Go with the flow!

[mel]

I love reading your log. Always so much food for thought in here. Thanks for that.

mel

[Espi]

Thanks Melissa, that means a lot to me.

In the past 2 years I've come to realize that
- my body wants to do more (training volume/intensity) than it is actually capable of recovering from , which can result in either overeating or illness
- if I want to create a deficit, I've got to do it by means of diet and cut back on volume

I've cut back on volume quite a bit in order to get to my desired (very modest) bf% (26%). By October I finally had reached my goal, but apparently still did too much as I got shingles. So, cut back more in Nov & Dec and even skipped all cardio in order to recover. But.. alas, bf% is creeping up a bit.
As I wasn't planning on starting a cut again before March, I thought it would be enough to increase volume a bit more again and use the 'G-Flux'. Seems that all it does, is make me overeat.
Sigh.. so eating at maintenance is really an art on its' own. And not surprising really: back in 2005 and part of 2006 when I was spinning my wheels, I'd restrict calories, but train too much and then overeat so much that I'd end at maintenance after all.

Right now I'm on a tiny unintended bulk. It *is* disheartening a bit though that not working out at all, but just being ill burns 2300 kcal on average, while being healthy and working out EOD burns just around 2000-2100 kcal, viz. 200kcal less.

Yet, I'm still happy at where I am. Contrary to some here, I'm really happy with being 'normal' and for the first time in my life, not feel (so) fat. But strong & generally healthy. Healthy to some extent, as Julie and I have a lot in common. I scored a 'yes' on most of the points in the following table for 'adrenal' type.
Matrix of Signs and Symptoms of low adrenal and thyroid function

In case Julie watches this thread , I'd urge her to take a look.

It's really interesting as I was almost thinking I was hypo-thyroid and since I still had low T3 levels back in April while eating at maintenance (approx. 2200kcal) , I was put on Cytomel after some delay because of a cardiovascular problem that had to be sorted out first. I'm now on 25mcg of Cytomel (T3)/day and the amazing effect has been that rather than feeling 'hyper' I've started feeling very calm and peaceful. Didn't change anything either about my maintenance levels. Considering that I feel so much more peaceful, this isn't really surprising me. It's just that the fuel I'm using doesn't 'cost' as much energy (adrenaline!) anymore.

[Espi]

Tuesday Jan 8
TRAINING Mad Waves 5A
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 windmill x 10 each side
2 quick ham & calf stretch x10
3 torso stretching x 5 for each (cat/camel)
4 knee pushup x10
5 walking lunge in reverse x10 each side
6 lateral lunge x10 each side
7 Russian twist w 5kg ball x10 each side
8 Swiss leg curl x12

MAD WAVES
A1+2 lat pull down & BW chins
WU: 35x5 – 42x5
Chin: BWx1
42x8
Chin: (BW+4kg)x1
42x8
Still struggled with the chins, but 8 reps with 42kg were easier than 10 reps with 38,5kg.


B1 db bench press
WU: (14x2)x5 - (18x2)x5
(21x2)x1
(18x2)x8
(21x2)x1
(18x2)x9
Better than last time. No PR though.

ASSISTANCE LIFTS


C1 rack lockout
47,5x4
45x5
42,5x8 (+3)
Went well, until at the last set, front delt suddenly started to hurt. Will ditch this one and go back to triceps push down since I’m never sure where to stop with this ‘cheat style’ bench press

C2 EZ biceps curl
22,5x6
20x6 (-1)
17,5x9 (-4)
Shoulder already hurt at the last set, which explains the lesser amt of reps

METABOLIC
D1+2+3 goblet squat + db swing + renegade row
12kgx10-10-10
Had wanted to do it with 14kg today but decided against it and did just one set.

ODD EXERCISES
Excercises You've Never Tried Before #9
E1 Zercher Goodmorning


Description: Here's that crazy bastard Coach Davies's favorite way of performing good mornings: Zercher style! The term Zercher is usually applied to squats and they’re performed by cradling the barbell in your arms and then squatting down.

To perform Zercher Good Mornings, you also hold the bar in the crook of your biceps, arms up tight to your chest. With your feet wider than shoulder-width, initiate the movement by pushing the buttocks back and lowering to the neutral position with the back at approximately 45 degrees. Concentrating on your hamstrings, come back up into the start position. This is a great hammie builder for bodybuilders and athletes alike!

Practice: 25x9 All I noticed was the pain in the elbows .

Opinion: negative: Zerchers always hurt the elbows so much that you can't do any decent weight with them in order to get the results you're after . I'm willing to believe the change in center of gravity makes it a worthwhile alternative to regular GMs but it's not one for me.


F1 Bodyweight Triceps Extensions



Description: This one is a lot tougher than it looks. Christian Thibaudeau calls it one of the best possible triceps exercises — and you don't even need any weights!

The photos explain it all; just make sure that you lift your body only by extending your arm at the elbow, not by pressing with the shoulders and chest. Take three seconds to lower your body and one second to bring it back up. Take as many seconds as you need between sets to cry like a baby and rub your aching tri's.

Add a few of these to your list of "man-makers" today! We dare ya!

Practice: BW (on knees) x 6. Didn’t dare to do it on toes, considering the aching shoulders.

Opinion: neutral: probably a great exercise for those who have no shoulder problems, and a very creative alternative for dips, but alas, not one for me.


WO-drink : IsoSpark (Karno4 pre-WO)

General: I’ve been fighting yawns all day long, after trying some dairy in the morning. Wasn’t the greatest workout, but still not a very bad one either. Except then that I’m bummed about the bum shoulder. No more rack lockouts.

Training statistics
Volume: 8993 (+1732)
# of sets: 29 (-5) # of reps: 207 (-6) - avg reps/set : 7,1 (+0,8) - kg/rep : 43,4 (+9,3)

[Espi]

Tuesday Jan 10
TRAINING Mad Waves 6B
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 windmill x 10 each side
2 quick ham & calf stretch x10
3 Frankensteins x10
4 torso stretching x 5 for each (cat/camel)
5 knee pushup x10
6 Russian twist w 5kg disk x10 each side (much easier than a ball)
7 lateral lunge x10 each side
8 walking lunge in reverse x10 each side
9 prisoner squat x10
10 Swiss leg curl x10

MAD WAVES
A1 front squat (cleaned the weights up to 35kg)
WU: 25x3 – 28x3 – 30x3 – 35x3 – 40x3 – 45x3 - 50x2 – 55x1
62,5x1
50x6
65x1 PR for weight
52,5x6
Truly getting the hang of things for cleans. The 65kg front squat didn’t even feel all that difficult, esp. since I’m ditching the deadlifts for a week.

A2 deadlift
Not this week.


ASSISTANCE LIFTS

B1 Smith lunge
(40x2) x 6 -8


B2 pull throughs
26,3x10-12: PR for both weight and reps

C1 wood chop
16,3x13 (+1)

D1 exo rotation
3,8x13 (-2)

E1+2+3 neck flexion / extension /side neck flexion
8,8x20 flexion/extension
8,8x10 side neck flexion: PR for weight & reps

F1 Saxon side bend
7x13 for each side


ODD EXERCISES
I’d say the neck exercises were already odd enough


Pre-WO : Karno4
WO-drink : IsoSpark & Stamina

General: was wondering whether or not to do deadlifts, but decided to do the front squats first as straight sets and then wanted to do the extra exercises more badly than go through a draining series of deadlifts. I was told that it’s not bad to not do them for a week and then try for a PR. So, we’ll just wait and see.

Training statistics
Volume: 9874 (-2681)
# of sets: 36 (-8) # of reps: 234 (-72) - avg reps/set : 6,5 (-0,5) - kg/rep : 42,3 (+1,3)

[Espi]

There had been a discussion in the other forum where I post the odd exercises as well, as to why you'd want to do odd exercises , instead of the tried & trusted squats/DL/presses/MPs/chins etc.

In chapter 10 that I just printed, lies the answer:

If you always do the same exercises using the same rep and set scheme, you'll end up stagnating in the gym. But forget about all the physical reasons why you should include variety in your training; let's talk about the mental reasons instead.

No matter how effective an exercise is, if you get bored of it and dread performing it, it won't do you much good. It's like being forced to sit in a class. If you're not interested in the subject, if it's boring and no fun, you won't learn much.

On the flip side, a new exercise is exciting and mentally stimulating. It turns your brain on, excites the nervous system and breaks you out of the training blahs. Below you'll find seven fresh exercises. Try a couple out today and get excited again about going to the gym!

It nails down why I love these things so much and also why I love changing routines (rep ranges), not even so much because it is effective (it is!) but mostly because it's fun and keeps me being eager to go to the gym!

[Espi]

Saturday Jan 12
TRAINING Mad Waves 6A
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 windmill x 10 each side
2 quick ham & calf stretch x10
3 torso stretching x 5 for each (cat/camel)
4 knee pushup x10
5 lateral lunge x10 each side
6 walking lunge in reverse x10 each side
7 prisoner squat
8 Russian twist w 5kg ball x10 each side
9 Swiss leg curl x15

MAD WAVES
A1+2 lat pull down & BW chins
WU: BWx2– 44x3
Chin: (BW+5)x1
44x7
Chin: (BW+5)x1
45,5x6
Chins are improving again, but still a far cry from October.

B1 db bench press
WU: (14x2)x5 - (16x2)x4 - (20x2)x3
(24x2)x1
(20x2)x5
(24x2)xF
(20x2)x6
Was bummed about the failure on the 2nd single, but glad to get the 20s up 6 times (no PR though, just a tie)

ASSISTANCE LIFTS


C1 EZ biceps curl
25x2
22,5x6 (0)
20x8 (+2)
Am not getting a whole lot of practice on curls anymore.. once managed 7reps on 25kg. But wonder how much cheating was involved.. ?

C2 standing overhead press
27x4
26x6
25x6 (-1)
Not very happy with OH presses anymore, will go back to my old MPs with no overhead work, as my neck starts to complain and I just hear the shoulder joints creak.


METABOLIC
D1+2+3 goblet squat + db swing + renegade row
14kgx10-10-10 twice: PR for weight for db swing & renegade row
Phew! This makes the heart race! Had to take a brake after the first round as I’d lose control.

ODD EXERCISES
Excercises You've Never Tried Before #10
E1 Plate Loaded Lateral Raise


Description: W e picked up this lateral raise variation from T-mag contributor John Paul Catanzaro. Using a bent arm to improve the leverage, place a weight plate over the elbow. Hold it there with one hand while raising it to the side with the "loaded" arm.

This is a great exercise to add to your arsenal of shoulder "widening" movements!

Practice: 5x11 / 10x9 , strangely feels like doing a rehab exercise.

Opinion: lateral raises aren't in my program anymore, and can't say what this would add over just hitting a different 'angle' . See it as a superfluous exercise. Yet, it does feel quite different from a lateral raise with arms fully extended, not as taxing, so you can use much heavier weights.

F1 Low Barbell Raise





Description: This looks like a curl that doesn't know when to stop, but it's actually a delt exercise we learned from Don Alessi.

Grasp a barbell with an underhand (supinated) regular-width grip. Flex the knees slightly and start with the bar resting at mid-thigh level, elbows at 15 degrees of flexion. While maintaining elbow flexion, raise the bar overhead by using your delts. The movement should be explosive and smooth. At midpoint (with the bar overhead) the bar should be in vertical alignment with the ears, hips, and ankles. Reverse this pattern to return the weight under control to the starting position.

Just try not to drop it on your head. People will laugh.

Practice: 10x4 . Feels weird. Had a difficult time judging how to exactly do this one and change it from a bb curl into an OHP. Need to do it again to get a better idea.

Opinion: neutral: have to do it again, to get a better idea. Might work as a time-saving hybrid of biceps curl and OH press?

G1 One Armed Eccentric Chin Up





Description: This one is for bad asses only. The one-armed eccentric (negative) chin-up is tough, but it can really help advanced trainees overcome sticking points in strength development for the lats. Note: Most people will need to use one of those assisted dip/chin machines.

To perform this bad boy, pull up with two arms, pause, and slowly transfer the load to your non-dominant arm. From this point, lower yourself under control until the lats and elbow flexors of the working arm are fully stretched. Reset your dominant hand on the handle and pull yourself up for another rep. Repeat the process until you reach eccentric muscle failure.

Try to use very slow eccentric lowering, about 8-10 seconds per rep. Try six sets of two to four reps. Try not to cry like a big baby after you're finished.

Practice:. Bwahaha… down in 1 sec . Second time with 2 hands: down in about 5 seconds.

Opinion: positive: can be a good exercise for someone who can do 12 reps @ BW. For me, it means that I should do more (2-handed) negatives



WO-drink : raspberry smoothie (Karno4 pre-WO)

General: an OK workout, shoulder isn’t whining too much.

Training statistics
Volume: 10322 (+1329)
# of sets: 39 (+10) # of reps: 232 (+25) - avg reps/set : 5,9 (-1,2) - kg/rep : 44,5 (-1,1)

[Espi]

That barbell raise didn't go right as the text describes a 15° angle while the pic above has the guy do it at a 90° angle

[Fitwit]

Just wanted to stop in and say hi! I have become more active here than at TOP (doesn't that mean "the other place?")

[Espi]

TOP = yes the other place, or Active Low Carber's forum or do you mean BLC? If the former, don't come there much anymore since working out is not something many people cherish . If BLC, I've noticed you were 'missing. It's hard to be very active on several forums. JP forums is fun because of the exciting workouts and the variety (without the 'enforcement' of a specific workout if you KWIM.)

[Fitwit]

I sure do know what you mean! I enjoy the fun and freedom here. I don't feel as though I can speak freely at BLC since I tend to do some things a little differently. The people there are very nice, though. I'm doing the NROL4W challenge and my eating has been under control for 6 whole days!

[Espi]

Exactly, even when something is better than what I'm currently doing, I'm truly disliking having people tell me exactly what to do, almost to the extent of being enforced to, since everyone is doing it.
Here, lots & lots of people are doing NROL4W (or NROL) and TNT is also popular, but nobody will ever enforce you this particular workout, as there's so many others who are doing completely different things. Yet the majority does eat low carb and also does NROL-like workouts, viz effective ones.

I've just finished my new WO plan that will start by the end of this week. I'll go back to my previous plan that had me do a hybrid between a 3-split and a FBWO , viz. alternate between going heavy on db presses - front squats - DL and then do a secondary exercise that's to be done heavy on the next day.
Plus 2 auxiliary exercises as well as some fun stuff. It'll be another 8 chapters before the 'odd' exercises are finished and then ... finally I'll be incorporating more of the NROL workouts.

Probably should buy NROL4W or?

Oh, on the eats... I've discovered it's good to allow myself to indulge frequently enough so I won't feel too deprived. Works better than going 'cold turkey'. After 5 years , all the do's and don'ts of esp very-low-carbing (Atkins, PP, SBD, or what have you) or (worse yet, the very low fat diets of Venuto) just gets on my nerves. The night I decided to 'clamp' down on the carbs once again, I succumbed to eating a Mars bar, the first one in nearly 5 years. Just because I can't stand being too restricted anymore.

ETA, you know what's really so attractive about JP Forums? So many people that are performance-oriented and loving the outdoor life rather than just on how much they weigh and what the bf% is.

[Espi]

Monday Jan 14
TRAINING Mad Waves 6B
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 windmill x 10 each side
2 quick ham & calf stretch x10
3 Frankensteins x10
4 torso stretching x 5 for each (cat/camel)
5 knee pushup x10
6 Russian twist w 5kg disk x10 each side (much easier than a ball)
7 lateral lunge x10 each side
8 walking lunge in reverse x10 each side
9 prisoner squat x15
10 Swiss leg curl x12

MAD WAVES
A1 front squat (cleaned the weights up to 35kg but missed the 40kg)
WU: 25x2 – (cleaned 28kg) - 30x3 – 35x3– 40x3
52,5x3
65x1
52,5x4
67,5x1 PR for weight
55x4
Hmm got scared too about the heavy weight and am not sure if I broke parallel on the 67,5kg. Got to try again next time. And NOT be scared of cleaning so much weight as well as wait a bit longer.

[s]A2 deadlift [/s]
Not this week.


ASSISTANCE LIFTS

B1 pull throughs
26,3x13-15: PR for reps
Am getting the hang of this one too.

Didn’t feel like doing more auxiliary exercises. Even a 10kg dumbbell, that I’d wanted to use for step-ups felt heavy and the slightly lower ‘bench pressing station’ bench was occupied, so did pull throughs instead (was supposed to do Smith lunges and step ups today).

ODD EXERCISES
Excercises You've Never Tried Before #10
C1 One Leg Goodmorning


Description: As if normal good mornings weren't challenging enough, now we have a one-legged version from Coach John Davies! This is a great hamstring and posterior chain exercise.

Stand on your right leg with your left leg extended back and parallel to the ground. If needed, maintain balance by holding on to something. Hold a dumbbell or plate with your right hand to the outside of your right foot. Rise up by pulling hard on the hamstring and stand perfectly upright.

Don't forget to do the other leg or you'll walk funny. Also, don't drop the weight on the dog or we'll sick those wacky PETA folks on you

Practice: 10x6 / 15x 6 – 3, did 2 sets while holding on to the bb in the bench station and then the 3rd set while standing free.

Opinion: Giving it a miss: you're more occupied with stabilizing yourself than with actually doing the GM.

D1 The Iso 1-leg Squat


Description: This is an evil exercise. Why? Because a Canadian came up with it, and as we all know, Canadians are evil.

Okay, we're just kidding about Canadians being evil, but this Christian Thibaudeau movement will kick your butt! Place your back leg on an elevated object and bring the front leg forward as shown. Bend your front leg at the knee so that the upper leg is close to parallel with the floor and the knee in line with the front foot. Your trunk should be kept upright with hands on your hips.

The objective is to hold that position for 60 seconds per leg. If you can handle that length of time, you can hold a dumbbell in your hands to make it even harder.

Thibaudeau recommends you use this exercise as part of a superset with a basic quadriceps movement. Just make sure to do the heavy basic exercise first.

Practice: BW x 20-25 s hold for each leg (just counting/forgot to use the stopwatch) .


Opinion: Neutral: good stability exercise. Felt a huge stretch on the quads in the leg that’s on the bench. Don’t know if that’s the intention? Not an exercise I want to incorporate into my regular routine but might use it for stretching/stability.


WO-drink : just a Pepsi Max (ate lotsa carbs already)

General: felt relatively weak and was craving for carbs all day (and unsure why). Didn’t help I’d carried a heavyish box all the way from home to the P.O. (around 6.5kg/14.3lbs) that was too bulky to just carry it the normal way, so I mostly held it close to my chest. I had wished someone had checked my depth on the squats as I didn’t want to go too low, but also not ‘cheat’ by not breaking parallel. Hopefully will feel both bolder & stronger next time.


Training statistics
Volume: 7858 (-2016)
# of sets: 27 (-9) # of reps: 151 (-83) - avg reps/set : 5,6 (-0,9) - kg/rep : 52,0 (+9,7)

[galya]

The 1 legged GMO is awesome, just make sure the leg that's in the back has the toes and knee pointing straight at the floor. It's definitely worth it learning to balance yourself. I say give it another chance, girl! The bg isos - I would say use them for stretching/stability
I don't know if we've discussed it but does fruit and or glutamine help your carb desires?

[Espi]

Fruit helps me and I generally don't get hungry from it. Unless we're talking about highly glycemic fruits like bananas. Oddly enough, pears did once send me into binge mode as well. I'll be able to try this again in a few days as I'm planning a salad with pear, pecan nuts and cheese.

It could very well be that I'm just a bit overly nervous today in anticipation of tomorrow's self-defence course as well as some things I had to shop for (unusual errands) and also a fair I'm attending on Wed & Thurs.

Now, post workout I don't feel carb cravings at all : just for a lot of fatty protein

I'll try the GMs again if you insist they are that good. Always feel insecure about 1-legged exercises and try to find excuses to not do them.