The importance of rest

I have just discovered why having rest days are important. This week, I've been to the gym on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. I had previously  managed to have at least one day off between gym work outs. So going on both Sunday and Monday were out of character. Monday, when compared to Sunday's workout felt weaker. However, take a day off and Wednesday's session was really good. I felt powerful, and actually pushed heavier weights around tonight.

Also, another thing that bears this out is that you do your muscle growing outside of the gym, ie between sessions. This means your rest days are for recovery and growth. I think that 48 hours between sessions might not be enough. You see, inadequate rest and recovery leads to overtraining and in fact either stalling your progress, or even moving backwards.

Once I discover a way of measuring my progress, maybe by weights added per month, i'll switch to a 72 hour gap between sessions to see if either my weights get lower or my growth gets bigger. The ideal situation is a balance between forcing your muscle development an allowing time to recover and grow.

I think that more research is required.

Anyway, weigh in tomorrow, and I've not been 100% good on the diet. Not even close. :-)

Muscle and Fat

So, here's some little facts about muscle and fat:
Muscle is not related to fat. You can't turn fat into muscle, and muscle does not break down into fat.
The phrase "toning up" is bollocks. You're either building muscle or losing fat, or both. What you're talking about is body recomposition.
It is quicker to lose fat than to build muscle (unfortunately).
You can be slim but still be fat. This is called skinny-fat. In effect, small measurements but no muscle mass meaning you still look soft and flabby. This is what most ex-fat dieters become because they haven't exercised in years.
There's approximately 3500 calories in 1lb of fat, so it does take time to come off!
If you want to look emaciated like a marathon runner, then by all means, spend all your gym time on the treadmill. If you want more muscle and a good beach body, then you simply need to throw weights around. This applies to both genders. If you're concerned about cardiovascular fitness, then do some running after your weights session, not before. Don't waste your energy by doing it first. Get those muscles worked first.
If you can put on a few pounds of muscle PER YEAR, then you're doing well.
Getting defined abs is more about losing fat than exercising your stomach muscles, although that will help. Really, to show your abs, you want to get down to single-figure bodyfat percentages.
If you're overweight, don't bulk, just be in a small calorie deficit and train hard. If you're really skinny and have little muscle mass then eat a touch less and train hard. Either way, go hard or go home.
Now, i know I'm only just starting out at the gym, but the same applies to me as it does to you.
I am literally working my arse off. In fact, i'm a little sore today, this is normal if its muscle ache, just need to rest up on my off day today and work through it tomorrow. Do not try to work through an injury though.
Rest up between gym sessions, allow time for repair and growth to maximize your gains. Maybe even attending the gym three times a week might be too much. It may be that twice a week is optimal. I will test that theory out soon enough.
Hope this is useful to some of you!

The Gym

So, a couple of posts ago, i mentioned that i was going to start back down the gym again. I have moved to a new gym that's just opened. Its very cheap and doesn't have such luxuries as a jacuzzi, swimming pool or sauna etc. Probably just as well as none of these actually constitute any form of exercise.

I am working on a full body routine, that consists of the "Big Five" exercises. These are:

1) chest press
2) lat pull-down
3) vertical press
4) leg press
5) horizontal row

Because i am building muscle, i am pushing heavy weights in 3 sets of 8 reps, with minimal rest in between sets.

This is proving enough to stimulate growth and is yielding pretty fast results. Of course, important still enjoying the beginner gains and will have to tweak things in about 6 months time or so. My aim is to add more weight to most of the exercises every week in order to continue muscle development.

I can already see changes in my arms and shoulders.

My aim is to go down the gym three times a week, allowing at least 24 hours between each session for recovery. So far, I have actually gone four times a week, purely because I alternate with the wife so one of us can look after the baby so my routine isn't quite where it should be at the moment. Rest is actually more important than training in terms of muscle growth because the repair and growth only occurs outside of the gym.

New year and the diet continues...

So, we're now into January, and I managed to lose a total of two pounds over the festive period.  I'm pretty happy with that actually because I had a full Christmas dinner, boxing day food, and then had various err cheat days whilst having family and friends over for meals etc.

Now all the festivities are over, i am back on the 810 plan and will continue to lose my last 21lbs.