Some Random Questions

[Yamaarashi]

I have a few assorted things that I need help with in order to improve my diet/performance a bit.

Firstly, I know that nothing replaces a good amount of sleep for getting the most out of working out, but being a shift worker my sleeping can be....erratic. Average nights sleep for me is 7 hours, on my days off I'll sleep 9, some days at work - especially after training at night, I may only get 5. It knocks me around a bit since I work 12 hour days.
Are there any good supplements out there that can help me to feel a bit more awake, and to maybe replace the benefits of sleep on my muscles?

Secondly, I'm starting to tire a little bit with my diet ( I eat alot of tuna). For a mid afternoon snak I usually have a salad made from a can of tuna and half a can of chickpeas, with some tomato and maybe a bit of vinegar and basil etc. All up its about 250 cals. Can anyone recommend anything good for around the same amount of cals?

I've been having problems keeping weight on lately, and I think it's because it's hard to work out how many calories I'm burning during exercise hence I don't eat enough. Can anyone give me a rough guestimate on what I'd be burning in a 90 minute judo class? Said class generally starts with 15-20 mins ne waza randori, maybe 20 mins of drills, and the rest hard uchikomi and then standing randori. It's a pretty tough class.

Then there's weights. If I'm lifting upper body, I'll generally do all muscle groups, 2 sets of 8 then a third set of 6 with the weight slightly increased to max I can lift. All your typical stuff like bench press, chest flys, weighted dips and pull ups, lat pull downs, dumbell mil press, back flys, bicep curls and sit ups.
If I'm doing legs, I'll do 4 sets of deadlifts, first 2 with 8 reps, last 2 6 reps at almost max I can lift. Squats the same. Leg press the same. Finish that off with 10 mins on the bike doing speed intervals.

Thanks for you help

[Yamaarashi]

No one can help me out?

[Emevas]

I don't actually see a question about your weight training. Is there one?

[Tom Kagan]

Are there any good supplements out there that can help me to feel a bit more awake, and to maybe replace the benefits of sleep on my muscles?

Yes, but it is a Schedule I controlled substance, unless you have narcolepsy and you and the prescribing doctor submit to an anal probe.

[Vorpal]

You're probably overtraining and under sleeping. When people start working out they typically notice an improvement. They then calculate that more working out will equal more improvement. This is true to a point. Your body needs time, rest and nutrition to recover. Add a little more time between workouts. Do fewer exercises but with more intensity. Cheat a little on your diet till you start putting some weight on. Above all, relax. Its a marathon, not a sprint. A healthy lifestyle shouldn't be a burden.

[BudoMonkey]

Ok. Some things:

Nothing can replace good sleep. However, the amount you get really isn't *that* bad, considering what alot of people have to go through.

Having trouble keeping weight on? Quit trying to keep your meals at a girly 250 calories. No offence intended. 250 cals X 6 meals a day = 1500. WTF is that? The average caloric intake for the average person (who is not doing judo and heavy lifting) is 2000. Try getting at least 400 cals per meal, eat at least 6 meals a day, and make sure you get enough protein. Dieting properly is a really tricky thing which takes time to perfect. Certain times of the day, after you workouts for instance, I would vary the type of protein you get in, maybe get a weightgainer shake with whey isolate, to ensure rapid absorbtion into your muscles and to make sure you get enough protein in general. Typically for any kind of athlete, the rule is 1g per pound of bodyweight, at minimum.

As far as measuring the amount of cals you will need to maintain/gain weight vs. estimates of the amt you are burning, see www.thedailyplate.com. It's free, and it can calculate all of this stuff for you.

Eating more will give you more energy as well. Like I said, I sleep even less than you, usually 5-6 hrs a night and maybe 1 day a week I get a full 8. However, I eat clean and eat like a frickin horse and my stamina and energy are never issues.

As far as your workouts- you're doing it wrong. In my opinion, anyways. It's always advised against to do all upper body muscle groups on one day. You won't be able to isolate each muscle enough. In your method, you maybe get 1-2 workouts per muscle group, whereas doing a split-body excercise regimen can net you up to 6-9 workouts per group, per day. Also, the way you are doing it will tire your muscles out and ultimately burn muscle, further hindering your gains.

Best of luck. I'm still learning alot too. Feel free to fire away with any follow up questions.

[TheRuss]

Are there any good supplements out there that can help me to feel a bit more awake

Yes. Much like every time the subject of supplements comes up, the answer is always (say it with me, class) caffeine.

and to maybe replace the benefits of sleep on my muscles?

No. No, there is not.

Secondly, I'm starting to tire a little bit with my diet ( I eat alot of tuna). For a mid afternoon snak I usually have a salad made from a can of tuna and half a can of chickpeas, with some tomato and maybe a bit of vinegar and basil etc. All up its about 250 cals. Can anyone recommend anything good for around the same amount of cals?

Do you have any fat in your diet?

I've been having problems keeping weight on lately, and I think it's because [...] I don't eat enough.

This is a safe assumption.

If I'm doing legs, I'll do 4 sets of deadlifts, first 2 with 8 reps, last 2 6 reps at almost max I can lift. Squats the same. Leg press the same. Finish that off with 10 mins on the bike doing speed intervals.

Sometimes I'm wonder if I'm the only person on Earth who doesn't finish his last crushing set of squats, and immediately think "Man, you know what'd be great now? Deadlifts! And leg press! And leg extensions! And then when I get home, I'll put electrodes on my quads and have my wife hit me across the thighs with a baseball bat!"

Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I guess I'd better find a wife with a Louisville Slugger.

[BudoMonkey]

And then when I get home, I'll put electrodes on my quads and have my wife hit me across the thighs with a baseball bat!"

C'mon dude that's just good clean fun. As long as there is a happy ending, anyways.

[Yamaarashi]

Thanks alot for the replies, turns out that what I thought was a good exercise program maybe isn't.

As far as the sleep thing goes, I didn't think it was too bad. It's just everything I read regarding fitness says "weights, protein shake blah blah, get 8-10 hours sleep". Are these people serious? I thought maybe I'm really abnormal, but then I think maybe these people are on another planet. I don't know anyone that gets 8 hours sleep, unless they are jobless....

Russ: I do have fat in my diet, that was just an example of one snack. TBH, my diet is boring the **** out of me atm, too much tuna and salmon for too long. I'm switching it up a bit to turkey/roast beef/pork and omlettes, but just wondering if anyone has any good stuff they make that they really like. I think I get enough fat, I drink plenty of milk, eat lots of eggs, plus meat I eat for dinner. I don't go out looking for fat though.....

The problem for me is, I'm sitting at 79kg right now, and I seem to be sitting pretty there as of the last 7 days. I fight <81kg, so that doesn't allow me any room to move really. I do have a bit of stubborn fat around my belly that doesn't seem to want to move that I want to get rid of, so I can then build a bit more muscle and still be under 81kg.
I'll show you guys my routine so maybe you can make some suggestions to me as to how to use my time better.

Note: My work days I only have around 40 minutes for my workout, so anything I do has to fit into that. My roster is a little weird and goes per fortnight. All the numbers are as of the last 3 days

Monday: Upper body: Bench press 70kg - 2 sets x 8 reps, 80kg 1 set x 6 reps
Dips - 2 x 8 reps bodyweight, 1 x 6 reps 5kg weight added
Pullups - As per dips
Lat Pulldowns - 2 sets x 8 reps 135 lbs, 1 set 6 reps 150lbs
Dumbell Shoulder press - 2 sets 8 reps 17.5kg, 1 x 6 reps 20kg (each hand)
Dumbell Bicep curls - 2 sets 8 reps 12.5kg, 1 x 6 reps 15klg
Dumbell Shoulder raises - as for bicep curls
Dumbell Back flys - as for shoulder press
Dumbell chest flys - as for shoulder press
I do that in 40 minutes, making it into a circuit. I used to run for 10 mins after that, but since I've pushed the weight up I need longer recovery and have been skipping it.

Tuesday: Lower Body: Deadlifts 2 x 8 reps 80kg, 1 x 8 reps 90kg, 1 x 6 100kg, 1 x 6 105
Squats 2 x 8 reps 60kg, 1 x 8 reps 70kg, 1 x 6 reps 75kg

I'll clarify that squats I normally can't do over 60kg because we have no squat rack at work, hence I have to get the weight up above my head and then on my shoulders. The above example was from yesterday cause my two mates were there and could lift it onto my back. Hence usually I'll just do 3 sets at 60kg, then do 3 sets on the leg press machine at 260lbs, followed by a 10 minute ride.

Tuesday night: Judo 1.5 hours
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Usually I'll do some sprints and some light bodyweight exercises.
Friday: As for Monday
Saturday: As for Tuesday
Sunday: 6km run
Monday: Usually rest, maybe do some bagwork
Tuesday: Usually something along the lines of a 15km bike ridein the morning, judo at night
Wednesday: As for Monday the first week
Thursday: As for Tuesday the first week, judo after work
Friday: Judo 2.5 hours (not a super hard class)
Saturday: Depends on what I do with the mrs that day, sometimes no training
Sunday: 6 km run.

So there it is. That's my training cycle every two weeks. Every week I try to add a little more weight on all my sets. Sometimes I can, sometimes not. I really want to tailor my training as much for judo as possible. Already in the past 2 months I have seen huge gains in my strength in the gym and my performance on the mats. What am I doing wrong, and what could I do better? I have been thinking of going to work on my off days to use the gym that has the squat machine since it's in another building. Because 60kg ain't cutting it at the moment.

Thanks again a whole heap for the help you've already given me guys.
Oh and btw, my cal intake for most days hovers around 2000, not including my post workout shake, which is 250 cals.

[BudoMonkey]

Did you see the post I made at all, or are you just going to pretend I never said anything?

See above. 2000 cals= insufficient. Your workout program = ineffective.

Way to kind of **** on me for giving you advice.