There are days when you just want to stop and say fuck it, I am never gonna reach my ideal size, so why am I bothering?
This was not one of those weeks, as I had to take personal responsibility for my failings. Repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Not allowing injuries to heal, and not being as strict with workouts or diet. When I say diet, I do not eat anything too ridiculous, probably like most Irish folk I can have my fair share of bread at times. Despite this, my weight has gone up considerably I feel, and while being 15 stone now and being 15 stone two years ago, are different animals, I’m still uncomfortable. I felt uncomfortable at 14 stone 3 also to be honest also to be fair. I know scales ain’t gospel, and I am getting stronger, so I guess we will find out more at the end of this 20-week course as to how this endeavor turned out.
The week started off with a run in my favorite locations, Castle Park, running on grass, and climbing the hill with 5 laps on the back patch equaling 5 km in total. It was a good way to start the week, which slowly went downhill training-wise after this.
Wednesday:
Chest and back days generally follow the same routine, and it is working. I was hoping to push on the flat bench press, but we started on the incline instead! This wiped me out when done in conjunction with lat pull-downs. By the time I got to the flat bench, I knew I would not end up pushing myself too much, opting to try to keep the reps up instead of adding plates. I did manage to do 70 kg quite comfortably before eventually failing on a rep and having to get Davy to come over and pick the bar up off my chest. The hammer row which generally seems easy became difficult with me trying to supplement my lack of adding weight on the bar, onto this workout. My left arm felt very weak in comparison to my right, so much so that I was sure I overloaded that side. To my surprise I didn’t, it was just my arm was weak, brah! We moved onto a heavyweight single-arm incline with seated rows to finish off the set. By the time it came to the plank, I had set out four minutes but dropped at just over 2 minutes, which was surprising and annoying. My partner Diane, who has signed up for her own ten-week course, so while I waited I went on a very slow and steady 5k run outside and came back to try the plank again, however, was humbled once again in my endeavor to beat my previous week’s plank.
Friday:
A bit of a shit show of a day, I just was not into it at all. Tired and not bothered, but they say they are the best days to go right? Wrong! I am just unable to get out of the tired funk, waking up at 6 am can do that at times. We started with the warm-up, and Davy noticed my mobility on this day was particularly part. I tried getting out for a run the day previous and managed 4.5 km before I felt the calf twinge again, I got carried away as I was going when I realized I was making good time. I know what you’re saying, “Stop making the same mistakes”. I hear you I do, I should be allowing the calf to heal, but the buzz I get from running is unparalleled, I just genuinely love it. So I was not particularly flexible this day. With that in mind, Davy wanted me to do some front-loaded squats. This exercise also helps you improve your core strength and posture. It also helps prevent injuries, as by working your quads you improve your mobility, speed, and endurance. He mentioned this would be the way we would go forward. It was tough but seemed to have worked. We then went onto leg press, superset with Romanian deadlifts for your glutes. Before finishing on hamstring curls, I realised time was running out and I need to get to soccer training. I was thankful for soccer training, it gets you out of your own head.
Sunday:
Due to no soccer Sunday morning, I could head into the gym to train with Catherine. I started off by myself getting onto the log for some presses. My shoulder was in a lot of pain all week, and waking up in pain, with a lot of knots tensing me up. After some stretches, I embarked on 4 sets of 8kg on the log, with the first set proving particularly hard. After that, though the pain subsided and I felt like I have able to activate the power in my shoulders, increasing the weights on every set on the Viking and seated press. Lateral raises superset was also quite fun, and for the longest time, I finally felt powerful once again. There was also an arms circuit on the cards, after a time of not being able to use a machine that was under maintenance. It consisted of two triceps exercises coupled with two biceps. The dips were the first time I actually felt the strain again on my shoulder. With four workouts per set and three sets with no rest, it was a nice way to end the circuit. However, the shoulder workout seriously impacted my ability to plank, as it had all week, with me not being able to surpass last week’s personal best.
If you want to make a change, you can contact Davy on 0892528904 or email [email protected].
