J4GGA2's Log: Becoming More Athletic

Training Logs
41

Noted

So the fix would be eyes under the bar when I set up and wrists over elbows when I press?

Do you mean so the band passes under my body, pulling my arms back into retraction?

Thank you loads for the help, Bot

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42

Bingo.

Pretty much everything else is covered.

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43

Like thisā€¦

no-slip-bench-press-with-resistance-bands

Or you can wrap it horizontally where your traps rest too. Basically it will make your traps stick to the bench.

Anytime, that is what this forum is for.

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44

Never seen this before, but I can see why it would work. Cheers

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45

Well, good news and bad news from a physio appointment.

Bad News:

  • I have a minor bulging disk in my lumbar spine, with inflammation
  • I am not allowed to do any strenuous lower-body exercise
  • Iā€™m going to have to limit squats and deadlifts to glute bridges and single-leg or normal bodyweight squats

Good News:

  • Itā€™s only for 1-2 weeks

The Plan:

  • Keep Benching and Pressing 5s PRO
  • Suspend heavy Squatting and Deadlifting, as well as all sprinting, oly-lifting and Good-Morninging until the end of this 531 Cycle. Replace lower body training with a sh*t ton of bodyweight and band assistance
  • Restart 5s PRO sets/reps with current Squat and DL TM next cycle, but progress Bench and OHP Normally

EDIT: In case youā€™re wondering how someone as weak as myself is injured, Iā€™ve spent the last 18 months lifting with pretty awful form on almost everything but DLs. A year and a half of ATG squatting with severe butt-wink wasnā€™t likely to do me any good

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46

I had this through high school. Pushing hard in the weight room with bad form and crashing into big guys 5 nights a week during football season. Self spinal traction and core work really helped me. Bar hangs (really focusing on letting your lower back go loose and letting your spine lengthen, or even putting my hands on my thighs and lightly pushing them down while elongating my spine.

Again, donā€™t do either of these if you feel discomfort at all. Ease into them and just do them for short periods for a bit, but they did help me tremendously. I also did traction at the physiotherapist (who recommended these previously recommended movements).

Also, I sat on a stability ball to do all my homework through high school and that core stabilization seemed to help as well.

Just a few suggestions!

That is NOTHING in the overall picture. My knee pain put me out of squatting heavy for over 2 months this year (still not 100%), and Iā€™m not concerned with it affecting my overall training career.

Stay safe!

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47

Thanks for the support!

What exactly is spinal traction?

48

Basically doing things that relieve pressure on the spine.

Could be as simple as lying down on the floor and relaxing the body so that things fall into place/hanging from a bar while relaxed to inversion therapy and vice versa.

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49

Thank you for clearing that up

50

Quick non-training update:

Iā€™m making the decision that I donā€™t need to go super low carb an AD it to the max. Iā€™ve been doing Anabolic Diet for few months only eating spinach, tomatoes and broccoli in terms of veges, and just starting eating more eggplant, zucchini and cabbage etc. (Cost and circumstance).

I feel SO MUCH BETTER. Dont get me wrong, I felt good earlier, but this is next level. It might be a psychological break or the variety of micronutrients, but I really do feel awesome.

So, Iā€™m gonna quit being so anal about eating >30g net carbs daily, and just focus on eating meat, eggs, quality supplements and any and all veges, refeeding with clean stuff only (as I have been doing) like rice, oatmeal, berries, Natural PB (closest thing to indulgence i get) and more veges.

exuent

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51

What is your reason for such low carb?, you dont appear to be overweight and low carb really isnt going to do much for your strength. ?

52

A couple of reasons:

  • it feels awesome to almost always have energy during the day, and virtually never feel hungry
  • Iā€™m pretty prone to going on crazy food binges, but keto makes that almost impossible as Iā€™m forced to ignore my taste for sweets
  • Iā€™m doing my best to get up into the 180s (i want to be competitive in the 182lb class) while being as lean as possible, and this style of eating seems conducive to that goal.

Iā€™ll have to disagree with you on this one. Lifting relies on a whole different energy system as glycotic functions, so I do okay, if not great on low-carb. Forgive me if Iā€™m wrong, but itā€™s my understanding that littlesleeper and pwnisher, as well as Uber-Coach Dan John tend to follow lower-carb diets themselves.

53

If you feel low carb will help, have at it by all means. However, if you want to add muscle and perform well, carbs are your friend.

54

Well, I do refeed weekly, but yeah. Itā€™s something to think about.

55

I think the thing you may have overlooked with @T3hPwnisher and @littlesleeper and Dan John is that a lot of their base of strength and size was built with carbs combined with regular physical activity like wrestling, football and athletics (correct me if Iā€™m wrong guys). Thereā€™s a big difference between improving on an already good base with a low carb approach when you no longer do much beyond training three to six days a week for and hour or two a pop and building that base under similar conditions.

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56

Thatā€™s a really good point, Mark. I think even Keto-King Mark Bell has said something similar.

I might try adding in an extra refeed weekly, then another, etc. etc. and if it all goes well Iā€™ll get back on the carbs train. Hopefully, Iā€™m not going to balloon up the moment I look at a sandwich

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57

Couple different things to consider. I would say the majority of my growth ocurred while low carb, but at the same time I have never been in ketosis. I intentionally avoid it, for the reasons you mention, in that performance tends to suffer there. I still eat enough carbs through fruit, veggies and milk to fuel training and growth.

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58

Yep youā€™re correct Mark! Iā€™ve done Keto for fat loss and it worked great but I would never go into Ketosis in an attempt to build mass. I am a low(er) carb guy for sure, usually ending up at 100g-200g/day (and typically consuming a very similar amount of fat) but that is plenty to fuel my 4x 45min workouts through the week. Any carbs beyond that seem to go straight to my cheeks, both sets.

I am still an advocate of the Keto diet for fat loss though, and would do it again myself if thatā€™s the route I decided to take.

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59

So would you reccommend simply having things like milk and fruit throughout the day to fuel training? I get pretty chubby pretty easy and love overdoing it with things like oatmeal and potatoes

I think right now my carbs would come in 40-60g a day, and fat around 150-200, i have a feeling trying at pwnisherā€™s style of eating would get me around this mark.

Do you guys think I should try something similar? I just want to make life as easy as possible once I make weight for PL (and maybe Strongman in the future), seeing as you never see fat lifters in the 181

60

I train first thing in the morning, so thatā€™s when I consume my carbs. I have fruit with honey before training, and a protein shake with milk after. After that, Iā€™ll have some greek yogurt with protein powder, and then the rest of the day is all meat and veggies. I wouldnā€™t really know how to approach it for training during other times of the day.

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