Knee problem!

I've been experiencing some problems with my right knee. It feels like I've over extended it but I don't know how. It's been hurting so I think it's best to rest it from the tough gym work. I made a decisiom in the end to go for the Strength III sessions. I worked out a rough estimate of the weights I should be using based on previous exercises and rep ranges. I would have liked to have spent the next couple of weeks fine tuning this before beginning them properly and getting the most benefit from them. Unfortunately due to my knee I think it best to stay out of the gym for now and rest the knee the best I can. I am still cycling to and from work with the intention of playing rugby this weekend so I hope it recovers enough for that. I'll let you know. At the moment it's nowhere near normal so fingers crossed it gets better soon.

Cheers, BustaGut!

NROL Strength II: Week 9 The Final Session!

• Weight - 14st 3lb (no change from last week)
• Body Fat % - 6.1% (no change from last week)
• Waist - 34" (again no change from last week)
  

This week has been a strange one really. I had one remaining session of the Strength II program to complete and that was the focus. I did go circuit training at the beginning of the week which I enjoyed but was an obvious shock to the system and I could feel the effects in my muscles for the following 2 to 3 days. I have been cycling well this week although I have had the odd little twinge in my right knee but nothing to worry about. One thing I did forget to mention about the circuit training is that it placed a lot of pressure on my left ankle (the one I broke) and this was sore for the entire week. Though it didn't stop me from doing anything it was a niggling pain that I could have done without. That said I think I will do the odd circuit training session when the mood takes me.

I avoided the rugby this week although I do intend to play this coming weekend. We will be playing a club that I use to play for so that should be interesting. The only problem is that I only have moulded studs at the moment and as the pitch becomes more and more boggy with the autumn and winter weather I need a better grip especially as I'm much lighter than my opposition. I have some on order but with the postal strikes it may be a while before the get here and I doubt they'll be here in time for the next game.

So the end of Strength II and it's decision time. I think I'm going to progress on to Strength III and then see where we are at the end of that. I will then either go into fatloss sessions or move across to the Hypertrophy workouts for a brief period before the fatloss period begins. Well I have a lot of work to do prior to that so I first have to work out the weights etc for the Strength III sessions then have a quick trial before beginning them properly. Wish me luck.

Cheers, BustaGut!

Circuit Training

Just wanted to let you all know that I managed to get to circuit training yesterday. I've only been trying to get there for the last 4 or 5 weeks but something always seemed to crop up at work. Anyway it was pretty tough but in a good way. It way devised differently to when I last did it there. It had an outer circuit of steps against the sports hall wall that were exercise stations and 4 inner work areas that had a set of exercises per area with each exercise being done for 40 secs before changing to the next. In between these two circuits there was an area for running that was used in between each station exercise for 20 secs alternate. The outer circuit was done then the inner and then another circuit of the outer one going the opposite way to finish off. It was a total of 45mins of hard work but all god stuff. I intend to do this from time to time.

Cheers, BustaGut!

NROL Strength II: Week 8 pics as promised!

NROL Strength II: Week 8 update

I seem to be having a little trouble posting pictures onto the site at the moment. I'll try again later but thought I'd give you a quick update as to what's been happening and then provide the visuals afterwards.

• Weight - 14st 3lb (no change from last week)
• Body Fat % - 6.1% (no change from last week)
• Waist - 34" (again no change from last week)

I've been in London for a couple of days this week so that has interferred with my usual training schedule. That combined with me playing rugby the previous weekend (which we won by 60 odd points by the way) meant I only weight trained once this week. The reason for that is because the place we were staying was next to the train station and I didn't get much sleep so was a bit zonked by the time I got back and so needed an extra day to recover. This meant that I went training on Thursday. I did cycle to and from work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so that is a least something.

The coming week I hope to complete the last Strength II session and begin preparations for the next stage of my training, that is if I get enough time to work it out. I have been trying to get to circuit training at work for the last few weeks so work load permitting I will try to make tommorrow the first session I get to. I might also play rugby this coming weekend but I haven't made a final decision on that as yet. Basically the plan is to ensure I get plenty of exercise in this coming week to make up for the lack of it this week.

As you can see from the results there hasn't been any change this week. In fact there hasn't been much if any over the previous few weeks either. So I need something to push through the plataeu. Hopefully when I change programmes again it should have a noticable effect but we'll have to wait and see. Right, I have to go now but I will try and post the piccys later.

Cheers, BustaGut!

NROL Strength II: Week 7 update

• Weight - 14st 3lb (no change from last week)
• Body Fat % - 6.1% (no change from last week)
• Waist - 34" (again no change from last week)
  

NROL Strength II: Week 6 results - small progress!

• Weight - 14st 3lb (no change from last week)
• Body Fat % - 6.1% (down 0.7% from last week)
• Waist - 34 inches (down 0.25 inch from last week)

I have to say that's been a tiring week as my body again took longer to recover from playing rugby the previous weekend. I didn't go circuit training on Monday as I honestly didn't feel up to it and I didn't just want to go through the motions. I left going training in the gym this week until Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday's session was good although tougher than I would have expected. Friday's session was excellent I was ab;e to increase the odd weight and still hit the end of the session quicker than I had done previously so I was pleased with that result. I had booked Friday off work so wasn't cycling that day but I had been cycling very well throughout the week. Knowing that I wasn't cycling on Friday I pushed myself on Thursday and did the return journey home of just under 7 miles most of which (last 4) are up hill in 34 mins. A time that I am very pleased with. The journey doesn't seem to get any easier although I do seem to be getting better in terms of speed and time. I suppose the hill I ride up coming home would be hard for a large majority of riders so I need to take heart from that. I'm not playing rugby this weekend, although I may do next week as they are particularly short of players at the moment. So all being well and work permitting I should push myself to go circuit training on Monday next week. I'm also going to revert back to my usual days of training on Tuesday and Thursday. This should allow me the extra day of recovery should I play rugby the following week.

At two sessions a week I only have a couple of weeks left on these particular Strength II sessions. I know I debated about doing the proper bodybuilding sessions but there has been no real mention of them by the gym owner so I suspect it may be best for me to continue with my own training for now and look at that as a possibility for the future. That being the case then I'm sort of edging towards doing Strength III sessions as this should take me through until after Christmas I think and then I can look at doing some of the fat loss sessions to cut back and hopefully reveal some of the hard work I've been doing. Now is the time to start preparing for the next stage so that everything is ready once the Strength II sessions end (I may take a week out and judge weights etc).

In terms of this week's results there has been some positive progress. Weight has remained the same. 14st 3lb seems to a rough constant. I haven't really been below this and would say that this is more or less my established norm at the moment. Pleasingly though the body fat % has fallen and I'd love for this to fall further but considering the type of training and the intake of carbs around training I suppose I couldn't really ask for more at the moment. When I revert to Fat Loss early next year I would hope to be reaching lower visibly noticeable levels (but that's work to come). Also the waist measurement has fallen back down to 34 inches which is very pleasing as this is a measurement that has been creeping up nervously over the past few weeks. It is also a measurement that I would want to fall once the Fat Loss sessions are worked through. Anyway that's all for now I'll report back before the end of next weigh in if I can but either way I'll keep you posted on any progress etc I'm making.

Cheers, BustaGut!