The mirror is your best judge of progress. You're still being too obsessed with calculations.

Haha probably its because I'm an accountant xD Mirror tells me there's progress worthy of 3 weeks HVT. I could use more lower chest though. Will try decline bench in my next chest session. Btw, the lighting really does affect how I look in the mirror. Under the sunlight I look more frail and scrawny. Under room light, especially if its yellowish, I look much more well-built and muscular. To be prudent, I'll take the sunlight look as the more accurate image of myself.

My time table will be as follows: (not final)


Different colours indicate weekly cycles.

Diet will be something like this:

Diet 1 - Workout days/No classes
(Saturday, Sunday, Thursday)

Preworkout: 4 eggs, Oats
Postworkout: 2 scoops weight gainer + 350ml Dutch Lady milk
Lunch: Rice + Dishes
Tea-time: Fruits + 2 Eggs
Dinner: Rice + dishes
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein


Diet 2 - Workout days/Afternoon Classes
(Monday, Wednesday)

Preworkout: 4 eggs, Oats
Postworkout: 2 scoops weight gainer + 350ml Dutch Lady milk
Lunch: Hawker/Cafeteria Food (with extra meat)
Tea-time: Fruits + Anything edible
Dinner: Rice + dishes
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein


Diet 3 - Non-workout days/Full-day Classes
(Tuesday)

Breakfast: 4 eggs + Milo/Bread
Lunch: Hawker/Cafeteria Food (with extra meat)
Tea-time: Fruits + Anything edible
Dinner: Rice + dishes
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein


Diet 4 - Non-workout days/Morning Classes
(Thursday)

Breakfast: Bread/600ml Milo/Anything else on the table
Lunch: Hawker/Cafeteria Food (with extra meat)
Tea-time: Fruits + 4 eggs
Dinner: Rice + dishes
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein

I will go have a look at what oats there is in Carrefour. Any recommendations, brand, etc? What are you guys' usual "dosage" for preworkout? Lol.

Yes, I know, not much improvement in my diet from before, >.< but I will see if there is anything else that can be done or not. I'm guessing dropping rice in lunch and dinner altogether just so I can feed on more meat would be a bad idea though.

Also, my family keeps nagging me to not take eggs because they are apparently high in cholesterol. From reading this forum it can be seen that majority of the forumers here believe that the cholesterol worries are unfounded, ie without basis. Is there any way I can convince my family (and myself at that) that the eggs will not be a cause for future problems with cholesterol?

I might begin arms/abs day on either 3rd or 15th Jan. If I find that it affects my chest performance which falls two days after, I will drop it for good and instead do some triceps on chest day, and some biceps on shoulder day.

I have another personal class on Wednesday mornings that cannot be compromised, so depending on whether I am able to shift that class into Friday evenings or not, I might have to drop arms/abs day as well and shift leg day from Wednesday to Thursday.

You can dump the rice for dinner but maybe not for lunch. Check your body fat at time and see if it's increasing dramatically. Shouldn't be a problem if you have high metabolism. If your bodyfat goes haywire and went up to 13% or even higher then that is the only time you should worry about carbs. Having around 10% bodyfat is good just maintain that, in fact having some fat will make you look bigger without the fatty and oily visual effect.

For the oats just go with the Quaker one ... if you can't afford the organic one. Natural oats are always better than the processed one but hell, where to find the natural one ?

For the eggs myth ... I don't think we have come to an end yet. There are many different studies and researches surrounding the cholesterol myth. It's up to you to believe it or not. From my experience, I've been eating 6 whole eggs/day for the past two months and the last cholesterol check ( a week or two ago ) at pharmacy shows 3.4 which is normal level.

Oh about the abs workout .... I doubt it will affect your chest performance at all ... Most abs exercise are quite light ... but arms workout .... hell of a day.

Wow.. you are very detailed indeed mr accountant ! Same like me, i have a table for what i eat haha..

Jus sth i noticed, your 133g of protein is exactly same as mine ! I'm taking 2.3g/kg bodyweight. A bit worried too hi las time but now i've added a bit, i think the ratio gone down.

Since u like tables mayb can do a breakdown for calories contributed by protein, carb & fat in each meal. Then can adjust the meals to calilbrate which one to increase/decrease.

With my ltd knowledge i understand that HVT is hi volume exercising. So burning a lot of energy. But if u stil manage to get more fat from this furious exercise, mayb your carb is real high.

Or izzit the volume is too taxing ? I read that a good rest is important for muscles to grow. If a workout is enough to work thoroughly all muscles and yet not too exhausted for the next day workout, then they have chance to recover & grow.

Anyhow the physique is the end result of all the preparations/calculations. And since ur appearance has improved, i guess jus only need some tweaking here & there.

Oh ya, happy new year to you. May this year be a productive one !

Happy New Year everyone!

Workout felt flawless today so there won't be any rant haha. Except that I had some difficulty gripping the dumbbells with my left hand because of the peeled skin from yesterday. Other than that everything else was fine


Okay, I will check out Quaker and make some comparisons the next time I visit Carrefour. My BF% seems to be increasing lol, its 12% now compared with 11% a month ago, so I might drop the rice in dinner or just reduce overall rice intake. I'm thinking of taking 6 eggs a day as well, but that is yet to be confirmed. Btw, Happy New Year bro!


Hehe I'm too lazy to go through the trouble to make a detailed breakdown for calories. In fact I don't even know what my average daily calories intake are

I was also expecting my BF% to mantain or drop, but instead it went up, which is quite odd. Maybe it is as you say, I'm taking in too much carbs

And Happy New Year to you too! May your year be filled with muscles

Thursday - Shoulder Day (1 January 2009) <-- my first workout for the year!

Seated Smith Machine Shoulder Press
Warm Up
15 lbs x 10
20 lbs x 10

Workout
60 lbs x 14
70 lbs x 11
60 lbs x 11
55 lbs x 9


Dumbbell Shoulder Press (Weight stated = per dumbbell)
25 lbs x 10
25 lbs x 9
10 kg x 11
10 kg x 10

Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Weight stated = per dumbbell)
4 kg x 15
4 kg x 15
4 kg x 13
5 kg x 8, 4 kg x 3


Reverse Dumbbell Flyes - Sucking D1ck Position (Weight stated = per dumbbell)
4 kg x 15
4 kg x 15
4 kg x 13
4 kg x 12


Reverse Crunches x 40 (done JustForFun xD)


-End of Workout-
Total Workout Time: 56 minutes
Average rest time in between sets: Instinct


Diet

Preworkout: 4 eggs, 1 glass of Milo (25g protein, 20g carbs)
Postworkout: 2 scoops weight gainer + 350ml Dutch Lady milk (35g protein, 60g carbs)

Estimated meals for today:
Lunch: Rice + dishes (20g protein)
Tea-time: Fruits (anything in the fridge will do)
Dinner: Rice + dishes (20g protein)
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein (35g protein)

Total estimated protein intake: 135g

This post has been edited by wallpaper89: Jan 1 2009, 12:19 PM

Wait, how much protein are you taking per day wallpaper89? If you're just taking 132 grams of protein a day, that's pathetic. Bump it up to around 200 grams.

Wow 200 grams is a huge jump from 130.

Actually I have no idea how much protein I'm taking in during lunch and dinner. I just take a normal portion of rice (like ordering chap fan), and then I fill my stomach with whatever meat it can take in. After that I'll just take some vegetables to fill in the gaps. So I'm not exactly sure how much protein I'm actually getting, the 20g estimate is for convenience purposes only. It could be more or it could be less than that, but I'm hoping its more haha.

For example for lunch I had some fish and lots of lala (tasted like heaven ). What's lala in English? I need to search for its nutritional value

100 g white rice = 6g protein. I have to measure how much rice am I taking for dinner later lol. I'll most probably be having the leftover lala for dinner as well.

I'll also add 2 eggs per day in tea time to make it a total of 6 per day. I hope I'm not consuming too much cholesterol that way. 2 eggs = extra 10g.

I could drink an extra 250ml milk at night to get an additional 8g protein daily, but I'm not sure if it'll make me too bloated to sleep or not

If I switch my preworkout from Milo to Oats, I might be able to get an increase in protein intake for preworkout as well but I'm not sure yet how much oats I'll be taking for preworkout and how much oats can I take in per serving.

try fitday.com to calculate your nutritional value. I found it quite useful to estimate my daily protein consumption.

I am in more or less the same situation as you do. Eating chap fan for lunch is my only option coz I am a working person. However, I do have a way to estimate the amount of protein for lunch. Just follow the guideline of 1 medium size chicken breast equals to approx 40g protein. So if you go eat chap fan, make sure the amount of chicken you eat is about the size of a chicken breast (excluding the bones).

If you happen to eat other meat, just use fitday.com to check lo.

seriously? what's the size of a medium chicken breast, something like KFC's chicken breast? 40g? if this is true then i am heavily underestimating my protein intake for lunch and dinner...

eh this is not fair. i just checked KFC's nutritional guide. how come chicken breast has more protein than wing/drumstick/thigh? is it because the breast has higher quality meat, or is it just because of the fact that the breast has slightly more meat than the other parts? because sometimes when i eat the chicken i wouldn't even know which part is it from...

however when i eat chicken rice i always opt for at least 2 chicken breasts + siew yuk/char siew. i would order more if my allowance isn't a limiting factor.

oh silly me. i just realized the huge difference in weight between breast/wing/drumstick/thigh, hence the huge difference in protein amounts.

This post has been edited by wallpaper89: Jan 2 2009, 12:14 AM

yea..its about the size of normal KFC chicken breast. It's not entirely accurate, but I think it is sufficient enough to be used as a guide line. I think chicken breast is the best coz it has the least fat compared to other chicken parts.

I will avoid chicken rice if I were you. The oil they use is kinda unhealthy imo.

When I'm in college I'm forced to eat anything the hawkers have to offer, none of which I believe is truly "clean". I think chap fan would be the best choice, but the thing is I get sick of it really fast =(

Btw skipping leg workout today. Hamstrings have not recovered yet. I think it was because I swam on Sunday despite the fact that my legs were still sore from Friday's workout, and also the deadlifts. I'll do leg tomorrow though, can't afford to miss it.

Nice that u like to calculate.. If that is what ur good at, its good to see that ur using it to ur advantage. Keep it up bro.

I like calculating and analyzing figures, but only for things that I can estimate with reasonable certainty. I could be more immaculate in calculating my total carbs/protein/calories intake but I just don't see the point in it, cost > benefit lol.

Anyway its leg day today, and today also marks the end of my one-month HVT program. Overall results from HVT: Leg improved a lot. Traps much more visible. Back feels more flexible. Shoulders are even more obvious than before. Very noticeable increase in size and shape of upper chest.

All in all I am enjoying HVT so far and I will continue sticking to it until I find a need to relinquish it and try another program.

As for legs today, DAMN! How come my legs are improving at such a tremendous pace?! I don't believe it myself! The only explanation would be muscle memory I guess.

While I was doing squats a lady introduced herself to me as the new fitness manager and gave some comments on my form. She said my lower back was very steady and my legs were in good position, except that I should try keeping my knees slightly more to the inside. She also said I was doing it to fast, and that I should lower down my tempo. I did, and as a result I felt that I used more of my glutes/backside muscles to lift the bar up. She asked how I determine what poundages to use and I told her I just 'ikut suka hati', ie using my instincts, but making sure I make progress every week. She didn't seem too impressed to hear that lol.

She also revealed to me that by using a lot of smaller plates (5/10lbs) I am actually using more weight than is stated. Phew, luckily she didn't say the opposite. I don't mind doing heavier than what I think I'm really doing. It's always good to be as prudent as possible.

Anyway she recommended me to do higher weights and lower reps for squats, but since I am enjoying the results of HVT so far I will stick to doing what I've been doing. I will, however, keep what she said in mind.

I asked her about improving the chest section, and she said my chest was actually quite okay and that I have a broad chest (it must be the shirt giving a false impression). She said the reason why I look skinnier than I really am is because I roll my shoulders forward (ie slouching). She said I need to work much much more on my back muscles as my chest muscles are apparently too tight, and my back muscles are too weak, hence the forward pull on my shoulders and hence the slouch that makes me look skinnier. The only time I stand straight and don't slouch is when I'm out with friends or in college. At other times I'm just too lazy to bother lol. Gotta change this bad habit, and gotta work much, much MUCH more on my back

She also commented that my forearms are not big enough to match my body frame. Now that's motivation material. Suddenly I can't wait to do my first Arms Day on the 15th.

For leg curls, the first set felt surprisingly easy. 40kg felt like I was lifting the air. So next I did it at 47kg and I felt some difficulties and could only do 15 reps. I did another set at 47kg for 13 reps. When I wanted to lower the weights for the last set, I realized that all along I wasn't doing 47kg at all... I had accidentally inserted the pin into the wrong hole and I had been doing 54kg instead!!! Woohoo!

While doing leg extensions the fitness manager came to give more advice. She said it would be better if I warmed up with walking or slow jog for 5 mins before every workout session. I forgot to ask if walking from my home to the gym for 10 minutes counts as a warming up. Anyway while chatting she suddenly pulled the sleeves of my pants up to have a look at my quads, LOL i was like wtf!? She said my quads were okay, but my abductors were lacking.

So, she recommended me to do the hip abductor machine, which I did, after I was done with leg extensions. It felt surprisingly easy to do. For my first set I successfully did 124kg x 10, while the maximum weight the machine offers is only 138kg, which seems insufficient. Maybe its meant to be done with higher reps. Later the fitness manager came by and told me that an outer hip abduction machine was supposed to be there as well, but for some reason it isn't.

After leaving the gym, while on the way home, it suddenly started to rain really heavily. What luck... of all days the weather just had to show its darker side on a particularly taxing Leg Day. Had to force myself to walk at a faster pace, although I really didn't want to.

Workout took a much longer time than necessary because of the conversation in between squat's 2nd and 3rd set, and leg extension's 1st and 2nd set.

Preworkout was missing an egg because I ran out of eggs.

...and damn, did I just wrote a bloody essay up there?


Saturday - Leg Day (3 January 2009)

Smith Squats
Warm Up
30 lbs x 10
60 lbs x 10

Workout
110 lbs x 12
130 lbs x 11
120 lbs x 12
140 lbs x 10


Leg Curls
40 kg x 20
54 kg x 15
54 kg x 13
47 kg x 15


Leg Extensions
26 kg x 15
26 kg x 15
33 kg x 14
33 kg x 15


Inner Hip Abductor
124 kg x 10
96 kg x 10
61 kg x 12


Standing Weighted Calf Raise Machine
34 kg x 18
34 kg x 18
34 kg x 17
34 kg x 15


-End of Workout-

Total Workout Time: 75 minutes
Average rest time in between sets: Instinct


Diet

Preworkout: 3 eggs, 1 glass of Milo (20g protein, 20g carbs)
Postworkout: 2 scoops weight gainer + 350ml Dutch Lady milk (35g protein, 60g carbs)

Estimated meals for today:
Lunch: Rice + dishes (30g protein)
Tea-time: Fruits (anything in the fridge will do) + 2 eggs (10g protein)
Dinner: Rice + dishes (30g protein)
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein (35g protein)

Total estimated protein intake: 160g

Note: I changed the estimate protein of rice + dishes to 30g from 20g. It could very well be over 40g, considering I definitely eat more than a chicken breast's worth of meat in every meal + the protein contained in white rice, but better to underestimate than to over-estimate.

Gonna go to Carrefour in a while to replenish my egg supply and to check out the oats section. Usually I take fresh kampung eggs (they taste better, but are slightly more costly) bought from the morning market but my parents are only going there tomorrow morning.

This post has been edited by wallpaper89: Jan 5 2009, 11:50 AM

I'm sick again. Down with fever, flu and sore throat. This is the first time in my life that I've been sick twice in a row within a period spanning not more than one month. So, I will give my body the much-deserved rest it needs for this week. No workout until Saturday, except for Back Day on Wednesday. Was thinking of having an 'active rest' week but decided to just take a complete week off. Workout will resume on Saturday. Hoping to go for at least 2 swimming sessions before then, if I can find the time.

Hey, is it the fitness manager 'disturb' u too much till u feelin 'weak' ? Haha... Not well still want to swim ? The water in pool not that clean cos so many ppl playin in it, might accidentally go into your nose/mouth with the germs.

Hey, oat the big pack got offer in carrefour last week ! Go stock up. But can't figure out y expiry so soon in 2009.

U take care ya.. after rest u might come back better prepared.

No lah the fitness manager didn't disturb me lol. I'll ask her if eating eggs is safe the next time I see her. When I was sick I asked the doctor and the doctor advised me to eat only maximum of one egg per day, manaboleh.jpg!

Its true that the water in the pool is dirty but... I can just hope it doesn't affect me

Have not stocked up on oats yet. Must stock up before Saturday.

There is some slight changes in my time table so there will be slight changes to my workout times and diet as well. Will have to watch over how things go.

My back still needs sooo much more work. I went for back workout today without first checking last week's records. As a result I did the workouts as I pleased. Only now that I have checked and compared have I realized that I did not make much improvements from last week. Very, very slow progress, hmm...

Anyway my next back day is on Sunday, which is only 5 nights from today. I hope my back muscles will be able to recover by then.


Wednesday - Back Day (7 January 2009)

Seated Cable Row (Overhand Grip)
Warm Up
30 lbs x 12
30 lbs x 12

Workout
70 lbs x 18
80 lbs x 15
80 lbs x 13
80 lbs x 14


Lat Pulldown Machine
35 kg x 13
30 kg x 15
40 kg x 12
35 kg x 12


One-arm Dumbbell Row
30 lbs x 17
30 lbs x 15
10 kg x 20
30 lbs x 13


Wide-grip Lat Pulldown (Cable)
60 lbs x 15
60 lbs x 15
60 lbs x 15
60 lbs x 15


Dumbbell Shrugs (Weight stated = per dumbbell)
25 lbs x 20
25 lbs x 20
35 lbs x 15
35 lbs x 15


-End of Workout-

Total Workout Time: 70 minutes
Average rest time in between sets: Instincts, but I'm guessing I took too much rest


Diet

Preworkout: 4 eggs, 1 glass of Milo (25g protein, 30g carbs)
Postworkout: 2 scoops weight gainer + 350ml Dutch Lady milk (35g protein, 60g carbs)

Meals for today:
Lunch: Chicken + rice (30g protein)
Tea-time: Tomato
Dinner: Rice + dishes (30g protein)
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein (35g protein)

Total estimated protein intake: 155g

This post has been edited by wallpaper89: Jan 7 2009, 08:25 PM

Just when I thought I was done with being sick, I fell sick again today. I know, wtf man!?

Woke up feeling slightly feverish and dizzy, until now. Head feels heavy. I don't think I'll be doing any swimming for tomorrow.

After dinner, I felt really bloated, as if my stomach refuses to digest what I swallowed. I didn't overeat. In fact, I had no appetite and decided to eat less than usual, but still I feel like vomiting it all out now.

I hope I will wake up feeling better tomorrow morning as I've got college at 8. Otherwise I'll be left with no choice but to go see the doctor... again.

Oh no..

Mayb u will need to switch to porridge with fish. Its easier on the digestion. The protein shakes shld keep your stomach nourished throughout the day.

Have a good rest & hope u recover soon.

p.s If u looking for nice porridge, theres a stall (with several types of fish meat) at the cnr coffeeshop. The seller jus beside the bak ku teh. Its the same row as those small food stalls fronting the road.

LOL today my lecturer fell sick so college cancelled. Thanks for the well wishes, I'm feeling slightly better this morning

Porridge a... Are you talking about the hawker stall in Lucky restaurant? That one if I'm not wrong was advertised and published in the newspaper before. But I have never tried it in all my 12 years of life in Sri Petaling lol...

Tomorrow will be Chest Day, I am not expecting myself to perform extraordinarily after a short rest period, especially with me falling sick so often. I will most probably be going for very light weights x high reps. I think my muscle works better with rep ranges of 13-15. I was thinking of doing smith decline bench press, but flat dumbbell BPs sounds enticing as well

Haha.. so u must b celebrating d day off. I dunno d name of coffeeshop but its side road is the entrance to the psr malam. Jus fin my claypot rice. Yum. Have a good exercise day tomolo !