lwow

Have you looked at fasted cardio? It is popular with body builders for losing fat while maintaining muscle. I am no body builder, but I am trying to lose fat, 2-3 times a week I try to do 30 min on the recumbent bike before breakfast keeping my heart rate around 120 bpm. It's not too bad and it seems to be pretty helpful. You might build in a clause on your deal that if you can drop your body fat below an agreed upon % you can call it a win.

Don't give up! Are you in need of a haircut? Maybe today is the day! Don't get modest about your weigh in outfit. Get your weigh in done before drinking or eating anything tomorrow. You can also do the old spit in a cup trick for a while. Just make sure to re-hydrate well. No salt until then, no carbs and take it easy on water tonight. You could try some natural diuretic foods like leeks? Good luck!

Yeah, we used to be at the same gym, now we are not, but we still meet up pretty often to commiserate about lifting and cutting and all that. She is basically awesome and her hair is even better IRL. If you follow strong woman radio she has talked about her hunger buddy - that's my husband. We are having her over tomorrow night for his amazing bulgoigi to celebrate her USS success and support eating meals! I haven't listened to SWR in a long time, but if you remember way back on episode 13 they has Dustin on and he is one of my regular lifting buddies at my new gym. I think i stopped around episode 16 I should start listening again, they have had some cool guests. I think I was mentioned briefly in an early episode, either the strongman showdown, or the one where Nicole is a guest.

Hi! I am not in on this challenge, just lurking around. I love your Rick and Morty theme I'm also looking forward to the 25th - I am competing in VA's Strongest in Richmond, I'll be sending you good vibes for your contest. Those are weird weight classes you have, one that is a 20 lb window and then just open ended categories on either side, ugh. I am jealous of the keg throw and truck pull. I have never thrown a keg. I have a truck pull, but seated. I so much prefer a good harness pull. I also have a max log C&P and an 18" DL as part of a DL medley. I think maybe I saw you comment on a video of my far-more-awesome-than-me training buddy Vivian (missvfit) on her instagram pics from USS nationals - small world. Are you just resting this week? I am doing a light workout tonight and then no more gym until Saturday which I find very frustrating - but more free time!

The Rec! Ah, memories - that was brand new when I was there. It is a great facility too, but less viking cred. I would encourage you to go up and check out the other gym for one of their strongman classes. I bet they would let you give it a shot for free at least once. Strongman folks are generally super nice and want to get people into the sport. Your sample food log looks great. I was expecting a diet of DP Dough, pizza rolls, and beer. It's a good thing you like to cook, it makes clean eating much more fun. It looks like you are doing the same thing as I have been working on since January, finding the strength the holy grail: cutting while gaining strength. It is tricky, but possible. The differences between your sample menu and what I eat is mostly that I eat a lot more green (raw asparagus, blanched brussels sprouts, or broccoli with each of my 5 meals). It really helps to keep full all day, plus better recovery from workouts with lots of anti-inflammatory foods. Also this looks a little on the high fat side to me (I aim for 40-55 g per day), especially if you are using oil for cooking in addition to what is here (cheese and peanut butter). But everyone is different - so that isn't to say it is wrong. Maybe worth experimenting with though. Optimum Nutrition is my favorite! Cake batter, chocolate PB, and chocolate mint are amazing. While I have been eating like this (and training strongman), I have gained 8-10 lbs muscle and lost 22-25 lbs fat in 6 months. I am older than you and female, so it is totally possible to eat like this and be on the path of the Mountain. Something else I just started that might be helpful for your goals is fasted cardio a few times a week. For me, the easiest way to get this in is a half hour of recumbent bike before breakfast, keeping my heart rate at about 130. I was starting to plateau on my weight loss and this got me kick started back into seeing some progress. For all your patience reading that; here is a picture of the mountain walking his mastiff:

Hey! I'm not in this challenge, but I am a sometimes NF warrior, forever WVU alum, and 2 year strongman trainee. If you are into strongman (especially with a specific viking vibe) and in Morgantown you have to go train here starting yesterday: http://www.vikingperformancetraining.com/ This place opened after I graduated, and I haven't been there myself, but I had a friend who did one of their competitions and came home with a battle axe instead of a trophy. So they are ok in my book. Also they have lots of good equipment. A good step in the direction of beating the mountain. What are you doing with food? That is a big piece of the picture and it is not represented in your goals.

Today I am up to 2200 calories and I have oats and bread and quinoa and a sweet potato and berries. All the food (and delicious caaaarbs) makes me very happy, but a little worried about what coach has planned for tonight's workout - cardio? I can't believe the challenge is just over a week from over. I feel like I am just hitting my stride recovering from my last contest and starting the training cycle for the next one. Anyhow, here is a quick update because aside from complaining about cutting, I haven't been keeping up here very well. After the contest I took 2 weeks off of my nutrition plan and had 1.5 weeks of very easy training. I was happy that I did not feel compelled to binge, but I did have some treats and quite a few drinks. They were not good enough to bring me back to the dark side though. As of Monday I got back onto the plan and I am glad for it; after my 2 weeks I had put on 7 pounds for a total of 208.8. This did not make me happy. I am trying to cut to 181 for this June 25th contest which is an aggressive timeline to say the least. However, I am on day 4 of being back on the plan and already down to 202.8 so I guess I was just retaining a ton of water? My husband for prepping for the last contest was kind of following my food plan but with double protein and liberal cheats. Now that the contest is over, he is entering his year of bodybuilding which is going to be interesting. So now we both have our own meal plans which means a little extra work with prep. He has 6 weeks of very strict diet to start so I am not suffering alone. In fact for yesterday he had the same number of calories I did, but had to do cardio in the morning and evening, oh and he outweighs me by about 40 lbs. To get to mid weight, I need to be losing at a rate of about 1.5 lbs a week for 9 weeks and then in the last few days I will plan on a water cut which I can only rely on to get me an additional 5-7 lbs or so. Thankfully, contest scales tend to err a little to the light side so that might help too. Also, I have a week long vacation planned for the end of May which will be tricky to say the least.

Per your farmers walk frustration - have you ever considered doing them for time? In strongman we do farmers carrys but you are going heavy and for speed. I think it makes it a lot more fun than just walking weights around. The idea of having to get them somewhere quickly is good for distracting away from the suckitude.

I needed to hear this. It is good food, this is tasty and what my body wants. I need to remember that. Yep, the ingredients move around a bit. Today I have 1/2 a banana instead of coconut oil. I have had this shake nearly every day since January 4. It really packs a punch. This comment made my day

This is my day today, so much food, but I don't want any of it and i am so hungry. Breakfast (meal 1) 2 whole eggs (*pan fried, hard boiled, poached, etc)*if pan frying use pam or similar non stick spray rather than butter or oil 1/3 cup Trader Joes Cage Free liquid egg whites 1 cup Brussels sprouts Meal 2 4 oz chicken tenderloins or breast 2 cups broccoli 1 sweet potato Meal 3 1/2 can yellowfin tuna in olive oil 1 cup Brussels sprouts 1 apple 1 slice Ezekiel bread Meal 4 Mike’s Magical Muscle Shake™ 4 oz low-fat Kefir milk 1 carrot 1 cup Kale (frozen or fresh) 1 cup broccoli (frozen or fresh) 1 tablespoon chia seeds ¾ cup Trader Joes organic mixed berries 1 scoop Whey chocolate protein powder 1 cup organic canned pumpkin ½ tablespoon coconut oil Meal 5 Make a salad with: 4 oz. sirloin 1 bag organic mixed greens ½ tomato ½ red onion ½ avocado ½ cup chickpeas

Cutting is the worst. Lemme go and eat some more of this chicken breast with broccoli.

Good, I managed to keep on top of eating well and working out. I have been home basically since December, but I usually travel about 75% of the time. I have a feeling that it is just about to ramp up again. That is going to shift contest prep into hard mode.

Kind of a boring week, but it is nice to kick back and get caught up on other stuff. Hit the gym last night for a high volume, high rep workout similar to Wednesday, but lower body. Now I am evenly sore everywhere.

Traveling for work, trying to keep up with good eating and hitting the gym in just a few minutes. Catching a flight out later today and doing an odd mid-day gym session. i am starting to feel like my body is finally making a recovery from the contest. It feels weird to take so long, but as my trainer put it, I am not just recovering from the contest day, but from the 3 months before that when I was accumulating fatigue. Hydration is always tricky when I am flying so it is a high priority.

I skipped the gym in lieu of house projects Saturday. A good day to skip though as I am technically still in recovery from contest mode. Even Sunday was a pretty light day. Friday I went to the chiropractor which was magical. Since the contest my low back has been achy and my chiro confirmed my suspicion that this has to do with some tightness in my hips, so he worked some of the knots out and cracked my back about 12 different ways then he asked if I am having any leg or knee problems because that would make sense with the hip tightness. I thought it was silly, but mentioned that my big toe joint has been killing me lately. He had me take off my shoe and popped my toe right back into alignment. It was amazing. Apparently my muscles are tight right down to my feet, so I have a lot of work to do to try to get everything back to normal. Sunday I went pretty low key, did a lot of work activating my hips, stretching, releasing fascia and a little cardio. Then I hit all you can eat korean bbq with the team for dinner. It was a good day. Today I have been traveling for work so it is a little insane. Last week went a little off the rails with food, so while I am not back on the strict food plan until next week, I need to get my act together this week if I want to dream of hitting midweight by the end of June. Today has gone well so far, it is a rest day so that part is easy. Tomorrow night I will go seek out my on the road gym.

Nice job with avoiding all the food at work! Keep it up! My trick for that is to pretend it is for someone else. It simply isn't for me. If I take it, I am stealing. For example - the giant bowl of candy at the admin's desk that I pass 30 times a day is for her kid. Would I steal her little boy's candy?...maybe, wait! no! the answer is no. Also bringing in tremendous amounts of veggies to snack on helps. Sometimes I just want to munch on something while I work. It could be raw asparagus or it could be breakfast pastries, so it is best that I have access to asparagus.

Last night at the gym was sadness. I got it all done, but in the most lethargic way. I tried to do a workout/life balance by going to happy hour for one glass of wine and some good vent time with co-workers before the gym. Worst idea ever. Also I think this proves that the crappy eating I am doing this week has a major effect on my recovery and performance, so back to the clean stuff today. I also got a chiropractor appointment for this afternoon which I am pretty excited about; I'm feeling all locked up. single arm DB thrusters x 8 per arm @ 20-25# DB (rest 2 min between sets) KB goblet lunges x 5-10 per leg x 3 sets (use a 12-16kg KB) w/ renegade rows x 5-8 per arm @ 20-25# DB's (focus on keeping hips square. Rest 2-3 min between sets) core series: x 2-3 sets (Rest 2-3 min between sets) med ball planks x 45-60 seconds (elbows on wall ball) t stab holds x 20-30 seconds per side (focus on keeping hips up) supermans x 10-15 glute bridges x 20 w/ 20-30 second hold on last rep 4 rounds: air dyne x 1/4 mile burpees x 6 Also, for your strongman reading enjoyment, a good interview with Hafthor. I really like how he talks about cardio and flexibility in addition to pure strength. Also his meal plan makes me feel much better about mine: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/fashion/mens-style/workout-mountain-game-of-thrones.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0 Tomorrow will be a gym day and Sunday is Strongman Sunday. At least 5 other people from my gym are doing this June 25 contest so I'll have a good group to train with. This time there will be 2 other women which will be fun. It is great to train with guys, they are great people and they push me to do better. But it is a little disheartening to always be maxing with your training buddies warmups.

Planning on a light workout tonight for my return to the gym. Gotta talk nutrition plan with my coach and figure out my approach for the next competition. My low back is hurting me in a way that makes me really hope I didn't do something stupid. Stop it. I have to adult and make a chiropractor appointment asap.

The good thing about where you are now is that you no longer just have a mystery pain. Now you have tools and a plan to get back to healthy! Usually when I go to the doctor I get "well that is strange" or "I've never seen anything like that before, is it ok if I bring in a group of med students to look at your freakish condition?" I love getting an actual diagnosis. It might feel like a long road from here to 100% or it might not be, but being on the right road is such a big step.

Yeah I feel that. I have been thinking of trying to get to mid-weight for about a year now. However my current trajectory is actually on path to get it! So here is the deal on my next contest. It is June 25 in Richmond and the weights were much higher than I realized when I signed up. I have 4 choices: Buckle down and work on training to compete at heavyweight (HWW) probably will gain some fat to do this which isn't really part of my aesthetic goals Train to gain strength, but lose a pound a week then to a water cut to make weight for midweight (MWW) still very challenging weights, but not as impossible Drop back to novice - I do not like this choice, but technically I am allowed to do this Cut my losses and look for a different contest. I'm not really sure what I want to do yet, but I think I am going to start training these events and see where I stand. Some detail on the events: Log - lift a "log" implement overhead (clean and press) as heavy as possible, you get 3 attempts. I think 105 is the heaviest I have gone in the past. I should be able to do more now. Axle/Frame/18" Deadlift - this is a 60 second medley where you want to dead lift each of these implements in any order. If you get all 3, on the last one rep out until the buzzer (axle - like a barbell but a wide grip; frame a square frame you stand in the middle and lift by handles, 18" deadlift- deadlift a bar that is already at about knee height). I just almost hit a 300# normal DL at my contest this weekend with straps. 375 on an axle in 12 weeks seems ambitious. 325 sounds much more doable. 225 sounds too light. Keg Medley - Carry 3 kegs 20 feet to a 30" platform as fast as possible. I don't really know where I stand on this one - maybe I could do the HWW? Hand over Hand Pull - This is pulling a truck or something similar. I don't know if this is the kind where you walk while pulling yourself and the truck you are harnessed to, or if you are sitting and pulling it toward you. I am better at the first kind. Stone Over Bar - Pick up atlas stones and lift them over a bar as many times as possible. 175 is the heaviest I have done before, I bet I could do 2-3 reps over a 46" bar. I might get 1 rep of 200 over a 48" bar. I could probably do 8 reps of 140 over a 44" bar.

Yeah for eating veggies!

I was in heavyweight for this one so I made it no problem. It is the next one where I would like to get into that pesky mid-weight (20 lbs away)

Thanks! I was really happy with the 24 second sandbag run, but I only was faster than one person and 6 of 8 ladies were under 20 seconds. The winner had 12.2 seconds, so I feel like I did well for where I am now, but I have my work cut out for me. To train for this, I have been doing a lot of sprints this winter, my training group has added track work every sunday which is some variation of sprints on the local high school track. Sometimes we do prowler sprints or suicides. I also erg and air dyne for sprints if the weather is bad. My coach is all about strongman competitors being "athletic" not just strong. So we get this stuff pretty often in our programing. I am going to just continue with whatever training program my coach throws at me. It will probably be a 12 week cycle with LOTS of deadlifts and overhead pressing to prep for my next competition. More details to come. My sentiments exactly. However, the hate fuels the future success. I WILL get 70 overhead for reps this year. Strongman is great.

fig bar, 2 fun size bags of skittles, 8 star bursts, 6 pack of peanut butter crackers 6 mini 3 musketeer bars (they were offered to me by the secretary), another 6 pack of peanut butter crackers. 1 bag of popcorn (the bank gives them away) 1 cinnamon and sugar drenched pretzel I know we don't know each other well, but it sounds like you are asking for some tough love with respect to sugar. So may I ask.....what the @#$!% is all this!?!?! This is NOT staying away from sugar. This is more sugar than I have eaten in total since 2015. Do not blame the secretary (she does not care if you refuse) do not blame the bank. Get your head together man and grab some broccoli. That was a very nice workout though - congrats on the PR.

Hafthor also is about a half-foot taller than Lou, so he's gonna carry some more weight. My insane strongman-training husband is, as of this week, switching to bodybuilding as part of a long term plan to be a better strongman. Diversity of strength training is a good thing. Also I am jumping in to officially claim Hafthor as a Strongman, not a powerlifter.