Anytime my friend.
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Oh boy, isn’t it a general life update?
Yes it is!
Diet: day 42 (yay, six weeks have passed)
So far I’ve lost a bit over 11 pounds (+ water weight) and I’m beginning to feel pleased about the condition I’m in, soon enough I’ll start to increase the calories
As you may have suspected, I’ve been very busy lately, so I haven’t had the time to actually write anything. I’ll have more free time after this week is over and I’ll try to make a couple of posts then. (Suggestions are welcome)
Yay, general life update is over!
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Whelp, my entrance exams are over, and I now have some more free time
I want to write something informative for a change, I’ll just need to decide a topic
I haven’t trained today as the exams were from 8AM to 5PM
Okay, well, today is supposed to be a rest day anyway, but I feel like doing something, just to let out some steam.
Given that I’m going to decrease the amount of rest days soon enough it won’t really hurt to train today (if I don’t fuck myself or tomorrow’s session up by doing so, which is highly unlikely)
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Bodybuilders (in general) and other athletes can sometimes use the exact same food to meet their macro goals for years at a time. This can lead to deficiencies in certain minerals/vitamins and can also lead to (in rare cases) a random allergic and sometimes anaphylactic reaction.
You seem to share a lot of core values that I have, so I was wondering what is your opinion/view on this @danteism?
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Bodybuilders and athletes should make sure they are getting everything they need when they are setting up the diet plan just to avoid this.
Overall I feel that bodybuilders and athletes don’t put enough effort into their diets, and oftentimes their problems could be fixed just by adding in some vegetables instead of eating another PB&Jam sandwich (I’ll probably ramble about this somewhere down the line)
This is true and it’s really an annoying possibility
I would be all for cycling your food sources if it wasn’t for these two things:
- It can get expensive
When you have to replace a staple food item of yours that is cheap and good, it may drive your food expenses up. So, let’s say you change from eating chicken (~7€/kg) to eating turkey (15€/kg)
That’s a big price difference, and as I happen to be a skimpy guy, I’d rather stick to my dear cheap chicken
- It can be hard to find a substitute for the “nutritional powerhouses” to mach the micronutrients
Think eggs here, that is a true nutritional powerhouse. If you had to replace eggs you would probably have to cycle in three or so food items.
Now this here is a two-barreled sword: what if you become allergic to a nutritional powerhouse food?
Eggs are known to be highly allergenic, but you can just stop eating them for a while and the allergy will vanish.
I have to admit that I don’t know if that’s the case with other foods, but in the other hand I’ve yet to come across someone with a beef allergy.
So, overall my opinion is:
If you have the money to do it, go for it. Just be sure to take the micronutrient profile in account when you switch out something.
If you don’t have the money, just make sure you are getting your micros while setting up the diet, and don’t overemphasis certain foods in your diet (I’m guilty of doing this in the past)
What I mean by that is don’t eat chicken three times a day, instead have one meal with chicken, one with beef and maybe one with kvarg.
I just eat the same things day in and day out, and I’ve done so for nearly five years, and never had any problems. Maybe I’m just lucky, but with this in mind I’ve decided that I can live without cycling my food sources. BUT if u ever have enough money to cycle my foods, I definitely will, and I’d recommend it for anyone with a thicker wallet.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I saw your post in the morning but I just didn’t have enough time to write an answer during the time (it could help if I didn’t turn in Shakespeare himself when I go to write something)
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Why you should overhead press
If you’ve read my log from the beginning you may have noticed that one of my “big 3” lifts is overhead press. Why is that? What is the point of doing overhead press when you could just do bench and move a lot more weight? I’ll tell you.
I love the overhead press and I’ve always valued it higher than the bench, maybe because it is a classical mark of strength to have a barbell overhead, or maybe just because I was taught so.
Now before we go any further, I need to clarify that I’m talking about the standing strict press with a free barbell here. Not push press, not seated press, not smith press. I’m talking about the gold standard of strength, the press.
Now, why the overhead press?
1 Overhead pressing teaches you total-body tension.
You cannot be a good overhead presser if you don’t know how to brace correctly (and hard as hell). Even though the main movers are your delts, triceps, upper chest and back, the press is a whole body lift. My overhead press started to really improve when I learned to brace correctly.
In reality, bracing is quite easy. You just flex every single muscle of your body and try not to die. What I like to do is to start with bracing my midsection (so abdominals and lower back) then I flex my glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves and toes in that order (my whole upper body is braced the whole time of course) all of this happens in a second, it’s not like a bodybuilding contest where youake sure everything is just right. You’ll know if something went wrong when you fail the lift.
One good drill for learning total-body tension is the Chinese arch. I’ve gone over it in an earlier post not too long ago. (It was about glutes if I remember correctly)
2 Overhead pressing teaches you how to attack the weights and be aggressive
If you’re going for a heavy overhead press there is no time to fine-tune. You just grab the bar, take a few steps back, get tight and press. If you take too long you’ll fail because of it.
Overhead press is unique in this way - it’s one of the few presses where you can hype yourself up as much as you want. I’ve noticed that with bench presses and other presses that require more focus to the lowering portion of the lift getting hyped up is actually a bad thing. Overhead press is nice because you don’t need to worry about screwing up the negative portion because it comes after the bar has been lifted. Which brings me to point number 3.
3 The lift starts from a dead stop
This is why I love pin presses too - there is no cheating and you have to generate power without momentum. If you do cheat with the overhead press by using leg drive you are doing push press - and leg drive is easy to notice, so don’t try to fool anybody. If you cheat by leaning back you are doing standing incline bench, which, by the way is not a real exercise and it’ll most likely hurt your back. If you find yourself leaning back on the press just throw on a belt - but here is a kicker: you don’t actually use it as a belt should be used. You put it on in a way that makes it hurt like hell if you lean back. I suggest you wear a thin sleeveless shirt under your gym shirt and put the belt under the gym shirt - this way it’s closer to the skin. Then just find the right place by trial and error.
4 Overhead pressing makes your shoulders feel great
There’s not much to say about this, overhead pressing just makes your shoulders feel great. They get stronger and maybe even a bit more mobile and balanced by doing overhead presses. (I would still throw in some face pulls and rear laterals)
5 Overhead pressing transfers over to other pressing movements
This is not a guaranteed effect, but for most guys and girls focusing on the overhead press actually benefits their bench numbers. And think about it, how many people have you seen who overhead press more than they bench? I’ve seen one, and it was because he did not do the bench. When he started benching, it took him under a month for it to go past his pressing numbers. Why is that? He built a great base for benching by doing OHP. (Now I don’t suggest you do overhead press as your only pressing exercise)
If you notice you are failing your presses due to lack of shoulder attention, it’s time to start overhead pressing, and doing it hard. If you notice you are failing your lifts due to lack of tension, it’s time to start hitting the OHP.
6 It’s just so damn cool
Really. Putting a barbell over your head is cool, it’s classic. Sadly not too many people do it anymore. I remember being 15 or so when my friend told me his cousin had put 100kg/225lbs over his head. I was astonished. How could somebody do that? Wasn’t a 225 pound bench supposed to be good? That was the moment I shifted my attention more to overhead pressing and I’ve stayed with it since.
Now, a very brief overview of how to overhead press (you can find video guides on YouTube):
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Grab the bar with your hands a bit wider than your shoulders. (This is what I like, it puts my upper arm in a 45° angle with my body if viewed from above, so not straight ahead not straight to the side) I like to use a false grip, it makes my shoulders and the lift feel great.
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Step under the bar with your shoulders locked down and back (so a retracted and depressed scapula for you geeks) keep your back tight.
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Unrack the bar, tighten up the rest of your upper body and your midsection.
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Take a couple of steps back. Use short steps and take no more than three. Do not look down. Trust the foot position, even if it’s not perfect, it’ll do.
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Flex your glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves and toes. Leave no weak links. After your set is done you should have a feeling of exhaustion and maybe even a bit of a pump in your lower body.
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Lean back VERY slightly. Don’t turn this into a chest press when you do this. After that get your head out of the way.
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Press up with anger. While the bar travels past your face straighten yourself back up again and get under the bar. (This has been described as "opening a window and looking out of it, it’s a good description)
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Lock it out. Nice, you now have a barbell over your head. Then just revert the process to get it down
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Celebrate your new PR
Some guys like to “pull the bar apart”. I think it’s a good cue if you are using a technique that allows it. You could try to utilize the cue, but if it doesn’t match your technique (and if you are happy with your technique at the moment) don’t force it.
Remember here that I really suck with explaining exercises online, because I always either forget something or I use directions that are unclear. That being said, I would suggest you watch a couple of tutorials on YouTube. (But you may find some good cues from my explanation as well, how would I know)
Man, did it feel great to write something informative for a change. Feel free to ask questions about this and older posts, I’ll try to answer them as well as I can.
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I read that as something else at first😅 but congrats man i hope you get in its going to be tough!
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They say that after some time you have to start experimenting with different methods with your partner, so I did
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I’m not a hype up kind of guy but I can relate to this. Only recently I’ve started to get a bit aggro as I’m unracking for an OH Press and it definitely helps. It’s good to see you referencing it so soon after I’ve started doing it!
Also thanks for your opinion on developing allergies by over eating certain foods. It really is a shame that certain good foods can be costly but living on maccas and chips is cheap… As chips…
No worries mate! I like your novel-like posts 
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For me getting hyped up at least a couple of times per week is essential, really, I start to feel depressed if I don’t do it
On the flip side I can only hype up once a day (twice if I’m lucky)
Isn’t it a bit freaky when you do something and just moments later you spot someone speaking about the exact same thing?
You’re welcome, I always enjoy discussing diet, training and life in general so I should be the one thanking you
For the second point, yeah, it’s a shame how healthy stuff is usually more expensive than the unhealthy things. (That’s also why I’ve started saving money - if I ever get to start the contest prep I’ll do it right)
That’s good to hear!
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General life update (This one will have some logging in it too!)
7/6/17
Last time I did dumbbell rows was exactly three months ago, time really flies
On 7/3/17 I did 6x91.5kg on the DB row, since then I haven’t really done too much single-hand rowing (or rowing in general, I should have done more)
Today, after training I felt like this problem had to be addressed, so I decided to do some light dumbbell rowing just to get some blood flowing (I was sore as hell all over from deadlifting yesterday so I felt like getting some blood there would help)
So, I give you 7/6/17 (only the row portion of the session, I did upper body work before this)
Dumbbell row: 30x61.5kg
30 rep sets are just as horrible as I remembered, Christ.
Lets carry on with this update, shall we?
Diet: day ? (Probably like day 50 or so, I’ve lost count)
Last refeed was over two weeks ago and I’m really starting to feel the effects of the deficit, I’m flat as hell and I feel like I’m a bit weaker than usually, but that’s just strength that comes back with a bit of carb loading. On the plus side, I’m really dry and looking quite good, I’ve got veins running all over the place (except the goddamn biceps).
I haven’t changed anything diet-wise, but I’ve done some adjustments to my training, I’m training with higher frequency and I’m doing even a bit more cardio and GPP work than before.
For example, yesterday went like this:
After breakfast I went for a brisk 50 minute walk
After meal 2 I did legs (front squats, deadlifts and stuff)
Later on we played football for 2.5 hours, and as me and my friends are all quite competitive, it’s a great way to get cardio work in
And am hour after that I went for a 6km run
Now that may sound like a lot, but I’ve noticed that I can really beat myself into the ground pretty hard and pretty often without burning out. (And I’ve got to build my work capacity up for army stuff).
Now that’s not a normal day in my life, usually I have to coach a few sessions per day so I don’t have enough time to do all that. (it’s the football that drops out first as it takes so long) But now that I have more free time than before I’m able to move a lot more.
I do realize that if I increase my energy output drastically I need to up my calories too, so don’t worry about that.
Diet portion ends here
Apart from training and dieting, I haven’t really done anything. You may have noticed that I haven’t been too active here, and I’ve got to admit, it’s just due to laziness. I’ll start to feel guilty soon enough and then you’ll get another informative post
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Know any good food recipies?, also ways to make eggs taste good? I have eggs on toast for breakfast but i really dont enjoy it.
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A melted slice of Pepperjack cheese! I buy the cheap, processed stuff and it’s only 60 calories a slice. If you ignore the potential adverse health effects of processed food then it’s well worth the calories!
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I’m not exactly the best cook in the world, but I’ll give you my best recipe (reading it will tell you how sad my meals are)
Things you’ll need:
200g of ground beef
Some chili
1 red onion
3 gloves of garlic
Some broccoli
1 tomato
A shroom of your choice
two handfuls of spinach
A tablespoon of olive oil
Oregano
Salt from a grinder
Directions:
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Throw the ground beef onto a pan (you don’t need any oils or butter, the beef has enough fat in itself, but if you want to use something, use organic butter) have the stove on a pretty high temperature
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When the beef has cooked so it’s almost ready, grind some salt on it (grinding the salt makes it taste a lot better than just using regular fine salt, I don’t know why) lower the temperature to medium or so
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Add chopped chili, sliced red onion, garlic and the shroom(s) to the pan and mix a bit, then add broccoli and tomato slices (have all of these ready before you start) mix again, cover and let it be for a while
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Throw in the spinach, olive oil and oregano and mix it once again
If you don’t like cooked spinach, the meal is ready to be eaten, if you do like it cooked, cover it and let it be for a while
- Get a good frying pan
- Don’t use too high temperature when cooking, medium will do
- Grind some salt on them (again, grinding the salt makes all the difference)
- If you can afford it, use organic butter to make them instead of margarine or whatever it is you are using now
- Omega-3 eggs taste a lot better than regular eggs, but they cost more
- Don’t keep the eggs in the fridge, instead, keep them in room temperature
- If you don’t scramble them now, start doing so, if you do scramble them, stop. This creates some variety so you don’t get bored of them so quickly. (Boiled eggs are also an option)
- Try making an omelette with cheese, it’s great (it’s also a good way to get in more calories)
This has to be the most informative post in this topic
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Thankyou! yes I’d think so haha
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Do they expire quicker without refrigeration? If so how long will they last? I generally keep them in the fridge.
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Thanks chef😉
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No problem man!
To my understanding they don’t expire any quicker in room temperature, but I’d check that just to be sure (I’ve eaten eggs that have been in room temperature for three weeks and have never had any problems)
I would also check if hens must be vaccinated against salmonella in Australia, because if not, storing eggs in the fridge may lower the risk of getting salmonella.
If you decide to store eggs in the fridge, do not put them on the egg shelf on the door, instead, keep the in their carton in a place where they cannot shake around
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Will do thanks heaps man
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Only now do I realize how brilliant idea that was. I don’t recall ever having my traps as sore as they are now. Jesus, especially my lower traps are killing me, just walking around is painful. It’s kinda funny how the amount of soreness in my traps decreases when we go from the lower portions towards the upper traps.
Also my upper back is quite sore (really all of my back except for my lats)
I really recommend doing DB rows (and kroc rows if your gym has big enough dumbbells) for high reps even though they are hard as hell on your lungs. The amount of growth you’ll get from them is just insane.
Of course you can do DB rows for lower reps too but that will require a hell of a lot bigger dumbbells.
Maybe I’ll keep the rows in for some time, chase the 91.5kg again but for higher reps this time
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