The Boards Better Body Super Challenge

So I spent aaggesss last night working on a new program for the gym. Like I said, I have a ton of ideas in my mind about what I want to do with my training this summer but when I went to write them all out, one plan just kept jumping out at me. Something that I'd done before, that nearly killed me the last time. Sheiko. For those that don't know what Sheiko is all about, it's basically practicing the big three lifts very frequently without much assistance work. The idea behind it is that by training the big three very often (up to 8 times a week), your body will adapt to the work load and allow for even more volume in each workout. Since you're working around 80-85% most of the time you don't get burned out, but you do get a lot of practice with moderately heavy weights and as you go through the program your work capacity absolutely goes through the roof. The first few days might be brutal, but the last week or two suddenly become VERY manageable. And that is where the beauty of the program lies. You have to push so hard so often that the increased volume leads to great conditioning and decent strength gains in the prep. period and then once you move into the comp cycle it's all pulled together to peak you.

Very simply, greater volume tolerance = better work capacity = more training, with more weight = more strength

I reckon it will especially help my bench which has really been suffering - with Sheiko, the CNS gets very efficient at the muscle firing patterns and the groove required for benching. These workouts are done mostly in the range of 50-85% of 1RM, using waves of volume and intensity. On paper it looks so, so easy but it's brutal in real life.

I'm really excited about trying it again - I know that it's exactly the kind of structure I need right now, I have loads of free time to spend in the gym and recover afterwards and I know it works. On the other hand, I'm nervous. It's like looking back at something horrible in the past but somehow always managing to convince yourself that it wasn't as bad as you remember. I'm thinking back to when I ran it before and saying to myself that it couldn't possibly be as hard as I remember, that I must have been exaggerating it. But I know I wasn't, it's a really really tough program to run.

I spent hours last night working out all the percentages so I have it all laid out and ready to go which means that my training is sorted for the next little while.

There was actually another program that I thinking of running - a deadlift program. It was 8 weeks long and I know that at the end of it I would have had my double bodyweight deadlift. It was a really tough decision to make but I decided to go with Sheiko again. I'll do the deadlift one afterwards. It means that I prolly won't have done 2x bw within a year of joining the gym but I'll only have to wait a few weeks over it to get it!!!

Next problem is my diet. I know I've said it before but when I get stressed out my diet just turns to shit. In the last few weeks with my exams and then the prep for my sisters Communion, my diet has reverted back to my pre-lifting days. Not so much that I've been eating a ton of junk food more, that I've been chronically under-eating. I'm embarrassed to put up my diet but I promise that I'll fix it. I'll especially need to if I'm even thinking about finishing Sheiko.

So that's it. Going to the gym in a little while to start on day number one. I'll report back later with how I got on!!

I'm sick So my routine is gone out the window. Haven't been able to go to the gym all week, back in work today but think it'll be home for me at lunch :mad: Raging because I really wanted to keep up with my couch to 5k plan!!

Lola87 wrote: »

Ok so the main reason I ended up in such bad shape was due to developing a sugar addiction:o and not exercising. So the plan is to remove processed foods and sugar from my diet (except fruit), majorly cut down on carbs (carb queen here like!), eat super healthy-lots of veg and protein....and of course exercise every day, and do weights. Here we go!:eek:

Can't wait to be fit and healthy again!:D

May I just say I think this is an excellent post. I really like how simple you've laid it out and your obvious grasp of what it takes to get in shape.

I am currently trying to configure six, 600 calorie meals to gain some muscle and I wish I had your clarity.

I need a kick up the hole.

I'm delighted this is continuing. My diet has really changed over the past 2 months or so but need to work on the exercise.
Best thing on the internet this.

So I have my training sorted, next up is my diet. The only problem is, I really don't want to change it. See, the last time I had an over haul of my diet I lost loads of weight but after a while I started to get a little bit more relaxed about my whole approach to eating and all the bad stuff started to slip back into my diet again. At the same time, I took up weight training. So what was, and still is happening, is that I can afford to eat more food without putting on weight because of the extra calorie expenditure I get through my training. That would be fine, if the food that I was eating was in any way decent but it's not. My diet is crap. I eat far too many processed, carb laden, saturated fat loaded foods. I eat barely enough protein for a normal person, let alone someone who likes to lift some heavy-ass weights a few days a week. I eat barely any vegetables, no good fats, skip breakfast more often than not. Basically, for someone who's as intent as I am on my weightlifting goals, I'm simply not eating the right way to achieve them. How dumb does that sound?? After describing how awful my diet is, I still say that I don't really want to change it. The reason is, I actually enjoy what I'm eating. I like having a pizza 2 or 3 times a week, I like fizzy drinks, I like all of these things that are so bad for me.

Up until now, I haven't really seen a problem with the way I eat because I've stayed so slim. When I cleaned up my diet before it was because I wanted to loose weight. Now, I want to clean up my diet again, and has nothing to do weight, it's to do with eating the right way to get the most out of my training but how do you measure that?? With weight, I was able to measure myself, take photos, weight myself etc and when I saw results, it was motivation to keep going, but how does one measure the effect changing your diet has on your performance?? I'm getting stronger as it is, if I were to change my diet and then manage an extra set of deadlifts next week, how do I know that that was as a result of the diet?? It doesn't act as enough of an incentive for me.

I work my arse off in the gym, every new PB, every missed rep, everybody else in the gym, everybody else's training logs, the world records to be broken - all motivate me to work that little bit harder each time I walk into that weights room. Yet, I can't get my arse in gear to sort out my diet.

I'm not sure what the point of this mini rant was, maybe by awknowledging that something needs to be done about it in public will act as a bit of an incentive for me to work harder on it.

joker77 wrote: »

For me personally, I feel a lot better physically as well as mentally when I'm eating the right foods. If I eat crap I get indigestion, feel bloated etc, and am not able to train properly. So it's a no-brainer for me. But if I could still get away with eating sh*te and it didn't seem to affect me, I don't know if it would be so easy...

Spot on joker77. That's exactly how I feel if I eat the wrong foods. So it's a wellbeing and treating your body right - I may crave bread and junk but I almost always regret it immediately afterwards! Except.. when I'm hungover, where I just crave more.

It's down to health at the end of the day - what you put in you get out So treat your body to nutritious healty foods and just see what happens. At the very least, you know you have a healthy balanced lifestyle - which it wouldn't be if you were to continue eating junk.

lindak wrote: »

Like I done so well in the challenge with my eating and then I went to france and basically un done a lot of the work I had put in( not all ) , I measured myself and am that disappointed with myself I havent put my measurements up !!

Don't put so much pressure on yourself, you've done really well since you came back and you need to be able to let go and enjoy yourself every once in a while. It's better to have the odd weekend of enjoyment than to slowly lapse back into bad habits. Keep up the good work and you'll see those measurments going in the right direction again in no time

Pheeeww, I'm so glad I'm not the only person to feel like this sometimes. :)With me, it's always tomorrow. I'll write out a diet plan tomorrow, I'll implement it tomorrow and so on and so on.

lindak wrote: »

I have seen your pic on your log and you look in great shape malteser ! So I can only imagine how hard it is to stay away from crap when it doesnt really affect your weight as such and you are still increasing in strenght. But I am sure if you were to cut of the crap your strenght would probably go through the roof.
Unfortunetly I cant eat what I want and I am in the gym 5 days a week for the last year and I work really hard. When I smoked 2 years ago I excercies 2-3 times a week and I was lighter then than I am now and could actually eat more(junk) than I can now and I wasnt weight training just cardio. But I know that maybe I am 1/2 stone heavier than I was then but I am healthier way healthier than I was 2 years ago. But it doesnt stop me trying my god damn hardest to get back to that weight unfortunetly I havent been able to !

Thank you. I really am hoping that this will help with my lifting, I'm sure it will!!

You really show fantastic determination. I read your log all the time and have been really impressed by the effort that you put into both your training and diet. I have no doubt that it's only a matter of time, and a short amount of time at that, to loose the rest of the weight!!

sobriquet wrote: »

Great point, and something I suffer from too. I'm your standard fat-body-type (mesomorph?) with a sweet tooth and a penchant for comfort eating. It does seem sometimes that the healthier I get the more leeway I give myself - sure I just did 5 miles, a snickers can't hurt, that sort of thing.



Great log btw. Best of luck.

For me, it's not so much a sweet tooth. I could do without all the chocolate and sweeties, I crave really starchy foods - pizzas, bread, pasta etc... And because I always say that the diet is starting tomorrow, I've had about a million 'last' meals.

Thanks btw, I sometimes forget that other people, apart from myself are even reading it!!

lindak wrote: »

I think this is good idea malteaser, and everything in moderation is good. I am quite obsessive and when it comes to food I am the same ! Its all or nothing with me you see. If I have one crap thing thats it for the day Il bing all day on junk ! I am great at giving myself a hard time when I eat junk which actually I think is my downfall a lot of the time, Its that I am way too strick on myself that I sorta go bonkers everynow and again and then feel crap for it ! There is never a balance with me !!

Like I done so well in the challenge with my eating and then I went to france and basically un done a lot of the work I had put in( not all ) , I measured myself and am that disappointed with myself I havent put my measurements up !!

I really do think that doing this gradually is going to be the way to go. It seems like too big a task to just take on in one big go and I know in my heart that I wouldn't stick with it!! I'm quite obsessive too. When I dieted the last time, I was very hard on myself and I think the fact that I was so regimented in my approach and allowed myself no leeway contributed to me not sticking with it. I do think everyone needs a break every now and again.

Don't worry about the slip, like I said, with your determination, you'll be back down to your old measurements before you know it!!

Malteaser - I read your stuff too - very inspiring. At the start you were just a regular girl [for want of a better expression] and now you are an athlete. Thats how it seems to me anyway. Also, Linda K and cork-girl are great too! There are a few others but I can't think of names right now.

Malteaser - say we are meant to eat 40 meals or so per week - I think I read that in all the stuff G'em wrote up. Also a lot of ppl recommend that we should eat properly 90% of the time leaving 10% to relax a little - that means 4 of your meals a week can be cheat meals. So maybe allow yourself them without feeling guilty about them. Just enjoy them.
You will be surprised at how your tastes change, for example, at the start of the last 8 week challenge thing I was LOVING Glenisk Rhubarb yoghurts. A few weeks ago I substituted them with natural yoghurt mixed with some rasperries & small amt of seeds in it. I bought one of the Rhubarb yoghurts the other day and thought it was really, really sugary and I didn't enjoy it at all. Another thing, I had a chicken burger a few weeks ago [like the real breast of chicken type] and I felt absolutely ****e for hours afterwards. I could feel the grease from it congealing in my throat - gross. Anyway, they are just two small indications of how my taste has changed in a short amount of time. The same sort of thing will happen to you too. One thing is though that you have to be fairly organised and have healthy stuff to hand that you can eat . Thats the bit that I find hard.

Actually, I've been thinking about something and nearly scared to post it as its a bit of a calories in water type question - is something like pizza or some nice crusty white bread actually BAD for you or is it just that there is no benefit to eating it. I mean, say you had a thin based pizza with nice veggies & a little cheese on it - is that actually bad for you or is it just a waste of calories?

littlefriend wrote: »

Malteaser - I read your stuff too - very inspiring. At the start you were just a regular girl [for want of a better expression] and now you are an athlete. Thats how it seems to me anyway. Also, Linda K and cork-girl are great too! There are a few others but I can't think of names right now.

Malteaser - say we are meant to eat 40 meals or so per week - I think I read that in all the stuff G'em wrote up. Also a lot of ppl recommend that we should eat properly 90% of the time leaving 10% to relax a little - that means 4 of your meals a week can be cheat meals. So maybe allow yourself them without feeling guilty about them. Just enjoy them.
You will be surprised at how your tastes change, for example, at the start of the last 8 week challenge thing I was LOVING Glenisk Rhubarb yoghurts. A few weeks ago I substituted them with natural yoghurt mixed with some rasperries & small amt of seeds in it. I bought one of the Rhubarb yoghurts the other day and thought it was really, really sugary and I didn't enjoy it at all. Another thing, I had a chicken burger a few weeks ago [like the real breast of chicken type] and I felt absolutely ****e for hours afterwards. I could feel the grease from it congealing in my throat - gross. Anyway, they are just two small indications of how my taste has changed in a short amount of time. The same sort of thing will happen to you too. One thing is though that you have to be fairly organised and have healthy stuff to hand that you can eat . Thats the bit that I find hard.

Aww, thank you!! I think I'm still just a 'regular' girl, just a girl with a slightly weird hobby!!

I'm starting this for reals on Monday. Going to start with brekkie every morning and then I'll move onto something else the following week, before this summer is out I'll have a smashing diet!!