Training log

[Fausto]

I'm back

No, this is not the memoirs of Fanny Hill he...he...he, but close!

The load is getting to me, just hang in there (Dave says in his weekly e-mail), oh thanks Dave for the insight, I'm a soldier, yeah bomber too if you'd like!

Partner is back so work is back on track, today last day of 10's, geepas, 104 for squats and we are still on 10's...yep working close to the top is costly yet...rewarding!

Talking of rewards...thanks to Jules for Loaded Stretches, the pain is close to orgasmic

, but the results invariably good...1/2" is in the sack (biceps), at the 10's, well I can't say I am not happy!

The rest is looking good, although I have not been the lab rat I would have liked to be, growth is not so fast...but upping nutrition only by a bit, that's it...the extra volume is doing wonders for my middle section, and leaning up all over (good enough for me)

Well gents...and ladies too if there are some in the surrounding vicinity....enough rambling for one day...see yah later

 

[jvroig]

Quote[/b] ]is not so fast...but upping nutrition only by a bit that is it...the extra volume is doing wonders for my middle section, and leaning up all over

Perhaps that's why the growth isn't as fast. If you are leaning up great, then the effect looks more like for a cutting cycle.

But hey, let's wait for the heavy weights.

Regards,
-JV

 

[Fausto]

Quote[/b] ]But hey, let's wait for the heavy weights.

They have arrived, day two now and going well, my third set of bench was almost to failure, ooops

Still early to shout from the roof tops! But this higher volume is doing wonders so far, although I have not put on much weight, 1 Kg so far...however I have just had dinner after my workout so that 1000 g will disappear

My arms are looking great, my shoulders too.

Changed my mil press to seated and took off about 3 kgs, used one of m,y kids behind me but not really to take off weight, rather just in case...

Today did my iso's and put in some loaded stretches for chest, the pain is almost orgasmic

....a la vicious

better than sex he says...I doubt it, but yep it does feel good!

Anyhoo, enough of my memoirs for now.....ciao

 

[colby2152]

Fausto, it really doesn't sound like you're eating enough - especially with such higher frequency... how much above maintenance are you eating now?

 

[Fausto]

You're probably right Colby!

I am not checking each day as I should, but I am about 500 above, besides I am using calculations for a 80 Kg person straight from Bryan's eating for size!

You know I am not too bothered, once I get on holidays (23rd) I'll start correcting it, in fact if I don't get too much pain I might extend the cycle a little so that I can eat properly.

It is a real pain to follow your diet each day.

Ah...I forgot...I am not sleeping much...kids holidays...managing about 6 hours if i am lucky...wifie is sick too so...I can't just say i am turning in dear, if you know what i mean

I just thought that alone could be the greatest cause of me not getting the size I deserve.

I am definitely going to try and fix it though, scouts honour

 

[colby2152]

Yeah I can understand. I sent that excel spreadsheet to you. Let me know if you think any improvements can be made to it... I haven't edited it's features in months. Everything is in pounds, but there is also a column that converts your daily measured weight to kilograms. If you want, you can change the other cells to refer to that number instead.

-Colby

 

[Fausto]

Colby

Thanks Bud!

I just had a quick look at the sheet, it is quite involved and it may take sometime before I do any changes.

I think what it may be is that generally I am quite happy and I think I'll put on some weight and mass, but at a much slower rate, not quite prepared to go over my current 12.07% bf, darn it was 13.10 not that long ago.

I can see some major improvements on my upper body! And the fat is geeting lower, but as I said I will increment things after I break from work!

Hey, what do you think of a slight ketogenic diet, max 20 g carbs for two weeks? Maybe the carbs are too low for our kind of game.

Sounds like too little hey? What do you thik would be the minimum carbs to get one of us ketogenic quickly and after two weeks find the level where you start putting on weight then, manage it from there?

Cheers

 

[colby2152]

Fausto, when you get to the "weight" tab, and you see the average for the three different bodyfat% results from the skinfold measurements.. take note that is a weighted average. You already keep track of your bf% using your own certain method so you could replace that part.

Quote[/b] ]Hey, what do you think of a slight ketogenic diet, max 20 g carbs for two weeks? Maybe the carbs are too low for our kind of game.

I am no expert on ketogenic diets... looked into them and I don't agree with it. Instead, why not focus on what kind of carbs your body is taking in, such as foods' glycemic index. Afterall, you need carbs as a sufficient source of energy while working out.

-Colby

 

[Fausto]

Quote[/b] ]You already keep track of your bf% using your own certain method so you could replace that part.

A pretty simple method I use, uses the following equations:

Quote[/b] ]Weight in pounds
BW x 1.082 + 98.2 = part A
Waist (inches) x 4.133 = part B
Part A - Part B = lean bodyweight
Total BW - Lean BW = Fat
Fat/BW = % Fat

Quote[/b] ]Instead, why not focus on what kind of carbs your body is taking in, such as foods' glycemic index. Afterall, you need carbs as a sufficient source of energy while working out.

As I thought, it just sounded intersting, but it could only really be done during SD and then again it might make me highly irritable, not a desirable state of mind when you don't leave alone

and even when you do

I may try it, just to cut (I like being a lab rat

) unless someone can tell me, be careful, that can hurt you, after all it is a shok treatment for just two weeks then you back to normal.

But yep, the "GI scout" might just be the way to go!

Cheers mate

 

[Fausto]

Day three of 5's.

Every joint in my body is moaning! I think i am getting to the stage of dropping the iso's for the compounds, darn they are getting heavy.

The squat felt like it was going to crush my spine, just a feeling though, I guess one can also have bad days when everything just feels like this, but really the joints are screaming something at me...and I feel I better listen up.

So this is it, I am rather going to drop the isos for next week and carry on with the compounds, I'll rather put in extra metabolic work as an add on.

There is however advantages to what i tried, I can finally say I am starti9ng to pick up, today weighed in at 72 Kg. that's a whole Kg since yesterday, I don't think it was the food as I did not pig out

Looking noticeably bigger, shoulders chest and V-shape, the good ol'tummy still needs as little more, but i think it will get there, maybe I'll just slap on some tabata type cardio on off days (4 minutes - 20 seconds very fast/10 seconds very slow makes about 4 sets}, feels good and according to Tabata works, lets give it a go!

 

[colby2152]

Fausto, it looks like this cycle is giving you some good results.. you got lean in the first half and now you're starting to pack on the muscle.. keep it going.

Quote[/b] ]So this is it, I am rather going to drop the isos for next week and carry on with the compounds, I'll rather put in extra metabolic work as an add on.

I guess the iso's can only last so long. I will see how I feel when I give my go at the AM/PM version of your routine.

Hmm, not trying to hijack your log, but it looks like I will be eating over 5,000 calories today. If I could do that with extra high frequency, then the possibilities are un-imaginable. One of my friends once told me about this guy he knew from school. The guy was slightly above average built. My friend didn't see him until a year later and he was huge (and cut as well.) When asked how he did it, I think the guy told my friend he was doing high frequency training eating 5500 calories a day.

I would think you would have to eventually cut down after eating like that for so long, or is there such frequency that would boost your maintenance to 4200+?

-Colby

 

[Fausto]

Colby

Quote[/b] ]Fausto, it looks like this cycle is giving you some good results.. you got lean in the first half and now you're starting to pack on the muscle.. keep it going.

Yeah, JV was right, I just had to weight for the big ones hey?

Wish my joints did not hurt so, but that might also be because I am not sleeping well enough, I am standing in the balance of this...and looks like I have to finally say good bye to the iso's at least for now...I'll always have time to throw in a set of curls and bench dips

Quote[/b] ]Hmm, not trying to hijack your log, but it looks like I will be eating over 5,000 calories today.

That too is the proverbial question, what happens if you are keepingf the frequency high enough and eating like a hog! Theoretically you build muscle and muscle burns fat by itself and of itself....but man....to put extra on the midsection is not my idea of achieving my goals. Think again...my mind says...go for the foods with less GI.

One thing I have mastered is taking the Protein before and after training:

Before - 2 scoops muscle science + 350 ml milk (mostly 2%)
After - immediately a meal, whatever wifie cooked, she's looking after us nicely, healthy meals and I take less rice or pasta than I used to.

1 hour later - 2 more scoops of tehabove powder with 350 ml cold water.

Yep, it seems to start working.

Quote[/b] ]I would think you would have to eventually cut down after eating like that for so long, or is there such frequency that would boost your maintenance to 4200+ ?

I have this inherent belief that there is a fine balance between calories taken in and frequency + load giving you not so mugh fat as a result and building some solid muscle...but like I said, and you for that matter....it is a question of finding it by trial and error.

I am thinking that my next workout I am going to try out concentrating on lagging body parts....and may skip squats and full deadlifts for a while, just so my lower back can recover nicely, that too I am going to work on to strengthen it!

Cheers

 

[jvroig]

I suppose you had to wait for the big ones because you just need a lot more weight to reach noticeable hypertrophy.

As for the less GI, I can't remember it right now but I'll see what I can post back after I try to find it, but low GI or high GI, it doesn't really matter so much (I know, very hard to accept). Eat a low GI diet, you can get ripped. Eat a high GI diet, you can also get ripped. It's probably a factor, I'm sure, but far less a factor than your total excess calories. Or the effectiveness of your workout. Or your marconutrient ratio. In my opinion, focusing on GI will not be worth the effort - if instead you made the effort to focus on the other aspects of your diet and training, I believe it will be more beneficial. Eat rice, or pasta, or brownies, or white bread... doesn't matter as much, as long as you know that:
1.) Your total calories are still in check (e.g., you aim for 3500 and still get 3500 at the end of the day)
2.) Your ratio of protein and carbs and fat are still maintained (doesn't matter if you ate some brownies or just chickenbreast and some powder supplement all day, as long as by the end of the day you get your targeted ratio, like 20% protein, 55% carbs, 25%fat)
3.) After eating that much, you should also make sure your training is sufficient, comprising of exercises that register a significant hypertrophy-inducing load, and exercises (or at least sets) that aim for hypoxic stress. Otherwise, you risk having a lot more of what you eat simply go to creating fat instead of muscle or synthesizing glycogen.

Well, just my 0.02, take it for what it's worth.

Regards,
-JV

 

[faz]

fausto did you try the exercises i recomended on the pilates and lower back therapy thread..i will post on here anyway.

lie face down on the floor arms at side palms facing floor forehead touching the floor.
with your toes pointing raise your legs off the floor(knees locked) as high as you can ,hold for 10 breaths.
when this becomes easy turn your palms up and raise your upper body as well so that only your midsection is on the floor hold for 10 breaths
it eased the pain in my back and strenghtened it hope it helps you..

 

[Fausto]

Faz

You know...Itotally forgot about that thread, when I looked again, it was not visible and there wer a lot of other messages to attend to!

Thanks mate, I will definitely try it, sounds easy enough.

I have tried the figure 4 stretch and it helps a bit, so it does not hurt to try something else also.

Thanks, mate

 

[faz]

your welcome i know what a pain in the arse it is to have back trouble

 

[Fausto]

You bet it is! My mammoth squats as Jester calls it feel like they are about to break my back.

Next cycle I am dropping squats for SLDL and good mornings just to get my lower back up to scratch, I am also going to tackle lagging body parts!

Kinda like a repair program just for one cycle

 

[colby2152]

Quote[/b] ]I have this inherent belief that there is a fine balance between calories taken in and frequency + load giving you not so mugh fat as a result and building some solid muscle...but like I said, and you for that matter....it is a question of finding it by trial and error.

Yeah, I would find it by trial and error in within a couple weeks of changing up my diet and training frequency (you saw my excel spreadsheet.)

Quote[/b] ]In my opinion, focusing on GI will not be worth the effort - if instead you made the effort to focus on the other aspects of your diet and training,

JV, you'll be glad to know that it's on the bottom of the list of things I check for, but I feel it wouldn't hurt. It's like an old post from summer said, you could get the same amount of calories from oreos and milk through a day as you would through a diet that is more deversified that has foods with low GI-carbs and good sources of EFA's... the latter diet would obviously help a person cut that midsection out albeit caloric intake being the main factor.

-Colby

 

[Fausto]

Colby

Quote[/b] ]Yeah, I would find it by trial and error in within a couple weeks of changing up my diet and training frequency (you saw my excel spreadsheet.)

It seems like you did mate, you spreadsheet has got it tightly, I was almost ther but I had not thought of doing what you did, but it seems that it is the best way!

JV - although you are right, tracking lower GI foods definitely helps as one tends to easily go overboard with those foods, it would be so nice if we had the onboard computer telling us to stop, like in the thread "wouldn't it be cool?'"

Anyhoo, cheers guys, you guys really help to keep one afloat

 

[jvroig]

Quote[/b] ]JV, you'll be glad to know that it's on the bottom of the list of things I check for, but I feel it wouldn't hurt. It's like an old post from summer said, you could get the same amount of calories from oreos and milk through a day as you would through a diet that is more deversified that has foods with low GI-carbs and good sources of EFA's... the latter diet would obviously help a person cut that midsection out albeit caloric intake being the main factor.

Yes, but that scenario is not the same as the pure "low-GI vs high-GI carbs" scenario. With just junk food all day, first of all, you get calories, but your macronutrient ratio is all screwed up. And if you really want to gauge how effective low-GI vs high-GI is, you have to make almost everything else the same. That means, eat the same types of food for most of your protein and fat calories. Simply change the carb factor- in one experiment, use foods with low-GI carbs. Then, in another experiment, eat the same food for your protein and fat calories (to make them constant), but this time your major carb source/s should be high-GI. With everything else constant (protein, sat fat, good fats, etc), including your taining (which I forgot to mention earlier), the effect of simply switching from low-GI to high-GI or high-GI to low-GI will probably not matter that much at all. If you do it right and keep it up, you'll get ripped. And get ripped good. Low-GI or high-GI.

Of couse, I'm not saying it won't matter. Like I said in the earlier post, i'm sure it does. So if it doesn't take you a lot of effort, and you have all other bases covered (calories, training, protein-carb-fat cal ratio), then go ahead, you won't be just wasting your time. So yes, Colby, I don't feel you are wasting your time. You have your diet well in check, including GI, so kudos to you.

Quote[/b] ]JV - although you are right, tracking lower GI foods definitely helps as one tends to easily go overboard with those foods, it would be so nice if we had the onboard computer telling us to stop, like in the thread "wouldn't it be cool?'"

An alternative would be planning your meals before hand. I'm not as high tech as Colby, all I do is I know what I'll eat for most of the days of the week. For example (just an example), on one day I know I'll be eating 3 cans of tuna in soya oil, 4 cups of rice, 8 slices of bread, 1-2 servings of peanut butter, plus possibly one last meal that is unknown (in case of a family diner that my mom prepares). Since I pretty much know almost everything I will eat, I know almost exactly the amount of protein, carbs, fats, and total calories that I will eat. For the unknown last meal, I simply estimate it.

Regards,
-JV