Pine cones for weight loss! They take longer to chew which burns extra calories. They’re tough to digest which drives up the thermic effect. And they hurt coming out so you choose to eat less to avoid the pain.
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@Voxel Yesterday I just had my normal protein shake, a chicken sandwich, and some pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. It was a lot of pasta, but I wasn’t stuffed when I was done, and I’ve never been one to “feel sick” after eating a lot, so I know that wasn’t it.
Apparently my sister had the same thing going on yesterday. I think it’s just a bug that’s going around right now.
5 September 2018 - Random Shit Bodyweight: 215.4lbs
Soft tissue stuff, 1 min band clams each side, 45 sec plank each way
Deadlift 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 365x1, 405x1, 435x1, 455x0
Seated DB OHP 30x10, 55x10, 75x13 (PR)
Lat Pulldown 1x20, 1x15, 1x10 @ 115lbs - 60 sec rest (just effin around today)
Notes
I wanted to pull something so I can figure out where I should be for my new program. I can’t run 6x2s or SGSS or 5/3/1 on a deficit. I hadn’t deadlifted for 2-3 weeks until today, and I clearly lost some of my pop. Dead stops at 6x4 385 went down fairly easily last time I deadlifted, and today I could barely get 435 off the floor. Good to know. I would’ve been basing my max on 475, which it apparently is not. I would’ve burned out quickly.
Lat pulldowns Day 8: 355 total reps. Gettin’ there.
Nice lil DB OHP PR today. I’m sore from benching but I figured I need to throw in some overhead work since I didn’t yesterday and it worked out in my favor. I don’t look that strong so it’s always funny to see people in the mirror looking at me when I do something like that. It’s always guys benching the 40lb DBs or something that feel the need to stare me down or size me up or something. It’s funny. Not only am I stronger than you, but I’m stronger now than you’ll be in 20 years if you keep prioritizing smoking weed (or whatever skinny “gym rats” do) over getting stronger. Anyways, that’s my rant. I try to avoid eye contact with people in the gym unless they look like they need a spot or if they’re being obnoxious. I will never try to intimidate someone who is clearly stronger than me…I just don’t see the logic there.
Program, starting pics, and diet plan coming up in the next post.
Okay, so this is the embarrassing part. I’m just going to put my pictures up here right now and get it over with.
Measurements () = flexed measurement with no pump:
6’2" 215.4lbs
Left Arm: 14.5in (16in)
Right Arm: 14.75in (15.5in)
Waist: 35.75in (35in)
Chest: 44.5in (44.5in)
Right Thigh: 24in (24in)
Left Thigh: 24in (24.5in)
Hips (ass): 42in (40in)
So without even looking at the pictures we can tell that I’m carrying some fat. A 36 inch waist is the biggest I’ve ever had, and that’s the number I’d like to see decrease the most. Having a 32 inch waist would be absolutely incredible, but we’ll see. I’d have to get pretty lucky with my fat loss genetics to make something like that happen. I’m assuming I store fat on my stomach forever just like everyone else. Enjoy:
Yeah, I’m hairy. It’s better for the winter. With that out of the way, let’s get down to the fun stuff.
Diet
I’ve decided to do a 5 phase diet. Check it out.
Phase 1 - 1 Week
2,600 calories
260g protein, 65g fat, 244g carbohydrates
Total Deficit: 3,500 calories
Phase 2 - 2 Weeks
2,525 calories
260g protein, 63g fat, 230g carbohydrates
Total Deficit: 8,050 calories
Phase 3 - 3 Weeks
2,350 calories
260g protein, 60g fat, 205g carbohydrates
Total Deficit: 15,750 calories
Phase 4 - 1 Week
2,600 calories
260g protein, 60g fat, 255g carbohydrates
Total Deficit: 3,500 calories
Phase 5 - 1-3 Weeks
2,200 calories
260g protein, 60g fat, 180g carbohydrates
Total Deficit: 6,300 calories for one week, 18,900 calories for 3 weeks
Overall Deficit: 37,100 (10.6lbs) to 49,700 calories (14.2lbs).
I don’t know if I’m going to have the mental fortitude to continue on at 2,200 calories for 3 entire weeks. That’s a 900 calorie deficit from my loosely calculated BMR (3,100 calories). If I do, then great. The nice thing about this diet is that I’m not factoring in calories burned from exercise, which I’m going to touch on next. So this is a fairly aggressive cut, especially towards the end. Even if I take the full 10 weeks, my last day will be November 14–just in time for me to be able to enjoy the holiday food.
The Program
This is what I’m running. I’ve had my eye on it for a while now, but I’ve never been interested in cutting until now, so here we are. He explains the science a little bit in this article, but he has an entire article dedicated to it, called “The Science of 10x3.” Check it out if you’re interested.
45-60 second rest intervals, combined with 30 working reps for 4 different compound movements at 75% of 1RM. I’m going to be extremely conservative with these numbers:
Squat: 295lbs
Bench: 215lbs
Deadlift: 335lbs
OHP: 135lbs
The main focus here is not necessarily lifting as heavy as I possibly can; it’s about executing 10 sets in just under 10 minutes. For the most part, I’m completely throwing any care I have about getting stronger on the shelf. I need to lose weight, and that’s that. I’ll have plenty of time to bulk up slowly later.
I’ll be in the gym 3-4 days each week with some jumping rope and core on my days off. I’m looking forward to becoming more conditioned and athletic. Two feelings I have not had in well over a year.
Overall, I’m pretty nervous for all of this. This is my first time ever doing a dedicated cut; I made my first 10 meals tonight, which are the first of probably 100. The plan right now is to have an apple and a protein shake for breakfast, a pre-made lunch for dinner, and then some quick carbs before my workout on training days. Another protein shake after that, followed by some Greek Yogurt and, if I need more protein, milk. Peanut butter will be thrown down every night to get my healthy fats, and I’ll be supplementing with cinnamon, and seasoning my foods with garlic, paprika and cayenne, as well as black pepper. All of these spices and seasonings are often overlooked because people simply don’t consider the fact that they could be very beneficial. I’m not a fan of spicy things, but whatever it takes to burn an extra couple of calories and flavor my chicken lol.
So right now, I have tomorrow planned out pretty well. It’s going to be a long day at school, but instead of having Chick Fil A for lunch like I normally do, I’m bringing 3/4 cup of green beans and 1lb of chicken. I’m going to drink (water) like a fish all morning to prime my stomach to put all of that food down. That alone is less than 500 calories, with 92g protein, 4g fat, and whatever carbs the beans have.
Like I said, I’m nervous for this but I’m also excited. it’s been a very long time since I’ve eaten this healthy on a regular basis, and I’m excited to see how I feel. Part of me thinks that I won’t be as hungry as I normally am, eating all this protein and all those vegetables. There’s broccoli in the fridge right now, so I might go ahead and steam some up tomorrow.
Let me know if you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns about what I’m doing. I’ve thrown all of this together in the last 36 hours so I’m positive that I missed something. Just do me a favor and let me know how this sounds/if you have any food suggestions. Thanks!!
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Calories look okay, but I think your protein intake is too high and that your fat intake is far too low. I think your fat intake should be between 85-98 grams, and your protein intake should at most be 258. Anything between 214-244 would be adequate though.
I also don’t understand why you’d plan phases this was, it’s great that you outline your arsenal and what amendments you can do but I’d save them until fat loss stalls. How did you arrive at them?
It’s one of the few things that I would’ve changed going into my own diet, is that I felt that I went in for a too deep deficit too quickly.
I might be able to come back later today with more feedback but that’s all for now.
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Your back is impressive
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First I’ll comment the pics.
After reading the text I expected a way fatter person. You are being to hard to yourself Lava.
As the young duke said, awesome back and not much love handles.
So all in all you’ve got a good starting point. I think you’ve your fat distributed very well all over the body, and it looks as some quality muscles, that within a few weeks will begin to look defined.
If you want to finish the program for the bench going down 5x5-4x4-3x3-2x2 I would wait to start dieting until after this. Deficit will make your bench suffer.
I’ve been leaning out over a year, without counting calories, big big mistake. Won’t do that again.
I found one thing that really helped me to lose weight is to stop eating any calories after dinner, meaning from about 6-7 pm until breakfast no calories at all. That was a game changer for me. If I would have anything it would be pure protein just before bedtime on training days.
I would second Alberg cut the protein down a bit to 1 gram pr lb body weight and then a bit more just to be save. No need to go overboard.
EAT MORE for breakfast.
Greek yogurt and a bit of oatmeal, an apple and a small shake, that way you have some calories to get you through school.
And take care of your back 10 sets of 3 emom style is quite tough.
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I’ll second this. @lava2007 holler if you want any other programs flown by you. But, obviously, diet is most important for this goal.
I can up the fat, no problem. I’m actually sort of glad to hear this, because I originally had it at 1.5g/lb bodyweight, which was like 285g of protein per day. I simply don’t have the time to be eating that much. Anywhere around 220g is generally all I’m able to put down. And increasing the fats will allow me to have eggs, which are one of my favorite (and most filling) foods. Gotta keep the hormones in check while I’m losing weight, I suppose.
You kind of answered it here without realizing it. If the goal is to lose 15lbs in 10 weeks (which it is), then that means I’d have to be in an average deficit of 750 calories per day. I figured I would rather just rip off the bandage and start slow, and then at the end of the diet–once I’ve seen progress and have tuned into my body–press on the gas a little bit before the end. So, my reasoning was pretty much what you wish you had done. I just didn’t want to dive straight into a strict, deep deficit and have to deal with it for 8-10 weeks.
I’m interested to hear everything, literally everything that you think of. Let me know boss.
Thanks Duke, but I think a good amount of it is fat hahaha
I appreciate that mort. I think I’m comparing myself to some insane people which is not healthy, but it also gives me a lot of motivation and room for improvement.
Yeah, I’m not planning on doing that. In hindsight, I should’ve started dieting 2-3 weeks ago when I was having the nerve issues lol. I just wasted a few weeks doing reps on bench that I did 4 months ago!
This is hard for me. I’m usually up until at least 11pm–sometimes as late as 2 or 3am if I don’t have class or work the next morning. So I can eat a late dinner at 7 or 8 and be starving by midnight. If I could fall asleep earlier I would, but I can’t. I’m just going to have to budget some of my calories to be eaten right before bed.
I feel this. Too much protein could (and has, in the past) cause me some GI distress. It’s just annoying
Yup. I was going to make the excuse that I don’t get up early enough, but that’s a horrible excuse. That’s the reason why I normally don’t eat breakfast, but I could easily get up a half hour earlier and have myself a full breakfast like that.
I’m feeling some nerve discomfort in my left glute right now actually. If it was the deadlifts from yesterday (which have never bothered me before), then I’ll have to do 10x3 EMOM for leg press or something embarrassing instead of deads… smh.
@Voxel I’d love to see any programs you got saved up, tbh. Today I’m just going to jump rope outside for 10 minutes when I get home from school, but other than that it’s a rest day. If you have anything, maybe more safe than this 10x3, please do throw it up
Thanks for all the input guys
@Voxel just to clarify, is my phasic approach alright? Just the macros need to be readjusted? I’ve changed MyFitnessPal to be at 222g carb, 222g protein, and 85g fat. 2,540 calories
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Get out of bed earlier! If you do that then you won’t be hungry at midnight because you’ll be asleep 
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Those macros sound better. But, how did you arrive at your calories? Just, math? Or have you tracked your food intake over the last week?
Programs… seems like you want to feel athletic, which constrains it a bit. And then there is your injury. Uhm, Athlete Lean, Athlete Strong but substitute all of the deads with snatch grip deadlifts maybe. Otherwise, I could see you running Best Damn but then you lose out on the athleticism bit.
Your phasic approach is alright but I wouldn’t ever decrease calories until weight loss has stalled, because the further you dig yourself into a deficit the harder it gets and once you are there you can’t just add calories back in and continue losing fat.
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Or make your own programming The Fat Burning Workout, Redefined for Lifters
8 Rules for Fat Loss Training
I’m in a nutrition class and our first assignment was to track what we ate for 3 days. My average came out to just over 3,000 calories (3,009 I think). Calculating my maintenance using BW x 15 gave me 3,225 calories. I believe that my maintenance is probably a little lower. I’ve never been a big eater which is why it was hard for me to gain weight until this time last year when I force fed myself every day.
As for the program, I’ll check out Athlete Lean, Athlete Strong. Athleticism isn’t my main priority, but I’ll be doing jump rope and some running a few times each week on my off days and after lifting. Especially in the beginning when I’m not drained from working out on sub 2,500 calories.
That’s a really good point that I completely overlooked. I’ve heard about many bodybuilding competitors who dig down below 2,000 calories and then fuck their metabolisms up.
Layne Norton (nutrition’s Bad Boy who I adore) posted something on IG yesterday. He was describing a study that took a few competitors, put them on a diet at some ridiculously low caloric intake. They lost the weight, no big deal. They gained some weight back at a fairly normal rate. Then, they tried to diet down again using the same amount of calories, and their weight wouldn’t budge. It took them twice as long to lose the weight at a similar caloric intake and activity level as they had the first time around. They finally managed to get down to their goal weights, and then they gained their fat back THREE times faster than they did the first time. So yeah. I’m at 2,500 right now which doesn’t seem too problematic. I was hungry a few times during the day yesterday, but nothing outrageous. 2,500 seems the same as how I eat on one of my off days when I’m just not that hungry.
7 September 2018 - Squats!!! Bodyweight: 213.2lbs
Soft tissue work, 1min band clams each side, side plank variations (explained below)
Back Squats 10x3 295lbs (<60sec rest)
OHP 95x5, 135x3, 155x1, 175x1, 190x0
Seated DB OHP 30x10, 10x3 75lbs 45sec rest
Lat Pulldown 8x8 130lbs 30sec rest
1 mile ramp -up run 11 min (4mph, 6mph, 7mph, 8mph)
Notes
No pain while squatting. I am a champion. I had my belt, sleeves, and olympic lifting shoes and I had 0 nerve pain or low back tightness. My erectors were fried after two sets because I haven’t back squatted in 2-3 weeks. Purely muscle soreness which is a beautiful thing. My hip flexor was a non-issue. I think the glute stuff is helping slowly but surely. I think a lot of me avoiding the pain today was because of my olympic lifting shoes, but that’s no reason to drop the glute work. I’ll probably do some tomorrow, idk yet.
My OHP was feeling super powerful today. In hindsight, I should’ve gone for a rep PR. I forget which one of your guys’ logs I was on, but I had a conversation with someone about the utility of wearing a belt during OHP. I felt slightly more stable with some lumbar extension and a belt on. 175 went up pretty easily and I got greedy. 15lbs is too big of a jump for my OHP I guess.
Lat Pulldown Day 10 I think. 33.333333% done with this, and I’ve gotten 419 reps. 33.3% completed time-wise, 41.9% complete rep-wise. I might turn this into a “8x8 lat pulldowns every other day for a month” challenge.
Day 2 of the diet has been fine. Right now this diet is basically me just avoiding crap junk food, eating a serving or two of vegetables, and going extra hard on the protein. When I break it down like that into writing, it’s not much of a problem at all. I feel like the phrase “dieting” has a relatively negative connotation to it. If you just view it as eating healthier, which usually means less calories for a normal person, it isn’t bad. More chicken, green beans, and no pop or cookies or anything. Just treating my body with the respect it deserves, I guess.
I’ve had 176g protein so far today, 108g carbs, and 10g fat. Only 1,280 calories, so I need to load up on peanut butter and milk before bed. I ate 1lb of chicken and had a protein shake, plus a good amount of milk. That’s where all the protein came from.
My run today was interesting. I started at a 4mph walk for about 0.15 miles, and then ran the last 0.85. My peak heart rate was 194, and it was 170+ for the entirety of the last 0.85 miles. That’s good work.
As for the side plank variations, I just tried something new. So when I was doing my left side, I lifted my left leg up, with all my weight on my right leg. I moved my left leg into a mountain climber-ish position and then back to neutral. If you want a good oblique workout, try that. I managed to get about 25 seconds of continuous movement for each side.
Tomorrow I don’t have to work so I’ll sleep in and then hit the gym later. I’ll most likely just hit the small muscles that won’t impede my recovery or make me sore–arms, rear delts, calves, and core. I’ll probably do some lat pulldowns because my lats don’t get sore. Idk why. Maybe I’ll do some DB rows instead. Have a good week y’all
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You’re doing a good job Lava, but remember to pay attention to the nerve thing.
Diet wise look at “the matador” diet found here on T-nation.
2 weeks deficit (2500 cal) 2 weeks maintenance (3000).
There’s explained the theory behind in the article.
Training wise while dieting, do not go heavy volume training.
From the hip I would suggest doing a modified Darkhorse style training.
Do the 10 minutes dynamic warmup.
Do a complex after.
Then two modified giant set like the Darkhorse:
Not taken to a rep max.
About 3 ramping sets and then 2 working sets at something like a 8 rpe.
No backoff sets.
For squats it would be something like:
3 jumps, squat, hanging leg raise, strongman or condition exercise.
And the second giant would be a variation like RDL on squat day.
Ending it with a 10 min WOD or some loaded carries of some kind.
Lots of work, lots of heart rate, and not digging into CNS fatigue.
Could be done quite quick and you wouldn’t have to do the second giant set.
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Nice looking workout. You officially OHP more than me. My best is 170 the last time I ran SGSS. Somehow I hit 165 x 3 a month or so later while running B4B though. I don’t really get that…
I hope you run this 10 x 3 program for awhile so I can see how it treats you. I’m still not sure how I’m going to approach my training next year when I officially cut this excess fat. 10 x 3 sounds appealing because it’s not high reps. B4B could be an option because it just seems to get the body going doing a full body circuit every day. But that one is tough to set up at a commercial gym.
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That is just about the only thing I’m paying attention to right now. I read a while ago that electric stimulation has been shown to dramatically increase the rate of repair for damaged peripheral nerves (about 400% faster than simply resting). So far, I’d say that’s about right. Over the summer, every day on my way to work (about 30 minutes) I would hook up my electric stim device to my left lower back and my left glute, and even on days when I woke up with pain, it was gone by the time I got to work. Incredible stuff. So I’ve been stimming the last few days and it’s helped a lot I think.
I skimmed past that article, didn’t read it though. I’ll take a look today.
This is something one of my friends told me about a year ago, and it finally made sense. We should be eating in a surplus while doing high volume in order to repair our muscles faster, regardless of intensity. But when we’re dieting, we should keep the volume low, although the intensity (for lower body movements at least) is not very sensitive/dependent on how many calories you’re eating, as long as it’s only a slight deficit like what I’m on.
I’m going to be honest, I’m not a big fan of Dark Horse. I just don’t think it fits my training style and what I enjoy–because at the end of the day, we lift because it’s fun. Pumps and PRs are why we hit the gym most of the time. But I will say that I really, really liked the dynamic warmups from Dark Horse. That’s why I spend anywhere from 5-15 minutes before every workout just going through planks, stretches, or quick cardio like jump roping or jogging. Once my core, glutes, and cardiovascular system are activated, I feel ready for any workout.
I wish I could do this, but the closest I can get is jumping on a treadmill or stair master. My gym is cramped, which is good because it means there are a lot of things I can use to train, but it’s bad because there’s nowhere I can go to walk for 30+ meters with a loaded trap bar without getting kicked out. Loaded carries seem like the perfect way to finish workouts, but right now I’m just not able to do it. In a few months if I’m able to get back to the high school gym I think I should be fine to do that kind of stuff since I’m sort of a coach.
Haha thanks man. OHP is weird, I think a lot of it has to do with your arm length probably. My arms are an average length for a 6’2" male, so it’s a bit easier over here. I think I could OHP 155x10 if I was fresh, but as soon as I get to 165+ it feels impossible to do more than 1-2 reps. It really doesn’t add up.
It’s really nice. The 10x3 squats had my legs shaking and I was drenched in sweat, and that’s only 75% of a 85% TM. I wasn’t out of breath after sets, but I could feel my body racing to get itself ready for the next set, which is a unique feeling. It’s not classic cardiovascular conditioning IMO, but it’s definitely conditioning of some kind. Even after one workout, I can say that I like it. I’m really excited to try benching 10x3 with 60 seconds of rest. I can only imagine how crazy that chest pump will be. And definitely–like mort said–the volume is low which is perfect. 75% of 1RM is a perfect intensity as well. If anything, I think this program will make me stronger. There’s no way I could do 75% for 30 reps in <10 minutes with any other rep scheme…and the craziest part is, I think I could’ve done 15 sets instead of 10 if I had to.
So this 10x3 version is made for fat loss, but after I’ve reached a satisfactory level of body fat, I might start in on a 10x3 for strength, written by the same guy (Chad Waterbury). Right now I have a perfect level of soreness in my erectors and quads. Enough to know that I did good work, but enough to know that I’ll be ready to squat again on Tuesday. It’s perfect.
10x3 strikes a nice balance here. It’s essentially a full body workout. He outlines it as 4 lifts at 10x3 with 45-60 seconds of rest between each set. You complete all 10 sets of one exercise before you move on to the next one. So for my next hard training day, Monday, I’ll have Snatch Grip Deads, Bench, Lat Pulldowns, and Front Squats. Back, hamstrings, quads, chest, pretty much every day. Obviously you can swap things out and make it your own program; in the future, I might swap OHP for DB OHP like I did yesterday, or DB bench for bench, or leg press for front squats. The variations of this program are purely limited by the compound movements that you enjoy or are comfortable with.
As of now, my tentative recommendation is that you pencil it in for your future cut. Adding cardio on to the end of the workout is what makes it truly feel like a fat loss program, because lifting at 75% of your 1RM doesn’t always feel like that.
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I measured bf % today I’m pushing 20+%. Time to cut. I’m gonna work this 10x3 with you and restart measuring food. Time to dial the diet back in
Currently I’m 265-270 lbs and 20%. I would like to see 255 and 15%.
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Hell yeah!!! Let’s get it!! I love being on the same program as you. When we were both on 5/3/1, we were absolutely killin’ it. Let’s lean out together and then set some PRs in 2019 
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