Adam sneaks into the Warriors quietly.....

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/4/2019 at 10:30 PM, Mike Wazowski said:

Welcome to the guild! Glad to have you here.

 

But also, 6 out of 7 days hitting your calorie and protein targets is a bad week? With the only miss being over by 350 calories? That's seriously still a win, even if it's not perfection!

 

Sounds like a sick baby limited your time for some of the extra stuff you'd like to do, but you still got some barbell workouts in, just nothing extra. And you still posted a form video. Maybe not a perfect week, but is life ever perfect?

Hi Mike Wazowski. Thanks for the welcome and the pep talk. You’re right, it wasn’t a bad week, it was just below my expectations. I feel like I’ve bounced back well and that is probably more important. And yes, life is rarely perfect, especially once you throw kids into the mix!

[Adam_Backhouse]

Week 2 Day 4 - update

Nutrition is going pretty well. Struggled to eat enough today and really should have had a protein shake this evening to get closer to my calorie and protein targets but just couldn’t face it!!! I decided to have a rather large whisky instead to try and grab a few more calories (well, that’s what I’m telling myself anyway). This week is going well diet wise. 

 

Fitted in two extra workouts this week. Gymnastic rings and handstand practice yesterday (negative muscle ups are getting easier) and some sprint work today. I did a lot of stretching at the end of my workout today so I’m hoping I can still do some deadlifts tomorrow. Maybe another video opportunity! 

 

Duolingo has started. 60 points so far this week. A long way to go but I am remembering that I wasn’t doing any a couple of weeks ago and this is already an improvement on last week. If I can reach 150 this week I’ll be happy and then will shoot for 200 for the rest of the challenge weeks. 

[RedStone]

2 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

Week 2 Day 4 - update

Nutrition is going pretty well. Struggled to eat enough today and really should have had a protein shake this evening to get closer to my calorie and protein targets but just couldn’t face it!!! I decided to have a rather large whisky instead to try and grab a few more calories (well, that’s what I’m telling myself anyway). This week is going well diet wise. 

 

Yeah, I was told early on and found it to be very true to drink calories when it's hard to get in the extras. I used to hit some dry oatmeal in the nutribullet to powder it down before adding the main stuff - it added cals and thickness but didn't feel like it! I also kept peeled bananas in the freezer for a quick add  

[Scaly Freak]

4 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

Struggled to eat enough today and really should have had a protein shake this evening to get closer to my calorie and protein targets but just couldn’t face it!!! I decided to have a rather large whisky instead to try and grab a few more calories

 

Tell me more about this whisky with high protein content... 

[Harriet]

4 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

 

Tell me more about this whisky with high protein content... 

Well, there's a decent amount of protein in barley, and whisky is made from barley, so whisky is linked to significant amounts of protein by a fairly short causal chain. The question is, what is object identity? Is it based on object properties, or causality? Or are objects four dimensional space-time worms? If they are, then, just like cats are sharp at the front and soft at the back, whisky could be said to be a spacetime worm that is protein-filled at the front and alcoholic at the back. Or is the earlier part of the worm the back? Hmmm. 

BTW, if you google "Is there protein in..." don't look too closely at the suggestions. Ew.

 

[Adam_Backhouse]

19 hours ago, RedStone said:

 

Yeah, I was told early on and found it to be very true to drink calories when it's hard to get in the extras. I used to hit some dry oatmeal in the nutribullet to powder it down before adding the main stuff - it added cals and thickness but didn't feel like it! I also kept peeled bananas in the freezer for a quick add  

It's definitely easier than eating it all through whole foods.  I like your idea of oatmeal powder.  Will have to give that a go!

[Adam_Backhouse]

Week 2 Day 6 Update

Nutrition is going ok. There or thereabouts most of this week. 

 

Barbell training yesterday - deadlifts, OHP, barbell rows. Hard work but good sense of achievement. I also recorded a set of deadlifts so will post for feedback. 

 

4 workouts in the week was quite tiring and I was definitely feeling a bit drained yesterday. I guess jumping from 2 the week before to 4 was always going to be a challenge. 

 

Hope you’re all having a good weekend. I’m gradually working through all the marvel films I have missed since my first child was born. Black Panther is next!

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/8/2019 at 9:49 PM, Adam_Backhouse said:

So, I took a video of my deadlift. In the last couple of weeks I have been feeling like the bar is getting too far in front of my body. This felt a bit better but not sure if it is totally sorted. As before, any input would be gratefully received. 

 

Set 3 of 5, deadlifting 105kg for sets of 3. 

 

I’ll copy this here too

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/1/2019 at 2:06 AM, Blocky said:

 

Not shabby at all... the only thing I noticed was you're losing a lot of tightness coming out of the bottom. brace harder and maybe slow it down a little as you reach depth so you can reverse out without changing position.

I've been trying to get my body to brace a bit more coming out of the bottom.  Does this set look any better?  

 

The first rep felt a bit all over the place on my foot, the second felt pretty good, and the third felt quite hard!

[Adam_Backhouse]

Week 3 Day 2 Update (I’m getting confused by where we are with this challenge!)

 

Nutrition - I feel like this is going well. Definitely losing a bit of body fat and the scale is agreeing. Not sure if I am dropping weight too quickly to be hanging on to the muscle built though. How do I tell? I don’t really feel like I am losing strength but the numbers on the scale have gone lower than I wanted yet I still have body fat I want to lose. I guess o should have been taking pictures. I might need to think about this one for a couple of days as I’m petrified that I will end up undoing the past 9 months of work. 

 

Workouts - Monday was a holiday here (I have the Catholic religion to thank for all the public holidays we enjoy in June) which meant my workouts are a little bit shifted. A couple of hours with a baby and toddler in the pool substituted for a workout. 

Barbell training today (squats, bench, lat  pull downs) felt really good. One of those workouts where just the right track drops at the start of every tough set. 

 

Duolingo - oops. Best get practising now!

[Blocky]

7 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

I've been trying to get my body to brace a bit more coming out of the bottom.  Does this set look any better?  

 

The first rep felt a bit all over the place on my foot, the second felt pretty good, and the third felt quite hard!

 

Looks much better. Trunk looks a lot more solid. Keep practicing and try and make the reps consistent and just spend some time getting used to the positions, balance and timing.

[Harriet]

On 6/11/2019 at 12:42 PM, Adam_Backhouse said:

Nutrition - I feel like this is going well. Definitely losing a bit of body fat and the scale is agreeing. Not sure if I am dropping weight too quickly to be hanging on to the muscle built though. How do I tell? I don’t really feel like I am losing strength but the numbers on the scale have gone lower than I wanted yet I still have body fat I want to lose. I guess o should have been taking pictures. I might need to think about this one for a couple of days as I’m petrified that I will end up undoing the past 9 months of work. 

I guess as long as your lifts are improving, you're good. If you start stalling or, spirits forbid, getting weaker on your main lifts, then maybe you can reconsider how much you're eating. I don't think you will undo 9 months of work suddenly or without noticing, though. 

[JessFit]

Squats are looking good! Woo

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/12/2019 at 5:17 AM, Blocky said:

 

Looks much better. Trunk looks a lot more solid. Keep practicing and try and make the reps consistent and just spend some time getting used to the positions, balance and timing.

Thanks. Focusing on it with lighter weights has helped. Not sure what was going on with the balance there, I’m normally a bit more consistent than that!

[Adam_Backhouse]

4 hours ago, Harriet said:

I guess as long as your lifts are improving, you're good. If you start stalling or, spirits forbid, getting weaker on your main lifts, then maybe you can reconsider how much you're eating. I don't think you will undo 9 months of work suddenly or without noticing, though. 

This sounds like pretty safe advice. I’m so used to putting on a bit of weight and then losing it and ending back where i started that I guess I’m just a bit paranoid about it. I think this time feels different though. I will keep going in expecting to lift a little more volume each time and reassess when there is a stall. 

[Mike Wazowski]

22 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

This sounds like pretty safe advice. I’m so used to putting on a bit of weight and then losing it and ending back where i started that I guess I’m just a bit paranoid about it. I think this time feels different though. I will keep going in expecting to lift a little more volume each time and reassess when there is a stall. 

Seems like a smart plan. Just a friendly reminder that, at some point, unrelated to nutrition, the gains curve for lifting strength will flatten out and feel like a stall when you're used to beginner's linear progress. It's not a bad thing, just something to recognize as your signal that it's time to flip to intermediate or advanced weights programming (i.e. no beginner program can be run in perpetuity).

 

Also, especially in the first week or two of weight loss, a lot of it will be water weight - so don't freak out if it's faster than you're expecting, that happens to almost everyone.

[Harriet]

23 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

This sounds like pretty safe advice. I’m so used to putting on a bit of weight and then losing it and ending back where i started that I guess I’m just a bit paranoid about it. I think this time feels different though. I will keep going in expecting to lift a little more volume each time and reassess when there is a stall. 

 

If you ended up where you started, there must have been a period in which you were losing strength, right? Or was your programme such that it wasn't obvious? 

[Mike Wazowski]

On 6/14/2019 at 2:56 PM, Harriet said:

If you ended up where you started, there must have been a period in which you were losing strength, right? Or was your programme such that it wasn't obvious? 

I think he was talking about weight loss and regain, not lifting.  But I could be wrong.

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/13/2019 at 8:56 PM, JessFit said:

Squats are looking good! Woo

Thanks JessFit. They’re feeling better. Still not quite at my PB but it is all feeling stronger and more solid which is more important (kind of - I mean it’s always nice to lift something heavier than you have before but this is the more sensible, less injury-prone route).

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/14/2019 at 9:56 PM, Harriet said:

 

If you ended up where you started, there must have been a period in which you were losing strength, right? Or was your programme such that it wasn't obvious? 

Hard to tell to be honest. I think this is the first year that I’ve been quite consistent with diet and training. I think in the past I’ve lost strength and ended up injuring myself trying to keep adding weight to the bar. 

[Adam_Backhouse]

Week 4 Day 2 - I’ve not updated this for a while. Sorry all, went a bit AWOL with a long weekend. 

 

Nutrition has been going well (went a bit over today as we ordered sushi at work). I think I’ve been within 50 calories most days and protein has been at an acceptable level. 

 

Workouts have been a struggle to fit in. Did some sprints and ring work last week. Still nowhere near a muscle up but that will be a focus after the summer. Barbell training on Friday felt good but was very rushed this morning. PB on my bench this morning though - finally lifted my body weight. I’ve always been getting close to this but never quite there. 4 sets of 3 x body weight. First step on my way to benching two plates (this is a super-long term goal!). 

 

Duolingo has sucked. I’m just not making it a priority. Let’s see how it goes this week and then might have to consider a new approach. 

[Adam_Backhouse]

On 6/14/2019 at 8:23 PM, Mike Wazowski said:

Seems like a smart plan. Just a friendly reminder that, at some point, unrelated to nutrition, the gains curve for lifting strength will flatten out and feel like a stall when you're used to beginner's linear progress. It's not a bad thing, just something to recognize as your signal that it's time to flip to intermediate or advanced weights programming (i.e. no beginner program can be run in perpetuity).

 

How do you tell whether this is down to nutrition or down to needing to switch programme? Do you have to do a bit of experimentation with diet? Have you done this and if so how did you know when the time to switch was?

[Mike Wazowski]

20 minutes ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

How do you tell whether this is down to nutrition or down to needing to switch programme? Do you have to do a bit of experimentation with diet? Have you done this and if so how did you know when the time to switch was?

There's unfortunately not a one-size-fits-all answer, because everyone's a little different and we'll never have complete data to make those decisions. But for me, personally, it came down to having two levers I could try to pull -

1) tweak nutrition and increase calories (especially carbs, especially carbs pre-workout), which might work and give me a few more weeks of linear progression;

2) Change programs to an intermediate / advanced program, which would almost certainly allow me to keep making gains, albeit at a much slower pace

 

I opted for 2 because continuing the cut I had started got me more excited than the thought of making 20# more gains before switching to intermediate programming - but that'll always be personal preference as you decide between cutting and lifting gains. I was (and still am) actively training as an athlete in a non-lifting sport, so fatigue management / lower fatigue from changing programs was HIGHLY appealing to me and a strong argument to switch to intermediate programming ASAP - your reasons for making any choice can and should be different. But in general, I'd tell people to switch off beginner programs as soon as they start to doubt whether the beginner program's a good fit for them.

[Deckard Gainz]

17 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

But in general, I'd tell people to switch off beginner programs as soon as they start to doubt whether the beginner program's a good fit for them.

 

For me, this point was exactly the first time I stalled and had to deload, and that was absolutely not the time to switch programs. In fact, I made this consideration every single time I stalled on any lift, because stalling sucks and blaming the program is the path of least resistance. However, stalling, deloading, and building back up gave me time to make dramatic form improvements and bust through a number of plateaus.

 

I think it's ok to sit with the doubt for a while and make certain it's actually programming that's holding you back. My guess is, if you're still questioning form, you may still have some revelations that help you improve more than you might expect on your current program.

 

As far as your diet goes, you'll eventually figure out if your caloric intake is insufficient for recovery (assuming you're sleeping enough). You start to feel exhausted, and this exhaustion increases linearly over time, so it becomes easier to observe as time goes on. If you're going into every workout more tired than the last, that might be a good sign that either your caloric intake is too low, or your program is getting too challenging. That's where Mike's advice comes in.

[JessFit]

18 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

Thanks JessFit. They’re feeling better. Still not quite at my PB but it is all feeling stronger and more solid which is more important (kind of - I mean it’s always nice to lift something heavier than you have before but this is the more sensible, less injury-prone route).

Sensible? What is sensible? Joking, you're going the right route here and it is great that you realize this.

 

18 hours ago, Adam_Backhouse said:

How do you tell whether this is down to nutrition or down to needing to switch programme? Do you have to do a bit of experimentation with diet? Have you done this and if so how did you know when the time to switch was?

Ask yourself what your macros are and if you're eating properly/healthy most of the time. It occasionally helps to get someone who knows to calculate your ideal macros for you. I've done paleo and I have seen people drop weight on Keto, but those are predominately too low carb for maximal lifts. Carbs are necessary for building muscle and what you eat as carbs are important. Fluff carbs aren't going to serve you as well as sweet potatoes, rice, and whole wheat pasta. 

 

When I first started lifting I hit a bit of a plateau, backed off, worked back up, and blew through my plateau. My nutrition was decent and I was able to keep going with novice gains. When this didn't work and I couldn't keep pushing the novice gains, deloads weren't getting the job done, and I was plateaued really hard, I had to switch the programming up. When deloads stop working and/or your nutrition is on point and you're still hitting plateaus regularly, it is a good indicator that it is time to move on to intermediate programming. Each person is different so you've got to listen to your body.