It would be interesting to hear his take on it. I suspect that he would say that he has no regrets and he wouldn't change anything.

It would definitely be very interesting. What would he recommend to younger guys close to the top of the game currently - is it worth it in the end. Life lessons from someone whos been there, done that.

If its positive currently if he survives 20 years in constant need of support, and never-ending pain, his take might change though, I'd imagine.

I'd also be curious to hear the thoughts of his loved ones. His permanent ongoing disability and probable early death are going to have a pretty huge impact on their lives.

I love lifting but "top of bodybuilding game" holds no appeal. It involves horrendous amounts of testosterone injections, experimental drugs, etc. It is a slow (or quick) suicide, and the physiques of some of these guys are on the level of women with freakish watermelon tit implant territory (IE not attractive.)

I'm not one to say "I don't lift, I don't want to get big" I want to be huge but look like it can be achieved naturally (even if I have to introduce steroids at some point.)

I found a pretty good Black Friday deal if anyone is interested:

https://spartanutrition.com has 30% off everything and free shipping if you spend over $100. I just dropped $160 on protein powder. I mean, it's food and I eat it every day, gonna have to buy it eventually, so if it's 30% off, I'm gonna go ahead take advantage of that.

**I am NOT affiliated with this company or it's products--just a customer**

Thought I'd pass that along and ask if anyone else found anything stellar. I looked all over Satanic Amazon and really couldn't find a whole lot of anything I need or use on a regular basis that was on sale. Found a bunch of shit I could easily waste my money on, but nothing important.

How much pounds is optimal to lose during cut in one cutting phase? I am wondering if I want to lose a bit too much in one cutting phase, instead of going for shorter bulk/cut/bulk/cut phases.

TeachNExplore, incredible progress.

You went from the leftmost pic to the middle pic in just 5 weeks? Damn! That is very motivating.

(11-26-2018 12:46 PM)sterling_archer Wrote:  How much pounds is optimal to lose during cut in one cutting phase? I am wondering if I want to lose a bit too much in one cutting phase, instead of going for shorter bulk/cut/bulk/cut phases.

Keep your protein intake constant to what it was on your bulking cycle, and reduce carbs/fat to 300-500 calorie deficit.

This way muscle loss would be minimal, and you can reduce fat percentage to low teens. Then start bulking again.

That is what I am doing, except I am also doing calorie cycling and intermittent fasting since I am following Leangains guide for both nutrition and training.

Leangains, or the very similar ketogains are very good, especially when combined with intermittent fasting. However I don't think calorie cycling is beneficial for training, especially barbells.

I was able to cut a pound a day on ketogains and intermittent fasting doing starting strength. This rate is very hard to maintain though, and 0.5 lbs/day is more feasible.

In the end, you will have to dial in empirically how much food your body requires for your training. Then you can reduce fats/starches accordingly. Experiment.

(11-27-2018 04:33 PM)MOVSM Wrote:  However I don't think calorie cycling is beneficial for training, especially barbells.

Ah, so you would recommend instead just regular "couple hundred kcal beneath maintenance" each day coupled with IF? What do you mean by not beneficial?

On a smaller scale it happens anyway--those chicken breasts are not exactly standardized; you don't eat the same thing every day, so on and so forth.

Doing it intentionally is not beneficial because if you go too low, muscle loss will occur. To lose muscle, even a single day below a certain level is enough. But to build muscle, you need several days of consistent caloric excess, assuming you are past the novice stage. Therefore, when training, caloric consistency is needed, whether in excess or in deficit.
Also, wild swings in calories makes it difficult to track how much works for you and how much doesn't.

Combining two different diets (leangains+calorie cycling) is not good--stick to one or the other. Leangains/ketogains are designed with barbell training in mind, while calorie cycling is not.
Intermittent fasting is not really a diet because it only changes the times of food intake, not what you eat or how much. It can, and should be combined with any and all diets.

To find out what your absolute minimum calorie intake must be before muscle loss occurs, I suggest https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

I want to be clear that the 200-500 calorie deficit applies specifically to fat and starches/sugars. Protein should be kept the same amount as your bulking cycle.

I do recommend just regular calorie deficit coupled with IF.

I like ketogains over leangains because it is clearer with the times and amounts than leangains, otherwise it is the same information.

Thanks for the advice, I adjusted the calorie intake starting from today which I will use till the end of the cut. Stopped doing calorie cycling.

Now, to explain why I did calorie cycling. I used it these past 3 weeks only because I read about it in the Leangains guide. This is official LG information so I was a bit confused when you said "Combining two different diets (leangains+calorie cycling) is not good".

When I take into consideration what you said about it not being beneficial, I can see why my progress in workouts is very slow with some exercises stopping progress one time and resuming other time.

I just looked on their website for that information because that confused the hell out of me--it didn't make any sense.

He's talking about it in context of *maintaining* weight, once you're already happy with your physique. That makes sense.
However, neither you or I are at that stage, and we're going to bulk and cut to build muscle/strength and then cut fat.

Even from his description though--"cycling between overfeeding (training days) and slight underfeeding (rest days) is another excellent strategy to remain lean regardless of your goal"--you can see what I referred to as "happens naturally on a smaller scale"--food is non-standard size, and you will struggle in hitting your daily macronutrient goals, etc. On training day you will add starches, that will activate your insulin response, so on and so forth. There are a million factors. Calories consumed (and stored) will be different day to day.

For this reason I wouldn't worry about it until you hit your long-term goal.

I thought you talked about calorie cycling the diet, which is a completely different thing.

That makes much more sense. The things I read come from his official book and encyclopedia than from his website, so that is why probably this info is not well known apart from his usual IF endorsement.
Anyway, tomorrow is a workout day and I am very interested in how I will perform. It was always hard for me, since these underfeeding days were always between workouts days and I felt that I didn't get enough energy. Now it is obvious why that was.

A couple of days may not be enough. Give it a week or two, then assess and adjust accordingly, unless the results are overwhelmingly clear.

Alright guys, I posted this in the The Power an amazing physique has over women thread (not because I have an amazing physique yet but because just the mild changes I've made have had a significant affect on how people have viewed me) and I wanted to post over here in the Fitness section as well. This seems like the most appropriate thread even though I haven't really begun lifting (very minor bodyweight exercises) as I plan to add that in slowly.

I've have been encouraged by some of the members whe lift who are my friends off forum and I look forward to getting a quarter of their gains. Long post inbound:

A little over a year ago I'd gained a good bit of weight due to injury and not being motivated to do any significant exercise. I also let my eating habits get worse and worse over time (they were never super strict but it's easy to add way too many sugary foods and too much carbs, etc...).

Had some challenges in life and watched someone close to me lose a ton of weight by turning their diet around nearly 100% (but still maintaining a very sedentary lifestyle). It has been inspiring watching them lose weight and at some point I decided I was going to improve my weight/body. In the past I've tried going full bore/cold turkey (like this person did diet-wise) but usually I'd slip and end up back where I started (a common diet/exercise issue for many people) but this time I decided I was going to stick to it by making minimal/incremental changes, make them a habit, and try to slowly ramp them up instead of making any drastic changes.

I started out really slow, so the changes were fairly minimal, but I was slowing down on sugar intake, SLOWLY drinking less, and starting to change the foods I'd order out as well as how much of them I'd eat. This made a big difference and I lost nearly 5% of my starting body weight (mostly in extra fat). I started out slow on the exercise end, throwing in a random bike ride or 2 sets of 10-15 pushups (I'm really weak) or a few sets of situps. I started running around on the sand again and throwing in a random bodysurfing session.

As my sand legs came back, I was able to start going harder and playing more games. I slowly was able to jump a little as muscles grew slightly and fat started lessening. I still wasn't doing much if any body-weight exercises but did throw them in here and there. I started freediving a little bit and felt like I could get decent at that again.

I'd go out with friends and instead of 2+ huge discounted beers I'd order 1. I'd tell the waitress "no" and do a karate chop down my front-side indicating that 1 is all I get in order to shrink the belly. I'd order only the healthier items on the mostly fattening/sugary menus and when they'd come I'd eat slowly and save half or close to it for later.

I avoided a lot of sweets. I had moments where I'd slip up, but the slow and steadily increasing change worked far better for me. Instead of drinking a lot, I drank a lot of water. The weight readout on the scale slowly inched it's way down (when I bothered to check it), but more importantly I felt better and this motivated me to do longer exercise and start intermittent fasting in time periods where I was sedentary while working.

There's a lot of "I" in what I've written above. There's been a lot of encouragement from others once they could see a big change, but that big change came from checking myself. Checking in with a group of friends from time to time (and more as the weight started to really come off), but mostly just trying to control myself, really free myself to be who I want to be and keeping myself accountable. Being happy taking small steps and sticking with them even though results were slow to materialize.

Now most people who haven't seen me in a while (or even in a month) comment on how skinny I look (how much lighter I look). It's not embarrassing anymore to have my shirt off even next to the most jacked/ripped of dudes on the beach because I know I'm so much better than where I was, that I'm better than average, and that I'm still improving.

I don't have a static 6-pack but I have a start to that definition when I flex. My chest isn't full but it no longer droops dad-bod style. My love handles are far smaller, and that V that forms at the bottom of your stomach down actually exists again. Women touch my stomach and chest far more than ever before. Many people are amazed and ask, "how did you do it?" and don't quite believe it when I tell them the incremental changes I've made. Spending time outdoors has given me a nice tan which reflects the weight loss even more.

The scale reads ~12% lighter from my starting body weight and a large part of that has come off in a period of less than 6 months without any real weight training, mostly cardio-based exercise and slowly getting my food intake in a much better place. I've slipped recently in the last couple of weeks but am catching myself. Tonight I'll bulk buy a bunch of healthy food and get right back where I was.

I haven't been this light on a scale in a decade. I look forward to these incremental changes continuing into a physique I'll be even happier with. A body that will serve my interests best with the added benefit of it's effect on women I'd date, but also on people in general. Even a half decent physique that wouldn't land you a photo shoot or even an amazing Tinder profile picture will still turn heads, especially if they've seen you prior to the improvement.

What kind of cardio are you guys doing? I'm thinking about buying a rower or Airdyne or something now that it's cold out, so I don't even need to leave my apartment. I have a prowler, but if I work late I can't use it, it's pretty loud on pavement and I don't want to bother the neighbors. I find steady cardio really boring, so thinking if I get an Airdyne or a recumbent bike I can watch TV while I do it, and can also do sprints on it for conditioning.

Been locked in at 80kg for a week or so. Feeling damn good. I got a tiny bit of bloat from all the eating but I'm convinced I can drop it in a few days if I just control for salt and oil. I'm tempted to push for another 5kg. I'd love to cruise at 190 pounds lean in the future.

AO, sounds like you're making great progress. Keep it up. My suggestion would be to look up some strength training programs like starting strength or wendler 5x5 that incorporate compound movements to get your weightlifting routine started. Start light and really dial in your form to avoid injury. Maybe hire a strength coach for a few sessions or have a buddy who lifts check your form. You'll be pleasantly surprised how much progress you'll make in a short amount of time as a new lifter as long as you stay consistent.

Upgrayedd, I have an issue with getting bored with cardio as well. Have you tried martial arts as a form of cardio? MT and BJJ are great and I never find myself bored in class and the relationships formed in class and the motivation to get better give me a reason to go consistently and train hard.

SterlingArcher and ShroudedMist. Thanks for the props. Dropping the fat in 5 weeks was definitely a challenge. I was very motivated at the time to make a change.

(11-30-2018 04:06 AM)Upgrayedd Wrote:  What kind of cardio are you guys doing? I'm thinking about buying a rower or Airdyne or something now that it's cold out, so I don't even need to leave my apartment. I have a prowler, but if I work late I can't use it, it's pretty loud on pavement and I don't want to bother the neighbors. I find steady cardio really boring, so thinking if I get an Airdyne or a recumbent bike I can watch TV while I do it, and can also do sprints on it for conditioning.

I was doing elliptical because of my weight (didn't want to hurt knees) but lost a ton and jog now because it's much less boring (almost at the end of good days for this in New England.)

The most fun is playing basketball (pick up games) though.

Quote:Upgrayedd, I have an issue with getting bored with cardio as well. Have you tried martial arts as a form of cardio? MT and BJJ are great and I never find myself bored in class and the relationships formed in class and the motivation to get better give me a reason to go consistently and train hard.

I have in the past and it was great, may get back into it. I'm trying to decide if I should stay in my current city or move, so I don't want to sign up for anything with a contract right now.

(11-30-2018 05:54 AM)Fortis Wrote:  Been locked in at 80kg for a week or so. Feeling damn good. I got a tiny bit of bloat from all the eating but I'm convinced I can drop it in a few days if I just control for salt and oil. I'm tempted to push for another 5kg. I'd love to cruise at 190 pounds lean in the future.

I think the conversion from the metric system to U.S. standard measure will look good on you. lol!

I want to exclaim my praise for the Sheiko powerlifting program. I have been following it on and off for the past few weeks and even then I made some huge gains. Granted, I have been lifting and playing sports most of my life (also a veteran) so I consider myself an intermediate-advanced lifter. However, I am new to powerlifting and on a recommendation, decided to try out the Sheiko program.

I lacked discipline this past month so I didn't follow the program completely and slacked off on my diet but still noticed some good gains. I checked my maxes a few days ago and hit all lifetime PRs.

Age: early 30s / Weight: 79kg / Height: 5'6
Bench: 160kg
Squat: 200kg
Deadlift: 220kg
Wilks score: 399.16

I've always had a weak bench but hopefully I can improve it as I follow the program. I felt like I could have deadlifted 5-10kg more but I heard a pop in my palm during the last lift and stopped at 220kg. It is currently swollen with some pain and I have been icing it for the past couple days. Not sure what I did but hopefully won't keep me out for long.

Anyone else following Sheiko? How have you liked it so far? And what about your diet? I actually struggle to hit my daily calorie goal but still have a slight belly bloat due to never doing any cardio or high intensity training...

What were your numbers before starting this program and how long was the training cycle before your new maxes?

Impressive numbers, but it would be beneficial to see where you started out at.

Noticed this guy just today because Alpha Destiny had an interview with him. Natty beast and down to Earth, humble guy.

Tobi Alder