presto's workout log

[presto]

after reading 'john's blog' i thaught i would post my own :)

i was really quiet an unhealthy person:
smoke, eat crap, drink nothing but cola, no exercise etc.......
so i want to change this, i also love boxing (and other martial arts) - so set this as my target - get into fighting shape.

exercise:
cardio - at least 30 mins a day, 5 days a week.
strength - heavy weights, 2 times a week on non-cardio days.

HIIT (high intensity interval training)
on the exercise bike, 0.7 mile normal pace, 0.3 mile fast pace.
in 5 - 15 mile sessions. 5 miles takes just over 10mins app.

heavy bag routine. (3 min rounds - 1 / 1.5 min rest)
round 1 - jab work
round 2 - straight work
round 3 - jab / straight combo work
round 4 - left hook
round 5 - right hook
round 6 - hook combo work
round 7 - freestyle, working in all of the above.

barbell work: (heavy weight)
(sets X reps)
3 X 5 shoulder press 40kg
3 X 5 upright rows 40kg
deadlift - to be incorparated at future date
squats - to be incorparated at future date
bench - to be incorparated at future date

dumbell work: (light weight)
3X10 flys 8kg
3X10 lats 8kg
3X10 curls 8kg

[presto]

been doing the cardio for about 6 weeks so far, the strenght training will be incorparated today.

[vegyjones]

I didn't know John had done a blog? :doh

[presto]

i saw it in his sig yesturday :)

Johnny Twelve Pack (http://www.johnny12pack.blogspot.com/) - The twelve pack project to bulk up, with extra added vodka.

[Littlegaz]

Good luck Presto. I should say that for real core strength and power, heavy deadlifts, squat and bench press are the gold standard (you probably already know that) - you may want to bring those in first and add the shoulder work after a few months. Only my opinion, though :)

[presto]

cheers gaz,
the core work will come along soon, problem is i don't have the equiptment right now. only got 60kg standard weights and no bench / rack. if i can continue what i am doing now (without giving up :rolleyes: ) then i will look into getting some olympic weights / rack.

the nearest gym isn't ideal either, as the opening times clash with racing 10am-8pm closed sunday (well the last time i looked they were). and for the price of a years membership i could get some olympic weights and a squat rack. the benches may be a problem though without gym membership / spotter.

[Littlegaz]

if i can continue what i am doing now (without giving up :rolleyes: )
There's the key mate. Keep the blog going - having to report your progress publicly will help to keep you motivated.

To get around the spotter problem, if finances allow, invest in some dumbells and a good quality adjustable bench. Heavy dumbell presses on a slight incline will do the job.

[samantha1303]

Well done Presto.
Take it easy though these things do not happen overnight

[Street cry]

Double jab slip inside outside right hand .
left right roll right hand left hook .
jab , hook off jab screw shot to body (with right) left uppercut.
feint jab right cross low left high left .
Those comboes are good presto and move your head lots loads of lads i spar with just don't move their heads enough .
Love him (like me) or loathe him Mike tyson examplifies all the best qualities
great lateral movement fantastic spacial awareness very intuitive constant movement . I base my self on tyson look at his gight with clifford etienne constant movement means he can throw a powerful punch at anytime .
Most important weight excercise for boxing presto is your lat pull and your squats also shoulder press . I understand you can't do the above with free weights but never underestimate the power of floorv excercises
press ups , squat thrusts burpees , get as much lactic in to your arms as possible . But the heavy bag is the most important do a minute of cross overs left right left right as fast as you can that will build you the explosive sterngth you nees and the endurance to keep punching .
I bet you probably know all this but i am bored so thought i would reply to this .
What do you make of the real deal announcing his come back ? i don't blame him that danny williams is an absolute disgrace in my opinion .let me know how you go i am meant to be fighting in 4 weeks time but i don't think i'll get the weight of in time especially if i keep sitting in front of my comp eating donuts anyway have you put that headguard to use yet cheers sc

[presto]

cheers for the advice.
i probably should take a good look at tysons fights - being a heavyweight (though i probably could make cruiserweight) - and also short and stocky @ 5.10" (same height). - just had a look at some of his KO's - probably the most explosive of any heavyweight ever.
i will have a look at the combo's for my heavy bag routine, i usually do 2X a week 3X3 mins of jab combo's, hook combo's, freestyle combo's. and the full 3 X 7 round routine once a week - though this is usually only 2 mins a round. i did manage the 7X3min rounds last saturday at a good intensity - but i was absalutely f:censored: ed - thaught i was going to have a heart attack :yikes: - so the conditioning for that is deffinately something to work on.
i will include some bodyweight exercises in my training - should probably put that in the first post.

as for the real deal - not sure to be honnest.
the heavyweight division is probably the worst it has ever been, if he decides to return at that weight as opposed to cruiserweight. but his later fights wernt impressive, you probably need to go back 10 years to his fights against tyson and Michael Moorer for his last good fights, his last 9 fights havn't been good - a 'dodgy' (to say the least) draw against lewis, a win due to swelling caused by headbutt against rachman and a dodgy decision against ruiz and 5 losses tell me - he just can't cut it anymore. not to mention the 2+ years out of the ring.
the headguard may be in use sooner than expected :rolleyes: as apparently (when very drunk) i put out a challange and a £500 bet to an old mate - who used to box :yikes: - i remember talking about boxing, but not the challange, anyway it's probably a good thing to get some practice in :) - problem is, he's 6.6" :yikes: .
good luck in making the weight though - keep us informed.

[Street cry]

Cheers presto in amateurs if u can make 81 kg you are light heavyweight there are no cruisers or super middle but by and large you will just get a kilo weight match . Holyfields poor later record is apparently due to shoulder injuries which have been operated on and he now feels none of the pain he did in his last fights . He should really hang his gloves up but i think good on him in a way if he wants to live the dream he does right .
If you fight a taller opponent you want to get your head moving work off an explosive right hand counter when he jabs knock it down hard with your right and in the same movement come back over the top with your right the left uppercut or screw shot in to body then keep in close and rip off uppercuts and hooks to the body cheers , Ben

[Street cry]

By the way got a brand new pair of cleto's the other week 10 oz goatskin leather best glove i have ever worn highly recommended ! a real punchers glove not much padding

[presto]

nice one,
i think my hands still need toughening up :( plenty of padding on my 12oz gloves - but my hands still shake for at least an hour after a good session, though they my knuckles are not bruising / reddening as much as they used too - recovering quicker aswell.

[presto]

strength training today

got a new pair of 10kg plates, so banged them on the barbell up to 40kg - couldn't budge the bloody thing :( - i hadn't lifted for a while so thats probably the reason.

upper body, heavy workout (barbell) - shoulders, some lower back.
3X5 shoulder press 30kg
2X5 upright rows 30kg
1X5 bent over rows 30kg

upper body, light workout (dumbell) - shoulders, chest, biceps.
3X8 lats 8kg
3X8 flys 8kg
2X20 curls 8kg
1X20 hammer curls 8kg

the flys / lats i found more difficult than i was expecting with the 8kg's but - hey i never expected this to be easy :) . well the curls were, 8kg's an arm wasn't really enough (but changing the weight would be too much hassle) - and the curls arn't really worth it for my aim, so i just went over the top and did 3X20 with some hammer curls for variation.

food:
lunch - 1/2 chicken cesar salad wrap
4:00 ish - the other half
7:30 - roast chicken breast, cooked with garlic butter. cabbage and a couple of new potatoes.
around 1ltr water. i should drink more (around 3ltr) but i have never drank a lot.

why no breakfast? - i only woke up at 12 :( - not been sleeping again. this really is a big problem, but plenty of protein today which is good for the strength training, the couple of spuds could have been left out, as i don't want too many carbs late on.

supplements:
1 a day multi vit
- because i love it when my piss turns florescent yellow and glows in the dark :D

[John]

Best of luck mate!

It's tough to maintain a consistent style but you'll benefit from it in the end. I love going to the gym now and I'm really pleased I started going. My aim is weight gain, I'd like to gain 2 stone in a year but I think that may be too difficult. A stone would be good though.

Anyway mate best of luck with your progress, you gotta start somewhere. :D

[Profit Seeker]

Interesting thread Presto. I too am heading down a similar route. Remembering, preparing and buying the right foods in the first place proves a demanding task in itself :yikes:Good luck with it all. (I've yet to buy some weights from ebay!)

[podtog]

A routine that is very good if you dont have enough weight or a bench that builds strength and stamina is to find an average weight that you are comfortable with (roughly half your maximum), and use the same weight for each exercise so no need to change weights at all, it goes something like this-

6 sets of 6 for each exercice with only a 30 second interval between each set and exercice.

6 sets of barbell curls.
6 sets of overhead press.
6 sets of wide grip shoulder raises.
6 sets of bet over rows.
6 sets of narrow grip shoulder raises.
6 sets of narrow grip shoulder raises starting from the floor and back down again .
6 sets of squats.
6 sets of curls once more.

Try it and you will see massive results after one month. Your stamina will be greatly improved and you will have added inches to your shoulders.

Ive just started this routine again and find it the fastest routine for showing very quick results and Ive got the bench and weights but prefer this for fast gains for the first month.

A good whey protein and Creatine will also see your efforts all the more worthwile, I have used Anabolics in the past and this supplement (creatine) which is proven to be perfectly Ok to use is the nearest you will get to having the same pump legally and safely.

[podtog]

Also if your looking to build muscle Presto then you need to be eating 6-8 times a day, thats where the protein powders will come into there own, roughly every 2-3 hours.

An average person can absorb 22 grams of protein about every 2.5 hours, anything over is wasted but upto 2 hours after a good workout your body will absorb twice as much, that is your window to cramming the protein in which builds muscle and ultimately strenght. I remember setting my alarm clock so I could eat a tin of tuna at 3 or 4 in the morning and then going back to bed.
Amino acids are another serious building block, the way I look at is if you are going to spend so much time and dedication at the gym then you are only making half the gains you could be making if you dont get the diet right and a lot less the way I see some people train followed by no consideration at all for their diet.

[presto]

hi podtog,
not looking for too much gains at the moment, - i could do with losing a lot of weight first, then will concentrate more on the gains after this cycle, maybe in a month or 2. the weights now are mainly to stop muscle deteriation during cutting.
i have a tub of 'reflex XXL matrix' creatine / glutamine - i respond really well to this stuff, so will probably start off on that now i am including some strength training.
i also have some ZMA which also works well for me, purely for the recovery / improved sleep. the sleep is a big issue for me (insomnia) as i havn't been getting much sleep for the past 2 weeks - so thats something i may include.
i will also include some whey protein on strength days.

i will take a look at that workout, i also found a vid of 'randy coture' (MMA fighter) randy coture workout (http://www.fizogenex.com/videos/strap_video_wm_hi_6.php) which i may try out.
possibly - wednesday - heavy weight's, low reps - for building muscle
saturday - lighter weights, higher reps - for muscle stamina.

[Street cry]

If u do wanna box ultimately presto don't bulk up too much i pimped up to 14 and a hald stones 2 yrs ago and wish i hadn't just hammered myself on a creatine cycle for a year and bulked up but was hard to get it off i felt like a right meat head though !
Good fight tonight froch vs mgee not gonna be easy for froch against the seasoned mgee who went the distance with a certain grim reaper .
What do you think i reckon froch on points he'll do well to get mgee out if he does it will be inside 4 i think

[presto]

i don't think i will bulk up too much - could do with actually weighing myself to be honnest, but the weight loss will be one of the most important things - i will probably think about how much / little i should bulk up once i have lost the weight - to find the right weight class.

as for the fight tonight - i agree with you there, froch on points, though i doupt i will be having a bet - i just hope froch dosn't come out lazy and arrogant in this fight like he has on some of his previous fights - that really annoys me about him sometimes. but i think he will be up for it tonight, magee's a tough opponent for him.

[presto]

cardio today:

when i woke up my upper body was soar as hell and all my muscles were tensed up, so yesturdays strength workout did it's job :)

just the HIIT on the bike today.
3X5 miles approx 12 mins each.
spaced them out throughout the day.

food:
porridge, spoon full of honey.
medetranian tuna quesedia (spelling)
2 smoked trout fillets with stir fry peppers
2 ltr water.

the tuna quesedia consists of:
5 pickled onions
2 plum tomatoes 1/2 pepper
bit of fresh chilli
cheese
1 tin tuna
i often just start cooking with no idea what i am doing :) - i just cooked off the ingredience (finely chopped) from what was in the fridge, you could really put anything in there. cooked in a bit of 'chilie and garlic enfused EV olive oil' and put it between 2 tortillia wraps with a bit of cheese in to bind it, and dry fried it on both sides. - tasted really good.

the trout was also cooked in the chilli oil and so was the rest of the pepper.

the chilli oil is just some extra virgin olive oil with some chopped fresh chillies and garlic in it (keeps forever) - olive oil unlike other oil isn't that bad for you.

i used to be a chef :D

supplements:
1 multi vit

[podtog]

Can see where your coming from regarding losing the weight and then putting on some muscle, I tried that way myself and found it much harder than the other way round, your body actually needs some excess to gain muscle otherwise you will find it harder to gain once you have trimmed down.

GABA, Gamma Amino Butric Acid is good for an intense workout if take it right beforehand but if you take it late on before bedtime you will sleep like a baby so may be worth trying if your having trouble.

[Profit Seeker]

Very good points from Podtog about protein etc, without any weights, I have been doing things like press ups and sits up for now, to warm me up for a few weeks before the weights, as I'm unfit as you like! I usually do it late evening, especially with the prospect of there being hot days soon, well maybe, it's a long shot, and if I don't eat enough protein afterwards, the next day my muscles ache like anything, I then eat lots of protein and I can almost feel it getting to work striaght away! I don't think you need to go to extremes diet wise to get great results, to get the absolute maximum you do, but that's for real dedicated types I think. The best muscle for fighting is obviously the lean type, so the amount of fat in your diet is just as important as the protein, carbs etc, also very heavy weights and getting to MMF (momentary muscular failure) in less than 10 reps is the best way to be less bulky...so I read :D I think people like Ken Shamrock are too bulky to be the most efficient fighter possible.

[presto]

will take a look at the GABA pod
..............................................

strength day today

i woke up and my muscles were still aching like mad, i normally recover quicker than that, so i was going to go cardio today, but as i usually eat more on a saturday (shopping day), and i wanted to keep saturadys as strength day i continued anyway. and by mid day i fealt a bit more recovered.

exercise
heavy weights - barbell - shoulders, lower back
3X5 shoulder presses 30kg
1X5 upright rows 30kg
2X5 bent over rows 30kg

lighter weights - dumbells
3X8 flys 8kg
1X8 side lats
2X8 forward lats
3X8 flys

food
porridge, honey
cheesy puff pastery breadstick
beef salad sandwich
1/2 portion special fried rice (takaway)
1 boiled egg
2ltrs water
1 pint milk *protein shake

the puff pastery breadstick - iknow isn't great, but it was fresh from the bakery and i love them :) it was also early in the day, so a little bit of cheating isn't too bad. we always get a takeaway on a saturday night, and i know it isn't great but i only had 1/2 portion cheating again i know - but saturday i often eat more, and as a strength day it's not too bad.

supplements
1 multi vit
1 scoop creatine
1 protein shake
ZMA

my recovery from the last strength day took longer than expected, the creatine usually helps with that.
the protein shake (40g protein) with 1 pint milk - i took straight after the workout - so that also should help with recovery, and musclebuilding material.
the ZMA i will take an hour before bed, sweet dreams :) - also helps with recovery, and sleep.

[podtog]

Good way to start PS if youve not trained for a while, just finished a sescion and everything starting to warm up nicely now, I,ll start increasing the weight in another 2 weeks and get my serious head on :geek, it helps that I do a phsyical job anyway so the shock isnt to great.

[Profit Seeker]

A while? I've never trained. :+)

[presto]

cardio today

woke up and i wasn't soar at all :yikes: which was a massive bonus i wasn't expecting after yesturdays workout. thank you creatine. this gave me a chance to do some heavy bag work which i have neglected over the past few days.

exercise
2X5 miles on the bike
5X3min rounds on the heavybag

i really did strougle with the heavy bag today, and must admit they were a sloppy 5 rounds, as i tired in the last minuit of nearly every round :( my arms were fine and i did put in more footwork / head movement than usual, but rather alarmingly my heart seemed to be giving out distress signals near the end :yikes: of the rounds. i am really concerned about this, as everything else was fine. i think i will build up to the 3 min rounds now by doing 2 min rounds for a while. nothing to really mention about the bike.

food
2 poached eggs on wholegrain toast
apple
1/2 special fried rice (with extra mushrooms)
2 ltr water
250ml fresh orange

supplements
multi vit

[John]

Good work Presto.

You're taking this to the extreme it seems which is a good thing! Can you explain what you mean by 'bows' and 'flys' please? I've no idea what these are.

Also I'm crap at cooking, so I'm not really maximising myself getting enough protein in me either before or after my workouts. I'm quite worried about this as lack of protein, or rather ABSENCE of protein is going to have a massive delay on my progress. On a final note would you say it is better to eat before or after a workout?

Got given some PROMAX strength muscle building supplement from a guy at work so will start taking that too from now on.

Keep up the good work, seems like your workout is much more strenuous and extreme than mine - did you have it programmed for you at the gym?

[presto]

cheers john,
it's deffinately better to eat after a workout. this is when the muscles take in the protein to build up the tissue. i normally don't eat between 1-2 hours before a workout - then eat right after.
for the workout i didn't get it from a gym, for a few years now i have wanted to get in shape, and looked up a lot of routines on the internet and picked and chose which would go best together (with my resources) and came up with this, though i will change it over time and add new stuff.

its probably best to see a vid, for the weights.
this looks a good site (vids) (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise2/exercise.htm)
i do my flys standing though.

[podtog]

Your ok to eat before training but jst go for protein with a little carbs, tin of tuna wont bloat you, you are right regarding getting enough protein into your system, if you drip feed it all day then your gains will be prety quick, this is why a lot of people give up because they are doing the training but not seeing the results quick enough and its all down to your diet, how can your body grow if it doesnt have the right nutrients? Make sure you get enough carbs also, eating small and regular will speed your metabolism up anyway, when you train and work a muscle group your body needs protein to repair that muscle, training tears that muscle and protein rebuilds it, thats how it grows, if you dont take enough then your body will take it from where it can and that is from another muscle, so you work one muscle and it grows, you work another muscle but youve not taken enough so wher do you get the protein to build the newly trained muscle? Answer - from the muscle you spent 2 hours training 2 days before. Your body canibalizes itself for protein to repair any damaged muscle.

[podtog]

Absolutely shocking advert on Sky, a simple step machine with the sale pitch going for 80 quid, the sad part is they,ll probably sell loads but you,d get much better results using the first step of your stairs. Makes me cry to see people getting fleeced that dont know any better.

[John]

Cheers Presto. I still don't know what flys and bows are, although I hope that link explains it somewhere. Edit - it does - nice one.

I'll have a look around the internet and see what I can find in terms of workouts. At the gym I'm doing 45 repetitions (3 lots of 15) on each of:

Shoulder press (5kg)
Chest press (10kg)
Upper back (10kg)
Tricep pushdown (5kg)
Lateral pulldown (15kg)
Leg press (20kg (moving to 30kg soon))
Bicep curl (4kg)
+ a little CV work for general fitness - rowing (not strictly CV) and running/cross trainer

These are all pretty light but when you see the size of me in relation to my height you'd understand why! I've never been a physically strong person.

Thanks Podtog, that's been really helpful as I didn't know about how the body canibalises itself if it doesn't have the necessary resources in muscle in order to build that muscle. I need to eat a truckload of chicken and pasta after every workout it seems, so that's what I'll try and do from now on. Is there a time limit on when you're meant to eat after a workout to gain maximum muscle growth through protein? I would assume the sooner the better, I thought it was about 2 hours after a workout though?

Not your problem only I'm out the house from 8.00am-7.15pm at work/travelling to work, there aren't enough hours in the day! I'm on the student m/ship at the gym though, so I can go between 8 and 10pm which really is ideal for me.

Thanks for all your help guys. Sorry for such a long winded post!

[Littlegaz]

Is there a time limit on when you're meant to eat after a workout to gain maximum muscle growth through protein? I would assume the sooner the better, I thought it was about 2 hours after a workout though?


The sooner the better is right, and I think that Podtog has mentioned the two hour thing above. Liquid amino acids are excellent for an immediate post-workout shot of pure protein but their availability will depend on your finances.

Don't think, though, that the workout is wasted if you can't get to eat soon after - it's just as important to keep the muscles constantly supplied with protein between workouts. "Small and often" has also been mentioned above, and while many will struggle to fit seven or eight meals into a day, five will still be good and is easily achieved by supplementing the usual breakfast/lunch/dinner routine with a protein drink mid-morning and afternoon.

With the weights, John, yes they're light but when starting out you should see them rising rapidly over the first few months. A common reason for people not fulfilling their potential is the determination to stick to 3 sets of 15 (or 8, or 10 - whatever your aim is). The weight should be just enough so that, with good form, you can't quite hit those targets first time out. For example, set the weight so that with the first set you might just hit 15 (or maybe just under), your muscles will be more fatigued for the second so you may hit only 12, and perhaps 10 for the third. You then have those targets to beat for the next workout (go for, say, 15, 15, 12) and so on. When you can get 3 x 15, put the weights up to the next level and start the cycle again. As the strength comes you can experiment with bigger weights and lower reps and a wider variety of exercises.

And the most important thing - keep at it mate. So many see a weights regime as a six week route to becoming superman, then give up when the results fall short of their expectations. Give it a year - like a new betting system :wink - and you'll be a different man. :)

[Littlegaz]

Your body canibalizes itself for protein to repair any damaged muscle.
Which is why bodybuilders have little willies :D

[presto]

Absolutely shocking advert on Sky, a simple step machine with the sale pitch going for 80 quid, the sad part is they,ll probably sell loads but you,d get much better results using the first step of your stairs. Makes me cry to see people getting fleeced that dont know any better.

i see thoes adverts all the time (when i get bored i flick through the channels), i just laugh at them - but it does make me a little angry about there 'false' claims. i saw an advert for a fancy ab machine last night, they claimed it shredded fat and would give you a 6-pack in a week :laugh they then showed a befor and after pick - flabby gut - 6-pack. ;fire 10 mins a day will not do that, they fail to mention a 6-pack is primarely acheived by low body fat %.
a good program to watch is 'penn and tellers bull###t' who investigated these claims - and found pointed out that the befora nad after picks are from proffesional models / body builders at different periods - they even found one advert that showed a pregnant woman as the (fat) before picture - and how the salesmen even think there product is a pile of cack, and just good advertising.

[Profit Seeker]

Podtog, is it not a good idea to eat complex carbs before your workout? Obviously not much, something like a banana and somet else little. That's what I do anyway, get some energy in me an hour beforehand so I can workout a bit harder. Then scoff protein afterwards and try to keep protein levels 20-25g for half the following day, then for dinner on non training day, don't worry so much about the right protein, that may not be ideal, but there's not much food with enough of the stuff in and I don't wanna eat the same old food all the time.

[John]

Thanks for your reply Gaz. :)

I'm going to buy some protein drinks, hopefully a decent supermarket will sell them! This will hopefully help to enhance muscle growth and will be easier for me to work with rather than having to cook every time I get home from the gym (believe me this will be an effort!) I would assume that a protein drink would contain the same amount of protein as something such as chicken, and would be equally good for me to take.

Will also try and eat small 'snacks' and at regular intervals, as you suggested. A steadier supply of food and drink in small short bursts sounds more beneficial than a big meal at once.

Good call on the weight techniques. With most of my weights I can do the first 15 no problem, but the second lot and moreso the third can be an effort, and I usually find myself stopping half way through for a minute before completing a set anyway. So I think most of my weights at the moment are about right. Last time I went I decided to increase the lateral pulldown to 15kg as I found it too easy at 10kg, so already after 3 weeks I've done a little step up. Do you know with the lateral pulldowns, if I'm supposed to be doing them as widely as I can? I understand this helps to really utilise the lats, rather than other parts of my back (that aren't supposed to be used for such an exercise)?

As for sticking to it, I'm really determined to see what I can achieve, and I started the blog so I could help myself carry on going, it'll keep me motivated. Though, I'm concerned next year I won't have much time to go. Final year of uni this September-May next year. But I will MAKE time! And, like you say, in a year's time I will see how far I've come.

Thanks again anyway mate, your post was really helpful.

Sorry for hijacking your thread presto.

[podtog]

An excellent post workout meal that isnt really anygood at other times is Pizza, it crams in a lot of the type of carbs that are prefered post workout along with the protein. You must remember that the body needs the carbs to help fire the protein in.

[John]

Then that's great, I tend to have at least one pizza a week, especially lately!

[andyp]

Good luck wi this Presto!

For a bit of inspiration to the rest of us, you should have posted some before and after pics!

I really want to get fit and bulk up a bit, to help me out with my football... but i just dont seem to have the will to do it and get to the gym!! :mover

[presto]

i have some before picks andy, will put them up if i i can get some good after picks :D

just a note about the weights john - if you want to bulk up, you could consider doing lower reps of higher weight, this is generally more effective for building muscle mass. high reps of light weight are generally more for toning up.

[presto]

a rest day today (monday), i really did feel knackered all day - i was going to force myself to do a bit of cardio, but i realise i should have at least 1 day off a week.

food
1 tin tuna, mayo
1 apple
1 banana
1 tin tuna, chilli oil, 4 cracker bread
1 apple
1 banana
1 mushroom cup a soup
2ltr water
250ml fresh orange

i really was hungry all day, thus the snacking all day. i didn't want to eat too much as i was doing no exercise. so wanted to keep the day at a calorie deficit.

supplements
1 multi vit

[Profit Seeker]

a rest day today (monday), i really did feel knackered all day - i was going to force myself to do a bit of cardio, but i realise i should have at least 1 day off a week.

:yikes: :yikes: You'll need more than that if you want to see maximum growth.

[presto]

i space out the strength training, so that should be enough for the muscles to recover / grow, the cardio dosn't really need any rest periods.

btw - is that sam farhar in your avatar?

[Street cry]

When i was getting big i did 2 hours every other day at 5 oclock then an hour after i had sheadloads of weigh protein .
i went on creatine cycles also liquid creatine that was .
I saw significant gains after two weeks but was hammering heavy weights
small reps and really forcing myself actually hurting myself in honesty so propbably not wise

[John]

just a note about the weights john - if you want to bulk up, you could consider doing lower reps of higher weight, this is generally more effective for building muscle mass. high reps of light weight are generally more for toning up.

Thanks mate, I'll bear that in mind and may suggest it to one of the gym instructors next time I go. Maybe I'm meant to be toning first THEN building, but I've not really got much of an idea, I'm just doing what I was told to do! :) :mover

[Street cry]

Yeah john i guessed your workout is for toning and general fitness a shoulder or chest press for getting bigger would be 50 kg at least i can't see that 5 kg would be doing anything for you on a chest or shoulder press even with loads of reps good luck anyway SC

[John]

50kg. Are you having a laugh! :) There's no way I could move 30kg on the chest or shoulder press mate, let alone 50kg! I'm more or less comfortable with doing 10kg on the chest and 5kg on the shoulder. This is a little struggle for me (shoulder especially) so it must be about right for my strength (little of that!)

To give you an idea I'm 5'9" tall and weigh 8½ stone.

Exactly, you could break me in half. :)

[wiseman33]

Hi john i have ben training for about 18 month now using nautilas machines invented by a guy called arthur jones.i have been getting trained by someone who has quite a range of these in his garage it basically is a very high intensity workout just doing one set per bodypart and about 8 sets per workout training only once a week.i am currently working out once a fortnight and am down to 6 sets for the whole workout and still making gains.it is very high intensity i raise the wieght for 10 seconds and lower for 5 and believe me after the 4th rep it is agony.the guy who trains me is a great believer in training very strict,i have almost doubled my strength on some excersises but i was quite weak when i started.This training was used by 2 famous bodybuilding brothers ray and mike mentzer back in the days of arnold swharzenegers day.any one heard of this type of training.the best advice i have been given is be careful not to overtrain dont do to many sets and more isnt always better for building mass.Am reading your post with interest presto keep it up

Classic x is where you can find out more there is some interesting articles on it Check out Arthur Jones Trains Casey viator i tried to put a link up for this site but not sure how to do it acn anyone advise how to post a link in your posts thanks wisey:wiggle:

[John]

Blimey wiseman, that sounds super-intensive! You must be built like a tank compared to when you started. Nautilas machines are not something I have heard of and I haven't heard of the guy who invented them either. However I'll look into it and see what it's all about, thanks for posting up the information on here. If you're only doing it once a week it must be crippling you? At least, I bet it was at the start and over time your body has grown and thus adjusted; you can cope better with it now I imagine.

I'm tempted to try and increase my weights but I don't want to do too much too soon. Like I said earlier I think most of them are about right for the strength that I have at present. Given that the shoulders are the weakest part of the upper body for most people, I need to concentrate on the shoulder pressing over the others, so I've started to do this straight after my warm up (when I have most energy).

To put a link in your post, click the globe button with the two chain links below it. This pops up a box where you enter the address of the site you want to link to. To change what the text says for the link you can edit the last part of the link just before the [/URL] at the end.

Thanks once again for the info.

[wiseman33]

Yea john at first it was very difficult but i have grown accustomed to it but it still gets harder as am still increasing my wieghts by a small percentage each workout.i am not big by any means but am progressing steadily and having overtrained in the past this works for me.i am quite lucky to have this guy to train me and my mate together as he used to compete in his younger days and is also a chiropractor so if my back goes he can fix it lol:spinning anyway keep it up wisey:wiggle:

[wiseman33]

oh

[wiseman33]

heres that link john got some interesting stuff on about training check out the arthur jones trains casey viator

http://www.drdarden.com

[presto]

cardio today

1X5miles bike
11X3 mins heavy bag (freestyle) :yikes:
9700 steps - pedometer (cheers fade)

took it easier than usual on the heavy bag today, much less intensive. BUT i was enlitened. basically as i was throwing the combo's i started to visualise an opponent and predict the opponents next move, by doing this i realised (much more) the importance of movement. and also effective combinations and the way i threw them. i then started to do the combo's in 'slow motion' after i did them at normal speed. i then started to notice bad habbits - like dropping the left hand when i threw a right hook. i would then remedy the problem in the next combo. i am glad i picked this up early so as not to get used to my bad habbits. i still realise pad work / sparing will be required, but fitness first :) . i also got a free pedometer today so i thaught what the hell - i will give it a go - 10,000 is the reccomended (ye - who by and what for :rolleyes: ) number of steps to do a day. so 9,700 since 12pm (ok i am normally only awake for 1 hour by that time) but i still have about an hours worth of walking in me today :) - and it's not bad for someone who sits on his :butthead: all day :)

food
all bran breckie bar
apple
can of veggy soup
sweet and sour chicken with boiled rice.
2ltr water
200ml fresh orange

the SnS chicken is not healthy at all, neither was the boiled white rice :( - but my sister came home from uni, and it was like a rare family meal. i drained off a bit of the sauce though.

supplements
creatine
multi vit
ZMA

want to be fully recovered from the heavybag for some weights tommorow, so the creatine + ZMA.

[podtog]

Nice one Presto, I got to the stage Boxing and Thai Boxing where I was Bxing without thinking too much especially Thai boxing and it felt good, just getting in the ring and everything flowed, trouble was my stamina used to let me down, give it a couple of rounds and if I hadnt won it by then I was in trouble, a mate I used to train with knew this and stayed out of my way till I was Knackered and then just picked me off, should have jacked the ciggys years ago :( , wasnt too bad Thai boxing though, I had very flexible legs and could keep most at a good distance. Must have come in usefull though as the last street fight (5 years ago) I had I became friends with the lad eventually and he reckoned I was a right pain in the ::swear::swear::swear::swear to fight because he couldnt barely touch me :). Anyway Ive got 45 minutes and Im of to the gym.

[Profit Seeker]

btw - is that sam farhar in your avatar?

It is indeed. A great character.


I saw significant gains after two weeks but was hammering heavy weights
small reps and really forcing myself actually hurting myself in honesty so propbably not wise

Anybody weight trainer not in agony at some points isn't after much gain :yikes:

it is very high intensity i raise the wieght for 10 seconds and lower for 5 and believe me after the 4th rep it is agony.

The method I've studied suggests 2 seconds raising weight/positive, and double the time lowering/negative, a theory that the negative side of the rep has more gain somehow. I think the main thing is being totally tensed throughout, with all non participating muscles completely realxed. That lot combined with breathing, counting and timing makes for a helluva lot to concentrate on! Technique and concentration is as important as any other part of the whole plan. So many weight trainers cheat without probably even realising it. The strange thing though with the method I've read up on, is that there are no multiple sets, only one set of each excercise, simple to the point where you can no longer go on. Trouble is, with most of the excercises, upon reaching complete failure, the weights are going to fall to the ground or on top of you! :doh

[presto]

strength today

barbell - 30kg
3X5 shoulder press
3X5 bent over rows

dumbell - 4kg ea
3X8 flys
3X8 lats
3X10 curls

pedometer - a lousy 3000

food
2 poached eggs on wholegrain bread
roast lamb - plenty of brocoli
1 protein shake***
1 pint milk
200ml orange
2ltr water

supplements
creatine
40gr whey protein
1 multi vit
ZMA

[Profit Seeker]

Is that your food for the whole day??

[presto]

Is that your food for the whole day??

yup - well i had an apple aswell. - the protein shake is basically a full meal - which i took after the workout, the 40g of protein should be enough for muscle growth.

[andyp]

I read somewhere, that if you are serious about bulking up you have to convert your bodyweight in kg to g and eat that + more in protein!!

So if you weigh 80 kg, convert this to 80g and you need to be consuming 80g + to get close to bulking up. Anyone know if this is true?

[John]

Where abouts do you buy your protein drinks from Presto? Cos I wanna buy some.

Someone told me a place called Holland & Barrats but I'm not sure where it is in town, or if it's a chain or not.

I bought four fillets of chicken earlier :spinning if I put two in the fridge, is it maximum of 2 days I have to consume it before I can no longer eat it? Gotta be careful with chicken I know...

[presto]

i usually get my stuff from affordable supplements (http://www.affordablesupplements.co.uk/ns/default.asp) .
the goods always arive on time (usuallu 2-3 days). and the prices are competetive. - have a look at the 'reflex' brand, i have been impressed by all there products.
i use the 'reflex' - progen MRP for the protein shake - its a full meal replacement with lots of added extra goodies. tastes great aswell - though quite pricey. but not so bad as i only use 2 a week.
i also use the multi vit 'nexgen' from reflex.
and the creatine XXL matrix from them again.

holland and barret is a high street shopping chain - i have checked there online site, which was a bit limited so not really impressed by them.

[presto]

i have also heard that andy, i think that is the scientific way of looking at it. i think the simplest thing when bulking is to eat plenty of good food and train hard.

[John]

Cheers once again Presto.

There's loads on that website! Are they all a bit much of a muchness?

A work mate gave me some, think it's called PROMAX EXTREME... haven't taken any yet but you're supposed to take it three times a day. I feel a bit of a :icon_tong taking that stuff at work though.

[Littlegaz]

I read somewhere, that if you are serious about bulking up you have to convert your bodyweight in kg to g and eat that + more in protein!!

So if you weigh 80 kg, convert this to 80g and you need to be consuming 80g + to get close to bulking up. Anyone know if this is true?
Lots of theory on this Andy, but most of it leading to the same conclusion - ie get lots of protein. I think that the current common consensus is that 1.4g of protein for every Kg of bodyweight is optimal, anything above that is filtered out by the kidneys and peed away (and, potentially damaging to the kidneys in the longer term.)

A work mate gave me some, think it's called PROMAX EXTREME... haven't taken any yet but you're supposed to take it three times a day. I feel a bit of a :icon_tong taking that stuff at work though.
Promax Extreme is good but pricey. Comes from Maximuscle (I don't have the link to hand, but Google will get you there edit - their stuff is included in the site Presto linked above, and at good prices) - very reputable and, in my experience, reliable. The stuff you have is the top of the range, and their cheaper alternative (just "Promax") is still pretty good.

If you're looking for strength and bulk though, their "Cyclone" is the best supplement I've ever used. It's a combination of the same whey protein in their Promax products, plus creatine, GABA and some others all in one product. Not particularly cheap, but it's designed to be used only in two-month cycles so you don't need to be buying it year-round.

AND - Presto's spot on with the higher weights/lower reps thing. Once you're happy with form and technique, aim to get the weights up and the reps down to no more than 10 per set, and preferably 6 to 8.

Good thread Presto!

[John]

Excellent Gaz, thanks!

I wasn't really sure if I should be taking it as I don't know how all that stuff works and what effect it has my body. For example will it make me sleepy or anything? I don't want to be on steroids or anything!

It sounds safe enough though and if it's top of the range body supplement then I better start taking it fast.

Starting... Monday... as it's at work! Had today off and off tomorrow too. :D

[Littlegaz]

Promax or any other protein supplement shouldn't have any unwanted side effects. Cyclone may give you a "bloated" feeling, but it's temporary and worth it for the gains that come with it.

[presto]

whey protein is perfectly safe, no side effects - well sometimes terrible wind in the morning if you take lots - late on. :spinning

as for side effects - i tried some 'bulgarian tribulus' on a reccomendation from a friend once, who was a bit of a gym rat, who said it would help sleep and build strength. that stuff is strong as hell (well it was for me - i read a lot of stuff saying it is usless). well it did help build strength and i did sleep better. but (as it 'supposodly' increases testosterone levels) i just wanted to go on a mad killing spree with a giant axe, as i started to get a bit of a 'rage' from nowhere. also i couldn't even look at a female without getting extremely aroused (more than usual :) ) the right wrist got one hell of a workout when i was on this stuff :rolleyes: :laugh - i even cried during films for no reason
:cryer
i couldn't stick with this stuff for more than a few days, even on the minimal dose.

[John]

:laugh :laugh

Cheers guys.

[presto]

cardio today

2X5miles bike
5 mins boxing (hand strengthening)
7400 steps

right for a big lad i have girl hands :( there soft and week, so after watching a program about some gung-fu master, and how he hit's a big wooden block 100 times a day to strenghten his hands (his knuckles looked like a set of knuckle dusters) - i just had to have a try :) the logic behind it seems sound enough - bone only strengthens with trauma (que the science bit). it's probably not wise and i wont go to too much extreme. in fact i doupt i will bother again - the boxing should be enough.

food

porridge, honey
ham sandwich, english mustard
apple
chicken curry, boiled rice.

- went easy on the curry sauce and rice.

supplements
multi vit

[Profit Seeker]

Pro max £26.99 on ebay incl delivery...cheapest I've found.

Smashing your knuckles up will do you no favours when you're older, only old masters who have chi flowing round their body down to a fine art can get away with it. Open handed palm strikes are considered more powerful and alot safer than punches these days, saves you and leaves less marks on your adversary, on the street that is, obviously sport wise gloves are involved. Just get one of those grip masters for hand strength.

[presto]

cardio today

11X3 mins boxing
6200 steps
just cardio boxing today, throwing 'soft' punches non stop for 3 mins rounds.

food
beef salad sandwich
2 bananas
lamb, potatoes, mint sauce, gravy

wasn't too hungry today.

supplements
multi vit

..................................................
have to say i am getting rather dissalusioned with this. 7 weeks of much better exercise and a much better diet and no results to speak of - i havn't lost any weight at all, nor have i gained any strength. ok the strength is not really an issue at the moment but not losing any weight is just pathetic. i just don't know why this is - 7 weeks on a calorie defecit diet combinned with 30mins cardio 5 days a week for :censored: all. i know this isn't an overnight thing but - come on. - i had the same results scoffing burgers and fries whashed down with pepsi sat on my :butthead: watching the computer / TV all day.

possibly going to add some equiptment soon - to add variety.

[John]

Keep at it mate. :)

I know it's difficult and it always takes longer than you think, but if you keep doing it and doing it eventually you will see the results. Try different combinations of your workouts, say, for 2 weeks forget about weights altogether and have a fitness frenzy fortnight. Go out for a run too while the weather is a bit nicer. Also it might just seem a lot to me but you do still appear to be eating quite a lot. It's a good diet that you have been following though mate but maybe try to make it a little smaller... it might just be me seeing it as a large diet though as I don't usually tend to have much of an appetite.

What's your metabolism like? Obviously if it's low it will be more difficult for you to lose weight, but again eating a variety of quality food at the correct quantities should hopefully see some difference.

Maybe the muscle supplements you're taking is having an effect causing you not to lose weight as easily? Perhaps because it is piling on and strengthening the muscles you have been exercising - it might be making up for the fat you're losing elsewhere, thus balancing you out to the same equilibrium. Other than that you could just starve yourself. It works, although isn't really recommended as it doesn't really do you any good. I'm just thinking out aloud here and trying to put some ideas across that may help.

Think I'll stop there though, hope I've helped a bit.

[John]

Have to say also, I haven't noticed a difference in myself yet, however it has only been one month. I haven't been weighed since I started either but I bet I haven't gained anything. I just ache 24/7 now, I hope this gym lark is working!

[presto]

cheers john, will keep it up.
i don't think the food's too bad, i tend only to eat small portions of the unhealthy stuff (and i am around 2X your weight john :yikes: ).

the creatine can cause bloating, but i only use 2 scoops a week on strength days, so i can't see it being that either :( .

i probably will change the routine around a little, maybe alternate cardi / strength days - so i get a lot more strength training in - as the extra muscle will burn more calories. and maybe drop the evening meal on strength days in favour of a protein shake.

i have some 'ephedrine' (strong stuff) which will help the metabolism.
i was reluctant to start using this stuff (in a e/c/a stack - ephedrine / caffine / aspirin)

[podtog]

Presto, Muscle is heavier than fat, so although you still weigh roughly the same you could have gained muscle and lost the fat, I would seriously consider doing either the heavy stuff or the high rep cardio stuff in cycles, maybe 8 week cycles for strength and 4 for cardio, at least you will see gains on both sides of the cylcle and go all out for a few weeks on each cycle to the point of exhaustion, if your not bothered by the strenght too much and want to strip down then go hell for leither on your cardio to start and vice verse. By mixing the two you are limiting progress in each aspect, dont just stop at your pre-determined reps, always push for more or more weight till it hurts and you cant get that last one up, then rest 2 or 3 minutes and give it another go and another, works for me but we all respond differently. Keep trying till you find what works for you and always push for more till your muscles are crying, after doing this intensively for 4-6 weeks always take it easy for 2 weeks just doing lighter stuff it gives your body chance to re-cuperate and grow, and then start again mixing your routine up a bit.

[podtog]

Try supersets, going from one exercise straight into another and a 3rd with no rest, then rest and start again, this will leave you really burning but progress can be swift.

[podtog]

I once used to go to gym where there was this lad trained for 3 years while I was there and he never grew in that time because he would do exactly the same routine all the time, never changing it or pushing himself that little bit harder, he was quite fit and strong but he couldnt understand why he couldnt push more or why he didnt grow and you could never tell him either, he was always within his limits and so the old saying goes, "No Pain No Gain" is very true.

[podtog]

John, keep the good work mate, couldnt help but pick up on you picking up about maybe Presto eating a lot :geek , Presto isnt eating that much but I think he wants to strip down anyway, the point Im making is if Presto,s eating too much then what are you eating ?, If I recall your a tall Lad and if you want to gain weight with training then you need to be eating a lot more than Presto is, it sounds like you have a high metabolism anyway so if you eat less then your gains will be pretty slow, its only a forwarning, but to grow you will definately need to increase your food intake, remember small and regular :wink .

[huckabuck]

[QUOTE=John]Where abouts do you buy your protein drinks from Presto? Cos I wanna buy some.

Someone told me a place called Holland & Barrats but I'm not sure where it is in town, or if it's a chain or not.

I bought four fillets of chicken earlier :spinning if I put two in the fridge, is it maximum of 2 days I have to consume it before I can no longer eat it? Gotta be careful with chicken I know...[/QUOTE

john,try MYPROTEIN.CO.UK. you wont find cheaper.you can buy in bulk,
its what i do and save a lot more.you can make up your on drinks/flavours.
they do not use aspatame for flavour all natural.
they have the new creatine in tablet form (cee) you dont have to load up
with it,cost more but far better than normal creatine.
huck

[John]

Firstly about that lad Potdog, the lad that trained for 3 years and didn't grow... that's what I'm fearing, because my intake is less than presto's you see and also as you pointed out my metabolism is sky high. So obviously growth will take longer and I imagine I won't be able to do it without some kind of muscle supplement (thanks for the link Huckabuck :))

So, another thing - should I be pushing myself to do more than my 3x15 reps on each machine? Or should I just stick rigidly to that? I have increased the weights on a couple of the machines (see blog in my signature) but LittleGaz and a couple of others on here have said to try and up the weight and do less reps, that's what will make more of a difference.

I am endeavouring to eat more I really am, but I can only eat what I can eat, my body will only take what it can take. Small and regular is the key though, I know I need to eat smaller portions more regularly, not making excuses here but I'm visioning that to be difficult whilst I'm still working full time (not long left now though :)) I don't eat breakfast for example, rubbish at getting out of bed on time and I should get up earlier to allow time for breakfast. I really have something, even if it's just say an apple! I should have something before I leave the house.

Thanks for all your help!

Anyway, I'm starving hungry now so I'm off to grab something to eat. :)

[huckabuck]

hi presto,heres my diet if its any help to you:)
6.30am
300ml water with 30g whey powder.5grams of L Glutamine (amino acid) mixed.
7.30am
60g organic oats,mixed with water and semi skimmed milk organic
15g of whey mixed in oats.
4 boiled egg whites and 1 yolk organic
500ml water mixed with 1000mg vit c. 1 tablet flaxseed oil 1000mg (omega 3)
1 tab super epa fish oil 1000mg (omega 3) 30mg coenzyme Q-10
2 tabs odourless garlic 1000mg
1 tab L-CARNITINE 500mg vital role in fat metabolism by making fatty acids
available for energy. 6 amino acid tablets
10.00am
300ml water 30 g whey
1.00pm
1 tin tuna with light mayo 1 table spoon
1 wholemeal pitta bread. salad. 6 amino acid tab. 1 l carnitine. 500ml water
3.30pm
400ml water 30g whey .5 g l glutamine.50g malodextrin (carbs) 1 hour before
training,i only take this in my drink on training days.
2 organic rice cakes (no added salt)
1 ltr of water during training
straight after training
400ml water 40g whey. 5 g l glutamine. 50g maltodextrin(only on training days) 1 apple. 1 tablet (cee) 500mg
dinner
baked chicken breast(no skin)or tuna steaks
50g boiled rice,or 2 pitta breads. vergy or salad.olives. 1 flaxseed.1 epa fish
oil. 30mg coenzyme Q-10.l carnitine 1 tab. 6 amino acids tabs
500ml water with 1000mg vit c
before bed
300ml water 30g whey. 5g l glutamine

inbetween 3 cups of decaff tea no sugar:rolleyes:

[huckabuck]

john,try this in your protein drink for bulking up

250ml water. 250ml semi skimmed milk. 30g whey powder

1 table spoon peanut butter. 1 table spoon honey.

1 greenish banana

blend together for about 1 min:wink

[John]

That's some diet you've got going on there! Do you keep to that diet every single day? I'm not sure how many different supplements you take with your meals there but there appears to be quite a few. How long have you been training and have you noticed a difference in this time?

Cheers for the protein drink additions - would whole milk be better though? I drink whole milk at the moment because it's fattier than semi skimmed and also contains more calcium.

[John]

because my intake is less than presto's you see and also as you pointed out my metabolism is sky high.

I do think though, that I eat more than my body has to show for it. I had a chinese last night though and I'm not sure I should be eating things like that, but like you said on the other thread, everything is good to eat if I want to bulk up... how many calories would there be in chicken fried rice and sweet/sour chicken balls?

[huckabuck]

hi john,
you are better with water/semi skimmed milk.full fat milk slows the intake
of whey and more goes to waste. with water its in your system in 15 minutes.
but it tastes like cr@p with water,a lot of people cannot drink it like this.
but i am used to it.
been training for years and used to compete in shows.

with the diet: when i am down to the weight i want ill start having junk
on a sat night,a curry etc.if i have a drink ill have low carb beers or drink
white spirits like vodka/diet coke.then have a pizza etc on a sunday night,
no more than 2 days on junk,5 days clean.
just back training six weeks after being of for several months,my father had
cancer and died ten weeks ago and i was on the drink for 2 long.just getting
my act back together

[wiseman33]

Interesting thread presto i have just watched some of your links om MMA i am a fan of the UFC.Just watched rampage jackson he is a bad a** is he still fighting i havent seen him before.Did you see the matt Hughes Gracie Fight cheers wisey:wiggle:

[presto]

rampage fights for 'pride' - a japanese organasion much like the UFC but he has since been dropped, rumour has it that he will will now go on and fight in the UFC, he will probably fight chuck again. he's not so bad :butthead: now though - as he turned 'born again christian'. it's a shame we don't get to see 'pride' in the UK as it is thaught by many to be far superior to the UFC in terms of it's fighters. andre arlovski is a good example - he is the greatest heavyweight in the UFC (still rated above tim sylvia) yet world wide only ranked 6th.

i saw the hughes / gracie fight - it's just a shame he got dominated like that - but just goes to show how MMA has evolved. the shamrock / ortiz fight scheduled for the next UFC event i also feel will show this - when ken gets his :butthead: kicked again.

[wiseman33]

Yea i think shamrock will get his :butthead: kicked as well but im not convinced tito is the force he once was,he went 3 rounds in his last fight against forest griffin and he looked a bit knackered but maybe he was a bit rusty i just think things have moved on since tito was last champion.also agree about arlovski i think he will dominate slyvia this time.i think gracie might be better dropping down a weight matt hughes is certainly a dominent force he seems so strong at his wieght.Have you done any martlial arts yourself?

[presto]

the problem with royce now is - his natural fighting weight is 180lbs and hughes fights @ 170lbs, gracie couldn't make the 170lbs so they had to make it a 175lbs matchup. so if he can't make the 170lbs he will have to fight @ 185lbs against bigger opponents than hughes as i doupt the UFC will keep making special matches for the benefit of gracie.

never done any martial arts myself, though i have always been into it - well mainly the films and have always wanted to step into the ring. so thats why this thread came about - getting into fighting shape :)

[presto]

strength today

barbell - 30kg
4X5 curls
4X5 shoulder press
4X5 bent over rows

these wers super sets - curls / press / rows one after the other no rest in between.

dumbell - 8kg ea
4X10 bench press
4X10 flys
4X10 lats

the lats / flys were also done in super sets.

spured on by my failure - i decided to up the work today, the barbell super sets absolutely killed me, and i added the bench press (more a floor press) with the dumbells.

i have now decided to concentrate more on strength for the time being, and will do 3 strength workouts a week from now on. i will also be upping the weight next saturday.

food
porridge, honey
apple
protein shake X2
burger X 2 onions

the burgers were propper butchers ones - 19gram protein 7gram fat 4 gram carbs, though i cooked most of the fat out and dabbed with kitchen roll to remove most of this, it also packs a lot of protein which i was after on a strength day.

supplements
multi vit
creatine
protein shake
trib

the creatine was taken during the barbell workout followed by 1/2 - 20gram of protein from the shake, i then had a 30 min rest before doing the dumbell workout after which i consumed the rest of the shake. despite the side effects of the trib i gave it a go, no side effects today,

[orientalexpress]

Just thought id say girls mess up your routine , or it did to me
At one point 11 months ago i was benching

75KG 10 reps
80KG 8 reps
90Kg about 2 reps,

today i cant even do bench 75Kg at 5 reps properly(need a spotter)
I use to be much fitter and stronger. Feels like i wasted all the training and money just to be back at square one.
I was all loved up, you get lazy cause all you want to do is see the girl etc so dont let girls mess you up.

anyways been training properly for the last 2 weeks now .
At least 3 times a week, and from now on no girl is messing me up !!!::swear

[Merlin]

nice one,
i think my hands still need toughening up :( plenty of padding on my 12oz gloves - but my hands still shake for at least an hour after a good session, though they my knuckles are not bruising / reddening as much as they used too - recovering quicker aswell.

You should piss on your hands once a day mate.....:yikes:.....soon toughen up.......

[Street cry]

You wanna wear a pair of 10 0z cletos :spinning bbe gloves are generally quite soft presto and don't offer too much protection are you wearing wraps ?

[presto]

You should piss on your hands once a day mate.....:yikes:.....soon toughen up.......

are you taking the ........... :doh piss merl :)
although that would take care of the 'girls messing you up' problem - just a shame i never seem to get that problem.

yup - am wearing wraps, they are toughening up quite a bit - so i just reckon it's a matter of time till my soft girl hands turn into propper 'chuck norris' hands - GRRRRRR :)

[presto]

sunday - rest day today

was really dissapointed in myself today, the family were having a full english, but i was there misrably sticking to my porridge :( - however some was saved for me, and i just couldn't resist :( - i also had a few potato wedges and 2 spring rolls, which arnt particulary healthy food. bugger all exercise and some unhealthy eating - but i suppose one of these days a week can't be too bad, and provides much needed rest.

[Street cry]

"baby knuckles" doesn't take long to get over just be careful and don't throw hard punches i never throw hard punches on the bag

[John]

Don't worry about it Presto, onwards and upwards! One meal won't have much of an effect on the overall outcome, it's when you do it 4-5 times a week!

Just brought home the tub of Promax Extreme from work, and had my first dabble.

30g of it mixed with water was pretty foul, but bearable. Added some orange juice to sweeten up the taste... still pretty foul but a bit more bearable if I don't smell it.

How I'm gonna drink this stuff 3 times a day is beyond me.

[presto]

that does sound pretty nasty john - you should try it with milk. as you are bulking anyway the extra calories from the milk will be benificial. to save on it - you could just use it after workous - thats when the muscles need the protein the most, but if you are bulking then it's probably good for inbetween meals.

[John]

Cheers Presto, yeah I've had a workout tonight and had some of this straight after. Still got the final few gulps left in the cup to go... :( it's neverending! It's 93% whey isolate so I'm guessing it's pretty much the same as whey anyway. I don't think I'm gonna take it 3 times a day, just after a workout and before I go to bed (usually though, after a workout is the same as just before going to bed).

[presto]

strength today

barbell 30kg
3X5 shoulder press
3X5 bent over rows

dumbell 2X8kg
3X8 flys
3X8 lats
3X10 curls

not quite recovered from saturday - so these were a little laboured

food
porridge, honey
checken salad wrap
chicken escallop with 1/2 tin corn
tin of tuna - some mayo
400ml still lemon
2ltr water

plenty of protein there, the tin of tuna was after the 2nd workout - did the dumbells / barbels seperately, and as we were running low on milk - this was a replacement for the protein shake.

supps
multi vit
creatine
trib
zma

[Merlin]

are you taking the ........... :doh piss merl :)
although that would take care of the 'girls messing you up' problem - just a shame i never seem to get that problem.

yup - am wearing wraps, they are toughening up quite a bit - so i just reckon it's a matter of time till my soft girl hands turn into propper 'chuck norris' hands - GRRRRRR :)

No kidding....... A boxer needs both tough and supple hands......

Peeing on your hands will help to stop your skin from splitting....also worth occasionally rubbing/massaging salt directly onto your hands....particularly after/during bathing....

A former trainer of mine (donkeys years ago)........and former World Champion to boot.....swore by it......all the old timers used to do it:yikes:

[Street cry]

John , i got the best results from a product called boditek muscle up protein drink with creatin , Mix it up in a blender with skimmed milk and a bit of milkshake mix and it is just like a thick milkshake that will get you bulked in no time .

[sparkyminer]

You should piss on your hands once a day mate.....:yikes:.....soon toughen up.......
We pee on our pit boots when they're new to make the leather more supple.:wink :)

[sparkyminer]

, and as we were running low on milk -
If you ran to the shops everday and carried all this stuff back you'd be one of the fittest people on the planet.:D

[Street cry]

Presto don't take too much protein or you might have to rename thread PRESTO WORKS OUT LOG :butthead: :yikes:
:hoho: :hoho: :hoho: :hoho: :hoho: :hoho: :hoho:

[John]

John , i got the best results from a product called boditek muscle up protein drink with creatin , Mix it up in a blender with skimmed milk and a bit of milkshake mix and it is just like a thick milkshake that will get you bulked in no time .

Nice one SC thanks! I'll look into that. Don't have a blender though, can I mix it with a fork/whisk it?

[Street cry]

Yeah but its lumpy buy a cheap electric hand whisk it's worth it

[presto]

day 13 / 14

2 'rest days', not gone overboard wioth the food - keeping it quite healthy, but day 14 was a get pissed day :D - plenty of sugar from alcohol, so thats got to go down as a bad day for the workout plan :( - also my 'summer shirts' are rather tight on me now :( so that was a good example of how much weight i have put on :( over the last year.

[presto]

been a bit lazy :(
been keeping the diet quite good, but somehow (i havnt a clue how), i managed to hurt my right hand (when drunk) - it just fealt like i had backhanded a steel post :( - so been unable to lift any weights - should be ok for tommorow though.

[John]

i managed to hurt my right hand (when drunk)

I wonder who'll be the first to make a joke about that. :laugh

I was meant to go the gym today but couldn't be :butthead: - far too hot and I was sweating just sat around at home.

[presto]

wonder who'll be the first to make a joke about that.

i probably shouldn't mention that a good portion of the night was spent in a strip club either :peeky

but i have no idea how it happened as i cant remember doing anything that could have hurt it, and i was typing on here till 5am :rolleyes: - i even checked my pant's to see if i had fallen over.

your right about the temperature though, sitting at the computer is like being in a sauna.

[John]

Come on monkey!

Get lifting! :D

[presto]

will get ack to it soon john. problem is my weighs room has been turned back into a bedroom (full of crap) now my sister's back from uni.

[John]

I know exactly how you feel mate.

When my sister used to do the 'return from uni' thing I had to give the PC up most afternoons. You know what that meant didn't you? Yep, no betting. ;fire

[samantha1303]

Presto - you don't seem to be eating much???

I've never understood these supplements.
Why can't you just eat something containing carbs or protein rather than taking these?

[andyp]

Sam, i have been working out lately and i have read on several different sites that for each kg in weight you weigh, you should eat 2g of protein, in order to bulk up.

Yesterday, i ate loads of protein based foods (which where quite healthy) and was still about 45g of protein from my target. A protein shake would supplement this!

Also, some people dont have the time to cook a healthy meal all the time due to work commitments etc, so a protein shake is a quick alternative option.

Hope this explains. :)

[presto]

been a sloppy 2 weeks rest period, - poor diet, and no exercise. but getting my stuff back together now, moved the weights into my bedroom (where there is hardly anywhere for them to go), and have started to set targets for myself now.

strength training:

1X3 shoulder press
1X3 curls
1X3 bent over rows

slapped another 10KG onto the bar :yikes: now upto 40KG which was a big step up in weight 33% extra. i could just about manage to do 5X5 with 30kg, so wasn't expecting to do much with the extra 10KG's - however i could only manage 1X3 on the shoulder press which was rather unbalanced. 1X3 on the curls - these were terrible form and involved a bit of leaning back (bad form). the bent over rows were fine though.

it would have been far more sensible to increase by 5KG at a time, however i had 2 spare 5KG plates, and to use these would be far more convenient than swapping the 2.5kg's on the dumbell every so often.

even though i struggled (badly) with this weight i will carry on with it. my first goal to be set will be to do 5X5 sets of 40KG by the end of july (around 5 weeks). it's a hard target but that will be my aim.

[John]

Good to see you back in action mate! Was beginning to think you'd jacked it in. But I'm pleased you're proving me wrong!

Don't expect massive improvements with the shoulder press as it's one of the hardest of the lot - your shoulders are the most complexly structured part of your body and also you don't really use your shoulders to push anything up in every day life so thus they are also weak in comparison to elsewhere. But with continued good form you'll get the gains in weight amount here (like I am also hoping I get, eventually, but for now I'm staying on 5kg).

Sam, I can see your point about the protein supplements. However let's say you're trying to intake 200g protein per day. It's very hard to do that with pure solid food, as your hunger rush will only last so long between meals and also your stomach can only take so much food. So having a protein drink which gives you the equivalent amount of protein as say, 2 chicken breasts could give you, is much easier to consume because it isn't food. So it's easier to drink say 5 glasses of protein drink (a normal 30g serving would get you 150g over 5 drinks) and still be hungry.

[Street cry]

You can have some of my weight john absoulutely piling it on since i gave up boxing , gonna have to do something soon as its not gonna be pretty

[John]

Cheers SC!

How about £1 per stone you want to give away? :D

[presto]

got a new pair of 10kg plates, so banged them on the barbell up to 40kg - couldn't budge the bloody thing

that was 4 weeks ago - today i persevered with the 40KG's :)

3X3 - shoulder press
5X5 - bent over rows

fealt prety competent with the extra weight today :) soon it will be back to the 5X5's.

also cooking for myself for the next week (parents on holiday). so this is a good time to get back into my routine. made myself a stir fry tonight with plenty of veg and chicken :)

[presto]

been thinking about getting a multigym :yikes: - i hear the groans.
but am not entirely sure about it.

my aim is fighting fitness and effective strength, as it has been all along. and i know a machine does not offer the same 'effective power' as free weights (due to the balancing muscles used with free weights). so first thaughts were to dismiss the idea of a home multi gym.
however:
i do beleive it could be used in conjunction with free weights for an effective workout. they also offer quite a wide range of exercises that i cannot do with current resources:- lat pulldown, leg exercises, chest press etc....

i know a good bench / cage would be better - for squats / bench press. however they would probably be wasted due to the fact i hate squats and am not keen on bench pressing either.

was looking at this one - multigym (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3354416/Trail/C%24cip%3D36237.Sports%2Band%2Bleisure%3EC%24cip%3D36317.Home%2Bgym%2Bequipment%3EC%24cip%3D36323.Multi%2Bgyms.htm)

[Street cry]

thats similar to mine mate got a vfit herculean trainer with add ons most effective exercise for boxing is shoulder extension and lat pull so make sure you can do those squat thrust equally important

[presto]

will probably end up getting on then.
and as for the squats, one day i will get round to them. :rolleyes:

barbell - 40kg
3X3 - shoulder press
5X5 - bent over rows

dumbell - 8kg ea
10X3 curls
10X3 flys
10X3 lats

having a bit of a problem with the curls, the barbell is a bit too heavy and the dumbells are way to light. there not an important part of the routine though so will probably drop them, maybe replace them with barbell shrugs (shoulder).

food:
red thai vegetable curry with paprika chicken.
low fat yoghurt.

supps:
ZMA
biotest - alpha male
multi vit
enrage - pre workout
2 lots of whey with milk

may aswell put up a supplement review thread.

[podtog]

The machines are good and can work parts that are otherwise difficult to work, I use free weights for the majority of my workouts but I do mix with the machines, if you can afford it then go for it but if you are,nt getting the right weights for your free weights Id invest there first, fitness can be achieved far quicker with free weights though in my experience.

[podtog]

Also the best exercise you can probably perform which too many people neglect are the squats, I say neglect because everyone wants to look good in a T-Shirt and so spends most of their time working the upper body, what they dont realise is that the squats are so labour intensive and put huge demands on ALL of the body that they actually have a kind of Anabolic effect on all parts, just think how much your body is fully giving everything when you perform this exercise, you will devolop power and strenght throughout.

[presto]

hurt my back, so not lifted for a while :( also hurt a muscle in my left arm so will see tommorow if i am able to lift. kept the diet clean though.

[presto]

started to cut now.

weights:
10X3 8KG ea

dumbell
hammer curls
shoulder press
lats
flys

10X1 - 20kg
barbell
squats
curls
reverse curls

more reps - lower weight. this truly was hell with the temperature as it is, sitting down brings me out in a sweat. so any physical work and i was just dripping with it.

was glad i decided to do the squats, even with only 20kg's i can deffinately feel them working in my legs today.

................

food:
lunch - chicken breast, cooked in small ammount of olive oil.
snack - small handfull of un-salted cashew nuts.
dinner - sweetcorn, chicken in breadcrums

[presto]

been a pretty terrible last few days. been out on 2 serious marathon sessions on the pop, along with pizza. so the bad calorie intake must be huge this week :(

just did the 6 rounds on the heavy bag on thursday.
- in which i managed to puke up about a gallon flurescent bile, no doupt something to do with the night before.
was quite impressed though with managing the full 6 rounds after puking after 30 seconds :rolleyes:

i also got my first 'fight' arranged. ok it was a drunken agreement with an old mate. but a fight's a fight and i am going to really prepare for this - even though it's now only 7 days off :yikes: , but i may be able to bend the rules more in my favour, and maybe ask for another weeks preperation.

he has been boxing a good number of years. but is giving up a fair bit of weight.

this next week is going to just be cardio.

[Profit Seeker]

Why do I get the feeling you'll get flattened? :D Or are you experienced yourself?

[presto]

that may well be the case PS, if i was a betting man ( :doh ) i know who i would have my cash on :yikes: . i have no experience myself so this will be a baptism of fire.
i have nothing to lose though, not exactly a pretty boy, and the front teeth were KO a long time ago. :D

[John]

Nothing to lose? An arm... a leg... :D

[Street cry]

sheve your head now absolutely bald then come fight night it will be nice and bristly to stick in his eyes:wink

[presto]

got a number 1 haircut. but going to wear a head guard - maybee with a bit of barbed wire wrapped round :doh

i just hope he's not getting the same advice :yikes: :)

[presto]

been terrible for the past month :ermmm missed a few days and then just let things slip, but got my multi-gym today so going to get back into it this week. as soon as i can built the dam thing - looks like it's going to be a pain to set up.

[Street cry]

they are a pain to set up took me 6 hrs but i am a moro so you'll probably do it in 2 or less did u have that fight ??? i am sparring with a kick boxer at the mo and dont really reckon it kicks are very slow can see em a mile off hope u get in shape again soon

[presto]

the fight sort of fell through, still one for the future though.
i have an instructional vid from a kickboxer / vale tudo fighter - 'vitor belfort' who basically says the same about the kicks - too slow. but usually a boxer tend's to struggle a bit - due to the boxers stance (leading leg tend's to be open to a kick) as opposed to a vale tudo fighter who tends to have a more squared stance.
cheers for the support and good luck with the sparing.

[Street cry]

Squared stance protecting from the sweep is needed but all kick boxers seem to leave the torso wide open winded my mate several times ha ha .
What sort of gym have you got have you got a link ??

[sparkyminer]

Squared stance protecting from the sweep is needed but all kick boxers seem to leave the torso wide open winded my mate several times ha ha .

They have to use their arms to counteract the momentum from the swinging leg, so as you say SC, if you see the kick coming just step inside and get them in the bread basket. Ouch.:laugh

[presto]

it's this one SC multigym (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3354416.htm)

[Street cry]

Similar to mine
http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/product_info.asp?prdID=6575

make sure you use the right bolts i did the 1st halfg thinking ooooh these bolts are nice and long and then realised the left overs were no good ie not long enough ha ha good luck

[presto]

will try and make sure i use the right bolts - but theres so many of them :yikes:
don't have a good record of home assembly either, - last big thing i had to assemble was a flat-pack bed, which didn't exactly go to plan and saw me drill a couple of extra holes, whittle down some dowles and had some leftovers that i shouldn't have :ermmm - but it's still standing 2 years later.

[presto]

well so far it's taken 11/2 hours to bolt 5 pieces of metal together :mad:
i wouldn't mind but 45 mins was unsucessfully trying to get 1 bolt in ;fire - due to a serious design flaw.

11
11-----------------
11]].................0
11-----------------
11
11
11
11

the instructions - well you can guess how much use they are :rolleyes:
but you are meant to bolt, one piece of tubular steel to the other. the diagram may not be that great, but the bolt is just pops through but how you are ment to secure the nut is just not fesable - there is a small 1 inch hole 4inch or so away from the bolt, you can't reach the bolt with your fingers to put the nut on - and the horisontal bar is blocked inside (also 2 foot long) so can't get at it from taht angle either. ;fire

[John]

but it's still standing 2 years later.

That's a long time for you to go without sex. :laugh

[presto]

That's a long time for you to go without sex. :laugh
i havn't actually had any in that bed yet :yikes:

[Merlin]

well so far it's taken 11/2 hours to bolt 5 pieces of metal together :mad:
i wouldn't mind but 45 mins was unsucessfully trying to get 1 bolt in ;fire - due to a serious design flaw.

11
11-----------------
11]].................0
11-----------------
11
11
11
11

the instructions - well you can guess how much use they are :rolleyes:
but you are meant to bolt, one piece of tubular steel to the other. the diagram may not be that great, but the bolt is just pops through but how you are ment to secure the nut is just not fesable - there is a small 1 inch hole 4inch or so away from the bolt, you can't reach the bolt with your fingers to put the nut on - and the horisontal bar is blocked inside (also 2 foot long) so can't get at it from taht angle either. ;fire

Get the local odd-job man from the local pub to do it for you - probably cost you a score...but well worth it...

[presto]

would probably be easier merl - but i am am determined to get this :censored: working. not much racing on either, so i have all day. - i have most of the frame up now anyway (though am lacking a crucial bolt ;fire - spent 1/2 hour looking for it) - so will see whats left over aftorwards.

[Street cry]

told ya !!!!

[presto]

it's a real pain in the :butthead:
next stumbling block - put bolt (92) and bolt (94) through plate A and tubular steel b.

right bolt (94) is a perfect fit. but bolt (92) is about an inch longer much thicker and is meant to go through the exact same size hole / plate as bolt (94) ;fire ;fire ;fire - that makes no :censored: sense, 2X bolt 94 are whats needed - but do i have an extra :censored: bolt 94 - do i :censored: ;fire

the worst thing is - this should be the easy bit, the pully system looks a right pain :yikes:

[Street cry]

the worst thing is - this should be the easy bit, the pully system looks a right pain :yikes:



YOU ARE SO RIGHT

[presto]

this dam :censored: machine is just a :censored: piss take. 20+ man hours have been spent on it now - and it still dosn't :censored: work ;fire

apart from the missing (presumably miss-labled bolt's) - and yes everything was checked, re-checked, re-re-checked, re-re-re checked, indipendantly measured and followed the instructions by the letter and re-re-re-checked by 3 seperate people (including an aircraft enginear).

the pully wires have about 2 foot of give in them still, and no, nothing has been missed out, apart from the 1 washer i am left with ;fire

;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire ;fire

[John]

I'd be tempted to give Argos a call and say what you think of their inaccuracy of service in providing you with the wrong parts, and that you also want free home setup as compensation.

[presto]

there customer servis is pretty good at argos, i will give them that.
i ordered a 'wood chipper' thing at the same time, put a thin branch in (size of a bamboo cane) and it really struggled with it, and the motor burnt out after less than a minuit :yikes: - not what you would expect from a 2400w motor :yikes: - anyway called them and they picked it up and re-funded no problem.

will take a look at it tommorow when i am not so angry about it, i probably just attached a pully wrong anyway :rolleyes:

[John]

You're still left with the 1 washer though aren't you? So they've given you inaccurate parts.

Buy a new woodchopper and get the guy round to take back your multigym. Put the guy in the woodchopper and get your cash back to pay for it with the refund on the gym. Simple. :D

[presto]

that really amazed me that i had one washer left, i mean how tight can you get - the exact number of nut's, bolt's and that extra washer was probably a mistake - i mean at least put a couple extra in lables spares.

but after 10+ hours building the dam thing, i am just determined to get it functioning. :spinning

[Vic]

You sure that was a twig you put in the shredder Presto, and not an important steel rod from your multigym - at least the old grey matter has has a workout even if the upper body hasn't:)

[presto]

ye - thoes pully's are like a puzzle from 'the crystal maze' :) - i can almost hear richard o brian playing the mouth organ every time i look at them :splapme

i havn't worked on it for a bit (makes me too angry when i do) so will wait till weekend and get some help from the neibours. what's really getting me confused is the 'gear system' it uses - there is a lever marked light/ meadium / heavy - which just dosn't seem to be incorporated into the pully system at all. and the instructions are no use whatsoever ;fire

[Profit Seeker]

I think common phrase for said item would be "BAG O SHIITE!!" (northern accent sound better)

[John]

How's things Presto, how's progress?

[presto]

not too good john :(
havn't even looked at the dam multi gym for a while, but some day it will be functioning.
got the dumbells out on saturday, but it was a poor effort - could hardly budge 40kg's (10kg ea), so may drop the weight down a bit while i get back into the swing of things.
also started work on a 'timetable' for the new routine, will finish that up tonight, and hopefully get the routine (exc multigyn) going this week.

[John]

Slowly but surely mate, slowly but surely. Don't run before you can walk. :)

As for the machine, I don't really know what else you can do, I'd be inclined (no pun intended) to take it back and get a refund, but that doesn't solve the problem, it just offers you a way out. If you did that and bought a different one (not that you want a different one, you want the one you bought) who's to say it would be any easier to assemble?

I'd either take it back and get your money back or get someone skilled to set it up.

[Profit Seeker]

Been reading my mate's subscription magazine "Hard Gainer" lately, and boy is it an eye opener if you haven't had a taster, Presto!!

Bascially slags the glossy shelf mags down to the ground continuously and by sounds of it, quite rightly so! Cutting detail short, abbreviated training consisting of VERY FEW different exercises and no more than twice a week seems to be the maximum way to gain. But actual training is less than 50% effective without a fantastic diet and 8-10hrs sleep per night without fail!!

[John]

Aye, too right it is. It is largely down to diet. I still need to sort out mine, which will be easier when I move away again... easier to cook much more for myself than I am doing living at home!

Twice a week is the way to go after 5-10 years of bulking, sometimes longer, and in turn, you should train as hard as you can, with very few reps-per-sets.

[Profit Seeker]

And not forgetting good warm ups, stretching, warm downs, stretching. Alot more complicated than the rip off (should be illegal) magazines like to preach it is.

[presto]

i got the multigym working :wiggle:
instead of looking at the instruction book - just wen't by one of my old maxims 'instruction books are for losers' started fiddeling with it and 20 mins later i had a fully functional multi-gym.

bit dissapointed though after all the effort.
the lat-pulldown hangs down to my forhead - and thats how it is in the instruction book. (ok for tricep pulldown though)
the effective resistance figures, well there total crap - unless i can manage 10X210lbs seated bench press as if they were 20lbs
the fly's are pretty good though.
aslo more jerky than commercial equiptment (to be expected).

but i always said it would be an addition to free weight's not a replacement, and that's how i will use it.

will have a bit of a play over the weekend and will get cracking on monday.

[presto]

Been reading my mate's subscription magazine "Hard Gainer" lately, and boy is it an eye opener if you haven't had a taster, Presto!!

Bascially slags the glossy shelf mags down to the ground continuously and by sounds of it, quite rightly so! Cutting detail short, abbreviated training consisting of VERY FEW different exercises and no more than twice a week seems to be the maximum way to gain. But actual training is less than 50% effective without a fantastic diet and 8-10hrs sleep per night without fail!!

i know what you mean PS - never taken much interest / notice of the glossy mags etc......

have a look at:
T-nation (http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=394617FDA69DB7872AAD7FBE4D905FA6.hydra?id=1281398) - have loads of great articles, the newest was a dig at the glossy mags.
ross boxing (http://www.rossboxing.com/) - has a great e-book, utilising lots of polymetrics. take a look at the vids on the site.

[presto]

10th october

got back into the swing today :sport-smi - going to take it slow though this week.

free weights:
5X shoulder press
10X single arm curls
5X upright rows
10X single arm hammer curls

started with a light weight of 10kg per dumbell, and did 3 supersets of the above with a 3 min interval between supersets. found it quite tough and my arms were pumped aftwards for the first time months.

the machine:
3X10 seated bench
3X10 tricep pulldown?
3X10 flys

the weight is rather hard to judge with these, as i don't trust the stated figures. but for the pulldown's and flys i used probably 85% of my 1 rep max in weight, which was a real good struggle - the flys are especially testing, as the weight used was rather bigger than i could handle with free weights. the seated bench was at the max weight (210lbs stated), though alas was rather easy at an estimated 60% 1 rep max - but i am not kidding myself with these unrealistic figures, with free weight's i wouldn't start above 30kg. but the machine definately has a place in the training regeim.

food:
sardines on 3 slices of brown toast
garlic chicken, with 1/2 tin sweetcorn, whole brocoli head, small ammount of gravy.
then i totally messed up with a major case of the munchies :ermmm 2 peparami, 3 pots of munch bunch, 2 jaffa cake bars, 1/2 bag bombay mix :splapme

supplements:
multi vit
2X creatine
trib
zma

.............................
i feel soar as hell now, and the fly's have definately had an effect. going to have a rest day today.

[presto]

not been posting much in this thread - but still going.

i have been doing the above routine every other day (taking breaks when needed) every other day for the past 3 weeks. though sadly the cardio has been rather neglected - but the intention was every other day.

the aim is to slowly reduce weight (around 3lbs a week) and still retain strength. i am really quite pleased with how it's been going - reckon i have lost atleast a couple of inches from the gut, but (if a little unexpectedly) i have managed to increase strength - increased dumbell weight 5KG in 3 weeks (now 15KG per dumbell) and with super-sets thats a real killer. the aim is to get to 20KG for the new year, hopefully with similar weight loss.

the 'machine' i am also finding quite handy - mainly for the flys, i am finding the machine flys are doing much more than the free weight flys.

also been trying out squats with very small weight (20kg), and i still hate doing them - my knees just refuse to bend, they just feel very brittle and in need of WD40, which is very annoying.

[John]

Good job that man. :)

I'm no expert but if you are carrying out both routine cardio and weights, would you not stay more or less in the same position as far as your weight is concerned? nYou may increase strength ad burn fat, but you're pulling your body in two different directions... Whatever the case, try not to neglect the cardio too much else you'll find it harder to lose weight. You could even try splitting your cardio and weights 50/50 and see how that goes, even perhaps just up until the end of November if you're doing your workouts every other day.

Interesting that you're getting more out of machine flys than the free weights. Everybody has been telling me to use free weights as much as possible because it allows your body to move in the way it wants to, not as you tell it to.

Try squatting with a lower weight, or if you're having trouble bending your knees then try just bending them a little bit, increasing gradually with every rep you do. But try this with a lower weight first, even if it's ultra light, just so you can get a feel for the movement. I heard your thighs are meant to go parallel to the ground but that's bloody tricky! Try squatting with a 10kg weight and see how you get on. Good luck!

So ironic that your banner on your signature says "I lost weight with presto" as I'm typing this out! :)

[presto]

cheers john,
as for the training, i am not eating too much - so the reduced caloried should reduce weight. however not as much as i had hoped (dieting has never had much effect on me - like it should) - i could probably eat nothing for a month and still put on weight :mad: .
the reason for doing cardio / strength is basically to retain strength, i know i can't build strength if i rduce my calorie intake, but hopefully if i do some strength training i can retain some strength and still lose some weight.
the problem why i am sort of neglecting cardio is because the heavy bag and bike are in the garage and it's bloody freezing so i am reluctant to train (week excuse i know).
not sure if the squats are psycological ( as a kid i always has problems with my legs) - used to occasionally dislocate my leg when playing footy etc...... which really hurt - nearly had to have an operation to pin the 'ball joint' in my leg to my hip as the cartelidge there was apparently quite week, and not strong enough - i used to always have x-rays to check up on it, and my knee used to take a lot of strain to compensate. - never really bothered me apart from when it came out of the joint and i was in so much pain. but when the doc said i may have to have a big operation - it really hit home. so now every time i feel something in my knee / hip i get a bit worried.

the banner says some inspirational stuff - a few weeks ago it said 'quit smoking with presto' as soon as i was going to quit. though it isn't always accurate :rolleyes:

[Profit Seeker]

If you ever fancy a change of routine, go for squats, deadlifts, and benchpress only for a few months, see if there's any difference.

Still haven't been able to get going myself. I'm moving to a smaller room than I'm currently in soon and there's not a room in the house that would accomodate weights let alone a bench. The whole deal is more of a hardship than one would realise.

[presto]

the day 1 strength, day 2 cardio (breaks when needed) is really working for me now :) - i am still lacking on the cardio days though :ermmm

strength i feel has increased again, which is really good. last night i thaught i would really go for it, and did 10 sets of 10 reps (supersets) of rows, curls and presses with 15KG dumbells - which is quite a feat. and what is more unbeleivable is that today i feal no soreness :yikes: (thank you creatine + whey protein :wink ). it is also a strong indicator that i need to up my weight. so will order some more - i feel 20kg per dumbell is certainly doable now. so perhaps i should re-think my target of 20kg per dumbell by the new year - and up it to 25kg's :yikes:

i still don't weigh myself, but the diet is going well, i am eating less and good food - more veggys and ample protein. and predict a 2lbs loss per week.

i took ephedrine in a E/C/A stack a couple of times last week and can see why this stuff is the biz. i am still tentative about it. but will start to take it weekdays (weekends off) every other week cycles (5 days per 14 days). taking it in the morning (well 12-1 pm) and then doing my trainin around 6pm (don't want to overload the heart). then maybe sidia on cardio days after training.

[Littlegaz]

a E/C/A stack cardio days after training.
Feel like I should know what that is, but......what's an E/C/A stack?

BTW - nice going mate :)

[presto]

ephedrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephedrine) / caffine / aspirin
ECA stack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECA_stack)

..........................

[presto]

squats hurt like hell the next day!!!!!
been waddeling around like a penguin with arthritis today, sitting is ok, standing is ok but getting up and anything in between is near impossible :ermmm

was fiddling around with the weight's yesturday, managed to curl 25kg for 3X3 :yikes: , was going to have a go with my snatch technique (cue smutty jokes), but didn't bother and went to the squats.
only squatting 20kg's for 3X10 - but as it's something i never really do - i am really, REALY feeling it.

ordered a big stack of new weight's - so the deadlift is going to come in next week :) - i will also be able to up the weight in everything else aswell.

[John]

Good job that man! :)

Yes it may hurt you Presto but that means you're doing something very very right. You're exercising muscles you haven't used before so the more you do it the easier it'll get, and you'll gain strength in the process.

When you say "i managed to curl" do you mean curl as in bicep curls? And if so do you use two dumbells ie. one per arm or do you use a long single barbell?

Whenever I go to the gym I always see people using the weights where you pull a lever with a handle towards you, either using each arm (so you stand in the centre and drag in to your chest) or you face one machine and pull towards you with each hand individually. Sorry, terrible English I know but I hope you can make sense of what I mean... I'm not really sure what body parts this exercises but I assume shoulders and upper arms (biceps/triceps depending on position).

Happy deadlifting. :D

[presto]

it hurts alright :yikes: still can't walk properly today :ermmm , but like you say john - it is an muscle group i havn't trained before, so it's to be expected.

the 25kg curl was a bicep curl - i use dumbells for these - 1 in each arm,

not sure what machine that sound's like john - jump on and give it a go :)

i also won my bid (ebay) for the weights - 146kg, barbell, + dumbells - for only £89 + 34 pap (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-WEIGHTS-146KG-321LBS-BARBELL-DUMBELL-SET-RRP-160_W0QQitemZ120055818023QQihZ002QQcategoryZ137864QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)- which is pretty dam reasnoble.

there standard size as opposed to olympic's - but that will give me the opportunity to pump up the weight on the equiptment that i already have.

[Street cry]

Nice to see you are working out well presto as you know i am back hammering the weights again have put on nearly 1 and a half stones in 4/5 weeks and feeling really strong .was just wandering something actually my mum bought me an all singing all dancing ems machine last christmas which i laughed at but am now wandering about using has anyone used one and to what result cheers sc

[presto]

- is that one of thoes electric pad things?

someone i knew had one, and i tried it (for a laugh) once, years ago. it tensed my bicep so hard it actually hurt a bit :yikes: - and was one hell of a shock.
no idea if they work or not, weights work on resistance, and they work on electric stimulation (shocking the :censored: out of you :) ). i have never actually read anything about them. i suppose the best thing would be to try it and see.

nice going with the training - thats a fair bit to put on.

[Street cry]

cheers mate yeah i have suprised myself at my gains but i do absolutely hammer myself 3hrs at the gym mon wed fri and i have been eating sheadloads gonna tone it down a bit else i'll be jumping in with skelton ha ha
I am trying the ems and you are right it does hurt works like a tens machine looks awesome your biceps just bulge will let u know how it goes cheers sc

[presto]

strictly theoretically speaking,
if you hammer the creatine and put it on a lower strength / longer setting, you may be able to get the muscles to bulge for quite a long time, which may take in the extra water / amminos / creatine. which will go well for weight training the next day.
- though that is just a theory.

[John]

1 and a half stone in 4 or 5 weeks SC? Flipping nora. Either you really are eating shedloads or you've got a low metabollism... or both! Wish it was that easy for me to gain weight but I really don't eat enough. Maybe I'm eating the wrong stuff and should just hammer substances for a while! Haha.

Great job on the weights Presto, and at a nice price too. Even though they're not olympic ones (what's the difference?) you can use them in conjunction with your existing equipment. How on earth do they deliver them though?! :D

I've updated the blog Presto, that machine I was talking to you about... well it's now part of my new routine! I searched Google images but I can't really find an appopriate picture to demonstrate it... I'll keep looking though.

Cheers folks, keep up the good work.

[Street cry]

1 and a half stone in 4 or 5 weeks SC? Flipping nora. Either you really are eating shedloads or you've got a low metabollism... or both! Wish it was that easy for me to gain weight but I really don't eat enough. Maybe I'm eating the wrong stuff and should just hammer substances for a while! Haha.

cheers John , i do absolutey hammer the weights and i do eat a lot also 5 x creatine tablets 3 times a day (loading dose)
2 x protein shakes 2 x methyl rage , 2x vit c dissolve type and 3 multi vits all different ,
I do big sets and as many as i can for example bicep curl 10 sets , lat pull 10 sets , chest press the same , one where you sit with your torso against machine and pull towards you 10 sets , lie on bench with 35kg dumbell and let it drop back over your head and then bring back up only do 5 sets on that .
Then sets of sit ups on a sloping bench 8 lots of 25 4 medicine ball with twists then 2 with straight punches to pad and 2 sets with hooks finish with light sparring , and 4 mile run warm up .
thats a 3 hour session which i do mon wed fri , i didn't intend on blowing up like i have its probably all water retention ha ha i do though train to the point of blacking out on some sets though so always have my mate spotting me .
i must also admit john u are right my metabolism has slowed over the last year or so as i am now an old man of 24 .
It sound like u wanna get big if that is so you have to shock your body in to bulking to do that you have to hammer seemingly immovable weight stacks even if u just say load a full stack on after your main sets and push say 5 out till you burn like mad . others may disagree but that is what works for me cheers sc

[Street cry]

made a mess of quoting there sorry !!

[John]

Good work SC, no worries about the quote, I've tidied it up for you! That's quite impressive, 10 sets you say, how many reps per set is that? I'd imagine you do 5-7 or something similar? You're right, I do want to grow, only so far all the growth's been on my height and not on my body! I guess you do really have to work yourself to a pulp... put your body into shock as you described it. I had a review yesterday and the guy who was doing it suggested I should be doing the Lat Pulldown machine, probably better to do that than the Vertical Traction which I'm currently doing in place of it.

Have some rep for your hard work. :)

[Street cry]

cheers john my sets work first 5 20 reps medium weight and then 3 on heavy weights 15 reps then 2 sets 10 and maybe a full stack and do whatever i can till collapse usually 4 or 5 lat pull is good , use to be one of my my exercises for boxing as all boxing punch strength is derived from twisting movements , to get big i would favour seated press /shoulder press as you can really hammer it and it soon bulks you up cheers sc

[presto]

the difference between 'olympic' and 'standard' weights is the size of the bar (and hole in the middle of the weights) - olympics have a wider bar. - will be fun watching the delivery man carrying them :laugh

just a thaught SC - it may be worth seperating the cardio and strength to differend days - i heard somewhere that cardio on the same day of strength training has a negative effect on the strength training. - though it's odbviously working for you, so it may not be worth it.

i wish i could lose the weight like you can put it on though, as even after this 8 months of much 'healthier living' i still cannot shift any weight :ermmm . and it's not just weight it's fat :ermmm - theres absolutely no visable difference. i have got stronger no doupt, but still a fat bugger ;fire - even though i have even cut down on the calories over the past few weeks. it just makes no sense whatsoever.

[presto]

should also the squats are still killing me - 4 full days recovery and they are still tense.

[John]

Cheers Presto, I thought there'd be a bigger difference between them than that but thinking about it, there's not a lot about a barbell you can change.

I'm in a similar position to you mate, but heading the opposite way in that I can't put weight on!

[presto]

I'm in a similar position to you mate, but heading the opposite way in that I can't put weight on!

christmas is comming though - that may help :D
our house usually fills up with chocolate,nuts and mince pies.

as long as you have a protein shake after your workouts, you don't really need to care about what 'crap you eat :D - infact stuffing your face will probably help.

[John]

That's just it though, I don't really care about what I eat, I try and stuff my face as much as possible! But sometimes that just isn't enough... you're right though, Christmas should help, I'll try and eat like a horse this year.

Need to buy some more protein-related supplement(s) as the one I've got now has nearly ran out... not really sure what to buy though? There's a fitness shop down the road, 5 minute walk, will head down there one day this week and see what they have. Promax Extreme is what I've been using recently although I'd prefer something that's a little less lumpy but one that still tastes just as good.

[Littlegaz]

Need to buy some more protein-related supplement(s) as the one I've got now has nearly ran out... not really sure what to buy though?
I think that I've mentioned it on here before - "Cyclone", John. From the same company that makes Promax (it's reputable). Just make sure that you're training well 'ard while you're using it and follow the instructions to get the full benefit, and don't use it for more than a couple of months without a break. Might make you fart a bit but it's the best legitimate supplement (ie non steroid) that I've found.

[John]

Thanks Gaz, I think it's similar to Promax Extreme anyhow? I'll check it out, it's very popular indeed. Thanks again.

[presto]

i use 'reflex instant whey' (http://www.affordablesupplements.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=403&osCsid=96dfc1f2dda2f70458d85b3a652dcac7)REVIEWS (http://www.affordablesupplements.co.uk/product_reviews.php?products_id=403&page=1)

92 servings for £32 - bannana tastes great, easy mix, free shaker, - tastes and mixes just like the 'nesquick' milkshake stuff.

....................................

got the weights today :sport-smi :sport-smi :sport-smi - had a workout just bringing the stuff in from the van and unpacking it :) - the e-bay shop gets a big thumbs up :thumbs

[presto]

new weights:

barbell - 26kg - for squats
barbell - 80kg - for deadlifts

dumbels (2X) - 15kg - shoulder press, supersets
dumbels (2X) - 20kg - curls, rows

..........................
un-used plates:
4X 1 1/4
4X 1kg
4X 1/4 kg
.........................

though this is subject to change,
had a quick go with the deadlift - feel pretty comfortable with 80kg's - so may mess around with that.
i don't like putting more than 2 plates (per side) on dumbells, as with long sets the collars have a tendancy to 'slide' - and 3 plates per side leaves little room for slippage.
the 20kg dumbells are with 2X10kg plates, which isn't ideal, - 4X5kg would probably be better, but the 10kg plates allow for extra plates for the future.
there is room on the barbells for many of the smaller weights - but i admit i don't like fiddling around with them.
i may just use one set of dumbells which will leave me with an extra 40kg's to add to the deadlift upping it to 120 kg's

well theres plenty off possibilities :)

[the_geeza]

in case someone is intrested I got it (3 Pdf's)

[John]

You got what, Geeza?

Nice job on the weights Presto, I'm thinking of asking for some for my birthday but maybe there's not much point if I'm at the gym 3 times a week doing them anyway...

Are they nice and shiny and squeaky clean? :D

[presto]

Are they nice and shiny and squeaky clean?

matt black, covered in grease, and had some white powder splashed on them (i dropped a 20kg plate on a bag of plaster which went flying all over the place :D ) - but that gives them charachter.

the only problem is that the deadlift bar is sat next to the squat's bar, no problem in that - but because of the size difference it makes the squat weight's look like a 5 year old girl can do them, and i was hurting for 5 days because of them :laugh

if you are going 3 times a week to the gym, you probably wouldn't need any weight's for at home, but i suppose if you got some you could probably only need to go to the gym twice a week, as you get so many different exercises from the free weights.

[John]

Haha, and that must mean the deadlift bar alone weighs a ton!

I'll give it some more thought but I doubt I'd get much benefit buying free weights as my gym membership lasts until May 2007. I'll have a think though.

I saw one guy breakdancing at the gym the other night. :doh :D

[Street cry]

i have jacked the methyl rage for anabol amp my mate has had it and he blew up after 4 weeks and kept it on well . if that aint no good off on winstrol
which is meant to be awesome SC

[presto]

hows the anabol amp going SC? do you want to pack on the mass for boxing?
................

deadlift question next,
not feeling them much, only done a couple of sets (once a week), doing some tonight, but i havn't been feeling much the next day which i often do when trying something new. the weight is ok (80kg) or should i be upping it?

[John]

How's it going for 2007 dude? :)

[presto]

not too great mate, only had a few sessions so far this year, but funny you should mention it now - as i just finished a few sets at quarter to 3 in the morning :)
been dissapointed with myself as i havn't put too much effort in over the last couple of months, and actually had to drop the 20KG dumbell down to 15KG :( (just till i get my groove back).
i keep saying this - but time to get serious now :) going to change the routine slightly i reckon, to 2 full body workouts (morning / afternoon split) a week, with plenty of boxing / cardio in between.

i see by your blog you have been doing better than me.

[John]

Not much better than you mate! I've only just gotten back into the groove of it all... tonight in fact. It's difficult to keep committed though isn't it? I can understand where you're coming from, once you get out of the habit of doing it, it's difficult to pick yourself back up again. Two routines sounds like the way forward and it's also what I'm currently working on at the moment (although only done "DAY ONE" in 2007 so far) but yeah, you should target different body parts with different routines e.g:

Day 1 - Shoulders, chest, back, biceps
Day 2 - Legs, abs, core, triceps

That way you're pushing yourself further by doing a full body workout, plus you're burning more calories, and so this will help you to lose weight. Coupled with the cardio you'll be as skinny as me in no time. :D

Best of luck though buddy, hope you can come out of your plateau (:)) gradually and get back into the swing!

[presto]

cheers john,
the plateau is annoying and disheartening (probably as it's been there since i started :mad: ).
got the weighing scales out from the dusty cupboard now - so at least i will have numbers to look at, and measure by.

[presto]

going to have a bit of a re-jigg.
hopefully working upto:

routine1 (2 days a week) weights day
5X5 100kg deadlift
5X10 30kg squat
5X10 bench press
5X10 flys
5X5 15kg curl
5X5 15kg shoulder press
5X5 30kg rows
5X5 lat pulldown

now thats on hell of a weight's day and will be split up into 2 sessions, evening and night.

routine 2 (5 days a week) cardio day
HIIT bike - 20 mins
heavy bag - 1 hour
bike in the afternoon, boxing at night.

...................................

now odbviously i cannot keep this routine up every day, so will take breaks when nessasary. also this is very intensive, so will work upto the numbers shown.

[MattR]

going to have a bit of a re-jigg.
hopefully working upto:

routine1 (2 days a week)
weights day
Beer
5X5 100kg deadlift
Bottle of Bacardi Breezer
10X5 30kg squat
2 more beers and a fag
10X10 bench press
Vodka
10X5 flys
Double Vodka
5X5 15kg curl
Where's the vodka bottle?
5X5 15kg shoulder press
Another 2 beers as can't find the vodka
5X5 30kg rows
Pot Noodle
5X5 lat pulldown
Post on W2W forum a quick rant then to bed


routine 2 (5 days a week) cardio day
HIIT bike - 20 mins
4 Beers
heavy bag - 1 hour
Bottle of Vodka and a health snack
bike in the afternoon
more beer
boxing at night.
Another pot noodle made with warm leftover beer.
Play in running basketball over a quiet bottle of whiskey
Laugh at all the funny red figures on the screen




Are you sure that's right Presto? :D

[presto]

:laugh

[John]

Vegy good Matt! :laugh

Seriously though Presto that's brilliant setting yourself a challenge like that to work up towards. 100kg deadlift though, you must be made of steel... I doubt I could lift a 50kg weight off the floor! Good luck with it and do keep on posting your progress on here, not just for people to read but it's a great motivational kick up the ass when you need it. :D

What weight can you bench press at the moment?

[presto]

cheers john.
can deadlift 130 KG's for 1X3 :D but doing 100kg for mor reps may be more benificial.
for some reason bench pressing just isn't my thing, when attempting the 'max lifts' on another thread, i struggled with 40kg's for 3 reps (barbell), yet today i managed 5X5 (30kg's - 2X15kg dumbells) no problem :doh

.................................

5X5 100kg deadlift - managed 2X5, then my knee started giving me trouble :ermmm
5X10 30kg squat - didn't attempt after the above
5X10 bench press - no problem
5X10 flys - yup
5X5 15kg curl - alternated sets of regular and hammer curls
5X5 15kg shoulder press - check
5X5 30kg rows - tick
5X5 lat pulldown - yup

really quite dissapointed, the deadlifts were going ok untill my knee started giving me trouble and i wasn't going to mess around with that much weight and risk injury, so the squats were given a miss also. the rest went pretty ok, no real problems as i wasn't using too much weight.

and now going to do (inbetweed writing this :wink ) supersets :yikes:
3X5 curls, rows, presses - these are total killers.

[John]

Hey up mate!

How's the knee? Hope you've recovered fully and are still keeping this up. :) My gym partner says he'll carry on going to the gym but he's not bothered about losing weight any more. :( He's rubbish, and I told him so... his loss!

Anwyays, I've just been to a sports/fitness shop down the road. Sells all kinds of sports equipment and supplements etc. I went in with the intention of buying Cyclone (finally, I know) but they don't stock Maximuscle products because they're overly expensive apparently. Anyway after a long chat to the very knowledgeable chap in the shop I came out with this:

http://www.affordablesupplements.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=67&products_id=2585

One of, if not thee, most calorie-dense supplement on the market. Although it recommends 4 scoops daily, the bloke said just take half that amount 2-3 times a day else it won't last long at all. But it looks pretty impressive - 2 scoops is netting me 455 kcal, and 25g protein, 76g carb. So I'll take it between meals and hopefully be on the way to looking more like you and less like me. :D

[presto]

good luck with that john, it should help you out really well.
had an awfull week myself - caught a cold (not even something propper like flu :rolleyes: ) but been feeling awfull, comes on worse at night - so have been awake till 8 in the morning for the past week, pretty ok now (apart from the sleep), but will get back on it today :) .

not sure what's the problem with my knee - it started feeling 'loose' and 'liquidy' if you could imagine that, and clicks a lot :ermmm - the clicks may be just tight tendons - but i am no doctor. i don't think it's do do with the weight either as just streatching has a similar effect, it dosn't hurt much - but think i will just go easy on it as not to do any damage.

[John]

:( Doesn't sound good mate, hope the cold clears up sharpish... nasty little buggers aren't they! Have you been to the doctors about your knee? Apologies if you've already said already, I have the memory of a goldfish. If you haven't, are you planning on getting it looked at? You might have a 'gammy' knee - my grandad has one, and from what he's said before, it sounds like something similar to what you described... but mate, having said that, I'm taking a wild guess there and you should get a doctor on the job pronto.

Hope you can get back in to training soon - by the way, were you taught how to deadlift the correct way, or did you just, one day, pick up a bar and lift it? I've never attempted deadlifting, so don't really know what kind of weight I'd be capable of... but there are an increasing number of guys performing deads in the gym.

[presto]

oops missed that post john (i wasn't ignoring you :rolleyes: ), the cold's cleared up ok. the knee's still iffy - been playing up all week, tried a few streatches which caused some mild discomfort, and kept on aftorwards when walking etc. also walked to the shop the other day and sort of 'pulled up' :( on the return journey. i will give it a good while before going to the doctors (the local doctors surgory is full of idiots who still perscribe leaches and refuse medicine from the early 20th century onwards), and won't be putting any added pressure on it (squats / deads), i have had problems with my hip / knee since i was a kid though, but the theory was i would 'grow out of it'. and to be honnest the theory seemes correct as since i 'stopped growing' i have had no problems, and don't fancy the prospect of getting it 'pinned' :yikes: . my mums theory was moisture in the air :hearty

i started lifting again tonight, going to really go for it now and keep it up after a rubbishy start to the year.

as for the deads, there really good for quads, lower back / core strength, and would be a good addition for your routine, i had a look at a few vids and had a go with small ammount of weight (when i only had 40kg's to play with) before jumping in, but really it's not to hard to get the form correct - this vid seems ok http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs-wOHN5tdw . as for the weight, it really needs to be pretty heavy (atleast 70% of 1 rep max) - it's probabably just best to start around 50KG and keep adding untill you find your max rep, then take off some weight so that you can manage 3X5 reps, - then next time try it 5X5.

[John]

No problem mate! I'm glad to hear your cold has cleared up well, but every time you mention something to do with your knee, it shouts to me more of a reason that you should get it checked out... if not by your doctor then by a professional knee analyst. :) However it sounds like you're reasonably happy with it, even though it's causing you some discomfort. Might just be you're going to have a dodgy knee all your life, there are worse things!

i started lifting again tonight, going to really go for it now and keep it up after a rubbishy start to the year.

Great to hear that buddy! I wish I was currently feeling the same, had a really rubbishy session in the gym tonight and gaining weight is going to be like climbing Everest but I'll try my utmost hardest!

Cheers for the video, nice demonstration of the correct way to deadlift. I thought the final part of the lift was to push the bar right up above your head though? Is that only half of the full deadlift... or have I been watching too much olympic weightlifting?! :)

[presto]

the olympic lift will be the 'snatch and jerk' :laugh :laugh i can think of 100 pun's already, but that would be too easy.

i was starting to think of what may be wrong with my knee the other night, and thaught it may be something as simple as one leg is half a cm or so longer than the other etc..... (not visible or even noticable) but lifting heavy may just be putting extra pressure on that one joint, that was one theory when i was a kid, so i will look out for any signs of that, before seing the doctor (much easier when you do the doctors job for him 'before he perscribes leaches' at my surgery :) ). then it may just need an extra inner-sole in my shoe or something simple.

keep it up though john, i know it's annoying when you don't see much progress - but atleast you get some sort of feeling of accomplishment when you think that you are spending atleast a couple of hours a week working towards goals, which in reality would normally be spent doing bugger all - probably sat infront of the tv.

[John]

Aah, so the olympic lift is different from a deadlift? With a deadlift, you don't put the bar above your head... I think that's correct? But with an olympic lift you do? You're right about the puns too, they don't half give some of the exercises funny names. :laugh

Have you had a look on Men's Health's website recently? There's loads of good advice about fitness and wellbeing... different workouts you can do... along with all the sex advice and how to approach women too. :D

As for your philosophical leg theory, you could well be right. Half a centimetre is more than enough to set yourself off centre, even if you don't notice it yourself. You could always buy some insoles and slap one inside the shoe of your shorter leg, see if reduces the pain... although I imagine you may have already tried this?

I've just been on the phone to Phil, I don't know if you remember him but he used to come on here all the time a few years ago. He's been training too and has got himself booked in with a personal trainer twice a week, it must be costing the lad a small fortune but he comes out the gym in pain so it must be good stuff!

It is annoying when you don't see much progress, too true. I guess the only way is up, and to go upwards you just gotta keep on training. It is a feeling of accomplishment though, to think I'm at the gym when equally I could be sat on my ass at home doing something much less productive!

[John]

Which reminds me, T-Nation is excellent, thanks for the link! Although there are some outright weirdos on their forum. :D

[presto]

just looked at the mens health forum - the first post in the sex bit has the title 'strap on sex' -i love it when my wife f:censored: 's me. - and you say T-nation forum is strange :laugh - must say i don't read the forums, but it's probably not as bad as one forum i read, where every 5 posts or so theres always a thread - would you :censored: this tranny, or tranny or girl etc...... (supposodly an MMA forum) :laugh

though the quische article gave me something to think about cooking.

i remember phill, dosn't really seem nessasary to get a personal trainer to me - especially if he goes to the gym, as there main purpose is for motivation and help - though thats what yoy get from a training partner at the gym.

my parents go on holiday (2 weeks) on wednesday - so it's 2 weeks of super healthy cooking for myself then :)

[John]

There's a thread on the T-Nation forum, believed to be true up until yesterday, although even that is now debatable... about an 18 year old guy who supposedly travels around the world shagging prostitutes... he talks about his latest adventure in detail... apparently two of his female friends took him to Prostitute Central, and chose a prostitute for him i.e. picked one from all the windows. I quote, "the girls went shopping for black shoes after choosing me a black prostitute" :laugh Quality. So he's in with the prostitute and she's giving plenty of head, before she asks "Would you like me to bring my neice in"... and so her neice comes in... so he's having a threesome with two black prostitutes, and then starts seeing the neice afterwards on a "dating" basis... she meets the family, cooks dinner, etc... and he's posted photos to prove the neice exists... of course, she could be just "some girl" but it all sounds so true... and all from a lad of 18 years old... who is allowed to "use his sister's room as a ******* room (asked his mum for permission) so long as he changes the sheets before she gets back from the USA. I read the whole thread, you can probably tell... it's probably all a load of rubbish, but has strong entertainment value. :D

Haven't read the MH forum but it's definitely worth a visit or hundred with threads like the above!

Phil said to me he's getting a lot out of the training with the personal trainer, however, I don't understand why he's going 2 days consecutively... will have to ask him why again... but I think he's finding motivation hard to go to the gym, so he's found his answer in a PT!

I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic about 2 weeks of healthy eating while your parents are away next week, but either way it was funny, good luck! :D

[presto]

no sarcasm,
cooking for myself i always go healthy :)

breakfast - raw oats, milk, protein powder,
lunch - soup, fish, quische etc....
dinner - roast veggies + meat

with protein powder / creatine with workouts.

with heavy weights, and heavy bag work.
............................

if that won't 'shread the fat' (well reduce BF%) and build the muscle - i don't know what will. also using some of the stronger supplements* out there, for a good 8 week course, to get me into the shape when i can really go for the boxing.

[presto]

right time to get serious, been a long while since i posted in this bit, and i have been neglecting the workout's for some time i admit. possibly due to the fact i have made :censored: all progress no matter what i seem to do.

so last week i decided to do something stupid, and said :censored: the healthy eating (it's not working) and decided to just eat less (an unhealthy ammount less) and really go for the weight cutting.

so for the past week i have been basically eating 1 meal a day :yikes: and the stupid thing is - i am finding it much easier than 3 healthy meals a day :doh - i just don't feel hungry anymore.
i think i was somewhere arond the 18st (252lbs) mark and after a week have dropped 16lbs :yikes: - still a fat 236.

but the fat loss has inspired me a bit. as for the strength no doupt i will have lost some, but it's hard to judge - last week i was struggeling with 20kg dumbells, and was the same today. So perhaps the lack of strength training over the last few months may be to blame.

..............................

i am not kidding myself into thinking that i can continue with this fat loss, and reckon most of it is down to body shock and water loss. - i got a couple of bad cramps yesturday (a sign of dehydration) - so will try and increase water intake.

also if i keep on like this muscle loss will become apparent, so the plan now is to add protein shakes to the diet, that should help keep muscle mass, and creatine to help muscle endurance.

i will stick to the diet of 1 meal a day - as it really is working for me. the supplements are also really helping with this - ECA is working wonders (even on low dosages), what a shame it is banned.

the plan now is to try and lose 7lbs a week (4lbs is concidered a healthy ammount - but for my weight 7lbs should be ok) or there abouts. i reckon i can get down to 220 lbs this way, before re-thinking the next stage.

i have also neglected much training this week aswell - the fat loss has all been down to restricted diet. so going to do the following routine:

day 1 - light strength
day 2+4 - cardio
day 3 - heavy strength

as for what will happen - only time will tell, so far i havn't had any mood swings or anything often related to drastic weight loss (thank you ECA again).

also today i gave my muscles a big shock back to work.

5 reps - 2X 10kg dumbells - 8 supersets :yikes:
curls
shoulder press
rows

it was hard work. - though i may still do more today as i can feel that lovely testosterone comming out of hiding :rolleyes:

[andyp]

Well done on the weight loss presto!

I am trying to put weight (muscle) on...any chance of giving me some? :D I have just done a course of cyclone and put on 5lbs, but no matter how much i eat, i cant put weight on! I am 6ft 1" and weigh 83kg, my target is 88kg, I go to the gym about 4 times a week and concentrate on heavy weights, also do bits of cardio......

any ideas how i can bulk up more? I have read that i should be eating between 5-8 meals a day, which i find difficult to do! Any help/suggestions are appreciated

[presto]

if only i had that problem andy :)

you sound like your doing a good routine with the heavy weights, one thing you should do (especially after training) is to take a protein shake with milk after a workout, it will help build the muscle and help with recovery.

basically the way to increase mass is to increase calorie intake, so perhaps add a weight gainer like John has used, he could probably tell you if they work.
you can add between 500-700 extra calories just by having 1 milkshake from them a day.

you could drop the cardio, as that burns calories - but as you do football it's unadvisable.

[andyp]

Cheers mate, i will try and up the calorie intake and let you know how it goes.

p.s. keep up the good work in this thread... i enjoy the read!

[presto]

a week on, still managing the strict diet of bugger all pretty well, and finding it quite easy for some reason, however lost no weight this week :doh , i havn't a clue why, though perhaps last week i may have lost more water weight than i should have and now water weight has leveled out to a correct level.

been mixing it up a bit, though just using light weights (10kg dumbells) with supersets.
either:
6X10 curls + shoulder press
or:
5X5 curls, press, rows / flys.

i did throw in the heavy weights (20ky dumbells) once, though am struggling and only managing 3X3 curls - presses seemed a little too much. So going to stick with the lighter weights till i get a bit more strength back.

also threw in a couple of 10 mile cycles.

.................................

i also need to get back to the heavy bag and deadlifts, so if the weathers ok tommorow i will clear out the garage and get them back into the routine.

[presto]

bit of an update.

been eating healthy and throwing in weights / cardio every now and again, to be honnest the training hasn't been that organised.
cardio wise i have been using the bike probably every other day - varying in miles between 3 and 15 a time, usually around 5. no real set target, but whatever seems a good effort,
strength wise, been mixing it up - heavy / light weight - low / high reps - including some monster sessions, and good rest. i feel comfortable with the 20kg dumbells, so no strength loss despite weight loss which is good.

as for the weight loss, it's been strange really and tends to follow the following trend:
- big weight loss, followed by a plateu, slight increase then back to the big weight loss and repeat.

today i weighed in at 15st10 - so just over 2 stone loss.

[presto]

another small update.

down to 15st4 - so nearly a 3st loss :thumbs

training has been pretty good, i can still manage the (2X) 20kg dumbells, so no strength loss, and been throwing in 'killer' supersets with lighter weights. Though have really neglected the big weights for the deadlifts, and still despise squats - which i keep meaning to do.

cardio has mainly been HIIT on the exercise bike, so time to get back to the heavy bag.

diet wise - hmmmmm... not actually been eating that great, but been drinking plenty of water.

this may come bact to haunt me - but i reckon i can realistically drop another 2st, as despite the near 3st loss - visually you can't tell :doh

[Street cry]

ia m 15 stone now and its all on the gut awesome adding to it now

[John]

Good work Presto, and do you feel better in yourself now?

I've got three vodka & coke's inside me as I write this and a curry on the way... and I feel great. :D

[presto]

to be honnest john - cant see the difference, cant feel the difference :ermmm
- how's your wrkouts going?

and your right SC - adding to the gut is a lot more pleasurable than taking away from it.

[John]

They're not! I'm joining a gym soon though, in fact this weekend might be a good opportunity to give one a try.

Presto have you got one of those chin up bars that fit on top of your doorframe (without any screws that is?) I'm thinking of getting one, I tried out a friend's and it works a treat.

[presto]

to be honnest chin ups arn't my thing, never really had a go. but i suppose theres no harm in getting one.

[John]

Fair enoughski. People not commented on how much slimmer you look then? :D

[orientalexpress]

to be honnest chin ups arn't my thing, never really had a go. but i suppose theres no harm in getting one.

its always the exercise you dont like is the one you need to improve on, that part of the muscle probably has not been worked as well as it should be.

[presto]

well been slacking off a lot recently, but today was the first day of 'kitchen fight club' :rolleyes: (2 of the other chefs do amature boxing) and me.

to cut a short story shorter, - i got my **** well and truly kicked, my face hurts like hell, nose swolen and bleeding, cheeks cut (must remember to get a gumshield) and my ribs tenderised.
all good fun though :thumbs :punch2

i did learn a lot though, and for a workout it's probably unbeatable. despite good form with the punches and a lot of power behind them. my balance and footwork was shambolic and i found myself unable to connect.

[Win2Win]

So you'll be our No.1 for the boxing in 2012 then? :)

[presto]

So you'll be our No.1 for the boxing in 2012 then? :)

yup - i combine the talents of some of our countrys greatest heavyweights:
- the fitness of julius francis
- the speed of Michael Sprott
- the punching combo's and flair of audry harrison

:splapme