Can an old man get a six pack?
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Day 6 sat 11th - <br />
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b. oat bran, banana, milk, cinnamon, topped with maple syrup - it's a winner!<br />
l. sausage baguette<br />
d, lamb stew, cous cous<br />
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Watched the rugby at a mates - led to a few beers, red wine, vodka. Part of this was fuelled by knowing I had a rest day today. Might have to ban them in future!<br />
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Gym - as mentioned 45 mins boxing - hitting the bags, planks, sit-ups etc -
Sunday - rest day and feeling a bit hung over. Food intake doesn't make good reading:<br />
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b. fry-up<br />
l. fridge raid - cold pizza, sausages, cheese, all manner of crap<br />
d. fishcakes, spinach, green beans (back on track!)<br />
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Monday 13th<br />
b. granola etc<br />
l. ham sandwich<br />
d. stir fry: prawns, noodles, veg<br />
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Gym: Cycle 30 mins, then Pull-ups, kettlebell crush curls, hammer curls, lat pull downs, core work on Swiss ball.<br />
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Hopefully by focusing on "pulling" exercises I will feel fresh for boxing on Tuesday. -
Cheers Bart I find it hard enough to prepare 3 meals a day let alone six! What are your thoughts on making my 3 main meals slightly smaller and then introducing low fat snack bars/bananas etc in between?<br />
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I don't really want to go down the protein shakes route - want to try and keep it as "natural" as poss. I've always been a 3 square meals a day man, thought a balanced diet with no snacking should crack it - so this all new to me!<br />
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Still trying to get my head around more eating more frequently to lose fat... -
Right yesterday's session<br />
Tues 14th<br />
b. granola etc<br />
l. toast, cheese, salmon, soup<br />
d. beef pie, potatoes (few) veg (lots)<br />
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Gym: boxing 45 mins (session as laid out in TR's thread) not affected by cycling and "pulling" exercises yesterday, so all good.<br />
Followed by "pushing" exercises - dips, more press ups, KB overhead press, tricep pull downs, KB pull overs. All done in fairly rapid succession - triceps were screaming at the end of that! <br />
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Thinking about Barts earlier post, since I've upped the intensity am starting to feel very hungry again by the time I hit sack at night, but have so far resisted mid-night fridge raids. hmmm. -
Just edited the dates!<br />
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Weds 15th<br />
b. oat bran, banana etc<br />
l. Tuna sandwich, granola bar<br />
d. Chicken Balti, Rice<br />
later - Beer, cheese, biscuits (too hungry!)<br />
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gym 45 mins: lucky legs eleven today - warm-up on cross trainer, then lunges, single leg squats with Swiss ball, forward/backward lunges with KB, step-ups with KB, Swiss ball hammies and core.<br />
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If all goes to plan and time/work allows it will be Thurs - weights, Fri - cardio, Sat - boxing. -
bake - here's a protein muffin - makes 6, so that's your morning snack for a week sorted, I have a muffin and a banana at 10.<br />
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1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not whole grain), 9 egg whites, 250g cottage cheese, 1 mashed banana, vanilla essence, and some artifical sweetner stuff, can never remember the name of it!! Also throw in some mixed berries, or not if you like. Bake at 150 degres for however long it takes - my oven about 40 minutes.<br />
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I then glad wrap all six, throw in the fridge, and sorted for the week, or in our case, 3 days with both me and Ness having them!<br />
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oh, teaspoon of baking powder will help too!!!! -
THursday 16th<br />
b. old schooll marmalade on toast, cuppa tea<br />
l. sardines on toast<br />
snack bar<br />
d. lamb rogan, rice<br />
banana<br />
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boxing routine followed by KBs, pull-ups, dips etc<br />
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starting to see signs of life around the upper abs/ribs and I think the boxing is helping -
...Damn - the yolks are the tastiest bit!<br />
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The best laid plans etc. A late booking ski trip for next week, has meant a manic week of work. <br />
Only 3 gym sessions - focus on legs, core and balance for the ole skiing - squats, lunges, lots of hopping about on one leg looking like an idiot.<br />
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It was an interesting exercise writing down all meals for a couple of weeks. I'd recommend it. Key points for me are:<br />
More fruit and veg<br />
Eat slightly less and have a few healthy snacks in between<br />
Go for more low fat options (I noticed I eat more pies/curries etc than I thought!)<br />
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Weight has stayed at 80kg and the upper abs are beginning to say hello. A lot more to go though...<br />
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Last trip to the gym for cycling/legs today. Then it's on the plane on Sat for a week of skiing. Sweet!<br />
Will probably eat and drink the house down - but legs and core will get a thorough examination over the next 7 days! I have crap technique so over-compensate with a lot exertion. -
Still around 80kg and still in one piece after skiing. Work build up means changing routine slightly<br />
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Basically resistance training sessions arms/legs 2x week, then try to slot in running, swimming, boxing, cycling around that when I can.<br />
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Because I don't want to build muscle - want to get fitter/stronger without adding mass - I'm going to try incorporating as many different forms of exercise as I can. <br />
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A general question around resting in between sets if anyone has a view. Instead of say resting between 4 sets of pullups what are pros/cons of interspersing them with eg leg exercises or dips - so that you are continually exercising? -
For buiding absolute strength heaps of rest between sets is advisable I reckon. If I'm doing heavy Deads/bench/weighted chins or whatever I'll have three or four minutes to try and recover. Even that is tough cos recently I did six chinups with 30kg attached, rested almost five minutes and could only do three next set ! Should have tried for three sets of five reps at that weight in retrospect cos the sixth one was tough as fucken anything.....<br />
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In saying all that though I try and mix it up every now and again ie lower the weights and less rest ( sixty seconds or so ) -
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Thanks Guys - great no worries then! <br />
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I went for my first run in a couple of years with no bad effects (so far) on the old back, so delighted with that.<br />
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More work at mo means less gym time for me, so will be doing quicker sessions of KBs/Punch Bag/Chins/pulls etc alternating with Cycling/Swimming/Running in between when I can. -
I rest between pull ups:<br />
- Do 10 sets of 5-7 complete pull ups, aim in 10 minutes-that's a good one without much rest<br />
<br /> - Do 6 sets of half-pull ups* with a walk over there and back, bout 2 miuntes I guess-usually something like 30/20/15/15/15/15 (*only go 2/3 of the way down)<br />
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All pull ups are done with straight legs, no cheating.<br />
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BTW, how are the abs going, getting stronger? Check out my thread on doing ab exercises on the pull up bar, they're really effective.
- Do 10 sets of 5-7 complete pull ups, aim in 10 minutes-that's a good one without much rest<br />
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Cheers Kea - yes remember your ab exercises they look pretty savage so building up to them. Doing boxing style planks, sit-ups, leg raises (lying on ground) holding legs out off ground etc. Once I'm proficient at that then the hanging lifts are scheduled in for phase two.<br />
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Abs coming on well because I'm losing fat. Now weigh 78.5kg. I'm going to continue with the current cardio flavour to my programme then switch in few weeks when I get bored.<br />
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eg yesterday - chins, dips push-ups, lunges, 10 mins KBs, abs, 10 mins on the punch bag, then finished off with a swim.<br />
Intend to fine tune as I go, so one session focus more on chins (do yours above) another press ups etc etc.<br />
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today no time for gym so will do quick run.<br />
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Here's a nice little blast to get your pecs pumped in one minute! (copyright some bald dude on youtube)<br />
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take two light kettlebells/dumbells - for me around 12kg each works fine. <br />
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Assume press-up position - hands gripping kettle bell handles - and do 15 very slow pressups going as far down as poss, chest dropping below your hands, touch floor if poss.<br />
Try to take one second down and one second up (easier said than done). <br />
Then immediately on floor, or on swiss ball, do 15 wide-arm flies with the weights<br />
Immediately after that do normal presses with the weights until failure.<br />
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Sit back enjoy the burn, and the admiring looks you get from those who have just seen you straining like a mofo to press two small dumbells -
abs are an interesting one. We hardly train them at all.<br />
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I think in our last 8 weeks (two training blocks), we have had zero ab exercises. For two reasons, if we train them to hard, to often, they'll grow, and we don't want a big blocky waist as bodybulders, and 2, your core gets a hammering (and abs) from the exercises you do at the gym anyway, Tricep pushdowns my abs get hammered holding my body upright! Today with skull crushers, again, abs got caned. So we hardly train them at all (as opposed to old trainers twice a week at least for 20 minutes). Last season our abs on compe were no better or worse than the season beore too.<br />
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Which to me goes to show that it is probably 90 percent diet when it comes to abs, and 10% training!!<br />
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But in saying all the above, pre contest I like to do a bit more, so I can 'feel' them when on stage, so when you flex you can feel the pain, and you know they're there!! -
yeah I cant recall what I did the other day off the top of my head, but it wasnt abs and the next day they were feeling it as much as any!! <br />
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Have lost a couple of inches round the middle, but still no sign of the lower abs...