Building Muscles

Chest Training Schedule - Day 43

Day 43	Goal			Actual
Chest	Reps	Kg's		Reps	Kg's
D/B Incline Fly’s	20	12.5		20	12.5
	12	15		12	15
	10	17.5		10	17.5
	12	15		12	15
D/B Bench Press	15	20		16	30
Triceps	Reps	Kg's		Reps	Kg's
Overhead Ext.	20	20		20	20
	12	25		12	25
	10	30		10	30
	12	25		12	25
Kick backs	15	10		16	10
Biceps	Reps	Kg's		Reps	Kg's
Z/B Curls	21	25		21	25
	12	30		12	30
	10	35		10	35
	12	30		12	30
D/B Hammer Curls	15	12.5		15	12.5

Muscle to Fat Myth

You might have heard it said that if you train your body with weights, and you stop training, your muscles turn to fat. Nothing could be further from the truth. You cannot turn fat into muscle and muscle cannot turn to fat. You can burn up fat when training muscles but it cannot convert.

Why then do people get fat after stopping weight training ?

You get fat because - when you train you eat more, up to 6 meals a day. You need to eat protein and carbs with good oil and veges. This is used to keep up your energy and fuel your body and muscles. If you stop training it is hard to cut down on the food intake because that is how much you are used to eating. Even though you eat healthily, if you are not burning up the extra calories you are putting in, it has to go somewhere - and that is to fat.

That is the reason people get fat. If you just stopped weight training and immediately cut right back on food, all that would happen is that the muscles would get smaller because they are not getting stimulated daily.

From personal experience I have found that when you carry a lot of fat, it just sits there, and seems to attract a lot more fat. Muscles require energy, so even when you are resting they require energy. This helps the fat burning process.   

General - Day 42

42 days today !!! and still going strong.

I did not train yesterday but stuck to the eating plan. Today I have made this my free day for eating - but had to make up the training, so I trained legs. I really enjoyed training my legs today.

It was my youngest granddaughter's birthday party this afternoon, so I had a bit of chocolate cake. She is 1 year old.

I have eaten almost to the eating plan but still enjoyed it as a free day. We enjoyed a barbecue.

I also managed to catch a bit of sunshine. I tried to do a video of the chest workout but the lighting was too bad, so we will re-do the video tomorrow in the garden.

Training Legs - Day 42

I just stuck to the normal plan for legs without doing anything out of the ordinary. It was a great training.

I did train on the bike for 20 minutes because of the free day eating. Even though I did not overeat or eat too much rubbish I decided to train extra on the bike. I finished like I had just come out of the rain, soaking wet.

A really great day including all the training.

Training Legs - Day 42 - Schedule

Day 42	Goal			Actual
Legs Quads	Reps	Kg's		Reps	Kg's
Single Leg Ext	20	25		20	25
	12	35		12	35
	10	45		10	45
	12	35		12	35
Single Leg Squat	15	12.5		15	12.5
Hamstrings	Reps	Kg's		Reps	Kg's
Lying Leg Curl	20	12.5		20	12.5
	12	15		12	15
	10	20		10	20
	12	17.5		12	17.5
Dead Lift	15	60		15	60
Calves	Reps	Kg's		Reps	Kg's
Single Leg Calf Raise	30	30		30	30
	20	45		20	45
	15	50		15	50
	15	50		15	50

Weights & Sizes - Day 42

As you can see from the chart on the progress page, not a lot has changed this week. That is the way it appears on paper. That is not the way I actually feel. I am feeling like something special is happening to me. I feel different. When I look in the mirror I see a difference. A big difference.

If we look at the actual results we see:

Weight    3.9 kgs/8.8 lbs   REDUCTION
Fat   2.7   REDUCTION
Bone  o.oo
Water  1.6   GAIN
Muscle  0.2   GAIN

Arms  1/2"   GAIN
Chest  1/2"   REDUCTION
Waist 5"   REDUCTION
Thigh  1/2"   REDUCTION

One of the main goals is WAIST and that is down by 5". That is the real winner. As for the rest, well, you must remember there was quite a layer of fat covering my whole body. You can see the difference when I train. The veins in my arms now stand out because of the fat reduction. You could not see them before. That shows a big muscle gain and fat reduction. The chest veins stand out and there is very little fat when you try to pinch the skin around my pecs.

The only place where there is still a fair amount of fat when you do the pinch test is around the waist. Before hand fulls, now much better, but still not what I want.

Overall I am really delighted with the results. This is such a sense of achievement. You will only appreciate how I feel if you experience this for yourself. You hear people saying they have gained confidence and that they feel invincible when they have changed the shape of their body. NOTE - not just weight reduction.

This can only happen with resistance training - the use of weights - there is no short cut.

Nutrition - Day 41

I did not exactly stick to the plan and ate quite a bit less but I did not train.

I ended up with 3 x nuts and dried fruit. 1 x Chicken and mashed potato with vege's.

1.5 lts water 2 x tea's and 2 x coffee.

No energy burn so little fuel required. I am putting in some info under general about myths on Bodybuilding and training.

Day 41 - Saturday 7th June

Well today has been a bit of a disaster. Sometimes things happen that are not under your control and you have to deal with them. Lorraine had a very bad spasm of the oesophagus, (under her diaphragm) and was taken to hospital. This was on day 40 (last night) at 11pm. I got home with her at 4am this morning (day 41). I got my son to fetch my Mother-in-law from Gatwick Airport. She arrived from Zimbabwe 7.40am. I woke up at 7.30am after only 3 1/2 hours sleep. All day I've felt like I was using sea sand for eye drops. I do enjoy at least 7 hours good sleep a night.

I watched the rugby Ireland vs All Blacks. and Wales vs Springboks. I caught up with the latest on Zimbabwe. By 7.30pm went to bed for the night. Had the day as a training free day but stuck to the food plan.

I decided I would train Legs and have a food free day on day 42 (tomorrow - Sunday).

General Thoughts - Day 40

I have had a reasonably quiet day. I have been preparing for the arrival of my mother-in-law. Finished off her room. She arrives from Zimbabwe in the morning, so Lorraine and I will be off to Gatwick very early.

I have felt very good today because my wife of 37 years commented that I am starting to look rather good. I feel if I can impress someone I have been with for that length of time, I must be on the right track.

I must admit I am starting to get some rather nice compliments and that is very encouraging.

Training Shoulders & Back - Day 40

My shoulder must be getting better as I increased the weights by 2.5 kgs. I could feel a bit of pain when doing the side raises. I will be careful and work within the pain limits. I am a strong believer that the mind can do some pretty wonderful things, provided you are not stupid about it. I always try to read my body and would never overdo a training if I felt it would harm me.

I was very brave and took off my shirt on the wide grip lat pull downs. That was only to show you which muscles are working. Also, the very big layer of fat hiding everything has shrunk quite a bit. Great feeling. I kept the weights the same as last time.

Lying leg raises. Well I kept everything the same and found I really enjoyed this training.

The bike was great and I did a good 14 minutes worth.