It has been a few days into the new year and looking back at 2009, I have made some really good progress. The year 2009 has been more of an experimental year where I was experimenting with various routines and nutrition and trying to find the ones that work effectively for me.
A lot of things happened in 2009. First and most important achievement is starting this blog! Without the blog I would not have a good record of how I felt each day and what changes I have been making and what their effects were. Maintaining a log of just numbers is boring. Written notes puts the numbers into perspective.
Looking back into my body building past, I changed my routines many times over to find the right one for me. First I started off with P90X which was not very useful for my body type. I quickly got tired and was over training. A few months of P90X and I did not make any progress at all.
Then it was time for strong-lifts and that went well. I gained a lot of strength. I lifted weights that I never thought I could lift. During the same time I was eating a lot to gain weight. Three months into the program I reached my peak weight of 128lbs at 17% body fat. It was time to cut down the fat.
I started decreasing the calories and continued to lift heavy. But it took too long to get rid of all the fat. I got anxious and added cardio which included interval training, sprints, long walks, eliptical machine etc. I lost fat but at the cost of loosing a lot of muscle too. The best I could do was some 10% body fat at 117lbs. But I lost a lot of muscle too. I was the weakest at this point, yet looked the best with some ab definition.
It was time again to bulk up. This time I decided to not go too much overboard on the fat gain and try to gain some muscle. The goal was to gain 7 lbs of weight while gaining only 2% body fat. I did reach my weight goal but failed miserably at the fat goal. At the end of the year I weigh in at 125 lbs and about 15% body fat instead of 125 lbs and 12% BF. Overall the year 2009 was well spent in experimenting. Now I know what I want to do for this year. I wish I could have gained a bit more muscle in 2009, but without experimenting there is no way I can find what works best for me.
A lot of things happened in 2009. First and most important achievement is starting this blog! Without the blog I would not have a good record of how I felt each day and what changes I have been making and what their effects were. Maintaining a log of just numbers is boring. Written notes puts the numbers into perspective.
Looking back into my body building past, I changed my routines many times over to find the right one for me. First I started off with P90X which was not very useful for my body type. I quickly got tired and was over training. A few months of P90X and I did not make any progress at all.
Then it was time for strong-lifts and that went well. I gained a lot of strength. I lifted weights that I never thought I could lift. During the same time I was eating a lot to gain weight. Three months into the program I reached my peak weight of 128lbs at 17% body fat. It was time to cut down the fat.
I started decreasing the calories and continued to lift heavy. But it took too long to get rid of all the fat. I got anxious and added cardio which included interval training, sprints, long walks, eliptical machine etc. I lost fat but at the cost of loosing a lot of muscle too. The best I could do was some 10% body fat at 117lbs. But I lost a lot of muscle too. I was the weakest at this point, yet looked the best with some ab definition.
It was time again to bulk up. This time I decided to not go too much overboard on the fat gain and try to gain some muscle. The goal was to gain 7 lbs of weight while gaining only 2% body fat. I did reach my weight goal but failed miserably at the fat goal. At the end of the year I weigh in at 125 lbs and about 15% body fat instead of 125 lbs and 12% BF. Overall the year 2009 was well spent in experimenting. Now I know what I want to do for this year. I wish I could have gained a bit more muscle in 2009, but without experimenting there is no way I can find what works best for me.
Hi Chandan, a Happy New Year to you! I am still not back from India but I am waiting to get back to my weights. A nice recap of your efforts towards your goals - for a person who has not really stepped into a gym before, you have made excellent progress in your first year especially the amount of weight you lift! Good Luck for the year ahead - I am sure we will have a lot of useful things to learn from each other - catch you soon!
ReplyDeleteThank you and wish you a very happy new year too! Nice. Still vacationing in India :). Yes, I am looking forward to a very good 2010 and hoping to learn a lot from you too. Keep me posted...
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