Building Muscle - My Diet and Exercise Plan

Good job on staying pretty disciplined with your eating habits. I'll need to get a little more disciplined with my calories in the new year. In November when I went out of town, I knew I'd be eating a lot of cake and desserts, and wouldn't have much choice over what I ate (although I would have some control over portion size), so I decided to relax my cutting efforts and just stick at maintenance for a couple weeks.

That couple weeks has now drawn out for 37 days and counting :")
 
Goldfish said:
Good job on staying pretty disciplined with your eating habits. I'll need to get a little more disciplined with my calories in the new year. In November when I went out of town, I knew I'd be eating a lot of cake and desserts, and wouldn't have much choice over what I ate (although I would have some control over portion size), so I decided to relax my cutting efforts and just stick at maintenance for a couple weeks.

That couple weeks has now drawn out for 37 days and counting :")
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Hahaha... yeah, I originally told myself I would start cutting after I finished my half marathon, which, if you recall was at the end of September. It took me almsot two months to finally commit to it. The first two weeks were pretty easy; it was week 3, when all of the holiday events started popping up, that it started to get frustrating. I'm almost at the end of week 4 and am definitely looking forward to taking a two week maintenance break. Hopefully, my upcoming vacation in February will motivate me to not let the two weeks go on indefinitely.

Review of the past week:
Thursday - Body Step + Body Flow
Friday - Weights
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - RPM
Monday - Body Pump
Tuesday - Body Attack
Calories have been around 1500 most days... my last cheat day was at my staff Christmas lunch last Thursday, which was around 2000 cals.
 
Last night was the official end of my four week cut. I went out for dinner and drinks with friends and probably ate/drank around 1500-1600 calories for a daily total of around ~2700. My plan for the next week is to mix high calorie days (yesterday, today and tomorrow) with low calorie days (December 26th-30th). I also want to work on being more moderate even on high calorie days. Like last night, I didn't really need to have 3 glasses of wine; I was good at two but I just felt like ordering another (I guess that's the problem with alcohol though, everything seems like a great idea when you're a little tipsy!)

Anyway, here are my progress pics from the last four weeks - first picture was taken near the end of November after a few months of indulging a little too much and not really paying attention to my diet. Second picture was taken yesterday after 4 weeks of watching my diet (exercise more or less stayed the same).

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I'm pretty happy with my results given the short time period but I'm a little anxious about undoing all of my work over the next two weeks.
 

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So far, the maintenance thing is working out pretty well... I ate a little over maintenance on Saturday and Sunday, at maintenance on Monday and a little below on Tuesday and Wednesday. Next week will probably be similar.

Workouts:
Wednesday - Body Pump
Thursday - 6 km run
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Body Pump
Sunday - 5 km run
Monday - Body Pump + 40 minute walk
Tuesday - RPM
Wednesday - Body Pump

I'm planning to try a couple of new classes tonight - CXWORX, which is a half-hour core conditioning class, and Body Combat, which is a 60 minute kick boxing class and the only Les Mills class I haven't tried yet (I can never make the class time but since I'm off work this week, I can make it). Looking forward to trying both of these out.
 
I've been mixing things up at the gym over the last couple of weeks. Last Thursday, I tried CXWORX and Body Combat. CXWORX didn't live up to all the hype I've heard about it. There were a few really challenging planks and hovers but the rest of the workout was pretty underwhelming. Body Combat, however, is officially my new favourite workout. I've also been throwing in a few runs, free weights workouts and yoga classes into the mix.

Thursday - CXWORX/Body Flow + Body Combat
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Body Pump
Sunday - hot yoga
Monday - free weights + 20 min speed intervals on the treadmill
Tuesday - Body Combat

I was planning to do Pump tonight but I'm still pretty sore from Monday's weights workout. Unless a day of sitting at my desk miraculously repairs my muscles, I'll probably give tonight a miss and get back to it tomorrow.

My Feb. vacation has officially been booked!! We're going to Cuba where I'll spend most of the week in a bikini, so that's definitely keeping me motivated to stay on track with my diet.
 
^^^ Turns out, sitting down for 8 hours was just what I needed... I was fine by Wednesday night and able to make it to class:
Wed - Body Pump
Thurs - Body Step
Fri - Rest
Sat - Body Attack
Sun - RPM
Mon - Body Pump
Tues - Unplanned rest day (had to work late... bleh)
This morning -- 40 min. free weights

For my free weights workouts these days, I'm basically just picking exercises out of NROL4W. I usually start with squats (trying to build my squat weight back up -- currently at 65 lbs) then do two alternating sets of upper/lower body and finish with core work. So today, I did squats, push ups, lunges with back leg elevated, bent over wide rows, one leg romanian deadlifts and stability ball jacknifes. I was out of the gym by 6:45, giving me lots of time to get ready for work... nice alternative to Body Pump, which is a full hour, plus the weights room is not too crowded at 6 a.m. (shocker!)
 
Thursday -- Body Combat
Friday -- Free weights:
Squats - 65 lbs (trying to build back up to 80)
Bench press - 30 lbs (probably could've gone a bit higher)
Tricep press - 30 lbs (perfect weight - just enough that I thought I was going to die by the end of the 3rd set but managed to push through ;))
Deadlifts - 50 lbs
Shoulder press - 12.5 lb dumbbells
Side raises - 12.5 lb dumbbells
Lat pulldowns - 45 lbs
The original plan was to throw in some lunges as well but my hamstring started acting up after the deadlifts. It feels better now so I'm glad I didn't push it.
Saturday - CXWORX/Body Flow combo + Body Attack
 
Week in Review:
Sunday -- RPM
Monday -- Body Pump
Tuesday -- unplanned rest day (my sister had her baby so I went to the hospital to visit after work :))
Wednesday -- weights + 30 min Body Attack class
Squats -- 3×6 @ 70 lbs
Dead rows 3×6 @ 40 lbs
Lat pulldowns 3×6 @ 50 lbs
YTWL 3×6 - 3 lb dumbbells
Prone cobra -- 3 x 1 minute
Weighted stability ball crunch -- 3×10 @ 10 lbs
Reverse crunches 3×10
Oblique crunches 3×10 per side
The Body Attack class was a new condensed format they offer -- it's a lot less tiring than the full hour format so it's a good workout to do after weights
Thursday - Rest
This morning - weights
Squats - 3x10 @ 70 lbs
Chest press - 3x10 @ 40 lbs
Romanian single leg deadlift - 3x10 - 12.5 lb dumbbells
Tricep press - 3x10 @ 30 lbs
Lunges - 3 x10@ 45 lbs
Cable wood chop - 3x10 @ 13 lbs
Planks - 3 x 1 minute
 
Thanks! I'm 10 lbs away from my heaviest weight so I'm hoping to top that within a month or so... :D

This week:
Saturday: Body Attack
Sunday: Body Pump Express + CXWORX
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: RPM
Wednesday: Body Pump
Thursday: Body Combat
Friday: Free weights
Squats - 3x6 @ 75 lbs
Romanian deadlift to row - 3x6 @ 45 lbs
Lat Pulldowns - 3x6 @ 55 lbs
Back extensions - 3x6 with 10 lb plate
YTWL - 3x6 @ 3 lbs
Stability ball crunch - 3x10 with 10 lb plate
Reverse crunches - 3x10
Oblique crunches - 3x10 per side

I'm slowly transitioning to a maintenance diet now... I've achieved my fat loss goals so I'd like to just maintain until my Cuba trip and focus on building muscle again after Cuba.
 
This past week was new release week at GoodLife so I only got in one free weights workout instead of two... I really like the new Body Pump release though so it's all good... last week:
Sunday: RPM
Monday - Body Pump
Tuesday - Body Attack
Wednesday - Body Pump
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Weights
Squats - 3x10 @ 75lbs
Chest press - 3x10 @ 30 lbs (I think... I was using a slimmer version of the standard Olympic bar I use for squats but I'm not 100% sure about the weight)
One leg Romanian deadlifts - 3x10 @ 15 lb dumbbells
Tricep press - 3x10 @ 30 lbs
Lunges - 3 x 10 @ 55 lbs
I skipped the ab work because I had a splitting headache yesterday morning....
Today - CXWORX/Body Flow + Body Attack

5 more days until the beach...
 
Beating your old squat PR in a month's time should be quite achievable at your current level. Just keep at it and you'll get there soon enough :)
 
This week:
Sunday - Hot Yoga
Monday - Body Pump
Tuesday - Body Combat
Wednesday - Body Pump
Today - Rest

Tomorrow, I leave for Cuba... I know they have a fitness centre at the resort I'm staying at but not sure what the equipment will be like. I'm hoping they have a decent weight room.

And now that the beach vacation has arrived, here are the final results from the past 2.5 months' cutting diet and exercise routine - first picture is from November, the middle one from just before Christmas and the last one from this morning:

finalresults.jpg


And, just for fun, here's what I looked like on my last beach vacation in 2009 (pre-workout days lol):

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First thing you should do is go to your nearest supplement store. Don't listen to the guy that's paid to push products on to people. Just get something for pre workout, and post workout. I.E pre workout "BSN N.O Explode" and post workout "optimum nutrition 100% gold whey" everyone could use a little extra protein. Real definition comes from heavy lifting fyi. If you want some nice definition stick to your nearly perfect diet and exercise programs, just that on your first exercise of the workout it should be a compound workout(deadlift, clean, squat, bench press, shoulder press, chin/pull up, etc.) but do something like 5 sets of 4 reps.
 
BurningItOff said:
This week:
Sunday - Hot Yoga
Monday - Body Pump
Tuesday - Body Combat
Wednesday - Body Pump
Today - Rest

Tomorrow, I leave for Cuba... I know they have a fitness centre at the resort I'm staying at but not sure what the equipment will be like. I'm hoping they have a decent weight room.

And now that the beach vacation has arrived, here are the final results from the past 2.5 months' cutting diet and exercise routine - first picture is from November, the middle one from just before Christmas and the last one from this morning:

finalresults.jpg


And, just for fun, here's what I looked like on my last beach vacation in 2009 (pre-workout days lol):

View attachment 5416
Click to expand...

You've progressed well. Very visible transformation. Have fun in Cuba :)
 
I'm back from Cuba and having a tough time getting back into the routine since I know I won't be in a bikini again for at least four months, plus I got a little too used to my vacation diet (which actually wasn't too terrible - just a few more treats and alcoholic beverages than usual). I tried to balance it out by keeping active - the fitness centre at the resort had a pretty decent selection of weights and equipment so I got in a few quality workouts while there:

Friday - off
Saturday - weights + cardio intervals
Sunday - treadmill (30 mins)
Monday - active rest day (walking tour of Havana)
Tuesday - weights
Wednesday - treadmill (30 mins)
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - BodyPump
Today - RPM

I'm going to do the maintenance thing for a little while and see where I want to go next...
 
Oops, didn't realize I was so behind on logging... let's see, I guess I'm picking up Monday, February 20th:

Feb. 20 - BodyPump
Feb. 21 - RPM
Feb. 22 - BodyPump
Feb. 23 - BodyCombat
Feb. 24 - OFF
Feb. 25 - OFF
Feb. 26 - BodyPump/CXWORX
Feb. 27 - BodyStep
Feb. 28 - Body Pump
Feb. 29 - OFF
Mar. 1 - BodyPump
Mar. 2 - OFF
Mar. 3 - BodyAttack

I recently discovered 3 GoodLife locations within 5km of my office, so I've started going right after work some nights. It's great because it gives me more workout options and I pretty much avoid rush hour traffic, shaving about 30 minutes from my evening commute.

I've also been eating a maintenance diet since Cuba and have been able to maintain within a pound of 115 so I think I'm on the right track with my diet.
 
Week before last:
March 4 - BodyPump Express/CXWORX + Hot Yoga
March 5 - BodyStep
March 6 - BodyFlow
March 7 - BodyCombat
March 8 - SH'BAM (lame new Les Mills class I randomly decided to try)
March 9 - Hot Yoga
March 10 - BodyPump

Last week:
March 11 - 5km + Yoga
March 12 - Spin
March 13 - BodyAttack
March 14 - BodyPump
March 15 - Hot Yoga
March 16 - OFF
March 17 - OFF

Maintenance can get boring so I'm trying out new activities to keep things interesting... I'm going through a bit of a hot yoga phase at the moment. It's one of those trendy workouts that I used to avoid in the past but since I'm not really trying to achieve anything specific at the moment, now's as good a time as any to experiment.
 
Goldfish said:
What's SH'BAM like? I hadn't even heard of it until just now.
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It's Les Mills' new dance workout, kind of like BodyJam. I wasn't too impressed with it... the choreography is really cheesy and the workout itself not very challenging. I probably won't be going back any time soon.

This week:
Sun - RPM + Yoga
Mon - BodyPump
Tues - BodyAttack
Wed - BodyPump + Yoga
Thurs - BodyCombat + BodyFlow
Fri - OFF
Saturday - Power Sweat (hot yoga)
 
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