A year to lose 15kg - method?

[ambivalens]

Hey Jordan, thanks for taking the time to read this.

I've set myself a goal of losing 15kgs of bodyfat this year. I'm in no rush, and will be doing it as sanely as I can. I'm currently at 125kgs BW, thus the year end goal is to be around 110kgs.

My nutrition has been dialed in. I've lost 12-15kgs since I started weight training, and currently I'm trying to slow the loss a tad, because workouts are getting harder and harder. I regulate my weight mainly by carbohydrates at the moment. I get about 250g of protein a day, and somewhere in the neighbourhood of 80-120g fat, depending a little bit on family activities

I've thought of 2 ways of doing it:

1) Spend the last week of every month losing about 1 to 1.2kgs of weight. The other 3 weeks I'd eat more carbs and try to keep building strength as usual. This seems to be the psychologically easiest way, as it's "only" one week of rather low carb intake, but I'm afraid I'll simply be losing water or whatever every month, instead of actual fat. Also it'd be hard to know that I'm on the right track, as it seems my BW can fluctuate wildly from day to day. I can be 126 one day, 124.5 the next, and 126 again the next.

2) Spend 3 consecutive months losing about 1kg per week, then go back to eating more and building strength. I would use March, April and May for this, as it'd fit best with everything else in life. The main problem with such a prolonged period of a reduced carb intake is getting even more on my wife's nerves with my nutrition, and psychological motivation to keep it going for the "long" haul.

Which way do you think I should go for? Or, should I do something else entirely? Thanks for your attention!

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Number 1 won't work at all so it's really not an option. I think option 2 is what I'd do, though I see no reason why you can't get stronger during this time if the programming is correct. Your brain may interfere, but you can fix that too.

[ambivalens]

Number 1 won't work at all so it's really not an option. I think option 2 is what I'd do, though I see no reason why you can't get stronger during this time if the programming is correct. Your brain may interfere, but you can fix that too.

Alright! Thanks!

I've ran a relatively regular LP up until about 8 weeks ago, then I switched to TM for weekly increases on the bar because I couldn't recover fast enough. Just finished week 8 of TM: Squat 2x3 135kg, Bench 2x3 102kg, DL 160kg and Press 2x3 75kg. Still losing weight, but I have a feeling I won't be able to recover from TM style programming for too long now. Volume day is hard and very long (2+ hours).

I've been looking at HLM and wondering if that'd be more sustainable while keeping the weight loss going - what do you think? If not, what style of programming would you suggest?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I never quite understand statements like:

but I have a feeling I won't be able to recover from

What is telling you this and how sure are you that this isn't more of a self fulfilling prophecy? Recovery fluctuates based on many other things outside of just training. I'd find it unusual if a guy your weight can't continue TM with the weights you're lifting, with the caveat being recovery may not be consistent week to week. With that in mind, you might have some off weeks where you aren't able to progress but more often than not you should be able to. You just need a contingency plan for when this is the case (see below). HLM is a fine template too, but I see no reason to change templates when TM probably still has a few months more in it for you with minimal adjustments to the rep ranges.

Problem: Volume Day is too long
Solution: Split VD up into 2 days.
Day 1:
Bench/Press 5x5
Power Clean x 3 x 5

Day 2:
Squat 5x5

Problem: The first set on VD feels stupid heavy.
Solution: Do 1 heavy set of 5, then 4 back off sets within 10% of the top set of 5. Alternatively, switch to 8 sets of 3 in place of 5 x 5

Problem: My DL goes nowhere on TM
Solution: Pull 1st on Day 2 (the light day) and squat last on Day 2. This lets you pull in a fresher state, IMO. Alternatively, pull on ID.

Problem: My weights on ID aren't going up
Solution: Periodize it. Do 2 weeks of 5 reps for your ID set. Then move to 2 sets of 3 (or one set of 3) on ID for 1-3 weeks. Then move to 5 singles across on ID for 1-3 weeks. Then reset to 5's.

[Austin Baraki]

Problem: Volume Day is too long
Solution: Split VD up into 2 days.
Day 1:
Bench/Press 5x5
Power Clean x 3 x 5

Day 2:
Squat 5x5

Problem: The first set on VD feels stupid heavy.
Solution: Do 1 heavy set of 5, then 4 back off sets within 10% of the top set of 5. Alternatively, switch to 8 sets of 3 in place of 5 x 5

Problem: My DL goes nowhere on TM
Solution: Pull 1st on Day 2 (the light day) and squat last on Day 2. This lets you pull in a fresher state, IMO. Alternatively, pull on ID.

Problem: My weights on ID aren't going up
Solution: Periodize it. Do 2 weeks of 5 reps for your ID set. Then move to 2 sets of 3 (or one set of 3) on ID for 1-3 weeks. Then move to 5 singles across on ID for 1-3 weeks. Then reset to 5's.

I like these, and have used several them for people I've had try to run TM for a while. I think this topic would make a great BBM blog post like "Troubleshooting the Texas Method" or something.