Stalled this morning... way too early for this

[Eric Schexnayder]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for all the advice you give here. I had a crappy workout this morning. Just no damn gas in the tank. I'm a male, 29, 6'3", about 218 lbs (up about 15 lbs since starting), no idea on BF, and I'm not going to estimate because I don't want to give wrong information. Waist size is about 37 - 39" depending on whether I ate or not, if that is a good proxy.

Today is the end of my 7th week. My progress to-date (in lbs):

Squat: 95 -> 215
Press: 65 -> 117
Bench: 105 -> 175
Deadlift: 135 -> 235
PC: 85 -> 145

This morning I attempted 220 lbs on the squat. First set I got 2 reps then bailed on the 3rd. Gave myself 10 minutes, then mounted a herculean effort and nailed a set of 5. Unracked for the 3rd set attempt, got 1 rep, and could feel before I even started the second that I couldn't even keep tight. I was able to get my 3x5 Bench sets, and only got the first two reps of my 135 lb deadlift warm up before I felt like I was going to crash.

With regard to "The First Three Questions":
1) I give myself at least 6 minutes between sets; this time I gave 10 when I missed the first set
2) I only did a 5 lb jump on the squat. Was able to get 215 last time with some effort, but not like today
3) I average about 7-8 hours of sleep on nights before non-training days, and about 5 - 6 hours of sleep on nights before training days (I train in the morning). My FitBit tells me I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep on Wednesday.

Crunching some numbers on my diet for the past 5 days (these are averages):
Protein: 242
Fat: 205
Carb: 215 (lowest was 140 at the beginning of the week, but I've been slowing increasing it)
Calories: 3678

So my questions:
1) Is my diet adequate? If not, what changes would you recommend?
2) Is my weight adequate? Should I gain more?
3) Are there dietary modifications I can make to compensate for sleep? I know sleep is a huge factor, but having three kids and a job makes it difficult to attain 8 hours every night.

Thanks again for all the help you provide.

[Robert Santana]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for all the advice you give here. I had a crappy workout this morning. Just no damn gas in the tank. I'm a male, 29, 6'3", about 218 lbs (up about 15 lbs since starting), no idea on BF, and I'm not going to estimate because I don't want to give wrong information. Waist size is about 37 - 39" depending on whether I ate or not, if that is a good proxy.

Today is the end of my 7th week. My progress to-date (in lbs):

Squat: 95 -> 215
Press: 65 -> 117
Bench: 105 -> 175
Deadlift: 135 -> 235
PC: 85 -> 145

This morning I attempted 220 lbs on the squat. First set I got 2 reps then bailed on the 3rd. Gave myself 10 minutes, then mounted a herculean effort and nailed a set of 5. Unracked for the 3rd set attempt, got 1 rep, and could feel before I even started the second that I couldn't even keep tight. I was able to get my 3x5 Bench sets, and only got the first two reps of my 135 lb deadlift warm up before I felt like I was going to crash.

With regard to "The First Three Questions":
1) I give myself at least 6 minutes between sets; this time I gave 10 when I missed the first set
2) I only did a 5 lb jump on the squat. Was able to get 215 last time with some effort, but not like today
3) I average about 7-8 hours of sleep on nights before non-training days, and about 5 - 6 hours of sleep on nights before training days (I train in the morning). My FitBit tells me I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep on Wednesday.

Crunching some numbers on my diet for the past 5 days (these are averages):
Protein: 242
Fat: 205
Carb: 215 (lowest was 140 at the beginning of the week, but I've been slowing increasing it)
Calories: 3678

So my questions:
1) Is my diet adequate? If not, what changes would you recommend?
2) Is my weight adequate? Should I gain more?
3) Are there dietary modifications I can make to compensate for sleep? I know sleep is a huge factor, but having three kids and a job makes it difficult to attain 8 hours every night.

Thanks again for all the help you provide.

Thanks for the kind words buddy! Sorry you had a crappy workout, we've all been there. Upon reviewing your information, you are simply eating too much fat and not enough carbohydrate. You need to bump those carbs up to 400 and drop that fat down to at least 100 and you'll immediately start to see better outcomes. Also, why is your deadlift at 235? I know you can pull more than this.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Thanks for the kind words buddy! Sorry you had a crappy workout, we've all been there. Upon reviewing your information, you are simply eating too much fat and not enough carbohydrate. You need to bump those carbs up to 400 and drop that fat down to at least 100 and you'll immediately start to see better outcomes. Also, why is your deadlift at 235? I know you can pull more than this.

Thanks for the advice and the quick reply. I'll bump up the carbs and drop the fat right away. What is your opinion on grains? In my household this may be the easiest way to facilitate the carb intake increase (my vegetable/fiber intake is already pretty good in my opinion, but reaching 400 g/day on just vegetables will be challenging, I think).

Just curious, why the limit of 100 g on fat intake? Is the idea to ensure adequate digestion of carbs and protein? I'm curious because I've always heard to maximize calories, and fat seems to be the easiest way to do this. Just hadn't heard of a recommended maximum until now.

My deadlift sucks because I am bad at following directions. I started at 135x5x3 and only added 5 lbs a workout when I should have been adding 15 lbs. I also introduced the power clean way too early in my programming. I got with Andy Baker, and he helped with some technique errors I had. He also advised me to start deadlifting 2x/week on MF to get the numbers up, and I decided to do some 10 lb jumps until I miss enough reps. I was set to deadlift 245 lbs on this missed workout but ran out of gas so early that I didn't even attempt.

[Robert Santana]

Thanks for the advice and the quick reply. I'll bump up the carbs and drop the fat right away. What is your opinion on grains? In my household this may be the easiest way to facilitate the carb intake increase (my vegetable/fiber intake is already pretty good in my opinion, but reaching 400 g/day on just vegetables will be challenging, I think).

Just curious, why the limit of 100 g on fat intake? Is the idea to ensure adequate digestion of carbs and protein? I'm curious because I've always heard to maximize calories, and fat seems to be the easiest way to do this. Just hadn't heard of a recommended maximum until now.

My deadlift sucks because I am bad at following directions. I started at 135x5x3 and only added 5 lbs a workout when I should have been adding 15 lbs. I also introduced the power clean way too early in my programming. I got with Andy Baker, and he helped with some technique errors I had. He also advised me to start deadlifting 2x/week on MF to get the numbers up, and I decided to do some 10 lb jumps until I miss enough reps. I was set to deadlift 245 lbs on this missed workout but ran out of gas so early that I didn't even attempt.

If you don’t want to gain excess body fat keep the fat down. I find that once the intake starts getting too far over 100 g , the weight gain starts skewing the wrong way. Speaking practically of course. Grains are your friend. Eat them and your body will thank you. Deadlift needs to go up though!

[Eric Schexnayder]

Thanks so much for your help Robert!

I switched over to plenty of oats, potatoes, pasta, cereals, some quinoa, and breads over the weekend. Need to add rice to this to. Found it hard to get the protein in without hitting the fat restriction but I will continue to work on it.

I nailed my Squat at 220x5x3 this morning, but my deadlift continues to stall. I think this is more of a Technique and Programming issue so I am addressing it there. Was definitely not an energy level problem like last time. Just couldn't break the bar off the floor. It's embarrassing.

So given the protein and fat restrictions (going higher on protein won't do any good), I assume that if I want to increase caloric intake to facilitate recovery that it should be in the form of carbohydrates? Or is the general idea that a guy my size will carry enough "fluff" to power day-to-day activities and the added protein and carbs power MPS/recovery and so I don't need any more calories?

[Robert Santana]

Thanks so much for your help Robert!

I switched over to plenty of oats, potatoes, pasta, cereals, some quinoa, and breads over the weekend. Need to add rice to this to. Found it hard to get the protein in without hitting the fat restriction but I will continue to work on it.

I nailed my Squat at 220x5x3 this morning, but my deadlift continues to stall. I think this is more of a Technique and Programming issue so I am addressing it there. Was definitely not an energy level problem like last time. Just couldn't break the bar off the floor. It's embarrassing.

So given the protein and fat restrictions (going higher on protein won't do any good), I assume that if I want to increase caloric intake to facilitate recovery that it should be in the form of carbohydrates? Or is the general idea that a guy my size will carry enough "fluff" to power day-to-day activities and the added protein and carbs power MPS/recovery and so I don't need any more calories?

Drive up carbs and protein and when that becomes impractical try driving up fats just go more conservative there. Deadlift may just need a reset to give your body and mind a break then work up fast. You may want to hold the squat lighter and let the deadlift get way ahead of it. This is what we do for virtually everyone we start on the SSNLP. Deadlift goes up lightning fast at first, squat follows at a slower pace. If you do it this way your deadlift should be very heavy by the time the squat starts to wreck you. But yes, technique is essential here.

[Eric Schexnayder]

I just watched your presentation about Body Fat, so now I think your overall strategy makes much more sense to me. Your stance is that since body fat, once accumulated, becomes harder and harder to lose, it is better to titrate it up if progress stalls and weight gain is not occurring once making up the calories with carbohydrates is no longer feasible, as you said above. This way you account for the individual's predisposition of hypertrophy vs. hyperplasia. Or am I missing something?

So what's your take on Atkins and other low-carb diets? Not applicable to weightlifters who are actively working the glycolytic pathway?

[Robert Santana]

I just watched your presentation about Body Fat, so now I think your overall strategy makes much more sense to me. Your stance is that since body fat, once accumulated, becomes harder and harder to lose, it is better to titrate it up if progress stalls and weight gain is not occurring once making up the calories with carbohydrates is no longer feasible, as you said above. This way you account for the individual's predisposition of hypertrophy vs. hyperplasia. Or am I missing something?

So what's your take on Atkins and other low-carb diets? Not applicable to weightlifters who are actively working the glycolytic pathway?

You're somewhat there. My rationale is that it's much more difficult and metabolically inefficient to gain body fat on a low fat diet. So by controlling fat and driving calories with carbs and protein we are fueling the workouts and the recovery from them. Keeping fat low helps skew the weight gain towards muscle. If fat needs to be added later we can. Low carb diets are not recommended for very many people because they aren't very sustainable and for lifters they can impair performance.

[Eric Schexnayder]

You're somewhat there. My rationale is that it's much more difficult and metabolically inefficient to gain body fat on a low fat diet. So by controlling fat and driving calories with carbs and protein we are fueling the workouts and the recovery from them. Keeping fat low helps skew the weight gain towards muscle. If fat needs to be added later we can. Low carb diets are not recommended for very many people because they aren't very sustainable and for lifters they can impair performance.

Very interesting stuff. I'm a chemical engineer so these details are fun for me to learn.

I am probably going to take Friday off and catch up on sleep, food, and things causing some stress for me, then kick off Monday with a small deload that I hope will get the LP moving again. Good to have a plan on the nutrition side of things now.

Anyways, thank you so much for all of your help!

[Robert Santana]

Very interesting stuff. I'm a chemical engineer so these details are fun for me to learn.

I am probably going to take Friday off and catch up on sleep, food, and things causing some stress for me, then kick off Monday with a small deload that I hope will get the LP moving again. Good to have a plan on the nutrition side of things now.

Anyways, thank you so much for all of your help!

You are very welcome! Glad you like this stuff buddy!