How I Train, Eat, and Think About Stuff

Training
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Here is what I had for supper today. Who says a prep diet has to be boring?

Coconut - Shrimp - Curcuma Soup

Put together in a jar:

  • 4 oz organic coconut milk
  • 6 oz water
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 garlic glove, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, sliced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced in small pieces
  • 2 spring onions (with the green part)
  • 2 inch of fresh ginger (I like to grate it)
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1/2 tbs curcuma

Cook for 20 minutes, the add

  • 8 oz. fresh, peeled shrimps
  • a handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Simmer for another 3-5 minutes and your good to go!

Cheers, PA

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sorry to be cheeky paragon, did you work out the nutritonal profile? that looks fantastic!!!

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Really appreciate the post" ā€œYour past is gravityā€

Good luck in your endeavours

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Hows the prep going Paragon?

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[quote]Melkor1 wrote:
sorry to be cheeky paragon, did you work out the nutritonal profile? that looks fantastic!!![/quote]

I forgot to mention that I also put a chopped tomato inā€¦

Here you go:

525 calories, 20g carbs (from veggies, which donā€™t bother me), 55g protein and 25g fat.

Make sure you buy some low-carb coconut milk (mine has 2g carbs per 100ml).

Cheers, PA

166

SOLID PERFORMANCE WORKOUT

Did chest and shoulders today. Not my best workout ever, but good. 5th day on INDIGO-3G. First a short update on that:

  1. Workouts are getting better. Definitively better pumps even at low reps.

  2. Recovery seems to be faster (?). Less muscle soreness the day after the workouts.
    I usually experience soreness in my chest, triceps, hams, and calves the day after workouts. Not so much in the other bodyparts.

However, the last couple of workouts did not cause any soreness. Could this be due to INDIGO-3G?
I really spiked my peri-workout carbs. My current protocol provides me with a whopping 170g of carbs, 110g protein and BCAAs, and 1200 calories in total.

Seems this really starts to pay of in combination with I-3G.

  1. Diuretic, still
    I still have to wake up twice or three times a night to go to the bathroom. Hope this effect will deminish after a while. Somehow messes with my sleeping pattern. I still seem to recover well, though.

  2. Weight stabilized at around 221-222; 6 to 7 pounds down from pre-I-3G.

No to today?s workout (the numbers look a little strange, because I had to ā€œtranslateā€ them from kilos to pounds):

A) Barbell bench press
15 x empty bar
5 x 176
3 x 176, 264, 308, 352, 387, 405, 422, 440
1 x 440 (would have had to grind out the second rep. So I stopped the force spectrum ramp)
6 x 352, 5 x 352

B. Incline dumbbell press
10 x 114, 7 x 114
2 sets of 30 seconds and as many as-fast-as-possible-reps with 57

Circuit of
C1. Banded dumbbell lateral raise
C2. Overhead triceps extensions at the lat station
C3. Seated dumbbell lateral raise (feet on bench)
C4. Standing dumbbell front raise

2 rounds with 10 to 15 reps per exercise.

Additionally, I did a ton of blast strap work for rhomboids, rotator cuffs, rear delts and lats. Far away from failure, just to add some volume for those muscles.

Very much looking forward to my next workouts.

Cheers, PA

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[quote]ParagonA wrote:
A) Barbell bench press
15 x empty bar
5 x 176
3 x 176, 264, 308, 352, 387, 405, 422, 440
1 x 440 (would have had to grind out the second rep. So I stopped the force spectrum ramp)
[/quote]

Psshhhhhā€¦ wuss -lol

S

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[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Hows the prep going Paragon?[/quote]

Itā€™s going very well. But Iā€™m only two weeks in. At this point itā€™s still a lot of funā€¦ 18 weeks to go.
Thank you for asking, bro.
Cheers, PA

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INDIGO-3G - update

Oke, now I-3G really seems to have kicked in. Iā€™m still posting from my iPhone, but Iā€™ll try to upload some more pics on Monday (new computer will arrive tomorrow).

What I can say so far, is, that the most drastic effect I-3G has is itā€™s impact on work capacity.
My last back workout totaled 39 sets, the day after that I did a shoulder dominant performance workout with 62 sets.
I did not feel tired or fatigued at any point and not drained At ALL the days after.
I really pumped my peri-workout carbs and am currently at 170 to 230 grams peri-workout, depending on the session.

The second very obvious effect is tge clearly increase hardness - especially in my lower body. Without any further weight loss after the initial drop.

The diuretic effect seems to have disappeared. I can again sleep through. I still sweat like hell for a goid 30 minutes after workouts.

Iā€™m really getting excited. Canā€™t wait to hit the weight again tomorrow morning!!

Cheers, PA

170

Short emotional note: just ramped sumo-style deadlifts up to 640 pounds. No pain at all in my lower left back - injury seems to have healed. Back in back training!!

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PERI-CARDIO NUTRITION

Hi there

As you will have realized, I heavily rely on Biotest supplements. Reason why? They work form me, I like the company for being so innovative, Thib, TC, Tim, Chris and rest of the crew do a great job, not only in marketing their products, but in developing products that work, and they do share a lot of valuable information for free. Heck, I learned more form Thib about training over the last few years than in the 15 years before Thib on T-Nation.

Iā€™m loyal. Something many people lost in todayā€™s cynical world.

There are a few non-Biotest supps I use. Simply for the reason that Biotest does not produce them. That would be Vitamin D, E and C, powdered BCAAs, a pure whey protein isolate (from TrueProtein), and sometimes a multivitamin.

I wrote about cardio before and that I do not believe in completely fasted moring cardio. I prefer having some whey isolate something like 15-20 minutes before the cardio session and then my customized BCAA mix from TrueProtein.

Mix custom mix contains:

60% instantized BCAA
15% citrulline malate
15% L-glutamine
10% additional L-leucine.

I like the traditional lemonade flavor best, but I always ask them to use 1.5 the sucralose they normally would. Otherwise itā€™s a bit too bland for my taste.

So, my typical morning peri-cardio protocol looks like this:

C -20 minutes: 20g whey protein isolate mixed in a cup of iced coffee (I prepare the coffee the night before and put it in the fridge over night)

C -5 until C +15: sip on the above-described BCAA mix. I use 30g of it in 32 oz cold water. Enough for 45 minutes cardio.

C +60: normal breakfast

For me personally, that yielded the best results both in terms of fat loss and accelerated recovery from weight training sessions.

Cheers, PA

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INDIGO-3G - update

Yesterday was my high carb experiment. I wanted to ā€œcarb upā€ after a low-carb Saturday and ended up eating roughly 600g of carbs.
Itā€™s, of course, not something I would do everyday or recommend others to do everyday. But I thought it might be interesting to see the effects of such a high carb intake while on I-3G the day before my hardest workout of the week (heavy quad-dominant leg workout on Monday).

My week currently looks like this:

Monday: ā€œmoderateā€ carbs *
Tuesday: moderate carbs again
Wednesday: low carbs (below 50g)
Thursday: moderate carbs
Friday: moderate carbs
Saturday: low carbs
Sunday: high carbs (400-600g)

  • (higher than in a usual prep because of I-3G. 170-230g carbs peri-workout. 30g carbs in the meal after my workout (mid-moring). Trace carbs from nuts, veggies, etc. for the rest of the day.

As I wrote in another post, the most, most pronounced effect of I-*G I see is itā€™s effect on work capacity.
I increased my training volume per session over the last 2 weeks and can maintain a very high performance, pace and do extended ramps like never before.
I donā€™t exactly know why this is happening. Maybe due to the increased glucose uptake into the muscle cells while training.
I spiked my peri-workout carbs to 170 to 230g - depending on the session - to really get the full profits from this effect.

Some other things I noticed so far:

  • my muscles look fuller, sometimes I look more vascular. This depends on the time of day, fluid intake and other factors, such as level of stress in the offices, among others.

  • my muscles remain pumped and tense for hours after the workout

  • muscles look much more pumped and full at the end of a workout

  • after the initial weight loss, my bodyweight stabilized, but my shape is definitively getting better, i.e. I am losing fat and gaining muscle.

  • I havenā€™t finished my 3rd bottle yet, but can already say that I will reorder as soon as the next batch arrives and I do hope that I can get my hand on some of the second batch I-3G.

Here is a pic after this mornings leg workout. Itā€™s not the best shot, just a pic a friend in the gym took with his cell phone.

Cheers, PA

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Leg cuts are pronounced already, I cant believe you have 18 weeks left. I just realized how far away I am from being ā€œ18 weeks outā€ :slight_smile:

Damn, some of these threads are a real kick in the pants about how far I have to go to still, great motivation.

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[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

Damn, some of these threads are a real kick in the pants about how far I have to go to still, great motivation.[/quote]

I am a strong believer that in bodybuilding, all that countā€™s is the journey. There are no defined goals, no finish lines. There is no defined distance we have to go or a clear order what we have to achieve. Itā€™s just about HOW we do it, about the fact that we chose to take a road not very much traveled by, and about not giving in, standing tall, and to show honor and dignity in what we do.

So, you donā€™t have to go ā€œfarā€ in my opinion, you just have to walk the way. Bodybuilding is like an endless meditation, a code of living - at least to me. Being persistent, disciplined, dedicated and focussed in bodybuilding will have positive effects in all other areas of life. Those strengths youā€™ll acquire along the way will make you a better son, a better husband or boyfriend, a better employee, a better friend, a better member of the community.

Bodybuilding taught me to be humble, gentle and genuine, and that makes all the difference.

Iā€™m glad I can give you a bit of motivation and thank you very much for reading this thread so regularly.

Cheers, PA

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As always brother, well said :slight_smile:

S

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[quote]ParagonA wrote:

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

Damn, some of these threads are a real kick in the pants about how far I have to go to still, great motivation.[/quote]

I am a strong believer that in bodybuilding, all that countā€™s is the journey. There are no defined goals, no finish lines. There is no defined distance we have to go or a clear order what we have to achieve. Itā€™s just about HOW we do it, about the fact that we chose to take a road not very much traveled by, and about not giving in, standing tall, and to show honor and dignity in what we do.

So, you donā€™t have to go ā€œfarā€ in my opinion, you just have to walk the way. Bodybuilding is like an endless meditation, a code of living - at least to me. Being persistent, disciplined, dedicated and focussed in bodybuilding will have positive effects in all other areas of life. Those strengths youā€™ll acquire along the way will make you a better son, a better husband or boyfriend, a better employee, a better friend, a better member of the community.

Bodybuilding taught me to be humble, gentle and genuine, and that makes all the difference.

Iā€™m glad I can give you a bit of motivation and thank you very much for reading this thread so regularly.

Cheers, PA
[/quote]

This philosophy has taken my much time to learn (And Iā€™m sure I will continue to learn it more and more). Been lifting for about 7 years, and have been seriously pursuing BBing for about 4-5 years, and have been focused on getting super lean for about 6 months. My currently plan is to cycle 9 months- 3 months for the next few years as I prepare to possibly step on stage when I get a little more size and shape.

Its kind of interesting the mindset you develop when you start thinking ā€œLets see, If I can do XYZ, in 3 or 4 years that should meanā€¦ā€ - Which is a far cry from the general publicā€™s ā€œI WANT TO LOSE 10 POUNDS FOR A POOL PARTY THIS WEEKEND!ā€

I actually just leave your thread, Synergy, and Stuā€™s open, and when I wake up and come home from work just refresh them all to see if there is anything knew. These are honestly the best threads, and the most valuable from a BBing perspective, on the site.

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VOLUME!

Hi there! I took a few days off from work after a 2 very busy month. I really enjoy sleeping a little longer, and having a little more time to train and experiment with my INDIGO-3G.

I mentioned several times that the most pronounced effect I see so far is its impact on work capacity, when combined with high amount of carbohydrates during sessions.

Today, my peri-workout protocol looked like this:

WO -90: INDIGO-3G, 4 caps
WO -60: Receptormax, 4 caps; PowerDrive; 1 Spike
WO -30: 2 FINiBARS
WO -10 till end of workout: 3 scoops Surge Workout Fuel, 1 Scoop Anaconda, 25g BCAA
WO +15: 50g whey protein isolate, 50g dextrose (TrueProtein customized mix)

My workout looked like this:

A - Deadlift Complex

A1. Rack pulls from 2 inches below knees
Did 4 sets to ramp up to the desired training weight, then I did 6 rounds of the circuit with slightly heavier weight each round. Up to 616 pounds for 3 reps.
Have pulled more from the rack, but in the context of the circuit the 616 felt really heavy.

A2. Sumo-style deadlift from floor: 6 rounds, 5 reps per set, up to 528 pounds.

A3. Power clean from the hang: 6 rounds, 4 resp each set, 176 pounds for every set. Not heavy, but very explosive with a very pronounced jump.

A4. Jumped good mornings: 6 rounds, 8 reps per set, 88 pounds.

A5. Broad jumps: 6 rounds of 8 jumps

Next over to some upper back work:

B. Upper Back Complex

B1. Bent-over barbell row: 4 rounds, 8 reps, 264 pounds

B2. Hammer Strength close-grip pulldown machine: 4 rounds, ramped up to 220 per side. Again, not the heaviest weight, but fairly heavy in the context of the complex.
2 seconds squeeze at top contraction

B3. Straight-arm pulldown: 4 rounds (of course) with the entire stack - itā€™s a strange pulldown station. Canā€™t say what weight the ā€œ12ā€ on the last plate corresponds to. Tempo: 3-0-3-0.

B4. Isometric holds at top position of curl-grip pull-up: 4 times 20-45 seconds (itā€™s a guess, I didnā€™t use a watch).

B5. Flexiband dynamic rows: 4 times 20 seconds as fast as possible

And since I donā€™t seem to get tired anymore, I did some very light leg work, too:

C. Leg Isolation Circuit

C1. Leg extensions: 3 rounds, 12 reps, entire stack

C2. Adductor machine: 3 rounds, 12 reps, entire stack

C3. Abductor machine: 3 rounds, 12 reps, somewhat like 75% of the stack

And last but no least:

D. Abs

D1. Hanging leg raises: 3 sets, amrap

D2. Roll-out: 3 sets, amrap

Great workout with a lot of volume.

Some might laugh about the adductor and the abductor machine. I use them once a week and feel that the really helped me improve my squats and my deadlift. I still squat twice a week and do deadlifts on one day a week, mind you :wink:

Cheers, PA

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Just a short update. I was hospitalized last week with some ā€˜heart issuesā€™. Nothing life-threatening, but it pretty much tied me to bed for a week. I will hit the gym again by the end of this week.
Cheers, PA

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UHā€¦ a bit scary? If you donā€™t wanna go into details thatā€™s cool, but as usual, hope everythingā€™s cool with you brother.

S

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Scary, indeed. I would go into detail, but I fear my English is not good enough to properly explain. In a nutshell: I struggeld with a very irregular heart beat last week. In the night from last Sunday to Monday it basically stopped beating for 3 up to 10 beats several times per minute. Thatā€™s a long time. Long enough to freak out. The heart beat following that break were very hard - since the heart really fills up with blood the time itā€™s not beating. Then some normal beats, and the next break.
I went to the hospital Monday morning 4 am. I was in panic.
They kept me there fir 2 days and run all kinds of tests, did some bloodwork, an MRI, etc.

They found that my heart is healthy, very, very well trained and not inflamed. The symptoms were a pure CNS phenomenon, triggered by too much psychological stress over too long time.
I can imagine that this is the true reason. The last 3 years or so were very tough, with my parents being sick and in hospital, my father being in deep debt, my mother dying unexpectedly. I had to put a lot of work into my family to keep it going, got no sleep too many nights and, more often than not, had a lot of sorrows.

This cannot work for long. The body will sooner or later attract attention to itself and say ā€˜stop!ā€™.

Iā€™m nor complaining, though. Never will. My father is 'stableā€™again botz financially and mentally, lives in a new town now, is happy. So is my sister, so am I. Iā€™m recovering well, I am motivated for my prep, I am going to marry the most beautiful and smartes girl on earth soon. What could I ever complain about?

By the way: did some mobility work today. Went pretty well. Will try to lift some weights on Saturday.

Under light medication for 1 to 3 month by the way. But shouldnā€™t be ā€˜feltā€™.

Cheers and thank you very much, PA