Vido Ardes' Battle Log

[vido.ardes]

So I joined a Gym. They have my bank details and address, no going back now.
 
My Stats
Height: 6'1
Weight: 240lbs (17st 1lbs) / 109kg
Age: 26

Neck: 17"
Waist: 44"
Hips: 41"
Chest: 44"

Basically a jelly of a man who should be in much better shape given his age. I will be retaking my measurements on the 1st of every month to hopefully see some progress
 
Goals

• Do an hour in the gym at least 3 times a week for 6 weeks (includes going to bed earlier,at least before 11pm, and getting up at 5:45)
• Removing the bread from my diet (I have already improved my diet massively over the last year, but getting the bread out will be a big win)
• Drinking bare minimum 2 litres of water a day for 6 weeks (I don't drink anywhere near enough, so forcing myself to drink at least 2 litres a day)

When I have done the above, I will consider myself at the start line. Might seem a little harsh, but I am very good at giving up, so I think once I have done 6 weeks of work, I think I will be ready to say I am on the road to recovery and am starting to take this seriously.
 
My First Gym Session
I actually did my first session 2 days ago, the gym is literally across the road from where my office is so I really have no excuses. It's a very small gym but the guys in there are dedicated (one is a commonwealth games gold medallist) and they are very friendly but very tough. They have a starting routine for every newbie, and they have a goal of getting you to doing the full routine on 3 consecutive visits before they will give you an individual plan, so they know you have reached a minimum fitness level. The routine is as follows:

• 5 minutes on exercise bike or cross trainer at a steady pace & stretches for warming up
• 3 x 15 squats (no weights)
• 3 x 15 seated bench press (weight varies depending on person, I'm doing 40kg)
• 3 x 15 curl and press (3.5 kg)
• 3 x 15 side lat raises (2.5 kg)
• 3 x 15 bicycle crunches (left & right counts as one, so 15 each side)
• 3 x 15 normal crunches
• 3 x 15 hyper extensions
• 5 minutes warm down on bike or cross trainer

I get this is probably quite wimpy for some of you, but you have to picture I am a Jabba the Hut of a man with 9 years training in sitting on my arse not moving. Now to start with I am doing all of the above (yay!), but only doing 2 sets of each, not 3 (boo). It's not too bad, the workout itself is hard but not painful, the pain comes after with the DOMS. I did my second session this morning and I feel pretty broken, but given that last night I couldn't even scratch my head without crying out in pain, I am proud of myself for getting up and going to the gym before work and doing the whole routine without wimping out.
 
My next session isn't till Monday, but other than the seated bench I can do this stuff at home (I'll warm up / down by jogging on the spot), so I will be having a go on Saturday on my own. Now please excuse me while I spend the next 10 minutes trying to lift my cup of tea...

[Basement Cat]

Hey Vido!

 

Don't worry, we all start somewhere. The important thing is to get started and to keep going! Good luck!

[vido.ardes]

"Well, that didn't exactly go to plan..."

So, Christmas happened. The days came and went and I flaked out pretty quick really didn't I? Well shame on me. Good news is, I'm back on the proverbial horse! Wednesday last week I got back into a proper eating regime, and Friday I went back to the gym. As punishment for missing 2 weeks, they made me jumps in to 3 sets of the above straight away, and... well, I passed out. Like literally passed out in the gym, just after the 3 sets of curl and press. Boy was I embarrassed! 

 

But, all is not lost... 'cause I took 5 minutes, came back and finished the routine! Go Me! 

 

Still not the most positive start to my quest now was it? Still the following days yields better reading.

 

Saturday: Back to square one

First big win, I went round my Mum and Dad's with my wife just to say hello on the Saturday and they were having bacon sandwiches for lunch. Now I'm in the UK, so this is proper bacon, not that crispy crap you Americans call bacon  , so you can imagine how hard it was for me to say no, especially with the added temptation of freshly cooked white bread, but do you know what I had? A home made tuna salad. Seriously. If you knew me at all, you'd know that was a massive win. I had a beef chilli for dinner too, again home-made with lean mince which was nice.

 

Sunday: Preparations for my return

So Sunday I keep up the good eating, despite going to a shopping centre with loads of nice restaurants, and I think I made a little headway in getting my wife to join me one my quest. Slow and steady will win the race on the front. Anyway, I knew I had to go back to the gym on Monday and was a little worried to be honest. Aside for passing out and making a right tit of myself on the Friday, I ached to buggery after Friday's session. Still, I tried to power through it by doing some (not all) of the routine at home, very gently to try and wake my muscles up. Chicken and an apple for lunch and a mushroom, red onion and ham omelette for dinner and I prepared for the next day...

 

Which brings me to today. A breakthrough was had by far. After a bit of gentle friendly ribbing from the trainer at the gym about passing out, we got back into trying 3 sets of the routine. He told me he though my problem on Friday was that I didn't rest enough between sets and just pushed too dammed hard, so to make sure I take my time, at least a minute, preferably 2 between sets. Not only did I finish gracefully, but I felt pretty good afterwards. Hot, sweaty, knackered and achy but I felt good. I can really see myself getting into this keeping fit lark

Strength +1!

Stamina +1!

Constitution +1!

 

So after I showered and changed, we started chatting about where I wanted to go with this, what were my aims. I said to him that while I knew I didn't really want to body build at the moment, I just wanted to get fit, I didn't have any specific goals or aims. This was a mistake, as he signed me up for the Spartan race right there on the spot. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a 5km gruelling assault course that goes through rough terrain, muddy bogs, and all kinds of obstacles (here is a video of the course I will be doing, this was last years event http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEZfHqM3dQA)

 

Eek.

 

The race is in August, so I have about 7 months to prepare, but it finally feels good to have something to aim for. Aside for my regualt gym visits, I am also going to be doing the NHS' Couch to 5K  program which will make sure I can at least run that distance on normal terrain.

 

So despite the Christmas setback, I really feel on top of things. I have my eating back in order, my wife is starting to get involved and I have a goal. Wish me luck!

 

Goals

• Do an hour in the gym at least 3 times a week for 6 weeks - ask me again on Friday how that's going!
• Removing the bread from my diet - so far, so good!
• Drinking bare minimum 2 litres of water a day for 6 weeks - have done this for over a week now which is awesome!
• TRAIN FOR SPARTAN RACE IN AUGUST!

[vido.ardes]

"The calm before the storm..."

This one will be short. So today is an off-exercises day, but I will at least do some stretching and warming up tonight, looking forward to to morrow and smashing out the 2^nd of 3 assessments so by next week I will have my own plan. Although today's eats haven't been uber healthy, I have kept my intake down so I am not over eating. I am trying to work out a plan to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I don't have any down time days, might fill it up with C25K if I can figure any time into my weekend as you need to do 3 sessions a week of that.

 

I did drink 2 litres of water before I left work which was good, and have stayed away from the bread again, which is also good. I wrote my self an epic quest to cover my goals for 2014 so now I have plenty of things to aim for. It's gonna be a busy year. As I side note, I must dig out my fitbit and start using it again.

 

More complete log tomorrow! (Not that anyone is reading this yet, I just want to be able to look back over it when I am super fit )

[vido.ardes]

"I've noticing some changes around here..."
Friday, halfway through the workout, I wanted to give up. I felt awful and even though I came back and finished I felt like crap after and ached all day Saturday. I persisted, and I am glad I did. Today's workout felt good, it was tough but I could feel myself enjoying it. Can't wait to switch up the routine and start on something new now! Anyway today went as follows:
 
*3 sets of 15 of all of the below

• Bodyweight Squats
• Incline Bench Press 40kg
• Curl & Press 3.5kg
• Lateral Raises 2.5kg
• Crunches
• Bicycle Crunches
• Hyperextensions

One more lot of that and I will have completed my assessment . Friday should be good, I get to see what my personalised plan will look like. I think I will keep doing this assessment program, but at home on my off days, just to make sure I keep active.

 

I had a very busy afternoon as well, normally I am sat at a desk but we are having a refit in the office and I had to clear out the downstairs of rubbish, which filled up the entire boot of my Passat estate, and also had to stack a load of desks on top of each other ready for the painters in the morning, so I probably burned quite a few calories this afternoon (they were big desks as well with heavy metal legs). Food wise has been a good day, with a tuna jacket for lunch and a nice veg-heavy casserole for dinner which I am looking forward to.
 
Note to self: I need to find a decent pair of running shoes so I can start the C25K program...

[vido.ardes]

Another rest day. I know you are supposed to have these but I am starting to feel like I should be doing something, maybe just throw in some cardio? I will speak to the guy at the gym tomorrow. I am actually getting an itch to do exercise, this is pretty cool!

 

In other news, I bought some callipers. Terrified to see the measurement, but at least it will give me a good idea of progress, and as BF% is on my epic quest then I should really get a way of checking it. Food and drink were OK again today, diary is always open on MFP. If anyone ever reads this. Which they won't. But it's nice for my sanity

[vido.ardes]

Level Up!
 
D-D-D-Dah Dah, Dah Da DaDah!
(​Click here if that doesn't play a tune in you head )

 

So I did it, after 6 sessions I completed the assessment program and now am ready for my own customised plan!. With Christmas getting in the way it took longer than I expected, but I have done it. I have been eating clean for 5 days now, drank at least 2 litres of water for 5 days and had nothing but water to drink for the last 3 of those.

 

This mornings workout went much like last time

 

5 minute warm-up on the bike (20mph @ medium resistance) with stretches

 

*3 sets of 15 of all of the below

• Bodyweight Squats
• Incline Bench Press 40kg
• Curl & Press 3.5kg
• Lateral Raises 2.5kg
• Crunches
• Bicycle Crunches
• Hyper-extensions

Followed by a 5 minute warm-down on the bike (20mph @ medium resistance)

 

So that got me to ground zero, level 1. I am not of a fitness level where I feel comfortable not calling myself a slob, I can do more, I already feel better. I have more energy, my clothes are a little looser, but more importantly every day things like getting up from the sofa or reaching up into a cupboard isn't an effort any more, it's as easy as it should be. Imagine what I will feel like this time next year! 

 

To fit in with the current NF challenge so I can properly joining the next one, my level 2 challenge has to take me 4 weeks as I hit my level 1 goal a week early. I think it has to be to visit the gym 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks, without missing a session, or if I do to make up for it at home. That would be a big step for me and will start to get me into a habit. Then I will be able to set some targets  based on my new routine, hit new levels or reps or higher weights e.t.c

 

I will probably be back here on Monday feeling like I am broken all over again!

[vido.ardes]

Saturday & Sunday Report

Sensible, not awesome. I had a roast on Saturday with the in-laws but I pretty much kept within my daily amounts for calories, carbs, sugar & sodium which was good. Sunday was less good, we wnet out for a pub meal with my sister in-law before she goes to Spain for 6 months so had a little bit of a blow-out, but I didn't go mad so I was proud of myself in that respect.

 

On another note... Side Quest Complete! I drank at minimum 2 litres of water every day last week. and baring 1/2 pint of beer, 2 cups of tea and a glass of orange juice, I only drank water last week, so that was pretty awesome. As I have used up all available points for this challenge, my next side quest is just to buy some new gym clothes so I don't look like a complete muppet.

 

Monday: New Workout!

So today is the day I found out what I will be doing for the next 4 - 6 weeks. I will be starting with the following:

 

8 minutes static bike lvl. 10

3 x 10 Leg Press 50 Kg

3 x 10 Leg Curls 40 Kg

3 x 10 Bent Arm Pullover 10Kg

3 x 10 Seated Bench Press 60 Kg

3 x 10 Under Grip Lat Pull-downs 35 Kg

3 x 10 Hyper Extensions

4 x 10 Seated Dumbbell Press (fitball) 3.5 Kg

3 x 10 Barbell Curls 15 Kg

3 x 10 Tricep Dips (Hard!)

4 x 25 Raised Leg Crunches

3 x Static Situps 1 minute

5 minutes Cross Trainer lvl. 10

 

This is basically what I should be doing by about 4 - 5 weeks time. Today as most of it was showing me the machines and how to use them properly, I only did 2 sets of each, and on most I didn't get to the full weight yet, so todays exercises were actually:

 

8 minutes static bike lvl. 10
2 x 10 Leg Press 50 Kg
2 x 10 Leg Curls 40 Kg
2 x 10 Bent Arm Pullover 10Kg
2 x 10 Seated Bench Press 50 Kg
2 x 10 Under Grip Lat Pull-downs 30 Kg
2 x 10 Hyper Extensions
2 x 10 Seated Dumbbell Press (fitball) 3.5 Kg
2 x 10 Barbell Curls 15 Kg
2 x 8 Tricep Dips
2 x 20 Raised Leg Crunches
2 x Static Situps 1 minute
5 minutes Cross Trainer lvl. 10

 

I didn't feel as tired today as I did after my previous workout, so I think I will be able to push that much harder on Wednesday.

[vido.ardes]

So I bought some new gym clothes! Still need some trainers though, so I won't be ticking that if my list yet. My arms are a bit sore after the dips on Monday but hopefully I will be able to push through it tomorrow.

Food was OK again today, still keeping away from the bread and sweets which is good!

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[vido.ardes]

So today was brutal...

Just to give you a little background, my gym has 2 main trainers (the owners) Paul & Ian. Paul is a commonwealth Silver medallist in 400m and went to the Olympics to do the same, and Ian is a body-builder.They alternate early shifts, so last week was Paul and this week was Ian. Paul is the guy who signed me up for the Spartan race, and on Friday he said he woudl write me up a new workout for this week.

Turns out the one I did yesterday wasn't the one he wrote. His was worse. Much much worse.

I am now doing cicuits, so this mornings went the following:

5 Minutes on bike lvl 10
10 minutes on treadmill alternating 1 minute walk, 1 minute jog.

12 minutes of:
10 Push ups
10 Vertical Leg Sit-ups
10 Sqauts
10 Shoulder press (5Kg)
10 Russian Twists (no weight)

Then 5 minutes on the bike to finish.

I managed 3 sets in the 12 minutes which I was pretty happy with, but I was dripping with sweat by the end of it. The one I have on Friday is 3 exercises (he didn't say which) but I have to do 1 of each, then 2, the 3 and so on until I hit 10. That one will hurt.

Edit: I have just realised that in the last week I have only had 1 cup of tea (the only caffeine drink the whole week), been very good with my sodium levels and have only had one bottle (half pint) of beer. I should really check my blood pressure as I would hope that has gone down! Doctor said my blood pressure was on the high side for someone of my age so I should look at loosing some weight, but that was when I got down to 104 Kg (about 230lbs) so I should check it now anyway!

[vido.ardes]

So I didn't post yesterday, but it was fairly uneventful. Busy work day with a pub lunch meeting and I still managed to eat quite well (not amazing but under calorie goal) so that was good. I am really starting to feel like I need to do something on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am starting to itch to work out, who woulda thought!

 

Today was pretty brutal. Did 10 minutes on the bike to start, and the the 10 minute run /walk interval (although I kicked the speed up 0.5 kph today, and will probably do that again Monday). I then had to do a ladder circuit of the following

 

1 x push up

1 x bicycle crunch

1 x squat

 

then do 2 of each, then do 3 of each and so on up till 10. By 5 I thought "This seems a bit easy", by 7 I thought "OK this isn't funny any more" and by 9 I wanted to die. I physically couldn't do 10 push-ups at the end, my shoulders are incredibly weak for my body size, so I did 5 of them and 10 of the other 2. I was knackered by the end of it, but I can feel the benefits. 

 

My blood pressure monitor turned up today as did my body fat callipers, so when I do my measure up on the 1st of Feb I will add those to the list. Won't have anything to compare them to, but it will allow me to track them down the line.

[vido.ardes]

Today is usually a rest day, but I didn't feel like sitting on my arse today. I got up early and did the exercises in the first post except bench press (all 3 sets) and I did a 30 minute jog in the evening.

The best part about today is I think I had a breakthrough with my wife about fitness! She kept asking questions, SSSI I had her follow my routine this morning, and she wants to stay going swimming every Sunday. She said if I keep doing exercise at the weekend she'll do it too, so no rest day for me on Saturdays now!

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[vido.ardes]

Yesterday was a bad day for food, but a good day for exercise / life goals. It was my mother-in-law's birthday and she made a big Mexican food buffet, which was lovely but a bit heavy on the calories. Still, my wife wanted to go swimming in the evening and seems pretty dead set on doing that every week which is good, and that allowed me to balance out the extra food.

 

Today was gym day and I was doing the same circuit that I did last Wednesday, although I did a bit better today.

 

10 Minutes on bike (lvl. 7 20mph)
10 minutes on treadmill alternating 1 minute walk (3.5mph), 1 minute jog (4.5 mph).

12 minutes of:
10 Push ups
10 Vertical Leg Sit-ups
10 Sqauts
10 Shoulder press (5Kg)
10 Russian Twists (no weight)

 

Then 5 minutes on the bike (lvl 5 20mph) to finish.

 

This time I managed 4 rounds, I actually took 13 1/2 minutes but I thought it best to finish the last set. I am definitely feeling a difference now, will be pushing for longer on the treadmill next time (I think the target is 20 minutes by the end).

[vido.ardes]

Well today hasn't been great. I was locked in a room with some clients all day and the only thing on offer for lunch was pizza. Literally pizza, or don't eat. So I think I'm gonna have to do a jog when I get home...

 

Measuring day is coming up on Saturday, I'm a little nervous to see if there has been any change. Not too hopeful, but staying optimistic.

[vido.ardes]

Good day today, lots of exercise.

10 minutes on bike (lvl. 7 20mph)

10 minutes on treadmill alternating 1 minute walk (3.5mph), 1 minute jog (4.5mph)

Squat & Press with 10kg, press up and ultra fit crutches starting with e reps then scaling by 3 each set, for 10 minutes.

I managed up to 12 of each, which was pretty tiring. Definitely going to start doing some jogging on my off days.

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[vido.ardes]

Thursday was a bit of a bust, my wife was ill so I couldn't leave the house and had to order food in. Today was good though, have a good feeling about tomorrow's measure up.

Today's exercise went well too, getting closer to running the full 10 minutes on the treadmill, and today's circuit was the ladder of squat, bicycle crunch and press up, and I got up to 11 today which is an improvement.

Hopefully back tomorrow with some nice big changes in measurements!

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[vido.ardes]

Well that was one hell of a busy week! I didn't manage to get down the gym, but didn't really have time to update my battle log, so this will be a long one!

 

Saturday 01/02 - Measure Up Day!

So last Saturday was when I took all my measurements, to compare to the ones I took on the 16th Dec. I was pleasantly surprised!

 

Weight: 231lbs (16st 7lbs) / 104.7kg

Waist: 42.5"

Hips: 40.5"

Chest: 43"

Neck: 16.5"

Thighs: 24"

Calfs: 17"

Upper Arms: 14.5"

Wrists: 7.5"

Forearm: 12"

 

BP (Average of 3 readings for each arm)

Left Arm: 116/82

Right Arm: 125/77

Pulse: 74 bpm

 

Wile I took many more this time than I did the first time, I have several deltas to compare:

 

Weight: -9 lbs / -4.3kg

Neck: -0.5"

Waist: -1.5"

Hips: -0.5"

Chest: 1"

 

Pretty good for 3 weeks I'll think you agree! Also my BP is in the normal range now which is good.

 

Sunday 02/02

The wife and I went swimming again, and signed up for a member ship so it looks like this will now be a permanent thing, although she is a lot better at it than I am so I might have to take some lessons! I made a really nice chilli in the slow cooker, and it was lovely coming home after swimming to that smell!

 

Monday 03/02

Another gym day, still stuck on 4 sets of this circuit:

 

10 x Press ups

10 x Bicycle Crunches

10 x Squats

10 x Shoulder Press (10kg)

10 x Russian Twists

 

Still I am getting quicker at it and I am running further on the treadmill rather than walking in intervals, I did 8 minutes jogging at 4mph which was good for me.

 

Tuesday 03/02

Eating wasn't bad, and I did manage to get a couple of walks in during work as well which was good, so stayed within my limits.

 

Wednesday 04/02

Second circuit, and I managed to improve on last week.

 

Squat & Press (5kg)

Vertical Leg Crunches

Press Ups

 

In scales of 3 (so 3, then 6, then 9 e.t.c). I got up to 15 this week which was good, and I fit a couple of walks in as well.

 

Thursday 05/02

We are currently having our office redecorated, and Thursday involved a lot of moving furniture so it was a lot more active than my normal sedentary work day which meant lots of extra calories to eat. I love having the fitbit track my movements, forces me to be a lot more active that I am normally.

 

Friday 06/02

Improved on this one again, I managed 12 sets instead of the 11 I did the week before which was good, for a total of 78 of each of the following:

 

Squat & Press 10kg

Press Up

Vertical Leg Crunches

 

I also did 9 minutes jogging at 4.5 mph on the treadmill so definitely improving in my stamina.

 

Saturday 07/02

Saturdays are proving difficult, I need to start doing some sort of exercises. Not only am I quite inactive, but I am also finding it the hardest day of the week to eat cleanly. I usually visit my parents (who are big eaters) and struggle to find a healthy option in their house. Still, gives me something to work on.

 

Sunday 08/02

Sundays are looking a little better now we are going swimming, and I managed to do 15 lengths of the pool (25m) which is good for me as I am not a very strong swimmer. I also got up early and did some exercise before my wife woke up, which meant I was good on my macros for the day.

 

Today (Monday) 09/02

Today I managed to run the whole 10 minutes at 4.7mph, which was awesome. I will be trying for 5mph on Wednesday. I am still stuck on 4 sets of the following:

 

10 x Push ups
10 x Vertical Leg Sit-ups
10 x Squats
10 x Shoulder press (5Kg)
10 x Russian Twists (no weight)

 

I really need to work on my push ups, my shoulders are really weak. I keep testing myself at home, just doing 2 or 3 every so often, so hopefully I will build up some strength in them soon.

 

 

So that's me caught up for last week! I have set myself an aim of loosing 7 pounds by the start of March, so I am under 100kg by my birthday (1st). It will be a challenge, but we shall see!

[vido.ardes]

Yesterday was uneventful, not sure it needs it's own log!

 

Today was circuit 2 again, which is the scale of 3 on the following

 

Squat & Press (5kg)
Vertical Leg Crunches
Press Ups

 

I did 15 again, but I did it quicker this time, so next week will definitely be pushing for 18 next week. I also upped the speed on my run to 4.8mph so I will by trying to maintain 5mph from now on. I have one more week of this routine, and then after next week I will get a new plan which will hopefully involve more weights as we ramp up the preparations for the spartan run!