Friday, 24 April 2009

Day 19

Day 19 on Dax Moys Muscle in a Month.

Oops, almost a week since I last posted. Work's been crazy busy and my lap top has decided it doesn't want to switch itself on, so the only internet access I have is at work where I barely get time to breath.

Any how, the workouts are kicking my butt and I can feel the effects of overtraining kicking in, but only 9 days to go.

Body weight is up 4 lbs and I appear leaner, I have a little more definiation in my abs.
I want to gain at least another 3lbs and that will get me to 13stone (182lbs) for the first time in over 5 years, so I'll be eating like a horse for the next 9 days and the recovery week.

Saturday, 18 April 2009

Day 13

I've not posted for a couple of days, I changed a gym shift round, felt awful for the lack of sleep and missed a workout.
The good news though is that my bodyweight is up. I'm now 12st 10.5lbs or 178.5lbs. I realised I wasn't eating enough to gain any significant weight so I've upped my calories the past few days and the body weights gone up. I did the same thing the first time I tried Muscle in a Month. I didn't eat enough for the first 2 weeks - doh! Probably robbed myself of 3-4 lbs of weight gain.
Note to self, next time yopu try Muscle in a Month, eat loads from day 1.

Yesterdays workout was tough, easpecially with the lack of sleep, but I managed it and lifted more than the previous workout.

The workout consisted of barbell squats, lunges, jump squats, clean and press shoulder press and lateral raises.
And if that wasn't enough the workout eneded with 10 x 10 deadlifts supersetted with hanging leg raises-Brutal!

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

Day 10

Day 10 of Muscle in a Month and todays was workout was pretty brief. I whizzed through it in about 30 minutes.

The workout consisted of Chins, Rows and Straight arm pressdowns, Windmills, Hanging leg raises and Swiss ball crunches. Sorry I can't be more specific than that, but I've been sworn to secrecy and signed a confidentiality agreement so I can't give away the specifics of the workout.

Yet again I was stronger on all lifts and still really enjoy it this time round.

Tuesday, 14 April 2009

Day 9

Day 9 on Dax Moys Muscle in a Month and still getting stronger.
Todays workout included the bench press which is an exercise I truly suck at. Long thin body and pipe cleaner arms don't make for a big bench. Even though I'm never going to have a massive bench, I can improve and added a few more reps from my previous bench workout-progress at least.

My body weight seems to be all over the place since starting Muscle in a Month. I stated at 12st 7lbs (175lbs) and my weight has fluctuated between 12st 6 and 12st 9 (174-177lbs) I remember this happening the first time I tried Muscle in a Month and I eneded up several pounds heavier, so I'm not worrying-as long as I end up at least 180lbs.
I'll get to the end of week 2 and assess my weight, if I haven't added 3-4 lbs I'll really up my calories.

Nutrition
Cahew, banana and blueberry smoothie.

Snack
2 Bounce Protein Balls

Lunch
Scrambled egg, cashews, satsuma-hmm, not much thought went into this!

Snack
Egg fried rice (home made of course-not from a takeaway)

Dinner
Rice with 2 peppers stuffed with ground beef and pine nuts.
Fruit salad.

Snack
Cashews and an apple

Monday, 13 April 2009

Sunday, 12 April 2009

Day 7

Day 7 on Dax Moys Muscle in a Month and all the DOMS has disappeared from my upper body and only a small amount lingering in my lower body.

I had another great workout today. I actually went to the gym even though it was closed. The fact that it was empty meant I could go from exercise to exercise without any interruptions-bliss!

Each workout I'm getting stronger and there's no drop off in strength as I come to the end of each set.

Today I ate;

Breakfast
Cashew, banana and blueberry smoothie.
Bounce Protein Ball

Snack
Peanut butter and banana smoothie

Lunch
Cajun chicken with rice, peas and sweetcorn

Dinner
Quite a large one as I was round my brothers and stupidly didn't take any healthy snacks
Chicken, salad, new pototoes, smoked salmon and houmous.

Snack
Spoonful of peanut butter
1oz of almonds and a satsuma

Saturday, 11 April 2009

Day 6 Nutrition

Breakfast
Peanut butter and banana smoothie

Snack
2 Bounce Protein Balls

Snack
cashews and a n apple

Lunch
Steak burger, salad, carrot sticks and houmous.

Dinner
chilli and garlic chicken with leeks and baked potato.

Snack
1 Bounce Protein Ball and spoonful of peanut butter

Day 6

Day 6 on Dax Moy's Muscle in a Month and the day off did me the world of good. The first part of the workout called for bench press to be paired with windmills. I was stronger on both lifts and to be honest could have cranked out a few more reps on each set.

Part of the workout consisted of 4 x 4-6 clean and presses. I did the 1st set no problem, but on the 2nd set felt a shooting pain from my neck into my collar bone, I completed the reps, but called it a day there. Experience has taught me to listen to my body. Better to call it a day there than injuure myself and not be able to complete the whole month. Any how 95% of the workout was complete, so no big loss.

Day 5 of Dax Moys Muscle in a Month

Didn't workout on day 5. I went to my in-laws with my wife and son for hot cross buns. I didn't
have any as wheat is off limits on the Elimination Diet and I'm intolerant to wheat anyhow.
We ended up staying the whole day so I missed my workout : (

Still, I stuck to my diet.

Breakfast
4 egg omelette, with mushrooms, peppers, onions, garlic and Italian herbs.
Satsuma.

Snack
Banana and spoonful of peanut butter.

Snack
Cockles

Dinner
2 chicken breasts, home made potato wedges and mixed salad.

Snack
Cashew, banana, blueberry and live yoghurt smoothie

Thursday, 9 April 2009

Day 4

Day 4 of Dax Moys Muscle in a Month and my quads, glutes and hamstrings are on fire after yesterdays squat, lunge, jump squat combo. Climbing and and down stairs is painful, but it's a good renminder of a great workout.

Wednesday, 8 April 2009

Day 3 Muscle in a Month

Day 3 Muscle in a Month Nutrition

Breakfast.
Cashew, banana and blueberry smoothie.

Snack

2 Bounce Protein Balls.

Lunch
Garlic and chilli chicken and rice.

Snack
Apple and 1oz of cashews

Dinner
Garlic and chilli chicken and rice.

Snack
2 satsumas and 1oz of cashews

Snack
Blueberries, banana, natural live yoghurt and chopped nuts.

Tuesday, 7 April 2009

Day 2 Muscle in a Month

Day 2 Nutrition

Breakfast
Cashew, banana, blueberry and live yoghurt smoothie

Snack
2 Bounce Protein Balls

Lunch
Smoked salmon, rice, carrot sticks and humus

Snack
Peanut butter and banana smoothie

Dinner
Potato wedges, steak, peas and sweetcorn.

I spent the day walking round Southsea with my wife and son. When I woke up I had DOMS in my low back from yesterday workout, as the day went on the rest of my body started stiffening up and the DOMS set in every where : (

When I got back I headed straight to gym and had a cracking upper body workout, despite the DOMS in my Pecs, Lats, Rhomboids and Delts.

Dax Moys Muscle in a Month Day 1




Dax Moys Muscle in a Month- Take Two

Yep, I'm crazy enough to try Dax Moys Muscle in a Month programme again and this time I expect the results to be better.
I'm going to learn from my previous mistakes. Last time I gained 8.5lbs of muscle and lost 2lbs of fat so it was far from a disaster. However I didn't stick to the Elimination Diet 100%. I'd finished the diet the month before and thought I didn't need it, I was wrong.
I didn't get enough sleep partly my fault and partly due to my boy wetting the bed 5 nights out of 7. We're trying to get him through the night without a nappy. Thankfully he's dry 5 nights out of 7, so things should be easier on the sleeping front : )

I didn't plan my workouts properly. Sometimes I trained at 10am sometimes 10pm, not great , but at least I got the workouts in.

Muscle in a Month Results

So the 28 days are up and the results are in.





Measurements
Chest went from 39" to 40.5" + 1.5"

Waist went from 34" to 32.5" - 1.5"

Hips 39" stayed the same

Left upper thigh went from 23.5" to 24.5" + 1"
Left lower thigh went from 19" to 19.5" + 0.5"

Right upper thigh went from24" to 25" + 1"
Right lower thigh went from 19.5" to 20" + .05"

Left and right calf went from 14.5" to 14.75" + 0.25"

Left arm went from 11.75" to 12.5" + 0.75 "

Right arm went from 12.5" to 13" + 0.5"



Muscle in a Month Testimonial


I've been training in gyms for over a decade now, initially to lose fat, but later to gain musle.
Recently things have slipped a little, with finishing a degree, running a gym, a personal training business, being a husband and a dad, my life is more than a little hectic and my muscle gaining efforts were all in vain.

I've tried many workouts that promised to build muscle in no time, body part splits, upper/lower splits, total body training, GVT, 10 x 3, 5 x 5, the list goes on and the results were average at best.

When I first started MIM, I thought "what have I let myself in for? Dax is a sadist!" The workouts aren't for the faint hearted, they're brutally tough and like nothing I've seen or used before.The workouts took me WAY out of my comfort zone.
The hardest part was fitting it into my already tight schedule, on some days the workouts were long and touturous plus the lack of sleep from my 3 year old waking in the early hours most mornings!

However, I stuck to whole 28 days and the results were well worth the effort.

I started at 168lbs and 13.5% bodyfat and finished at 174.5lbs at 12% bodyfat
So a gain a of 8.5lbs of muscle and lost 2lbs fat in just 28 days AND I'm a 'hard gainer'
The last time I gained any where near that much weight it took 3 months and my bodyfat increased!



Would I recommend MIM to anyone? Absolutely, it's just 28 days, they're going to pass anyway so you might as well commit to building your body in record time. In fact I'm so pleased with the results I'm repeating it again in a month.

Ausin

Sunday, 15 February 2009

2 Weeks In

I'm now 2 weeks into Dax Moys Muscle In a Month challenge and I'm extremely pleased with the results so far. I've lost 2lbs of body fat and gained 4.5 lbs of muscle- in just 2 weeks!

My abs are more defined, I've lost 1.5" from my waist, I'm stronger in my core and my upper back is more muscular. I'm really looking forward to the results over the next 2 weeks and the super compensation that'll occur in the 7-10 days after the programme ends.






Todays food

As I've already mentioned I'm trying to cram in the calories as I've been undereating.

Today I've eaten

Breakfast
Millet porridge, with tahini, peanut butter and cinnamon. Then added in 2 free range eggs-delicious : )
Then a banana and blueberry smoothie-need my servings of fruit.

Post workout
Banana and 2 Bounce Protein Balls - I first tried these at Dax's studio last weekend and they are addictive. My local Waitrose stocks them : )

Lunch
Tuna steak and Mexican rice & carrots

Snack
Bounce Protein Ball

Dinner
Chicken, leeks, mushrooms, garlic, onions and red chilli on a baked potato

Snack
Banana, peanut butter and tahini moothie

Quick Update

The workouts are going great, I'm getting stronger, getting through the workouts quicker and I'm definitely leaner and more muscular.
I'll post my measurments and pictures later today.

I realised I wasn't eating enough a few days back, my weight had stayed the same, but I had got leaner, so I was building muscle and burning fat at the same time : )
However I want to end up several pounds heavier-all muscle, so I'm upping my calories. I went on to www.fitday.com and worked out my daily calorie intake and it was around 2,350.
Certainly not low calorie, but for the volume of work I'm doing it's not enogh calories.

I've doubled the size of my breakfast and added in a larger snack, that should give me several hundred extra calories per day and the weight should start to pile on : )

Thursday, 12 February 2009

Ooops, 8 days since I last posted

I can't believe it's 8 days since I last posted.

In that time I've had some of the most severe delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) imaginable, my weight has fluctuated, my limbs got bigger then got smaller. Life has been a bit manic with getting on Dax Moys KCA course at the very last minute this past weekend and having to rush to get cover at the gym, miss my brothers wedding suit fitting and walking around London for 2 hours trying to find a hotel.

Anyhoo, the DOMS has subsided and in some warped, twisted kind of way I'm enjoying the torture of the workouts. I seem to be getting stronger and more agressive as the workouts go on, which is strange for me.

I'm the same weight, but definitely leaner. My problem is I need to eat more, oh and sleep more. My 3 year old son keeps wetting the bed-we're trying to get him out of nappies during the night-so lots of disturbed sleep : (

My weight did drop below 12 stone at one point, but I cranked up the calories and am just over 12 stone although leaner.

I willget my wife to take some motre picture and post them asap and get some measurements

Austin

Wednesday, 4 February 2009

Day 2 Nutrition

Breakfast
Peanut butter and banana smoothie

Snack
Apple & 1o of almonds

Lunch
Banana

Postworkout
Chicken, rice and peas.

Snack
Grapes and 1oz of cashews

Dinner
Chilli beef stir fry with rice noodles

Snack
Live bio yogurt, blueberries, banana & cashews.

3 litres of water

2 cups of ginger and lemon tea.

Day 1 Nutrition

Breakfast
Banana and peanut butter smoothie

Snack
Apple & 1oz on almonds

Pre workout
Banana

Postworkout
Rice, peas and chicken breast

Snack
Apple & 1oz of cashews

Postworkout 2
Grapes.
Banana, blueberry & cashew smoothie

Dinner
Chicken risotto with red and green pepers, onions and mushrooms.

3 litres of water so far.

2 cups of lemon & ginger tea.

Only supplement I'm taking is a high quality fish oil : )



Chest 39"

Shoulders 19"

Waist 34 "

Hips 39"

Left Thigh 23.5" & 19"
Right Thigh 24" & 19.5"

Left Calf 14.5"
Right Calf 14.5"

Left Arm 11.75" ha ha I have an eleventeen inch arm : )
Right Arm 12.5"

Height 6 foot

Weight 168lbs

Bodyfat 13.5 %
There's no picture of me from the side because when I turn sideways I disappear : )


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I look a happy bunny, probably because I know what I have in stall for me over the next 28 days.

Guys, feel free to laugh at my skinnyness and pasty white skin : )

Monday, 2 February 2009

New Physique Challenge

I've been sworn to secrecy and signed a confidentiality agreement, so I can't give exact details of the workouts, but for the next 28 days i will be a guinea pig for Dax Moys Muscle in a Month programme.

It's going to be brutally hard and right now I'm questioning my insanity, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Tomorrow I'll post my before pics. I'll log what I'm eating on a daily basis and how I'm getting on with the workouts.


Austin