@FlatsFarmer Appreciate you swinging by! Sharing a hat with Rob would definitely be an honor, haha. And I’m having a TON of fun.
@cyclonengineer Thanks man! It’s good to see some validation to the method.
@tlgains Popeye was probably THE first influence I had on wanting to get big and strong, so that’s quite a compliment. And I feel like PETA would be on my side with how much grassfed/pasture raised stuff I go for. The animals give enough for me: I try to make sure they live it up well before that.
@QuadQueen Appreciate you looking out for me with the bone broth! I’m pretty fixed up for powder with Biotest, but this Zoup stuff has been outstanding. And that’s a fantastic head of cattle there!
@The_Myth Appreciate the deep dive on fasting there. With me adopting a Carnivore approach to eating, I’m not too concerned about margins of error. No accidental cracker consumption, haha. I do agree with the system reset, and I feel like, if that’s ever the goal, it would work for me, but given my brief experiment, I have to go with the Jamie Lewis conclusion: “Not eating sucks”. Concur with the weight loss too: I feel like my body is just finding it’s natural/optimal setting this way.
@jshaving Love me some bison! I am so excited to get my hands on some bison ribs next time I get to Aurora.
Alright, future training plans.
“To Valhalla” was spiritually refreshing and has recharged my body. However, I simply wasn’t pushing myself as hard on that program as I was on one’s designed by other people. This is a recurring trend I have observed. Left to my own devices, I do what I like to do and avoid the things I don’t like to do. I am “human: all too human”.
Alongside that, taking on 15k swings to finish out June was an artificial way to add in some difficulty, but I think all I’m really doing is just beating myself down relentlessly without really adding benefit to me. It’s so lacking in intensity while being stupidly high in volume that me getting sick when I did is most likely not a coincidence. And perhaps it’s just the first 4 days of famine showing, but I am looking pretty small and flat at this point. Since it was a self-imposed challenge, I’m not afraid to break it off. I’ve proven myself enough times.
Famine worked, both as a diet and a program. I’m getting back on that. Feast also worked. For some reason, I DON’T want to do that program. I’m not sure what it is. Every time it comes up on my radar, I come up with a new plan. It might simply be how much time it requires and how locked in I have to be for it. In turn, I’m leaning toward a run of “Building the Monolith” with a few twists. The biggest reason here is that the summer schedule is going to have some travel in it, and lifting 3x a week with conditioning on other days would suit me better than 5x a week. Also, the diet recs of BtM suit Carnivore amazingly well.
I’ve also thought that Dan John’s Easy Strength would really slot in well here, and I have an itch to do that program as well. My concerned is, once again, not doing what is needed during the NON-Easy Strength work. But 40 days, 8 weeks, it would cover the summer really well and allow some great flexibility.
I’ve also felt an itch for conjugate. I feel like it would suit a Feast and Famine approach to eating, as I could easily mold and match up the programming with the nutrition. No shortage of successful approaches. But for now, Famine will at least be the next step, since that has a plan already established.
I’m finding this to be the case at the moment. I’ve been able to get in all my Easy Strength workouts, but everything else I need to slot in has been slipping. It’s a combo of life actually getting in the way and me allowing life to get in the way more than it really should.
It’s a really great “lose nothing” program for when you legit can only squeeze in 15-20 minutes though. You get just enough lifting, reps, and conditioning depending on how you structure the workouts to cruise for a short period.
@mr.v3lv3t Funny you mention it, because I think I’ve come up with a way forward, at least for the first 28 days. I’m thinking of combing Easy Strength and Mass Made Simple. Easy Strength 5 days a week, Mass Made Simple on the set schedule, difference would be I wouldn’t do the upper body portion of MMS: just the conditioning complex and the squats. Given there’s no squat work in Easy Strength, there should be no interference there, and the MMS schedule would allow time for other work during Easy Strength. I could actually do Easy Strength for Fat Loss on the non-MMS days. I could even combine BtM in this regard and steal the conditioning workouts from there to do on the non-MMS days. I’m liking the sound of this.
Got in a 2+ mile walk with the kiddo. I’m done with my swing challenge. It’s right right call. Outstanding carnivore dinner this evening
Video isn’t uploading for some reason, I’ll post it later.
It’s good to come back to what works. My topend strength needs bringing up, and this will do just that. Kept blacking out with the keg, solid challenge. Need to get those dips back in order. Viking press was landmine vs the set-up I was using before, which is far more streamlined. In general, I keep learning more every time I re-rerun this.
Cutting away from my personal challenge on the KB swings was the right call. No longer dreading training, no more albatross around my neck.
In thinking about “what am I doing different” and why I’m not getting the results I was before, training was a part of it, trying out real fasting vs PSMF was part of it, but I realized that I just flat out haven’t had a real Rampage in 2 weeks. I didn’t want to eat that way, but the results are obvious. Calorie cycling is part of this: I need a day with a BIG calorie dump so my body gets disrupted. Our brunch buffet has moved closer by. We’re gonna hit it up this weekend. I need to make peace with eating the way that reaches my goals. Ideally, I’d like to Rampage on Sat vs Sun, but I’ll adapt as needed.
And some more fleshed out thoughts on future training
Effectively, I would run Mass Made Simple, but only do the complexes and squats. MMS runs on a 3 day schedule: 1 day of MMS, then a day of recharge, then a day of recovery, then the next day of MMS. You get in 14 workouts in 6 weeks that way. Those recharge and recovery days would coincide well with Easy Strength workouts, which could very well be tailored to fit that parameter. Meanwhile, for the “upper body strength” work of MMS, Easy Strength workouts can fill that gap.
Dan speaks of how squats DON’T fit well with Easy Strength, but that squatting should still be done DURING Easy Strength: this would be a fantastic way to accomplish just that.
During that Non-MMS days, I could do Easy Strength for Fat Loss workouts. I could ALSO do the conditioning from Building the Monolith, if I’m looking for other ideas. If nothing else, I can break out my new rower and give that a go, or the prowler, or weighted vest walks.
Got in the rest of my squats and push ups, but fever broke hard at TSD and I sat out half of class. But had some baller carnivore hot dogs before that at least
I tried your whole microwave egg in a glass jar setup for my pre-bed snack tonight. Worked pretty well, and tasted like eggs lol. Need to mess with the timing a bit, but this is a keeper
Made one of the hardest decisions in my life this morning to NOT get up and train. I am for real sick, and the best call is rest. I managed 100 squats and push ups which got me a fever sweat going, and took the dog for a 2 mile walk, but otherwise I plan to lay low for today so I can come back and give it my all later.
Nope. Nor did I wake up to do it. I woke up to train, used the bathroom, did a self-assessment and realized I was in no state to train, and went back to bed.
Regarding the walking, squats and push ups, it’s pretty black and white (although I use a yellow highlighter)
Though I appreciate the sentiment behind those words, I am human: all too human. Nothing I do is a result of me being different. Those aren’t even my words: I’m simply following Jamie Lewis’ program.
@tlgains Similar sentiment there: those are Jamie’s words. Worth discussing with him if interested. I’m just sticking with the program. Been enjoying my time with my barefoot shoes as well.
I get that, it’s a tough program from what you have posted.
At the same time, your approach/attitude towards training/dieting is definitely different than most even when compared to our own little weird corner of the internet here. That’s on top of your dedication.
I could keep up your pace (maybe, i don’t even know anymore in my mid-30s) if I was still single. Really don’t know how you do it with a family and full-time job.
