sking's log

[sking1001]

[Oldster]

I'm shocked. I never would have imagined that little amount of food would be nearly 2700 calories and nearly 200 grams of fat! I guess I need to pay more attention to what I eat though I eat very clean since I need to be under 20 grams of fat per day. Though I don't eat pizza. rarely butter nor drink pop and only eat whole wheat when I do eat bread, I'm going to guess I am not even close to 20 grams of fat.

I don't even want to know about the quantity of calories I consume..............

[sking1001]

Yeah, it's a real eye opener. I've had some really nice weight gain from 150 to 175, which has yielded nice strength gains. I ate pretty well (weekends are a bad example), but was pretty much eating just as much as I can, feeling pretty bloated a lot of the time (lots of milk). Along with my gains have come a bit of a gut, so I thought I would start tracking my intake in preparation for a bit of a deficit several weeks from now after reaching some strength goals.

When I go to the trouble of tracking everything, I don't eat as much. It makes you think before you just stuff your face, because it is a bit of trouble to quantify how much you are eating and find out what the nutritional information for said food is. So funny enough, I have been nearly breaking even each day. I burn around 3000 calories on training days and 2600 on non-training days. In just a week or so, my weight is steady, but I feel like my composition has changed a bit for the better...my gut is actually shrinking.

That's very interesting to me. I'm interested to see how my body composition ends up in a few months if I just keep my maintenance calories. I may try for a deficit on some non-training days. My only concern is the amount of fat. I'm no expert in macro-nutrient ratios, what mine should be, and how it effects my body composition. I guess trial and error is the best thing.

My primary goal is, of course, strength, so anything that inhibits that will be ruled out.

[sking1001]

Madcow Intermediate Week 8

I'm very pleased that I have added 30 pounds to my 5RM squat since I started Madcow. That's 30 pounds with no doubt about technique or depth. I never could have reached this level during my novice progression. This just proves to me that the slower progression is exactly what I needed to pass the 315 mark. I'm getting mentally used to squatting over 315, and 405 will soon be a new goal.

My bench, however, I stalled even after a reset to the equivalent of week 2 today. Friday, I'm resetting to week 1's Friday. The difference? During my novice progression, I was constantly resetting and perfecting technique on my squat. For the bench, I just muscled the fucker up, injured my shoulder along the way, and ended up calibrating my Madcow program with a 240x5 bench. Don't get me wrong. I did work on and improve technique, but not at the level of my squat. Now, I'm building back up with better technique. In addition, a wise man once told me I really should add some close grip work, so I'm doing that too. I'm learning from my past mistakes and looking forward to a stronger bench than ever!

I'm feeling much better about my power clean now too, which has been the other frustration for me. Today, I was really in the groove for the earlier sets, but by the time I got to sets 4 and 5, I felt like all the explosiveness in me just headed for the coast. I'm not sure if I will tweak my program regarding power cleans. Input welcome.

Squat (PR)
165x5, 205x5, 245x5, 285x5, 325x5

Bench (STALL)
115x5, 145x5, 175x5, 200x5, 230x4

Power Clean
75x6, 95x5, 100x5, 120x5, 135x5

16" Close Grip Bench Press
135x10, 155x10x2, 175x8

Weighted Hypers
45x15x2

Food Log:

[sking1001]

[sking1001]

Madcow Intermediate Week 8

Another stupid meeting at 1:00 this afternoon, so I had to leave for the gym at 10:30 in the morning. I'm not used to those hours.

Squat (light)
165x5, 205x5, 245x5x2

Press (STALL)
105x5, 125x5, 145x5, 165x0 - What?!! I dunno...

Deadlift (STALL)
255x5, 305x5, 355x5, 405x1

Sit-ups
3x10

16" Close Grip Bench Press
135x15, 155x8, 185x5

Deadlifts are similar to my bench, in that I am fixing my technique, so it's a bit of a setback on progress. Of course, I was pretty pooped today too, so that's another whiny excuse.

Food Log:


*** On the 405, I would particular like any criticism on my form, because although I do see a little rounding, I think it's a big improvement over the slop I had at 395 last week before Oldster called me on it. I was really concentrating on pushing through with my legs. Better?

[sking1001]

FYI, I had to go back and correct my entries for close grip bench press. I have been doing them 16". Not 20.

[Oldster]

*** On the 405, I would particular like any criticism on my form, because although I do see a little rounding, I think it's a big improvement over the slop I had at 395 last week before Oldster called me on it. I was really concentrating on pushing through with my legs. Better?

I liked it! A lot. Not picture perfect but for a heavy rep, it was great. Too many try to 'pull' the weight with the back rather than a combination of pushing the feet through the floor and pulling with the hamstrings. Keep your chest high with shoulders locked back and chin neutral, push your feet through the floor and before you know it the weight is locked out.

How did the CG's feel? Are you keeping the elbows from flairing outward when pressing upward and bringing the bar to the bottom of your pecs? I'd be adding an extra top set or two. Don't worry about the military stalling, it will stall from a headcold or the wind changing directions. Just reset and start over.

Now, when you change your form, realistically you should drop your weight back as better form is always tougher. No matter what it is, a 10-20% drop is required. I know, 1 step forward, 2 steps back. But this will keep you healthy and will allow you to make better progress.

Great job!

[sking1001]

Thanks for checking again, Oldster! I'm very grateful that you pointed out my sloppy form. I'm going to reset my deadlift next Wednesday, but yesterday I thought I would give my normal progression a try with proper technique first. Yes, better form is tougher! I'll keep at it just like this.

The close grips felt really good. My elbows are tucked in right next to me. If I flair even a little, I can feel that pain in my shoulder. So I will be adding some sets to the CG's. In fact, for now I'm thinking about doing CG's instead of my normal bench and allowing my shoulder to heal. I'm going to keep doing dips, of course, and if I drop my standard bench for a while, I think I'll add some DB benching, which I happen to really enjoy. Like you told me before, I can pound my triceps while my shoulder heals.

[sking1001]