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Ameliorating... training journal.


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Ok, here goes. I've kept a log of this week but I've been too busy with exams to actually get it up, or save it apparently. My computer wiped Monday and now I've forgotten what I did. One of the spurs to actually keep a journal, I can't remember what I have and haven't done anymore. I've been reading through a lot of the journals, but I'm still very new to weights/calculating what I eat/writing it up.

 

Sunday:

Chest and Biceps (x12, x10, x8 for each) –

Chest press: 25kg

Chest press incline: 25kg

Hammer curls: 5kg

Concentration curls: 5kg

Fly: 25kg

Concentration Curl machine: 15kg

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 200 kcals/20 mins

 

Monday:

Back and abs, can't remember...

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 200 kcals/20 mins

Exercise bike: 200 kcals/30 mins

 

Tuesday:

Zumba, an hour (my first class, it's been proven numerous times by numerous unsuspecting dance partners from across the world that I can't do anything salsa-like, and this was no exception. Two left feet.)

 

Wednesday:

Day before exam. Panic revision.

 

Thursday:

Day of exam. 6 hours of sleep, and then over-excited post-exam socialising. Made vegan haggis, neeps and tatties with a mushroom and peppercorn sauce. I'd post a picture but it looked appalling, tasted amazing.

 

Today it's back to revision, Zumba (I think) and gym too... my last exam's Wednesday so after that things will be easier to balance and I can get out on my bike more in the beautiful Scottish clouds, rain and cold.

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MF - exam went well (I think, I can never really tell) thanks just one more to go... My goals are pretty simple, just to see how far I can go and how much I'm capable of. Progress in the past four months has been pretty steady, I've dropped half a stone and two inches all over, and in the past month I've been getting properly serious about the weight lifting side of things. My main motivation is that I was extremely inactive all through my teens due to illness, but since getting my diet sorted that's changed and I bounce out of bed. I'd like to get to the running up mountains stage... but right now, I can't even run (shin splints). My post exam treat will be buying a proper pair of running shoes and easing myself into that. I'm doing all the things I've never been able to do

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Friday 3/5/13:

 

Weight: 146lbs

An hour of Zumba, much easier than on Tuesday. Ran out of time to go to the gym afterwards.

 

Saturday 4/5/13:

 

Shoulders and triceps day, shoulders are by far my weakest muscle group (hence some being very low weights) and what I'm not at all confident with. Once again the only female in the gym, feeling a little self-conscious.

 

Over-head shoulder press: 15kg x 10, 5kgx12x2

(x12, x10, x8 for each):-

External rotation with cable: 3.75kg

Internal rotation with cable: 3.75kg

Overhead dumbbell extension: 7kg

Tricep dips (machine): 30kg

Dumbbell kickbacks: 5kg

Rope tricep pulldowns: 6.5kg

Dumbbell bench press: 7kg

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 230kcals/20mins

Exercise bike: 100kcals/15mins

 

I still need to work on my shoulder exercises, as my form tends to wander quite a bit. I'll find some progress photos to put up after exams are over (when I can get on my Facebook again).

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I've spent many summers on the Anglesey beaches, my grandmother lives in Bangor and is about to sell up and move to London after 56 years, I'll be down there in a few weeks for the last time I'd take Snowdonia over London any day.

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no way, small world anglesey does have some beautiful beaches! i can never decide which is my favourite! yeah i think id pick snowdonia over pretty much any where else! where do live now? glasgow?

 

sorry just realised im clogging up your journal here.

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I'm in Glasgow now - I was in Sheffield till I was 12, then the West of Ireland (County Clare) then Glasgow for the past 3 years. I'm about to move to Berlin for over the summer though, I get itchy feet quite fast Have you always been in Anglesey?

 

Meh, wouldn't call it clogging up. Breaking it in

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wow youve moved around a fair bit then! berlin sounds fun, ive never heard of anyone whos been to germany and not liked it! yeh ive always been here, love this place just hate the weather most of the time, cant have everything tho

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Try Glasgow for the weather... went up a small mountain a few weeks ago and still couldn't get to the peak because the snow was too deep. Spring just hasn't sprung this year. Yeah, I've moved around a fair bit, most exotic would be living in the Amazon for 7 weeks but other than that I'm just all round UK/Ireland. I was in South Germany for about 2 months when I was 16, and hated it, but Berlin is completely different. Just hope I can find a gym that will give me a 3 month membership. Or that I can find somewhere to sleep for that matter

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Empty gym for most of my workout today, always fun upped the weights I've been using for chest and biceps for most of the exercises, I'm now at double where I started with dumbbells. My arms are properly tired, but my wrists were feeling the strain so I've had to go back to using wrist supports.

 

Chest and Biceps (x12, x10, x8 for each) –

Chest press: 25kg

Chest press incline: 25kg

Chest press machine: 20kg

Cable decline press: 3.75kg (find cable exercises tricky for some reason)

Hammer curls: 6kg and 10x7.5kg

Concentration curls: 6kg

Fly machine: 30kg

Concentration Curl machine: 20kg

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 100 kcals/8 mins

Went back to cardio at the end of the workout my legs were too tired to do anymore from the past 2 days, so I'll replace it with yoga this evening and back to cardio tomorrow.

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Back and abs day... I still struggle to feel like I've properly worked the right muscles, my arms tend to feel tired before my back does.

 

(x12, x10, x8 for each where unstated)

Rows: 25kg

Ab machine: 30kg, 2(x12, x10, x8)

Rear deltoid machine: 20kg, struggled with weakness in left shoulder

Lat pulldowns: 26kg

Core cable rotation: 8.75kg, both sides so 2(x12, x10, x8)

Pull ups: 35kg assisted, x10, x8, x6

Bicycle crunches: 20,20,10

Miscellaneous ab exercises. Might try kettlebell windmills next week, I'm looking for new exercises for both back and abs to mix things up more.

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 30mins/300kcals

Exercise bike: 10mins/100kcals

 

Now back to the books. Just 1 1/2 more days of study to go.

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May the 7th - panicked day of study.

May the 8th - up at 6am for exam. Crashed without managing anything.

May the 9th -

 

Over-head shoulder press: 5kg x12x12x12

Internal rotation with cable: 3.75kg x12x10x8

External rotation with cable: 3.75kg x6x6x6 (really struggled with these)

Dumbbell front raise: 3kg x10x8x8

Dumbbell kickbacks: 6kg x12x12x12

(x12, x10, x8 for each):-

Tricep dips (machine): 30kg

Rope tricep pulldowns: 6kg

Skullcrushers: 7.5kg

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 360kcals/35mins

 

Friday the 10th:

 

1hr of Zumba.

 

Got accosted by an older man when I was doing the food shopping, he planted him self squarely in front of me: "Oh my God, that's a lot of vegetables!" Me: "I like vegetables..." Him (looking me up and down): "You're going to end up weighing like 5 stone!" Haha.

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got accosted by an older man when I was doing the food shopping, he planted him self squarely in front of me: "Oh my God, that's a lot of vegetables!" Me: "I like vegetables..." Him (looking me up and down): "You're going to end up weighing like 5 stone!" Haha.

 

haha its funny how many of us vegans get "accosted" when were shopping, i always get a loads of questions from the people at the checkouts, usually ends up with them saying......"but too much fruit is bad for you"

 

 

training looks good liking all the weights!

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I've been vegan for over 7 months now and surprisingly that's the first person who's said something, normally I just get shifty looks I do like weights I used to just do cardio but would get bored so fast... I'm the only women in the gym that does weights though, and it's all in the same small room so the gender divide's very obvious, I wish I could get some female friends to join me but pigs might as well fly :/

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Saturday: too knackered again. Ho hum.

 

Sunday:

 

Chest and Biceps (x12, x10, x8 for each where not specified) –

Chest press: 30kg

Chest press incline: 30kg (x7,x7,x5)

Chest press machine: 20kg

Hammer curls: 7kg

Concentration curls: 6kg

Fly machine: 30kg

Concentration Curl machine: 20kg

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 160 kcals/16 mins

 

Still having wrist problems so I'm making sure to wear the supports all the time. Felt pleased that I was able to up the weight on the bench press without too much trouble though... till I went onto the incline ones. Only managed 4 days this week due to lack of sleep/exams/end of exams party (at mine, so was the last awake). Internship starts tomorrow so I'll start splitting workouts more cleanly into weights days and cardio days, to keep workouts at about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Weight loss is slow and frustrating, strength gain's ok though.

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Monday - started 9-5.30 internship that's 3 days a week, and fell asleep the moment I got back. Oops. I shouldn't have shunted starting an internship so close to the last exam/party. My energy's definitely a bit wonky.

 

Tuesday -

 

Much more successful than yesterday.

 

Back and abs day. Out of decency to the rest of the gym, I do all ab exercises at home so I can scream in pain to my heart's content, and so the cat can have fun bouncing on my stomach and disrupting things. Saw FitnessBlender on another journal and did this one:

 

 

ow. I'll up it to 3 times a week till I don't have to take breaks, it's only 10 mins after all. Much better than the Insanity abs workout.

 

(x12, x10, x8 for each where unstated)

Rows: 25kgx12 30kg x8 x8

Ab machine: 30kg x12x12x12

Rear deltoid machine: 20kg, struggled much less weakness in left shoulder but could still feel it, and it's got much less movement than the right.

Lat pulldowns: 33kg

Pull ups: none. Flipping machine was broken.

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 10mins/130kcals

Exercise bike: 10mins/100kcals

 

Really not happy with how worked my back feels again, although I've noticed it's beginning to become properly defined. I'm getting a tattoo on my shoulder in August though, so there's a deadline to get that area looking good so I can wear backless tops. I'm thinking I'll start incorporating dropsets and negatives into all my weight workouts from now on, to challenge my muscles a bit more now I've got the basic strength there and the idea of what on earth I'm doing. Especially with the lat pulldowns (which I love...)

 

I'm also getting used to my new fancy pants running shoes, so I'll start very slowly building up there too. Very aware I don't have a leg day at the moment because I've been prioritizing cardio and don't want to knock my legs out for several days a week. Might have to start forcing myself though, as I know it would help with cardio, running etc. in the longrun.

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Two days to write up. Had my day (/week/month) made today when one of the personal trainers came up to me after my workout to talk to me, and commented he'd seen me doing a lot of weight lifting. He said that a lot of the women in the gym are afraid of the free weights and that he thinks I'm brilliant for going for heavier weights. And he's going to give me a free session on Thursday to go through one of my workouts and get my program more in order. Well chuffed

 

Wednesday - failed to get to the gym after my internship again, as it was my bookclub night and we didn't finish till 9, by which time I was knackered.

 

Thursday - cardio. First time on a treadmill. Ever. Felt weird. I've spent the past week getting used to my new trainers, and felt ready to try running... building up very slowly because of my shin splints. First time running at all in... 5 years I think.

 

Crosstrainer: 15mins/170kcals

Treadmill: 23mins/200kcals (5mins running total in 1min intervals)

Bike: 5mins/50kcals

 

Friday - a day of people being delayed by hours, and waiting around. Felt knackered. Didn't get to the gym, or get half the other stuff I was supposed to do done.

 

Saturday -

 

Shoulders and triceps

(x12, x10, x8 for each where unstated):-

Over-head shoulder press: 10kg (getting stronger, finally!)

Dumbbell seated front raise: 2.5kg x10x10x10

Dumbbell seated lateral raise: 3kg x10x10x10 (focussed more on form than weight for both of these)

Dumbbell kickbacks: 7kg mysterious pain in right shoulder but it was no different when I changed to a lower weight, so I stayed with the 7.

Tricep dips (machine): 30kg

Rope tricep pulldowns: 6kg x12x12x12

Skullcrushers: 7.5kg

Rear deltoid machine: 20kg

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 150kcals/13mins

Treadmill: 30mins - split 10mins 4mph at 12.0 incline, then 20mins running 1min walking 1-2mins. Ran 8mins total at about 7mph. Much easier than the other day. Annoyingly my breathing rate barely changes, but I can feel my legs beginning to hurt pretty fast. It's going to take a while to build into running.

 

New week's program in its infancy:

 

Sunday - back & biceps

Monday - cardio

Tuesday - shoulders

Wednesday - rest day

Thursday - chest & triceps

Friday - cardio or legs

Saturday - cardio or legs

Abs/core tagged on to workouts 3x a week.

 

Can't wait for Thursday now

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Back and biceps. Still struggling to feel my back's been worked. Biceps are sore though.

 

Bent arm dumbbell pullover: 7.5kg x10x10x10

Lat pulldown: 4x40kg with 6 second negatives, dropped straight to 6x33kg with 6 sec negatives, then 8x33kg with 4sec negatives

Machine rows: 30kgx5, 25kgx8 with 5 second negatives

Dumbbell rows: 10kg x10x10x10 (increase next week)

Pull ups: none. Machine still broken.

 

Hammer curls: 7.5kg x12x10x8 on each arm

Concentration curls: 6kg x8x6x4

Concentration Curl machine: 20kg x12x10x8

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 120 kcals/10 mins

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bit of a failure of a week last week - only managed one proper day of training due to being extremely tired and my sleep pattern going all out of whack. Back on track now though.

 

Monday - nothing

 

Tuesday - cardio, 20 mins treadmill/200kcals

 

Wednesday - nothing again...

 

Thursday - chest and triceps with personal trainer. I wasn't writing it down at the time so might be able to remember.

 

Dumbbell chest press: 7.5kg x12x12x12

Dumbbell chest press incline: 7.5kg x12x12x12

Chest press plate machine: 15kg x12x12

Chest press machine: 15kg x12x12

Fly machine: 25kg x12x12

Rear deltoid machine: 20kg x12x12

Tricep pulldowns: 7.5kg x12x12x12

Tricep dips own bodyweight: twice till failure

 

Friday: quiet walk. Ahem.

 

Saturday: Legs, did this fitnessblender video

and failed about halfway through. I really must do more leg days, this was pathetic.

 

Sunday: Exhausted. Lay on the sofa and moaned.

 

Monday:

 

Back and biceps

 

Bent arm dumbbell pullover: 10kg x10x10x10

Lat pulldown: 33kg x12x12 then x8 with 4 sec. negatives. Confused about negatives.

Machine rows: 25kg x12x10x8

Dumbbell rows: 12.5kg x10x10x10

Pull ups: none. Machine still broken.

 

Hammer curls: 7.5kg x12x10x8 on each arm

Concentration curls: 5kg x12x12x12 - went for reps over weight.

 

and this:

 

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 230 kcals/20 mins

 

Stretched a lot.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Bit of a setback these last 2 weeks, I was away for a week and then ill for the next week. Just getting back to things now, I've not lost strength but I've also not progressed. And it's my last full week of training before I move to Berlin and need to adjust to a new gym... language... find a gym...

 

Wales - Saturday the 1st, Abs and Legs.

 

Long gap.

 

Sunday the 9th - Chest and triceps (done not feeling fully up to par after being ill)

 

Cardio: Crosstrainer warm up 150kcals 13 mins

 

Dumbbell chest press: 7.5kg x12x12x12

Dumbbell chest press incline: 7.5kg x12x12x12

Chest press machine: 15kg x12x12x10

Fly machine: 25kg x10x6 dropped to 20kg x12 (really missed having the spotter for this one)

Rear deltoid machine: 20kg x12x12x10

Tricep pulshdowns: 6kg x12x12x10

Tricep dips own bodyweight till failure: 9,8,9

 

Monday - dodgy stomach again. Couldn't train.

 

Tuesday - Back and biceps

 

Cardio: Crosstrainer warm up 200kcals 17 mins

 

Bent arm dumbbell pullover: 10kg x10x10x10

Lat pulldown: 35kg x 10 dropped to 33kg x10x10 all with 4 sec. negatives.

Machine rows: 25kg x12x10x8

Dumbbell rows: 12.5kg x10x10x10

 

Hammer curls: 7.5kg x12x10x8 on each arm

Concentration curls: 5kg x10x10 wrists started hurting too much.

 

Really quite concerned about the move to Berlin and finding a new gym. I've just properly got used to lifting in mine.

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Hi,

 

Lucky girl, i'd love to live in Berlin, i go there once or twice a year to meet up with a good friend by the name of Hendrick Burre, hes a strength and conditioning coach with vast amount of knowledge, he also owns and runs the only shooting range in Berlin. He trains bodyguards in gun handling and krav maga. Even a couple sessions with him would be very very educational, his prices are very reasonable. If can contact him here about training or shooting...http://www.shooting-events-berlin.de/home-english/contact-us-booking/

 

He trains his clients in the McVit gym, its a 24/7 gym, well equipped and best of all....its dirt cheap, i think its like 18 euro a month:)

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