Looking for Opinions

After the football season I have leaned up quite a bit (250 now). I don’t think I have ever dropped into single digit body fat in my life. But I definitely want to get back to power lifting and chasing that 500 BP! What do you think I should focus on;

  1. Take 8 weeks and diet down and see what I have under the hood? (BB type lifting with 2 to 3 days of cardio)

  2. Keep eating clean and start back in with a modified West side template to attack 500 BP? (4 days split MEB\DEB MES\DES and 1 day of Capacity training)

  3. Or Try to do both?

I have found I can’t serve two masters so I think 3 is not an option, or at least I have not been able to find a balanced approached to this where I can make decent gains in either. (I may just not be bright enough to figure it out)

I was thinking of dieting down but using the 8 weeks to address some imbalances i have (Glute for one) for power lifting. Cressy has written some great back and shoulder articles I could definitely benefit from but before this there was always a meet coming up and I never wanted to take time out to fix shit fearing it would adversely effect my numbers in a meet.

IDK finding it hard to get focused again after post football let down, lol…

What a question you pose, Colin. I guess I can’t say one way or another. But when that happens I fall back to my B-school lessons.

What is your overriding goal? What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to each scenario. What is your current reality and do you have the faith to prevail given all the difficulties to succeed in such set goal. I would suspect the competitive nature would prevail, but then again I am going by what I read, not knowing you personally.

I realize I have just typed a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that didn’t tell you crap, but I do think you have to weigh all the options somewhat analytically, and pull the trigger. I realize I sound like some dumbass management consultant!!!

However far be it for me to give advice when I can’t decide WTF I’m lifting for these days!!!

Good luck, I will be following whatever path you choose very closely.

When did FB end? I always liked to take a week or two off after FB and let my shoulders & knees recover. I played OG and LB and took a beating through the year.

I kind of like the idea of “seeing what’s under the hood”. You’re already leaned out. Keep going for a little while. It’ll ultimately give you a solid/lean foundation for when you start to increase your cals for PL.

You’re a strong hombre. Your numbers will climb once you start going hard & heavy.

Walk on the Westside, and go for 500.

Abs aren’t worth all the cardio, anyway.

Take 6 - 8 weeks to identify and correct any imbalances or weaknesses and at the same time continue to eat clean.

In my personal experience, imbalances always lead to training ending injuries. Fix what is broken first, then go for 500.

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. Football ended last saturday and I have been healing up with allot of blood work. I am leaning toward getting to a low body fat simply becuase I have never done it before. It would be cool to see what I looked like around 8%. But J-Willy you are correct! I sometimes have a hard time staying focused when I am training just to train. The season was a bit rough on the elbows but other than that I feel pretty good!

[quote]varnish wrote:
Take 6 - 8 weeks to identify and correct any imbalances or weaknesses and at the same time continue to eat clean.

In my personal experience, imbalances always lead to training ending injuries. Fix what is broken first, then go for 500.
[/quote]

I know you are right but this is like kissing your sister, zero excitement…LOL

Thanks again!

[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:
varnish wrote:
Take 6 - 8 weeks to identify and correct any imbalances or weaknesses and at the same time continue to eat clean.

In my personal experience, imbalances always lead to training ending injuries. Fix what is broken first, then go for 500.

I know you are right but this is like kissing your sister, zero excitement…LOL

Thanks again!

[/quote]

I feel your pain. I do endless amounts of foam rolling, activation work and mobility exercises just so I can add a few pounds to the bar. It does work but, OH so Boring ( if only I was Twenty again ).

Well in Alabama if your sister’s cute…
I go through the post season let down after every T&F season. Right now I’m still playing around with what I want to do. Oly or powerlifting.
My opinion, go after the 500.

After following you getting ready for football I can’t really see you not shooting for something besides low body fat. Just make sure the tricep is up to it first. You can get leaner and meaner later when you’re old and feeble in your 50s.

Leaning down can lead to all sorts of good things. Your energy level will rise significantly. Fewer health issues like colds and fatique. Not to mention the sharp rise in your level of selfesteem and the pat on the back from your ego! I think you will be surprised.

[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:
After the football season I have leaned up quite a bit (250 now). I don’t think I have ever dropped into single digit body fat in my life.[/quote]

And you want to now because … ? It ain’t no big whoop. Honest! And it really doesn’t do anything for you unless you’ve got health issues or plan to take a Hawaiian vacation in the near future.

[quote]But I definitely want to get back to power lifting and chasing that 500 BP! What do you think I should focus on;

  1. Take 8 weeks and diet down and see what I have under the hood? (BB type lifting with 2 to 3 days of cardio)

  2. Keep eating clean and start back in with a modified West side template to attack 500 BP? (4 days split MEB\DEB MES\DES and 1 day of Capacity training)[/quote]

I always vote for eating clean. Always. Now if all the pistons are firing I’d also vote for going for the BP. Hey, sorry to point out the obvious, but you ain’t gettin’ any younger! What happens if next season your shoulders take a hit, huh? Then what happens to that BP goal? You could be screwed six ways to Sunday. So I say no time like the present. Forget the pretty boy crap for now … you look good enough as it is.

Pull your head out of your ass, man!

Well, you can’t have good looks AND brains. :wink:

Screw dieting down. Eat clean, keep your conditioning up. The rest will take care of itself. And yeah, fix the imbalances. That’s a no-brainer.

Better fix that stuff NOW, bro! A busted up body will sure 'nuff have an adverse affect on your meet numbers.

Understandable. So give yourself a week or two, then get back on track.

Cappy

Interesting commentary Cappy a bit of 2x4 advice? Can’t complain cause I opened myself up for it, lol. Age is just a number, you can run that “Getting older” shit on someone else. I don’t buy in to it.

There is just a higher price to pay for what it is you want to do, simple. Playing football cost me a left triceps tendon and it was worth it to me. I do eat clean year round anyway. Oh and my head has been firmly removed from my ass for years by a TI named Tsgt Stocks…

I think I will fix those imbalances and diet while I am doing it. Nothing crazy like Fat fast or the V-diet. I will just cut calories to put me in a nice little deficit while I am bringing up my glutes and fixing my shoulders and back.

I apperciate the feedback! Train Hard and stay strong!

[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:

I think I will fix those imbalances and diet while I am doing it. Nothing crazy like Fat fast or the V-diet. I will just cut calories to put me in a nice little deficit while I am bringing up my glutes and fixing my shoulders and back.

I apperciate the feedback! Train Hard and stay strong! [/quote]

Sounds like you have a plan there Colin. I’m looking forward to following along.

How close to 500 are you right now? You skinny down and itll be tough to get your bench back up. My vote is eat right-but a lot-and bench 500. You’ll have time to skinny down when you’re old and the joints wont let you bench 500.

I hit 485 in a comp but that was before the triceps injury and also 30 pounds heavier. To be honest I don’t know if the left triceps will be able to handle heavy loads anymore. The Doc said it should be stronger than before and I have seen other guys back to the heavy iron so i am thinking I should be ok…We shall see…lol

485…holy shit.

I would say go for the lean look and see what’s under the hood. That’s what I have done. There are many really big guys but only a couple who are ripped and muscular.

I have never had so many comments from complete strangers than I have since getting my BF% down to around 8%

Gonna be tough to be lean and hit a 500 bench in any reasonable time frame.

I’d take the Doc at his word, if he was any good. Hammer that baby.

[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:
Age is just a number, you can run that “Getting older” shit on someone else. I don’t buy in to it.[/quote]

Oh, I don’t buy into an old fart mindset, but I do respect an aging body. I don’t know about you, but I hope to be driving this model for a long time. The better it operates and the less it hurts because of something stupid I’ve done, the happier I’m gonna be. I’m old enough to have acquired a few normal wear and tear issues and I’ve played hard enough to have added some baggage of my own. I didn’t buy into the warning about getting older and accumulative wear and tear until it started to affect my ability to work and enjoy doing a few other things that I took for granted. So suit yourself, but they say hindsight is 20/20. I’d sure as hell hate to see you spend a couple of decades saying coulda, shoulda, woulda eased up on the accelerator had you known then what you know now.

Well, yeah. But if you could still wipe your own ass and blow your nose then it’s not like you made a big huge sacrifice by screwing up a triceps tendon. Inconvenient? Maybe. Fixable? Yes. But not exactly life-altering stuff. Now maybe if that sacrificial injury took you permanently off the FB roster, deep-sixed your chances of ever lifting a weight again and forced you out of your career … then maybe you’d sing a different tune. Shit happens. And it can happen to anyone. You just never think it will happen to YOU. Especially not doing something fun!

Exactly. So do you think you’ll hit 500 at a lighter bodyweight? Which leads right back to your OP: diet or work toward the BP goal? (Um, FWIW, IMO #1 & #2 cancel out #3)

OK, here is what I think is the crux of your thread. You present two choices. At some point you’d like to go after each goal, but you’re not really sure you can achieve either. You’re standing at a crossroads, trying to make a choice between to very different goals. If you lean out, it won’t help you reach your BP goal, and if you go for the BP you’ll probably need to gain some weight and bodyfat. There aren’t many roadblocks to leaning out; just your own desire and willpower.

There could be some significant hurdles to hitting the PB goal, but you won’t know until you try. IMO, the BP won’t get any easier with time. After all, who knows what next FB season will bring? But it’s your choice. Nobody can tell you what’s more important to you now or in the long run. I’d just look at the big picture, try to evaluate what sort of process is involved in either choice and pick the one that resonates with you most.

I hope you don’t think I’m giving you a hard time. I’ve had to make similar choices and it’s never easy. But here’s the thing. I think you can achieve both (just not together) if you do things smart.

Cappy

[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:

I think I will fix those imbalances and diet while I am doing it. Nothing crazy like Fat fast or the V-diet. I will just cut calories to put me in a nice little deficit while I am bringing up my glutes and fixing my shoulders and back.

[/quote]

I think that is a wise decision especially after hearing about the triceps injury. Get your back, shoulders and triceps functioning properly and then get 500. Plus as an added bonus you will be leaner and meaner.

I am no strength coach but I think you should concentrate on floor presses and board presses. They will keep shoulder abuse to a minimum and strength those triceps.

Best of Luck Colin