James's Home Page

Results from Weight Training

Jan 1995 73kg

Apr 1995 81kg

Jul 1995 84kg

Oct 1995 83kg

Jan 1996 85kg

Apr 1996 89kg

Oct 1996 91kg

Jan 1997 92kg

Jun 1997 97kg

Mar 1998 97kg

Oct 1998 100kg

Sep 1999 96kg

Apr 2000 96kg

Jun 2000 94kg

Dec 2000 95kg

Jun 2001 99kg

Aug 2002 102kg

Mar 2003 105kg

Jan 2005 105kg

March 2010 98kg

March 2012 100kg

March 2015

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Feb 2022 100kg

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Nov 2022 103kg

Feb 2023 96kg

Aug 2023 96kg

1995-now

When I started training in January 1995 I took a photo and subsequently tried to take similar progress photos every three months. I moved house in 1996 and the photographic record is more patchy from that point. I reached 100 kg in 1997 but was pretty fat (no abs). I learned some valuable lessons training with a trainer in 1998 and when I reached the same weight again it was at a noticeably lower bodyfat.

I remained around 96-98 kg until late 1999 when I broke my femur. In the course of recovering I dropped 6 kg and wasn't happy to train legs really heavy while I still had metal in. Now I'm back to squatting heavier than I did before the fracture, which is something I thought would never happen.

Making and maintaining progress is largely a question of what degree of compromise of lifestyle I'm prepared to tolerate in training and diet. For me that seems to have settled on a four-way split, one hour workout, two days on, one off and a fairly slack low-ish fat, high-ish protein diet with lots of carbs in the morning and lower carbs in some of the evenings. When things are going well I hover around 108 kg and when work is busier it's more like 103 kg. Recently I have tried a much stricter diet and cut down under 100 kg which honestly looks better to me. The photographic record now looks like progress followed by gradual decline, such is the nature of aging. If you’re after training advice, I have a little but I’m not an expert.

If you're one of my work colleagues looking at my home page, remember to pay some attention to the more relevant stuff on my page, like the 500 pages of study notes in Anaesthesia.