so long, farewell

Goodbye but not farewell....

So as I said in my recent post this post would be my last for 20 week HIT. I have completed the course, I have changed my diet, my exercise and my attitude towards health and fitness.

I didn’t want to post what my before figures were until now because I wanted to gauge how much of a difference there has been in the last 20 weeks. I have only kept a log of what was my before and what is my current measurements, my weight I have monitored on average fortnightly just to ensure that I wasn’t doing anything to silly with weight gain or loss.

So here are the figures:

WC 07.03.11            WC 08.08.11

Chest 96cm                 Chest 98cm
Arm 34cm                    Arm 36cm
Waist 83cm                 Waist 79cm
Hips 88cm                    Hips 82cm
Thigh 52cm                Thigh 53cm


Now here are the strength gains.

                                       w.c 07.03.11                       w.c 08.08.11                     % increase
Incline Press                         40 kilos                             65 kilos                              62.5%
Upright Press                        80 kilos                           117.5 kilos                          46.88%
Pullover                                95 kilos                           135 kilos                             42.08%
Leg Curl                               30 kilos                             50 kilos                                  66%
Bicep Curl                            20lbs                                 52.5lbs                              162.5%
Tricep Push downs              45 lbs                                    65lbs                                   44%
Tri machine                          80 kilos                           105 kilos                                31.5%

The results above could have demonstrated all the exercises, however considering that these were the only same exercises from start to end, I have avoided throwing in the full results, but I can safely say that there have been significant gains in the other exercises.
So what should this tell you?

I have grown, I have had strength gains and I have done it all with single set training to failure. My workouts have lasted less than 40 minutes on average, and I have had time to spare to recover.

Do I look like a mens health cover model? No. I’m pretty sure that my genetic make up is not suited to it, but either way it doesn’t matter. I am stronger, healthier and happier and that’s what mattered.

I hope to have shown that with 1 set you can achieve your goals, that you can train and not be concerned in spending hours in the gym and that you can build muscle and get strong.

So from me goodbye and farewell, but if you want to read any more of my mad challenges or general rants you can at my latest blog.....my little vespa!

Peace,
G

Now don't forget to...exercise

Nearly at the 20kgs.....

And so I come to my penultimate post.

Yes the voyage has nearly ended for the blog, which a total of 6000+ people have read - thank you all, and 0 have commented, an even bigger thank you.

The penultimate post is addressing the ever important question of the Exercise Pyramid I have created for myself...EXERCISE. That's right, once you have put together your plan, your diet, your attitude and accepted what the outcome may be you will need to get into the gym and exercise. But what exercise suits you and how it will help achieve your goals are individual to you.

I have had a total of 4 plans. I have mixed things up in this 20 week period. I have always maintained 2 different sessions. In my first phase (around 12 weeks) I had one session which focused primarily on upper body and second session which focused on lower body. In my remaining weeks I have had two different total body workouts. My objective was to gain strength and growth on my chest, back, shoulders, arms etc. So the exercises I chose were relevant to that. I have increased aerobic activity to help burn fat along with addressing my dietary needs (yes that again).

You see, what I am trying to get at is, you will understand what exercises work and don't work for you. You will know which ones you like and which you don't. It's a fine process of tinkering around until you feel comfortable with the workout and know you can push yourself on it. Those moments where you think, "Oh I can't be bothered doing this tonight" is made all that different if you are doing a workout you know can and will achieve results.

I have a hand condition where two of my fingers are joined together, to grip weights with this hand can sometimes be difficult, and the overall movement will vary from my left hand side, so I always try and find exercises which I know I can execute without placing too much emphasis on my right hand and creating imbalance. This workout works for me, but it might not for you.

My only tip is this. If you are embarking on HIT you need to remember two things, form and time. Maintain the correct form throughout the exercise and your time in the positive and negative phase (2 up, 4 down) and you will be exerting your muscles fully and remember, you lift until you can't anymore. Visualisation techniques can help break through that pain barrier.

The science in this is ulitmately YOU.

So there we have it, play with your workouts, see what does and doesn't work for you. How you feel at the end of your workout and if you can find yourself enjoying it, and always remember no pain, no gain.

I am what I am...

The "genetic perfection" according to Michaelangelo

"I'm a 6'3 pale white, narrow shouldered Italian" and I have to accept that.

This is one of the hardest concepts that I have had to get my head around, but ultimately one which has made my training possible. I am limited genetically. As are you.

In my family I have some elite athletes on one side, and on the other side stocky muscular types. None have been over the 6ft mark before. In this, I am unique. I accept that. The elite athletes have competed at boxing, karate, netball and football at semi-professional and professional levels, some for their nations. The stocky types have never had any issue building muscle through manual labour mainly. Now genetics aren't just the generation before me, I am merely a vessel to pass my genetics through further generations etc. So maybe my children or children's children will be tall and athletically built, or short and stocky, or a mixture of the two - who knows.

The point is, because of my genetics I, like you, am limited to what I can achieve. I believe that diet, exercise, attitude will get you to where you want to be, but upto a point. You see, I will never be built like Stallone or Schwarzenegger. I will never have the arms of Casey Viator or the back of Franco Columbo. I won't be able to jump like Jordan or have the reflexes of Senna. No matter how hard I train, diet and believe in getting there, I will be limited to how much I can achieve - that wont stop me though.

I accept that this is my body type. This 20 week experience (which ends this weekend) has shown that you can still grow, increase strength, change your body and feel great all at the same time. (Well, when you are not throwing up after a few sessions) I accept that I won't, or have the ability of the people mentioned above because my genetics won't let me. But I also accept that I am tall, that I actually have a good propensity for physical activity, that I am stronger than I look and that whilst I may not by stacked like some bigger folk, I can lift just as much as them. I am Gino, and I am unique.

It's all about Attitude (well partly)

So I wanted to quickly discuss a further element to my pyramid - attitude.

Attitude encompases two things for me;
 - Belief (believe in the workout, routine, diet, YOURSELF)
 - Positivity (keep positive as much as you can to achieve your results)

There will be days when your diet may not be quite spot on, or days when you feel so lethargic you can’t be bothered to do anything (a bit like me today), but if your attitude is right and you can embody the elements of GOOD attitude then half of your battle is won.

Belief

If you can’t believe in the workout you doing, stop. If you can’t believe the diet you are on is going to help, stop. If you can’t believe in yourself then why bother all together? If however you CAN believe in all of the above, then you are on the right path, in my opinion.

Positivity
We all suffer from negativity (everyone who knows me will tell you I am the worst one) but I find positivity breeds positivity. In this “journey” I have found myself feeding off positivity from the results I have been achieving and that in turn makes me more positive to my approach of training and this in turn means you have a good attitude to the workout, diet etc.

Anyway that’s all I have to say about this subject, but I believe, get your attitude right and you are on the road to achieving your goals.