*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

Thanks for the replies guys.

Dun:
I was never a lean 85kg, but I'm not too interested in being lean, not yet anyway, I want to get to a decent size first. I'm working at a pretty decent intensity I think. I struggle a bit with training in the evenings as I always used to be able to train in the mornings (ah the joys of being a student!), but I'm getting used to it now.

BennyC and exhashdotdo:
I do have quite a lot of milk so I will be cutting down on that. Can't really go to skimmed as everyone else in my house likes semi skimmed, and tbh so do I. I'll just drink less of it.

I will be doing a lot more cardio when it gets lighter in the evening so I can go running/cycling, and I might even start riding the 8miles to work each day if I can work out a decent route. I just find it so tedious doing it at the gym.

I'll look to cut out a few more carbs through the diet as well. Where would you say is the best place to cut them out of my current diet?

**Edit** And your routine looks seriously hardcore Benny, although I know you like your high volume training! What CV/HIIT do you do on your days off? Is it a proper full on session or just short 20 minute stuff?
 
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mpledge52 said:
I'll look to cut out a few more carbs through the diet as well. Where would you say is the best place to cut them out of my current diet?

**Edit** And your routine looks seriously hardcore Benny, although I know you like your high volume training! What CV/HIIT do you do on your days off? Is it a proper full on session or just short 20 minute stuff?
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You can ditch the bread with breakfast. I know it sounds hardcore and it is! I liked to have scrambled eggs with toast but now I just have 4 scrambled eggs with some ketchup and an apple for breakfast.

You could remove the oats from your morning shake, or move them to pre-work to give you a quick spike before training. Other than that it seems to be quite well balanced. Rice/Pasta could be removed and changed to couscous? Or just half the portion and pack it out with veg. Carbs can be kept low and mainly sourced from vegetable, fruit & nuts (high calorie though!) quite easily.

I hadn't recently realised how low calorie mixed veg is. 500grams/ half a kilo bag has roughly 250calories and it's pritty much a plate full of mixed veg!

Try to get a bit more fish into your diet too mackerel, salmon, tuna, cod etc I tend to have chicken and turkey around lunch time and then some fish in the evening or minced steak/beef/turkey.

Yeah, I mean realistically if you look at the volume for each bodypart in sets over the course of the week it isn't that high, just looks it.

Yeah HIIT shouldn't be done for any longer that 20 minutes as it's quite taxing on the CNS. Usually 20 minutes rowing with 20 second sprints and 40 second recovery, sometimes 30/30. Tabata protocol is good too.

Conditioning I've just started doing and it is brutal after some HIIT! 30 seconds skipping, 30 seconds mountain climbers, 30 seconds high knees on the spot jogging. Rest 30 seconds repeat. Rest 2 minutes. Repeat whole thing. Killer.

Edit: Infact our diets are quite similar.

Breakfast: 4 eggs, SS milk, butter, olive oil, ketchup, apple
Snack: Nuts (cashew, brazil, walnut, almonds & raisins)
Lunch: Chicken & Turkey, spinach leaves, lettuce, peppers, cucumber, celery, carrot, cress, tomato, salad dressing
Snack: Humour & Carrot/celery sticks
Pre WO: Sometimes oats, whey & cinnamon
PWO: Oats, whey & cinnamon
Dinner: Around 300grams of salmon/mackerel or 250/500grams minced turkey/beef/steak & 4-500grams mixed veg
Before Bed: Double Scoop Phd Blend 6-8HR (slow release proteins)

Around 2300ish calories. Depends on oats, eggs, amount of meat etc. Easy to bump the calories and carbs up though.

Currently considering halfing the Phd before bed, dropping nuts, loosing an egg and no more than 250grams minced meat in the evenings - in aid of getting calories lower for the last push of my cut. Plus it's getting ******* expensive!
 
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Apparently oats take about 1.5-2 hours to digest fully in your stomach alone, then obviously more time on top of that for it to be absorbed in the intestines and then be distributed around the body via the blood stream. Sure this is a constant process from the time you finish eating, but it's still going to be at least a couple of hours before those oats do anything for you. And they are actually one of the more easily digestible foods.

I'm not buying into this whole concept of eating certain foodstuffs at certain times. Seems like pseudo-science to me. If I knew I could only eat carbs with meal a day if I wanted to loose weight for instance I would just pick one and then eat the appropriate thing, be it porridge or sandwich bread or whatever. I think what you're saying is biologically unsound.

/discuss
 
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On the topic of fish, I've recently rediscovered, thanks to my mother, the wonderful and humble Pilchard, which is an oily fish I used to eat in an abundance back in my childhood. The real kicker is you can get them canned in a lovely tomato sauce, which dirt cheap at £1.50/kg. Sold at Tesco. Search for Glenrycks. You get 16g of protein per 100g. Immense value. Going into my meal planner immediately.
 
Makunouchi said:
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An interesting point but not something I really know enough about to comment on. I know post workout they're good to replenish diminished glycogen levels in muscles which are crucial for repair and healing. I also know they spike blood sugar levels creating an insulin spike and insulin is the daddy for building muscle. Insulin production significantly decreases (lots) as soon as we begin to exercise. Bit of a *******!

I'll let one of the nutrition bofs answer that Mak.
Rosbif said:
On the topic of fish, I've recently rediscovered, thanks to my mother, the wonderful and humble Pilchard, which is an oily fish I used to eat in an abundance back in my childhood. The real kicker is you can get them canned in a lovely tomato sauce, which dirt cheap at £1.50/kg. Sold at Tesco. Search for Glenrycks. You get 16g of protein per 100g. Immense value. Going into my meal planner immediately.
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I grabbed some Glenrycks Mackerel for 80p-ish per can in tomato sauce. £1.50per KG? really?! :eek:
 
Ahem sorry Benny, its not £1.50/kg. Its actually £1.53/kg according to the Tesco website. :D They're 65p a can! Mental!

Its the big 425g can. They're pretty big pieces of Pilchard inside. You'll want to remove the bone from them though, which is easy enough. I find them absolutely delicious. Thanks mum! :D

I'm not being funny but these Pilchards knock 25% off my shopping bill by not needing to fork out for Chicken etc.
 
Rosbif said:
Ahem sorry Benny, its not £1.50/kg. Its actually £1.53/kg according to the Tesco website. :D They're 65p a can! Mental!

Its the big 425g can. They're pretty big pieces of Pilchard inside. You'll want to remove the bone from them though, which is easy enough. I find them absolutely delicious. Thanks mum! :D

I'm not being funny but these Pilchards knock 25% off my shopping bill by not needing to fork out for Chicken etc.
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Yeah I did a quick bit of googling! What do Pilchards taste like? I was astonished at how good (& quick with zero preparation!) a snack canned mackerel fillets were and suprised I'd never realised this before!

I do buy a fair bit of chicken as it goes into the salad mix I make for the week. Usually 8 breasts and then 400grams of turkey breast. Having just realised it costs around £8.50 for 2 packs of chicken breasts I think I'll buy two cooked chickens (£6) and use these instead next week. I'm also going to investigate the price of chicken thighs/legs as I've never looked before.
 
We'll I've only ever eaten Pilchards from the Glenrycks can in the tomato sauce. I'm not sure how I can describe it other than its kinda reminds me of tuna but with a more oily texture. My understanding is Pilchards are related to Sardines, so if you know what a Sardine tastes like that will give you some idea. Infact, since Pilchards are a foraging fish like Mackerel they are probably very similar.

I completely feel your pain on the price of meat. Chicken breast from the supermarket is just so expensive. Thighs and Legs are so much cheaper because you have to do the bulk of the preparation yourself. You can de-bone legs and thighs but I found it hard work. I also found eating a chicken leg from a tuppaware box 'on the go' equally hard. :(
 
Makunouchi said:
I'm not buying into this whole concept of eating certain foodstuffs at certain times. Seems like pseudo-science to me. If I knew I could only eat carbs with meal a day if I wanted to loose weight for instance I would just pick one and then eat the appropriate thing, be it porridge or sandwich bread or whatever. I think what you're saying is biologically unsound.

/discuss
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As long as you hit your calorie target everyday then it doesnt matter when you eat things, your body will soon adapt if you keep the meal times similar. I can happily train without breakfast as long as my calorie/nutrient intake the day before was good enough.

You dont need to eat before training to have energy, infact most of the time your body will still be digesting what you ate, so your actually making it harder for yourself.
 
Is there anything i can do, take... that will make my joints stronger? namely my elbows, i have a horrific agonising pain in my right elbow after giving two guys at work an arm wrestle.. (il wave my willy here and say i won both even though there bigger than me :D :D :D) *puts willy away* ...no home right?.. but yea i have a horrible throbbing pain now, would this of a sprain?
 
I take fish oils and omega 3s and multi vitamins and my bones are much stronger and dont click as much since I started on the supplements. I got told its the fish oils that make the bones stronger?
 
Oh my bones are very strong, always have been, never broken a single one and i do dabble in a bit of free running from time to time :D i think thats due to the amount of oily fish and milk i have had since i was a young kid, but my elbows seems to be very weak i think if two arm wretsles can kill it like this

I need a big can of man up right now haha
 
Come on you big wussy this is a manly gym thread! STOP the week bone business :D


Maybe try some sort of elbow strap to take the strain off? Not really a good idea putting the bones through much stress at the end of the day when you get old it will show :) I always stop if my bones are in pain its not usually a good idea to carry on.
 
Settleddown said:
Come on you big wussy this is a manly gym thread! STOP the week bone business :D


Maybe try some sort of elbow strap to take the strain off? Not really a good idea putting the bones through much stress at the end of the day when you get old it will show :) I always stop if my bones are in pain its not usually a good idea to carry on.
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The testosterone was pumping and I was in the zone, sure as hell wasnt going to be beaten haha soo much pride from it haha good audience too ...ahem women :D
 
ConTRo13R said:
The testosterone was pumping and I was in the zone, sure as hell wasnt going to be beaten haha soo much pride from it haha good audience too ...ahem women :D
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Ahhh women :D!!!! Being years since I had an arm wrestle, going back to my school days! But I would suggest an elbow strap for next time, should do the trick :)
 
BennyC said:
Yeah I did a quick bit of googling! What do Pilchards taste like? I was astonished at how good (& quick with zero preparation!) a snack canned mackerel fillets were and suprised I'd never realised this before!

I do buy a fair bit of chicken as it goes into the salad mix I make for the week. Usually 8 breasts and then 400grams of turkey breast. Having just realised it costs around £8.50 for 2 packs of chicken breasts I think I'll buy two cooked chickens (£6) and use these instead next week. I'm also going to investigate the price of chicken thighs/legs as I've never looked before.
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Thighs/legs are a nightmare to debone and the meat really isn't as nice as there's loads of tendons etc. Also the bones make up a lot of the weight.
I regretted buying them to be honest.

However, check Co-ops as atm our local one has breast packets for £2.50 (450g) half price and it looks like a national style deal.

Also tesco do the 3 for £10 which works out cheaper too. But yeah, roasting chickens is the way forward if you're eating cold.
 
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