Dragons Progress Journal

Started 29th November
Im a week in to my workout so far and really just testing my self out to see what i can do and what works for me so gonna be a learning curve over the next few weeks; but i thought id do it now so come jan i knwo what im doing.

I am currently 6'5 1/2
15stones 2lb (There abouts)
21 -23% Body fat
42% muscle mass (so my scales say)

Background:
Been at uni for the past few years and has left me in a right state!
Ive been in and out of physio on my knees and in all honesty have found it hard to get in to a routine.
My main goal is to drop body fat get my knees in to better shape and improve my all round fitnesss.
April next year i am going on a basketball tour so need to get myself better so my knees can hack it! Would be great f i looked pretty decent on the beach too.

The Plan!
5 days a week so far weekends starts tomorow will continue cardio btu may rest muscles on sunday.

15 Minute of physio excersises on knees

1 ab excersise sets dependant on excersise but focusing on core strength

32 minutes on excersise bike Interval every 2 minutes. avearging around 17km in that time ( not really 17 cos its not a real bike but im jotting it down to see if over time it increases hopefully leading to me to becomming more efficent.)

Weights Targeted
Finish off with an excersise on an isolated muscle area just to keep things tonning up over the weeks.

All in all this takes just about an hour.


Diet

So ill start off with saying i use dto drink a lot of alcohol which ive cut down a lot over the past few weeks prior to starting excersise routine again.
I love dairy products and its gonna be hard staying off the cheese.
Luckily i like whole wheat products breads pastas etc but i am cutting down the carbs so thats neither here nor there.
I will be adding a whey protein shake soon when i figure out which one to get!
The meals i eat arent that big ive been cutting them down alot i can easily now tell when im full i try to stick to the rule carbs no more then a fist size but thats usually too much after all the veg i add and meat no more then palm of the hand but thats the hard part depending on the cut of meat.

Routine

1st meal directly after workout:
Usually something heavy in protein and veg and a some carbs
e.g this week
Tuna and sweetcorn mix
( those are the ingridients with a dressing made up of lime juice, shallots, chillies dash of salt and pepper)
Slice of wholewheat bread

Minced beef with onions and roasted parsnips and broccolli

If peckish have some fruit or innocent smoothie

2nd meal: usually 3 - 3.30 hours later

3rd meal
Usually something small i sometimes have stuff left over form previous meals which i just use.

Drink as much water as i can throughout the day.

So thats me so far week in feeling good.
Im thinking about making weekends intense weight sessions but as ive only been getting back in them slowly im hurting right now ha!

:cool2: Lets hope i stick it out!

Weekend over did the routine on saturday as usual and took a rest day today.
Had a bit of a late one last night and did drink so felt really bad not doing ne cardio but wanted to give my body a rest.
Made a nice roast for the days meals but waking up so late only had the chance to eat once.
Got food for tomorow though so all good.

Ready to hit it hard tomorow! :D

I would purchase a good standard whey isolate and a meal replacement powder. A good protein powder that is low in carbohydrates is Dymatize Elite Whey Protein, this is great tasting, high in protein 48g in 2 scoops, which is a lot !

http://www.massprotein.co.uk/p117/Protein-Shake-Smooth-Banana-Dymatize-Elite-Whey-2.27-kgs/product_info.html


Now I would also have a meal replacement shake after you train, this gives you all the essential protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. If recovery is a concern then this would help greatly.

http://www.massprotein.co.uk/p126/Strawberry-CNP-Pro-MR-Meal-Replacement-x20/product_info.html

Now you say you think you are going getting enough protein, you should be having at least 1g-2g of protein per body weight. So if you are 200 pounds then you should be having at least 200g protein – 300g a day. Most of which should be from real food source, not just shakes ! If you want to send me a copy of what you eat I can have a look at it for you. Now if you get a meal replacement box, you can also have a meal replacement shake as a meal at night time.

Iv just posted this on the whey protein questions thread, read that, that will help you with your dilemma about milk protein and whey isolate.

Hope this helps

Bicep tendons were really sore this week so decided not to do any weights ove rthe weekend give them a bit more time to recover.

Today was my first weigh in for two weeks (was a hard one satying away from the scales!)

I am 6'5 1/2
Started off
15stones 2lb (There abouts)
21 -23% Body fat
42% muscle mass (so my scales say)

2 weeks later
14 Stones 12 1/2 pounds
20.6% body fat
41.8% muscle mass

Must say im quite happy i think ive noticed a bit of a difference, i can feel myfitness getting better on my cycle machine.

First weeks average km on the cycle was 16.7 this weeks 17.77.
i know that cos its a cycle machine this doesnt translate in to real km but have it down so i can compare my progress.

All in all well happy :cool2: and with Nick's advice gonna get my protein today to ensure im recovering properly!

So now im in my 9th week and things have changed a bit but i think i could b doing better.

Cardio has stayed the same except on wednesdays where i increase the 32 mins to 47 as of last week because thats a muscle rest day

As of week 5 i started doing a proper weight workout each day Which the lovley Nick provided me which is as follows:

Each are in groups of 4 sets or 3 sets Going from 15 12 10 8 reps increasing the wieght as you decrease reps

Monday :
Chest Press x 4
Chest Flies x 3
dips x 3

Tuesday:
Bicep Curl x 4
Bicep Hammers x 3

Wednesday REST

Thursday
Lateral barbell row x 4
One arm row x 3
Deadlift x 3

Friday
Shoulders x 4
Side Raises x 3
Traps x 4

Saturday
Triceps Kickbacks x 4
Tricep Press x 3
Calfs x 4

Weight is now 14 stone 7 pounds
Body Fat % is now 19.5
Muscle mass is now 42.2%

I started taking meal replacements after morning workout
and whey isolate before going to bed.

Prior to this i was loosing about 3 - 4 pounds a week this was before the proper weight routine though.

I have defo noticed a difference in my chest arms abs so it helps to keep me going hard 6 days a week about an hour and a half a day sometimes can get tough. I need to work on my lower chest though but not sure how to do it with what i have avilable in my house.

Ive noticed the differences in strength from my muscles and slowly getting stronger.

Must admit im no angel the alcohol has been hard to stay away from and i woudl feel has defo kept me from loosing as much weight as i could have.
Ive missed 4 days in total out of the 6 times a week which im pretty chuffed about. Most of them have been because of hangovers. Saying that i have forced my self a few times with a hangover to get up and do the cardio and weights.

So all in all im in the ninth week of my 19 week aim. Im feeling good looking better but know i need to work on the alcohol but it is very dificult. Diet has been pretty good cept the obvious.

From the results i can see its paying off so now just got to stick in there!!

If i get brave enough ill post some pictures :D

:great:

If your bench goes to decline you can do your lower chest or is there any way you can do dips. check out on the forum "The bit below your nipples" iv posted some videos of lower chest exercises.

Keep up the hard work ! I do not drink, the reason i began to stop drinking was i knew it would hinder my progress in the gym. If i had a great session in the gym then drank, i knew i was damaging my bodies recovery and growth so all that hard work had gone to waste. Also you never feel like eating with a hangover, so your not getting the best fuel for a work out whenever.

Next time that next pint looks good just think about how better your progress will be if you didt have it. Also the amount of calories in alcholic drinks is not good either !

http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/calories-in-alcohol

With a pint of bitter the same as a medium slice of pizza, and a standard size ‘ready to drink’ bottle (‘alcopop’) the same as 100g of cookies, the calories in alcohol soon add up…
Gin or vodka and tonic =126
Dark rum and coke =142
Medium glass of white wine (175ml) =130
Medium glass of red wine (175ml) =120
Bottle of wine (white) =555
Bottle of wine (red) =510
5% Lager (pint) =240-50
Cider (pint) =180-250
Stout (pint) =210
Bitter/Ale =180-230
Liqueur (50ml) =100 -170
Brandy (50ml) =110
Whiskey (25ml) =55
Mixed drink (Ready to drink) (275ml bottle) =160-228

The Government guidelines recommend that women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units daily and that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units daily. Drinking within these guidelines, and trying to give yourself a couple of days off alcohol every week, will help you avoid piling on the pounds.

Your doing well tho buddy, keep it up !

Im thinking of getting a proper bench when i get a bit of money need to get involved with the decline!
Yea was checking that post out has defo been helpfull.
Ive been doing dips in my kitchen ha using the worktops not the ideal set up!

Thanks for the Alcohol tips really maks you think.
Its one of those things which ive been gradually cutting out over the past few months ive dramatically cut down used to drink 4+ times a week now im down to 1 or 2 so im getting tehre slowly!
But your right those calories are nuts!