My Fitness Challenge: 4 weeks & 4 times the intake

The Plan (Stan)…

After reading a number of articles on the topic, I’ve decided to change my fitness focus a little bit. As regular readers will probably know, I tend to stick to a fairly strict workout routine, but I’ve lost focus a little over the last 2 months (after hurting my lower back on a stupid office chair in NZ; I might talk to my boss about a compo claim, as it’s cost a bit in trips to the physiotherapist).

The pain (if any) is usually only present as soon as I get out of bed (and only generally because I’ve slept in an awkward position the night before)… but it’s still annoying when I can’t continue sleeping because of it – especially on weekends when I’m trying to sleep in with my BF . So with that having happened and my progress slowed down a little, I will try something different for 2 (or possibly more, if it works) weeks and see how it goes.

Essentially I’ll focus on shorter workouts but with more weight, so that I can get the reps down but make them harder. I read somewhere that taller people (like me) tend to get better  results from shorter, more explosive workouts than longer drawn-out ones. So a slight increase in weight and less reps it is and I’ll see how it goes. Another change comes in the form of my diet and an attempt to gain more mass. I haven’t noticed much of a change lately but I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had the time to sit down and think about the maths.

I was having 1 protein shake a day at work and then, if I was feeling up for a workout that afternoon, another shake afterwards… equating to about 80 grams of protein a day (which is about half of what I should be having if I want to gain a good amount of mass). No wonder I wasn’t seeing any weight gain progress! But, like I said – I did the maths and it’s clear why. So I’m going to try an increase in my intake of different forms of protein and supplements. The mass gain diet I’m trying for the next 2 (or so) weeks revolves around 6 meals a day – each with at least 40 grams of protein. Three should be fairly regular meals but the other 3 can be healthy snacks (fruits, nuts, a can of tuna, etc) and protein shakes to fulfil the 40 gram requirements per meal.

Naturally, my 4 or 5 workouts a week will assist me in converting this new mass into muscle. If I were to just increase my protein count without doing any exercise, I’d just get fat! Anyway, it’ll work out something like this…

• 7am: Protein shake & cereal
• 9am: Protein shake & fruit to snack on
  
• 11am: Protein shake & nuts to snack on
  
• 1pm: Standard lunch (which is usually something revolving around homemade tuna / meat sandwiches or salads anyway; or leftovers)
• 5pm: Protein shake (generally after gym)
• 7pm: Standard dinner (generally high in carbs – so pasta, rice, potatoes… in other words, filling meals)
• 9pm Protein shake (only if I missed out one of the others)

I’ll give this diet change a try for 2 weeks and track my progress online here every few days. I’ll also dust off the scale and note down weight, bodyfat and other factors… although there’s always a lot of variance and external factors with bodyfat and muscle weight-counts, given it changes depending on what you’ve eaten, how much fluid you’ve had to drink and the time of day. I will try and keep things as regular as I can though! Wish me luck .

Day 1 (December 2nd, 2009)

I’ve successfully completed my first day. I stuck to the above times, too! I must say – the first protein shake at work generally fills me up on a normal day… try drinking two more over the next 4 hours! Needless to say I feel quite full and probably only want a small dinner, but I’ll eat the regular amount in the interests of seeing where this all leads after two weeks. So far so good.

• Workout: YES
• Workout rating: 8/10 (usually bench press a cumulative 1920kg but was able to press over 2500kg today)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 74.9kg
• Bodyfat: 10%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 49%

Day 2 (December 3rd, 2009)

I was able to stick to all my times and intake rates today, so all good. The workout was particularly good, as today was the first day of my “more weight, less reps” system…

• Workout: YES
• Workout rating: 8/10
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 75kg
• Bodyfat: 16.7%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.2%

Day 3 (December 4th, 2009)

So far so good, but no workout today (my arvo off) .

• Workout: NO
• Workout rating: N/A
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 73kg
• Bodyfat: 19%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 46.2%

Day 4 (December 5th, 2009)

• Workout: YES
• Workout rating: 9/10 (massive pumps this time, very happy with myself – although I resorted to half a serving of SuperPump 250 )
• Target intake achieved: ALMOST (I’ve got 1 protein shake to go for the day, but will have after dinner)
• Weight: 74.6kg
• Bodyfat: 17.8%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 47.4%

Day 6 (December 7th, 2009)

• Workout: NO (only a Fitness Age test; see related post)
• Workout rating: N/A
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 75.8kg
• Bodyfat: 16.2%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.7%

Now… you’re probably wondering why there’s such a big gap here between days 6 and 13. Unfortunately due to work commitments (for my own business), I was unable to fit in a single workout in the last 7 days… however, for 5 out of the 7 days, I have been able to achieve my target protein intake so things are still on track. As a result of the break, I will extend my challenge for another week or so and continue monitoring / posting the results .

Day 13 (December 14th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (my first PT session! )
• Workout rating: 9/10
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 75.2kg
• Bodyfat: 15.9%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.9%

Day 14 (December 15th, 2009)

• Workout: NO (still mega sore from yesterday’s PT session, lol)
• Workout rating: n/a
• Target intake achieved: ALMOST
• Weight: 76kg
• Bodyfat: 13.8%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 50.9%

Day 15 (December 16th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 77.1kg
• Bodyfat: 15.3%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 49.5%

Day 16 (December 17th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 77.1kg
• Bodyfat: 16.1%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.9%

Day 18 (December 19th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 77.4kg
• Bodyfat: 17.9%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 47.4%

Day 21 (December 22nd, 2009)

• Workout: NO (still mega sore from yesterday’s PT session, lol)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 78.6kg
• Bodyfat: 15.5%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 49.4%

Day 22 (December 23rd, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 78.1kg
• Bodyfat: 16.6%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.4%

Day 25 (December 26th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 77.7kg
• Bodyfat: 17.4%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 47.8%

Day 26 (December 27th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 77.9kg
• Bodyfat: 16.7%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.4%

Day 27 (December 28th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 79.3kg
• Bodyfat: 16.4%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 48.6%

Day 29 (December 30th, 2009)

• Workout: YES (see log for further details)
• Target intake achieved: YES
• Weight: 79.8kg
• Bodyfat: 17.8%* (my scale is inaccurate, as this was around 7% when a professional calculated it)
• Muscle: 47.6%

Summary:

Having completed all 28 (well, 29) days of my 4 week challenge, I think I can say that it has been a successful challenge! I have (barring about 200 grams) virtually made it to my target of 80kg’s! That’s a gain of about 7kg’s of muscle (give or take) in 4 weeks. I’m quite happy with myself.

So where too from now? I will continue doing my daily food diaries and consuming at least 3 (but trying for 4) protein shakes a day. I’ll also stick to the plan that my personal trainer gave me at my previous session – with an aim of over 2800 calories (per day), but less than 60 grams of fat (per day). I’ll post the results online from time to time as I go along.

Thanks to everyone for their support in this challenge – it was hard work, but heaps of fun – and, as you can see from the figures above, rewarding and worth the effort. Happy gains!