DCM's fat loss log

[DCM]

So, after a couple of years of lurking and the odd forum post, I've decided it's time to keep a log here, just to hold myself more accountable and maybe get some feedback from the more experienced people here.

My training history in brief: I've fucked around with weights since I was 17 (I'm now 29), but it's the usual story of doing Muscle & Fitness routines, never seeing any real results, getting discouraged, stopping and starting, etc. I gain fat easily and have yo-yo'd up and down in weight throughout my twenties, ranging from 79 kilos after hard-core calorie-counting (at 6 feet in height) up to a fluffy 94 kilos in 2007. I never understood why I looked so shit at such low bodyweight (it's now obvious that I was skinny-fat with no muscles), and still had fat around my belly and chest even when looking gaunt and emaciated everywhere else. In 2010, I finally discovered Starting Strength, and the stunning paradigm shift of eating more to look and perform better. My linear progression was far from linear, being disrupted by illnesses, a bereavement, and bouts of fuckarounditis. But I eventually stalled out my newbie gains last June, with a high-bar squat (My shoulders and the LBBS don't get on) of 147.5 kg for 5 sets of 3, a press of 77.5 kg for 5 sets of 3, a bench press of 105 kilos for 3 sets of 5, and a deadlift of 170 kilos. I had also got seriously fat in the process, with a 45 inch waist and topping out the scales at 120 kilos. It was time for a cut.

TLDR - I fat-fucked myself doing SS (I blame nobody but myself) and am now slowly reversing this process while trying to keep as much strength as possible.

I am following John Kiefer's CarbNite Solution, and have lost 11 kilos of fat and 4 inches from my waist since June. As of yesterday, I weigh 109.5 kilos, and have a waist (measured at navel height) of 104 cm. I still have a long way to go, though.

Stats:

Age: 29
Height: 6 feet
Current weight: 109.5 kg (240.3 pounds)
Target weight: Sub-100 kg (sub-220.4 pounds)
Current waist size (at navel): 104 cm (40.9 inches)
Target waist: 90 cm (around 35 inches)
Best lifts:
- High-bar squat: 160 kg (352 pounds) x 1 (did this last month, just before a 2-week holiday. Don't think I could hit it again at the moment. For those wanting to see my technique for this type of squat, here's some footage of me doing 147.5 kg for 3 reps in June: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYQeH8zflD8)
- Bench press: 105 kg (231.5 pounds) x 5 x 3 (have never tested max)
- Press: 80 kilos (176 pounds) x 1
- Deadlift: 180 kilos x 3 (done last month before going on holiday)
- Power clean: 77.5 kilos x 3 (again, did these last month before going away. I've only recently starting cleaning, having finally developed atechnique that doesn't bring on elbow tendinitis)

I mention my holiday to explain/excuse the fact that the numbers below in my log are lower for all the lifts, as I couldn't train for 2 weeks, am since 3 kilos lighter, and as a result am just plain weaker.

OK, onto my programming. I did 3 cycles of 5/3/1, from July to the end of September, and while I really enjoyed the programme, I came to the conclusion that, for me at least, doing something which allows me to keep my intensity as high as possible would be better. So once I got back from holiday, I switched to the following programme, in which the pressing movements swap around each week (i.e. the press on Monday and Friday in Week 1, then on Wednesday only in Week 2, and vice versa for the bench press):


Workout A:

- HB squat, 3 x 3
- Press, 5 x 3 (i.e. 5 sets of 3)
- Power cleans, 5 x 3
- Chins (only just become able to do these again, so doubles and singles for as many total full-range reps as possible)
- Kroc rows (i.e. DB rows, 1 set of AMRAP)

Workout B:

- Front squat, 3 x 3
- Bench press, 5 x 3
- Chins (see above)
- DB rows, 3 x 10

Workout C:

- High-bar squat, 1 x 3 (3-rep max), 5 x 1 (1-rep max)
- Press, 1 x 3 (3-rep max), 5 x 1 (1-rep max)
- Deadlift, 1 x 3 (3-rep max), 2 x 5 (2 back-off sets)

The programme is designed to reflect that I'll have more energy towards the beginning of the week, after my once-a-week carb binge at the weekend. It's basically a bastardised TM. For assistance, I'm focusing solely on upper back strength, as this is a big weak spot for me. and I want to use my limited energy resources to address it.

[DCM]

Training log for last week. I was one week into the prep phase for CarbNite during this week (staying ultra-low carb for 10 days), so was feeling quite weak during the Tuesday session (for the squats and Kroc rows especially).

Tuesday:

-High bar squat, 3 sets of 3 @ 130 kg. I was doing 140 kg before going on holiday at the beginning of October, and when I came back this weight just felt crushingly heavy. I've dropped down by 10 kilos, with the aim of slowly building back up to the all-important 3-plate mark.

- Press. 5 sets of 3 reps @ 72.5 kg.

- Power cleans, 5 sets of 3 reps @ 70 kg.

- Kroc rows, 47.5 kg, 16 reps with right arm, 14 reps with left arm. Down by 6 reps (!) on the right arm, 2 on the left, since last week, when I was still eating carbs.


Thursday:

- Front squat, 3 sets of 3 @ 105 kg. These felt really good. I've always been a fan of the front squat, as I feel I could almost stand up with any weight using this squat variation (obviously that's just an illusion, or I'd be doing 3 plates. Hah!).

- Bench press, 3 sets of 3 @ 100 kg. OK, so my stupid ego got in the way here. I don't want to be benching less than 2 wheels, but I am unable to bench 100 kg for 5 sets of 3, so I just did 3 sets instead. I'm going to build this up to 5 sets over the coming weeks, then strat trying to add more weight to the bar.

- Chins (neutral grip), one set of 2, followed by 3 singles, so 5 total. This was the first time I've been able to do a chin-up since 2007! I wasn't even going to programme them in, but just thought I'd give the neutral-grip a try, after reading here somewhere that it's easier than the underhand-grip position, and what do you know? I actually managed to lift myself off the ground using my arms. Cool. I'm sure these will now get easier and easier.

- DB rows - I felt pretty tired after the chins, so I just did a single set of 10 reps on each side, using a 50 kg dumbbell.

Saturday:

- 142.5 kg high-bar squats, 1 set of 3, followed by 5 singles @ 150 kg.

- Press. I wanted to press 77.5 kg for a set of 3, but my grip shifted after the 2nd rep and I was gassed once I'd sorted that out. I rested and tried again, but only got 2 reps. I didn't bother with the heavy singles after that.

- Deadlift, 1 set of 3 @ 170 kg, and two back-off sets of 5 @ 120 kg.

[DCM]

Last night was the first carb feed after getting back on CarbNite. I started at 4 pm, and had two big bowls of Coco Pops, 2 large helpings of home-made fish pie with puff pastry, then a huge serving of plum crumble with custard and ice cream. This was the first time that I actually felt hot on CarbNite - apparently your body converts all the carbs you eat into body heat, a claim which I've found a bit dubious in the past, as I never experienced it. Anyway, I'm 2 kilos heavier this morning, so the carbs seem to have done their job. I'm now looking forward to training in a less depleted state next week.

[DCM]

Just realised I should probably have posted this in the General Logs section. Sigh.

[DCM]

Training, Tuesday 6th November 2012

My first session after Saturday's CarbNite. I started training at around 11 a.m. in a fasted state, and started sipping a whey shake about half-way through.

High-bar squat: 3 x 3 @ 132.5 kg

Bench press: 5 x 3 reps @ 100 kg. Was really happy with these, as I managed to add two more sets since last week.

Power cleans: 5 x 3 @ 70 kg. Some of these were ropey - jumping too early, racking too slowly. Not sure whether to consolidate this weight, decrease the weight, or do doubles, as it's usually the last rep in the set that's crappy.

Neutral-grip chins: 1 & 3/4, 3/4, 3/4, 1 negative. These were crap compared to last week, but I did much more stuff beforehand today, so it's not too surprising. They'll get better with time.

Kroc rows: 47.5 kg x AMRAP. 18 reps with the left arm, 20 with the right. I want 25 reps before I move up to the 50 kg 'bell.

[DCM]

Training, Thursday 8th December 2012

Trained fasted again, with a whey shake half-way through the session (sipped in between press sets)

Front squat: 3 x 3 @ 110 kg. 5 kilo increase on last week. This is just over bodyweight.

Press: 5 sets of 3 @ 72.5 kg. Was glad to get these, as I struggled to do the same weight 3 weeks ago when I was still eating carbs and 3 kilos heavier than I am now.

Negative-grip chins: 2, 1, 3/4, 1 negative.

Dumbbell rows: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 50 kg.

[DCM]

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[DCM]

Weigh-in, Saturday 10th November 2012: 109.8 kg. Maybe half a centimetre down on the waist, impossible to tell really. I'm disappointed, as I'm 300 grams heavier than last Saturday. It feels as if my moobs and belly have shrunken, but I could be fooling myself with the tape measure, and the scales ain't lying. If I have lost fat, it may all have been during the prep phase. However, they do say over on the DangerouslyHardcore forums not to rely on the scales when doing the CarbNite diet, as one may be recomping, i.e. gaining muscle as well as losing fat. I'll stick to the usual carb refeeding pattern today, and if the scale and tape measure are still not showing any loss by next Saturday, I'll have to readjust things.

[DCM]

Training, Saturday 10th November 2012: Another fasted session with a whey shake.

HB squat: 1 x 3 x 145 kg, 5 singles @ 152.5 kg.

Bench press: 1 x 3 x 110 kg, new PR. Have never benched heavier than 105 kg. I wasn't even sure whether to go for this, but so glad I did - finally benching bodyweight! Followed up with 2 sets of 5 @ 80 kg, just for some back-off volume work.

Deadlift: 1 x 3 @ 172.5 kg. This was not great, with a significant pause in between reps 2 and 3. Needs consolidating. I decided not to do the back-off sets, as I was feeling pretty tired by this point.

[DCM]

Training, Monday 12th November 2012: Trained fasted.

HB squat: 3 x 3 @ 135 kg. These felt quite easy, but I'll resist the temptation to jump straight to 140 kg next week, especially as I positioned the bar slightly wrongly on my last set and tweaked my always-sensitive left shoulder and bicep.

Press: 5 sets of 3 @ 75 kg. Really happy to be making such good progress with the press. I think I'll have to start microloading from this point on, though.

Power cleans: Wanted to do 10 heavy singles @ 72.5 kg (hah, heavy, he says!), but gave up after 4, because they were a joke (reverse curls), and hurting my shoulder to boot. I'll reset down to 65 kg next week.

I also skipped my chins because of my shoulder and bicep pain.

Kroc rows: AMRAP @ 47.5 kg. 22 reps on right arm, 20 on left.

All in all a decent session.