Stoptober

1st of October and I, like many others, am giving up drink for the month. I'd planned this a few weeks ago, as I've got a charity run on the 1st Nov so wanted to do 31 days of daily training, alongside saving some money to pay for the hotel and expenses of the run.

Last week I discovered that a charity is encouraging people to give up to raise funds for it. I won't get into the rights and wrongs of this, but it's made me think of pubs in a different way.

I love pubs - lets just get that clear. I like walking into a pub I've never been to before and just feeling at home. It's not that common, but when it happens it's amazing. Alcohol being a social lubricant, it's going to be strange going to pubs and not drinking alcohol. I used to just not go to pubs if I wasn't drinking, but this time I've got a social life to keep up - I've started enjoying darts night (more for the catch up with friends once a week than the game) for example.

Today's obviously day one, and I'm looking forward to it. When eating out, I'll pick pubs that have good beer to go with the good food. I can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant for a meal, so that's something to look forward to - at the end of the month I want to use the money I've saved to take my fiancee out somewhere nice.

I'm now tying it in with the charity run I'm doing, which is raising money for Parkinson's UK. I started running for them once a year after seeing a video of what Parkinson's has done to Mohammed Ali. If you fancy donating the price of a pint of beer to the cause, I'd appreciate it, whether it's for not drinking for a month or running the 10k. Just text ecjd86 £xx to 70070 - or click here for my JustGiving site.

Cheers

First set of Results

thigh 22 +1"

bicep 15.5 +1"

chest 43 Same as start

waist 33 -1"

BCA                  Today        Before

Weight                      83.3 Kg           84.5KG
Body Fat                      23.3                23.1
Hydration Levels       52.9                 53.1
Viscarol Fat                    6                     6
Muscle                         60.6                 61.8
Physique Rating            2                     2
Bone Density                3.3                  3.3
Basal Calories              1900               1935
Basal Age                      41                    40


So there we go, apparently according to the numbers I'm no better off then I was at the start. That really pisses me off - I know these thing vary throughout the day etc etc, but after a month of living extremely clean, following the exercises to the letter, I've not got a noticeable difference in the numbers. So I've wasted the last month.

I'll do another post with the results at the end of the week - hopefully they'll be a bit more impressive!

Stage 1 complete!

So there we go, the 28-day challenge complete. I'll be getting my results done tomorrow (BCA and measurements) and hopefully again at the weekend, as apparently I can expect the biggest growth over the next 3/4 days as the muscles rest.

To help this along, I'm going to be aiming to do an hour of yoga a day next week, and that's about it! Well, maybe the odd Tabata session, as the next four weeks are going to be aimed at getting my body fat % down to single figures. I think I've burnt off a bit, it'll be interesting to see how much.

Something I've noticed about this last week is I haven't been suffering from DOMS too much, so I'm not sure if my body has just got used to working out every day, or, worryingly, that I haven't been upping my weights as much as I should?

The guidelines stated that for most of the exercises form was the most important, followed by getting the number of reps and Time-Under-Tension spot on. Weight wasn't even mentioned. The first week I struggled, the second I started getting the hang of knowing what weight to use when (doing 4 sets of 5 reps of shoulder presses at 2 sec concentric explosive eccentric compared to 10 sets of 10 reps at 4:0:2:0 for example).

I've discovered I enjoy German Volume Training (the 10x10 mentioned above) - it's lower weights and the first 3 sets you wonder if you've gone to low. Strangely set 8 also feels easier, due to short-term nerves learning the movement or something similar, but then 9 and 10 are real red-faced struggles.

I've also learnt that my strength to weight ratio is a bit low for my liking. One exercise for chest was 40 reps push-ups with 30secs rest x 4 - I could possibly manage 40 pushups in one go, but not 160 with such short rests. And not because of the lactic acid, I could work through that, it was literally not having any strength left after Bench and Flyes. Similarly I can now do 3, maybe 4 pull-ups, but thats it then, I'm down to negatives after that.

So I'm going to aim for a holding pattern of 5 x 5's twice or 3 times a week, with Tabata at the end of sessions and some longer HIIT on the other days.

I'm going to keep eating clean, but relax a little (got some gluten-free chocolate brownies to make next week!). I think I now prefer eating clean - the thought of eating chips or fish (anything deep-fried actually) makes me feel queasy, but being able to occasionally indulge will be nice.

I'm not rushing back to the beer either - yes, I'm looking forward to having one or two this week, but I wasn't gagging for one after work tonight so I'll take my time and enjoy one with a couple of friends when we're all available.

Would I do it again? Not sure. The answer to that will be a blog post on it's own, once I've got the results at the end of the week.

Seems a nice place to end this post, so I will.

Cheers all :)

The Final Three!

So here we are. The last three days. I'm happy to say I've followed the plan to the last detail so far - and intend to for the last three days. Something else I've considered is one of the most important parts of exercise is rest. So I've decided to continue to eat just as clean for the next week - no celebratory Chinese for me on Monday night! I probably will have a beer though - given what I'm giving up this weekend.

My timing of this course couldn't be worse. Considering these are the last three days:

Friday - invite to BeerX, one hell of a beer festival in one hell of a beer city - Sheffield. Huge number of friends are up there for it, friends I haven't seen in months. BUT decided to look forward to Ludlow beer festival instead - need to check if I'm wanted for judging duties this year now I think about it.

Garrett Oliver - a man I'd truly love to meet - a pioneer in getting beer respected in the way wine is in France.  Brewer at the Brooklyn brewery. And I've just found out guest speaker at BeerX. Bollocks.

Saturday - last day of 6 nations. 3 matches, 1 day, including the highlight of the tournament, England Vs Wales. For American readers who might not understand the appeal of rugby, this is the equivalent to your Superbowl. Just without all the adverts and half-time show. And I'll be enjoying it without beer, snacks, fast food, anything. Gutted.

I wonder if it would be sunnier in Wales if he smiled more...

Sunday - St Patrick's Day. Nowadays pretty much a national day of drinking and 'Twat in a Hat' day.

Twats in Hats. Amazingly in the 21st Century it's still ok to dress like this without a note from your doctor.

I'm not particularly bothered about having my first sober St Paddy's day in 10 years, but it does mean that the vast majority of my friends are going to be beered out for the following week - when I want to have a few!

O well, there'll be plenty of other times to drink. I am surprised at just how many people wanted me to take a couple of days off the program though. Things like 'O do the last few days next week' or 'You've done 3 and a half weeks, isn't that enough?'. Didn't expect that at all - I expected things like 'plenty of other times for beer' or 'think of the money you'll save'.

The idea behind the 28 days is pattern workouts. So I won't have a rest day in one week, but it'll be 3 days between working arms and back, for example. With everything going on a cycle, taking a couple of days out just doesn't make sense.

The other thing is I'm so close! 3 days! I'd feel like shit if I ran a marathon but didn't bother with the last mile because there was something on TV I really wanted to watch. Or play 75 minutes of rugby and think 'sod this, it's started raining, where's the bar?' I want to finish it. Like I mentioned in a previous blog post - finishing because you have to (eg you're body can't physically do any more) is different to quitting because you can. And hell, if I can do this, me the beer lover, give up beer for 28 days including the biggest drinking weekend of the year, I can do anything!

So, three days left. Body is really feeling drained now - deep sleeps within minutes of getting into bed, no dreams I can remember. Sick of food (especially tuna). Sick of licorice tea and hemp protein shakes. But clothes feel better. I'm nicer to most people. Not to dick's who still think I work at the pub though, as if all there is to talk about with me is what beer's coming on next week. You wouldn't see a postman in the pub and ask him where your letter is would you? So jog on.

Ahem, mini rant over, time to get on with the last 3 days. And hopefully I'll be able to talk about a very exciting project I'm working on soon, which I'm really looking forward to finally be able to talk about!

Gym and Real Life...

It suddenly dawned on me today it's been a while since I blogged. It's just because life got in the way. So it got me thinking...

#1

What do we prioritise in life? For me the top thing is obvious - my son. For those who don't know, he lives in North Wales with his mum - about a 3.5hour drive each way. I know he's my top priority - I left a well paid job in the pub sector for a variety of reasons but I'd be lying if right at the top was I wanted time with James. I didn't want to miss the Christmas period with him because of work. I didn't want to be a week away from a bank holiday and getting down because it meant 4 or 5 days or working twice as hard for remarkably ungrateful people who seem to think that because they are in a pub they don't need to watch over their children *end rant*. I wanted to be a week before a bank holiday and thing 'great, I'm taking my son camping for the first time ever!'

I've now got myself a job that allows me to be flexible - for a start I'm self employed and when chatting to my clients about why I've changed career direction they've been fully understanding and supportive, which is nice.

I think the next three things are all on a par - gym, friends and work. Obviously work is important - it pays the bills (sadly all to high, seemingly the more we try to save energy by going 'green' the more the energy companies jump their prices up). Friends are vital to me - I've put work before them in the past and I do regret it. It's something I won't do again, but good friends understand that there are times when work has to come first.

And Gym. It's a weird one this. Is it more important than friends or work to look after you're body? I'd say no, but it's certainly not less important. As I found out this week. I needed to get the hours done for work ahead of a meeting tomorrow, I also needed to get to North Wales in time for a Parent-Teacher meeting at 4pm. I also wanted to hit the gym - I was over half way (now 75% !!!) and didn't want to miss a day.

The solution was so simple to me - bed at 8pm the night before, up at 6am, get 2 hours of work done over breakfast, hit the gym for the session, another hour at work, drive up to James, P/T meeting, play with son, put him to bed, another hour at work. Bed.

About a year ago I started a course run by Cat at the gym, which included writing down and thinking about what was truly important to us. I did a variation on this about 3 months ago, where you set yourself up with a pad of paper and 20 minutes on a timer. Write down 100 things you would love to do before the timer runs out.

Important to me? Being happy. Simple

At first this is an easy exercise, and things like 'be a millionaire' and 'own a brand new car' were in the first 30-odd items. But after about 15 minutes and 60-70 things (for me anyway) something strange happens. Your concious can't keep up and your subconscious kicks in - you realise you've got 5 minutes left and just jot down whatever pops into your head. Leave the paper alone, upside down when the timer goes off, and forget about it for a day. Then have a look. Give it a go - I'd love to hear how this worked for you (and even if you think it's a waste of time, it's only 20 minutes).

But by writing things down you get a lot more out of it - a word can't be distracted by a phone going off or the smell of coffee herbal tea drifting out of the kitchen. It sinks in more, more readily accessed. You've thought it, written it, seen it, read it, understood it. Compared to just thinking it.

I genuinely don't watch T.V. I've just got the box set of this - 10 years late!

So what do you prioritise in life? Is it as simple as 1, 2, 3. I certainly don't think so. But I know I'm more than happy to give up watching TV in order to get an early night so I can hit the gym before work. I'll not blog for a few days because it's less important. I think getting the top priorities clearly understood is the key. Everything else can be sacrificed for those top 4/5 things then. So the next time you're chatting to a friend about going to the gym, or the exercise you've just done, and you hear those immortal words muttered by them, you can smile and ask why?

'I don't have time to go to the gym'

Halfway house

So that's two weeks down. I've got to say I'm glad - I've had a sneak peak at next week's schedule and it's as if the last two weeks have been the warm up - training the body to learn the patterns before going hell for leather. For example, nearly every exercise I've got a solid idea of what weight I should be shifting, adjusted for the number of reps. My lactic acid threshold has increased, to the stage where the only exercises I struggle with are cable curls for biceps and press-ups for chest.

It's a great feeling when you get the weight/rep combo spot on though. For example, super-setting Dead-lifts with squats with only one Olympic bar meant I was using the same weight for both. I ended up settling on 37.5Kg (a little more than half I'd normally use for both). But for the large number of reps and sets, with a 4:0:2:0 timing, it was perfect - the final couple of reps of both exercises took me to failure, which for muscle building is ideal.

Remember exercise is like sex - if you look as good at the end as at the beginning you're doing it wrong!

I really enjoyed today - had to lower my weights for the holistic arms sets (think RBT without the option to rest!) - and had to drop down to doing negative dips after the first set.

That timing is a beast - if you ever get bored with any weights exercise your doing, try making the down movement last for four seconds and the up movement 2 seconds. Actually, try it now without weights. Arms by your sides, raise out to the side over 2 seconds, lower over 4 seconds. How many can you do right now? Stick it in the comments box - could be interesting reading! I won't do it, as I've just done an arms session!

I can't comment for the ladies at the gym, but as a bloke I always feel a bit of pressure to increase my weights. One thing this programme has definitely taught me is be honest with yourself - I can probably bench/squat/dead-lift all the weight Cat's got at the gym for a couple of reps. But would my form be right? What use is that if my program calls for 10 sets of 10 reps? Would I be able to lower it over 4 seconds? Nope - so for this program that's no use.

Actually, while on the subject, why don't more of the ladies use the free weights? On there own they won't make you muscular at all, and they are great for fat burning. Changing up routines also helps - for one it keeps you interested!

So yeah, week two over and out. 2 more to go. Measurements and BCA tomorrow, and probably an annoying topless photo so I can compare. I'm nervous about this - if I haven't put muscle on have I been wasting my time the last two weeks?

Day 11 done, worried about tomorrow

I was speechless when I saw this so insert your own funny caption

Today was the first time in my life I've worked just arms and chest. My god was it a tough workout, with hollistic sets to drain every ounce of energy out of your arms. I managed to write 'fuck yeah' as my first thought after finishing (I got that idea from someone, somewhere, but can't remember who or where now. Basically when your mind is full of the pain of a workout, as soon as you finish jot down the first thing that comes into your mind. It's meant to be a key to your subconscious or something similar. Most of the time with me it's my son's name I'm happy to say)

I definitely prefer working out in the mornings - whilst it is a struggle sometimes to get out of bed (as mentioned in yesterday's post) it is great to be up and out the house by 7:30am. Or 8am if I'm having a lie in. Get the workout done and dusted - it's not sitting in the back of my mind, distracting me, and then after work if I fancy a relax or socialise it can be a nuisance. So done, dusted, and the rest of the day is my own.

Tomorrow might be an exception though. It's the first fasting day of the program (it may be the only one but I think Cat said there are two in total). I have to fast until 6pm, at which point I'm allowed a cheat meal (although I'm not going to cheat too much!) but it will be nice to have something other than grilled protein and steamed vegetables (I don't have a cooker at the moment, just a George Foreman and a steamer). I'm tempted to stay in bed for as long as possible before doing the small amount of gym work involved - a light core workout.

Apparently horse meat is quite moreish

I don't recall ever fasting, and it's been on my mind all day today, especially as I had to do the shopping. I got offered a lift to the co-op today, so did the shopping there. There is something seriously wrong with the system! Fresh, healthy veg, salad and cuts of meat is getting ridiculously expensive, especially when compared to microwave meals available '2 for £5' or similar. There's got to be some form of initiative which can reduce the cost of buying raw ingredients compared to prepared foods - and not necessarily by increasing the price of those ready meals. I appreciate I'm eating a hell of a lot on this program, but even so, the cost of having 'normal' sized meals would still be expensive compared to getting a dozen ready meals. Plus shopping locally means I have 0% chance of eating horse. Shame, as it's a very lean source of protein...

It's why I'm happiest buying my veg from the local greengrocer - I recently have had to live on a very tight budget whilst waiting for a new job to start (which it has!) so being able to buy the deformed muddy carrots cheaper than perfectly shaped, cleaned ones to save a few pence is a godsend. Sadly neither of the local butchers sell turkey - another fantastic lean source of protein, whereas up to recently the co-op offered at least half a dozen choices. Now it's reduced that offer to 1 line of £3.50 turkey breasts to make space for - you've guessed it - MORE ready meals.

It means I'm going to be looking online for protein now, and that goes against everything I try and do (live locally!). I'll still be getting my eggs and basics like chicken breast from the butcher, veg from the grocer and carbs from the healthfood shop, but for affordable, rarer choices of meat I'm going to have to try the online. And while I'm ranting about food prices - what the hell is so special about fresh fucking fish nowadays!

Ahem, so back to the regime. I'm feeling good - the spots have nearly all cleared up, I've certainly got more energy throughout the day, I'm a hell of a lot more focussed and sleeping soundly, although I haven't had the powerful dreams recently. I wonder if I'll have one tonight now I've mentioned it? Time to go find out...