Woke at 266.3 lbs, looking less bloated.
So yesterday I decided to pull the trigger on dropping 20 lbs. It’s been on my mind long enough that it’s something I definitely want to do.
I also figure, and bear with me on this, that now is a good time to start. I’m basically not training for two weeks, for one. As long as I’m hydrated and load carbs and sodium in the 48 hours prior to meet day I’ll be fine, and since I generally eat plenty of carbs and sodium that’s a given anyway.
Secondly, nothing is going to happen in terms of performance impact or recovery in two weeks because I won’t be going into a deficit like an idiot.
The hypertrophy phase is probably an ideal time to do this, six weeks plus a deload (and possibly a deload in the middle, because every time I’ve run it before the second half was pure hell). So all up nine to 10 weeks seems like a pretty good amount of time to spend cutting down a little.
I’m not going to start out weighing everything either. I’m going to eyeball, which should be accurate enough for what I want to do, and I shouldn’t need to weigh everything just to shed a little blubber. I’ve set my calorie target at 17xLBM. I figure I’m around 30 per cent bodyfat, so LBM is 185 lbs. That gives me 3200 cal/day, 200 grams protein, 20 per cent fat and the rest carbs (which is 400 grams a day and I don’t see how that’s even remotely close to low enough to impact recovery right now). If I start losing too fast, I’ll increase it. If I haven’t dropped anything by meet day, I’ll decrease it in the week post meet. That’s a 500 or so calorie drop daily compared to what I’m getting now so I figure it’s a good place to start.
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I think that’s a great idea, dude. You’ve obviously built a bunch more muscle, and despite you looking fine and being strong as shit, I do think at a certain weight, there’s a toll taken on the body, the heart, etc. that’s just not worth going through, especially as a father and husband. I also fully expect that even after you get this 50lb meet PR, that at the next meet you can get another 50 lb PR at 20 lbs lighter.
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That’s the idea. I don’t see any reason I can’t get stronger at 240ish. Plus there’s a decent chance I’ll end up back closer to 275 at some point, but I won’t get to 275 from where I am now in any useful way.
Ideally I get down to 240-245 within 10 weeks or so, then I’ll hold there for a while, then slowly creep up again.
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Todays training
30 seconds each side of
Couch stretch
Pigeon stretch
Supine twist
Hurdler stretch
10 bracing hip thrusts
DL, DL bar
Worked up to 3x1x506 lbs
55 minutes
Fucking done. Light speed day on Monday and that’s it.
It’s like, do you even DL bro.
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That’s peak lol, you do no work but somehow feel more beat up than ever
I know. Before a major back injury, I used to do a lot of that kind of stuff. Nothing quite fries your nervous system like a couple of single, heavy DLs.
Deadlifts just suck. Light for reps? Suck. Moderate for volume? Suck. Heavy singles? suck.
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They simultaneously suck and are awesome at the same time.
I don’t follow
I think it’s a testament to how badly deadlifts suck that almost no matter how hard you try to make them worse, you can’t. Deficit, snatch grip, sumo, rack pull, all equally shit. Not touching the floor between reps is about the only way you can make them worse, and even then it’s close.
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Hah, I know exactly what you mean. The awesomeness I referred to was more about the sense of accomplishment.
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Yeah, I don’t get that any more. Now I’m just glad they’re over.
Technically, that is also true for me now. Because I never actually accomplish anything.
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I doubt that last part.
Just to throw my 2 cents. I wouldn’t lose weight before after the meet. Keep at maintenance your body is at peak strength now and need to recover. I wouldn’t change anything right before the meet.
Neither would I eat in a deficit during hypertrophy.
I would eat as usual to a week after meet. Then I would do a phase off fat loss training
But that’s me. I know you know your stuff. Just wanted to chime in
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@mortdk I get where you’re coming from, and they are all good points.
Believe me, if I find in the next four or five days that my weight starts dropping too fast I’ll up my calories. I don’t think that will happen though, because while traditionally the first few days of a deficit see significant loss that’s usually because carbs drop and you lose water. At 400 grams of carbs a day it isn’t like I’m going to be short of carbs, especially given I’m not actually doing much.
The deficit during hypertrophy I think will work well for me, because I never really added anything much when I did it the last two times. My body just got a break from heavier weights, and my work capacity improved. I’m hoping the hypertrophy phase will help me shed some of the flab, but again if during that period I start losing weight too fast or my recovery is poor, I’ll add calories.
My secret weapon this time as I see it is my CPAP. For the first time I’m peaking and will do hypertrophy with proper sleep. I think that is going to be a huge factor in my favour, because it’s going to mean my recovery is actually as it should be.
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This was my uninformed opinion too.
Have you floated this past Greg?
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I feel very close to you right now, hahaha.
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