Sports and Exercise - What do you/would you like to do?

[Master_Craig]

Attempted to dead lift 170 kg (374 Ibs) yesterday. I got the weight off the ground and I got the bar past my knees and up to my quads but I couldn't lock my hips out and complete the lift. Pretty disappointed, I tried twice and the results were both the same... first time I lost my grip, second time I just couldn't lock out. I got 170 last year but can't quite get it again just yet.

Managed to squat 140 kg (308 Ibs) on Monday. It was a bit of a grind but I was happy I got it.

Completely failed my attempt at a 110 kg bench press (242 Ibs) last Wednesday. Bar touch chest, bar rises about an inche then bam, done. Fail.

My weight's about the same for a while ever since starting this new diet and training program. Currently weighing 103.2 kg (about 227 ish Ibs) but I do feel a lot better and fitter at least.

I have a body composition appointment today at one of the X-Ray places to accurately measure my body fat... so it'll help me determine how much fat I've lost and muscle I've gained over the past month. I'll post my results so far once I get them.

 

[intoTheRain]

Cut engaged. Libido, gone. Energy, gone. Want to sleep all day. Check.

Actually it's been pretty good aside from today. Starving at the moment about to head home to eat.

Only 4 days in. Gets easier soon though. Lost 7 lbs in 2 days. Goodbye water weight. Now for the fat.

Hoping 90 days will be enough. But since I plan to abandon my cut once a week + on holidays I imagine 120 days would be more realistic. Which sucks cause I'll only be shredded for august. Started way too late.


Once this cut is complete I'm going to maintain for the rest of my life. No more bulking. No point at my age with test levels plummeting anyway. The thought that I need to lose 30-40 lbs makes me feel unhappy.

 

[Master_Craig]

I'm not gonna lie, man... that sounds horrible.

With your "cut", what foods are you allowed to eat, how much and how often? What are you aiming to cut down for, intoTheRain?

Getting rid of sugar from my diet was hard. I'm pretty good now. I have sugar once the week (in the form of a flavoured milk drink, which I now have ritualistically every Saturday after judo) but the first few days sucked so much. Trouble sleeping, head aches and being a grumpy grouch, I can't believe the effects sugar withdrawal has.

I find if I eat enough food (which I do considering my diet) then I'm all good.

I checked my weight this morning... 102.8 kg (226.6 Ibs). Pretty happy with that. I got my scans done yesterday too and... the results were very confusing. I'm consulting my trainer/dietician to see what's going on. Basically, my scan results claim I have more fat and less lean mass... despite the fact I feel a lot fitter, better and stronger, have lost weight, am being told by others I'm looking better/healthier and am fitting into clothes easier.

I wonder if it's to do with the amount of water I drink everyday (which is a lot)?

 

[intoTheRain]

I'd be more likely to believe it just wasn't accurate. If your diet is on check it's basically impossible for your body fat to go up and muscle mass to go down after losing weight and lifting.

What tools do they use to measure your body fat?

I'm just cutting down to look good in the summer. Fine with being bigger in the winter because I look massive in a shirt. But now that the shirt must come off. So must the fat. I'll likely never let myself go above 210 again. I think I'll be pretty shredded around 190-195 this summer because my legs have blew up. I was 221.8 this morning. I was 229.7 monday morning lol. I've cut pretty hard so I wouldn't doubt if I'd already dropped 2 lbs of fat/muscle by now and 7 lbs of water weight. Will be aiming for 2-3 lbs every 7 days from here on out.

Anyway yea as for your case I guarantee your body comp tests were just inaccurate.


And I never eat sugar ever. You will never see a piece of candy or a chocolate bar in my house. On rare occasion ice cream. Because I love ice cream but I avoid it like the plague. My weakness is fatty greasy food and pastas.

 

[Master_Craig]

Bloody hell man, that's a hardcore cut... good effort!

The trainer used some real top of the line and accurate body fat calipers. He asked me to buy my own, albeit a cheaper and not as good version which cost me about thirty bucks. I looked at his online and it was... a lot. We took skin fold measurements at the chest, abdominal and thigh.

He also gets me to measure my own body fat and send him all the numbers to do up an average. He told me the machine I went through may have been inaccurate, especially considering the amount of water I drink and what may still of been inside me (food, water, urine, crap etc) at the time of the scan.

Anyway... here's my results with the past month of training and this diet.

Started off (20th February 2015): 108.5 kg (239.2 Ibs) with 23.7% body fat
Now (as of 27th March 2015): 102.8 kg (226.6 Ibs) with 16.3% body fat

Total weight loss: 5.7 kg (12.5 Ibs)
Total fat loss: 7.4%

I'm really happy with these results and I agree with it. I do feel a lot fitter, more energy, fitting into clothes better and I'm being told I'm looking better, so that's great. I just had my cheat meal of the week which was a bowl of pasta with an iced coffee, I am currently now hating myself, as I do. My weakness is also pasta as well as greasy Asian food, and iced coffee. I'm really glad I don't drink alcohol very often at all, and when I do drink it may only be one or two light beers.

I just got my next month's gym training sorted and... God damn it, it's going to be much harder than the first month, but I'm keen to have a crack.

 

[intoTheRain]

I thought you said you were confused because your body fat was higher and muscle mass lower :O

Anyway good job.

And yea my cuts not that extreme I just retain water like a fish. It's very standard for me to lose 5-8 lbs the first week. But from here on out it'll just be fat so the results will be slow and steady. Though I do end for the high end of a "proper" cut at around 2.5 lbs a week. My maintenance is very high still for 30 years old. I cut on 2.2k calories to start and still average 2.5-3 lbs a week. Which means my maintenance is in the 3.7k range.

I've been bulking and cutting for 13-14 years and do not at all believe cutting faster causes any problems like excess muscle mass being burnt. I've cut slow and I've cut fast and results are always the same in the end as long as nutrition for what I do eat is on point and I continue to lift heavy and get proper rest. I believe the cutting too fast is bad myth started to prevent people from going full anorexic to lose weight. There is almost no, if any, science to back it up.

And yea I generally drink once a week which sucks because it's really hard to fit in a cheat meal or cheat day along with alcohol. Calories end up in the 5-6k range no matter what.

So today is my cheat day and I'm going to drink with friends tonight. Eating a super light breakfast and lunch. Some oats an apple and a protein shake with water for breakfast and maybe 4 hardboiled eggs and some raw veggies for lunch.

When i get off work going to work legs and go for a long ass walk with some sprints mixed in. Likely for a couple hours. Should give me room for a lot of extra cals.

 

[Optimus-Crime]

I like to fight. Crime mostly, but sometimes just illiteracy.

 

[Master_Craig]

Optimus-Crime is like Batman. Except over five meters tall.

Nice work, intoTheRain. That sounds really hard. I don't think I could really do that. God no.

I'm pretty happy doing what I'm doing... my average daily calorie intake at the moment is about 3,200 calories and consists of mostly skinless chicken breast, veggies and rice, with some oats, almond milk, berries and some protein powder mixed in there somewhere during the day. For my next cheat meal... I really feel like some pizza, or maybe sushi? We'll see how it goes.

On the weekend though I do ease up, Saturday after judo will be my "cheat meal" while Sunday I don't eat much at all because I do no exercise on Sunday. I'm being lazy with video games and cooking my meals for the week.

Training wise it's just six times a week, three times at the gym via a specialised program (purely weights, albeit exhausting) and then three times at judo (which is essentially cardio work with body weight exercises, so to speak). Other than that I do nothing else because I don't have it prescribed to the program.

intoTheRain, do you organise all of your own training and nutrition? How do you sort your food? Weigh it at all or?

 

[intoTheRain]

Yep, I have a scale. Weigh everything.

And yea, I organize everything and set everything up myself. I think the best trainer you can have is yourself.. different things work for different people. A trainer is just going to tell you what he assumes will work best for you. But I think you can easily tell, what is and isn't working.


If I was into power lifting I would definitely have a trainer though. But being natty, and not going in to shows or anything, I don't see any point in having a trainer. But that's just me.

 

[Master_Craig]

Well that's true, everyone is different and not all solutions will work for everyone.

I have a trainer simply because it makes my life easier... it means I know what to buy, what to weigh, what to cook... it also means I know what to train, how much weight, how many reps etc. It's working for me, so I'm happy.

 

[intoTheRain]

It's working for me, so I'm happy.

All that matters old chap.

 

[Master_Craig]

Had my first session of the second and new month of training... my numbers aren't very high but it was a hard session regardless as it's the most volume I've ever worked.

Didn't get any reps on the bottom up squat lockout because... I've never done it before and there was a bit of confusion there on how to do it.

 

[Master_Craig]

Down to 101.8 kg as of this morning (224.4 Ibs). Pretty stoked about that. Just done up my body fat measurement test and sent off the measurements so hopefully will get results later today.

Update: Got the results back... so I'm down to 15.8% body fat when last week I was about 16.3%, so a 0.5% drop in a week is pretty nice.

The trainer wants me to be 100-101kg (220.4 - 222.6 Ibs) by May 15th, at 10% fat. He's updated my diet which is pretty much the same except now there's more rice and oats. Sweet.

 

[Bremaine]

This summer I have plans to buy a badminton set so I can play that and get a workout. Had a ton of fun playing that back in high school, so I figure I'd have some fun playing it with family & friends.

 

[Master_Craig]

Nice, that's a good start. My dad used to play squash when he was younger, which is similar I suppose. Sorta.