd appreciate if anyone with expertise in the field can let me know if that's excessive/unrealistic!)

Still taking it easy with the bench. Did 1 x 10 x 20 and 1 x 5 x 30. Spent a while on one of the machines instead. Might try a few push-ups tonight if I have the energy after soccer.

the drifter

what gym are you training in lad? you still with the club or are you back at your studies?

Insect Overlord

the drifter wrote: »

what gym are you training in lad? you still with the club or are you back at your studies?

Just working away in the weights room in Mary I. It's handy to go in there first thing in the morning when it's empty.

I won't be back with the club until the end of April/start of May. Should still get along to the sparring courses each month though.