NROL Strength II: Preparation Sessions completed!

• Weight - 14st 2lb (down 2lb from last week)
• Body Fat % - 5.2% (digi-callipers -down 0.6% from last wk)
• Waist - 33.75 inches (up slightly from last measurement)

Right I've finished preparing the Strength II sessions for when I return from holiday. I did this by running through the sessions trying to get a feel for both the exercises and the weights etc that would be appropriate to use to induce a strength gain. This week I finished workout D and revisited workout A to get that just right. I'm glad I did double check workout A because the trainer at the gym moved me across to the enclosed rack for the quarter squats and showed me the correct form. This was good because the rack and safety rails (which the weight rested on fractionally when the weight was lowered) gave me the confidence (as did the slight pause at the bottom on the rails) to go much heavier. I went from 55kg each side where I origionally performed them to 85kg each side. Although this was a bit too heavy so I resorted to 80KG each side and that felt right. That's a massive improvement and a big difference to have lost out on.

The results above are a little bit mixed as the weight is down as is the %bf but the pictures (although inside) show no improvement (I included some pics of legs as I'm aware I haven't included any previously and thought it would provide a fuller picture of where I am), infact they are less defined than a few weeks previous and the waist measurement is fractionally up since last recording. I'm not too stressed about this as I've put in lots of effort over these past few weeks and I am now truely ready for a good break to recharge the batteries and come back eager to kick some butt (mine of course) in the gym and knuckle down back at work to start moving forward on where I want to be. All of this will take effort and the holiday will be a nice breather before I throw myself into this.

After the 8 week period the Strength II workkouts should take me I will see whether the gym owner was serious in his offer and advice about me using a pre-contest diet and training. I toyed with the idea for some time before I said to him a week or so ago now that I would try it but after I'd completed the 8 weeks of Strength II once I return from vacation. I will need to provide him with the details of the programme I'm currently doing, weights, reps etc so that he will be able to devise a programme for me. Anyway we'll see what happens there as it all might be pie in the sky. If so I'll just continue with NROL and move across to Hypertrophy II (possibly) then after that through the fatloss phases again to strip back. It will all depend on how things go with Strength II and whether the Gym owner was actually serious. I'll let you know.

Will be getting in some activity over the holiday as I'll be biking and swimming but staying out of the gym until I get back. The activity I'll be doing will mainly be for fun and relaxation rather than following any type of training regime (not that I don't enjoy my training programmes because I do but you know what I mean). Anyway it's time for me to go now, I'll update the pages when I return and let you know how it all went. We'll see what the measurements and results are when I get back and I'll take it from there. See you then!

Cheers, BustaGut!