It’s the shift work for me combined with me being stubborn about not training at night or on weekends so I don’t miss time with family. Basically that means I’m going to have to train between 0500 and 1800 Monday to Friday and if I finish work after 1600 I have to train before work. Nothing in the slightest to complain about, it’s rare I have to train early more than two or three days in a row.
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@MarkKO thanks for all the info! You’re very detailed and analytical in your approach, good stuff man. A couple things stick out to me, hopefully this info may be useful, and if not, toss it aside brother!
-You’ve been running a deficit for a year now, it may be beneficial to go back to maintenance for 4 weeks or so, then resume cutting again. Your body will thank you for it and it, and you may find you can go right back to your current numbers and see more progress.
-Fats are really low, which could be affecting testosterone, other hormones, and definitely blood sugar/satiety. Especially on a cut, it’s important to get enough good fats in. Protein intake looks good, but fats should be 25-30% of total daily cals optimally, at the very minimum 20% (55g), your low end of 35g is really low. 25% would be a minimum of 66g fats at 2,400 cals a day. Raising fats will help keep you fuller, longer, for sure.
I agree there’s a great benefit to getting the body used to being leaner, I find after every prep/contest season I’m able to raise my maintenance and stay leaner more easily. However, since you’ve been in a deficit for a year, as I mentioned earlier, it might be beneficial to go back to maintenance for just a little while. Doesn’t need to be a surplus, but maybe stopping cardio for 3-4 weeks and getting back to maintenance calories would be more helpful in the long run to reach your goals. Just my .02 bro, hope it helps!
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I had horrible golfers elbow too. Started from pull-ups, then baseball pissed it off even more. It got to the point of my hand feeling like arthritis and my back in pain just from my elbow.
I tried neutral grip but it didn’t quite work, so switched to rings. Haven’t had issues since.
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That’s my approach too. I get off at 1700 but don’t want to train in the evening because I only get a few hours with family in the evening. On Thursdays and Saturdays I’m in the basement by 5AM doing the heavy part of my workout before work so I can easily squeeze in the lower intensity stuff during my lunch break. I’m not a fan of early mornings but once I’m up and start moving I feel great.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I think morning workouts tend to suck because we’re all waking up empty. I don’t get up early enough to fuel myself with carbs. I just get downstairs and get to work. I eat breakfast afterwards to supply my body with what it needs. Fortunately I don’t think I’m working long enough to really tap into my glycogen stores during these morning sessions which means I can still put my body in an anabolic state.
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@robstein thanks again. That makes sense. I’ll definitely be increasing my fats when I got to 2500 cal/day - that’ll be via a tablespoon of peanut butter at bedtime.
I see what you mean with going to maintenance for short periods. I’ll bear it in mind if I keep getting hungry and it doesn’t go away. That said, the last couple of days have been better, not as hungry nor as drained. Possibly I was just tired and starting being a little bitch about it.
I never train on an empty stomach, there’s just something about early morning training that sucks for me.
Woke at 183 lbs. Feeling rested but the scap knot is being a pain.
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Bodyweight calf raises, same as before:
1x100 both feet in 20s: toes forward, toes in, toes out, toes in, toes out
5x20/foot single let alternating foot to foot
The more I do these, the more I feel them
Then later (long, annoying story) pushing a Mazda back and forth for a bit. At least I got to move something reasonably heavy.
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Jeremy’s a beast
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Dude squatted 710 lbs like it was nothing
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Woke at 183 lbs.
Calf raises again. Same as before:
1x100, toes front/in/out/in/out for 20 each
5x20 per leg - found out leaning forward slightly and using my hands to help me balance massively magnifies how much I feel my calves
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If you haven’t already, take some before photos so we can see if this works. I don’t think I’ve ever seen legit before and after photos for calf training. Most articles just show guys with massive calves and claim it’s from that specific workout.
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I’ll need to get a camera fitted to my microscope first.
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Night shift again, but only for four days (somehow managed to get leave for Thursday night).
Seriously considering trying to change the pattern slightly to see how it works: keep the fasting window, but shift the times to train right after work and then sleep. Means I’d have breakfast at the usual time and go to sleep later, but might manage a little more sleep. I’ll see how I feel when I get home, but I’m definitely hungry AF so really leaning towards home, breakfast, train and sleep.
Hey Mark, for the bodyweight stuff try running circuits. Really anything you can come with.
Like this:
squats
glute bridges
push-ups
pull-ups
incline push-ups
planks (if you like to do them, not mandatory)
calf raises
SLCR (add weight however much you want)
And then do ~20 reps for maybe five-six movements, then start over and repeat 3-4 times or as quick as you can in 20-25 mins.
I honestly forget where I saw this at, but give it a try, if you haven’t all ready.
Just tweak it for your calves if you wish.
That’s a lot of stuff though - kind of overkill for one body part. If I do what I’ve been doing once a day, that’s 1400 reps per week.
would you couple it with what you’ve been doing too?