Hobbs' 12 week challenge

[Hobbs]

Hey there!

I'm a 37 year-old French bloke leaving near Manchester since 2011, and I've been a vegan for 2 years now.
I'm 1.75m and 69kl.

I'm quite active, so a typical week would be: weights 4 to 5 times, running twice (2 hours in total), swimming twice (1 hour-ish in total). I'm pretty average in everything (half-marathon time = 1.45 for instance) but really enjoy my sport and doing various things.

However I've been stuck for a while when it comes to weight lifting, so I'm taking a 12 week challenge to seriously work on that, and improve a slew of other things (sleep, hydration, coffee addiction) on the way.

They say you must have a goal when you start a plan, I'm not sure what mine is right now. I suppose that at the end if I see improvements in major lifts, it will be a success. So say, if I progress from my usual 15-16 hammer grip pull-ups to 20, I'll be happy. Need to think more about it.

So starting this Monday 28.03.16, I'm committing to:

Weights: follow the program created by trainer Nick Mitchell, as detailled in the book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Ultimate-Body-Transformation-Plan/dp/0008147914?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=A3BY5A3P8V9XJD

I'll provide more details later, but to sum things up it involves per week:
2 days focusing on a specific area (arms, chest, etc) and 2 days for 2 different areas.
Do that for 3 weeks, then start another cycle, focusing on a different area.
Switch again after 3 weeks, and do that for 12 weeks.

Program and exercises don't focus a lot on the weight you can lift, and give priority to proper form and correct timing.

Nutrition: follow the following nutrition macros every day.
2800 kcal (conservative estimate for weight gain, might take it up if need be), spread as follows:
- prot 25% 170g / 680 kcal
- fat 25% 80g / 720 kcal
- carb 50% 350g / 1400kcal

I'm a small eater, so spread that out over 7 meals. Still dreading it a bit though.

Hydration:Drink a couple extra pints of water every day

Sleep:Get at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night.
My sleep as been quite bad, I wake up at night or very early (3/4am) and not getting enough rest.
Anyway, to improve that I will:
- get darker curtains My curtains are white and let all morning light in. Not great.
- get to bed at regular times 9.30 -10 pm
- get pc and phone out of the bedroom.

Caffeine addiction: Drink only 1 cup/coffee day, and switch to decaff green after 5pm.
Quite a change from my daily 5-6 cups of black battery acid
So the daily cup is kept as a pre-workout boost.

Post here at least a weekly update with
- 1 photo
- stats update like bodyweight.
- report on the work done at the gym, nutrition, hydration, sleep and caffeine intake.

So there, thanks for reading! Any advice or feedback along the way will be appreciated.

[AlexSean]

Thanks for sharing,this helpful

[Hobbs]

Cheers Alex. So...

Week 0 - starting point !

Stats
I'll use a Von Haus body fat scale for tracking. Those figures are not always 100% accurate, but they are still good enough for reference and progress assessment.
Turns out I'm not 69kg as the scales at the gym read, but then I had shoes and clothes on.

Week 0

Weight 67,4kg
Body fat % 15.3
Hydration % 55.4
Muscle % 41.7
Bone % 15.7

Photo



So I look athletic and ok, but 'ok' is not great

So I'll set my goals as follow:
- improve strength and lift more: go from 16 pull-ups to 20. Pull-ups has been the same for about a year, really want to improve that. Will provide later a longer list of lifts to improve.
- go from 15,3% Body Fat to 12%. Sounds realistic.
- go from 41.7% Muscle mass to 45%

Nom nom nom
And in order to achieve those goals, I'll start with the following diet for the first 3 weeks, to be tweaked if needed depending on progress - if any! :
carb-cycling
4 high carb days at 2600 calories on weight days
2 medium carb days at 2200 calories on cardio days
1 low carb day at 1800 calories on rest day

Details of the meal plan. Figures have been rounded up.

High carb day, 2,600 kcal
prot 25% 160g / 640 kcal
fat 30% 80g / 720 kcal
Carb 45% 300g / 1200kcal

Breakfast Green smoothie with hemp protein powder
350kcal 30prot 10carb 20fat

Post-workout shake Soy Milk and vegan chocolate protein powder
215kcal 31prot 4carb 8fat

Breakfast 2 Bowl of oats with currants, nuts, and a banana
624kcal 19prot 105carb 15fat

Lunch Large salad with tofu and toasted beans
255kcal 24prot 9carb 10fat

Breakfast 3 Bowl of oats with currants, nuts.
428kcal 15prot 57carb 13fat

Tea Bowl of quinoa and beans...
489kcal 28prot 67carb 12fat

...and a green smoothie with hemp protein powder
353kcal 26prot 39carb 9fat


Medium carb day: 2,200 kcal
apart from the high-carb post-workout breakfast, dropping carbs for other meals
prot 35% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 35% 90g / 810 kcal
Carb 30% 160g / 640kcal

Breakfast Green smoothie with hemp protein powder
350kcal 30prot 10carb 20fat

Post-workout shake Soy Milk and vegan chocolate protein powder
215kcal 31prot 4carb 8fat

Breakfast 2 Bowl of oats with currants, nuts, and a banana
624kcal 19prot 105carb 15fat

Lunch Large salad with tofu and toasted beans
255kcal 24prot 9carb 10fat

Breakfast 3 Glass of soy milk and handful of nuts

428kcal 15prot 57carb 13fat

Tea Large salad with tofu and toasted beans
255kcal 24prot 9carb 10fat

...and a green smoothie with hemp protein powder
258kcal 27prot 13carb 9fat


Low carb day: 1,800kcal
dropping all carbs for other meals including fruit, only keeping veggies.
prot 40% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 45% 90g / 810 kcal
Carb 15% 60g / 240kcal

Breakfast Green smoothie with hemp protein powder
350kcal 30prot 10carb 20fat

Post-workout shake Soy Milk and vegan chocolate protein powder
215kcal 31prot 4carb 8fat

Breakfast 3 Glass of soy milk and handful of nuts
428kcal 15prot 57carb 13fat

Lunch Large salad with tofu and toasted beans
255kcal 24prot 9carb 10fat

Breakfast 3 Glass of soy milk and handful of nuts

428kcal 15prot 57carb 13fat

Tea Large salad with tofu and toasted beans
255kcal 24prot 9carb 10fat

...and a green smoothie with hemp protein powder
258kcal 27prot 13carb 9fat

[Hobbs]

Week 1 / Session 1

LEGS

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest Weight

1A Machine Squat 10 10 4010 90 83 kg
1B Lying Harmstring curl 10 10 4010 90 10 plates
2A Seated calf raise 2 12 3011 75 n/a
2B Standing calf raise 2 30 2010 60 n/a


- Exercises with the same number are supersets, for instance 1A and 1B are done one after the other.

- Tempo: I'll add a word about that as I've never seen that code used anywhere else.
Take 4010
4 is the time in seconds you take to lower the weight
0 is the time at the bottom of the movement
1 is the time taken to lift the weight
0 is the time at the top of the movement.
So osbviously: strong emphasis on the eccentric phase!

- that many sets (10) per exercises is quite new to me, I was used to keep to 3 sets, rarely going up to 4 or 5.

- resting times feel quite long, I usually keep only 30 secs between 2 exercises back to back in supersets, with no rest in between.

- overall, felt more demanding that my usual leg session

[Hobbs]

Week 1 / Session 2

ARMS



Forum removes some formatting, so uploading a screenshot of the session. Bit of a hassle!

Anyway, good session and had some energy left for a few dropsets.
I had never done wrists exercises before, the superset is killing, even with a very low weight!
Defo some lots of room for progress there.

[Hobbs]

Week 1 / Session 3

CHEST / BACK



High sets workout.
Had never done cable face pull, but that's a another nice exercise I had never tried before.

Did some cardio yesterday as well.

Morning: Tabata on bike + cross trainer and stair climber for a total of 45 minutes.
I'm running a half-marathon on May 15th, but my ankle is playing up, so replacing runs with other forms of endurance training.

Afternoon: 30ish minutes swimming at the pool. I need to practice my front crawl.

[Hobbs]

Week 1 / Session 4

ARMS

Same as arms session 2, but with a different number of reps.
A bit too early to use heavier weights, but I managed a few weighted dips and chin-up.

[Hobbs]

Week 1 - ASSESSMENT

Good first week, completed all workouts and reached many objectives regarding nutrition or hydration.
I do feel my muscle are working harder. Feeling generally tired.
Strongly doubt my scales are really reliable, as shown in the stats. Considering getting better ones.

Stats
Weight 66,6kg -1,2kg, compared to last week How did that happen without a massive cut down in calorie intake ? Hum, hum...
Body fat % 19 +3.7? These scales are a joke.
Hydration % 55.6 +0.2
Muscle % 41.8 +0.1 Will eat a bit more to take that up and see how it goes.
Bone % 15.7 15.8 +0.1

Photo


Nutrition
Followed plan without slip-ups, even my meal at indian restaurant (chickpeas and rice, fuck it was good!!) fit into the macros.
Feeling quite hungry after training, so going to increase the size of of the two meals that follow lifting times.
Realized that I'm having soy pretty much all the time... Not sure that does any harm, but for the sake of variety I'll have only 2 servings a day and use more rice and almond milk
Adding +50g carbs/on high days as feeling and looking tired. Protein and fat stay about the same (170g and 80g)

So now the macros are:

High carb day, 2,800 kcal (+200)
prot 25% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 25% 80g / 720 kcal
Carb 50% 350g (+50g) / 1400kcal (+200)

Medium carb day: 2,200 kcal
prot 35% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 35% 90g / 810 kcal
Carb 30% 160g / 640kcal

Low carb day: 1,800 kcal
prot 40% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 45% 90g / 810 kcal
Carb 15% 60g / 240kcal


Hydration:
Success, had my extra 2 or even 3 extra large glasses of water a day.

Sleep:
hum, could still better. Managed 6 to 7 hours of good enough sleep and kept regular bed times.
Still waking up at 2.30-4am though, and not always manage to get back to sleep.

Caffeine addiction:
Success. First 1 day with only 1 cup was SHIT But had no problem the rest of the week.
Drinking decaff green tea from lunch time on.

[Hobbs]

Week 2 / Session 1

ARMS

Things are getting harder - each exercise has an extra set
My wrists just give up in supersets with no resting time, that's definetely something I need and want to improve.

Feeling better and less tired with a larger shake and meal post-training

[Hobbs]

Week 2 / Session 2

CHEST / BACK



Nice improvements, managed to add +2 kg to the dumbbell neck press, the rows at 18kg went relatively well while I struggled last time.
Also performed the 3x120 secs plank, way better than last week : 90sex x 2

Sessions requires a lot of focus to keep the lifting tempos and the form right at every rep.

[Hobbs]

Week 2 / Session 3

ARMS

Uneven session. On the one hand I managed to lift a bit more for some exercises, on the other I lost concentration on the way so last sets were half-hearted. Also managed dips and pull-ups for only 30 secs, instead of the 40 required.



Did 1h cardio yesterday as part of endurance training for half-marathon mid-May:
- 20 mn Tabata on bike
- 20 mn cross-trainer medium pace
- 20 mn stair climbing medium pace
I like Tabata intervals, they're very humbling. By the 4th rep, I'm badly panting and want to put my head in a fridge

Ankle is getting better so might run on Sunday or maybe next week, no hurry really.
Running the half with my gf and she's not a fast runner yet, her target is about 2h30. Should feel quite easy for me.

[Hobbs]

Week 2 / Session 4

LEGS

Good session, managed 10% more weight on leg press, and with room for extra.
Should push myself more on leg days.
Had to be careful with calf raises as I dislocated my toe back in December (on a cross-trainer ), and I could feel some discomfort.

[Hobbs]

Week 2 - ASSESSMENT

Good second week, I managed on the whole to lift heavier weights, and my grip is stronger.
Not much change visually yet.
Sleep is still a problem.
Got new fancy scales, pricey but so much better than the old (crappy) ones!

Stats
As I'm using new scales I won't do comparisons with previous figures.
Muscle weight seems strangely high, even if according to the manufacturer that includes heart and digestive muscles, and the water in them. Well that's still useful for reference.

Weight 65.7kg
Body fat % 7.9
Hydration % 61.7
Muscle weight 57.8 kg

Photo
Eh, I had not realised the bathroom was so dark. Will take better pictures the following weeks.



Nutrition
More energy with the extra calories and larger post-workout meals. Also dropped a swimming session on Thursday evening so that helped a bit too.
Noticed than my appetite is regulated now that I stopped eating 2 to 5 pieces of fruits a day (just 1 at the moment) and pouring raisins on my cereals. Cravings for food are a lot weaker, my appetite feels more even.

No change in macros, I'll tweak next week depending on stat variations.

High carb day, on training days, 4 days/week : 2,800 kcal
prot 25% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 25% 80g / 720 kcal
Carb 50% 350g / 1400kcal

Medium carb day, on cardio days, 2 days/week: 2,200 kcal
prot 35% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 35% 90g / 810 kcal
Carb 30% 160g / 640kcal

Low carb day, on rest day, 1 day/week 1,800 kcal
prot 40% 170g / 680 kcal
fat 45% 90g / 810 kcal
Carb 15% 60g / 240kcal


Hydration:
No issues there.

Sleep:
No progress
Still wake-up 1 or 2 times per night for bathroom brakes and really hard to get back to sleep after that. Also feel a bit peckish when I wake up. Going to drink less in the afternoon/evening and eat a bit more in the last meal.

Caffeine addiction:
No issues there. Caffeine jolt is a lot stronger now and I feel really warm and energetic with the single strong black cup pre work-out.

[Hobbs]

Week 3 / Session 1

ARMS

A shorter session, with fewer sets, less exercises, and longer resting times.

It was basically begging for heavier weight

So of course I took it up a bit, but on a couple of exercises I fell into that old trap of lifting too much and letting down tempo and form.
Added a couple extra dropsets and chin-ups at the end.

[Hobbs]

And this is what healthy vegan b*st*rds eat



From left to right: spinach, red pepper, red cabbage, avocado, almonds, basil leaves, toasted beans, cherry tomatoes.

A nutrient bomb! Bon appétit.