Emmzies corner

[ThePman]

Just to let you know, 1 day after you told me to do that, somehow i ended up at a Wafflehouse at 2am and i survived to tell the tale. Luckily i did have a more than adequate body guard with me though. Oh how i will not miss small town america..

Late-night Waffle House is as real as 'merka gets

[rose]

So, i missed any drama on here? Any Cokebottle copycats popped up? Whats new? I feel very out of the loop all of a sudden....

Boosting got banned, but that's about it Miss. The trolls of late have nothing on Miss Bottle or other classics of NZBB past.

Come back to us healthy :pray:

Fail with a capital F i'm afraid Rose.

There's no such thing, there are only results :wink: I'm sure it seems much worse than it really is.

[Chillicat]

Welcome back!

(and i realize now training 10 days in a row for 1.5 hrs is NOT conducive to my health and wellbeing :doh: )

Yeah, that's a hard one - on the one hand, it's something you love doing and so you want to do it every day since it make you feel good and it's fun and all - but on the other hand, it's hard to accept that you're just not meant to every day, and that you can get better results doing 3-4 days out of 7 rather than all the days. I've dropped from 5-6 days a week down to a 2 days on, one day off thing at the moment, soon to shift to a M/W/F 5x5 which will be odd - more days off than on!

[teamfatboy]

Welcome back, Emmzies

I'm with the others on this... don't beat yourself up (that's what we're for :grin: ) Once you've unpacked, I reckon you'll find you're using the same hyper-critical glasses we all do from time to time. Before you went to the States, your training built a very sound foundation, and it won't all have been lost.

Allow a little while longer for normality to set in and then evaluate yourself realistically. Read your own journal and look at how far you came last year, and realise that this year, it'll be easier, because you already know the way.

It sounds like you're at a point in your training where you're ready to move into a more planned regime, one which will structure your rest into your plans... no, 10 straight 90 minute sessions won't help!. Yes, it is addictive, but you're already strong enough to cope.

Have you considered whether it's time to adopt a structured plan? Rose and ThePman have some great pointers to programmes that give you a structure to work with.

[emmzies]

Thanks for the welcomes people, its good to be back. Sorry for the delayed response, its been a crazy few days getting back into reality. Seems skipping the country doesn't mean you can skip your obligations as well, they're still there waiting patiently for you to return and deal to them....but I think i have got all the fires under control now, touch wood. :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:

Once you've unpacked, I reckon you'll find you're using the same hyper-critical glasses we all do from time to time. Before you went to the States, your training built a very sound foundation, and it won't all have been lost.

Yup your definutly right about that. I'm actually quite amazed i haven't put on any weight (on the scales anyway) in the time i've been away, despite

1. Suddening stopping my 6-7 times a week workouts

2. Eating shit loads more junk and far less fresh food than my body was used too

3. Being far more sedentary than normal due to being stuck inside and at a desk

It kind of confuses me actually, i would've thought it would've made a huge difference but then i figure, perhaps the weight i am at now is just my natural weight that doesn't require a whole lot of hardwork and maintenance. Obviously i feel i have lost alot of strength and tone, but apart from that I haven't disgressed too badly considering.

Yeah, that's a hard one - on the one hand, it's something you love doing and so you want to do it every day since it make you feel good and it's fun and all - but on the other hand, it's hard to accept that you're just not meant to every day, and that you can get better results doing 3-4 days out of 7 rather than all the days.

Yup exactly! Tis a quandary. When i think about it, I really do have issues with balance .... i've been back 4 days and have done 4 60-90 min workouts and it didn't even cross my mind that maybe i should give myself a break... meh, i don't know :doh: it just feels normal to me....

I've dropped from 5-6 days a week down to a 2 days on' date=' one day off thing at the moment, soon to shift to a M/W/F 5x5 which will be odd - more days off than on![/quote']

That sounds interesting, what prompted the shift? New workout plan?

Late-night Waffle House is as real as 'merka gets

Definutly an experience everyone should have before they die.

Have you considered whether it's time to adopt a structured plan? Rose and ThePman have some great pointers to programmes that give you a structure to work with.

Umm what do you mean by a structured plan? Was my plan before not structured?

[Specter]

I prefer your FB profile pic compared to that one emz! :grin:

[emmzies]

I prefer your FB profile pic compared to that one emz! :grin:

Aww what, really? Don't you think she has a mysterious charm about her?

...if it offends enough ppl i'll put my ugly mugg back up

[teamfatboy]

Have you considered whether it's time to adopt a structured plan? Rose and ThePman have some great pointers to programmes that give you a structure to work with.

Umm what do you mean by a structured plan? Was my plan before not structured?

training 10 days in a row for 1.5 hrs is NOT conducive to my health and wellbeing :doh: )

Sorry Emmzies, I guess I was picking up on your "training 10 days for 1.5 hours" comment. I agree that you're clearly aware that you can overtrain... but I was thinking of developing a training plan for "n" days per week, and sticking to it - recognising that you can often do more good by NOT training, i.e. scheduling rest days and saying that rest is part of your training schedule.

I will be honest and say that this is based on my own experiences, but right now I'm on a "train three days, cardio three other days" plan with each workout lasting about sixty minutes, and I'm blasting through the Christmas condition quite happily.

A problem with training to such a level of frequency and duration is that, if you decided to do a competitive event and needed to step-up your training, because your body has adapted to handle your current load, you'd need to add even more duration/ intensity to achieve the new goals (or so the bro'science goes).

[Chillicat]

I've dropped from 5-6 days a week down to a 2 days on, one day off thing at the moment, soon to shift to a M/W/F 5x5 which will be odd - more days off than on!

That sounds interesting, what prompted the shift? New workout plan?

Yeah - Rose very helpfully sent me a link to Pman's book which helped me to work out some better and more efficient ways of achieving my goals. So at the moment I've been trying out one of the suggested programmes which steps away from the 'one or two muscle groups a day' thing and instead works upper and lower body twice a week (well, twice in a six day period with the 2 days on, one day off pattern).

So the current programme has me focusing on one main lift per day and putting my all into that. Day 1 is upper body/pushing exercises, so the main lift is bench press. I generally also do some close grip bench presses and DB shoulder presses Day 2 is lower body, squats. Day 3 is a day off. Day 4 is upper body/pulling exercises, with the main lift being bent over rows. Then Day 5 is lower body again, this time stiff legged deads. Then Day 6 is another rest day.

It's been an awesome programme - I've been doing a final set (of 5) each day at 2.5kg higher than my previous best weight, so my improvement in the last 5 weeks has just been staggering (from my perspective!)., and if it's possible I feel even better than I used to feel going to the gym 6 days (or so) a week!

[emmzies]

It's been an awesome programme - I've been doing a final set (of 5) each day at 2.5kg higher than my previous best weight, so my improvement in the last 5 weeks has just been staggering (from my perspective!)., and if it's possible I feel even better than I used to feel going to the gym 6 days (or so) a week!

That sounds fantastic, what a great change, good on you! \:D/

I was trawling through your journal to try and find a link to this amazing book from our one and only Pman but alas, it was no where to be found. Would i be able to get a link from someone, pretty please with a cherry on top? :pray: Sounds like some essential reading.

What you said about staying away from the split programmes and instead working upper and lower body twice a week does sound very logical and is what the Pman was advising me to do (if i remember rightly) at the end of last year, so i think i will go with that when i develop a new structure, but some reading to clarify exactly what that structure should look like would be great.

Sorry Emmzies, I guess I was picking up on your "training 10 days for 1.5 hours" comment. I agree that you're clearly aware that you can overtrain... but I was thinking of developing a training plan for "n" days per week, and sticking to it - recognising that you can often do more good by NOT training, i.e. scheduling rest days and saying that rest is part of your training schedule.

Ohhh i get you, sorry blonde moment TFB, i understand now :pfft: Your right, i do need a weekly scheduled training plan that i actually stick too instead of haphazardly having a 4-day split that i just keep on doing continuously with no/infrequent days off. I don't know why i have such an issue letting myself have breaks... i feel really guilty if i don't exercise and have the opportunity. Maybe i need to start a Gym Anonymous meeting.

right now I'm on a "train three days, cardio three other days" plan with each workout lasting about sixty minutes, and I'm blasting through the Christmas condition quite happily.

Wowza, 3 hour-long solely cardio sessions a week? Thats impressive Dedication....well done! Not sure i have the attention span/perseverence for that though....

P.S - Out of interest, what happened to the most popular thread ever while i was gone? Its completely disappeared (the Hot chicks thread). Some posting get a little out of hand i'm guessing?

[Chillicat]

It's been an awesome programme - I've been doing a final set (of 5) each day at 2.5kg higher than my previous best weight, so my improvement in the last 5 weeks has just been staggering (from my perspective!)., and if it's possible I feel even better than I used to feel going to the gym 6 days (or so) a week!

That sounds fantastic, what a great change, good on you! \:D/

I was trawling through your journal to try and find a link to this amazing book from our one and only Pman but alas, it was no where to be found. Would i be able to get a link from someone, pretty please with a cherry on top? :pray: Sounds like some essential reading.

What you said about staying away from the split programmes and instead working upper and lower body twice a week does sound very logical and is what the Pman was advising me to do (if i remember rightly) at the end of last year, so i think i will go with that when i develop a new structure, but some reading to clarify exactly what that structure should look like would be great.

http://www.ampedtraining.com/ Have a read in here and there's a link to the book. Took me bloody ages to get through it (just reading it for half an hour at a time before bed!), but it's a good read and based on sound principles - and once I'd got through it I felt like I had a better handle on how best to approach my workouts. Though I have to admit getting confused at times and I have every intention of reading it again to clarify things (slow learner :pfft: ).

[ThePman]

Don't feel bad. I wrote the thing like a sledgehammer. I'm probably going to do a semi-major revision to make it into a more readable 2nd edition at some point.

[teamfatboy]

I don't know why i have such an issue letting myself have breaks... i feel really guilty if i don't exercise and have the opportunity. Maybe i need to start a Gym Anonymous meeting.

You're not alone in that, I used to "cheat" and do non-scheduled workouts, for precisely the same reason. It took me a while to realise that there's a lot of experience and wisdom goes into these structured programmes, and even longer to trust that they knew what worked!

The hardest thing for me personally, having been such a bloater for so long, was realising that I wasn't that person any more, and that my needs had changed. Equally importantly, my body had adapted to the point where doing things the old way wasn't going to work, and I needed to shift my headspace to the new reality - and by that I do NOT mean your new avatar (ick!)

Get the Pman's book, have a good read - sure, it's not perhaps the easiest read but once you get into it, and apply your intellect to it, you'll readily grasp what he's saying. I actually enjoyed that side of things, thinking and learning, and applying that to my training :nod:

P.S - Out of interest, what happened to the most popular thread ever while i was gone? Its completely disappeared (the Hot chicks thread). Some posting get a little out of hand i'm guessing?

It did get a bit excessive and got locked, and then just naturally aged-off the system.

[Travel Express]

Shes Back!!!! :grin:

[becbec]

Where's the workout log?

I know you did weights!!!! :shifty:

[becbec]

Happy Birthday :grin:

[Luigi]

Happy Birthday :grin:

[teamfatboy]

All the Best Emmzies

[Chillicat]

Happy birthday! Have a great day!

[bar-belle]

Emmzies...hope you have the best day

[Sakura]

Happy Birthday Emz!! \:D/ Got any party plans?

[emmzies]

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes :grin: muchly appreciated.

Happy Birthday Emz!! \:D/ Got any party plans?

I had my celebrations/party in the weekend. They went um, well. We'll just leave it at that.

The hardest thing for me personally, having been such a bloater for so long, was realising that I wasn't that person any more, and that my needs had changed. Equally importantly, my body had adapted to the point where doing things the old way wasn't going to work, and I needed to shift my headspace to the new reality - and by that I do NOT mean your new avatar (ick!)

Yeah i think you hit it on the head with that comment TFB. I will keep trying though. As for my avatar... its what i feel like after i got back from 3 months of unhealthiness, so thought it was appropriate.... for now....

http://www.ampedtraining.com/ Have a read in here and there's a link to the book. Took me bloody ages to get through it (just reading it for half an hour at a time before bed!), but it's a good read and based on sound principles - and once I'd got through it I felt like I had a better handle on how best to approach my workouts. Though I have to admit getting confused at times and I have every intention of reading it again to clarify things (slow learner :pfft: ).

Thanks for the link there CC :-) I'll give a print off and have a close looksie.

Where's the workout log?

I know you did weights!!!! :shifty:

Ummmmmmm :shifty: yes...but...theres little to no structure in my current workouts to justify journalling them.. i swear. They're like garbled up gibberish workouts... but once i develop a new structure they will be straight back on here.

[rose]

Happy birfday Miss, please change your avatar :pray: :pfft: You look nothing like that.

[biggurl27]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY :wink:

[emmzies]

Gosh its been a while. Eeeek. Sorry for the mega delay but cheers for the birthday wishes people

Right... Procrastination time is overrrrrrrrr! :naughty:

Now life has finally settled back down and I have time to sleep and breathe there is no excuse for not resuming a proper training regime.

I have kind of had a small close-looksie at ThePman’s e-book, although I honestly haven’t managed to find as much time as I would like to understand it fully. But I’m definitly liking your earlier advice to not do split days in my case Pman. Plus in my search for a new routine I stumbled across 5x5 workouts (which I now see have become popular with some folks on here too). They look kinda fun. And different. And would suit my frighteningly short attention span, so I’ve kinda come up with a modified version, I guess you would call it…..

My plan is to have 2 upper and 2 lower body workouts, with some higher-rep core exercises added into each at t he end (which I haven’t really figured out yet) and my normal 20-40 mins of whatever cardio I feel like, depending on my energy levels. I’ll alternate this over 6 days a week . I know I probably should do just 5 days a week but I can’t let myself rest 2 days, I’ve tried and failed miserably. Perhaps when I don’t feel so much like a lardass (as per my avatar :grin: ) I will cut it back.

Upper Workout 1

• Seated row 5x5

• Incline db press 5x5

• Tri extensions 5x5

• Barbell curl 3x21’s

• Push ups 3x to failure

Lower Workout 1

• Leg press 5x5

• Squat 5x5

• Lying leg curl 5x5

• Abs leg lifts 3x15

• Weighted lunges 4x15

Upper Workout 2

• Decline db press 5x5

• Lat pulldown 5x5

• Shoulder raise 5x5

• Bent over rows 5x5

• Dips 4x15

Lower workout 2

• Squat 5x5

• Hip abduction/adduction 5x5

• Leg extension 5x5

• Weighted lunges 4x15

• Abs decline sit up 3x15

As always, if anyone would suggest any changes I’d love to hear them.

Is this still too much each day? Have I picked crap exercises? :shifty:

I’m slightly confused as to whether I should do the complete 5 reps with the max weight I can, or gradually build up to my max weight during the four preceding reps. Is it just preference? And if it is, which would people recommend? Also, max recommended rest periods between each rep/set? I can imagine myself slacking off in that department. Hmmmm. :think:

Okay, that be enough ranting for 1 post me thinks.