You might need to lay off deadlifting for a couple of weeks. Come back to it and work to to a heavy single. I’d be surprised if you got less than 220 kg after a couple of DL free weeks.
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Eat more…eat less…jeezo @theBird make your mind up! Haha dude I know, I could definitely find better alternatives to the chocolate etc, but honestly I’m making good progress right now and as soon as that stops, then I’ll get rid of the crap. But right now I’m losing fat, maintaining strength and loving my life, so I’m not going to rush into tightening things up prematurely.
I was thinking about you the other day, I reckon you’re my oldest friend on here. Right from the start there was you and a few other guys who haven’t posted in ages. I was thinking about Doherty’s gym in Melbourne, which feels like an absolute age ago. It was really cool that you suggested that. Unfortunately t-nation doesn’t appear to have a feature where you can see all your old interactions. A brief search shows we were definitely buds in 2013, that’s been quite a while.
@MarkKO I hadn’t thought of taking some time off it, I get quite twitchy doing that! Always think I’m going to lose all my progress lol. But I’ll definitely consider it. Thanks!
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I used to be the same, but now even one failed heavy pull and I back off completely for a week. It works. It’s got to be a first rep though. As long as you’re getting that first rep complete, even if it feels shitty, you’re OK. You need to start watching your DL, but you’re OK. If it won’t move, back off.
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T-Ransformation: Week 16 - Run
Run
6.2miles (10k)
Time: 1:02:32
I’ve knocked over 12 minutes off my 10k time, so that’s pretty damn awesome. Next time I’ll get it done in under an hour.
Nutrition
12:30: meatballs, potatoes
13:30: kitkat, banana
16:00: coke, 3 bananas
19:00: turkey breast, boiled potatoes, peas
Bodyweight: 95.8kg
2700kcal and 205g protein. Some bad choices (sorry @theBird) but mostly good ones. Great day!
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T-Ransformation: Week 16 - Pull
Kettlebell Rows
40kg: 5x5
Band Pull-Aparts
Blue: 5x30
Band Curls
Blue: 5x30
Just a brief upper back session today. Not much to report really. I plan to hit one-arm push-ups and pistol squats tomorrow, so this neatly filled the gap.
Nutrition
12:00: BLT, flapjack, blackberries
19:30: Pizza, peas, cookies
Bodyweight: 95.4kg
I went for a cheat meal today, which wasn’t a great idea, but I’ve been doing this for 24 days now and thought I could get away with it. 95.4kg is a new bodyweight low for this cut.
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T-Ransformation: Week 16 - Bodyweight
Pistol Squats
BW: 10x2
EMOM
One-Arm Push-Ups
BW: 10
I didn’t feel like doing a whole lot today, but this felt pretty good. My right knee was a little dodgy.
Nutrition
13:00: chicken wrap, blueberries
16:30: 2 bananas
18:00: Mars bar, dates
20:00: chicken breast, potatoes, tomatoes
Bodyweight: 96.6kg
I went a little lower on calories today because of how I ate yesterday - this was 2500kcal and 190g protein. I’m going to try to completely cut out sugar-free drinks starting today. My bodyweight is up a little, which is to be expected.
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T-Ransformation: Week 16 - Rest
Nutrition
12:30: chicken wrap, blueberries
18:00: barbeque
Bodyweight: 96.5kg
Last night my right leg felt really rough at both the fracture site and my ankle. I haven’t had pain at my fracture site in ages, and my ankle is never a problem. Looking back I felt weirdly good after my 10k and I wonder if yesterday’s pistol squats were just enough to tip the balance. It has felt ok today but I didn’t want to push it so I took a rest day.
My leg has done so well since the injury that it’s easy to forget how bad it was before, but I need to remind myself to take things easy. It’s only been 4 months since I first managed to run 1 mile and that left me in a lot of pain for days. So I need to treat my runs seriously.
Nutrition today wasn’t fantastic as I had a work barbeque in the evening. I only had 850kcal beforehand to make room and as such I think I probably stuck to my 2700kcal limit (or at least didn’t go much over). My protein intake was probably around the 150g mark.
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T-Ransformation: Week 16 - Rest
Nutrition
13:00: chicken sandwich, redbull, blueberries
17:00: 2 protein flapjacks, 2 bananas
19:00: chicken breast, boiled potatoes, veg
Bodyweight: 96.5kg
Really not much to say about today. I decided to take another rest day because I’m going camping for 5 days with my brother and want my leg to hold up well. Nutrition was good (2650kcal, 185g protein), although I was hungrier than usual. I’m a little disappointed my bodyweight has stayed up since the cheat meal - I was hoping this week I’d enter the 95s, but it’s no big deal.
T-Ransformation: Week 16 - Summary
Bodyweight: 96.2kg
Training: Very good run, everything else adequate
Nutrition: Pretty good, one big cheat meal and one barbeque
This week was pretty standard. My nutrition was good overall but my bodyweight was a little reluctant to drop. These things aren’t linear and I just need to stick the course.
Tomorrow I’m going camping with my brother until Wednesday morning, so I won’t update this until Wednesday afternoon. It’s going to be impossible to accurately track my nutrition camping, but that is not important. This will force me to take a little while off deadlifting too, so maybe I’ll come back a bit stronger.
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T-Ransformation: Week 17 - Rest
Nutrition
12:00: 3 rolls (avocado, chorizo), tomatoes
16:00: 2 bananas
19:00: chicken breast, parsnips
Bodyweight: 96.5kg
I had an awesome time camping but feel a bit beat up so took a rest day today. I underestimated how many calories were in that lunch so had to stay very clean the rest of the day. This was 2,700kcal and 230g protein so pretty good. I plan on doing a full-body gym day tomorrow and then a run the day after. I’ll deadlift tomorrow but probably just as a deload.
EDIT: I felt very weak so had a little chocolate at 5pm, which helped. Surprised by how hungry I am!
I have found this can be a herald of progress.
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Hopefully! Starving today again, hungrier than I was when I first dropped to 2300kcal.
Sounds about right. Coffee is my friend when that happens. I’d be surprised if you don’t drop a fair bit over the next week.
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T-Ransformation: Week 17 - Gym
Deadlifts
130kg: 2
150kg: 2
180kg: 1 - belt on, mixed grip
200kg: 1
220kg: F
220kg: F - straps
180kg: 5 - mixed grip
Bench Press
100kg: 5x3
Pull-Ups
BW: 3x6
Back Extensions
BW+20kg: 2x25
Fantastic session today. I attempted 220kg without straps and was millimetres from getting it - I was let down by my grip which slipped at the last moment. Then I attempted it again with straps and failed just below lockout. Two extremely close attempts, which I’m actually really happy with. It was especially awesome to follow them with 180kg for 5. The time off really helped (that @MarkKO guy knows what he’s talking about!). I’m also very happy with the bench press as I don’t think I’ve benched for a month.
Nutrition
11:30: crumpets, eggs
14:00: Relentless, protein bar
16:00: 3 bananas
17:00: crumpets
21:00: chicken casserole
Bodyweight: 96.3kg
I felt really rough all day today - brain fog, nausea, very tired and extremely hungry. As a result I snacked more than I should have and was on-track for hitting 3000kcal and 210g protein. However, after the gym my appetite was much more reasonable and I only ate half the casserole I’d planned. So this actually ended up as approximately 2700kcal and 160g protein. I’m pretty happy that I ended up sticking to the calorie target although the protein wasn’t fantastic.
Measurements
Forearms: 13.5"
Arms: 16"
Thighs: 25"/26"
Calves: 16.5"
I hadn’t taken my measurements in ages so updated them today. Upper body was unremarkable, calves are now equal and bigger than ever (presumably due to running) and my right thigh remains smaller than my left.
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T-Ransformation: Week 17 - Rest
Nutrition
12:00: chicken casserole
16:30: 2 bananas
18:00: duck breast, potatoes, veg
19:00: chocolate tart
Bodyweight: 95.9kg
Rest day today. I’m busy with work at the moment so my training frequency will drop a bit. We’re celebrating my wife’s birthday early today, hence the tart. I’m not sure exactly how this broke down, but I was at 1000kcal and 100g protein before dinner so should be good.
Bench Press/Push-Up Carryover
I just quickly went through my log and the last time I benched was 18th of March, so not far off two months ago. That time I got 100kg for one set of 6 then did back-off sets, whereas yesterday I did 100kg for 5x3 so I haven’t lost any strength. My push training since then has only consisted of one-arm push-ups apart from 2 overhead press sessions and one poor showing on the Smith machine bench. So it seems pretty clear that the one-arm push-up has really good carryover to the bench press for me. Unlike the pistol squat which seems to have no carryover to the barbell squat.
From my limited experience with 1 Arm Push Ups I can certainly see them being a good bodyweight assistance exercise for the Bench Press since it’s a similar motion. From doing limited Box Pistols and how you have to do them to stay balanced, it feels like a completely different movement than the barbell squat. I scratched learning Pistols off the list mostly because you can’t just sit straight down like in a Front Squat or Back Squat so I didn’t want to mess up my groove on barbell movements. I don’t know if you will agree with this, but I’ve started to consider things like 1 Arm Push Ups, Pistol Squats, Turkish Get Ups and other Kettelebell work (Snatches, Long Cycle etc.) as more of a skill. You can definitely train to get them better and stronger but I feel they are in a class by themselves aside from typical barbell work. Barbell has become a tool for general strength to where Kettlebell work has become more skill work.
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Yes I definitely agree with you on this! Although the bench press and one-arm push-up superficially appear very different, the movement pattern is extremely similar. All the cues from one work for the other, including how you set your upper back etc. The pistol squat and barbell squat patterns are very different though. The sitting back part is big, as well as the fact that you can’t stay as tight for the pistol squat or you lose the mobility to get all the way down!
Very interesting point man, and I mostly agree. I guess all exercises are on a spectrum between pure skill and brute strength. However, I have definitely found that all of the exercises you mention there have also made me stronger in a “real world” sense. To use the Turkish get-up as an example, there is undeniably a huge skill component in mastering the movement, but it also had a huge carryover to MMA I was doing at the time. I had never felt so strong in the clinch or wrestling in general. So while learning the movement is a very specific skill, it’s benefits are generalised.
I think the same applies to the pistol squat - it is too specific to have carryover to another specific movement (e.g. the barbell squat), but on general terms it has definitely made my legs stronger. The most obvious example being when I broke my right leg and suddenly had to rely on my left for everything - the strength I’d built (mostly with pistol squats) made an enormous difference to my life! I’ve also noticed that my legs feel stronger when hiking etc, especially when taking big strides up steep inclines/climbing over obstacles. I feel like I use my legs in a very pistol-like manner.
I think generally this is true, although certain barbell exercises require a hell of a lot of skill (olympic lifts etc) while some kettlebell exercises are actually pretty simple. But the way we do it - basic barbell lifts and more complex kettlebell/bodyweight ones - you’re definitely right!
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Very well said and put together!! Perfect example of when and how to use the term “functional” strength!!
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T-Ransformation: Week 17 - Run
Run
1.2 miles
Time: 9:47
I went for a shorter faster run today and I’m pretty happy with it. The first mile was under 8 minutes which I’m sure I’ve never done before. I think I’m going to stick to short distances for the majority of my training.
Nutrition
12:00: crumpets, eggs
16:00: Relentless, 2 bananas
19:00: chicken, rice, veg
Bodyweight: 96.5kg
Nutrition was good today - 2700kcal and 200g protein. Felt a bit hungry but less so than recently. Bodyweight is up again today.
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T-Ransformation: Week 17 - Summary
Bodyweight: 96.3kg
Training: Just 1 run and 1 gym session this week.
Nutrition: Good
I’m not going to lie I’m pretty disappointed that my weight hasn’t dropped this week, considering how hungry I’ve been. Having said that I understand this is never linear and hopefully I’ll have a breakthrough next week! Training-wise I just did the absolute minimum this week because of camping/work, but it still went very well.