To Infinity.... and Beyond!

[Dustin07]

LISS
40 min, walking treadmill up to a 10/11.

notes:
Mostly did it to stretch and get some spanish practice in. I picked up a twinge in the groin with mondays squats which always leaves me paranoid but I can feel it stretching now from the belt line to that inner hamstring/adductor area so I do believe this is similar to an injury I had 5+ years ago which eventually rehabbed with sumos and rest. I'll just keep on keeping on until I can't.

Todays calories will be considerably less since I won't have pre-workout carbs or post workout protein and I'm getting a cns rest since I'm not snorting a line of C4. I'm curious to see how this effects both the scale and the lift tomorrow.

 

[dapack]

Crushing it lately, the changes are paying off big time. Can't believe you still can do pistol squats. I tried but just fall on my butt.

 

[Dustin07]

Haha it took an act of bravery to attempt them in a crowded gym. A couple resets for balance and holding some weight helped.

Now, one legged deadlifts and Bulgarians are even more embarrassing lol

 

[Dustin07]

Warm up
Empty bb
Rows, curls, RDLs, snatchgrip high pulls, bb curls

Deads
10 x 135 + bent over rows
5 x 185
5 x 225
1 x 275, 325, 355, 375, 395
3 x 415
7 x 375
10 x 315
21 x 225 tap n go, unbroken

415 was a brutal grind
But I can't even describe how light the first 8 at 315 felt.


Back ext
Bw x 10
+40lb x 3 x qp

Bulgarians
3 x 10 at bw
I think these are what irritated the groin so going easy

DB rows
10 x 70s, 80s, 90s

Hammer strength pull downs
3 x 10 x 140lbs

Hammer strength leg press.
15 x 0
15 x 90
10 x 180
10 x 270, 270

I haven't used a legit leg press in ages so it was largely practice and testing the groin. This press effort on hammies and glutes should be nice carryover to squats


Omg the glute pump. I felt like I was walking around with inflated balloons in the back of my pants

Shitty sleep last night, my fault. But may have effected deads.

Weight
187

 

[MrKleen73]

Nice session!

 

[Dustin07]

Nice session!

Thank you Sir! I'm feeling for lack of better words, dry at top sets like I'm out of juice. Going to have to figure out some things and probably eat more to keep this gravy train going.

I know Renpho isn't the end all be all but I use mine daily and it stays incredibly consistent.

It suggests my bf% is up from 15.4 to 15.7% since Sept but lean muscle mass is trending up too.

I'm a baseball guy so I geek out on stats and data

 

[Dustin07]

Bench
10 x 95, 135
3 x 175, 205, 225, 245
2 x 255
1 x 265
6 x 225
5 x 225
12 x 195
20 x 135

Life fitness Machine dips
15 x 180
10 x 230
7 x 280
6 x 300

Hammer strength inclines
3 x 10

Cable tri extensions
3 sets x 15-20reps

Abbreviated / rushed workout

Weight this morning
188

 

[Dustin07]

Date night with the wife to our favorite Irish pub. Been going higher protein low carb at breakfast and lunch on weekends allowing for more cheat type stuff at dinner with my wife.

Experimenting with a new food plan this week (same calories just different sources) then might attempt IF the week before Christmas a trial run to see how it works with my schedule.

Small changes like big meaty sandwiches post workout instead of salads for lunch so I can eat on my drive home, etc

 

[SkRaw85]

 

[Dustin07]

Meal prep day before I run into the gym for a mini session with my boy.

 

[Hyde]

I have been doing the IF on days I don’t train. So 4 days nutrition is geared to build/support lifting, and days I don’t lift are burn days that put me in a big deficit because of the IF and also improve insulin sensitivity since I confine eating only to the evening.

 

[SkRaw85]

I have been doing the IF on days I don’t train. So 4 days nutrition is geared to build/support lifting, and days I don’t lift are burn days that put me in a big deficit because of the IF and also improve insulin sensitivity since I confine eating only to the evening.

Finally got around to listening to that table talk with Dave Hoff. Sounds familiar….
Damn good episode

 

[Dustin07]

Makes a lot of sense, I'm still studying and working towards a game plane to work some IF in. Since BF has grown a bit with strength and lean gains I want to normalize around 190lbs then see if I can keep that at around 15% or less... We will see....

Just a mini session today to get my 13yr old lifting and introduce him a little more.

Bench
10 x 135, 185, 205
5 x 225

DB curls
3 sets

Machine curls
3 sets

Machine dips
3 sets

Oh DB press
3 sets

Lateral raises
3 sets

Vertical machine press (?)
3 sets

This one I need to make note off. This hit the pecks awesome and could really help build where I'm lacking to push that press up

Didn't want to kill myself today. Just lift with the boy.

He hit leg extensions and curls as well. He's running almost the whole stack on extensions but is weak in the curls. Another quad dominant athlete

 

[SkRaw85]

Nice! Gotta get em goin young

 

[Dustin07]

I have been doing the IF on days I don’t train. So 4 days nutrition is geared to build/support lifting, and days I don’t lift are burn days that put me in a big deficit because of the IF and also improve insulin sensitivity since I confine eating only to the evening.

Calories on your burn day are same?
In my schedule then, a Weds would be a good IF day since it's non training day.
Maintain normal carb load? Still watching the videos and articles.

Nice! Gotta get em goin young

hell yeah. he's in the sweet spot to be developing right now. if I can light this fire it will serve him well in 10, 20, and 30 years.

 

[Dustin07]

ah getting through that video. maintenance kcals on fast / burn day

 

[Dustin07]

I need time to sit down more thoroughly and run through these videos and articles @MrKleen73 / @Hyde
he says 5 day fast here. a literal 5 day fast? or 5 days of IF?

 

[Hyde]

Finally got around to listening to that table talk with Dave Hoff. Sounds familiar….
Damn good episode

That was actually really ironic; Hoff just happens to eat in the fashion I kind of prefer when I’m not trying to add weight. We both have sedentary jobs where powerlifting is the total physical focus.

I posted the MST Systems video in my thread that I have been largely working off the last 2 weeks.

Calories on your burn day are same?
In my schedule then, a Weds would be a good IF day since it's non training day.
Maintain normal carb load? Still watching the videos and articles.

This past week I’ve also been eating even less overall because I haven’t been able to train for 6 days.

Normally, if I train I shoot for ~3,500 calories. The other days I have been fasting entirely OR confining eating to about 7 hours, limiting sugar, prioritizing fiber, probiotics, & protein, and trying to keep calories under 2,500. So a good 1,000 cal deficit even if I eat.

Lots of black coffee while fasting.

Because I added 100mg NPP this week and am not using an ARB, my mineral retention has been such that I do not need to salt my water to maintain hydration/prevent cramps. Nor do I need to worry about all the potassium from all the veggies I’ve been consuming; I stay hydrated and blood pressure seems happy.
The Indomethacin I have to take also increases potassium retention, similar to Telmisartan.

 

[Dustin07]

Squat
10 x 95, 135
5 x 185
1 x 225, 265, 285, 300, 315, 315
10 x 245
5 x 205 (pause)

Front squats
5 x 185
5 x 195
3 x 205
10 x 95

Bent over rows
15 x 95
10 x 135, 155, 155, 155

Hammer strength leg press
15 x 180
10 x 270, 270

This guy hits the quads nicely but I need hams.

Hammer strength hack squats
3 x 10 x 90s
Never used this machine before so figured I wind down with it.


Leg curls
3 x 12-15



Notes
Going a little easy cause that twinge is still in the groin but doesn't seem serious.

Weight this morning
191


I was more than a little shocked to find that my normal 3rd hole on the squat belt was quite lose today and I could grab the fourth hole despite being up a few lbs lol.

 

[Hyde]

Try working up to a couple heavier sets of 8-12 on leg curls before you squat next time. Don’t spend a lot of time. This gets the hams firing hard, pre-fatigues them a little, increases safety but can actually increase your squats due to better pre-activation.

 

[MrKleen73]

Try working up to a couple heavier sets of 8-12 on leg curls before you squat next time. Don’t spend a lot of time. This gets the hams firing hard, pre-fatigues them a little, increases safety but can actually increase your squats due to better pre-activation.

I got this trick from John Meadows training. Great suggestion.

@Dustin07 I am similar to @Hyde on the burn days. Pushing in a 1000 calorie or more deficit on most days. The last week I bumped it up a little to try to enjoy a little more growth.

As far as that fasting video or post above, it looks like he did a full 5 day fast. I did a 96 hour fast about 4 months back and it was hard but it helped with inflammation and definitely burned off a good 3-4lbs of fat. I may do another extended fast after the new year. I will go to keto for 3-7 days before that just to prime my fat burning and help keep me from feeling like I am crashing while the energy sources shift to burning my own fat only.

 

[Hyde]

I got this trick from John Meadows training. Great suggestion.

@Dustin07 I am similar to @Hyde on the burn days. Pushing in a 1000 calorie or more deficit on most days. The last week I bumped it up a little to try to enjoy a little more growth.

As far as that fasting video or post above, it looks like he did a full 5 day fast. I did a 96 hour fast about 4 months back and it was hard but it helped with inflammation and definitely burned off a good 3-4lbs of fat. I may do another extended fast after the new year. I will go to keto for 3-7 days before that just to prime my fat burning and help keep me from feeling like I am crashing while the energy sources shift to burning my own fat only.

Yeah I got it from JM too, then later heard it from Louie Simmons, then later remembered John started out training at Westside as a very young bodybuilder! Connected the dots

 

[MrKleen73]

Yeah I got it from JM too, then later heard it from Louie Simmons, then later remembered John started out training at Westside as a very young bodybuilder! Connected the dots

Very cool little piece of history I was not aware of there. Even the greats learn from the greats!

 

[Dustin07]

I got this trick from John Meadows training. Great suggestion.

@Dustin07 I am similar to @Hyde on the burn days. Pushing in a 1000 calorie or more deficit on most days. The last week I bumped it up a little to try to enjoy a little more growth.

As far as that fasting video or post above, it looks like he did a full 5 day fast. I did a 96 hour fast about 4 months back and it was hard but it helped with inflammation and definitely burned off a good 3-4lbs of fat. I may do another extended fast after the new year. I will go to keto for 3-7 days before that just to prime my fat burning and help keep me from feeling like I am crashing while the energy sources shift to burning my own fat only.

Yeah I got it from JM too, then later heard it from Louie Simmons, then later remembered John started out training at Westside as a very young bodybuilder! Connected the dots

the idea of prolonged fasts not having substantially negative effects on strength is bizarre to me.
I was going to start trying it on my rest days just to watch my schedule, my nutrition and see how it would look if I went full time. I am tempted to learn more about it since watching the video Hyde posted, as he was talking about his 6 week fasting routine which would align well with my goals.

avg cals the past 8 days was 2366/day
weight this morning was 188lbs so that 191 was just water weight obviously.

maybe as I learn and test:

mon = normal
tues = normal
weds rest = 1800 cals
thurs normal
fri normal
sat rest = 1800 cals
sun normal

and see what happens. that's a 500 cal deficit but only twice a week.

 

[Hyde]

the idea of prolonged fasts not having substantially negative effects on strength is bizarre to me.
I was going to start trying it on my rest days just to watch my schedule, my nutrition and see how it would look if I went full time. I am tempted to learn more about it since watching the video Hyde posted, as he was talking about his 6 week fasting routine which would align well with my goals.

avg cals the past 8 days was 2366/day
weight this morning was 188lbs so that 191 was just water weight obviously.

maybe as I learn and test:

mon = normal
tues = normal
weds rest = 1800 cals
thurs normal
fri normal
sat rest = 1800 cals
sun normal

and see what happens. that's a 500 cal deficit but only twice a week.

That’s called a basic caloric restriction

But yes, just skipping a couple meals at the start or end of the day per week will help. It’s not all or nothing, and you will probably need that psychological intro. Going from 12 hour+ feeding windows with carbs daily straight to something like a 72 hour fast will break most people.

The reason you don’t lose as much strength, is because your insulin stays much lower, therefore growth hormone can remain elevated and even surge, better preserving muscle mass while your ancestors were seeking their next meal. If your muscles shriveled up preferentially, that would make it much less likely you’d successfully find food, so the people who did that died off and were bred out of the gene pool.

AND - you will lose strength. You will lose muscle when in a caloric deficit. You cannot lose bodyweight, fat, muscle and not expect to have a reduction in inertia, leverage, and contractile force production. BUT, fasting is a hormonally preferential environment. So IF you intend to lean out, it’s the greatest chance at muscle retention (along with continuing training).

This is why bulking and cutting becomes necessary over recomping for advanced lifters. 3 steps forward, 1-2 back. People only get away with recomps when drugs get added, or some other massive new stimulus forcing adaptations.

 

[MrKleen73]

the idea of prolonged fasts not having substantially negative effects on strength is bizarre to me.
I was going to start trying it on my rest days just to watch my schedule, my nutrition and see how it would look if I went full time. I am tempted to learn more about it since watching the video Hyde posted, as he was talking about his 6 week fasting routine which would align well with my goals.

avg cals the past 8 days was 2366/day
weight this morning was 188lbs so that 191 was just water weight obviously.

maybe as I learn and test:

mon = normal
tues = normal
weds rest = 1800 cals
thurs normal
fri normal
sat rest = 1800 cals
sun normal

and see what happens. that's a 500 cal deficit but only twice a week.

Another option here would be a 24-36 hour fast once a week creating a much larger deficit. You stop eating after getting in all your nutrition on your normal day then don't eat again until the morning of your next normal day. Get some food in you throughout the morning and early afternoon and you will be ready for training in the afternoon. So many options that are effective. if you do this I recommend the fast be before an upper body session not a lower body session so the first session after the fast isn't as hard on you.

 

[Hyde]

Another option here would be a 24-36 hour fast once a week creating a much larger deficit. You stop eating after getting in all your nutrition on your normal day then don't eat again until the morning of your next normal day. Get some food in you throughout the morning and early afternoon and you will be ready for training in the afternoon. So many options that are effective. if you do this I recommend the fast be before an upper body session not a lower body session so the first session after the fast isn't as hard on you.

^100%

 

[Dustin07]

That’s called a basic caloric restriction

But yes, just skipping a couple meals at the start or end of the day per week will help. It’s not all or nothing, and you will probably need that psychological intro. Going from 12 hour+ feeding windows with carbs daily straight to something like a 72 hour fast will break most people.

The reason you don’t lose as much strength, is because your insulin stays much lower, therefore growth hormone can remain elevated and even surge, better preserving muscle mass while your ancestors were seeking their next meal. If your muscles shriveled up preferentially, that would make it much less likely you’d successfully find food, so the people who did that died off and were bred out of the gene pool.

AND - you will lose strength. You will lose muscle when in a caloric deficit. You cannot lose bodyweight, fat, muscle and not expect to have a reduction in inertia, leverage, and contractile force production. BUT, fasting is a hormonally preferential environment. So IF you intend to lean out, it’s the greatest chance at muscle retention (along with continuing training).

This is why bulking and cutting becomes necessary over recomping for advanced lifters. 3 steps forward, 1-2 back. People only get away with recomps when drugs get added, or some other massive new stimulus forcing adaptations.

Another option here would be a 24-36 hour fast once a week creating a much larger deficit. You stop eating after getting in all your nutrition on your normal day then don't eat again until the morning of your next normal day. Get some food in you throughout the morning and early afternoon and you will be ready for training in the afternoon. So many options that are effective. if you do this I recommend the fast be before an upper body session not a lower body session so the first session after the fast isn't as hard on you.

Good stuff. I am not necessarily a stranger to fasting, I have done it plenty in the past for spiritual purposes. just never for strength, And a 24hr fast generally speaking doesn't actually scare me aside from possibly having to dodge a date night lol. But hell yeah, a Saturday 24hr fast honestly sounds awesome. Maybe I'll attempt that on a Weds as well. lots of good things to tinker with here. At some point I'm going to have to do it, test it, and adjust.

I mean in the past 20 years I've been as high as 242lbs and then down as low as 168 with lowest bf being around 6-8% but healthiest and generally injury free being no less than 12%- to where I am now. even in all those years my mentality was in a pinch, that I'd eat gas station food before I'd starve my gains. so this is a different approach.

 

[Dustin07]

Warm up
Lateral raises
Forwards
DB curls
Dips (light)

DB bench
15 x 60s
5 x 75s
3 x 85s
5 x 95s,
3 x 5 x 105s (reps PR)
15 x 80s (+10lbs from last week)

Machine curls
12 x 55
10 x 70
8 x 85
6 x 95
10 x 70

Flies
3 sets

Nautilus vertical chest
I love this machine.
12 x 170
10 x 200
4 x 245 (just wanted to see if I could move the whole stack lol
10 x 200

DB curls
5 sets to 55 x 5

Machine dips
4 sets

I told myself I'd leave when the pump went away but it never did

Weight
188.2

 

[MrKleen73]

Congrats on the reps PR!

 

[Dustin07]

With two hours to go until I can break this fast I can tell you the hardest part right now is breaking my ROUTINE. My OCD is kicking in and I feel weird not reaching for eggs or my second meal of the day here in a few moments lol. still not hungry, just like a weird boredom without my normal food routine ha.

 

[Hyde]

With two hours to go until I can break this fast I can tell you the hardest part right now is breaking my ROUTINE. My OCD is kicking in and I feel weird not reaching for eggs or my second meal of the day here in a few moments lol. still not hungry, just like a weird boredom without my normal food routine ha.

You could get into green tea; no caffeine, good for health & very minimally contributes enhanced fat loss.

Or black coffee if you want the caffeine.

I just like having a drink, beyond water, when I have no food.

 

[Dustin07]

yeah I've had a couple coffees already, so water inbetween cups to spread out the jitters. green tea isn't a bad idea to keep it interesting. I meant to bring sparkling water to work but forgot...

 

[dapack]

Looks like you are continuing to make progress since switching things up.

 

[Dustin07]

Go time

Warm up empty bar
RDLs
Curls
Snatch
Bb rows

Deads
10 x 135
6 x 185
3 x 245

Deficit deads (2")
3 x 245, 295, 335, 365, 385
1 x 400 (training PR for sure. RPE like 9.5 lol)

RDL
3 x 5 x 335 (maybe new / pr?)
10 x 225 snatch grip

Weighted chins
3 x 8 x +25lbs

Back ext
10 x bw
10 x ,+40lbs
2 x 10 x +50lbs

Threw in curls but short on time.


Weight this morning
185

So one day fasting and weight drops a couple lbs even tho cals were only 300 below what I believe to be maintenance. Strength and energy seemed high for a Thursday tbh

Abs started popping after only one day but... I feel small. No bueno.

Weight belt down to hole 4 though.

Super winded today. Maybe I need cardio after all lol.

 

[Dustin07]

Looks like you are continuing to make progress since switching things up.

thanks man, slowly but surely. I think a combination of lower volume and more carbs both are helping tremendously.

 

[SkRaw85]

Nice deficit yanking!

 

[Segansational]

One day fasting and you feel small? Gonna be a rough go round... but I just saw that myfitnesspal just released an IF protocol in their app. Haven't looked into it yet though.

 

[Dustin07]

One day fasting and you feel small? Gonna be a rough go round... but I just saw that myfitnesspal just released an IF protocol in their app. Haven't looked into it yet though.

Yeah my body responds really well to carbs, that's something I've always noticed and I just feel flatter without them really quickly. Cut about 71g out for that day so I could tell lol.

 

[Dustin07]

Warmup
Lateral raises
Forward raises
DB curls

Bench
15 x 95
10 x 135
3 x 185, 225, 245, 250
1 x 265, 275
3 x 2 x 250
10 x 205
15 x 155 closed grip suicide grip

Weighted dips
+25lbs x 10
+50lbs x 3 x 8

Hammer strength inclines
3 x 10

Figured out serious form correction here. Seems to fix the shoulder pain.


All time bench PR is 280 I think. Knocking on the door now. I did grab a spotter for that one but ended up not needing it. Bar did travel slooow though.

Workout feels incomplete but effective.

Weight
186.6

 

[RegisterJr]

One day fasting and you feel small? Gonna be a rough go round... but I just saw that myfitnesspal just released an IF protocol in their app. Haven't looked into it yet though.

They added times to the food. However, you can label meals anyways, and that’s how I always did it. Unless they did something else.

 

[Dustin07]

They added times to the food. However, you can label meals anyways, and that’s how I always did it. Unless they did something else.

View attachment 226388

That might be worth playing with. The app I'm using doesn't have times so I tend to fill them in " as appropriate" and I use the general "snack" portion to add all snacks I have during the day like egg whites in between meals, PWO shakes etc...

 

[Dustin07]

I'm attempting IF again today because we have a holiday "chili feed" tonight with the inlaws. This morning I'm far more hungry than I was Wednesday. Which is funny cause today I slept in till nearly 7am and Weds my alarm goes off at 4:40am for work lol.

 

[Hyde]

I'm attempting IF again today because we have a holiday "chili feed" tonight with the inlaws. This morning I'm far more hungry than I was Wednesday. Which is funny cause today I slept in till nearly 7am and Weds my alarm goes off at 4:40am for work lol.

Drink 32oz fluid and consume a 1/4 teaspoon of table salt.

 

[Dustin07]

Screw off day with my boy

Bench
10 x 95, 135
5 x 185, 205, 225, 230, 235

DB curls
3 sets

Machine dips
3 sets

Nautilus vertical press
3 sets

Lat pull downs
3 sets

Weight
188

No real appetite today but took my boy for pizza and beer after words which helped get my calories in, in a denser fashion.

 

[Dustin07]

Nevermind. Found some calories. My wife is the best cook.

 

[SkRaw85]

That’s what I’m talking about!

 

[SkRaw85]

Perfect temp

 

[Dustin07]

Perfect temp

I'm pretty lucky, she likes it just a tad warmer than rare, I prefer rare. But she would like it more rare vs overcooked. that meal cost 3lbs this morning on the scale

 

[MrKleen73]

LMAO! I can understand why!