Workout Progress – March ‘08

March was another good workout month for me. To avoid my muscles from retaining muscle memory from repetitive exercises, PT and I decided to vary the type of exercises that I had to do per PT session. By doing it this way, my muscles are forced to adapt faster to the changes and mentally I would not have mental barriers set up because I don't know what to expect my limits for that day was. We also ventured into more total body endurance training as one of my goals is also to build up a more balanced body tone instead of just a particular body group. Endurance training is good for that as you get to work out a lot more muscles groups per set compared to isolated muscle trainings.

I am also proud to say that I have been fairly consistent with my attendance in the spinning (RPM) classes at my gym. I was finally able to find a timeslot that worked best for me and have been attending at least once a week. I try to get 2 classes per week but it’s hard to go to the Sunday class without me sacrificing my social life (as if!). Once I got used to the extremely hard bicycle seat and the fact that my fat bum would be bouncing around in public (the fly wheel studio is practically an aquarium at my gym) when I cycle, the classes were actually an enjoyable way to burn off calories. Strange that a few months ago I was so self conscious to join in the class but now I’m arguing with my friend on whether or nor should we cycle to the beat of the provided music instead of just increasing the level intensities when the instructor calls it out. He says no but I say yes … anyone can settle this argument? For me it’s a whole other level of enjoyment to challenge your paddling to be in sync with the downbeat.

Diet plan in March

Breakfast (8 am)
- 1 sachet of Quaker Oats Flavored instant oatmeal
- 1 serving of low fat yogurt
- 1 serving of protein shake

Brunch (10 am)
- 1/2 serving of plan fried rice with tempeh goreng or greens
- 1 hardboiled egg (alternate working days
– 2 whole eggs total per week)
- 1 serving of fruits

Lunch (12 pm)
- 1 Spirulina cereal 3 in 1 mix.

Snacks (4 pm)
- 1 Nature Valley Granola bar (Apple Crisps, Almond and Pecan have lowest calories)
- Japanese Green Tea

Dinner (7 pm)
– non workout days (Tues/Sat)
- 1 serving of protein shake
- buy something roughly less than 300kcal

Workout Days (M/W/Thurs/F: 8:30 – 11:30 pm, Sun: 4 – 8pm)
Pre workout
- 1 serving of protein shake
- buy something roughly less than 300kcal

Post workout
- 1 serving of protein shake

Supplements :
MuscleTech Nitro-Tech Hardcore Protein Shake – 3 servings per day
GNC Pro Performance Creatine Monohydrate – 3 servings per day
21st Century’s HerbalLipo Tea – 1 serving per week day
GNC MegaMen Dietary Supplement – 1 tablet per day
GNC Big 50 Vit B Complex – 1 tablet per day
GNC Fish Oils – 1 tablet per day

Thanks to my birthday discount at GNC, I added a few new supplements in my daily consume list. The Big 50 Vit B Complex is to help with mental alertness as well as for metabolic processes and the Fish Oils capsules for overall health maintenance. Since I’m looking to bulk up a bit in the next few months, I’ve also added Creatine Monohydrate to my supplements list. My past experience with it showed that I was able to push myself further when I take creatine on top of my usual protein shakes. The new MuscleTech protein shake that I am taking now does have creatine in it so I’m actually doubling my intake of creatine for the moment.

For the coming April, I will be cutting down my PT session to 2 times a week considering that I only have 7 sessions left with will last me till the end of the month. I have been offered PT renewal at RM85 per session for 18 sessions but I think I want to go on by myself for a bit to see how much progress that I can get by myself. I’ve already documented my current exercise plans so I can reuse the same plan when I’m not training with my PT. I will miss being able with a PT but thanks to him, I feel more assured that what I can do on my own would be able to give me the results that I want. The only thing that I would definitely have to figure out is how to work the free weights without a spotter. I guess that I could do lesser weights with higher reps since I won’t be too confident of lifting heavy weights on my own.

If anyone works out at California Fitness, Sunway Pyramid and might be looking for a workout partner in May, do drop me a line to my email or the comments box.