9 things. 「九つ」

As I mentioned here, I have set myself a goal this year to stick with weight training, then once I have got to the lean muscle weight I want to be at, I will just do toning exercises instead of just stopping. Firstly, being as I am in the body class of hardgainer/ectomoph, basically I find it difficult to put on weight, yes some people would kill to be like this, yet as I am trying to gain weight, it gets to be quite a pain sometimes. First and foremost I changed my diet, although not a huge change from what I was already eating, I just cut out the crisps and other crappy snacks I used to have completely, a strong willpower helps here, as I find it easy to say no to cakes & crisps etc, and why shouldn’t it be easy, just think of it as someone offering you something you don’t like, are you going to say yes? save them for once a week treats if it helps you stay focused on your goal. Just high protein, high vitamin foods, packed with plenty of complex carbs, and for me, a lot more than the RDA of 2500 callories.

Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories

So as well as eating a lot more I am splitting up what I eat into smaller meals, eating smaller meals more often has a couple of benefits, increasing your metabolic rate is one and it is also healthier for you, 6-8 meals a day is now a norm, aswell as normal meals I also take some suppliments, mainly Maximuscle Progain:

Per 1 serving = 120g (2 scoops)
Energy = 453Kcal/1894 kJ
Protein = 32.4g
Carbohydrate (complex) = 68.4g

Working out 4 days a week, I give myself wednesday and the weekend for recovery, unless your on steroids, recovery days are essential as this gives your body the time it needs to repair and build up your muscles. I usuall do 3 reps of 4-7 different exercises, targeting a different muscle group each workout day; Arms, Shoulders, Chest/Back, Legs. I am aiming to gain atleast another stone in lean muscle weight in the next four months, hopefully get there sooner but I will just have to wait and see how it goes. As like most things it takes time to notice any gains and everyones body will progress at different rate, probably why some people will give up after a couple of weeks, as they are under the impression that it will practically happen overnight, it doesn’t! So just stick with it, or if one routine isn’t working out then change routines, don’t just give up.

Off topic, but still a little relevent, as someone joked about this at work today. The starvation diet, cutting down on food to reduce body weight is a bad idea, sure it will work, it will also not do your body any good either, your organs need fuel to keep you alive, as your body is not supposed to be starved of fuel, no wonder these people usually feel drained and tired all the time, being as your body needs a certain amount of protein, calories and all the rest of it each day. If you don’t eat enough to feed your body it will start to feed on your muscles first, not that excess body fat, as muscle is more easily broken down and will provide more fuel for your body. For people who want to trim down on their excess body fat, they should read around a little more before starving themselves. One thing I will suggest for them is to increase their protein intake as to preserve their muscle, and cut down,even half their caloire intake. Well that’s about all I have to say on the subject at the moment, but no doubt I will be mentioning the whole weight training topic again.