25: Putting my shoulder to the wheel

Photo - Copyright: Kzenon @123RF

It's been a number of weeks since my last blogpost, so while I take some much needed time out from work and the gym, I decided to quickly jot down a few thoughts about was has been happening.

At the start of July I drove from Edinburgh to London in order to visit my parents. It was a quick trip, with the return leg being made a couple of days later. Although the journey in both directions was pleasant, by the time I got home my right shoulder and arm felt very fatigued.

I began to think logically about why driving should have caused this. It then occurred to me that my posture has changed significantly since starting at Luke Bremner Fitness. So I decided to alter my car seat to a more upright position. Bingo! Later that month I drove to Manchester and back, and on that journey I encountered no physical discomfort at all. As a result I've now adjusted my office chair so that it's in a more upright position too.

For sometime now, both Luke and I have been aware of the restricted mobility I have with my right arm and shoulder. We know there are certain exercises, like the bench press and kneeling military press with barbell, that are still challenging for me to do. 

About twelve months ago Luke suggested that I visit Bodyworks Edinburgh for an assessment on my problematic side and to see if a deep tissue massage would help loosen things up. Jonathan Wilson, a remidial and sports massage therapist at the practice, has been looking after me ever since. 

Usually I opt for an hour-long session. This provides Jonny with sufficient time to work his magic on my right side, without it becoming too painful. In addition, there's often time remaining for him to demonstrate some daily exercises for me to do that will assist me. Currently I'm doing various chest and shoulder stretches - with the aid of a door frame - and some Y, T and W exercises.

The combination of adjusted seating positions, massage and stretching excercises are definitely starting to pay off. My Tuesday morning workouts with Luke, plus my Thursday and Sunday solo workouts at home, have been going along nicely. As long as I'm making progress - whether it's the number of reps, an increase in weights, or simply better technique - then I remain a very happy chap. 

24 Extra time

I'm finding it difficult to comprehend that I've reached the end of my second six months working with Luke at Luke Bremner Fitness. I can confidently say, that with the excellent guidance and motivation from Mr Bremer, I've certainly built on the progress I made throughout 2014.

Early this week I found it amazing to review the goals and incentives I set myself back in January, and to realise how many of them I've actually achieved.

From a physical perspective, my core muscles continue to improve and strengthen, as do the muscles in my arms, legs and chest. In general I feel much stronger than I've ever done. More recently new stretching exercises have started to pay dividends in my workout routines and with my posture.

With regards to nutrition, I've spent the first half of this year focussing on my daytime meals and trying to getting these right. Apart from consuming too much cake and champagne around my birthday, I've continued to maintained my body weight during this period. When it became apparent that I was over-cooking the calories, a quick modification to MyFitnessPal settings helped me bring everything back under control again.

So in summary, I'm thrilled!

When I embarked on my body transformation programme, I was aware that no one keeps a personal trainer forever. All the time that I've been going to Jamaica Street I've been super-happy. So the prospect of "What happens next…?" was beginning to make me anxious. My biggest fear was that I would lapse into my bad old ways as soon as I stopped working with Luke. He, on the other hand, kept confidently telling me that "That's not going to happen Derek."

So I set of one of my January goals to be the purchase of some new exercise equipment. I'd identified an area in my abode that I could reconfigure into a compact home gym. I felt this option would be more beneficial to me, than signing up for a gym membership. Over the past month I've been demolishing, painting and preparing the area in readiness. Last weekend was spent constructing and building the kit I'd ordered for myself. I have to say it looks very smart and it suits my needs perfectly.

However I don't feel ready to say cheerio completely to Luke just yet and go it alone. With his agreement, we've decided that some extra time at LBF would be most useful for me. But the status quo is changing. From this week onwards I'll now be doing two workouts at home and only one supervised in person by Luke.

Certainly interesting times ahead. Exciting. Challenging. Slightly scary.

I'll continue to report back and let you know how the game is progressing.

23 Get a grip!

I remember laughing nervously last year when I was told at Luke Bremner Fitness that I'd soon be lifting "serious weights". Back then Luke had more faith in my abilities than I had in myself.

It turns out that Mr Bremner was perfectly correct of course. As each week passes, I'm able to lift slightly more weight. In fact today I was reminded that in April 2014 I was dead-lifting 40kg and then progressed to the dizzy heights of 45kg. Fast-forward twelve months and I've increased that load by 100%.

My current Thursday routine starts with a wide-grip deadlift. This is similar to a standard deadlift, except my hands are positioned much further apart on the barbell. Initially Luke significantly dropped the weight I was lifting, in order for me to get used to the exercise. Then over the past six weeks we've been gradually upping the amount again to the current level of 90kg. 

During this process an area that has caused problems for me is my grip, or more importantly my lack of it! To assist me with my lifting technique I've become used to being strapped to the barbell. The downside of this is that it's not as beneficial as lifting the barbell unaided.

Whilst browsing through my copy of the excellent Becoming a Supple Leopard by Dr Kelly Starrett - also recommended to me by Mr Bremner - I discovered an item about using the 'hook grip'. Put simply, this involves wrapping my thumb around the barbell and then wrapping my fingers over my thumb.

After reading the article I decided to give it a whirl, and if I'm totally honest I've had mixed results. With some barbell exercises my grip has certainly improved, but I'm still having to use straps for the wide-grip deadlift. 

So to help me improve my grip Luke introduced a new exercise to my Thursday routine. As a result I'm now hanging around a lot - quite literally! - from the pulley-machine in the personal training studio. Each week my target is to increase the length of time I can hold a dead-hang for. Last week it was 35 seconds, this week it was 40.

This will apparently strengthen my grip and reduce the need for me to be strapped to the barbell. And if today's workout is anything to go by it's already starting to pay dividends!

22. …and the dish ran away with the spoon.

It's rare for me to eat out these days. Instead I prefer to prepare and cook meals at home. This allows me to monitor what ingredients I use. It also enables me to record the calorie implications of dishes I make, as well as note the protein, carbohydrate and fat content per serving using the MyFitnessPal app. In addition I enjoy being a 'have-a-go home cook', so going into the kitchen is a pleasure not a chore. When I do dine out, often I'm away from home travelling for work or leisure, so have no other option.

A couple of Sundays ago my food and nutrition content started well at home - porridge with a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder topped with blueberries for breakfast. A Sunday morning workout was followed by a protein shake and a couple of bananas. Lunch consisted of a breast of roast chicken - marinated in lemon juice, honey, olive oil and cayenne pepper - with wholemeal basmati rice and mixed vegetables. The app on my phone told me I was on target for achieving my daily 40% protein, 40% carbohydrate and 20% fat intake.

Then the naughtiness crept in. In the afternoon I jumped into the car to drive down to Manchester. En-route I had to call into motorway services for petrol, so decided to make a quick pit-stop and grab a coffee. "Would you like anything else with that?" asked the barista. Without hesitation I ordered a piece of chocolate tiffin to accompany my beverage. But as I sat enjoying the late afternoon sunshine and Cumbrian landscape, I plugged my refreshment into MyFitnesPal. YIKES! This was calorific. 

On arrival in Manchester I checked into my hotel, but as there was no restaurant, I had to head out to find an evening meal. Fortunately there was a JD Weatherspoon next door. I wandered in, found a table and then looked at the menu. As it was Sunday, the pub was offering a traditional turkey roast. That'll do me! I thought. When I placed the order for my food I was asked "Is that the larger option?" Being a little tired from the drive down, I wasn't thinking clearly. "Yes!", I replied.

I returned to my table and then started to examine the menu again. I look at the calorie information of the meal that I'd ordered. As I couldn't believe the figures, I quickly totted them up again on my mobile phone calculator. I wasn't wrong. This meal contained over half the calories of my daily intake allowance.

It suddenly made me realise that "unconsciously" eating out is one reason why our population is becoming increasingly over-weight. I didn't need to order the large meal, but it was only an extra £1.50, so it would seem like a good deal to most people. In fact, the regular size meal was perfectly acceptable and would've kept me within my daily calorie allowance.

However, I must applaud JD Weatherspoon for actually providing calorie information on their menus. I'm sure that this will assist all their clients, me included, to make more informed decisions about the meals and the portion sizes they decide to order and eat. Let's hope that more pubs, cafés and restaurants follow this lead and include calorie information on their menus and labels too. I'm sure we'll all find that very useful indeed.

21. Project Triple-F

Last autumn I needed to establish new aims and goals for what I wanted to achieve in the second half of my time at Luke Bremner Fitness. So I created Project Triple-F – the three Fs being: Fit; Fabulous; and Fifty.

I know that it's hard to believe from my boyish good looks, but in early March I celebrated that significant birthday. On the actual day itself I was enjoying some winter sunshine in Las Islas Canarias with a friend, so we decided to mark my Hawaii Five-O with a swim in the Atlantic. Bracing is the word that I think best describes our jolly-jape.

On my return home, I was greeted with more birthday cards and a bowl cancer screening kit. My initial reaction was, 'How thoughtful!' But in all seriousness, I'm delighted that NHS Scotland are so proactive in this matter. As we get older, our health and well-being becomes more important. It's another reason why I took the decision last year to change my lifestyle to become fitter and healthier.

I find it interesting that 50 seems to be such a defining age. It hasn't gone unnoticed that I've recently become of interest to companies selling life insurance and pensions. In fact I'm a little perplexed myself as to whether I continue taking the multi-vitamins I've always done, or switch to the manufacturer's 50+ brand.

When Luke last did my body measurements I was 49 and rules regarding body fat percentages for that age group applied. However pass one specific day and suddenly the game changes. New mathematic formulas need to be applied and everything appears to get tougher for an 'oldie' like me.

Given the recent news that many parents rarely spot child obesity, it makes me appreciate that I'm probably in much better shape now - regardless of my age - than the majority of our nation's population is.

"So no problems about whipping your top off in public then?" asked Luke, when I told him about my celebratory dip in the sea.
"Absolutely not!", was my reply.

I hadn't really thought about this until I was asked, but Project Triple-F has certainly worked in helping to restore my confidence about how I look and feel. Long may that continue.

Postscript: I recently put together the video testimonial above for Luke. It explains a little more about why I chose to shape-up, why I selected Luke Bremner Fitness as my personal trainer, and what the benefits to me have been.

20: Feeling comfy…?

How's your new year fitness regime going? 

It's hard to believe, but I'm now in my tenth month of working with Luke at Luke Bremner Fitness. I love what I do there on a Tuesday and a Thursday morning… and those who know me are very complimentary about the results I've achieved through regular exercise, better nutrition and more sleep.

Over the past three or four months I've fallen into a very comfortable groove - a bit like wearing a pair of favourite slippers - hence the reason why I haven't written a blogpost in months! 

Luke creates and adapts workouts for me which focus on different parts of the body and muscle groups. Some of the more recent exercises have been challenging - hyper-extensions being one of them - but I've been delighted with my progress and how well I've met these new challenges. In addition we continue to monitor and analyse my food and fluid consumption as well as evaluate things like posture etc. So everything is tickerty-boo!

Well, it was. That was prior to this morning's workout!

Today Luke decided to mix things up a little for me, in a way that only Mr Bremner knows how. More sets, more reps, less rest time. It was intense and I coped as well as I could. In fact, I even managed to surpass a couple of personal goals, which in itself thrilled me. But by the end, I was completely spent.

As I hurtle towards a rather significant birthday, I know that I'm probably in the best shape that I've ever been in. More importantly I'm ensuring that I'm match-fit for the second half of my life - which was one of my main aims when I first approached Luke last year and asked for his help.

There's an inspirational phrase that I saw recently that keeps popping into my head. It read "Losers quit when their tired, but winners quit when they've won!" I apply this saying to those with shiny new January gym memberships, but who've already created excuses in February as to why they can't go any more.

If, like me, you decide to invest the time and money in order to transform your body and be a happier person, then Luke and Keith at Luke Bremner Fitness really are the boys to help you. Why not give them a call and see if they'll do an evaluation session for you? Just remember to tell them that I sent you!  

19: DISASTER!!!

AAAGGGHHH!

It was inevitable that this was going to happen. Luke at Luke Bremner Fitness has been forewarning me and preparing me for this day over the past 6 months.

So it's with a heavy-heart that I have to announce that my stats for this month aren't as good as they've been in the past. Not only have I put a little bit of weight on, both my chest and waist measurements have slightly gone in the wrong direction too. As a result, I doubt that I'll ever go out in public again, in case anyone notices.

I jest, of course… :)

In fact Luke and I had a quite a long philosophical chat about why this has happened during my monthly evaluation: Less intense workouts due to my injured right IT Band; A week's vacation in the sun; A couple of back-to-back weekend's away from home - when I missed doing a workout and had less control over my diet; Anxiety over a hospital appointment and; Introducing poultry back into my diet. One, or all, of these things could be a contributing factor.

Luke always talks sense. He's advised me not to radically change anything, as doing so wouldn't help us to identity what the possible root cause is. To assist us with this new challenge I've said goodbye to Argus, and hello to another new app - MyFitnessPal.

I've only been using MyFitnessPal for three or four days, but already it's pushed every geek and OCD button within me. Thanks to a handy feature that scans the barcodes of products I buy, I can easily scrutinise the nutritional statistics of the food I'm eating. Thus I can pin-point what is good and what is not so good. Based on this new information, it looks like I'll be in the kitchen even more now making meals from fresh raw ingredients.

I'm confident that what's happened to me over the past month is a temporary blip. With some fine-tuning to my diet and exercise programme, plus encouragement from Luke, my stats will head in the right direction once again.