The SwordsMaster 6 week fitness challenge (as advertised in Get fit with SM!)

So SM returns after a long absence. My apologies to whom I might have not responded in the past few months – my life had been so messy I was forgetting to even pay off my credit cards.

But, as all things, that is over. Fitness is once again on the agenda. Since shame and peer pressure is one of the greatest motivators known to man, I invite you all to join me in this.

WHAT is THIS?

A 6 week experiment in fitness improvement, using social peer pressure as motivation, with overall fitness as a goal. Members will post their progress as well as their process so we can see what is working, and can offer support, tips, and solutions.

RULES:

• Workouts posted on the day of workout
• Workout descriptions should include duration of exercise and rest period
• No anabolics
• Meals posted on the day of consumption including snacks and drinks (not water).
• Take a picture of every meal with your phone camera (picture doesn’t necessarily need to be posted)
• Eat 30-80g of protein within 30-45 min of waking up
• Weekly posts of progress of body transformation.
• How to do this: Take 6 measurements with metric tape: amrs on biceps, legs at widest point, waist and hips (ass). Add total inches (TI) or total cm (doesn’t matter as you will compete with yourself, mostly). Also, if available provide your bodyweight.
• Take your measurements before breakfast on a Saturday or a Sunday. Come on. It’s only 6 weeks.

GOALS:

Mine might differ from yours:

I will consider myself fit if I lose 6kg of fat, can benchpress 100 kg for 4 reps, deadlift 165kg for 4 reps, and run 5km in under 25min.

Of course those are not the only exercises I will do, but that’s my goal.

What are yours? Who is in?

No signup required, just start posting! For any queries related to mechanics, ask in the Get fit thread!

In.

And so we begin!

Height: 178cm
Weight: 89.2 Kg

Goal: Transform 8kg.

Today I had:

2 scrambled eggs with lentils
4 coffees
1 quarter apple pie (300g)
1 tomato cream soup
2 boiled eggs
1 italian sausage sandwich
2 italian sausage sandwiches on black bread
8 brazil nuts
Some sort of chocolate desert

In terms of exercise - none, just light stretching.

Using dailyburn.com for easy round-off. I'm about 1000kcal, 200g of fat, 150g of Carbs over the daily recommended limit, and 100g of protein under for someone my size who exercises.

Moreover, my daily breakdown is pretty bad:48% of my calories come from fat, only 14% from protein, and 36% from carbs.

Sad. Sad picture. Unsurprisingly, the caviar, italian sausage, apple cake and chocolate desert contribute over 2000 cal and most of the fat. Will try again without the desert tomorrow...

Great to see you back. I've been slacking and appreciate the motivation.

Can i use my protein supplements and fat burners?

Yes, but document, with dosages.

Nice to be back, Vlad!

Oxyelite Pro

and a normal whey protein powder.

I mean within the day. You have whey powder, but how much? how many grams? with what other foods? after a workout? before? before bed? for breakfast? the important is a system in which you can isolate and measure variables.

This thread sounds ideal for me. :yes:

I just started my split routine at the gym today, done chest and biceps. Got it made today and done first session!

For the background, well it all started maybe just over half a year ago when I got a home gym which I used for a few months. And I put on a lot of weight (which started consciously a couple of months before that) to go from about 147 lbs (where I was all skin and bone) to about 180 lbs. Then I was busy with exams but joined a proper gym about three months ago. I just used machines but three weeks ago I got a proper induction to the freeweights and took things more seriously. Since then I started to put weight back on seriously, and have rose from 178-186 pounds since I got back from my trip to Belfast three weeks ago (when I lost the eating discipline).

So for todays exercise I did bench press, machine curls, seated curls, olympic curls, some cable exercise, incline presses, flys and an eight one I can't remember. I think I got those names right...

For what I ate. Well...

Breakfast (12:30) - bran cereal (200 cal)
Lunch (4:00) - beans (300 cal) and 4 sliceswholemeal toast (400 cal)
Second Lunch (8-9:30) - 2 kfc mini fillets (500 cal) and icecream (150 cal)
Dinner (11:30) - 5 fresh chicken thighs (600 cal) and 4 slices wholemeal toast (400 cal)
Supper (to happen at 02:30) - bran cereal (200 cal) apple and banana (300 cal) and snickers (300 cal)
Throughout day - 2 litres milk (1,500 cal)

Yes I ate kfc and a snickers, I don't care I'm going for weight and calories! And that appears to be around 5,000 calories for today. Yay!

idk what realistic goals are. Maybe 1lb weight per week so reach 192 for this challenge? No idea about weight targets either, it would be a bit messed up since I'm just getting used to new exercises.

Wake up 5:30

Weight 202 (lightest I've been since I was 15)

20 100m sprints

Back Day

Deadlifts
Lawnmowers
Hammer Stregnth rows
Shrugs
Pullups

Sorry I don't have the weights and reps off hand. Workout felt absolutely terrible, I'm weak and distracted. Can't seem to focus or conjure the energy

Breakfeast

4 eggs with onions, bell peppers, sour cream, and chili
2 cups of oats
banana
1/2 cup blueberries
2 cups greek yogurt

I had to absolutely force this down, and this used to be a light breakfeast lol

Lunch (will be had in an hour)

1 pound skirt steak
2 cups pinto beans
3 cups white rice
1 cup jack cheese

As far as dinner goes idk, work is going to dictate what I eat

Water consumption: aiming for a gallon, I'm going to hit that

I'll be up for this but I'm probably going to take two weeks out from training from Friday considering I've been on for about 18 weeks now without anymore than 2 days rest between sessions. I feel ok to be fair but that time period just seems way off my usual 10-12 week cycle so two weeks should set me straight. Want to cut down the body fat a bit more too before I start another cycle of putting on mass so the aim is to get down to 185lbs and see how I am from there. I'm around 191lbs now, down from 197lbs about 3 weeks ago so I seem to be losing at a healthy rate. Also being able to run a lot more without my legs feeling completely dead has helped things greatly.

Edit: Going to post up until my rest anyway. My diet wont change much and neither will my cardio for the first week anyway. Also for any other lifters, what are your thoughts on taking roughly two weeks (16 days in reality) off? I normally just take the week but considering how long its been since a break I think I can afford two. Any advice from other lifters or just fitness guys is much appreciated.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rhyfylwyr

idk what realistic goals are. Maybe 1lb weight per week so reach 192 for this challenge? No idea about weight targets either, it would be a bit messed up since I'm just getting used to new exercises.

---

Roughly 2lbs a week seems healthy. The best indication of putting on muscle mass is also an increase in strength when lifting. If your putting on size and strength is generally going up you're doing it right. If not, you're doing it wrong. I know it also sounds kind of patronising but eat better too. Trying to gain weight isn't an excuse to become unhealthy. A snickers bar per day is probably fine for someone like you but just make sure the KFC isn't an everyday thing.

Strike, that’s impressive for breakfast. You’re building up for something specific?


Well, after some small adjustments, here is day 2:

Breakfast:

3 scrambled eggs, 4 brazil nuts, half a cup of lentils, and 200g of sauerkraut.

Lunch:
2 scrambled eggs, 150g beef, lentils and sauerkraut as breakfast
Panacota desert

Evening snack:

90g protein shake with a pint of skim milk

Dinner:

Several slices of Spanish ham, curry stir fry with 200g of chicken breast, black bread toast.

Exercise:

50 pushups, 50 bodyweight squats, some light stretching, and about 100 crunches, and 60 sec per side abdominal plank. No access to the gym and pouring rain…

According to dailyburn this is much more balanced than day 1. Of course I’m still overdoing saturated fat, and some other bits, but my protein intake is where it should be, and I’m much closer to the values I need. Only a matter of time!

Weight will be in lbs to be Yank friendly.

Breakfast: Oatmeal, oj diluted with water and a banana. Roughly 10 g of protein.

Workout: Back day. Rest between reps about 1-1:30 due to working out with others. Minus the deadlift and bench, more rest for that.
3x Pull up for warm up.
4 x plated loaded lat pull down.
4 x T-Bar row
8x medium height cable row and low cable row alternating between these two with little rest.
4 x low position lat pull up
4 Underarm lat pull up. Lats ftw today.
3 x deadlift. 264lbs x 10- Could of done more reps easy but back wasn't feeling great, didn't want to over do the lower back. 374x1 (again could of done more but lower back was feeling strained right from the start of the days workout), 420x1- form wasn't great but I wasn't feeling all that rested today so I'm happy with this.
Bench (friend was doing chest and even though I did chest yesterday I fancied doing two sets heavy)- 5x 220lbs, maybe could of got 6 thinking about it. 1x265, one rep max, had spots on hand so felt like going for it. Bench has been my weak spot for a while so when I first hit 265 a couple of weeks back i was ecstatic.

Post-workout protein shake mixed with semi-skimmed milk, about 35 g of protein in total.


Lunch- Wholemeal pasta with sausage and pesto sauce, 30 g of protein.

meal 3- can of tuna- 35g of protein.

meal 4- 150g ham and 250 ml of milk, roughly 25-30 g of protein.

tea- 200 g of chicken, egg noodles, black bean sauce, peppers and 25 ml of milk. 45 g of protein i'm guessing.

meal 6- 300 g of low fat cottage cheese and 400 ml of milk. 45 g of protein.

Total protein for the day somewhere between 220 and 230g and only good clean carbs. Had a diet coke at the pub before but that's nothing. All in all a good day.

And day 3 rolls by:


Food:


Breakfast:


Protein shake, with400ml of skim milk.
2 scrambled eggs withtoast
Shitload of coffee


Lunch:
Almond cookie, salamisandowich, more coffee – out of my control, has a 'working lunch'at the office...


Dinner:


250g of beef steak withcabbage, mushrooms, and lentils.
Bottle of red –Bourgogne Medoc if you want to know.


Pre-dinner snack –protein shake with 300ml of skim milk.
No exercise – runningon 5 hours sleep, just had no inclination.

Woke up

2 miles in 15:47

DBBP
Military Press
Skull Crushers
DB Incline
21s

Breakfeast
Oatmeal
Pint of guiness

Class

Lunch: Burrito
water

Class

Work

Dinner:?

Yesterday I done back and triceps (including my first ever go at the deadlift!), and I ate the exact same as the as the last day I put up, minus the KFC.

Today I am not at the gym, but today was...

Breakfast - bran cereal
*** job interview ***
Lunch - jacket potato with cheese, bacon and salad, then shortbread
*** get told I got through to the assessment stage for the job (yay!) ***
Snack - 250g rice
Later - beans on wholemeal bread
Later - square sausage and wholemeal bread
later -bran cereal, apple, banana
spread throughout day - 2 litres milk

Well, tomorrow weightin day!


Today, however, had myfirst gym session in 4 months – had a shoulder injury that just won't heal.


In any case:


Session was short: pullups, reverse Yates, shoulder press and bench press, squats, aswell as a 3 km jog, nothing fancy. No great performance expected, nor achieved. One mountain a day.


Food:


Breakfast: 3 egg whites, 1 yolk, spinach, half a cup of lentils, 50g shake with 400ml of semi skim milk


Snack: 150g of spanish ham (running out, incidentally)


Lunch: 300g steak with spinach


Afternoon, postworkout: 500ml of semi skim milk, 50g protein shake.


Dinner: Can of tuna, lentils, bottle of wine.

Breakfast: Shredded Wheat, oj diluted with water.

Leg day:

6x squats. Went up to 365 x 2.
4x front squats
5x calf raises
4x stiff legged deadlifts.

Protein shake blended with a pint of semi-skimmed milk and a banana after my workout.

Lunch: Quorn chicken pieces + 1 sausage fried, wholemeal pasta and pesto.

Meal 3: can of tuna.

Tea: 4 sausages with parsnip and potato mash. 200 grams of fat free yogurt.

Meal 5: 300 grams of cottage cheese, 200 grams fat free yogurt, 250 ml semi-skimmed milk.

As a matter of interest: has anyone modified/been more conscious of their eating habits because they knew they had to post it here? Has anyone got anything useful out of this?

So: Weight in: 87.7 down from 89.2, lost 1.5 kg in 4 days. Not bad.

Feels like a duplicate thread of https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...h-SwordsMaster i think they should be merged

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pharoah

Feels like a duplicate thread of https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...h-SwordsMaster i think they should be merged

---

:no:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pharoah

Feels like a duplicate thread of https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...h-SwordsMaster i think they should be merged

---

I'd prefer to keep them separate: that one is for general info, this one is for a specific goal.

Anyway, since today is my day off, after losing 1.5 kg, i have proceeded to eat 4000 cal of all the junk i try to stay away from the rest of the week.

So probably back to 0 tomorrow.

Strike, question: when you do your sprint sets, how much rest you get in between?

I just knew that "Get fit with SadoMasochism!" sounded too good to be true.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andres

I just knew that "Get fit with SadoMasochism!" sounded too good to be true.

---

Hey, you wouldn't believe how much calories I burn while putting on my gimp suit.

Right, lads, sorry about the delay:

Yesterday was a good day. Met goals for fat and protein, and slightly surpassed carbs, due to a post workout waffle, which was intentional. SM is on a full-on growth schedule - will post the routine later. It is based on the little known Colorado Experiment (go ahead, google it).

Routine: Note that unless noted, there is no rest between exercises. Will add weights later.

20x Leg press
20x Quad extension
20x Squat

2 min break

15x Leg curl
3x 15x Calf raises (30 sec rest between sets/superset with following exercises)
10x Behind neck lat pulldown
10x Row
10x Behind neck lat pulldown

2 min break

12x Bicep curl
12x Chin-up

2 min break

22x tricep extension
22x Dips

Overall time: under 40 min

After 4 weeks of this, will switch to a less muscle specific routine including chin-ups/lat pulldown, row, deadlift, benchpress, military press for 2 weeks to increase complex movement muscle interaction.


Let's see if this works: Upload directly from Dailyburn...

Attachment 2429Attachment 2430

And totals:


Attachment 2431

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SwordsMaster

As a matter of interest: has anyone modified/been more conscious of their eating habits because they knew they had to post it here? Has anyone got anything useful out of this?

---

This is helping me get back on the horse so to speak.

I'm not changing anything for the thread but I've been at this so long its just a matter of listening to my body

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Strike For The South

This is helping me get back on the horse so to speak.

I'm not changing anything for the thread but I've been at this so long its just a matter of listening to my body

---

Well, I'm glad. Any comments on the routine above? I would love to have KBs for my complex imbalance exercises, but no such joy at the local gym...

Wont be posting much for a while because I'm having 2 weeks off. Will still check in to offer advice to others though. As for today, Diet was pretty much the same as the previous two postings but I went for a 6k run. Legs felt tired but It didn't go too badly.

Cannot really offer comment on your routine SwordsMaster, it's completely different from the sort of routines I'm used too. I do 5 day body part specific split and tend to take longer breaks and lift heavier weight. The above isn't really my ballgame I'm afraid.