Emma-Leigh

Hey Adrian!

How are things going on the lower cals? Are you getting hungry?

My fingers are crossed for you that you can get this over with quickly and painlessly...!!

Also - If LBM starts to drop quickly then I say rethink it significantly. You might want to bring your cals back up to maintainence and give yourself a good re-feed...

I say, if you can, keep your weights HIGH and try to get them higher. You want to make sure you do not lose lean mass - and the best way to do this is to lift HEAVY and HARD.

BulkMeUp

Hey Emma

Actually no, i dont! Mon & Tue were low days. I thought i would have to gnaw on my limbs between meals, but surprisingly i didnt feel any deep hunger pangs. dont know if that is a good thing. It could be the higher levels of complete protein sources on those days also i did 1-1.5cups veggies.

Thanks, Emma. This week (sat) will be the first week at this lowered diet. So that should tell how things are going.

Ok, will def keep a close eye out for that.

oh..ok.. i thought lifting hard on a cal restricted diet would not be a good idea. But i shall keep going and try to improve.

BulkMeUp

Ellipitical crosstrainer (HIIT)
All at level 2
5min warmup
RPM - low:40-45/high:116-126
5min cooldown

Rowing
level 1
10mins

Attempted the HIIT at 30 sec high/30sec low. Only managed to get the first 2 mins at that level. Did the next 3 at 20-25secs high. then had to a low for 90secs. Tried to do a few more highs after that, but only did one at 15sec high and called it quits (total 6 highs). This 30sec low/30sec high is quite tough. Need to work at it to improve.

Was not too satisfied with that HIIT session even though i was huffng anf puffing. So took a 5 min break and did 10min rowing at low-mod intensity.

Seems i might have retained some water this morning as i felt 'soft'. I think it might have been coz i used a bit of extra salt on a couple of the meals during the day. But couldnt help it. Just Tuna+veggies+olive oil need plenty of salt (and pepper) to give it some taste to get it down my throat.

Emma-Leigh

Getting tired so quickly could also be the lower carbs - less glycogen = less ability to do high intensity work... So don't get too discouraged!

I think I said it before - but remember, if you do find it too hard to stick to HIIT sessions then 30 mins at a moderate intensity will get the job done too.

LOL - what? You don't like the taste of olive oil??

Hmmm... What about things like adding lemon juice or bulsamic vinegar? Bulsamic vinegar + olive oil + black pepper makes a pretty yummy salad dressing. And what about like dried or fresh herbs (dill, mint, basil) or other spices (cayenne pepper etc)...??

Also - you could swap to avocado oil instead of olive oil... People find it is a little tastier on salads/vegetables.

But the bloat?? Hmm.. I doubt a little sald could cause a noticable bloat (not unless you went from no salt to LOTS of salt)... But the softness could also be the effects of the lower carbs (less carbs = less glycogen in muscles = 'softer' look).


I'm glad you are not too hungry.... That protein you eating is going to be saving you a lot of pain (and it will also be saving you lean muscle loss - so make sure you get it all in.. As I said - 1.5 x lean mass is an absolute MINIMUM when you are doing a diet that is low calorie/carb)!

Anyway - Hope the rest of your week goes well... Mine is nearly over!! Yay for the weekend!

BulkMeUp

I think for the next session, i shall try do as many mins of HIIT and then after a 5min break do some regular 20min cardio.

Thanks for those suggestions! I shall def try them.

Yep. Sticking strictly to the diet we storted out.

Hopefully this weekend is going to be a cooler one. July is shaping up to probably be the hottest month in history so far. And yay for the weekend! Hope the cold is not too bad over there.

BulkMeUp

Squats - wu - 90 x10, 10 - 180 x6, 200x6,6
Leg Press - 320 x6, 6 + 380 x6
Leg Extn - 160 x6 + 180x5
DB Militaries - wu - 20x10 - 45x4,4
Upright rows - 50x6,6
Bent overs - 25x6 + 15x6

Squats - managed to get 6 reps with quads parallel or atleast near parallel. Since this is P week, decided to up the weights by 20lbs. On the 5th rep of the next set, i almost didnt make it up. My hips came up, but the weights didnt come up as quickly, so my back bent a bit. I think lost a bit of focus there. Didnt quite make it to quads parallel for these 2 sets, but went as low as i could.

Leg press - upped weights by 50lbs and got to max reps. Decided to do and extra test set and increased weight by another 40lbs and got out max RR. Could have gotten more reps, or increased weight, but being explosive on the push was being compromised with the weight.

Leg extn - 160 got to max RR. tried and extra set at 180 and got to max RR. I think i shall stick to 160 as heavier weight makes it diff to hold at the top and slow 3sec negatives.

DB milis - no change in these. same as last time. Couldnt get even an extra rep out.

Upright rows - dropped weights by 20lbs. I wanted to focus on holding the weight at the top and slow 3 sec negatives. with heavier weight doing this form is difficult.

bent overs - first set same as last time. Tried a extra set with lower weight to hold at the top and slow negatives.

The last two need focus and lighter weights to do the 0/1/3 tempo. Tried my best to focus on tempo. Didnt do too well on focussing on RI. Need to reduce the time on the smaller muscles.
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Have noticed that for the past few weeks the squat racks are busy at the time i get to the gym with the same guys. Looks like all of us have scheduled to use them, though some were using the rack to do BB militaries and/or shrugs

Maybe from the next schedule, i shall start with Leg press. Lets see how it goes.
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Met a colleague in the kitchen who i havent seen in several weeks. She asked if i lost weight Dont get me wrong. Normally i get if a get told i look skinny. Telling me i look skinny is like telling most others they have put on weight, considering my lifelong drama to get big. But considering that i AM presently trying to lose, i was happy.
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Quads are kinds sore after this wo. But i want to get this fat loss going. Think i shall try some mod 20min cardio after todays back/bi wo.

BulkMeUp

WG seated rows - wu 60x10,10 - 130 x6, 6, 7
Bent over rows - 130 x5, 110x7 + 7
V grip pulldowns - 180 x6 + 6
EZ BB curls - 55 x6, 60x5 + 4
Hammers - 45x2, 40x6
Single arm cable curls - 30 x4 + preacher machine - 60x6
Weighted leg raises - 25x3, 3
Lying Crunches - 65x6, 75x8

Treadmill
20mins @4.5mph
3min cooldown

WG seated rows - increased these by 10lbs. Managed to get decent form/tempo.

Bent over rows - tired these aith 130 as per the last set of previopus P session. But didnt like it as couldnt get a good tempo. So reduced weight to focus more on tempo.

V grip - Same weight as last time, but did an extra set.

BB curls - did 5lb more than last time also used the EZ bar compared to straight bar that used last time. Got to max RR. so went up another 5lbs and got in RR. Did one more set and got to min RR.

Hammers - tried 45's instead of 40's that i used last time. But got only 2 reps out. Guess the BB curls took some energy away. So i ate humble pie and went back to 40's and got to max RR. decided not to do more to overkill my bi's

seated Single arm curls - i dont know why i botherred with this. Last time i decided to change, but i forgot to do so. These are not satisfying. So i did another set at the preacher machine. Couldnt think of anything else to do for arm work at that moment.

Weighted leg raises - couldnt find even one of the 20's DB. so tried it with 25lb. Didnt make it into RR of 4-6. But eill work towards improving this next time.

Lying crunches machine - This dosent work for lowrep/high weights. Good for DS stuff, though. I easily got to max RR and used the max nbr of plates on the machine need to find another way to do low rep ab work.

Need to focus and reduce the RI on this routine. Feels like it is taking too long for the number of sets/reps.

Was feeling a little down about the slow progress of bf loss. So got on the treadmill and did 20mins@4.5mph. Was sweating a lot. Hopefully this total wo of ~105mins does not have any adverse effect.

I think i hold back on the cardio due to fears of lbm loss. But from now on until i get to 10% i am going to include a 20-30min mod cardio on back and chest days in addition to the regular cardio days where i increase the cardio as well. Hope i am not biting off more than i can chew and it will be benificial.

BulkMeUp

Ellipitical
5min warmup @45rpm level1
10min HIIT - low level 3; 15secs/high level 6; 45secs.
5min cooldown

5min break

Treadmill
2min warmup
30min @ 5.0mph
5min cooldown

Pushed as much as i could on ellipitical. and managed to get 10mins out. Then took a break and got on the treadmill. Planned for 20mins, but pushed myself and got 30mins out. Wasnt sure i was going to make it. but i did. Could have maybe done a bit more, but ankles, calves and knees were probably getting stressed out. Havent done treadmill in a long time. Esp a point on the right knee to the right of the kneecap began to hurt. It still is a bit uncomfortable today and hopefully nothing serious.

Did this cardio session with the hope that it would make my fat loss move forward. But lookslike it might have had an adverse effect. (see bf info below)

BulkMeUp

9-Apr-2005 161 16% 135.2 25.8
16-Apr-2005 160 16% 134.4 25.6
23-Apr-2005 159 15% 135.2 23.9
30-Apr-2005 159 15% 135.2 23.9
7-May-2005 159 15% 135.2 23.9
14-May-2005 159 15% 135.2 23.9
21-May-2005 159 15% 135.2 23.9
28-May-2005 158 15% 134.3 23.7
4-Jun-2005 158 15% 134.3 23.7
11-Jun-2005 156 14% 134.2 21.8
18-Jun-2005 155 14% 133.3 21.7
25-Jun-2005 154 14% 132.4 21.6
2-Jul-2005 153 13% 133.1 19.9
7-Jul-2005 153.5 13% 133.5 20.0
16-Jul-2005 152.8 13% 132.9 19.9
23-Jul-2005 151.4 13% 131.7 19.7

Verdict : -3.5lbm & -4.2fat

This means i am down -1.2lbm & -0.2fat from last week Assuming that i can hold the lbm, when i average 151.0 i should drop to 12%, according to the math. So next week will tell if that will happen. If not i shall have to go back to the previous higher carb/cal cycle diet. Or maybe i should have lotsa carbs tomorrow as a refeed since tomorrow is a high day as well?? not sure

Tom_B

that's crappy Adrian ..

I've just given up on ever trying to REALLY lower my carbs , I find if I do I lose tons of LBM.
Remeber when I carb cycled last time and my no carb days where I'd eat 1000 cals that was great for me - did nothing for me , and just lost lots of LBM. But now I find with my carbs being 400+ everyday things are going great for me .

Maybe super low carbs / low cals just isn't gonna work for ya?? And your just better sucking it up and taking things slower...
You'll see next week I guess ..

Emma-Leigh

Adrian - I thought that this would happen..

So just quickly (my sister is letting me on to check my e-mails)...

Refeed... Do not risk it.

High carb for the next 24-36 hrs. Aim for 6-8g per lean mass over the first 24hrs and 3 to 4 over the next 12 hrs but don't worry if you go over a little.

Low fat, moderate fibre stuff - bagels, bread, pasta, rice, FF pancakes, FF waffles, rice-crackers, some oats... and a little fruit... a little FF dairy is fine too.

Make sure the whole day is LOW FAT (take your fish oils but try to lose the rest)!!! And keep protein moderate - 1.25g/pound (do not look specifically for protein - most if it will come).

Hope all is well... Sorry I can't spend a little more time here....

BulkMeUp

Yes. The last thing i need is lbm loss

I took Emmas advice and carbed up.

BulkMeUp

Thanks for taking the time to post, Emma.

Ok, i ate a crapload of carbs today.

BulkMeUp

BB flat bench - 50 x9,10 - 100 x5,4 +110x2
DB incline - 55's x5,5
BB declines - 70 x6, 80x6
Weighted dips - 0
Pushdowns - 90x4, 80x5 + 80x6
Overhead extn - 45x6,6 + 45x6
weighted leg raises - 0
Seated Leg raises - 100x6, 110x4

BB bench - no change fro last time

DB inclines & BB declines- cant really compare as was using diff weights the previous time.

Pushdowns - up 10lbs for the first set. But decided to reduce for the rest to focus more on 3sec negatives

Weighted dips - didnt much like these last time. Holding the DB with my feet was a bit tricky. So unless i buys a belt and chain to hold plates, this is out. As an alternate i used the assisted dips machine to do a few reps and may make that a regular next time in place of this.

Overhead DB extn - cant really compare. But i did 1 set 45db for 4reps last time. So i guess this time i am up by 2 reps. Could increase weight next time

Weighted leg raises - didnt do these. See below.

Lying crunches - Did these at the seated machine as i seem to have maxed out the plated on the lying machine.
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My knee incident from fridays cardio session acted up. it wasnt too bad when i woke up. But seemed to get bad on an off. I suspect that it was due to the way i lie down on the couch. Was quite painful sometimes and i ws walking with a limp. Walking up and down stairs was very painful and slow. So i decided to not to do anything to aggrivate the situation. hence dropped weighted leg raises and cardio.

BulkMeUp

Considering the knee situation. I skipped todays wo. I did wake up with no problems and only a mild discomfort in my knee. But decided to play it safe and skipped todays wo. Will try and do a make up session with quads/shoulders on tuesday.

I suspect the running on the treadmill might have dislodged a ligament at the side of my knee. But i guess it is on its way to healing.
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*burp* i ate sooo many carbs today. I have never eaten this much of bread in one day in my life!!

Here is what i ate :
item (cals/fat/carb/pro)
80g Oats (311/5/54/13)
1scoop whey (132/2/4/24)
1/2 apple (40/0/10/0)

4 english muffins (each 130/1/28/5)
1/2 tbsp stem ginger marmalade
1 Whole wheat & soy bagel (300/2/56/14)

2 Whole wheat & soy bagels (each 300/2/56/14)
Philadelphia light garden vegetable cream cheese spread (1tbsp - 25/2/1/1)

2 6" dinner rolls (each 100/2/19/3 - just a guess)
120g grilled chicken breast (181/4/0/34)
Some steamed eggplant/aubergine/brinjal

1 Whole wheat & soy bagel (300/2/56/14)
Philadelphia light garden vegetable cream cheese spread (1tbsp - 25/2/1/1)
2 english muffins (each 130/1/28/5)
Some Jam

6FOC

soooo approximately all that works out to.....
cals - 3300
fat - 45g (0.33g/lbm)
carbs - 492 (3.69g/lbm)
pro - 167 (1.25g/lbm)

well, i thought i would have at least gotten to 6g/lbm carbs but i barely made half! Oh well. I'll have the rest tomorrow.

Emma, would it be better to go back to the previous carb cycle diet (Mr.10%) after tomorrow?

Tom_B

lol recalc your totals again
45 x 9 = 405
492 x 4 = 1968
167 x 4 = 668

405 + 1968 + 668 = 3041

lol I knew it was a little off cause my high carb days look similar to that except my protein / carb intake is higher and mine just barely makes it around 3300 cals ..

P.S. If you're having another carb fest , eat some pasta as well! it's the only way I can get 600G of carbs in me LOL

about your knee

Emma-Leigh

Ok - Not as good as it needed to be (You needed to take a leaf out of my suggestions to tom - that meant you should have cracked open the gatorade.... And the kiddie cereal... And the pasta too...)....

Oh well....

For tomorrow.... Umm.... You could consider doing a GOOD workout and do another higher carb day. Don't try to hit the REALLY high carb levels that I suggested (it is not nearly as effective on the second 24 hrs and you may spill over) but do another moderately high day of 3-4 x total weight (so something like ~550g carbs). Protein ~150-200g and LOW LOW LOW fats - so try to get/keep it at 30-40g. So totals ~3300 cals.

Pre-workout meal should be a GOOD carb meal (oats + banana) and so should the PWO shake (dextrose or tootsie rolls?) and PWO meal (pasta or the like).. They should all be up near/above 100g carbs (90-100g before, 130-150g immediately PWO and then another 90-100g in the next meal). That is 300-350g right there.

You might want to consider doing a full body workout tomorrow for this purpose. Low reps (5 reps/set), 3-5 working sets + 2 warm up sets. eg:

Deadlifts
1 x 8 reps (not to failure - use 12 rep weight),
1 x 6 reps (use 10 rep weight),
4 x 5 reps

Then you could alternate these (rest 30 sec after first exercise then 120 after the second):
Bench press
1 x 8 reps (use 12 rep weight),
4 x 5 reps

Cable row
1 x 8 reps (with 12 rep weight),
4 x 5 reps


Then alternate the following as above:
DB overhead press
1 x 8 reps
4 x 5 reps

WG Lat pulls
1 x 8 reps
4 x 5 reps


But that is if you want (it will help with partitioning to your muscles)... NO CARDIO EITHER!!!

But - if you are unsure, then stick to your normal workout.


After that - I say go back to maintainence (~2200-2300 cals) for the next 2 days (rest the day following this... then the next day get back to your workouts) and see how your body reacts to the carb up...

BulkMeUp

The cal values i put there were the values as per the labels on the products. But if i calc as you did, there is always a diff. I never figured out why that was.

BulkMeUp

Oh. I guess i instictively picked up the clean stuff. Oh well. *dammit*

Ok. This i am prepared for today.

This i am not prepared for . I just saw this message and i am in the office. My pwo stuff/whey..etc is at home. So i guess i shall do the carb up day today(mon).

Tomorrow (tue) is cardio day and the next day (wed) is quads/shoulders + make up for the missed wo (hammies/calves) of sunday. I'll go upto maintenence, but should i continue that routine or do the full body wo you suggested for tomorrow(tue)? Either way, i'll come prepared for a wo tomorrow(tue) and rest on wed. Let me know which way to go.

Ok, so today(mon) carb up (550g). Tue/wed maintenence level.

Emma-Leigh

Sister is still asleep but I am checking in before I head off to the gym...

I only have 10 minutes but I really wanted to respond to this so I hope it is clear what I am trying to say....

Ok - Now I am confused... It is Monday now for you right? So you are half way through the day already right? So how can you do the carb up when the day is already half gone?

Ok - It was ment to go:
Sunday - No workout. HIGH CARB at 7-8g carbs/pound
Monday - Full body workout. NO CARDIO!! Mod carb at 3-4g carb/pound
Tuesday - Rest. NO CARDIO. Maintainence (~2300 cals)
Wednesday - ?? Workout. Maintainence (~2300 cals)

So that is what I was suggesting.... That way you load the carbs - then do a killer full body workout (so those carbs are put to their maximal use in building/repairing after that workout) then you do not waste them the next day on cardio...

I am not sure what you have decided, but either way do maintainence for Tues and Wed. Do not step on the scale Tuesday but weigh in on the Wed morning to see what is happening...

BulkMeUp

Am in the middle of the day and in the middle of the carb up. I came to the office prepared to do the carb up diet but not for a wo diet

Done