Hey all,
Further to my plea for help on the forum a lil while back, I have now started my body improvement regime.
In the end I just went to Argos and nabbed a dumbbell and barbell kit with 70kg of weight
. Still no bench unfortunately though.
I've started working out with either one miss day in between workouts or two miss days depending on the circumstances. On 'miss' days I go back to my heavy CV exercise instead. In a 'workout', I do exclusively barbell exercises, and aim to do usually 3 sets of 4 muscle groups, or sometimes 4 sets of 3 muscle groups. I usually do 15-20 reps in a set, though maybe 10-12 if I'm doing a new type of lift and struggling . I try to leave as little time as possible between sets, usually just the time it takes to change weight and reposition for the next set. I have been trying to increase weight on exercises I'm feeling confident with by about 1kg each workout, then I keep that weight until I'm comfortable I can do it properly before adding more.
Last night for instance, after a light CV warm up, I did a typical-of-me work out, which was something like (roughly in order; all approximate weights given are excluding bar weight):
- 20 Bicep Curls (15kg)
- 20 Close Grip Bench Press (16kg)
- 20 'Wide Leg' (not sure if my legs really are wide enough) Squats (13.5kg)
- 20 Upright Rows (16kg)
- 20 Deadlifts (13.5kg)
- 15 Close Grip Bench Press (18kg)
- 20 Bent Over Rows (16kg)
- 20 Lying Tricep Extensions (16kg)
- 15 Close Grip Bench Press (18kg)
- 12 Standing Shoulder Presses (15kg)
I fit dumbbell exercises in when I can during the day, and usually consist of 15 Hammer Curls (10-12.5kg), 4 30second Lateral Raises (2.5kg) and 20 Pullovers (12.5kg, using the end of a bed...). I usually get these 3 dumbbell sets in every day, missday or not.
I have only been working about 2 weeks, but have noticed improvements already. Unfortunately this is mainly in the triceps, some in the biceps, and just a precious little bit on the pectorals; but hey, I can't be picky. I do think my stomach area is beginning to harden however, which is good to note. Another change is that some leg stretches seem much more 'painful' than usual, particularly the hamstring, and the other one where you lean on one leg forward with the other out behind . Sometimes it is very tempting to work out on a 'miss' day (like today as it happens), but I'm under the impression that it will just destroy any work I did previously, as my body is trying to recover and rebuild. My usual workout time is before the evening meal, any time from 7pm-9pm (yes, I do eat late). It usually takes around 1 hour to 1 hour 15 mins to do a work out. I do some basic stretching beforehand, and usually some afterwards if I remember.
I have not had to change my diet at all, as it is very sound, even if I say so myself. I have been making sure, however, that I keep up consuming plenty of protein foods, in particular oats and cottage cheese.
I haven't had too many problems trying to get the technique of each exercise right, and I do my best to be honest with myself if I'm not performing one correctly. After a bit of practice, I have managed to get my breathing patterns correct, as before I had a habit of just holding my breath doing the strenuous parts of a lift. Many exercises state you should 'engage' certain parts of your body during movement, usually the abs or pects, which I've been a little uncertain about. What exactly classes as 'engaged'? Does this mean tensing them up tight (i.e. similar to when you breath in deeply), or just ensuring they're in a normal supporting position?
Also, working the chest without a bench has been tricky. I've been doing solely close-grip bench presses lying flat down on the floor with knees bent. I heard that only close grips could be done this way, as wide-grips needed you to lay supine on a bench with feet on the floor.
Anyway, I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who's helped get me started! This could be life changing.
All comments are welcome.
Further to my plea for help on the forum a lil while back, I have now started my body improvement regime.
In the end I just went to Argos and nabbed a dumbbell and barbell kit with 70kg of weight
. Still no bench unfortunately though.I've started working out with either one miss day in between workouts or two miss days depending on the circumstances. On 'miss' days I go back to my heavy CV exercise instead. In a 'workout', I do exclusively barbell exercises, and aim to do usually 3 sets of 4 muscle groups, or sometimes 4 sets of 3 muscle groups. I usually do 15-20 reps in a set, though maybe 10-12 if I'm doing a new type of lift and struggling
. I try to leave as little time as possible between sets, usually just the time it takes to change weight and reposition for the next set. I have been trying to increase weight on exercises I'm feeling confident with by about 1kg each workout, then I keep that weight until I'm comfortable I can do it properly before adding more.Last night for instance, after a light CV warm up, I did a typical-of-me work out, which was something like (roughly in order; all approximate weights given are excluding bar weight):
- 20 Bicep Curls (15kg)
- 20 Close Grip Bench Press (16kg)
- 20 'Wide Leg' (not sure if my legs really are wide enough) Squats (13.5kg)
- 20 Upright Rows (16kg)
- 20 Deadlifts (13.5kg)
- 15 Close Grip Bench Press (18kg)
- 20 Bent Over Rows (16kg)
- 20 Lying Tricep Extensions (16kg)
- 15 Close Grip Bench Press (18kg)
- 12 Standing Shoulder Presses (15kg)
I fit dumbbell exercises in when I can during the day, and usually consist of 15 Hammer Curls (10-12.5kg), 4 30second Lateral Raises (2.5kg) and 20 Pullovers (12.5kg, using the end of a bed...). I usually get these 3 dumbbell sets in every day, missday or not.
I have only been working about 2 weeks, but have noticed improvements already. Unfortunately this is mainly in the triceps, some in the biceps, and just a precious little bit on the pectorals; but hey, I can't be picky. I do think my stomach area is beginning to harden however, which is good to note. Another change is that some leg stretches seem much more 'painful' than usual, particularly the hamstring, and the other one where you lean on one leg forward with the other out behind
. Sometimes it is very tempting to work out on a 'miss' day (like today as it happens), but I'm under the impression that it will just destroy any work I did previously, as my body is trying to recover and rebuild. My usual workout time is before the evening meal, any time from 7pm-9pm (yes, I do eat late). It usually takes around 1 hour to 1 hour 15 mins to do a work out. I do some basic stretching beforehand, and usually some afterwards if I remember. I have not had to change my diet at all, as it is very sound, even if I say so myself. I have been making sure, however, that I keep up consuming plenty of protein foods, in particular oats and cottage cheese.
I haven't had too many problems trying to get the technique of each exercise right, and I do my best to be honest with myself if I'm not performing one correctly. After a bit of practice, I have managed to get my breathing patterns correct, as before I had a habit of just holding my breath doing the strenuous parts of a lift. Many exercises state you should 'engage' certain parts of your body during movement, usually the abs or pects, which I've been a little uncertain about. What exactly classes as 'engaged'? Does this mean tensing them up tight (i.e. similar to when you breath in deeply), or just ensuring they're in a normal supporting position?
Also, working the chest without a bench has been tricky. I've been doing solely close-grip bench presses lying flat down on the floor with knees bent. I heard that only close grips could be done this way, as wide-grips needed you to lay supine on a bench with feet on the floor.
Anyway, I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who's helped get me started! This could be life changing.
All comments are welcome.
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