28/04/10 Hit the gym

Trying to get a bit more heavy lifting in. Lunch today I had a nice hilly walk which puffed me out for 45 mins or so, then this eve I made it to the gym and did the following:

DB incline bench press 40kg x 6, 36kg x 6,36kg x 6, 32kg x7

Chins BW x8, BW +20kg x 5, BW +20kg x5, BW x 8

Seated DB shoulder press 24kg x 8 for 4 sets

Lat raises 10kg x 10-15 for 4 quick sets

Hammer curls, kickbacks, pronation/supination for forearm, – just messing around for a couple of sets.

Feels good! The last couple of weeks I’ve been adding in a bit of isolation work to build up the arms more. Feels like its working as I could actually feel a slight pump after the DB bench press in the triceps. Before I’d just feel it in the chest with sometimes some shoulder strain. No more!

Recent training

Well its been a little while since writing here due to work, studies and laziness. Just thought I’d make a quick note about my recent training.

My standard weight training sessions have reduced and I tend to mix my week up with kettlebell work, martial arts practise and a little bit of running. With the running I’m doing no more than 5k. Earlier in the week I did a sprint session (multiple 100yard sprints, and shorter dashes) and I was sore for days! Forgot how much I love sprinting so I’ll definitely be adding that as a regular once a week or once a fortnight at least.

My training is really sporadic but thats how I like it. I used to be really stuck to set routines and just found them restrictive socially (sometimes I felt I had to go to the gym and often made that come before anything else) and also boring. Today I actually made it to the gym. I introduced the Bear complex (lots of articles available on the net, but basically its a power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, BTN press all in one!) along with a few other exercises:

Bear – 5 sets of 5 starting off with just the bar to warm up and adding weight each set. Made it up to 55kg. I think my heart would have jumped out of my chest if I did much more weight or more reps!

Weighted Chins 5 sets BW, BW +5kg, +10kg, +15kg, +20kg for as many reps as poss using smooth form (+20kg I managed 4reps)

Dips 2 sets max reps

Cable curls and tricep pull down superset.

Felt like a really good sharp session with no niggly feelings afterward.

Leftover veg and turkey stew

After a brief bout of food poisoning/virus leaving me a bit weak and dehydrated I needed to eat something easy to digest, nutritious and palatable. My criteria for the ingredients was purely what I had left in the fridge and cupboards and what I actually felt like I could stomach. It turned out to be a relatively tasty and feel good stew, although it may taste completely different when I’m feeling totally better again!

Ingredients

Half small chopped onion

1 sliced carrot

1/4 medium butternut squash diced

3 small beetroots (preprepared kind for salads) diced

1 large turkey breast sliced into small pieces

Vegetable stock

Dash of sage, thyme, chilli (easy on the chilli – just enough for a bit of warmth), 1 bayleaf

Salt, pepper and parsley for seasoning

Directions

Sweat the onions in a little butter for a few mins. Then add the veg until they start going soft on the outside. Add the turkey and cook further until even colour change. Add herbs and stir in. Add vegetable stock (with water) until all ingredients are covered. Simmer for at least 25mins (I left mine on for over an hour and was still ok).

This may need a fair bit of work but tasted good enough for today and certainly helped get some good stuff in me!

Home gym

Every now and then when I get pushed for time or just dont have the inclination to go to the gym I train at home. Often, my home workouts can feel more intense than gym workouts because you can sweat and make funny noises to your hearts delight (just explain whats going on to your housemates) and you’re not standing waiting for the guy in the squat rack to finish his bicep curls!

Below is the stuff I use most often. Not a lot at all! I’ve got a 24kg Kettlebell (32kg bell coming on its way in the post!), couple of dumbbells, an ab wheel and some push up bars.

When I train at home I dont necessarily follow a routine. I just do circuits and mess around and do what feels right.

Today for example I did a few warm up exercises with the dumbbells, just general, whatever I felt like doing. Then I did a circuit of the following:

KB pass arounds x10 each way

KB swings  x20

KB clean and press 5 each side

Bent over rows with the KB with palms facing forward 10 each side

Ab rolls outs x10

Then on the push up bars I did L-sits, going into tuck then beginner planche sit into handstand. I played around with each move for a couple of minutes.

I repeated that circuit 3 times. Non stop. Doesn’t take long and is just enough to feel like you’ve had a workout and keep you ticking over.

I’ll write demo articles soon about the L-sits etc…I dont actually do push ups on my push up bars! Each workout tends to be completely different and just varies depending on how I’m feeling and what my body feels like doing. I just make sure the workouts intense for the 20 mins or so it takes.

Cajun pork bites and mixed salad

Takes just a few minutes to prepare and cook and tastes pretty good to me!  I’m never exact with my measurements so quantities are just guestimates. You can change things about to suit your tastes on the day anyway.

Ingredients

For the pork bites:

150g Organic pork mince

1/6 Finely chopped red onion

1 table spoon cajun spice mix

1 teaspoon sage

For salad:

Large handful mixed salad leaves

Small handful rocket

Few baby plum tomatoes

Few chunks of stilton (blue cheese)

Dressing:

Glug of apple cider vinegar

Glug of olive oil

Directions:

Simple! Mix the pork stuff in a bowl and break into small bite sized chunks. Cook in a little butter until cooked evenly.

Mixed salad and dressing in another bowl. Add the cooked cajun pork bites and munch happily away.

Getting back into the swing of things

Last week was a week of going off the tracks for a bit. I went to Paris for a few days and saw friends which involved far too much drinking and eating a few croissants.

Well since getting back I’ve been eating more or less completely primal again. It wasn’t hard at all! After eating and drinking crap for a few days I was just craving good primal food – meat, salads and veg! Today was my first day back training though and went like this:

Incline bench 2×6-8

Dips 1xmax

Dumbbell Rows 2×6-8

Clean and Press 2×3-4

Chin Ups 1xmax

Lateral Raises 1xmax

I’ve only put the working sets down. Each exercise I normally do one or two warm up sets on top of that.

Heres a pic about an hour after training. I know there’s plenty I can do in my training and diet to lean up some more, but until the weather warms up I’m quite happy as I am.

Influenced by my trip to Paris I also had a go at making steak tartare for dinner. Worked out pretty well. I’ll post a recipe once I’ve got it how I like it.

Primal diet basics and shopping list

Once I started eating primally I found shopping actually a lot quicker because I dont eat most of the stuff in the supermarket, although because you’re buying fresh produce you may need to go more than once a week.

Mark Sissons website is where I first came across the primal diet and its packed with information. For a complete overview have a look here http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/.

It doesn’t need to be complicated though. Basically if you eat fresh vegetables, salads, some fruit, and good quality meat, fish and some dairy you’re pretty much there. Potatoes are considered a no no but I often have the odd small sweet potato here and there. I probably eat quite a few more carbs (from veg, fruit and dried fruit) than most primal followers but I’m ok with that for the moment as I’m happy maintaining what muscle bulk I’ve got with a little bit of winter fat I’ll probably try and lean up more in the summer.

My typical grocery list includes:

Fresh stuff:

Blueberries

Different salad leaves (mixed leaves, baby spinach, rocket)

Cherry tomatoes*

Mushrooms

Sweet potatoes

Butternut squash

Double cream*

Cheese

Chicken thigh fillets (for students this is much cheaper than breast meat, and I think it tastes better anyway!)

Pork mince *

Beef mince *

Eggs

Store cupboard:

Honey*

Dried figs, apricots or dates

Brazil nuts, walnuts

Ground almonds

Virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar*

Apple cider vinegar

Mustard

Different spices

Ketchup (no sugar/salt variety)

Mayonaise*

Teas* – white, nettle, rooibos, green, earl grey

Ground coffee

Frozen section:

Mixed sliced bell peppers

Chopped onions

Baby brussel sprouts

Cod fillets

*=organic produce. I’m normally restricted by price for buying organic stuff but these items either dont have a great mark up for organic produce or the taste difference is well worth the little extra cost (especially the double cream).

The frozen sliced peppers are a good student tip. I found buying fresh peppers went off before I could finish using them and they can be very expensive (not far off  £1 a pepper). These are just easy, ready prepared, cheap and last long enough for me to use them. One of the few things in my freezer. The frozen chopped onions are there for the same reason but mainly because I can’t be bothered to chop and cry over onions.

There are probably items I’ve missed off but thats pretty much it.  From that list you make lots of different dishes and I change the odd item for a bit of variety or to make use of special offers or for seasonal differences.