......and of course it will work, but in an untrained individual, anything will work.......for a while.

Just eat cals 20% below your TDEE and lift heavy stuff to maintain/increase muscle mass. Or watch DVDs you saw on an infomercial

Quote: the cal train "has anyone here trained Smolov?'" It's a bit extreme! I think you can squat more often than people think though, and recover faster than upper body work enables. My squat strength has really progressed since I added a third day a week of "practice" squats: just 60kg (my 1RM would be >160kg) for sets of 10, sitting right down into them lower than a normal squat. My other days involve working at 10-12 and 4-8 rep ranges by the way. If you're interested in something that involves that kind of volume, have a read of this rugbystrengthcoach.com/front-squat/

Quote: the cal train "has anyone here trained Smolov?'" It's a bit extreme! I think you can squat more often than people think though, and recover faster than upper body work enables. My squat strength has really progressed since I added a third day a week of "practice" squats: just 60kg (my 1RM would be >160kg) for sets of 10, sitting right down into them lower than a normal squat. My other days involve working at 10-12 and 4-8 rep ranges by the way. If you're interested in something that involves that kind of volume, have a read of this rugbystrengthcoach.com/front-squat/

Thanks so much for the contributions guys / girls, enjoying reading them.
On a personal note, have only lost another 2-3 pounds, but am enjoying exercise now more than I have in ages. Variation has definitely been the key to that. I did wonder if I was making a costly mistake by doing yoga and tai chi at home to a DVD rather than under the supervision of an instructor (ie risk of injury) but so far so good.

Have now used up (+ ditched) all health supplements now. Going totally with my blender and nutrition.

Glad I bought the kettlebell. Thankfully it wasn't a five-minute wonder and is not now gathering dust, pretty enjoyable to do, and arms definitely feel a bit more toned for a start.

Smolov update, 25kg PR from the base cycle alone. Probably more like 20 but I made sure to start with a realistic 1RM input that I could get to full depth with every time. Strength in my hips/glutes has skyrocketed.

Back to the diet theme.

I'm now investigating the rlGAPS dietrl.

I've started to ferment a load of cabbage and other vegetables and am aiming to start once they are in a state of readiness.

Has anyone else tried this?

Smolov has worked well for loads of people by all accounts and loads of top level powerlifters use high volume to great effect. I would imagine you have to be careful how much deadlifting you do alongside this or you may burn out or get injured. Paused squats and beltless squatting is working well for me at the mo. If i can get stronger without a belt and doing paused reps when i put a belt on i will see a bump in numbers on the top end. That is the plan at the moment anyway. Again though this is down to the individual. I can squat twice a week but have to be careful with the volume or my hips start to grumble. And as another poster put kettlebells are brilliant. Snatches, Clean and jerks, various swings, push presses, squats and thrusters are all fantastic exercises and kettlebells are relatively cheap to buy and take up little space. A great way to do some resistance training whilst working the heart too. A 12kg, 16kg and 20kg bell set is a great investment.

On 6/1/14 I was 20st 3lb and very unfit. I went for a check up and my cholesterol was too high, my blood sugar results indicated I was a candidate for type 2 diabetes and was told to change my lifestyle if I wanted to avoid the possibility of any early death and illness as I got older. I did nowt for a month or two and went diving, only to have to be helped out of the water and helped off with my kit, I was knackered.

In May I decided to do something about it and spoke to the dietician at the doctors, I chose not to 'fad' diet but change my eating habits. I cut out rubbish, chocolate, bread etc and ate more healthily (fish, chicken, salads etc) and had smaller portions. I began walking on a night and set myself a target of a three mile walk, which I achieved quite quickly and began swimming again.

This morning I weighed in at 16st 12lb, I swim a mile three times a week, walk the three miles at least thre times a week (same distance just quicker) and bike a couple of times a week (about three miles). I have dropped from a 44" waist to a 40", but can just get into 38" but its not too comfortable yet. One drawback is I go on holiday to France in two weeks and NONE of my holiday clothes fit me, so that is going to cost.

My cholesterol is now in the 'normal' range and my blood sugars are normal as well. I feel a lot better, fitter and look better.

Hard bit will be maintaining it once I have got to my desired weight and sizes.

Steve, unless you are 7' tall, even you must admit you are overweight.

No matter what exercise you are engaging in, you need to adjust your intake/expenditure further.

I was surprised how easy I found making the changes in my lifestyle that led to me dropping 10kg this year.

BTW, I made money on replacing my wardrobe

A few inches off 7 feet Dave (about 12 in fact). I have engaged in portion control and eating healthier, instead of stopping off at lunch and buying a Mars bar and a packet of crisps, I have some fruit and raw carrot in a cool bag and take a dish of home made soup to warm up on site. My problem always was eating rubbish on a regular basis and very inactive. I do feel a lot better, but am aiming to gradually get to 15 stone.

How did you manage to make money, my wife just puts everything into charity bags and shoves in the Air Ambulance bin at Co-op.

Taking clothes out of Air Ambulance bins and flogging them on ebay

Seriously I buy from charity shops, car boots and ebay auctions. I then sell on ebay on a buy it now, make an offer basis. You need to know what makes money and either have some patience or list a lot of items

I've rarely failed to make a good profit with dive gear when I've found it, even old and uncertified stuff still fetches good money.

I found three bespoke-tailored suits yesterday (it would've been four but one had some tiny holes in the back of the knee), got the lot for £50, should fetch at least £200 each. Even if they don't sell immediately I ain't bothered, they fit me like they were tailored for me and I've also got two regular customers who should fit into them with no problem.

Back on the diet theme: this weekend will mainly be taken up with preparing cabbage and other vegetables and starting the fermentation process for the GAPS diet

does he, legally, need to?

are you a tax lawyer now?