Name: Matt
Age: 20
Height: 6ft 2
Weight: 64kg
Aim: to be 76kg by April 2015
Hi, I’m Matt, a social media executive for Insure4Sport. This winter I’ve set myself the challenge of building my strength and general fitness with the aim to be 12kg heavier by April, the start of the 2015 cricket season.
As an amateur fast bowler, last season I struggled towards the end of my spells because of a lack of fitness and core strength; this had come about through years of not working on my endurance fitness (running).
So the aim is to build my muscular endurance for those long days on the cricket field next summer, whilst training my muscular strength for those explosive moments in the game.
Every month I will bring you an update of my progress on my weight gain and general fitness. And let me know if you have any advice that you think could be worthwhile – it would be greatly appreciated!
Plan
I will be going to the gym three times per week and working on different aspects on each visit:
Monday – Cardio / Abs / Shoulders
Wednesday – Chest / Biceps / Cardio
Friday – Triceps / Back / Legs
The overall aim is to build my endurance levels to be able to produce high quality performances for longer, whilst also building strength in key areas. As a cricketer, shoulders and arms are key to batting and bowling, the bigger your shoulders and arms, the further you can hit the ball and the faster you can bowl the ball.
Diet
I would already class my diet as reasonably healthy, I always eat three solid meals but I sometimes can’t help myself with ‘junk food’. I’d like to motivate myself to take my diet to the next level by limiting ‘junk food’ to once a week maximum.
As I have such a high metabolism and struggle putting weight on, I have decided to start drinking protein shakes to help me ‘bulk’. In each shake I add one heaped scoop of protein powder, which contains 50g of blended protein and 250g of carbs. I also add 500ml of semi skimmed milk and one heaped scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This means I can take on anywhere up to 1500 calories in between meals which is really good for somebody with such a high metabolism. To go over the daily recommendation of 2500 calories quite easily, as long as I am going over the recommendation by eating the right foods, I should start to see some success.
“In order to build muscle, you have to consume more calories than you burn off.” – http://www.healthline.com/symptom/weight-gain
Last night’s session
Last night was Monday (27th October) so my night consisted of Chest / Biceps / Cardio
- 10 minute run (1.2 miles)
- 20 minute cycle (3.8 miles)
- 20 kg chest press (3 sets of 10)
- 8 kg bicep curls (3 sets of 10)
Upon leaving the gym I had a brief rest in the steam room and sauna, before going home for a substantial feed and an early night. I wasn’t to know last night when I went to sleep what was to greet me this morning, terrible pains in my chest and my tendons in my fore arms from lifting weights, any slight movement felt like my arm was ripping my chest in two!
If only you could see me you’d be able to agree that I don’t look like the sort of bloke that lifts weights but you have to start somewhere!
Until next time!
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