Weight / Fat loss

Eating dinner before swimming meant I was starving when I got back, protein shake it is then...

The last 3 days have been a bit of a mess, awesome amounts of training, but mixed with an awesome amount of alcohol and food, I think the food would have been fine, but the alcohol on Friday and Saturday was unnecessary!

Oh and signed up to the gym. Tomorrow morning it begins!

Was going to say that would be my advice - gives you structure, something to aim for, plus all the equipment.

Signing up to a gym commits and motivates you.

For a week or two, until it becomes too much effort to go.. like the thousands of NY resolution joiners :)

For a week or two, until it becomes too much effort to go.. like the thousands of NY resolution joiners :)

True for some. Not always though or gyms would be empty by march.

I know regular gym-goers but I also know lots that take a 12 month membership and use it so infrequently they'd be better off paying £100 per session for a personal trainer.

At that price they it would probably even include a happy ending too.

Was going to say that would be my advice - gives you structure, something to aim for, plus all the equipment.

Depends on how you approach it, for many people I observe it doing the exact opposite. They get overwhelmed by equipment/exercise variety, Also conflicting goals like bulking up and slimming down and do no progress at anything.

Ouch I'm sore now.

Got down there for 6.45 spent around 45mins- 1 hour there.

Plan is as follows;

Day 1 : Chest & shoulders

Bench Press
Incline bench press
Dumbbell shoulder press
Dumbbell bench press
Dumbbell lateral raises

Day 2: Arms

Z-Bar curl
Close grip bench press
Straight bar push downs
Bench dumbbell bicep curl
Lying dumbbell triceps extensions
Dumbbell hammer curls

Day 3: Back

Bent over rows
Seated pulley rows
Bent over bench dumbbell lift
Machine reverse press

What would be a good breakfast following the gym? I'm not eating before I go and starting to think that the Protein shake + Banana may not cut it afterwards.

77.7 this morning- all the sevens.

And 76.6 this morning.

I know regular gym-goers but I also know lots that take a 12 month membership and use it so infrequently they'd be better off paying £100 per session for a personal trainer.

I would always recommend PAYG to start. Obviously it's more expensive but it tests whether you'll actually fit it into you life/routine. Then if its definitely for you switch.

Personally I find a lot of it intensely dull and don't think I often utilise all of the specific equipment to its fullest. The most efficient I've ever been was when I lived at home before travelling. I'd do pressups and dips before showering, walk to/from work, go for a quick 20min run as soon as I got home, maybe take a skipping rope, then do pressups, dips, and sit-ups while my bath ran.

It meant that by 6:30-7:00 I'd be ready for dinner / going out / etc. Admititdly that was when I finished work at 5pm, and I realise that none of that routine ^ is really going to help if you're training for something specific. But as part of an overall eg of easy regular excercise I think it was a good one.

Day 1 : Chest & shoulders (Push)

Bench Press
Dumbbell shoulder press
Dumbbell lateral raises

Day 2: Back (Pull)

Bent over rows
Seated pulley rows

Day 3: Legs

Squat

Or my favourite

A
Push - Bench - Military - Dips
Squat

B
Pull - Deadlift - Rows or Pullups (I still cant do more than 3)
Squat

Alternate the days with a day in between so each group is given time to repair. If I could afford the gym it's what I'd do again. I have not motivation to work out from home. Must be the sight of muscley men.

Ouch I'm sore now.

Since this is the internet I'll give you some unsolicited advice. If you are doing weights for the first time ever/in a while start with a beginners program. Beginners programs tend to use the biggest compound movements like squat and deadlift to build general strength before you start to either target muscle groups like you are. If you are a novice this is where how you'll gain the quickest. The plan should help you not overtrain. Look at starting strength wiki for a program.

10-jun-2013 85 KG 187 LBS
11-jun-2013 84,1 KG 185,02 LBS
14-jun-2013 83,4 KG 183,48 LBS
19-jun-2013 83,4 KG 183,48 LBS
29-jun-2013 82,6 KG 181,72 LBS
04-jul-2013 82,4 KG 181,28 LBS
08-jul-2013 82,4 KG 181,28 LBS

it... must... go... faster...

Gaining more muscles in my legs though. Between the last two measurement days I cycled a total of 286 kilometers / 177 miles (burned over 10000 kcal according to my heart rate monitor). I do notice that my legs are getting bigger and bigger but I don't notice if my belly is getting smaller :(

72.0 again this morning, I thought I'd have dropped a fair bit since yesterday as I didn't eat a 10 course meal the night before!

Hopefully make a little more progress before the weekend as its time for my next triathlon already!

Feeling as though I'm on the brink of a cold so as I taper this week it'll either give me the chance to fight it off or my immune system will give in and I'll get sick, hopefully it will be resolved by Saturday either way!

Since this is the internet I'll give you some unsolicited advice. If you are doing weights for the first time ever/in a while start with a beginners program. Beginners programs tend to use the biggest compound movements like squat and deadlift to build general strength before you start to either target muscle groups like you are. If you are a novice this is where how you'll gain the quickest. The plan should help you not overtrain. Look at starting strength wiki for a program.

That looks interesting thanks. However this link had more information;

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs

What gains would I have doing something like that over what I'm currently doing?

I know regular gym-goers but I also know lots that take a 12 month membership and use it so infrequently they'd be better off paying £100 per session for a personal trainer.

I know, I was being a bit facile. The january rush must make a fortune for gym owners, with only about 2/3 weeks of increased volume to deal with. Right now though, there's the 'summer rush' as well, though at my gym* this is mainly wannabe hard men hogging all the free weights.

*Pure Gym Glasgow, so no surprise.

That looks interesting thanks. However this link had more information;

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs

What gains would I have doing something like that over what I'm currently doing?

Bigger muscles burn more calories, a programme that engages the big muscle groups will help you loose weight, and build core strength, which is where functional strength come from rather then building beach guns...

But chicks dig the gun show

They dig six packs as well so it evens out in the end right!?

That looks interesting thanks. However this link had more information;

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs

What gains would I have doing something like that over what I'm currently doing?

To gain strength and muscle you need to stress your muscles, rest to allow them to adapt and then stress them again. It is harder to stress the muscles of a well trained person as they are conditioned therefore they use a targeted exercises to really home in on exactly what they want to stress.

for an untrained person, big compound moves will give you this level of stress easily and build core strength throughout. You just don't need to target things in the same way. More so, targeting too much will leave you with an imbalance of muscle which will lead to injuries.

Keeping it simple will also allow you to track progression well, which is a motivation, give you a clear plan to get through on shit days, and cut the time spent in the gym.

If you squat and deadlift 3 time a week for 2 months you will really change your body shape.

Thanks, makes a lot of sense.

Also on MFP should I be eating up exercise calories?

I do, I worked out my BMR without any exercise and took 15% off to give me my daily target, then any extra calories burnt are made up for by an increase in food, which i try to do with low fat options, I usually try to err on the side of caution, but in general it works for me, and helps to motivate me to go to the gym/do exercise as without it I feel pretty hungry!

What kind of low fat options? I'm thinking fruit but then I'm well over my allowance for sugar.

They dig six packs as well so it evens out in the end right!?

How often are you actually topless in this country though?

Guns ftw