wmr1980

Well I had to let him pass somehow Where's the video of that? No damage I hope? No damage - I do have the clip, I'll upload it in a bit - can't see much unfortunately, funny as heck though!

Well I had to let him pass somehow

Cars that I could shake: Alfa 147 GTA MX5s BMW Z4 VW R32 Heavily stripped out Saxos Golf GTi Mk3 Ford Fiesta ST Cars that I couldn't shake: BMW M3 Heavily stripped out E36 driven by some madmen () VX220 Mini Cooper GP (bloody fast!) Cars that were much faster than me: Porsche 911 Turbo Porsche 911 GT3 Nissan GTR Silvia S15 BMW M3 CSL Audi R8 I'll think of more later. Here's one vid so far of Will370z and me out on track

I'm gutted - it only recored the start and the end of the E36 run I'm further annoyed as owing to the fact my head was being pushed down from the roof the camera was only recording the dash and hardly anything out of the screen! I'll post what I can once I've got everything in order, I'll post my spin too

Nice to meet you Brillo/Will/Ken - look forward to the next time. Yeah these brakes are pants - something to save up for! Thanks for the ride in the Bimmer - what a fun car! Hope I didn't scare you with my driving! haha!

Just met Ken.

Please do come and say hi if you see me

Buster fitted mine in no time at all, and had to sort out the previous wiring that the previous owner had mangled. Plus I got to chat to other Zed owners, so made it far more fun.

Yup I have! big Scottish strongman - awesome power. I've seen him on BSM and WSM a few times in the past. I used to be outside center but used to be put onto flanker too - I was quite quick too, at the time when playing rugby I was around 100kg so was a rather big outside center! My all time PBs are 160kg bench, 240kg dead and 200kg squat - but having lost a lot of weight, I'm slowly getting back to it, currently around 140/220/180 so nearly back there! I know a few guys that have gone from powerlifting/strength training to bodybuilding - it's a different style of training, but it's amazing what your body can do.

That's awesome work - a few of my friends used to compete in the BNBF Bodybuilding doesn't really do it for me, I prefer power/strength, but I have a huge amount of respect for them (you) all. So much dedication and so much hormonal manipulation / dietary strictness is amazing. Agreed with diet being the main thing behind training, it can either give, or sap your energy and either promote or take away strength/growth. Also 105kg bench is less important, it's all about squats and deadlifts! Good luck with your prep Neil

Having Zeds means we all must have a few loose bits of change no?! For me diet and being healthy is important, and can you afford NOT to? For me it's a priority, I don't smoke, I seldom drink, I don't have sky tv etc... However, I budget, and bulk buy (I bulk buy from butchers - which I've become friendly with and I can get a lot of meat for a good price). My monthly shopping bill (for 2 of us) comes to a maximum of £300 which isn't that much to me in the grand scheme of things. As has been mentioned if you prep the food the night before, or do what I used to do, is cook in bulk on a sunday, put it into tupperware and freeze it you can have week's worth of meals ready to go.

Firstly, there's no such thing as metabolism being too fast or not, in general we're all roughly the same, HOWEVER, your hormonal balance and activity levels can dictate your metabolism's behaviour. In general people just don't eat as much as they think they do. Also packing on 10kg of lean muscle naturally will take years - so don't expect it to happen over night! The key to "diet" is not to regard it as a diet but as a way to live life. I've grown distant from all the @*!# food that exists in the world - refined, processed foods. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy the odd cake, and biscuits etc... however these are the exception to the rule. Golden rule number 1 is to keep away from heavily refined/processed foods. Basically anything that exists naturally and requires no human intervention (other than butchering or picking) is ideal. Now, of course that precludes things like pasta and rice - which I'm not hugely against - so I'm not THAT strict, however, I do keep those to a minimum. Carbs aren't the enemy - but the key is to get your insulin sensitivity to be enhanced - i.e. when you do eat carbs your body processes it more efficiently. Golden rule number 2 - don't follow a fad diet. I don't think things like Atkins, or low carb or high fat or whatever is the answer. The answer, is to follow a lifestyle that you can follow and integrate into your life. Making a conscious effort to eat the "healthier" option. Also not buying treats for the home makes them less accessible. Golden rule number 3 - fats aren't the enemy. I know - it seems completely opposite to what gets bandied around - but they are actually critical to energy, and helping your body use fat as an energy source rather than relying solely on glycogen stores (carb based energy). To turn your body into a fat burning machine, you need to fuel it with the right fats. That's not to say you should eat lumps of butter every day, however, eating say, a tub of ice cream, vs a tub of avocado, let us say the calorie content is the same, the avocado will promote fat loss whereas the ice cream will just cause a massive insulin spike that will promote fat storage. That's what I was talking about insulin sensitivity - if you keep hammering your pancreas it becomes less effective - so keeping it more stable is a far better way of treating your pancreas. Onto diet - how much to eat... This isn't a straight forward question, and a number of things all make up the determining factor of what makes up the answer to that question - Age - Sex - Body type, lean mass vs mass - Hormones - How active are you? - Macronutrient intake Things that are out of your control like age and sex can play a big part, as males typically burn more calories just being alive than females, and older people burn less than younger people. But other things make it up too, and these you can control. Your lean mass, having more muscle mass on your frame will cause your body to burn more calories even when you're doing nothing. Your hormone levels (some of this you can't control, but diet and exercise play a part in regulating hormone levels) and your activity level. There are many online calculators that you can use, but avoid these as a lot are hardcoded with values that don't relate to your particular circumstances. And will probably over estimate what you need. Some of the calculations you can use are as follows: http://en.wikipedia....nedict_equation Probably the most commonly used method, but it is also notoriously inaccurate, I'd avoid using this unless you are totally unaware of your bodyfat and lean weight. If you do know these, use the next one For MEN: BMR = 66 + [13.7 x weight (kg)] + [5 x height (cm)] - [6.76 x age (years)] For WOMEN: BMR = 655 + [9.6 x weight (kg)] + [1.8 x height (cm)] - [4.7 x age (years)] Katch-McArdle This is far more accurate as it uses your own bodyfat and lean bodymass measurements to calculate the intake - to get those measured you need to speak to a health advisor/doctor - do not use those digital scales they're rubbish and inaccurate. Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) = 370 + (21.6 x LBM) Where Lean Bodymass = [total weight (kg) x (100 - bodyfat %)]/100 So using one of the above will give you your BMR, this is what you use just by being alive and your body running so to speak, but now you need to factor in your activity level. Which we will then use as a multiplier against your BMR. To calculate this multiplier we must determine the following: 1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise and desk job) 1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week) 1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week) 1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week) 1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job) Match yourself against one of the above and multiply your BMR by that number. Remember, be honest with yourself. If you have an office job but work out 3-4 times a week, that doesn't necessarily mean you're Moderately Active. You might be bordering between the two, but remember, if you're dishonest on this part, you're going to be eating more than you need to be which will ruin your progress to your goals The key thing to remember with whatever number is eventually calculated, is these are estimates, they might use some science and individual measurements, but they are still estimates, and therefore shouldn't be treated as a concrete number. Be prepared to adjust and tweak this number. My advice to you is to give yourselves 2-3 weeks at this number, if you're gaining/losing too much weight, tweak it. However don't just chop off 1000 calories do it gradually, literally a couple of hundred calories a day). Anyway.... so you have a number, say 2800, now what? Well it depends on what you want to do. So if you're trying to lose weight, take 2800 and remove 10-15% from it, so 2520 or 2380. Again this should give you a healthy weight loss amount per week. However, these percentages can be increased or decreased as much as you like depending on how quickly or slowly you want to achieve your goals. But the optimal amount is 10-15% So breaking down the calories - I mentioned these in the golden rules above... Don't base these amounts on percentages, your body has no idea of what percentages it really wants or needs, so just make sure the end totals match the requirements for you. And as long as you do that, they'll work, it really is that simple Protein! My favourite! Aim for about 1g per lb of bodyweight. Ideally this should be per lb of lean body weight, but if you don't know this then it's not going to be a huge problem for doing total weight. However if you've used the Katch-McArdle method above you should know your LBM http://i.imgur.com/g00k2.png Some sources of protein. Carbs always get a bad rep, they're the first point of blame when people are dieting or putting on too much weight. But eating carbs, and the right carbs can be beneficial to your goals, both gaining and losing weight Carbs give you the energy to have intense workouts or do high amounts of exercise. As I mentioned before they're not the enemy but should be from good sources if you're going to have them (remember the refined discussion I said). Aim for wholegrain foods - and "organic" if you can, oats and other stuff low on the http://en.wikipedia....index"]glycemic index[/url] (GI). The thing to remember with carbs is they are split into two categories at a basic level, Complex and Simple Carbohydrates. Complex carbs such as the ones I mentioned earlier are digested at a much slower rate, keeping you fuller for longer and giving a much more stable and steady flow of energy. Simple carbs, while deliver the same amount of energy per gram, are digested at a much faster pace and deliver an immediate boost in blood sugar and energy, but it wears off quickly. Meaning you feel hungrier sooner and your energy falls quicker. Hence why keeping away from sugar and refined carbs is important. If you consider yourself highly active, 3g per lb of lean bodyweight, moderate 2g and less active 1g. Again very approximate figures. As mentioned, these get a bad rep, people assume because of the name that fats make you fat. But only the wrong kinds (trans fats are the worst kind) Fats are crucial to regulating hormone levels, as well as aiding the body to actually burn fat. So these are a must in the diet. Saturated fats are important too, but again these are something that must be had in moderation The types of fats you need to know about are Saturated Fats, Monounsaturated Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats and Trans Fatty Acids. Sat fats: Usually found in food from animals (meat, butter, cream etc), they yield more energy than unsaturated fats however are linked to higher cholesterol levels and heart diseases. However, please don't shy away from Saturated fats, as a certain amount is important in your diet. For men, you should be eating no more than 30g per day of saturated fats, for woman, 20g Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats: Found in plants, oils, cereal grains and fish oils. These are the good fats and you should be making up most of your fat intake from these. They are good for a number of reasons, two of these being Omega 3 and Omega 6. The oils and cereal grains provide Omega-6. The body uses the Omega-6 fatty acids to make hormone like substances called eicosanoids. These provide a number of functions including muscle contraction/relaxation, blood vessel constriction/relaxation, immune response to injury and infection. They also help to lower LDL cholesterol, the bad kind. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils help with the brains cerebral cortex development and retinal development for vision. There are also a number of health benefits from Omega-3 fatty acids, including a healthier heart which is always a good thing and healthy joints. A number of studies also show Omega-3 fatty acids help with fat burning and minimising the effect of catabolism. Trans Fatty Acids: Most of the nasty nasty fatty acids are the result of industrial hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fats. These fats are bad because not only do they massively raise the bad cholesterol, LDL, they also reduce the HDL levels of cholesterol too, the good kind. Margarine is a source of trans fats, so be careful if you use margarine. Typically you want to aim for 0.45-0.8g per pound of total body weight, however if you are of a high bodyfat percentage, you want this to be per LEAN pound of bodyweight. And remember, make sure it's made up of mostly good fats and not bad fats. Now a lot of people will tell you that you should eat every 3 hours to keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders. This isn't proven to be completely true, but mainly because eating smaller meals this often will keep you from being hungry like you potentially would be on a diet consisting of just 3 bigger meals. It will help you from being tempted to pick at junk food and it will just keep you feeling fuller longer. Aim for 6 small meals a day, with a couple of them just being nothing more than snacks if you like (handful of nuts/mixed fruit or something). However, if it doesn't fit into your lifestyle, eating 3 square meals a day is fine - just be aware of the snacks you eat! Grazing style suits me, it might not suit you. There are a number of different dieting methods however that encourage you to break this tradition and I encourage you to look into them, but ultimately it is down to calories in vs calories out. If you miss a meal and are short on your macros, don't eat for the sake of it. Junk food will have some nutrients but also a lot of bad stuff too. Don't worry too much, remember, your macros average out across the week. If you're at work and eating is a problem, buy a bag of nuts/dried fruit, or make some snacks you can pick at the night before. And just eat when you can, but don't think that making up for not being able to eat quality food by eating junk is the same thing Breakfast - I can't stress enough just how crucial a good breakfast is for anyone, no matter what the goal is. Be it gaining mass, or training for a marathon. A good healthy breakfast will kick start your metabolism, give you the energy for the day ahead and just general give you a better start to the day in my opinion. It doesn't have to be much either, find something that fits with your macros and make it something you enjoy. If you are short on time, make a smoothie the night before and have it in the morning, but I think it's a pretty special circumstance when you don't have time to fuel your body for the day ahead Carbs before bed.... No not really, infact several studies have shown carbs in the evening can actually aid weight loss. But as with most things related to diets, it's unproven either way. You can have carbs after 6, just keep them sensible and keep them good. If they fit with your remaining macros, eat it and enjoy it What bout drinking? This is also an important part of the dieting process. Being dehydrated will leave you feeling lethargic and in no mood to do any form of exercise. I personally need or feel most comfortable when I'm drinking at least 4 litres of water a day, but I'm no nutritionist and everyone is different, so you can take or add to that as much as you want. Just make sure that when you're going to the toilet, you're weeing a nice straw colour every time. If you're doing that, you're hydrated and all is well Alcohol is the killer - that will undo all the hard work you do. Use an app like myfitnesspal to track calories - knowing how much you eat is critical to making changes/improvements. You need to benchmark. Onto me. I eat around 2,600 - 2,800 calories a day depending on if I hit the gym or not - when I hit the gym and because I do VERY intensive exercise (powerlifting / strongman training mainly), I need to bolster the calories to recover. Food is fuel but it also aids recovery and fixes your muscles that you actually tear when you exercise. You also grow/recover when you sleep. Also doing something like HIIT (high intensity interval training) which is literally a 10 minute blast can push your heart into the fat burning zone for longer and up to 24hrs after the exercise. I generally do skipping, and I skip like a mofo for 30s - then rest for 30s - then skip for 30s and rest. But it's not just an idle skip, it literally is going as fast as I can. I do this 10-12 times (i.e. 10 skips and 10 rests). The alternative is to do hill sprints. I measure out 30m, and then sprint up as fast as possible. Take 90s rest as you're walking back down, and sprint back up again. 10-12 times. It puts your heart in the lactate point - and just helps puts your body into a fat burning state. Look up HIIT online for some examples. The key, is that it must be 90%+ intensity - i.e. really go balls out. However these are done on "off" days or days when I cannot get to the gym. A typical day for me is like this. Breakfast: 2 eggs fried in coconut oil or poached Smoked haddock fillet Handful of blueberries Sometimes a small bowl of porridge (no sugar - but I use cinnamon) with blue berries. Snack: ~70g of mixed unroasted nuts apple Lunch: Spinach cucumber cherry tomatoes large chicken breast lardons pine nuts olive oil more fruits Before gym: banana coffee Post gym: if I'm having dinner later I have a protein shake Dinner: fish/chicken/lamb/pork/beef (though we have fish a lot) mixture of vegetables (the vegetables take up over 1/2 the plate) That's it - sometimes I add some cous cous, or wild rice with dinner depending on the dish and if it fits with it. That works out to anything between 2,600 to 2,800 calories. I sometimes go in excess of 3000 but only if I know I'm going to be doing some intense exercise or if I want to enjoy myself! Everything in moderation.... However I do not eat manufactured bread, hardly drink any milk, I don't have sugar or treats, I do not eat white refined carbs. If I'm hungry and want to snack, I'll have an egg, or some nuts, or a protein shake (just because it's convenient). I don't eat any refined foods basically. IF I'm losing weight and I want to put some more on, I eat more. I also work VERY hard in the gym - and I need the calories to help recover. If you're not interested in the gym, you don't' have to go - but doing some exercise, even bodyweight stuff is good - you want to improve your core and boost your lean muscle mass. However to accelerate fat loss, doing exercise is important - as doing exercises boosts your metabolism - it fires it up. Remember when we were hunter gatherers, we'd eat, then spend days hunting and fasting eating berries, leaves and nuts until we found a wilder beast to eat - then hunt, and gorge ourselves (we didn't have fridges ). Some people follow a lifestyle called intermittent fasting - whereby you fast for 16hrs, then eat all your calories in an 8hr window. So go to bed , and then don't; eat until lunch time - which goes against the eat breakfast rule - but that would effectively be your breakfast - and you'd still have your 3 meals a day but in a shorter time period. I personally don't like it, I like to eat when I'm hungry - but I'm not a hunter gatherer, I'm after strength and power so I need my calories, I know I;m going to have a meal soon, so I don't need to worry about where my food is coming from. For exercises, there are plenty of routines out there, stronglifts, starting strength, Wendler 5/3/1. DC training, HST - but they all can be fairly advanced, Stronglifts 5x5 is a good starting block. I can help you figure out a routine if you want. Happy to offer more help in terms of exercise/nutrition/training etc... My background is a decade in rugby, 1/2 a dozen years coaching strength and conditoning, and I just love lifting weights! I'm not huge, I'm just reasonably lean, and reasonably strong. (6'1", 13% BF, 92.5kg)

The best colour.

Try not to lap me too many times I weigh 15st and will be carrying a passenger The Zed is fat enough!

I've got an action cam strapped to my helmet from previous track days, so hopefully will be able to share some footage with you guys. My friend's M3 is faster, and it's not a race however, I just hope I can outpace those saxos! Bedford is a great track, and for £89 it was a steal.

That'll be me. it would be nice to see some other Zeds there. A friend who has the m3 will be going too. Bloody early start but the weather looks like it may hold out.

Welcome and enjoy!

Ooh interesting.... Great job, and great to see this community so alive and helpful.

A friend has a xkr and it is immense. The torque the power the speed and the sound, the looks! I don't think I could live with a diesel again though... Which is why they've insulated it so well, so you can't hear it!

It's a lot more raw, yes the engine, but it's also far more dedicated as a sports car - I'd rather do a London to Monte Carlo trip in the zed than in the s2000. But on a track? There's not much in it at all. The s2000 is lighter more agile, stops quicker. The zed whilst a heavy lump still can keep it at bay, but there's little in it. Impressive considering what the s2000 is. I put an s2000 in the same boat as an Elise and Mx5 and Mr2 sort of "package". I'd choose the zed every time over those, but that's because that's what I'm interested in. But it's subjective to what you're after and how you see things I guess. I c an understand people putting them in the same category, but I personally don't see it that way.

That said... I'd have a zed over an Astra. They're just lovely machines, lots of useable torque, the correct wheels drive the car forward and they look great and are rare enough that you don't see another one on the road very often. Ultimately it's what you want from a car. There will always be something faster, better, cooler etc... I'm happy with the knowledge that my zed is reasonably quick, quick enough to get into trouble quickly, quick enough to overtake safely, and comfortable enough to drive for hours in joy. And they sound awesome. Now if only they made a v8 version......

Doesn't surprise me it was so close the zed isn't that fast or a 0-60 machine really.

In my opinion the s2000 is a much more focused/dedicated sports car compared to the zed. Not in the same league really.

I don't see the 350 as a sports car. It's too heavy and not Focused enough. It's a sporting GT, a fantastic GT at that. But not a sports car.

I enjoy a drink from time to time, but that's exactly my point. If it's an effort, then you have to evaluate what relationship you have with alcohol. If you really are as addicted as you say you are, then it will be a challenge, and I genuinely wish you all the best. However, I also hope that it allows you to improve your relationship with alcohol allowing you to take a step away from it in the future. You will improve your health and life. But I'm a gym and nutrition/fitness bore - so I see things differently, I mean no disrespect or ill will.