It has been a fine training week, but a disaster when it comes to diet. It started off ok, then just went to the dogs. It is easy to allow it to slip away from you. It has been a busy week with training, soccer matches, and two jobs. I was just grabbing quick stuff to eat, and bad stuff like bread rolls with egg mayo, or just making some veggie burgers at home with wedges. I was eating fecking Jellybeans and Hunky Dories watching the Eurovision on Saturday night. What the hell! Has it been reflected in my weight? Somewhat. However, what I see when I look at myself is not the person I saw two weeks ago. The body is craving some nutrients, I feel tired and lethargic, as evidenced by the fact this blog post has been three days late. Enough complaining now, nothing a few weeks back focused won’t sort. Here is how the actual workouts went down last week anyway.
Session 1 :
I mentioned last week that the bench press was an area that I particularly want to focus on. Obviously, there are a whole host of areas in which to gauge progress, but I decided to do it the tried and tested way. The goal of 100kg is a bit too far at the moment but I see no reason why I cannot hit that goal over the next few weeks when on my own. There is evident progress from last week hitting 75kg for eight, next week will be the time to try 80. The incline bench press has certainly improved, the twinge I felt at the start of the 20 weeks, was no longer there on the bench. Still painful when doing shoulder, more on that later though today was chest and back. The back workout has significantly improved with muscles appearing that I never knew I had. A bit of definition, no matter how slight, is always nice to acknowledge. My lats do need to improve, but I feel the base is now there to keep pushing on. I was training with Davy which is always just so informative, little tips, which seem obvious once you hear them are just so beneficial overall.
Session 2 :
Leg day with Lee is generally a bit different than usual. Lee likes to operate sometimes with high weight and slightly lower reps. The warm-up gets done quickly so you do not over-exert yourself and have something in the tank throughout the session. We stacked the hack squat, single-leg press, and some other contraption mad contraption. The single-leg press is still a bollix, the mechanic of it is very uncomfortable. It was evident that one leg is a lot less flexible than the other, I just cannot bring one leg back very far. I was told from the start of the need to increase my flexibility, which I did, for a while at least. An hour or 45 minutes most days, just doesn’t appeal to me, ever. Time is something I generally lack, even when I was rehabbing my knee last year, taking an hour out to do all the foam rolling and various exercises was just so frustrating. The chickens do come to roost though, and it is clear that needs to change. So many niggly injuries can be avoided from it. We finished the day with hamstring curls and I went on to do some ab workouts, something I am trying to include every session, with improvements noticeable every week.
Session 3 :
Shoulders and arms on a Saturday morning are always fun. Vinnie is the weekend warrior in there and had just finished a leg session with my friend, Giulia. Being the powerhouse she is, Giulia said she will hop into the shoulder workout, after just finishing legs. That is a serious commitment. Some shoulder presses were on the cards, after a proper warm-up. No single arm stuff, it was time to test delt, and it seemed to have passed. There was some nice weight added to the machines and plates throughout. If I was on my own, I don’t think I would push myself like that, to be honest. I am slightly worried about that when the 20 weeks are over. I will no doubt go to the gym, however, will I really get the most out of myself? For example, when we moved onto arms, instead of doing 15 triceps movements, Vinnie jokingly said do 50. So out of stubbornness, I did 50, with a smile on my face. That kind of stuff is what creates some buzz and helps in the long run. Can that be done when on your own? Probably. Will I do it? Hopefully. It is a great way to start a weekend, but I ruined it with Eurovision night!
If you want to make a change, you can contact Davy on 0892528904 or email [email protected].
