Big Show Ranges Further Afield

[Big_Show]

I'm back to doing a running challenge!

 

This week was supposed to be the first week of a 20 week long training plan for the Great East Run half-marathon (I had a deferred entry after last year's was cancelled due to the pandemic), but no sooner has I posted about it on Facebook then I got an email from them saying that they're already cancelling this year's as well!  Full refunds all round though, so at least there's that.

 

I'm kinda relieved to be honest, as a half-marathon is realistically a bit further than I want to build up to at the moment.  But I definitely want to build back up to being to run (and eventually race) 10k events again, so the focus for this challenge is going to be on upping my weekly mileage again after a loooooong time of not going any further than 5k.

 

 

1) Run three times per week - I want to gradually increase my overall weekly mileage and the distance of my "long" run at the weekend, so the initial plan is to keep the two weekday runs shorter and increase the distance of the weekend by a mile a week over the course of the challenge - short walk breaks are perfectly fine if they feel necessary, it's just about covering the distance.

 

2) Gym workout three times per week - for the first few weeks of reopening I was hitting the gym three times during the week and then for a fourth session at the weekend, but now I'm trading one of those sessions out for the extra run instead.  Still following Wendler's 5/3/1 programme, so when leg day crops up every fourth workout I'll have to juggle it carefully with the runs to allow sufficient rest and recovery between them.

 

3) Stretch effectively - my last goal for this challenge is to figure out the minimum effective dose of stretching/mobility/yoga that keeps me functioning.  I'm famously injury-prone these days when it comes to running, albeit with a slightly lower risk of that these days as I continue to drop the excess weight.  Still, I need to maintain (and preferably improve!) my current flexibility otherwise this whol endeavour will take yet another several month-long break.  So I'll be experimenting with various approaches to find out what it takes to keep my legs in one piece for more than a week at a time.

 

LQ) Read more books - still on this one!  I have three books on the go right now (Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb, The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter, and Can You Solve My Problems? by Alex Bellos) and the plan is simply to finish all three of them.  If I finish any others as well that doesn't count, I need to finish these three!

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I'll be following.

 

From a long way back.

 

Probably in a car or something.

 

Cause you're running.

[miss_marissa]

Here to follow the running progress

[darkfoxx]

11 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I'll be following.

 

From a long way back.

 

Probably in a car or something.

 

Cause you're running.

I’ll be following from the taco stand 😆

[Big_Show]

Wednesday weight: 111.7kg - this'll do for a starting weight after a more indulgent weekend, but from today I'm properly back on top of my diet again.

Tuesday steps: 10,782 (13,815 over target for the week) - this illustrates why my steps are no longer a part of my challenge goals - they're just an established habit now.

Tuesday calories: who nows? - counting starts today!

Book Completion: AF - 16%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7%

 

Started off this tracking week with an early trip to the gym for Deadlift Day - the work sets were:

67.5kg x5

80kg x5

90kg x 5+ (I did 8 ) - I could definitely feel the tightness in my calves from last night's run when I first start off with these, although it eased as I went on.  Something to be aware of as the mileage increases again.

 

After that was the 5x10kg @ 75kg - my grip gave out towards the end, so I managed it in 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, 7 (53 total).  That also gave me a overall total of 84 deadlifts, which doesn't seem like too bad a start to the day.

 

After that was the next step up in the leg raise progression from Start Bodyweight - I managed the 3x8 forearm knee raises surprisingly easily, so next time I'll be trying the hanging version instead.  Which I'm sure will be fun for my grip all those deadlifts...

 

Now work's out of the way, I've done my parents' weekly shopping, and it's time to just have a nice chilled evening as tomorrow's looking pretty damn busy.  So I'm heading to the books!

[Big_Show]

Thurssday weight: 111.5kg - slightly down, not gonna complain.

Wednesday steps: 6007 (993 under target for the week) - that'll be made up by the end of Thursday

Wednesday calories: 2133 (345 under target for the week) - a solid start to the week, making sure I earn Friday night's gin in the garden before the event.

Book Completion: AF - 16%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7% - no timet to read today, for reasons that will be discussed below.

 

We joined a new gym!

 

SO, this morning we got up to go for a short walk before work and then swing by the polling station at the end of the road on the way back in order to vote.  It's based in the local leisure centre that I haven't been in for years, and definitely not since we moved here.  As we found out on the way out, it's currently got an enormous gym!  They moved all the kit into the big main sports hall and it is very well stocked with multiple squat racks, DL platforms, plenty of of benches, machines, etc.  I'd always just assumed it was a typical Council-run gym with mainly treadmills and a few dumbbells.

 

We checked it out a bit more online, the price lines up with my old gym that I'm currently still driving to, but this one is 5mins walk instead of a 15min drive (saving around £20 in diesel per month), and the opening times are better too!  The Welshman was interested too so we both went along there this evening and signed up!  I'm booked in for my first session tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how it goes - it's going to be a bit busier than my old one so I'll have to learn to be a bit more flexible with my workout when I can't get the equipment that I want, but the benefits of switching by far outweight the negatives.  Might have to switch things like hack squat over to leg press, and use the assisted chin-up/dip machine, but I'm fine with that too.

 

I did find time to go for my run after work before all this though - another 5k in just over 28mins (gradually creeping down I think), right calf felt a bit tight but I have stretched and also dug my foam roller out from where it was hidden in the garage and put it prominently in my office so I can use it throughout the day if need be.

 

Tomorrow should be a good day - new gym in the morning, then mowing the lawn after work followed by sitting in the sun with my book and chilling out with a gin.  Good times.

[miss_marissa]

oh very nice on the new gym! that's excellent! Makes it hard to skip when it's so convenient

[Rurik Harrgath]

20 hours ago, Big_Show said:

We joined a new gym!

 

Wow, I'm super pumped for you.  So unusual to find a legit barbell gym just popping up like that!  I'm excited for your lifting gains now, buddy 💪😎

[Big_Show]

On 5/7/2021 at 4:02 AM, miss_marissa said:

oh very nice on the new gym! that's excellent! Makes it hard to skip when it's so convenient

 

I know, even if it's absolutely pissing down outside I can still drive to the end of the road, there's no excuses!

 

20 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

Wow, I'm super pumped for you.  So unusual to find a legit barbell gym just popping up like that!  I'm excited for your lifting gains now, buddy 💪😎

 

Cheers mate, really hoping this is the beginning of some proper consistency!

 

------------------------------------------

 

Friday weight: 111.1kg - creeping downards!

Thursday steps: 12,510 (4517 over target for the week) - I knew that run would boost my step count, well back into credit again now.

Thursday calories: 1975 (848 under target for the week) - the Welshman cooked a dinner that consisted of mainly non-starchy veg with a smoked basa fillet on top - we're going on a bit of a drive to boost the veggie content of our diet at the moment, and it seems to have the addedd effect of dropping the calorie count of dinners as well!

 

Saturday weight: 110.8kg - back in the 110s!  Got my sights firmly set on getting into the 109s now!

Friday steps: 13,262 (10,779 over target for the week) - walking to the gym will have helped this count, but mainly it was cutting the grass  after work...

Friday calories: 3382 (56 over target for the week) - felt a bit hungrier during the day (maybe due to last night's dinner?) but I had already built up enough extra deficit to accomodate an extra snack.

Book Completion: AF - 19%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7% - got my Mum's old basic Kindle working so I can read in the garden now!

 

Friday was a good day - it started off with walking up to the new gym for Bench Press day!  The work sets were:

47.5kg x5

52.5kg x5

60kg x5+ (I did 7) - different style of bench at this gym to what I was used to, but one that seems easier to bail on a rep without a spotter, which makes me less nervous than I usually am.  Also, by the time I work back up to PB territory we should be allowed to have spotters again, at least for the length of one last set at least.

 

The gym was so nice and quiet!  I know they generally are on a Friday morning and the bigger test will be first thing on Monday (which I will definitely never be scheduling a Chest workout for as there's only one bench press station available), but it was very easy to find an empty bench for the DB bench press - I did the 5x10 @ 16kg just fine so next time it'll be back up to 2x18kg.

 

They are lacking in a free-standing power station, asssitance bands, and you can't move any benches from their assigned spot at the moment, so my chin-up/dip regressions will have to change to using the assisted machine for now.  I did 3x8 of each using the 56kg assistance so that'll be going down next time as well, hopefully quite quickly as I continue to lose the weight.

 

Then I actually had some spare time left before I needed to leave, so I was able to bro out with some curls at the end rather than rushing off to drive home!  I have missed bro curls.  And then a nice walk home in the sun to get ready for the day at work!

 

After work I had to cut the grass (the damn stuff just keeps on growing!) and that took the usual 70mins and completely filled our brown wheelie bin, so then I settled in to the garden in the evening sun with a nice big gin and read a couple of chapters of Assassin's Fate.

 

My turn for dinner - we're in the process of using up a load of meat from the freezer and various cans/jars that we had gradually stocked up on a bit in case of post-Brexit shortages (which never really materialised, but we thought it was a good idea to put an extra something aside each week just in case), so it was my turn to rustly up a dinner - I adapted the Chicken Tikka Sag recipe I like in order to use up some passata, but chucked in some frozen cauliflower and sprouts for good measure, as well as substituting some grilled burgers for the chicken.  It actually turned out to be delicious and suprisingly good on calories, so I think more variations on that theme may have to be experimented with!

 

Saturday is a bit of a deliberate sofa/house/rest day - the weather is miserable today (gonna get my run in later on when the wind & rain finally drop a bit), but tomorrow is looking sunny and warm so we'll be out and about to a car boot sale and the garden centre in the morning before settling in to the garden in the afternoon.  Nice chilled weekend!

[Endor]

Sounds like you're really enjoying being out of lockdown and making the most of it.

 

Congrats on continued steady weight loss., you're inspiring me to get back into it. 

[Buff Brogan]

On 5/8/2021 at 9:11 AM, Big_Show said:

The gym was so nice and quiet!  I know they generally are on a Friday morning and the bigger test will be first thing on Monday (which I will definitely   I have missed bro curls. 

 

great work man. glad to see you kicking ass

[Big_Show]

On 5/8/2021 at 8:57 PM, Endor said:

Sounds like you're really enjoying being out of lockdown and making the most of it.

 

Congrats on continued steady weight loss., you're inspiring me to get back into it. 

 

Cheers mate, that means a lot!

 

13 hours ago, kzacher said:

great work man. glad to see you kicking ass

 

Hey man, good to see you back on the boards!  You got a thread on the go?

[Big_Show]

It's all change time again!

 

First, a recap of the rest of the weekend.

 

Sunday weight: 110.0kg - dehydration weight strikes again, but that's still the lowest it's been in years!  I'll take a midweek version as the real one though.

Saturday steps: 7872 (11,651 over target for the week) - kinda miserable grey & drizzly day, so we took the advantage to spend a fair bit of it on the sofa watching TV (The Bad Batch seems pretty good, watched the first couple of episodes!).  Went for another 5k run this afternoon.  Calf muscles felt quite tight afterwards but the run itself felt good - definitely feeling fitter and gradually getting slightly faster without realising it.  Followed it up with foam-rolling and plenty of stretching.

Saturday calories: 3058 (636 over target for the week) - we had a bit of at treat meal in the evening along with wine as we finally got round to watching Solo for the first time, but low calories throughout the day before that compensated nicely.

 

 

Monday weight: 111.5kg - usual rebound weight.

Sunday steps: 9164 (13,815 over target for the week) - we wandered round a car boot sale first thing then headed off to a garden centre, then pottered round the house for a bit.  By which I mean the Welshman pottered round planting more things in the garden, and I sat on a sunlounger making solid progress through Assassin's Fate and drinking gin.

Sunday calories: 2741 (899 over target for the week) - unplanned afternoon gin added calories, but it was a gloriously sunny day and I needed something while I read and tanned.

 

 

Tuesday weight: 110.9kg -heading back down again.

Monday steps: 7966 (14,781 over target for the week) - gym before work and a short walk afterwards, making up a nice total for the week so far.

Monday calories: 2082 (503 over target for the week) - back to regular eating again, nearly under target now.

Book Completion: AF - 42%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7% - read another couple of chapters in the garden after work, this is definitely a longer book than I realised but I'm glad as it's the last one!

 

Gym before work was the first Squat workout of this cycle - the work sets were:

57.5kg x4

65kg x5

75kg x5+ (I did 7) - faffed around for a bit figuring out how to adjust everything on this new squat rack but think I'm all sorted now, should be easier next time.

 

No hack squat at this gym so I was on to a new leg press machine - I tried 5x10 @ 70kg and that was easy enough to complete so I'll bump that up next time.  Found a calf extension maching and did 5x10 @ 50kg easy enough so that's also going up next time round.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

So.  On to Tuesday.

 

After work I headed out for a run.  A quarter of a mile in (just as I headed up a slope for the first time) I felt a sharp ping in my right calf and immediately had to stop running and limp home - looks like I'm out again!  It's always a calf muscle, but this time I'm pretty certain it pinged in a different part to where it has before.  So that's variety at least, if not progress?  And I only had to limp a quarter of a mile home, whereas it could have been closer to 2 miles if it had happened later on.  So there's that.

 

Despite spending time each day stretching and foam-rolling, I guess I'm still not able to run consistently with any kind of appreciable mileage.  Perhaps the universe was trying to tell me this when my half-marathon got cancelled two years in a row, and the local running club completely ignored the membership enquiry I sent them a week or two ago...

 

Anyway, it looks like it's time to pivot and replan the rest of this challenge.  The first one is simpler:  I'm going back to 4 gym sessions per week, and for the rest of this cycle I'm just alternating the two upper body workouts to give my calf some recovery time.  Judging by the way it feels, a week or so should be long enough for me to start doing static lifting, just no impact exercsises like running or skipping.

 

As for the other two goals, I'm going to have a good think and figure out what I want to aim at.  There's going to have be more walking again to keep my steps up and burn some calories, and perhaps it'll bet time to explore the other options available at this leisure centre?  There are definitely opportunities to be taken, anyway.

 

For now: consolation gin this evening, and my military press workout tomorrow before work.  Will report back tomorrow night on how that goes and my further thoughts for the rest of the challenge...

[Hangrybear]

1 hour ago, Big_Show said:

Despite spending time each day stretching and foam-rolling, I guess I'm still not able to run consistently with any kind of appreciable mileage. 

I know the pain mate. Not with running but hiking. My body just keeps telling me 'ey, better lose some more weight before doing these silly distances'. It is discouraging, but the stretching and foam rolling really start helping after doing them consistently. And once the legs are rehabbed, going over to the minimum effective dose of prehab work feels very worthwhile, and might be the only reasonable approach for us lorge dudes.

 

Stick in there, I commend your efforts very much! 

[Buff Brogan]

4 hours ago, Big_Show said:

 

Cheers mate, that means a lot!

 

 

Hey man, good to see you back on the boards!  You got a thread on the go?

no thread/challenge for me this go round. program i started will be up in 2 weeks. thought it best to just lurk around here and follow/support some folks before i dive back in. 

[darkfoxx]

Ah, man. That calf ... again! 

 

Totally sounds like the Universe continues its yelling at you. There’s got to be something behind that shit, though, other than glass hammies. 

[Buff Brogan]

22 hours ago, Big_Show said:

It's all change time again!

 

First, a recap of the rest of the weekend.

 

Sunday weight: 110.0kg - dehydration weight strikes again, but that's still the lowest it's been in years!  I'll take a midweek version as the real one though.

Saturday steps: 7872 (11,651 over target for the week) - kinda miserable grey & drizzly day, so we took the advantage to spend a fair bit of it on the sofa watching TV (The Bad Batch seems pretty good, watched the first couple of episodes!).  Went for another 5k run this afternoon.  Calf muscles felt quite tight afterwards but the run itself felt good - definitely feeling fitter and gradually getting slightly faster without realising it.  Followed it up with foam-rolling and plenty of stretching.

Saturday calories: 3058 (636 over target for the week) - we had a bit of at treat meal in the evening along with wine as we finally got round to watching Solo for the first time, but low calories throughout the day before that compensated nicely.

 

 

Monday weight: 111.5kg - usual rebound weight.

Sunday steps: 9164 (13,815 over target for the week) - we wandered round a car boot sale first thing then headed off to a garden centre, then pottered round the house for a bit.  By which I mean the Welshman pottered round planting more things in the garden, and I sat on a sunlounger making solid progress through Assassin's Fate and drinking gin.

Sunday calories: 2741 (899 over target for the week) - unplanned afternoon gin added calories, but it was a gloriously sunny day and I needed something while I read and tanned.

 

 

Tuesday weight: 110.9kg -heading back down again.

Monday steps: 7966 (14,781 over target for the week) - gym before work and a short walk afterwards, making up a nice total for the week so far.

Monday calories: 2082 (503 over target for the week) - back to regular eating again, nearly under target now.

Book Completion: AF - 42%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7% - read another couple of chapters in the garden after work, this is definitely a longer book than I realised but I'm glad as it's the last one!

 

Gym before work was the first Squat workout of this cycle - the work sets were:

57.5kg x4

65kg x5

75kg x5+ (I did 7) - faffed around for a bit figuring out how to adjust everything on this new squat rack but think I'm all sorted now, should be easier next time.

 

No hack squat at this gym so I was on to a new leg press machine - I tried 5x10 @ 70kg and that was easy enough to complete so I'll bump that up next time.  Found a calf extension maching and did 5x10 @ 50kg easy enough so that's also going up next time round.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

So.  On to Tuesday.

 

After work I headed out for a run.  A quarter of a mile in (just as I headed up a slope for the first time) I felt a sharp ping in my right calf and immediately had to stop running and limp home - looks like I'm out again!  It's always a calf muscle, but this time I'm pretty certain it pinged in a different part to where it has before.  So that's variety at least, if not progress?  And I only had to limp a quarter of a mile home, whereas it could have been closer to 2 miles if it had happened later on.  So there's that.

 

Despite spending time each day stretching and foam-rolling, I guess I'm still not able to run consistently with any kind of appreciable mileage.  Perhaps the universe was trying to tell me this when my half-marathon got cancelled two years in a row, and the local running club completely ignored the membership enquiry I sent them a week or two ago...

 

Anyway, it looks like it's time to pivot and replan the rest of this challenge.  The first one is simpler:  I'm going back to 4 gym sessions per week, and for the rest of this cycle I'm just alternating the two upper body workouts to give my calf some recovery time.  Judging by the way it feels, a week or so should be long enough for me to start doing static lifting, just no impact exercsises like running or skipping.

 

As for the other two goals, I'm going to have a good think and figure out what I want to aim at.  There's going to have be more walking again to keep my steps up and burn some calories, and perhaps it'll bet time to explore the other options available at this leisure centre?  There are definitely opportunities to be taken, anyway.

 

For now: consolation gin this evening, and my military press workout tomorrow before work.  Will report back tomorrow night on how that goes and my further thoughts for the rest of the challenge...

i tore both my hammies doing cardio for some kickboxing bouts a few years ago. essentially, i wasn't warmed up properly and the muscles themselves weren't ready for the amount of strain i put on them. i know you run a ton compared to me, but once you're healed up maybe focus on some additional isolation work on your imbalances? you could potentially couple this with a walk/run format to work your way back up to getting some major mileage? 

[Big_Show]

On 5/11/2021 at 9:33 PM, Hangrybear said:

I know the pain mate. Not with running but hiking. My body just keeps telling me 'ey, better lose some more weight before doing these silly distances'. It is discouraging, but the stretching and foam rolling really start helping after doing them consistently. And once the legs are rehabbed, going over to the minimum effective dose of prehab work feels very worthwhile, and might be the only reasonable approach for us lorge dudes.

 

Stick in there, I commend your efforts very much! 

 

Thanks mate, I'm just going to have to double down on all the stretching and mobility work to find what makes me function I guess.

 

On 5/12/2021 at 12:37 AM, Buff Brogan said:

no thread/challenge for me this go round. program i started will be up in 2 weeks. thought it best to just lurk around here and follow/support some folks before i dive back in. 

 

Good to hear mate, I'll keep an eye out!

 

On 5/12/2021 at 11:32 AM, darkfoxx said:

Ah, man. That calf ... again! 

 

Totally sounds like the Universe continues its yelling at you. There’s got to be something behind that shit, though, other than glass hammies. 

 

It's been yelling long enough and loudly enough, perhaps it's time I actually started listening...?

 

--------------------------------------------------------

 

Wednesday weight: 110.9kg -heading back down again.

Tuesday steps: 7599 (15,380 over target for the week) - not sure how I got that many steps, but it's a solid amount for a week.

Tuesday calories: 2717 (742 over target for the week) - those couple of gins took me over, otherwise I would have been on target for the week.  New tracking week starts today!

Book Completion: AF - 44%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7% - just read another chapter while waiting for my laptop to do it's reset.

 

Limped up to the gym before work this morning for my Military Press workout - the work sets were:

32.5kg x3

37.5kg x3

42.5 x3+ (I did 4) - pleased with that, the numbers aren't big but I'll still be lifting my PR on my next workout.

 

After that it was 5x10 DB military press @ 12kg which I managed (just), then the assisted chin-up & dip machine for 3x8 of each.  I meant to move the peg down one from 56kg of assistance, and it felt surprisingly difficult!  Kinda demoralising, until I realised towards the end of the dips that I'd actually moved the peg down to 42kg instead of 49kg, so no wonder it felt hard with such a large jump!  Further proof that I shouldn't be expected to do anything involving actual thought at that time of the morning...

 

Finished it off with more bro curls, because bro curls.

 

One plus that came out of today's workout was realising that the cross-trainer doesn't aggravate my calf at all, whereas walking still decidedly does.  So the plan for tomorrow at least is to head up there, do twenty minutes on that machine, then wander back down home again.  Should only take about half an hour but it's all cardio, and I'm trying to stop my brain convincing itself that a few days with a little less running/walking will inevitably lead to me putting all the 30lbs back on withing a matter of days...

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

34 minutes ago, Big_Show said:

Finished it off with more bro curls, because bro curls.

[Big_Show]

Thursday weight: 110.8kg -staying stable right now.

Wednesday steps: 7042 (2042 over target for the week) - again, not sure where they all came from, but not really targetting this at the moment.

Wednesday calories: 1993 (485 over target for the week) - marinaded turkey for dinner was surprisingly low on calories, so that's a good deficit in the bag ahead of a long weekend!

 

This morning we got up early, but instead of going for our usual walk (for obvious reason) we walked up to the gym instead.  I spent 20mins on a cross-trainer with a podcase and then we wandered home - so glad I found some cardio I can do that won't aggravate my calf as it heals!

 

Made it through work and now sitting on the sofa with a rum.  Got a three day weekend ahead (the hospital rewarded all it's staff with an extra day's leave this year as a "well-being day" after pandemic fun of the last year) so tomorrow's starting off with a Bench Press session then we're heading over to have a look round some arty/crafty/vintage/antiquey-type local businesses a little courtyard that we heard of recently.  I'm not so fussed by these, but the cafe there is renovating a double decker bus to use as it's seating area and they also serve bacon sarnies, so...

[Big_Show]

Friday weight: 110.8kg -three days in a row...

Thursday steps: 5983 (3025 over target for the week)

Thursday calories: 2475 (488 under target for the week) - impressed with that considering this was my "Friday night" of the week.

Book Completion: AF - 48%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 7%

 

Friday has been a good day so far - we got up and got to the gym first thing, which is always a good feeling.    The Welshman pottered round figuring the place out (it's been a while) while I cracked on with my Bench Press day - the work sets were:

50kg x3

57.5kg x3

65kg x3+ (I did 5) -managed to bump the bar on the way up for the 2nd rep too, which nicely scared me...

 

This was followed by 5x10 DB bench press @ 2x18kg, and 3x8 of assisted pull-ups/dips with the CORRECT assistance this time... then 3x8 bro curls to finish off.  A good start to the day!

 

After that we drove off to look round these new local businesses that we found out about and were roundly underwhelmed by what was on offer, then got home and wandered into town instead.  The Welshman found plenty of new plants at the supermarket and old pots at the charity shop, while I found myself three books for £1 so I really need to finish the ones I'm currently on!  Nearly halfway through Assassin's Fate now though, and it's really good.  I both desperately need to know what happens and how it ends AND don't want to pick it up because then it'll be over sooner.  Fun times to be in my brain...

[Big_Show]

Saturday weight: 110.2kg - so close!

Friday steps: 14,458 (12,483 over target for the week)

Friday calories: 3116 (150 over target for the week)

 

Sunday weight: 110.2kg - and again!

Saturday steps: 15,341 (22,824 over target for the week) - for someone with a gammy leg I've covered a surprising amount of distance this weekend...

Saturday calories: 3762 (1434 over target for the week) - beers happened.  Beer contains calories.

Book Completion: 56 - 56%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 19%

 

It has been a really nice weekend!  On Saturday I did alitte bit of overtime and then we caught the train over to see the Welshman's Mum, and despite the weather ended up finding a bar with a sheltered outdoor area so we could sit and have a drink and a proper chat.  Three pints later we walked her home and caught the train back, but my leg was pretty sore by this point so we stopped off at our local for one last pint on the way back from the station.  It was actually really nice, I've missed having that option.

 

Today has been taking care of various jobs, popping out to the supermarket, and then I headed to the gym while the Welshman pottered around in the garden planting more stuff.  It was the 5/3/1 session for my Military Press workout, and I realised this was actually going to match my biggest lift from before lockdown!  The work sets were:

35kg x5

40kg x3

45kg x1+ (I did 3) - that's a PB!  Last time I just about hit the second rep, and this time I managed to get three!  Not the highest numbers, but it's improvement for me so I'm very pleased with it.  On to the next cycle!

 

After that was 5x10 DB press @ 14kg for the first time - I managed 10, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6 (51 total).  The the 3x8 assisted pull-ups @ 49kg assistance - close, at 8, 7, 5, 5 (25 total).  Then the 3x8 dips @ 49kg and I hit all the reps!  Bumping that one down to 42kg assistance next time, pleased with that.

 

Finished off with more bro curls.  Need to start reseraching other finishers to tack on to the end of workouts; there's plenty of kettlebells and space, so might opt for something a bit more energetic to burn some more calories?  All suggestions gratefully received!

[Big_Show]

Monday weight: 110.7kg - regular Monday rebound weight.

Sunday steps: 10,605 (28429 over target for the week) - no worries there.

Sunday calories: 2435 (1391 over target for the week) - got a fair few to make up over the next couple of days, will have to be careful.

Book Completion: 56 - 56%, TLE - 26%, CYSMP? - 19%

 

This morning I got up before work and walked up to the gym for some cardio - 20mins of cross-trainer & podcast then home.  A good start to Monday.  My calf is definitely improving daily and I'm walking pretty much normally again now, so after Wednesday I'm hoping to start doing more.  Definitely no running any time soon, but beng able to vary the cardio machines and walk a bit further again will be nice.

 

I forgot to mention, over the weekend I was feeling frustrated at how slow my weight loss currently seems but I'm definitely looking slimmer, so the Welshman suggested I measure my waist.  I did it first thing on Sunday morning at it turns out I've actually lost an inch of my waist in the last month!  That explains a bit more, like for instance how as the shirt I wore for the gym this morning has never actually fit before (it was an optimistic purchase while buying something else a size bigger...) but now felt comfortable.  Guess I just need to trust the system!

 

Still can't wait to somehow my cardio again though...

[Buff Brogan]

13 hours ago, Big_Show said:

I forgot to mention, over the weekend I was feeling frustrated at how slow my weight loss currently seems but I'm definitely looking slimmer, so the Welshman suggested I measure my waist.  I did it first thing on Sunday morning at it turns out I've actually lost an inch of my waist in the last month!  That explains a bit more, like for instance how as the shirt I wore for the gym this morning has never actually fit before (it was an optimistic purchase while buying something else a size bigger...) but now felt comfortable.  Guess I just need to trust the system!

the shirt is a huge win my friend. sometimes, you can be the last to notice a physical change in yourself and the scales aren't always accurate at showing that change either. 

[Rurik Harrgath]

On 5/17/2021 at 9:06 AM, Big_Show said:

I forgot to mention, over the weekend I was feeling frustrated at how slow my weight loss currently seems but I'm definitely looking slimmer, so the Welshman suggested I measure my waist.  I did it first thing on Sunday morning at it turns out I've actually lost an inch of my waist in the last month!  T

 

The scale is a fickle mistress.  While it's a good indicator during weight loss, I've always appreciated those off-the-scale victories that much more.  Happy for yours!