Getting my game back on

[Dinahlady]

LOL my DP I was dieting going to do a show and about 65kg... I've gained muscle from the rebound after that, and then fat as I got sick and injured and  had about 6 months off pretty much all training at the start of the year as well as being on that 60 hours of study a week "uni bulk".

I've gone from about 80kg - 84kg since I started training again about 4 months ago and I've definitely noticably gained muscle and got leaner from progress pics so far, This month I went from 82 - 84 as ive had two weeks off due to injury and illness and think a fair amount of that was fat but at the same time im also lifting a lot more weight now than I was 2 months ago (Though still not noticbly a lot!). but definitley overall in better shape and look better from progress pics.... but mostly from 80 - 84 probably all dat muscle getting pumped up with CHO and water and some muscle gainz as well as a bit of fat in the last month accounting for the increase.

Before I dieted for the show I would comfortably sit around 72kg with low carb high protein diet (so pretty carb depleated) and at that weight I'd have some top abs if i tensed (good genetics) and be around 20% bf and be called pretty lean, so atm I'm definitely a good 5-10kgs of fat up from where I've naturally liked to sit! Though I'm unmistakably  much more muscular than when I started training and dieting.

But it happens to the best of us. I had heaps of issues and abandoned dieting and life after the cut last year. My life and relationships are much better now and I'm ready to smash this and claw my old credibility and selfie posting status back!! 

My goals are to diet whilst keeping carbs in! I stayed skinny with minimal muscle gains for so long because I was scared of carbs. 

Not posting any current pics untill I do my "after" pic as I dont want to lose all credibility yet! 

Heres the pics of my recomp starting from around 2009 - 2011. Then a pic of what I looked like before starting dieting last year, I look so skiny/tiny ahahahaha (2012) at around 72kg, my DP is near end of dieting at 65kg... and now I wont post what now looks like, but its similar to the before dieting but much much more fat as well as a lot more muscle and bigger overall haha . But I wont post it  

Hopefully I can get down to 72kg in this 10 week challenge yet look much better than my "before diet" pic last year! 

 

 

 

 

 

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

wow so thats how it is. transformation should be good at the end of this

[Dinahlady]

wow so thats how it is. transformation should be good at the end of this

Thanks  

Hopefully it will be!!! Well It will have to be for me to dare to post those before pics lol. 

My aim is to not go below 125g - 150g carbs/1500 -1600 cals/ and 30 mins cardio per day (not including yoga which i plan to step up a bit too after uni ends).

But we'll see how it goes.... 

 

[Pseudonym]

Just make sure you've read the rules carefully when taking your Before pics, Dinah. It would suck to find out at the very end that they didn't qualify for whatever reason.

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes though!

[Dinahlady]

Can I sent the pics to you to check them without posting?? 

Just really dont want them up and about for ages before any changes/progression happens - too much bad pressure for me haha. 

 

[Dinahlady]

Thurs

Squats again (why not):

• Worked up to 60kg 2 sets of 2 reps (yay) 

20 mins of cardio on the spin bike - can tell my butt hasn't sat on one of those in a while (ouch). 2-3 30 second HI Intervals in there but hadn't had time for breaky before workout so was pretty grumpy and unenthusiastic

HIp flexors were real tight for squats and I think it effected my squat and mechanics a bit so squats felt far less than amazing but was still good to do more reps than Monday. Hopefully Glen will give me a day off squatting on Saturday lol. 

Did a 20 min stretch out after cardio focusing on hips, legs and lowerback but probably need to do a bit more often, its hard to balance stretching/working on shoulder and upper back stuff as well as keeping on top of legs and hips.

Got 3 exams in the next week so timing is critical atm and spending every spare second that I can justify chasing dat A+ (scored another one this week). So it's a struggle just to fit in that with food prep, weights, cardio, continuing lectures and labs, Blackboard tests and enough sleep (and this is my quiet week of timetable!)... fark next week... 

Haven't had a cheat meal at all this week but having some on Sunday. Haven't decided what yet probably pancakes and some of that new whittakers strawb choc.... not going to do big refeeds like last time because they made me feel crap and not so great for my digestion. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wolffenbuttel]

Squats > Exams!- Just saying

KUTGW!

[Dinahlady]

Lol definitely!! Still owned exam despite massive squat fatigue. 

It's the end of the first week of dieting (started monday) and I weighed in this morning at 81.5kg woo 2.5kg loss good start - though i know it's all water/excess glyc Hopefully get at least a kg this week and next so don't have to change anything up for a few weeks (plllzzz) lol. 

Today: 

trap rolling/release
40 mins yoga - fast flow high heart rate sweating. 
more trap rolling

Rack bench 30/40/45kg 5 reps 
superset with 
wide grip pullups bodyweight (with bands) 5 reps
x 3 sets 

then 

medicine ball slams superset with close grip dumbell floorpress 8 reps 
x3sets 

Had BBQ after, dem proteinz. 

Hip flexors and traps still real tight, probably from stress of exams and starting diet combined with hours hunched over study desk and needing to make more time for stretching/rolling. Need to get on top of dat shyte. All in all lost 2.5kg and didnt get injured so a good week. 

Gonna have pancakes for breaky tomorrow then back to the grind. 

A whole week without dominoes/KFC/Mcdonalds/Pancakes/Icecream seems far too long. 

 

 

[Dinahlady]

Okay so this week was the most stressful this semester as had 3 exams and 3 labs and 2 online hand ins. But managed to stick to my diet the whole time and did a couple of training sessions.  

 

Sunday: 

Did a good hill walk for cardio followed by pancakes and whittakers strawb choc and prepping food for week on BBQ. 

 

Monday: 

Squats of some description up to around 60kgs for 2. 

Rack pulls working up to some weight that I cant remember (probably around 80kgs for about 6). Felt odd and was hard to engage from the higher height for some reason. 

Missed out on cardio as was running late but not too worried. 

Did 30 min yoga in the evening 1 or 2 times through the week to make up for it and to get dem flexi gains + relaxation. 

 

Thurs

Trained last night the same workout but did Squats 3 sets of 1 rep at 60 kg trying to keep my glutes completely engaged and knees out. 

One legged glute bridges 

4 x all out 45 sec sprints on spin bike. with good rest between. 

Dat burn

 

Trap so knotty from the hours and hours of study and stress put in but gonna try and get in some upper body tomorrow even if it's "bodybuilding style" or light weight. 

Signed up for 2 x 1.5 hour yoga sessions per week with one on one help starting 19th Oct (just before exams end). So should get some good flexibility gains and cardio gains from that and good that I can really plan it in to my program rather than it coming last on the list. Excited about it. 

I'll weigh myself again tomorrow am. 

Mcmass did his measurements this morning and I measured my waist and lost an inch since last week (and haven't changed diet since) so something must be happening.... Not sure what the scale will say though. 

After tomorrow got a whole good 2 weeks before any exams so hopefully put in some good consistent training and cardio which I can maintain through exams. Not sure whether to take progress pics yet or to wait. Don't think I'll drop any more food untill exams are over unless my weight stabilises. If anything I might add 5 mins on to cardio sessions once they have become compltely consistent in the next few weeks.

 

In other new measured my own blood cholesterol in lab and it was 3.3. Pretty fun #ifuckinglovescience

 

 

[Dinahlady]

Weighed in this morning at 80.8 -
so just under 3.5kgs down in 2 weeks Pretty good start imo. Sneaky upper abs making a show in the morning. Excited to see the changes all the yoga have made to my core cos looks exciting even from now. 

Good amount of loss this week since I did a poor amount and quality of cardio and training this week. No need to drop any food or increase cardio just going to make sure I hit good training sessions and hit my 2-3 x 20 mins cardio pwo that I was supposed to be doing.

Food still gonna be really high at 200-250carbs 150protein and about 50g fats (all numbers not including residules i.e not counting the fat in meat or protien in nuts). 3x weights per week and 2-3 x 20 mins cardio. Plenty of room to move over the next 9 weeks. 

Trained saturday - wrist was a bit sore - I think got a bit of repetetive stress or something from all the hours of non stop study. Hopefully this clears up asap.
Got a new yoga vid and several new stretches ive never done before in there for back and shoulders. MAN couldnt have come at a better time. Have been periodically rolling and strething out my shoulder and all its knots but when I have to put so much study in its hard to keep on top of it.  Massage on wednesday then should hopefully be back to 100% at least for a while. 
Funny how study and stress needs a recovery time in itself.
ain point is im managing everything without compromising anything else, and still losing weight, which all in all is my main goal. 

Sat: 
Incline Bench - reverse banded with dat red strength band for dat tricep work. Did 40kg for about 8, felt fine. 
45 for about 6  - wrist was feeling a bit sore but wanted to push through. Tried 50 but it wasnt happening pain in wrist too bad. 
Bit swole now. Sure it will come right with some anti inflams and a rest. 
Quite liked the exercise though so will try again later in the week. 

One arm lat pulldown (got a unilateral machine at gym - hadnt used before but it was pretty good)
Just making sure shoulderblade was stabilised.
Did about 8 reps per set on 15kg 20kg 25kg per side.
Felt so good to wake up back. 

Standing external rotation on cable. pulling rope through and back parallel to ear (if that makes sense).
2 sets of about 8 reps per side. 

15 mins cardio on recline bike at a brisk pace. 

35 mins yoga later on in the afternoon. 

 

Today will be: 

Pancakes and choc. 
Olympia
Walk in bush
BBQ prep if weather stays good
Catch up on lecture material
More yoga

 

Living the dream???? 

 

 

[Dinahlady]

Sunday

Was so hyped on extra food that managed to do my Monday legs session sunday night. Couldn't face getting up early on Monday to drag myself to the gym so just got it done. 

Did Squats:
up to 60kg x2,
70kg x 1 (yuss - felt real good).
tried 80kg x 1 but needed spot to get up (oops).
Was pretty happy with that though. Going to start a 531 next session so can start being a bit more structured now after a few weeks working on form and just getting my numbers up. Happy with how far I've come with numbers condering I couldn't train/even squat 30kgs without intense pain and inflammation afterwards not that long ago  

Did a few sets of walking lunges with 10kg in each hand. I hate lunges with a passion but unilateral stuff is probably going to be good for the imbalances I have in my hips and glutes. felt good after a while just hate the uneven feeling at first  

Did 15 mins cardio on the upright bike just steady state. 

Cant wait to get my massage and then have shoulder feeling better to make progess with other stuff. My wrist feeling better already must just have been one of those things. Not sure how to discipline my study now with a couple weeks before exams. Just prepping my material to work through before finals and catching up on reading for my subjects (I hate reading so much, I'd rather be revising but havent covered all the content yet). 

 

[Dinahlady]

This week so far

Did have done yoga every day which is good. Tuesday went for walk in park at lunch for cardio. Did yoga yesterday where was practicing hand and head stands which was fun but probably not the best for shoulder so took it easy. Exciting though as that's where I wanna go with things. Had my massage yesterday (wednesday) and she scraped and released lots of fascia that she said is just all bunched up, and some parts are quite sore today. Said I have to start sleeping on my back or side or my shoulder won't get better but it's scarey for me as I've had lots of sleep paralysis in the past and stilll now and then and sleeping on your back is worse for it. 

Today: 

Starting 531 for the next 3 weeks just for the consistency and a bit of a break from just trying to go heavy heavy heavy all the time. Still being a bit conservative with numbers and not getting ahead of myself with shoulder and wrist. Happy with how my squats coming along which is great  

So this week is  5 reps. take 90% of what I've done recetly for 1ish reps, then calculate 65% 75% 85% from that: 

Squat: 

40, 47.5, 52.5 for 5 - Felt good. 

Bench: 

30, 35, 37.5 for 5  - was going to go to 40 but with wrist still a little dodgy thought better of it. Felt good shoulders in a good spot and using lats and triceps well, just pressure on wrist annoying me. 

External rotation: 
feels better after massage, did about 8 reps on each side, 2 sets. 
 

15 mins cardio with 5 x 30 second sprints with 1.5 mins slow inbetween 

 

Still eating around 2200-2500 calories (depending how you count) and lost 3.5kg so far - may drop 25g of carbs next week but dont wanna!!! 

Heres an average day: 

3 size 7 eggs
1/2 cup oats
1 coffe w/milk

1 cup rice (cooked)
100-120g meat cooked (chicken)
Veggies/salad

Snacks (sometimes split this up through the day): 
4 rice cakes w 15g jam
yogurt
clementine
1/4 cup nuts (almonds or cashews)
Protein shake
1 coffee with milk 

1 cup rice (cooked)
100 - 120g meat cooked
veggies/Salad

1 cup rice (cooked) (or 1.5 cup potato)
100-120g meat cooked
Veggies/salad 

Comes to around 250c 170p 60f 2250 calories not including the veggies (which could be anything, asparagus, spinach, greens, mixed veg (carrot, peas, brocoli, courgette), winter veg (parsnip/pumpkin) 

 

[Dinahlady]

wow octuple post. Gymnation pls.

 

[Dinahlady]

Today: 

Wrist still feeling sore but trained anyway. 

Did deadlifts. 

5 reps 55kg, 62.5kg and 67.5kg. Tried 72.5kg but my grip in my sore wrist just lost all strenght so did 1 before dropping. Felt fine with my hips though which is all good just annoying about wrist but I knew I was pushing it in the first place by doing anything so I'm all happy about it. 

Did assisted pullup machine. - Amazing how losing a few kgs can increase how much you can do with bodyweight stuff - was easily doing 10kgs less off my weight (so 10kgs more) than the last time I tried this. 

External rotation 6 reps each side x 2 sets. Felt good and 

20 mins on the spin bike, My friend who is a cyclist showed me afterward how to use the better spin bikes we have that show your cadence and showed me how to set it up properly and good form so can go a bit harder next time without wondering wtf am I doing ....

Yoga soon to have a stretch out! 

Think for my next training session I'll just do squats but miss out bench to give my wrist a really good rest so it doesn't keep getting used and inflammed over and over. Just wish it would go away it's poo. But not much I can do to keep on top of it over exams other than do what I can and rest when I can. But at least I can squat!!! Which is the main thing. 

[Dinahlady]

Got down to 80.3kgs last week before having my carbies on Sunday. (had banana cake, chicken bacon and hash browns, ice cream and apple pie, lollies, almond fingers and lots of milk mmm) 

I ideally want a little faster losses so going to drop about 15g carbs (2 rice cakes and some jam lolol).
I will be doing more cardio this week, not out of choice, but because Mcmass going to Chch and I will walk to uni as cbf with finding parking etc.
So I will drop the gym cardio and in the week I will be doing about 6x20mins cardio walking, compared to 3 x 15-20 mins i did last week in the gym. But wanting to get under 80 by the end of the week so hopefully I can with a small carb drop and the cardio.Then into exams the week after . 

Lost 2inches/5cms off my waist and 3.7kgs in the last 3 weeks so I think you can say things are going well... still not wanting to push myself too hard until after exams but nearly there and still making progress.

Today

Squats

Up to 55kg x 5. Felt easy as but didn't wanna push any more, keep some in the tank. Knees stayed perfectly out. My body is ready for triples later in the week  

Missed out bench becuase my wrist is still fucked. Just need to rest it but dont wanna lose any gains. 

Single leg glute bridges 6 reps per side 3 sets. 
Body weight lunges 10 reps per side 3 sets.  
Need to unilateral but I hate unilateral. 

My left hip flexor feeling toight. Which is funny because my right is usually the one being a badass. Stretched out lots - maintaining some good flexibility at the moment. Feeling good about my lifts and getting strongerer. Just need to get over wrist and shoulder niggles. 

Been sleeping on my back for the past 4 nights to help with shoulder/neck/lowback as I usually sleep like a twisted up piece of licroice (not good), Scared of sleep paralysis, but haven't had any yet - but have been having crazy dreams sleeping on back though!. Hopefully it will help in the long run. 

 

[Dinahlady]

Today

• Squats up to 60kg x 3.

Felt much easier than even the last double of 60 I did a week or so ago. Confident that I'll be lifting fairly heavy soon as long as I stay on top of all the flexibility, mobility and keep my calories and carbs as high as possible.

Crazy to think just a few months ago I was starting right back at basics with just the bar on 5x5.  

• 3 sets of 6 reps per side one legged glute bridge
• 3 sets of 6 reps per side body weight lunges

wasn't feeling any more than that. 

• 20 mins of cardio on spin bike.

my friend who is a cyclist showed me how to use the more technical bikes we have at the gym. couldnt for the life of me do it properly and at decent RPMs (keeping my upper body still, shoulders back and down, still enough to balance a cup of water on back) so basically did 30 secs trying to hold the form then a min or so just sat up relaxing. 

My wrist is sore still - its just overuse from all the study hours typing and writing ive been putting in with training and stress on top of that, had another massage still which will hopefully help but just needs rest i think. So have been strapping it up for support with just a wrist brace thing from pharmacy so hoefully is minimising the small movements when typing. I feel fine about working just on my squat at the moment as I don't really belive i'll lose muscle tissue on my upper body (unless I was rediculously sedentery for a long time with low cals - I might lose a small amount of strenght and glycogen/water and look a little flatter, but its only temporary untill can train again). And Squat should carry over somewhat to deadlift. 

Not sure about using straps when I go back into lifting, maybe I will whilst still vulnerable of overuse again... or wraps or something. 

Haven't been doing the walking cardio i said I would as mcmass didnt go to Chch in the end. But its all good im glad i dont have to do it as pressure mounting with workload for exams next week (farrrrrkk soo not ready). 

Thinking about not weighing in for the next 2 weeks as I will just be doing what I can over exams, sticking to diet pretty much spot on. Dropped my 2 rice cakes a day this week (woo!). So carbs gradually going down, cardio staying at least the same and trying to get in as much training as I can while looking after body during the stressful time. it is pretty much all I can give right now without compromising my grades, so using the scale may just stress me out even more - as its not like I can really react to it and still achieve all I want to achieve in and out of the gym for the next few weeks. 

 

 

[Phedder]

wow octuple post. Gymnation pls.

 

Sorted, there's my moderating done for the week *yes3*

Good luck with the exams! There's a lot of things I miss about uni, they're definitely not one of them *blum3*

[Imadeapoopsie]

sounds like a similar situation to mine in recovery terms, i've chronic wrist issue too but it doesn't affect my lifts anymore, thanks to the 'joints love mobility advice'. and awsome to know youre getting back into it too

[Dinahlady]

Thanks imadeapoopsie. 

The wrists a bit better now. I think its been just all the stress and the overuse with exams and study as well as trying to build a good weights and yoga routine was just too much at once. Mainly the writing - I don't do much writing in term time as use laptop but come exam time have been doing a lot of summarising and mind mapping of content on big paper and after a big sesh of that my wrist was swelling up etc. 

I've been training but had exams the last two weeks. First week of exams training and cardio took a big hit but this last week I got in a few decent cardio and weight sessions in as well as walking myself around quite a bit and a few squat sessions and upper body.

Been making use of exam times to get some recovery time for the body had some myofascial release massage etc and started my yoga course so thats been helpful for the stress hopefully for going into more training, and yoga is general moving around/exercise which help dat shred.  

Nutrition has been okay. Didn't get crazy bad or anything over exams. probably been eating less calories from all macros day to day but have also been way more sedentry. Upped my fish oil to try and help the inflammation in wrist which might have helped a bit but unsure. 

Hard to tell about progress as things have been a bit stagnant. I did train upper body last week and got dat shyte poppin and looked good. Periods of less training training can be deceptive. I don't really mind as exams are more important than shred and the good stuff is still underneath my winter coat. I dont think ive gone backwards really just not as forwards as I could have if life wasn't in the way. 

Exams finished today so ready to get back into things but give my body some rest from the long year aswell. 

Probably will start having bigger meals less frequently because I put off making/eating lots of small meals at home so will probably just combine meals into 3 main meals now i'll be at home more. 

Wil stick to my previous macros going into more training and cardio as think any less atm would be overkill and pointless. 

Will be gyming and annoying mcmass at work(the gym) and maybe go swimming etc as well as my yoga stuffs. Won't have the excuse of no time anymore! 

 

 

[Dinahlady]

Things going good. Getting back into 5x5 I think because, as I suspected, 531 is so poo for me because I always put off, skip or replace a workout for many reasons now and then and with 531 i just feel there isn't much room to do that so i then get an aversion to going back and trying to continue it beucase I just feel like i've failed at it. So just reassessing the numbers i should start on. Doing to do 4 weeks of 5x5 then 4 weeks of 3x3. 

I've been doing my yoga class for the last few weeks 2x per week and snuck in a few extra practices between. Think i've sussed what's up with my wrist. I stumbled upon a youtube yoga video about De Quervains syndrome being brought on by tensing/flexing thumb and putting too mch pressure on thumb whilst practising (e.g down dog, plank, chatauranga) and some ways to remedy it in practice (namely bringing the thumbs in and relaxing them). I tried this in my practice and it was instantly better. also put it to use in benching by using a half false grip or whatever you call it and I think it helped but trying not to take it too fast but im pretty hopeful. 

Food has been good transitioning into 3 big meals a day maybe with one small snack as well. find it hard to get down more than 1.5 cups of rice and 200g chicken in one go plus the motivation to have veggies too though but i'm hopefully that will change within a week or so. Eating similar amount to before if not a bit more as im more active now. Been walking to the gym and back every day. Haven't been doing a full workout every day just one or two movements. Just been going in with mcmass because nothing else to do haha. 

Been preoccupied with some interwebs ventures I'm doing. All on the DL for now and probably a good long while if not ever. Secret interwebs mission. 

Feel like I'm looking closer to normal again in the mirror so feeling good for challenge  

 

[Dinahlady]

Haven't posted for ages! Been busy with trying to find a new place to live next year and trying to make myself pack up my house - and finally found one! 

Gonna take pics tomrorow for my afters for the challenge, not sure if I wil post it up as my befores are SO groce and I'm not 100% where I want to be. Even if I dont post they are still a good documented starting point and I'm carrying on training and eating up till xmas and forever. I didn't really "do the challenge" and haven't been really following much of a strict plan and havent weighed myself but probbaly lost a couple of Kgs. I would be surprised if I'm much under 80kgs (my peak this year was 84kgs). I wanted to see how far I'd come sticking to my principals of eating a sensible and "normal" amount of food (as directed by dietician) primarily for health and nutrient consumption as well as eating well for my psychological health and muscle and strenght gains, listening to my body, not weighing my self or pushing myself or putting pressure on myself and I feel like I've stuck to that pretty well. I've lost large amounts of weight before so didn't need to prove that I can cut 5-10 kgs in as many weeks, theres other aspects that I needed to work on! 

Training is awesome. Doing yoga 3x per week at the studio for 1.5 hours a time, Usually two foundation classes which are quite hard with lots of strength/handstand work and lots of vinyasa and one Hatha class which is more relaxation and longer stretching poses. Also doing a session at Snaps Fitness on Demand room with some of mcmass's clients and my at home DVD at about once a week - which is getting hard now that I'm on the 8th month which is crazy. I love the program though because every month I learn at least one new mobility exercise that helps add to my understanding and also to my repertoire of stretches and can share with others. Never thought 7 months ago when I signed up for the at home yoga program that at the end of the year I would be doing yoga 5-6 hours per week. Been practicing my arm balances and handstands and can float off the wall for a few secs now fully aligned which I never though I would be able to do. Yoga is crazy because you put in mobility/flexibility, strength and core work day in day out (which feels amazing at the time and afterwards) and then you suddenly get that progress where your body can do awesome things. I also think I'm much more calm now and have been able to deal with a few issues in the last few weeks much more sensibly and confidently which is an awesome benefit. It's not all flowers and roses though as sometimes doing yoga at the studio I get a bit annoyed with all the OMing and hippie-dom random crap and wish it was a bit more modern lol. Or if I could just do my own practice but someone taking you through and correcting you is 100% a must. I've learned so much about how to use my body in a much more supported way e.g how to support the muscles whilst stretching and basically moving/stretching in all directions at once lololol. It's not an easy or natural thing to be able to stretch well. e.g pushing though both your legs and contracting muscles and reaching/contracting upper body muscles whilst stretching hip flexors is much more effective than just flopping into a hip flexor stretch - look im doing the hip flexor stretch - 99% less effective at building a more conditioned body. 

It's helped with my weights no end. I can get a much deeper arch for my bench now and even though I'm still a bit timid with the weights because I'm still a bit scared of injury (never want to go back to the dark dark place of not being able to train!) I know it will make my body much stronger than ever and strength will come and that my mechanics and condition is going to IMPROVE from now on, rather than just waiting for weights to destroy me slowl lol, although being strong is one of my top goals I can wait for it rather than pile on the weights before I'm ready then die. Can feel so much more stability through my hips in deadlift and much better shoulder mechancs for everything really. No more injuries and wrist seems to be getting better with being careful and massage once per week. Physique is looking much better and though I dont think I'll get abs as easily as I used to as I am refusing to drop out carbs like I once did I think my legs and booty look the best ever and I'm definitely carrying more muscle mass in my shoulders and upperbody. I'll stilll a struggle convincing myself not to drop out heaps of carbs like I always used to but I like that the progress is slow, steady and reliable. Still got some distance to go with the bodyfat but I can see things under there changing and look more tank all the time which is my aim. I know I just wont grow how I have in the last few months without carbs or decent calories and definitely regret the years I was chasing that leaner body and I stayed on lower carbs for no reason other than being slightly more socially acceptable - so need them to stay! 

Been training with mcmass a bit doing slightly more bbing style training as well as doing my strenght program and continuing to lift heavier slowly every week. My stance has got a bit wider for squats now I'm a bit more flexible through hammies and adductors and can still get my knees tracking as wide as feet so it has made my squat a fair bit easier with deez long legs. Much more to come. If anything I'll prob post my pics up here even if i get dem laughs at my befores! 

[Dinahlady]

Wooo crazy week packing up all my stuff for moving and all the stuff with the comp! Thanks everyone I didn't expect all the support and comments that I got so thanks everyone so much! I was surprised with the transformation even myself because when everything and everyone in the fitness media seems to keep telling you that you need to "go hard" and "sacrifice" and generally putting across that getting in shape is near impossible without some form of  special help/plan or supplement and all that bullsh*t then you actually start questioning whether sticking to what you believe in - consistent decent calories from normal/any foods, carbs, protein and fat, heavy weight training, minimal cardio and not being too restrictive and including all foods - will actually result in any sort of change whatsoever. So I'm glad I stuck to my guns and saw things through that way! I was proabbly the most laid back about training and nutrition I ever have been and that has helped me get some of the best results for my effort so I'm sticking with that! 

Am in Wellies again now. Will be looking for a yoga studio to go to for the next 3-4 weeks. Will be checking out Snap te aro up here not sure what its like!

Training has been good been working up heavier still. Squat has kind of plateaued a bit or maybe I'm just not loving squatting quite as much as I have been! I got to this spot where my knees kept coming in and I'm too much of a perfectionist to have that so got dissilusioned and dropped the weight back when it probably would have been okay to continue. Hovering around 60kgs for 5 reps 2 x per week. My IT band has gotten quite tight into my side glute with the wider stance which might have something to do with it being not as enjoyable. 

Been working a bit on Deadlift now my wrists are feeling a bit better. Tried a hook grip the other day and it kind of felt better on my wrists compared to your standard grip. I still hate mixed grip and I'm still worried about going heavier becaue of my lower back being really bad about a year ago and also deadlift is what hurt one of my shoulders before (never want to go back there) so taking it slow probably deadlifting once every 7 - 10 days and going up 5kgs each time so just up to about 70kgs for 5. Sometimes I feel a lot more solid and like my lats are firing so hard to keep the bar in and then other times it just feels awkwardand and the bar just drift I just think its timing when I'm good in the hips from my recovery time from the squats and also my flexibility stuff  through my lats and triceps or if I'm just a bit tight through the SI joints and I can't get that rooted/solid feel. Bench is also almost back to its old point - I recently did 45kg for 6, last time I did 45 for max reps (about 5) I remember my butt coming right off the bench. 

Thinking about moving more into a 3x3 program for even less vol and try and increase the weight. I love low reps as can concentrate really well on form and keep it tight. So will just transition into seeing where I can get to weight wise comfortably with the 3 reps for a while but will take a while to transform out of 5x5 mentality. 

 

[Dinahlady]

Thought I'd start up my journal again as I'm 

Starting my second round of sheiko this week. (my first one probably took me all up 6 weeks as I took a week off then repeated a week :S) 

Tested where I'm at with squat and deadlift this week and managed an 85kg squat and a 100kg Deadlift. 

(Yay I'm almost starting to be strong!) 

Pretty motivated to improve on those numbers as I really enjoy the program!  

I've swapped out all the bench work for shoulder rehab style work concentrating on using shoulders without over activating traps. Hopefully next round ill be able to add bench back in conservatively. 

I'm pretty happy with my weight atm, I'm still a little over 80. I'm scared to lose weight as I'm scared of being skinny and losing gains. #Massthetics. 

Edit: Brain gains update: Currently studying Bbiomedsci in drugs and human health. Still tossing up between maybe just doing just a Biochem major with lots of Chem papers though. Time will tell. 

[jimmybro1]

 

I'm pretty happy with my weight atm, I'm still a little over 80. I'm scared to lose weight as I'm scared of being skinny and losing gains. #Massthetics. 

+1. 

I get this feel every time I begin restricting calories. 

[Dinahlady]

 

 

I'm pretty happy with my weight atm, I'm still a little over 80. I'm scared to lose weight as I'm scared of being skinny and losing gains. #Massthetics. 

+1. 

I get this feel every time I begin restricting calories. 

I think I'm reaching the realms of never really being able to diet again. I hated getting skinnier and my clothes falling off me and drowning me! It definitely wasnt worth it to me (maybe if I actually competed it would have been though). 

People have been commenting that I'm looking leaner since I've been doing my sheiko cycle and training more consistently and heavier - so hopefully I wont really need to (at least not for a very long time - a year or so!) 

Anyway - So after my first enthusiastic post back I didnt actually train for like a week. After max deads my low back was a bit tight for a few days and I was pretty scared of the jump of weight/volume at weight I wasnt used to by plugging in my maxes. But finally bit the bullet and did it. 

It was an easy first workout anyway as I'm not benching still and it was supposed to be bench, squat, bench: 

• Did mobility warm ups/dynamic stretching for hips and shoulders then into some light shoulder rehab stuff; external rotations and side raise with light dumbels and strength band.  
• Squats:

  Program called for: 5 x 42.5kg; 2 x 5reps of 50kg; and 5x5reps of 60kg.

  Felt pretty detrained for not lifting for a week and that my last program I was only sat at 60 for 3 reps near the end of the cycle. It felt good and was nice to be challenged. 

  legs were a little jellyie after. 

• Good mornings: assistance. worked up to 50kgs for around 8 reps for 2 sets. Last cycle of sheiko I practically always skipped the good mornings so trying to make a point of getting round to them this time. (And who doesn't want a bigger butt) 
• Cable chest flys: assistance. Just a few light as sets - pump some blood in my chest as its felt quite tight since deads. 
• Went back and did a bit more shoulder stuff as before but slightly heavier - External rotation and side raises.  
• 20 mins of yoga/stretching. Been slack on my stretching this week too and really feel it in my day to day. Good wind down and feels awesome