Euby's Log - Take me to the Bridge

[Euby]

How'd you manage to go from:
- Waist: 39" to 37.5"
when your weight went from:
Weight: 182 to 197lbs
???

Looking at my log book, my waist went from 36" to 38" going from 181 to 199.

Good question, and I honestly have no idea b/c it wasn't necessarily planned in detail but I did put effort into eating properly. I ramped up m protein intake considerably (a little over 1g per lb of bodyweight), started using whey protein, increased fiber intake, and kept carb intake around .8g per lb of bodyweight and only from clean, non-refined or sugary sources (no bread, no sugar, no pasta, lots of veggies, along with a good serving of rice or potatoes on my meals after lifting along with a piece of fruit here or there). I also controlled fat intake to lower levels by only consuming what is naturally found in meats with the exception of olive oils used lightly for cooking or on salads. Every Friday night however I'd eat whatever I wanted to keep my sanity in check.

I was muscular when I was in my 20 and early 30's, so I think my muscle just reappeared so to speak when I started lifting progressively. Maybe my stomach tightened up such that I carried the weight better? I don't know. I do know that I consistently measured my skin fold just to the right of the belly button at 34mm when I started lifting, and that slowly went down to about 22mm over the course of SSLP, and has dropped as low as 20mm a few times since then. From what I've read around here, and what Jordan has written about in a few places, recomposition in untrained athletes is not uncommon if certain factors are met. In the SS book Rip talks about a lifting program tending to produce the right weight in an individual also. I think it just kind of happened because I ate properly to allow it.

I've been eating the same way for the last few months after SSLP, and though I've picked up some slight strength gains here and there for brief periods, I've not added any more mass to my frame, nor have I lost any more weight. Just small fluctuations up and down. I just started tracking my macros with MyFitnessPal earlier this week, and surprisingly I'm consuming much more fat than I would have thought (too much butter on potatoes, in oatmeal, or excessive olive oil on salads, ranch dressing, etc). I'm also consuming less protein than I need from animal sources. Only my protein shakes are delivering, so I need to focus on eating higher quality meals.

The biggest shock since I started tracking macros is how low my carb intake is. Quite an eye opener there, I think because I've eaten low carb for a number of years now as a way to reduce weight gain in the face of not getting any exercise. That way of eating has been harder to kill than I would have imagined. I'm going to do that for another few days, and then start adjusting my intake to allow for more weight gain over the next 8 weeks of the Bridge. I'd like to get my weight close to 208-210 by the end of this first Bridge cycle. I hope to make modest increases in muscle at 45 years old, while not piling on fat too rapidly since I'm still a bit pudgy around the waist.

There are so many subtle things that have changed since I started lifting and eating better though. I had grown to the point that I was cold or chilly quite often when in an air-conditioned building. My whole life I've been hot natured, so I just assumed getting the chills was part of getting older. Now I think my metabolism was crap before lifting, because now it's like the old times. I'm hot all the time, even with the AC down on 68. I wake up at night and feel like I'm soaking wet. I'm hungry every few hours (as long as I don't eat too much fat/bread at a meal), etc.

So maybe the reason I gained weight and lost some fat at the same time is because I suddenly started living like a young person again, charged my metabolism back up, and brought it back to a spot where it naturally should be. At this point though, I think I'm stuck and have gone as far as I can. I hope the Bridge and eating the way Jordan outlines in his To Be a Beast article will take me to the next level. I want to hit the 300-400-500 numbers for the bench-squat-deadlift in 2018, and sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the question!

[Aaron Montgomery]

Thanks for the lengthy reply! Any clue what your daily caloric and fiber intake is? Daily macros? My weight gain stalled at 199lb when my caloric intake was 4400 cals/day, macros were something like 140/560/250 (F/C/P) at that time. If I ate like I felt, I'd only eat 3000 calories a day, which would have me weighing around 175-180lb. Since I rarely feel like eating, I eat a lot of processed stuff; cereal, granola, dried fruit, brownies, ice cream, candy, etc. Maybe I should try laying off the sugar and switch to pasta, rice and potatoes. Weird thing is, my stomach almost never feels hungry, but I can feel it in my head when it's been 3 hours since eating. I start feeling slightly irritable, tired, and get the beginnings of a minor headache.

I can relate to needing the house cooler now. I have to have the a/c running to fall asleep fast, and I still wake up with a sweaty pillow in the middle of the night.

[Euby]

Thanks for the lengthy reply! Any clue what your daily caloric and fiber intake is? Daily macros? My weight gain stalled at 199lb when my caloric intake was 4400 cals/day, macros were something like 140/560/250 (F/C/P) at that time. If I ate like I felt, I'd only eat 3000 calories a day, which would have me weighing around 175-180lb. Since I rarely feel like eating, I eat a lot of processed stuff; cereal, granola, dried fruit, brownies, ice cream, candy, etc. Maybe I should try laying off the sugar and switch to pasta, rice and potatoes. Weird thing is, my stomach almost never feels hungry, but I can feel it in my head when it's been 3 hours since eating. I start feeling slightly irritable, tired, and get the beginnings of a minor headache.

I can relate to needing the house cooler now. I have to have the a/c running to fall asleep fast, and I still wake up with a sweaty pillow in the middle of the night.

Since I just started tracking without really changing anything, my average "good" day is around 2500-2700. A "bad" day for me usually happens because of dinner where I eat a whole lot of something in excess, like pizza or whatever. I might get 1700 calories in dinner so it jumps up closer to 4000 for that day, but that's not a good way to get calories. So on average I'm probably around 3000 or so over the course of the week, which just isn't likely enough for me to gain weight.

I'm never super hungry either, so the idea of trying to get up to 4500 calories a day seems daunting at the moment. I need to figure it out though. Just asked you how you were doing it on your log if you wouldn't mind sharing it. Thanks.

[Aaron Montgomery]

Dude, my weight stalled at 180lb eating 3600 cals/day. I'm never hungry, hence my less-than-healthy food choices to get calories shoved down my throat...

[Euby]

The Bridge - Week 1 Workout 3

Felt like crap this morning and at workout time. Very low energy, and felt like my dinner from last night and breakfast were still piled up in my stomach. I workout in a garage gym, and it is super humid and hot in there this time of year. Only makes it worse, but no excuses. Play like a champion. Pushed it hard anyway and drank water the entire workout. Was soaking wet at the end.

8min EMOM empty bar squatx5

Deadlift
275x5@6
290x5@7
305x5@8
I can already tell that assigning RPE's to deads for reps will be more difficult than the other lifts. Seems like you can always do more...

Bench Press:
195x5@219
205x5@7.5
215x5@8.5
I was gassed after the warmups combined with not feeling good. This weight shouldn't have been this heavy as it's well below the correct % compared to an actual 275@9 1RM not more than 2 weeks ago.

3-0-3 Squat
Yeah, I can tell already that these won't be my favorite.
155x8@6
175x8@7
195x8@8
Not too bad, just feels like forever under the bar.

All-in-all a good workout considering how bad I felt before and during the workout. Feels good to get it done anyway. Adding a little weight to all these lifts next week.

[Euby]

Bridge Week 2 Workout 1

So I suck at RPE, or maybe today was just a weak day. I've not slept well for 3 or 4 days, and my nutrition tends to slack a bit on the weekends due to being on the go with kid's soccer tournaments, beach/fishing activity, etc. So today felt heavier in a sense even though I lowered the weights a slight bit in a few spots. It's very hard to judge RPE on rack pulls especially. I could feel my lower back wanting to round a good bit at the end so I rated them an @9 and feel pretty good about those. The volume today feels really good, especially on the rack pulls and CGB.

Squat:
240x5@6
255x5@7
275x5@8
270X5@8
265x5@8

CGB
200x4@7
205x4@7.5
215x4@8.5
215x4@8.5
Should have gone a bit heavier earlier here. Last two weren't @9 like they should have been. Gotta learn to go up until my first @6 set, then use the 5% rule to increase RPE by 1.

Rack Pull
Did these 2" off the floor today. Movement feels natural but judging effort level at 7 reps is difficult. Low back was pretty gassed at the end, so rated this based off that rather than how hard it was to get the lift off the floor.
245x7@6
255x7@7
265x7@8
255x7@8

[Euby]

8/23/17

Bridge Week 2 Day 2 What is this RPE stuff anyway?

So I'm figuring out RPE is a funny thing...I seem to be able to keep adding weight to the bar and RPE doesn't really change. I've always felt like I get stronger as I warm-up more, so I think that is what is really happening at some level. Here's what I did today.

2ct Squat w/3min rests - I'm really liking theses. Yeah, being in the hole is a bit unnerving but I like it.
250x4@6?
260x4@7
265x4@8
265x4@9
Need to warm up better, then select a higher target weight for the first @9 and reverse engineer the @6, @7 and @8

Press w/belt (3min rests)
127.5x5@8
135x5@9
127.5x5@8
120x5@9
Too heavy too quick

Pendlay Rows
135x5@6
147.5x5@7
155x5@8
150X5@8
150x5@8.5
Got these right today.

[Euby]

8/25/17
BW 201.6 lbs

Bridge Week 2 Workout 3

Deadlift
250x5@6?
285x5@6
300x5@7
315x5@8
305x5@8
Add 5lbs next week

Bench
200x5@6
205x5@7
217.5x5@8.5
205x5@8
195x5@8
185x5@8
Add 5lbs next week

Tempo Squat 3-0-3
135x8@6
185x8@7
200x8@8
195x8@8
Add 10lbs next week

[Euby]

8/28/17
BW: 201.8 lbs

Bridge Week 3 Workout 1

Squat
255x5@6
270x5@7
285x5@8
280x5@8
275x5@8
These sets were all perfect. Nailed RPE on all of them while adding a little weight to the bar.

CGB
200x4@7
210x4@8
220x4@8.5
220x4@8.5
Hmmm, last two should have been @9. Probably should have gone 5lbs heavier. Really thought the last set would have been @9 since I left the weight static and only rested about 4 minutes but it was still only@9. Will add a little more weight next week. Should I have done a 3rd set to get at least 1 @9?

Rack Pull
Pulled from just below the knee cap for the first time, so weight was much higher than last week. Nailed RPE here.
275x7@6
315x7@7
330x7@8
345x7@9
345x7@9

Everything feels awesome. I feel great so far on this program!

[Overtrained]

Are you still doing the cardio ?

Also, your RPing from just below knee rather than as recommended - any reason why ?

Shame about the state of the bridge thread ...