Fat Adapted Training - Journey To 1000 lb

[kris90]

Hey all!

Kris here, 29 year old fat adapted/cold adapted male looking to hit a 1000 lb total just for fun. Below is my history and some background.

History:

• Began training/bodybuilding in late teens/early 20s
• Bulked on and/off went from 130 lbs skinny kid to 205 lbs at heaviest (experimented with AAS)
• Had a great looking physique, and got decent strength at my peak of 22 (315x1 bench/350x5 squat/500x1 deadlift)
• Came off AAS and after too much restrictive dieting and other lifestyle factors, wound up with adrenal fatigue, hypogonadism, gut issues, etc. Wound up on TRT (HCG monotherapy)
• Had children, took some time off lifting, focused on health and optimizing circadian rhythm, reversed hypogonadism, adrenal fatigue and gut issues
• Looking to get back into lifting, focusing on strength rather than physique, and staying healthy & lighter
• Began Starting Strength on 21/10/2019

Diet/Lifestyle:

• High fat, moderate protein, low carb
• Fatty fish, eggs, liver, pork, beef, cheese, cottage cheese, nuts, peanut butter, butter, heavy cream, olive oil, coconut oil, green veggies
• Do not count calories
• Eat 1-3 meals per day (depending on training, schedule, etc)
• One 24 hour fast per week, most days eat within 8 hour feeding window
• Drink 6 L of ice water per day with added salt and iodine
• 2x cold showers per day and embracing cold Canadian winters
• Tanning bed 1-2x per week for UV light exposure and Vitamin D production
• Daily breathwork, meditation and mindfulness
• Daily sungazing, stargazing
• Blue blocking screen filters, minimize EMF exposure
• 8 hours of sleep

So as you can see, I live a unique lifestyle. I try to wake with the sunrise, and don't expose myself to blue light beyond sunset. I use red incandescent lights at night to help with melatonin secretion and sleep. I eat a seasonal, ketogenic diet with added carbs in summer months (I live in Canada, we have a short crop growing season). I embrace cold by taking cold showers and occasional ice baths which activate an alternative metabolic pathway when our circadian rhythm becoming dominated by temperature in low light cycles (i.e. this time of year). I've noticed being cold adapted/fat adapted has massive benefits: improved metabolic function, energy, mood, alertness, minimal hunger and thirst and lowered inflammation. I can usually get away with 24 hours of fasting with ZERO hunger because my body can burn fats extremely efficiently. I drink a lot of cold water so my body is constantly burning calories as heat. This spares ATP, and also the burning of fatty acids long-term lowers ROS at the mitochondrial level which results in longevity and improved performance. The combination of cold adaptation/fat burning and optimizing my circadian rhythm by following the natural light cycles has allowed me to cure my chronic illnesses which were a result of overtraining, and fueling on high carb diets as well as restrictive dieting and eating outside of natural light cycles and seasons for my many years of training in my younger days. So my approach to training now is to fuel on fats mostly (with occasional carb ups if desired), increase my protein intake from animal meats and seafood (nutrient density), use cold therapy as a means to reduce inflammation and promote recovery from work outs, and train and eat within the daylight period to ensure optimal metabolic function. My goal is to get as strong as possible (1000 lb total) while remaining at my current size (if I gain some weight/muscle, I won't be unhappy, but it's not the PRIMARY goal). Already gained about 8 lbs on my low carb diet just from lifting for 4 weeks.

I began Starting Strength about a month ago, and I started out at 5'8 @ 155 lbs around 10% bodyfat. My lifts were:

• 135x5 Squat
• 125x5 Bench
• 65x5 OHP
• 185x5 Deadlift

Current Stats (After 4 weeks):

• 5'8 @ 163 lbs around 11% bodyfat
• 205x5 Squat
• 160x5 Bench
• 95x5 OHP
• 295x5 Deadlift

I start phase 2 tomorrow from which point I will introduce Powercleans, although deadlifts still feel relatively light (no use of belt or straps yet).

Kris

[kris90]

Bodyweight: 160.6 lbs

Week 5 - Workout 1:

Squats: 210x5x3
OHP: 100x5x3
Deadlift: 305x5x1
BB Curls: 50x10x3

Nutrition:

Meal 1: Coffee with heavy cream, 3 egg omlette with beef and cheese, 1 homemade salmon patty with mayo, 1 cup of sauerkraut
Meal 2: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp natty peanut butter, 2 squares 90% dark chocolate
Meal 3: Glass of malbec wine, Low carb chili with extra beef cheese and sour cream, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp coconut oil

Probably about 160g of protein and 3,000 calories.

Notes:

Down a few lbs which I expected since I did a 24 hour fast after eating some carbs over the weekend. I peed on a ketostick for fun, and was in moderate ketosis, so my metabolism is quite efficient at switching in and out of ketosis even with a 36 hour carb up. Slept like garbage last night. Wife was snoring and my daughter got me up a few times in the night.

Workout went pretty well. Still trying to work on my hip drive for squats and keep my eyes aimed toward the ground. Deadlifting set went extremely well. I'd say that's my lift by far, and I'm making very quick progress. 305 lbs felt like nothing. I'm sure I'll be back up to a 4 plate deadlift in no time. I'll try to upload some videos to get feedback on my form.

Wondering when I should wear a belt? Didn't feel a need for it on deadlifts, but maybe on OHP and Squat. Hopefully I get a better night sleep tonight. Didn't feel too tired though. Thank god for cold showers! Best wake up stimulus ever.

[kris90]

Form check video:

YouTube

[TravisRatzloff]

Bodyweight: 160.6 lbs

Week 5 - Workout 1:

Squats: 210x5x3
OHP: 100x5x3
Deadlift: 305x5x1
BB Curls: 50x10x3

Nutrition:

Meal 1: Coffee with heavy cream, 3 egg omlette with beef and cheese, 1 homemade salmon patty with mayo, 1 cup of sauerkraut
Meal 2: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp natty peanut butter, 2 squares 90% dark chocolate
Meal 3: Glass of malbec wine, Low carb chili with extra beef cheese and sour cream, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp coconut oil

Probably about 160g of protein and 3,000 calories.

Notes:

Down a few lbs which I expected since I did a 24 hour fast after eating some carbs over the weekend. I peed on a ketostick for fun, and was in moderate ketosis, so my metabolism is quite efficient at switching in and out of ketosis even with a 36 hour carb up. Slept like garbage last night. Wife was snoring and my daughter got me up a few times in the night.

Workout went pretty well. Still trying to work on my hip drive for squats and keep my eyes aimed toward the ground. Deadlifting set went extremely well. I'd say that's my lift by far, and I'm making very quick progress. 305 lbs felt like nothing. I'm sure I'll be back up to a 4 plate deadlift in no time. I'll try to upload some videos to get feedback on my form.

Wondering when I should wear a belt? Didn't feel a need for it on deadlifts, but maybe on OHP and Squat. Hopefully I get a better night sleep tonight. Didn't feel too tired though. Thank god for cold showers! Best wake up stimulus ever.

Great progress! I am curious what others think of the belt. Its said if your 90-95% of your 1RM you should throw on a belt, but if you are not trying to add more weight than prescribed I would say don't bother and let your back get strong without. The less you use the better. I use if I am nearing max because I have had back issues in last. But my back has felt great the more I work on my technique.

I am with you with sleep. 2 year old is needy and wife won't let me put in noise machine plus sick. Still pushing forward today.

Travis

[kris90]

Great progress! I am curious what others think of the belt. Its said if your 90-95% of your 1RM you should throw on a belt, but if you are not trying to add more weight than prescribed I would say don't bother and let your back get strong without. The less you use the better. I use if I am nearing max because I have had back issues in last. But my back has felt great the more I work on my technique.

I am with you with sleep. 2 year old is needy and wife won't let me put in noise machine plus sick. Still pushing forward today.

Travis

Thanks Travis! I agree with you. I won't go out of my way to use belt and straps until I feel I need it. Hell, I'm working out barefeet or socks right now LOL! Looking into getting a pair of lifting shoes at some point.

Slept like a baby last night! I needed that. Although I seem to do OK on minimal sleep. Perhaps a benefit of being cold/fat adapted.

Weight was 161.4 lbs this morning.


Nutrition:

Meal 1: 3 eggs, 8 oz mackerel and smoked herring with olive oil, Handful of mixed nuts
Meal 2: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp natty peanut butter, 2 squares 90% dark chocolate
Meal 3: Glass of malbec wine, Low carb chili with extra beef cheese and sour cream, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp coconut oil

I'm thinking of delaying Phase 2 to add powercleans and decrease deadlift frequency. Reason being is deadlifts still feel fairly light and I'm adding 10 lbs per workout with ease. No recovery issues from 3x per week deadlifting. Any thoughts?

EDIT: also forgot to mention I hit up the tanning bed today. Felt great especially walking out into the cold air. Also took about 4mg of nicotine split in 2 doses. Nicotine + UV light = a hack for mitochondrial health. It helps generate a superoxide pulse to stimulate mitophagy, a process where we recycle poorly functioning mitochondria.

[kris90]

Bodyweight: 161.8 lbs

Week 5 - Workout 2:

Squats: 215x5x3
Bench Press: 165x5x3
Deadlift: 315x5x1
Dips: BWx8x2

Nutrition:

Meal 1: 3 egg omlette with beef cheese and spinach, dozen oysters, 1 cup of sauerkraut
Meal 2: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp natty peanut butter, 2 squares 90% dark chocolate
Meal 3: Glass of malbec wine, Keto pizza, chocolate fat bomb

Notes:

Still getting used to low bar squats and keeping head down. I definitely feel like my hip drive is improving, but because I've squatted incorrectly for so long, it's taking a bit of getting used to. Based on my filming, things look pretty good in terms of my form. It's also amazing how in the moment the weight feels tough, but in the video it seems to go up like butter!

Bench went extremely well. I've always had a decent bench.

Deadlift went pretty well also. I was watching some videos on lifters opinion on head position. I tend to keep my head up, and based on my previous video, there was no hyper-extension of my back which is good, so I feel as though I can afford this. Today I tried to keep my head down a little, and it didn't feel as good, but I didn't round my back either. So it seems to not matter too much, as long as I'm being safe!

Also decided to keep deads in there every workout as I'm progressing rapidly and not feeling burnt out. Right now I've got my deads 100 lbs higher than squats, so I think I'll keep them at +5 lbs per session along with squats.

Added dips in there. Haven't done in a while and feeling pretty weak on them.

[kris90]

Bodyweight: 163.8 lbs

Missed posting this from 23/11/2019.

Week 5 - Workout 3:

Squats: 220x6, 220x5x2
OHP: 105x5x3
Deadlift: 320x5x1
BB Curls: 55x10x3

Notes:

Overindulged a little this weekend as I tend to do haha, so the scale went up a little, but today will be a 24 hour fast.

This workout was pretty awesome. I was taking a video of my squats and ended up doing 6 reps by accident on the first set. Didn't feel too bad. OHP went well. Deadlift was fairly easy, but my grip gave out on the last rep and it nearly slipped out of my fingers! So I will add straps at this point on deadlifts. Pretty happy I made it to 320x5 without straps or a belt.

I ordered a pair of reebok lifting shoes and a 4" leather belt, so hopefully that comes in later this week or next week. At this point, my DL is 100 lbs over my squat so I may switch to Powercleans or add Pendlay Rows.

[kris90]

Bodyweight: 162.4 lbs

Week 6 - Workout 1:

Squats: 225x5x3
Bench Press: 170x5x3
Pendlay Rows: 95x5x3
Dips: BWx9x2

Nutrition:

Meal 1: 3 egg omlette with steak, cheese and spinach, 2 slices of pork belly, 1 cup of sauerkraut
Meal 2: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp natty peanut butter, 2 squares 90% dark chocolate
Meal 3: Glass of malbec wine, Keto meat pie, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp almond butter

Notes:

What a great workout! Got all my reps without struggle. It's a great feeling that the weight is starting to feel heavy, but I'm completing every rep with great power and ease. Still worked up a good sweat.

I ended up doing Pendlay Rows today. Practiced Powercleans with the empty bar but it just didn't feel right. I won't give up on them, and I'll try to get some more practice, but I did have an AC joint separation many years ago that healed kind of funny (there is a bit of bone still sticking up just above my shoulder) so that kind of has me a bit concerned in terms of resting the bar near that area.

[kris90]

My belt and lifting shoes came in today!

78311322_604370150395395_5908445634179891200_o.jpg

[kris90]

Bodyweight: 163.8 lbs

Week 6 - Workout 2:

Squats:
45x5x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
230x5x3

OHP:
45x5x2
65x3
85x2
110x5x3

Deadlifts:
135x5x2
185x3
225x1
325x5x3

BB Curls:
60x10x3

Nutrition:

Meal 1: 3 egg omlette with pepperoni, bacon bits, cheese and spinach, 2 slices of pork belly, 1 cup of sauerkraut
Meal 2: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp natty peanut butter, 2 squares 90% dark chocolate
Meal 3: Glass of malbec wine, seafood & veggie curry stirfry, chocolate keto brownie

Notes:

Had an awful sleep last night, and it seemed to affect my workout. I've also been obsessing over my squat form in terms of elbow position, so it totally played with my head on my first set. I've come to the realisation that sometimes, you have to do what feels right. For me, that means flaring my elbow slightly, but nowhere near as bad as I've seen (I took a video). When I try to pull my elbows down, I get pain unless I move the bar higher on my traps. So for a low bar squat, I need a slight flare as it helps maintain my back angle. I'll try to upload a video in the Form Check section of the forum.

All in all, I got all my reps so that's all that matters! As much as I want to go out and do something fun tomorrow evening, I may try to catch up on rest so I have a better workout on Saturday.