coryK's Training Log

[coryK]

Ok, so I finally sat down to set this up.

I've been on and off with Stronglifts for the last couple of months (been lifting weights / going to the gym since high school, harldly in great shape tho), but about a month ago decided to really sink my teeth into it. Next step is to stop putting off my training log!

Current stats

32 yo
62 kg
173 cm
14% body fat (<-as of my last test (July 15) on those weight scales that zap current through you rather than with a caliper test)

Current weight levels

Squat: 57.5 kg (almost squatting my body weight with full range of motion - hips below knees!)
Bench: 32.5 kg
OHP: 25 kg
Bent-over row: 26 kg (actually, it's not a real bent-over row. I use one of the back machines. There's only one squat rack in my gym and it's just more efficient this way)
Pull ups: 2,1,1
Chin ups: 3,2,2
Push ups: 15, 15, 15 with 1.25 kg on my back

After my workouts I like to throw in some high intensity cardio like spinning, kickboxing classes or a few sets of burpees. I sometimes come in on my days off for more cardio, extra core muscle work, or some yoga.

Goals I know I'm supposed to aim high, but I'm not even sure what's realistically possible...so I'm gonna go with:

70 kg & 12% body fat: by the turn of the year

Major obstacles to my goals

1. I don't get to the gym enough. For the last month I've been consistently getting 2 stornglift workouts a week plus one extra spinning class. Question is how can I get to the gym more. First, gym is closed on Mondays. Nothing I can do about that. So I should be doing tues, thrus, sat. But, recently I've been spending the weekends in the city at a friend's place (I live about an hour outside of Tokyo) and just can't make it to the gym wich is near to my house in the 'burbs. So, in order to get in my Saturday workouts, I need to cut the partying on the weekends. Which will really test my will power cuz Tokyo clubs are so much fun, Japanese girls are so hot and I'm still young. Gonna be a tricky balancing act. At least, since I'm halfway around the world from home (Canada) I've no family obligations to worry about

2. Diet. I'm horrible at it. Mostly because I don't know how to cook, or plan for weekly meals. Worst of all, by the time I get home from the gym, it's around 11. I get up at 8 am for work. I need at least 7 hours of sleep. I really don't enjoy spending my last 2 hours before bed cooking and washing up. Not sure how I'm gonna get around this. At least I have the fact that I'm in Japan and surrounded by Japanese food going in my favor. My selections for pre-prepared meals are much healthier than what I could expect from back home. I'm also going to have to use my days off more to my advantage and go shopping / prepare meals with them. Also, I just don't eat enough. I get full quickly and stay full for long periods of time. I could try the whole 2 liters of milk a day thing, but the stories of nausea and diarrea really put me off. For now I'll stick with snacking on cans of tuna whenever I feel like I need a snack.

Ok, that's probably enough of a beginning. I've laid out my goals, imagined a few obstacles and began thinking of ways around them. Now I need to keep motivated, keep searching for ways to achieve my goals and keep this log up to date.

Here goes.

[coryK]

Today was a day off, but I went to the gym anyway. Did a whole body workout with light weights and high reps. It's a class called Shape Pump at my gym. Was kinda rough in the beginning, squats really bothered my quads and hams, but the stiffness went away after a few reps.

Did a 40 minute spinning class as well. Went all out and really pushed myself. Felt great.

But now I'm worried that I over did it and won't have the energy to do stronglifts on Sat...will just have to get a good nite's sleep and see how I feel tomorrow.

[coryK]

3 cheers for me, my first Saturday workout on stronglifts^^d Maybe it won't be so hard to make a habit of this. Here's how I did:

squat
55kg 5,5,5,5,5 (didn't deload here, turns out my first post should have read 52.5)

bench
32.5kg 5,5,5,5,5 (weight is still knda light, so I pauses for a sec at the top and bottom of each lift. That gave each rep a nice squeeze and I really felt it in my pecs)

row
28.5kg 15,15,15 (gonna repeat this weight next week. Didn't exactly fail, but form was off for the last few reps)

push up
1.25kg 15,15,15 (the last 5 reps of the last set were dine with my knees resting on the ground, so m gonna repeat this weight again next week)

bicycle kicks & oblique V raises
3 x 30 each (felt good, mght try 40 next time)

Overall a good workout. Was a bit worked that I wouldn't have enough energy after last nite's spinnng class, but I was fine. Hams on the inside of my right thigh hurt a little and still do, but I hot 2 days of rest coming up so all should be well for Tuesday's workout.

[Shox]

keep it up, make sure you're eating a lot to help recovery and growth, what's your diet like?

[coryK]

Hi Shox, thanks for the encouragement!

My diet is definitely my weakest point. A typical weekday has me eating toast with jam/peanut butter, coffee, a piece of fruit and granola with milk for breakfast. Lunches are a bit more random, but typically involve white rice and fish or some other kind of meat. I'll sometimes have pasta, or vegetable and bean curry over white rice. After work I always have a whey protein shake as a pre-workout snack on gym days. Dinners are a bit more systematic since I usually buy them from the same shop on my way home from the gym: salmon or makeral fillet with white rice, pickeled and fresh vegetables (not very much tho) and some mixed beans. Some days I'll splurge and pick up a mixed sushi set and pair it with buckwheat or thick flour noodles (soba or udon). Weekends are completely unstructured, but I do keep daily calorie and fat totals in mind when I make my choices.

All in all I get roughly 2000 calories a day with an acceptable, if not ideal, calories from fat ratio. Definitely not enough fresh fruit and veg, but I do take supplements in an attempt to make up for that. There's lots of room for improvement here if I would just sit down and plan out my meals and shopping. It's just that my kitchen is so tiny, 1 gas burner and a microwave/oven with mininal preparation space, that cooking is a real, real chore. Not impossible, though, so I just suck it up I suppose ^^;

[NickXD]

Hi Cory,

From my own limited experience of trying to bulk up/eat enough fast I've found a couple of points

* Make sure you keep a full fruit bowl: Bananas, grapes, apples (being the easiest and least messy) and just grab a peice when you go past, it won't do any harm and will help to boost your Kcals by about 200 a time.
* Make a rough plan of how much you WANT to eat. Make up a couple of rough example diets and keep to them.
* If you've got a kind of job that allows it I'd strongly recommend eating nuts (Fibre, Protien, Carbs and Kcal, a lot of kcal, a three hundred gram bag you can just tip into a bowl, grab a spoon and eat like cereal and will put you up by a good 1500 calories) or just keep a open bag on your desk (/wherever) and nibble them whenever you get chance.
* I myself experienced nausea when I was on GOMAD but personally I'd put that down to the stupid amount of energy supplements I was taking with it, so I'd still recommend it, try it out for a few weeks and see whether it's for you.
* Even if you don't try GOMAD I'd recommend having a protien shake at least once a day (for example on rest days for breakfast and on workout days postworkout, to give you the most from it) an example of this would be: http://stronglifts.com/quick-easy-effec ... ut-shakes/. (Personally I have flavoured whey, milk + oats (practically powdered) in mine.)

Last of all:

* Would changing gyms be possible for you? Try and find a gym that's open on a Monday? In my opinion lifting shouldn't rule your life in anyway you don't want it to. So I wouldn't stop going out for the weekend and having a goodtime and you can see the effects of your commitment to eating and lifting during the week on all the Japanese girls

My two cents.
Nick

[AbsoluteTom]

(I live about an hour outside of Tokyo) and just can't make it to the gym wich is near to my house in the 'burbs. So, in order to get in my Saturday workouts, I need to cut the partying on the weekends. Which will really test my will power cuz Tokyo clubs are so much fun, Japanese girls are so hot and I'm still young.

I wouldn't want to miss out on weekends in Tokyo! You have a house, how about building a home gym?

[Shox]

Yeh man, good job with what ur doing. You're gonna be wanting 3000+ calories a day really for significant gains, i recommend oats, mayonaise, nuts, milk, and natural peanut butter as some good calorie dense foods. Try having oats for breakfast, they're very cheap if u buy supermarkets own brands (which are the best anyway, since they're no nonesense 100% rolled oats with no shit added), and easy to make - just put in a bowl, add water or milk (i recommend milk for the extra cals), mix a bit and throw in microwave for 3-4 minutes. It's kinda hard to eat at first as it's filling but you get used to it soon, but it's definately a lot better than toast!

Keep up the good work, the weekends will be a test of your willpower

[coryK]

NickXD:

You are wise beyond your years mate! Thanks for the great advice. I do keep a fruit bowl at home, but I eat from it sparringly (once a day?) cuz fresh fruit over here is stupid expensive. 2 bucks per apple?! 5 bucks for one bunch of grapes?! 8 bucks for roughly 20 strawberries?! 10 bucks for 100 grams of raspberries?! It's absolutely brutal.

The only really cheap fruit is bananas, but I eat so many of them I'm down right sick of'em. But variation keeps things interesting and lately I've been slicing them on peanut butter and bread. White bread, unfortunately, cuz whole wheat bread is basically non-existant over here. Nuts seems like a great idea. They're a little pricey here too, but not as bad as fruit and I can keep a big bag open on my desk for easy access.

Oats, unfortunately, like whole wheat bread, are simply not sold in most supermarkets over here. Closest thing I can find is that Quaker instant stuff, which is also ridiculously expensive cuz its imported and doesn't even taste all that good. There are a few shops that specialize in ex-pat stuff and there is a Costco sort-of nearby, so I will look around and see if I can find some. Any suggestions on the best kind of oats?

Whey protein is readily available though, and I do have a shake a day. One before bed on rest days and usually one pre-workout. I like it pre-workout cuz my stomache tends to get really upset if I have solid foods even 2 hours pre-workout, and I'm usually starving after work on my way to the gym, so I need something in my belly. But maybe if I nibble on nuts and drink more milk all day that'll keep me satiated until my work out and I can switch to post-workout shakes to get the most out of them like you said.

And as for changing gyms, not really an option. I want a gym close to where I live and close to the train station (can't afford a car over here) so that getting to the gym is quick and easy. There are about 3 gyms around me that fit that description. One of them I got kicked out of because of my tatoo (All gyms/swimming pools/hot springs have strict no tatoo policies in order to keep the Yakuza out) and the other is closed on Wednesdays and doesn't offer spinning classes, which I am addicted to. So I'm pretty much stuck where I am.

Wow, kinda got carried away there! Thanks again for the advice!

[coryK]

AbsoluteTom:

Sorry, that was a slip of the keyboard. By house I meant place, and by place I mean 9ft X 12ft closet that is laughingly refered to here as a "mansion." Mansion being a loanword from some European language whose English equivalent would be condominium. So, unfortunately, a home gym is out of the question.

[coryK]

Shox

Thanks for the encouragement! Will definitely try to get my calories up, and while finding oats is a bit of a challenge here, everything else you recommend is plentiful. Peanut butter is stupid expensive tho, like 8 bucks for a regular jar of Skippy. Natural peanut butter might be hard to find, gonna shop around at the ex-pat shops in the city and see if I can't find some.

Ya, the weekends will definitely test my willpower! I'm off to a good start tho, and I've already told my friends not to expect me out friday nite or satuarday this week either I figure if I can give two or three weekends a month to the gym and one or two to the city, then I might find a good balance. The more I experiment with my schedule, the easier it will be to find what works.

Thanks again for the advice!

[Shox]

ya, well if you're looking for oats, just look for oats that have no crap in them (i.e 100% rolled oats, or 100% oat flakes). If you go to www.myprotein.co.uk you can get a bag of powdered oats for putting in a shake, not sure how much it would cost to ship for you though.

[Shox]

rice is another good bulking food im sure you can get hold of

[NickXD]

What about animal produce? Eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt etc. Are the prices for those daft aswell?

Best kinds of oats are usually the most basic, least additives. Main thing you're looking for is can you mix them? It's very convenient to just add 'em to your shake but if you can't find mixable just chop up a banana, stick some oats in a bowl, add milk + microwave (Known as a basic 'Jamaican Porridge'- you can even add seeds or nuts to them after you've microwaved them ^). Nice end to a long day a work and it takes all of 3 minutes.

Goodluck with the gyming today mate
Also if you're trying to put on weight an extra protien shake post as well as pre won't do you any harm or just drink 500ml - 1000ml of whole fat milk afterwards

[coryK]

Shox, definitely no shortage of rice over here! Glad to hear that it's good for bulking up. I'll be sure to order extra with my meals from now on!

Nick, all the things you mentioned are pretty reasonably priced over here. I took a suggestion from one of the users here named DataFix and am mixing 3-4 eggs with a bunch of fresh chopped veg and nuking it for a big'ol omelet in the morning. Have also significantly upped my whole milk intake. Drank 2 liters today, most I've ever had in one day! That, the mixed nuts and extra helpings of rice with my meals and I think I should be able at least double my typical calorie intake. Gonna give'r a go for a few days, record my calories and see where I'm at. Soy beans have just come into season over here, so I can nibble on those all day too. Great source of protein.