Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym / fitness center near Baud

A couple of weeks ago at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated swimming pool and gym / fitness center near Baud I hit the tender age of 50.

In the body building fraternity it is custom to perform squats on your birthday - with that in mind I attempted to turn the clock back and perform a weight on front squats that I last did around 30 years of age, a 140 kg front squat.

The week before I got 4 reps on 130 kg but on this attempt I actually crashed out on 120 kg due not to my legs but my shoulder injury - the hardest part of the exercise for me is actually holding on to the bar, either the bar is to high on my neck restricting my breathing or its lower down and has the tendency to roll off.

You can see from the  clip how low I perform the squats using a pause at the bottom on 100 kg.

The gym at our holiday cottages La Forge and La veille maison is available for all our guest to use.

Weight training at the gym / fitness center located at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

I've had a couple of good days weight training at the gym / fitness center located at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud this week.

On Wednesday it was leg day and I performed 6 sets of front squats up to 120 kg for 6 reps, followed by 6 sets of leg extensions and 4 sets of leg curls.

Today I performed dead lifts and performed a new personal best of 140 kg for 10 reps - the fact I only started dead lifting at the start of the year makes me thrilled to bits, In January I could not even lift 120 kg of the floor! ( no belt or straps worn)

Tomorrow I'm back in the gym for back and biceps and Sunday its chest and triceps - Monday is a rest day then the cycle starts all over again.

The gym / fitness center is available all year for guest staying in either La Forge or La veille Maison holiday cottages to enjoy.

Training legs at the free weights gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

On Monday I was back training legs at the free weights gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud and enjoyed a great workout.

I'm trying to mix up my workouts every few weeks now and started with 6 sets of front squats starting on 60 kgs and increasing by 20 kg each set until i reached 120 kgs.

Front squats are a lot harder than normal squats mainly due to the difficulty of holding the bar in place, its either on your throat a little which makes breathing difficult or its lower and your fighting to hold the bar in position as it try's to roll down your chest.

Below is a video of normal squats - 160 kgs for 7 reps which I'm currently doing at the gym located at our Brittany holiday cottage

Front squats tend to put more focus on your quadriceps and I hope will build a better outer sweep.

After the squats it was 5 sets of leg extensions, 4 sets of leg curls and 4 sets of standing calf raises.

The health club / fitness center is available for our guest staying in La Forge and La Veille maison

The fitness center / free weights gym at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

Yesterday at our fitness center / free weights gym located at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud was a rest day - when I say rest day that's a rest from lifting weights but not exercise.

So with the 20 kg weighted vest on I did 4 times up the local hill - jogging up twice and doing lunges for the other two accents.

The 20 kg weighted vest used for my cardio sessions

At each summit I was absolutely knackered and needed the downward walk to recover my breathing and allow my legs to recover.

From the look of the hill it does not look that bad but when your walking it you realize how steep it is, especially wearing the weighted vest. I guess the hill is around 250 meters long.

I've only been hitting the diet and cardio for the last 6 weeks and I've only lost a couple of lbs but I am so much leaner and stronger. I guess its the old adage its not what you weigh that counts but how you look and fit in your clothes.

I'm back in the gym today at the Brittany holiday cottage for a chest, shoulder and tricep workout.

Training at our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

Back training at our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud today with a leg workout.

My right knee was feeling a little week all day so started of with a couple of sets of light leg extensions 20 plus reps to warm it all up.

I then started squats with just 60 kg on the bar then increased each set by 20 kg until finishing on 6 reps for 140 kg low squats.

I then moved on to leg extensions and performed sets starting on 20 kg and increasing by 10 kg each set to finish on 60 kg and doing 20 reps on each set even if only moving a few inches on the last few reps of the heaviest set.

Then 4 sets of leg curls and 4 sets of standing calf raises.

I've always enjoyed training legs in the gym at our Brittany holiday cottage

The gym / fitness center is available for all our guest to use staying in La Forge or La Veille Maison.

Our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud with pool and gym

Just got in from the gym at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud and completed a new personal best 8 reps for 140 kg on dead lifts.

After I did 8 very easy reps at 120 kg I knew I was going to do my new target for the 140 kg - one step at a time, once I hit 10 reps I'll increase to 160 kg and do the same again.

Christmas tree on my lower back

With starting dead lifts this year at the gym at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud I am hoping to thicken my back.

Weight training and keeping fit at our Brittany holiday cottage with gym / fitness center near Baud

Well the weight training and keeping fit at our Brittany holiday cottage with gym / fitness center near Baud is going very well - I'm getting leaner as each week passes by and stronger at the same time.

Yesterday and today I did the hill walk with my new toy, a 20 kg weighted vest - I went up and down 3 times this morning before breakfast and really notice the up hill section. My quads and leg biceps are feeling it the most and I'm hoping this will not only shift the fat but create better separation in my legs come competition time.

I think that 30 minutes will be my max, although fairly comfortable the vest does cause some neck ache.

This afternoon its back in the gym at the holiday cottage for a dead lift session with my goal to hit 8 reps plus on the 140 kg.

Weight lifting in our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near baud

I reported earlier today my goals for weight lifting in our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud and can confirm a new personal best of 7 reps for 140 kgs.

I was going to give up on 6 reps but after writing my goal of increasing the reps by at least 1 each week I dug deep and managed that extra one.

I really enjoy the dead lifts and although a very short workout - just 6 sets in 20 minutes my heart pounds for the entire duration and afterwards I know I've worked hard.

Looking forward to training legs again tomorrow at the gym.

La Forge Brittany holiday cottage is only 3 miles from Baud.

The weight training gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

Today at the weight training gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud is dead lift day.

I have only been doing dead lifts since the start of this year and at the start I could not lift 120 kg from the floor - now I've done 160 kg for 2 reps or 140 kg for 6.

My next goal is to work on my rep range rather than trying personal best - so my goal is to get to 20 reps for 140 kg, the aim being to perform 1 or 2 additional reps for each workout.

weight training and body building gym near Baud

The gym at our holiday cottage has sufficient weight available for most levels of weight trainers and body builders to have a good workout being able to load a bar up to 200 kg and from next year up to 240 kg with the purchase of some new weights.

Every year our endevour is to increase the facilities within the gym so that guest staying at either La Forge or La Veille Maison are able to have a good workout if so desired.

Our Gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage with pool near Baud

Today at our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage with pool near Baud Naomi had a good weight training session by training her legs.

She had gone up initially to 10 reps for 100 kg but after work from me we worked on getting lower on the squat and now she is doing low squats 10 reps for 50 kg and she says how much more she is getting from the better form.

The gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage

I'm now doing 140 kg low squats for 6 reps and last session did a 6 second pause at the bottom of each rep.My goal is to be at 160 kg for 6 deep reps by Christmas. My personal best when at 30 was 220 kg for 2 reps and  145 kg for 20 reps.

The fitness center / gym is a wonderful bonus for guest wishing to keep fit while on holiday at our holiday cottages La Forge or La veille maison.

The gym and fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

Just had a great workout at our gym and fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud - chest and triceps.

I'm mixing the exercises up within each workout, today I did the following.

6 sets of incline bench with the extreme grips up to 80 kg
4 sets of decline bench press with the grips and pausing for 4/5 seconds at the bottom for one set.

Then it was 6 sets of tricep push downs followed by 3 sets of rope push downs.

The fitness center is available for all our guest to use that stay in La Forge and La Veille Maison.

Our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool

Yesterday was back and biceps while today at our gym / fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool is chest and triceps.

Having a gym / fitness center situated at our Brittany holiday cottage is a great bonus for all staying for a holiday and wishing to keep fit and trim.

The gym and fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage with private pool near Baud

Today at the gym and fitness center at our Brittany holiday cottage with private pool near Baud, Naomi and I are looking to have workouts.

Naomi will be training chest and back while I'm doing back and biceps.

Getting ready to compete in 2009 at the gym at our holiday cottage

I now train a 3 day split training each body part around the 5th or 7th day after the initial workout depending on how sore I'm feeling.

Each year we ad to the gym so that returning guest staying in La Forge or La Veille maison and indeed ourselves benefit from additional equipment.

Our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud with heated pool and gym

Today at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud with heated pool and gym is rest day for me but I'm struggling not to go in the gym - which I guess is a very good sign.

I weighed myself today and seem to have put on 2 lbs even though I have been very good on my diet - however I do feel a lot leaner and my muscles are showing more, I guess with all this gym work and diet I've lost fat but gained muscle.

I'm back to how I looked in February before the injury in my right elbow that effected me for 6 months of this year,

I'm eating 5 times per day, starting with 3 weetabix and an omelet, roast chicken with vegetables (no potatoes) and 7 egg omelets ( just 1 yoke) through the day and just snaking on fruit.

I'm currently 19 st 2lbs - my next scheduled cheat meal is on 7th November lets see how my weight changes over the next 10 days! If it does not start coming off soon I guess the only thing to do is start some cardio. My aim is to get down to 13 stone for a show next year.

In the mean time I have decided to start training my abbs on my rest day, firstly to feed my first for training and secondly to increase my metabolism - I've also noticed with the introduction of dead lifts my abbs feel stronger as its training all my core.

The gym at our Brittany holiday cottage is available for our guest staying in La Forge and La Veille Maison.

Keeping fit and using a gym while on holiday at our Brittany holiday cottages

Keeping fit and using a gym while on holiday at our Brittany holiday cottages is very important for a lot of our guest - this year we had the highest usage of the Gym than any other year.

Staying in La Forge or La Veille Maison this year we have had footballers, marathon runners, rugby plays, HIT enthusiast and those simply wishing to keep to a fitness regime while enjoying a holiday.

All have said they enjoyed using the gym and it was one of the factors why they choose to book one of our holiday cottages.

We are asked what cardio equipment we have in the gym and always report that because we live in such wonderful surroundings, those wishing for some cardio either walk, cycle or simply swim in the heated swimming pool.

The gym at our Brittany holiday cottage

Our Brittany holiday cottage with gym and private heated swimming pool

After a days rest at our Brittany holiday cottage with gym and private heated swimming pool it was back in the gym again to train legs.

Looking at the competition they all have great leg develepment and thankfully I have always had big legs - but size is not everything as condition and separation of the muscles is just as important!

With that in mind I'll continue to do my sets pf deep squats but also work on the leg extensions to bring out the separation of the quads and leg curls for the leg biceps.

I'm hoping that also incorporating dead lifts this year for the first time in my life will make a significant increase in overall development and I'm looking forward to seeing the results in 11 months time.

Also once I start the bike work in the spring and hill walking I'm sure that will also benefit my muscle separation in the legs.

Thankfully our holiday cottages La Forge and La Veille maison  are situated in beautiful countryside with loads of great walks available.

At 30 for the ANB welsh show

Keeping fit and having fun with the family at our Brittany holiday cottage

Keeping fit and having fun with the family at our Brittany holiday cottage is one of our goals in life and getting ready for a body building show next year and loosing 6 stone is not just for my benefit but also for me to be running around after our son.

From day one James has been in the gym sitting in his baby chair watching me and his mum train and we are always encouraging him to get involved.

We are looking forward for James to be working out in the gym with his friends in the future at our holiday cottage near Baud.

Brittany cottage near Baud with private pool and gym

Today at our Brittany cottage near Baud with a private pool and gym I was back in the gym for a chest and tricep workout.

Started of with 6 sets of incline bench press starting at 60 kg and finishing on 80 kg - then 3 sets of decline bench press at 80 kg and finishing with 2 sets of 35 kg flat bench dumbbell press.

I'm concentrating for the first 6 months on purely compound exercises and then introduce some flying to gain more separation.

It was then on to triceps where I started with 7 sets of tricep cable push downs starting with 20 kg for 30 reps and then increasing the weight up to 50 kgs with less reps.

To finish I did 2 sets of tricep rope pull downs with a kick out to the side at the bottom of the movement.

Had a lovely roast chicken and mixed veg waiting for me after the workout to feed the muscle growth.

Looking to grow my chest at the gym at our holiday cottage

The gym is available for guest staying in La Forge and La Veille Maison.

The gym at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud

After a 2 day rest I was back in the gym today at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud for a back and bicep workout.

With 12 months to go before I compete again Ive decided to switch around every workout during this next year, incorporating different exercises and the order I do them in - its all about freshening up my workouts to get maximum muscle stimulation.

Today I had to be a little careful as I've had a slight back twinge over the last few days and I pulled something in my right forearm while doing heavy wide grip pull downs to the front last Friday.

So with that in mind I did 6 sets of extra wide grip pull downs to the back of my neck starting on 50kg and increasing each set until I got to 80kg.

Then for a change I moved on to dead lifts ( normally do these on a different day)

5 sets starting on 60 kg moving up to 140 kg for 6  reps and thankfully my back felt strong and no pain at all - just decided not to push myself to much!

I then just did 4 sets of dumbbell standing curls using the fat gripz for the first time with that - it felt really weird holding the dumbbells but my forearms felt as though they were going to explode.

Looking forward to hitting chest tomorrow - determined to make some big gains on that over the next year at the gym in our holiday cottage.

Our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool and gym near Baud

Today at our Brittany holiday cottage with private heated pool and gym near Baud is rest day - after 3 straight days in the gym its good just to chill and repair the muscles from the earlier workouts.

I saw on face book today a picture of a recent natural body building show in the UK - it was a competition of champions, all holding British titles either in weight categories or age and it really highlights the mountain I need to climb over the next 12 months.

The level of competition

 Three of those in the picture have just reached 50 years of age which is fantastic conditioning and a measure of the condition I need to achieve. It does look very scary when you see pictures like this but you have to bear in mind most are around 13 stone in weight or less.

I just hope that under my current 19 stone frame that when I cut down to 13 stone I'm looking at the same size and conditioning.

Thankfully having the gym located at our Brittany holiday cottage near Baud its so easy for me to have a workout. I will print this picture of and place it in the gym for my motivation.