Well this is my first training log. Perhaps the name says it all…
Current:
HT: 171cm
WT: 66kg
BF: 18.5-20.5% (Tanita scale) ( I check morning and evening)
Age: 40
Goals:
Long Term: Be ready for prime time.
Summer: Abs
Short term (april): Cut BF to 15%, while maintaining weight or making modest weight gain. I have always had a high metabolism (until I became very sedentary, around 30) so I think I can gain muscle while losing fat. (I have until now (abt. 10%) but that may have been the newbie gains, anyway I will find out) .
The Plan
Mon, Wed, Fri weight training
Tue, Thu, Sat until end of Feb: martial arts
Good luck Peter. Though I'm not sure what you mean by "prime time" lol. Can't wait to see how things go for you, so I'll be waiting for the first workout and watching as you progress. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
String Bean to Mr. Clean (M. Meija) (8-12 weeks, more about time frame later)
Monday Night
First work out and I tend to start "light" when I go into a new routine.
Squat 5 x 5 A2G 88lbs
Barbell Incline Press 5 x 5 88lbs
Chins 5 x 5 0
weighted sit ups 8 x 3 5.5 lbs
Comments:
To encourage readership I will convert to pounds for you eventhough I work in kilos which explains the odd numbers.
This is my first crack at a 5 x 5.
Squats I changed from parallel to A to G (after hear your comments in the training forum) and this was the go so I started very light.
5 x 5 x 88lbs
it was too light and I will increase 12 lbs next Monday and see how that feels (still might be light but want to sure on form as well)
Bench, I have a weak bench weak so I stuck with 88 lbs and it was just right to get thru, the last one a serious struggle. Will stick with the same weight next week
Chins, big disappointment, unweighted did
5 x 1
5 x 1
5 x 1
4 x 1
3 x 1
I couldn't believe I cound get them all out!! Next week! ( I have to cheat the lat one, then two)
BTW this is all done with a 90 sec rest between sets. I am on a stopwatch, at 1 min 15 secs, I get under the bar and leave myself 15 secs to get ready: grip, place feet, etc. Since I work out alone it helps keep me focused and I did this workout in less than 45 min
Thanks for reading, not ready for prime time means "not good enough" . The good TV shows fall in prime time TV viewing, and the crappy shows, late at night (think Kung FU movies at 1:00AM) So when I am ready for prime time, I will be in great shape, abs!!
Interesting modification of Iron Manual, Peter. Why did you decide to go for a 5X5? And how are you dealing with the second quad in the routine? Are you going to alternate back and forth each workout?
AAAhhh Peter we are own worse critics. Trust me I know first hand. Things are probly not as bad as you think.. Look we all do the its not good enough thing. its a vicous cycle. I thought when I got to this point I would be happy but instead I found something else to pick apart. Just keep focused on one goal at a time. and post some pics to monitor the progress, it keeps you modivated.. Good luck and I'll be rooting for ya [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I'm trying to get over your stats. 66kg and 20% fat? Even for 171cm that seems like fairly low lean body weight. Sure you wouldnt be better off building up for a while?
can I make one suggestion re the scales tho, lay off them it can be demotivational as they are so inaccurate. I would pick a time and a date every 4 weeks and monitor it, let your belt be your guide in between.
Interestin workout shall follow with relish (but wish you'd left it in KG's my brain cant get round the lbs have to keep using a converter he he )
K-court, it is not my modification, it is Meija, out of men's health. So you will have to wait til Wed. to see what happens LOL,
Jenn, thanks, I believe in the positive too but when your numbers are disappointing, you gotta admit it. (I'll be in a better mood after the Wed workout)
HR, FlyinM thanks for the encouragement.
BjsAust
I see where you are coming from, but I am one of the few who one this list who doesn't want to get BIG, I guess. If I put on more weight I would like to see it come in very slowly over two or three years. The most I can (at present) see myself looking at is around 70 kg / 155lbs (though I may change my mind). My Worst feature right now is love handles. SO they have gotta go. That is the main target. (In Japan I will be able to wear golf shirts and t-shirts in 3-4 weeks! So THAT MUST be the first target for me.
I think that my metabolism has fired up and I can probably stretch out the newbie gains (muscle gains while lossing fat) so my present target is to stick around 67 and lose 6 kg of fat and gain 6 kg in muscle which I hope is possible. If not I will swtich to a cutting bulking type appraoch. But for now I think I can do it.
BFG
Thanks for your suggestion but I have found the scales very motivational (the BF is a trend thing, I started at around 30 and watched to drop, it is inaccurate so I do not pay so much attention, just as long as there is a downward trend.) As far as weight goes, I like to to do it. I do not log calories, but I can guess my weight at the end of the day base upon what I ate. I just look and say ah crap, I knew I should not have had that extra piece of celery. lol
The belt is a great idea. As I type I am wearing a belt that was getting too small last year and it now has had THREE holes punched in it and reaches past my hip. I am looking forward to the next hole.
Again everyone thank you for your comments: They are very motivating.
90 min of Shorinji Kempo, played mop the floor with Peter. Did some leverage/twists/hold breaks, etc. Floor was pretty clean by the time they were finished with me. My tapping out skills have improved! LOL
Unfortuneately, I jammed my ankle, maybe slightly pulled a ligament. Got a massage, did some stretching, hot bath and more stretching. Hopefully it will not affect Wednesday's workout.
pulled a ligament? wrote that lasty night at about 1:00 am, not the right term. At some point, I did something to my ankle (do not know when) so that when I extend my toe (like a ballet dancer) there is some pain (between the middle of the foot up to about 6 cm above the ankle) and when I bend my ankle bring my toes towards my leg (opposite direction) thyere is some pain. Massage made it feel better. There was NO swelling. My first thoughts were ICE as well, but my sensei said keep in warm. I do not know if it has any thing to do with ligaments (just used the wrong word???) . Today there is some mild pain, but closer to discomfort. I am favoring a bit and doing streching. I can feel it in dead lift position so I will see how I do tonight with training.
Wednesday night training. I decided to take the day off and let my ankle rest. It turned out to be a good call, felt much better today (Thursday). So I went to a kids martial arts class with my son (skipped the adults class) then came home put the kids to bed, and did the Wed workout.
decide to use both kilos and pounds to keep everyone on both sides of the pond happy.
Hang Clean & Press 5 x 5 30 kg / 66lbs
This was a good weight, the last reps of set 4 and 5 were a real struggle- will bump it 2.5 kg (abt 5 lbs next wed)
Deadlift 5 x 5 70 kg / 154 lbs
This was also a good weight. The 4th set I could feel my grip failing, and the fifth I decide to lose the gloves to make sure I had a good grip. will bump it 2.5 kg (abt 5 lbs next wed)
Dip 5 x 5 body weight
after the deads I was tired, but got thru.
Side-Lying External Rotation 8 x 3 2.5 kg abt 5 pounds.
Since Wed got moved to thursday I moved Fidary to Saturday. On Sat night did Shorinji Kempo, but it was heavier on the exercises than usualy (including 50 squats non stop) So I thought I would be better woking out on Sunday morning.
Front Squat 5 x 5 45 kg (or 99 lbs)
•there is a lot more to ATG front squats than meets the eye! good weight
DB Bench press 5 x 5 17.5 kg (or 38.5 lbs)
•Good weight- will increase next time
Bent over row 5 x 5 50 kg (110lbs)
• lighter than I have rowed but am really concentrating on beautiful form. WIlll goo up next time.
Happy Birthday Pete, hope your enjoying some tasty natto [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
How much of a cardio workout do you get in the Kempo?
If you feel your not getting enough energy work for fat loss in then you might want to think about some short high intensity work the mornings or post-Kempo days. Maybe Tabata protocol on the heavy bag - kill two birds with one stone.
It wouldn't hurt your Kempo performance either. Just a thought.
And since you mentioned tapping out it sounds like alot of grappling, yeah?
Mary, thanks
Buk, diiferent monster indeed- I thought regular ATG were tough but there is a whole new flexibilty balance conponet in front ATG, but I like it!!!
Kuri, thanks, not a lot of cardio (more hiit style) but at my age LOL it is "challenging enough" I do agree with you that I could use some more, but at this point there just is NO gas in the tank for more, I would like to add some HIIT, but I think it would be more LICB (Low Intensity Coffee Break) Perhaps in a few weeks when it is warmer and I am "stronger mentally/ phisciaclly to add on to it)
Tapping out- not much grap[pling, more grovelling LOL. There are a couple of third dans and 4th Dans coming for testing and I have been cleaning the floors for them with my dougi-
BTW, it is flattering that so many people have come by to see my log, thanks it is good motivatiuon knowing that if post skipping a workout, I will dissappoint so many of you as well as myself.
As an alternative to doing traditional cardio Pete reduce the length of the rests between exercise sets, if ya keep doing that and as you are concentrating on form slow the tempo down you will watch your heart rate sore....but be careful at your grand old age :-)
and owi 50kgs on the bent over row Im only just over that on sitting ones definitely would need a massage after that one thats gotta kill the back with the lactic
Anyway,
ATG squats 5 x 5 50 kg (110lbs) last few were tough but I think I will take it 5 kg more next Mon
Barbell Incline Press 5 x 5
went for 45 (99lbs)
up abt 12 pounds from last week
5 x 3
4 x 1
3 x 1
..............
3 x 1
•barely made the 3rd set so I dropped it to 42.5 kg failed on the 5th rep
•failed on the 4th rep on the
•did an extra 3 rep set to make up for it.
mad Got trapped on the 4th set had to roll the bar down,
Chins
5 x 3
4 x 1
3 x 1
Same as last Monday! I am disappointed, but I think having a cold, and the increases in the other weight led to the failure . But still disappointing, Next week, I will definitely get 5 x 5 next Monday!!!
tsk up that weight on the sit ups ! I know I shouldnt say this as its not the figure its the form that counts and the overall TUT but 5kg you could sneeze that going by your other figures ;-)
Steve, I am with you on the numbers, but for regular sit ups I have to be careful as my back sometimes makes this "pop/cracking" when I do them off the floor. On the swiss ball I use more weight, but now I am working off the floor. It took me a while to find aq good comfort zone of these (positioning my feet in a certain way so the back does makle that noise) but now that I have gound the sweet spot, I will work on taking that number up. I will stick w/5kg for at least another week though. My core is pretty strong (did a plank in Shorinji kempo for about 3-4 min, on Thursday).
Peter your doing awesome. I'm loving your log. Keep at it your doing some great workouts. Front squats are awesome ezp ATG, if you can master those your doing way awesome.Glad you had a great Bday too [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I'll be watching your progress. I admire your close attention to your form, kudos to you for that, its of the upmost importance. Looking forward to your future posts. Good luck and keep pumping [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
ha ha Pete wasnt meaning to sound bad was merely trying to challenge ya as I knew you'd take it!
How about swopping the crunches then for a kneeling cable crunch?? far better range of movement and no pressure on the back like that could be just what the doctor ordered????
Good work on the plank, I used to do those sort of times avereage 3.45 in the end but it feels great when ya finished. IMO best exercise ever for the obliques is the wood choppers it feels like you have a corset on when yuo are done!
Jenn, Steve thanks for the comments (do not have a cable system as I train at home- I usually do swissball ones but I thought I would throw some regular ones in since I found the "comfort zone, and will see how it takes to weight)
Tuesday Night:
Shorinji Kempo: Did a lot of pressure points stuff, wrist bending, light warm up, pucnhes and kicks. Not really strenuous but it was good to work the stiffnes out of my chest and back from Monday.
•Hang Clean & Press 5 x 5 32.55 kg / 71.5lbs (up 5.5 lbs)
As promised last week raised 5 pounds. hate to do this but count on me for 5 MORE next Wed.
•Deadlift 5 x 5 75 kg / 165 lbs (up 11lbs)
This was also a good weight. Gloves SUCK, had to rip them off in the 4th set, 5 set pulled my callouses off (nice). Since I am a glutton for punishment mark me down to bump 5 kg (11lbs)for next week!!
•Dip 5 x 5 body weight
Same, was easier, but I am hestitant to start adding weight- so far no shoulder "sounds" so I am taking slow. Felt good- will go no weight again next week and if all is well, will add a bit the following week.
Side-Lying External Rotation 8 x 3 3.75 kg abt 8 1/4 pounds.
Satisfying, but I needed some George Thouroughgood to get thru the deads- BAD TO THE BONE!!!!
Haven't posted… Life took over
Friday, was supposed to do the Friday workout but…
Played a round of golf (first time in about 6 months) shot 111 OUCH! Putting which is always ON was way off- I even 4 putted- must have burned some calories because I was steaming... Anyway friday night something came up with my wife's friends so I ended up babysitting the boys and no workout. So have to workout on Saturday, after martial arts, but my wife has a belt test so I let her go to both classes (we usually alternate), babysat, (she did a three and a half hour session, and I fell asleep with the kids) Nice evening but still didn't workout! Sunday, my niece (10 years old) had a party and I was invited (her mother is a single mother, so I like to helpout when I can: male role model stuff) anyway, I spent the day with her and her friends and my boys, fun but guess what NO workout. As I said, life took over. Well Today is monday and I did Friday's workout finally and really pushed it!
Front Squat 5 x 5 50 kg (or 110 lbs) UP 11 lbs!
DB Bench press 5 x 5 20 kg (or 44 lbs) Up about 5 lbs
Bent over row 5 x 5 55 kg (121 lbs) Up 11 lbs!
Back extensions on swiss ball 8 x 3 5 kg up 11lbs
•figured out a weighting system for my feet so I can use weights without flipping over the swissball
Great workout- Stoked!
Just have to figure out how I will catch up and get Monday on Monday, etc (I am anal!)
Not quite ready for prime time
Linear Mode
