I am way less interested in giving it a go looking at that photo.

That's a somewhat bad/boring example of 1300 cals, tho.

Could be eg. a bunch of veggies with white fish, shrimp etc. and/or non-fatty cuts of meat on the grill instead for ~same cals/macros.

But time constraints gonna time constraints.

Anyway, at work, just went to one of the break rooms to eat about half of what I pictured for my 1pm lunch.

These were randomly placed right next to where I was enjoying my delish meal.
Sumsbishes.

12.5.2015

Depletion-WO #1

Not quite as terrible as I anticipated. Might have something to do with weights being even beyond jellydick-territory and loading/unloading plates etc. taking a bit more time than I thought, allowing for more rest-time as planned.
O well, didn't expect to nail it the 1st time around.
The WO took me about 75 minutes including a short warmup and cooloff. Hopefully I can condense it a bit going forwards.

Goblet-Squat
3x15x20 kg

Too easy.

Bench
5x15x50 kg

SS with

Yates Row
5x15x50 kg

RDL
1x15x50 kg

Yes. One set. My hamstrings got immediately extremely tight and I couldn't do one single rep more after a minute rest when I attempted 2nd set.
Probably shoulda warmed with empty bar first and not jump right into it.
O well, decided to jump to the next SS and try again later which went K.

Seated OHP (Never done these before, not a fan)
1x15x30 kg
1x13x30 kg
1x13x25 kg

SS with

BW Chins
10
8
6

RDL
1x15x20 kg (Yes. Empty bar. Got the hammies to loosen up a bit)
1x15x40 kg

BB-Curls
2x15x25 kg

SS with

DB-LTE
2x10x10 kg's

10's too heavy for 15 reps, shoulda picked 7.5's.

Planks
1x10x10s

Coulda done at least one more set but my core was getting really tired even before these and I was running late already.
Plus I could sense a headache incoming. Dodged it.

Can't wait for tmrw.

So if I understand correctly. You've been cutting the normal way for a while and just now starting the UD 2.0?
Will be very interesting seeing results

Affirmative. I weighed in at 76.1 kg this morning so withering away right off the bat.

ION, also had 4 vials of blood drawn out of me this morning, plan is to do another health checkup - blood glucose, thyroid stuff, sex hormone stuff, blood lipid panel etc.
Felt kinda dizzy at the lab, like '****, I'm gonna faint" -dizzy but the feeling went away rather quickly after the draw.

The lab woman told me to turn around to change arms from the initial left to right because (her words) "you've got too much muscle".
Wtf, I don't see how that would be an issue in the first place plus my arms are tiny and if anything my right arm is the bigger one.

Labwoman sounds like a really lame superhero name. She's prob just used to #dadbod so anything beyond that = TOO MUCH MUSCLE.

Anything you would do differently with the lifting? How sore are you this morning?

90%+ of customers at the lab seemed to be 60+ year olds and fragile so maybe it was that.

Re:lifting.

Nothing much. Small things like getting more efficient wrt moving from exercise to another and picking weights that are closer to ones I can do 15 reps for 3-5 sets.
Also strapping up right off the bat with rows next time, forearm fatigue was immense after supersetting ~3 sets of bench&rows, last 2 sets of each were clearly made harder because of it.

Not too sore, thanks to being cautious with weight I presume and being somewhat used to volume when it comes to upperbody.
Not serious DOMS anywhere but in hamstrings and triceptors, which I reckon is at least partially due to not having done RDL's in a long-ass while and LTE's being a completely new exercise to me.

Yeah, RDLs will always get you some pretty bad DOMS if you haven't done them for a while. Looking forward to doing this in a perverse kind of way

Did we ever get our 5x10 50%1RM squats up in this bitch?

Aw hell no.

Biking hits the quads. And walking.

Plus I'm allergic to backsquats and frontsquats are too hard for upperback and wrists to be done in a voluminous manner.

Gobletsquats with jellydick-weight it is.

Is the backsquat allergy due to your previous back issues? What was it that caused your back issues?

No, although they sure didn't help with my back issues when I first started out.
If anything the oppsoite is true but that had probably more to do with me being dumb and having no idea about how to get and keep everything tight under the bar back then.

So I could be doing them w/o issues just fine now that my core strength is very much improved but for me, frontsquats just feel like a much more 'natural' movement and dare I say more 'athletic' movement, as well.
Plus they let you keep your back/torso more upright.

Back issues were due to a weak core more than anything I think, musculature not contributing / doing their part and leaving all the supporting work being done by my spine.
Sitting on my ass too much in general.
Regular 24 hour+ all-nighter poker-sessions slouching in my chair half-awake probably didn't help much, either.
Too much abuse, basically. And too little activity/strengthening work.

13.5.2015

UD2.0 Week#1 - Depletion-WO #2

More terribleness present than yesterday but all things considered not too horrible or anything.
Was nursing a bit of a headache going in but surprisingly enough, it went away once I got going.
Another 75 minute session.

Goblet-Squat
3x15x25 kg

Not too easy anymore. Probably could do 5 sets, tho. Butnah.

Incline-Bench
5x15x40 kg

SS with

Chest supported DB Row
2x15x15 kg's
3x15x12.5 kg's

Took me a couple of sets to find a good bench back rest angle and choose proper weights, first 2 sets were hard but lol-ROM.

RDL
1x15x40 kg
2x15x50 kg

This time I remembered to do a warmup set. Felt much better.

DB-Lateral raises
3x15x5 kg's

SS with

BW Chins
8
8
7

Boo. How can these be so hard.
Fatigue is a bitch.

Side-Planks
2x5x10s (left)
2x5x10s (right)

Should/could do more but no time.

CGBP
2x15x45 kg

SS with

DB-Hammer-Curls
2x15x12.5 kg's

Dead.
Feel like I'm overworking triceps.
Idk.

think ill give the fat binding agent "Chitosan" a try(fairly cheap) for my carb-loads to be able integrate more fatty stuff.
will report back, seems like a useful tool especially for ud 2.0

Kool, sounds interesting.
Ya, pls be reporting back, I wouldn't personally mind pizzaing it up through the carb-loads.

14.5.2015

Woke up feeling ridiculously sore everywhere. Cardio and SMR alleviated the soreness a bit but especially triceps are just completely dead.
Apparently something very biblical happened on a thursday a couple of thousands of years ago so no work today hence no biking as a way to commute.

LISS
70 minutes

A 30 minute brisk walk in the morning and a 40 minute easy bikeride in the PM.
Also did ~30 minutes of rolling/smashing everything with a rumble roller and a spiky massage ball.

15.5.2015

AM - LISS
45 minutes of walking (~4.5 kms I guess).

Walking is good for you.

PM - UD2.0 Week#1 - Tension-WO

K. 3.75 days of miserable low-carbs/low-cals are over. (in reality, not that miserable, merely unpleasant imo).
So, time to deplete the last bit of glycogen and start the shift towards rebuilding phase.

Felt good to up the intensity a bit and do a little less volume.
Plan for today was to do about 20 sets of 6-12 reps @ about 70-80% of 1RM, leaving at least one rep in the tank all over, to not tire out my old man CNS.

Front-Squat
2x6x70 kg

Figured I'd do 8's @ this weight.
Nope.
Everything else but legs the limiting factor with these, though.

Bench
2x8x75 kg

SS with

Yates Row
2x8x80 kg

RDL
2x8x80 kg

OHP
2x8x50 kg

SS with

BW Chins
2x9

Ab-Wheel
2x9

Incline-DB-Flies
2x12x12.5 kg's

Was about to do incline-bench but my triceps were like no thank you so did flies instead.

BB-Curls
2x9x35 kg

Not too hard of a workout overall.

~350 carbezions deep into the carb-reload now, 3-4 hours after the WO.

Have fun eating literally all of the carbs bro!

YES!
Endless plates/bowls of pasta and cereal it was. Topped off with candy and fruit.
It was glorious...for a while. Then it started to feel like work. But no biggie, still kinda fun.

Trying to figure out wtf to do today wrt diet and power-workout.
3-6 sets of 3-6 reps per bodypart says the book.
Deadlift, Bench, Front-squat, Press, something something.
85-90%+ of 1RM.

Probably going to eat maintenance-ish w/ semi-high carbs.

Came up with a monster:

DL 2x3+
Bench 2x4+ ss with Yates Row 2x5+
Front-Squat 2x3+
OHP 2x3+ ss with Weighted Chins 2x4+
Standing Calf-Raise 2x5+
Incline-Bench 2x5+ ss with Weighted Planks 1x5+
CGBP 2x5+ ss with BB-Curls 2x5+

FPS to the maximum.
Might quit midway through. Or die. Or not. We'll see.

I've only got a semi-loose idea about the weights I'm gonna shoot for, might RPT some exercises. Or not.
Also a possibility that I'll change my mind multiple times about exercise-selection/weights/volume during the workout, based on dem feels.

Should be fun.

Pre-exhausted my back and forearms a bit through a couple of hours of yard/garden-work in the AM. I shouldn't have done that. But I did.

/liveblog

17.5.2015

Morning BW surprisingly low - 75.8 kg.

UD2.0 Week#1 - Power-WO

Goal for today was to establish a baseline for future Sunday workouts - a challenging one but not quite the absolute maximum, something to improve on, while going forwards.
An additional goal was to really keep things under control and get quality reps in - really controlling the weight on the way down with presses and frontsquats etc.
Basically trying to keep the tension in target muscles and not use momentum etc. too much.

Deadlift
2x160 kg
3x150 kg

Bench
3x90 kg
5x85 kg

SS with

Yates Row
5x90 kg
6x85 kg

Bench can go eat a donkey dick imo. Will ditch the belt next time. Or not.

Front-Squat
3x85 kg
4x80 kg

OHP
3x62.5 kg
4x60 kg

SS with

Weighted Chins
1x5 @ +20 kg

Can't say/recollect for sure whether I did one or two sets of chins. 70% says no, 30% says yes. Plan was to do 2x5 @ +20 kg, anyhow. O well.

Standing Calf Raises
2x6x80 kg

These are lol but probably will keep in rotation as they provide a nice breather between press and incline.

Incline Bench
2x6x70 kg

SS with

BB-Curls
1x5x45 kg
1x6x40 kg

CGBP
1x6x75 kg

Decided that one set was enough for triceps. Might do two in the future.
Also plan was to do at least one set of weighted planks but forgot to bring my backpack, will do next time.

Took me about 2 hours, give or take a few minutes. Warmups take a lot of time.
Lots of energy left when calling it quits, though, somewhat surprisingly.

Why are you doing the power workout on sundays instead of saturdays?

I start my cycle on Tuesday instead of Monday ie every day is pushed forward one day.
I way prefer this as it allows to eat close to like a normal human being through Friday PM till Sunday night.
Also don't like the idea of carbing up ie eating every 2-3 hours at work, much easier at home.

Anyway, kinda torn about diet for Mondays, could go either way.
On one hand it'd be good to eke out all the benefits from the yesterday's workout and eat at maintenance+ today but on the other hand I'd like to lose as much bodyfat as possible per cycle.

Going with 300-400 kcal deficit for the day I think. With high-ish fat.
10g of BCAAs before biking to work plus a 170g container of Skyr when I get there.
A pizza or a footlong sub with mayo and avocado for lunch and then back to lowcal&lowcarb-tarding in the PM.
And then start everything all over tomorrow.

Ya, sounds like a plan.

Yo,
starting UD 2.0 today and kind of in a hurry so a big update post won't happen until later, just some quick input wanted if you have time.

This is what I got for lifting so far for depletion, based on Lyle's/your plan. Removed lat/calf raises in order to minimize the # of new things introduced + they're minor lifts. Also think squats and RDLs are more taxing than the leg presses/curls. This is pretty much Lyle's suggested program exactly except for those changes. No supersets, just full body repeated once spread over two days.

Monday
Squat : 3x15
Bench: 3x15
Machine row: 3x15
RDL: 3x15
DB curls: 2x15
Triceps pushdowns: 2x15

Repeat everything.


Tuesday
Squat : 3x15
Incline DB Press: 3x15
Pulldowns: 3x15
RDL: 3x15
DB curls: 2x15
Triceps pushdowns: 2x15

Repeat everything.

Total reps: 480x2.

Great.

24 sets for lowerbody
12 sets for chest
12 sets for back
8 sets for biceps
8 sets for triceps

Looks good to me other than nothing for shoulders?
They do get hit some by bench but 1-2 sets per circuit ie 4-8 sets total could be good.

Machinestuff for lowerbody (or upperbody for that matter) would be good in that they'd be quicker to set up and do plus you could potentially isolate the targeted muscles better.
And then there's the core fatigue, although I found that to be not much of an issue. At least so far.