After 20 rep squats: What next?

[Diabetic Coach]

Male age 45 Type 2 diabetic. It's really difficult for me to gain muscular weight.
20 rep squats took me from 167 in july to 194 today.
Added 'some' fat. Went from about 18% to 25%.

Last training session I squatted 265 for 20. I think I've gone as far as I can go with this program.

The question is what comes next.
My goal is to squat 405. Should I redo SS/GSLP ? Start with HLM or Texas Method?
Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance. This forum is a great resource.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I like HLM for you. Full body workouts 3 days per week I think will help manage your condition, and at 45 HLM is a little easier to recover from than TM. I'd start working in a little bit of conditioning on Tues/Thurs/Sat (assuming you lift on MWF). Just a moderate paced walk on an inclined treadmill to start with. 20-30 mins with a diet that is in check should work.

[crookedfinger]

Congrats on the 265x20, as someone who has done a 20 rep squat program I can personally attest to the hell that they are. I can also attest to what they will do to assist one in gaining mass.

I am confused about 1 thing. You are a Type 2 Diabetic. This should be fairly easy to manage with meds, diet, and exercise. As you lose weight, the symptoms improve and at a certain point, you should be able to manage without the meds solely via diet and training.

I am not a Dr, but my wife is predisposed to Diabetes (had Gestational Diabetes when pregnant 16 years ago) and was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. She also has a Thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) which makes managing the symptoms and weight loss even more difficult. That said, she is off meds (has been for a couple of years), manages via diet and exercise and for the most part is symptom free.

I guess I am curious as to what affect the Type 2 Diabetes has on anything....other than meal frequency and macros.

Would you be willing to expound on this?

[Diabetic Coach]

I like HLM for you. Full body workouts 3 days per week I think will help manage your condition, and at 45 HLM is a little easier to recover from than TM. I'd start working in a little bit of conditioning on Tues/Thurs/Sat (assuming you lift on MWF). Just a moderate paced walk on an inclined treadmill to start with. 20-30 mins with a diet that is in check should work.

I will start HLM today.
Thank you.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Congrats on the 265x20, as someone who has done a 20 rep squat program I can personally attest to the hell that they are. I can also attest to what they will do to assist one in gaining mass.

I am confused about 1 thing. You are a Type 2 Diabetic. This should be fairly easy to manage with meds, diet, and exercise. As you lose weight, the symptoms improve and at a certain point, you should be able to manage without the meds solely via diet and training.

I am not a Dr, but my wife is predisposed to Diabetes (had Gestational Diabetes when pregnant 16 years ago) and was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. She also has a Thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) which makes managing the symptoms and weight loss even more difficult. That said, she is off meds (has been for a couple of years), manages via diet and exercise and for the most part is symptom free.

I guess I am curious as to what affect the Type 2 Diabetes has on anything....other than meal frequency and macros.

Would you be willing to expound on this?

I'm not a Dr. either and am not postulating that I can cure his Type 2 condition. I will say this, you just don't see a lot of Type 2's walking around that eat 90% Paleo and are consistently training with barbells and moderate aerobic/anaerobic cardiovascular training

[Diabetic Coach]

Congrats on the 265x20, as someone who has done a 20 rep squat program I can personally attest to the hell that they are. I can also attest to what they will do to assist one in gaining mass.

I am confused about 1 thing. You are a Type 2 Diabetic. This should be fairly easy to manage with meds, diet, and exercise. As you lose weight, the symptoms improve and at a certain point, you should be able to manage without the meds solely via diet and training.

I am not a Dr, but my wife is predisposed to Diabetes (had Gestational Diabetes when pregnant 16 years ago) and was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. She also has a Thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) which makes managing the symptoms and weight loss even more difficult. That said, she is off meds (has been for a couple of years), manages via diet and exercise and for the most part is symptom free.

I guess I am curious as to what affect the Type 2 Diabetes has on anything....other than meal frequency and macros.

Would you be willing to expound on this?

It is my understanding that my diabetes won't allow the cells to respond correctly to insulin.
I was 260 lbs at one point. I started a crossfit type regimen and got to 200ish before finding SS. When i got under 170 the meds were no longer required.

I walk a fine line with protein consumption. Too little and no muscle growth and repair. Too much and blood sugar goes through the roof.

[vanslix]

Type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic link to it. I've seen lots of patients who have little fat and still have to pay close attention to their sugars or still require medications. It's less common than the typical obese patient but it does happen.

Weight training and/or HIIT does make the muscles more sensitive to insulin. But other factors include the pancreas (both beta and alpha cells), hypothalamus, pituitary, liver, stomach, duodenum, kidneys, and fat cells. It'd a wickedly complicated disease.

[DaveJF]

Male age 45 Type 2 diabetic. It's really difficult for me to gain muscular weight.
20 rep squats took me from 167 in july to 194 today.
Added 'some' fat. Went from about 18% to 25%.

Last training session I squatted 265 for 20. I think I've gone as far as I can go with this program.

The question is what comes next.
My goal is to squat 405. Should I redo SS/GSLP ? Start with HLM or Texas Method?
Any other suggestions?

I think 265 for 20 reps probably puts you pretty darn close to your goal, all you need to do is 'get used' to some more weight on your back, if that makes sense. Kudos that you were able to gut that out, that's awesome.

I also think you're being a little pessimistic about your ability to add muscular body weight, and I personally wouldn't put much stock in the BF measurements unless they were done in a tank or maybe with DEXA. If those were measured w/ a BIA scale they are probably not very accurate, especially as you get heavier, regardless of the actual composition. The way I understand it, BMI plays a big part in the calculation of the BF estimate with BIA.

It is my understanding that my diabetes won't allow the cells to respond correctly to insulin.
I was 260 lbs at one point. I started a crossfit type regimen and got to 200ish before finding SS. When i got under 170 the meds were no longer required.

I walk a fine line with protein consumption. Too little and no muscle growth and repair. Too much and blood sugar goes through the roof.

I was diagnosed 5 years ago at about your age and have a similar overall history, except you dropped a lot more weight and I never filled any prescriptions (diet/exercise was enough). Kudos again, some damn fine mental discipline going on there to drop that much weight.

FWIW, I find overall calorie consumption is the biggest player in the fasting BG level and only carbs really "spike" BG in my case. Protein shakes (milk + whey) plus a small amount of "clean" carbs after workouts - when insulin sensitivity is higher - I think really help me w/ recovery/anabolism w/o the high spikes or raising fasting numbers. Timing seems really important in walking the line.

And I agree it's a fine line to walk... Hard to get enough fuel for muscle growth w/o making the metabolic problems worse but in the end I think tilting the balance slightly in favor of more muscle does the most good over the long haul. From what I've been told, male members of my family's previous generations w/ T2D never suffered from related health problems or sky-rocketing BG until they got weak and inactive.

[hector_garza]

Have you tried BCAA's between meals to help recovery?

Maybe they wouldn't spike insulin as much as other stuff since they are digested differently. This would be a good question for Jordan Feigenbaum.

[aprice1387]

265 for 20 reps? The only reason you haven't squatted 405x1 yet must be that you haven't tried... I guarantee you could hit it.