My week one photos

Just thought that I would post some of my week one photos. Sorry about having to mask my face but I don’t want my girlfriend finding out and taking the mic. As you can see I am carrying a bit of weight around the gut, this is mainly due to the booze. I am more concerned with gaining muscle but I don’t want to gain any more bodyfat so I am going to be careful not to overeat or booze. My thoughts on protein powder at the mo are good. The last few days I did not feel like the eating the eggs so I have had protein powder throughout the day seems to be going ok. I put a shirt on Saturday that I had not worn for a while and found that the arms were really tight which is great news. So far it seems to be going OK. Training each body part only once per week seems to be the thing to do. What I find by training this way is that the next time I come to train I actually am stronger, the muscle seems to be fully repaired so all this logic seems to be working.

Here is a very important training fact for all those who impatient. Muscle breakdown while training happens at a microscopic level. This means that the repair also happens at a microscopic level. You can kind of see the time that needs to pass in repeating g this process to make any kind of significant gain. But I have got my head around this fact and before training I take a moment to remember that this workout has to be better than the last. I may even print something out or right something on the wall to remind me.

But could you imagine doing all this and then the protein powder being a waste of time, surely this stuff works. All I want to do at the moment is grow and find out what actually works so I don’t have to waste my time in the future.

Of course the other big question and this is one that I must find the answer to is how long does it take for muscle to repair so I can hit it again.

I am also looking to try a few different brands of protein powder to find one that I really like.

Have a good weekend.

Microscopic changes- muscle breakdown on a microscopic level not megascopic

Here is something for all natural bodybuilders to get to grip with. Muscle breakdown occurs on a microscopic level. I take it from that that the repair is also on a microscopic level. This is quite a comforting thought when you realize that your arms aren’t growing an inch per month and you wonder why. There must be some serious work put in to get an inch of solid muscle on your arms, perhaps two or three years worth. So if you are not seeing massive results in gains don’t worry you are only normal and not one of these hard gainers. The truth seems to be that gains are hard if you are training naturally. It is easy to see why so many people have turned to steroids over the years; they may get six years results in one year.

The risk is just not worth it. I am seeing some gains with this little training idea I have. I ill also post some more pictures this week for week one.

 

Boozy Weekend

Had a family party this weekend! Plenty of protein powder and a good chest workout on the Sunday! This notion of bettering the last workout seems to be sticking in my mind and is almost becoming second nature. I am recording the weight or rep that I need to beat and I am using small increments in weight or reps. I am also seeing definite signs of improvement in terms of muscle gains and will take a few measurements this coming Thursday. Body fat seems to be the same the readings are staying the same but total body weight is rising. In two weeks time I will take an official reading This will give me a good indication as to whether I am really gaining muscle or not.

I have also bee doing some reading on protein powders and how they are made, which I would like to discuss in a later post. This has led me to looking at the quality and value of some protein powders ……………. If they even work!

There seem to be an enormous rage of producers and suppliers of bodybuilding supplements and protein powders in the UK and for that matter all over the world. But there are technical quotes and claims about products that I will be looking at. If protein powder is successful for me I will be looking for the best value one. There are many to choose from and this program I am undertaking will be going on for at least two years I think.

Here is what I am looking for in order should protein powder actually work. ( should it not I will be looking at natural foods only )

• Value
• Quality
• Delivery
• Customer Service
• Taste

Ta ta for now, Biceps tonight

Protein Powder: Bicep measurement

Got to say as stated yesterday I put the tape on the old bicep and found they were 15 and 1/4 inch, smaller than I thought but I do appear to be carrying less body fat so all is not lost. The eating I am finding very difficult, 160 grams of protein in mainly natural food is a heck of a lot for me to eat but carrying on.

Found an interesting fact about biceps peak for anyone interested. Your bicep connects to your arm bone by the elbow. The nearer it joins to the elbow the lower your peak will be. My biceps are long but not high, can this be changed?

also have found that yet again i was using the skinfold callipers wrong ( was looking at about 13% bodyfat not 14%). this has made quite a bit of difference to the lean body mass reading. I will amend this soon.

Protein powder: Any signs of gains yet?

Well I have got to say I feel more solid. I don’t think that my bodyfat has reduced but I do feel fairly strong. I am not expecting big gains. Natural muscle gaining is a very slow process it seems and this is something that stands for just about all people. I would expect some gain in lean body mass but probably a marginal say about quarter to half pound maybe. I am still on 160 grams of protein powder per day, an almost impossible amount for me to eat as natural food. Here is a picture of my bicep pretty small as they go and could do with a nice peak but a lot more size would be nice. I did read that that about ten pounds of overall lean body mass gain will give the average man quarter of an inch on the arms. I will measure my arms tonight to see if this little theory is true... just for the record. I also think that I have the skinfold caliper measuring nailed now. Tomorrow I will take another reading and weigh myself, this should give me a base from which to work from, I do feel my body has gone through a bit of an adjustment over the past few weeks and may have settled now, but if I have gained then maybe I should just give myself the credit. Shoulders tonight and I have to admit mine are pretty weak, so going hard.

Does protein powder work? Factoid

Fact!

" If you do not increase the weight or get the extra rep from the last time you did the exercise your muscles will not grow"

Something worth remembering

It has just occurred to me that my body fat readings may fluctuate and give me false lean body mass readings. I am going to have to make sure that each time I take a reading I have exactly the same conditions as the first reading I took.  I have really pigged out this weekend and I am also a bit dehydrated from the booze. This got me thinking on how the readings may vary. The only real way to know if my lean body mass has increased is to compare week 1 with say week 12.

How ever I do feel like something is working!

I must master this body fat reading business to get the best reading I can. I have decided to take all my measurements sitting down as I have found that this is the best way to get hold of the stuff.

One thing I have found is that by trying to increase lean body mass training all body parts is a lot more relevant. If I were trying to gain lean body mass by only training chest and arms I would take forever to see any increase

Going to do a bit of chest tonight.

Does protein powder really work ?

Got the little egg pancakes off to a T. The mix is 6 whites and 1 yolks. This muscle building business takes up a lot of time i need it to be more convenient, 160 grams of protein is a lot of eggs ( about 40 per day). You can see the convenience of protien powder ( 5 shakes per day on average to make 160 grams).. but does protein powder actually work ?

Here's one I cooked earlier. It tastes better than it looks.

just a quick calculation: 40 eggs in the Uk costs about £ 3.33 so thats about £ 23.33 per week.

I have seen on ebay 5kg of protein powder for about £ 40.00, This equates to 40grams of protein per 50 gram serving, this gives you 100 servings or last about 25 days based on 106 grams per day. not bad ................if it works!

Does protein powder work " my training"

My training

I must say that boxing and weights don’t really go together. I like more natural exercises like the heavy bag, press ups, shadow boxing and running. You can gain quite a bit of muscle from the heavy bag especially when you learn how to use your body weight. Just look at Tyson in his early years, 15 stone 7 pounds of muscle and not a weight in site. However for the purpose of this experiment I am going to introduce some weights, this should give better lean bodymass results. I tran in my garage and have a cheap bench, some dumbbells and a French press bar. Boxing equipment amounts to , heavy bag, double end bag and 14, 16, 18 ounce gloves.

Exercises:         Squats with dumbbells

                        Bicep curls dumbbells

                        Rear lateral raises

                        Side lateral raises

                        Front dumbbell press

                        French press

                        Heavy bag for back

                        Press ups of various styles for chest

                        Lying dumbbell press for chest

I will only do aerobic activity twice per week and train each body part once per week for this test " does protein powder work"

As you can see I am not in the best of shape! I am carrying about 23 pounds of fat which I will deal with at a later date. My experiment at the moment is to find out if protein powder works.

When I say if protein powder works I mean can it replace food proteins such as eggs or chicken. Protein is expensive in what ever form you take it but without it I am told you just wont build muscle. I have been on 160 grams of protein for the last two weeks and I can honestly say that I have put on some muscle naturally. It is too early to say how much and so for the next month I will continue on a mix of eggs and protein powder. ( it would seem that one of them is working)

I do hope that protein powder works, it is so easy to take.

Skin Fold Callipers Arrive

Skin fold callipers have arrived!

Have taken a few measurements. This is a much more accurate way to take these measurements. Before I was measuring with a ruler.

Here are my stats

Height =5 feet 8 inches or 168 inches

Weight =169 pounds

Body fat =14 %

Lean body mass = 145.2 pounds

Total body fat = 23.7 pounds

This makes a lot more sense. When I was boxing I was 149 pounds with hardly any bodyfat ( the good old days)

The aim now is to increase lean body mass ( target 160 pounds ) using protein.

My first test will be using egg and a protein powder combined just to make sure I am able to gain lean body mass. I will do this for one month

Test 2 will be just egg as a protein for one month

Test 3 will be just protein powder for one month......... I do hope the powder works but I have reservations.

I am not trying to reduce body fat as a main goal this will come later when I know for sure what form of protein works.

The calculation that I am working with for my protein is one gram of protein for every pound of lean mass I want to weigh. So by taking 160 grams equates to 160 pounds of lean mass somewhere in the future. My current lean mass calculation was around 140 pounds. This figure I am not sure about so I will recalculate when my callipers arrive.

I have been reading that many guys are taking 400 grams of protein per day............. sounds expensive!

I am not sure that my body fat reading was correct. I have pruchased a set of skinfold calipers from Amazon for £ 15.00 I will post some pictures and my stats for all to view. I must say that I am not in the best of shape and 20% does seem about right.

Just for the record I am using eggs as my main souce of protein and I am using a protein powder three time a day for a total of 160 grams

Something does seem to be working ........................... for a change

Hi there to all.

I have just started training again after many years away and am looking into nutrititon for the first time. I know that will sound strange to many of you seasoned pros, but I never took much notice of it before.

Questions ?

1. How important is it

2. Does it work or really make a difference

I have just measured my body fat at around 20% ( thought I would be around 14%)

Protein seem to be the thing that evrey one is on about and it sounds like you need a lot of it.

Question? Could lack of protein be a downfall in many peoples muscle gains ? I will try and find out.

For sure in the past I have not consumed enough protein. I think that the main reason is that you have to cook most of it  and it is expensive. ( need to get over this )

But this does bring me to protein powder

Does it work?

If so what is the best one?

Where can I find the cheapest one?

Back to work for now, just wanted to get this blog started.