If you've ever busted your ass at the gym lifting heavy weights, afterwards you get these cravings. You start to want to eat beef, eggs, or chicken. These are what I classify as heavy proteins. Their texture is tougher. They're harder to digest. But they're also the raw materials from which muscle is built. You absolutely must gorge yourself on meat and poultry and eggs if you expect to make strength gains.
Then after the 36 to 44 hours you stuffed your face with meats, your animal protein cravings subside. You don't feel quite as hungry as after you just worked out but there still is some residual cravings for animal protein.
So what's your next move? How do you satisfy the cravings without expelling all your expensive protein down the toilet drain?
You have to move to lower quality protein sources. I classify them as light proteins because when compared to the amount of volume they occupy the actual protein that is in them is very low. For example, yogurt has about 15 grams of protein per cup. Deli meats are another terrible source of protein. One package of sliced pastrami is no more than ten or fifteen grams of protein. Gyro meat has no more than fifteen grams of protein per six ounces.
It's not like you're going to build a lot of muscle with these low quality protein sources. The idea is to use these as something to satisfy your animal protein cravings and add volume to your meals thus making you feel full without forcing your body to digest large amounts of protein. Probably about 24 to 36 hours before your next workout is ideal for consumption of these lower quality proteins.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Progress report: Dissection of busting a plateau
Here's a far reaching analogy but I'm going to make it anyways. Building up to a personal best record lift is a lot like building construction. With a building you can't have any top floors without first constructing a solid base upon which to start stacking thousands of tons of concrete floors, walls and ceilings.
Busting a plateau is the same. You have to build the base. When you're down in the hole in the squat or when you're bent over in the deadlift or when the bar is resting on your chest in the bench press are all considered the base of the lift. Much like building construction, you have to solidify that base if you expect to bust through a plateau.
Case in point, here I am attempting a 545 lb. stiff legged deadlift beltless with straps.
Notice how I don't even lift it a couple inches off the ground so the lift gets a 0 but the lift is still valuable to helping me accomplish defeating the plateau.
Here's another example of me trying to conquer a plateau. I'm attempting a 365 pause squat attempt.
I gave this a 1 because my pause at the bottom was held well and when I tried to explode up I did manage to move it a couple inches.
Now compare this with my previous week's attempt at a 365 lb. pause squat attempt.
The pause at the bottom was negligible and the upwards movement was negligible as well. Still I rated the lift at a 1 but it was a lower quality 1 than this week's pause squat attempt.
If you're going to progress, you have to notice these subtle differences between your attempts. This week's attempt at a 365 lb pause squat was significantly improved over last week's. I was in the hole longer and my liftoff was maybe a couple inches higher than the previous week's.
You can use this system to defeat any plateau whether it's bench pressing, tricep extensions, or bicep curls.
There are detractors of my system. They say you'll get injured attempting a 1 rep max like that week in and week out. They say you'll fry your central nervous system maxing out like that.
But they're wrong for the simple fact that I only do one type of exercise once a week. My alternate lift to the pause squat is the leg press or the hack squat coupled with rack pulls. Do you think I would be able to put 365 lbs. on the back of my neck without being able to rack pull 535 lbs.? Of course I wouldn't. Do you think I'm attempting a 545 lb. stiff leg deadlift twice a week? Of course not. It would wreck my shoulders so I'm alternating it with single leg deadlifts. My single leg deadlift is significantly less than my two legged stiff leg deadlift so my shoulders are spared any aggravation of injury or damage I might have taken on in my double legged deadlift.
If you're going to be successful at making gains without injury you have to go above and beyond your limits and you have to do each lift sparingly.
Anyways here are my numbers. Here's what the numbers mean.
Home Thursday 1230 pm 6/26/14
Shoulder press seated 255-1
Stiff legged deadlift 545-0
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
50's-2
Pendlay row 365-1
Pause squat wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 365-1
Gym Sunday 10 p.m. 6/22/14
Leverage chest press machine 370-0
One legged stiff legged deadlift
Left 175-1, 185-1
Right 175-1, 185-1
Rack pull 545-0
Bench press legs in the air 205-0
Leg press machine freemotion 390-1
Freemotion bicep curl cable machine 150-1
Tricep extension rope attachment cable machine 85-1
Workout notes: So I switched to doing a one legged stiff leg deadlift to save my shoulders from any further re-injury of any tears in my shoulders I might have taken on from my day of double leg deadlifting.
Here's the form:
This is what's going to help me bust through my deadlift plateau. Like I said it's less weight but it still works my back and upper quadricep area next to the groin without any further re-injury to my shoulders.
Busting a plateau is the same. You have to build the base. When you're down in the hole in the squat or when you're bent over in the deadlift or when the bar is resting on your chest in the bench press are all considered the base of the lift. Much like building construction, you have to solidify that base if you expect to bust through a plateau.
Case in point, here I am attempting a 545 lb. stiff legged deadlift beltless with straps.
Here's another example of me trying to conquer a plateau. I'm attempting a 365 pause squat attempt.
Now compare this with my previous week's attempt at a 365 lb. pause squat attempt.
If you're going to progress, you have to notice these subtle differences between your attempts. This week's attempt at a 365 lb pause squat was significantly improved over last week's. I was in the hole longer and my liftoff was maybe a couple inches higher than the previous week's.
You can use this system to defeat any plateau whether it's bench pressing, tricep extensions, or bicep curls.
There are detractors of my system. They say you'll get injured attempting a 1 rep max like that week in and week out. They say you'll fry your central nervous system maxing out like that.
But they're wrong for the simple fact that I only do one type of exercise once a week. My alternate lift to the pause squat is the leg press or the hack squat coupled with rack pulls. Do you think I would be able to put 365 lbs. on the back of my neck without being able to rack pull 535 lbs.? Of course I wouldn't. Do you think I'm attempting a 545 lb. stiff leg deadlift twice a week? Of course not. It would wreck my shoulders so I'm alternating it with single leg deadlifts. My single leg deadlift is significantly less than my two legged stiff leg deadlift so my shoulders are spared any aggravation of injury or damage I might have taken on in my double legged deadlift.
If you're going to be successful at making gains without injury you have to go above and beyond your limits and you have to do each lift sparingly.
Anyways here are my numbers. Here's what the numbers mean.
Home Thursday 1230 pm 6/26/14
Shoulder press seated 255-1
Stiff legged deadlift 545-0
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
50's-2
Pendlay row 365-1
Pause squat wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 365-1
Gym Sunday 10 p.m. 6/22/14
Leverage chest press machine 370-0
One legged stiff legged deadlift
Left 175-1, 185-1
Right 175-1, 185-1
Rack pull 545-0
Bench press legs in the air 205-0
Leg press machine freemotion 390-1
Freemotion bicep curl cable machine 150-1
Tricep extension rope attachment cable machine 85-1
Workout notes: So I switched to doing a one legged stiff leg deadlift to save my shoulders from any further re-injury of any tears in my shoulders I might have taken on from my day of double leg deadlifting.
Here's the form:
Friday, June 20, 2014
Progress report
Here are my numbers. Click here for what the numbers mean
Gym Sunday 1130 pm 6/15/14
Leverage chest press machine 360-1
Rack pull 535-1
Chest press free motion cable machine 200-0
Life fitness seated leg press one legged
Left 90-1, 110-0, 110-1
Right 90-1, 110-0, 110-1
Free motion bicep curl cable machine 150-1
Tricep extension rope attachment cable machine 70-2
Good morning 195-0
Thursday 6/19/14 1230 p.m. home
Seated shoulder press 215-1, 225-1, 250-0
Stiff legged deadlift 535-0, 545-0
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
40's-3, 45's-2
Pause squat 365-1
Pendlay rows 365-1
Here I am attempting a 365 lb. pause squat attempt. I gave myself a 1 just because I kind of got it up a couple inches and it was a very controlled lift. I maintained form on the way down and in the hole, so I gave myself a 1 to help me stay motivated.
Afterwards, I banged out this 335 lb. pause squat. By about midrange of the lift it turned into a good morning but at least I got it up there.
Here's me doing a chest fly with 45's. Notice how I don't go that low for fear of tearing something. Some people would consider that a full and complete lift because I got the dumbbells parallel to the ground, but to me that's a halfway lift. I want to go until my arms can't go down any further while still maintaining correct form and keeping the dumbbells under control without my arms swinging out of position.
As a final note, I used to do tricep extensions every workout but the tendonitis in my elbows was flaring up so bad that the pain was starting to bleed over into my chest press and shoulder press so I resolved myself into doing tricep extensions just one day a week. I'm hoping the shoulder press will adequately stimulate my tricep muscles but that remains to be seen until I do tricep extensions again.
Gym Sunday 1130 pm 6/15/14
Leverage chest press machine 360-1
Rack pull 535-1
Chest press free motion cable machine 200-0
Life fitness seated leg press one legged
Left 90-1, 110-0, 110-1
Right 90-1, 110-0, 110-1
Free motion bicep curl cable machine 150-1
Tricep extension rope attachment cable machine 70-2
Good morning 195-0
Thursday 6/19/14 1230 p.m. home
Seated shoulder press 215-1, 225-1, 250-0
Stiff legged deadlift 535-0, 545-0
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
40's-3, 45's-2
Pause squat 365-1
Pendlay rows 365-1
Here I am attempting a 365 lb. pause squat attempt. I gave myself a 1 just because I kind of got it up a couple inches and it was a very controlled lift. I maintained form on the way down and in the hole, so I gave myself a 1 to help me stay motivated.
Afterwards, I banged out this 335 lb. pause squat. By about midrange of the lift it turned into a good morning but at least I got it up there.
Here's me doing a chest fly with 45's. Notice how I don't go that low for fear of tearing something. Some people would consider that a full and complete lift because I got the dumbbells parallel to the ground, but to me that's a halfway lift. I want to go until my arms can't go down any further while still maintaining correct form and keeping the dumbbells under control without my arms swinging out of position.
As a final note, I used to do tricep extensions every workout but the tendonitis in my elbows was flaring up so bad that the pain was starting to bleed over into my chest press and shoulder press so I resolved myself into doing tricep extensions just one day a week. I'm hoping the shoulder press will adequately stimulate my tricep muscles but that remains to be seen until I do tricep extensions again.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Why protein intake guidelines are bullsh*t
First off I'd like to say I'm not a sports nutritionist or a dietician.
This is just me speaking what I know from experience.
All the protein intake guidelines you read are pretty much arbitrary numbers. Somebody can do a study and then trot around some magical number of grams of protein like it's the end all be all protein number just because they put a subject on that protein number and he made a strength gain.
The problem I have with the protein Nazis is most of the time your actual protein needs are always higher or lower than their guidelines dictate.
What are you going to do if your body is hungry and it's craving animal protein but you can't eat because you're strictly adhering to some made up protein intake number? Are you just going to ignore your body's wants for beef? Are you going to stifle your muscle growth and deny your body the ability to repair its muscles just because some researcher in a lab setting did a study on rats and assigned some arbitrary protein number?
On the flip side, what if it's this scenario? You're between training sessions on your rest day and you're feeling stomach discomfort from eating a big steak and eggs breakfast. Lunchtime rolls around and you know if you eat anymore protein you're going to expel it in the toilet. Do you say to yourself well the magical protein intake fairies told me to consume 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of bodyweight so I guess I gotta go suck down a sirloin steak for lunch. Two hours later you're shooting it out your backside watching your expensive steak flush down the drain.
Then you have the body listeners of which I'm a member. They're connected to their inner aura or some other new age nonsense and they're just letting their bodies tell them how much protein to ingest. The problem with that is the protein you intake may be far greater or less than you actually need.
So what's the answer? There is no cut and dry answer. I heard Michael Phelps was taking in six hundred grams of protein per day when he was training for the Olympics. During the coldest days of January I could easily digest 450 grams of protein in a day. Now that it's summer I'm barely hitting two hundred grams.
Incidentally some of my biggest strength gains came from me eating far more than my protein requirements of 1 gram per 1 pound of body weight. Of course I spent the last of my resting time the day before and up until my workout on the toilet watching all my protein flush down the drain which is disgusting and time consuming and expensive. Beef and chicken are not cheap.
The only guideline I can think of is try to hit the 1 gram per 1 pound of body weight the first 36 hours after you workout and track your protein intake using myfitnesspal.com. If you feel like the protein is not going to digest properly and be used for muscle repair, back off the protein for the whole day. Maybe eat some yogurt or some bread or a banana for the rest of the day. Let your body reset itself. Try not to upset your stomach with a lot of fiber. And then hopefully on the next day for breakfast you can gorge yourself on meat and then start the strength gains again.
This is just me speaking what I know from experience.
All the protein intake guidelines you read are pretty much arbitrary numbers. Somebody can do a study and then trot around some magical number of grams of protein like it's the end all be all protein number just because they put a subject on that protein number and he made a strength gain.
The problem I have with the protein Nazis is most of the time your actual protein needs are always higher or lower than their guidelines dictate.
What are you going to do if your body is hungry and it's craving animal protein but you can't eat because you're strictly adhering to some made up protein intake number? Are you just going to ignore your body's wants for beef? Are you going to stifle your muscle growth and deny your body the ability to repair its muscles just because some researcher in a lab setting did a study on rats and assigned some arbitrary protein number?
On the flip side, what if it's this scenario? You're between training sessions on your rest day and you're feeling stomach discomfort from eating a big steak and eggs breakfast. Lunchtime rolls around and you know if you eat anymore protein you're going to expel it in the toilet. Do you say to yourself well the magical protein intake fairies told me to consume 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of bodyweight so I guess I gotta go suck down a sirloin steak for lunch. Two hours later you're shooting it out your backside watching your expensive steak flush down the drain.
Then you have the body listeners of which I'm a member. They're connected to their inner aura or some other new age nonsense and they're just letting their bodies tell them how much protein to ingest. The problem with that is the protein you intake may be far greater or less than you actually need.
So what's the answer? There is no cut and dry answer. I heard Michael Phelps was taking in six hundred grams of protein per day when he was training for the Olympics. During the coldest days of January I could easily digest 450 grams of protein in a day. Now that it's summer I'm barely hitting two hundred grams.
Incidentally some of my biggest strength gains came from me eating far more than my protein requirements of 1 gram per 1 pound of body weight. Of course I spent the last of my resting time the day before and up until my workout on the toilet watching all my protein flush down the drain which is disgusting and time consuming and expensive. Beef and chicken are not cheap.
The only guideline I can think of is try to hit the 1 gram per 1 pound of body weight the first 36 hours after you workout and track your protein intake using myfitnesspal.com. If you feel like the protein is not going to digest properly and be used for muscle repair, back off the protein for the whole day. Maybe eat some yogurt or some bread or a banana for the rest of the day. Let your body reset itself. Try not to upset your stomach with a lot of fiber. And then hopefully on the next day for breakfast you can gorge yourself on meat and then start the strength gains again.
Progress Report
Here are my numbers. This is what the numbers mean.
Home Thursday 6/12/14 1215 p.m.
Shoulder press 215-1
Stiff legged deadlift 535-0
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
40's-2
Tricep extension skull crushers full extension behind the head
105-1
Pendlay barbell row 325-1, 365-1
Pause squat wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 405-0
Gym Monday 6/9/14 12 a.m.
Leverage chest press machine 345-1
Life fitness one legged leg press
Left 90-1
Right 90-1
Free motion chest press cable machine
200-1
Free motion bicep curl cable machine
150-1
Rack pull 535-1
Good morning pin lift from #10 position on hammer strength power rack
185-1
Tricep extension cable machine straight bar attachment
70-1, 85-1
Here I am getting slammed by 405 lbs.
I wanted a taste of the 400's. I walked it out, set it up, and then the bar said I don't care what you want.
That's most of my training. Failing. Missing. Who knows maybe next time I'll get it half way up.
Home Thursday 6/12/14 1215 p.m.
Shoulder press 215-1
Stiff legged deadlift 535-0
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
40's-2
Tricep extension skull crushers full extension behind the head
105-1
Pendlay barbell row 325-1, 365-1
Pause squat wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 405-0
Gym Monday 6/9/14 12 a.m.
Leverage chest press machine 345-1
Life fitness one legged leg press
Left 90-1
Right 90-1
Free motion chest press cable machine
200-1
Free motion bicep curl cable machine
150-1
Rack pull 535-1
Good morning pin lift from #10 position on hammer strength power rack
185-1
Tricep extension cable machine straight bar attachment
70-1, 85-1
Here I am getting slammed by 405 lbs.
That's most of my training. Failing. Missing. Who knows maybe next time I'll get it half way up.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
What the numbers mean
These are records of my one rep max's. I rate them on a five point
scale. 5 means I completed the lift with perfect form. 4 is a completed
lift with noticeable shakiness. 3 is completing the lift 3/4 of the way
up. 2 is half way up. 1 is a couple inches up. 0 is no noticeable
separation between the weight and whatever the weight was resting on.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
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