[Waldo]

This challenge is for me, and I suspect most people, the hard part.  Transitioning to a wholly new phase of the journey.  I've done this once before.

 

Background

 

I've been "losing weight" since I got rd 2 of the vaccine last April and the end of forever telework seemed imminent; it was time to buckle down.  Below is a weight chart where I've been since (I weigh myself daily, it is to me the most important thing I can do, the minimum "I'm on the train" signal).

 

 

A diet break turned into a period of falling off the train late last year, (briefly got back on), but things didn't get out of hand and I recovered with some New Years goals.  Whereas 2021 was a period of linear dieting from the obese range back to the normal weight range, 2022 has been a period of weight loss+recomp, trying to get down into the buff dude with abs zone, where I've used an undulating plan that I wrote about in my battle log.  Though its all regaining past glories at this point still, I've gained several pounds of muscle mass this year along with the fat loss, confirmed by the fact that I've picked back up the habit of regular weekly measurements of all major muscle groups and have notably gained size everywhere but the belly.  I'm now basically a physical clone of myself in 2014, when I was at a peak in size and nadir in bodyfat.

 

I've always been a pretty strict calories guy.  I used to count calories daily for years, when I diet its where I start.  Though I've done well as this has gone along at dropping the counting; by no means am I unaware of where my calories are each day, but going through the effort to write it down hasn't been something I've been doing for a while.  To some degree I feel its a graduation to a more intuitive type of dieting, but I think its very hard to sustain something like this without keeping it in a pretty narrow box, hence this challenge, because I'm going to be stepping out of that box.  The box my diet has been in has used the feature of the undulating plan that allows for extremes; its pretty easy to swap back and forth between eat none of the things and eat all the things.  Eating some of the things, that's the real trick, and not something I've tried to do in many years. 

 

I used to harp on it a lot here and elsewhere, but I try not to argue about it so much anymore; I'm not really a big protein guy.  Sure I try to eat elevated protein but I'm almost certainly way under all the optimal numbers that are thrown out.  People way overfocus on this; the things that elevated protein is supposed to help with you're going to get way more mileage out of carb based hormone control (deficit) or rocket fuel (surplus), though it can help with satiety for linear dieters that have no need for hormone control and are at little risk of muscle loss.  Thinking about my protein intake just doesn't cross my mind anymore; many years ago it used to, but one of the things I did to de-obsess was stop looking at protein, and I've seen no difference.  (Though when I'm cutting good protein bars are upper tier snacks and I probably do eat an elevated amount compared to the average person).

 

Goals

 

Here are my original goals from earlier this year when I returned to NF, and the epic quest I've been on all year:

 

On 1/3/2022 at 8:43 PM, Waldo said:

The overall plan:

Abs baby.  By my Birthday (July).

 

My starting point is 212 lbs and ??? on the waist (gotta figure that out, kinda important).  I cut last year, losing 25 lbs, getting out of the embarrassing zone into dadbod zone, but it started getting hard so I took a long break starting in Oct.  Made it down to 209.  Back at it now after the holidays.  The nice long break should make cutting a piece of cake for a while (has been for the last week).

 

I figure I can do a quick cut down to the 202-203 area here in the winter.

Switch to a small surplus from March to mid-April, try to stay under 206

Then starting mid april cut to abs.  Neighborhood pool opens late May.  Under 200 by June, target goal is guesstimated to be 195 (need measurements to be sure).

 

Though I did fail my goal date (it was 2 weeks ago), I'm not that far off and really I think I've been mentally moving the goalposts on myself; on 1/3/22 would where I am today count as success?  One more undulation and I'll definitely meet the criteria (abs!), but I think there is a degree of further refinement I'll chase one day, but with summer ending soon, there isn't much point in doing so now.   So that's it, one final undulation to get as lean as I can, then call it good for a while.

 

Then what?  I've been fascinated by how insanely effective the undulating plan has been for muscle gain in the midst of an overall deficit, and want to give something like a maintenance+ plan a go.  I'm thinking I'm going to try to sync to workout cycles, and try to maintain most of the time, but as fatigue grows shift to surplus for a week and deload to reap gains.  I really want to work on shoulders, chest, and arms.

 

Goal #1 - Learn How to Maintain

 

Trying to neither gain nor lose fat is not something I've attempted in quite a while.  And its real easy for maintaining to turn into not caring, a situation I'd like to avoid.  I'm going to have to start counting calories again to get a feel for how much I should be eating.  So once I raise cals the plan is to keep track of calories daily for a while.

 

My final cut starts today; I'm not sure how long its going to go, probably 2 weeks, highly unlikely to go beyond 3 weeks.  After that I'm going to count cals the remainder of the challenge.

 

Goal #2 - Learn How to Gain

 

This goal isn't about diet, rather about workouts.  Its been a really long time since I was lifting with the intention of muscle gain, not "losing the fat first", not keeping what I've got, but instead lifting to build muscles and backing it up with diet support and the leanness to build mass.  If I remember right, raising cals should come with a pretty big jump in recovery capacity, both during workouts and day to day.  My set counts and rep counts are going to need editing I'm sure, and I have a longer time to workout than I have had in a while.  This is a difficult goal to measure, has to be graded like set RPE, on effort.

 

Goal #3 - Keep Up the Cardio

 

Cardio is not all about weight loss.  Cardio is not all about weight loss.  I walk the dogs on weekdays at lunch on days I eat at home, I run or spin Wednesdays and Saturdays, I swim laps at the pool when we go.

 

When I don't have the extra motivation of trying to lose the gut, my effort has a way of tailing off in the cardio department.  I miss a few days walking the dog here and there due to meetings, but my goal is 3 a week.  No missed wed or sat workouts.

 

[Elastigirl]

2 hours ago, Waldo said:

nd its real easy for maintaining to turn into not caring, a situation I'd like to avoid.  I'm going to have to start counting calories again to get a feel for how much I should be eating.  So once I raise cals the plan is to keep track of calories daily for a while.

Yep. I can vouch for how easy it is to do that. 

 

Great goals!

[Waldo]

I had a bad run of ouchies late last week.  I think maybe I pulled a muscle in my foot, something like that, sore tendon.  I'm confident its not a stress fracture, it just doesn't feel like one.  It started hurting lightly Tues-Wed, I ran Wed night, it didn't seem serious.  Got more sore as the week went on and I chose not to run on Saturday, spinning instead as its easier on the body.  Might be in the same boat this week, but it definitely has improved. 

 

My elbows had been sore here and there, but mild; friday's chinups changed that, my elbows (the tendons), esp the right, are killing me.  I think its time to stop doing chinups; I've stopped straight bar chins in the past for this very reason (that time it took much longer to figure out the problem exercise).  My body just doesn't like doing any chinup volume whatsoever, esp loaded.  Which means my Friday workout is going to need editing, I've been doing loaded chins as an accessory lately.  I'm totally fine with pullups, so stopping chins is nbd, they are a recent addition, testing to see if anything has changed with my elbows, nope.

 

I'm not entirely sure I made it all the way to surplus yesterday, so I might have started cutting a day early, though a relatively small deficit.  Today otoh, deficit is going to be a big one, getting things moving.  Tape was a proud 30.9", about where I left it, esp when you consider the extra stuff in the guts.  Was a light 201.8 yesterday, but had been in the 204's the days before.  Weight spikes are to be expected in a diet break, yesterday's number though makes me think that I'll be under 200 when I lose that transient weight (next day or two hopefully).  Usually I start seeing tape movement on Thursday for the first time.

 

Workout Log - 8.1.22

 

Not helping the overall sore spot issue is that I got a covid booster today, so I have deadarm from that and overall fatigue, which was really noticable once I started deadlifting.

 

Heavy Bag - 15 min

10 min without gloves, 5 min with.  I was not striking hard today between all the various sore spots.

 

Pistol  Squat

+15 slam ball - 5/5

16" box - 5/x

+15 slam ball - 11+/11-

I didn't do the plyo set on the right due to the sore foot, body didn't want to go there, and last weeks plyo pistols are on the short list of sources of whatever is going on. 

 

Deadlift

155 x 3

245 x 3

335 x 3-

Holy cow these were way harder than they should have been.  Had to do the right side palm in due to the elbow soreness.  Pretty strong lethargy from the vax kicked in so I called it before getting to the peak sets.

 

 

 

 

[Elastigirl]

Glad the foot is healing some. Good idea to take it easy. I had a friend who pushed through it, and it was a stress fracture. Then he had to wear a boot until it healed.

[Waldo]

That's exactly what I did back late Feb 2020, that totally derailed what was to that point a very good cutting attempt.  When the pandemic started I could barely walk.  I had a mild stress fracture and wasnt too worried about it, went running on it, hobbling by the time I made it home.  I was limping for more than 3 months afterwards.  That was actually the biggest trigger for getting the spin bike, as they are really low impact compared to running, cardio I could do while my foot healed.

 

This is definitely not a stress fracture, if it is it feels nothing like the last one.  That was almost like an itch inside my bones at first, then there was a definite point I could press that hurt once it got bad.  This time the place that hurts is the meat so to speak.  Muscle or tendon.  Apparently its not uncommon in jumping athletes.  I'm guessing I did it while doing pistols and didn't notice.

 

What I thought were the side effects of getting a booster shot got stronger and stronger through today, to the point where I took a covid test and am positive.  First time that I know of; my wife is still holding out, only one in the family remaining.  My only real symptom has been fever, though its been more feeling like a have one (bad) than actually being hot.  I've been shivering under a blanket tethered to the couch all afternoon, though feeling better now.

 

On the bright side, getting sick is in fact a really effective diet, even if it causes you to miss workouts (lifting tonight wasn't happening), it burns a lot of calories.   It helps the scale along.

 

199.4 today 🥳

 

Finally!  Under 200.  Needed to catch the covid to get there (well even without today had a good chance of making it, I've been close lately).  I haven't been under 200 since 2017 when kid #3 was born.

[Waldo]

Having off of work with covid, I have some time to mess with an updated all-time weight chart (its got that dot under 200 yesterday) and a photo editor.

 

 

Somehow dashed graph lines print like crap from excel->pdf->jpg.  I labeled Kid #2 and #3, the gov't shutdown, and the early pandemic.  Each was a point of massive change in my fitness habits. 

 

Kid #2 and Gov't shutdown are the change points for strength training.  Prior to Kid #2 I did bodyweight workouts at home, Kid #2 to gov't shutdown I lifted at the work gym, gov't shutdown to today I lift in my home gym.

 

I also labeled the "control band", a concept I took from the Hackers Diet; 205 is my ultimate goal weight, there is a +/- 10 lbs control band around it.  I got that weight from some ideal male measurements, a bodybuilding standard (vitruvian man is one of the sources, but so are a few famous bodybuilders from the pre-drug era like Steve Reeves).  I always pay attention when weight for 6'1" dudes is given (NFL and Ninja Warrior for example), and that's pretty much where I want to be.  A big part of the reason I stopped caring about gaining in 2016 is that I thought that I had achieved my long term goal; when I set the 205 (@~10% BF) goal in 2012 I had to gain a whole lot of muscle mass to get there (just like dieting, I was a lot further away than I expected as well, I've gained more than 25 lbs of muscle mass since).

 

I labeled the 3 injuries that severely affected my fitness for a while; frozen shoulder stopped all upper body work for >6 mo, the foot stress fracture stopped all cardio for 3 mo (and all intense cardio for 6 mo until I got the spin bike), the back injury stopped most leg and overhead strength work for 6 mo.

 

The circled points are the ends of the 3 long cuts that have ended in me getting quite lean.  The first one I was able to transition to a bulking and cutting period that maintained my leanness for the next year and a half and led to almost 15 lbs of muscle gain, before a frozen shoulder injury knocked me out of basically all upper body work for a long time (gave up the leg work quickly thereafter), 2015 I did not actually get leaner or try to lose weight, I probably gained bodyfat, that "loss" was my muscles shrinking as I stopped strength training.  The leanest I got that whole period was right around 9/10/14, 1 year after the low point in weight, that fall I entered a period of maintenance that I'm trying to replicate, this time though with "diet breaks" (lol) periodically to try to trigger extra muscle gain.

 

The 2nd was triggered by the upcoming kiddo, and was pretty much a flop afterwards.  But I was happy with where I was at.  Long term goal achieved.  I was right on the edge of the control band.  This picture shows it poorly, but it really was the gov't shutdown and the holidays immediately preceeding it that caused a huge weight spike away from the edge of the control band, and it likely went higher than this shows, I started (but without looking at the scale) immediately after the shutdown, but didn't really try on the diet front.  The early pandemic replicated the shutdown but even more extreme, plus its basically eternal at this point.

 

#3, well that's where I am now and what this challenge is all about, sticking the landing.  Long cuts to leanness are very different than short cuts to leanness, the hormone issue is very real and its easy to remember how unpleasant the cut was.  Red circle #1 was a time I will never forget and a time I never want to return to; at the time I didn't totally understand hormone control and in part wanted to see "what happened" when I ignored it.  This time has been totally different, coming in soft with the undulating plan, it really hasn't been unpleasant and I've made efforts to keep the cutting from sucking (such as making a favorite food of mine a cutting only food).  Its likely that the pause gone wrong in the middle of this cut was in part due to the back injury really affecting my strength training work, causing all around effort on that front to fall apart (only in part, getting back into the control band very much was a motivation killer, a "good enough" point so to speak).  I'm still not doing back squats, not sure I'll ever get back on that horse.

[Waldo]

Covid hasn't been totally debilitating, after the fever broke its been like more of a cold, though I'm extra exhausted.  Last night's schedule called for running, but I decided to walk instead, so I walked 3.3 miles (about what I normally run Wednesdays).  Walking is lower impact on whatever I did to my foot, even though it really didn't hurt at all yesterday, I wanted to be sure to keep it that way.  Running yesterday just didn't seem like a good idea at all.

 

Scale was 199.8 last night.  Keeping under 200, barely.  Tape saw movement to 30.8" this morning, so diet is showing real progress.

[Waldo]

I really wasn't feeling up to doing my Thursday workout (squats) last night, so I opted to walk instead again.  3 miles this time.  Tonight is an upper body night so I'm going to give it a go.  The other day kid #2 was in the gym (he's the source of covid this round..) and challenged me to a pullup contest.  Its been a bit since I've done max reps at BW so I gave it a go; 20 reps.  Not bad for coming in cold with covid, 3 higher than my max when I stopped doing them, opting instead to do weighted only.

 

Scale moved up, I have to figure its going to be crazy for a bit.

 

Did my weekly measurements today and really studied them a bit more than I have.  I figured out that on one side (L leg and R arm) I gained size consistently over the last 3 cut cycles.  On the other of each I got back to the size I was 2 undulations ago when my LBM spiked.  I was able to use that info and waist measurements to figure out which of the formulas applies best to me (I have 5 different ones for males); the basic YMCA formula.  The rest describe LBM change out of sync with measurements (modified Y does too, its just modified for measuring style).  I hadn't looked at that part of the spreadsheet at all in a while, but if I'm going to be trying to gain mass, I'm going to need to get a good LBM tracker going.

 

Comparing measurements of the last 4 diet break weeks:

 

Biceps (L, R)

5/20 - 15.3, 15.8

6/17 - 15.6, 15.9

7/08 - 15.4, 16.0

7/29 - 15.6, 16.1

 

Quads (L, R)

5/20 - 23.1, 23.4

6/17 - 23.5, 23.8

7/08 - 23.6, 23.6

7/29 - 24.0, 23.8

 

The Y formula, using one of the more accurate and conservative waist measures I track, gives: (LBM, FM, BF%)

5/20 - 169.9, 34.2, 15.3%

6/17 - 174.7, 30.4, 13.7%

7/08 - 174.6, 28.5, 13.0%

7/29 - 176.4, 25.7, 12.0%

 

Which tracks arm and leg measurements nicely. The formulas should predict muscle size changes correctly, which this one does.

[Waldo]

With an upper body workout on tap last night I decided to give it a go.  I'm coughing a good bit and seem to get exhausted easy, but the fever is gone. It went better than I expected.

 

Scale was up to 201.8 last night.  Tape appears to have moved a little this AM.  I haven't really noticed it yet appearance-wise.  Fat is getting squishy, but its not yet caviar.

 

Workout Log - 8.6.22

 

Seated DB OHP

40 x 8

50 x 5-

60 x 5+, 5F

That left would only go 4/5 of the way that last rep.  I dropped the backoff set due to having covid.  New bench is taller than the old one and more upright, I'm doing a better job isolating the vertical plane, not arching back to engage chest; which is probably showing up in reps.

 

Pullup

BW x 8

+35 x 6-, 7+, 6+

Dropped the 4th set, a superset with OHPs which was also dropped.  7 reps at +35 is a recent PR.  Could definitely still feel elbow soreness, but I don't think these made it worse.

 

45° Incline DB Bench Press

50 x 8-, 9+

60 x 5+

I've never done incline bench for any sustained period.  My new bench though is way better for it and I actually have big enough DB's.  I have some clear form issues that need work.  This seems like it'll be some high value work; I swapped out the loaded dips that used to in this place this workout.

 

DB Concentration Curl

35 x 8/8, 9/9

Was able to work around elbow soreness with these, though I didn't do a 3rd set.

 

DB Wrist Curl

35 - 10/10

These include a finger roll at the bottom of each rep (weight rolls out to last knuckle).

 

DB Reverse Wrist Curl

12 - 10/10

The wrist curls were an ad hoc addition after I decided against set #3 of curls.  The reverse were done arms laying on plyo box.  I think I'll make these a permanent addition to this workout for a while, targeted forearm work isn't something I've really done outside of grip.  But they go toward my "learn how to gain" goal; forearm accessories are something that basically noone but people trying to gain muscle mass should be doing. 

[Waldo]

Covid is starting to fade.  I have a cough, can't smell much of anything, and things taste funny, but I otherwise pretty much feel fine.

 

After being super light on Saturday night (198.4), I was heavy again yesterday (202.0).  Down now 1/4" on the tape since the cut started.  Cutting effort was pretty meh this weekend, but with the kids in school now starting this week it'll be easier to really hit it hard to finish strong.  Today is going to be a big deficit day.

 

Workout Log - 8.6.22

 

Ride 15.86 mi on the spin bike in 46:17, 134 avg hr, 159 max

I was going to try to run outside but the weather had other plans.  I expected to struggle with a high HR due to covid, the opposite was true, I had a hard time getting my HR up, kept checking to make sure it was on my arm right.

 

Workout Log - 8.8.22

 

Heavy Bag - 15 min

10 minutes without gloves, 5 minutes with

 

Pistol Squat

+15 MB - 8-/8-

16" Box - 6/6

+15 MB - 11+/11+

 

Deadlift

155 x 5

245 x 3

335 x 3-

355 x 3+

375 x 2+

Belt over 300.  DOH for the first rep at 335, going to work towards that.  I bought some straps as my grip has been failing, tonight was first time using them, used straps for 355 and 375 instead of mixed grip.

 

Romanian Deadlift

175 x 12-

These were a bit too easy, need more weight than this, was too lazy to add more to the bar though, next time.

 

I want to figure out a good way to add calf raises to this workout.  The bumper corral I made seems like it would work well to elevate the foot, I could just make a small single board with that profile.

[Waldo]

Another big deficit day today.  Its like coming out of the final turn on a track 5K, I'm really pushing.  I feel like the mirror moved overnight, first big move this undulation. The remaining tire shrunk, its less of a tire now than a bit around the belly button, a softness on the abs, and some love handles hanging out by the hips, the zones of remaining fat have separation. Some of the ab horizontal lines are getting stronger standing at rest, hints of the vertical line are appearing.  Fat is starting to get that caviar feel now.  Tape moved 1/8" for a total now of 3/8" this cut.  Scale dropped to 200.2 last night, hopefully it dips back under 200.

 

Workout Log - 8.9.22

 

Bench Press

135 x 10

185 x 5-

205 x 3-

225 x 2f

185 x 8+, 8+

Sleeve hit the safety bar in the hole and messed up my focus, probably would have had #3 otherwise at 225.

 

DB Bench Press

60 x 9+, 10+

Decided a good place to add volume to this workout is to move to the DB's to do even more benching.  60's are my largest DB's for now, but a pair of 70's is on the mid-term radar.  Definitely feel these a bit better in the chest than straight bar bench, though they do feel a bit awkward, I've never done DB bench for any period of time, only as a total beginner.

 

Ring Front Lever

Tuck Hold - 15

Open Tuck Hold - 15

One Leg - 5+5, 5+5, 5+5

Open Tuck Row - 3-, 4+

Tuck Row - 12+

Incrementing the progressions a bit, adding the open tuck rows.  Core strength is getting up to snuff, its no longer limiting.  Its really badass to hold your body in a lever, single leg is where is really starts to feel like it, its like you are hovering in space.  If I can find a good hand hold I should be able to do single leg dragon flags.

 

EZ Bar Curl

89 x 6+, 5+, 4+

Toward the end of this workout I clearly ran out of gas, it was most visible in curlz.

 

Deltoid Raises

Front (12) - 10, 12

Side (8) - 10, 11

Rear (12) - 10, 12

 

[Waldo]

Scale has been under 200 the last 2 nights, 199.2 and 198.8.  Things are moving along nicely; this week has been going really good cut-wise.  Deficits have been larger, progress has been pretty constant, mirror, tape, and scale, and I haven't really felt any bad side effects; I think I'm going to ride this groove right into next week, keep cutting at least until it gets hard.

 

Workout Log - 8.10.22 

 

Spinning - 10.3 mi, 30:09, 134 bpm avg, 156 bpm peak

Again it was raining, I wanted to run outside.  Have the same issue I had last week, hard to really get my heart rate high, the peak isn't getting near what should be my max.

 

Workout Log - 8.11.22

 

Heavy Bag - 15 min

10 minutes kicking, 5 minutes with gloves

 

Pistol Squat

+15 MB - 8-/8-

 

Front Squat

135 x 5

185 x 5-

195 x 5-, 5+, 5+

Alright, ready to add weight to the bar next week.  Probably going to skip 200 and just jump to 205.

 

This workout is one where the volume is going to need to go up once calories are raised.  Do I do more front squats?  Maybe some step ups or weighted box pistols at the end?  I tried doing calf raises, but they seem like a waste of time.  Unilateral volume seems like it could be useful to add.

[Waldo]

Measurement friday never disappoints.  Always puts me in a good mood.  The scale stayed under 200 again, 199.2 last night.  Various waist measurements all lost 3/8" or 1/2" since last week.  Most other measurements stayed the same, but a few flexed ones lost an 1/8th, to be expected when cutting as glycogen starts getting depleted.  Strong fat loss last week.  Calculated LBM has stayed about the same since my last diet break. An odd point in the mirror; I think I've jumped to the next level of leanness (it kinda goes in tiers), however I'm basically as fat as I can be on that level, so if anything I feel fatter.  Big thing is that the love handles are almost totally gone.  But I have noticed, really for the first time in a very long time, a little bit of loose skin.  I used to have a lot years ago, but getting lean and staying that way made it go away.  Just a little bit, under the belly button on either side.  But that isn't helping the I feel fat at all.  But, at this area of leanness, when losing at a good rate you can basically see a difference every day.

 

Workout Log - 8.12.22

 

DB OHP

40 x 8

50 x 5-

60 x 5+, 4*

Given the next step of this workout is moving to incline bench, I'm very strict about the overhead press, which my new bench has been great for.  Last 2 weeks I've really run out of steam on my 2nd set of 60's.  I hit 6 a few months ago, but I know with my old bench I was arching my back and turning it into an incline press.  This bench is very upright and very tall, tall enough to support the back of my head, which makes it much easier to keep strict form through the press.

 

DB 45 Incline Bench

50 x 9+, 11+, 10+

I'm still passing through the this feels weird phase on this exercise, but gains have been rapid. 

 

Pullup

BW x 8

+35 x 6-, 7+, 7+, 7+

Added some reps here.  Always the question, is it because I'm stronger or because I'm lighter.

 

Concentration Curl

35 x 9/9, 9/9

 

Wrist Curl

35 x 10/10, 10/10

 

Reverse Wrist Curl

12 x 10/10, 10/10

Left wrist cracked each rep

 

 

[Waldo]

Things got a little out of hand this weekend, in a good way, so I did an impromptu ice cream refeed last night, felt I was setting up for a pretty hard crash without.   Ice cream isn't great for refeeds (too much fat), but its usually how I raise cals.  Fri-Sat-Sun my diet compliance was excellent with almost no snacking.  I ran outside Saturday night for a long run.  Yesterday, between going to the pool (I swim a lot, I'm not the stand around or sit in a chair type) and yardwork (which included brush clearing), I was going nonstop all afternoon and really feeling the deficit.  I can definitely tell the hormones are starting to come into play.  I want to still keep going this week though.

 

Scale and tape both moved strong.  Scale has been 197.4, 198.2, 196.2!!! the last 3 nights.  Tape moved 1/4" since Friday.  I'm confident that I'm now the 2nd leanest I've been post-college.  This time in 2014 I was slightly heavier and my muscles were slightly smaller.  Only in 2017 did I get leaner than I am now, though I'm lighter than I was in 2017 at my leanest.  The last time I weighed in lighter than last night, while I was lifting (2015's weights don't count because of that), was 6/18/14.  My data for 2017 is so poor that its not really useful for figuring out how close I am to that, but I'm not far.  One of my goals this time around is to lay down a marker measurement-wise to assist with future goal making.

 

I'm definitely itching to be done with this cut.  I'm starting to feel small, which tugs against I feel fat.  I did order some creatine.  I'm not a big supplement guy, but creatine works and I'm a strong responder.  It supercharges your high power output system; I make a noticeable jump in the gym (and on the scale).  It should help me transition volume up to where it needs to be for gaining.  I'm going to wait until I'm done cutting to start taking it though.  This will be the 3rd time I've taken it (bit in the 90's in college, again 2016-2017), the jump in gym performance and muscle size last time around was pretty amazing, but its one of the reason muscle measurements and weight don't compare well between 2016 and today (and scale 2017 to today).

 

Workout Log - 8.13.22

 

Run 4.09 mi in 48.20, 11:50/mi avg, 155 avg HR, 176 peak HR

Getting the heart rate up since I had covid seems to be isolated to the bike.  I wore my hrm to see it its an issue running and it is not.  If anything it was a little high.

[Waldo]

I've had sore tendons for a while now, especially elbows.  When I raise cals, before I really jump in and hit it hard, I want to give it a week or two of lighter workouts to let that recover.  No sense in hurting myself.

 

Workout Log - 8.15.22

 

Heavy Bag - 15 min

10 minutes without gloves, 5 minutes with.  Limited the amount of full power punching due to soreness.

 

Pistol Squat

+15 MB - 8-/8-

16" Box - 6/6

+15 MB - 12+/12+

Gained a rep vs last week on the medicine ball pistols.

 

Deadlift

155 x 5

245 x 3

335 x 3-

355 x 3+

375 x 2+

Belt over 300.  DOH for the first rep at 335, then mixed, straps for the last two sets.  Were I taking creatine now I would have had that 3rd rep, I just wasn't willing to summon what it would have taken to get that bar up a 3rd time.

 

Romanian Deadlift

195 x 10-

Last week I did not have the right weight.  This is the right weight.  I probably could have done a couple more reps, but it was burning, its good to leave some reps in the tank.

[Waldo]

Well I started out this challenge getting covid, now I've got the flu.  This is so much worse than covid was for me.  The only calories I've taken in thus far today are from cream and sugar in my AM coffee (didn't last long).  Slept most of the day.  I'm feeling a little better now and am going to give dinner a go; its pasta night.  No workout though.  I'm guessing the scale is going to be crazy low given how little I've taken in today.  I was starting to feel the hormone effects from cutting really bad yesterday, but being sick with the flu really seems to completely blunt those effects. 

 

If today is outlier low on the scale I might start taking creatine tomorrow, since that should be this cut's low point, unlikely to be beaten by any day later this week.  I was at 199.0 yesterday after being 196.2 on Sunday.  I wanted to wait until I hit the low weight of the cut before I started; the scale still has meaning and I've been at it now for a year an a half.  That said 196.2 is a good enough low point, even if I don't beat it today or later this week.

[Elastigirl]

I hope you feel better soon!

[Waldo]

Thanks, I do, fortunately it was short lived.  A little tired earlier, but that's about it.

 

As I figured, the scale was crazy low last night, I had to reset the scale on my weight charts, lol.  194.4.  I think the tape moved 1/8" yesterday alone, seems like I made a big jump.  I think where I am right now "counts" when it comes to what my endpoint goals were, my abs are always visible.  I need to flex to see all 6, when I do they are pretty sharp.  I'd like to drop another 1/4" though before stopping, should be very doable if I raise cals at the usual time Sunday night.

 

After skipping last nights workout, I decided to do a shortened version of it tonight a day late.  I'm still going to go out running later as well.

 

Workout Log - 8.17.22

 

DB Flat Bench

50 x 10-

60 x 9-, 9+, 9*

Gosh, why haven't I been doing these.  After watching some form videos and cleaning things up, holy crap these hit my chest as well as anything I've ever done.  Slower reps gone very deep with a squeeze at the top.

 

Ring Front Lever

Tuck Hold - 15 sec

Open Tuck Row - 5+, 5+, 5+

Form gets sloppy those lat couple reps, knees pull in making it easier.  This is going to be a form progression exercise as much as anything for a bit.

 

 

[Waldo]

Weight bounced back a bit as expected, but not too extreme, 196.6.  2nd time in the 196's.  I started creatine yesterday, I expect that to blunt the scale effects of any further fat loss in the next few days.  Tape moved another 1/8", its now down 5/8" since last Friday!  It sucks, but the flu sure helps while cutting.  Though now that its effects are gone, hormonal effects from dieting have kicked in pretty good.  I'm absolutely starving before every meal.  Its crazy how fast it comes on once past 2 weeks into a persistent deficit.

 

After raising cals, the plan for the first week will be to eat at maintenance (counting cals to confirm) and deload.  I have so many various sore spots in joints and tendons, a good deload is long overdue, especially when calories are there to support full recovery.  I've been thinking a lot about programming and I think its time to acquiesce to 5/3/1 for the 3 barbell exercises I do (bench, front squat, deadlift).  But before I do I'm going to spend a week testing my 1RM on the barbell exercises (I might also on weighted pullups).

 

My programming has always followed the same upper/lower split as 5/3/1 with a horizontal/vertical split in the upper body and a quad/ham dominant split in the legs.  I've been doing that aspect so long I can barely even fathom anything else (though deadlifting day was an extra cardio day for a few years, only changing back once I lost the bulk of extra weight and bought the equipment to actually deadlift).

 

I'm always going to diverge from any written program on horizontal upper body day because of my substituting front lever progressions for rowing progressions.  About the only place of divergence is that static holds hit the opposite arm pairing (front lever hold = lats, triceps, rear delts).  Switching to rowing changes that, but static holds greatly aid overall FL progress, esp because the core needs are so much higher for short static holds and that is a major choke point).  I'm absolutely positive though that someone else has come up with what I'm going going to do pressing, switch to DB bench for the 5 sets of volume work after the 5/3/1 barbell sets.

 

Vertical upper body I diverge from the program quite a bit given that I only use DB's for overhead pressing.  My shoulders don't really love straight bar pressing overhead.  Though ofc paired with lots of pullups.  Lately I've been doing them all loaded, but once I'm done with cutting maybe I've give pyramids a go, push my single rep max to 30+ (currently around 20).

 

Front Squat is a pretty straightforward and common substitution, the only issue is amrap sets over 5.  For both leg days, the 5/3/1 barbell work will come after pistol sets, since balance is so important and fatigue plays such a large role in balance..

[Waldo]

I forgot earlier, it was raining last night so I had to spin instead of run.  I went for 30 min.  I've been out of the saddle more and more as of late, usually a whole song.

 

Workout Log - 8.18.22

 

Stretching and kicking form - 20 min

I didn't want the extra strain from beating up the bag today.  Took it easy on that front.  Also did some agility and jumping work.  Very free form workout.

 

Pistol Squat

+15 mb x 8-/8-

 

Front Squat

135 x 5

185 x 3-

195 x 3-

205 x 3+

Structured like a 5/3/1 workout, the 3 rep week.  This cuts back set volume by one from where I was at last week.

 

Box Pistol Squat

+30 x 5/5, 5/5, 5/5

These all left a rep or two in the tank.  Trying to keep great form.  Loaded via DB's on the shoulders.  The box really takes balance out of the equation, I was able to focus better on the press.  I think this might be the winner for adding volume this workout.

[Waldo]

I spent a lot of time today studying my bulking history, doing some data analysis.  Made a lot of corrections to the formulas I've been using to calculate LBM and fat mass from historic measurements (I've fairly drastically changed how I measure my waist a couple times).  Muscle measurements really align well with LBM now.  I learned quite a bit; I'd forgotten quite a bit about the details.

 

Overall I've done 7 bulks, 71 total weeks in a calorie surplus.  The duration decreased over time; the first was 17 weeks, the last 3 were 7 weeks each.  My weight gain was fairly consistent, 0.83 lb/wk was that fastest one went, 0.63 lb/wk was the slowest.  One of the 7 was pretty much a dud (not sure what happened there), I gained mostly fat.  The first was crazy, I gained mostly muscle.  The other 5 average around 60-40 muscle-fat, and I gained LBW at about 0.4 lb/wk .  The most fat I gained in a single bulk is 3.9 lbs.   Overall 52 lbs of weight gain, of which 34 lbs was muscle mass.

 

I thought I gained fat faster than I did.  The last two I gained just under 2 lbs of fat each over the course of just under 2 months.  Its been a while though, the last one was in 2016, the time before that 2014.

 

Anyways, today's measurements were better than expected, still keeping the muscle size.  Creatine is likely beginning to help, I felt like I could flex better.  Overall though I'm fairly shocked at how measurements have held up to the onslaught of deficits and how the gains during breaks persist.  Waist dropped about 1/2" in the last week.  Overall I've lost 5 lbs of fat mass this final undulation with no lean mass loss, in just under 3 weeks now (2 more days to go).

 

Holy cow do I ever have strong pec doms from my workout on Wed.  That extra bit to the rom, the form cues, wow what a difference that makes.  Just that short little workout.  I also have pretty strong elbow tendon soreness, so I decided to take it easy on intensity tonight's workout.

 

Workout Log - 8.19.22

 

Seated DB Overhead Press

35 x 10

40 x 10, 10, 10

Focused on good form and really feeling the press in my shoulders

 

45 Incline DB Bench Press

40 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Likewise, focused on good form and really feeling it in my chest

 

Wide Grip Chest to Bar Pullup

5, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5

I tried doing one earlier and I realized I could, and that I do in fact have enough space to do them in my basement.  I stopped counting when the reps turned trash, need positive bar contact and no kip.  I do need practice though with the timing, staying behind the bar with the swing.  These are a lot gentler on the elbows than strapping up +35 for each set, and if anything harder (you have to pull explosively or with an open elbow to stay behind the bar).  Rawr

 

Concentration Curl

35 x 6/6, 6/6

These seemed to bother the elbows quite a bit.  Its very similar to chinups from bicep to hand.  If I remember I'll change the variant next week to see if that helps.  I backed left a few reps in the tank each set.

 

Wrist Curl - 35 x 10/10, 8/8

Reverse Wrist Curl - 12 x 10/10, 10/10

Shoulder External Rotations - 12 x 10/10, 10/10

The shoulder exercise I saw on a video about bulletproof shoulders, it seems like an exercise worth doing.  Need to find a place for it, this isn't bad. 

[Waldo]

Well the transition point is close, just a few hours away.

 

I've been cutting now 3 weeks, I've dropped 1 1/8" on the tape around the waist and have lost about 5 lbs of fat.

I've been on a mostly continuous weight loss journey since getting vaccinated a year and a half ago, dropping 40 lbs total, 45-50 lbs of fat loss

I've been trying to lose weight since I bought my gym spring of '19; things got out of hand in the months leading up to and during the gov't shutdown of '19.  It took 4 failed dieting attempts before it finally stuck on the 5th try.

 

Losing fat is no longer my overall physical goal.  After a short maintenance period for recovery (and also per my goal to learn what it even means to maintain, its been so long since I last tried to do that), I'm going to work on muscle building in a calorie surplus, getting back to the short undulation plan I started following before moving disrupted everything back in '14, that I started to do in '16 (I fell off the tracking things wagon in fall of '16, during a bulk).  The basic gist of it is to ride a surplus to 3/4" (in the waist) of fat gain, then cut for 2 weeks to remove the excess fat, and return to the surplus (9-12 week full cycle).  Can adjust the gain down to 1/2", cut to 3/4" (2 weeks at standard cuttin hard pace) to slowly get leaner over time, which is exactly what I did the last 3 bulk cycles, gain 1/2" in the waist then switch, all 3 took 7 weeks to reach that.  3/4" in the waist is slight enough that you can barely even tell yourself when you're reeeealllly paying attention.  Though timing things with the holidays this year, it makes sense to bulk a bit longer and plan for a 2 cutting undulations with a week break, lining up the break with thanksgiving week.

 

My first new overall goal after I smash the tub of black raspberry n dark chocolate waiting in the freezer will be back to my old, old goal that I never actually reached; I want to be happy with my abs while at >205 lb.  I'm not happy with my abs right now at 197, I bet I could still drop another 5 lbs of fat before I'm really happy with them, but good enough for now.  Which means I at least need to gain 10 lbs of muscle mass.

 

I think the key to a successful transition here is goals.  I really do want to hit my target, its not just something thrown out there haphazardly to have something to work toward, I really put a lot of study into that number.  I think I overestimated by a good bit how lean I was in '16, when I convinced myself that I was at my long term goal.  When I cut in '17 I realized this, but I had already drank the kool aid that I reached my long term goal, and was happy just drifting along maintaining it.  After that cut in '17 I went a long time without any forward physical goals, just maintain, and maintaining always goes backwards (I did stay no more than 10 lbs away for a good while).  But now I also know I need a plan for what happens when I do actually reach my my long term goal, even if I'm realistically 2 years from reaching it even if I do everything right (not sure how comparable 40-something me will be to 30-something me in muscle growth rate).  Things went bad last time I thought I hit my ultimate goal, even if it took a few years to show, and even more to see it and realize the problem.  Losing weight successfully was what made me realize what the problem was, I had no long term goals, but it took success to see it; I didn't see the light and have success.  But it was a key part of the journey.

[Aquarii]

Just wanted to say hi! I have been lurking and kept telling myself I would say hi, but then I would forget by the time I was at my computer again.

 

I love your structured and data-driven approach to your goals and your challenge. It sounds like you have been making some really solid progress lately.

[Waldo]

Thanks!

 

Day isn't done yet, but I've tracked calories thus far all day.  Set my first target at 2700 net cal.  That's probably into small surplus territory, but small enough that it'd take weeks to visible in any way.  Refilling energy stores is going to require a surplus for a bit anyways; until that happens my body is still going to think its cutting.  Still feeling the hormonal effects from dieting pretty good.  Raised cals with ice cream last night, today's snack was a whole lot of breakfast cereal (vs some eggs whites and turkey sausage when cutting).  Since I started the creatine its been a steady march up on the scale.  It wouldn't surprise if I rise above 200 pretty quick.

 

I have my personal reward for successfully losing the weight, a new barbell, in the cart, I just don't have my wallet on me at the moment to check out.

 

Workout Log - 8.22.22

 

Starting a deload this week to go with the raised cals.  My body has long needed a good quality recovery period.

 

Heavy Bag - 20 minutes

15 minutes without gloves, 5 minutes with.  Had to take a break, knocked the bag clear off the mount one kick.  It had come loose in the swivel mechanism, so I had to retighten the bolts.  I could really feel the creatine starting to have an effect, its different than normal raised cals, I felt super light on my feet.

 

Pistol Squat

+15 mb - 8-/8-

16" box - 1+f, 1-

+15 mb - 8-/8-

I fell on the 2nd rep of the plyo set.  Glad I have a padded box, or that would have hurt.  Decided to call it good after that.

 

Deadlift

155 x 5

245 x 3

295 x 3-, 3-

265 x 3-, 3-

Doh for all but the last rep at 295.  265 was done with a hook grip, the first time I tried it.

 

Romanian Deadlift

155 x 10

[Waldo]

First day of picking back up counting cals went good.  Total for the day was 2763 net cals, 63 over my target, 3366 intake and 603 exercise.  I was not sloppy with it, waiting until 1155 pm to write it all out, rather I added to it through the day as I ate.  Scale is still staying under 200; 199.6 for the 2nd day in a row.

 

Whereas yesterday I felt like I was still cutting through the day, I woke up this am with the signs of raised cals; extra sore and exhausted (physically).  I expect this to increase further for the next couple days as full power recovery comes to life and starts churning through repairs.  Hopefully 2 weeks of recovery is enough to clear up most/all of the tendon soreness I've been dealing with, that's the big one.

 

New barbell is ordered, excited about that.  It'll be my first (and likely only) bit of Rogue equipment.  I got a black oxide (basically bare steel) Ohio bar.  Hopefully its a decent upgrade over my exceptionally beat up "comes with the weights" bar, lol.  This is one of those things that should go a long way to helping pick the right path here after losing the fat, a new barbell wants to be lifted, it is not a piece of art to be pondered.  My gym motivation has been super strong, need to keep it that way.