MarkKO's Training Log

This I think. I’m pretty sure I fit that bill, so I’m extra cautious because I’m figuring out my margins as I go. I may well end up going to 2800 cal/day maybe even with three carb feeds a week. I’d just rather take a softly-softly approach to avoid any unnecessary blubber addition. What I do know is yesterday and today I’m hungry AF and I’m not going to hold off another day.

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How much do you think is too fat for carbs? Like is holding a resemblance of a six pack at your fattest within the range?

Fuck no! Like, proper fat, like I was before I leaned out. Plus how well you tolerate carbs IMO is also going to depend a lot on how much muscle you carry regardless of fat (within reason). I mean, a 300 lbs dude will carry more muscle than a 150 lbs dude at similar body fat levels.

Just based on my experience once your abs start showing a little you can probably start throwing a few more carbs in as long as fats are kept low. Once you’ve got a four pack and obliques (so where I’m at these days) you can go to town fairly often and have higher carbs on average, provided you time them right and keep your fats under control. Make sense?

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Carb fed with dinner for a total of

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I agree with this but can’t cite any studies or shit. I also think the longer you have been lean, the more carbs you can eat. I believe (just my own crazy ass belief, no evidence) that this has to do with insulin resistance. The longer you have been lean, the more insulin sensitive you become, the more carbs you can eat without it converting to fat.

I can’t tell you why I believe any of that, but I do.

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Agree with the Myth. The longer you have been lean, the more you can tolerate/use the carb’s in the body, before it is stored as fat.
So a bit more carb’s the day before training is okay… I think.
But keep an eye on the scale and the mirror.

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Woke at 197.6 lbs, noticeably softer and some bloating around lower abs but still looking decent. Both of those were expected, given the sheer quantity of dinner I had (rice, beans, bread, jam, Nutrigrain). Feeling pretty good.

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Today’s training

Shoulder raise tri-set a bunch at 15 lbs until my shoulders pumped up

Decided to swap out BTN press for BB incline, but moving my grip in to avoid shoulder hassles. My elbows have staryted feeling creaky this week so I think it’s wise to swap. TL;DR I can squat with a bar OR BTN press in a week. Not both.

Incline press, press grip (midway between CGBP and comp bench, false grip)
10xbar
8x88 lbs
5x10x132 lbs, under 6, 6-7, 7, 7-8, 8 RPE - very comfortable, up to 143 lbs next week. Smith incline definitely carries over a ton

Decided to swap incline DB press for seated DB press. No sense in doing extra incline I don’t think

Seated DB press supersetted with DB rows
Press 3x12x45 lbs, 67 slot on EFS bench - good choice, felt very similar to BTN without the elbow hassle. I’ll stay here for a week, then go to 50 lbs
Rows 3x10x135 lbs, regular grip as no chalk and without chalk I slip on my thumbnail using hook

Decided to swap out pull-ups for low/mid rows - again, elbows. I’ve had a good run doing pull-ups twice weekly but now I’m adding weight and straight bar squats again I need to balance the stresses out

Lateral raises supersetted with low/mid rows
Raises 5x12x20 lbs
Rows 5x12x132 lbs - actually able to squeeze my middle back on these now, apparently I have a degree of MMC I did not before. Like these

Hammer curls 25 lbs for three sets to 9 RPE - my go to elbow soother.

All up took an hour fifteen minutes

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OK, going to swap out a few things from next week (OK, this week for some).

Monday
Military press replaces Smith machine high incline press
BB curl replaces dead stop hammer curls off thighs

Tuesday
Beltless SGDL off 10 cm blocks replaces conventional 10 block pulls
Belted squat bar squats 3x10 replace SSB 350 sets
Ab wheel with pause supersetted with SSB back raises replaces banded side bends and back raises

Wednesday
Feet up bench press replaces dips
Rolling tricep extensions replace PJR pullovers

Thursday
Single leg leg press replaces lunges

Friday
Incline press replaces BTN press
Seated DB press replaces DB incline press
Low/mid rows replace pull-ups
Hammer curls replace dead stop hammer curls off thighs

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TC Luoma has an article from November 5, where the standing one arm DB press is highlighted as superior to the seated DB pres. give it a read.

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Having done both I’ll disagree. Yes, standing single arm works my midsection more, but my rear delts and traps feel a lot more going on seated with both arms working. It feels like seated lets me focus much more on my shoulders working while standing with a single DB I ‘waste’ a lot of focus on stabilising.

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well I saw you switched to the seated version and remembered the article.
I haven’t really a favorit, i like the military press, but I was thinking of giving one arm DB press a go as an assistance exercise.
Maybe I will try them seated as well, just to feel the difference.

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I did standing single arm DB press for about six weeks not too long ago. Yes, absolutely a good way to work pressing and abs at the same time. It didn’t hurt my pressing, but I’m damn sure it didn’t actively help it either.

Seated DB press feels very, very similar to BTN press without having to crank my wrists and elbows into less than optimal positions and with also being able to use full ROM. Standing DB press with two arms always felt awkward AF, but taking the balance element out was a game changer.

I can’t seated press with a BB at all, it makes my shoulders very upset - but standing is absolutely no issue. With a log, even better, although that cuts out my rear delts a ton so unless I want to get better at log I’ll probably leave it out most of the time.

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Woke at 197.3 lbs, looking pretty decent.

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Woke at 197.3 lbs again. Looking decent. Woke late, but apart from being annoying because I hate waking up late that isn’t remarkable. Plus extra sleep never hurt.

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Well. Guess you and I weigh roughly the same now lol

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I had looked at it that way :joy:

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Here you go Marko, a reverse striptease from a strange man on the internet:

I guess you are ecstatic :smiley:

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It made my morning :joy:

They’re definitely looser than mine - I need to hook mine over stuff to get them on. I don’t see why they wouldn’t give you decent support though, just not a ton of carryover. You could also try sitting back into them more. That’ll let you load them up.

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Woke at 197.6 lbs, looking decent. A bit flat and kind if dry, but decent.

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