Progress from May to September and today's workout

These pictures show my progress from May 10th, 2024 until September 16th, 2024. It's been 11 months since I started my after-40 fitness journey. I've been consistent with my training and diet, excepting August when it was vacation time, having only a couple of workouts with push-ups and crunches, and one workout in the hotel gym. My fitness goal has been to lose extra fat and build muscle simultaneously, and I adjusted my workout and diet plan several times to achieve this goal, and they seem to work.

I was breathing heavily in both pictures as they were taken between sets of a chest workout. The main difference is that I stripped away a couple of pounds of fat while adding more muscle resulting in a smaller waist and broader shoulders. Here's a clearer comparison.



Regarding the workout plan, I've been training more frequently since May, and regarding my diet plan, I've been trying to eat around 100-200 calories over the maintenance needs, not more or less. Also, it's been 10 days since I added 5 grams of creatine daily to my diet. First time I've taken creatine supplements. However, I can't tell how creatine makes a difference yet. In other words, I've been working hard and staying disciplined to get broader shoulders and a smaller waist with less belly fat. Now, comparing these two pictures closely it looks like I'm on the right track.

Today's workout went down like this:

Day #4: Shoulders, Chest, triceps

Monday 16 Sep 2024, 13:29

Stretching
Set 1: 0:05 minutes

Overhead Press (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 20 kg × 15 reps
Set 2: 24 kg × 9 reps [Failure]
Set 3: 24 kg × 6 reps [Failure]
Set 4: 24 kg × 6 reps [Failure]

Lateral Raise (Cable)
Set 1: 15 kg × 12reps 
Set 2: 15 kg × 12reps 
Set 3: 15 kg × 12reps 

Bench Press (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 20 kg × 15reps 
Set 2: 26 kg × 9reps 
Set 3: 26 kg × 6 reps  [Failure]
Set 4: 20 kg × 7 reps  [Failure]
Set 5: 26 kg × 6 reps  [Failure]

Chest Fly (Dumbbell)
Set 1: 16 kg × 12reps 
Set 2: 18 kg × 12reps 
Set 3: 20 kg × 8 reps  [Failure]

Triceps Extension (Barbell)
Set 1: 8 kg × 50 reps  [Warm-up]
Set 2: 28 kg × 12 reps 
Set 3: 33 kg × 9 reps [Failure]
Set 4: 33 kg × 8 reps [Failure]
Set 5: 33 kg × 6 reps [Failure]

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