Author Topic: chasing athleticism (Read 1463497 times)

entropy · « **Reply #420 on:** October 20, 2012, 08:12:32 am »

20 hour fast broken with a sandwich made of 5 eggs (small ones tho), 2 slices wholemeal bread. Also 2scoop whey shake in 400mL lowfat milk. A banana and half a dozen strawberries. It's pretty much dinner time lol and i'm having my brekfast.

For dinner i'll just have another shake later and get some sleep. Hopefully I got a wicked deficit today. And tomorrow we'll see what happens. I might or might not train depending on how much I want to squeeze an extra day of hard fat loss out before monday.

entropy · « **Reply #421 on:** October 21, 2012, 12:09:41 pm »

Decided against the hard deficit for the last day of the cut. For the same reason I didn't train either. I wanna be fully recovered and fresh for tomorrow when I begin the next phase of becoming athletic. It's a 2 week period where I will eat maintenance calories and hold my bodyweight steady. It allows my hormones to rise and return to baseline after the long period of dieting.

I am hoping to see better performances in the gym as a result of the better hormonal milieu. I dunno if it will mean setting PRs every workout. We'll just have to see what happens.

Hopefully i've done enough to take my bw near or under 79kg / 174 lb - but we'll see what the scale says tomorrow

The plan for training is pretty simple .. loads of front squatting. Then some more back squatting. Aim to add a solid 10kg to my front squat PRs (for triples and fours) during the maintenance break. Upper body lift i will be emphasing is the weighted chinup. Will hit it heavy and often and aim to add weight aggressively as well. Don't be surprised if I end up doing a smolov with weighted chinups - i'm just that keen on the heavy chins.

So my best FS so far is:
bests: 115x1, 110x2, 105x3 and 101x4 (@ > 82kg)
goals: 125x1, 120x2, 115x3, 110x4 (@79kg)

And yea it might not be possible to add 10 kilos in 2 weeks. That's ok. If i only add 5kg, that's still awesome progress.

I dont like how I have marathon squat sessions which leave me unable to do much else. So i'm gonna split the workload as follows:
AM - heavy FS (3s and 4s), heavy BS (3s and 5s)
PM - lighter FS (4s), lighter bs (6s, 8s, 10s)

Hopefully this way the CNS shit is done when i'm fresh. The pump stuff goes later during the day.

I still wanna maintain my bench and press, so will have to figure that out somehow but it's not so important. I think the weighted chin is my preferred upper body mass and strength builder and the goal now is just to get to a decent level (think 115x3 and 120x1 @ BW < 80kg) so that when comes time to bulk, i'm not wasting my time with light shit and can just go all in for a real decent goal like weighted chins with 140kg. Realistically speaking that's much more likely than me ever benching 300 with my build (long arms, narrow shoulders, little upper body mass).

Rix · « **Reply #422 on:** October 21, 2012, 08:26:06 pm »

Quote from: entropy on October 19, 2012, 12:15:18 pm

Quote from: Rix on October 19, 2012, 12:10:34 pm
If I remember right, one of your knees used to bug you. Any issues with that recently?

Hey long time. Yeah my right knee sometimes acts up. I've kind of figured out how to keep it under control. I used to do daily treadmill walking which was a problem. But with discussing it adarqui and others I realised I wasn't well hydrated when I was doing those walks in the morning. So i've been drinking more water before fasted TM. That has helped. The inner bro-scientist things it lubricates the joints or something like that. The other thing which I think has made a difference is i've dropped the incline from 2 to 1. I just do much longer sessions now which is probably better for fat loss anyway. Like 20-40mins compared to the paltry 7-10mins I used to do.

In terms of lifting - my technique was a problem. I was bouncing off my knees at the bottom of a squat. I have fixed that now by using my self-discovered cue of bringing the bar down into my ankles. When It goes there, there is no tension on my knees and I can bounce of the hole pain free. So these two things have made a huge difference.

Forgot to mention. The other big change I made was ceasing high bar squats. I like them, just doing them AND front squats, it's a bit redundant. And together they probably beat up my knees way too much. So now I do a PC dominant squat which is much easier on the knees while continuing with front squats which I love.

Having said that, i'm going to get a pair of Rehband knee sleeves. I don't have massive robust knee joints, so for someone like me, not genetically predisposed to heavy lifting, prevention is better than regret later. So i'll get some knee sleeves and keep my knees nice and warm and secure while I do my shitload of squatting (50 reps, 3x a week!).

Cool, I like that bar over the ankles cue.

The reason I ask is because I have similar issues with my left knee. The majority of the problem is form for me. I've taught myself to be so quad dominant since I started squatting it's a real battle to get the PC working. It sounds stupid because it's so obvious but I really have to focus on getting my hammies and glutes working. Right now, it's not natural for them to engage out of the hole, so I have a lot of work to do.

entropy · « **Reply #423 on:** October 22, 2012, 12:58:31 am »

Cutting from 5th July

BW=78.75kg / 173.834 lb

GOAL ACHIEVED!

Start: 86-87kg (~190lb), >20% bodyfat
End: 79kg (~174lb) <15% bodyfat

All in all, im happy with the results. Have got a lot leaner and lighter and i suspect i'm only a few kilos away from being at an athletic bodyfat level (~12%).

After this 2 week maintenance break, i will have time for another 6 weeks of cutting - which should permit getting to 10% mid dec.

I will post regular bodyweight updates to keep myself honest and don't let my bodyweight drift up while on the maintenance break. Feel free to yell at me if i start slipping!

I want to test my vertical and sprint time while fresh now that i'm lighter and finished cutting. May do it today but i've got a lot of work to do over the next coupla days. Sigh, we'll see if I can finish up and take an hour or two to drive down to the gym to jump. If weather permits i'll sprint today though. Failing that i'll just do it later towards the end of the week, even if I'm a bit more fatigued then. I expect to gain some rebound bodyweight after doing a carb reload though, cos i'm fairly glycogen deprived i suspect, but we'll see what happens on the scale over the next coupla daysd following the refeed (sometime today).

Mikey · « **Reply #424 on:** October 22, 2012, 01:53:03 am »

That was a great cut. Losing 7kg and losing 5+% bf is really good.

Raptor · « **Reply #425 on:** October 22, 2012, 05:50:11 am »

How did your strength evolved over all this process?

seifullaah73 · « **Reply #426 on:** October 22, 2012, 05:54:58 am »

Quote from: entropy on October 22, 2012, 12:58:31 am

Cutting from 5th July
BW=78.75kg / 173.834 lb

GOAL ACHIEVED!

Start: 86-87kg (~190lb), >20% bodyfat
End: 79kg (~174lb) <15% bodyfat

All in all, im happy with the results. Have got a lot leaner and lighter and i suspect i'm only a few kilos away from being at an athletic bodyfat level (~12%).

After this 2 week maintenance break, i will have time for another 6 weeks of cutting - which should permit getting to 10% mid dec.

I will post regular bodyweight updates to keep myself honest and don't let my bodyweight drift up while on the maintenance break. Feel free to yell at me if i start slipping!

I want to test my vertical and sprint time while fresh now that i'm lighter and finished cutting. May do it today but i've got a lot of work to do over the next coupla days. Sigh, we'll see if I can finish up and take an hour or two to drive down to the gym to jump. If weather permits i'll sprint today though. Failing that i'll just do it later towards the end of the week, even if I'm a bit more fatigued then. I expect to gain some rebound bodyweight after doing a carb reload though, cos i'm fairly glycogen deprived i suspect, but we'll see what happens on the scale over the next coupla daysd following the refeed (sometime today).

Success! Great work man.

I really like the chart you use on your log, really helpful.

LBSS · « **Reply #427 on:** October 22, 2012, 09:29:51 am »

entropy · « **Reply #428 on:** October 22, 2012, 10:42:39 am »

Quote from: Mutumbo000 on October 22, 2012, 01:53:03 am

That was a great cut. Losing 7kg and losing 5+% bf is really good.

Quote from: seifullaah73 on October 22, 2012, 05:54:58 am

Success! Great work man.
I really like the chart you use on your log, really helpful.

Quote from: LBSS on October 22, 2012, 09:29:51 am

Thanks guys!

Quote from: Raptor on October 22, 2012, 05:50:11 am

How did your strength evolved over all this process?

I've lifted heavier weight before on some lifts like DL and BS - but my form was quite bad back then. I set multiple PRs on most lifts that I care about (FS, RDL, weighted chinup and BP). Most people would be happy just to maintain their strength but I actually built some! I put this down to dieting moderately. Especially the last month or so of cutting I really hit my stride and was able to balance the deficit without compromising workouts. My next cut will go much more smoothly given what i've learnt in the last 4 weeks.

I've done hardcore heavy deficit diets like RFL before - but this was much better suited to maintaining and improving physical performance.

entropy · « **Reply #429 on:** October 22, 2012, 10:53:05 am »

Training
FS 3x102.5, 1x100, 3x97.5, 4x92.5
BS 2x90, 1x97.5, 3x100, 5x95, 5x90, 8x70, 8x75

BP 3x79.5, 2x77.5, 5x75, 6x72.5, 6x70
WGBP 8x60, 7x62.5, 5x65
ABZ 8, 2x8x10

Best part of these structured diet breaks of Lyle are the carb refeeds. I am gonna try put down 500g of carbs today. Lyle says if you do it right (surplus calories w/ <50g fat, <100g sucrose, <50g fructose) - you can actually continue to burn fat because your body will preferentially shuttle incoming carbs into the muscles towards glycogen storage. This helps restore leptin levels. Here is my post workout meal which I cooked on the bbq between sets of squats

300g of lean meat cooked in loads of bbq sauce and served with tomato sauce later (ie = sucrose), and 8 of these awesome bread rolls which come out to a total of 150g carbs, 30g protein and under 5g of fat.

Will wait a bit and then go bench before eating more carbs. Am thinking I will prob have pasta and milk and icecream before bed

entropy · « **Reply #430 on:** October 23, 2012, 03:37:44 am »

Oh man i had the best night of sleep in a long time. It's amazing how much the body loves carbs. I'm continuing my carb refeed (24hr long - ends in 3 hours). Today i've had about a dozen bread rolls. The macros are quite favorable, under 15g of fat. I made a mistake yesterday by eating eggs in the morning, those bitches cost me 27g of fat.

My arms seem fuller today. Legs not yet though, still look skinny, so hopefully by tomorrow they will be pumped up too.

Goal is to put down 800g of carbs in this refeed. So far i'm up to 700g ish. Almost done.

Done, sucessful carb refeed is sucess.

Aite fun and games are over, starting tomorrow im back to my usual cutting diet + some extra carbs and fats to bring up to maintenance and that's it. Im hoping i'll see better times in the gym. If I don't get some PRs soon i'm going to be heart broken

just kidding.

entropy · « **Reply #431 on:** October 24, 2012, 11:38:52 am »

Training
FS 1x100, 1x107.5, 1x112.5, 2x105, 1x102.5, 2x1x105
BS 2x90, 2x95, 2x100, 1x102.5, 2x1x100, 1x102.5, 1x105
WC 2x97.8, 3x97.8, 1x102.5 (+20kg! PR), 4x92.5, 3x90, 3x87.5, 5x85

FS notes:
I liked these singles. I will do more singles in the coming workouts.

BS notes:
Singles here also felt good. More of these too.

WC notes:
I did a chinup with a 20kg plate, feels good man. It's not as strict as I would like, so I wont count it officially until I do it 100% strictly.

Felt weak today. Here's to hoping friday is better.

entropy · « **Reply #432 on:** October 25, 2012, 06:00:05 am »

Damn, my abs are singing in soreness like i can't remember. Weighted chins man, they're the bomb. Strangely my lats aren't bothered but forearms are sore. I'm even keener to persue the weighted chin as my main upper body exercise. Want to do weighted chins with 2x20kg plates.

entropy · « **Reply #433 on:** October 26, 2012, 11:20:45 am »

Training
FS 5x1x107.5
BS 3x100, 5x1x105
BP 5x77.5, 5x1x80
CU 2x7xBW (PR)
Sprint 5x30m
SVJ 1x5 (PRish range - hit 1" below the wrist on one of them)

FS notes:
Almost ~~perfect~~ front squats. I'm loving dem heavy singles! I have such bad form with heavier sets but singles I can manage to do a decent enough job. Do you agree?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVBMz9FqDTA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVBMz9FqDTA</a>

BS notes:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkp7OgelSTU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkp7OgelSTU</a>

Form is much improved. Lance you were right, front squats may have just rehabilitated my squatmorning tendencies! Btw can you see my sticking point? Am I always going to have that or will I be able to overcome it thru training?

BP notes:
Had a crazy idea to do singles for BP too. Why not? Will see how it pans out.

CU notes:
Sure I am a light weight now but fuck these were so easy. I was worried I'd hit my head on the roof, that's how high above the bar I was getting and easily, just flying up like it was noting. The weighted chinups are doing good things for me - watch this space.

Sprints notes:
I used nearmap to locate a new piece of ground that's exactly 30m long. This is an improvement over my usual originally estimated but consistent length of grass in the park. I'm also running on turf now as opposed to grass. I prefer grass, it's just i don't like the bumps and troughs you get on grass which might injure me if i'm going all out. Turf is kinda squishy though, wish it was the hard firm kind.

The bad news is im not close to 4s at all. I checked on nearmap and im around 5m out of the target by the time the beep goes off. On one sprint I felt that was maybe 3m out? That's heaps man. Not sure if i can realistically expect to get under 4s. Maybe if i get real lean, push my squats up, work on my sprint (more than 1x a week), and run while fresh (as opposed to the end of a weights session) - then maybe, maybe i can squeeze the gap down to 2m? Big if anyways. Lets see how close I can get, it's exciting as a goal in itself.

Jumps notes:
i'd say i'm damn close to 32" SVJ now in favorable circumstances, I suspect the park rim is slightly on the high side cos I always seem to jump higher relatively in the gym.

Goal Time:.
I see myself at the end of this year under 77kg/170lb, 10% bodyfat, 20 smooth as butter strict dead hang chinups, weighted chin with 120kg (+40kg: 2x20kg plates), front squatting 120+kg and backsquatting 130+kg. Oh and benching 100kg. While jumping 34+" SVJ and running 30m in ~4s. The only thing stopping me is my dedication. I can do this - 60 days and i'll do wonders for my athleticism, i'm at that cusp of breaking over from unathletic fatty to lean & athletic.

LanceSTS · « **Reply #434 on:** October 26, 2012, 02:08:41 pm »

both squats look great man, nice work.

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Author Topic: chasing athleticism (Read 1463497 times)

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism -- w3d6

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism

Rix

Re: chasing athleticism

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism -- end of cut summary

Mikey

Re: chasing athleticism

Raptor

Re: chasing athleticism

seifullaah73

Re: chasing athleticism -- end of cut summary

LBSS

Re: chasing athleticism

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism -- w4d1 (training & carb refeed)

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism -- w4d3

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism

entropy

Re: chasing athleticism -- w4d5

LanceSTS

Re: chasing athleticism