Invisible Pecs?

You know how your muscles basically vanish when you stop working out? Well I thought that happened to me after several months of doing eff aye except for eating a whole bunch more than usual and sitting on my now pleasantly jiggly bottom.

However, even though the slight bulge on my chest has decreased, in a cold workout (aka one out of seemingly nowhere so far as your body is concerned) I managed to do much more than I could when my pecs are bigger. Its like, now they're concentrated, or something. Or before they were swollen. Or something.

Do muscles have to swell up first before they grow the useful bits?

o_o

Also, I am hungry now like, almost constantly. I think I might have to get some protein drinks and stuff just to tide me over.

Also having an actual butt is awesome.

Pictures!

Ahh forgive me reader, for I have been a lazy ass. Ahh~ things got busy again and my blogs always suffer, you'd think that having more to write about would have the opposite effect but apparently my co-ordination is just not that smooth.

Anyway!

Pictures:
And, incase you can't tell the difference between this horribly and somehow totally jaundiced picture (ahh I can't even remember how I saved this, I am so tired) heres some annotations:
I don't know why it is sepia toned. I need to go to bed. Anyway if you can't read the labels: PECS! BIGGER ARMS! TIGHTER STOMACH! :3

- SR

Day 2- uhm... Something.

I've had all sorts of connection trouble in the evenings these past few weeks, and can you guess what time of day I usually get to blog about working out? I haven't stopped but I also haven't been doing a full workout since my last post, so today is day 21 really. I did a full routine and now I am tired and hot but damned do I feel good.

This: omigosh. Is my current favourite thing. And I really want to make an animation for this but I don't really have enough time during the day to do more than one animation a week.

And this week is a my thingie thing for youtube. I'll post on my main blog when its done.

Luff and stuff - SR

OH I'm going to post results pictures HERE next Friday, so thats the 11th of June incase you're confused by that colloquial term. Look forward to some topless britishness or something.

Day 20: Late

Yesterday I only did a light workout, but today I did a full one, but I didn't get time to do the blog until just now, aaaaand now its time to sleep. I'll do two or three days fine and then have a day where its really difficult to work out, not because I am tired but because I just don't feel like it. This could be because results day for my recent hospital appointment is tomorrow, but it might not be. I dunno.

Bleh.

Today's workout was nearly the full one that I posted earlier, though I keep missing bits out, I am getting closer to having a perfect routine for my body. I have added a new kind of situp to the core section which will apparently flatten my abs more, and I have also added a cardio section to the weights using my lightest pair.

So theres progress being made :D

My flex pecs are getting a lot bigger, and its starting to show when I am not flexed, my tshirts drape now which is nice. My abs are also starting to show a little bit, theres still a reserve of fat on my stomach but when I am moving around and doing stuff the shadow of the pecs is starting to show through, my six pack should be perfectly symmetrical and quite large. Oh my.

Things are goin good towards the pride toplessness! Pictures in ten workout days! Woooo!

- SR

Day 19: Flextorals

I've gotten into an odd kind of habit I never thought I would ever have. I am now prone to wanton flexing of my pecs and then gazing at my reflection in various surfaces. So either at some point I fell in love with myself, or this is part of the whole body toning process. Probably more of a than b.

Bleh. My body is in kind of a transitional phase at the moment. I can feel things being built in my stomach region but nothing is emerging from the flat yet. Since I am trying to get used to being topless by being topless, I have noticed that my two uppermost abdominals are emerging first, and that the two little gullies either side of each hip bone have returned (they vanished last year when I was really sick). Yeah I have no idea.

I have to go draw comics now because I was outside all day and not doing what I was supposed to be doing. But it was so nice I couldn't stay indoors! Though the heat has meant that I am drinking a lot more, I am suprised I haven't started to bloat from water retention yet.

- SR

Hrrm this was supposed to be entertaining. I'll work on that.

Day 18: (Part two) Baked Potato

With my newfound gymspiration I found that working out became more of a focused thing than a "hey I want to do this today because its fun and I like it". However I forgot to factor in the heat. Bleh! Apparently summer is going to be much hotter than our current heatwave, so I am going to start working out in the morning. Around about 9 - 10 am the house is still quite cool, and theres plenty of time to get hydrated and take a cool bath or shower.

Man.

I was so overheated I wasn't even able to complete a full workout session, I started getting cramps in my obliques so I had to stop early on my core workout and move onto the weights and final cardio. The cramps have gone now, but I seriously thought that I was going to pop like a sausage.

Speaking of I think its grilled food and salad tomorrow. Lush.

- SR

Day 18: (Part one) Gymspiration!

Okay so I am double posting today. I lost motivation due to fear over the results of an STI test, though now that I have had the test done, I am much calmer and able to actually function again. My day for taking the one month pictures has now moved but that might work out a bit better because now I have found some new inspiration for working out.

Today I was at Bradford Pride, and its a shame that I didn't take any pictures of him, but there was a dancer on stage. He had the body type which I want, and not only was he not super camp but kind of masculine, he was also a hypnotic dancer, and I spent at least three songs just staring at him with admiration.

One day I will do that.

My next goal is to be able to go topless in public for at least a little bit during Leeds Pride, so before then I am going to make sure that I build my pecs to a decent size and get some definition on my abs as well as a little colour into my skin. If the current heatwave continues that will be awesome and entirely possible.

I have until August. Two months to achieve the results I want? Bring it!

- SR

Another post later with todays post-workout show. Oh my.

Day 17: Juuust not feeling it.

I was just not in the mood today. I tried, but things weren't loosening or warming up and the mdolphins just weren't swimming. Its probably related to anxieties about friday. Anyway heres the before pic I was too self conscious to show you before:

Aaaand I think I know why my ex and I didn't have sex at all really in the final months. Or ever. Great.
I wish I could fast forward through the gum clinic testing and just get to the results and have them be good ARGH! I hate this bit. I always stress out and ruin everything. I'll try with some stretches later. Bleh. ... I need a hug.

- SR

Day 16: Extra bits

Ahh I have a new favourite shirt. Its a small I <3 NY tee and it fits me perfectly and shows my workout lumps. Though it has a hole on the chest where the puppy decided he would jump up and give me a hug. I am six foot one, he is like a viper or something. ANYWAY, today I tried out a whole buncha new things and I am now breaking down my routine into the following handy blocks:

Stretches-
Making sure that I stretch all the muscle groups that I am going to be working out properly, stretch for a count of twelve pushes each time, or for 20 seconds. The stretches take about 2 or 3 minutes and can be done in isolation to increase flexibility.

Deep stretching/yoga-
At the moment, I am doing the tree pose, the crescent pose, the lord of the dance pose and the sun salutation. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes and limbers everything up, though I can't do the sun salutation properly yet so I need to do more stretching sessions in my day to make things looser. If I ever manage to put my face between my knees chances are the Mayans were onto something.

Cardio warmup-
During this section I am targeting my torso, legs and sides whilst maintaining movement at a regular speed. There are names for some of the things that I do, but really it just blends into a hyper moment where I prance around and look a bit ponsy.

Core1-
Twist crunches
Pushups
Crunches
Slow Squats
Pushups
Crunches
Slow Squats
Twist crunches

20 of each, short break in between.

Weights-
Butterfly lifts
Curls,
Squats,
Flexes,
Uhm... kinda lungey things? I'm not sure. Its all a bit sparkly, but its fun so yeah. I'll try and find a video for the next post or something.

Unicorns would do it. I'm just saying.

Core 2-
Sideways leg lifts (20 on each side)
Pushups
Crunches
Squats
Pushups
Crunches
Squats
Pass-the-pillow. Again, I will try and find a video, you're meant to do it with a Swiss ball but eh. Basically you have to hold something between your ankles, and pass it to your hands without bending your knees or lifting your butt of the floor OR you shoulders. Its easy at first but by the end of the first set you want to kill someone. Totally worth it though. It gets the deep muscles in your stomach all toasty and warm.

Cardio-
Dance! Woo! Two tracks, both six minutes, the rules of the game are that you cannot stop moving from the start to finish of each track, and you also have to move every muscle group. So you kinda look like a spazz, its not something I would do in a club, but it improves your breathing and your stamina. It is also a really good warm-down.

Stretching2-
Stretch everything you worked out again and massage places which are a bit sore or feeling laggy. Make sure you don't leave any knots or sore spots. Continue this one in the shower too.

Oh and as an extra thing, today whilst playing with the dog I totally decked it. At high speed, flat on my face. Didn't feel it though. Two months ago I would have been bruised for about a month haha but I just got up and was perfectly fine. I didn't know working out made you less vulnerable, but maybe someone should have said something about that.

There's a chance I wasn't listening if they did.

-SR

Who listens to wooden tops anyway? :P

Day 15: I meant to do this yesterday-

-but I was too drunk. Ahh man it felt soo good to let go and get completely hammered. Unfortunately all that plonk is still in my system, and I can't even do a push-up right now without meandering on the way up so I have to wait till I return to sobriety. Ahh~ I talked to the boy I like all night.

And THIS and THIS and also THIS.

...

Oh right this is about exercise. Uhm. I discovered that I have a really bouncy bed. When I switched to doing situps on the floor (I had to wait until I had accumulated enough of a butt so that I wasn't scraping my spine out on the carpet), so now 20 situps is kinda difficult, but on the bed its way too easy. I wonder how much of my sexual prowess is down to this matress and its bounce.

Well my ex didn't complain.

But my neighbour did.

Hahaha!

- SR

Day 14: The ferryman is a right cheeky-

So yesterday was pretty hard what with both lungs full of crap. But I managed to cough most of that up today so I am feeling less dead. I think exercising might have helped but I am not sure, as honestly last night I felt like sleeping for about a decade. Now I gotta go and do some stuff, but tomorrow I will make some sort of entertainments in this page hole for your enjoyment holes.

Or something.

- SR

Oh! Last night I had a cough sweet that tasted of pure ass. It was disgusting. The aftertaste was also so strong it managed to make columbian coffee taste like chicken-cuppa-soup. There were no croutons.

16 days till pictures!

Day 13: Can I have my lung back?

Ahh mum. You know how she greeted me today? "Oh, maybe you have consumption". Thats nice. She also told me I looked like a corpse and that I should be in bed. After working out today, I think I should be in a morgue.

God.

Exercising through the flu was much easier than this.

- SR

No links today, but I might embed a funeral video tomorrow. You know, gotta continue them themes.

Day 12: Okay so...

Yesterday was a total non-event. I can't work out if I am hungry, and it was my parents turn to cook. We ate at a quarter to twelve. For serious. So yeah, I'm gonna put a stop to that one in the name of pecs and abs, because I can't build muscle without fuel.

I think I need to up the number of reps I am doing even though I only just established the routine. I am doing everything the same as usual but I am just not feeling it. Normally 20 of one and 20 of the other would make me feel a definate burn but now its just like "oh... uhm wanna do ten more?". Saaa. 18 (workout) days till 1 month pics :O

Ahh bathtime: this and this are currently piquing my interest. - SR

Day 11: Flex em if you got em.

Ueee! Things are looking good for the month mark pictures. Well technically two months, but only a month of blogging. Or something. ANYWAY! I now have pecs, its semi-official. Theres something gropable when I flex, and when I jump theres now a jiggling sensation on my chest which has never been there before so its kind of special. My arms are also starting to show signs of changing, as is my butt from all the cardio!

I am going to work some more yoga into my daily block now so that I can get all my stretching done as deeply as possible. I still don't feel stiff after working out, but I also still can't do a Sun Salutation pose so I gotta long way to go. Don't ask me why I want to be able to put my face between my knees whilst standing. ... Or don't you need to? Maybe I like the view like that? Who knows. Though now its occurred to me I am totally going to try that whilst doing the deed haha!

Disturbing mental pictures aside, my cardio is going pretty well. With the combination of chasing the puppy and doing 5+ minutes of dance related stuff after working out I am finding that my stamina is improving dramatically, as is the amount of energy I have for things what involve thinking. My lungs are better, my breath is clearer, my voice is louder (or would be if this sore throat hadn't crept up from nowhere)...

All I gotta do now is go to the GUM clinic and put my mind at ease about other things, too.

BLEH.

Dating men is more trouble than its worth. I'm seriously considering going chaste. For reeeels!
- SR

Afterthought, my hydration has suffered lately... I need to work on that. Or rather, I need to drink more now that my body is building muscle, but I forgot to up my intake. Or maybe its just the sore throat. ... Saaa...

Day 10: Uhm

So yesterday sort of dissapeared in a blur of various things and I somehow ended up not working out. So that sucked. Though I didn't do nothing, I totally racked up a good 8000+ steps on my pokewalker AND found a hyper potion, so I am pretty much set for life on those boons.

Today was a festival thing, so I've been walking around town a lot, and also this:
So yah. That was pretty fun, though I didn't walk the dog today, but I did play with him outside for a bit. Same routine as yesterday, though I thought maybe I should spell it out. This is my current main block of exercise:
- Stretches and light cardio + some yoga that I can do without snapping anything.
- 20 pushups
- 20 crunches
- 20 pushups
- 20 crunches
- 20 long arm butterflies (?) I don't know how to describe it really, but I am on my back on a bench and my arms are fully extended, with weights. Then I raise them from below the bench level to meet above me, as slowly as possible.
- 20 regular butterflies... like the previous but with bent arms, kind of like the way you use the machine in the gym.
- 20+ situps (until I feel like my abs are no longer my friend)
- 20+ pressups (same as above but with pecs and arms)
- 6 - 10 minutes of Cardio as a warm down

So far I haven't pulled anything so it seems to be working, and there are definate gains, and I feel pretty spectacular.

19 days until the 1 month picture! ... Is anyone even reading this? XD - SR

Day 9: Well what the hell do you do with these?

I used to have pretty amazing legs and a butt that was bouncy and delicious, but since walking 2 miles up and down hill every day is no longer a necessity, I'm finding it difficult to exercise them properly. Now that my routine is starting to have changes I can feel on my upper torso, I don't want to leave my legs un-challenged, because having a ripped top half and a reedy bottom half is totally lame-o.

I mean, they get a pretty good workout when I do my cardio, which at the moment consists of chasing a dog around a field trying to get whatever is in his mouth, and about 5 minutes of dancing as a warmdown. But I really want to do something which specifically targets them. I will have to look something up.

Today I feel pretty good. I actually catch myself smiling when I am working out now. Though I could do with a neck massage... for serious.

I wonder if this grinning thing has anything to do with my crush...

- SR

Day 8: THINGS

I actually have things that are starting to resemble pecs, I mean, theres like actual muscle there now which you can cup in your hand. WOO! Theres a thing! Now I just need to make em bigger. Hrrm hrrm hrrm. I guess I can do it slowly, but I am just so happy that its there and that I am starting to get stronger!

In 22 days hopefully they will be thing enough to be visible on camera, they are visible now but like, not defined. Or something.

Yay! A thing.

I've built some weights and some yoga warmup stretches into my routine now. Now the process takes about 40 minutes, and included pressups, crunches, weights, stretches, cardio and some light squats (because I don't want to fuck my knees up too bad). So its going good! Thats also not counting all the walking with the puppy and the general prancing around during daylight hours. Its going welllll!

Though I am much hungrier. Like. A lot more. Its kinda wierd. But I'm liking it. Sorta.

- SR

Day 7: Walk with me a minute

I think I'm enjoying the pokewalker a little bit too much given that I'm already 22 years old. I activated it last night and I've done about 6800 steps, though quite a few of them are actually shakes because I cheated. My mareep is called Ginny. It is adorable. I didn't do much cardio today because it was miserable and wet, which shouldn't really be an excuse but meh.

I got to walk the dog and a pokemon so that was pretty cool.

I am such a nerd.

Not happy, Jan!

- SR

Day 6: Puppy!

Puppies are not helpful when you're trying to do much of anything really, but at least now I am getting a pretty good cardio workout trying to stop him from eating poop or anything else he finds on the ground. There should be a thing to explain how to not get tangled up in leads, or maybe just a warning saying "oh hey btw if your dog can run faster than Usain Bolt, then you're gonna be tripped up by this stretchy cord thing like, a lot. Not even a little a lot, a lot a lot.

So yeah, I recovered from the bad milk incident pretty well and I haven't lost any strength due to it which is an extra bonus. I am now up to about 40 pressups and situps a day, with about 30 minutes of cardio spread out from whenever-the-puppy-stops-trying-to-join-in to whenever-I-go-to-bed-at-the-moment. I know its not like, amazing but its more than I could do a year ago. Or a month ago... or a week ago.

Maaan I'm so weak.

- SR

BLEH

My dad decided to poison everyone again because "use by" dates are apparently "just a big con". So all weekend I've been feeling reeeeeeeeeeeally rough and exercising just made it worse. I've been doing like a fraction of my weekday stuff but at least I haven't stopped.

So yeah, hopefully this will get out of my system soon.

Day 5: Attempt two!

Okay, so today I did work out but I've been in an odd tired blur since I woke up, and its not really registered. So uhm. Yeah. Bluh?

Today I redid RUE and also there is another comic at My Thingie and also THIS.

Tomorrow's post will be much better, I promise XD - SR

Day 4: Attempt Two!

The morning was the same as usual, until Candyman's comment on this comic. From then on out I've been unable to take anything seriously. I have laughed so much today, and it feels really good. My workout lasted longer, and I am a lot less tired than I would be usually, and I no longer feel all bunged up and bleh from the cold! I also made sure I kept hydrated, and whilst that meant I was going to the loo like a racehorse, it seems to have had an added benefit of boosting my immune system.

Though I started working out a lot later than usual..

So as punishment I am moving forward my first set of topless pictures to the 29th day instead of the 30th, so I have to work harder now to get the look I want! Also I need to sort out some sort of slideshow of pictures after I get the first one up and sorted.

- SR

Day 3: Attempt two

So as it turns out doing exercise when you have the flu feels pretty good but leaves you exhausted. I felt my abs tense for the first time with my pressups today as well, which either means that I've been doing it wrong or that I am about so start doing it wrong.

I think I will put up a better picture in 30 days time, and another every other 30 days to track my progress. I've noticed that I am eating a lot more now, and that I am feeling happier in myself and a lot less stressed. I still dont get five a day, but at least now that salad ingredients are back in season, I get 1 serving at lunch time. All I need to do now is get my studies back on track!

I'm updating again at My Thingie.

Thats pretty much it for today - SR

Day 2: Attempt two!

Puppies!Dogs are not helpful when you're trying to work out at home, especially when they thing that catching your skipping rope mid air and tripping you over with it is the best game. Fecking dog.

Owww.

My basic routine now includes pressups, situps and cardio. I do 20 pressups, then 20 situps and then repeat until my arms are telling me that we will not be on speaking terms if this continues. I aim to do the pressups and situps as slowly as possible as I have read somewhere that 20 slow pressups has much more effect than 20 fast pressups. That could be wrong though, I'll let you know if I survive. After I've finished torturing my muscles, I torture my lungs with either skipping or some light jogging. I am still weak from the infections last year, so I can't go very far with either at the moment, but I am in a much better place now than I was at the start of March. Eventually I want to work weights and much longer cardio sessions into my workout on a weekly basis.

Though running with a puppy on a lead is not at all fun, I got my pet degus a running wheel at the weekend and I am entirely jelous. I want a treadmill so bad, but I don't have the money or the space, though a full sized version of this probably wouldn't be much cheaper or take up less space.
I'm starting to get all full up with cold, so I am hoping that by exercising I can minimise the impact, but knowing my luck it will probably make me feel a lot worse. Ahh well.

Also, how did I miss this song? V V Brown is awesome, but its been out for two years? I stopped listening to the radio before christmas, but I didn't realise that I was this behind on music. Rubbish. - SR

PS! If you have any comments or suggestions for working out, then please feel free to leave them here.

Day 1: Attempt Two!

Many various different things have happened, and I stopped exercising properly for a while. First of all my parents decided to get a dog, which somehow lead to me having no free time to speak of, and then I became single and lost the goal I wanted, so I had to re-evaluate why I was doing this.
So now, I have a new goal, and I am working towards getting a good routine set up now that I've awakened my body and started to rebuild my core strength. My goal, is to regain all of the energy and muscle strength which I lost whilst I was sick with Salmonella last year, and to build a physique that I am happy with. I really badly want pecs, so I am going to work on those first, I don't really care about abs so much, but I would like to work on my legs and butt, as well as my arms.

I don't have a picture of the way I want things to be yet, but I do have a before picture, and here it is!
'Scuse the facial expression... I have no idea what happened there. Its also really dark which it wasn't on my phone. Wierd. Anyway...

I am hoping to be able to improve both my stamina and respiration whilst working out, so that I can do more outsidey stuff and be able to actually sing again, which I can't do currently as my lung capacity is pathetic. For serious. I didn't give up exercise completely during the time I have not been updating this blog, so I guess that leaves me at an advantage?

Currently I am all about this song, and this anime. Also I've been drawing a lot more recently, so I am hoping to start updating at My Thingie soon <3

- Luff and Stuff xoxo SR

Day 5: Ka'mum'd

So mothering sunday was yesterday and somehow my entire weekend vanished into familyville. So even though I did do some skips on saturday, I didn't actually manage to do anything else until this morning, and my body is definately punishing me.

So the goal for the end of this week is to work up to 200 skips, which may have to be broken into two sessions to start off with. Today I got to 110, which felt a lot like being smacked in the lungs with a burning doormat. Though that was probably also something to do with the fact that I had to move off of the patio on account of one too many potted plants. Skipping on grass is harder. Because the rope likes to do this.

A lot.

If I can get to 200 skips and not die, I will make a video or something. =shrug=

Now I am going to grab a bath and watch the rest of this video.

- Essar

Day 4: Mdolphins

So today was much easier, I actually felt Mdolphins from exuhcise. I was still totally out of breath and unable to go past 100 skips without feeling like my chest was on fire.

But I feel pretty good.

Who knew? All that stuff about healthy living might not have just been crap after all. And on that topic, I had a healthy living tortilla thing endorsed by David Beckham. Good, god that tasted like dust and chipboard. Why is healthy food so terrible? I took a few pictures so you can see exactly how good it looks, but I can't upload them yet. So I'll make a horror movie style slideshow for the sidebar over here at the weekend >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In other news, this. I don't know why I am reading it but so far I don't hate it which has to be a good thing. Possibly. =shrug=

Its not terrible, anyway.

- Essar

Wait, wasn't this meant to be funny? Uhm. Link, link, link and link. There you go!

Day 3: OXYGENNNN!

Woah. So the muscles that were hurting now are not, and a whole new different set has decided to say hello. Though they were probably hurting earlier too but my brain can only deal with so many limbs whining that they ache a lot.

So today the skips, pushups and stretches left me feeling like I was about to die from lack of air, which is really pathetic. I mean, I've had asthma since I was an infant but its never been so bad after such light exercise. That said, I am also still really weak after several things that happened last year. So I suppose its to be expected?

Anyway.

I have found that by breaking down my workout so that its in a near constant state from morning to night is actually much easier than doing it in one big go. Despite any mental images you might have just conjured, that doesn't mean that I am actually working out constantly. I do about 20 - 30 pushups at a time, spread out through the day, so I do some after I get up, some around eleven o clock, some after lunch, some in the evening and then some before bed if I am not totally wiped.

Today I did start pretty late though, I lost track of time whilst reading some stuff and ended up doing my first sets at eleven. Maybe that's why I felt so crappy. Ah well. Imma do more later, I think that I might actually be starting to like these little endorphin dohickeys.

Oh and also, for your entertainment and mine.

- Essar

Day 2: 100 skips!

100 skips is my current nemesis, when I can get past this I will then move on to taking over a small European nation. Until then, I will continue to be unfit and skinny. Rargh!

Also, I have made a few changes to my diet recently and they have really started to have a positive effect on my brain and overall mood. I can think much more clearly, tend to be somewhat happier, and start arguments less. Its the sex effect, but permanently. So as it turns out these and regular hydration are pretty awesome for curing melancholy.

The cure for being emo is along the same lines as the cure for malnutrition. Or maybe not.

Today, I hurt less and its starting to feel good when I am running our of breath, and afterwards I don't feel "OMG KILL ME NOW" at all. This is probably just a lull, I hear tales of people finding hell about two weeks into these things. =shrug= we shall see! Maybe its just spring keeping my mood up.

Also Blazes wants me to stay ugly. He can never learn of the existence of this blog. Ever.
Especially 'cos I will be previewing part of his present here when I get to the four month mark!

- Essar