The Duce's Challenge Log 2017

Holy shit, maybe it’s just me but they’re so big that your arm literally look weird.

Been a long week, but I did get picks and weight from last Saturday. 186.2.

185.0 this morning.

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How do you feel about the mirror, just curious.

So, that’s a bit of a loaded question. In terms of how I look, eh. I’m getting better, but in truth it isn’t really that great. I still want to see better ab and quad definition. I don’t enjoy the look it as much as I was thinking I would, but that’s only a small part of my motivation. To be honest, a big part of losing weight is to play on a jungle gym.

My daughter has gotten to the level where she is running and jumping and sliding and climbing. I want to keep up as she grows. When we first started going to the playground with her I looked around at all the unfit overweight parents and thought to myself “haha. I’m fit, strong, and way lighter than I used to be, so can destroy all these obstacles.” At the time I was a little over 200 which was down from 240 in powerlifting. Then I actually tried some of the stuff I used to do as a kid and it didn’t go well. I can knock out pull ups and do ring muscle ups, so I was thinking I was a step from ninja warrior material. Turns out just plain monkey bars are hard. Grip was difficult, body control sucked, it made my shoulders ache. So the key for me is that as I get lighter I’m moving better. Goal when I set out was to hit 180 and evaluate and that’s still the plan. I want to get to a level I can stay ahead of my girl on the playground. What good is a 400 pound bench or even ripped abs if you can’t even monkey around on the playground because your shoulders are immobile and your energy is depleted?

I’m actually not really working that hard to lose weight. I’m very comfortable in my diet as I’ve made changes. I’ve even been adding in calories (and even some carbs ) for the past couple weeks and my weight has started dropping more than it was. It’s to the point I’m worried about stopping weight loss when I want to.

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It is a loaded question, and your answer was what I expected - confirmed my own feelings about my progress. I think it’s hard to picture the finish line when you know where you started - I look smaller, and don’t really see any improvements in my physique. But, I also know I’m in no man’s land right now - not big enough to be impressive, not lean enough to be impressive.

But, 240 - 185, that’s impressive.

It’s funny how you can fall for the same tricks over and over. Last time (like 4-5 years ago) I went from 240 to 225 to 200 to 190 over the course of a couple of years and was always sure the next 5 or 10 pounds where were it was at. But I have just never really gotten to that shredded level. I still keep feeling like it’s going to be there in the next few pounds and I was sure that starting in a much better place this time I was really going to get there. But I guess we’ll still see. I’m still getting leaner and still seeing changes in places like my forearms just not as much as I want in places like abs and lower chest. The skin on my arms and upper chest and delts is thin, but damned if the places I care about aren’t 5 times as thick.

Right now I feel like I’m in a reasonable medium between looking good with and without a shirt. I still look pretty good either way and I have a feeling this might be about the weight I return to long term. But, yeah I do think I’m starting to look smaller with a shirt on, though at a slower rate than the weight loss. The mental game will f-with you if you let it.

183.8 this morning. Made some tweaks and the weight is really coming off again.

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So this past week I’ve had a big coming to Jesus talk with myself. Turns out I’m older than I used to be. I know, it was a surprise to me to. Anyway, Lifting heavy and lifting frequently are becoming increasingly mutually exclusive. Especially when it comes to me auto regulating and compounding it by being in a caloric deficit. I had been squatting and pressing every day and I just cannot get it to work. I’ve tried everything, read all the books, listened to all the podcasts, and as is, I just can’t work it. I end up pushing when I shouldn’t then getting so beat up I can only do token weights for like the next week+.

I know I need more volume, and a structure that is going to provide enough boundaries to keep me from “idiot-ing” myself into getting hurt but let me push and challenge myself. I went to my library and started re-reading all my training books. While I love training, there was something I realized that was kind of a “duh” moment. I’m not competing, I’m not making money, training should make life outside the gym better (I’m paraphrasing Wendller). My training has been doing the opposite. I’m going to 5/3/1 and drastically cranking down the frequency and up the volume. 4 days a week is going to be tough for me as yesterday was the first day I didn’t touch a barbell in like a month. But I’ve come to the conclusion I require programmed FULL off days AND deloads. I’m not allowed to touch a barbell on off-days, and deloads are mandatory. I’m just going to have to try to go hard enough on training days I can mentally get through off days. That way my idiot self can’t go in to do some bicep pump work and end up going for a squat PR. The volume should work well for my current goals and it should be heavy enough to keep/get my strength back up. I’m also going to be actually doing back squats and deads which I haven’t been able to do because I can’t be trusted to auto-regulate those exercises. I’m just starting with absurdly low training maxes and we’ll see how it goes.

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Welcome to my world.

Just my .02 - volume is not your friend, intensity is, at least for me, on the advice of Andy Baker.

http://www.bakerstrengthcoaching.com/category/older-adults-seniors/

I think you’re on the right track, and everybody is different, so more volume might work for you. I just switched to 5’s Pro with ridiculously low training maxes, no AMRAP, and then joker sets to add intensity, and it feels good so far.

Bottom line, we should all do a program we enjoy, it shouldn’t be miserable going to the gym. For me, that means less volume and throwing in some joker sets.

Again, take it with a grain of salt. I’m 53.

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Well, I don’t plan on going overboard on volume. Jacking up my volume to a moderate amount will be a big increase. You have to understand that I was at an incredibly low volume.

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3 weeks into the restructure and I think it’s doing me good. Ready to make a last push for the finish. Not really sure I’m going to be posting pictures an such until the end so I can have something of a reveal. I am still taking the same pictures and recording my weights though. Might need to start tanning and pick out some board shorts.

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So I was actually up a couple of pounds over the past couple of weeks but with my nose back to the grind stone this past week weight is dropping again. I’ve also been sick this week which worked out because it was my first deload week and it made it easier to not train hard when you feel like crap. Instead I upped my low intensity activity (walking) and did a lot of pulling work in my workouts. I also used the deload to get a good break from most of my stimulants. Upcoming week I should be over this sickness and with my body feeling the least beat up it’s been in a long time along with some resensitization to stims. I was down to 182.4 this morning which is getting dangerously close to my goal. It’s going to be tough to see a 17-something number on the scale. On the bright side I’m really starting to see some changes in my stubborn spots. My abs are really finally peaking through the clouds and it’s been some great mental motivation seeing the skin get noticeably thinner.

Keep on keeping on:

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Damn!

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Really not having good sleep right now. Between the calories, coughing from sickness, and my 2 year old converting to a big girl bed, I’m not sleeping much. I may try to move some calories to closer to bed time so I have some more on my stomach at night. Back to the grind this morning after my deload. Good chest pump. Probably going to be adding a fat burner pre-cardio to help really get to the next level (I haven’t used any fat burners to this point).

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Very impressive Duce!

Bit of vacation this week, taking advantage of a real gym (and mirrors). Really buckling down on the diet pushing into my birthday in 2 weeks.

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Out of town last weekend so today was my first official weigh in in a couple weeks. 182.0. Only down about half a pound, but still tightening up.

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Just thought this was too funny not to share, popped up in my youtube subscriptions next to each other. Apparently Mark Bell is on keto because someone at all the carbs.

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Good day today. Woke up at 179.0 (-17 lbs). First time in the 170s since probably the end of HS (2001). Then went an hit a deadlift work out and hit 133kg (293 lbs) x16. Then worked up to 203kg (447 lbs) x1. Not very big weights, but I got to strain some on deadlifts and my back feels just fine. First time in probably a couple of years. I’ve actually been a little paranoid and am having to re-learn normal back pump/soreness from injury pain.

Edit: I didn’t even realize it, but that is a 2.5 x BW deadlift after high rep work. I probably shouldn’t use the same absolute weight metrics from when I was cutting to 220. I’ll refrain from calling 200+ not very heavy in the future.

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