Evilpie's get off your lazy arse and get back to the gym diaries

[EvilPie]

Good to see you back, hope the injuries stay away. Know what you mean about feeling hungry. Upping the weights myself atm and had to up the food intake as didn't have the energy for the compounds.
Any lifting targets? or just training and see how you progress

Thanks mate. Great to be back!!

All I'm focussed on for now is improving my core strength and building a foundation ready for a bit of a push when I decide on a specific goal. There's been way too many occasions when I've gone too heavy too soon and my body has struggled to cope so I'm just going steady.

My back is now fully recovered but I still have a very tight nerve in my right leg which needs a bit more work before I can pick anything to heavy up. I'm stretching it out a bit further every day so give it a few more weeks and I expect to be feeling pretty much 100%

Having taken a few measurements today I think my target may be something chest based. Can't believe how puny I've become!!!

[EvilPie]

Wednesday is going to be stat day when I take four measurements as follows:

Chest - 43"
Waist - 35"
Leg - 23.5"
Bicep - 15.75"

Can't believe how small my chest is although having seen it in the mirror it's no huge surprise!! That's definitely one to work on.

Even though I hadn't really planned on setting any goals just yet I can't see it hurting so let's go for some realistic ones.

Chest - 45"
Waist - 34"
Leg - 24.5"
Bicep - 16.5"

These are very ambitious targets but if I work hard they're attainable so I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm going away in mid-November so I'll set that as the target date for these measurements. 3 months should be plenty if I stay focussed and injury free.

Once I feel a bit stronger I may do some kind of strength challenge as well to help push myself but for the next 4 weeks or so it's all about steady progress.

[muckthenuts]

GL! Will be keeping a keen eye on this diary!

[iRaise]

Hi Matt, would be really interested to see strength targets, me and Sean have a friendly competition going, but we are aiming for PBs.

Would be really interested to see one how quick you can get back to your old levels or even if you intend on exceeding them?

What was your rep target for the 50s with DBs?

[DaveShoelace]

Glad this is back.

I DB Bench Pressed 36kg dumbells last month, new personal best with those (90kg for bench press). A mate of mine (a former Olympic Swimmer) has challenge me to get to the 40kg dumbells before the end of the summer, which is looking pretty good.

PS. where is the gym totty pic?

[StuartHopkin]

Can't believe how puny I've become!!!

Can confirm Matt looks like he has the aids.

The bad aids.

Not the good aids.

[booder]

Glad this is back.


PS. where is the gym totty pic?

[titaniumbean]

bopkin for president

[EvilPie]

Hi Matt, would be really interested to see strength targets, me and Sean have a friendly competition going, but we are aiming for PBs.

Would be really interested to see one how quick you can get back to your old levels or even if you intend on exceeding them?

What was your rep target for the 50s with DBs?

I quite fancy a shot at the 50kg dumbbells again and maybe 140kg bench press. In terms of weight they'd both be PB matches but I wouldn't expect the same quantity of reps.

I think I'll get to 40kg dumbbells within 6 weeks without having to try too much but after that it gets hard even just picking the things up off the floor!! One advantage over last time I did the challenge is that I now have a spotter to help out whereas before I was on my own. That means I can push to failure a bit safer and might speed progress up.

As far as exceeding my old levels I can't see that happening. I really was strong and could quite easily do 14 reps with 50kg dumbbells. That was back when I was in my late 20s which I think is commonly accepted as being a man's 'prime'. I'm now 40 and my poor body suffers from all the steel it's thrown about and all the fighting I've put it through. Mentally I feel great so if my back, shoulders and wrists can hold out then maybe I can do something impressive again in the not too distant future.......

Whatever happens it'll be fun finding out.

[EvilPie]

GL! Will be keeping a keen eye on this diary!

Thanks mate. The interest really helps when it comes to updating regularly. I always worry that this diary has absolutely nothing to do with poker but knowing that a few people are following makes it worth taking the time.

[zerofive]

Do you do much in the way of yoga or pilates Matt?

[EvilPie]

Do you do much in the way of yoga or pilates Matt?

I've got a pretty good stretching routine that I do regularly although I don't know if it has an official name.

I didn't do much stretching at all previously but the last year since my back problems I've found it really helps. Hindsight has recently suggested that I should probably have started this a few years earlier......

[EvilPie]

5th Aug Chest - 43", Waist - 35", Leg - 23.5", Bicep - 15.75"

12th Aug Chest - 44.25", Waist - 35.25", Leg - 23.5", Bicep - 15.50"

Mid November target....... Chest - 45", Waist - 34", Leg - 24.5", Bicep - 16.5"

Very welcome boost to the chest measurement after week one which has already put me over half way to my 3 month target. The chest always responds well to a 'pump' so it's not a huge surprise to see a significant short term gain. No surprises to see everything else stay about the same after just one week but I'll be keeping a close eye on the waist measurement!!

My diet's been very good this last week, no huge changes to the plan that helped me shift a lot of body fat but I've maintained the additional 100g or so of protein per day which carries about 1000 calories with it. I'm hoping that this will be about the right level of swing from the previous deficit to enable me to gain a bit of muscle.

I'm already getting a bit impatient in the gym and wanting to push myself further. I really need to keep that under check for a few more weeks until the recovery is 100% complete then I can go for it a little more.

Current thoughts for a strength challenge are based around dumbbell press and possibly wide grip chins. Both would have a significant impact on the chest measurement so tie in nicely with overall goals.

Main thing is I'm still loving it and getting a massive buzz from being at the gym every day. Whatever I decide to do I know I'll enjoy it so I really can't wait to be fit enough to make a proper start. Might have to join zero and iraise in their strength challenge...... Sounds like fun!!

[EvilPie]

Exercise of the week - The wide grip chin up:

This is an amazing exercise for building a big upper back. They're very difficult to do properly but if you can master them you can't fail to make big gains.  The key is to maintain good form, keep the body still using the core to stabilise and get a good squeeze at the top.

I used to be able to do these for fun but they're incredibly difficult when you're out of practice. I'm hoping to slowly build up to a decent quantity so for now I've been doing 4 sets of just two reps but with a 3 second pull up, 3 second hold and then 3 second lower. If I stick with this for a few weeks it won't take long before I can do them well again.

In pictorial form....

Click to see full-size image.

[Eso Kral]

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