Regressive Ketogenic Cycle Log

Training Logs
1

Going to be giving this a whirl as of tommorow.

Link incase you havent heard of this before:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/mondays_with_thibs_the_five_elements_of_program_dominance

Start stats:
5’10"
100kg
20% bodyfat (tanita scale, 3 day average)

Training:

—Workout A
A) Bench press, 4x4-6, 85% 1RM, 2-3 min rest
B) Deadlift, 4x4-6, 85% 1RM, 2-3 min rest
C) Bent over row, 4x6-8, 80% 1RM, 2-3 min rest
D) Standing russian twists, 3x8-10, 2-3 min rest

—Workout B
A) Neutral grip pullups, 4x4-6, 85% 1RM, 2-3 min rest
B) Back squats, 4x4-6, 85% 1RM, 2-3 min rest
C) Millitary press, 4x6-8, 80% 1RM, 2-3 min rest
D) Cable crunch, 3x8-10, 2-3 min rest

—Week 1:
Monday: Workout A
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout B
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Workout A
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

—Week 2:
Monday: Workout B
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout A
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Workout B
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

—Week 3:
Monday: Workout A
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout B
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Workout A
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

—Week 4
Monday: Workout B
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout A
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Workout B
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Although I may consider assistance work at the end for weaknesses etc.

If loss slows I will add planned NEPA walks on days off around my hilly uni campus.

Sup wise:

ZMA
2x2 HOT-ROX Extreme
1x Multivitamin
10g creatine in morning on days off, 5g pre/post on training days
10g L-Leucine post workout on (no carb) training days
20-20g glutamine post workout on (no carb) training days
5g BCAA pre workout, 20g BCAA during workout
Whey protein isolate for whatever dose fits pre/post workout
Dextrose on training days where carbs are permitted, pre and post workout.
20g fish oils a day

My protein powder of choice will be Reflex Nutrition Peptide Fusion… not as trusted or as tasty as the Biotest equivilant however Im running on a budget… am a student!

Aiming for 15-17% bodyfat by the end of the 4 weeks!

2

10g L-Leucine post workout on (no carb) training days seems like a bit of a waste, the idea is to increase the anabolic property of food, so why not try adding 3 grams to three meals instead of 10 grams to your post workout. Btw, if you are using Surge, it already contains 3-4 grams of leucine so that would be a waste too,

3

[quote]Mondy wrote:
10g L-Leucine post workout on (no carb) training days seems like a bit of a waste, the idea is to increase the anabolic property of food, so why not try adding 3 grams to three meals instead of 10 grams to your post workout. Btw, if you are using Surge, it already contains 3-4 grams of leucine so that would be a waste too,[/quote]

No Surge sadly - bit expensive here in the UK. Also the leucine PWO is just running on thibs reccomendations of low carb pwo nutrition.

I guess I could consider the leucine with meals… any other users run this on low carb/low cal cut?

EDIT: Cost is always an issue with me - being a student and all.

The only reason I wouldnt worry so much would be the fact that at 20% bodyfat my body should be pretty keen on shedding fat over muscle… perhaps leucine is more important for those that are a little leaner? Say sub 15% as a ballpark figure?

4

Thibs must have his reasons I guess, good luck on the cut! Maybe incorporate some cardio into the mix if you can.

5

[quote]Mondy wrote:
Thibs must have his reasons I guess, good luck on the cut! Maybe incorporate some cardio into the mix if you can.[/quote]

Thanks for the good luck wishes =]

Initially I was tempted to throw some cardio in there… however a strength and conditioning coach buddy suggested that extra metabolic work that does not encourage lean tissue retention whilst on severe calorific and carb defecit wouldnt be optimal for mainting lean tissue.

Im going to throw in extra NEPA walks if things slow down too much.

6

End of day 1:

Workout:
Bench press 4/4/4/6 115kg - Shoulder was sore
Deadlift 5/5/5/5 150kg - EASY!
Bent over BB row 4/4/4/4 100kg - Too heavy
BB russian twists 10/10/10 20kg - EASY!

Started off feeling very drained with workout - Ive done low carb before and the first week is always hell with training as you become fat adapted.

Ive switched deadlifts to 4x3-5 - 6 reps is unnecessarily high imo.

All in all a reasonable start.

Stats for day 1:
100.3kg
19.1% ← Water levels borked due to crappy eating on last day of crappy diet.

7

End of day 2:

Energy levels feeling a little better already… yesterday was really rough and so was last night… went to bed feeling both hot on the inside and cold on the surface… and a bit shakey. Today instead Ive just been a little weak and tired. Bit of doms and I worry about my sore shoulder but Ill keep an eye on things.

Stats for day 2:
98.9kg
20.6% ← water levels still borked… glycogen and water losses… although starting back on the creatine should level things out… I dont know.

BIA readings need to be taken with a pinch of salt - it will be the 3 day average at the end of the diet that will be most important.

I also feel I need to be eating a little better… been abusing the cheddar cheese a little too much recently!

8

Take pictures! (No homo) for a self reference, scales may be off, but pictures never lie, given that they are taken under the same conditions/lighting etc.

9

[quote]Mondy wrote:
Take pictures! (No homo) for a self reference, scales may be off, but pictures never lie, given that they are taken under the same conditions/lighting etc.[/quote]

I’ll see what I can do =]

10

Yeah dude you should be fine on this nutrition method [RKD]. Im in the middle of week 4 right now and am 4kg down from pre week 1 of pure fat.

Some suggestions:

I nixed veggies entirely and got my fiber from flax seeds [I grind them myself in a small blender(magic bullet)] in a protein shake. It tastes like the back end of a fat girl but it keeps your fiber above 20g and helps you keep ketosis going easier.

Be sure to keep your fats fairly even as in 30%sat 30%mono 30%poly [fish oil]. So getting a liquid fish oil will work wonders for this. With your 20g i reckon you might already have one or you love caps. get liquid.

Keep the cardio low. I did fuck all. If you really want to do it, do it just before the carb days and go for HIIT. keeps you out of the oxidative zone and keeps you less catabolic muscle wise.

stock up on cans of salmon. them shits fit easily into your even pro and fat days. so does chicken but that shit is pricey.

keep it up for the 4 weeks and you will see that it’s worthwhile. After wards i recommend some regular carb cycling [same day if you want] and just up the cals 200 a day, per week, till you are at maintenance again. I think ill get back up to maintenance and then do some hard carbing and drop back down for either this again or the Get Shredded Diet [works the same as this but not carby treats each week].

good luck sir, i shall peak in on this and scope you progress.

I would only do your measurements every week if i were you.

-chris

11

[quote]Avocado wrote:
Yeah dude you should be fine on this nutrition method [RKD]. Im in the middle of week 4 right now and am 4kg down from pre week 1 of pure fat.

Some suggestions:

I nixed veggies entirely and got my fiber from flax seeds [I grind them myself in a small blender(magic bullet)] in a protein shake. It tastes like the back end of a fat girl but it keeps your fiber above 20g and helps you keep ketosis going easier.

Be sure to keep your fats fairly even as in 30%sat 30%mono 30%poly [fish oil]. So getting a liquid fish oil will work wonders for this. With your 20g i reckon you might already have one or you love caps. get liquid.

Keep the cardio low. I did fuck all. If you really want to do it, do it just before the carb days and go for HIIT. keeps you out of the oxidative zone and keeps you less catabolic muscle wise.

stock up on cans of salmon. them shits fit easily into your even pro and fat days. so does chicken but that shit is pricey.

keep it up for the 4 weeks and you will see that it’s worthwhile. After wards i recommend some regular carb cycling [same day if you want] and just up the cals 200 a day, per week, till you are at maintenance again. I think ill get back up to maintenance and then do some hard carbing and drop back down for either this again or the Get Shredded Diet [works the same as this but not carby treats each week].

good luck sir, i shall peak in on this and scope you progress.

I would only do your measurements every week if i were you.

-chris[/quote]

I got the impression that the way this diet was set out - you could jump back to maintenance straight away with minimal fat rebound. Providing the training volume picks up where you left off before and your diet is clean I imagine things should be fine? I mean Im going on Thibs saying that you should eat “normally” for a week before deciding if you need another cycle? This wouldnt work if there were a taper.

I was considering going back to a low-ish carb diet after this making full use of nutrient timing… 3 P+C, 3 P+F on training days and 1 P+C and 5 P+F on non training days.

12

I’m going to follow this since I’m interested in the diet, are you following it to a T?

13

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
I’m going to follow this since I’m interested in the diet, are you following it to a T?[/quote]

An absolute T!

Day 3:
Felt better still today… bit more energy but the lower hydration levels giving higher bodyfat readings and lower weight messes with the mind a little. I remember this happened when I did low carb, low cal blitzes before and one one occasion it took almost a week before bodyfat readings started to drop as hydration picked up.

Training:
Neutral grip pullup, 6/6/6/8, BW, 2-3 min rest ← Add weight next session.
Squat, 4/4/4/4, 125kg, 2-3 min rest ← Need to watch back rounding.
BB shoulder press, 8/6/6/6, 50kg, 2-3 min rest ← Weak ass shoulders!
Cable crunch, 10/10/10, 60kg, 2-3 min rest ← Need to revise form… feels pretty off.

End of day 3:
97kg
20.7% ← Tanita says hydration levels still LOW - been trying to drink more today however. Water+Glycogen losses still occuring.

14

yeah you could but there might still be something in it Re: metabolism boost if you ramp up instead of just jump. I’m always a big fan of ramping off a diet because that is where i find the best metabolism boosts and muscle gain rebound off of extreme low carb or cal diets.

Either way i reckon.

-chris

15

Day 4:

Bit of DOMS in my anterior delts today - havent felt that in a while! Also I switched up to more protein then I have EVER had in my life (302.5g a day!)… felt pretty good although I was a little sleepy today and ended up having a little nap.

All in all an awesome day but I am worried about the connective tissue between the top of my arm and my chest… hurt quite a lot when I tried a dip on the corner of my desk just now. This is a bit of a worry… Ill hit tommorows bench session as planned but if theres any pain Ill try and find something else for horizontal push. Next week is only one bench session anyway so that should aid recovery.

Tanita readings werent very good:

End of day 4:

Tanita readings:

97.1kg
21% bodyfat

Hydration lower then ever and still falling… Ill work on this one. Couple that with a bit of constipation and you end up with scale weight retention and increased bodyfat readings! eek!

It doesnt matter so much - I know Im getting leaner so I wont take these seriously but i will record anyway.

16

Can I ask why you chose your particular program to do with this Diet? In my opinion, it doesn’t seem great for fat loss, it seems like more of a strength program.

I thought that when using CT’s Regressive Keto Cycle, you would use his most popular Fat Loss program to go with it.

Destroying Fat:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article//destroying_fat_war_room_strategies_to_maximize_fat_loss

If you see the article discussion, you’ll see how many members, new and old, have had amazing results with this training plan.

There’s always time to gain strength once your done with the fat loss.

LR

17

[quote]London Runner wrote:
Can I ask why you chose your particular program to do with this Diet? In my opinion, it doesn’t seem great for fat loss, it seems like more of a strength program.

I thought that when using CT’s Regressive Keto Cycle, you would use his most popular Fat Loss program to go with it.

Destroying Fat:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article//destroying_fat_war_room_strategies_to_maximize_fat_loss

If you see the article discussion, you’ll see how many members, new and old, have had amazing results with this training plan.

There’s always time to gain strength once your done with the fat loss.

LR[/quote]

From what I remember Thibs currently prefers his metabolic pairings over the older method outlined in his destroying fat article.

I dont remember him ever making training suggestions for this diet.

Also I vaguely remember people asking abuot doing those workouts on things like the V-Diet… which this is semi comparable to in terms of calorific restriction and the general consensus was a big no.

I was thinking - low volume, full body resistance work for strength and lean mass retention and also to keep metabolism rocking along. NEPA walks and diet to kill calories.

18

I agree with benmoore, the destroying fat workouts are likely too much for this extreme of a calorie deficit. Plus his main focus is focusing on keeping/gaining strength which is the best way to keep muscle during a cut anyway, nothing wrong with that.

19

Fair enough.

Good luck.

LR

20

yeah the higher intensity will help you keep your strength and the low-mod volume will make sure you can come back every day.

Getting too much cardio in or too much volume work could really bag you. and if strength is your goal there are no days to waste not getting strong whe the simple fact is that dropping fat is far easier than gaining strength.

As for the constipation be sure to get your 20g of fiber out of 80g of ground flax seeds in a shake. It really helps you clear the guts.

-chris