I thought I'd keep a log of my training here because due to previous experiences I'm bad at writing down my training and not losing the paper, plus I'm hoping it'll keep me motivated. I started training at a fight gym this morning, I weighed myself before I left home and I'm 85.6kg with apparently 17.7% body fat. - 2km warmup jog then stretching. - Jogging and pushup routine followed by a single round circuit of rope work, tire flips, kettlebell swings and belting a truck tire with a sledgehammer for 30 secs each then a 200m jog. - Weights routine, 3 rounds of 20,15,20 sets, arm curls, seated row, lat pulldown, chest press machine, roman chairs, bench press. - 2 mins of 30 sec boxing rounds working the bag and doing planks. - 5 mins of ab work then a warm down stretch.
So what are your training goals? I'm just about to begin training again tomorrow so it's going to be on my mind hopefully before getting to the gym
Buy a diary or hardback note book to write your training down in. Always go to the gym with a plan of what you are going to do, otherwise you'll faff around and waste time or worse, end up skipping sessions.
Princess Haru - I'm after to put on about another 8-10kgs, increase my overall fitness and to build my strength up, my leg strength is good but my upper body strength leaves a lot to be desired.. Frodocious - You've got a point, I've done weights on and off for a few years and either lose motivation or because I don't have a set goal in mind I end up skipping sessions or stop completely for a few months, so I'm hoping this time is different.
Pick a programme that is prewritten (Starting Strength, Stronglifts or Wendler's 5/3/1 are all good). Then all you have to do is figure out the weights you'll start with and you're good to go.
I got hammered in the gym this morning, the 2 guys I was training with on monday didn't turn up so it ended up being just a 1 on 1 session. - Started with the jog/pushup routine as a warm up. - 3 x 1 min rounds on the rowing machine trying to get to 300m/min, best I got to was 295. - 6 x approx 20m runs (30 sec break between each one) with a resistance band pulling the trainer who looks like he weighs about 40 or so kilos heavier than me, things started to go a little dark on the 5th run but I put that down to working all night then going to the gym. - 3 x 15 reps, 17.5kg, 12.5kg 7.5kg bench press with dumbbells but twisting my arms as if throwing a punch, once again I realised my upper body strength needs a lot of work. - 3 x 15 reps of 6kg medicine ball slams and bouncing it off the wall. - 1 km jog as a warm down. I've never had such a strong burning sensation in my legs as I experienced with the resistance band runs.
Me too as I found on Monday. Whatever routine or program you decide on needs a bit of variety, but also to stick with regular training, nutrition and rest I think for the bodyfat you could try logging your food on something like MyfitnessPal, see what you get for Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates. What I'm often told is to cut the Carbs up the Protein, not cut completely mind, need some energy
Welcome to the training log subforum, train hard, and I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goals!
Thanks Seventh Yeah I've got a lot of carbs/fatty foods to cut out Princess Haru, at the moment my diet consists of a stack of unhealthy stuff like McDonald's and overall fatty stuff on a regular basis, for years my metabolism was that fast that I could eat anything and not gain weight but it looks like that has changed, I'm currently training 3 days a week now so the diet change is next on the list, thanks for suggesting the site I'll check it out.
Thanks for the idea of using MyfitnessPal, Princess Haru, I've never really been too keen on logging my food etc but that site is good. Did an arms and back day today with a little cardio. - 5 min walk/light jog on the treadmill for a warm-up. - 300m sprint on the rower, 10 sledgehammer swings (14lbs) each side, 5x20m sprints. - 200m sprint on the rower, 7 sledgehammer swings each side, 5x20m sprints. - 100m sprint on the rower, 5 sledgehammer swings each side, 5x20m sprints. - 8x10 lat pulldowns, 4 sets inward grip, 4 sets outward grip. - 4x10 seated rows with triangle handle. - 4x10 standing lat pulldowns. - 4x10 seated rows with straight bar and light stretching for a warm-down. I'm unsure of the weights I'm using on the machines as the plate weights aren't shown.
Hammered my chest today, it was meant to be a more cardio focused day but that didn't happen. - 5 min warm-up on the treadmill. - 3×3 assisted 60kg bench press then 3×3 assisted incline 60kg bench press. - 52.5kg cable cross overs 3×10, 37.5kg cable pec deck 3×10, 15 kg cable style arm curls that worked the lower chest 3×10. - 6×60m jog with sets of 10/8/6/4/2 pushups between each run. - 3×1 min on the rower. - 5 mins of 8/13km/hr run. - warm-down stretch. The S&C trainer reckons I'd be able to benefit from taking up kickboxing classes, so far I've got the fitness for it but just need to work on getting some strength.
15/1/13 Started back at TKD last night, was just a light class to get back into the swing of things consisting of ab, leg and some paddle work, then finished off going over a technique of how to break the elbow. 16/1/13 Weighed myself again this morning, lost 100g but I didn't eat much yesterday so that was expected, I also lost .8% body fat. Shoulders/arms/cardio day - 7 min warm-up on the rower - DB side lateral raises, 12.5kg 4×10, shoulder press, 15kg 4×10, bicep curls 12.5kg 4×10 superset with tricep pulldowns 73kg 4×10, shrugs 17.5kg 4×15. 3×2 min rounds of footwork on the speed ladder, 3×2 min rounds in the ring doing combo kicks on the ring ropes, 1 min round kicking the heavy bag. 6 min workout on the rower, 5 mins on the spin bike, 5×20 situps then a warm down stretch.
Back & cardio day - Light stretch warm-up. - 4×10 lat pulldown superset with 4×10 seated rows with triangle bar. - 4×10 Lat pulldown with bar behind the neck superset with 4×10 seated rows with straight bar. - 4×10 standing lat pushdowns. - 9×20m sprints. - 3×1 min sprints on the rower, got new PB on the rower of 305m/min. - Warm down stretch. My traps are still sore and tight from doing shrugs on Wed so hopefully it goes away soon.
I trained with a different guy today and went through a tabata style workout, 4 rounds with no breaks in between - 10 minute warm-up walk/run on the treadmill, got to 15km/hr - 300m on the rower. - 21 box jumps, 60cm high. - 21 two handed kettle bell swings, first set was 20kg the other 3 sets were 16kg. - 21 pushups with chest flat to the ground with hands off the ground then push back up. When I first looked at what he had planned I thought it would be easy that's why I opted for the 20kg kettle bell, but by the end I felt l like I'd been hit by a bus I think my ego got the better of me at the start, that won't happen twice.
Chest and triceps in the morning. - 5 mins warm-up on the rower. - 4x10 flat bench DB bench press, 2x15 kgs & 2x17.5 kgs. - 4x10 incline DB bench press, 17.5 kgs. - 3x12 cable crossovers, 52.5 kgs. - 3x10 tricep pulldown, 82.5 kgs. - 3x10 cable rope overhead tricep extensions, 40 kgs. - 3x10 tricep pulldown with straight bar, 62.5 kgs. - 4 rounds of 20m jogging/sprinting with 5 pushups at the end of each round. - 2 rounds on the rower/treadmill, swapping after each minute. - Warm down stretch Evening. Took up Muay Thai training at the gym, which was fun and a decent cardio workout, ran through the basics of blocking, punching and knees plus did some punch/kick combos on the bags and thai pads, the instructor told the guy I was training with that I'm the hardest kind of person to fight cause I'm a south paw :dunno: first time I've been told that.
24/1/13 Taekwondo, same kind of deal as last week, warm-up stretching, arms/abs workout, partner kicking drills with hogu's on, spinning back kicks on the kick shields. 25/1/13 Cardio/upper body - 2km jog for warm-up - 15 mins on the rower - 4×12 chest press - 4×12 Roman chairs - 4x12 bench press, 40kg (bar weight included) - 4×12 push ups, had to do them on my knees cause my chest gave out - 10 mins on exercise bike. - Warm down stretch.
Maybe the intensity was too much, though I would have thought 20kg is a better weight for two handed swings. Perversely my swing technique improves the heavier the weight of KB as I can't pull it to get the swing only the hip snap action will get the exercise done. There is a lot of pull on the arms though so imagine the triceps get a bit of a hammering, so pushups after this would be tough! I'm trying to program a workout to improve on my fitness with HIIT but bit off more than I could chew last week.
I had the problem of bending my back during the swings instead of squatting down, probably because my legs were burning from the box squats, I haven't trained like that in awhile so it was kind of a shock to the body, also the KB swings were up above my head as opposed to out in front which made it harder, my grip slipped on one of the reps and I nearly dropped it on my head, that wouldn't of been pretty at all. Yeah the pushups directly after that weren't fun at all.. It's never fun biting off more than you can chew with cardio stuff, I tend to end up not feeling well when I do that.
I got home late from work this morning and I think the gym was closed anyway for the public holiday so I did a back/shoulders session at home. - 5×3 lat pulldown, 40 kg with about 30 sec break between sets. - 5×3 seated row, 52.5 kg, 30 sec breaks. - 3×10 Roman chairs with a 10 kg plate. - 5×3 side lateral raises, 13 kg with 30 sec breaks. - 5×3 shoulder press, 13 kgs with 30 sec breaks. - 5×3 shrugs, 27.5 kg/hand, 30 sec breaks. I got an example food plan off my trainer that was written by the nutrition consultant for the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team, using that in combination with the myfitnesspal app I'm consuming about 3,580 cals a day.
29/1/13 Taekwondo Worked on a variety of kicks last nite, roundhouse, roundhouse then spinning roundhouse (tornado kick), spinning back kick, spinning hook kick.. I need to work on my rotation with the hook kicks to get them more effective as they could be useful in tournaments now I can head kick. 30/1/13 Upper body day - 4×12 Lat pulldown with 6 plates. - 4×12 seated row with triangle bar, 5 plates. - 4×12 standing lat pushdown with 2 plates. - 4×12 seated row with straight bar and underhand grip, 4 plates. - 6×10 bench press, 40 kgs. - 800m jog. - 3×10 bicep curls, 12.5, 10, 7.5, 5 kg. - 4×20 situps. Now that I'm used to more full time training I'm going to start dropping reps to about 6 and up the weights to start building strength and a little size.
