I Can Transform

Here it is!

Well to say I’m annoyed at this weeks progress would be an understatement. What happened! The strange thing is I feel as fit and healthy as ever and the weights im lifting would agree with that. I did take this photo on a day off, hadn’t been to the gym that day so theres no hint of “gym pump” that was probably more evident in the earlier photos plus I had just eaten. Maybe thats to blame?
Whatever it was, this week shall be the most brutal week yet.

Well, I’ve got to admit now that I have never (not yet anyway) actually picked up a kettle bell. I have no experience with them what-so-ever, so any ideas that I put forward in this post are based purely off what I’ve been told. It’s going to be a short post anyway

Kettle Bells always seemed like a tool that I have been really interested in using. As I’m not aiming to become The Hulk chest pressing colossal amounts has never been my main aim. The more training I do the more I realise how vital strength, explosive power, speed and flexibility are all equally important, not just in reflection of the body I am aiming for (which I guess is that perfect balance) but mainly as an athlete and just to be healthy.

All of these things originate from one area. Your core. If your core isn’t strong then your not going to be powerful, or flexible, or fast. I do massive amounts of core excercies at the gym in every session now however my core excercises and my strength building exercises are quite seperate.

I think this is where kettle bells could step in. They bridge that gap between building general strength in your arms, chest, shoulders etc whilst I think being a fantastic core workout. Over the coming weeks this is definitely going to be something that I learn more about. so many athletes (such as boxers) seem to like them they must be doing something good.

Damn! 10 Weeks! Where the hell did that time go. Seriously.

Training has been going well recently. The only major thing to note is that I (stupidly) have been focusing a bit too much on weights and not enough on cardio. It’s so so easy to fall into a “train one body part a day” type of routine. Not having it! Need to make sure I’m doing at least 30 mins of cardio every day. That’s my goal this week at least.
Quite pleased with todays picture. One thing of note is that my cheat day has played havoc with my skin. Seems to every week. Besides this I am happy with the progress made, just need to lose a bit more fat.

If you haven’t seen Ninja Assassin already go check it out. I’m not going to lie, it’s certainly not the most clever or revolutionary film of all time but if your interested in getting lean and ripped then the body Rain achieved in 8 months is absolutely inspiring.

There are a couple of videos on YouTube that show Rain training and I thought it would be good to have these videos as a reference here.  I can then watch them and analyse them to find new exercises that should hopefully help to achieve the body I’m looking for. After each video I will list all the exercises I see him performing. Obviously I’m no expert so this shouldn’t be taken as a “workout” but more of as a discovery into what excercises he used.

Here is Video#1

Just a quick update to let you all know that I have updated the theme here.

I did like the original Bueno theme, it was nice and simple, very diary-like and to the point however after a couple of months of looking at it it was beginning to bore me. Thought we needed a nice, clean, fresh look.

In the future I want to add an image gallery that makes it much easier to navigate and see each of the photo’s in chronological order, side by side. I think eventually a newsletter might also be cool to let you know what i’ve been up to. We shall see.

What do you think?

Sorry again for the day late post. I’m getting really bad at this. Must keep on top of them. Just seem to be so tired at the moment the last thing I want to do is be taking photos right after I’ve had dinner. Nevermind.

Here is Photo 10. Overall I can see an improvement but there is still a long long way to go yet. Need to turn up the cardio and lose some more fat. Still think I’m probably on target for it taking 52 weeks to get the body I want

Well after that last little rant a week or two back about how monster supplements and nutrition were owned by the same company and that I felt cheated, guess what happened? That’s right I went and bought some more. After about a full days research I just couldn’t find another all-in-one product that had as good feedback, nutritional profile and taste.

I could possibly start using bulk protein powder and mix it up with different pre and post workout shakes but in all honesty I don’t have the time, inclination or knowledge to do that properly.

For the price you really can’t beat it. A friend of mine is on Maximuscle’s Cyclone but I just can’t afford that (£90/month for two shakes a day) and the taste is supposed to be awful.

This time however I did shop around a bit instead of buying straight from Monster Supplements.

I found a fantastic ebay store that offered two 2kg tubs, any flavour, 24 hour courier delivery (it came in approx 17 hours from time of purchase), plus a free gift (two protein bars) and a decent maximuscle-esque shaker all for £59.99.

For once I opted to try some different flavours and went for Strawberry and Double Chocolate, they both taste great although I probably do prefer Chocolate Orange. It’s nice to have a bit of variety. I did wonder how a shake could be “double” chocolate and for the record, yes, as expected, it’s just chocolate however I guess normal chocolate gives you a bit more flexibility to mix it with other things than chocolate orange.

Overall I have been pleased with the results I have gained from pHd synergy. Don’t fix what aint broken right? I look forward to getting through these two containers.

Ok it’s actually Monday now but I thought i’d make a quick post before the start of the new week. Keep an eye out for the end of week/new photo very very soon.
Today my cheat day reached an all time high with friend breakfasts, macdonalds and enough chocolate to sink the titanic (somehow). I am really getting into swimming now though. After I purchased some goggles it’s all coming back to me so much easier. I really hadn’t been swimming for years and, whilst being quite a competent swimmer as a kid, technique kind of diminishes. Been practising my front crawl today and whilst not quite as fast as Ian The Torpedo Thorpe it’s significantly faster than the infamously effeminate (despite the name) “breast stroke”.

As soon as I got home I began watching youtube videos to help improve my technique (once i get a bee in my bonnet…). Beneath is the video that I found most useful to generally help you improve, not that I’ve tried it yet but next time I will. It’s simple, makes sense and highlights some of the most common pitfalls of front crawl.

Watch it and get improving your technique NOW!

As you all know Saturday’s are my big “cheat day” where I binge, slob out and usually get drunk to my hearts content. This means that on Sundays I have a “fast day” when I only drink green tea and coffee all day. I have really noticed that this helps to kick the bloated disgusting feeling I have from the day before pretty quickly.

My Sundays usually consist of massive amounts of cardio and stretching along with a very tough core workout however when you have running is sometimes the last thing you could make yourself do. Last week after a night out I instead went swimming on Sunday morning and WOW. It’s brilliant. I have been paying for swimming for 3 months, not a clue why I didn’t try it before. It is the perfect hangover cure. It helps stretch out all the aches you have from the previous weeks training and it’s also nice and relaxing whilst still being thoroughly exhausting. You have to swim lengths mind.

I’m thinking of adding it into the mix after my gym session maybe a couple of times a week instead of just Sunday as it’s so invigorating, even just a few extra lengths I think would be beneficial.

On an aside I have had some minor pain in my left forearm, just a strong aching that comes on, like when you work out but to the point that I have physically have to stop. Guessing I’ve overdone something slightly however I don’t want to stop completely. Swimming may help this.