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Hey, so I read a few of your posts about your back, and I wanted to share: I thought I had tweaked my low back squatting, and I have a hx of low back pain and a few bulged lumbar discs. Turns out it was a very tight piriformis. Stretching it out and a little LaX ball time fixed me right up. It was like a magic bullet, pain for 2 weeks, fixed in a few hours. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tried something new today! I've been wanting to incorporate some crossfit-type work, because my endurance freaking sucks. I get sooo winded, and I want that to improve. So I looked into strength-focused CF routines, and Crossfit Football looks pretty cool. Did this workout today... Sat 5.17 StrengthWOD - Bench Press 2x5, 1x5 @200 DailyWOD (a bit redundant, but...) Complete 4 rounds: Each round consists of 3 cycles of the following: - Front Squats @ 80% of 1 RM - 185lbs – 2 reps - 20 lb Ball Slams – 10 reps - Strict Pull-Ups - 4 reps *Rest 2 minutes between rounds. Modified slightly because of the equipment I had. And I am seriously humbled. Completed 2 rounds, the first in 5:55 and the second in 7:00ish. That was very hard. I was winded very quickly, and had to sit around for about 5 minutes before I had the energy to clean up the bar. So I like it! I think I'll stick with this for a bit. Also saw some LaX balls at the gym, which I haven't seen on sale anywhere before, and bought two. Woo!

Tues 5.13 Push Press 2x5, 1x10 @140 (ow) 10/8/6/4/2 Pull-Ups/Dips Deadlift 1x10 @280 Metcon - Tabata row x2 (8 min total) Back's feeling much better, but now my shoulders are killing me! I played around with handstand holds a couple days ago, did 8x30s holds and 1x1min hold. Next day I was pretty sore. Now it feels like the most medial part of my posterior delts, right where they attach to my scapula, is about to pop right off. Digging in with a tennis ball feels pretty good!

Lol fair enough! I guess you make up for it with a badass pchain.

Ignorant question: What do you think is your limitation that makes such a big difference in your squat vs. DL weights? Mine are much closer, though I don't have a clue what the norm is.

Yup. Our nutrition experience lasted maaaaybe 2 hours. Physicians who haven't educated themselves on nutrition don't know much, other than diagnosing vitamin deficiencies. My view is that replacing a crazy high carbohydrate intake with protein intake is not a bad thing. Eating 2g/lb could be dangerous IF you have chronic kidney disease, and a few other problems. Otherwise, give the body a little credit! The RDAs for macronutrients are crazy and outdated. CDC says men 19-70+ (so over 19??) should get 56g protein/day. It shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all approach.

Fri 5.2 Push Press 2x5, 1x10 @135 10/8/6/4/2 pull-ups and dips Squat 2x5, 1x8 @265 Metcon - 8x250m row, rest 30s between - 250-300 watt range Thurs 5.8 Bench Press 2x5, 1x6 @197.5 Barbell curl 3x8 @65 Decline bench 3x10 @40 (each hand) Squat 2x5, 1x9 @270 Metcon - 8x250m row, rest 30s between - 250-300 watt range Still working on getting my back to feel right. It's a strange feeling, not so much sore as it is a tweak when I load up at the bottom of my squat. It's getting there though. I'll DL tomorrow light and see how I feel. Got started on the big sprint until my board exam in late June. I think I have a good study system down, just gotta stay focused!

I love seeing all these PRs all over the place. Keep it up! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What day is it now? Been a busy couple weeks--big exam, final clinical exam, final cumulative exam Friday, and helping the cleanup efforts after these tornadoes have kinda taken up a bit of my time. Still pretty on track though: Wed 4.23 Bench Press 2x5, 1x5 @192.5 Barbell curl 2x10 @60 Decline bench 1x10, 2x8 @40 (each hand) Squat 2x5, 1x8 @255 (deload) Metcon - Row, 30s on, 30s off, at a split of about 1200/600 cal/hr, 7 min Sun 4.27 Push Press 2x5, 1x15 @115, singles @135, 155, 175, 185 Power Clean 5x3 @135 EMOM Squat 2x5, 1x6 @260 Metcon - Pull ups and dips, 10/8/6/4/2, a little rest as possible Tues 4.29 Bench Press 2x5, 1x5 @195 EZ Barbell curl 3x8 @65 Decline bench 3x10 @40 (each hand) Deadlift (nope, back hurt) Metcon - 10 min row, 30s @<100 watts, 30s @>200 watts Had a very sore back after my big DL day. Not sure if that was the problem, or the general fatigue that led to injury, but I've been taking it as easy as I can on it, hence the deload and dropping DL today. I'm gonna give it plenty of time to improve before I push it any more. And dinner last night: Grilled pork chop and peppers. NOM! Need to cook about 5x more peppers next time around.

This is something I definitely do from time to time. Thank you for putting it so articulately. Gotta see things big picture!!

Thanks! I'm really enjoying the program and incorporating the oly lifts. Sooo I took a week off to focus on a test and a bunch of life stuff. Back on program now. And oh, what a workout day it was. Sat 4.19 Push Press 2x5, 1x13 @110 Snatch 5 singles @135 Dips 1x10 (forgot to come back and do more) Deadlift 7@325, singles @365, 385 Metcon DUs, 30s on, 30s off, 5 minRow, 30s on, 30s off, at a split of about 1200/600 cal/hr So I haven't 1RM'd deadlift in a long, long time. I put my working set into a calculator, and it spit out 390, so I loaded up! I might have been able to grit through more, but I was already pretty tired. Goal for next week: get a deadlift 4 pack!! (also, I don't think my snatch form is good at all. I'm going to have to drop the weight and figure that one out.) And on the food front: made a pile of chicken salad and some spaghetti squash this afternoon for all the studying I'm about to get into. Sauteed crappie (that I caught) over spinach with sweet potato fries for dinner. Yum!

I'd like to echo a few people above. You can't physically put on weight if you're eating a caloric deficit, which at your current weight of 276 lbs (yeah I googled) would be less than around 2300 (judicious guesswork on age and height here) just for your BMR, and maybe more like 3000 with your activity level. I'm sure at some point in your dieting you probably experimented with numbers less than this. However, with as many things as you've tried, how much time did you give each different diet attempt? You listed 8 or 10 different diet alterations and said they happened over a few months. I don't think you gave any of them enough time. My advice would be to pick one that's sustainable and that works for you (sounds like you've had success with eating paleo), be balanced, don't think that all carbs are your enemy, and stick with it. Medically, people are only advised to lose about a pound a week, so it'll be slow going. But I think keeping a steady diet would help with multiple things here. I'd also recommend setting a weight loss goal using something like My Fitness Pal or IIFYM, and then using MFP to track your diet to make sure you're not grossly overeating without being aware. Now on the medical issues (disclaimer: I'm a 2nd year med student, which basically means I know even less about medicine than when I started--so grain of salt). IF you're gaining weight despite your best efforts, the most common issues are hypothyroidism or hypercortisolism. Hypothyroidism is exceedingly common, with Hashimoto thyroiditis being one of the more common manifestations. Anything like that could alter your BMR. Increased cortisol has several causes, the most common of which being the use of oral corticosteroids. If that's the case, that's an easy fix. Of these two situations, you're much more likely to be hypothyroid. Diagnosing this is just a simple blood test. You also mentioned passing blood in your stool, and some food intolerances, which would point me toward irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Please do NOT say you have celiac disease. I've heard way too many people saying they're "gluten intolerant" without having a damn clue how debilitating celiac actually is. That being said, IBS can manifest with some food sensitivities. (Reaching now, but you mentioned the whole weird pain tolerance thing. Could be a vitamin deficiency secondary to malabsorption caused by the IBS...like I said, reaching) If you do have a sensitive bowel, altering your diet habits too frequently will most certainly cause issues. You also sound like you're somewhat self-conscious about your weight, and I can tell you that the number one risk factor for IBS is anxiety, and that people have flare ups when they're more anxious. So to circle back around: pick a plan and stick to it. Give yourself some constancy and some time to adjust. Don't worry about your weight--that only makes things worse. You've already lost 130 pounds, and that's amazing. Steady diet and exercise should produce steady (but slow) results, and this may help correct your bowel issues as well. If not--I think it would then be time to talk to a real doctor who isn't on a forum

(I love this thread btw)

Agreed. And I've figured out that eating things I love makes it much easier to eat well and hit my goals, rather than going overboard with restrictions.

That's definitely a positive! I'm happy with my progress so far. I don't think I've had any major gains, but I have noticed that I'm gaining a lot more definition, which is great. I've in the past two weeks finally worked back up to doing some more intense conditioning after lifting, and I think I'll start seeing some progress in dropping that belly measurement. And I'm getting stronger, which makes me very happy!

Woo Ash! Good luck getting back to 100%!

Thank ya, you too!! It looks like things have been doing much better for you I thought I'd begin this challenge with new measurements, and see how they changed since last measure on 2.27. Upper Arm (right and left) - 14.75", 14.75" (+.25" both) Forearm (right and left) - 12", 11.5" (no change) Chest - 43.5" (+.5") Thigh (right and left) - 26", 26" (+.5", +.75") Calf (right and left) - 15", 15" (no change) Waist (@navel) - 36" (no change) Weight - 198 lbs

Subbed in anticipation of big plates!

Lift! Sat 4.12 Bench Press 2x5, 1x5 @190 Power Clean 5 singles @185 Squat 2x5, 1x6 @285 70lb KB suitcase carry down and back x4 Metcon 30s DUs 30s Row 7 rounds Forgot about the curls until after I had loaded up for squat, but that last bench set was a grinder, so I thought I was ok. I want to start incorporating some ab movements to every workout as well, so I'll play around with that a bit. Suuper proud of my squat though. The last time I squatted (Wednesday) I nearly had to dump my 5th rep of the last set, so I elected to keep the weight the same, and reps 5 and 6 of the 3rd set went up much easier this time. Woo! Eat! Doing well so far, and I have tonight's meal planned out. I'll plan for the week ahead tonight or tomorrow. Study! Awesome day here!! I was much more focused today, and I think keeping my daily goals of what to get through in mind will really help with that. (This challenge hasn't actually started yet, has it? Ah well )

Thank ya! And double TOPIC post. Very nice. Do I get an award??

So last challenge went really well in building the gym habit, and I intend to keep that up. My big obstacle now is my big board exam, the USMLE Step 1, coming up in late June. The key for me will be focus - focus and work hard in the gym, and plan ahead so that my diet doesn't suffer, so that I can really pour all my focus into studying. Lift! Greyskull LP Program Mon Bench Press 2x5, 1xMax @190, add 2.5 each session Power Clean, work up to 8-10 heavy singles (~185) EZ Bar Curl 2x12 @60 Squat 2x5, 1xMax @285, add 5 each session Metcon Wed Push Press 2x5, 1xMax @110, add 2.5 each session Snatch, work up to 8-10 heavy singles (~135) Dips 3-4 sets AMRAP Deadlift Max@325, add 5 each session Metcon Fri Bench Press 2x5, 1xMax Power Clean EZ Bar Curl 2x12 @60 Squat 2x5, 1xMax Metcon Bench/Push Press and Power Clean/Snatch are A/B workouts, so they alternate, but everything else stays the same, so I'm squatting Mon/Fri every week and DL once per week. Metcon options: double unders, row, toes to bar, sled push, battle ropes, KB swings, box jumps, etc. etc., for about 10 minutes Eat! Planning early week has made all the difference, so I'm sticking to that Aiming for CAL/PRO/CHO/FAT of 2500/188/219/97 Study!! From now-April 30 the plan is to do Step Prep in the morning and study for class in the afternoon. Shooting for 8-10 hours of hard study now, 12-14 hours in May-June.

4.5 Bench Press 2x5, 1x6 @187.5 Power Clean 4 singles @185 (lots of lighter reps to watch my form) Deadlift 7@320 (I saw some back rounding here, which is something I really need to focus on correcting) Metcon: 1min DUs, 1min rest, x5 And final grading! 1. Lift - STR 3, DEX 1, STA 1 I recorded 16 lifts out of a possible 18 for the challenge, which I'm gonna round to an A! I feel that I made a lot of progress in establishing a sustainable routine that I can keep working with going forward. +3 STR, +1 DEX, +1 STA 2. Eat - CON 2 Eh. I didn't really make any specific goals here. I did manage to do some meal planning 3 weeks, and got back to tracking on MFP. I'd say this one gets a C. +1 CON 3. Live! - WIS 2, CHA 1 Grades have gone up, life hasn't suffered, so I'd say that's a success! A +2 WIS, +1 CHA

Edit: sunuva!

Hey, you drink buttered coffee! How do you like it? I'm not sure if it's placebo effect or not, but I can focus and study a little better when I drink it.

4.3 Snatch 10 @135 OTM Press/Metcon - 12/9/6/3 - Push Press @95 - Pull Ups - 30 Double Unders/60 SUs - 9:05 Squat 2x5, 1x7 @280 Snatch was good. I've never snatched before, so I played around a lot with form and took a video I need to take a look at. That Press circuit was rough! For the 12/9 sets I managed the 30 DUs, and switched to SUs for 6/3. Had a little bit of lower back pain squatting when I picked up the bar. Felt like my spine was compressing. I have an old back injury, so that made me a little nervous. I dunno if it's appropriate or necessary, but I used a weight belt for sets 2 and 3, and it seemed to feel a lot better. Overall though, that felt great! Woo!