Hell yeah! I think I’d be more interested in lift though. You are a complete stud and I’m sure I’d learn a ton.
1 Like
@LoRez I have grilled octopus before, if that counts, haha. But it’s been quite a while since I’ve had it served to me. In truth, octopus is one of my culinary “white whales”. When I was about 3 or 4, my dad took me to a Chinese buffet that had Octopus on it, and it was one of the most delicious things I ever had, and I’ve never been able to experience it again. Most likely, given the era, it was soaked in MSG, which made it so yummy, haha. I have a similar thing with bacon: my very first bacon experience was bacon from my mom’s family farm from a recently slaughtered pig. Nothing has ever come close to that. It was probably the worst way I could have ever been introduced to bacon: it set my standards too high!
@The_Myth It’s amazing how little impact these videos can have on me. I’ll watch a documentary on sea turtles hatching, going out to sea and returning to lay a clutch of eggs and all I can wonder is “would sea turtle omelets taste fishy?”
@taylortooswift Mega praise from you dude, and it will absolutely happen if you make your way here! Of course, my gym is calibrated for my shrimpy height at 5’9: we may need to adjust for you, haha.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
PHYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Week 3, Workout 3
30 minutes, EMOM
Round 1: 10x185lb squat
Round 2: 1x186lb axle continental and push press
Round 3: 2x62.5lb/2xBW NG chins
End workout with max squats in 3 minutes w/135 (44 total, 3 more than last time)
ASSISTANCE
3x10 standing ab wheel
2x50 band pull aparts
25-15-10 dips
25-15-10 band curls
50 band pushdowns
Notes:
-
Training motivation was absolutely shot this morning. Alarm went off and I seriously contemplated how badly I needed this workout. Wondered the same thing while getting dressed. At one point, I was in my garage with both knee sleeves on, one shoe on, and seriously contemplating not putting on the other shoe, reversing course and getting back to bed. A few elements at play there. I’m sure reduced food intake is part of it, and alongside that, yesterday was actually a pretty high activity day despite being a day off. Along with my prowler work, Mrs and I got in a 5.5 mile walk out in the sun after she was done with work, and then another night of sparring at Tang Soo Do (she ended up beating me this time, scoring a point that I was unable to recover before time ran out) that we ended with some bag work. I wasn’t unexcited to train from an emotional standpoint: I just didn’t feel like I had anything in me. I made the decision to not even try the heavy squats, and instead make it a goal to get in more reps at 185 than last time, and upped the weight on the press so I could stick with singles. This was ultimately the right call, and once I got under the bar things started clicking, and I surprised myself with my output. Ultimately, it was the right call to carry on, but also, if I did NOT have a competition looming, I’ve fairly certain I would have walked away.
-
For those keeping score at home, getting in sets of 10 on squats meant this was a 10x10 squat workout with at most 2 minutes and 20 seconds of “rest”, but during that downtime I was doing axle push press and weighted chins. This bodes well for what I am sure will be an inevitable return to Deep Water someday, as I’m doing these squats with my silly close together stance and no belt. It took a little bit of doing to build myself back to where I was with this new approach, but it’s good to see I got it in me again.
-
I’m happy with how the axle continental went. Had to focus on pulling high to get it in place. No room for half efforts.
-
Got in 3 extra reps from last time on the 3 minute squat at the end. That was pretty awesome. And, of course, afterwards I was completely nuked, so the assistance work was just whatever I could scrape by.
-
Weighed in at 81.9kg this morning: nearly a full KG drop from yesterday. Abs are really popping as well. As I noted: just need to stick with the plan and trust the process.
16 Likes
I won’t explain it well, but I guess my mind wants food to offset. Like I want to sear a steak, but cook it rare, so there’s some crunch on the outside but chew in the middle.
I know we’ve all hit it all across these boards, but it’s like a completely different species than what you get in the store. We’re looking for a new farm, because even the “organic” beef/ pork in the store is not the same.
Rest of the update: you’re just a stud. Always awesome to read.
3 Likes
@TrainForPain Ya know, I started thinking about it more as you wrote it, and I think I DO appreciate texture but, in turn, it’s an interesting thing I appreciate. I kinda want my food to fight me back. I don’t like it when food is too tender, “falls off the bone”, “melts in your mouth”, etc: I like it when there’s some bite and chew in it. Even with candies, I liked caramels over plain chocolates. So perhaps that explains things.
And it’s absolutely wild the difference between factory and local farmed food. It’s well worth treating animals right if you’re going to eat them.
Always high praise from you dude!
Kinda an early morning because of the dog today, but got up, got in my squats and push ups, delicious breakfast made by the Valkyrie, then got in my mat pulls
(4) 9+3+2x426
Was dealing with some friction issues, based on how much skin I tore off my right quad. It made it difficult to maintain my grip, which is why I set it down early on the final pull. I know that about pulling with the axle, and in a comp I wear better gear to help, but today was pulling in pajamas before taking the dog for a walk.
I also finally made my throwbag. It’s 30lbs, which is the middle weight I’ll need for my comp (25-30-35), so good to train on. I got in 5 practice throws, and may make it a policy to just get in some training daily to develop that explosiveness.
Got to Tang Soo Do for our make up class today. The sparring bracket was brutal: first I had to face off against the Valkryie, and we both got called on fouls to the point that we went into sudden death and I “won” because my wife threw a kick while I did a jump-spin kick and she ended up kicking my back, which is foulable. Prior to that, it was a very close match.
I limited myself to hands only against the kiddo, and let them work on some technique. I’m proud of how my kid is a total swarm fighter: pure aggression and forward pressure. Made it really hard for me to find an opening. I eventually got in 3 body punches to secure a victory.
At this point, this was like a Saw movie: I had to cut through my family to get to the top, so I figured I had to make it count. I was matched up with the black belt senior student in the final match. I actually got called on 2 fouls right at the start: excessive contact for a head kick, and then a punch to the back. So I was at -1 points, and the next foul would mean I lost the match. At that point, I had to keep control and aggressive at the same time, because the black belt was far more of a defensive counter fighter than an aggressor. I knew if I could get AHEAD, I’d be able to walk them down for the rest of the match. I managed to score on a body kick and a head kick by making creative use of some axe kicks and roundhouses while working angles. They liked to pick up a leg and leave it out there as a means of passive defense, so I had to learn how to move off their center and strike the unprotected side.
Thus secured me a second night of “Dojang Sparring Tournament Champion” this week. Good workout. After it was done, my instructor came up and said “Now that you are integrating the kicks with the boxing stance it is really impressive”
Day’s not over, but it’s been great.
17 Likes
Another awesome day. Slept in more, got in my push ups and squats, Mrs made me an awesome breakfast, and I got in 5 throws with my throwbag before taking the dog for a walk, then got in 5 more throws when I returned. Really trying to focus on my explosiveness and getting in a good arc. I’m liking this idea: kind of like grease the groove.
Ran some errands, got some carne asada, came home and got in an awesome yoke workout
Did 3 runs back and forth unloaded (160lbs)
Then 2 runs back and forth with 250lbs
1 run back and forth with 340lbs
1 full run down with 390lbs (10lbs off comp weight)
1 run back and forth with 250
4 runs back and forth unloaded
Wore my old knee sleeves on my elbows to protect the scrape I got, and it was so clutch. Definitely doing that for the comp and future training. Glad I got the practice in to discover that. Getting comp weight to go the distance was reassuring. I now know I CAN do it when the time comes.
Actually felt like I was moving faster in general today, which is a good sign. The 340 was much better than last week. I don’t want to spend TOO much time plodding along, but it’s good to get in some heavy work.
After this, family went for a 3.5 mile walk out in the sun, and I made some steaks and a rib for me while the Mrs made me some eggs sunny side up.
Great weekend. Refueled for this week.
15 Likes
AM WORKOUT (0410 Wake Up via alarm)
PHYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 2, Week 1, Workout 1
Log clean and push press, max reps in 1 minute (1:45 rest between sets)
1 set of 180
5 sets of 150
Squats
10xBar
8x135
4x185
4x225
4x315
20x250
ASSISTANCE
3x10 standing ab wheel
10x5 chins (various grips)
25x85 buffalo bar good morning
25 axle shrugs w/average bands
50 total dips
50 band pull aparts
BREAKFAST
Shorter walk w/dog
Notes:
-
Moving toward a more competition focused approach from here. Was never a great push presser, but I can regain some ability in these next few weeks. I actually tried opening up with 190, and managed the clean, but no reps. Only got in 1 rep with 180, but it’s ability rather than strength at this point. Wore the belt, just to get used to that feeling again, but took it off for the sets at 150. Toward the 3rd set of 150, I could get a better feel for the push press, and I was trying to get a little faster on the clean to not waste energy. Shorter rest times allowed me to keep my conditioning.
-
I’m satisfied with the squats. There’s a drop off in strength compared to where I was at the end of DoggCrapp, but I’m also lighter, eating less, and more fatigued coming in. Those were absolutely some rough looking squats, and that set of 20 at the end was certainly a miracle, as I was ready to be done at rep 7. I contemplated doing breathing squats instead, but felt like that’d be giving my body some mixed signals. I’m trying to get that bodyweight down, and breathing squats are a “growing” sort of movement.
-
Decided to go back to what works for me as far as back work goes: treat it like assistance vs a main work. Really focused on rep quality with the chins, kept it sub max and slotted it in between everything else on my assistance work.
-
Heat index is absolutely insane. Supposed to get to 100 degrees today. Garage was a total sweatbox. In turn, weighed in at 81.7kg after my post-workout shower, which tells me that I CAN make weight if I need to come comp day. I weighed in yesterday morning, first thing at 83.6kg, but I also feel I was experiencing some pretty significant inflammation, as my stomach ended up being upset that day and I discovered some sort of growth inside my mouth that was filled with blood upon bursting. I had Panda Express for lunch the day before, and wonder if I’m more sensitive to the seed oils compared to before, given how clean eating has been. In either case, if need be, come the morning of the comp, I can just put on some sweats, heat to my garage and ride my bike to get a sweat going.
-
I am going to say though, based off the thumb nail in my recent zercher yoke training video, I legit think one of the issues I’m running into with bodyweight is that I’m putting on “too much” muscle to be able to be below 180lbs. That’s a good problem to have.
-
Walks with dog are going to be on the shorter side this week. Kiddo has a theater camp I’m taking them to in the mornings, which has a little earlier start time.
13 Likes
I have a few portable swamp coolers to cool off my space, but honestly haven’t used because I have a free HotWorx membership with Texas heat. I’m weighing in 226 right now and need to lose 5lbs. This is 100% my plan, jump on air dyne and sweat it out before I compete if I need to.
I ate this no less than 7 times a week in college and 3-4 times up until a few years ago. Given the way you eat, what do you order? Lately, I just get teriyaki chicken or stringbrean chicken and plain steamed rice.
1 Like
@dchris Yeah, I definitely see the heat as a feature rather than a bug, haha. I figure my competition is training comfortably, whereas I’m enduring this insanity, and when it comes time to get sweaty, I’m there.
I just get an ala carte teriyaki chicken. When I was gaining, I’d get the large, but these days I get the medium. It’s nice when it’s not saturated in the cooking oil/sauce. I’ll actually wash it off if I get it home, but out and about I don’t bother.
2 Likes
Sorry to dive back into this discussion from a month ago, but I really liked this take on it.
As you’re aware, I’ve recently started The Carnivore Diet (and feeling great, so far). My original thoughts were that this diet would transition into still mostly meat, but supplemented with fruits and vegetables that I’ve managed to grow in our own backyard. I’ll need to put more thought into the “what” I’m growing, but this would ensure local, seasonal, and organically grown produce.
Our strawberry patch this year was amazing, and we have lots of wild raspberries and blackcaps around our property.
I suppose there was no question contained there, more of a relevant thought sparked by your previous post. Thanks for listening!
4 Likes
Only half way thru Huberman’s latest podcast with Dr Lyon. Great discussion on benefits of protein re longevity, along with portion size, nutrients etc. You’re already across all this already, but if you need another playlist item to add mate.
1 Like
Finally got a chance to watch this zercher carry video. Damn. This looks like the worst kind of fun and something I need to do try and fit in tomorrow during workday… Good stuff.
1 Like
@littlesleeper Never need to be sorry of diving back into the discussion: I love chatting about this stuff. So glad to hear you’re enjoying the carnivore experience so far. I’ll fully disclose that I had the exact same intentions you did when I undertook it: “I’ll just spend a month or so drying out and then start reintroducing stuff from there. I’ll go from Carnivore to Ketovore”, figuring the ability to have more variety would make my life easier, especially social situations. But, the longer I ate this way, the better I felt, and I just couldn’t find the incentive to switch! Haha. However, I think the approach you’re speaking of is an awesome way to go about it: there’s so much quality control when you’re raising your own stuff, and you’ll definitely keep it seasonal that way. And as I’ve written before: when “cheating” is eating locally grown fruit, veggies and honey, you’re in a VERY good place nutritionally.
@raven78 Really appreciate you pointing me in that direction! I know OF Huberman and Lyon, but haven’t listened to either directly before: that sounds like an awesome discussion to plug in on.
@dchris Hey thanks so much man! It’s one of the reasons I still compete: it forces me out of my comfort zone and gets me to try things I wouldn’t normally do. Zercher ANYTHING definitely builds up the “everything” muscle, haha.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
75 KB swings w/57.5lb bell
2.75 mile walk w/80lb vest at 2.9mph
100x230lb reverse hyper
50 band pull aparts
BREAKFAST
Shorter walk w/dog
Notes:
-
Ambient heat from yesterday was still quite present/suffocating this morning. Glad today was a walk day vs training in the garage. Just hitting those swings beforehand had me sweating.
-
Walk itself was restorative, but I was moving slow from the heat. Getting that 100 reps on the reverse hyper was great, as now I can up the weight again.
-
Had a more serious carb up meal yesterday, first one in quite a while. Valkyrie made “Farmer’s Casserole”, which is egg noodle based (we found a great company that is just drum wheat pasta and water), bison, local sweet corn, grassfed cheddar slices and some canned soups (there’s your Midwest casserole/hot dish at work). I had some generous portions of that alongside 2 sunny side up pasture raised eggs, a slice of homemade sourdough with some grassfed butter, and 3 of my wife’s amazing peanutbutter oatmeal cookies with some raw local cinnamon honey for dessert. Once again, it’s a night and day difference when I load up on this stuff compared to when I’d use this as an excuse to binge on fast food or pizza or something like that. I still feel restored, but I don’t get hit with the carb bomb, break out in sweats, or feel myself “degreasing” during the next day’s workout. My guts handle this much better as well.
-
Night 1 of 3 in Tang Soo Do is tonight. Mrs and I are trying to earn our final stripe, so we can test in August for our next belt. Same with the kiddo. If that happens, we’ll get to move on to the advanced class as a family, which will be fantastic for a variety of reasons. Our schedules will be a little less crazy, since the class is later in the evening, and we’ll all get taught to the level we need to, as right now Mrs and I are technically slumming it in a lower level class so we can stay with our kiddo.
14 Likes
I’ve been a little quiet on detailing how I feel so far on it, as I want to ensure it is not simply a placebo effect or things will come crashing down in week 2. I’m feeling great, I’m down 4lbs (likely a lot of previously stored glycogen), but actually looking “tighter” which seems a little silly to say after only 4 days on the diet. I’ll be posting some more details of my experience in a few weeks.
Great perspective, and I’m looking forward to continuing the experiment and seeing where it takes me!
3 Likes
@littlesleeper No shame in sharing the initial feelings there: a lot of folks really do experience some pretty incredible changes in just a few days. There is definitely a potential for a crash later on, but it can be amazing what a quick cleanse can do.
AM WORKOUT (0410 Wake up via alarm)
PHRYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 2: Week 1, Workout 2
30 minutes, EMOM
Round 1: 3x215 axle zercher squat from floor
Round 2: 190lb axle dead incline bench (2x3, then 3x2, then 5x1)
Round 3: 5 BW Chins
Repeat
Finish with 13x405 trap bar lift
ASSISTANCE
3x10 standing ab wheel
50 axle curls (didn’t have 100 in me today)
50 band pushdowns
Lateral Raise dropset (35x10, 35x5, 35x2.5, 35xEmpty hands)
50 band pull aparts
BREAKFAST
Short walk w/dog
Notes:
-
Felt pretty ready coming into this today. It’s not super exciting, but I know it’s good for me. I’m keeping this day as is for this second phase of the training, because the EMOM work is keeping me well conditioned, and the zercher work should pay off well for the carry.
-
My press strength seems to be falling off, while my pulling strength is improving, which most likely speaks to getting leaner and leverages changing. My bodyweight really doesn’t seem to be moving in any real direction, which leads me to believe I’m experiencing some manner of recomposistion which, given I am looking more muscular and leaner and that the vast majority of my nutrition is protein, is a believable outcome. All that said, the incline presses were murder, whereas the only reason I stopped at 13 reps on the trap bar was that the handles had tilted too far forward and I wasn’t in a position to pull another rep.
-
On the topic of the trap bar, handles got too far forward because my brain doesn’t work too good at 0400. Last week, I ran into the same issue, so this week I made SURE to grab the handles a little more behind where I thought to pull, in order to compensate…not realizing that would have the opposite of intended effect. I need to grab further forward: not further back.
-
The zercher squat was feeling pretty solid today. Had slight positioning issues, which was a product of the addition of the sleeves, but I prefer having those because my elbows don’t get as scraped up. The opened wounds infect too easily.
-
Weighed in at 82.0 kg post shower, which was after a LOT of sweating, but it bodes well for comp day. If need be, I can sweat it out. That said, over the 4th of Jul weekend we’re going to rebuild our deck in the backyard, so that should be sweaty work too.
-
I was crowned my Dojang’s Sparring Champion of the week last night, finally dethrowning one of our blackbelts that has held the title for 5 consecutive months.
- My instructor complimented me on my ability to merge boxing with Tang Soo Do to creative an effective offense and defense. It’s cool that he’s cool with me bringing some stuff from my background…although I still haven’t disclosed everything to him. We did a LOT of staff work that night as well, and my shoulders felt like they were going to fall off. We will be doing that these next 2 nights, as that’s the missing piece we need to get our stripes and test next month.
18 Likes
To keep the conversation going on Carnivore off of the T-ransformation thread.
Would a short run of carnivore (or even Ketovore to use your term I saw on another post) be beneficial? Say six weeks or so, to see how I feel?
2 Likes
@unicornsandrainbows So happy you swung by, and very happy to discuss. I didn’t coin ketovore: I’ve heard it from Dr. Ken Berry, and he may have stolen it from somewhere else, but I dig the idea behind it. I think a 6 week trial would be fantastic: if nothing else, an outstanding learning opportunity to see how one reacts and feels. If transitioning from a higher carb intake, I’d make sure to employ some manner of electrolytes to ease with the transition. At 6 weeks, depending on starting status, you may not be completely “fat adapated” even if you are registering in a state of ketosis, but I imagine you’d still feel benefits toward improved digestion, cleared mental fog, reduced hunger, and many of the other benefits that come along with it.
I know that when @TrainForPain was going on a carnivore experiment, @QuadQueen very excellently provided him some helpful advice on “harm reduction”/transitioning toward that approach, and I feel somewhat a duty to call her in on matters of nutrition, especially as I continue to be what may be considered a “bad influence” around these parts, haha. But really, this way of eating has brought me so much joy that I’m too willing to share it.
5 Likes
And here I am, ready or not. @unicornsandrainbows A short-term trial to see how you feel is never something I will discourage. It’s an experiment - go into it with that mentality. If after a week or two, you feel absolutely awful - abandon ship. Don’t try to push through for the full six just because you think you should. Nutritionally speaking, I don’t love the carnivore diet due to it’s complete lack of vegetables and fiber. It’s not a diet that works for or is best for everyone. I also don’t feel that it should be run for years on end - it’s a short-term and/or cyclic type approach. Since you are a female, I would also just caution you that from a hormonal standpoint going no or super low carb isn’t necessarily the greatest and can be potentially problematic. There’s a fair bit of research out there backing that up - so, just be mindful of it going in. If it’s something you really want to give a go though - by all means, have at it.
Not a bad influence - just an “extreme case”. Lol
8 Likes
I very much appreciate the kindness in this statement, haha. And thanks for your contribution!
3 Likes
I like this approach and that is definitely how I would go into it. I have noticed that on days I happen to be lower carb, I feel great. Mostly because of the lack of stomach bloat. Then if I have more carbs the next day, that puffy feel is back. Maybe I am oddly addicted to the “sunken” belly feeling.
It would be to get some last bit of stubborn fat off too. In my mind, the more the scale and visual changes slow down, the more “extreme” I have to get in order to keep the improvements coming. Is there some truth to that? How do I keep the momentum going?
I have been near this lean before and tend to rebound back up because I give up and eat all the things. That said, I have developed much better habits the longer I stay lean. Plus my gut reacts horribly to a lot of terrible food I used to rebound too. Takes the fun out of a lot of it.
I was going to ask about this, glad you brought it up. I like to think I can do all the things a guy can do, lifting, diet, etc. I’m stubbornly trying to keep up with my hubby. Not to get into the gender thing too much, we have just operated under me not needing special considerations because of my reproductive organs.
I am starting to accept that I might need tweaks. Seems like the female body is a bit more picky. I have done better with weight and health the more I have departed from trying to match his food intake and weights. Weird.
I got a bit of topic there, I tend to ramble!
Thank you both for chiming in. I really appreciate all the amazing advice and discussion you both freely give!
4 Likes
Absolutely! Dan John talks about this quite a bit. He’s helped thousands of people lose hundreds of pounds, and part of his protocol is “for the first week, you need to drink 2 glasses of water a day” and then “for the next week, you go for a 30 minute walk every day”. That level of intervention will get a 300lb person to start losing weight…but he would NEVER give that advice to an Olympia competitor trying to come down from 8% bodyfat to 6%. The closer we get to our maximal potential, the harder and weirder we have to work to get there.
Ketovore can be a decent carnivore compromise to ensure that there is still some veggies in the system, if that’s a concern, but alongside that is what I’ve employed as a result of wanting to maintain some semblance of balance and time with my family: a cyclical ketogenic approach. Weekly, I have a family meal that tends to always include carbs, and I actually find that this DOES have some positive restorative effects on how I look, feel and perform compared to when I skip it. It may also be beneficial from a hormonal standpoint. But it could also be worthwhile to attempt “strict” carnivore first, just to really get that elimination diet effect going, and then phase stuff in, similar to what @TrainforPain has done.
4 Likes