My time to get fit - stage 1 - The beginning.

Freefaller said:
I've updated the supplement debate thread and linked to it from the main bodybuilding thread. Hopefully it'll add some useful information. :)
Click to expand...

Great, that should be very useful. I must admit I have stayed out of the supplements thread as tbh it is really a bit much for what I am aiming for ;).

Freefaller said:
Nice pics! No idea what you looked like before, but certainly not looking too shabby! :)

Seems you have a lovely family unit there - good on you! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks FF although there are a few pics of me in the thread :), usually topless though :eek:. The hair is a problem as it is pretty wavey and thick so as you can probably imagine, put it in a humid environment and I am lucky not to have an afro. My wife prefers it though as in Asia hair = virility and as mine is receding around the temples (I blame the wife and two kids for that :)), longer is seen as better. I personally prefer it short for easy maintenance. Oh, my wifes pic also appeared in the 'Post your girlfriends' thread at her request :D.

Castiel said:
RimBlock, you're looking great. I have found this thread very informative. Thanks.

Keep up the good work. You are roughly where I want to be eventually.
Click to expand...

Glad it is of help as that is really a good motivator for keeping the thread updated.

I still have a few Kg to loose yet, maybe around 10 or so an then I will look at bulking a bit to get a bit more size and definition. That's the plan anyway ;).

Doing this at 35+ is a bit of a challenge though. An earlier start, I am sure, would have made it all a bit easier and I would not have to juggle the time between the gym and my wife and two kids, but don't tell her I said that :D.

RB
 
RimBlock said:
Glad it is of help as that is really a good motivator for keeping the thread updated.

I still have a few Kg to loose yet, maybe around 10 or so an then I will look at bulking a bit to get a bit more size and definition. That's the plan anyway ;).

Doing this at 35+ is a bit of a challenge though. An earlier start, I am sure, would have made it all a bit easier and I would not have to juggle the time between the gym and my wife and two kids, but don't tell her I said that :D.

RB
Click to expand...

I'm 40 so I know how it feels, juggling 12 hour days at work with a family and all the other stuff isn't easy that is for sure.
 
Well the back is feeling a bit better, the sore throat is vanishing thanks to the antibiotics and the thumb I jarred is also feeling a lot better.

As I am working on Saturday in the office I think I may take a trip to the gym and do some more bag work. Hopefully it will be pretty quiet.

Cheers
RB
 
So I went to the gym last Saturday as hoped during a quiet period in the work I had to do and wouldn't you know it.... the period which was likely to be 2 hours ended up being only 1.5 so I had to get showered and rush back. What with travelling to the gym and back etc I got around 40 minutes on the bag but was still pretty wasted by the end.

Due to work commitments I have not been able to get back to the gym until lunch today. Managed to do 40 minutes on the bag and will go back tomorrow after work for some much needed weights work. Wrists are not too bad but caught my thumb a few times again. I guess it was not fully healed :(.

Hopefully I will be able to get back in to the 3* a week routine and I have not slipped out of the fat loss groove. Having to do another 4 weeks work to get back in is a real pain.

RB
 
So, the gym work continued on Friday.

Now, I had been thinking it was funny that this gyms leg press machine had a very small range of motion. It went from around 55 deg to straight leg. The previous gym I went to would put your knees on your checks if you let it. Well On Friday I had to wait to use the leg press and so went to the squat rack for doing some SLDLs (stiff legged dead lifts) and happened to glance over and see the PT with the person working the leg press machine playing with a level under the seat. The level removes the brake for the machine and is quite stiff so although I had played around with it, it didn't move. Now I had confirmation I went back to it whilst it was free and worked on my sets with full range of motion on the leg press. Weights listed include the bar where used.

Leg press
10*122.7kg
10*204.5kg
10*204.5kg
10*163.6kg

My legs only started hurting two days later and have not stopped ;).

SLDL
10*60.9
10*60.9
10*60.9

Lower back has been aching for 3 days now but is easing :).

Tricep Pushdown
10*30Kg
10*30Kg
10*30Kg

Machine has the weight stack numbered rather than listing the weight. I believe 3 = 30Kg.

Straight Arm Pulldown
10*30Kg
10*40Kg
10*30Kg

Same weight markings as for the tricep pushdowns.

Pendlay Row
10*22.7kg
10*36.3kg
8*31.8Kg

This was in a smith rack with two axis movement (up/down/forward/back). I much prefer with free weights but they were not available.

Shoulder press
10*31.8Kg
10*31.8Kg
7*31.8Kg

Fixed weight bar. My shoulders were as equally as sore as my legs after this workout. It is good to feel the work is doing some good.

I then got strapped up and walked over to the kick boxing studio with the punch bags. It was closed for an event apparently and would be unavailable for most of Saturday as well. I was hoping to use it Saturday as I would be at work for the morning and the gym is just 10 minutes from the gym. After a bit of complaining I finally got a pass to use one of the other gyms owned by that chain which was not too far away and had a heavy punch bag.

Saturday, finished work at midday and so headed off to the other gym. I am on a one gym package with 3 months free @ S$85 per month (3 free months and 6 out of 12 months completed on the contract). On entering the other gym the sales person started asking why I had not been contacted about my package. Well after all the talking I ended up signing for a new package. So now I get access to all their gyms for 2 years @S$ 65 per month with 6 months free at the end of the 2 year term. They also threw in 2 extra PT training sessions and 3 hot yoga sessions. The yoga I would still like to try but think I will loose a bit more fat first :D.

Anyway, I did the following there;

Bench press
10*35kg
10*45kg
10*47.5kg
10*55kg

Started fairly light as I need to be careful of my wrists.

Bent arm dumbbell Pullover
10*15kg
10*15kg
10*15kg

40 minutes on the heavy bag.

The bag at this gym is a lot more tightly stuffed and fairly new (or unused). I certainly felt it a lot more when connecting.

The weights were ok for both days as I had not been lifting for probably around 3 weeks now but it will be nice to see them rising again.

I think I will also alternate the punch bag with a bit on the elliptical trainer as I feel my aerobic function in my legs is pretty low since moving to only bag work for cardio.

My wife also decided to go with my oldest son on Sunday to make use of the local running track which is just over the road from me and free to use (the local football team plays on the pitch in the middle). Of course the aching old man that was me with 'I have not lifted in 3 weeks DOMS' needed to look after our youngest (2.5 years) who wanted to try and keep up on the track with my wife and other son. Poor guy tried and made it about half way round. This meant that I had to run after him in my 'damaged' state. I dislike running as I get shin splints so running is quite uncomfortable. I know I can get properly fitter running shoes but TBH I run on the track so rarely and they tend to be pretty pricey so I have not done so. Two laps later with my looking like I have been through a shower even just at a slow jog or little walk we all stopped (I blame the humidity and temp for my post bath type appearance :)). My wife and son did 4 laps and my wifes legs are also aching :D. She tends to do not exercise at all and is just naturally thin so it is nice to see her protecting against the future ;). She liked it and wants to make it a regular thing.

As I am sure many people will know, I do like to try and help if people wander in to SA looking for advice and tend to write a lot of detail. Well as with every one else, sometimes I need to take my own advice. I finally signed up with Daily Burn (free account) to get back in to tracking my calories and training. One thing to note with the site is that it seems to have difficulties with conversions between kg and lbs. Entering my starting weight as 97.9kg and then my ideal weight (only in lbs allowed for this one) as 187lbs (85kg) it told me I had to eat around 3500 calories a day in order to gain XXX lbs. Putting bother the weights in lbs and the problem was resolved. I am also not so convinced with the calories required as I seem to be eating a fair bit more unless I have a foot long Subway tuna mayo sandwich as the came in as around 1000 calories. I will see how it goes over the month.

Well I have been tracking my exercise and food since last Friday so if anyone wants to see how well (or not) I am doing then the user id is Rim_Block. I imagine the details are open for all to view. I will for course continue with this thread here as well :p.

Getting ready for this evenings weight session now and drinking more water :D.

RB
 
Had a fairly good workout last night.

Squats - Barbell
Set 1: 10 x 42 kg
Set 2: 10 x 60.9 kg
Set 3: 10 x 60.9 kg
Set 4: 10 x 60.9 kg

Barbell Deadlift
Set 1: 10 x 60.9 kg
Set 2: 10 x 60.9 kg
Set 3: 10 x 60.9 kg

Bent-Over Row - Barbell - Fixed weight barbell
Set 1: 10 x 40.9 kg
Set 2: 10 x 40.9 kg
Set 3: 10 x 40.9 kg

Shoulder Press - Barbell - Fixed weight barbell
Set 1: 10 x 31.8 kg
Set 2: 10 x 31.8 kg
Set 3: 10 x 31.8 kg

Bench Press - Barbell, Flat - Smith Machine
Set 1: 10 x 32 kg
Set 2: 10 x 50.9 kg
Set 3: 10 x 50.9 kg
Set 4: 10 x 50.9 kg

Tricep Extension EZ-Bar Overhead - Fixed weight ez-bar
Set 1: 10 x 13.6 kg
Set 2: 10 x 13.6 kg
Set 3: 10 x 13.6 kg

EZ-Bar Curl - Fixed weight ez-bar
Set 1: 10 x 13.6 kg
Set 2: 10 x 13.6 kg
Set 3: 10 x 13.6 kg

Not aching that much today but it usually hits the worst on the second day.

According to Daily Burn, my intake is;

20th July
1898 Calories goal is 1893 to 2143 cals
77.7g of Fat goal is 54 to 94g
158.6g of Protein goal is 141 to 242g
151.0g of Carbs goal is 100 to 151g

19th July
1721 Calories goal is 1893 to 2143 cals
62.4g of Fat goal is 54 to 94g
177.1g of Protein goal is 141 to 242g
89.6g of Carbs goal is 100 to 151g

18th July
2547 Calories goal is 1867 to 2117 cals
134.7g of Fat goal is 46 to 79[g
179.2g of Protein goal is 104 to 179g
167.9g of Carbs goal is 159 to 239g

17th July
2250 Calories goal is 1900 to 2100 cals
91.4g of Fat goal is 45 to 60g
229.8g of Protein goal is 150 to 200g
145.8g of Carbs goal is 170 to 220g

Since my trip to Malaysia and my 3 weeks with various ailments I now seem to have gone up to 99.4kg :(. I would like to think it is more to do with eating more to match my daily calorie goals and putting on a bit more muscle as it does look that I am doing so but in reality, my new jeans are feeling a bit tighter :(:(.

Well I will stick with the daily burn recommended guidelines for a week more and see what my weight does. If it does not improve then I may go back to my previous diet.

RB
 
So I missed the gym last night :(. I have a good reason sort of...

I decided to get myself a decent set of Muay Thai boxing gloves rather than to continue to punish my hands with the bag gloves. Along with the protection factor, another reason was to get heavier gloves to help train for stamina and strength.

I jumped in a taxi to a local store yesterday lunchtime and on arrival at 1pm the store was closed :(. The website stated Monday the store was closed all day but other days the store opened at 12. Miffed to say the least I ended up staying in the taxi and just being taken back to where I work. S$10 out of pocket and nothing to show for it. No phone number for the store either on the website. Sent them an email and some time later got a reply which apologised and offered a 5% discount if I came down again.

Well away I went after work and the guy was there. Friendly bloke from Europe. We had a good chat and I tried on the 12oz and 14oz gloves and the 14 felt better, the 12 were a bit tight.

I am not really a big fan of the big red gloves or the wacky patterns on a lot of the gloves but what did catch my eye were a black pair of Fairtex with a limited edition (only 100 made apparently) design with glitter (don't laugh) making it look like the night sky (give or take the big fairtex logos etc). Pic of them here. Whats more they were only S$5 more expensive so tried them and liked them so bought them :D.

I plan on going to the gym this lunch time so will try them and report back. The wrist support feels much firmer than the gym gloves I have used but then I guess that is not surprising :).

The guy also recommended using the Muay Thai boxing wrap method as others did on the boxing and hand injuries thread I started (linked in a few posts above I believe). I will have to take a look when I have a bit more time.

RB
 
Well I went to the gym yesterday lunchtime and I must say, I really love my gym (yep sarcastic). The new light punch bag they have has fallen off the wall. The spindle holding it on to the wall bracket has been pulled through the hole in the wall bracket. Apparently there were no washers used and someone gave it a nice big kick and it fell off the bracket. They are now back to one punch bag again and just my luch, as I was just finishing up geting changed, someone else walked past my with a set of boxing gloves... yep he was on it by the time I got to the area with the punch bags.

Ok, the good news... my PT was there and at a loose end and it was about time for me to arrange another session so I took the opportunity to do a session.

Did a mixture of combos, walking combos, ducking, box combos (forward - jab cross, left - jab cross, back - jab cross, right - jab cross). Strength punches with crosses at max strength and then speed but no strength punches with 5 seconds between sets of 30 (2 sets per punch type per arm). My arms were pretty gone by the end (shoulders mainly). They are a little tired today but not too bad yet. My mid chest and back is fealing a little ache too (below the pecs but above the bottom rib). It keeps it interesting doing something different.

As far as the gloves were concerned. Well with the wraps they fit like a, err, glove ;). Mr Wrists were fine, they produced a nice crack on contact with the focus mitts and there was no jaring on contact although at he later stages when pretty tired and the form suffered, I could feel the punches connecting with the bottom two fingers of my hand first. They ended up being quite sore that evening. The only other thing is that there is a strip of firm material which is just over the top of my finger nails and as the glove moves it is trying to pull the skin at the top of the nail up which got a little sore but no tearing. Will have to see what it is like with the bag as I can put a bit more power in there. All in all I am very happy with them.

Best bit now. Weigh in came out as 97.1kg. I was very disheartened when it went up to 99kg. Very happy it is down again. Maybe a blip, maybe the extra water I am drinking, maybe the extra food.

Off to do weights tonight.

RB
.
 
Well my gym work has been slacking off a bit but I hope to resume next week.

We have decided to sell our apartment and get a bigger place. This has meant that I have spend most waking hours not at work packing boxes and painting walls to make our place as much like an uncluttered show flat as possible for viewing this coming weekend (Singapore national day on Sat so national holiday on Monday and more people likely to view).

It is good to see that all the exercise has been paying off especially with my lower back as moving the furniture around and has been a lot easier. The best measure was lifting the piano (upright not grand :D) up a step on my own. It is very heavy due to the metal insides and I would never of dreamed I could have done it without damaging my back but although it was still a big weight to dead lift, with the correct technique and better strength it was more of a challenge than a concern.

Unfortunately the scuff marks on the walls cannot be just patched as the paint has lightened over the 2.5 years since we renovated so I am not repainting whole walls rather than just little patches.

'Wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off' springs to mind....

Oh, last weight check on Thursday took me to 96.7 or so. Lowest since I started. I was happy and told the doctor when I saw him on Friday to which he replied that I was 92.6 when I first saw him in 2008 :(. We are getting there and he has referred me to a hand specialist for my wrist pain so hopefully I can get that resolved as well.

RB
 
Ok, a very quick update.

We have old our apartment and found a new one. We are likely to get the keys just after Christmas.

What with all the work I have been doing with the flat to sell it I have been eating badly and have missed going to the gym for 3 weeks or so and have gained around 2Kg (really bad food).

I am trying to get back to the gym and back in to the healthier eating routine again as I only have 1 1/2 months until I visit the UK but my wrist has just gone. Very painful when bent and even holding it out parallel to the floor is very uncomfortable. I have booked an appointment with a hand and wrist specialist for next Monday. I really need to get this sorted out.

I will post more when I get a bit more time.

RB
 
Freefaller said:
Hope you get well soon, and that the move goes ok!
Click to expand...

Thanks FF

Ok so a bit more info on the wrist(s). I finally got a referral from the doctor to go and see a specialist. Did a couple of tests (grip and pinch) and explained the issue. When putting my weight on my wrists and they are bent back (ie pushup position) I get a sharp pain in the wrist joint. Of course it is hard to poke and prod in the joint when the hand is pushed fully back and he could find no tender areas. He then proceeded up the arm to the muscle just below the elbow and found a tender spot (he was poking pretty hard so I cam not sure if it was overly tender or just due to the pressure he was applying. The tenderness was enough to make me wince a little.

Suggestions... injection to take down the swelling (cortisone I imagine). I calmly explained that I would prefer to start with something not involving injections first especially as there are no x-rays etc taken I was prescribed some anti-inflam pills for the pain and to help with healing. I was also given a set of stretching exercises to do. Full pull back on the hand, full push down on the hand. Hold for 10 secs, repeat 10 times on getting up and going to bed. He diagnosed tennis elbow on both arms.

After doing the 3rd set of stretching the wrist joint gets quite sore. By the tenth it is pretty painful. The tablets given had zero effect and last weekend the right wrist went from being painful when doing pushups to being painful most the time on bending the wrist either up or down. The specialist is on holiday so I have to wait until next Monday for an appointment so I am strapping it up but this of course means no gym work :(. I also have a very nasty chesty cough I have been fighting for two weeks. Feel a bit in the wars. Oh well, eager to get back to the gym before coming back to the UK for the family visit.

I have decided to go back to basics and do the basic compound exercises (squat, bench, dead, mil press, row, fly) for the 3*8 to get a bit more strength up again as I feel I have lost quite a bit going on the 4*12 sets to try and loose more weight. I will do two days weights and three days with the punch bag until the end of Oct after my wrist and cough is sorted.

Cheers
RB
 
And this is why I tend not to like working with personal trainers.....

The personal trainer I signed up with has left the gym. The PT manager has assigned someone else who is fine but it seems that the 6+2 sessions I agreed on were not written down and so the contract only states 6 sessions and they are only for 1 hour rather than the agreed 1.5 hours each.

The new PT will only honour the original 6 sessions (of which 3 have been used).

I also had 2 free sessions from recontracting with the gym which had expired for various reasons. Luckily the gym was kind enough to re-issue those ones.

I will not be resigning with a personal trainer again. I may join one of the Muay Thai clubs though to help improve on the boxing. Been looking at a couple of places but they are pretty pricey (think equiv of 150/month plus 60 per Muay Thai training session).

Ok, on with the doctor and my dodgy wrists. After the first episode with him diagnosing tennis elbow and wanting to give me an injection for it, I went back for the second session, explained the pills did nothing and 'requested' some X-Rays. Around 1 hour later I was back with 5 shiny X-Rays and there is no noticeable bone damage (right hand only as this is the one causing the most pain). The carpals have good spacing when the hand is flat. With the hand twisted to the side the (little finger towards the arm) the 4 carpal bones overlap and this is now what the doctor is suspecting to be the cause. He then offered me a couple of treatments... a splint to hold the joint still and let it try and heal or an injection (this guy seems to love injections). I asked how uncomfortable the injection was likely to be I was told "well it is in to the joint so it will be painful, but bearable ..... probably". Needless to say, I asked for the splint to start with even though he was pushing for the injection. So I came out with a plastic moulded splint and approx the equiv of around 400 quid lighter in the pocket. Some will be re-embursed though my medical policy though. Since visiting I have been wearing the splint as directed and it seems to have made no difference at all. What I have noted though is that the pain is more central to the hand and not on the side with the little finger. The injection may have been in the wrong place so I am glad I chose not to go that way. Next visit which will be after the UK trip I will ask for the MRI to get to the heart of the matter. Unfortunately that will come to around 1K in cost which I will have to pay before getting it back maybe 2 months later. After the MRI I think we can agree on a course of treatment. I also may go to a TCM (traditional Chinese Medicine) clinic to see what they say. As long as they don't pull out the butchers cleaver I should be ok although it will be only the second time I have been to one.

Right, on to the gym stuff....

I have restarted the heavy bag workouts and even some weights. Around three sessions last week and tonight will be my second for this week. I can really feel the fact that I have been off for a couple of months. Most disappointing is that I have gone back up to 99.1 Kg, which to be honest was not so unexpected considering the crap I was eating whilst getting the house ready for selling.

Redoubling the efforts and will have to go back to The Daily Burn to check my diet there and get back to it. I have not eaten fast food for a couple of weeks so now I just have to manage the portions and exactly what I am eating a bit more closely. Just of note. Ever since I started with the weight training or Thai boxing, my wrist does not seem to have got any worse. This is the only reason I am considering carrying on. I have had the wrist pain for a number of years but it is only when the hand is bent back with pressure from the arm (push-ups, scrubbing the floor) that it appears. Knuckle push-ups give no pain (other than what is expected).

RB
 
I managed to get 4 days in at the gym a couple of weeks ago (after my previous post) but was not able to go at all last week as my wife needed to go in to hospital. I have been informed that all things going well, our family of 4 will be becoming a family of 5. Only around 6 weeks in so far but after some bleeding my wife was admitted to the hospital here for 3 days. This meant I was looking after the kids hence no gym.

She is out of hospital and suffering from morning sickness most the time and lack of energy. Bit more work around the house but have managed to get the punch bag in on Monday and weights last night. I was pretty tired yesterday and came out of the gym with a headache. Went to bed with it at 10:30 and woke with it still although not as bad. It has now abated after maybe an hour at work. I suspect an imbalance food wise somewhere mixed with tiredness. Need to grab my breakfast in a sec.

Weights;
Squat 3*8 @ 74Kg
Deadlift 3*8 @ 74Kg
Bench Press 3*8 @ 56Kg
Military Press 3*8 @ 29Kg
Lat Pulldown level 8 (72Kg ?) - either the plates are 10 or 20 lbs each, the machine (Cybex modular lat pulldown) only has levels written :mad:.
Weighted crunches 3*8 @ 57Kg (fixed movement machine)
Weighted twists 3*8 @ 50Kg (fixed movement machine)

Squats, and weighted crunches were difficult, the rest were hard. All will go up next time (Thursday).

Looking a bit better after the 3 months off and weight gain but still waiting for the fat burning to kick in.

RB
 
Inspirational stuff. I have just started a similar journey in very similar circumstances. I have another 28lbs to lose and this thread has given me great encouragement.
 
Thanks all.

Been busy as my wife has been suffering morning sickness quite badly this time so I have been rushing home to look after the kids and doing all the house stuff.

The 3 weeks in the UK have just finished so I am now back in Singapore but I did get down to a gym for a bit every now and then. IT was surprisingly hard to get to the gym time wise as everyone had lots of plans on things to do and with two kids and a pregnent wife it takes quite a bit of time to get anywhere :D.

I managed to get up to the following sets before I left.

Squat - 3*8@80Kg
Deadlift - 3*8@85Kg
Shoulder press - 3*8@40Kg
Bench Press - 3*[email protected]
Lat Pulldown - 3*8@69,67,67Kg (air machine)
Situps 3*10@70Kg, 2*10*75Kg
30 mins on the punch bags.

Squats were hard but still going up.
I managed 7*90Kg but my grip just uncurled. I since managed the 3*8@85 but the grip was giving way on the last rep again. I know I can use straps but want to strengthen my arms and wrists to see if it helps the wrist pain.
Lat Pulldown was on an air machine. Resistance was provided by air compression and although it was difficult from the top of the pull downwards, it did not kill my hands which using a standard weight stack usually does.
Situps were on the machine where you have the pads over your shoulders and lean forwards as I really hate sit-ups (must change this) so not quite as impressive as it sounds ;).

My waist has expanded again but that is mainly due to bad diet which I really need to buckle down again. At least I was able to buy some jeans in the UK that fit me :D.

I will try getting back to the gym late this week or next week after the jet lag has subsided a bit and we have got unpacked.

Oh and my wife is finalising the sale of our apartment today (we are staying for an extra 2 months while our purchase finalises and our renovation is done).

RB
 
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