Alkell's BB Journal

[alkell]

I am married, 2 beautiful kids (2yo and 4 yo) and live in Tasmania Australia

Age 33
Weight 86kgs
Height 6 foot 1

Motivation for BB, get fit and healthy (started to put on weight around the waist which is something I hadn't done for 10 years and felt unfit and lazy), also to demonstrate a healthy life style to my kids.

Started weight training 21 October 2006.

I am doing a 3 day a week full body beginners routine:
Bench press 4 x 12,10,10,8
Barbell curl 3 x 12,10,10
French press 3 x 12,10,10
Bent over row 4 x 12,10,10,8
Seated military press 3 x 12,10,10
Shrugs 3 x 12,10,10
Squats 4 x 12,10,10,8

I increase the % of One Rep Max each set.
I am using ORM to track my progress. I increase the % of ORM over a6 week cycle and then re set.
I am focussing at the moment on my style, trying to perform the exercise as intended, not boost my ego by cheating with extra weight.
My ORM at the beginning for each exercise (absolutely no cheating):
Bench press 56kgs
Barbell curl 36kgs
French press 19kgs
Bent over row 51kgs
Seated military press 32kgs
Shrugs 67kgs
Squats 72kgs
I will let you know my next ORM in a couple of weeks.

[jmc53]

Welcome to journalling Al.
Program looks interesting - not sure about shrugs and french press in a beginning strength type program, but all the other exercises are solid gold.
Most eveyone here will tell you, that whilst still a newbie you will make gains, but once this honeymoon period is over, diet becomes more than half the battle. It would be beneficial, when you're ready, to post an example daily diet and ask for suggestions.
Do they measure bodyfat at your gym?
If not, you could use this simple online calculator here : in mens section use tape measure method on far right. It's very helpful if you're able to monitor you bodyfat as you progress.
Again, welcome. It's good to have a fellow Aussie on board.

[Chubby Mom]

Welcome Alkell, I am relatively new here too you came to the right place if you want help and motivation.

[StlBarbie]

Welcome!!
I hope you enjoy it here!!

[mom24boys]

Hiyas and welcome

[Hibiscus09]

Welcome alkell! Hope you don't mind hanging out with a bunch of senile people!

[alkell]

Thanks for the well wishes.
Thanks for the link JMC, mmm it's not good 18.6% body fat.
At the moment my nutrition guidlines have been plenty of protein and trying to break my meals up (so smaller meals and more of them).
I know this is an ordinary approach and have investigated measuring of calories, ratios of fats to carb to proteins.
Also trying to eat healthy; fruit, vegies, seafood, meat, oatmeal and avoiding junk.
Have cut back on beer intake (this is a hard thing for an Aussie) especially with summer and BBQ weather approaching.
My diet excuse at this stage is focussing on exercise style and building a solid base whicle eating healthy and getting plenty of protein.
I don't know if the shrugs and french presses were put in for this reason, but they do seem to give me a chance to get my breath back and recover before moving on (while still working out, IE they dont feel as physically demanding).

[joed]

Oh no, another aussie. Now I've got two of you to say g'day to before I go to sleep. Stick around, we have lots of fun here & even work out from time to time. Look forward to following your progress.

[GREENFEATHER]

Oh no, another aussie. Now I've got two of you to say g'day to before I go to sleep. Stick around, we have lots of fun here & even work out from time to time. Look forward to following your progress.

I work out ALL the time and sometimes I do it 2X a day!

G'day Alkell and welcome aboard.

[ChocoChick]

Hi Alkell! Glad to see you made the journal plunge.

[jmc53]

G'day Al,
Diet plan sounds solid.
18% odd bf is not a bad place to be starting at all - many start much higher and achieve excellent results.
Are you a Cascade or a Boag man?

[alkell]

Good to see a few aussie floating about. Hi Joed
Definately a Boags man JMC.
Thanks again to everyone for the welcome.

[pastorgbc]

Nice looking routine, Alkell. The only suggestion I would make is to move the curls and french press to the end of the routine. This will probably allow you to have more endurance and handle more weight on the bent over rows and military press.

To good to have you journalling with us. I look forward to following your progress.

Ray

[alkell]

Thanks for the feedback Ray, at this stage I am just going to stick with the current plan and give it some time to work.
I had a great workout last night and this morning it's like I can feel the muscles growing.
I am due to reset my ORM and de-load next week and am excited and scared to see how much it has improved in 6 weeks. I hope to see these "newbie gains" everyone talks about as I really have been giving it my all, training hard and eating lots of protein rich and healthy food.

[alkell]

29 November 2006
I am resetting my one rep max tomorrow, can't wait.

I checked my measurements today and have found:
Biceps - grown by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)
Chest - grown by 5 centimeters (2 inches)
Waist - no change
Upper thigh - grown by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)

This is using a tape measure and doing it myself. Trying to measure in the same places and in the same way to make it consistant.

[jmc53]

I checked my measurements today and have found:
Biceps - grown by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)
Chest - grown by 5 centimeters (2 inches)
Waist - no change
Upper thigh - grown by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)
.

Well done. Congrat's.

[powerman2000]

Welcome alkell! Hope you don't mind hanging out with a bunch of senile people!

Hey wait a minute, I resemble that. nyuk-nyuk

[alkell]

Reset my one rep max last night (30 November 2006).

My new ORM's are:
Bench press 64kgs
Barbell curls 42kgs
French press 23kgs
Bent over row 65kgs
Seated military press 43kgs
Shrugs 86kgs
Squats 90kgs

They have all increased pretty dramatically (I think), so overall I am very happy with the progress. Now I'm all set for the next 6 week cycle and eager to get started.

What are some good goals for a beginner to set in body building? At this stage my goal is simply to progress every cycle on my ORM. Should I be setting any other goals, what goals did you set yourself for strength gains when you started?

[jmc53]

What are some good goals for a beginner to set in body building? At this stage my goal is simply to progress every cycle on my ORM. Should I be setting any other goals, what goals did you set yourself for strength gains when you started?

Most guys like to aim to bench press their bodyweight, as a goal to start with. Bodybuilding goals would be more like, aiming for 15" arms (if yours are less, or aiming for a certain chest size).
I think a good goal to aim for is to take 1" off your waist and add 1" to your chest. If you haven't already taken all your measurements, its a good idea to do it now and record them somewhere so you can check as you go along.

[alkell]

Hi JMC, I do need to lose some weight around the waist, at the moment I am making sure I eat enough to gain muscle but not monitoring the calories. I am thinking about making up a food diary and tracking my calorie intake and weight situation. I am a bit concerned that if I try to lose weight that it might affect my strength gains. I also need to do some cardio.
I have taken my measurements and my biceps are just over 15 inches, I am using this as well as my one rep max to track my progress.
How long did it take you to be able to bench press your own weight?

[jmc53]

How long did it take you to be able to bench press your own weight?

21 years!
Not really, I joined my first gym when I was about 20 y.o. and I think it took about 6 months. This time around (only recently started back) it only took about three months, but I had been doing some physical work in recent years.
Some guys are naturals at bench, some guys struggle all their lives.
One thing for sure - everyone always wants to bench more.
Keeping track of intake is a good idea - in fact, it's essential to maximize success.

[joed]

Reset my one rep max last night...They have all increased pretty dramatically (I think), so overall I am very happy with the progress...

(joed, speaking in his best New York City accent) Yep, ya done good kid!

When I first started, again, I couldn't figure out what goals to set for myself. So instead, I tried to keep adding a rep or two per week, and when I reached my target reps I'd lower them and raise the weight. That plan has worked well for me, in general. My overriding concern was, and still is, getting my nutrition/diet where I want it to be, consistently from day to day. That's the real struggle.

Congratulations on your progress alk.

[alkell]

Thanks Joed, that sounds like a solid plan you've got.
Working out is something you can make time for and get done, but nutrition follows you around all day everyday and is alot harder to track than how much weight your lifting or how many reps your doing.

[alkell]

Well I am two and a bit weeks into my next 4-6 week cycle. As Christmas approaches (work, family and social life a lot busier) I am struggling to find the time to workout, but haven't skipped one yet and don't plan on missing one either, in fact I am determined not to.
I have found that working out has changed me into a happier person. I feel physically healthier, but mentally healthier/ happier as well.
Since my last post my wife has started to lift weights as well, she is enjoying it, but gets bored if she is training without a partner. It's nice to share this interest with her (although I am a bit more obsessed than she is, according to her anyway. I don't get obsessed I just like to give things my all, well maybe she is right).

I am currently taking the following supplements:
VP2 whey isolate
Micronised Creatine monohydrate
Multi vitamin
Flaxseed oil capsules

Hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a safe and fun new year. We are having a new years party where everyone has been give a letter of the alphabet and you have to come in a home made costume as something or someone starting with that letter.

[alkell]

I am into my 5th week of my second cycle, looking forward to the 6th week and re-setting my ORM to see what progress I have made.
Have been having some lower back pain. I was cheating a couple of extra reps on my biceps curls so I could lower the weight really slowly and get an extra burn, so I have cut this out (as it involved moving the hips and back) and also started squatting to just below parallel rather than as low as I could go. After a week or so of these changes my back pain has gone.
My shirts are fitting me better, it feels really good to be filling out the shirts on the arms and around the upper body.
Once I finish this cycle I would have done 3 months weight lifting and 1.5 months body weight exercises. I am wondering when I should move from a fullbody routine training the same muscles 3 times a week to a split doing the same muscles twice a week. People have said when you stop making progress you should change. Some have said not for at least 6 months. I wonder how long a persons body can take training the muscles 3 times in a week, I suspect it is linked to the amount of weight you are lifting. Any input would be appreciated.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and now have a safe and happy new year. I will be sinking a few cold ones (beer) tonight.

[SR800]

There is the old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[alkell]

Well I have been naughty and it has caught up with me, I have been so enthusiastic that I started doing my fullbody routine every 2nd day instead of 3 times a week, this allowed me to get an extra workout in every 14 days. But I have discovered what it feels like to be overtraining. I havent been feeling very well for a couple of weeks, I thought I was just a bit sick and kept working out every second day. Now I feel like a truck has hit me, my joints are aching, it feels like my actual bones are aching, I am not sleeping very well, I am not hungry, I feel terrible. For all those people who keep asking if they might be overtraining, let me tell you, you will know when it hits you. I suppose hopefully if you spot it early enough you can avoid it. I did body weight exercise for 6 weeks, then straight on to 12 weeks of weight lifting without having a week off anywhere, so I suppose this may have contributed too. So I am having a week off and hoping this will be enough time to let me recover.
I have re-done my ORM (I know I should have left it, but I wanted to check my progress.
My ORM's at 7.1.07 are:
Bench press 71kg's (up 7 kg's)
Barbell curl 42ks's (hasn't moved, which is very disappointing, I dont know what has gone wrong there)
French press 26 kg's (up 3 kg's)
Bent over row 76 kg's (up 11 kg's)
Military press 48 kg's (up 5 kg's)
Shrugs 108 kg's (up 22kg's)
Squats 108 kg's (up 18 kg's), although I now only do them till my upper legs are parallel to the floor or a touch below as I think this was causing me back trouble.
My weight has dropped 1 kg to 84.4 kg's.

I am going to consider changing to a split routine after my week off, doing each body part 2 times a week instead of 3.
Had my bodyfat measured at 20.7%

Would appreciate any input, particularly on my lack of progress on barbell curls. I am pretty happy with the rest of my progress.

My goal at this stage:
Bench press my own bodyweight by my birthday 21st of April.
I don't know what would be a realistic goal for extra size on biceps and chest, but I would also like to increase these.

[SR800]

It really saves the joints and the tendons to just do each body part one time per week, that way you can really hit the parts hard, heavy weights, lots of intensity, really go for it, and not have to worry about a lot of the issues you describe. Plus the other muscles will get assistive work when you are working other parts anyway.

[alkell]

I am half way through my week off, and I am missing lifting weights and the feeling that it gives me. But my wife said she would remove my right testicle with a blunt pair of scissors if I didn't take the whole week off. I am feeling heaps better, joints have stopped aching, eating better and sleeping better, feeling less fatigued. So other than hitting myself in the head with my tennis racquet while playing last night, all is well.
I have decided to do one more 4-6 week cycle of my current fullbody routine, but only 3 days a week. The reason being, I have been happy with my gains and think that the overtraining was more a matter of me doing to much (IE sneaking in extra workouts). Also I want some time to find a good split routine doing each body part twice a week. And I need to buy a lat machine and some more weights.
I will post my new routine in advance, to see if anyone has any comments.

[alkell]

Had my first workout back after a week off, it went well. Back at the first week of a 5-6 week cycle with de-loading as part of the cycle.

I bought a lat machine yesterday, as my new workout will include lat pull downs.

My new workout is:
Mon and Thu
Bench Press 12 reps, 10, 10, 8, 6
Dumbell Flyes 12, 10, 10
Barbell curls 12, 10,10
Concentration curls 12, 10, 10
Close grip bench press 12, 10, 10
French press 12, 10, 10

Tue and Fri
Bent over row 12, 10, 10, 8, 6
Lat pull downs 12, 10, 10
Military press 12, 10, 10
Side laterals 12, 10, 10
Shrugs 12, 10, 10, 8
Squats 12, 10, 10, 8
Leg extensions 12, 10, 10, 8
Leg curls 12, 10, 10, 8

Once again the weights are based on % of my one rep max and increase as the reps go down (in the set). Each body part twice a week.

Any comments on this routine would be greatly appreciated.