Only had about 15 minutes before I had to go and meet with my coach. Worked a little on posing and the best way to display a v taper. Talked about things to make sure and do/how to stand, etc. he showed me a few no nos that he said would annoy the judges as well. Turns out the posing coach I’ll be using on Monday and going forward the next two weeks will be the head judge at the competition so that’s always good!
Today I’m feeling much better. The scale started moving again. Woke up at 165.2. I think I found the culprit of why I have been feeling bloated and carrying some water. I’ve been having mostly broccoli as my main veggie. Lots of fiber can build up in your gut. I cut veggies back yesterday to 1.5 cups of green beans and felt much lighter in the middle already.
Also I did a higher dose of test and deca last fall. When doing so I upped the dose of my anastrozole (keeps estrogen in check). When I returned to my TRT does in december if forgot to change the anastrozole dose back to normal. I did this about two weeks ago and I could be having a little higher estrogen than normal. This could have me holding some water as well.
Regardless I woke feeling much lighter and “dryer” this morning. Thank you all for the words of encouragement yesterday. Guess I was simply in a funk. This morning I feel motivated and ready to go. Today at work will be 8:30 am - around 10:30pm and again Saturday and Sunday. I’m guessing that this will bring an unnaturally low number come Monday morning so I’ll have to mentally prepare for a rebound after that.
If I can sneak away from work today it will be a back day, but I doubt it will be possible. Who knows… maybe everything will run smoothly and I can escape!
Hang in there, Jack! I worked 7am-5pm and then from 7:15pm to 1am yesterday and I was back at work at 7am today. You’ll survive the weekend and hopefully you get more than a nap each night.
I don’t think my body will ever look that lean. I feel like the fat I’ve developed over the years simply won’t let my skin look that thin–even when the fat cells are empty.
Yeah, I have kevlar mesh under my entire upper abs because of a hernia repair. It really looks weird when I get a chest x-ray because they fastened it in place with a bunch of little metal staples on the inside of my abs. I only have 4 little external scars though, the did arthroscopic surgery with 4 incisions and inflated my belly with nitrogen to put it in, and it has held up for 15 years so far.
That’s awesome that it’s held up. Hoping that’s the case for mine too. There’s never a good time to schedule it though. Thinking possibly right before sumemr
I was moving around pretty well after a couple days, but I wasn’t training regularly at that time, so I don’t remember what the wait time was to starting to move weight. The only time it bothers me at all is if I wear a belt I have to wear it high. If I wear it low I can feel where the hernia was pressing out because of the way the intra-abdominal pressure distributes. I don’t wear a belt for normal training, but I’ll wear one for really heavy deadlifts or when I’m log pressing, and I just wear it right below the rib cage, so it’s taking the pressure where the hernia was. I can’t find a comfortable way to wear a belt when squatting.
I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I can’t train at 32 in the same way I did at 28.
I think this community makes me a little better at doing what I can do and living with it, and a little more honest with myself about what I can actually do.
Nice, it’s those little things that turn into big gains.
I train harder in my 50’s than I ever did in my 20’s or 30’s, just have to be smarter about it. Get adequate rest, good nutrition and supplementation, and be cognizant of any limitations you may have picked up along the way. I trained hard in my 40’s without being as smart about it, and several of the limitations I have now are from injuries incurred during my Crossfit phase.
I still like to go heavy, and I’ll be prepping for a strongman comp and possibly a powerlifting comp after the challenge is over. I want to compete lighter than I was without all the excess fat, and I’m seeing now that I can be stronger at a lighter weight if I’m smart about it. The stupid I was doing with Crossfit was things like high, heavy reps with bad form, trying things my body wasn’t ready for, and chasing 1RM’s prematurely trying to get my total up when I wasn’t as strong as my ego insisted I was.
@jackolee if memory serves you are a gymnastics coach of sorts. If correct, any particular kind? Trampoline, rings, floor, all of them? I’ve been thinking about chasing the front lever with a bit more dedication and I appreciate Coach Summer’s approach as posted on dragondoor but I was wondering if another approach had become favoured in recent times.
I looked it up. Seems like a pretty solid progression. Learn it in a tight tuck and develop a hold for a period of time. Gradually open the tuck. Great accessory movements are going to be v ups and straight arm pat pull downs. Tremendous amounts of core and pat strength are needed.
Sorry I didn’t answer the first question. I coach all sorts of gymnastics… girls, boys, power tumbling, and trampoline. My specialty is trampoline and tumbling though.
Cheers! I can do one leg out while in the tuck already, just not for long. I can get quite tight in my abdomen and lats but the endurance probably isn’t at the one minute mark. I’m planning to start with the first progression nevertheless and hold it for a minute before moving on to the next one. I’m hoping that’ll add the stress in successively and not get in the way of other training.
