I feel like we’re violently agreeing with each other, haha. I’m saying the reason why they will boot them for non-performance enhancing drugs is because of the risk imposed on the athlete to die while performing athletics. It’s a bad look for the school’s sports program, which pulls away sponsors. Basically “follow the money”
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Yes. I am gently agreeing with you. Lol
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3.10.26
Weighed 229.8 lbs this morning which was a shock because I wasn’t perfect the last few days. Unfortunately, hunger has its hold on me. It’s 10:40am and I’ve consumed 1.5 scoops of a casein protein blend, two cuties (like tiny oranges), a pack of Lance Cream & Chive crackers, and a 16 ounce ribeye. And I don’t feel full. It’s going to be a long day…
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I have 3 in my lunch today. They make my whole day better.
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Hey, curious question: are you using any sort of electrolyte supplement?
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No. I purchased one a while back but it’s just sitting in the cabinet. I chugged a bunch of water and had two more cups of coffee after our lunch period and that got me through the day fine. I could definitely eat, but I’m not so hungry that it’s all I can think about.
I’m wondering if your “hunger” is actually salt seeking. On my coffee fasting days, I make sure to include electrolytes with my first coffee. Processed food in general is full of sodium, so when we cut that out we tend to need more to maintain appropriate levels, especially as athletes. And when you eliminate food in general via fasting, you limit salt intake opportunities. And THEN when you factor in that you’re chugging a bunch of water and coffee and NOT replacing electrolytes, this will put you in a further depleted state.
It may be worth experimenting with adding those in and seeing if it has an impact on your hunger levels.
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Thanks for the tip - I will definitely give it a shot.
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Bodybuild the Upper/Athlete the Lower Week 7 TM Test
Squat
315 x 3
Squats have been feeling heavy for every single rep lately.
This is about 10 days into this sad excuse for a cut, so my bodyweight was higher. Is that the reason for the massive decline?
Here’s the video from today. Jim says TM tests are supposed to be 3-5 reps and move well. I think I failed. This was a 3RM.
Guess I’ll use the math equation for e1RM and reset my TM. That comes out to 346 and a 295 lb TM at 85%. That’ll be a 15 lb decrease on my TM and I’m okay with that.
I also think I’m going to switch squat and deadlift days for the anchor. My knees feel awful and it’s from basketball. I think putting squats before basketball instead of shortly after is a good idea.
Rest of the Workout
Hang Power Clean
205 x 3 x 3
45 Deg Back Ext
40 (on back) x 15 x 2
Decline Crunch
BW x 15 x 2
Sled
The usual pull/push 25m x 5 each. Used the Tank M4 + 45 lbs and it took 10:43.
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This is about 10 days into this sad excuse for a cut, so my bodyweight was higher. Is that the reason for the massive decline?
I hate to be a one trick pony, but I’m going to bring up electrolytes again. When food is down, those can drop, and so can our performance. And I bring it up because it’s also a trick those in the keto bodybuliding community use in the absence of pre-workout carbs to still get a performance boost in training. Just some salt and water pre-workout.
But that said, there is just plain an adjustment period to reduced intake and training. It’s why I change my training itself between gaining and losing: prevents me from trying to compare apples to apples. An answer may be to switch from the back squat to a front squat.
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I’m going to start taking the electrolytes first thing in the morning to see if that helps either issue. I’m well past the honeymoon phase of losing weight, so the ‘easy’ weight is all gone and now I actually have to dig into those reserve fuel tanks.
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3.11.26
I saw 228 on the scale this morning so another step in the right direction. The biggest part of that is that I thought I overdid it yesterday. I navigated the rest of the day without eating and then had 1.5 plates of corned beef brisket and mashed potatoes for dinner (mashed didn’t tear up my gut like roasted; still haven’t tested the peeled and roasted approach). I also walked a shade over 2.25 miles during my daughter’s softball practice. The park they were at is really nice and I was on a sidewalk the entire time and barely walked the same portion twice. And that was only because I started in the middle and went south, then back to the middle to go north. My pace was slower than some, but I wasn’t out there to break records; I was doing it more for time than anything else.
Some notes on this cutting process:
- I feel weaker on squat and trap bar deadlift, but honestly I feel like the high handle trap bar starts the lift at my weakest point.
- Pressing strength is hanging in there.
- Vertical has increased due to regular jumping and almost weekly basketball.
- Recovery from basketball is slightly faster so I’m adapting a bit.
- My physique is close to where I want it to be. The only thing hanging on that I could do without is that stubborn little bit right above my waistline. And I’m not sure I’m willing to go far enough to lose that; I assume it will be the last bit of fat to go.
- Lastly, I’m going to allow myself to eat a bit more. I’ve been trying to hit the 2 lb per week mark and it hasn’t worked. I’ll have three strong days and screw it up on the weekend because I’m doing too much deprivation and restriction. I have plenty of time to aim for one pound per week. I’m 4-5 lbs away from my goal and really about 8 lbs from where I’d like to be. 222 lbs will give me a buffer on my 225 lb goal.
I might try to sneak in my OHP TM test during my classes today. At the rate I’ve been going, I just need to do the OHP test and some pull-ups for the session. I even snuck in 40 banded face pulls, 60 BPAs, banded curls and press-downs, and some overhead extensions yesterday. I don’t know why I don’t take advantage of my class time more often and chip away at little stuff like that.
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Lastly, I’m going to allow myself to eat a bit more. I’ve been trying to hit the 2 lb per week mark and it hasn’t worked. I’ll have three strong days and screw it up on the weekend because I’m doing too much deprivation and restriction. I have plenty of time to aim for one pound per week. I’m 4-5 lbs away from my goal and really about 8 lbs from where I’d like to be. 222 lbs will give me a buffer on my 225 lb goal.
This is big. 2lbs per week is a great goal for people coming from a place of sedentary obesity, but you have to keep in mind that, as hard of a critic as you are on yourself, you’ve never stopped being an athlete. Yeah, you aren’t where you want to be, but your “letting yourself go” is lightyears ahead of that average populace. And when start applying THEIR rules to OUR approach, it doesn’t work. 2lbs per week is AGGRESSIVE, and when trying to stack it on top of hard training, it just doesn’t work.
We see similar things when it comes to fasting. It’s a great tool for an obese population to regain some insulin sensitivity and just plain stop eating so much, but hyper-lean individuals that attempt to employ it can really do themselves some harm.
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On today’s episode of “Things you won’t see at a small school…”
I wasn’t a part of this one but apparently our day started with a fight in the main entrance. The SRO attempted to break it up and they turned on him so we have a Battery LEO case and they had to put out the “officer in trouble” call city-wide. All is well now and the idiots will be charged accordingly.
During my lunch duty, I saw a student arguing with an adult who sells food by the street. We have food trucks pull up for lunch and the adult is part of that crew. The student got in her face, so the adult pushed her back (reasonable) and then the adult’s daughter (who is a student) and the other girl started fighting. They went to the ground so I tried pulling the initial girl off but when I lifted, the girl on the bottom came with us. The top girl (or winner) had quite the grip on her hair and my pulling was dragging the poor girl across the sidewalk. The winner finally let go and Admin took over. The part that upsets me most is that the loser is a nice girl and her family is good to me at the food trucks. The winner was accused of stealing on multiple occasions which tells me it’s probably an accurate accusation.
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My son is a senior in high school and I’m 90% sure he has never even seen a fight. I can’t imagine trying to go to school in that kind of setting.
I’m telling you, girls know how to pull hair. I had to clean up after a girl fight at a bar and there was a huge chunk of hair on the floor. I’m 80% sure it was a weave, but still, that can’t have felt good coming out.
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3.12.26
Woke at 228.0 lbs! But I’ll give that a speedbump tomorrow when the wifey and I go out for dinner.
Didn’t get my OHP TM test done yesterday. It was a short day with my classes (38 minutes from bell to bell so about 22 minutes in the gym) so I decided to have them do clean and jerks for the first time ever. We clean or do a variation just about every week, but we’ve never done the jerk part. I just wanted them to play around with it, but it definitely required more attention than a typical workout, so I didn’t do any of my own training. I demonstrated the difference between a press, push press, and push jerk quite a few times so I still got to press a little bit. I mostly showed videos of girls being awesome for their visual aids. Sara Sigmundsdóttir had a video of her clean and jerking what appeared to be close to 250 lbs. I also found a lady who did 115 kgs from the power positions - power clean, and her jerk finished with her in like a 1/3 overhead squat. That chick was powerful. I love showing my classes videos of strong women. I want the girls to see it, but it also checks the ego of anyone who thinks they’re the big man in the room.
The plan is to do my OHP TM test after school. I’m going to drag my son along with me so he can get in a second workout for the week. We’ll probably stick around to shoot baskets afterwards. This is the first night of the week we don’t have something planned in the evening.
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Bodybuild the Upper/Athlete the Lower Week 7 TM Test
OHP
75 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
145 x 5
115 x 5, 5
Pull-Ups
BW x 5 x 6 sets
Push-Ups
25, 20
Played basketball with my son afterwards. He wanted to play 1 v 1 which is ridiculous but I tried to amuse him. I could only shoot 3s to score which basically meant he played very little defense. I guarded him by trying to make him to things correctly. If he made a move and shot quickly then I let it go. If he stopped and held the ball then I blocked him. I also forced him to go to his left a lot so he could practice his weak hand (he’s only 9 so he has a ways to go). The final score was 21-19. I finished the game by breaking the rules - I threw the ball nice and high and let it bounce on the floor so it would bounce up by the rim and caught it and dunked it for game point (like people do in dunk contests). I also rolled my ankle when I landed. 
It wasn’t a bad one so I’ll be okay in a day or two. I’m hoping to find a basketball game tomorrow or Saturday. My usual group is taking the week off again.
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That’s awesome. Fantastic time with your boy.
That’s what happens when you show off. 
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Thought I could play without spending 10 minutes putting on protective equipment but guess I was wrong. This old guy needs ankle braces and official basketball shoes.
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