EyeDentist, How Do You Train?

Training
321

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]JR249 wrote:
EyeDentist,

I’m just curious, have you tried other approaches to carb consumption and found them to be inferior to your CBL/timed CHO consumption protocol?

I ask only because there is so much conflicting information, and individual results do vary, so I’m usually interested in controlled, anecdotal results that individuals have actually seen happen firsthand, since I think those are oftentimes valid observations despite a potential lack of scientific, peer-reviewed studies affirming such results.

At the end of the day, the general mantra here on T-Nation seems to be that ultimately total calorie intake is what matters, and not so much the timing of macronutrient consumption of a certain caliber, or perhaps even what ratio of carbs to fats comprise those calories, as long as a certain ‘energy in vs energy out’ balance is adhered to (note: I know that the CBL approach has its fans). This seems to suggest to me that most argue the role of insulin is overstated in light of what ultimately boils down to total caloric intake; whether that be true or not is another topic for debate.

Has your observation with your own physique suggested otherwise to you?[/quote]

I’m so glad you asked this, because it provides me an opportunity to clear up a potential misunderstanding concerning the approach I’ve been following these past few years.

Now the practical: Even if my approach yields NO metabolic benefits above-and-beyond the caloric deficit it produces, I would still maintain there are benefits accruing to it. In my experience, the chief such benefit is the structure and constraints the diet provides regarding what to eat and when to eat it. As we all know, dieting is hard–and the leaner you become, the harder it gets. By, in a sense, making many of my food decisions for me, this diet does away with a potential pitfall into which many a diet has stumbled. I find it HUGELY helpful that I don’t have to decide what I’m going to have for breakfast. I find it HUGELY helpful that I don’t have to decide when I’m going to have carbs. By taking such decisions out of my hands, my diet obviates the potentially diet-busting stress such decisions can produce.[/quote]

Decision making fatigue is a real thing. So cool you brought it up. It’s something I’ve run into without knowing and compensated. When I truly want to diet taking all decisions out of it helps so much for me. I eat basically the same copy and pasted each day. No thinking just do it. I still love it because I cook well and the food sure is chicken and rice but it’s declisous. I do the same with clothes. Have a couple outfits and just pick one each day no thinking. It’s just done. Leaves me power to make better decisions. Time ferris has a great podcast on it for anyone interested

322

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
I do the same with clothes. Have a couple outfits and just pick one each day no thinking. It’s just done. Leaves me power to make better decisions. Time ferris has a great podcast on it for anyone interested [/quote]

Steve Jobs, Jim Harbaugh, Einstein, and Mark Zuckerberg all have said they weear the same thing every day so they have more time/energy to spend on more important things.

Barack Obama: “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions.

323

Good points/perspectives, ryan and DrP.

324

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
I do the same with clothes. Have a couple outfits and just pick one each day no thinking. It’s just done. Leaves me power to make better decisions. Time ferris has a great podcast on it for anyone interested [/quote]

Steve Jobs, Jim Harbaugh, Einstein, and Mark Zuckerberg all have said they weear the same thing every day so they have more time/energy to spend on more important things.

Barack Obama: “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions.
[/quote]

Yeah they have done some interesting studies on it

ED if you are bored and interested you may like them since I know you enjoy the details of things

325

Two questions not previously addressed to my knowledge:

  1. View on taking off-days? Do you take them ever?

  2. Why do you jog instead of doing incline treadmill? Same or similar calorie burn over the course of an hour if you go roughly 4.25mph at a 7 or 8% incline as running for an hour, with less injury risk. It’s the risk of injury that makes me hesitate to start running again (lol despite loving to lift now, I was once a 3:05 marathoner–similar college experience to yours)

326

[quote]MinusTheColon wrote:
Two questions not previously addressed to my knowledge:

  1. View on taking off-days? Do you take them ever?
    [/quote]

I didn’t take any for the longest time. However, now that I’m working Legs again, I take off the next day, as I’m too wiped out and gimpy to do meaningful cardio (and would probably injure myself if I tried). I’m only working Legs once every nine days, so that’s how often I take a day off.

[quote]
2. Why do you jog instead of doing incline treadmill? Same or similar calorie burn over the course of an hour if you go roughly 4.25mph at a 7 or 8% incline as running for an hour, with less injury risk. It’s the risk of injury that makes me hesitate to start running again (lol despite loving to lift now, I was once a 3:05 marathoner–similar college experience to yours)[/quote]

If you could run a 3:05 marathon, I’d say our college experiences weren’t all that similar! That’s an impressive accomplishment.

You’re right, incline walking is probably a wiser choice than jogging. And when my calf is acting up, treadmill walking is my LISS of choice. I just find it so gawd-awful BORING–an hour on the treadmill feels like three to me.

327

Something I have been wondering since reading earlier posts. Studies show that there is not a big insulin spike when consuming artificial sweeteners or it would take a large amount for any real effect.

However, the first ingredients in many sweeteners is not artificial, Splenda for instance lists dextrose and maltodextrin before sucralose would this not cause insulin spikes?

328

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
I can’t imagine celery would be a problem–it’s basically cellulose-on-a-stick. If I could stand the stuff, I’d eat it too.[/quote]

Celery’s certainly on that list of “negative kcal” foods that provide less energy than what gets spent digesting em. (maybe it’s not strictly true, but the point remains)

Whole pickles (in a cultured brine, preferably) also on that list.

329

[quote]chillain wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
I can’t imagine celery would be a problem–it’s basically cellulose-on-a-stick. If I could stand the stuff, I’d eat it too.[/quote]

Celery’s certainly on that list of “negative kcal” foods that provide less energy than what gets spent digesting em. (maybe it’s not strictly true, but the point remains)

Whole pickles (in a cultured brine, preferably) also on that list.

[/quote]

Yup. Pickles are on my list of carb-free foods. One of my staple low-carb meals consists of hamburgers (made with 96/4 lean ground beef) served on pan-toasted low-carb tortillas, and garnished with sliced pickles and banana peppers (another essentially carb/cal free food).

330

[quote]maverick88 wrote:
Something I have been wondering since reading earlier posts. Studies show that there is not a big insulin spike when consuming artificial sweeteners or it would take a large amount for any real effect.

However, the first ingredients in many sweeteners is not artificial, Splenda for instance lists dextrose and maltodextrin before sucralose would this not cause insulin spikes?[/quote]

It is my understanding that most artificial sweeteners (including sucralose) have a glycemic index of 0; ie, do not raise BG. However, as I mentioned above, there is evidence that a sweet taste in the mouth can provoke insulin release (the so-called CPIR).

OTOH, substances added to artificial sweeteners (eg, the maltodextrin added to sucralose to create Splenda in granulated form) can provoke insulin release by raising blood glucose.

I suspect Spidey knows more about this than I do; maybe he can expand on all this.

331

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]JR249 wrote:
EyeDentist,

I’m just curious, have you tried other approaches to carb consumption and found them to be inferior to your CBL/timed CHO consumption protocol?

I ask only because there is so much conflicting information, and individual results do vary, so I’m usually interested in controlled, anecdotal results that individuals have actually seen happen firsthand, since I think those are oftentimes valid observations despite a potential lack of scientific, peer-reviewed studies affirming such results.

At the end of the day, the general mantra here on T-Nation seems to be that ultimately total calorie intake is what matters, and not so much the timing of macronutrient consumption of a certain caliber, or perhaps even what ratio of carbs to fats comprise those calories, as long as a certain ‘energy in vs energy out’ balance is adhered to (note: I know that the CBL approach has its fans). This seems to suggest to me that most argue the role of insulin is overstated in light of what ultimately boils down to total caloric intake; whether that be true or not is another topic for debate.

Has your observation with your own physique suggested otherwise to you?[/quote]

I’m so glad you asked this, because it provides me an opportunity to clear up a potential misunderstanding concerning the approach I’ve been following these past few years.

Now the practical: Even if my approach yields NO metabolic benefits above-and-beyond the caloric deficit it produces, I would still maintain there are benefits accruing to it. In my experience, the chief such benefit is the structure and constraints the diet provides regarding what to eat and when to eat it. As we all know, dieting is hard–and the leaner you become, the harder it gets. By, in a sense, making many of my food decisions for me, this diet does away with a potential pitfall into which many a diet has stumbled. I find it HUGELY helpful that I don’t have to decide what I’m going to have for breakfast. I find it HUGELY helpful that I don’t have to decide when I’m going to have carbs. By taking such decisions out of my hands, my diet obviates the potentially diet-busting stress such decisions can produce.[/quote]

Decision making fatigue is a real thing. So cool you brought it up. It’s something I’ve run into without knowing and compensated. When I truly want to diet taking all decisions out of it helps so much for me. I eat basically the same copy and pasted each day. No thinking just do it. I still love it because I cook well and the food sure is chicken and rice but it’s declisous. I do the same with clothes. Have a couple outfits and just pick one each day no thinking. It’s just done. Leaves me power to make better decisions. Time ferris has a great podcast on it for anyone interested [/quote]

I totally do that too. Never really thought about it til now. My girlfriend thinks it’s hilarious. I buy like 5 of the same t shirt in different colours, always buy my jeans from the same shop in the same style, have like 4 of the same hoodies in different colours, etc etc etc

Just seemed like a logical way to do things

332

[quote]Yogi wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]JR249 wrote:
EyeDentist,

I’m just curious, have you tried other approaches to carb consumption and found them to be inferior to your CBL/timed CHO consumption protocol?

I ask only because there is so much conflicting information, and individual results do vary, so I’m usually interested in controlled, anecdotal results that individuals have actually seen happen firsthand, since I think those are oftentimes valid observations despite a potential lack of scientific, peer-reviewed studies affirming such results.

At the end of the day, the general mantra here on T-Nation seems to be that ultimately total calorie intake is what matters, and not so much the timing of macronutrient consumption of a certain caliber, or perhaps even what ratio of carbs to fats comprise those calories, as long as a certain ‘energy in vs energy out’ balance is adhered to (note: I know that the CBL approach has its fans). This seems to suggest to me that most argue the role of insulin is overstated in light of what ultimately boils down to total caloric intake; whether that be true or not is another topic for debate.

Has your observation with your own physique suggested otherwise to you?[/quote]

I’m so glad you asked this, because it provides me an opportunity to clear up a potential misunderstanding concerning the approach I’ve been following these past few years.

Now the practical: Even if my approach yields NO metabolic benefits above-and-beyond the caloric deficit it produces, I would still maintain there are benefits accruing to it. In my experience, the chief such benefit is the structure and constraints the diet provides regarding what to eat and when to eat it. As we all know, dieting is hard–and the leaner you become, the harder it gets. By, in a sense, making many of my food decisions for me, this diet does away with a potential pitfall into which many a diet has stumbled. I find it HUGELY helpful that I don’t have to decide what I’m going to have for breakfast. I find it HUGELY helpful that I don’t have to decide when I’m going to have carbs. By taking such decisions out of my hands, my diet obviates the potentially diet-busting stress such decisions can produce.[/quote]

Decision making fatigue is a real thing. So cool you brought it up. It’s something I’ve run into without knowing and compensated. When I truly want to diet taking all decisions out of it helps so much for me. I eat basically the same copy and pasted each day. No thinking just do it. I still love it because I cook well and the food sure is chicken and rice but it’s declisous. I do the same with clothes. Have a couple outfits and just pick one each day no thinking. It’s just done. Leaves me power to make better decisions. Time ferris has a great podcast on it for anyone interested [/quote]

I totally do that too. Never really thought about it til now. My girlfriend thinks it’s hilarious. I buy like 5 of the same t shirt in different colours, always buy my jeans from the same shop in the same style, have like 4 of the same hoodies in different colours, etc etc etc

Just seemed like a logical way to do things[/quote]

Along those lines…

  1. I wear a specific shirt-shorts combo for each of my workouts (ie, Push, Pull, Legs, KB, etc). I never wear those shirts and/or shorts any other time–they are for workouts, and for workouts only. So, no decisions are involved when dressing to work out.

  2. I wear shirt-and-tie to work every day (except surgery days, when I wear scrubs). At this point, I have a fairly extensive collection of ties. (At 52, I’ve been through a lot of birthdays and Father’s Days, know what I mean?) I keep my ties on a tie-carousel, and ‘select’ my tie for the day by simply working my way around the carousel–so again, no actual decision is involved. (BTW, I have enough ties to where it takes a long time to make a full ‘revolution’ around the carousel, so no one at work has picked up on the fact that I always wear them in the same order. I think.)

333

What speed and incline do you do incline treadmill at?

I think I approach incline treadmill too aggressively: I usually start at the 8% incline and 4.0mph and end at the same incline at about 4.3-4.4mph. Seems like most stick with the 3.6mph area.

334

[quote]MinusTheColon wrote:
What speed and incline do you do incline treadmill at?

I think I approach incline treadmill too aggressively: I usually start at the 8% incline and 4.0mph and end at the same incline at about 4.3-4.4mph. Seems like most stick with the 3.6mph area.[/quote]

2.5 MPH @15%

335

Hah Jesus, I can imagine how that would drive you nuts. And I’d imagine the treadmill would look more like a stairstepper!

336

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

I agree: Other than heavy OHP (of which I am not a fan either), shoulder exercises by and large are not amenable to the overload approach to progression. Instead, the key I think is the thoughtful application of volume/pump training, along with the judicious use of intensification techniques (dropsets, forced reps, etc).

One of the intriguing traits of the delts is that all three heads are amenable to being worked with either ‘push’ movements or ‘pull’ movements. This trait facilitates flexibility and creativity regarding how, and how frequently, delts can be trained. (I wrote about this previously, so please forgive if this is old news.)

For example, one way to emphasize lagging delts would be via increasing the frequency with which they are trained. This could be accomplished by exploiting their push/pull characteristics in the context of a Push/Legs/Pull split; specifically:

Day 1: Push day: Chest, Push Delts, Tris
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Pull day: Lats, Pull Delts, Bis
Day 4: Off

Note this split results in Delts being worked every other day.

‘Push’ delt exercises:
Anterior head: Press (I prefer seated DBs, nonlock style. Note that the pressing movement can be done last, to minimize the amount of weight needed for effective stimulation)
Medial head: Glass-style laterals (with DBs, bands, etc)
Posterior head: Rear-delt laterals with thumbs pointed downward; band pullbacks (band is fixed belt-high; stand facing the fixation point; arms are kept nearly straight, and the handles are pulled back and slightly away from the midline)

‘Pull’ delt exercises:
Anterior head: Front raises (with DBs, bands, etc)
Medial head: SGHP; wide-grip upright rows (bar, DB, bands); regular-style lateral raises
Posterior head: Haney rows; face pulls

(BTW, I’m not suggesting that every exercise be performed at every workout–just providing multiple exercise options.)

While some of these exercises can be done in an overload fashion (SGHPs come to mind in this regard), most should be trained in a high-rep ‘pump’ fashion. (In his workout plan for me, I recall JM urging me to “burn the hell” out of my rear delts with high-rep sets.) Might even think in terms of TUT rather than reps per se.

If you were to hit your delts like this, they couldn’t help but blow up. So don’t come crying to me if you have to turn sideways to get through your front door![/quote]

I appreciate this man. I’ll definitely incorporate much of this into my training, in hopes to get some growth.

Do you ever incorporate any ‘progression’ models into your lifting? As in upping the volume for weeks at a time and then going back down, or having your main movement change week to week as in 3x8, to 4x6, to 5x5?

337

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
Coffee is a great appetite suppressant, and is critical for getting me through my daily pre-workout Fat phase–if it weren’t for coffee, I’d probably eat twice as much PB as I do. And decaf is vital to getting me through those long, hungry evenings on my low carb/cal days. As John Kiefer (the Carb Backloading guy) says, anyone trying to get lean should ‘Make coffee your bitch.’
[/quote]

Hey EyeDentist, awesome thread. I’ve taken so much from it so I thought I’d offer a meager suggestion in return (lol)! Just ignore the rest of the post if you’d rather just stick with Splenda and Creamer…

It took me about two months to ease into drinking coffee black (was a 2014 goal). I’ve found the roast is by far the most important factor. Light roast is the way to go, imo, especially at first. The brand can also be an important factor. I really like the bullet proof coffee brand (I think it actually changed names recently), but if you prefer brands you can pick up in stores then Starbucks “Blonde” roast is really good and I personally like Dunkin’s lighter roasts as well.

On that note, time for an afternoon cup of Joe!

338

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]MinusTheColon wrote:
What speed and incline do you do incline treadmill at?

I think I approach incline treadmill too aggressively: I usually start at the 8% incline and 4.0mph and end at the same incline at about 4.3-4.4mph. Seems like most stick with the 3.6mph area.[/quote]

2.5 MPH @15%
[/quote]

Ever had an exercise stress test?

339

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]MinusTheColon wrote:
What speed and incline do you do incline treadmill at?

I think I approach incline treadmill too aggressively: I usually start at the 8% incline and 4.0mph and end at the same incline at about 4.3-4.4mph. Seems like most stick with the 3.6mph area.[/quote]

2.5 MPH @15%
[/quote]

Ever had an exercise stress test?[/quote]

When I was 27, I was noted to have an irregular heartbeat. As part of a (very thorough) cardiac workup, I underwent a Bruce protocol. The cardiologist stopped the test at 19 minutes. (In fairness, I probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer.)

340

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]MinusTheColon wrote:
What speed and incline do you do incline treadmill at?

I think I approach incline treadmill too aggressively: I usually start at the 8% incline and 4.0mph and end at the same incline at about 4.3-4.4mph. Seems like most stick with the 3.6mph area.[/quote]

2.5 MPH @15%
[/quote]

Ever had an exercise stress test?[/quote]

When I was 27, I was noted to have an irregular heartbeat. As part of a (very thorough) cardiac workup, I underwent a Bruce protocol. The cardiologist stopped the test at 19 minutes. (In fairness, I probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer.)
[/quote]

Made to 18 wanted to go more but my calves were literally gonna burst. That is some incline