Steve's Journal

[bohyagoa]

Hi All,

It is fantastic to find a forum like this. I was using an online forum to track my progress for self help and curing negatiove habits and I found it a huge help. I have had goals to improve my body and general health for quite some time now and after just buying Tim Ferris's book "The 4 hour Body", I have decided to start. I will first give some background on myself.

I am 25 years old, 6 feet 2" in height and about 15 stone in weight. I play sport semi professionally and I would consider myself to be of average fitness at the moment. I have never had a six pack or have never been near it. In saying that, I have been very fit before but because of a disgraceful diet my muscle has never showed through. I am also considered quite slow at running. I believe the problem is in my acceleration. In terms of strength, my upper body would be quite strong and my legs weaker. At present I would probably bench press about 85 kg for one rep. I would squat possibly 100 kg for 1 rep. 3 years ago, I benched 129 kg for 1 rep and 179 keg squat for one rep.

While I am good at my sport, I am not world class. I believe the difference between me and the best player is about 10% at the moment. If I increase my speed, my strength, fitness and skill level then I honestly feel I can match anybody. As said above, I am 25 years old and most people retire in my sport at 30 so if I am going to achieve my best, now is the perfect time to do so.

I will use this journal to document and motivate myself to achieve the following goals.

1. Find ways to set measurements and get tested
2. Find and Set solid specific goals

General Goals

1. Get a 6 pack
2. Increase my speed
3. Find and maintain a optimal diet
4. Work on my skill level

I will post on it everyday and I would greatly appreciate any comments or encouragement

Thanks

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day One

Today I have started with one of the country's top sprint coaches. He put me on this vibrating machine that is supposed to make you faster. I believe it will show results. Sfter 10 minutes we went out side and did so SAQ training (Speed Agility Quickness). I was very out of shape and completely exausted after only 10 runs. However we kept at it and did 50 overall. I then went home and stretched for 10 minutes. One Change to make for tomorrow is to bring food to eat straight after training - A chicken sandwich on brown bread. I want to also train on a pitch so the next time we will train there. It is tuesday today and I will train with him again on thursday.

Still reading tim ferris book and he sayes that if you do not have anything to measure , you will fail. I am going to set goals for one month and see what I can achieve. I need to start measuring everything so today I got my major muscle groups measured and the measurements are shown below.

Measurements
Calfes – Right Calf (14.5 inches) Right Calf (15.9 inches)
Thighs – Right Thigh (21 inches) Left Thigh (22 inches)
Biceps – Right Bicep (14.5 inches) Left Bicep (15 inches)

I got these measured in a gym so tomorrow I will buy my own tape measure so I can keep my own measurements.


New Ideas To Implement
1. Always Bring A Sandwich to training to have afterwards

That’s all for Today

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day Two

I have made a new decision to do 8 minutes of stretching the main muscle groups each day. My flexibility is very low at the moment as I can’t even touch my toes so the stretching I will do every morning is as follows.

• Lying Glute Stretch – Left X 2 X 30 Seconds/Right X 2 X 30 Seconds
• Sitting Groin Stretch –2 X 30 Seconds
• Standing Hamstring Stretch – Left X 2 X 30 Seconds/Right X 2 X 30 Seconds
• Standing Calf Stretch – Left X 2 X 30 Seconds/Right X 2 X 30 Seconds
• Standing Thigh Stretch – Left X 2 X 30 Seconds/Right X 2 X 30 Seconds

While I am doing this I put on relaxing music so it is almost like doing yoga. This is the first thing that I will make a part of my routine.

The next thing that I want to start is my diet. I have put a calendar up on my wall where I tick the days that I have eaten well so I can see my progress. The foods that I have cut out are as follows


1. Chips, Burgers, Pizza and other fast food
2. Chocolate
3. Soft Drinks
4. Butter, Salt
5. Ice-cream
6. White bread


This is what I will cut out at the moment. I can eat anything else. If I eat any of these then I will stuff myself for the rest of that day. I can eat as much junk as I want until the next day. Every time I stick to this diet I will give a tick on the calendar. Every time I don’t, I will put an X on the calendar.

So what I have covered so far is diet and Flexibility. I also need to cover Strength, fitness, Speed, Skill, Mental and goal setting. Every day I will have a list at the bottom with these points and I will put a little report about how much I did or if I achieved it or not. The first example of this is shown below


1. Strength –
2. Flexibility – 70%
3. Fitness –
4. Diet – 100%
5. Speed –
6. Skill -
7. Mental –
8. Goal setting -


So overall there are 7 aspects. I want to master my these 8 aspects to reach my potential.

That’s my report for today


Steve

[bohyagoa]

Daily Routine So Far

8 Minutes Of Stretching In the Morning
Diet and Water


Thats All for Now - I will Keep Adding to It

[bohyagoa]

Day Three

I got up today and did 10 minutes of stretching. It was good and I enjoyed it. However, I let some of the stretches slip and I only ended up achieving the stretches at about 70%. I am just back in from training now. I went to the coach’s house and we did the vibration machine for 5 minutes and then we went out to the field and did the warm up. It was good and we did quite a lot of sprints and ladder work. I enjoyed it but it was also quite tiring. After it we did 6 X 50 meter sprints. I did them quite well. We then ended it with 5 minutes on the vibration machine again.

One good thing I did today was I brought a chicken sandwich to training and I eat it immediately after training. After this I went home and I am sitting at home writing this report in my training gear. I will do more stretches in a few minutes before I go and have a shower. I spoke to my coach about the gym training and he said that my schedule will be as follows.


Monday

1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility
2. Training with Coach (Fitness, Speed)
3. Gym


Tuesday

1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility


Wednesday

1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility
2. Training with Coach (Fitness, Speed)
3. Gym


Thursday

1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility


Friday

1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility
2. Training with Coach (Fitness, Speed)


Saturday

1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility


Sunday
1. Morning 10 minutes flexibility


In the meantime, I will also be eating right and gaining my motivation. One of the best ways to increase my motivation I find is to read books like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tim Ferris. I will make this a habit to read at least 5 pages of one of these books per day.

Daily Routine

• 10 minutes Flexibility In morning
• 5 page extract from book
• Diet


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

1. 10 one legged squats on each leg

2. 15 Full Arm Pull Ups

3. Full Squat 100kg with parallel legs

4. I want to be able to see my six abs

5. Get my 20 meter sprint to 1.5

6. Get my 35 meter Sprint to 2.5

7. Make both Calves 16 inches

8. Put both Palms Fully flat on ground when stretching

9. Put both legs behind head

[bohyagoa]

Day Four


Today I got up early and I felt too tired to do the stretching…I came back later and did a good session. I want to have specific short term goals for each session. I want to be able to think about them while I am working as this will bring me closer to my goal than simply stuffing earphones in and working to music. I made an appointment next Wednesday with a sprint coach and I am going to get him to access my physical condition. Although I have a coach at the moment, this should be another good step in the right direction.

I am still confused about the diet. I don’t know what I should eat. According to Tim Ferris I should cut everything out but perhaps this is not so. I will ask the sprint coach next Wednesday what he recommends and do a more reasonable form of the diet. Once I become accustomed to this I can move onto the Tim Ferris one. On Monday I will be starting my gym session. I will buy protein and be ready for the sessions. I plan to go to the gym at least two days a week. The matches do not matter too much. Everything is second to me getting this training right.

BIG FINDING

I found out something very important today. One of the reasons I can’t squat properly is because my right foot sticks out. However, I have done some twisting foot stretches today during the flexibility and when I tried doing some standing squats it was perfect. I will focus on this more. Once I build up this flexibility then I should be able to squat correctly.

I have to read some pages of the book as I didn’t get a chance yet today. Also I will work on more flexibility tonight. My pitch sessions should be incorporated. I need to find goals for the pitch sessions so I’m not just doing aimless training for matches. Perhaps scoring every point or building up my average every day. I must make it fun no matter what I decide. I need to get more balls so I will speak to my manager tonight about buying some.

I was going to going to go out to the hurling pitch now to do some training but I made the excuse that I didn’t have enough hurling balls. I will get 20 and then make it a habit and set goals.

What I did today

• Stretching
• Read Extract

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

I was thinking about my goals for the skills and what I will do is to use averages. I will find the highest average. I will buy 30 balls everytime I go out and see how many I score out of 60. This will give me an added incentive and enjoyment. When I was younger I used to do this all the time and I will start this practice now also.

[bohyagoa]

Day Five

Today I got up and did my 10 minute stretching. I am stretching my right foot around and I can see the difference already. The main stretching I am concentrating on are my hamstrings, my glutes and my knees. I am about 5 inches from touching my toes but I believe I will be able to do so in the next month. Today I probably stretched 5 times at least and I will do another session later.

I played a match today so I did not do any other work. At the match my manager said he would give me 24 new balls so I won’t have to buy them. I also found out my training schedule for the week. It is as follows

Monday - Gym Session

Wednesday – Training in field

Friday – Training in Field

Sunday – Training in Field

Now I can do the gym with the team on Monday – that is fine and the team won’t be getting annoyed because I am missing lots of sessions. I can also do my session in the morning with my coach. I really need to sort out my meal before training but more importantly after training. Perhaps I will bring a protein shake with me. So my Monday will consist of this…

Monday
• Flexibility Session
• Sprint Training with coach
• Gym Training


I have also found a company called cross fit. It is an elite training facility that training sports people up to Olympic level. I will check it out tomorrow. So this is my basic schedule is this…


Monday
• Flexibility Session
• Sprint Training with coach
• Gym Training


Tuesday
• Flexibility Session
• Field/Wall


Wednesday
• Flexibility Session
• Sprint Training with coach
• Gym Training


Thursday
• Flexibility Session
• Field/Wall


Friday
• Flexibility Session
• Training with Team


Saturday
• Flexibility Session


Sunday
• Flexibility Session
• Match/Training


I will also find out how much extra I can do...For example if I can do some sledges for 10 minutes or 5 sprints even tho I have training later. I want to figure this out because I have as much free time as I want. I will do my work on the laptop beside the pitch and then I can pop in as much as I want.

For me to train this much I need to eat as well as possible. The main thing is to drink lots of water and also have a meal before training and one straight after. I must have a chicken sandwich ready after every training.

As regards the goals, I have to be mindful of my goals before training and not just train for the sake of training. I need to add to my goals more and more

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Things I have to measeure are shown below

100 metre sprint
60 meter Sprint
30 Metre Sprint
10 Metre Sprint
Vertical Jump
Standing Long Jump

I also need to start adding things into my training like plyometrics, speed resistance training etc

[bohyagoa]

I have a mental block about training with the team at the moment. It’s like I have lost interest in it. I don’t look forward to it…The reasons for this are

1. The warm up is too hard
2. I can’t train perfectly if I have other training to do with the team
3. I might get injured
4. It will take way too much out of me and I will be tired for days
5. The drills are boring


Ok if I divide training into sections, they are as follows

1. The pre training puck around
2. The warm-up (15 minutes)
3. The Drills (20 minutes)
4. The match (30 minutes)
5. The Running (10 Minutes)
6. Flexibility


Total training time is usually 90 minutes


How can I make it more interesting?? Well for a start I can cut out the pre-session puck- around. This is not essential as we are just waiting for people to arrive and this is certainly a part of training that is boring and monotonous. I can wait in the car and do a little work on the computer on my goals until people are ready for the warm-up. Thus, I can edit this part of the training.


With the warm – up I can… (I will do more work on this later and do CBT on the Negative thoughts)

[bohyagoa]

Day Six

Today I did the flexibility session. I measured myself on the stairs so I will do this again in the future. I was able to put my fingers on the bottom step, the knuckle part, when I was standing on the ground. This gave a very good stretch. So far I am happy with my stretch work.

One thing that I have to add to my daily routine is that when I get up I will buy a chicken sandwich. Then if I have training I can eat it later on in the day. I must get in playing against the wall 3 times per week and I must get in playing out in the pitch three times per week. So for three days I will bring my laptop to the pitch and do some work beside it. I have my goals for the session of flexibility nearly down and I look forward to doing it and seeing how far I can get.

I still have to start the gym sessions and the sprint sessions. Although I am working with my coach at the moment, he is not doing any speed work with me other than sprints. I need to introduce the other elements into my schedule. Here are some questions that I need answers to…

1. How much Plyometrics can I do and what to do (I can do them in UCD)
2. What is my gym program?

At the end of everyday, I will write out what I did and then I will edit that post with the next days and then at the end of every week I will be able to see how much training I did exactly.

I have done no abs training so far so maybe this is something I will focus on in the future too as a category. I am working tomorrow with my coach again so I will eat before that and also have a sandwich ready for after it.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 7

Today I did my stretches and my hamstring flexibility seems to be improving. In the next 2 weeks I should be able to touch my toes. I am also working on increasing the flexibility in my knees. Every time I stretch, I am getting closer to my goal.

I am also going out to my sprint coach in 30 minutes to do this training session. For the first time, I have eaten a good carb meal before going so it will interesting to see my energy levels while doing this. It was a chicken sandwich and I also have another sandwich ready to eat after.

Training today was much improved. We went to a new pitch and I did the sprints. At first they were incredibly difficult but after a while I learned something important. On the jogging section I was actually running so I was losing my rest period. Once I did this my times improved immensely. My energy levels were a little better today but not a major improvement after the food I ate.

We practiced the art of sprinting and what I found was that I was pushing off my back foot when I should have been going with my front foot. This is something I will definitely practice, as much as my stretching or even with my stretching. I also found that all the speed comes from your calf so this is something I will bear in mind. I will go into the gym and work on this constantly. Every two days because one of my calf’s are 1 inch smaller than the other one. I can work on this during the day and also work on the Plyometrics, maybe only doing one or two jumps per session.

1. Practice sprinting technique
2. Weighted Calf Raises (Dynamic)
3. Plyometrics jumps

I also want to get some testing equipment. I am going to get a measuring tape for the long jump and also go to my college with a marker and put a mark for the spot for the vertical jump. I want to buy a laser for the sprints. I have no idea how much it will cost but I will buy it anyway.

This evening I am going to the gym with the team and I will do my first gym session. I don’t have any protein so I will try to get some before I go. Ok so I am back from the training and it was quite good. I only trained at about 60% and left some of the lifts so I will introduce my own lifts and draw up my own program in the next few days. My general schedule is starting to come together now and I am doing well and I know what I want to do with my diet. Today was an excellent day and a learning experience

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

For the last few days I have been doing extensive work on flexibility. However, I still can’t squat to the floor without heavy weight so there is some muscle that needs to be stretched so I need to find that. However, what I am going to do is to add to my flexibility sessions. I am going to do some Plyometrics as well as some practice sprints

Routine
1. Practice sprints
2. Plyometrics
3. Flexibility

I also need to strengthen my calves

[bohyagoa]

Monday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Gym Session

Tuesday

1. Vertical Jump testing/Standing Long jump Testing
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Seated Calf Raises
4. Hurling in Pitch

[bohyagoa]

Ideas

1. Build up Calves on Machine in gym
2. Do plyometrics, and sprint machinics with Flexibility
3. Eat proper meals and before and after training
4. Knee Flexibility
5. Buy equipment to measure Virtical Jump, Long Jump and Sprints
6. Read inspiring books
7. Work on laptop beside pitch

[bohyagoa]

Day 8

Today was a little bit of a rest day between the sprints and the gym training yesterday…I found several sites on the net that do testing in my area..However, I called into one and decided to leave it..I called the other several times but there was no answer. I got a measuring tape today and a marker to measure my Jumps and the results are below


My standing Long jump was – 8 feet/96 inches/244 cm
My Vertical Jump was – 19.5/50 cm
10 meter sprint - ?
20 meter sprint - ?
30 Meter Sprint - ?
40 yard Dash - ?
100 meter sprint - ?

In one month I will test again. In the meantime, I will work on a number of different things. I worked on my seated calf raises today. I did two burnout sets of 15 reps of 45kg. I then put on 90 kg and I found it pretty easy to do this as well. I will focus on this. In the meantime, I will buy a program. It is called critical speed and I purchased off this company before and I found them to be very good. The link is here

http://www.criticalbench.com/running-faster.htm

Ok I just bought it there and I found that I actually doing most of the exercises in the book. It gives me real encouragement to find this. Once I buy the larger measuring tape tomorrow I will measure my sprints in detail. I also need to improve the diet and the problem is that there is no food in the house at the moment. I eat all my meals out so tonight I am going to go shopping and fill it so I will eat a breakfast in the morning. This is the only way for me to keep up the energy that I will need to do the training.

I got a little lazy on my flexibility today and did not do it as well as I should so I will go out and do another session now. I am going out to the pitch now to work a little on my skill level but it will be nothing serious just for enjoyment.

What will really increase my speed is the strength in my calves so I need to strengthen them up. I don’t know whether to find a one rep max for my calves but I will try it and I will do the bench press program routine on it. Everyday I go to the gym I will work on them more. I really need to get an accurate measurement of calf size. Just back from the field now and I did some good work on my hurling as well as some stretching. Did the flexibility perfectly probably for the first time. What I need to do now is to draw up a gym program and then draw up my weekly schedule

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

New Proper Measurements Of Calves

Right is 16.25
Left is 15.75

[bohyagoa]

Ok my goal is to get faster so what are the specific excerises that are going to make me faster. Obviously the bigger and stronger my legs get the faster I will be. provided they get bigger and stronger with explosive movements. The main ones are below

1. Squats (Bigger Quads)
2. Seated Calf Raises
3. Flexability
4. Standing Calf Raises
5. Sprints (With Technique)
6. Practicing Sprint technique
7. Plyometrics

[Tsesmatas]

nice

[bohyagoa]

Ha Cheers Bro :)

[bohyagoa]

Day 9

I did a good flexibility session today. I held it for 30 seconds X 3 of the 4 different stretches. I heard from a friend that Tim Ferris has some excellent stretches in his book so I will look at those later. I have got a broom handle and I am using it in my living room as a barbell to keep my back straight and my feet in like. I am going down as far as I can go but my feet keep sticking way out. This is excellent that I found this out because I can work on it daily now. I put a little stool up and on top of the stool I put 8 DVDs. So at the moment I can barely touch the stool and 8 DVDs and my feet are sticking out a lot. I am going to see how many DVDs I can take off in a week.

I am going to my coach in a few minutes. I bought bread and made toast and drank a glass of milk. I also bought a chicken sandwich for afterwards. I will do some shopping today and stock up. It does not have to be healthy; I just have to fill the house with food. I am going to try out my new sprinting techniques with my coach, put the foot forward and drive off the first foot etc. I really need to set out my goals now that I have a better understanding about how to get there. So here is some as follows

1. Full Squat With Perfect Form
2. 17 inch Calves
3. Increase Long Jump by 6 inches
4. Increase Vertical Jump By 4 Inches
5. 20 Pull Ups
6. Put both Palms Fully flat on ground when stretching
7. Put both legs behind head
8. 10 one legged squats on each leg
9. Full Squat 100kg with parallel legs
10. I want to be able to see my six abs

I really need to get myself tested tho. Ok my coach wasn’t able to train me today so I went to the sprint track and I got my friend to time my sprints as follows

1. 10 metres – 1.6 seconds (Average of 4 sprints)
2. 20 metres – 3.2 seconds (Average of 4 sprints)
3. 100 meters – 14.7 Seconds (Only did one) – Was after all the other sprints so was tired


I did the 40 yard dash…I was not sure of the times so I must have got the measurements mistaken because the average I got was 4.5 seconds. I need to get the rolling measurement tape so I can do it properly so I will get it today.

I am also interested in buying the laser timing gates to get the best times. The only this is that they cost 1000 Euros. However, I will look into it more. Perhaps as a reward for one of the challenges. I also want to buy a thing to measure my BMI. I will research this today to see the price of it.

Today I found out about a lot of things. The only precise instrument to measure body fat is called the Harpender Calipers and it costs 250 euro’s. Also instead of buying timing gates, I found out about a body tracking system that is available to buy in my country. I was speaking to the guy and he said I could drive down to his office and he would explain everything about how to use it etc. This is a really good development and I will definitely look forward to finding out more about it.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Just back in from training there…It was excellent training…I realize that I can do all the training in the week and it is actually better than what I am doing with my coach and also the team see me training. If I am to do this I must have it organized as well as possible though. I must have my goals set and be as ready as possible and rate every training. However, this is not my main goal. My goals are what I spoke about earlier, and these are what I want to reach. So my sport is a pastime and because I am training to get the perfect body and to get huge speed. So I need to do the sprints at 100%

According to Tim Ferris, you should take a protein shake the minute you get up. I will go to the gym tomorrow and write up my workout.

[bohyagoa]

Monday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Gym Session


Tuesday

1. Vertical Jump testing/Standing Long jump Testing
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Seated Calf Raises
4. Hurling in Pitch


Wednesday

1. Sprint Testing and Sprint Work
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Training With Team


Thursday

1. Flexibility Sessions
1. Gym Session


Friday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions

[bohyagoa]

Day 10

Today I ate a great breakfast for the first time is ages. It was porridge and honey with milk and toast and I really enjoyed it. I also work up at half 8 which is rare for me because I usually get up at 12 or 1. I did some more flexibility work. I was reading Tim Ferris’s book and he talks about injury prevention and how to exercise your muscles. He has 4 specific exercises he does that I must add to my daily routine. I will research them later today and do them. Today is gym day for me so this is where I will do my first proper gym session. The session will be as follows


• Sitting Calf Raise – 10 X 3 X 90kg
• Standing Calf Raises – 10 X 3 X 90kg
• Squats – 3 X 10 X 60Kg
• Pull Ups – 4/4/2
• Bench Press – 10 X 60kg/10X60kg/5 X 70kg
• Dips – 3/3/3
• Hamstring Curls – 10/10/10

I completed it and was happy with it. I am completely exausted now so Im going to bed. I will post some pic’s up of my current body tomorrow. All in all it was a successful day.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

My Before Pics

[bohyagoa]

Body before

[bohyagoa]

Day 11


Today I did some flexibility work and then I ate a great breakfast, once again porridge and toast. From now on I will leave out the butter on the toast. My stretches went ok but I need to start adding in Tim Ferris’s stretches. I did a structural stability test not too long ago and I got the report today and it was excellent detail. It is in pdf format and it shows in detail my structural imbalances. I will include it in this report. At 12, I went out for my sprint sessions with my coach.

I did then warm up on the machine and then we went to the pitch. We practiced the sprint starts and he said I was improving and I could see the improvement myself. We didn’t do too much today because of the Gym session yesterday. After the session, I did 5 Plyometrics jumps off a high box about 4 feet high. My calves felt strong after it. The minute I got into the car I ate a brown bread sandwich with chicken, lettuce and tomato. Today I am going to call into the body building shop to ask the guy what he eats after training because he is a rugby player and looks in fantastic shape.

So now I am at home sitting in my couch writing the report. In a few minutes I will do another flexibility session and then I will call into the guy to see what he says. I will put up the report now because this is the last piece of training I will be doing today, except for flexibility.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

My goals for the next week are as follows

1. Get the Flexibility Finalised
2. Get the Gym Program Finalised

[bohyagoa]

http://www.harpenden-skinfold.com/

www.Redbackbiotek.com

[bohyagoa]

Day 12

Today was a bit of a day off for me. It is 6 in the evening and I have still not done any training or flexibility. I will do a flexibility session in a few minutes. I need to organize my programs better. So here goes…my flexibility program will be as follows

1. Standing Hamstring Stretch – 2 X 30 seconds
2. Leg on Table Stretch – Each Leg - 3 X 90 seconds
3. Shoulder Stretch – 2 X 30 seconds
4. Kneeling Quad Stretch – Each Leg - 2 X 90 seconds

Today I did all the above stretches – Tim Ferris ones are meant to hold for ninety seconds so what I am going to do is to cut out some of them. It will take about 10 minutes with each session but it takes that much anyways. So I will definitely do this once a day and hopefully twice. I know it will definitely free up my hips. I also need to practice my sprints. I will get somebody to do the pointing and I will go off either leg. I will try to do this every day. I also learned if I position myself lower I can get off it quicker.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Monday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Gym Session


Tuesday

1. Vertical Jump testing/Standing Long jump Testing
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Seated Calf Raises
4. Hurling in Pitch


Wednesday

1. Sprint Testing and Sprint Work
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Training With Team


Thursday

1. Flexibility Sessions
1. Gym Session


Friday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions


Saturday

1. Flexibility Session

[bohyagoa]

Day 13

Today I did very little so we will call it my off day. However, I did work on the flexibility. My brother has amazing flexibility and is able to do a one legged squat. I will work on it until my legs are even stronger. The report is very small today because I am very tired but I will write more tomorrow.

Monday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Gym Session


Tuesday

1. Vertical Jump testing/Standing Long jump Testing
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Seated Calf Raises
4. Hurling in Pitch


Wednesday

1. Sprint Testing and Sprint Work
2. Flexibility Sessions
3. Training With Team


Thursday

1. Flexibility Sessions
1. Gym Session


Friday

1. Morning Sprint Sessions
2. Flexibility Sessions


Saturday

1. Flexibility Session


Sunday

1. Flexibility Session



Week One

7 X Flexibility Sessions
3 X Sprint Sessions
2 X Gym Sessions

Regards

Steve

Ps – I have to do at least 3 gym sessions in the week

[bohyagoa]

Day 14


Today I met my sprint coach and we did our morning sprint session. He says I am improving which is good. However, what I really need to do is to build up the power and flexibility in my legs. He said that flexibility is the key to speed and I will work on it more and more. 90 seconds is too long to hold a stretch so I will hold it for a max of 40 seconds. When I got home from training I ate porridge and bread with butter and drank milk. It might not be the best meal in the world but it is good for after training. I am also going to the gym tonight with the team and I will put in a good session. I will drive home first and get the protein shake and then tog out and go training. My coach said he will test my body fat next week. Once I have my body fat calculated I can work on getting it down. I really want to get a DEXA scan as this will tell me exactly what my body fat is. Its costs 80 euro to do but the only issue is that I have to get a doctor to refer me. They won’t let me do it without a doctor.

I need to set more goals for training etc but I’m a little unsure where my sport fits into it. I know my goals generally with the flexibility. Obviously, I want to work a lot more on it but I don’t know my goals with my sport. I know my general goals with my weights and these ties into my sport. So I need to work more on my sport. So this asks the question of what my sport entails…


1. Catching
2. Control
3. Moving forward
4. Tackling
5. Placed Balls
6. Close marking


How can I practice these and what goals can I set for them?

Aside from this I need to get a DEXA Scan in the next week – So what I need is doctors to refer me…So who can I get??

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! After some searching what do I find? I find that my gym ( which is part of the university I went to) has a high performance centre for testing and not only do they do the dexa scan and a bod pod test but they also test a lot more different things. They also have speed gate testing judging by the picture on the website. This is absolutely fantastic and I will finally get a perfect measurement of my body fat. I will call in and make an appointment tomorrow.


I went out to the wall today and did 200 catches. My aim is to do this for 3-4 times per week. So what I need to do is to build up a schedule of what to do every week and then try to get the perfect week


• 200 Catches – 3 times per week
• Gym Session – 3 times per week
• Training – 3 times per week
• Flexibility – 10 times per week
• Sprint Training – 1 time per week
• Plyometrics – 2 times per week
• Abs Work – 2 times per week


At the end of every day I will put this and mark off what I have done. I will organize my DEXA scan tomorrow and have it as soon as possible. My goal is to have the perfect body and the training will help the fitness of it. Provided I put in as much effort as possible into the training.


Ok so I am back from the gym there and I did almost nothing  Some stretching and then I benched 60 kg for 8 reps X 3, I also squatted 60 Kg for 10 and 80 kg for 3. I only did this out of laziness and because I am not keeping my scores. However, I am going to write out my scores now and when I go to the gym the next time I will have records to overcome. I will write this below


Squats - 80kg X 10
Bench – 70kg X 5
Pull Ups - 5
Dips – 5


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Just wondering if anybody can tell me what is the best food to eat straight after training?

[bohyagoa]

Day 15


Today I did some stretching and bought a rope to help me stretch my quads. I will hang it out of the stairs and really lean back on it. This will be part of my stretching routine. I also set up the DEXA scan for 10am tomorrow morning so it will cost 90 euro…I was speaking to the guy and he said that I will have my results straight after the scan. It will measure muscle mass and fat and where I have the fat etc. I also asked him about the speed training and he said he has the cameras and can set it up and measure my speed for 110 euro’s. This seems a bit steep so hopefully I can get it down.

In the evening I will go to the gym and do some Plyometrics and calf training. I will record my lifts and put them in the journal. I will do another flexibility session and hopefully I can do 200 catches if I have time. Tomorrow I have quite a lot on which is excellent. Ok Just back from the gym there. I did some good Plyometrics and now I have an idea of a program. I will jump from the medium box to the medium box 10 times. Then I will take a break and then I will do it for three sets. I was unable to jump onto the biggest box but I will graduate to that. I also need to be able to jump on one leg to the medium box.

Plyometrics aims

1. Be able to jump onto the biggest box
2. Be able to jump onto medium box with one leg

I also worked out a better way to do my calf. Instead of doing it in twos together, I will work one leg at a time. This is for the seated calf raises. On my left leg I managed to do 4 reps of 75kg and on my right leg I managed to do 6 reps of 70kg. I will write this on my chart now and post the chart up. As said earlier the Dexa scan is tomorrow so I will be happy going for that.

I can also start working on my program and I will do this now…


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Included in the attachments are my lifts records so far. They are in a word doc. I have decided to do the gym twice a week now as if I train anymore it will cut back on my gains. Also I will call into the nutrition shop tomorrow to find a good supplement to eat after training o bring back my energy

[bohyagoa]

This is my workout at the moment...I will bring it into some of the expert coaches I know such as my sprint coach as well as the guys at crossfit and show them and see what they think of it...I have included it in word format in the attachmnets

[bohyagoa]

Just back in from the DEXA scan and I must say that it was completed very professionally completed. The guy was from France and he explained everything perfectly. After it he gave me my results and he explained them perfectly. My stats are as follows

• Body Fat – 20.4%
• Height – 190 cm
• Weight – 96.8 Kg
• Date Measured – 27/4/2011

Also measured is Total

1. Fat (G) – 18908
2. Lean (G) – 73713
Fat % on Legs – 19%
Fat % on Trunk – 23%

Now we are going to examine the total Body Composition…Shown Below is fat percentage

1. Left Arm – 15.0%
2. Left Leg – 19.1%
3. Left Trunk – 22.0%
4. Left Total – 19.9%
5. Right Arm – 16.0%
6. Right Leg – 18.8%
7. Right Trunk – 24.0%
8. Right Total – 20.9%
9. Arms – 15.5%
10. Legs – 19.0%
11. Trunk – 23.0%
12. Android – 28.9%
13. Gynoid – 27.9%
14. Total – 20.4%

These are my test results and I will try to post up the report later if I can. I spoke to the guy over it and I signed up for the V02 Max test as well as the Jump test and the sprint test. The sprint test has timing gateways at the start and finish so I will know exactly what my times are. The jump test involves me jumping on a mat that is linked to the computer and measures force and vertical jump etc. With the V02 Max test I will be running on a treadmill and I will have a mask over my face that will calculate the oxygen intake. The dates set for this test are 20th May 2010.

[bohyagoa]

Day 16

Today I did some good stretching in the morning. I have training in the evening so I will plan for that. I have just eaten a good meal. In training tonight I want to focus on the following…I want to do the warm up as well as possible. As stated in an earlier report, the training is broken up into the following phases…


1. Pucking
2. Warm up
3. Drills
4. Match
5. Warm Down


Driving to training in the car, I came up with some good goals for training. The first is that I do the warm up perfectly and in the match is that my man doesn’t get the ball into his hand and any time I get the ball I go forward before I strike it. In short


1. Do the warm up perfectly by touching every line
2. My man doesn’t get the ball into his hand and I go forward everytime


I still have to come up with one for the drills. Regarding the pucking before training, I am sitting in my car writing this as they are pucking so I will do this until the exact time that training starts.


Ok just back in from training now. It was a very good session. I did the warm up perfectly. In the sprint part in the warm up I used to despise but now I actually like it because I am practicising my sprinting technique. When I take off my front leg feels weak so I will have to work on it. In the game, my man got the ball into his hand 6 times. I need to work on getting it down to zero and this is an excellent goal to have. Also I came forward with every ball so I was happy with that. My hurl is too heavy and big at the moment so I will give it to the hurl maker to cut down. The nutrition after training was excellent. I had a banana and a protein shake and some Jaffa cakes and I feel my energy a lot higher now than usual when I eat nothing. Overall it was an excellent session.


The perfect session for me is when I do the warm up perfect and the drills but also in the match when my man gets zero ball into his hand. I was also made vice captain after training so I was very happy with that.

Regards


Steve

[bohyagoa]

My goal is to get the perfect body and my sport is just a side benifit so what I need to do is to perfect my program. Next week I will call into crossfit and get them to examine my program and see what they can add to it... I also need to sort out my diet big time...I need to start shopping again and while I wont cut out everything I will cut out the following

1. Pizza, Chips, Chinese
2. White Bread
3. Sweets and Choclate
4. Soft Drinks

These are the only things I will cut out until my next DEXA Scan...I must also do my ab work...I have not started this yet and will do so tomorrow

[bohyagoa]

Day 17


Today I got up and went to the gym at 9.30 am…However, my body was still very tired after last night so I stopped after just two exercises. However, I did invent a new way of doing the calf raises. It involves putting the weight back on the rack and that counts as one rep. Then when I can’t stack the weight anymore then I know what my max is. This is a really good way of doing things. I left the gym because my muscles are aching after last night’s heavy training. I have to figure out when is best to do my work out and when is best to do relax.

My workouts always go better in the evenings when I am fully woken up. But the thing was that today I was exhausted after the workout last night. Today in terms of diet I ate porridge for breakfast and then I ate dinner, a roast dinner which had lots of veg. I will do 200 catches later today or maybe I will just have a rest. Yes actually I will take the rest of the day off apart from some flexibility.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

I have just included my full dexa scan report

[bohyagoa]

second part

[bohyagoa]

Day 18


I did my stretches in the morning. Stretched well and can feel my flexibility improving. My gf also said I have improved my flexibility a lot. Then later in the afternoon, I called into crossfit that is 10 minutes away from my house. I met one of the guys in there that owns it and he was really helpful. He used to be a sprinter and he spoke to me about Plyometrics and everything and how to increase my overall strength. I could tell from speaking to this guy that he knows his stuff big time. I will show him my program tomorrow and he is going to give me a free session so that’s brilliant. It is a kind of introductory session and it will be one on one. So I will report how this goes. The key with fitness and indeed any other skill is to constantly ask people who are the experts for their advice on training and your program. So I will learn a lot off this guy tomorrow and I will get him to design a program for me.


Last night I came up with a good Idea and that was to record every food I eat during the day. So today so far I have eaten


1. Two bowls of porridge with milk and honey
2. Beef, potatoes, peas, gravy and water


I am going to training later and for the first time in ages I am looking forward to it, mostly because I have changed my goals. My goals are to do the warm up perfect and then for my man not to get the ball into his hand. If I complete this I need to get some type of reward. Ok just heading to training now, will report back in a few hours…


Ok just back from training there, it was a great session and I really enjoyed it. I did the warm up perfectly and the drills and I also had my meal after training. It was figrolls, a banana and an energy drink. I am at home now drinking a protein shake. We did not play a match so I can’t evaluate the going forward and stopping my man touching the ball. Tomorrow I am going to cross-fit to start the real training.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

At the start my goals were very general and I said I would find the true goals once I got into the program. Well 19 days into the training log I finally have a better idea of my goals. Some of them are still vague and I will have to work on others and add some more but for the moment this is what I have


1. Get 20 pull ups (Currently at 5)
2. Get 20 meter sprint time down (Have to find it first)
3. Increase Vertical Jump (Have to find it first)
4. Increase V02 Max (Have to find it first)
5. Get body fat down to 12% (Currently at 20.4%)
6. Get squat to 200kg (Currently at 100kg)


Once I find the vertical jump height form the lab as well as the V02 Max, I will be able to be more specific with my goals. I am going for the sprint test, the V02 Max and the Jump Test on the 20th May

[bohyagoa]

Day 19


Today was an excellent day. I got up and did some stretches. And then I went to crossfit. I met the guy over it and he was really friendly and a really cool guy. He showed me the start and we did Plyometrics as well as the sprinting starts. We will also be getting in timing gates soon and we did squats with bands. And he also checked my sprinting technique. What we did was as follows


1. Warm Up
2. Band Squats
3. Sprinting starts
4. Box Plyometrics
5. Box jumps


Overall it was very good. This guy definitely knows his stuff. He is going to coach me personally one day a week. In two week we will be getting the timing gates and I will use these. However, I will still use the other timing gates and the jump test and the V02 max in my college. I will get these measurements and work off them. I need to do a program as follows though and incorporate the following


1. Abs
2. Sprints
3. Gym
4. Catches
5. Flexibility



• What abs exercises should I do and when should I do them?
• Should I use the calf machine in UCD?
• Can I do the abs work when I am doing the flexibility?



I can do three sessions with him per week as well as my training with the team. This is something that will generate real results. So now I am going to do some flexibly work and herein ends tonight’s report.



Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 20

I got up today and had a good breakfast. I did a small bit of flexibility work but I will do more later today. I will also do 200 shots off the wall to keep my skill up. Tomorrow I will go into cross fit and work with the guy in there. I have decided that I will be going there 3 times per week. The days I will go are as follows


1. Monday
2. Tuesday
3. Thursday


I need to sort out my schedule and my goals. I don’t have a goal for the flexibility yet other than to put my hands on the ground so I have to work towards that. I am also getting one of my employees to Photoshop images of me when the transformation is complete. So I will have something to work towards. So tomorrow when I go in I will ask the guy for some abs workouts and also when is the best time to do them.


Just finished my nighttime flexibility session. I am getting more flexible all the time. When I was in cross-fit the other day he showed me some stretches that I couldn’t do. Also I couldn’t do the Plyometrics because I had no strength in my calves. Anyway I will report on it tomorrow. Also have to do the catches tomorrow.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 21


Today I went to the gym again and it was an excellent session. In the morning I did the flexibility and I can see good gains. Then I went to the gym and the guy in charge was there again. We did a Squat session today and I found my max squat. I was hugely surprised by this. 3 years ago I had squatted 175 kg as my one rep max but today I squatted 150kg after not having squatted in 3 years so I was very happy with that. The coach thinks I could have made 160kg. These are parallel squats now, not full squats. I was very happy and a squat of 200kg doesn’t seem very far away after all. It was very interesting to find out that the problems with my bounding Plyometrics was not down to my weak calves or my weak thighs but rather to my weak glutes and weak hamstrings. The work that I will be doing with the squats shall help this.


The coach also told me to bring a little notebook to training and record everything. I will buy one and definitely do this and also record it. What I did in the gym today was as follows



Squats

• Bar X 10
• 60 X 8
• 80 X 8
• 100 X 4
• 120 X 1
• 140 X 1
• 150 X 1


Lunges

• 40 X 8
• 40 X 8
• 40 X 8
• 40 X 8


Pull-ups

• 3 X wide
• 3 X Biceps
• 3 X side
• 2 X wide
• 3 X Biceps
• 1 X side
• 0X wide
• 2 X Biceps
• 0 X side


WYR

• 2 X Bar
• 2 X 5
• 2 X 10


After it I asked him could I come in again tomorrow and he said another coach will be on tomorrow and he will coach me in the bench press so it will be interesting to see how this turns out. I will find my benching max and record it. After my session I had a protein shake, some water and some Jaffa cakes. I need to rethink my goals again and focus more on them because I am getting drawn into my sporting goals. I also need to sort out my diet. The main problem is that I am always hungry and I end up snacking on junk. My goals are now slightly increased and are shown below


1. Get 20 pull ups (Currently at 5)
2. Get 20 meter sprint time down (Have to find it first)
3. Increase Vertical Jump (Have to find it first)
4. Increase V02 Max (Have to find it first)
5. Get body fat down to 12% (Currently at 20.4%)
6. Get squat to 200kg (Currently at 150kg)
7. Get Bench Press to ?
8. Get deadlift to ?
9. Get flexibility to ?


I am now going out to do the 200 catches against the wall and then I will be going shopping for some healthy food for the diet. So far it was an excellent day.

Regards

Steve

[KaspaM8]

how u getting on now?

[bohyagoa]

getting on good bro, my goals are getting clearer and I know Im going in the right direction to achieve them. Are you doing a journal yourself?

[bohyagoa]

Just did 200 catches there and I have found a spot that is near my college that I can play against so I will be using that from now on…Because it is more convenient for me I should get more done…The catching exercise is all about visualization and this is something I can work on. I really need to get the diet in order – all the fat seems to be around my tummy area, in the dexa scan it showed up 29% fat on this area. The way to lose this is through the diet and I need a list of meals that can eat that will not put on any weight.

“What you can measure you can manage”


I think I will find a good nutritionist that can recommend my diet but also my vitamin supplements. Tim Ferris came up with some excellent ideas in his book of taking pictures of the unhealthy food you eat so you can upload them later so maybe I will start to do that.

[bohyagoa]

1. Get 20 pull ups (Currently at 5)
2. Get 20 meter sprint time down (Have to find it first)
3. Increase Vertical Jump (Have to find it first)
4. Increase V02 Max (Have to find it first)
5. Get body fat down to 12% (Currently at 20.4%)
6. Get squat to 200kg (Currently at 150kg)
7. Get Bench Press to 140 Kg (Currently at 92.5kg)
8. Get deadlift to ?
9. Get flexibility to ?

[bohyagoa]

Day 22


Today I got up and did a flexibility session…I need to develop my flexibility fully and I am working hard on it everyday. Standing up is good because it does not cause pains in my lower back. I will continue to keep doing this everyday. I also went to the gym and I did a bench press session with the instructor who is a legend. He can bench 195 kg so he clearly knows what he is talking about. I did the session and found my one rep max of 92.5kg. However, I hurt my shoulder today and it is quite sore now so I will have to hold it off for a while. The bench session was amazing though and I’m really glad that I did it. It went as follows


Bench

• Bar X 10
• 40 X 8
• 50 X 6
• 60 X 4
• 70 X 1
• 75 X 1
• 80 X 1
• 85 X 1
• 90 X 1
• 92.5 X 1


Elastic Bands

• Between Stretches
• Between Stretches
• Between Stretches
• Between Stretches


Benching with Chains

• 10
• 10
• 10
• 8
• 8


Corner Shoulder Raises

• 10
• 10
• 15
• 15



Overall it was an excellent workout. I had never benched with chains before and found it extremely useful. Also the shoulder exercise in the corner was excellent. He was able to easily show me the mistakes I was making in my technique and how to improve it. Basically these guys know their stuff inside out and if I keep doing the training they will turn me into a total animal. After it I ate my nutrition and drank a protein shake. I still have to sort the diet out but I did do some work on it today. When I get home I will clean my house out and then start shopping for more healthy food.


Later today I will do the two hundred shots against the wall and built this up. I can do a bit of work there also on my computer and tomorrow I will do the training. I need to start reading more and set more proper goals for the flexibility etc. The guy said he will find my one rep max in the dead-lift on Thursday so I should have more of my goals completed then. Like I said the key to motivation is to measure everything and I must make my training more clinical all the time. Each time I train I must seek to improve it and add to it. I also spoke to the guy today about flexibility and he said you can become a gymnast if you want and you won’t lose your speed or your strength so I will set up some measurements there. Maybe I will call down to eoin and get him to measure me again soon.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

This is a report from a functional mobility test that I did about 5 months ago. A guy came to our team and measure the six important movements to see how flexible we are. Tim ferris also speaks about the importance of this in his book. Here are the measurements and pics of me doing the movements. Perhaps in two months I will call into his clinic and get him to test me again.

[bohyagoa]

Next thursday I am going off to malta for a week so I am going to get a hotel with a gym...not really sure what to do over there but one thing i will be doing is my flexibility. I have to keep increasing it all the time until I can literly do the splits. So I will do flexibility work a few times a day. The next time i am in the crossfit gym i will conmtact the guy and ask him what I should do as a program while in malta. The championship with my team is on next wednesday so I will be flying out the day after. Aftyer this match I think there is a long break between matches so I can get in lots of work with the crossfit boys. But yes thats what Ill do, I'll ask them for a program to do while Im away

[bohyagoa]

Day 23


Just did an excellent flexibility session there. There is a shelf in my living room that is approximately 3.5 feet high and I am practicing stretching with my leg onto the shelf. I can get my right leg on but it is not very stable. My left leg is more flexible but this is not stable at all. Overall I would say that my left leg is 2-3 inches more flexible than my right leg. This is something I will keep working on. I have been doing my flexibility work now for 23 days, between 2-5 times per day so if I stick at it I should start to see some major results. I had a good breakfast today too. Later today I have my training. This will be another good session because it will definitely reduce body fat and bring me closer to my goals. I will try to achieve the perfect session again and my aim in the game is to make sure that the guy does not get the ball into his hand. Also when I get the ball I have to move forward. I will practice the catching more now because the championship is on next Wednesday and I want to be mentally ready for it.


Just tried to touch my toes there and for the first time in years I am able to touch the floor with the first half of my knuckles. It felt fantastic when I did that and I can’t wait to see it improve even more. I don’t know how far you can actually go down but I will aim to put both my hands firmly on the ground with a slight bend in my arms. I also want to be able to do the splits both ways. So my goals will now be as follows


1. Get 20 pull ups (Currently at 5)
2. Get 20 meter sprint time down (Have to find it first)
3. Increase Vertical Jump (Have to find it first)
4. Increase V02 Max (Have to find it first)
5. Get body fat down to 12% (Currently at 20.4%)
6. Get squat to 200kg (Currently at 150kg)
7. Get Bench Press to 140 Kg (Currently at 92.5kg)
8. Get deadlift to?
9. Put both Palms firmly on the floor with a bend in arms
10. Do splits both ways and Squat down to floor with back straight
11. Heels to crotch, elbows on knees and knees to ground
12. Ankle behind ear and lean back over knees, head touch ground
13. 10 One legged squats


Ok just back from training. This was probably the opposite of the perfect session. My man got the ball into his hand about 11 times and got two scores and would have got a lot more if he steadied up. I played absolutely to my minimal standard and also got my thumb smacked and had to get it bandaged up. I also got a belt on my knee and injured my hip. I can also barely move my shoulder. I did get a good meal after training however and ate protein. I will do a session in crossfit with the lads tomorrow.


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

In terms of my sport, I really need to focus on tackling. I am not good at it at all and I really need to practice it. Some of it comes from speed but most of it comes from positioning and right technique. I really need to focus on this

[bohyagoa]

Day 24


Today I woke up and I felt like I was hit by a truck. My body was actually in bits and I could hardly walk so I made the decision not to go to the cross-fit lads today. I ate a good breakfast and in all my diet was pretty good today. I was going to do some catching against the wall but shoulder is in agony so I decided to rest it. I have just finished the stretching flexibility session and I did it really well and I am happy with it. Once again I was able to comfortably put my fingers on the ground and I can literally feel my flexibility increasing each day.


Tomorrow I have training and I will get in flexibility session tomorrow morning and when I get home so that will help to increase it. I will set my goals again tomorrow and I will do the catching against the wall by throwing the ball up. Short and sweet today!!


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

I need to start working in cycles. What I mean by this is to set a program for three months and then set specific goals for this cycle and when Im finished give myself some reward like a holiday or an armani suit or something and do it like this...Once I get all my test results back I will do this

[bohyagoa]

Day 25


I just finished my stretching there. It went well. I am holding the stretch for longer now about 40 seconds without fail so that’s good. Today I don’t still feel as tired. That’s good because I have training tonight so I will be ready for it. I really need to get my game back on track so my goal once again if we play a match is to get closer to my man. If I think about it, the reason I did not p[lay as well the last time was that I was simply not close enough. I need to be within touching distance of him all the time and then I can limit the supply into his hand. I will try that tonight. As always, I will do the warm up to the best of my ability because I know it is making me fitter and slimmer all the time.


Regarding my weight, it is still not dropping. At least when I look in the mirror. I have cut out all the fast foods and the soft drinks like coke etc. What I am still eating that may be putting on weight is as follows


1. Milk
2. Sauce or gravy
3. Potatoes
4. Butter


I need to also do my abs exercises. Ok so after a little research I have found out the following. One of the reasons I find it incredibly hard to give up stuff is because I need milk and butter, I basically cant eat without dairy products. So here are my following breakthroughs


WHOLE COW'S MILK
Calories per pint: 370. Fat per pint: 22 grams

SKIMMED COW'S MILK
Calories per pint: 195. Fat per pint: 0.5 grams


Ok just back from training there and overall i was very happy with it. Yes my man did get the ball into his hand a few times and he did score a point but I played really well and have started to catch balls again which is very important for my game. I also moved forward and even scored a point. I felt fresh and fit right from the warm up so I was very happy with that. After training I did my nutrition. I drank a protein shake and ate two bananas and drank an energy drink. I felt good and fresh and fit. I have to look into butter and also honey and see if it is healthy. Ok I have just looked into honey and I found it is actually good for losing weight. I am going to find out more about butter tomorrow.


Right now I am going to do my flexibility training and then I am going out. I will do the stretches to the full 30 seconds and that’s all for tonight.

Regards


Steve

[bohyagoa]

Here is Tim Ferris guide to diet while hitting the gym hard. It is very useful and also belongs to Bodybuilding.com :) So basically I can eat cottage cheese instead of butter and I can also eatv macroni for my carbs excellent!



http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/timothyf.htm

[bohyagoa]

Day 26


Today I got up and did a full round of stretching. I was easily able to touch the ground today with both hands. I then went shopping and bought ham, skimmed milk, cottage cheese, bananas etc. My shopping trolley looked very healthy indeed. I came home and had a good breakfast. I basically did nothing else today except ate a healthy diet and did three sets of flexibility training. I am going on holidays next week but while on holidays I will keep up the diet. I will buy my food in a supermarket and stick to the diet. I have decided to do the cheat day once a week like Tim Ferris. My friend is also doing Tim Ferris diet and his cheat day is Saturday so maybe I will do it on that day too.


I am really looking forward to getting my speed tested. When I come back from the holiday I will be tested and also with the standing jump and the V02 Max. Once I have these results I will set a date in the future where I am tested again, around 3 months away and then I will have a solid goal to work towards. So now to my last flexibility session and the bed because I have training in the morning.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 27


Just back in from training there. It was a good session and I enjoyed it. I did well in the sprints with the right technique. After it I ate two bananas quickly and drank a protein shake as well as water. When I came home, I ate 2 slices of toast with cottage cheese and ham as well as porridge with honey and low fat milk. I will now go down and work on my flexibility. Today was my cheat day for the food. I ate a full 16 inch pizza as well as 3 choclate bars and litre of coke and 2 bags of popcorn all in the space of two hours, and chicken dippers. I will have the cheat day once every week so next Sunday I will have it again. Tomorrow I will go for a session with the guys in crossfit and also play against the wall. That’s all for now,


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 28


Today I got up and did some stretches…I ate cereal for breakfast although I didn’t really feel like any food after stuffing my face yesterday. I went to the gym to do a speed session in cross-fit but my guy wasn’t there so I said I would leave and come back later. I will go back at 5 and if he is not there I will do a dead-lift session. I also have gym training with my team tonight but I will go and do flexibility work for the 20 minutes. I also need to get to a wall and play against it to build up my catching skills so I will do that in the college later. I rang the guy over the fitness testing to try to change my times but he was not around. I went home and for dinner I ate a tin of peas and some ham and some bread. I then went back to the gym to do a session with Cross-fit. It was an excellent session and we worked on my speed once again. For the first time I was able to see that I can run perfectly when I have my own start but when somebody else starts me then I go back to my running mistakes like putting my foot backwards. I can easily fix this over time and practice according to the trainer so I will work on this big time. I know I only lose races in the first few yards and once I get my running form right and I strengthen up my legs then I will become very quick. I am also going to buy a pair of running shoes as I am slipping on the track in my runners. After my session I had a banana and a protein shake.


I then went to training with the team and did stretching and used the time to do my flexibility training. I was shown once again the importance of flexibility in today’s sprint session. Also my coach told me if I want to tackle players when they are running at me that I should watch their hips. They will throw shimmy’s with their heads and shoulders but the hips don’t lie. This is an interesting theory and I will definitely try it out soon. My goal is to achieve the perfect body and optimize my attritibutes so that is what I am going to focus on more. I need to focus on my goals more and see them achieved rather than waiting for them to just happen. I also need to take more charge of the flexibility and see myself achieving it or I will not succeed.


Just back from training and I tried to reinvent my sprinting. I got my friend to give me some starts and my only goal is to lift my back leg without putting pressure on it. I raced my friend who I had beaten before using this technique but he beat me. However, I believe there is a lot of merit to what I am doing and I will practice this every day. I will also continue my stretches because they are very important for the start. I kept the diet today and will do some more shopping for tomorrow. Another great meal is beans on toast and I am allowed that so its all good.


Regards


Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 29


Today my legs felt a lot more flexible. I can easily touch and stay on the ground and also I can bring my foot to my head when I am lying down. I have been doing the flexibility a couple of times a day now for 29 days and I have noticed a huge improvement. I will keep doing it until I am pretty much a gymnast. This is one thing that has worked very well so far. In the last few days, my focus has slipped a little. My goals have become distorted and I have moved a little away so it is time to clarify what my goals are again…


1. Get 20 pull ups (Currently at 5)
2. Get 20 meter sprint time down (Have to find it first)
3. Increase Vertical Jump (Have to find it first)
4. Increase V02 Max (Have to find it first)
5. Get body fat down to 12% (Currently at 20.4%)
6. Get squat to 200kg (Currently at 150kg)
7. Get Bench Press to 140 Kg (Currently at 92.5kg)
8. Get dead-lift to?
9. Get Stretches to Level 5 (Currently at 2)


With the stretches rather than simply putting them all down, I have said that my goal is to get to level 5. That’s 5 different stretches to level 5. The 5 stretches I have chosen are as follows


1. Put both Palms firmly on the floor with a bend in arms
2. Do splits both ways and Squat down to floor with back straight
3. Heels to crotch, elbows on knees and knees to ground
4. Ankle behind ear and lean back over knees, head touch ground
5. 10 One legged squats


I am doing the diet very well and I am getting very used to it. I was at the cinema tonight and I didn’t even feel like Junk food at all. This has to be lowering my body fat. I am not doing any ab work at the moment but I will get the guys at crossfit to get me some. I also need to buy a good multivitimen. If anybody is reading this journal I would appreciate it if you have any good recommendations for a multi – vitimen. That’s all for now


Steve

[bohyagoa]

I have also found a solution to my cravings at night. Rather than eating porridge or toast, I will have a protein shake. Most of the bodybuilders do this so it cant really put any fat on you. So what I have to do in the next 2 weeks is to

1. Buy a good multivitimen
2. Buy running shoes with spikes

[bohyagoa]

Rule #1: Eat The Same Few Meals Over & Over Again:

The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. Mix and match, constructing each meal with one from each of the following groups. I've put an asterisk next to my most common defaults:

Proteins:

Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
Chicken breast or thigh*
Grass-fed organic beef
Tuna*
Pork

Legumes:

Lentils*
Black beans*
Pinto beans
Dal

Starches:

Yams/Sweet Potatoes
Steamed Rice
Quinoa* (higher protein content than rice and keeps 3-4x longer)
Macaroni*

Eat as much as you like of the above food items. Just remember: keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them.

Note To Vegetarians & Green Eaters: a 1/2 cup of rice is 300 calories, whereas a 1/2 cup of spinach is 15 calories. Vegetables are not calorically dense, so it is critical that you add legumes or starches for caloric load.




Favorite Meal:

My single favorite meal for mass is simple: macaroni (preferably durum whole wheat), water-packed canned tuna, and fat-free turkey/bean chili. Use a little skim milk instead of butter with the macaroni (also only 1/3 of the orange flavor powder), and bulk prepare that in advance.

Mix the macaroni with a can of tuna and as much chili as you like, microwave it for one minute on high, and have it for breakfast in a bowl. It actually tastes fantastic. I sometimes had that meal 2 or 3 times per day, as prep time was less than 3 minutes if you prepped the macaroni two times per week in volume.

[bohyagoa]

Day 30

I got up today and did a good stretching program. I always find that I can’t stretch very far in the mornings, which is probably due to sleeping all night. Anyway, I did my session and I did the three major stretches. Today I am playing championship so I ate a good dinner at 12.00 and am now sipping water. I am finding the diet quite easy to do now so once I get into my cycle the fat should roll off. Once I get my measurements, I will plan my cycle. It will be a three month cycle of training. In the training will be the following



1. Flexibility
2. Strength
3. Speed
4. Diet
5. Fitness



FLEXIBILITY

• Put both Palms firmly on the floor with a bend in arms
• Do splits both ways and Squat down to floor with back straight
• Heels to crotch, elbows on knees and knees to ground
• Ankle behind ear and lean back over knees, head touch ground



STRENGTH

• 1 One legged squats
• 12 pull ups
• 180kg Squat
• 110kg Bench
• ?kg Deadlift



Speed

• ? Seconds in 10 meter Standing
• ? Seconds in 20 meter Standing
• ? Seconds in 10 meter Sprinter Style
• ? Seconds in 20 meter Sprinter Style
• ? in Standing Jump


FITNESS

• V02 Max to ?


DIET

• Body Fat to 16%



So my goals are becoming finalized now. I know where I have to make the improvements and what I need to do. For once I can test everything clinically and see where I can really improve. Every few days I will look over this to see am I working on everything properly.


I played a championship match tonight and I played well enough. I was a bit sluggish in the first half but then I got into it more. I am not as strong at pushing people out of the way as I used to be but once I train for a few months with the cross-fit boys I should be fine. I had my banana; carb drink and protein shake straight after the game. My coach said there will be a break in play for the 2 weeks after our next match so in that time I will tear into the gym training.


Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 31


I am on holidays now so I have decided to cut the diet for the time being. I did my stretches this morning and really worked on them. I decided to give up the diet for today because I was in the airport and there was no healthy food. Looking back on it I probably could have kept it but it would have been very awkward and holidays are meant to be enjoyed. Tomorrow I will go to find a supermarket and buy healthier food. After the match yesterday the manager said that we will be going for the structural balancing testing again in one month so it is time to really up my stretches and concentrate on the ones that I didn’t do. This is really good because I was going to find him myself and pay him to screen me again so this saves me money and time.


The main stretch where I am messing up is the Lunge and the Standing squat holding the bar overhead. Also stepping over the hurdle. The whole stretches are as follows


1. Squat with Bar – 5/10
2. Lunge with bar – 6/10
3. Hurdle with bar – 4/10
4. Superman – 5/10
5. Pressup – 9/10
6. Straight Leg Raise – 8/10
7. Shoulder flexibility – 9/10

Total Score – 65/100

I have to get this score up to 80 – 90 out of 100. Then I will be seeing positive results. So I will focus on these stretches with my routine.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 32

I have left the diet for just the week. Today I got up and did my functional mobility work. I did my full stretches and in a week when the next testing comes around I should be able to do the leg stretch to 90 degrees, which is an improvement I would be happy with. I have set a new appointment with the fitness tester for the V02 Max and the sprint test and the jump test. It will be Friday 27th so I will get the results then. Today I did more stretching and I will set some more goals tomorrow.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 33

Today I did 3 sessions of the stretching and I can now put my knuckles on the ground. I have made great progress with the standing stretches. However, I really need to work on the other ones. I did my shoulder stretch again today and I will master this one because not only am I in pain with it but we are being tested on it again in a month. I need stretches to sort out my hips cus that is where all the tightness is. I will need to research tim ferris stretches by gary cook again and start implementing them. Here is the link for them


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muxYjRymck



Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 34

Today I did more stretching. I actually tipped my full knuckles for the first time today. I just have to keep doing it and I know when I go home I will brush up on it more. At the moment I am fat and my diet is disgraceful but once this holiday is over I will go back on it bigtime. That’s all for now

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 35

Today I got my gf to time all my stretches so that is good motivation. Will be back on thursday so it will all begin again

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 36

Today I did my stretches but i dont think I improved much. Looking forward to going home to start the training and diet seriously

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 37

Today I am finally getting back into my schedule...I was away on holidays and I dropped my computer and that messed up a lot of things as I lost all my data. So where am I at the moment...? Well I have found a lot of my measurements and I have my goals written up on the wall. Tomorrow I will get my program off the cross-fit guys. I am working out in the gym 5 days a week. I am going to train like an animal so tomorrow I will get the full program and I will start it.

I am going to my testing for the V02, sprints and the high-jump on Friday so I am looking forward to that. The guy sent me the confirmation email today so that’s settled. I am also eating very well lately and have done the diet for 6 days now and my flexibility every day. I need to find out more about the diet and what’s best to eat because I was told pasta is very good and yet I read today that it’s the same as bread. So I will ask the guys tomorrow at crossfit. My cheat day is tomorrow (Thursday) but I am going to wait until Sunday because I will be going to the cinema and I can pig out on Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream etc.

I am also getting pictures of me with a 6 pack and a better body photo-shopped at the moment so I can use them to build up my motivation. That’s all for today

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 38


This was a good day today...I did my diet for 7 full days in a row now and I am starting to feel good. I was speaking to the guys about the diet and they said I should get about 240 grams of protein everyday. My diet today was as follows


• Weatbix – 6 biscuits
• Low fat milk
• 3 slices of wholegrain bread
• Tin of Beans
• Protein shake
• Banana
• Pasta
• Tuna
• 4 slices ham
• 2 slice brown bread
• 4 slices of turkey
• Lots of water


This is basically what I have eaten for the last 7 days and my mate said he thinks I have lost weight already. So the diet is pretty good. What i have to buy is wholegrain rice and wholegrain pasta and also drink more water. I will take my cheat day on Sunday and go to the cinema and pig out.


I photoshoped the pic of my perfect body on me today and have it up on the wall beside my goals. This will add lots of motivation for me as I am viewing it everyday. I can how many days I have kept the diet up and how many days I have kept my flexibility up.


I am happy with my flexibility too. I am able to go down more and in training for the first time I was able to touch my toes so I was really happy with that. I can also free squat down a lot more which i am also very happy with. I will keep up the flexibility program twice a day for the 3 month cycle and also add in whatever stretches the guys give me.


I got the program off the guys today and I am really happy with it. It has 5 days with the 5th day a sprinting session. I will work on it religiously starting next Monday. I have to meet my manager to tell him that i am doing this. I don’t understand most of it but the guys will be there to coach me in it.


I am going for the final testing in the college tomorrow for the jump, V02 max and the 20 meter sprint. I am really looking forward to it. I will have all my goals finished then.


Thats all for now

Steve

[bohyagoa]

The muscles that are stopping me going down are my quads and hip flexer’s. Not my calves. Tim ferris’s two stretches will take care of that. Also my back so that is what I will focus my stretching around the most. I made this discovery when i squatted down and felt what was the tightest muscles. So just to be clear, my thighest muscles that i have to free up are

Quads
Hip flexers
Right Shoulder

[bohyagoa]

Day 39

Today I changed my stretches and started incorporating Tim Ferris stretches. I will now be changing all of them bar the standing stretch and I will gradually be bringing in the 4 stretches Tim does. This flexibility session was one of my best so far and last night I also noticed that I could almost put my hands on the ground so this is very encouraging. In two – 3 weeks I should be able to do that.


Today I went for the testing and it was excellent. The first thing we measured was my vertical jump and that was 40.6 centimetres. We then moved onto the sprints and I managed to get 3.19 which I was very happy with. I had done it already with cross-fit and the highest i got was 3.23 so it was an extra 4 hundreds. I set my date to come back in three months. The V02 was quite tough. I had a mask on and was running in a harness on the treadmill. I got to level 16 but I did not push it as hard as I could have so I reckon I could have got one more. It was an excellent test though and I really see its benefit. When I come back I will really push for level 18.


After I ate a banana and brown bread and drank a protein shake. I have my testing done now and it is time to start the major program on Monday. Looking forward to it. When he emails me the testing report i will put it up.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

I got one of my employees to do a photoshop pic of me with the perfect body in front of the next car im going to buy. Take a look :)

[bohyagoa]

1. Flexibility
2. Strength
3. Speed
4. Diet
5. Fitness



FLEXIBILITY

• Put both Palms firmly on the floor with a bend in arms
• Do splits both ways and Squat down to floor with back straight
• Heels to crotch, elbows on knees and knees to ground
• Ankle behind ear and lean back over knees, head touch ground



STRENGTH

• 1 One legged squats
• 12 pull ups
• 180kg Squat
• 110kg Bench
• 100kg Deadlift



Speed

• 3.10 Seconds in 20 meter Sprinter Style
• 44cm in Standing Jump


FITNESS

• V02 Max to 51 (Level 18)


DIET

• Body Fat to 16%

[bohyagoa]

Day 40


Today was a good day. I had a match and i played really well. Just before the ball comes down I shoulder my man and then I can catch it all day. Also my new light hurls worked well. I felt really light on the pitch today. I felt good and fresh. I have lost 2 keg and i think its 2kg of fat so thats great. I got my gym program laminated and I will get a notebook too. I will have a break tomorrow and then my sessions start on monday. I will get up early and go at it as hard as i can. So I have finished all my goals now and I know exactly what i am aiming for in three months.


Body-fat – 16%
Bench – 110kg
Squat - 170kg
Dead-lift – 100kg
20 meter sprint – 3.10
1 legged squat – Both Legs
VO2 Max – 50 (18)
Long Jump – 96 inches
Vertical Jump – 44cm
Pull Ups – 12
Free Squat – GL
Hands on ground – Both Palms


I will work as hard as I can to achieve this..Anyways thats all for now

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 41

Today was my cheat day for the diet and I eat everything in sight and not I feel fat and bloated. I bought fish oil and vitimen C and I will take them after my stretches every morning. My gym program starts tomorrow and even though I feel like I have the flu Im going to go for it. I will time my breaks on my phone.

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 42

I have the flu today so I did nothing except my stretching routine. I did buy Fish oil and Vitimen C so I took that with my meals. Other than that I feel in bits and there is nothing else to report

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 43

Today I still had the flu so I did nopt do anything aside from my diet and the stretching and the vitimens in the morning. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Day 44

Today I did my stretches and I analysed Tim Ferris routine again and I will add in two more stretches. One is on your knees and the other one is when I am on the table I am pushing my leg to the side. I really find my hip flexibility has improved once I have started doing his routine. Now I have to add some air squats and a abs workout. Here is the link for his stretches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muxYjRymck

Going back to training tomorrow so will see if the flu has worn off

Regards

Steve

[bohyagoa]

Here are the results from my three other tests