Meats Diet

Training Logs
1

Hey everyone,

I’m giving a modified version of the Velocity diet a shot. You may say it’s not the Velocity diet because I’ve changed so much. That’s fine, but don’t forget the Velocity diet started as an experiment, so I think it’s reasonable to try some new things.

About me:
Age: 22
Height: 5’9"
Weight: 224 lbs (10/04/2008 - diet start date)

Experience:
I played high school and college football. I competed for a few years in Olympic weightlifting, have done a fair amount of powerlifting training (only one competition), and have done some strongman workouts for kicks.

Recent testing:
-Bench: 325 lbs raw
-Squat: 405 lbs raw, no belt

Workouts:
I’m sticking to the advanced workout template in terms of set/rep schemes, but I’ve made a fair number of exercise substitutions. Some of the changes I made were removing overhead squats, db overhead press + lunge, db hang clean, power cleans, clap pushups and plank ab work.

I added back squats, dead lifts, clean pulls, reverse lunges, good mornings, incline db bench, suitcase dead lifts and a variety of ab work.

I’m also not timing rest periods, but I will be moving quickly. Instead I’ll time the workout and make sure it’s quick.

I also took out NEPA walks and replaced it with sled dragging. I’ve reduced both the number of trips and the weight I usually do for my gpp/recovery work by half to avoid doing too much work. Just some nice and easy recovery work while also increasing the amount of calories I burn.

See the link at the bottom for more information on workouts.

Nutrition:
I’m sticking to the basic template. Instead of Metabolic Drive, I’m using ON’s Pro Complex. I’ve made other changes, but I won’t bore you with the details. See the link at the bottom for the nitty gritty. My macros are as follows:

Non-lifting Day:
Calories 1,626
Carbs 61
Protein 253
Fiber 23

Lifting Day:
Calories 1,882
Carbs 100
Protein 280
Fiber 24

For comparison, I am the same height, but about 10 lbs heavier than Gustavopacho from the Physique Clinic. Here are his macros as I calculate them:

Non-lifting Day:
Calories: 1,488
Protein: 213g
Carbs: 54g
Fiber: 25g

Lifting Day:
Calories: 1,828
Protein: 238g
Carbs: 100g
Fiber: 25g

I’m not sure how this will all go down, but let’s see what happens.

Details:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pVkMB3jbzHuyE7YAMl8pPSA

2

Day One: 10/04/2008
Weight: 224 lbs

Nutrition was all good, but not exactly according to the times in the spreadsheet.

Workout:
Front squat x3
Wide grip pull-ups x3
Dips x3
Circuit format x7
Hanging leg raises 2 @ Repeated effort

2 rounds with:
FS: 245 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: Bodyweight + 45 lbs

3 rounds with:
FS: 245 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: Bodyweight + 55 lbs

1 round with:
FS: 250 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight + 10 lbs
Dips: Bodyweight + 80 lbs

1 rounds with:
FS: 255 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight + 10 lbs
Dips: Bodyweight + 80 lbs

Completed 7 circuits in 24 minutes.

HLR: Something like 12 and 9 reps, straight legs

Later in the day it was raining, so the sled slid on the grass very easily. A little too easy.

3

Day Two: 10/05/2008
Weight: 219 lbs (-5 lbs)

Five pounds in a day? Sounds ridiculous, but that’s what the scale said. I weighed myself on two different days a few days before starting this and I was 219 lbs and 219.5 lbs. I ate a lot of crap on Friday, my last day of actual food, which would be why I gained 5 lbs by Saturday morning. I don’t think I actually put on that much weight, so perhaps a better measuring point is 221 lbs or so. I’ll keep using 224 lbs as a benchmark, but will note make a note of this again at the end of the diet.

Nutriton:
Nutrition was good today but times were off again. I don’t think I’ll ever be completely accurate, so I’ll leave the timing comments out from now on.

Workout:
Dry out today, so sled work was a little harder. Total time for 6 sled trips and dynamic warm-up was 20 minutes.

4

five pounds in a day is reasonable for the first day of the diet… it is all water weight anyway. I would agree with you that your starting weight would be whatever you were averaging the week before and not necessarily the day after you ate yourself out of house and home preparing for the diet. Lol on that by the way- way to star off your quest with a healthy binge! :slight_smile:

Good luck on your modified diet…

5

[quote]eengrms76 wrote:
five pounds in a day is reasonable for the first day of the diet… it is all water weight anyway. I would agree with you that your starting weight would be whatever you were averaging the week before and not necessarily the day after you ate yourself out of house and home preparing for the diet. Lol on that by the way- way to star off your quest with a healthy binge! :slight_smile:

Good luck on your modified diet…[/quote]

Yeah 219.5 lbs should my measuring point, but I’ll stick with 224 lbs until the end. Thanks for the encouragement.

6

Day Three: 10/06/2008
Weight: 217 lbs (-7 lbs)

Nutrition:
All good today. I’m already looking forward to Friday’s HSM. I’m thinking a clean steak and salad, with no dressing, cheese, croutons or any of that stuff.

Workout:
Before work I did the following -

DB Overhead Press x4
Barbell Reverse Lunge x4
DB Row x4
Circuit format x4

Close-grip Bench x4
(I did this off of pins in a squat rack that was about the same height as a 1-board bench)
DB Hammer Curls x4
Zercher Squat x4
Circuit format x4

1 Round with:
DB OHP: 60 lbs
RL: 135 lbs
DB R: 75 lbs

1 Round with:
DB OHP: 65 lbs
RL: 145 lbs
DB R: 85 lbs

2 Round with:
DB OHP: 65 lbs
RL: 150 lbs
DB R: 90 lbs

1 Round with:
CGB: 255 lbs
DB HC: 35 lbs
ZS: 245 lbs

3 Round with:
CGB: 255 lbs
DB HC: 40 lbs
ZS: 245 lbs

For DB Hammer Curls and DB Rows, I did five reps for a few sets because I picked weight that were too light. I missed my very last rep in the Zercher Squat. I think it was more of a balance and exhaustion issue then muscular failure. I’ll get it next time, but those Zerchers were the hardest thing so far.

All 8 rounds, plus setting up circuit two and working up to my working weights for circuit two took 55 minutes. Longer than I would have liked, but I did a lot of work in that time. I skipped the 2 sets of Back Extensions that I was planning, not enough time. I’ll get them in next time.

I decided to step up sled work to trips of 60 yards from now on. Sled dragging, including dynamic warm-up, took 22 minutes.

7

This probably belongs in the training logs forum.

8

[quote]analog_kid wrote:
This probably belongs in the training logs forum. [/quote]

Maybe, but this is really an experiment in nutrition for me. It just so happens I am also meticulously tracking my workouts. Besides that, a mod put moved it here, so I think it’s staying here until they choose to move it elsewhere.

9

Day Four: 10/07/2008
Weight: 215.5 lbs (-8.5 lbs)

Nutrition:
All good. Really, really looking forward to Friday. I already started scouting out places where I can get that clean steak and salad.

Workout:
6 sled trips of 60 yards plus dynamic warm-up took 18 minutes.

10

[quote]MeatsINC wrote:
analog_kid wrote:
This probably belongs in the training logs forum.

Maybe, but this is really an experiment in nutrition for me. It just so happens I am also meticulously tracking my workouts. Besides that, a mod put moved it here, so I think it’s staying here until they choose to move it elsewhere.[/quote]

The mod put it in here because you put it in the velocity diet forum. And it’s not the velocity diet.

11

[quote]eigieinhamr wrote:
MeatsINC wrote:
analog_kid wrote:
This probably belongs in the training logs forum.

Maybe, but this is really an experiment in nutrition for me. It just so happens I am also meticulously tracking my workouts. Besides that, a mod put moved it here, so I think it’s staying here until they choose to move it elsewhere.

The mod put it in here because you put it in the velocity diet forum. And it’s not the velocity diet.[/quote]

Your first sentence is correct. The second is debatable. Shugart: “Yeah, a few modifications are fine if made by well read, experienced folks, but some people go overboard with the changes until they’re basically no longer doing the diet.”

I think I’m pretty close to the velocity diet. I’m consuming 5 or so protein shakes per day plus milled flax seed, high quantities of fish oil, BCAAs, vitamins, fiber choice, a high carb workout shake, fat burners, water and that’s it.

I’m having one HSM per week for four weeks and then transitioning back to food. I’m also doing three circuit based workouts per week with that consist primarily of compound movements. That sounds like the velocity diet to me.

I don’t really care what anyone else calls it or if anyone even reads this. It’s nice that Biotest made up a rule that you can’t call something similar the Velocity Diet unless you buy and use their products. I’m sure the company has only your best interests at heart. Profits are the last of their worries.

We’ll see soon enough if this works or not. According to Shugart, this whole thing started as an experiment. Another quote: "I may mess up. I may lose muscle. I may go crazy and eat a box of Krispy Kremes, box and all.

I don’t care. If I fail, I’ll still learn something along the way, and maybe you will too. If I succeed, I’ll have the leanest summer ever!"

That’s my attitude as well, minus the part about Krispy Kremes. If I fail, they are welcome to put a link to this thread under the “Why Metabolic Drive Only?” thread as an example. Whatever happens, I’m sure we will all learn something.

12

Day Five: 10/08/2008
Weight: 215.5 lbs (-8.5 lbs)

I’ve made some updates to the spread sheet in the first page to make the nutrition timing closer to what I’ve been able to do. I’ve also added more details to the nutrition section for those who want them. Weeks seven and eight aren’t perfect, but you get the idea by then.

Nutrition:

Stuck with it for another day. My body feels pretty good; I thought I might be really sore and tired, but that hasn’t been the case.

I find that I do get hungry sometimes, but its never more than 30 minutes before my next shake. Not fun, but I can make it work.

Workout:
Before work I did the following -

Clean Pull x4
Chin ups x6
DB Bench x6
Circuit format x4

Barbell Row x6
DB Side Raise x6
Squat + Push Press x6
Circuit format x4

Barbell side bends 2 sets @ repeated effort

1 round with:
DB Bench: 90 lbs
CP: 275 lbs
Chins: Bodyweight

3 rounds with:
DB Bench: 100 lbs
CP: 275 lbs
Chins: Bodyweight

Completed four rounds in 24 minutes.

4 rounds with:
BB R: 155 lbs
DB SR: 25 lbs
S + PP: 145 lbs

Completed four rounds in 22 minutes.

BB Side bends: 25 lbs clipped onto one side of the bar for 8 reps each way, x2 sets. This was easier than when I’ve done it in the past few months, which I’m happy about.

This was the toughest workouts I’ve done so far. I felt like vomiting a couple of times. Squat + push press was brutal, damn CrossFit for giving me that idea.

Sled work in the evening was a nice change. Dynamic warm-up plus 6 trips took 17 minutes.

13

[quote]MeatsINC wrote:
Some of the changes I made were removing overhead squats, db overhead press + lunge, db hang clean, power cleans, clap pushups and plank ab work.

I added back squats, dead lifts, clean pulls, reverse lunges, good mornings, incline db bench, suitcase dead lifts and a variety of ab work.[/quote]

Those look like good exercise substitutions. It seems logical to limit the olympic lifts when in a hypocaloric state to avoid injury.

Be prepared to drop a lot of volume once you “hit the wall” in your diet. I have done a few 1200-calorie diets and sometimes you just deadlift and go home. At some point you may reconsider that sled dragging too, unless you are assisted or have naturally badass recovery.

Keep going!

-Sab

14

[quote]Sabastian525 wrote:
MeatsINC wrote:
Some of the changes I made were removing overhead squats, db overhead press + lunge, db hang clean, power cleans, clap pushups and plank ab work.

I added back squats, dead lifts, clean pulls, reverse lunges, good mornings, incline db bench, suitcase dead lifts and a variety of ab work.

Those look like good exercise substitutions. It seems logical to limit the olympic lifts when in a hypocaloric state to avoid injury.

Be prepared to drop a lot of volume once you “hit the wall” in your diet. I have done a few 1200-calorie diets and sometimes you just deadlift and go home. At some point you may reconsider that sled dragging too, unless you are assisted or have naturally badass recovery.

Keep going!

-Sab[/quote]

Yeah, plus form generally goes down the tubes when you are trying to do something as highly technical as the olympic lifts as part of a circuit like that.

I hoping to avoid that wall as long as possible, but only time will tell. I’m not assisted or gifted really. I think getting 290 grams of protein on lifting days plus 8-10 hours of sleep per night without exception is helping. As for the sled dragging, I did cut the weight in half and the reps in half from what I normally do to try to keep it from being too much work.

Thanks for the encouragement.

15

Day Six: 10/09/2008
Weight: 212 lbs (-12 lbs)

-12 lbs? Sort of, more like -8 lbs, but anyway…

Nutrition:
I decided to step it up to two Hyperdrives per day. Today I took two at the same time and my heart was beating pretty hard for the next few hours. I’m going to split them up over different meals from now on to avoid that.

I stuck with the shakes for another day. I’m so close to tomorrow’s HSM, Friday will be the best day of the week for sure. Plus I think it will be a nice boost from this rapid weight loss before going through the next round of workouts in week two.

Workout:
Sled dragging before work. Dragging the sled is so nice compared to those ugly circuit workouts. The fact that it only takes 20 minutes or so means a little sleeping in and some spare time before work. Took 19 minutes for the 6 trips and dynamic warm-up.

16

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So I woke up day one and learned that my camera broke sometime between then and the last time I used it. Strange. Here is something from a camera phone.

There is a front/side combined picture in my profile that is not cooperating with this thread.

Starting point - Day One

17

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Day Seven: 10/10/2008
Weight: 212.5 lbs (-11.5 lbs)

Nutrition:
Today was the greatest day of the diet so far. I had been looking forward to food all week. I got a steak and salad from a local restaurant with no dressing, no cheese or anything like that. It consisted of:
5 oz of steak
Lettuce
Cabbage
Tomatoes
Cilantro

I also had some guacamole. I really enjoyed this, but now I have to wait another week until I can eat again. My HSM was at about 11:30am and I had shakes for the rest of the day.

Workout:
Sled dragging this morning took 19 minutes including dynamic warm-up.

18

Day Eight: 10/11/2008
Weight: 214 lbs (-11.5 lbs)

My weight has moved up 2 lbs over last two days. I would assume this is because I have not lifted in two days and ate my HSM yesterday. I think that’s fine, a boost was probably beneficial and today’s lift went very well.

Nutrition:
Shakes and all went according to plan. Every time I see a commercial for any kind of food or smell something nearby, I really want to eat.

Workout:
AM:
Ended up dragging the sled in the morning and lifting at night. This was not according to the plan, but I think it was fine. My workout partner was unavailable until the afternoon and these circuits are always better to do with someone, so I waited.

PM:
Deadlift x3
Wide Grip Pullup x3
Dips x3
Circuit format x8
Baned abs 2 sets @ repeated effort

2 rounds with:
DL: 315 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: 45 lbs + chains

2 rounds with:
DL: 315 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: 55 lbs + chains

1 round with:
DL: 315 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: 70 lbs + chains

2 round with:
DL: 325 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: 70 lbs + chains

1 round with:
DL: 325 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: 80 lbs + chains

1 round with:
DL: 335 lbs
WGP: Bodyweight
Dips: 90 lbs + chains

If you are counting, that’s actually 9 rounds. Apparently I wasn’t counting very well, despite tracking every set. My brain doesn’t function so well with these circuit workouts.

Also forgot to do the banded abs and check the clock before I left. 9 rounds took roughly 30 minutes, but certainly not more than 40 minutes. I felt pretty good with this workout and I was happy to do these weights considering my low calorie consumption.

The chains are 5/8th inch, with four strands hanging down to the ground. I don’t know how much they weigh, they were just the biggest kind carried by Home Depot. Also, deadlifts combined with pullups is rough on the hands.

19

Day 9: 10/12/2008
Weight: 212.5 lbs (-11.5 lbs)

Nutrition:
All good and according to the spreadsheet.

Workout:
Sled dragging took 22 minutes. I am considering bumping up the sled work to a plate and a quarter, or at least having the quarter around as an option. I feel like ground texture/wetness adds too much variance to the difficulty of the sled dragging.

20

Day 10: 10/13/2008
Weight: 213.5 lbs (-10.5 lbs)

Nutrition:
All good as usual. I think my tablespoons of peanut butter are slightly larger than they should be. I’m not sure if that’s a big deal or not, considering how little I am consuming. However, My weight loss seems to be slowing or stopping. I will make one change in the workout, noted below, and continue onwards.

Workout:
Dumbell Overhead Press x5
Barbell Reverse Lunge x5
Dumbell Row x5
Circuit format x4

Squat x5
Dumbell Hammer curl x5
Bench x5
Circuit format x4

Back Extensions 2 sets @ repeated effort

1 Round with:
DB OHP: 60 lbs
RL: 135 lbs
DB R: 85 lbs

3 Round with:
DB OHP: 65 lbs
RL: 145 lbs
DB R: 85 lbs

Elapsed time: 28 minutes

1 Round with:
S: 275 lbs
HC: 35 lbs
B: 245 lbs

1 Round with:
S: 295 lbs
HC: 40 lbs
B: 245 lbs

2 Round with:
S: 305 lbs
HC: 40 lbs
B: 245 lbs

Elapsed time: 30 minutes

Back Ext: Bodyweight - 2 sets of 12

Bench didn’t go so well. The gym is so empty, there is hardly anyone to get a spot from. On one set, I got some clown to spot me and I did 10 reps at 245 lbs that were “all you man.” Crap. The only other people around were the guy’s girlfriend, training parter, or on cardio equipment.

I’ve realized my pace sucks on these morning workouts. No more. I bought a cheap wristwatch to keep rest to 30-45 seconds in between set, no exceptions. This may also be the reason weightloss has slowed. Dan John’s latest article has reminded me to kick it up, the timing couldn’t be better.

I look forward to kicking up the intensity a notch on Wednesday. I’m not putting myself through the suffering of these shakes and no food to not lose as much fat as I can.