You need to add in some Blueberrys as all blue food increases Test - Fact!

i eat a shit load of those in smoohies and various oher times - i add berris quie liberally.

Good luck with this. I'm sure you'll do well and there's plenty of knowledge on hand to draw from.

Cheers Alex - been going steady at this diet for 4 weeks, had a few moments of weakness but handled it well. I also calculated the values based on rmr*1.2 (not very active). This is because I drive FLT at work but more frequently now(3 of 5 nights approx) I am order picking which is manual and much more active. To boot my daily sleep is usually 7-7 1/2 hours - at the lower end of requirement and leaves room for a few extra calories. The sleep really isn't an issue at this stage but I expect to have to nail everyhing down when I start training for size. So far I've lost 2 inches off my waist (since starting the bye bye love handles thread on MP) and 18lb. Much of that took so long to come off but since starting weights again the progress has been turbo charged and I'm getting firmer.

Cheers Ollie, I must confess to a percentage of that being lean weight, the diet wasn't sorted to begin with.

As a small point point of interest, here are my initial diet calculations...

Training phase 1 - 4 weeks Begins 11/02/08

Start Weight = 143pounds

RMR = 1573cal

Daily Calorie Expenditure = Moderate(1.4) *1573 = 2200cal (rounded down)

TARGET INTAKE = 2200 - 350 = 1850cal from:-

171g Protein = 684cal
41g Fat = 370cal
199g Carbs = 796cal

This is what's been working for me so far. I expect you may think thre's alot of isolation in there but I still have some equipment to buy. Moving on to the next stage, I'll be hoping to afford something to do chin, dips etc. with. Have seen something in mens fitness that fits the bill £160 and folds down very small.

Monday - Upper body - 12-15 reps; 60 seconds rest, gradually reducing to 20-30 seconds currently at 45

A1 - Flat Bench Press x 4
A2 - Bent Over Row x 4
B1 - Dumbbell shoulder press x 4
B2 - Close grip lat pull downs x 4
C1 - Dumbbell Curls x 3
C2 - Tricep Push Downs x 3

Tuesday - Lower body - 12-15 reps; 60 seconds rest, gradually reducing to 20-30 secondscurrently at 45

A1 - Squat x 4
A2 - Stiff legged Deadlift x 4
B1 - Leg Extension x 4
B2 - Leg Curl x 4
C1 - Calf Raises x 5(30 seconds between sets)

Wednesday OFF

Thursday - Upper body - 8-10 reps; 45-60 seconds rest45

A1 - Flat Bench Press x 4
A2 - Bent Over Row x 4
B1 - Military Press x 4
B2 - Wide grip Lat pull downs x 4
C1 - Barbell Curls x 3
C2 - Skull Crushers x 3

Friday OFF

Saturday - Lower body - 8-10 reps; 90 seconds rest, reducing to 45-60 seconds.45

A1 - Squat x 8
A2 - Stiff legged Deadlift x 8
C1 - Standing Calf Raises x 5(30 seconds between sets)

Sunday -OFF
Monday - Repeat

Weight 10st 1lb - a pound up on the last 2 days but I get a variance during the week and expect this to drop again by next week.

This was todays business - had a bit of a play...

Thursday - Upper body - 8-10 reps; 45-60 seconds rest45

A1 - Flat Bench Press x 4 - added weight - manageable
A2 - Bent Over Row x 4
B1 - Military Press x 4 - added weight - really struggled - couldn't get 10 set 2 so reduced on 3 and 4
B2 - Wide grip Lat pull downs x 4 - added weight - manageable
C1 - Barbell Curls x 4 added weight - struggled last set
C2 - Tricep Push downs x 4 - instead of skull crushers(changing bars again too much hassle today) added weight - struggled last set

20mins steady state

Lower Back recovered from legs yesterday so continued with BOR. Although he whole point is to decrease rest, I thought I'd see if I have been really testing myself at these rest times. Think I may up Bench on this day next week again and stay at the new values I found on WGPD, Bar Curls and see if I have more on skull crushers.

How can I improve my DB/Military Press???

These 2 movements are absolutely pathetic for me at the moment and I currently can't get a comfortable 10 at a very low weight and I used to be so much better... I may have to put up with this until I move on to stage 2 (lean bulking).

Anyways, nearly saw breakfast again during cardio... gonna get some nicotine now and browse the laminated book of dreams(Argos) for a cheap bar. Failing that, may order some more plates and get one delivered...

upright wrote:How can I improve my DB/Military Press???

These 2 movements are absolutely pathetic for me at the moment and I currently can't get a comfortable 10 at a very low weight and I used to be so much better... I may have to put up with this until I move on to stage 2 (lean bulking).

You need to increase your triceps strength and work the side laterals more.

I'd go with close hand pushups every other day for triceps and db side laterals twice a week - this should help.

simon m wrote:

You need to increase your triceps strength and work the side laterals more.

I'd go with close hand pushups every other day for triceps and db side laterals twice a week - this should help.

I thought the tris were letting the side down... I did usd to have side lats in my old schedule so and was much better with the over head shoulder moves - makes sense.

I'm thinking superset close hand pushups and side lats on uppper days before BP/BOR and pushup wednesday,saturday - that should work. Do you think that's too much on the upper days with all else in? I'll suck it and see...

Crap week last week due to 4 days off work and mother's day. Found it very difficult to remain regimented. Managed to eat all the right nutrients(and then some shit on top) though and damage was minimal. A gain of 1+half lb but expect to be back at 140 by mid week. Loading with Milk Thistle pre Epi. SERM in the bag. Sleep and recovery is good, form is improved. Just Superdrol required and possibly 6oxo to run in reverse against SERM.

upright, are you a shift worker?

if so, it'll be defo worth you taking some Rhodiola Rosea and even Holy Basil. Both are great for shift workers. Shift working is very bad on hormonal health and testosterone especially.

health4ni wrote:upright, are you a shift worker?

if so, it'll be defo worth you taking some Rhodiola Rosea and even Holy Basil. Both are great for shift workers. Shift working is very bad on hormonal health and testosterone especially.

Not sure what you mean by "shift". I work nights - none of that 6-2, 2-10,10-6. Just nights. My rota is a mess though - my days off are no consistant. The big+ is I work 6 weeks and get 9 days of! This is waht makes the job hard to beat. I do some overtime and may go 2-3 weeks with no days off (In august last year I didn't have 1 day off).

I will defo look into those supps though, thing is, more supps = more overtime so I have to offset the gains to the loss... Cheers for the advice though

yeah I regard anyone working nights a shift worker. Fecks up your body man. Humans want to be asleep from 10pm-6am generally. And that's when you work. For you, you need to take extra steps to help yourself out from night job

Well - I reckon I'll definately look into those supps then.

Well, just done sun lower, mon upper, today lower and I am really looking forward to just cardio tomorrow. Nearly puked yesterday and today, and today was just all out pain to get the last few exercises done. And then for some reason, I've decided to throw in somw crunches at the end of legs day...Probably a mistake- will adjust this to doing them on cardio days - weds, Fri and sun. This 3 days of consecutive weights is due to a cold 2 weeks ago knocking things out a bit.

Was gonna alter the routine to include Simon's suggestions but will leave this until I start the Epistane on the 24th of this month. Need advice on a solid basic strength routine to work on a rota of up to 5 days/week but prefer 4 days. Will be researching this - looking into some journals and around forums... Any tips on what worked best for you wiould be cool I'm just looking to maximise the effects of the Epi over the 4 weeks. I'm considering keeping the high rep and low weight on the MON/TUES and going Heavy with progression on the THURS/FRI - advice?

Cheers for looking

health4ni wrote:upright, are you a shift worker?

if so, it'll be defo worth you taking some Rhodiola Rosea and even Holy Basil. Both are great for shift workers. Shift working is very bad on hormonal health and testosterone especially.

Might be why I'm so happy with my energi lately (on RR). I work nights and can recommend RR highly...

Rilla wrote:

health4ni wrote:upright, are you a shift worker?

if so, it'll be defo worth you taking some Rhodiola Rosea and even Holy Basil. Both are great for shift workers. Shift working is very bad on hormonal health and testosterone especially.

Might be why I'm so happy with my energi lately (on RR). I work nights and can recommend RR highly...

Man whore?

Rab wrote:

Rilla wrote:

health4ni wrote:upright, are you a shift worker?

if so, it'll be defo worth you taking some Rhodiola Rosea and even Holy Basil. Both are great for shift workers. Shift working is very bad on hormonal health and testosterone especially.

Might be why I'm so happy with my energi lately (on RR). I work nights and can recommend RR highly...

Man whore?

On my spare time, yes. On company hours I'm a post whore and an MSN tweenie-bitch...

Why should girls have all the fun? "Night Work" can be very rewarding

Now doing a short ab curcuit on cardio days - swiss/b crunches, Plank, Crunches - 3 sets - last to failure.
Found swiss ball abs very easy - then concentrated with leading with the abs - that was a much better ill-feeling and each set became a struggle after the first 6 or 7 then.

upright wrote:Now doing a short ab curcuit on cardio days - swiss/b crunches, Plank, Crunches - 3 sets - last to failure.
Found swiss ball abs very easy - then concentrated with leading with the abs - that was a much better ill-feeling and each set became a struggle after the first 6 or 7 then.

cool

i think ill give that circuit a bash

It's not bad actually and I could feel it for a wihile after. I might mix it up a bit but I like his at the moment - they are all easy form wise.

So here's the new Epistane bulking diet I'm working on - hopefully a lean but productive bulk.

Monday - High Carb HST
Tues - Low carb Cardio
weds - no carb Lethargy(6hrs sleep day - unavoidable)
Thurs - High Carb HST
Fri - Low Carb Cardio
Sat - High Carb+ HST
Sun - Low carb Cardio


High/low/no/high/low/high/low

The point is to get the protein at between 1.6-1.8g/lb bodyweight daily, eat good carbs until satisfied on high days, 1g CARBS/lb bodyweight on low cab days.

Saturday is lifestyle day and wil involve some good shit

Will keep a food diary on week 1 to establish actual calories from consumption and aim at a 15-20% surplus if gains to not come. Although, on reading the article that I took most of my info from I shouldn't really need to count the calories if I manage my eating to my apetite well - as high carb days are training days, if I just eat until happy(ensuring protein intake) then I should not go to far or fall short....

Fats will be neither high nor low but will come mainly from lean meats, fish oils and other good sources - probably in the region of 60-70g/day