Yeah… I have to remember to do things more bodybuilding-like.

My effort to make my assistance work more bodybuilding-like: focus on the muscle, not the movement; the eccentric matters; moderate weight and moderate reps (6-10, 8-12, depending); time-under-tension; etc.. I’ve found when I do that sort of thing for my back it generates better results. Today reinforced that. I really have to keep this ball rolling to see how it does for me, and if I can ingrain that habit.

So I changed things up on the fly a bit today to try to get more focus on the muscle. Try to think about moving the weight just by pure contraction of the muscle, larger ranges of motion, squeeze at the peak, eccentric emphasis, etc.. Sure, I dropped the weights and the reps, but it was better quality work.

I did cable rows instead of regular BB rows. Cable rows give me a fuller range of motion and a better chance to stretch and squeeze. I actually thought about doing DB rows again. I haven’t been a fan of DB rows, but they may be something to reconsider. I also changed the BB shrugs for Meadows shrugs and really dropped the weight on them because I’ve been finding my shrug work is causing me some upper spine posture problems — I’m just letting the weight drag me down and into weird positions, instead of keeping my body solid, upright, and strong and shrugging from there. Shit like that.

And so yeah… things went down on paper, but the quality went up.

We’ll see how things continue to evolve here.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Chins

• BW x 7
• BW x 5
• BW x 3
• BW x 3
• BW x 3

Cable Rows

• 100 x 10
• 100 x 10
• 100 x 10
• 100 x 10
• 100 x 10

Meadows Shrugs

• 70e x 12
• 60e x 12
• 60e x 12
• 60e x 10
• 60e x 10

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 9
• 130 x 8

Hammer Curls

• 25e x 10
• 25e x 10
• 25e x 10

BB Curls (350-method)

• 45 x 10
• 35 x 17
• 35 x 17

I’ve been wondering what to do post Defattening… and I do think the primary is getting my strength back, but I also think doing so will require me to build some mass too.

One thing I always think about but rarely stick with is ensuring my assistance work is more bodybuilder like. That is, ensuring emphasis on the negative/eccentric; thinking and focusing on the muscle and its contraction (not the weight, not the numbers, not the movement); and so on. I often come back to this thinking, but since it’s just not my preferred style of lifting I often drift away.

I need to stop that.

Sure, main movement? work the movement. Squat, bench, deadlift, press, let those be about the movement. But then assistance work, even if it’s direct variations, e.g. front squat, incline or db pressing, stiff-legs, etc., try to work them more bodybuilder like. I think it will vary some, like if I do pause squats I probably will still do that focusing on the movement and in particular the movement emphasis that pause squats bring (e.g. tightness in the hole, explosive drive out of the hole from that dead stop, etc.). But you get the point.

And so today I tried to really do that. Like upright rows were not about rowing, but about “lifting from the elbows”, feeling and focusing on the muscle contraction, then ensuring the muscles were directly and actively involved in lowering the weight (not just controlling the descent). So sure, things were tougher. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever felt like I did after a round of face pulls like my upper back did today.

Or with the close-grips and pressdowns, zero elbow flare (if I felt the desire to flare, rack it); that it’s all about triceps contraction. So sure, resulting reps went down, but I do feel the quality was higher.

I just need to keep myself focused this way going forward, with my assistance work. Oh sure, I won’t build any muscle on the Defattening Project — at best I’m just working to minimize/avoid muscle loss. But it’s about building the habit NOW so when I start back bulking (maybe 3-4 months from now?) it’ll be very productive.

And speaking of Defattening, weighed in at 224 this morning, down 2 since Sunday. On track, on target.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 60 x 5
• 75 x 4
• 90 x 3
• 110 x 2
• 125 x 1
• 110 x 12 (AMRAP)
• 110 x 6 (50%)

Upright Rows

• 80 x 10
• 80 x 10
• 80 x 10
• 80 x 10
• 80 x 7

Polquin-style Side Laterals

• 20e x 8
• 20e x 8
• 20e x 8

Face Pulls

• 85 x 12
• 85 x 12
• 85 x 12
• 85 x 12
• 85 x 12

Close-Grip Bench Press

• 135 x 12
• 135 x 10
• 135 x 8

Triceps Pressdowns (350-Method)

• 50 x 12
• 50 x 12
• 50 x 10

Sometimes it’s less about the weight on the bar, and more about the lessons from being under the bar.

Today was one of those days. Nothing deep here, but just some insights.

First, I do believe the Chris Duffin squat technique/cues are responsible for my elbow/arm pain. Even if they aren’t the cause, they make it worse and every squat session since I’ve ended the squatting with my arm in pain. That said, I’m still not willing to give it up because it makes an obvious difference. Reps within the same set I’ll try using the technique and not, and without question I do better with it. So what to do? Well, a thought that crossed my mind was my grip width. I grip where I do because of past efforts where “narrow grip” leads to “tight(er) back”. Is that so necessary any more with this approach? While my arms aren’t huge, it does feel like there may be the “levering” or pressure of forearm against biceps that may be involved. I thought about that while doing stiff-legs and intended to go back and do some checks on the bar but totally forgot to. But the intent is next time, let’s try with a wider grip and see what difference that makes, if any.

Second, another thing I’ve been thinking/working as I squat is coming out of the hole. Everyone has an opinion on how you have to squat: break at the knees first, break at the hips first… as soon as someone says one thing, there’s someone else that says another. And coming out of the hole, exactly what should drive first? While I was trying to do a lot with my head/back to ensure I didn’t fall forward (or hips rise and everything else doesn’t), I did that first for that notion itself but then also because it’d put more focus on my quads on the drive. Well… I’ve been finding myself wanting to go back to Mark Rippetoe’s approach of using the hips to drive out. When I did dthat in the past, all too often I wouldn’t bring everything else up with it, or the hips would get too high and then I’m good-morninging the weight. Well, I’ve been going back to that, and with some better technique with the rest of my torso, the hip drive is actually more solid now and working a lot better. I wish I could describe it, but I’m liking where this is going. Basically when I get into the hole, reversing starts with the hips going up… lifting my ass upwards, basically. But basically that’s what STARTS the motion — it can’t BE the (only) motion. Almost immediately after starting the hips upward, everything else has to go up too… the legs drive, the torso remaining straight, driving the head up/back if I need to, whatever. That is a refinement, and it felt a lot better. Again, I’d change it up during reps of the same set and every rep where I did it this way was a better rep.

Third, I really wonder about my weights and my strength. I shouldn’t because Defattening. But I can’t help it. I mean, I can look at the weights I was using when I started Base Building program and Defattening back in August, and for sure my weights have gone up since then. But man, every time I do that 285, it feels tough… like if I put 315 on the bar I’d get stapled… and supposedly my working weight (every day max) right now is like 332.5 lb. Doing the 1RM calculations, my 1RM is like 375 or something — you gotta be kidding me! Have I actually gotten weaker? The progression since August says no, but the way that 285 goes up says yes, but then the 200 5×5 feels so “right where it should be” and thus the math says yes. So I really don’t know right now.

But it does reinforce my current line of thinking that once I’m done with the Defattening, the best approach for me is to stay on a Base Building-styled program for 6-12 weeks while I eat well again. After that, a Strong-15 short cycle to really see where my numbers are, and the program from there. I have even thought about going back to 5/3/1, because there’s more volume there and more potential for some mass building (along with a good linear strength progression). But I don’t know… I haven’t been able to give Paul’s programs enough of a fair shake since a lot of it was done on the diet. But that’s still months off, so I’ll figure it out later.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 190 x 4
  • 225 x 3
  • 250 x 2
  • 285 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
• Stiff-Legged Deadlift
  • 215 x 8
  • 215 x 8
  • 215 x 8
  • 215 x 8
  • 215 x 8
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12

Feels good to lift again.

Well, not that I stopped lifting, but the 50% deload from last week just wasn’t fun. 🙂 Franky when it comes to deload I’ve started to evolve to a point where I like to work hard when I’m working, and just keep working (not necessarily take a scheduled deload… even Wendler has moved away from that somewhat). When I feel beat up enough, take the whole week off. Not entirely, like I should still stretch and roll and such, but no lifting. Works fine for me. But… as part of the diet, gotta keep doing something.

Anyways, I feel right now I’m at best treading water and at worst declining. I shouldn’t be surprised given how deprived the diet is making me. I accept it, but still it sucks. Between that and watching the Raw Unity Meet 8 over the weekend, and coupled with thoughts of “where to go after the diet is over”… basicaly do I start lifting for strength or size? Part of me wants size because I feel so small… rightfully so given the fat I’ve dropped. But I realized that I had set a general goal for myself: bench 3 wheels (315 lb), squat 4 wheels (405 lb), deadlift 5 wheels (495 lb). That’s going to take some time to get to… probably a couple years at least. But I think it’s becoming clear to me that I want to get back on the strength train. And yes, I do think Base Building will be what I continue at least at first. Kinda thinking to do 6-12 weeks of Base Building; exactly how long depends on how well my body recovers from the diet stuff. Then probaby a Strong-15 short cycle to see where strength is at, and from there determine numbers and start properly programming strength-wise. Basically, I have to ease back into things and focus on strength… but I reckon with a program like Base Building I should be able to focus on building some size too with assistance work.

Anyways….

So today was what it was. Diet is what it is… the past week I upped the fats a bit and deloaded and so my weight’s pretty steady at 225 this morning. The plan is to go for about another month and get me down to 220, then “mid” for a month, then make the final push for another 3 months or so.

As for specifics of today… the only main comments I have is that going slightly heavier on the Polquin flies didn’t make my right shoulder happy. Not sure if I should continue with it — i.e. could it strengthen and be what I need? We’ll see. And I am so happy to be doing stuff like dips and chin-ups and not totally sucking at them (any more). Dips are awesome. And I did chin-ups here and there during the inclines and flies… would do a set of chest stuff, then just do 1 chin-up, then rest, then another set of chest, 1 chin, rest.. etc. Nothing major, but every bit adds up.

Oh, and benching actually felt really good. Maybe it was watching the top raw powerlifters at RUM8 over the weekend, but I just felt really good with my technique and setup today, keeping arch tight and set, leg drive leg drive leg drive.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 180 x 2
  • 205 x 1
  • 225 x 1
  • 205 x 5
  • 205 x 5
  • 205 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 145 x 12 (AMRAP)
• Dips
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 5
  • BW x 5
  • BW x 5
• DB Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 40e x 19
  • 40e x 12
  • 40e x 10
• Polquin Flies
  • 20e x 8
  • 20e x 8
  • 20e x 6

I want food! 🙂

Went on a date with the Mrs. last night and had a cheat meal — I haven’t had one of those in ages and it felt good for the psyche. Got a good night sleep too. So I hit the gym feeling pretty awesome. Well almost… I’m up 2 lb since yesterday due to the meal. Ha ha! I reckon it’ll be gone quickly, no big deal. While my goal was 223 for Sunday, if I’m 224 I’ll be alright with that because I really needed that cheat meal.

The gym was fine. Still 50% “deload”, but looking forward to getting back to normal next week. Nothing really to say other than I was happy to hit 7 chin-ups!

I did drop the shrug weight down. I want to ensure my form is good and I have a little more TUT as I lower the weight.

One thing that hit me? RP posted a before/after client picture the other day. The before looked very similar to how I look now, and the after looked awesome. It was a 20 lb difference, but given the guy’s musculature and weight I reckon he was shorter than me. So 20 more for me? Maybe 25 or 30? I can’t say for sure, but I can say in 20 (which is my new target: 205) things should be looking pretty damn awesome. Motivation levels are really ramped up. 🙂

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Chins

• BW x 7
• BW x 5

BB Rows

• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8

BB Shrugs

• 185 x 12
• 185 x 12

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10

Hammer Curls

• 30e x 10

BB Curls (350-method)

• 45 x 15

Squat technique or chin-ups — chicken, egg, not sure which is the culprit.

But one of those, or maybe both, caused the arm pain. I did 1 chin-up today and it was enough to make things unhappy throughout the rest of the session. I don’t feel weak, but there is some serious discomfort. I got a better handle on it tho, as it’s more in the elbow area directly… like the ligaments and tendons right in that area, and then like the brachialis and the brachioradialis.

I dunno. I’ll keep an eye on things and see. I really don’t want to give up my pursuit of 10 in-a-row chin-ups.

Anyways, today then continued the 50% “deload” approach. So, it was what it was. Still lost weight: 224.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 60 x 5
• 75 x 4
• 90 x 3
• 110 x 2
• 125 x 1
• 110 x 10

Upright Rows

• 80 x 12
• 80 x 12

Polquin-style Side Laterals

• 15e x 15

Face Pulls

• 80 x 12
• 80 x 12

Close-Grip Bench Press

• 135 x 12

Triceps Pressdowns

• 50 x 15

I’m not sure if I can keep using that Chris Duffin squat technique. 😦

So I started having pain in my elbows and biceps latter half of last week. Today while squatting, I again focused on working on the Chris Duffin techniques and cues I started looking at last week. And it didn’t take long before my elbows and biceps started hurting in the same way. I think the intense isometric hold is stressing my elbows and biceps too much.

sigh

That sucks.

I’m not sure. Going to keep playing with things. I tried during the work sets to just have the torso technique and not the arms, but they really go together to make the upper body so tight and solid. So, I don’t know. I’ll keep at it and see where it goes, but certainly if it’s going to damage my elbows and limit me on everything else, that’s not going to work.

Otherwise, keeping things at 50% capacity per the “deload” I’m doing this week.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 190 x 4
  • 225 x 3
  • 250 x 2
  • 285 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
• Stiff-Legged Deadlift
  • 215 x 8
  • 215 x 8
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12

I saw the shadow cast by my gut, and that meant 6 more weeks of dieting. 😉

No not really.

As of yesterday I’m officially down 40 lb since I started back in August — 225 lb. Nice milestone. My original target was 215 but it was never about the scale, it’s always been about the mirror. But a number is needed for planning purposes, so 205 is my new revision. And so, that means maybe 10-12 more weeks of fat-loss dieting, maybe more because I expect a few weeks of maintenance will have to happen.

Thing is tho, I’m starting to feel pretty beat up and worn down. I mean, it’s been about 6 months of dieting and while it’s paid off, it’s also taking a toll. Recently I’ve wondered where my hormone levels are because of the massive reduction in overall diet AND so little fat. But anyways, because of all this in discussions with Nick I’m switching up for this week to see how things go.

First, adding a bit of fats back into the diet.

Second, I’m doing a deload. I would have preferred a “no-deload-deload” to do flat out nothing but sleep, but Nick discouraged that and instead preferred if I just took it at about 50%. So that’s what I did. I still did my normal work up, but all work and assistance sets were cut in half and rounded down (e.g. normally 4 sets became 2 sets, normally 3 sets became 1 set). Gets me some work, but not as much. Shouldn’t tear me down as much, should be easier to recover from, and should maybe leave a little extra food-wise for my body to use to rebuild itself. Oh, this will be my protocol for all sessions this week…. well, lifting sessions. My cardio sessions will remain as normal.

We’ll see how it goes. I admit, I am growing weary mentally, emotionally, and physically, on this diet. The results are highly motivating, both the scale and the mirror. Plus the fact I can see the light at the end of the tunnel helps too. So, I press on. But honestly, I can’t wait to be back on the gain train again.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 145 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 180 x 2
  • 205 x 1
  • 225 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Dips
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
• DB Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 40e x 20
• Polquin Flies
  • 20e x 8

Today wasn’t too hot…

During yesterday’s session I felt some discomfort in my right biceps and elbow, but mostly the biceps itself. It was minor, didn’t think much of it. But today, it’s all about pulling, and so my biceps felt worse. Many times it felt like I was just weak… that my right arm was just weak and couldn’t pull. It could, but it was the sensation and yes sometimes I just had to stop.

I reckon it’s just irritation/inflamation somewhere. I’ll have a diet of Advil and rest this weekend and see how it goes. I reckon part of the problem is the diet and sleep — the lack of enough nourishing food, and the lack of enough recouperating sleep. Diet… well, we just keep forging ahead and progress is good, but it’s taking a toll; while I want to keep forging ahead to 220, I think once I get to 225 (hopefully Sunday) I may cry “uncle” and go maintenance for a bit. And sleep’s been lacking due to the Tesla concert earlier this week, but I should get some good sleep this weekend.

Anyways, apart from that, the session was what it was. Some things were down, couldn’t get all the reps at times, but that’s the way pain goes sometimes.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Chins

• BW x 6
• BW x 4
• BW x 3
• BW x 3
• BW x 3

BB Rows

• 135 x 10
• 135 x 10
• 135 x 10
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 6

BB Shrugs

• 205 x 12
• 205 x 12
• 205 x 12
• 205 x 12
• 205 x 12

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10

Hammer Curls

• 30e x 10
• 30e x 10
• 30e x 7

BB Curls (350 method)

• 45 x 15
• 45 x 12
• 45 x 12