Also, when eating a high fat/low carb diet and you’re just switching, you need a good bit more calories than you normally would to stave off the shitty feeling you’ll get.
[quote]TheBigV wrote:
I’m going to tell you what you probably don’t want to hear.
Tank tops/wife beaters (white beaters? hah) look great on you because of your relatively lean and muscled arms. Your rib cage is large enough to fill out the top and your hips are small enough to give you a nice taper with a large back (male=large rib cage+small waist, opposite for woman).
Now you look at yourself without the tank top on. Small chest; flat, thin, but undefined abdominal area; a not so thick and not so wide upper back.
This is the reality of the situation.
As far as your diet goes… Way too much protein! Think about it this way. If you give your body a lot of carbohydrates, it will use glycogen as it’s main fuel source. Give it a lot of fat, and it will use fat as it’s main fuel source. What about protein? Same deal!
Basically, if you give your body a lot of something, it doesn’t need to spare it because it knows it gets a lot of it. Ideally protein should never be your highest macro (unless you’re on the velocity diet of course…)
Don’t underestimate rest. I’m on a program right now to get ready for officer boot camp for the marines. I do a pull-up workout 5 days a week. From Monday to Friday I get weaker. That coming Monday, I’m stronger than ever. My back is wider and a little thicker. It’s amazing. Point is, rest means rest. That’s when your body is building itself back up. You need it.[/quote]
Hey I appreciate the critique.
Thanks for taking the time to point it out.
I’ve certainly humbled myself enough recently to admit (largely to myself) that I’m a complete beginner for sure and I don’t pretend otherwise - I do have an ongoing interest in improving all aspects of my diet and workouts and I’ve been meaning to lower protein and increase fat.
I’ve started by upping calories from the waaay-too-low amount of about 2400 daily (ranging 2200-2700) and I’m feeling better for sure.
I’m just about getting over my fat-phobia and the extra calories are definitely helping - do you think lowering protein to around 200g would be sufficient?
Thanks again for the critique, I do love a nice juice reality check from time to time. xD
Today’s workout: Back/Biceps.
It’s probably worth mentioning that the barbell I use is about 15lbs and I don’t include that in my figures, so for truer figures I guess one could be very conservative and add 10lbs.
Inconsequential either way, just thought I’d mention it.
Also, just a reminder that I’m using the Anabolic Diet.
Today is the beginning of the seventh week and after various fuck ups I think I’m starting to straighten out.
I’m carb-loading today and I err… well, I went a little crazy this morning and ended up downing over 2k calories (mostly carbs) before my workout which left me feeling pretty sluggish.
I’m pretty certain my workout did suffer somewhat but honestly I’m still in the progress of finding my limits and fully establishing my strengths and weaknesses so at this stage it’s hard to differentiate between workouts in terms of quality - this training log will of course help with that (one of the reasons I started it).
I’m in the process of laying down a solid foundation of good form and focus so some of my figures are inconsistent as I’m experimenting with different rest periods, among other things.
Bent Over 1-Arm Dumbell Rows -
10 x 30 lbs
10 x 35 lbs
8 x 40 lbs
6 x 50 lbs (form was poor on this set)
6 x 50 lbs (with improved form)
Bent Over Barbell Rows -
10 x 60 lbs
8 x 70 lbs
7 x 85 lbs
6 x 95 lbs
7 x 100 lbs
Upright Barbell Rows -
I did 10 x 50 lbs but my elbows kept hitting the plates and I felt a twinge in my neck so I decided to stop and revise the correct form.
Pull Ups -
10 x BW
6 x 5 lbs
6 x 5 lbs
5 x 10 lbs
4 x 20 lbs
Barbell Curls (Standing) -
10 x 30 lbs
8 x 40 lbs
6 x 45 lbs
4 x 55 lbs
1 x 65 lbs
Dumbell Curls (Seated) -
9 x 25 lbs
7 x 30 lbs
6 x 35 lbs
4 x 40 lbs
1 x 45 lbs
Chin Ups -
10 x BW
6 x 5 lbs
5 x 10 lbs
5 x 15 lbs
5 x 20 lbs
Less than 40% of your calories should be coming from protein. More like 30-35%
Protein levels are fine if you are working out at a high intensity or volume. You’d be fine on 200 grams as well I’m sure since you’re light.
I would bump up the carbohydrates pretty far (at least a few days each week) in order to bulk. If you are working out hard enough you won’t need to worry about fat gain.
Today’s workout was hellish…
I feel better now than I did before I started though - but every movement felt like I was straining a muscle or joint. Very weak today…
My triceps have certainly never felt so pumped though, and that was before I even moved onto the tricep exercises!
I just feel lethargic, I’m aching and stiff (particularly my neck) and generally a little out of it.
After these loads I feel like I just want to deplete my sorry ass again just to feel a little more back to ‘normal’.
Boy did I feel weak today.
(A reminder that I don’t include the weight of the bar in my figures.)
Upper chest/Triceps -
Incline Bench Press -
10 x 90 lbs
8 x 100 lbs
6 x 110 lbs
3 x 120 lbs
5 x 120 lbs
Incline Dumbell Bench Press -
10 x 40 lbs
10 x 45 lbs
8 x 50 lbs
7 x 52.5 lbs (don’t even ask about the 2.5 lbs haha)
6 x 52.5 lbs
Incline Dumbell Flies -
13 x 30 lbs
8 x 40 lbs
7 x 45 lbs
6 x 50 lbs
5 x 52.5 lbs
Skull Crushers -
10 x 30 lbs
7 x 40 lbs
5 x 45 lbs
4 x 50 lbs
1 x 55 lbs
Overhead Tricep Curls (Dumbell) -
By this point I just felt totally burnt out…
10 x 20 lbs
6 x 25 lbs
8 x 25 lbs
5 x 30 lbs
3 x 30 lbs
I was going to do dips after this but my triceps were totally worn out, that last set of 3 x 30 lbs was a feeble attempt and I’d had enough.
Then moved onto:
2 x Supersets of:
Hanging Leg Raises x 25
Lying Leg Raises x 20
Side Touches x 100
Swiss Ball Crunches x 30 (not my ball, honest! hehe)
Plank x 1 min