Weekly Update

First off I'd like to apologise for the lateness of this post, I'll try and have updates up every Monday in future. Now, on to business - I've just completed my first week of training and its been an interesting experience. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I haven't been strict enough with my diet and I'm rectifying that this week. However, despite my cheat days I've still managed to make some major headway in the form of weight loss and muscle gain. For anyone that missed the previous post, my stats at the beginning of last week broke down like this -

Legs - 25.5 inches

Arms - 16 inches

Chest - 42.25 inches

Weight - 96.5kg

Max Deadlift weight - 100kg

Max Squat weight - 95kg (Below Parallel)

I managed to stick to my training completely last week, completing full body workouts in the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and also partaking in cardio exercise on Tuesday and Thursday. On Sunday I managed to fit in a fasting day, despite wanting to eat everything around me by the end of the day. With regard to supplements, I've been taking three Warrior Blaze capsules per training day, with a Diet protein shake post workout. Anyway, on to the results; I weighed in and measured up on Monday of this week, and here is how the stats have changed:

Legs - 26 inches

Arms - 16 inches

Chest - 44.25 inches

Weight - 92kg

Max Deadlift Weight - 130kg

Max Squat Weight - 112.5kg

So as you can see I've managed to make some major strength gains which I'm hoping to increase again by the end of the week. I've also managed to lose some significant weight - 4.5kg (9.9 pounds) whilst gaining muscle mass on both my legs and chest, whilst maintaining muscle on my arms. Its safe to say that the past week of training has been a successful one, despite my nutritional lapses. However, due to the huge weight loss this week, I'm not expecting anything big in the following week, I'll be happy just to maintain the weight that I'm at, as I'm hugely ahead of target, sitting just behind the half way point for my target. 

I've had a few people ask me how I manage to lose the weight and how I keep myself motivated. With regard to the weight loss, its all about the amount of effort you put in. I pride myself on pushing myself past my limits in every gym session and working as hard as possible - to put it simply, if you're not sweating heavily and feeling your muscles start to ache at the end of a session, then you're just not doing it right. With regard to eating, the last week has been an exception for me. I've learned to love healthy foods just as much as junk foods, and I try to keep my diet interesting. If you've got a boring and tasteless diet, then its more likely that you're going to want to cheat it and eat junk food. With regard to motivation, I get my motivation from seeing myself in the mirror week after week and seeing the improvements that training is having on my body, but most importantly I don't see my training as a chore or something I have to force myself into. It's become a huge part of my life now, and spending 3-5 sessions in the gym per week is standard to me, its just a bonus that I see such amazing results from it. Also, its all about who you surround yourself with, I try to surround myself with people that are passionate about fitness, Icon Nutrition have helped me massively with workout tips and info, Kavan Byrne has also been a huge source of info. Of course Fitness Made EZ has helped me massively with regard to motivation and my training approach, my last 5 months of training have been attributed to his advice and guidance. Also I encourage you all to get over to the community at bodyactive-nation.co.uk - its an amazing community to be a part of and they've helped me a lot over the past few months.

Well I hope that everyone's enjoyed this post, for anyone that's interested in my workout routine or the structure of my diet, its all in the post preceding this one. If people have any feedback or questions or even want to join me in my journey (as I've said before I'm happy to offer nutrition and exercise tips) then you can catch me on Twitter (@Wrighty) on Facebook (www.facebook.com/A.Wright.Fitness) or alternatively just leave a comment in the box below! 

Take it easy

Alex.