So I decided it's time to start a journal to keep log of my progress and pick up some hints/tips along the way!
So, to start with.....
My Stats
Age: 32
Height: 5ft 11"/180cm
Weight: 12st 10lb/80.9kg
My weight was 12st 5lb when I started training around 2 months ago, I dropped to 11st 13lb and read up on dieting correctly, and now I have managed to get up to my current weight of 12st 10lb. This forum really is a great source of info and advice!
My aims
I went through a bit of a lifestyle change a couple of months ago. I gave up smoking, I started eating a bit more healthy and got myself a gym membership.
I have 1 general rule which applies to both men and women which goes like this:
"The stomach shouldn't stick out further than the chest."
I had got to the stage where I had broken this rule, and so I decided weights were the way to go, and after joining these forums I have decided I would like to put on some more muscle and increase my strength and level of fitness.
Diet
My diet is now pretty much ok, with a calory intake of over 4000, and a protein intake of over 250 per day. I'm going to keep track of this to make sure it doesn't slip, if I find I'm getting problems then I'll post up some daily menu's I have been eating.
Routine
I have just changed to a 5x5 routine this week, but am in the process of writing up a new routine (still 5x5) stating from monday. Normaly my breakdown would be:
monday: chest - swim
tuesday: back/shoulders - swim
wednesday: rest day
thursday: chest/abs - swim
friday: legs - swim
saturday: swim (sometimes do a little bicep work).
sunday: rest day
I only do between 10 and 30 lengths swimming, I use it mainly as a cooling down/stretch/relax cardio thing after a workout.
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Thursday 27th June Flat bench press:
1x5 @ 60 - comfortable, kind of a warm-up as I'm new to the 5x5
1x5 @ 70 - reasonably comfortable, good form
1x5 @ 75 - struggled to keep form a little, but not too bad
1x5 @ 80 (but form bad and last 1 was slightly assisted)
1x5 @ 75 form dropped a bit on this last set, I think I had 2 good presses and 3 bad ones where I didn't touch the chest.
Incline bench press:
1x5 @ 50 - pretty comfortable
1x5 @ 60 - also quite comfortable but starting to tire
1x5 @ 70 - feeling pretty tired but manage to hold form
1x5 @ 75 - really struggled, shouldn't have tried 75, 2 assists
1x5 @ 60 - last set did me in, so dropped to 60 and managed ok
Incline DB flyes:
1x5 @ 12.5 - fine
1x5 @ 15 - fine
1x5 @ 17.5 - ok, really feeling the stretch here
1x5 @ 17.5 - now arms are pulling really hard
1x5 @ 15 - arms really aching now
Dips:
1x 10 - even after about 5 mins rest this is tough
1x 9 1/2 - really tired after about 6
1x 6 - I'm just about killed off now
Crunches+leg rasies:
3x15 of each swapping with training partner after each set so no break, was a real killer!
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Overall thoughts:
Would like to get good form at 75kg on the flat bench before trying 80kg again.
Feel quite happy with my efforts today, still thinking about changing my routine and trying to make it a bit more basic. My training partner really needs a slap round the face though as he just always wants to do too much... decided not to make this my problem too by just going in the "floatation tank" (swimming pool/hot tub) when I'm finished and letting him carry on.
