Hello everyone, the pleasuresaurus here. This is my 1st attempt at a workout journal post. I’ve been doing weights for a year, but only now wanna start post hehehe
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I’m 172cm tall, when I began my program I was 115kg. After 6 months of working out I lost 20kg, and now weigh 95 kg. I’ve been stuck at this plateau ever since, which is one of the reasons why I wanna start documenting my workout. I need to assess my progress, and hopefully get some advice from fellow forumers on how to punch through. Plateaus are pretty depressing.
In the beginning I started out with swimming everyday. I have a weak back so I avoid high impact stuff like running, jogging etc. My left arm is noticeably weaker than my right, so I make it a point to choose workouts that rely on both arms independently such as dumbbells instead of barbells.
When I first started gyming, this was what my routine looked like:» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
A – Chest, Tricep, Shoulder
B – Back, Bicep
C – Abs, Legs
I work out on weekdays, Mon-Fri. I will cycle my workout days like so:
Week 1 - ABCAB
Week 2 – CABCA
Week 3 - BCABC
My workouts consist of 9-12 sets with 15 reps each, followed by 20-40 minutes of cardio on the cycle.
A
- Chest: Dumbell bench press - flat, incline & decline (4 sets of 15 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
- Shoulder: Shoulder press, lateral raises, Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise (Head On Bench) (3 sets of 15 reps each, for a total of 9 sets)
- Tricep: Skullcrushers, cable one arm pull downs, overhead raises (3 sets of 15 reps each, for a total of 9 sets)
B
- Back: back extensions, shrugs, bent over dumbbell rows, supermans (3 sets of 15 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
- Biceps: curls, preacher curls (3 sets of 15 for a total of 6 sets)
C
- Legs: Lying leg curls, seated leg curls, weighted calf raises, leg press(3 sets of 15 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
- Abs: inclined crunches (3 sets of 30), leg raises (3 sets of 15)
I made a lot of progress in the first few months but after awhile I got stuck, this got me really depressed. I understand that plateauing is just a bodily adaptation to the workload it is given, and all I need to overcome it is to change, but I’ve been having trouble with that for quite a while.
It wasn’t until I had a body scan that I realized that my current workout regime was practically useless already. The scan assesses bodily fat and muscle percentage by individual parts, like arms, legs, torso etc. What POed me was that despite a year of working out, my muscle percentage was generally only within the “normal” range. I made no gains at all. This prompted me to study and change my workout regime. I decided that I needed to get back to basics, less is more. So after doing some research,
I came up with this:» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
I still stick to the 5 day a week cycle, with workouts followed by cardio:
Mon – Chest
Tue – Back
Wed – Shoulders
Thu – Legs, Abs
Fri – Bicep, Tricep
Chest – Flat dumbbell press, chest fly (6 sets of 10 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
Back – Stiff legged deadlifts, bent over dumbbell rows (6 sets of 10 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
Shoulders – Shoulder press, lateral raises (6 sets of 10 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
Legs - Lying leg curls, seated leg curls, weighted calf raises, leg press(3 sets of 15 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
Abs: inclined crunches (3 sets of 30), leg raises (3 sets of 15)
Arms: Skullcrushers, bicep curls (6 sets of 10 reps each, for a total of 12 sets)
Now with less reps, I can manage heavier weights. U might notice my leg workouts haven’t really changed, this is why:
I’ve decided to include high intensity interval training in my daily workout. So instead of straight 20 mins of cycling, I’d do this:
1 min warm up
5-10 min HIIT
10 warm down
My HIIT consists of 20 sec hard fast cycling at higher resistance, followed by 20 sec of slow cycling at lower resistance.
So, 20 on, 20 off.
I gradually increase the resistance that I cycle at once I can cope with 10 mins of HIIT. Since I do this for every workout, I decided to just maintain the routines i did for my legs so i don't over do it.
I initially tried doing Tabata workouts but they were just beyond my current level of fitness, I just can’t manage to pull off 8 min of 20s on, 10s off.
FuelFood wise, I try my best to eat clean, with a cheat day on the weekends, either Saturday or Sunday. A typical daily menu would be
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
B’fast: tesco light choices wholebran with sultana cereal, milk, whey
Lunch: 2 x Wholemeal bread sandwiches with boiled chicken breast or canned tuna, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, chilli sauce
Dinner: same as lunch, plus whey post-workout
I’ll snack on apples, Gardenia Toast'em bread or almonds in between meals. I;ve started taking Ergolean AMP 2 a couple months back, they give a pretty good burn but I think my body is adapting to them already so I need to up my dosage.
That’s pretty much food.
I’ve been on this new workout for 2 weeks now, the exhaustion and soreness reminds me of when I first started, so I guess it must be doing its job. Stiff legged deadlifts gives me debilitatingly sore hamstrings…I intend to post a log on the weights I’ve lifted soon. Comments and critiques very much welcome.
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28.7.09 - Ok, went to the gym earlier and took down the results of my first body scan last month, June:
Whole bodyFat 23.3%
Muscle 28.6%
TrunkFat 21.8%
Muscle 19.9%
LegFat 32.7%
Muscle 46.0%
ArmFat 32.2%
Muscle 34.5%
Viceral Fat is a high 18%
BMI = 33.1
% Body Fat = 32.4%
BMR = 1985
This post has been edited by pleasuresaurus: Jul 28 2009, 09:19 PM 
Jul 11 2009, 02:56 AM, updated 17y ago
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