A new start.

Hi guys! Past week was pretty aweful as the flu kicked in, so I decided to take it easy and really focused on my workout routine. As a result of hours and hours of trimming my perfect plan to really punish my body and get that fat burning I developed a great plan which kicks in TODAY!

I contacted a PT at my gym and asked a little help to my nutrition problems. Not that I have them, but I’m interested to get a proper diet to fit my goals and couldn’t think anyone better than a soon-to-be a life coach. So today I’m off to buy a kitchen scale and I’m prepared to start prepping my meals and weighing everything. It’s a nice thing to try eating and working out like a pro, the idea is intriguing. We’ll see how it goes.

As for the workout schedule, I’ve been going out to the gym for two years now and also done CrossFit for a year, so I decided to shape it to be the best possible for me. Basically it follows a simple 3 divided gym routine, added two days of HIIT and Tabata, also for the three gym days I added a morning cardio workout for 45 min. I’ll be doing 3 sets of 10 reps for 3 weeks straight, then I’ll do a peak week with 5 x 5 sets and so on.  The workouts I added are my favorite ones and also one workout for each muscle group that are out of my comfort zone, just to bring on the burn 🙂

Today I did a nice 45 min cardio ride with my bike and the weather was great, everything seemed perfect until I came home and got this headache that’s bothering me still. So today I’m going to get my shoulders massaged and hopefully I’ll hit the gym tomorrow.

 

But here we go! More will follow.

Feelings

It has been hot here in Kokkola for the past few days, the summer is here! Yes sir! Last week I packed 3 exercises in total at the gym + aerobic work as well. I was away for the weekend, Aerosmith was playing in Helsinki and the experience was awesome! Just what I needed: a nice break before starting my new job on monday, which has also been quite nice.

I’ve struggled a little bit with scheduling my workouts with work and leisure time, but I’m coping. This week I started off with a nice bike ride with medium intensity. Tuesday I worked out my chest and back. Yesterday it was all about legs and today I am resting. Tomorrow will be biceps and triceps. And some. 

The next 4 weeks will consist of: 3 gym workouts, 2 aerobic exercises (one LIIT and one HIIT) per week. Plus I’m still focusing on what I’m eating. According to my Polar Loop I’m using around 4000-5000kcal on workout days and 3000 kcal on rest days. I try to eat so, that my calories wouldn’t go below -1000 kcal / day because I don’t want to risk metabolic damage. 

My weight seems to be stuck, but I’ve noticed some “jigglying” increase, suggesting that the hard fats are melting. Or then not. 4 weeks done and actually my weight has gone up by 2 kg. Hypothyroideism comes to mind, but we’ll see.  I have faith that I’m doing the right things at the moment, just have to be patient and keep focused on the goal. 

Keep on swinging guys!

The mental game.

I feel that going to the gym and living a healthy life is always a battle that’s been fought mostly inside our heads. At least that it is to me. The hardest thing is to commit to your goals and at the same time not to go overboard with them. The balance is important. My fiance told me yesterday that she isn’t going to watch me melt down and that I have to remember to “honor” the rest days. Truer words have seldon been spoken. Anyways, my point is that strong will combined with reason can take you anywhere you want to go, obsession usually doesn’t do you any good.

Today I felt pumped. I amped myself up yesterday figuring my routine and mentally challenging myself to endure the pain. I think that it’s important to go to the gym willing to give 100% every time. If you don’t feel up to it, my advice is to take the day off and go for a jog etc. Usually this can be your body telling you it needs more time to recover, but if this re-occurs more often and often, maybe consult a PT and think about your goals and motivation factors. 

I worked on my chest, abs and back today. I did 4 sets with 12 reps each, wanting to really feel the burn and fight over it. I had to lower my weights so that I wouldn’t risk my technique, but even with lower weights got the burn and later on the sweet reward of the pump. After my sets, I decided to hit the cross trainer and do some cardio for 30 min “mountain climb” style. Was really. really exhausted, sweat pouring down and feeling on top of the world. Really pleased with todays work.

Now I will enjoy the sun, relax and take a nice long with the dog. Tomorrow I’ll hit a little more “CrossFitier” workout, doing 15 reps deadlift + 500m row 3 sets + 2x tabata. Going to be awesome. I’ve intentionally added more and more cardio to my program, really wanting to burn the fat for 3 weeks now, then maybe some light bulking, we’ll see. Anyways life is good at the moment and feeling very, very pleased with myself for finding my path again.

 

The Supplement gang: Vitamins, Magnesium, Omega-3 and Whey-80 by StarNutrition (the best!). Also the best shaker around: SmartShake

 

Take it easy guys!

Taking it easy is not that easy

Today is my rest day. I’m not so good at it as I should be. Body is pretty much aching from yesterdays leg day, but the DOMS could be worse. I woke up around 7 am and did a nice walk with the dog, about 4,5km. It was way hotter than I anticipated and had way too much clothes on, well, I got my first sweat on for today. Now I’ve been reading different fitness blogs and figuring out my diet-methods as well, being quite pleased atm. 

I know resting is probably just as (if not even more) important than working out, but it sure sucks. But trying to take it easy today. Maybe a nice bike ride or something. With maximum heart rate. Uphill. Against the wind.

Take it easy guys!

Out from the shadows pt. II

Hey guys!

It has been really a long time since I’ve added anything here actually, blog has not been forgotten and I’m going to start writing again, mostly as a training diary and also posting my food tips etc. Back to business!

It has been quite a difficult year for me so far, but now things have been going better. I’ve struggled with my health and physique quite a bit: I had a broken toe which lead to other problems and even an operation was under consideration for a while, but with the help of doctors and fysiotherapists things are moving forward and hopefully my toe desn’t need surgery for another 20 years or so, but time will tell. Also I had problem with re-occuring sinuitis which prevented my workouts almost completely. It was hard to train when even in warmup my HR reached 190 and I didn’t get enough oxygen. Luckily that problem is over as well!

I’ve started training at a gym that’s little bit closer to me, CrossFit is still in mind as well as cardio training. The last three weeks have been great: I’ve managed to hit my WOD’s without any problems (DOMS doesn’t count anymore, it’s part of the game!). I’m hitting the gym 4 times a week: strength training on Monday (upper body) and Tuesday (legs), Wednesday is a restday/recovery day, Thursday and Friday I tend to do compund series with long series, e.g. 4 sets with 10-12 reps. Again upper and lower body seperately. I’ve added a little bit cardio for each day and Saturday is the HR MAX day, which means in my case running/biking with higher heart rate.

Dieting has been bit of an issue, but I’m fixing it slowly. I got Polar Loop for christmas and it has been a great helper counting the calories I need each day, but eating 3200kcal per day (basic consumption + training) has been quite hard, leaving my total calorie loss up to 2000kcal per day which is too much, I know. But slowly moving forward knowing what the problem is and I hope that my weight will soon start to sink again.

Nevertheless, I’m feeling good and looking forward to go on with my life change and hoping to hit my goal -20kg by the end of October. Time will tell but the fight is totally worth it!

Cheers guys!

ps. Look me up at Instagram: autio_j. Pics etc. will be found there!

Pic with no relevance: Kokkola – my hometown.

 

Inspiration and motivation.

Today I found out about a guy called Pekka Hyysalo. Former freestyle skier who was injured very badly and went into a coma for 17 days. The doctors said that he wouldn’t be a communicative person anymore. That person is attempting to run a marathon within 7 years. Check him out.

Today I’ll do my own WOD:

Warm-up routine

15-12-9-6 reps

Wall-ball – Abmat – Push-ups – Box jumps

Row 5K

That’ll do for today. Tomorrow some running before a busy work weekend.

Take care guys!

Ps. Remember to join Movember!

My food philosophy.

My eating philosophy is quite easy, eat food not to get hungry and not to suffer fatigue. I’ve bee trying to eat 5-6 meals a day, that way my metabolism stays active. Yes – there’s a cheat day also. I try to avoid bread and potatoes. I love both, but they don’t agree with my stomach. I’m not counting calories all the time – although I must admit that it helped me quite a lot in the beginning, it’s good to now the ‘about’ values of your food. Also I try to eat more when I work out and less when having a rest day, figuring out your daily calorie intake is a good way – I for example, was eating too little too rarely.

I try to divide my energy take: 40% protein 30% fat and 30% carbohydrates.

Protein: my protein sources are quark and other dairy products , meats (chicken, beef, pork) and supplements (protein shakes and powders)

Fat: oil over butter, the rest from food in general and also I supplement with omega-3.

Carbohydrates: complex carbohydrates: full grain rice, pasta, also dark bread over white.

I’ve learned that it’s good to have cheat days also, it’s easier to focus on eating healthy when you’re not stressing too much over it. Cheating 5-10% at the time isn’t that bad. And if you fall off the wheel – you can start again tomorrow.

It’s good to gather information about cooking techniques and about different foods. E.g. I’ve cooked my first porridge when I was 6 years old, have learned a few things here and there, but always the key to success has been total failure, don’t worry – you’ll learn!

When you look your plate and if you start counting the colors and stop at one or two, you might think adding some vegetables: green and red peppers, salad, tomatoes, cucumber – what ever works for you. I like to support local  and organic foods, but sometimes it’s a budget question for me. But as I’ve heard of this greatness in the United States – there’s a thing called farmers market. Go there and be surprised.

That’s about it folks. Please ask some questions and comment. Maybe a recipe or two?

Triumph, recovery and orthopedics.

Those have been the thoughts of late.  I have triumphed over certain problems that I’ve been having on the mental and physical side. The year has been hard and at the same time unforgettable. My weight-loss journey got to a great start this year and in total I’ve managed to loss 22 kg so far, which is a fair amount, but I’ll keep on working and want to lose more. What can I say – losing is my game (pun intended).

In may I struggled a sporting injury and was forced to take a long, long recovery after breaking my two toes. Unfortunately the toes didn’t heal quite as planned and now I’m waiting to see the orthopedic surgeon and they have to operate the foot for a full recovery. Never the less the training will keep on going!

Today I was at the gym working my ass of as usual and there came these two guys who were definitely pros by the looks of it: Rogue-fitness wear all the way and fit like no other. Nevertheless, I felt like they were my peers: did the same things in the warm-up routine as I did etc. It occurred to me, that fitness and healthy life isn’t just the things you do – it is the idea of a better you, trying to reach your goal and always trying to do a little better than before. Failure is almost inevitable – but without failure one cannot learn anything. That is process. The bottom line, I realized today that applying this ideology to every aspect of my life is the key of success. I’ve been struggling with school for some time now, but I did manage to act on the matter and strive for the better today as well, it made me feel good. I know this might sound bit a cliche, but never the less, it was an epiphany needed.

My journey has been amazing, I’ve been able to do things that I didn’t think possible in January, like hitting my dead lift record to 140 kg or learn the technique how to bench press properly. And what more is there to come?

Although life has been hard this year – CrossTraining has made it easier for me, being my own escape.

Take care guys.

Back in the game.

This week I decided that it was time to get back to the gym and start training. Was feeling a bit down for some reason, I was afraid that my strength had gone away and general health wouldn’t be at the level as it was before. Then I remembered that I only have to try be a better me than I was yesterday – so every workout is a step forward.

I decided to really boost my metabolism on Monday so I did a Tabata workout. The feeling when you almost pass out but not quite is pretty intimidating at first but awesome afterwards. I felt pretty worn out after the workout, but happy never the less. I decided to do a recovery-walk in the evening and had a nice long walk with the dog.

Yesterday I had to work and decided to take the day off. Well not quite, I still managed to do a nice long walk with a good tempo with Linus (aka the dog). Luckily I didn’t break anything on Monday so yesterday was pretty DOMS-free day.

Today I decided to hit the gym and do a nice WOD.

Workout:

Warm-up

20 wall-balls (8kg)

Parallel workouts

1)Deadlift 12-10-8 reps (60-90-110 kg)

1)Ab-mat 20-20-20

30-60 second rest between sets

2)Pull-ups amrap x 3

2)Box jumps 10-8-6

30-60 second rest between sets

cool down and muscle maintenance, stretching

My workout IS NOT done by a professional, this felt like a nice workout so I decided to start out with this. It was a bit mixture what we had trained before, but it’s a very nice WOD to start the week.

Tomorrow I’ll do some cardio, Friday will be a rest day and weekend it’s going to be all about working hard.

 

Take it easy guys.

Apology.

Hey guys, I’m so sorry I haven’t been writing lately, to be honest, I haven’t had the motivation to workout lately. But good news: the misery is coming to an end and light at the end of the tunnel is finally close.

I broke my two toes in May and unfortunately the bones didn’t align correctly while they were healing and it has taken time to heal, but now I’m getting back! It seems that injuries are always a part of my life, but I’m determined not to quit – no sir. I will keep going on and hopefully be stronger and nail my results!

I’ve absolutely fallen in love. With my bike. Yes, Linda too, but my bike is awesome. I’ve been biking quite a lot recently, not being able to do Cross Training, I’ve been trying not to risk further injuries. Maybe the best feeling was the other day when I decided to do a little run and I biked a marathon. The feeling was awesome, all that hard work in the beginning of the year hadn’t gone to waste and I think I did good.

I will return with my CrossTraining exercises soon, have to get one tattoo first, but after that has healed, I will get back with the iron and hopefully for good this time.

Also other major change is coming. I’m going to start doing Paleo diet, I’m really excited and a bit afraid of it, but hoping to see great results. The thing that concerns me is how to get all the ingredients during winter and protein intake. But I’m sure I’ll find a way to make it work.

My paleo experiment

More of this, next week!

Take it easy guys.