Climbing the mountain once more
After being told that my blood pressure was above normal and being too sedentary due to being lazy for the last few years and gaining 20 Kg's I'm getting back into serious exercise and weight training to burn off the flab and tone up once more. I'm '169cm, and weigh 107 Kg's which is way too much for my body type . When in top bodybuilding form, which was 2003/4 I was 82 Kg's and was quite toned and very fit now it's all gone so the mountain must be conquered again. I'm starting out with 3 sessions a week at the gym at an hour a piece for now, Monday, wednesday and friday. I work out before breakfast to get the fat burning going. Monday is strength day, concentrating on upper body with the work out & with light cardio to warm up and cool down with. Wednesday is Abs and full on cardio training, alternating with isometric strength exercises to build up ab's & lower back. Fridays I focus on some cardio again & do boxing training which I would say is a dam good work out for anyone wanting to get fit quick. I also squeeze in some leg work, mainly on quads and gluts plus a bit of upper back work, Deltoids and laterals. I aim to keep this routine up for the next four weeks to get back a moderate level of fitness and strength before kicking it up a few notches and going full bore with 5 sessions a week plus including swimming . The fat won't go with the exercise alone: diet is all important. Cutting out alcohol is an absolute must so I'll be booze free till xmas and even then I'll only have a beer or 2. Breakfast is either 1 egg on rye toast - no butter or a fresh fruit smoothy with low fat dairy plus a fibre supliment. Lunch is 2 slices of lean meat like beef or chicken & salad sandwich or roll and dinner is either 150 grams of chicken, fish or steak

Awesome Talwyn, sounds like you know exactly what you are doing and need to do to get back into shape. I'm looking forward to watching your progress on here. An online journal helps keep you on track and motivated and before/after progress pics really show results more so than the scale. You'll get my support and feedback! Train Hard! T

Thanks Todd, I appreciate your support and will have regular updates as this will be a good way to keep a journal of progress made. It's funny going back to the gym after being away for over 3 years but I'm lucky in that the town I'm in, the gym is under used so often there are only a couple of other serious people there working out and very soon I'll get to know them and hopefully become training buddies with them. Not having to compete with folks doing circuit classes for the machines & weights makes for a happy gym :D As you well may know, it always helps to have someone spot for you and motivate & push you to go that extra bit in training - in a way that can make all the difference. Dam it's good to be back in the gym again! :wink:

Ok - work done so far: 19/11/07 - Strength building - Bicep curls, Lateral pulls, bench press, tricep extentions, forarm work, lower back work, abdomenal isometric strength training, leg lunges + squats and 15 minutes bike work 21/11/07 - Cardio workout - rowing machine, stepper and excercise bike with abs work in between each machine set 23/11/07 - Stamina training - fast sets of triceps extention, bicep curls with bar & hand weights, upright pectoral machine - all sets run for a minute going as hard as you can with 3 sets of each excercise followed by boxing/fast-punching inbetween each set for 1 minute. Cool down with skipping 25/11/07 - walk 4km & swim 500m freestyle 26/11/07 - Strength - bench, lat pull downs, bicep extention curls, tricep dips, fit ball ab work, behind neck pull down for deltoids & lats, oblique crunchs & using medicine ball oblique sit ups plus 1km rowing and 5 minutes on stepper 28/11/07 - Cardio - running machine, rowing machine and bike - 3 sets on each machine with crunches and isometric ab work inbetween each set - each exercise machine doing a total of 2.25Km of work <1km, 750m & 500m> with crunchs and fitball work on abs at end. I've been in training now for 4 weeks and am definately feeling the benefits immediately - already losing 4cm off my waistline & dumping 3 Kg of bodyweight although I suspect more fat has been replaced with increased muscle mass so going by weight at the moment isn't a good indicator of progress yet. Fitness levels have gone up dramatically as have energy levels & general feeling of well-being. Cutting out the booze has also been good and not eating loads of carbs is another blessing. In all friends, I'm reaping the rewards and muscle memory is there and getting back that level of fitness & strength is proving to be not so hard. To those folks who aren't being active, I would recomend that you start up routine exercise as it really is good for you in more than just a physical sense. 8)

30/11/2007 120 ab crunches 60 push ups 20 minutes boxing - punching combo's - fast left/right punching + fast upper cuts 1.2km running 3.5km on ex bike 30 tricep dips

I've been remiss in not keeping my training dairy upto date :oops: 3/12/07 - Strength - leg press, hamstring curls, shoulder fly, lateral extentions, bicep barbell curls, bench press, ab isometric extentions, tricep dips 5/12/07 - Cardio - rowing 2.5 km, 25 minutes on ex-bike at variable hill climb, 10 minutes jogging, sit up,s push up,s, fit ball ab work out 7/12/07 - Strength - squats, lunges, leg press, bench press, shoulder raises, shoulder fly, lots of ab work, tricp extentions plus 2.5km of rowing 10/12/07 - Stamina - 20 minutes variable hill climb on bike, speed weight sets that include biceps, tricps, bench press lats and abs - 3 sets at full pace at 1 minute on each exercise doing as many reps as possible 12/12/07 - Cardio - 20 minutes on ex bike on fast/slow spirit recover at lv 9 difficulty , 15 minutes boxing work out doing punching combo's. push ups and abs plus fitball ab work out 14/12/07 - swam 750 meters & did push ups, sit ups/crunches and isometric extentions 17/12/07 - no work out as I had minor surgery yesterday to get some moles removed, one of which was on the sole of my foot and was potentially dangerous in regards to skin cancer. Feeling a bit sore right now and hobbling about. I can't swim because the stiches need to be dry most of the time so no excercise for this week. Then I'm off as off this friday on vacation so I'll only be able to do power walking and push up sit ups, dips, squats & lunges . Program gets back on track after Jan.10

Ok, been a bit slack here with updating my training log :oops: Essentially I've been back into training since 24th of January, with my 3 sessions a week working on Strength, cardio and general fitness via boxing training. Last week though saw me have to pull out of my friday session as I'm smashed my toe the previous night and could barely walk the next day due to the swelling but lucky for me it wasn't broken . So yesterday I was back in the gym doing my weights workout, focusing on chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps and abs with some lunges and squats as well to break up the routine. and finished off with planks .

tough work out today. 25 minutes of boxing/punching drills, 15 minutes skipping followed by squats, push-ups, lunges, chin ups, planks, sit ups for the last 20 minutes. Phew... I'm exhausted :P

Today: bench press - 3 sets doing 12 reps with 25kg's on the bar leg press - 3 sets doing 15 reps with 90 kg's rowing - 3 sets doing 15 reps with 45 kgs shoulder/lat pull downs - 3 sets doings 12 reps with 50 kg's leg extentions - 3 sets doing 15 reps with 70 kg's biceps dumbell curls - 5 sets with 10kg's doing 12 reps calf raises - body weight (101kg) 3 sets 25 reps 4 sets of crunches 25 reps in each set 3 sets of push ups - 15 reps 3 sets of tricep dips bodyweight 10 each set 10 minutes ex bike - 5 warm up & 5 for cool down

Friday 22 - Boxing - super hard workout with punching combos, ducking & weaving, pushups, squats, lunges, isometric strength poses, crunches and 15 minutes of skipping rope < don't laugh, it's a killer of an exercise> Monday 25th - Strength - weights, bench 30kgs x 3 sets of 15 reps leg press 80 kgs x 3 sets of 12 reps shoulder/lat pull downs 70 kgs 3 sets 12 reps rowing 70 kgs 3 sets 12 reps bicep dumbell curls 10 kgs, 3 sets 15 reps shoulder fly dumbells 10kgs, 3 sets 15 reps tricep extentions/dips 3 sets of body weight <99kgs> 8 reps 3 minutes of planks x 2 squats and lunges fast work - as many reps that can be done in 2 minutes 10 minutes warm up & cool down of ex bike Wed - 27th - Cardio 30 minutes switching between sprints & hard climbs on ex bike fast squats & lunges - as many reps in 2 minutes for each exercise - x 2 shoulder fly fast 7 kgs in 2 minutes - max reps as possible x 2 sets 3 minutes of planks x 2 sets hip raises with 20kg on pelvis - max reps possible in 2 minutes 2 minutes max resp on abs crunches

Impressive Talwyn, great mix of exercises you are implementing - keep it up! hip raises with 20kg on pelvis - max reps possible in 2 minutes For physical stamina/endurance for sex there is no con-*test*-('")- get in the pool and learn the butterfly stroke/dolphin kick. "Swimmers make great lovers because of their strong hip flexors and abdominal muscles that give then great stamina in bed. - PlayBoy Magazine "Because of physiological changes in certain hormone producing metabolic pathways during aerobic exercise, swimmers are the most sexually active athletes." -Time Magazine 8) Train Hard, Swim Fast! T

SWork has been getting in the way of training for a bit but I'm pleased to say this week I'm back on schedule. Today was a super hard boxing workout. Massive amounts of punching drills and skipping. 3 x planks for 1 minute - superb way to strengthen abs and lower back! 150 ab crunches 6 sets of step ups, 2 minutes a set

17/03/08 3 x bench @ 35 kgs 15 reps each set 3 x Lat pulldowns @ 90kgs 10 reps each set 3 x forward rows @ 90 kgs 10 reps each set 3 x leg press @ 100 kgs 8 reps each set 3 x leg extentions @ 45 kgs 12 reps each set 3 x calf raises holding x2 8kg weights 20 reps each set 3 planks held for 1:15 each ex bike warm up and cool down 10 minutes.

Nice work Talwyn. Holding the plank for 1 min. is great. Try throwing in side planks and side planks with one leg raised... Brutal core; oblique/lower back. Also try to Pyramid up on your weight a bit if you are holding the same reps for an exercise... Eg; Try adding 5 kg's to your bench on the 2nd and 3rd sets next session. Here is your workout written in an abbreviated log: Bench 35/15 35/15 35/15 Pulldowns 90/10 90/10 90/10 Forward Rows 90/10 90/10 90/10 (Is this seated rows for back? http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBSeatedRow.html) Leg Press 100/8 100/8 100/8 Leg Ext 45/12 45/12 45/12 DB Calf Raise bw +16/20 bw +16/20 bw +16/20 T

Thanks for the great support and fantastic advice Todd! 8) The results are coming in, not losing much weight at the moment, as gaining muscle but by george, my strength is going up in leaps and bounds! I'll be going hard today, cardio workout :twisted: