july 7 pics
Posing Coach on Board
I attended the California Natural Muscle Mayhem in July. I had my first Skype posing session with 3DMJ coach Jeff Alberts shortly after that so those July pics reflect slowly learning how to pose.
Still a long ways to go on that front. Will report more on macro adjustments in August, where my current macros are, and my integration of a 1/wk reefed day I started yesterday. All coming soon…
Finally Caught up - Recap Up to August 24 2013
Weigh Ins
206.2 1-Aug
204.8 2-Aug
204.6 3-Aug
204.8 4-Aug
205.8 5-Aug
204 6-Aug
203.6 7-Aug
204 8-Aug
204.8 9-Aug
203.8 10-Aug
201.6 11-Aug
204 12-Aug
205 13-Aug
204.8 14-Aug
205.2 15-Aug
203.8 16-Aug
202.8 17-Aug
205 18-Aug
204.6 19-Aug
205 20-Aug
204 21-Aug
202.8 22-Aug
203 23-Aug
202.4 24-Aug
Macros as of August 24
So I’ve def been slacking on documenting my macro changes. I eat pretty similar on the daily so they’ve been being implemented, I just have not been getting around to updating my spreadsheet. Finally ran the numbers today and here’s where I’m at - I’ll discuss my newly implemented refeed in just a sec:
Lower
Fat 71, Pro 395, Carb 405
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Fat 71, Pro 395, Carb 405, Total Kcals: 3862
Other Training Day
Fat 71, Pro 394, Carb 389, Total Kcals: 3802
Back/Shoulders/Tris
Fat 71, Pro 394, Carb 389, Total Kcals: 3802 +1,00 kcal refeed
Off Day
Fat 105, Pro 326, Carb 268, Total Kcals: 3418
Alright so there it is is. Numbers still pretty high for this stage to most, but this is super low for me. I have not been anywhere close to this intake in honestly probably 12+ years. No joke. I am very hungry on off days. Anyways, so my weight in July and August has been yoyoing in an incredibly predictable pattern week in week out. Everytime I have my low intake days it follows by goin up a couple pounds and then everytime I have my higher intake days when I train it goes down a couple pounds, but never to new lows.
During this 4-5 week time period I systemetically cut about 20g of carbs each week. Looked a little leaner in the mirror, but no notable scale changes. Thus, I read this as my body starting to get stubborn and fight back. I know, I know my intake looks high, but I’d been contemplating a refeed day since the start of August. I purposely waited till I stuck out a week more weeks of carb cuts just to make sure and after no scale movement I implemented it this past Wednesday. This brought me back to my previous low os 202.8 (aside from that one fluke 201 day). Now today I hit a new low of 202.4. I am confident it was the right decision.
So today I implemented yet another 20 g carb cut to arrive at the numbers you see above. Since I prepare almost all my food at the start of the week it’s easier for me to just continue on as normal for the refeed day then I just tally up an extra 1,000 kcal at my discretion. Mostly from carbs, but kind of whatever Im feeling. This past week I got that extra 1,000 kcal from nature valley bars, leftover airplane biscoff cookies, and a mini low-fat calzone i made from scratch. was a refreshing break mentally, but as I said I really think physiologically it was needed at this point to break the cycle. Will do a vlog on how I recently adjusted my training split to get the most out of my dwindling macros.
Cardio
Now doing four 4 minute elliptical breaks with 5 HIIT intervals in each on all training days. On all off days I do 6 4 minute breaks in the same fashion. Each break is done in set fashion. That is, broken into 2 minute segments each with 2.5 HIIT intervals. I take like a 30 sec breather in between each. If I sound like an idiot for this method that’s fine, make your own call, but if you’re interested in why I like it I explain in my video log earlier in this journal. While it may seem like a pansy move it makes cardio much more bearable but most importanly I can tolerate a much higher volume of HIIT every week and breaking it up like this allows me to never do cardio in an extensively fasted state. I always take my 4 min breaks right before or right after a meal.
Progress Pics
None to share just thisi sec. I explained in an earlier entry how I like to take my progress photos always under the same conditions lighting and physiologically. Those conditions will be coming up in the early part of this week. Also need to catch up on shaving , but should have some pics to share soon, hopefully the changes are noticeable.
here’s my next prep vlog talking about the importance of SLEEP! and then some random and honestly, but disclaimer, they’re weird haha, tips on how I’ve found ways to be more productive during prep when it gets so busy
August 26
prep vlog 6 muscle beach footage with voiceover about how i readjusted my split and food intake to better fuel training and minimize the effect of future cuts on my energy while training.
as explained earlier in this log i typically shy away from pinning down each weekday and weekend day as a certain training day. i just have ranges of days i allow between training each bodypart. as food has gotten lower i’ve readjusted my split so that:
-
my most challenging workouts fall either on a refeed day or on a weekend day where i have the flexibility to frontload most of my food early in the day and train early so well fueled
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my not quite as challenging workouts fall on a normal days eating - but my workout day eating is higher than off days so totally survivable as energy level is not as critical
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my low intake days are always on off-days - a little suffering, but rather suffer when i don’t need the energy for training
so far so good, aside from pressing strength (losses still not too bad) i think i’m pretty much still moving 100% of the weights i did at the start of prep and now about 40 lbs lighter.
Pictures show good progress, keep it up.
thanks. still lots of work to be done. appreciate the support! pretty awesome pic yourself!
Will report with new macros soon. Big thanks to Cliff Wilson of Team Wilson BB.com for helping me notice that at this point it might not be a bad idea to cut from my high protein total to spare carbs. Also have officially decided to forego that KC Classic I’d planned to do Sept 14 and will wait till Oct/Nov to do my shows - would rather be ready than disappointed showing up not at or very near my best.
Anyone else have that experience where they booked a show only to make the tough decision to back out and wait several more weeks till they were more conditioned?
[quote]setprsnow wrote:
Will report with new macros soon. Big thanks to Cliff Wilson of Team Wilson BB.com for helping me notice that at this point it might not be a bad idea to cut from my high protein total to spare carbs. Also have officially decided to forego that KC Classic I’d planned to do Sept 14 and will wait till Oct/Nov to do my shows - would rather be ready than disappointed showing up not at or very near my best.
Anyone else have that experience where they booked a show only to make the tough decision to back out and wait several more weeks till they were more conditioned?[/quote]
I’d say you need 12 to 16 weeks until decent conditioning
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
[quote]setprsnow wrote:
Will report with new macros soon. Big thanks to Cliff Wilson of Team Wilson BB.com for helping me notice that at this point it might not be a bad idea to cut from my high protein total to spare carbs. Also have officially decided to forego that KC Classic I’d planned to do Sept 14 and will wait till Oct/Nov to do my shows - would rather be ready than disappointed showing up not at or very near my best.
Anyone else have that experience where they booked a show only to make the tough decision to back out and wait several more weeks till they were more conditioned?[/quote]
I’d say you need 12 to 16 weeks until decent conditioning[/quote]
Contest cutting is VERY HUMBLING and a completely different beast to looking great.
Koing
thanks guys, indeed. will keep on grindin
prep video log #7 - talking about ways i’m making my calories go further during prep. homemade popcorn tips, the power of fat free sour cream, and other stuff. learning the importance of volume of my food as I go…
In my competitive years from long ago I would eat sugar free jello at night to keep me sane. Eating the entire package is/was minimal calories but it sure fooled your stomache and mind that you were (arguably) full.
[quote]setprsnow wrote:
thanks. still lots of work to be done. appreciate the support! pretty awesome pic yourself![/quote]
Thanks!
[quote]nhstatemuscle wrote:
In my competitive years from long ago I would eat sugar free jello at night to keep me sane. Eating the entire package is/was minimal calories but it sure fooled your stomache and mind that you were (arguably) full.[/quote]
good stuff. the unflavored gets 4 servings for 25 kcals, but going your route is only 40 kcal for a box of 4 servings - bet the right flavor combos tastes amazing with fruit - going to have to give it a try.