New Bike!

Finally got the new bike! A Gaint Defy 2.5 (£675 from pedalon), and they gave an axcellent service; the podium points scheme allowed me to get some new shoes, pedals and a trip computer too all included in the price!

Luckilly for me, we have accurate scales at work, so thought I'd let you all know - without pedals = 9.4Kg! Pretty light if you ask me, this is a size medium.

I'll let you know more once I've put some miles on it! Probably weighs about 9.9 kg with all the extras on it currently...

feck, another week gone already..

will post this weeks work at another point this weekend, but just wanted to say I got my new road bike! Very happy and hoping to take it on a maiden voyage tomorrow or sunday. Been working my arse off today (swimming a stupid distance after the spaghetti carbonara) and tidying the house a lot!

But, it's currently beer time...and I think I'm gonna be munching some more carbs / protein before the night is out! Just for the record, todays food intake consisted of:

Brekkie: Shreddies (actually Tesco malted wheats!) with a small handfull of raisins.

Mid morning: big apple, few dried banana chips (honey coated), 1/6th piece of quiche (tesco light choices), slice of beef (leftovers!). 3 cups of proper coffee!

Lunch: the carbonara! 1 egg, 1/2 pot double cream, fair amount of italian strong cheese, 1/3 pack of smoked streaky bacon, pasta. oh, and a cadburys caramel egg!
swim then myprotein recovery excess shake (90g), and a banana.

Tea: lamb, wedges and peppers (home made by the missus), not a lot though, so snacked on a few doritos and popcorn too! .. just rembered 1/2 a crunchie bar too!

And I'm still starving! mmmmmm..kebab? depends on the beer intake......and going for a curry tomorrow anyway!.........but still...

....so on to.... bike ride!

Tuesday 21 April

Nice weather, a little breezy but not ridiculous. Straight out on the roads after work at 5pm; up to my usual route, and the loop in question was the seasons best. Some good splits and didn't feel totally burnt out half way around! But then again, I did take a banana with me although I lost a chunk of it due to the poor state of our tarmac!
loop time = 68 mins 48 seconds, av heart rate = 159, av speed = 17.6 mph. Peak heart rate was strangely only 179!

Still, pleased with the ride and really wondering if last nights creatine boost helped at all?
The other reason it was questionably a quick time was because at that time of night, the traffic is pretty bad after the half way point, roadworks / traffic lights and generally not enough space for cars and bikes! So I did get slowed up somewhat and normally the best times are acheived early am whilst avoiding traffic!

Still, a hard ride = excuse to down another shake!

Wednesday - rested

Thursday 23rd April

Another session on the weights! Was going to do a little leg work to warm up, but thoguht better of it!
Similar to mondays sesh, only managed 9 reps on the last set of BP at 70 kg though!
Attempeted unweighted Chin-ups too, to see if there was any improvement after doing weighted ones, managed 14, 9 and 8.
Did delt raises in place of OH DB presses, which actaully felt a little easier than normal . Hammered the Biceps just for fun after the chin ups with a set of curls at 15.5kg, but realistically could have done a heavier weight!+ more shake :lol:Didn't want to overdo it due to the expected swim on:

Friday 24th April

Yes, its got to friday again! Finally! Still, we'll see if that creatine build up in the system has done anything too!
Well, to my annoyance, there were a lot of people in the pool - a mixture of adults, like me expecting all the kids to be back at school, however it's such a mixed up country, there are still some schools off and hence a higher than expected proportion of kids..

Still, after afew warm up lengths and another pee (not in the pool though ), managed to squeeze a good time out - 22 mins 5 secs, with splits at 5:57, 6:38, 6:51 and 2:38, very happy with that, especially as I was trying to dodge people and also had a couple of pauses (due to people in the way!) longer than I wanted. Which leads me to believe that the PB from last Saturday is very realistic.

And with such a good time (uninfluenced by alcohol), I believe there must be scope for a good improvement somewhere in the future..
...and again, another excuse to have another expensive recovery shake!
well, as far as the future is for now...lets just say I have a pint of Kronenberg in front of me.. (well half of one now! ).....

Not sure about cycling tomorrow yet, I'll see how I feel in the morning, but I think the weather is taking a turn for the worse so a lye-in may be due...
oh, and the impemding decision on buying myself a decent bike too... lets see how much I drink!

Another week on! And now received my Recovery XS from Myprotein; which isn't going to last long given my high volume training! 1800 g with 90g per serving = 20 servings, basically £1 per drink!

However, I was very keen to get on with it due to the fact it has creatine in it - never really been interested in supplementing to this level, but what the hell, if it helps, why not? Taking the recommended amount right after a workout. So, before I had any, I needed to do a workout and monitor any progress later down the line..

Monday 20th April

Basic weights session; keeping with 70 kg Bench Press sets to monitor any improvement for the foreseable future:
No legs today (bike ride coming up), so
1 arm rows, Bench Press, Flyes, Curls, Shrugs, Shoulder press, tricep kickbacks, incorporating plenty of ab work as usual.
Concentrating on the Bench Press, at 70kg, three sets, aiming for max on last, so 2 x 8 and 1 x 10.
Will continue with this and see how that last set goes.
Drank my new shake! Tastes all right really, heard a lot of specualtion about the taste of creatine, but all I noticed was the white chunks floating about! nice, chocolate flavour, but was a but powdery, but easy to drink.

Decied to have a couple of days rest and chill out; back into the weights on:
Thursday 16th April

Similar to usual, or should I say what I've been currently doing:
Did 2 sets of leg work to get nicely warmed up, one exercise straight after the other which was using 50kg, 10 squats, 10 deadlifts and 25 calf raises.Then into 1 arm rows, again using as a decent upper warm up, 14.5kg x 30 per side then 15.5Kg x 30 per side.50 kg Bench press Warm up then into 70kg x 8 / 8 / 9 .Quite pleased with that bench.3 sets of curls & shrugs at 15.5 kg x 10 reps,delt raises and tricep kick backs.
was going to see how many pull ups (Body weight only) I could manage afterwards but got distracted and forgot!

As usual, did a load of ab work in between exercises.
Ankle and Knee still a little dodgy from bad swim technique, but feeling better. had a rest on friday and went for swim:

Saturday 18th April

Again, lane swimming early - however major difference is I didn't have a drink on firday night!
And for the first time (not hungover!) achieved a personal best! Managed to get the 1 K swim time down to 21mins 42 seconds. I was a bit sceptical about this at first as I was concentrating on my leg - ensuring not to wreck my knee and ankle again, and taking a split time every 10 lengths, except I had lost count but knew when approaching the 6 min barrier that will be right, so when it said 5mins 51 for the first split I was very surprised, but it made sense as I felt exhausted, and knew I would have to slow that pace down - I wasn't feeling good, in fact I nearly gave up to have a rest, but with other people around I convinced myself to push on, which I am glad I did, or the PB would never have happend!

So, splits were:
5:51 / 6:40 / 6:35 and 2:37 - all very good times, not just one split, so the rest and concentration on not doing my leg in (probably over-rotating) were worth it!
then had a good drink last night to celebrate!

Quote:
"Great training log mate!"

Cheers, sometimes I think there is too much detail, but it's good to look back on really.
Went out for a BH monday bike ride today!

Was a lot windier than I expected, and still trying to get my fitness / cycling fitness specifically, back to where it was last year. The loop I generally do is 20 mile, and attempt it from either direction depending on which way I think the wind is going, but today may have been the wrong decision!
Always seems against you the wind, and demotivates at points too, but the time has dropped back to a better level, more of an average time at 73 mins, and considering my PB is 66 mins, the inclusion of wind, and too much traffic puts 73 mins at a pretty good mark.

Legs are tired now, but I needed to get out as I've drunk myself stupid this weekend. Pretty much done 2 and a half bottles of JD in, plus beer, wine and vodka too. Food-wise is same as always, pretty healthy except Saturday nights speical take-away Chinese treat!

Got far too much but had the rest for supper! crispy duck, sezchuan chicken, fried rice, ribs, hot and spicy chicken wings, prawn crakers and some curry sauce to top it off! Stuffed but worth it!
Needed to eat more anyway with all the energy I'm currently burning! Still, no beer until at least next weekend now! Think I need to abstain for a while, the JD and coke was actually staining my teeth!

Actually forgot to add that the other reason to ride today was to test the dodgy knee and ankle. Held up ok, but the knee was getting quite tight towards the last 5 mins of the loop, probably as I was pushing myself that little bit harder, and when the legs are tired, the other muscles begin to compensate so they all end up contributing to stress on the weak points. Have to see how it feels tomorrow! I need to ensure its fine if I decide to go for a swim!

Update !

So yes, another week nearly through and one more day of exercise!
Saturday 11th April

Swim session!
Our local pool has what they term "swimfit" sessions, I believe Speedo may have some involvement with this, but it's basically their way of saying, we have 3 lanes open - slow, medium and fast, no dossing, just swimming at whatever pace you can handle!

I was a bit dubious as it was my first time here, expecting a lot of people in the pool, but it wasn't too bad, 9am Sat morning, and yeah, I had a mild hangover from the 1/2 bottle of JD I drank last night! But I didn't care, I can still manage it as long as I'm not totally dehydrated and my bowels are steady!

So did I go in the fast lane or the middle lane?? How fast it fast?? I thought sod it, I'm fairly fast, so went for it, couple of practice lengths to warm up and get into a good breathing pattern, then started the timer and began my usual 1K (34 lengths) time trial! Of course, once you get going, you don't want to stop, but then I realised that there were a lot of people in this lane and some of which were overtaking me - not good when you both reach the end of the pool at the same time and someone behind you is trying to avoid you too, nearly got real messy at one point and you begin to question if you're too slow for the fast lane!

Anyway, I was done, and moved to the middle lane to get out of the way when I suddenly realised that there were about 6-8 guys in the fast lane and one guy in the middle lane! A bit silly really, I could have easily done my work in the middle lane, although the one guy there was pretty slow! Would I have been told off for going to fast?

Still, I'm a happy chappy as I finally managed to get a PB! Times as : total = 22 mins 4 secs; splits at 6:11 / 6:38 / 6:39 and 2:38

Pretty happy with that, and knowing I could have had slightly better times if I hadn't hesitated here and there and not had to swim in a circular pattern.
I could soon have this 22 min barrier broken!

BUT, one my one major concern now is my knee and ankle - I'm pretty certain that my breathing on one side technique is causing my body to rotate in such a manner that the "Kick" I'm doing is twisting my knee and it's obviously hurting, and I clearly don't wan to continue to swim well at the expense of damaging my knee and ankle.....so off to some swimmers for advice!
I know I need to change my pattern, but it's hard, you have to concentrate on a hell of a lot when swimming to ensure you're aiming towards optimum efficiency, but I'll get there, I hope especially as I enjoy it.......

One final thought too - I still can't get my head around how well I perform after a drinking session the night before - this has happened all too often - even out on the bike, some of my PB's are after drinking, but why?......................
I certainly don't want to have to drink to achieve this level of performance, but it's good to know I won't be held back!

and so...
Tuesday 7th April

Swim session! And purposely went for the 7-8pm adults only, but it was fairly busy, and as I expected, too many idiots getting in the way. There was a bunch of annoying lads, and for political correctness I won't discriminate them, but about 7-8 of them, aged between 20 - mid 30's, not really swimming, just "dossing", one guy didn't look like he'd even got wet, stood a the side of the pool with another lad just heckling...I mean WTF?

You telling me they have all paid nearly £3 to just mess about? Just stupid, nothing against them, but this is an adult session, if they wanted to mess about, why not do it while all the other idiots are about too? I wouldn't mind, but its not even like there were any women they were showing off too etc. just the mentality of some people... at least they didn't get in the way as much as some others...

Still, that's my rant and reason for the slower times I managed to put in, 23 mins 7 secs, with splits at 6:23, 7.00, 7:03 and 2:42. Just not happy, the times are going in the wrong direction!

Anyway, since I'm writing this and reflecting upon my actions, I think I'll be changing my swim plan as you'll discover later on...

Wednesday 8th

Gave myself a break and did feck all, however, if the weather was good, I may have gone for a bike ride, but it was wet and windy, so rested without too much thought!

Thursday 9th April
Didn't think I had a lot of motivation for the weights tonight, but I still went for it, got into it and the rest just flowed...

Experimenting with the BP again, lowered the weight and upped the reps -
50kg warm up, then 70kg x 8 reps x 3 sets, which I was quite pleased with as I assumed I wouldn't have got the 8 I wanted on that last set, but just managed it.
Threw in some flyes too, and a better set of chins - with 9kg, managed 8 reps and another set at 7 reps.A set of preacher curls (16.5kg), two sets of DB curls (15.5Kg), shrugs, DB press (16.5 kg x 3 sets 10 reps), 1 arm rows and more tricep kickbacks...
and the usual stupid amount of ab work - even used some added weight!

GOOD Friday 10th April
No exercise today as more DIY was in hand, and I had my swimming planned for tomorrow since the holiday season meant the pool would be full of kids like the last time I went down there (silly mistake).
so new post for swim....

Well, since doing a lot of training last week, I chilled it out a bit this week, but still did a fair amount!

Monday 6th April
Weights:
Changed the routine around a little, started with One arm rows to get warmed up a little better, did 16.5kg DB for 2 x 15 per arm, then did a third set at 30 reps per side which got me sweating nicely!
Always wanting to get the most from the Bench Press, so it is one of the first on the list so I don't have tired triceps / shoulders from other exercises.
Did 50kg warm up x 10 reps, then set it to 75kg to try and sustain for 6 reps over four sets, and managed 3 x 6 and a final set at 7 reps (Near failure, would have attempted 8 with a spotter, but that's what you get from home workouts!).

Chins + 10.5Kg (1 set) 8 reps, quite pleased!.

18kg DB Curls (4 x 6 reps)

18 kg DB shrugs (3 x 10 reps)

Then I had the amazing idea of doing tricep kickbacks in an attempt to aid my swimming stroke! The low amount of weight is ridiculous but needed to get perfect form! - had a massive 4kg and did 12 reps per arm then pushed the boat out with 6kg and did 10 reps - these hurt when done right!

Anyways, did the usual ab work in between each set, consisting of Russian twists (+5kg plate), Elbow-knee twists things, Hanging leg raises (proper form, extending the lower legs out), sit-ups, side crunches and side-sit ups.. will continue in another post!

Well, a good working week for exercise so far! And it's set to continue tomorrow morning with an early bike ride! I'd probably have a lye-in but I've consumed a lot of carbs tonight, knowing full well that tomorrow should be a good ride out avoiding peak traffic times!

(The carbs consumed have come in the form of myself making spaghetti carbonara; lots of pasta, lots of cream, lots of cheese, lots of streaky bacon and for an extra hit of protein, a load of chicken too! Then I've had a couple of brews, a nibble on some chocolate and a large wedge of ginger cake! Yes, I'm full now!)

Well, here is what I have done up to now (Past 5 days):

Monday 30th March

Weights! No legs tonight as I predicted a bike ride for wednesday!
Did a 50kg warm up on Bench Press, then squeezed out 75kg x 10, 65kg x 11 and 60kg x 10; that was taxing!A good set of chins with 8Kg extra for 9/6/6 reps.Flyes at 15.5kg x 10 x 3 setsCurls, shrugs and 1 arm rows (15.5kg) for 3 sets at 10 / 10 and 15 reps respectively.Delt raises (DB) 12kg per DB to front and side all at 10 reps, lowering the weight to 11kg and 10.5kg each setO/H DB Tricep extensions at 13kg x 12 reps and 12kg x 12 repsAll topped off with 3 sets of sit-ups, side crunches and side sit-ups plus 4 sets of hanging leg raises.
All in all a good workout!

Tuesday 31st March

Went for a Dip! pool was a little full, so I'm instantly in grumpy mode! I knew it wasn't going to be a brillaint time because of having to avoid everyone!
Times as ususal (1K; 34 lengths broken into 4 sections i.e. split times every 10 lenghts then final 4):
Overall 23mins 12 sec at: 6:27 / 6:58 / 7:10 and 2:38

Ok, but it's clear that the first 10 were quite a lot faster, but the last 4 were also pretty good, pushed myself well towards the end. Continued for another 20 or so lengths, practising various techniques and basically getting my money's worth!

Wednesday 1st April!

Bike ride! First time out in the evening due to our stupid, (but grateful) BST! Nice weather for it too ~ 16 deg C with very little wind (Supposedly!).
Did my standard route (~20 mile loop; 28 in total) which took approx 73 mins (for the loop) Av speed ~ 18.5mph, and hit a max on downhill at 44mph! Haven't been that fast for a while and was starting to crap it a little TBH! It was a consistent >40mph for about 3 miins on that particular section too. Max HR was only 172 so, I know I'm not yet back to peak shape as that would normally be around 190; bascially my legs weren't used to it so simply couldn't "up" the intensity.
Still, it was simply nice to get out. Good job I had a banana with me too!

Thursday 2nd April

Back to the weights, but I was starting to feel a little lathargic as you may well imagine! Still, I managed to do a basic routine;wu @ 50kg x 12 BPBP 60kg x 10, 65kg x 10 and 70 kg x 7 then squeezed out 1 more too!Upped the curls, OH DB Press and Shrugs to 16.5kg all at 3 x 10, and 1 arm rows same weight 2 x 15 reps tehn 1 x 30 reps (that ached!)And as usual, in between all those exercises did ab work, 2 sets of same 3 basic moves as monday and also 3 x 10 hanging leg raises and also 3 sets of elbow-knee alternating jobbies (Have to look up the proper name one day!).

Friday (Today!) 3rd April

Went for my decent weekly swim as the pool is generally quite empty after an early finish from work. But no, not today, a lot more than ususal (3-7 people!), was more like 15 in today, and to top it off, a swimming club took over 1/3 of it with their own separate lane!
Still, I was aching a bit, and just could not push myself as much as I wanted, I could feel my shoulders tiring fairly quickly, which I'll put down to Thursdays heavier than normal weights. I've noticed how a weights session hasn't been affecting my swimming recently, and didn't think it would bother me today, but it obviously had some effects.

Times:
Total 23mins and 1 second!
splits at; 6:27 / 6:56 / 6:58 and 2:40.

Not too bad, but need to keep at it to improve overall and at some point break the 22 min barrier and eventually the 21 min barrier. It must be possible! I'll probably have to learn the tumble turn though to get sub 21!

BRING IT ON!
Lets hope I'm ready for a decent ride tomorrow morning too! I'll definitely be having a few JD's tomorrow night either way!

Finally got around to a bit of exercise this week! Still feeling a bit crappy,trying to shake this cold off still..it's been one of the longest colds/flu I've ever had and really annoying - I think I've become quite depressed over not being able to exercise!
Still, managed to get an FB done yesterday :

Thurdsday 26th March
Upped the weights just for fun!Deadlift, Squats and Calf raises reps= 12/12/20 respectively and 3 sets of each all at 60kg.Bench press, 60kg x 12/12/12/10Body weight chins maxed 12 reps and also managed 3 reps with added weight of 16.5kg (In a rucksack!)Then tailed off with 2 sets of:Curls (DB), OH DB press and Shrugs at 15.5kg for all. Also did 3 sets of 3 ab exercises with 20/30 reps dependent on exercise.
Was starting to feel a bit tired so didn't do too much overall.

Friday 27th
Swim! Still feeling bad on the chest, wasn't sure how it was going to go and certainly wasn't expecting a really fast swim, but did do very well - 1 k time at 23mins 5 secs
splits at every 300M = 6 min 30 / 6.53 / 7.02 and final 100 (120 actually) at 2.40,,
very happy with that and also did a bit more as usual.
That should be it for this weekend unless the wind is minimal and dry and I'm feeling good on Sunday then it may just be a bike ride!

Flu..

Well, after everything was going well with the swim times etc, my throat became very sore which ultimately has turned into a cold and now manifesting itself as the Flu! Yes, man flu or whatever, I actually went into work feeling seriously bad but really had no choice, now I bet everyone is getting my germs, as I sit here typing from home on a day off, since my back and all other limbs are killing now. Lemsip is doing a treat once in a while but I'd rather not be ill as the weather has been fantastic; needless to say I've not done any exercise since my swim last friday..... not happy. I think it's going to be a while before I'm 100% and motivation will be hard, but if the weather stays good it shouldn't be too hard to get out and ride. So until then..............watch this space! I'm also in the process of looking for a new road bike...

Been a while since I've posted, so whilst I have time, thought I may as well update...Still been working sat and sun so no exercise there, need a break sometimes.

Monday 9th March
Didn't do weights today as I wanted to check how my swimming would suffice with a good rest as per:

Tuesday 10thSwim!
Not particularly good considering the rest! Pretty annoyed really; times were as follows:6:16 / 6:45 / 6:57 / 2:40 totalling 22 mins 38 secs.... well, the rest didn't help me swim faster, so sack that off!

Wed 11th
Actually tried pushing myself on a bike ride for the first time in a while - just a simple run up a local hill climb, twice over, checking how my legs faired up and also my HR. was pretty hard work but certainly worth it, as it means I need to get out more!

Thursday 12th
Absolutely battered the weights tonight to make up for the missing day, and to see if my swimming would deteriorate from a hard session. Not going to list all details, but consisted of BP, Flyes, curls, chins, shoulder press, shrugs, rows, tricep extensions, delt raises and loads of ab work. A lot, but a good workout.

Friday 13th
So, the weights didn't stop me having a good swim! Achieved my fastest time yet, so there is hope for progression! Times:6:20 / 6:44 / 6:34 / 2:35, totalling 22mins 12 seconds! I do believe I can easily get under 22 mins now, and during the session, I did a lot more than normal too, probably swam around 2k in total. Also tested myself on the underwater length again and did it fairly easily! (30M).

quote

Quote:
"mate good log just wondering am a swimmer as well I find it helps with my doms however my legs seem to get pumped up. Any tip on improving my swimming performance ?stamina and weight loss ?"

Hey Neily, all I can say is that I simply wanted to become half-decent at the front crawl, and I watched loads of training videos from Youtube! Some were helpful, some not. I assumed my stamina would be good from all the cycling I do, but it simply doesn't match up.

To increase stamina at swimming, you simply need to swim more, but really need to work on the particular technique first - once you get this more efficient, you'll waste less energy. You can swim at a slow-ish pace to avoid burning out quickly, but once you get the confidence, you can increase the speed and this naturally works the stamina; but it must be noted that eating correctly before a swim is very important, I need to take on a lot of energy to do 60-90 mins in the pool, and give it at least 90-120 minutes before the session. Pasta / rice & protein meals, followed by a banana, and ensuring protein & carbs are taken immediately after the session.

For me, the hardest part of learning front crawl is the breathing; I must have swallowed half the pool water within the first 6 weeks of trying to get this right. Arm-eye-mouth co-ordination is important, and is difficult to find real tuition from a video, so self-learning and perseverence is the best way! There are so many parts of swimming the crawl that make up the enitire movement, you can't concentrate on them all at once - not while you're simply trying to float and stay alive anyway, so take it bit by bit each week and have patience with it.

Once you get to a fast pace of swimming, you'll really start to enjoy the challenge of going further or faster, it's what is keeping me going anyway.
As for diet, just stick to what you are doing, and make sure you have somehting energy-wise in the system for a swim - you are making excellent progress as it is.

update

well, monday was back into the weights as previous:

Monday 2nd March
Legs as previous (3 x 10 x 50kg etc)Bench 50 kg / 60 kg / 70 kg / 60kg x 108Kg chins x 8 / 615.5 kg DB preaecher curls x1015.5 kg DB standing curls x 1015.5 kg shrugs x 10 x 21 arm rows x 15.5kg x 15 x 2+ various Abs; Sit ups / Side twisting sit ups / Hanging Leg raises / Side crunches / Elbow-Knee crunches
Not too much, preserving myself for the swim!

Tuesday 3rd March
SWIMMING!
Ok, I was expecting to be well up for a decent time today, but, as usual, there were more people in the pool than I bargained for; was in at 6:30pm and adults only was 7 - 8pm, so had to pass the time until 7 for it to empty but some adult Butt-heads still insist on pissing about, rather than getting some exercise! Just beacause you are in the pool doesn't mean your'e exercising you idiots!
Shoulders were tired after this one!
Times were:6:11 / 6:45 / 6:49 & 2:44, totalling 1k = 22 mins 29 secs.
Grumble..... so close...yet so far away! How can my fastest time be after boozing?

Wednesday - rest!

Thursday 5th March

Didn't bother with legs tonight; didn't really have time and a rest won't do any harm.
BP 60 x 10 / 75 x 10 / 65 x 9!Flyes 14.5kg x 10 x 3Chins +8kg x 10 / 6Curls 15.5 x 10 x 3O/H DB press 15.5kg x 3 x 10Shrugs 15.5 kg x 3 x 10+ Ab work: Sit ups x 30 x 3 sets / side crunches x 20 x 3 / HLR's x 10 x 3 / Side sit-ups x 20 x 3.
Thought by taking it fairly easy, my swim would improve, but:

Friday 6th March
Swim - was quite achy! Could feel last nights BP in the chest a little and also on the shoulders & arms, times were:
6:13 / 6:52 / 6:56 & 2:43 total = 22:43! :\(I'm going backwards!

My arms and chest were really feeling it after this, did quite a fair bit afterwards though - trying to improve my kicking and also did 8 lengths with fists! Just over an hour in total, probably around 1600M swam. (had chili & rice / banana & youghurt before the pool, probably should have had all of it together as I was burping banana flavour up during the swim! - ate that about 90 mins before though!)

update

Not so much time to myself now, in the verge of DIY both weekend days now! But, I can still squeeze some form of training in, especially once these lighter nights start to kick in at the end of March - after work bike rides!

Monday 23rd Feb
Enjoying the mini leg weight sessions beforehand now, so will try and keep them up until I have more free time and get back into more cycling.
Pretty short session today though, but good enough!Deadlifts 50kg x 10 x 3Squats 50kg x 10 x 3Calf raises x 20 x 3
Bench 60kg x 10, 75 kg x 8, 65 kg x 11Chins + 8kg x 8/8/8!
Continuous 3 moves x 3 sets:OH DB Press 15.5 kg x 10DB 1 arm rows 15.5kg x 15Shrugs DB 15.5kg x 10
Ab work in between sets:Sit-ups x 30 x 3 setsside sit-ups x 20 x 3 setsSide crunches x 20 x 2

Tue 24th Feb
Swim session!Pretty good going, felt fairly strong, but there were a few too many people in the pool, have to re-consider the timing I think!
Managed 1K in 22mins 33secs (a whole 7 seconds slower than before!) Starting to think I'm hitting a plateau! There are quite a few factors that need addressing though - need to get my turn better / quicker, need to chill out and keep the rythym going too and also still trying to engage the use of my legs properly! :lol:Pulling a lot with my arms at the moment, which towards the end you can really feel in the triceps and shoulders.
Split times per 10 lengths: 6:26 / 6:37 / 6:51 + 2:40.

Friday 27th Feb
Didn't do weights last night since me and the missus went rocking in true stylie to Metallica! Got a few too many beers down the neck too! Well, with having today off and knowing I was going to go for a swim regardless of hangover, I was happy to stuff myself with carbonara and dessert too!
So, got to the pool about 3pm, almost totally empty! 1 bloke and his two kids! Real happy that no-one could possibly get in my way! Well, even with the mild hangover in the afternoon, I managed the fastest yet at 22mins 20 seconds! (6:12 / 6:42 / 6:49 + 2:37). This certainly gives me hope to get under the 22 min barrier for now, as I did rest a little more than usual at some points as I was just knackered!

The pool got a little busier towards 4pm, but definitely a good time to go for a swim!
I also did a lot more afterwards compared to usual, spent about 90 minutes in there in total, and also did at least 4 lengths swimming with clenched fists - which is pretty weird as well as hard!
Still, that was it until Monday as Rugby was on and I thought I deserved a beer on Saturday which actually only involved rum, and between me and the missus did the entire bottle in, plus 1/2 a bottle of red too!

Sunday was a day of DIY again and also involved a trip to the pub for tea and 2 pints!

Update !

Well, 9 days late, but not much to report! Was away for a wedding over Sunday, Mon and Tues so did sod all. Can't even think why I didn't bother doing anything at all on Wednesday so got back into the weights on Thursday:

Thursday 19th Feb
Since the previous Mondays weights felt good, doing legs first, I thought I'd do it again, but not as much, however, did do a lot more upper work:
Deadlifts 50kg x 10 x 3Squats 50kg x 10 x 3Calf raises x 10 x 3
Bench 50kg x 12, 60 kg x 10, 70 kg x 11Chins + 8kg x 8/7/6Flyes x 10 x 2 (14.5kg per DB)
Continuous 3 moves x 3 sets:OH DB Press 15.5 kg x 10DB Curls 15.5kg x 10Shrugs DB 15.5kg x 10
Plus a shed load of ab work! Such as:Sit-ups x 30 x 3 setsside sit-ups x 20 x 3 setsHanging leg raises x 10 x 3 setsSide crunches x 20 x 2Elbow-knee sit-ups/twists x 40

Friday 20th Feb
Stupid, stupid me. Decided to go for a swim, well geared up and ate perfectly for it - then got there and realised it was half term - pool was full of kids, counted a minimum of 50 people at one point, needless to say I didn't get a decent swim in, so just pottered about!

Saturday 21st Feb
Well, got up early as I had work to do elsewhere, and went for a bike ride at 7:30 am - which again turned out to be hard work! Very windy indeed and an absolutely terrible loop time, which turned out to be 15 minutes slower than my fastest ever. Quite disheartening - especially when you know you've got no chance of a decent time about half way through, but you have to carry on to perservere just to simply get home! Legs were tired!

bike fall!

A poor, week mainly spent feeling sorry for myself as per falling off my bike on the ice!

That incident happend the day after I did a mega weights session too! As detailed below, and I was aching from the effects of gravity and tarmac, as well as an excelletn workout! Double whammy! I still managed to get to work and hobble about to do my duty though! What's even more annoying is the onset of a cold, had a sore throat for the past few days and a real runny nose and generally feel run down.., but still, I don't like missing out on my exercise!

Monday 9th Feb - mega session!
I pretty much guessed I was going to either go swimming or do sod all on tuesday, so incorporated a leg session into my normal routine here, and was a great way to warm up too:
Similar to a normal leg session, 50kg barbell, non-stop, in the following order for 3 sets:
Deadlifts x 10, squats x 10, calf raises x 10, squats x 10
Then onto Benching, 50kg x 12, 60kg x 12, 70kg x 11Chins increased extra weight to 8 kg and managed 10/6/5threw in some 17kg DB curls too x 10 reps (heavier than normal)DB OH press 17kg x 10 reps x 3 sets followed immediately byShrugs 17kg x 10 reps x 3 sets1 arm rows 17kg x 20 reps per side x 3 sets
Not so much ab work though, but still managed to do 2 sets of sit-ups (alternating to either side) x 20 reps, 2 sets of elbow/knee alternating crunches x 40, normal sit-ups x 30, and one set of hanging leg raises x 10 reps.
Pretty good pump overall and only about 70 minutes max.

Tuesday, I skidded on some ice whilst on my way to work on my bicycle and squished my hip and elbow! So nothing was done until friday!

Friday 13th!!!!! Feb
Decided that the only for of exercise I could do with some decent amount of effort would be swimming, and so I went at it this afternoon, and managed my 1K in a PB again! I'm obviously getting better somewhere, whether it is technique or CV/stamina I'm not entirely sure yet!
The time was a nice 24 mins 09 seconds. Also managed to clock two lengths (60M) in a PB of 1.03.67 m/s/hs. I'll get that under 1 minute one day.
Well, pleased as ever, we where going out for a curry and having a few beers tonight too, so I needed to do something to offset the calorie intake!

Saturday 14th! Feb
Yeah, mild hangover, nothing special, had about 2.5 pints of cider before heading out, then a pint of kingfisher and 1/2 bottle of wine, and a bloody nice curry too! known as a Jai puree, plus pilau rice and garlic nann bread...that was after the chicken pakora and mixed starters!
Loads of it, and absolutely stuffed, then the cold decided it was taking a hold a bit more, so went to bed and was alseep for about 11pm last night! Woke up feeling a bit crap, chest was wheezing but stuffed some weetabix down my neck, 2 strong cups of coffee and a pint of water with multi vitamins and some re-hydration salts too, which seemed to perk me up as I headed out for another swimming session!
And yet again, pushing myself as ever, managed to get a real improvement on yesterdays time! Pretty surprised with myself, as I wasn't feeling that confident or strong after a few warm up laps, but still clocked the 34 lenghts at 22mins 26 seconds. And, this time, I also decided to take splits every 10 lengths too, to see if I was speeidng up / slowing down, these were:
6 mins 30 secs, 6m 43s and 6m 38, so not too bad, with the last four at 2m 35 sec (equivalent to 10 at 6 m 27s),So pretty consistent in pace.
Next target now, is to get anything under 22 mins, once that is acheived, I think it will be difficult to get serious improvements, but there are a lot of areas I need to work on, so you never know!
Well, depending on how much alcohol I consume tonight, I may be up early and have a weights session, as I'm away for a wedding and guessing tuesday will be my next real opportunity for exercise (probably a leisurely swim!), so we'll have to see.......

These last few weeks seem to be flying by now! Is that a good or a bad thing?Oh well - here we are again!
Shorter version though!

Monday 2nd Feb
usual upper weights, however, thought I'd push my luck and squeeze out some heavier reps on the Bench Press, and to my suprise, did quite well!
Started off (after W/U) with 77 Kg x 8 reps, then 10Kg x 10 and finally 65kg x 10, certainly worked myself there!Then, chins (+7Kg), flyes, curls, O/H DB Press & shrugs. Also threw in the usual ab work, but overall, wasn't really in the mood for working out this week.
But I also thought I'd have a go at a decent plank hold and achieved 3 mins. Could have held out longer but would have probably done some damage!

Tuesday 3rd Feb
Couldn't help myself - had to go swimming, I'm really starting to enjoy this now, as my swimming fitness is increasing very well, and particularly today, I managed to get another PB for my 1K, at 24mins 45 sec.I'm still going to slaughter this time at some point in the future, which gives me the motivation to keep at it.
Just need to get working on a few areas for improving the entire technique. Having the pool to myself would be nice too.

Wednesday 4th feb
Did sod all.

Thursday 5th feb
Again, wasn't really in the mood, but still forced some kind of effort out. Probably still recovering from monday anyway.BP started at 75kg x 9, then 70 x 9 then 65 x 10, and that was a struggle. Then persevered with some chins (+7kg x 10 / 8), curls, 1 arm rows, delt raises and tricep extensions. Got through as much ab work as possible but not as much as normal. Energy levels were faltering.

Friday 6th feb
Nothing, having a rest today, but did have 1/2 bottle of red wine, 1/2 bottle of vodka and little bit more.. Also had a few too many "nibbles"

Saturday 7th feb
Decided that going swimming was a bad idea, although being the tool I am, decided that it would clear my hangover........ well, it was ok until I stopped swimming, then my head was pounding!Only managed a time of 25 mins 30 secs, which is strange as after the first 10 lengths, I was anhiliating my previous times, so either I was still quite pissed and forgot how to count or I severely slowed down towards the end of the distance. I'm convinced I counted the lengths wrong, simply as I hardly stopped for a rest compared with previous swims. Oh well. that'll teach me for getting inebriated.
Still, it was a friends birthday that night too, and lots of cocktails were consumed, so Sunday was another day of guilty liver damage...and a hell of a lot of snack foods were consumed too..

Sunday 8th feb
Well, with the weather being crisp and dry, I decided it was only fair to get the mountain bike out and test my luck with the compacted snow from the last week! Got down to minus 4 deg C overnight, and there was plenty of ice! Had to do a few detours to catch up with friends, but, my legs were far from happy. This just reminds me that no matter how much road cycling you do, mountian biking is something very different!
Still, I've had my fill of bacon, eggs, sausages, beans and hash brown so it's time to watch the Rugby now!

Update !

Another week done and dusted!
Monday 26th Jan
Mixed up order of routine:1 arm DB rows 17Kg x 20 reps x 3 setsBench Press: (Swapped pyramid round):75kg x 10, 67.5Kg x 10, 65 kg x 10 (just!)Chin-ups: (+7kg) 8 reps, 6 repsFlyes! 15.5 kg x 10 reps x 3 setsDB Curls 15.5Kg x 10 x 3DB Shrugs followed immediately by DB Shoulder press using 15.5 kg x 3 sets x 10 reps
In between each set I included Ab work, rotating around 3 sets of sit-ups (30), side-crunches (20 per side), hanging leg raises (10). Also did 3 sets of Elbow/knee jobbies, russian twists (+5kg plate) and 5kg reverse woodcutter moves x 10/side
Thats in excess of 500 reps in total, just in case you are interested!

Tuesday 27th Jan
No leg work today as wanted a swim!And unbelieveably to myself, got a PB, really got my 1K time down - 27mins 48 secs, all front crawl, just had less rest in between lengths. very pleased with myself!

Wednesday 28th Jan = Rest, was staying away with work overnight and did consider an early morning run down on Margate beach, but no need.

Thursday 29th Jan
Similar to Monday, however with travelling I'm not sure my usually daily nutritional requirements gave me the energy to do a decent workout as I felt very lethargic. Something to do with burger kind / mixed grill and fry up??
Bench press : 75kg x 9, 67.5 x 10, 65 x 10Chins, 7kg , 8, 7 , 6DB Curls 15.5Kg x 10 x 2Shrugs 15.5 kg x 10 x 2DB deltoid raises to front and rear; 12kg x 10, 11.5kg x 10, 10.5 kg x 10Triceps (OH,1 arm DB) 14.5kg x 10, 13kg x 10, 12kg x 101 arm rows 17kg x 20reps x 2 setsSame ab routine as monday in between sets.

Friday 30th Jan
Chanced the weather and went for a bit of a bike ride; well, basically attacked a hill climb twice, approx 2 mile hill; time was quite good considering the wind, first attempt was 16 mins 41 secs, second attempt was 16 mins 35 secs - not bad considering my legs felt like crap!
Was trying out my new replacement chest strap and seeing what sort of max HR I'd get, but although I was breathing through my arse, it wasn't as high as I thought - only hit 183. Still, the new watch decided that the entire bike ride (17.6 miles) had made me burn 1025 Calories! That was a lot more than I was expecting!
Also had my first alcohol since NY eve - 1/2 a bottle of JD and coke!

Saturday 31st Jan
Mild hangover! Wasn't really in the mood for exercise, but wanted to try and burn off the excess cals from last nights alcohol consumption, so went for a swim - quite annoying today as there were more people swimming than ever! Counted 25, and one plonka doing widths! Fecking adult swimming only and there is always one tool.
Still, to my utter amazement, I did an even faster time than Tuesdays attempt! Managed the 1 K in 26 mins and 30 secs. Very pleased with myself, and I may just celebrate tonight with a little more JD and coke!
Well, I think it shows my stamina in the pool is increasing, even if my technical ability isn't! I can now have an estimate of what times I should be aiming for at least. Two lengths at best is taking 1 in and 7 secs, however I can not keep this speed up, but will estimate off 70 seconds at best so multiplied by 17 = 1190 seconds; approx 20 minutes.
So this is my target to aim for!
The one good thing about swimming is that the conditions are always consistent, so swim time is essentially dependant on yourself rather than any other infulencing factors, the only main problem is people getting in your way!
Tomorrow I may rest or get the mountain bike out for a leisure ride!

coffee hangover

Not sure if coffee hangovers exist, but I'm sure they do!
Saturday 24th Jan
As ever, Saturday morning has been reserved for swimming, and after a few practice runs, trialing my technique even further, I managed todays 34 lengths in a time of 30 mins, 40 secs. Front crawl all the way, although there were a few minor problems, and resting a bit more than I probably needed too, it was my best time yet, so its good to know its comming down.
Maybe not significantly, but nonetheless, its comming down!
carried on for a few lengths of breast stroke, and then went for a couple of fast lengths, but the cramp set in on my left calf! Not happy! that lasted a painful 30 or 40 seconds and was hard to get rid of, so decided to call it a day at that.Total swim time was about 90 mins.
I'd eaten porridge at about 8am, and two cups of coffee, then had a banana about 60 mins before the swim.
Think I'm going to have to up the carbs before the swim next time. And ensure I'm fully hydrated, which I assumed I was this morning.
Had a protein shake and another banana right after the swim, then came home for bacon, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, beans and a hash brown!
All my muscles have worked hard today and its time to realx watching the second footie match of the day!

Update !

Apart from the actual log of the workout, I must say, the higher intensity workload I gave myself actually felt great, aching muscles & limbs, but not painful! Although my hip and ankle were a bit sore from falling off my bike on ice outside work on Monday am!
And it has been 23 days since alcohol passed my lips! But I have been getting a tad too much fresh coffee into the system! And I've also been eating more eggs than ususal! Still, I'm feeling in prime condition, and physique is probably nearly its best ever at the mo. So, as soon as I do end up having a drink again (Next week), I'm going to be doing a bit more work to burn the extra detrimental effects off! Hopefully the weather will be good enough soon for road cycling and Mountain Biking on sucessive days at the weekends.

update

So, the end of another working week!
5x5 no more....back into hammering the splits as follows:(A bit more intensity than usual)
Monday 19th Jan
Bench Prees: 60kg, 65Kg, 70Kg sets x 10 reps each (just about on 70Kg)Incline BP: 60Kg x 6Flyes! 14.5 kg x 10 reps x 3 setsChin-ups: (+7kg)10, 8 & 5!EZ Bar curls 35Kg x 10DB Curls 15.5Kg x 10DB Shrugs followed immediately by DB Shoulder press using 16.5 kg x 3 sets x 10 reps1 arm DB rows 17.5Kg x 20 reps x 3 setsTricep extensions (Overhead) 13kg x 10 reps (1 set)
In between each set I included Ab work, rotating around 3 sets of sit-ups (20), side-crunches (20 per side), hanging leg raises (10). Also threw in some russian twists, elbow-knee twists (?Name?)
That workout was about 1 hour 10 mins in total, almost non-stop.
Tuesday 20th Jan
The leg punishment!
NEW!: Unweighted Pistol squats (10 reps per side x 1 set)
Squats (BB) 50 kg x 20 reps x 3 setsEach set of squats was immediately followed by Calf raises x 20 reps at 3 sets.
Normally throw in deads too, but the back was a bit achy so left it at that, needless to say after the pistol punishment, my legs were a bit tired anyway!
Wednesday 21st Jan = Rest
Thursday 22nd Jan
Similar to Monday without flyes;Bench press = sameIncline BP 60 kg x 8 reps (1 set)Chins, 7kg , 10, 6, 6EZ sameBB Curls SameDB deltoid raises to front and rear; 13kg x 10, 12kg x 10, 11.5 kg x 10Triceps (OH, DB) 14kg x 10, 13kg x 10, 13kg x 101 arm rows 17kg x 20reps x 2 setsSame ab routine as monday in between sets, plus some reverse woodcutters.

Friday 23rd Jan
Was considering swimming today, but as I suspected, the legs are still slightly tender and figured I should have a decent rest from last nights upper workout, so conserving my energy for tommorrows swim instead!Was crap weather for a decent bike ride and my brakes need changing, so I wasn't chancing it today.
Hopefully have a good dip tomorrow and maybe do a cycle or swim again sunday depending on how I feel.
Got my new HR watch today, so happy now! (Ebay bargain!)

Update !

Ok, so the previous is the condensed version of what I've done this week.
A couple of things have been bugging me though - the 5 x 5 weights session, although is designed realistically for beginners, but can be used by everyone, really doesn't feel like its working for me.
The sessions are a lot quicker than my old routine, and they are near the same intensity, but it doesn't feel good enough for me. I think this is because, like Full Body workouts, they really should be done 3 times a week if possible, and I'm sure if I could get 3 workouts in I probably would, but I really only intend to do 2 uppers and 1 lower plus whatever bike riding I can do.
It simply doesn't have the intensity I'm used to and was hoping for, so I've decided to use the 5 x 5 program as experience, and would reccomend it for beginners or those who can commit more time to their weights regime each week.
I wanted a bit more intensity, but for now, I'm going to revert to my original regime to see if anything within tht specific workout has changed due to the 5 x 5 I've been doing, whether it is increased or decreased weights I can shift, it's going to be a test-the-water exercise before I decide to increase the intensity and find out I can't handle it. I believe there won't have been much change, but if anything, the strength may have decreased so I'm airing on the side of caution before swapping to another workout.
Apart from that, yesterdays bike ride was pretty good considering the strong wind, but I had pushed myself a fair bit and my legs were jellified! It's simply good to get out while the weather is acceptable, to keep the legs going before springtime (harder / longer / faster riding!). The annoying thing is my timex HR monitor chest strap has given up, so I've no data to see just how good yesterdays ride was in comparison to previous rides. I thought it may have been the watch battery, so I changed that and now I don't trust the seal is fine, so giving me no confidence in taking it into the pool now!
Which therefore caused a knock-on effect with todays swim session! I had to guess at the time taken for the swim using the crappily-mounted clock on the wall!
So time for a new watch!

Update !

Monday 12th Jan
5 x 5 upper again; same as 5th Jan
Tuesday 13th Jan
Legs as Wednesday 7th
Wednesday 14th Jan
Went for a swim! Managed 34 lengths (1K) in 34 mins and also a full length underwater as I like to! Did another 7 lengths just for good measure too (trying to improve technique!)
Thursday 15th Jan
5x5 upper again, but threw in a couple of isolations too - 1 set of 12 x 16.5kg curls and 2 sets of tricep extensions at 14kg & 13Kg (1 arm, overhaead DB).
Friday 16th Jan
28 mile bike ride; (20 mile circuit maxing out), 71 minute circuit, 102 minutes total ride time.
Saturday 17th Jan
1K swim in 32 minutes (34 lengths), extra 500M warm up / cool down / technique improvement.
Got bloody cramp towards the last couple of lengths as I pulled up before crashing into someone and both hamstrings balled up! luckilly I was in the middle of the pool where I can just about stand up! Not a nice feeling at all!
Sunday I will be resting!