Nice going, Chris. (I want those forearms.)
Dread's Progress Thread - Extended Fasting & Carnivore
Dread1840
(Chris)
#424
Alright this week started off with a BANG, folks. Yesterday I tweaked my lumbar (probably a pulled muscle) while on my second to last set of squats with 225. Naturally, the the instinct is to keep going. So I did a final set of 2 with 225, and then dropped the weight to 135 for a set of 17 to finish her off.
Back felt fine when squatting, so I must have had a bad rep that caused my back to be in the wrong position and pull something. I had pain all day while standing, walking, sitting, driving, pooping, you name it. Iced it last night for about 2 hours, and this morning I actually woke up feeling a lot better. The pain is still there but Iām dealing with it.
Still went to the gym today. I used the prowler for the first time ever. Wow, what a humbling device. Have not had a harder cardio sessionā¦ever. After prowling I did some light, high rep low rows on the cable machine, and light high rep machine dips. Capped off with 50 reps of preacher curls- a seat in the sauna, and 5 minutes in the tanning booth. Hell of a morning.
Iām cutting dairy again. Surprise, surprise. Digestive issues, bloating, probably the cause of my fat loss stall. I am going to add more fasting I think, probably a 36 hour weekly, and I will most likely be trying to regulate caloric intake somewhat, by reducing the fat I consume with my ground beef. Iāll do less pourover when cooking. Hope that helps, Iāve held on to this spare tire for far too long.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#425
Back is beginning to feel better, more so than yesterday. Have not iced it since 2 nights ago, so thatās a very good sign that this is not a serious injury.
Today was heavy squat day, I am still dealing with some post-dairy-stress so these days my stomach is in knots and it can affect my performance. I worked up to a single with 245, nailed it, then went for another single with 265ā¦and had to dump the bar again. I get very demoralized when this happens and usually canāt rerack and finish with the same weight, so I typically drop the weight and do larger sets when this happens. Did some bench, did 50 pullups and dips, a giant pyramid set of machine curls, and then a mile on the bike, for the lulz.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#427
Please see terrible squat form above. A friend pointed out that Iām breathing into my ribcage before descent and not into my diaphragm, so I am losing critical lower back tightness in the bottom of the squat. This is fixable and I think Iāve gotten it. More videos soon.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#428
So Iāve decided I need to focus less on increasing 1 rep max- I already knew this but somehow, without knowing, I was denying it. Today I managed 25 reps with 135. Then worked my way up to 185, 225. Then I threw 265 on the bar, feeling frisky again. Tighten up, big air, drop into the holeā¦and drop the bar on the pins. Strip the weight, rack it, load 265 again. Repeat. Instead of giving up the first time I failed (because face it, itās the end of the fucking world), I managed to fail twice. I call that progress at least. If you can fail, then you can win.
With that being said, I intend to focus hard on further improving my form and getting to higher reps before worrying about weight. Short term goal for now is 20 reps with 185, and then 20 reps with 225. Letās see how it goes.
Iām also in program limbo right now- really just back to square one doing intuitive training. It works okay. I hit all compound movements in some way each day. Itās missing structure though, and I need that or Iāll be floundering.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#431
Need to post a success story from earlier this week.
This will probably not come off as sounding very successful, because itās actually a story about how I failed.
Tuesday I was training my squat form, knocked out a set of 135x20, and got ambitious, eventually working up to my previous max of 265. I got under the bar, braced and squatted into the hole. Immediately realized I wasnāt going back up this time, so I dropped the bar. Then I reset it, loaded 265 back up, and tried one more timeā¦and I FUCKING FAILED AGAIN.
Why is this a success story? Because last week I would have dropped the bar the first time, stripped it and left the squat rack in shame. I didnāt though, I gave it another shot and still failed the rep.
The moral of the story is I will try again, and I plan to fail so many more times. If you can fail, then you can win. No one who has ever won anything worth a shit has gone without failing so many times. And no one who has given up on a dream has failed enough.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#432
Alright, Iāve spent long, long, long hours contemplating, reading, writing and headaching over my next workout routine, and Iāve decided on it finally. Hereās a list of some I had considered:
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PPL: Push, Pull, Legs. This would be a 6 day program with 2 push days (bench, dips, press, etc), 2 pull days (pullups/downs, rows of all kinds), 2 leg days (squats, hack squats, machines, etc). - I canāt be there 6 days a week so thatās out, but I like the concept.
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5/3/1 - Building the Monolith: 5/3/1 is a pretty tried and true method, and the BTM template for bodybuilding seems okay. I may try this out but I was put off, I wanted to participate in a program party on r/weightroom, but wasnāt going to budge on my stance on not doing deadlifts with any regularity, and they also would not budge. So I just said fuck it.
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My own: I have written various programs in the past few weeks, 5 day splits, 5 day 2 bodypart splits, and some full body routines. At some point I do plan to try out a 5 day split again. Not today.
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My decision: PHUL (Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower): Itās a 4 day program with Wednesday off. Very simple. 2 power days: Power upper, and power lower. These focus on movements with high weight and low rep range. Then, there are 2 hypertrophy days following the sameish template, but with lower weight and higher reps. I figure this should be a good enough mix and I should be able to run this for a few months perhaps.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#433
Week two of PHUL. Still finding my groove, but Iām completing the workouts fast. I will let it ride for a little while but will add sets if Iām still feeling like itās not enough. I need to work on chest a bit more, probably will add more incline machine work instead of dumbbells.
Anyway, hereās a side chest shot from right before I tanned this morning.
Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#434
Donāt tell anyone. Seriously, keep it quiet. Iām experimenting with preworkout carbs in the form of glucose, in the form of dextrose, in the form of SMARTIES. 6g of glucose per package. Iām taking 30 to 42g pre workout this week to see how it affects me. Might extend it longer.
Not that I think I need something, but Iāve never done targeted keto before so I figured since Iām massively fat-adapted, might as well fuck around a bit, eh?
Untraceable
(Chris)
#435
Interested to see your results, how it affects your hunger throughout the day, or if it is purely cleared out through the workout.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#436
Frankly, I havenāt had any cravings at all, but itās too soon to tell TBH. Although, dumping the smarties into my preworkout bottle the night before is a bit of an experience. I actually thought about what it would taste like to have some last night, but I wouldnāt call it a craving really. I think it helps that instead of eating them, which would be really pleasurable, I just let them dissolve over night and drink it in the morning on the way to the gym. In the same bottle is a sugar free strawberry kiwi preworkout, some creatine, and 5g of pink salt. Itās an interesting flavor profile.
Will monitor this as well, thanks for bringing it up.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#437
Week 2 of the dextrose experiment. Iām not certain that itās helping yet, but it doesnāt seem like itās hurting. About an hour after drinking 40-60g of dextrose Iām burping acetone again.
Last week was good, however on Wednesday morning I woke up puking undigested steak. I believe it must have been some bad meat I picked up somewhere. I made it to the gym planning to do cardio only, but didnāt make it out of the car and napped in the parking lot instead. Went to work, puked some more, and then by lunch I was eating and feeling better. No idea what really caused it.
This week has been better. Weds is my off day for lifting, so today I decided to do conditioning only. I did the following:
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3 rounds of barbell complex. 50lbs, 10 reps each: stiff-legged deadlift, barbell row, power clean, overhead press, back squat, behind-the-neck press.
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10 sprints with the prowler, 2 plates
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40 minutes walking on the treadmill, 3.5-4 mph, 10% incline. Got to watch some of Central Intelligence, and now I want to see the whole movie.
Anyhow, hereās a shot of the wheels in skinnyjeans, because only manlets with pathetic legs can fit into them, amirite? 
Dread1840
(Chris)
#439
So itās been 2 weeks on the carb up / TKD experiment. Iāve decided Iām satisfied and will be ending it today. I have used dextrose as a supplement pre-workout each lifting day- to see if it would add additional energy (didnāt seem to throw me out of ketosis, which was a nice bonus of being fat adapted). It didnāt. Thatās all I need really, perhaps it was too short a trial period, but look, Iām good.
Chance
(David)
#440
So a pre-workout āsugarā burst didnāt deliver anything extra in the workout? Thatās really interesting as Iāve been thinking of trying something similar. Iām not as fat adapted as you so I think I will avoid this for now.
Dread1840
(Chris)
#441
Yeah idk if maybe Iām not at the athletic level of someone who can benefit from this or what. Just didnāt seem to add or subtract from my workout at all.