Matt's Dieting Adventure

[Kyle]

Went in to do some "cardio" today, but got lured over to the OL platforms since I hadn't done any of that stuff for a bit.

Warmed up w/ the bar for some pulling and OHS stuff, then did my best impersonation of a snatch using some technique cues I've gotten.

Good things - wider stance definitely helps me get lower and into a better overall pulling position. This makes the transition from 1st to 2nd a lot easier.

Bad things - for some reason I'm wanting to catch the bar out in front, and as a result I missed a lot of lifts. I don't know if it's because I'm not following through on teh 2nd pull (likely) or because I'm getting scared about the catch and dropping into a full squat (equally likely).

Basically just did 40, 45 for 3 singles each, then 50 for 2 singles, then 55 for one really goddamn ugly single. I was at about 50% for "passable" catches vs. "almosts" that I had to ditch at the bottom.

Followed that up w/ some Hang SnPulls + Hang Sn (3+1) for four sets at 40.

Then I came home, depressed. Oh, also weight was down to another record low, 84.8kg (186.5 lbs).

This is starting to worry me, which means either a diet break is due soon, or I'll have to switch over to something more recomp-ish sooner than I'd thought. 180 lbs is my absolute limit of how light I'm willing to go.

Take your video camera with you next time you go do the OL stuff.

We should a video coaching thread in the OL forum for people to pick apart form flaws and help people.

Kyle

[PMDL]

meh, I'll see. The days I usually end up doing the OL stuff are the days I don't have my camera girl there, but I'll see if I can rig something.

I took off the last few days cause I felt like crap. No motivation to lift and felt burnt out, so I didn't.

Came back in tonight, decided to take a break from the dieting a bit. Nothing serious, just not going to worry about calorie totals and what not. Was back up to 86.8kg (191ish) today as well. Just gonna take it easy and lift how I feel like this week.

Tonight:

Bench, 90 (198) 4 sets of 4
BB Row, 90 4 sets of 4
Shoulder raises, 10 (22) 2x10, rear delts 2x10
DB tricep extensions, 15 (33) x15
DB curls, 15 x12

[Lifting N Tx]

Matt, I believe that you mentioned getting down to no lower than 180. What dieting goal(s) do you have? Are you targeting a certain body fat %?

I'm a bit curious about the macro totals mentioned early in the journal, too. I don't know how you keep protein really high and carbs unregulated on the refeed day without calories going way high. I have to say, though, that while I've browsed Lyle's forums for a while I know a lot more about training than about dieting. I've been slowly dieting for months and tried a carb refeed one day a week for the last 2 weeks with a goal of getting 250+ carbs over a few hours but it puts me at or above maintenance cals for that day. As I say, not that I know anything about this stuff...

Anyway, good luck in getting to your goals with this.

[PMDL]

Matt, I believe that you mentioned getting down to no lower than 180. What dieting goal(s) do you have? Are you targeting a certain body fat %?

I'm not sure exactly.

My grand plan at the moment is to diet to as low as I can tolerate weight-wise, which is 180 right now. After being in the 210-220 range for several years, that's about all my fragile ego can take.

Then I figure I'll start alternating between slow/fat-free mass gains and periods of dieting like this (moderate to slow losses) to avoid losing muscle.

It'll take awhile, but the ultimate goal would be 200-210 at a sub-10% bodyfat. From there, I'll see what I want.

How well I'll stick to this is anyone's guess, mind you.

I'm a bit curious about the macro totals mentioned early in the journal, too. I don't know how you keep protein really high and carbs unregulated on the refeed day without calories going way high. I have to say, though, that while I've browsed Lyle's forums for a while I know a lot more about training than about dieting. I've been slowly dieting for months and tried a carb refeed one day a week for the last 2 weeks with a goal of getting 250+ carbs over a few hours but it puts me at or above maintenance cals for that day. As I say, not that I know anything about this stuff...

Main thing is I just don't care, haha

I bloat up a little over the weekend, but by Wednesday or so I'm back down to where I was Friday or less, so meh. As long as that keeps working I won't sweat over the details.

I'm contemplating switching to a UD2 format in the next week or two, to stave off any muscle mass losses, but I really don't want to. I hate not being able to lift the way I want. Then again, since I'm not exactly setting things on fire right now, I doubt it matters. More a mental hangup than anything.

[PMDL]

Went in a bit ago to make up for last night's missed workout.

DL - couple of warmup sets, then 10 singles with 160 (352 lbs, 60s rests, 3-4 minutes after the first 5), followed by 5 singles with 120 (264 lbs, 30s rests)
Single Leg press, 1P 2x10, 2Px10
superset w/ single leg calves, 1P 2x12, 2Px10, 2Px stretched hold

I love DL singles. They make me feel so fast and stuff.

[PMDL]

Today -

Bench, 95kg (209 lbs) 6x3
Chinups, BW+20kg 6x3
Dips, x20
BB Curl, 80lbs x10

These fast-heavy workouts always make me feel better after the fact than I did going on.

[Andrew Smith]

Matt, how long did it take you to get the CSCS? I'm considering working to get mine after I finish this last year of school. I'm majoring in a non science field so the amount of time I'd have to spend preparing would be significant. I'll probably go ahead and get my CPT as soon as I can get some time off of work in order to devote a little time. Just thought it'd be good to get some input from ya. Haven't seen you over at WBB in quite awhile btw.

[PMDL]

I'm probably the outlier when it comes to the CSCS, because I did almost zero prep work for it. I really think the most I did was look into the NSCA position on a few things like periodization, plyos, etc. Otherwise I went into it cold.

The test itself was not hard to me. I finished in a hurry, and ended up scoring in the mid 80s on both sections, which I didn't think was terribly bad to walk in off the street. They left space for us to challenge questions if they weren't clear or were retarded of whatever, so I made good use of that

[Andrew Smith]

Haha very nice. You're much more well read on a lot of these subjects. When I looked at the NSCA CPT questions, I felt they were pretty easy. When I looked at the CSCS questions, I felt they were much more difficult. Did you major in a science in school, or is your knowledge on most of these subjects self taught?

[PMDL]

I've got a bachelor's in criminology, which was somewhat science-oriented, but most of it is self-taught yeah.