Stop it, just stop it.
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YESTERDAYāS PM WORKOUT
PRESS DELOAD
GIANT SETS (dip/DB press OR BtN/dip-raise-ab wheel) Weighted dips odd sets/BtN even sets
Weighted dips 90lbs/DB press50s
3x12/Failure
Behind the neck press 110lbs/dips
3x10/failure
DB lateral raise 15s
3x12
3x11
Standing ab wheel
6x10
2 MINUTE REST
REST PAUSE NG CHINS (12 deep breaths between sets)
1x27 NG
1x8 Wide grip NG
1x6 Close grip NG
1x6+3 (rest long enough for another rep) NG
2 MINUTE REST
Kroc rows w/rest pause 105
1x13+3
Notes: 90 seconds rest between sets. Work ran a little late, and since Iāve decided on a 5/3/1 style approach for press, figure itād be good to get in a deload. I do like what Iāve come up with for supplemental work, and think itās going to prove beneficial. I blended in some stuff from the main workout into the deload, because itās value added. I liked being able to get in those chins in such quick fashion. Totaled 50 reps. Hitting row after that was definitely challenging. In general, this was pretty no-nonsense with the short rest times and I got a solid pump out of it.
Hitting the 27 chins was pretty cool, so this morning, before heading into work, I decided to see what I could do when I was a little more fresh. Managed 31. Pretty sure thatās some sort of PR. I want to keep the back training frequent for as long as I can, as I really seem to be responding well, and Iād been neglecting it for a while. Iām also considering leaving my super long DB handle loaded all the time and having it ready to go for a set of rows to see what that does for me.
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Just saw this, haha. I genuinely donāt even know what Iām trying to prove at this point. I do take a little bit of pride in that Iāve done this without having counted a single calorie or macronutrient, given that everything Iāve read on the topic says that itās required. Havenāt broken out the food scale either.
I wanna get my labs back and see if the way Iām eating is helping and, if the numbers are good, I plan to start phasing some things back into the diet at more regular intervals while keeping the choices good. Specifically red meat. I feel like Iām missing out by excluding it so much (in terms of itās effects on physical performance). As long as I stick with lean cuts and pick good sources, it should be ok.
But Iām also looking at the idea of just being absolutely stupid and using the fall and winter to gorge on all things pumpkin and peppermint, since now Iāve proven to myself that I can get to lean from fat over the course of the spring. I genuinely struggle with the conflict of wanting to be every 275lb+ powerlifter I idolized āgrowing upā while also wanting to be lean, fit and healthy. If I didnāt have a family, I am pretty confident I woulda gone with the former insteadā¦which means itās a good thing I have them, haha.
Mate I was only jesting as I am sure you know. You look amazing and given you have done this with simple changes and not being completely anal with your diet. It really goes to show what consistency and good old fashioned hard work can achieve. I take my hat off to you sir and only wish I could gain enough muscle to then drop fat and be somewhere near your weight. I love the idea of having abs and muscle definition but I hate the knowledge that I need to be 165lbs to achieve it. So itās powerbelly all the way for me and I will live vicariously through you and your tight midsection.
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Jest totally understood and well received, haha. Always appreciated. The bodyweight is absolutey the biggest mindf**k to deal with. Iām just āusedā to being 190+lbs. Thatās ābigā in my mind. I look in the mirror now and I look way bigger at 180 than I did at 210, but I step on the scale and I think Iām a kid. Something to be said about not having weight to āthrow aroundā either. I AM greatful that no one has mentioned that it looks like Iāve lost weight. Itās weird how that works out. When youāre fat, you want people to notice that you got thin, but when youāre trying to lean out, you donāt want anyone to say anything because then it means you got āsmallā. Similarly, when I was gaining weight up to this, I had quite a few people comment that it looked like I was getting jacked, which was great, because I just flt like I was getting fat, haha.
So much psychology with this stuff.
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On the cholesterol topic, mine is generally in the 210-220 range with 130 of that being LDL. It used to be in the 170s until a few years back. After the 1st time I saw it spike to the to 200s, I cut out chicken and eggs and it dropped back to the 170s after about 5 months. I allowed myself to eat chicken regularly again and it crept backup to the 200s. The only reason I cared was that it caused problems with my wellness rewards program at work. My HDL was higher when it was high and lower when it was low. My LDL didnāt change much. My doctor thinks Iām better off with it being in the 200s.
The funny part is that I was told that we can only change our cholesterol by about 10% through diet. Everything on paper also says that chicken is low in cholesterol. My experience proved them both wrong. I know that the body creates most of our cholesterol and I suspect that the steroid infused chicken has a greater impact than the label suggests.
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I am curious to see what sort of outcome I get. Iām on a statin at this point, so that should hopefully have some sort of more dramatic impact when paired with nutritional changes, and along with shifting away from red meat, Iām also eating just plain less meat in general, due to eating less in general as well. Iām at the point where, on my days at home, I pretty much only have one actual meal and everything else is just snacks or shakes.
I would be pretty miffed if my HDL dropped significantly as a result of this, as I always took pride in that,haha.
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I dropped chicken but increased my red meat consumption to get my cholesterol to drop. None of it made sense to me. One takeaway is that I need more unsaturated fats.
I definitely keyed in on that as well. This experiment was a great paradigm breaker too. I thought I had a sensitivity to every nut out there, because my guts would always get upset when I ate them. I finally looked at the label on a package of pistachios and walnuts, read that a serving was 1/4 cup, measured that out, found out just how LITTLE that was and realized I was eating like 3-4 servings at a pop. No wonder my stomach was upset, haha. Focused on getting some precision supplemental fats via poly/mono unsaturated fats has been helpful.
I read John Meadows Mountain Dog diet approach that talked about the value of including grass fed beef and butter as a means of lowering cholesterol, and Iād love to give that a shot after my results come back. Of course, I read that AFTER John ended up having his heart attack, so it was some food for thoughtā¦
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Someone as young and as strong as you having that sort of problem. Jeez.
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Genetics are a player, but looking at how I was eating, I wasnāt doing myself any favors. One of the benefits of this leaning out process is I learned how ālazyā I was being with nutrition, and how many better options are available to me at about equal parts effort.
I had settled into the old habit of making pop-tarts my pre-workout meal. It was legitimately because I bought a huge box of them for a strongman competition and had a bunch leftover, so why not. I could have made a million better choices than that and still gotten some quick, easy carbs before training. Was eating frozen pizzas as my pre-pre-training meal (isnāt gaining weight fun?). Sure, it was a Quest brand frozen pizza, so it was āhealthyā right? Again, a million better choices available. I was enjoying myself under the delusion that I was doing what it took to pursue my goals.
But thereās always something to learn, so long as ego is kept in check. Iāve been enjoying this process because of that.
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John does have a pretty storied clotting disorder that more than likely caused his problem doubt it has much to do with his diet. In fact I think he posted a video saying the Doc said he had minimal build up of plaque in his arteries for a man his age. Here is a quote from his wife during that ordeal.
āUpdate on Johnās condition. His arteries have no plaque buildup, but he did have 2 massive blood clots blocking 2 arteries. He has been in constant pain, but today they were able to clear one of the arteries. They are going to try again tomorrow on the other. This could be tied to the blood disorder from 2005 when he lost his colon. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support in these hard times. Please help me get word out and share. ā Maryā
Oh for sure, I remember seeing the quote. Itās still just one of those things that sticks out when you consider heart health, haha. But I AM willing to experiment a little after this initial phase, so long as things look to be moving in a good direction. But until such time, I plan to keep things more traditional. As much as I am for solipsism, I also tend to be a big fan of the traditional methods of approach on things, at least when it comes to getting my feet wet. Which is probably just a nicer way of saying Iām stubborn and donāt like change, haha.
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PM WORKOUT
TREADMILL RUN
Incline: 1.0
Speed: 6.9
Distance: 6.55 mph (quarter marathon)
Time: 56:58
Notes: First time I had done this run after work rather than first thing in the morning. Felt like it actually took me longer to find my groove. Wonder if thereās something to be said about the impact of nutrition there. Still, once I hit it, things moved well. Still could do the whole thing breathing through my nose. Left calf was getting a little tight on the last mile. Iāve been bad about stretching: itās fallen off the radar. I do it when I can remember to do so, and itās very abbreviated. Might have something at play there.
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It hurts me just reading that. I ran for 15 minutes this week and it was just awful.
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Regardless of any genetic predisposition, one cannot even discuss John Meadowsā heart without mentioning the 20+ years of AAS. I think, if anything, his diet and lifestyle outside of that is a testament to how much you can mitigate health problems with such a lifestyle. Most people with pre existing heart conditions taking steroids for 20 years would be dead.
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@Frank_C A big part of it is that those first 15 minutes are the worst! Haha. Iāve heard enough times that your body has to burn through itās initial fuel stores and āswitch modesā on endurance stuff to start to believe it. It seems that, after enough time, a stride gets hit and it feels ok. However, Iām also not coming anywhere close to running to the point of exertion as far as speed and incline goes. Itās been a weird process for me, as I havenāt been this light in a LONG time and suddenly running is a lot easier than it used to be.
@flappinit Absolutely. I always dug Johnās approach of āif Iām going to do X that is super bad for me, Iām going to do everything else I can to make things betterā vs the YOLO crap of āwell if Iām doing one bad thing, may as well do everything badā. Iād be interested in reading how other folks had managed on the Mountain Dog diet come to think of it. For the first time in a long while, nutrition has become interesting to me, haha. Funny the direction things go.
Hit 32 chins before going to work, so another PR. Left oblique started aching again out of nowhere: maybe stepped funny on it during the run. Went to a Chinese buffet last night and had some mushrooms that were on the line, and they were some of the most delicious things Iāve ever had in my life. Iām thinking about including them more regularly in my diet at this point. I had written them off for a while because I couldnāt really figure out what the hell they āwereā as far as nutrition went, but at this point I figure variety canāt be bad.
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RAMBLE AHEAD
Woke up and weighed myself this morning on an empty stomach for the first time in a LONG time and saw 177.8 on the scale. I havenāt seen a 1 and 7 as the first numbers since 2003. In full disclosure, Iām having to battle my instincts to overcorrect and eat everything in my path, but Iām also wondering what Iām trying to prove at this point. I DID also wake up to the most jacked set of abs Iāve ever seen in my life on my body, and though I feel smallER, Iām still not quite feeling small like I have during other less successful weight loss phases.
Iāve been reducing snacks on days when hunger wasnāt present (either my supplemental fat source of nuts/almond butter or my evening quest bar) while keeping meals consistent, and honestly thought of it as ādamage controlā for a few evenings of dinning out, but it seems I managed to actually lose weight instead. Iām also stupidly carb depleted. I do all my lifting Mon-Thurs, so I have pretty much zero carbs Fri-Sun. I actually ordered what I thought was a sugar free lemonade yesterday, had half of it, found out that it was full strength with a sugar free ADDED flavor, and got minorly pissed, haha.
Iām experiencing zero physical issues staying this lean as far as āsufferingā goes. I legit think that Iāve just subjected myself to so much physical misery over the span of my training that ādiet painsā donāt register. Iām not going to delude myself into thinking Iām at the end stage of a bodybuilding cut, and Iām sure that sucks, but for where I am right now, I can maintain this indefinitely.
Where I struggle is the psychology: itās weird as f**k being this light for me. Having to reconcile PRs as PRs by bodyweight rather than PRs always stings a little, and the absence of competition to be able to score some wins at a new weight class has me constantly questioning why Iām doing this and what Iām trying to prove.
Iām honestly waiting for a cleanER bill of health the next time I see my doc and then want to make some plans from there. If things are looking good, I want to rebound a little without getting stupid. I already catch myself falling back on old instincts. I was at Costco yesterday looking at Figbars and Rice Crispy treats and figuring out how well theyād work as post workout meals. Itās too easy to justify junk like that. Iāve learned from this leaning out process how much ācleanā food is out there that can satisfy whatever nutritional demands I have.
In that regard, if I do get cleared to put some weight on, Iām going to phase it up just like I phased it down. Phase 1 will be a re-introduction of post workout carbs, as Iāve cut those out. Plan is to stick with fruit and honey. I know there are enough studies out there to say fructose isnāt what I need and XYZ, but Iām going to go with the principles of, if it comes from nature, itās probably better than something form a box (yes, thatās incredibly paleo).
Iām going to keep everything else the same and see what that does. All in theory, of course, based off a good outcome.
Speaking of good outcomes, I hit a set of 35 NG chins this morning before work. Go low bodyweight. Grippers later today.
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This was really interesting to read and gives a great insight into the psychological effects of losing weight when you are a strength athlete. I think the real question here is what do YOU want ? I think a slow progressive re intro of some food with a new focus on strength might work well for you from here (if Thatās what you want). I am guessing you could add a few pounds, gain a little muscle and see some good strength gains without eating like a pig.
Thanks for reading it all dude. It was good to get it out.
Right now: lipid results. If I dropped them significantly, thatāll be awesome. I have some wiggle room now to add some quality bodyweight. If they havenāt changed at all: ALSO awesome, now Iām just going to go back to how I was doing things because diet didnāt matter. If they changed but not by much: grey zone. Just stay the course at that point.
I definitely donāt need to eat like I was at 210 at this point, which is honestly a blessing. It was exhausting and expensive. I DO have a freezer full of meat to work through now, but thatās the blessing of freezers, haha.
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