Hello All, I thought I would start a new thread to show my progress after having my hernia operation! I have a previous thread on the forum but it was getting a bit jumbled so I thought it would be best to start a fresh! I have had to make myself a new member as I could not remember any of my details....

Last time I wrote, I stated that I had just got a hernia! Luckily I got seen to pretty fast and I am all sorted out now! Doctor said it’s stronger than ever now! I had a small operation about 12 weeks ago so I am now rearing to go and ready to gain a little more muscle and get back into some kind of shape……..

I have actually been back at the gym for the past three weeks and I will post some photos of what I looked like before I got back into the gym. I had around 5 months of proper training; I did train but only very lightly. During the time off I gained a fair bit of fat and the heaviest I got to was nearly 115KG!

Below are a few photos of what I looked like after the operation and I am sure you can see that I am a little out of shape!

I’d Just like to add the doctors were great and not once criticized my training and even said that it was not necessarily the gyms fault for the hernia. The doctor did say that it was probably a weakness in my stomach which I have had since I was born and the physical life style I lead just made it worse.  However I am sure it was my heavy squats and dead lifts which set the hernia off, going to be a little bit more careful from now on!!!



Above is the day I got back from the hospital! Not happy at all as I could not move....



Above This is what it looked like about 4 days after the operation, when the bandage fell off....

Jack Sowden, will add some more photos soon.......  :)

Well as promised I have put the photos up! Believe me these are not my best pictures! I really can’t believe that I spent all last summer training hard to end up looking like this just after Christmas… I have included a photo from last summer and I am hoping to get into far better condition this time round. This photo can also be found on my previous thread.

As mentioned above, I have been back at the gym for around three weeks and already I have come on a lot from these photos. I will try and take some more photos this week so you can see my progress.

This week I am starting a set diet but still allowing myself to eat out with family and also my girlfriend’s mums cooking, is still a must at this stage. The problem is I am pretty skint at the moment as I am not really working. So the diet and supplements I am taking are going to be pretty limited with all my money been spent on Protein Powder, Chicken and Eggs!




A few weeks before I got back in the gym!




Condition achieved before my operation! Want a far better condition this time around

I will post my diet some time soon and may be even my training rota and any advice on budget bodybuilding would be appreciated! Lol……..

Good luck with things mate. Looking forward to seeing your diet and that

Here is my training rota: I try and do abb's a few times a week, when ever I can fit them in. I would love to have a day just for shoulders but I just don't have the time.

Jack’s Training Rota….

Monday – Chest and front of shoulders
Tuesday – Back and backs of shoulders
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Legs and Traps
Friday – Arms
Saturday & Sunday - Rest

As for the exercises I do, I don't really have a set plan and tend to change thing around from week to week. I basicly stick to a few main exercises for each body part which help me judge any strength gains then normally add a few different versions each week - some weeks really heavy and other really light and extremely high reps. I just try my best to shock the muscles and hopefully set them off growing!

I have found it pretty hard to go straight back into a set diet pattern and I am struggling to afford it at the moment. Another problem is that I am away in Dublin next week and the following week I am in the North Yorkshire Moors, so it is going to increasingly difficult to follow a set diet. (I have no intension to stick to any kind of diet in Dublin!)
For these reasons I am just going to do as best I can over the next two weeks and when I retune from the Moors, I will sharpen the diet up.
I won’t post any real diet information till this time.

Diet at the moment

All I am trying to do is eat clean foods at 2.5 hour intervals, I am keeping my carbs and fats to a minimum. I am also doing a lot of gardening work at the moment so I am sure combined with the low carbs and fats, this is helping to strip some of my unwanted fat! I am trying to have 40g of protein with each meal and eating no carbs before bed. I can see a massive difference in the mirror and hopefully so will you lot when I post my next photos.

Some thing I have started doing is having a protein shake the moment I wake up followed by my breakfast 1 hour later - will talk about this in a later post!

As for supplements

Apart from protein powder which is not really a supplement, I am taking some Creatien  and some very old fat burners which I found in my draw! I think when I get back from the moors I will look into this area a bit more!

I jumped on the scales this morning, I have lost 2.5kg in the last week! I am pleased with this but I seem to remember me getting weighed with my cloths on so it is likely that I have only lost around 1.5kg.

As from now I will get weighed every Thursday morning, before any food and with no cloths on.

At this point in my training and diet I have no bodybuilding shows in mind as I just want to get in best possible shape for my holiday in September.
I will see if there any shows at the back end of the year and maybe they could be a possibility!

Thinking about it, I have some far more important things to concentrate on before I think about a show! I have just started a three year course in Web Design at Uni and this must come first as it for the future……. And it cost a fortune….

I managed to get my photos done tonight, did them in a bit of a rush thou! – See what you think!

I am happy with the results over the past four weeks and my main aim now is to reduce my body fat before the next set of photos I post. I will post some more in four weeks.

I feel like I am holding a bit of water at the moment and this is probably due to the Creatine and small bit of gear I have been taking! Whoops for got to mention that!!



Not the best shot, will try harder next time!



A bit better, really pleased with this on!

In all a productive 4 weeks I think…..

Can some one please let me know were are can find show dates for this year, just intresed in knowing!

Thanks, jack....

I just typed  NABBA and UKBBF 2008 shows in Google and good list came up also contact details for the organisers are also on the sites mate  ;)

Tommy

Hows the training going ?

Well the last two weeks I have been away and there was nothing I could do training wise and the diet was pretty crap too. I now have a clear run thou and I am starting a set diet this week - will post it towards the end of the week.

I trained chest last night and I was considerably stronger then the last time I trained it two weeks ago, I think the 2 week rest did me good. I am weighing around 107 kg in the morning and look like I have lost a very small amount of fat since the last photos.

I expect once I stick to my set diet, the fat will fall off pretty fast, problem with me is sticking to it! Hope fully my girlfriend is going to diet at the same time so temptations are kept to a minimum!

I had a look at the shows and I have no intention of competing, I have some far more important things to think of first! my uni work.... May be one day....

Jack Sowden