Rugby Offseason + V-Diet = ?

Nutrition
21

5/14 Day 6
Wt 206
Good day and welcome to Day 6

Actual out and out cravings are getting a little bit worse. Let me retract that previous statement about not wanting the solid meal…I am craving some food so badly it isn’t funny. Seems like my mouth always tastes like i’ve been eating dogshit and my lips are really dry too; might start adding flax to every shake, rather thn just certain ones. The plan is sashimi, soup and salad, probably Thursday.

Also still sleeping like death. What i’ve noticed is that I will wake up around 1130-midnight and feel WIDE awake. By the time I get back to sleep i’m barely out when it seems that my alarm is going off (515am). I think i’m getting some nyquil this afternoon so I can pass the f&#% out tonight.

22

5/15 PM

Did some band traction and stretching as my hips have been killing me since the OH squats and the box work Monday.

23

5/16 Day 7
Wt: 205.6
Good Day and welcome to Day 7

Stepping on the scale with this diet is like crack! You can’t wait to get up in the morning and get your fix. Down another pound today.

Besides the eating habit changing, i’m starting to notice some other stuff too. I used to have a bad habit of staying up watching tv until around midnight and then sleeping until 8-9. I haven’t had any desire to just sit in front of the tv since I started.

I feel this need to be productive all the time instead of pissing away time. Although last night I did go to sleep at 10 and woke up at 1130 WIDE awake.

Sleep is starting to get a little easier and i’m still consistently waking up about 10 minutes before my alarm goes off every morning. Off to walk…

24

[quote]sledge2 wrote:
5/14 Day 6
Wt 206
Good day and welcome to Day 6

Actual out and out cravings are getting a little bit worse. Let me retract that previous statement about not wanting the solid meal…I am craving some food so badly it isn’t funny. Seems like my mouth always tastes like i’ve been eating dogshit and my lips are really dry too; might start adding flax to every shake, rather thn just certain ones. The plan is sashimi, soup and salad, probably Thursday.

Also still sleeping like death. What i’ve noticed is that I will wake up around 1130-midnight and feel WIDE awake. By the time I get back to sleep i’m barely out when it seems that my alarm is going off (515am). I think i’m getting some nyquil this afternoon so I can pass the f&#% out tonight. [/quote]

Hey man! I am day 17. I also had really dry lips after the first couple of days. It went away. I think the whole mouth tasting like shit stuff is because this diet has a lot of attributes of a detox diet.

One of the places that the body excretes toxins is through the tongue. That is why sick people have white tongues. It will pass. I had the same problem. I was brushing my teeth like 4 times a day. Chew some gum to get the saliva flowing and to keep the mouth from getting stagnate.

How late are you talking the HOT-ROX. I can’t take it after 3pm or I can’t sleep until like 1-2am. Try taking it a little earlier.

25

Thanks for the idea bro. I’ve been taking my first dose around 530-6am and my 2nd one around 1-2pm. I’m exhausted at the end of the day, and i’m taking ZMA, just having trouble staying asleep. Seems like i’m coming around though, as I got a solid 7 hrs last night. I think it’s more my body reacting to the change rather than the HRX or anything.

The dry lips are starting to go away here on Day 7, which is welcome. I expected the poor taste and gum really has been a lifesaver. I was stuck at school on Monday night, vending machine was broken and I ran out of gum; I think I was killing everyone around me!

26

Currently eating my first solid meal since this time a week ago…I could rave on and on about the miso soup, the salad, the sashimi…but I think one sentance sums it all up…

You know the Holocaust? Its the EXACT OPPOSITE of THAT…

I can’t hell but spew obscenities at how m#&@*#f@#&@%! good this stuff tastes…will post todays workout later…I need to get back to this…

27

5/16 Workout
Roller

Mobility
Hip Crossover
Scorpion
Rev Scorpion
Hand Walk
Low Pogo
High Pogo
Gate Swing
Forearm Lunge
Sumo Squat

Injury Prev
Hip Pop
Iso Hip Pop
Single Leg Raise
Ab/Adduction
Fire Hydrant Series
Y,L,W,T Pushup Plus

Core
8lb Side Medball Throws 4x8
Back Ext Hold x25s x25s
Physioball Crunch 25x8 25x8

Plyo
Std Box Jump 5x3 39"

Resistance
Front Squat 135x6 165x6 195x6 195x6 195x6
Cable Stiff Arm 50x8 60x8 70x8 80x8 (sprset with/)
Pulldown 120x8 120x8 120x8 130x8
Pressdown 110x8 120x8 140x8 (sprset w/)
Curl 70x8 75x8 75x8

Stretch and Roller

The front squats are SOFT. I hope its just form, because my last 5RM is 255. But I havent done them in about 6 months and i’m sure form is lagging. Everything is just about 20-30lbs lower than where I was at the end of the preseason. That should come back pretty fast once I start into regular nutrition as well as regular conjugated training.

28

5/17 Day 8
Wt: 206
Good day and welcome to Day 8

So my cheat meal, as it was so eloquently recorded here, consisted of a 9 piece sashimi combo, a small bowl of miso soup, eel roll and a small side salad. I picked it up right after I left the gym, so I figured the roll would be ok.

I had to stop a couple times from the endorphin rush I got while eating! Timing got a little screwed up but still got in 3 shakes, plus Surge and meal. I skipped two shakes to make up for the cals, so my day went like this:

730am shake
1130-12:30: Surge
1:30: meal
6:00: shake
10:00: shake

I figured really salty soup, rice and solid food for the first time in a week, i’d be up today. But i’m actually down another half pound! AND I took my first solid shit in a week, which was reason enough to celebrate. With that in mind, i’m off to class.

29

5/18
Day 9
Wt. 205.6

My major diet breaking ridiculous indulgence last night?

Bullion cube. One. Melted in a cup while I worked on a cover letter for a job in Manhattan. Call the V Diet police! I figured that I would be flat on the weight loss front, or even up, with my diet f^#* up yesterday and no afternoon HRX. Keeps melting off though. And holy shit my legs are sore from lifting this week. Apparently 3 days a week of rugby does not keep you in squatting shape.

Down yet another half pound. I screwed up a little yesterday. I left my house at 630am with two shakes in my bagpack, one for 730 and one for 1030. Typically I come back home from school around 1 and have my next scheduled shake at 130. Didn’t make it home yesterday until 4.

I was EXHAUSTED, dragging ass, doing the head bob on the train. Got home, chugged a shake and almost crashed out on the couch. THen had to drice over to my friend Jess’ house and pick up her Great Dane (i’m dogsitting all weekend). And I walk in to her ass sitting on the couch, eating a fresh cheese pizza from Papa Johns, dipping it in ranch and some oreos. I think my knees buckled…haha

So by the time I got home it was almost 7 and I didnt want to cram three shakes into three hours, so I downed one at 7 and chugged one when I went to bed around 1130.

This morning was a rare treat; I let myself sleep in until 6AM!! Got the HRX flowing and a Dane on a leash, so i’m off to scour Lodo for an hour or two.

30

5/19
Day 10
Wt. Not checking

I feel like i’m getting a little obsessive about the weight, so i’m not touching the scale until monday morning.

Last night was our big shindig for the graduate students. And I broke down, I cracked and had…a bud light. And I am PAYING for it now. HOOOO-LEEEEEE F&@^ my guts are absolutely turning inside out this morning. Velocity Diet + Bud Light = Armageddon Diarrhea. I’m hoping that some HRX, my first couple shakes and some fiber tabs will help…

I was going to post my workout from yesterday but apparently my workout log has gone missing. I’m hoping its in my truck otherwise i’m gonna be a little upset. Got to take the dog out for a walkabout…dogsitting this Dane has taught me one thing: there is no f’n way I could have a dog in this tiny apartment.

And he is mostly an indoor dog, but he usually has a yard to go to. Here he has either my bedroom or living room, not that good.

31

Since my training notebook is apparently DOE, here’s a ball park of what I did Friday.

Roller
Bunch of Mobility and Injury Prevent

Standing Cable Abs 60x10 80x10 110x10
Iso Back Ext 3x10+10
Saxon Lift 75x10 80x10 85x10

Band Pushup 6x3

Lat Pulldown 130x10 130x10 130x10 140x10
Palms in Alt Press 45x10+10x4
Iso Shrug 55x10x4
Pitcher Squat 4x10
Hammer Curl 30x10x4

Cosgrove Complex 65-75-85
RDL x6
Clean Pull x6
Bent Row x6
Clean x6
F Squat x6
Push Press x6
B Squat x6
GM x6

Stretch and Roller

32

5/20
Day 11
Wt. 203

Wait…did I just type 203? If I didnt see it myself, I wouldn’t believe it. That makes approx 11 lbs in 11 days and 17lbs in 18 days. Which begs the questions:

Is Shugart’s book going to sell a million copies?
Was/Am I a fat bastard or what? HAHAHA

I knew my bodt fat% had crept up there but 15.6% still shocked me. I had always been around 12-13%, and that’s when I was eating bread and pasta all the time. Although I was training different then as well. I was doing Oly lifts all the time and using western periodization rather than conjugate and mostly powerlifts like I use currently. My plan for the summer is to marry the two and start combining conjugate methods with the Oly lifts.

Still working on it and using Travis Mash’s Oly/conjugate work as guidelines. Louie Simmons also wrote an article on his ideas with oly lifts. Should be interesting, expecially given that my Olympic form is probably absolute shite.

Off for a walkabout…frickin ridiculous…I haven’t been 203 lbs since 2001!

33

5/21 Workout
Hip Crossover x10
Scorpion x10
Rev Scorp x10
Calf Stretch x10
Hand Walk x10
Low/High Pogo x10
Wide Out x10
Gate Swing x10
Forearm Lunge x10
Back Lunge x10
Sumo Squat x10

Hip Pop
Iso Hip Pop
Iso Leg Raise
Leg Ab/Ad
Opposite Arm/Leg
Superman
W,L,T,Y Pushup Plus
Fire Hydrant Series

Front Pillar 2x45s
Hanging Leg Raise 2x10
Woodchop 2x10

39in Std Box Jumo 3x3
3 Position Clean 135x3 155x3 155x3

Zercher Squat 135x5 165x5 185x5 205x5 215x5
Close Grip 135x5 165x5 175x5 185x5 195x5
Pull Up 2x3 Narrow 2x3 Wide 2x4+4 Monkey style w/ band 2x2+2+1+1
Pull Thru 3x15 140

Roller and Stretch

Monkey Style pullups (tip of the cap to Jim Wendler at Elite FTS) suck ass, and right now thanks to my grip and lack of pullup strength, i need to use a light band. Oh yeah, the lack of calories isn’t helping either.

Anyways, Monkey Pullups are where you do x number of parallel grip, then switch grip to wide while hanging and bang out x number of those. It can be grueling and a great workout finisher; I like either doing singles and just alternating until the grip goes (so parallel, switch, wide, switch, parallel, etc) or doing triples twice each (so 3 wide, 3 parallel, 3 wide, 3 parallel).

Using the band is a good way to overload grip strength too as you can lengthen sets without necessarily having to add more reps…as i type right now my left hand pinky and ring fingers are a little crampy…

V Diet Day 12
Wt 204

Diet wise, I actually ADDED a lb to 204! Hahahaha…its like my scale putting a big FUCK YOU across the digital readout…not a big deal and i’m not losing sleep over it, but it did give me a little motivation to really assault my workout this morning…

off to DU, only three weeks of business school left and its getting really difficult to care, especially with no job good job offers in hand (although i’m hoping some wheels are in motion!)…

would much rather spend my days calling prospective employers and shit rather than listening to lectures on corporate strategy, which I could give two shits about anyways…good talk, i’m out like a fat girl playing dodgeball…

34

Day 13
5/22
Wt: 201

My diet is officially a man today! Maybe I should have a bar mitzvah for it? It seems like my weight loss will stall for a day or two and then it’ll ramp again. Maybe its because of the no training on the weekend? The body finds a baseline activity on Saturday Sunday and levels off then you hit it with a workout Monday morning and F everything up.

15 days left to go, i’m still aiming for 195 right now. 190 seems like a stretch but who knows; 11 lbs in two weeks is possible but maybe not probable. But 6 lbs in two weeks seems almost a foregone conclusion.

Regarding training, I think things are going well. Definitely not getting weaker at this point, although my clean form is pretty atrocious. Wide grip pullups have always been a nemesis, as I have bad shoulders and, in all honestly, just haven’t had the strength to do more than one or two in a set. They are MUCH easier now and my shoulders feel quite a bit better. I’ve always had good rowing numbers but my wide grip lat work has always been really laggy, which has contributed to my pussy pullups. And they’re still pussy pullups, believe me; but they’re coming around.

35

5/23
Day 14
Wt: 201.6

Not bad…halfway point in the diet; down 12.4 lbs in 14 days…i’ll take that and i’d like to see another 8 to make an even 20 lbs off. Of course i’d like to see another 12 come off, but with weight loss slowing down towards the end, i’ll take 8;

that’d put me at 194 and below my prior target of 195 but above my best case scenario of 190. Haven’t had any cravings and no hunger either; the diet is really just on autopilot now…

You know I was thinking about the “weighing myself every day”. Typically i’d think that having the weight number in your head as something to anchor to would be a bad idea because you’d be afraid to do anything that would possibly add a lb.

BUT, with the diet being automatic, there’s no way to cut anything even if you wanted to…so i’m alright with it…

Hitting the gym today…this should be my solid meal day but i’m gonna push it back until Friday so I can go grab lunch with one of my old roommates from my undergrad.

36

5/23 Workout
Same warmups and injury prevention stuff i’ve been posting

Light Band X Walks x4
Saxon Bends 80x10 85x10
Standing Cable Abs 90x10 120x10
Wtd 45 Raise 25x10 25x10

3 Position Snatch 65x3 85x3 95c3 95x3 105x3
Overhead Squat 95x5 95x5 95x5 95x5
Lat Pulldown 130x10 140x10x2 150x10
DB Palms In Press 50x10 55x10x2 60x10
Bradford 70x10x3
Tate Press 25x10 30x10x2
One Legged Squat 3x10
Biceps Curl 3x10

Supersetted Lats/Chest, Tates/Bradfords and One Leg Squat/Biceps

Too much pressing in this working, my elbows and shoulders are “bad” sore today…

37

5/24
Day 15
Wt: 201.4

This stale weight lose thing sucks here, but I gotta get through this little sticking point. Usually with weight sticking points, once you get through them your body sort of resets so I would expect weight loss to come a little faster again once I get below 199-201…off to catch the train…

38

5/25
Day 16
STILL 201.4

Went to the usual Thursday night school mixer, maybe last one. Haven’t had any food cravings at all, the diet has gotten easier and easier…but a friend of mine DID jab a bowl of chips and a big plate of guacamole under my nose last night…smelled awesome…here’s something funny: the smell for me is almost getting to be a good thing.

Like I walk past restaurants and catch a whiff of it and it satiates me and you get a little bit of a “high” from it…i’m not quite sure what to make of it but I’m digging it…

Incidentally I did sit and watch two of my very petite, very attractive female friends chow the aformentioned bowl of chips and guac, a cheeseburger with fries and a reuben sandwich with fries in about 15 minutes…ok, let me rephrase that: one of them is really small and petite, the other WAS small and petite, now she’s getting this funky looking belly on her (same girl who asked me for nutrition advice then got mad when i suggested cutting out non-veggie carbs)…

Stuck stuck stuck here weight loss wise, although I think my body is just really trying to hold onto muscle in the face of training…either that or my body has already made the adjustment to lower calories (maybe I was undereating in the first place?)…another reason for no worries on the loss;

all the mobility work is really helping my joints although still really got a sore spot to the right of my abdomen…the workout is taking longer than it should (averaging about 90 minutes right now, not even getting to weights until 45-60 mins in) but that’s fine, this phase is my time to focus on mobility and the little things that get neglected during the season, trying to set myself up for a great summer of training

…I know i’ve got complexes for conditioning today and we will see what happens after that; having lunch today with one of my old roommates from my undergrad and i’m gonna earn it at the gym this morning…

39

5/25 Workout

Warmup Stuff

Standing Cable Abs 140x10 140x10
Hanging Leg Raise x10 x10
Side Pillar x45s x45s

Standing Box Jumps, 39" box 6x3
-funny note: I think its actually easier when im sitting on a box and get to slam my feet down. Tried to minimize countermovement and treated it as if I were makeing a clean or snatch attempt; walkup to boxes, set and go…one of my faults in Oly competitions is I try to take my time and get settled when I should just bend, grip it and rip it.

Cosgrove Snatch Complex
Snatch RDL x6
Snatch Pull x6
Upright Row x6
Pwr Snatch x6
Lunge x6+6
Snatch Push Press x6
Jump Squat x6

75lbs 5 complexes, 90s rest between then I about collapsed. I’m pretty sure the trainers kept wondering what the hell I was doing to get so out of breath with 75 measily lbs…

Earned my solid meal for the week, so I met a friend at a chinese place and it was AWESOME. Steamed dumplings, small salad and lettuce wraps with chicken, beef, shrimp, green and red peppers and onions…i’m so full I need a damn nap…

40

Day 17
5/26

Too much chinese food yesterday. It was awesome but the sheer size and ridiculous amount of sodium knocked me on my ass. Mouth tasted like ass (still does) despite consistent brushings.

Only 11 days left. I think when this over i’m gonna be pissed that I have to start cooking and buying food again.