I've been thinking about it seriously now for over 2 weeks but I feel its time to knock TT on its head for the time being.
I still love the TT principles. It is an amazing program for fat loss and it is a program I sincerely believe in. However, I still do not have enough muscle mass on me to get that ripped look I long for and will undertake again. whether it is a maintenance program or to melt fat again is a future question.
I expect I will enter another contest in future times however, I do feel that for someone of my size and fitness level, gaining muscle is the right approach at this time of my life. You can always read my other blog at www.gethealthywithneil.blogspot.com.
So til the next contest, thank you for reading and see you again soon.
Saturday 20 June 2009
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Yesterday's weigh in and changes to my training schedule
Its been a good couple of weeks since I posted an entry so thought I would do so tonight.
I didnt post last week's weigh in result which was 77.3kg/23.3% bf. yesterday morning's reading was 77.4kg and 23.7%. Last weeks fat % increase was a bit dissappointing but I can live with it.
I have finally managed to secure myself a job which started last week, which now means I cannot workout on a Friday morning (afterall, getting Lydi to nursery is the priority and I can train on a Saturday, either at home or the gym).
I am therefore tinkering about with my schedule. last week was Mon, Wed, Sat. This week will be Tues, Thurs, Sat. On Sunday I went in for a legs and abs day where I did barbell lifts to exhaustion and seated leg presses. I was quite happy with my results as I managed an 8 rep set at 79kg for deadlifts, and a 10 rep set on the leg press at 170kg. Plus I could really feel my heart rate pumping after both. I did one of my 4 exercise ab circuits (3 circuits) comprising renegade row/push up combo with 18kg DBs, leg raises, side plank + lateral raise combo and straight leg ball pass. I really enjoy doing abs circuits like these as they only take a few minutes per circuit to do and really tone the core.
There is now only 6 weeks of the TT challenge remaining. I must admit I have been far from strict with my diet in terms of alcohol. Plus my new job is working for the logistics part of a dairy company, who make chilled products for cadburys, so there has been some chocolate temptation.
That said I have managed to keep on track nutritionally by eating whole foods as recommended by my gurus CB and VDM, and will continue to do so.
I am finding it difficult not doing cardio, but then again, I am now a bit more wary of time, so that is not really too much of an issue.
I will close the post for now. I will get a TANITA reading done when my program is due for change again on June 29. Will keep you posted
I didnt post last week's weigh in result which was 77.3kg/23.3% bf. yesterday morning's reading was 77.4kg and 23.7%. Last weeks fat % increase was a bit dissappointing but I can live with it.
I have finally managed to secure myself a job which started last week, which now means I cannot workout on a Friday morning (afterall, getting Lydi to nursery is the priority and I can train on a Saturday, either at home or the gym).
I am therefore tinkering about with my schedule. last week was Mon, Wed, Sat. This week will be Tues, Thurs, Sat. On Sunday I went in for a legs and abs day where I did barbell lifts to exhaustion and seated leg presses. I was quite happy with my results as I managed an 8 rep set at 79kg for deadlifts, and a 10 rep set on the leg press at 170kg. Plus I could really feel my heart rate pumping after both. I did one of my 4 exercise ab circuits (3 circuits) comprising renegade row/push up combo with 18kg DBs, leg raises, side plank + lateral raise combo and straight leg ball pass. I really enjoy doing abs circuits like these as they only take a few minutes per circuit to do and really tone the core.
There is now only 6 weeks of the TT challenge remaining. I must admit I have been far from strict with my diet in terms of alcohol. Plus my new job is working for the logistics part of a dairy company, who make chilled products for cadburys, so there has been some chocolate temptation.
That said I have managed to keep on track nutritionally by eating whole foods as recommended by my gurus CB and VDM, and will continue to do so.
I am finding it difficult not doing cardio, but then again, I am now a bit more wary of time, so that is not really too much of an issue.
I will close the post for now. I will get a TANITA reading done when my program is due for change again on June 29. Will keep you posted
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Eating for mass is hard!!!
Given my change in direction and doing the mass building program instead of fat loss, I am finding it hard to keep my calories up.
Furthermore, I am not sure what is best to do to maintain my physical conditioning. On the mass building program CB suggests (in fact, insists) on no cardio or intervals. VDM however suggests to minimize fat gain, do some low intensity cardio immediately after your resistance program or do intervals 2 to 3 times a week. However to gain muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus.
Oh its so confusing.
I have really leaned down over the last 3 months, and my muscle tone and definition is so much better since I discovered TT. However, I am still quite skinny in certain areas, such as my biceps and my shoulders are still very weak. My legs are strong tho and I have rediscovered swimming again!!!
Does anyone have ideas how to eat the calories so my muscles can develop, yet keep the fat off? Please remember that I am still a skinny "fat but not so fat as I was" guy, and I do put fat mass on quite quickly!!!
All comments are appreciated
Furthermore, I am not sure what is best to do to maintain my physical conditioning. On the mass building program CB suggests (in fact, insists) on no cardio or intervals. VDM however suggests to minimize fat gain, do some low intensity cardio immediately after your resistance program or do intervals 2 to 3 times a week. However to gain muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus.
Oh its so confusing.
I have really leaned down over the last 3 months, and my muscle tone and definition is so much better since I discovered TT. However, I am still quite skinny in certain areas, such as my biceps and my shoulders are still very weak. My legs are strong tho and I have rediscovered swimming again!!!
Does anyone have ideas how to eat the calories so my muscles can develop, yet keep the fat off? Please remember that I am still a skinny "fat but not so fat as I was" guy, and I do put fat mass on quite quickly!!!
All comments are appreciated
Monday 1 June 2009
A major change of direction
This follows on from my earlier blog today.
I'm now down well below 12 st and the lightest I've been since for 20 years!!! I'm really proud of that achievement, and I can tell that I'm one of the fittest people in my age group at the gym.
Having downloaded TT at the end of March and doing the fat loss program, and based on my tanita readings rather than my home scales I have shed over 5% of body fat in 10 weeks. Again something I am really proud of.
However, since downloading Vince Del Monte's No Nonsense Muscle Building, I'm just itching to build some size, particularly in my abs arms and to strengthen my right shoulder which still feels very week after injury over 15 months ago.
I am not going to abandon TT completely however, as Craig has some mass-building workouts and that is what I am going to do next. And I still want to be in this contest as I think it has at least helped me cut down on alcohol.
Ok so here are my goals.
1. To build 8lb muscle mass over the next 8 weeks.
2. Using a metabolic calculator I will need to be consuming 3,500 calories per day. Having done a nutrition log using fitday.com, I think I can quite easily achieve this. Although it will be really strange changing from eating 2 thirds of that over the last 10 weeks.
3. My ideal "ripped" weight is 175lb. I know I wont be ripped from just adding a few pounds of muscle, but that is the long term goal, and having done my reading, I may have to bulk up to 14st again and then cut down. but then that will be at least 6 months down the line, and I will see how things go at that time.
4. I will aim to keep my body fat below 21% according to the Tanita machine and to stay under 180lb by the end of the next 8 weeks.
I've been thinking long and hard about this decision, and I think it will help me get those 6 pack abs I really want. I will have more muscle mass to burn the fat, boosting my metabolism. Its just not going to happen overnight and I really think that adding muscle to my frame is the best course of action since I know I have the toolbox to really cut down when the time is right.
So, although I have done TT 2k9 today (a complete upper body workout), I will be starting TT Mass at Home (although it will be done mainly at the gym) on Wednesday from workout B (lower body). Resting tomorrow and eating big!!!
The next step will be to do TT for meatheads (god I hate that phrase) for weeks 9 to 12.
OK, its 11pm and I got the munchies so having a protein shake with some milk, and a cheese sandwich.
I can relax and get some sleep now!
I'm now down well below 12 st and the lightest I've been since for 20 years!!! I'm really proud of that achievement, and I can tell that I'm one of the fittest people in my age group at the gym.
Having downloaded TT at the end of March and doing the fat loss program, and based on my tanita readings rather than my home scales I have shed over 5% of body fat in 10 weeks. Again something I am really proud of.
However, since downloading Vince Del Monte's No Nonsense Muscle Building, I'm just itching to build some size, particularly in my abs arms and to strengthen my right shoulder which still feels very week after injury over 15 months ago.
I am not going to abandon TT completely however, as Craig has some mass-building workouts and that is what I am going to do next. And I still want to be in this contest as I think it has at least helped me cut down on alcohol.
Ok so here are my goals.
1. To build 8lb muscle mass over the next 8 weeks.
2. Using a metabolic calculator I will need to be consuming 3,500 calories per day. Having done a nutrition log using fitday.com, I think I can quite easily achieve this. Although it will be really strange changing from eating 2 thirds of that over the last 10 weeks.
3. My ideal "ripped" weight is 175lb. I know I wont be ripped from just adding a few pounds of muscle, but that is the long term goal, and having done my reading, I may have to bulk up to 14st again and then cut down. but then that will be at least 6 months down the line, and I will see how things go at that time.
4. I will aim to keep my body fat below 21% according to the Tanita machine and to stay under 180lb by the end of the next 8 weeks.
I've been thinking long and hard about this decision, and I think it will help me get those 6 pack abs I really want. I will have more muscle mass to burn the fat, boosting my metabolism. Its just not going to happen overnight and I really think that adding muscle to my frame is the best course of action since I know I have the toolbox to really cut down when the time is right.
So, although I have done TT 2k9 today (a complete upper body workout), I will be starting TT Mass at Home (although it will be done mainly at the gym) on Wednesday from workout B (lower body). Resting tomorrow and eating big!!!
The next step will be to do TT for meatheads (god I hate that phrase) for weeks 9 to 12.
OK, its 11pm and I got the munchies so having a protein shake with some milk, and a cheese sandwich.
I can relax and get some sleep now!
So what does this all mean then?
I'm really puzzled. I've been continuing monitoring my weight at home and today I weighed in at 11st 9lb (74.2kg) and 22.5% body fat. So thats down 1.3% in 4 weeks and I have lost 2kg (4.5lb) of body fat based on those measurements. Not great shakes but still heading in the right direction
However, as I was starting a new program (TT 2k9) I again took the opportunity of getting measured on the TANITA monitor.
This time it says 11st 11lb 18.6% body fat (equating to 2st 2.8lb), and according to that, I apparently I have gained 1lb of fat. Also my 3lb weight loss appears to be 3lb of water plus 1lb muscle minus the 1lb addition of fat. How is this possible?
I don't know whether this offers any explanation, but I have started another creatine loading cycle (started Fri), and the weather over here in the UK has been exceptionally hot which would give some explanation of the water loss, but the last 2 points are totally the opposite of what I want to achieve. In any event I thought that creatine was supposed to draw water into your dry muscle mass, so surely it would have been reasonable to expect my muscle mass to stay the same, if not increase?
I've not been monitoring my calories but have stuck with the East Stop Eat program with 2 24hr fasts per week and limiting my alcohol consumption, and doing some non-interval cardio for 30-40 mins twice a week on off days. I abandoned a fast on Saturday evening to take advantage of the warm weather and started another fast after lunch. I must admit I don't think I ate a lot on Sunday and I felt quite light headed all today. I hope this little blip doesn't mean I'm starting to go catabolic. I think it best that I abandon ESE for this week and see what results I get next week.
I'm also thinking about whether it is the right time to also abandon fat loss, and start building muscle to reduce my fat %age. I don't know I'm getting confused. I think it best I stick with this tt 2k9 program til I complete the chart in 3w time and review it again.
However, as I was starting a new program (TT 2k9) I again took the opportunity of getting measured on the TANITA monitor.
This time it says 11st 11lb 18.6% body fat (equating to 2st 2.8lb), and according to that, I apparently I have gained 1lb of fat. Also my 3lb weight loss appears to be 3lb of water plus 1lb muscle minus the 1lb addition of fat. How is this possible?
I don't know whether this offers any explanation, but I have started another creatine loading cycle (started Fri), and the weather over here in the UK has been exceptionally hot which would give some explanation of the water loss, but the last 2 points are totally the opposite of what I want to achieve. In any event I thought that creatine was supposed to draw water into your dry muscle mass, so surely it would have been reasonable to expect my muscle mass to stay the same, if not increase?
I've not been monitoring my calories but have stuck with the East Stop Eat program with 2 24hr fasts per week and limiting my alcohol consumption, and doing some non-interval cardio for 30-40 mins twice a week on off days. I abandoned a fast on Saturday evening to take advantage of the warm weather and started another fast after lunch. I must admit I don't think I ate a lot on Sunday and I felt quite light headed all today. I hope this little blip doesn't mean I'm starting to go catabolic. I think it best that I abandon ESE for this week and see what results I get next week.
I'm also thinking about whether it is the right time to also abandon fat loss, and start building muscle to reduce my fat %age. I don't know I'm getting confused. I think it best I stick with this tt 2k9 program til I complete the chart in 3w time and review it again.
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