That’s the spirit!
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So I’m really late to the party…
I’m also pretty ignorant compared to all of you in this respect, and it seems like everything has been excellently covered.
Going low carb seems counter intuitive to me, though. I would think you’d want to get in as many carbs as you can get away with to get as much out of your building phase as possible. What I do think would be important is carb timing, especially on training days.
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Thanks, @MarkKO. I was considering an experiment but it seems there is no need.
My understand of carbs is that they provide energy and shuttle important things to the muscles post-workout. I thought about limiting carbs and what I did eat would be pre- and post-workout. The rest of the day would be mostly protein and fat (a few carbs from veggies).
But that seems to be unnecessary so I won’t punish myself for the sake of the experience. I can do that if I get fat someday.
I’ll still be eating most of my carbs around my workouts but I won’t stress about the amounts.
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I’m last to arrive at this party. But that’s ok, because I don’t have much to add.
I have been experimenting with my diet lately. More in the attempt to simplify things. My goal includes getting maximum results with minimum efforts. I have played around with a almost zero carb diet, but have recently added carbs back into my post workout and 1-2 modest referees a week.
Definitely feel “flatter” without the carbs, and I think it would be difficult to add any significant muscle mass.
tweet
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If protein is the building material and carbs are the fuel source then it seems possible to add muscle in a low carb diet as long as the few carbs consumed were at the right time. That’s theory. I wanted real world experience and that’s why I posed these questions.
Thanks for solidifying the case for carbs. It really would have messed with my head is you came in and said you gained 10lbs of muscle on 100g of carbs per day after reading all the other info here.
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If you look up Anthony Ditillo’s blog, there’s an article called Ripped For Powerlifting. Not amazing in terms of diet, but an interesting read about Bill Ennis staying strong while losing fat.
##5.27.17
Woke at 221.2 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3271 calories, 167g carbs, 145g fat, 249g protein.
I drank a few beers before dinner and it ended up being 8 o’clock before I decided to eat. I checked my macros and realized I was way behind on carbs but it was too late. I at 10 ounces of pork chops and fried up 6 eggs over easy to get my protein. I’m not too worried about the carbs.
##5AM Training
Front Squat:
45x5
95x5
135x5
155x3
175x3
195x1
215x1 ™
235x1
255x1
Incline Bench:
135x5
165x5
175x4
185x3
175x5
185x3+1 more after a 10 second break
195x3
Reverse Lunge:
95x5 ea
105x5 ea
115x5 ea
These are tricky. I don’t want to go too heavy because I’m afraid I’ll just end up putting more weight on my rear leg and pushing off.
Notes
Workout felt pretty good. 255 on front squat was a horrible grind and my hip kind of hurt afterwards. That’s still 20 lbs off my PR but I’m getting close. I’m not sure how much I’ll push until this hip nonsense goes away.
I made pancakes for breakfast and they were surprisingly delicious. I used cookies and cream protein powder instead of my usual chocolate and it was definitely a good change.
2 cups of oatmeal ground into powder, 2 scoops of protein powder, baking powder, 2 eggs, and 1.75 cups of unsweetened almond milk all mixed together. I poured a little vanilla flavoring in as well. I make six pancakes with this.
3 pancakes with about 3 TBSP of honey:
756 calories, 108g carbs, 20g fat, 44g protein
I have a feeling I’m going to need those leftover calories from yesterday. I just ate a PB&J sandwich and I’m still hungry. It’s going to be one of those days.
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##Lunch Break Training
Standing DB Military:
45x5
55x5
60x4
65x3
60x5
65x4
70x3
(Core work between sets of DB Military)
Back Extension:
3x20 @ BW
Standing Cable Crunch:
3x10 @ 110
Standing Cable Adduction:
1x10 ea @ 50
Standing Cable Abduction:
1x10 ea @ 50
I was walking funny after 1 round so I called it quits.
Incline Cable Fly:
40x10
50x10
40x10 full/10 top half/10 bottom half----this hurt so good!
Rope Press-Down:
2x10 @ 140
6-8-10 drop set:
150x6, 140x8, got interrupted by a phone call from the appliance repair guy (had to take it).
Started over.
150x6, 140x8, 130x10
This reminded me why I dislike rope press-downs. Too much internal rotation at the shoulders. Not a fan of my internal rotators burning during my tricep work.
And that’s it for my 2nd session of the day. I think I fell a little short on conditioning this week. Maybe I’ll figure out how to get that done on work days someday.
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Impressed by your dietary discipline. I just eat when I’m hungry and what I feel like - trying to keep pretty clean besides alcohol.
It helps to plan ahead. I’ll log my food as I prepare my lunch for the following day. I try to leave myself about 900 to 1200 calories for the evening but it doesn’t always happen. I don’t like feeling restricted. If I’m out of calories then I get veggies and chicken. If I have 1000 or more then I usually go for the red meat.
As far as eating when I’m hungry–I can’t do always do that because I’ll eat too much. Some days I feel like I’m always hungry. I try to find ways to distract myself and put off eating as long as possible. Today is an example of a bad day. I’m already sitting at 2100 calories since I started eating so early in the day. I have 10 ounces of pork chops and a little over a cup of rice in my lunch box. I’m hungry now. If I eat that then it’ll put me at almost 2800 calories for the day–leaving 700 and change for dinner. That’s not much. I’m planning to grill hamburgers tonight and I’d like to eat one while they’re fresh. Luckily I fell a little short yesterday so I might go ahead and eat a couple hundred extra calories today.
EDIT: Turns out I don’t have rice in my lunch box. I just ate the pork and I’m not exactly full. It’s 2:32 PM and I get off at 5. I’ll be hungry when I get home but on the plus side skipping the rice just gave me another 350 calories for dinner.
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##5.28.17
Woke at 221.2 again. Nailed it! I’m hoping to stay close to 3500 calories per day and maintain this weight for 7 to 10 days. If I succeed then I’ll know that I’m stable at this weight and 3500 is my baseline for this weight. I’ll begin to add calories slowly over time to “bulk” up.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3603 calories, 394g carbs, 84g fat, 288g protein.
Today is a rest day and that won’t be a problem since I’m working. It’s nice to sleep in (til 6ish) and not have to spend my lunch break working out. I’ll always get my training done but it adds stress to my days when I’m getting up at 5AM and trying to squeeze it in on a lunch break. My break isn’t guaranteed and the timing of it tends to vary which is annoying. This is probably why I do so much on my days off. I’m in control and get to do as much as I want (which is usually a lot). I need conditioning work but weighted vest walking or incline treadmill work isn’t going to cut it for me–neither do cardio machines. My conditioning needs to include running/sprinting because I need those abilities for my line of work. They’re also the same energy systems as fighting. I’m in much better shape than most of my co-workers but I still feel like I’m lacking when it comes to conditioning and other training aspects such as marksmanship. The reality is that it’s really freakin tough to train so many different things at the same time. I can shoot just fine but I’d like to be better. If the need arises then I can point and shoot and leave plenty of holes in important places but it’d be a lot cooler if I could point and shoot and hit someone in the eye while moving. For now I’ll have to settle for center mass.
End random thoughts for the morning.
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Do you have set shooting practice scheduled in during the week or is it up to you to get your hours in?
We have range twice a year and it’s usually only qualifications. It’s a joke. It’s pretty much up to us to train. Our range is way outside of town and it takes about 30 minutes to drive there from my patrol area. I can go on duty but it takes me off the street for at least 2 hours. Our staffing isn’t great to begin with so I don’t ever go. Last year I bought a membership at a gun range and went there on duty because I could be in and out in 20-30 minutes.
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##5.29.17
Woke at 220.0 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3428 calories, 305g carbs, 120g fat, 226g protein.
For some reason I was able to not spend my day hungry yesterday. I didn’t even eat all of my food at work. So that meant dinner was open for some indulgence! I grilled hamburgers, brats, and potatoes. I drank four Corona Lights while I grilled (on an empty stomach 
).
Dinner ended up consisting of the four beers, two brats, a 5.33 ounce pepperjack cheeseburger, and 300 grams of yellow potatoes. It was terrific. Today is looking like another good eating day. We’ll be heading to my grandparents’ for dinner. I assume we’ll have more burgers but the treat will be her homemade ice cream. I’m sure I’ll eat at least 4000 calories today but I plan to lift and sprint first.
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##Training at the Y
3 Lap Dynamic Warm-Up (1/2 mile, 7:04)
Deadlift (Actually RDL’s + Deadlifts):
135 x 5 RDL’s + 5 Deadlifts
155 x 5 + 5
185 x 5 + 5
225 x 5 + 5 (no more RDL’s after this set)
275 x 3
305 x 1
345 x 1
380 x 1 ™
405 x 1
435 x 1
455 x 1 (PR)
Pretty happy with a new PR, BUT I might have strained my QL or some other small muscle close to it. After 435 I felt a twinge when I bent over to change the weights. I considered calling it a day but I felt great otherwise and really didn’t want to pass up the chance to set a PR. Luckily I didn’t do any further damage with 455. I definitely had more in me but I took @ActivitiesGuy’s advice and took the 5 lb PR.
High Pulls—nope, wanted to do power cleans.
Power Clean—nope, decided a deadlift PR was enough pulling for the day.
Pull-Ups:
2x10, 9-3-3-2 (triple rest/pause)
Decline Pulse-Ups:
3x10
DB Rows:
5 x 5 ea @ 120. Did left arm, then right arm, then 60 seconds rest, repeat.
Reverse Cable Fly:
3 x 10 @ 45ish
Combo Set with:
Cable Twist (Oblique Work):
3 x 10 ea @ 75ish
Hip Abduction/Adduction Machine:
10 @ 100
3 x 10 @ 110
Combo Set with:
Machine Curls:
2 x 8 @ 110
10 bottom half/10 top half/3-3-4 full @ 80/80/80-70-60
I used too much weight on these and had to keep dropping the weight to finish.
And that’s all…for the lifting portion!
…25 minutes later (had to drive to two different locations to get somewhat legal access.
##Track Workout
Jog a lap and did some light dynamic movements to make sure I was still loosened up.
3 x 100m sprint in 15 seconds or less with 1 minute rest
4 x 60m sprint with 1 minute rest
4 x 40m sprint with 1 minute rest
Walk/Jog a lap for a cool down.
Total Time: 20:24
Notes
So I had great plans for today and thanks to my wife being home I was able to follow through. I wanted to get my lifting done and then do some sprints with the goal of turning my body into a calorie burning machine for the next 12 hours or so. Now I won’t feel so bad about the binge eating that I’m about to take part in. I’ll do my best to avoid the burgers because I have those at home every week, but I won’t shy away from the brats, baked beans, or potato salad (if there is any). And I definitely won’t be shy about the homemade ice cream. That’s something that only happens about three times a year._
The deadlift PR is exciting, but the hip/back thing sucks. I used the deadlift bar at the Y which is the same one I pulled 450 with back during the 600lb Deadlift thread. Either I’m having a great day or it makes a huge difference compared to my Rogue Echo 2.0 bar.
My hip is starting to feel worse again. I’m not quite sure what to think of it. I haven’t really been obsessing about stretching and foam rolling my QL like I was but sometimes my nagging muscle problems go away when I finally leave them alone instead of messing with them all the time. Not this time. I’m not seeing anyone currently because $50 a visit gets expensive in a hurry. As you can see I continue to work on strengthening my obliques, abductors, and adductors. I really don’t know what else to do except to stop leg training. That’s a tough pill to swallow. I just hit a PR on deadlift; I don’t want to stop!
Ah, well… I’ll figure it out.
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Could be a little from column A and a little from column B. DL bars make life easier, but I don’t think by that much. Some guys claim they add 45 lbs or so. I reckon I get maybe 20 lbs at the absolute most, more like 10 lbs.
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Congrats on the PR!
Don’t worry, 475 (and 495, and 500, and…) will be there for you next week…
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What happened to the 5 lbs PRs?? Lmao.
Congrats man! Must feel good to be closer to 500 than 400. Can’t wait to hear about and live vicariously through your binging.
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The results are in. Two brats, a hotdog w/ bun, about 1.5 cups each of potato salad and baked beans, about 1.25 cups of vanilla ice cream, and 3ish cups of chocolate ice cream. I also had some weird dessert that was chocolate brownie with a thick layer of peanut butter on top…and chocolate chips and m&ms on top of that.
I’ve ballparked my evening at about 2780 calories and I didn’t log the brownie thing.
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