New Journal time.
Last one went well, i hit my PL goal (exceeded, current pbs are 125/210/245 so 580 total), my weight has actually gone up though my BF% has gone down from 28% to 23%. Im now of the opinion that 100kg is not an attainable weight for me unless i either drop a lot of good mass or drop to sub 10% BF. Genetics and age are against me there in my opinion but i would like to get to a healthier 15% or so.
I have 5 weeks till i go to Dublin and then mallorca in which i will be trying the low carb + 24 hour refeed once per week approach to food. Ill be aiming for 3000-3250 calories per day and eating between 40-50g of good carbs (mostly coming from linseed, veg and berries). This is the cleanest i would have ever eaten, regardless of approach...actually its the first time ive had any sort of food plan.

Because of the low glycogen thing ive had to rethink my training. The high volume that i usually go for will kill me, so im dropping the amount of movements i do. Ive thought for a while i need to do this as i seemed to be stuck in the 'must hit from every angle' mode so nows a good time. Ive also structured my days so that the 'easier' sessions occur when im most depleted.

Will refeed every Sunday (after an initial 2 weeks to kick start the fat burning) and train as follows.

Late afternoon Sunday - Back/Traps
Deadlifts or Rackpulls (alternate weeks)
Bent over or T-bar rows (alternate weeks)
Pulldowns
BB/DB Shrugs

Early evening Tuesday - Legs
Squats
RDLs
Leg Press
Calf Raise

Early evening Thursday - Chest/Delts
Incline Press
DB Flyes
Military or Seated BB press
DB or cable side raises

Morning Saturday - Biceps/Triceps
Preacher curls or Heavy negs
Hammer curls
CGBP
Dips

Monday/Friday - 20-30mins steady state cardio + light core work.

4 movements per session down from the usual 7 or even 9 sometimes. Should keep the gym time down as less moving around but will up the working sets to 5-6 per exercise. Im dropping the HIIT cardio i usually do for this as again i think it will be too much of a drain. Steady state should be a better option during this phase.

My goal for the 5 weeks is really to see how i react on low carbs/carb refeed and lower volume training. Would be great to drop a couple %BF before my holidays but i really want to see if its a way forward for me.

Current weight : 121kg, 23% Bodyfat.
Current PBs : Bench 125kg, Deadlift 245kg, Squat 210kg, BOR 110kg, CGBP 100kg, Mil Press. 70kg, Incline Press 95kg.

Will assess at the end of the 5 weeks and then consider my approach after the holidays.

Your a dedicated old swine...thats for sure. Great plan.

Sunday 27th April

Diet: Last day of junk so im not going to list it. Surfice to say ive said a sad farwell to Star Bars and I have a roast dinner to get through soon.

Training: Back and Traps at Next Generation.
Movements.
Deads : 70kg x 10 (WU), 120kg x 10, 160kg x 5, 200kg x 3, 220kg x 1, 240kg x 1, 240kg x F.
BB BORs : 70kg x 10, 80kg x 10, 90kg x 8, 100kg x 6, 110kg x 4
Pulldowns : 49kg x 12, 63kg x 10, 77kg x 8, 84kg x 6, 91kg x 4
BB Shrugs : 120kg x 5, 120kg x 5, 120kg x 5, 140kg x 5, 140kg x 5, 150kg x 5.

Notes: Felt a bit weak for some reason, possibly over did it a bit the day before on last volume session on chest and delts so hopefully wont be an ongoing problem of 2 days back to back. Session went on too long, mainly as i got into discussions with people and spotting a few guys.. need to get a little ipod and just plug myself in i think.

Good sesh mate,glad i train in my back garden so i dont have to talk to people!

Monday 28th April

Diet


Ill be reviewing at this time each day and adjusting the final meal to suit, dropping nuts today and swapping for whey at 10pm as my protein is a little low and cals is a little high.

Training: None
Will be doing Cardio on mondays once my body's switched over.

Notes: Early days but enjoyed the meal plan today, didnt feel like i was dieting and the stuffed peppers were nice. Kind of looking forward to feeling what being glycogen depleted feels like at the end of the week.

Tuesday 29th April

Diet


Notes: Little high on carbs today but they all came from good sources. Was suprised at how many carbs my awesome pepper and garlic sauce had when i worked it out after. Happy with the overall breakdown though, no need for a final meal today, im pretty much there.

Training
Legs at Next Generation
Movements
Squats - 45kg x 15(WU), 95kg x 10, 135kg x 10, 145kg x 8, 165kg x 6, 185kkg x 3
Seated calf raise - 150kg x 15, 200kg x 10, 220kg x 8
RDLs - 60kg x 10, 60kg x 10, 60kg x 10, 60kg x 10
Leg Extensions (toes out) - 40kg x 12, 70kg x 10, 90kg x 10, 100kg x 8.

Notes: Great session, went into it very tired. I think the glycogen depletion is starting to kick in as im very fuzzy in the head. Also used no stimulants as im pretty sure MP Pulse has a carb in it. Squats felt strong, i didnt use wraps and belt till last 2 sets. RDLs i stayed light and nailed the form rather than massaging my ego and piling on the plates and really felt it.. but to much as i felt a slight right hamstring twinge on last set but nothing major. No lower back tightness at all, didnt get it sunday after deadlifting either so pleased there also.

All in all a good day... and i have GTA4 to play after i do my food for tomorrow in a bit

That is one massive deadlift duuude. Nice format.

ta matey, im quite enjoying doing stuff properly so far.

Looking strong there.

This will be a really impresive journal

ta mate, i hope the results are as good as the journal

I'd say so judging by the weight you're already shifting.

Wednesday 30th April

Diet



Notes: Bit heavy on the carbs today, but im not convinced garlic is as carby as the site i use says and all the carbs came from veg/linseed so im not too worried. Cals slightly high also but still under maintenance so again im not too worried. Whey and cream for final meal today will keep the split decent i think, close to 200g protein but still with 60% from fat.

Training:
Wednsesday will always be a rest day even once im switched.

Overall : Finding it hard to eat all the food. Suprising as im sure i usually get through 4-5000 a day but i guess eating a lot of starchy and sugary food makes eating lots of kcals easier. Felt groggy most of the day, the legs session last night felt like it drew a lot of my energy reserves so hopefully it brought the switch closer.

Thursday 1st March

Diet



Notes: Little high on the cals today, went a bit cream crazy so need to be a bit more careful there.

Training
Biceps/Triceps at Next Generation
Movements
EZ bar curls - 30kg x 12, 30kg x 12, 35kg x 8, 35kg,x 6, 30kg x 10
EZ skullcrushers - 30kg x 12, 30kg x 12, 35kg x 10, 35kg x 10, 30kg x 10
Rope curls - 5plates x 15, 6 x 12, 7 x 12, 8 x 10, 9 x 10.
Vbar pushdowns - 9plates x 15, 11 x 12, 13 x 10, 15 x 8, 17 x 6, 19 x 4, 20(max) x 4.

Notes : Hardest workout ive ever done. Almost passed out a few times so kept exercises to safe ones.. ie no CGBP.
4th day into the low carbing and think my energy reserves are pretty much bottomed out, now bring on the switch ive heard so much about.

lol u'll get there mate. Keep it up!

This is good mate, I like the fact you're being honest with yourself in terms of diet - that's where a lot of people slip up in the long run IMO

Friday 2nd May

Diet.
Not going to keep linking my full food breakdown each day as this thread could end up taking ages to load, specially if Photobucket is down so will just list the breakdown.

Carbs : 29.95g
Fat : 335.7g
Protein : 167g
Total Calories : 3187
Notes : Carbs spot on but low Protein.. paying more attention to protein now so shouldnt happen again.

Training : None
Will do Cardio and Core work on friday next week.

need to up protein mate...youll def shed muscle tissue...even though the fat is high

Saturday 3rd May

Diet
Carbs : 43.66g
Fat : 309g
Protein : 253g
Total Cals : 3379
Notes : Not a bad day, good cals and protein. A little high on carbs, but its a training day so not too worried.

Training
Chest/Delts at Next Generation
Movements
Iso wide chest press - 40kg x 20(WU), 90kg x 15, 130kg x 8, 150kg x 4
Iso decline press - 40kg x 15, 80kg x 10, 100kg x 6, 110kg x 4
Seated Cable Flyes(each arm) - 15kg x 15, 22.5kg x 12, 30kg x 12, 37.5kg x 12, 45kg x 10, 52.5kg x 8
Seated Smith Press - Smith+30kg x 12, +30kg x 10, +30kg x 8, +40kg x 6, +40kg x 6
Cable lateral raises(each arm) - 2 plates x 10, 3 plates x 10, 4 plates x 6, 8 plates x 3
Cable reverse x-overs(each arm) - 2 plates x 12, 3 plates x 8, 4 plates x 7, 2 plates x 8(+3 sec holds.)
Notes: Stayed away from free weights as in my depleted state it could have got nasty but upped the volume. Pleased with this session though, really felt the seated cable flyes, first time ive used this bit of kit, wont be the last, really allows for some excellent flyes form while still overloading.

Overall: Not a bad day, dissapointed i havent switched yet but will stick at it.

kp1512 wrote:need to up protein mate...youll def shed muscle tissue...even though the fat is high

aye that was yesterdays food before i questioned my protein again..didnt get round to writing it up.. todays (above) is much better

Sunday 4th May

Diet
Carbs : 50g
Fat : 268g
Protein : 263g
Total Cals : 3311
Notes : Bit screwed up today, lots of veg with roast beef which really added to the cho count and the roast beef itself is a total protein fest.. but had a decent training session so happy enough.

Training
Back/Traps at Next Generation
Rack Pulls - 70kg x 10,120kg x 10,160kg x 8,180kg x 6,200kg x 4,220kg x 4,250kg x 3,270kg x 1(PB)
SA T-Bar Rows (each arm) - 20kg x 10, 30kg x 10, 40kg x 8, 45kg x 6, 50kg x 4
Pulldowns - 63kg x 12, 70kg x 10, 77kg x 8, 84kg x 6, 91kg x 4
Barbell Shrugs - 70kg x 15, 100kg x 10, 120kg x 10, 140kg x 8, 160kg x 6
Notes: Good rack pulls and first time ive done SA T-bars.. awesome exercise, my new favourite horizontal pull.

Overall : Food a bit messy today, but a strong training session. Suprisingly strong as i felt really drained and light headed going in.

thats a bloody good rack pull! you must be made up

very mate, training partner said form was spot on, it did feel very tidy. Massively suprised as i mentioned as i felt really depleted being 7 days into low carbing.

do you feel tired all the time with this low carb stuff?

any weight loss so far?

So far i have felt tired all the time, i think im extremely carb dependent.
No weight loss yet though im told i look trimmer. Will wait till im properly cycling carbs to play with the kcal input.

Marks1972 wrote:So far i have felt tired all the time, i think im extremely carb dependent.
No weight loss yet though im told i look trimmer. Will wait till im properly cycling carbs to play with the kcal input.

Mark

How long have you been on low carb and if I recall you fats are over 300g?