Evening all. This is going to be a bit lengthy so please bear with me.
Backstory: I was (am?) what one could refer to as a dweeb. Avoided exercise beyond walking to work and occasionally unloading pallets of food during deliveries (more on this in a bit) and stayed in front of my pc all afternoon wasting time for no good reason. A few years ago I had a go at joining the gym. Lasted about 2 months then lost all motivation and reverted to my old ways. At the age of 28 I was 1.82 m tall weighing anything between 80 and 85 kg (depending on how stressful the week was for me - I'm a comfort eater), size 32 waist with no biceps to speak of, and around 17% b.f.
This September I decided I've had enough of my old life style and signed up at the gym again. This time, I went with a specific programme, recommended to me by a friend: the 5x5 strength training regime.
The regime: consists of two different days of training alternating Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Day 1: Squat 5x5; Bent over Row 5x5; Bench Press 5x5
Day 2: Squat 5x5; Shoulder Press 5x5; Deadlift 1x5
All these excercises started at 20 kg each, then on each session this was to be increased by 2.5 kg except deadlift which was to go up by 5 kg each new session.
Each day, the first two of these excercises are preceded by a warm up that consists of 3 reps starting at 20 kg below the target weight for the day increasing by 5 kg until I hit the target (making it a 4x3 warm up set). Last excercise is done without a warm up.
The progress so far: I am at a weird situation right now. When I first joined my gym, I didn't have access to the power rack, and the weights available were: 10/15/20/25/30/35 kg which was going against the 2.5 kg increment plan and got me to a capped weight for some exercises rather fast.
A few weeks into my regime I went away for a 3 week holiday where I had no access to the gym (but plenty of cake to go on...). Even before that however I noticed a rather worrying pattern: the upper body exercises (with the exception of the bent over row) were causing me more trouble than lower body ones.
Back from holiday; the gym opened up a new section giving me access to heavier weights, olympic bars and most importantly the power rack.
Due to a miscalculation of the weight of one of the bars (assumed it to be a 10 kg when in fact it weighs 15 kg) again I started hitting plateaus on the shoulder press and bench press due to not going up according to the plan but jumping to weights my arms/chest were not ready for. That said, as of last session the weights I completed sets on were:
squat: 5x5 57.5 kg
bent over row: 5x5 37.5 kg
chest press: 5x5 30 kg
shoulder press: 5x5 27.5 kg
deadlift: 5*x5 65 kg
*I did this as my legs were nowhere near as tired after squats as the exercise guide said they would. At higher weights I may drop to 1x5 as suggested if I find I really can't cope.
Figuring I'd need more of the core muscle support for the deadlifts, squats and rows at some point I started doing some core exersises after all the 5x5 sets are done. This includes abdominal crunch with a cross punch (2x20 at the moment), leg lifts (2x20) and the plank.
At the same time, getting annoyed at lower strength in the arms I added 5x5 bicep curl and 5x5 preacher curl to day one and 5x5 barbel triceps extension and 5x5 bent over dumbbell triceps extension to day two. This change was done this week.
So that's the exercise. Now for the daily plan:
Wake up half 3 am; showered and dressed by 4; between 4 and half 4 I drink some water; get my backpack ready (if it's a workout day I get the clothes and shakers ready) - any remaining time (which there usually isn't much of) I check emails/facebook then set off to work.
This takes me about half an hour of walking (don't do it anymore); 10 minutes of slow cycling (+another 5-7 minutes to fiddle with chains etc; currently not doing it as the bike's wheel is off centre and I can never be bothered to fix it) or 10-15 minutes of jogging (time variance depends on weather; regardless of which I jog). The last of the 3 options is the means of travel I've been choosing past few weeks.
Work starts at 5 and towards 7 I have to put away goods from delivery which I suppose counts as a minor exercise of its own but I don't treat it as such. Half 7 I get a breakfast break which includes a portion of porridge with a dollop of honey - 307 kcal and 1/4 l of water (sometimes an apple as well if I'm peckish).
By 11 o'clock I get an early lunch which almost always consists of a chicken/red pepper/onion/spinach/cucumber/cucumber yoghurt dressing wrap - 288 kcal (sometimes replaced by an avocado/basil/tomato/parmesan/spinach/cucumber/pine nuts/yoghurt dressing wrap - 458 kcal); a honey/granola/shredded apple/pistachio/pomegranate/dried cranberry/yoghurt pot - 304 kcal (sometimes replaced by a single piece of fruit); and around 0.75 litre of water.
Work finishes usually half 1 after which I relax for a bit then 30 minutes before hitting the gym (any time between half 2 and 3) I have a portion of mixed nuts and a strength building protein shake mixed with carrot juice (or a berry smoothie if the former isn't available) - 60 kcal + protein powder . During work out I consume around 2-3 litres of water.
Post work out (anywhere between an hour and 90 minutes) I have another shake (this one is meant to burn fat as well as build muscle if the labels are to be trusted) based on skimmed milk -178 kcal.
After that things sort of go uncontrolled. I'll either have another quick protein fix in form of a chicken wrap if I feel really hungry or simply go shopping for dinner ingredients. This results in me getting home anywhere between 5 and 6.
If I choose to cook dinner it either consists of chicken breast (prepared depending on what I feel like cooking that day); 4 potatoes and a salad (sometimes served with sauce/ sometimes not); or a thin beef steak served with 4 potatoes a mushroom sauce and a salad. This I end up eating around 7 ish.
If I don't cook, I'll usually just eat whatever I bought on the go (usually a sandwich). Which has me having my last big meal around 6 ish.
After that I have an evening snack of either a portion of pineapple or grapefruit.
Bed time is anywhere between 9 and 10. (resulting in 5-6 hours of sleep)
Now for the crux of the problem - I'm worried that my upper body isn't developing at the pace it should. I feel like my diet has a fair bit to do with it (at the same time I fear that if I start eating loads more I'll just put on inches around my waist as I'm not sure just how effective the routine is at burning up calories). On the positive side my waist size appears to have gone down (going by how much I have to tighten the belt, haven't done actual measurements); I don't feel like I'm about to hit a cap on lower body/back exercises yet; I feel more energised and I can jog all the way to work without losing breath whether I'm running against the wind (Mancunians will testify to how strong it can get) or on a calm day (which I wouldn't dream of before).
So there we go - accounting for all that's said above; what sort of adjustments would you guys suggest I do in order to achieve the following: body weight lowered to 70-75 kg range; body fat lowered by say 3-4% (not sure how realistic this is); and improved muscle strength.
EDIT: Also as a disclaimer - progress of exercises involving me pushing something up with my wrists are temporarily hampered by a minor case of RSI on my right wrist. I use anti-inflammatory gels that lower the pain and it's not as impeding as it used to be, but it's still there and will be until I get put on physio (only God and NHS know when that's gonna happen).
