Tags
abdominal exercises, body fat, body fat percentage, Cutting, dieting, Exercise, resistance training, Strength, training plan, Weights
I couldn’t quite work out where I should call this latest blog the “New” training plan, because on Saturday, when I went to the gym to have a ‘fitness test’, I’d learned they didn’t have the right equipment to perform the correct tests – though they were going to do me a training plan – I was a like, “umm.. okay, well, I do have a training plan that I am working to, so it’ll be great if someone can go through it with me and give me some advice”..
So, the trainer literally gave my plan a 2 second glance and started to give me some advice that was massively contradictory to the advice that Michael Matthews puts in his book Bigger Leaner Stronger.
But I’ll get to that later.
The first thing he asked me was my goals, which had me thinking about whether or not my goals are realistic, based on my genetics, determination and lifestyle. What do I really want out of this? A 6-pack? big arms? A defined chest?
I’ve always been a dreamer – ideas above my station, but truth be told; and what experience has taught me, is that you can have an idea as to the ultimate goal, but to reach it is to set smaller interim milestones. So for me, I want to bring my body fat percentage down, and I want to have a defined body – simply put: you can’t have one without the other.
So I need to train the whole body, rather than target certain areas, and according to the trainer, targeting areas (i.e Day 1 chest, Day 2 Arms etc..) is really a regime for those who have reached the defined goal, and brought their body fat down. This does make sense.
So, I’m still running on a calorie deficit at the moment, and this is key when “cutting”, I am training in a fasted state at 6.30 in the morning, so my insulin levels are baseline. To avoid muscle loss, which I’m working out (and building some of these areas), I am taking BCAA’s which are an Amino Acid that help to stop my body from using muscle tissue for energy (so it encourages the body to use fat stores, similar to ketosis) I also take a caffeine tablet (200mg) which helps to boost metabolism.
So, Chris (the trainer) took me though the following routine. Now, due to time constraints (I get onto the gym floor around 6.40-6.45am and I have to be in the shower by 7.40/5am) I have split the routine into 2 parts – On alternate days I will do a full resistance workout and on the other days I will do cardio and the abdominal exercises. This will be Monday – Friday and if I can be arsed, maybe something on Saturday.
Here’s the workout, in the order in which it should be done:
Exercise | Weight | Reps | Sets |
Romanian Deadlift | 45kg | 12 | 2 |
Sumo Dumbbell Squat | 24kg | 8 | 2 |
Dumbbell Lunges | 12kg | 18 | 3 |
Barbell Bench Press | 25kg | 16-18 | 4 |
Barbell Standing Military Press | 20kg | 16-18 | 4 |
Barbell Reverse Grip Bent over Row | 20kg | 12 | 4 |
Now there were some Abdominal exercises, which I’ll add tomorrow when I talk a bit more about cardio.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, this plan, is contradictory to some advice that I was given – One of the reasons that I found that I preferred the other plan, was because even if the weight is very heavy, which is should be, I only needed to get to 4 reps, however with this, it can be a struggle making it to to 18 – so the weight is a little less, and even though the weight has been “set”, I’m still really finding my own strength levels.
The trainer also told me that to define takes lighter weights and more reps – okay, I actually don’t believe that for a second. I really don’t. Whenever I’ve looked for something to support this, all I get is dozens of sites telling me it’s bullshit. I’m no personal trainer, but still. I’m not going to waste my time.
Now this is a whole body workout, which is made up of compound exercises (for those in the cheap seats at the back, a compound exercise will work several muscle groups simultaneously) However, the problem is that it’s a routine that simply cannot be done every day – because, as I’m mentioned before, it’s the rest period where growth occurs.
Now, I was told that this routine will change my body. I should expect to start seeing some difference in a few weeks, and in four weeks i’ll stand bollock naked in front of a mirror and if I still look like a fat cunt, then I’ll change my stance, but the logic is there, my first goal is to bring my body fat percentage down, without sacrificing too much muscle, so I will do this routine Mon, Weds, Fri and on Tuesday and Thursday I will do cardio, followed by the Abdominal exercises.
Finding the Baseline
This morning I went though the the routine for the first time, and it started off well, but as I was saying about sets with a high number of reps, I struggled to make it past 10 on the second set of Barbell Bench Press lifts, so I dropped the weight by 5kg, which still didn’t help, I also struggled to make a clean 4 sets on the Standing miliary press. Now all I kept thinking was that it was the first morning, my body is still changing and the strength will come. I just need to keep working, because this routine really should be the minimum.
Tomorrow I am really going to struggle, I’m not even expecting it to be easy because my core is So weak. It also doesn’t help that I’ve got a this fucking spare tire which keeps getting in the way. For tomorrow I’ll go through some sites with arguments for and against Ab exercises when it’s quite impossible to see any gains here while they’re smothered in a years worth of McDonald’s and dirty kebabs.
Food
80% of how we train is down to how we eat.
As I mentioned before I am running a calorie deficit as I want to loose body fat, so the foods I’m eating is Porridge for breakfast, Bananas, Tuna, Chicken, Brown pasta, Brown Rice, Salad, Vegetable soup (home made) and foods that are rich in nutrients. I have literally cut out all the crap. No burgers, pizza, ready meals -I want to try and get some more nuts and seeds into my diet. I’ve also increased my intake of Green & Peppermint tea. I find that Pasta and Rice is very high in calories, which is rather annoying so I have to weigh it to make sure I don’t go over board.
This is supplemented with a Protein shake
And before you think “Like Ant can keep that up!”, At the weekend I do treat myself. It’s my time with my partner and he and I will go out for dinner or cook for one another we do like to keep an eye on what we’re eating, but I don’t calorie count. That’s a stress.
So, incase you’re wondering about today (Monday):
Post Workout (7.45am) – Protein Shake
Breakfast (10.00am) – Porridge and herbal tea
Lunch (2pm) – Yoghurt. (Can’t be arsed to go to tesco)
Evening meal – Vegetable soup with boiled chicken breast (cooked and shredded into the bowl)
I know it doesn’t seem like a lot (but I’m sort of intermittent fasting at the moment, so today was never going to be calorific)
Anyway, I’m sure I’ve bored half of my rather smaller readership to tears, so I will leave you here. Don’t forget to like, comment and if you have any questions or advice – I’m happy to (try and ) help.