Just keep at it Tim and do what feels natural. The more gains you see and when you start looking in the mirror and saying "hey, I'm starting to look good", this will motivate you more.

On your bicep curls make sure you are concentrating on the biceps. A common mistake, and I was guilty too, was not concentrating enough on them. I was pulling up with my arm that incorporates the shoulders and forearms and bicep wasn't getting the workout it could have. Also lower them slowly letting the weight take them down ... relax the arm allowing the bicep to control it down. The downward motion is what really builds the biceps.

Good job Tim.

7th November 2005
Lower Body Day
Start Time: 5:10
End Time: 6:10
----------------------------
Squat(5*6)
5 @ 120kg

Calf Raise(4*8)
4 @ 22kg

Ab Crunchy(5*8)
5 @ 16kg

-----------------------------
Comments: Righty then, one more session then I up the weight to 130kg on the squat. Pretty good session, really getting a good range of motion at the moment on my lifts. Cheers for the feedback Dereck and, well, I'm still at it

8th November 2005
Upper Body Day
Start Time: 3:55
End Time: 4:45
----------------------
Bench Press(4*8)
1 @ 70kg
3 @ 60kg

Tricep Dip(4*8)
4 @ 12kg

Seated Row(4*8)
4 @ 75kg

Bicep Curl(4*8)
4 @ 14kg

----------------------------------
Comments: well, 2 bench presses at 70kg still manages to elude me... But I'll get there eventually! I guess it's just getting harder to make those gains.

I did a weigh-in today. I'm currently 145lbs (of pure muscle ). I don't know my exact body fat, but from the nice and cut six-pack I'm sporting, I guess it's around the 9-10% area. So, yeah, feeling pretty good about things really.

Tomorrow I do my first new cardio session, I'll post up how it was, I hope to enjoy a bit of heavy cardio

Wednesday 9th November 2005
Cardio Day
----------------------------------
Cross-Trainer (15 mins)
Cals: 227

Rowing (15 mins)
Cals: 160

Cycling (15 mins)
Cals: 105

--------------------------
Comments: Well, I think you can see a pattern in how long I'm taking for each exercise, so I'll skip that from now on:) What I'm doing is just listing the cals burnt - that'll allow me to see if I'm keeping the intensity up, and any improvements, even though it obviously isn't that accurate. Since I'm measuring the time anyway, I don't feel the need to note a start and end time.

Now, here's the question: You can see that my cycling cals burnt is less than half that of the cross-trainer. Now, I haven't cycled since I was about 7, so maybe I'm out of practice? Same with the rowing (well, I've never rowed before ) Still, is the rowing and cycling inherently less effective at burning calories? I can see that the cross-trainer uses a lot of the body, so this could be it... Anyway, feedback please!

Oh, and by the way Cord, they have Concept II Rowing machines at my gym and I agree, they are very nice

Thursday 10th November 2005
Cardio Day
------------------------
Cross-Trainer
Cals: 244

Rowing
Cals: 162

Cycling
Cals: 116

-------------------------------
Comments: Wow, a real blast today, I really went for it. I'm not expecting to do it at this higher intensity every session, but I must admit it made me feel real good.

Keep up the good fight Tim!!

Friday 11th November 2005
Lower Body Day
Start Time: 4:55
End Time: 5:50
-------------------------------------
Squat(5*6)
5 @ 120kg

Calf Raise(4*8)
4 @ 24kg

Ab Crunchy(5*8)
5 @ 16kg

--------------------------------
Comments: Well, it's back to weights again... I pushed the weight up on the calf raise by 2kg, I can tell you that I'm really feeling my calfs now . On Monday I'll be squatting at 130kg, I hope. I'm finding the 120kg pretty easy really at the moment, so I'm pretty sure I can handle the new weight.

Thanks for the encouraging words, BrianS, and erm... same to you

Saturday 12th November 2005
Upper Body Day
Start Time: 3:40
End Time: 4:45
-----------------------------------
Bench Press(4*8)
1 @ 70kg
3 @ 60kg

Tricep Dip(4*8)
4 @ 12kg

Seated Row(4*8)
4 @ 75kg

Bicep Curl(4*8)
4 @ 14kg

-----------------------------
Comments: wow... I am really, really tired today. I can't say I did a particularly good job, but I guess it was okay. I'll just have to make sure to get some more sleep. I think it was probably reflected in the time I took, too.

Monday 14th November 2005
Lower Body Time
Start Time: 6:40
End Time: 7:45
----------------------------------
Squat(5*6)
3 @ 130kg
2 @ 120kg

Calf Raise(4*8)
4 @ 24kg

Ab Crunchy(5*8)
5 @ 16kg

-------------------------------------
Comments: Well, I managed the squats at 130kg . I'm going to stick at this weight for a while, try and get it as nice as possible, and work on slowly lowering it.

Tuesday 15th November 2005
Upper Body Day
Start Time: 2:55
End Time: 3:50
----------------------------------
Bench Press(4*8)
1 @ 70kg
3 @ 60kg

Tricep Dip(4*8)
4 @ 12kg

Seated Row(4*8)
4 @ 75kg

Bicep Curl(4*8)
4 @ 14kg

-----------------------------
Comments: A good session, looks like I've recovered from my tiredness on saturday . I'm going to up both the Tricep Dip and the Bicep Curl by 2kg next session. Should be fun