TE's training log

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 03:59 PM

Hi all,

I've been posting on H&F a bit, so I guess it's time to start a log.

First, some history. I trained Westside style for a number of years, eventually working up to a 455 lb bench. I trained with solid form, so I never had a shoulder issue throughout my training experience. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my pecs themselves. I had a few pec tears, including two requiring surgery. The first one -- on the right side -- went on a 430 lb attempt. The second -- on the left side -- went on a 395 lb attempt five years later, and it tore on the way down (taking out a rib with it)! Here's that:

So, after that and after a non-training back injury that required surgery for a severely herniated disk left me with permanent nerve damage in my left leg and a limp for over a year, over time I trained less and settled into the standard American diet and lifestyle.

I found it wasn't for me.

Here's a shot from July 2010:

Mat Sklansky, Kiera Goetz, Mason Malmuth and me

This was unacceptable. So, I decided to train full-bore, initiating that effort in mid-August 2010. It wasn't easy at all. I had to train with far lighter weight at first than I had used in the past, meaning benefits of weight training would be less than in the past. I also had to figure out how to get in good cardio, despite the nerve damage.

So, I decided just to go do it. I went to the gym virtually every day, weight training three-on/one-off and doing daily cardio (generally ten-on/one-off). Cardio was slow at first, but I found I could handle the elliptical machine just fine. I worked up to 1,000 kcal sessions, gradually mixing in some running along with it. I also found that I could still get in decent weight training sessions that progressively improved.

Once the steady-state cardio came in, I started alternating HIIT days and steady-state days.

I feel I've made some progress. From February:

Rob Chapman (RGC2005) and me

At first, I was not focusing too much on preserving or gaining muscle mass. I wasn't about to take extra calories in the form of post workout carbs or in trying to eat five small meals every three hours (a massive fail for me at that time anyway, as that would just make me hungrier rather than satiated) unless I was sure it was going to benefit me. I found that I didn't need any extra food to train for the first few months.

After a few months, I started feeling the need for better nutritional support, so I'm back to the same PWCs (though I prefer whole foods to protein powder and dextrose, mainly because it's more satiating) and meal scheduling as from back in the day. To ensure I'm getting sufficient protein while not taking in too many calories overall, I found I needed to log every single bite I eat. Staying below 2,000 kcal per day on average with at least 1 g protein per LBM and some carb cycling seemed to do the trick.

After 35 weeks, with weight change averaging just under two pounds down per week:

So, after my multiyear bulking phase and 35-week cutting cycle

, I'm now I'm at my target weight and am transitioning to Lyle McDonald's maintenance plan. So far, so good.

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 04:14 PM

4/25/2011:

Wide-grip pull-ups: BW X 21, BW X 14, BW X 12
Narrow neutral grip pull-ups: BW X 10, BW X 8, BW X 8
Shoulder shrugs: 495 X 3 X 15
Lateral raise machine: Stack X 3 X 6
Elliptical machine: 1 hr at 20/10 - 20/8 interval, 130 strides/minute

Supplements: EC stack, 20g X 200g X 2; multivitamin; 1.25 g fish oil

the_f_was_that · 04-26-2011, 04:38 PM

It's amazing what could be done in 9 months. Have much do you weigh now and how much when you started?

Soulman · 04-26-2011, 04:48 PM

21 pull-ups? That's pretty strong bro.

What program, if any, are you following? Are you still hindered by your injuries/surgeries at all?

If you don't like many small meals a day, I whole-heartedly recommend intermittent fasting as an approach. leangains.com is a good place to start if you're interested. Feel free to PM as well.

Good luck going forwards.

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_f_was_that

It's amazing what could be done in 9 months. Have much do you weigh now and how much when you started?

Thanks! I weigh 209.0 lb now. I was .... more than I should have been.

Dmunnee · 04-26-2011, 05:53 PM

21 bw pullups is sick. At 209lb you definitely need more than 2000kcal/day otherwise you'll be breaking down muscle into amino acids to be used for energy, especially with the length of cardio you are doing. What does your HR get to while doing the elliptical?

Soulman · 04-26-2011, 06:01 PM

I agree that 2k is a bit low if you're still doing a lot of cardio. More LBM-sparing to go with a more moderate deficit.

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soulman

21 pull-ups? That's pretty strong bro.

Thanks! Couldn't believe I still had a PR in me.

Back in August and September, I really struggled on pull-ups, even having to resort to that infernal machine where one kneels on the pad for assistance. Glad that's over.

IMO, pull-ups give great positive feedback for training, as one gets stronger on the exercise via both strength gains and weight loss.

Quote:

What program, if any, are you following?

I currently weight train three on, one off:

Day 1: chest, front shoulder (anterior deltoid, though I don't isolate it), and abs
Day 2: upper back and traps, and the rest of the shoulder.
Day 3: lower back, legs, and abs
Day 4: off

I keep the reps higher than I used to, mainly out of concern for future injury, but I definitely ensure I'm increasing in strength each workout.

Quote:

Are you still hindered by your injuries/surgeries at all?

My right pec healed perfectly. My left pec improved with surgery, but is pretty much hanging on by a thread (and I'd like to keep it hanging in there). Strength is down from back in the day. I can now bench BW+ X 3 X 10 with no problem, so at least it's no longer limiting me in terms of fitness.

As for the back, I can squat and DL fine now. No PRs for me there, but I do them with good form, completely unhindered by injury. My left calf is smaller and weaker than my right, but I can train and run on it.

The back injury, combined with being in a detrained state, did leave me with tight hip flexors. This caused a forward hip rotation. I worked pretty hard to stretch that out. It's fixed now.

So, I guess I feel really, really good now and am enjoying training again.

Quote:

If you don't like many small meals a day, I whole-heartedly recommend intermittent fasting as an approach. leangains.com is a good place to start if you're interested. Feel free to PM as well.

Good luck going forwards.

Thanks for the encouragement!

IIRC, you posted a link on intermittent fasting. It was a good read and seems to be a very sound approach.

For me, a funny thing is that I was less hungry over the past months than I was prior to that. A lot of it probably was because I was eating fewer simple carbs. I hope that this continues going forward, as it's much easier to stay in compliance without hunger pangs. If it doesn't intermittent fasting is something that would definitely work for me.

Thanks again!

Soulman · 04-26-2011, 06:36 PM

Pull-ups and chins are just awesome. I'd consider doing weighted ones though.

I'd look into some of the programs other intermediate+ lifters here use if you feel like it - 5/3/1 and Texas Method are the most popular ones I believe. I think the guys who have tried the Greyskull Linear Progress program (like kidcolin and weasel) are happy with that as well, I'll be trying that next. And how about overhead pressing?

The thing with carbs, it's so easy to overeat. I can certainly understand that your current approach works better. If it works fine, no reason to change it if you don't want to. Compliance is king with regards to diet.

ETA: here's a quick primer on IF: http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmunnee

21 bw pullups is sick. At 209lb you definitely need more than 2000kcal/day otherwise you'll be breaking down muscle into amino acids to be used for energy, especially with the length of cardio you are doing. What does your HR get to while doing the elliptical?

Thanks. Yes, I agree that I should require more than 2,000 kcal/day. That's what all the literature says and I was aware of that at the time. However, that wasn't my case, as I tried to bring up caloric intake but without much luck.

First, I should clarify. I wasn't below 2,000 kcal/day for all 35 weeks. That would be insanity. Rather, the first few months required little more than some attention to eating less and to showing up at the gym. I was surely closer to 2,500 kcal/day or above, especially as I was not tracking calories (I was tracking weight change). Also, at that point I was not hitting the cardio as hard as now, as at that point I wasn't in condition to do so.

I started tracking food daily at the beginning of the year, so the 2,000 kcal/day was for 16 weeks. I was leaner by then, so I needed to work harder. In January, I averaged 2,045 kcal/day and lost 9.6 lbs. In February, it was 1,963 kcal/day for -6.0 lbs. March was 1,995 kcal/day for -5.6 lbs. And, April to date was 1,951 kcal/day for -6.8 lbs (some due to cycling off creatine...the total is still apples-to-apples though, as I was not using creatine when I started in August). So, in my odd case, it appears the intake was appropriate.

To prevent catabolism, I ensured I got at least 1 g protein per LBM and I stayed out of ketosis. Not that ketosis is bad, but it would have required more protein to prevent catabolism. I gained strength throughout the 35 week period and never appeared visually to lose lean mass, so I think I was okay.

Now that I'm on a maintenance plan, I'll ramp up to 2,500 kcal/day for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. If all goes well, I'll shoot for the 3,000 kcal/day Lyle McDonald says should be my baseline.

Quote:

What does your HR get to while doing the elliptical?

If I'm going for high intensity like yesterday, around the upper 150s or even lower 160s. On lower intensity days, I'll keep it around 130 - 135 bpm. Today's HIIT saw it peak in perhaps the 180s or so.

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soulman

Pull-ups and chins are just awesome. I'd consider doing weighted ones though.

Yes, I'll definitely throw some weighted ones into the mix.

Quote:

I'd look into some of the programs other intermediate+ lifters here use if you feel like it - 5/3/1 and Texas Method are the most popular ones I believe. I think the guys who have tried the Greyskull Linear Progress program (like kidcolin and weasel) are happy with that as well, I'll be trying that next. And how about overhead pressing?

Thanks. Yes, Westside method is the exact opposite of what I need now at this point in my training. You can probably tell from my description of my current training that I've been throwing a lot of volume at this, and it worked well. However, now that I'm transitioning from that, I'll be moving to something new. I'll check out all the plans you posted.

Quote:

The thing with carbs, it's so easy to overeat. I can certainly understand that your current approach works better. If it works fine, no reason to change it if you don't want to. Compliance is king with regards to diet.

ETA: here's a quick primer on IF: http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

No doubt about carbs being easy to overeat. I don't know if my current approach will work better forever. It works fine now because I'm making better choices, but if that changes I'd be inclined to move to intermittent fasting.

cha59 · 04-26-2011, 11:00 PM

Nice comeback!

455!

Did you ever compete? What are/were your PR's for squats & DLs?

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 11:04 PM

4/26/2011:

Squats: 135 X 10, 185 X 10, 225 X 5, 235 X 5, 245 X 5
Good mornings: 135 X 10, 185 X 2 X 10
Hanging leg raises (feet to the crossbar): BW X 3 X 8 (five all the way up to the bar or at least head-high, the final three progressively lower but still chest-high or higher)
Elliptical: 20 min HIIT

Supplements: EC stack, 20g X 200g X 2; multivitamin; 1.25 g fish oil

Dmunnee · 04-26-2011, 11:07 PM

I've heard some Lyle McDonald stuff at several conferences now, I'd still very much disagree with this...

"I'll shoot for the 3,000 kcal/day Lyle McDonald says should be my baseline."

And this.

"I'd be inclined to move to intermittent fasting."

**TheEngineer** · 04-26-2011, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmunnee

I've heard some Lyle McDonald stuff at several conferences now, I'd still very much disagree with this...

"I'll shoot for the 3,000 kcal/day Lyle McDonald says should be my baseline."

If it isn't 3K, I'll find the sweet spot and will stick with it. Based on the data I posted earlier, it seems closer to 2600 kcal/day at my current activity level, but I guess we'll know for sure via trial and error.

Quote:

And this.

"I'd be inclined to move to intermittent fasting."

There's a big "if" associated with that. Again, my intention is to eat five or so moderately-sized meals. Now that I'm training well, I suspect that will work out just fine.