Post: #26

(12-05-2015 05:28 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  Pretty easy for a fat guy to lose 3 pounds of WEIGHT/week at the start of a diet. It won't all be fat, 1lb or so might be water loss, and an effect of having less sodium in the system. I suspect Hannibal was not being strictly literal when he said 3lb FAT, rather used it loosely to mean 'weight'.

I responded in the RFL thread. As far as the OP is concerned, try a PSMF for two weeks if you're curious. If it works, great, use it to hit 15% bodyfat in minimal time. Two weeks is all it would take to know how well it works.

Otherwise, do what worked before. You got very respectable results with it.

Post: #27

H1N1 Wrote:I suspect you could drop a lot of mass whilst increasing your strength if you trained appropriately.

Curious about this statement as I've never gotten that to work. What does "train appropriately" mean in this case?

Post: #28

(12-12-2015 05:16 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

H1N1 Wrote:I suspect you could drop a lot of mass whilst increasing your strength if you trained appropriately.

Curious about this statement as I've never gotten that to work. What does "train appropriately" mean in this case?

I'm not sure I have a general answer for that, as 'appropriately' is likely to be quite specific to you, and we may have different ideas of what constitutes a strength increase - for example, if you lost 40lbs of scale weight and lost 15lbs of your bench, I would say you had increased your strength significantly.

That said, I have increased my strength by every measure during this cut I've been on by increasing my training frequency, and not exceeding 5 reps. To give you an idea of how I've been training the past two months or so:

Day 1:
A1. Weighted chins - 2x5xbw (very strict reps), 1xbw+30% of potential additional weight, 4-6 (sets) x 3 reps x 60% potential additional weight
A2. Handstand pushups from 5" below parallel. 5-6x3
B1. Straight bar dips 2x5xbw, [email protected]% total potential added weight
B2. Sandbag rows (grab canvas like grabbing clothing) 4-6 x 8
C1. Ab wheel from knees 3x15 (hold for a few seconds at full extension)
C2. 25lb plate flips 3x5

Conditioning: 80lb DB 100 swings + 100 burpees for best time

Day 2:
A1. Squat partials - BW on bar x10, then I just add whole plates each side for sets of 3 until I hit my target weight, and hit that for 3-5 sets of 3 (I aim for 3 sets of 3, and add weight again when I can do 5 sets of 3 (and usually rep out the last set a bit to make sure I've got the weight happily, as I train alone on a scaffold set up somewhere remote, I don't have the luxury of being rescued if I get it wrong))
A2. DB snatches - usually work up in sets of 3-5 to a heavy triple, and do a couple of sets at that weight.
B1. Pistols - just linear sets of 3-5 trying to add weight without compromising depth
B2. Weighted Jefferson curls or strict stiff-leg deficit deads
C1. As many reps in 3 sets of sandbag shouldering as possible (I aim for over 30 reps total)
C2. 3x backbridge hold as long as possible (I don't take any other rest between my SB shouldering sets, so I have a good incentive to make these count)


Conditioning: 500 snatches with 33lb DB as quickly as possible

Day 3:
A1. Weighted chins - work up to 7-8 x 1 @90% of total potential added weight.
A2. Very slow HSPU negatives to full depths, focusing on control and body tension.
B1. Straight bar dips 2x5xbw, [email protected]% total potential added weight
B2. SB rows (grab canvas like grabbing clothing) 4-6 x 8
C1. Ab wheel from knees 3x15 (hold for a few seconds at full extension)
C2. Plate curls 3x3
No conditioning usually after this one

Day 4:
A1. Cleans - work up to 3x3
A2. HS wall holds for 50% of max time
B1. One arm deadlifts
B2. BW pistols - slightly higher reps, and I just try to hold bottom position for 10 seconds or so each rep, and maybe hold one more random point on the way up or down.

Conditioning:

5 rounds (no rest between rounds): 6 SB shoulders (each rep is a bit of a wrestle to get it to shoulder height), 2 mins shadowboxing


The other 3 days I do a lot of shadowboxing, finger and wrist work, pushups (one arm and normal), situps, bridges (neck and back) and mobility/stretching. I start each of the 4 weights sessions with 10-15 minutes continuous skipping and shadowboxing.

If I'd built a huge amount of mass/prioritised aesthetics over performance/was training for a particular competition, then obviously I might train differently. Since at this point in my training I only care about being fit and strong, and am prepared to accept whatever mass I can hold by eating two large meals a day most days, the above has worked for my goals. If your goals are different, then 'appropriately' might mean something different for you.

I would not claim that the above was the best program for anyone's goals but my own (perhaps not even then).

Post: #29

(12-12-2015 05:16 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

H1N1 Wrote:I suspect you could drop a lot of mass whilst increasing your strength if you trained appropriately.

Curious about this statement as I've never gotten that to work. What does "train appropriately" mean in this case?

My take on this very topic: /thread-49176.html

Post: #30

Quote:To give you an idea of how I've been training the past two months or so:

Wow that's a lot of exercises! Quite a few I've never heard of, actually. My workouts are much simpler, along the lines of alternating between 1) squat, bench press, seated row, chin-ups, and 2) deadlift, press, pulldowns, chin-ups.

Post: #31

I have this same issue. Ketogenic diet works like magic for me.

Post: #32

People really should talk in %bw terms, not absolute weight units.

Post: #33

(12-02-2015 12:23 PM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  \

It's tough. I console myself with the fact that it's preferable to being a hard gainer. Those guys have it worst in my opinion.

No, the guys who have it the worst as skinny fat types who have a hard time gaining muscle AND an easy time gaining fat. That realy blows.


As to your problem, no extreme fix is needed.
Try the Paleo diet -Mark's daily Apple is a good site.

Then, just be consistent. Good luck.

Post: #34

Three months ago I had a visit from The Reaper which nearly sent me on a ride in his Black Lincoln. Long story short: blood clot which moved out of the leg into a vital part of the body. No long-term damage, but sometimes I see his him in the parking lot polishing the chrome. The Reaper has a million dollar smile on his face . Well, I'm not ready for the last ride.
But I need to drop weight. My doctor told me I have to do it and recommended a high protein low carb diet. Unfortunately, I haven't lost the weight, no matter how hard I swear at the bathroom scale. I keep trying to pass it off as gravitational anomaly.
So I'm tracking what I eat and trying to get cardio in every day. At least this week my weight has stabilized. Now I just need to get it going south.
If you need to drop the weight, what is the best way?
I know everyone has a different body chemistry, but we're part of the Family of Man.
I do cardio for 30 minutes every day and ramp the incline at 2.0. I'm setting it at 3.0 MPH. I like cardio because I can read and work my fat ass at the same time.
Do those elliptical machines help any? What about the stationary bicycles?

Post: #35

Lift weights.

Do more cardio.

Eat less.

Post: #36

(01-16-2016 04:05 PM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  Lift weights.

Do more cardio.

Eat less.

And eat right. This is esp. important for the skinny-fat sect. The book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" delves into this.

Post: #37

(12-03-2015 04:07 PM)Pontifex Maximus Wrote:  [quote='h3ltrsk3ltr' pid='1162731' dateline='1449173202']
[quote='Pontifex Maximus' pid='1162658' dateline='1449166800']

I struggle to take that Elliot Hulse guy seriously. Almost every time i see him, he seems to be proposing some Bro-Science shit with a borderline-Scientology vibe. What he suggests here does not sound like a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it sounds faddy to me.

Maybe if you're an athlete or a body builder that kind of diet may be required at times, but if you're just a guy trying to get in shape, it's better to just focus on long term positive changes.

What i found positive is just cutting all refined sugar from my diet. I just don't touch the stuff now. This includes all ketchups, sauces, everything. I eat green veg with pretty much every meal, the vast majority of my meals are variations of brocoli, leeks, avocado, spinach or cabbage, and with sardines, eggs, tuna or chicken as a protein. I have oatmeal once a day, with chia seeds, grated ginger (a great health benefit) and coconut oil. In time i have trained my tastebuds to love all this stuff. Even though the endless stream of greens and sardines/tuna/chicken/eggs is kinda monotonous.

I fail to see the point of Cheat Days. You're better off just cutting all junk out of your diet ruthlessly. I genuinely don't like or ever crave 'bad food'. On the very rare occasions i eat it, i feel the difference pretty instantly. Eating broccoli, spinach, an avocado and a tin of sardines may get somewhat dull, but you feel great sticking to it, both physically and mentally.

I treat myself to organic honey sometimes, that's about as close as i get to anything sweet. I love the stuff, but even then it carries many health benefits and is nutritionally dense.

Post: #38

(01-15-2016 02:54 PM)Blake2 Wrote:  No, the guys who have it the worst as skinny fat types who have a hard time gaining muscle AND an easy time gaining fat. That realy blows.

That's not really a body type, that's just the result of having abnormally low testosterone, which lifting, good sleep and good diet will fix.

Post: #39

I went from 215 to 180 in 3 months, and it only took me one month to go from 180 to 230.

Here I go again.