Alex_uk: 40 years in the making

Training Training Logs
3493

FM w3 d2 - squat 5s

Conditioning: emom 10 mins alternative minutes:
Burpees x 8
KB to over head: 24kg x 3 (each side… obviously)

Skipped the Burpee pull-ups; my elbow is not at all happy.

Squat: 90, 105kg x 5, 115kg x 10

Taking the squats to 10s now and will just ride that until it drops (hopefully not before at least 170kg - 9 more cycles of 531 %'s) - got some niggles in knees, hips and always lower back, don’t want to push this unnecessarily - play the long game. Moved stance in and went further over toes today, to accommodate annoying hip issue.

GS1:
FFESS: 25kg x 8 x 3 sets
GHR: 10 x 3 sets
Ab rollout: 10 X 3 sets
DB ohp: 25kg x 8 x 3 sets

Felt dizzy throughout, running on about 60g protein and maybe 15g of hbcd by this point. Still achievable and still felt like good work.

Gs2:
KB somersault squat: 24kg x 21, 25
Lying cable ham curl: 50kg x 15, 16
Hands back raises: 15, 15
DB Front raise: 10kg x 15, 15

Much better second GS compared to last week KB somersault squat continues to be awesome, controlled breathing better on set 2, the lactate threshold got me that time, handball raises hit the spot, cable ham curls are horrid in the best possible way.

Good session a bit longer needed to recover between sets and sometimes between exercises, fairly gruelling on low cals.

3 Likes
3494

FM w3 d3 ohp - 3s

Morning weight 199.5 - getting real now!

This again, elbow pain didn’t disappear during this time, might be time to use some NSAIDs, might be time to get elbow sleeves as well, I love knee sleeves, hopefully elbow sleeves tick a similar box.

Sandbag to shoulder emom: 75kg x 4 x 4 sets, x 3 x 6 sets

Video for @simo74 definitely harder than over, extra height and extra extension plus I was most only doing a soft catch no resting it up there, even the catch caught me out a few times. Dropped to 3 per round when the catch got uglier. YouTube informs me that it’s blocked in a couple of territories due to copyright, so might not work.

Ohp: 40 x 5, 45, 50kg x 3, 57.5kg x 10

Wanted more but got dizzy very early on, probably psyched myself out, fun mental games going on.

Gs1:
Seated db ohp: 30kg x 10, 10, 10
Chin ups: 8 x 3 sets
Hands back raises:15 x 3
DB btn Tri ext: 10kg x 12 x 3 sets

Good giant set, everything felt like it hit the right level of work and strain Vs my tired and calorie depleted body, pleased to hit 10 reps for each set of the DBs. Allowed a lot more rest than a usual session of this nature.

Gs2:
Btn press: 40kg x 12, 6
Spider squeeze curls: 10kg x 25, 15
Ab rollout: 10 X 2 sets
Tri pulldowns: 40kg x 12, 10

Both sets straight through no rest.

Solid work, considering 2pm and only 60g of protein and 25g hbcd thus far today.

6 Likes
3495

Just watched that while eating my eggs this morning. That was a serious 10 mins of training. The picks and the cleans were really snappy at the start. I smiled every time there was a little pause between reps and you stared the bag down. I know that feeling so well. I could feel the fatigue towards the end and that pause before the last rep was so good. That is the part that tells me all the effective work was done. That last rep was just a little bit of icing

Great work fella. Quality

3496

By chance, are you using whey shakes, since this is v-diet adjacent?

3497

Thanks Simo, definitely effective work done, thanks for giving me the idea to go to shoulder, was definitely a big effort!

Yes, I happen to be also throwing in a scoop of some plant based protein (because it’s thick so keeps me fuller for longer probably brings total protein content to sounds 65g per shake), why’s that?

3498

The whey is most likely why you’re so hungry. The Velocity Diet is meant to be done with Metabolic Drive. That may sound like elitism/brand loyalty, but Metabolic Drive ISN’T pure whey: it’s a blended protein. The other part of it is a casean protein, which is a SLOW digesting protein. Whey is FAST digesting: it’s the big selling point behind it. You can hammer your workout, slam a protein shake to get in a quick jolt of protein, and still be hungry for a post workout meal an hour later. That’s great if you’re a meathead looking to slap on some more muscle, but if you’re trying an all shake based approach to nutrition, you will be STARVING all the time, and and have low energy like you noted, because your body isn’t getting that constant drip feed of protein: it got it all in one shot and that was it.

I’d definitely work to get a blended protein of some variety if I were looking to go this route.

3 Likes
3499

Ah that makes sense, I’d forgotten that MD had casein, and explains the hunger! If happily buy it if it was a legit option in the UK.

I’m generally surviving the days with whey, I’m able to push through for the time being. What’s your thoughts on this, my assumption is if total protein for the day is sufficient, it won’t substantially impact results?

If by the end of the weekend I’m feeling awful, but still thinking to continue for a week or two more I’ll pick some up.

3500

The bro-scientist in me says that this won’t have the muscle sparing effects you’d typically want in a protein sparing modified fast, because it’s like “JOLT OF PROTEIN-starve-starve-starve-JOLT OF PROTEIN-etc” vs a consistent steady release the whole time. Muscle protein synthesis is an ongoing process, and we’d want something to slow down the digestion so that we can keep feeding the muscles through it. I could even see just trying to mix the whey in with some fat free cottage cheese just to get SOME sort of mixture and lower absorption going, although you’ll pick up a few more trace carbs that way.

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3501

I see that, I trust your bro science more than mine - you’ve played this game before and I haven’t, I’ll pick some Casein up asap!

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3502

4kg of casein will be here Friday!

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3503

That sounds like a great fit for any of Brian Alsruhe’s training plans :slight_smile: As you know…

Have you thought about running some dedicated cardio plan alongside the lifting and conditioning? Running, rucking, rowing?

(I’m thinking about it for myself, but have no idea how I’d fit it in.)

3504

Yup, largely how I structure my training anyway, I’m sure dark horse will make another appearance this year and his new 45 masters programme.

Yup, I just never quite get there, it’s one of those things where the actions reveal the true priorities! I want to run tactical barbell base building, I think having it be main work rather than an add on probably make sure it gets done.

That’s the other factor - time; but if its the main part of the program there’s less excuses.

2 Likes
3505

Further to this, I dropped the car off at the garage for some work this morning then walked home, probably a mile, made sure to keep the pace up, but it made me realise how poor my body really is at basic human movement, I know Pwn spoken about this regularly, but honestly it’s pathetic how a short walk felt like something to me - need to remember 3-4 hours of work in the gym doesn’t negate decades of office work and sedentary life, just plain walking needs to be a daily thing.

1 Like
3506

Yup!

Mark Bell is big on the 10 minute walk, and I think it’s a fantastic approach. Get in a 10 minute walk after every meal and you’ll get in 30ish minutes of walking a day. It’s a great start.

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3507

That’s a fantastic starting point even if you’re just doing the main meals, that’s 3.5 hours extra movement a week, such an easy win.

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3508

Yup! To say nothing of all the benefits associated with such a walk. There have been studies showing that a 10 minute walk post eating can be more beneficial to regulating blood sugar levels than medication.

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3509

Just getting to the exercise section of Outlive - Dr Attia is emphatic that exercise is the single most important intervention in human health.

This is absolutely no surprise and yet it’s not something I jumped to do when trying to improve my own blood sugar levels, I made some smart choices, but also then went for the lazier option: finding a pill (berberine), not necessarily a bad choice but just a significantly less beneficial overall and has a cost, the walk would be beneficial in so many diverse ways with zero costs, no unwanted side effects and be very low effort.

Interesting to see my own faulty default actions, now to correct them.

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3510

If you can’t think of anything else, you can use super boring Circuit Training with weights for cardio vascular gains.

You have to go pretty easy on the weights and stick to the prescribed work/rest ratio to keep your heart rate in the CV zone. Then do that for awhile.

3 sessions per week, it only takes a few weeks to get results. Once a week, it might take 5-6 weeks to see the HR drop.

1 Like
3511

Thanks Flats, I’m keen to keep the higher intensity 10 mins at the beginning of each session, and I’m wanting to keep the lifting as is for the time being, which is akin to circuits anyway 2x giant sets per session with about 2/3 mins if rest between each set, but there not light.

There’s no legitimate reasons to not add extra CV work, I’m busy, work family etc, but it’s just excuses, I also recognise that I waste significant amounts of time within a day and 10 min walks a few times a day and/or 30 mins of LISS are certainly doable, need to just commit, stop making excuses and get on with it, and make movement part of living again.

…time to walk back to the garage now!

3512

The Chinese language is full of folk sayings that most average people know, and many of these are related to health. One of my favorite Chinese folk sayings is, “Fan hou bai bu zou, huo dao jiu shi jiu” (飯後百步走，活到九十九). This translates to, “if you take 100 steps after each meal, you’ll live to 99.”

I don’t do it myself (yet?).

I also know the younger generation regularly teases the older generation for all of their “heath advice”.

This whole discussion does have me trying to figure out how to make it work for me. I’m just so tied to a screen during work hours, and busy outside of them. The garage gym works because I can get back to something in seconds/minutes. But I ought to figure out how to spend more time walking outside daily.

1 Like