ArgSki77 Travels to the Renaissance Period

[ArgSki77]

Despite the title and introduction picture, I am not one who is particularly interested in the Renaissance Period of history. In fact, as I remember, it caused some headaches when it came to studying it in high school history class. 

 

What I am interested in, however, is the Renaissance Periodization diet. My coach has given me their E-Book with all of their concepts and science-y reasoning. Their ideas center around a wave style pattern of cutting/bulking with a focus on carb cycling. They also aim to structure their meal plans around being able to perform in the gym to the best of your ability on those calorie numbers. If anyone is interested, you can read more about it on their website. 

 

My coach has had a great deal of success using their templates for both massing and cutting in the past and he recommended I try it when I mentioned I want to cut. I have been saving up some money these last few weeks and am going to make an investment in my health and my training by purchasing their templates for cutting. This is going to be my first real attempt at a cut so I don't have any real numbers in mind for what I want/should expect during a cut on this program.

 

Also, none of the cutting is going to start until zero week is over. I am competing in my first powerlifting competition on Friday morning so I am currently on a deload this week until then. Luckily, there isnt a weigh in for this comp so I am not restricted on diet leading up and I am eating at recovery pace so that I am at full strength for that.

 

Also, to the boos and jeers of you fellow Warriors, my training after the competition will likely be less powerlifting centric. I still plan on keeping these lifting skills up(which is why I am staying currently in the warrior threads) though focus is going to shift towards some functional movement work through classes at my new gym. My schedule has calmed down enough that I believe I can start regularly scheduling some classes at the gym in the morning before work. These classes are more of a boot camp style of training but with a greatly varied focus from once class to the next. One class may be powerlifting training when the next time would be kettlebell cycles and the next sandbag and strongman work. I think the set schedule and change in programming will help me avoid getting bored on the same program and the variation will help with future goals of completing Spartan and GoRuck events.

 

For those that made it this far, congratulations! You are now rewarded with a TLDR version of what I just explained in detail.

 

Challenge Goals:

1) Complete first powerlifting competition!

Measurement: 

Pass/Fail - Attempting to join the 1000lbs club in order to reach award status of competition.

 

2) Buy RP templates for fat loss...Use them to cut...Profit?

Measurement:

Pass/Fail - Templates purchased during zero week.

Pass/Fail - Take measurements at start of cut. Not just weight(waist, stomach, neck sizes). All the data points

# of Days - Use templates to map out daily food intake. Lose points for not sticking to template.

 

3) New training regimen

Measurement:

Pass/Fail - Set up new training schedule during zero week.

# of Days - Adhere to new training schedule.

[Grymm]

Good luck on your competition!

[miss_marissa]

1 hour ago, ArgSki77 said:

Also, to the boos and jeers of you fellow Warriors, my training after the competition will likely be less powerlifting centric. I still plan on keeping these lifting skills up(which is why I am staying currently in the warrior threads) though focus is going to shift towards some functional movement work through classes at my new gym. My schedule has calmed down enough that I believe I can start regularly scheduling some classes at the gym in the morning before work. These classes are more of a boot camp style of training but with a greatly varied focus from once class to the next. One class may be powerlifting training when the next time would be kettlebell cycles and the next sandbag and strongman work. I think the set schedule and change in programming will help me avoid getting bored on the same program and the variation will help with future goals of completing Spartan and GoRuck events.

This sounds to me like you are still firmly in Warrior camp.

[Jord]

15 hours ago, ArgSki77 said:

 

 

Also, to the boos and jeers of you fellow Warriors, my training after the competition will likely be less powerlifting centric. I still plan on keeping these lifting skills up(which is why I am staying currently in the warrior threads) though focus is going to shift towards some functional movement work through classes at my new gym. My schedule has calmed down enough that I believe I can start regularly scheduling some classes at the gym in the morning before work. These classes are more of a boot camp style of training but with a greatly varied focus from once class to the next. One class may be powerlifting training when the next time would be kettlebell cycles and the next sandbag and strongman work. I think the set schedule and change in programming will help me avoid getting bored on the same program and the variation will help with future goals of completing Spartan and GoRuck events.

 

 

 

Just kidding. Do whatever you want as long as you don't leave us warriors. You know you are never leaving the warriors, correct? 

 /cult leader speech

[ArgSki77]

14 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

This sounds to me like you are still firmly in Warrior camp.

 

47 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Just kidding. Do whatever you want as long as you don't leave us warriors. You know you are never leaving the warriors, correct? 

 /cult leader speech

Luckily training for Spartan and GoRuck, while sounding very Ranger-ish, can be handled by lifting heavy things. At least thats the mindset at the gym I go to which is sponsored by both events. Just a bit more balance between straight powerlifting routine and functional bodyweight(or sandbag or sled or rope or mace...) work.

[ArgSki77]

Week 0 Day 1

So yesterday was day 1 of deload week. Nothing really that exciting. Did ROMWOD and made dinner all before 8pm. That has been unheard of the last few months with work and training. Typically dinner has been at like 9pm or later so it actually kind of felt weird to be done with everything before 8. Its only been one day and I really really want to go to the gym. What a change from 2 years ago where I would have needed to be physically dragged there.

 

I also discovered the new joy of Halo Top ice cream. Im a big ice cream fan and its typically a macro killer although I can usually make it work if I am careful. But with halo top, I can use the whole pint as a serving size and that is awesome. Obviously not as good as a pint of Ben and Jerry's but certainly passable, especially for 240 calories for the entire pint!

[Sam Ashen]

20 hours ago, Grymm said:

Good luck on your competition!

 

Ya.  Good luck!

 

21 hours ago, ArgSki77 said:

Also, to the boos and jeers of you fellow Warriors, my training after the competition will likely be less powerlifting centric.

 

No boos and jeers.  Your goals are your goals and you identify with the Warriors and that makes you a Warrior!

 

19 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

This sounds to me like you are still firmly in Warrior camp.

 

Just like this.

[AugustaAdaByron]

Good luck on the competition!

[ArgSki77]

Zero Week Day 2

Making some moves on the zero week challenges! Last night, I purchased the RP templates for a cut at my size. I am pretty amazed at how well laid out all their documents are. They provided a big Q&A and How To documents along with a big Excel sheet with all the different levels of diet and combinations of workout times. I will break down more specifics in the spoiler below but its long so Ill hide it for those who just want to see the numbers.

Spoiler

The diet levels consist of Base, Cut 1, Cut 2, Cut 3, Maintenance 1, Maintenance 2, and New Base. Each of those have options for training first thing, morning, noon, afternoon, and late night. They also have options for rest days, light, medium, and heavy days. So its a big document.

 

They provide a guide to determine what level of workout day you have. I likely wont ever use the medium or heavy days(Heavy is for "2-3 hour workouts consisting of metcon and weights with 10 working sets of 10+ reps"....holy crap). So my focus was on rest and light days.

 

Its basically as simple as follow what the excel sheet and then re-evaluate at the end of 2 week span. Start at their base level for a week, unless weight doesn't stay constant then there are minor tweaks to make until finding a steady point. Following that, its time for Cut 1. The diets are designed to cut 1-2lbs a week since I am over 200lbs. If I start loosing less that 1lb a week, I would go to the next level of cut. Continue on a cut phase for 3 months and then use the maintenance and new base diets for 2 months to recover from the cut.

 

They dont give exact calorie amounts but rather oz of protein, cups of veggies, and servings of fats, etc but they gave a guide to calculate them. My numbers are farther down. Also, to note, if using their lean protein list, then the fats for those dont get added into their numbers for the day. Those are accounted for in the diet design. Because of that there could be a 10-15% variation in calories over the course of a few days depending on what proteins and veggies you choose.

 

Diet Breakdown

Base Diet

Rest Day = 3070cal (295g protein, 150g Fat, 135g Carbs)

Light Day = 3070cal (295g protein, 98g Fat, 250g Carbs)

 

Cut 1 Diet - Note for those who didnt read whole thing - Fat in this is just added fats - Fat from lean proteins don't count.

Rest Day = 2060cal (295g protein, 37.5g Fat, 135g Carbs)

Light Day = 2386cal (295g protein, 22.5g Fat, 250g Carbs)

 

These would be numbers that if I had to choose for maintenance and cutting that I think I would have picked calorie wise. But the nutrient breakdown and timing are different than I usually see. Really just interested in having a strict template to follow again so that I dont vary off track as much as I usually do when trying to hit certain numbers.

[Grymm]

I'm interested to see how that works out for you.  Right now, I'm pretty strict with my workouts and very fast and loose with the diet.  Eventually, I'll need to be much stricter on the input side or start a late career change to sumo.  I don't think my glow-worm like skin tone would work well with the requisite work wardrobe change, though. 

[ArgSki77]

1 hour ago, Grymm said:

I don't think my glow-worm like skin tone would work well with the requisite work wardrobe change, though. 

vvv Whenever I take my shirt off at the beach vvv

[Jord]

I have  really dumb question that I have been curious about, not just for you, but also for other Warriors doing different calories on rest vs active days. What is the benefit of having less calories on rest days and more calories on lift days? If you are eating the same average of calories over the whole week, does eating more on a lift day provide extra benefit in terms of gains and/or weight loss? I'm curious about the science surrounding this as I've considered the concept but never executed it. 

[raptron]

YEEEE FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT! We likes those. Good luck with your meet this weekend! Sorry I won't be around to say hi and cheer you on! I've heard only good things about RP templates. 

[ArgSki77]

Just now, Taddea Zhaan said:

I have  really dumb question that I have been curious about, not just for you, but also for other Warriors doing different calories on rest vs active days. What is the benefit of having less calories on rest days and more calories on lift days? If you are eating the same average of calories over the whole week, does eating more on a lift day provide extra benefit in terms of gains and/or weight loss? I'm curious about the science surrounding this as I've considered the concept but never executed it. 

It kind of depends on whether you are in the camp of "calorie in, calorie out" being the only real diet strategy that you need. Its widely known that if you want to drop weight, you eat less calories and to gain weight you eat more. That being said, the idea behind increasing calories on lifting days is that you have more fuel in the tank while lifting. Typically the way people add or remove calories is to cycle the amount of carbs that they are eating. The reason I do it and the idea behind carb cycling is that you do not need the energy from carbs to just go out and do everyday things on a rest day. They are reserved for a day of training to give you that extra boost in the gym.

 

RP and some other diets like Eat to Perform are attempting to maximize gym performance and focus a bit more on recomposition rather than strict weight loss. I've read many stories that people on an RP cut are able to lose fat and still maintain or increase their lifts. Not saying that will happen to me but that type of dieting is a lifters dream, essentially bulking muscle while losing fat. 

 

RP takes carb cycling even one step farther than that which is to carb load around the gym period. If I workout in the morning, 75% of my carbs for the day are during/immediately after the gym within a 2 hour period. That just continues to feed the idea that you want to increase carbs to fuel a workout. I found the diagram the RP send with their book. It points out that a majority of dieting is calorie in/out and macro balance. The nutrient timing and composition is the last part that they try to work in with the cycling. Also very important to note, most important is the consistency, which is my biggest battle!

 

[ArgSki77]

I doubt anyone takes straight Casein Protein but if you do does anyone have good suggestions on a brand? My normal whey company doesn't make a casein isolate.

[miss_marissa]

4 hours ago, ArgSki77 said:

It kind of depends on whether you are in the camp of "calorie in, calorie out" being the only real diet strategy that you need. Its widely known that if you want to drop weight, you eat less calories and to gain weight you eat more. That being said, the idea behind increasing calories on lifting days is that you have more fuel in the tank while lifting. Typically the way people add or remove calories is to cycle the amount of carbs that they are eating. The reason I do it and the idea behind carb cycling is that you do not need the energy from carbs to just go out and do everyday things on a rest day. They are reserved for a day of training to give you that extra boost in the gym.

 

RP and some other diets like Eat to Perform are attempting to maximize gym performance and focus a bit more on recomposition rather than strict weight loss. I've read many stories that people on an RP cut are able to lose fat and still maintain or increase their lifts. Not saying that will happen to me but that type of dieting is a lifters dream, essentially bulking muscle while losing fat. 

 

RP takes carb cycling even one step farther than that which is to carb load around the gym period. If I workout in the morning, 75% of my carbs for the day are during/immediately after the gym within a 2 hour period. That just continues to feed the idea that you want to increase carbs to fuel a workout. I found the diagram the RP send with their book. It points out that a majority of dieting is calorie in/out and macro balance. The nutrient timing and composition is the last part that they try to work in with the cycling. Also very important to note, most important is the consistency, which is my biggest battle!

 

5 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

I have  really dumb question that I have been curious about, not just for you, but also for other Warriors doing different calories on rest vs active days. What is the benefit of having less calories on rest days and more calories on lift days? If you are eating the same average of calories over the whole week, does eating more on a lift day provide extra benefit in terms of gains and/or weight loss? I'm curious about the science surrounding this as I've considered the concept but never executed it. 

 

What he said is my basic understanding as well. Calories in vs. Calories out makes up the formula, but composition and timing give you the proper energy when you need it. The idea is you are burning carbs surrounding your workout and at other times you are burning stored body fat.

[ArgSki77]

Major success! I may have spent all day yesterday laying around more sore than I could have imagined and really only getting off the couch to do foam rolling or mobility but this is the most satisfying soreness that I have had.

 

Competition Recap:

Woke up a few hours before the comp and had some turkey and egg whites for breakfast with some toast. Got to the gym about a half hour before comp and did some foam rolling and basic warm up stretches and such.

 

The competition basically unfolded in this way: we all started off warming up with squats and then whenever you were ready for an attempt, you would call over one of the gym coaches to judge the lift. Once everyone was done with squats, we moved on to bench press in the same format followed by deadlifts.

 

Squats:

Warm Up:

10x45lbs

10x135lbs

5x175lbs

1x225lbs

1x275lbs

 

Opener - 315lbs - Felt solid as expected, its my typical training weight of 90%

Second - 335lbs - Didnt want to burn out so stayed just below my current max from training.

Third - 350lbs - Second lift felt good and I felt like I had a bunch in the tank still so went for the 10lb PR. I could have actually gone higher looking back but didnt want to risk future lifts.

 

Bench:

Warmup

10x45lbs

8x135lbs

3x185lbs

1x205lbs

 

Opener - 225lbs - Smooth and clean like in practice. No need for a pause bench so even easier

Second - 240lbs - Since first went well and the 235-245 confusion from final week of training, I split the difference. Bit of a struggle but it went up.

Third - 250lbs Fail - Went for it and didn't work out. I figured that with the squat PR, that was the one third lift that I needed to get above the 1000 so bench third attempt was a bonus. I got it off my chest but I couldn't get past the half way point. It stalled a few inches off my chest and lost that upward momentum.

 

Deadlift:

Warmup

10x135lbs

3x225lbs

1x315lbs

1x385lbs

 

Opener - 410lbs - I know I said 405 would be my opener but warm ups felt good and the 410 was to hit 1000 exactly so I said f*** it and went for it. Went up smooth no problems.

Second - 425lbs - All this was bonus so I went up to current PR weight. Also pretty easy but did have to grind a bit on the thighs which is unusual for me. Usually bit of grind getting off the ground but then I can complete and lock it out but not usually sticking at the top.

Third - 435lbs - This was again a super bonus lift. Wanted the PR and more than a 5lb PR so went for the 10lb PR. Had similar issues with grinding at the top. Almost came to complete stop on the thighs but was able to give a bit of a second pull to get it to lock out

 

Total: 1025lbs!! 

Overall awesome experience with some awesome people to remember and honor a fallen local soldier!

 

I helped out with the GoRuck Heavy event afterwards for a while to time their PT test. It was a version of the Ranger PT assessment and looked miserable. Two rounds of 400m ruck runs followed by placing 120lb sandbag on top of 6ft platform and then up and over 6ft wall and finally a 15ft rope climb. Second pass through was over 8ft wall. If they didnt make a specific time cut, then they were performance dropped from the event. Pressure packed. And they got to celebrate right afterwards with a timed 12mile ruck march...so fun. Glad I wasn't doing any of that right after max lifting!

 

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

Well done!!!!!

[Jord]

Congrats on joining the 1000lb club! You did it!!

 

[ArgSki77]

Week 1 Day 1:

First foray into the RP template diet. Spend a bunch of time meal prepping yesterday so that I am all set up for the week. Not quite on a cut yet as they suggest a week or two of base diet to make sure you maintain weight at the specific template levels. 

 

It was slightly different than my usual prep as there was different nutrient amounts depending on the day whether it was workout or lifting. Actually had to measure out my proteins and such so that I was sure that there was a difference that met the templates. Didnt take me much longer than usual though so thats nice. I updated my MFP for today with all of the meals and snacks for the day if anyone wants to see what a rest day looks like. Or you can see below for a picture of the whole week's prep besides dinner which I prefer to cook fresh.

 

 

I calculated the calories off of the standard template and followed their advice to ignore other nutrients from protein, carb and fat columns and it came out to around:

3100kcal with 295g protein, 150g fat and 135g carbs.

 

The daily intake for today is:

3265kcal with 310g protein, 155g fat and 166g carbs.

 

All of the differences come from things like proteins that I choose having fat and fats that I chose also have carbs and protein. But Id say that the macros are pretty spot on and certainly within the 10-15% variance the state may happen depending on food choice. Still need to do a day for workout on MFP just to see if I got those days right but I'm guessing they should be close.

[Jord]

Your food diary is set to private. How am I supposed to properly stalk you? 

[ArgSki77]

1 minute ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Your food diary is set to private. How am I supposed to properly stalk you?

It wasn't before. Let me fix that for you...

 

EDIT: Now fixed...I think

[Jord]

4 minutes ago, ArgSki77 said:

It wasn't before. Let me fix that for you...

 

EDIT: Now fixed...I think

 

Worked. 

 

I'm so mad that I have forgotten that apples with peanut butter is a thing. I'm doubly mad that I bought pears and not apples for this week. Apples + peanut butter would be a fabulous pre-workout snack for me. Plus I'll take an excuse to eat peanut butter.

 

Before I discovered Kashi Go Lean Cereal was a good source of fiber and protein I was having peanut butter and jelly sandwich on high fiber sugar free bread for breakfast. Damn, I miss that. (I also always have greek yogurt for breakfast. I'm not a total carb glutton.) The macros aren't crazy different except that the cereal has way less fat and a bit more sugar. I made the switch for the added fiber. When it gets to be the deep heart of winter I may want to go back to sandwiches and skip the cold cereal. 

 

 

[ArgSki77]

1 minute ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

I'm so mad that I have forgotten that apples with peanut butter is a thing. I'm doubly mad that I bought pears and not apples for this week. Apples + peanut butter would be a fabulous pre-workout snack for me. Plus I'll take an excuse to eat peanut butter.

 

Before I discovered Kashi Go Lean Cereal was a good source of fiber and protein I was having peanut butter and jelly sandwich on high fiber sugar free bread for breakfast. Damn, I miss that. (I also always have greek yogurt for breakfast. I'm not a total carb glutton.) The macros aren't crazy different except that the cereal has way less fat and a bit more sugar. I made the switch for the added fiber. When it gets to be the deep heart of winter I may want to go back to sandwiches and skip the cold cereal. 

You don't even understand how badly I am sitting here waiting for my snack at 330ish. Like I just finished my lunch 15 min ago but all I can think of is a bagel with peanut butter right now. Apple and peanut butter is one of my favorite snacks though too!

There is also more to that snack which is a great looking grilled chicken and pepper wrap but that is clearly secondary to the joys of peanut butter.

[Sam Ashen]

2 minutes ago, ArgSki77 said:

 

 

Now that's a "serving" of PB!