Time to fight the fat and see if I can compete

[Graham-UK]

OK, this is my first attempt at a journal. I started dieting four weeks ago and have lost some. inch off my waist etc but am going to wait a few weeks before I get my stats done again to see how much progress I have made.

My target is to get to 15% before end of May and see if I need to put on more mass or if I could compete in an over 40's show in 2009. I will post diet and training as often as I can so any help comments etc welcome.

[Graham-UK]

Legs day

Toe press on Leg press machine 5 sets from 80KG to 180KG
Standing calfs 5 sets up to 210KG
Bar Squats heels on a 1.5 inch block and very deep. start at 65KG upto 145KG in 4 sets
Leg Press start 50KG + machine up to 240KG (max that will fit on HammerStrength upright machine) 5 sets
Leg Extentions Start 56 KG first set up to Stack plus 35KG 4 sets and strip on final set
Seated Leg Biceps Start 49KG up to 105KG 4 sets
Laying Leg Biceps with back arched to get extra squeeze start 35KG up to 65KG and strip down 10KG per drop to 25KG

25 mins on cross trainer - after legs nearly killed me nut made it 330 calories burned

Food today

280g protein
260g carbs
50g fat

Since I started dieting start of December I have lost 3.5KG

[Graham-UK]

Back and Biceps

Chins X 4 body weight to 15KG
Seated rows X 4 start 56KG to 126KG with strip down
Wide grip pull downs x 4 49KG to 91 KG
Cross bench pullovers 30KG X 1 THEN 40KG x 2

Preacher bench curls 20KG to 65KG srip on last set
Standing wide grip curls with bar plus 20KG to 42.5KG
Concentration curls one giant continuous set from 20KG dumbells down to 8KG

Abs leg raises and twisting crunches continuous 3 sets 20 reps

Food same as above

[Graham-UK]

Pec deck 4 X 49KG to 105KG with strip
DB press 5 X 26KG to 40KG (Forty was too light to finish on but heaviest they have managed 9 rep on last set)
Incline flies 5 X 14KG to 32KG
Front Shoulder press smith machine 4 X 20KG + machine to 60KG
Side lats 4 X 14KG to 24KG
Rear Delts on machine 5 X 49KG to 105KG
Dips 4 X Body weight to 35KG
Pushdowns on lat machine 42KG to 63KG
Single arm tricep extentions 4 X 20KG to 35KG
Over the head tricep extentions 4 X 40KG to 70KG

Still same food breakdown

Growth day tomorrow

[Graham-UK]

4 mile run today in 43 mins not sure how may calories because my monitor didn't work properly

[Graham-UK]

Ha a few dasy off and then trained on Sat Sun and Monday

Sat was Legs carried on squatting off blocks and felt better pushed up the intensity on leg press with a double strip to finish. Then did 30 mins on bike and a 20 min sauna

Sunday - Back & Biceps have started to include pullovers but not really enough weight in the gym the heaviest dumbells are 50KG so I can still do 10 reps to finish. Started adding in some shrugs as well felt good. Then 25 mins cardio and sauna

Monday - Chest shoulders and triceps good intensity felt strong and full of energy to train. looked leaner the diet is working well.

Weighed in on Tuesday morning at 210lb and 18.5% body fat 3.5% to go and then I will swap to eating maintenance for a month while I decide what to do about a show.

[Graham-UK]

Wednesday Legs day

Getting used to squatting with a block and made one more rep on my heaviest weight at the moment if I keep it up I should be able to move up a weight in a couple of weeks and get back towards 350lb squatting 320 for 5 all the way to the floor no half reps here.
Triple strip on leg press this week nearly killed me and a quadruple strip on leg extentions on last set only stopped when my legs wouldn't move - lactic acid burn!

Did 25mins on bik and burned 354 calories after legs.

Thursday back and biceps - had a wierd workout first exercise of each body part I felt strong but wasn't but then then on the next exercise I was far stronger than normal and did PB's and the third exercise I still managed more than usual but nothing like the second one.

Friday - Ches shoulders and triceps- not fantastic the gym I had to go to doesn't have heavy enough dumbells and I can't barbell press over 250lb because of an old hand injury but started with fly deck and did a lot heavier than normal and felt good then machine press to stack and incline db flys

Still dipping with 77lb on but should be moving up to 88lb soon.

Rest of the workout felt good and strong.

Been on track with diet until tonight treated my daughter to Chineese so am going to do cardio now to burn off some of the greasy fat my body is sucking up.

[Graham-UK]

Legs on Sunday night. Didn't eat properly so didn't feel like I had much energy but considering my carb load at 1pm before I trained at 6.20pm was half a jacket potatoe.

Still managed 5 reps at 320lb squats.

didn't finish leg biceps, I was late to the gym and ran out of time before it closed so missed laying down leg bicep curles.

30mis after leg workout I ran 4 miles

43 mins HR max 170 ave 150 calories 671.

[Graham-UK]

Back and Biceps Monday night.

Felt strong and managed to eat properly before I trained better than Sunday. Most of my weights are up on the previous week even though my BF % is reducing. The biggest gains have been on bicep.

Preacher bench 65KG but only 3/4 on the last set up 5kg from 3 weeks ago
Curling weight is upto 50kg plus the EZ bar for 6 on the last set

I have changed back around to:

Reverse grip pull down machine
Close grip seated row
Wide grip pull downs
Cross bench pull overs - I have trouble with this because there is not enough weight so I need to find something similar where I can rack up the weight.

Tuesday - Growth day

[Graham-UK]

Thursday Chest Shoulders and Triceps

Ate some crap and had beer at lunch time but felt good in the evening to train.

Sadly it has meant that my BF is not reducing as quick as I want and is stuck at 18.5% (according to my measure)

Chest
Dunbell press upto 48kg - havent done that for a while!
All other weights and or reps moved on a bit

Shoulders
Ligaments feel sore from shrugs and pullovers but weights were still same as last time and got a couple of extra reps

Triceps
Managed to dip with 40kg on which is 5kg up on last week for 5 good reps

Overall I improved on last week probably because of the crap and beer I ate

[Graham-UK]

Legs day

Felt tired and not looking forward to it.

Managed to squat 6 X 320lb up from 5 on Sunday and my best so far since I started squating with blocks under my heels.

was late in the gym so had to rush hamstrings a bit but still managed my usual weights but a rep or so down on Sunday.

Rechecking the calories I am eating to get my BF moving in the right direction again.

Got to look good for someone very special.

[Graham-UK]

Back and biceps Thursday

Back
Swapped back about a bit and did close grip pull downs up to 119kg
Close grip rows to 126kg for 5 reps
wide grip pull downs to 105kg
Cross bench pull overs only to 40kg heaviest dumbells need to find an alternative exercise.

Bicep
Good set of preacher bench managed 62.5kg on final set for 5 reps and strip down to 42.5 for another 4
Standing curles to 50KG plus ez bar 6 reps
Concentration 1 loooong set dropping from 22kg dumbells to 10kg 2kg at a time once reps drop below 4.
Shrugs up to 120KG plus Olympic bar


Saturday
Chest Shoulders and Triceps

Trained in mornig
DB press to 48kg for 5
Incline press
Fly deck

Shoulders
Front press on Smith to 70kg plus Smith.
Rear Delts on machine to stack with strip on last set
Side Lat raises

Triceps
Dips to 40KG for 6
Push downs on Lat pull dowm to 63kg am starting to move about on last set because of weight
Single arm reverse grip tricep extentions
Over the head tricep extentions with rope

Short set of abbs


Went for a 5 mile run in afternoon 53 mins calories 880 HR max 173 ave 160

Sunday Legs

Felt tired and hurt from back and shoulders.

Calves on leg press machine heavy
Standing calves
Leg press machine for more but high rep calves putting feet in three different posiyions for 6 - 12 reps per position per set

Still managed to squat 320lb for 5 reps
Knee hurt on leg press so wimped out of a srip set on fianl set
Leg extentions to stack plus 25kg and plates on top.
laying down hamstrings
Seated hamstrings

[Graham-UK]

Monday Back and Biceps

Back
Reverse grip machine pull downs 5 sets to 120kg + machine
Close grip cabel row 5 sets to 126kg last set with strip down
Wide grip pull downs 4 sets to 105kg with strip down on last set in drops of 14kg to start weight
Cross bench pull overs 4 sets to 50kg but not heavy enough

Bicep
Wide grip curls 5 sets to 65kg last set 5 reps then strip to 45kg
Preacher bench 4 sets to 60kg - lighter than normal but usually first exercise
Concentrations 1 hughe set start with 20kg dumbels alternating arms until reps drop below 4 per arm then drop weight by 2kg until down to 10kg - massive pump and burn - don't even want to think about how many sets just know it feels good.

Leg raises

Cross trainer for 30 mins burnt 440 calories

[Graham-UK]

Chest Shoulders Tricep

Chest
DB Press 5 sets to 48KG DB fo r5 reps
Fly machine 5 sets to full stack 133kg for 5 reps
Incline press 4 sets to 60kg + smith machine with strip down on final set

Shoulders
Front press in smith machine 5 sets to 30kg for 4 reps then strip down
Side latd 5 sets to 22kg dumbells
Rear cable delts 6 sets to 30kg for 4 with strip down

Triceps
Dips 4 sets with weight upto 40kg for 7 reps might increase to 45kg soon
push downs on pull down machine to 63kg my feet keep sliding on final set so need to find a way of staying anchored so I can increase intensity

Abbs
Crunches supersetted with laying down leg raises continuouse for 5 sets
Hanging leg raises 3 sets
Twists light bar for 4 minutes

[Graham-UK]

4 mile run

Usualy takes 43/44 mins did it in 37.48 not sure where that came from but I felt like I could have done it a bit faster as well or gone much further. Got to keep reminding myself I hate cardio!.