CFFB - DL and Pulls & Float Month Assessment - 210402

Buy in
3x lunge/ypulls/rollouts 

Mains

DL 276/325/2x355/325/275

Weighted pull up +35 3x3 / iso dB press 7@54

Cash out 

Bag work 8 mins

This is a day late to end the 4 week breather between 8 week cuts to begin this year. Doing the mashup of the CFFB 3x5 double main movements with an LP each week to the weights used; felt good. Adding in Buy ins and Finishers (thought a lot about which ones to use for this) was good mental exercise. I'll continue the structure of the format for as long as it lasts - 4 on/3 off through beginning of summer. 

To recap the last 4 weeks, I was doing IF most days with just ozonated water, coffee and BCAAs until noon, and on/off schedule just happened to fall into a 4/1, 3/1, 2/1, 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1 breakdown. Cool looking on the calendar, came out to basically 2/1. 

Took creatine for the last month, and put back on 9 lbs (212 to 221) but BF% stayed at 12. Added back an inch at the neck, 1.5 at the chest, 2 at the hip, and .5 at the thigh and waist. I was worried about eating like a pig and just going right back to old measurements, so only a half inch back on the waist was in line with my objectives here. During the cut, ate 2326 cals/day (2147 after exercise deduction) and 2577 (2238 after exercise) so only 200/day more (and only 50 more after exercise) with means I ate not as little as I might've during the cut, and I also trained harder during this last month (179 cals/day vs 349 cals/day). Protein was 209 g/day, up 19 g/day, but carbs were up 60.

Creatine makes a big difference. I don't feel larger but just yesterday all the welders at the shop were saying that I was huge. Not really my goal but I think it's where adding a little more muscle without adding fat makes people look noteworthy. I didn't eat enough to add 9 lbs this month, so it's water in the muscle bellies via the creatine.

9.5-1 hours - 2100/0630. 49+8 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours. 221/12.

Summer Recomp Recap : True Confessions

Mostly a stream of consciousness recap of what happened as I got vain and did easy HT work to stay in the swing of things during a summer-too-hot-to-touch-the-barbell in Bakersfield.

Purposes:
1. Waist reduction n' Recomposition
2. Weak movements improvement
___________________
1. EAT CLEAN - this is not a weight reduction, it's a fat reduction
Outline for eats:
2500 calories/day = maintenance
Cals : 2362
Exercise : 259 (cals, not minutes)
Fat : 89g / 35%
Carb : 84g  / 15%
Pro : 295g  / 51%

Keys:
- Keep Pro over 225/day; Carb under 125/day
- On Rest days, the target is carbs under 50g
- Do IF everday

Recomposition: Waist is 40, up from 38.5, up from 37
I want to see 35 before changing cycles - .5" off per week = 6 weeks to 37
Upper arm 15.5 to 17
Chest 45 to 47
Everything else can remain static
___________________
2. Weak movements
Pull up
Power clean
Rollout-FtB

Bread and butter:
RDL/Hip Thruster
OHP
OHS
Ring Dip/Ring rows-Meadows rows
BB complexes
KB Swing

Do HT, Tonics, weak movements for reps and weak movements for 5RM
Ruck and easy fat burning endurance sessions, if possible on weekends

 1M - La
FW/Rollouts
Power Clean
RDL heavy/Squat light
Hip/Banded Add Squat

 2T - Aa
Pull ups/Power clean
Ring Row/Dyno Push ups
Ring Dip/Ez in

 3W - OFF - NO CARB, Lo Carb

 4Th - Lb
FtB/FW
Power clean, light
Deficit RDL/Front squat light
Hip/OHS light

 5F - Ab
Chins/(Power clean)
BBBO/Iso Flat Bench Presses
Ez in-out/OHP light

 6S - OFF or Ruck or Sprints/MA or Grace

 7Sn - Bonus or Grace
BB complex
Chins
C/T

week 1 - 4/3
week 2 - 4/4
week 3 - 5/4
week 4 - 3/3 - devolume

week 5 - 3/3 add weight
week 6 - 4/3
week 7 - 4/4
week 8 - 5/4 - devolume
----
Did it work? Let's start with the bottom line.

Post-cycle Takeaways:

- Started off with waist at 40", ended with waist at 38".

- Other measurements didn't change significantly, upper arm added .5" and this was a secondary objective, just not as much growth as anticipated, and chest didn't change significantly (carry subcutaneous fat there).

- Lost 6 lbs. of scale weight: 2 lbs. a month/ .5 lb a week. Just sayin' - this was not a goal of this program, it just happened.

- Work cap didn't change much (did mostly only HT work), weak movements didn't move too much (wasn't very scientific about tracking them though). They definitely didn't go south, and the weak movements were the movements that got their grooves greased this whole cycle, a plus.

Okay, monthly breakdowns follow.
----
4 weeks, June is in the bank.

…lost one pound, BF% is the same via the Tanita scale. I think I look more lean. Measurements say that I've lost some subcutaneous fat all over, because of the lack of weight loss, but slightly smaller measurements all over.
1 inch off of the waist, .5 off of the shoulders and hip. Added .25 to the arm, or not. The inch off the waist is the win - that's .25" per week without really being on a cut - just being on maintenance calories and doing easy HT work.

Workouts have been mostly by feel, and mostly everyday I can get them in. 21 days on with 8 days off in 29 days. 3/1. Mostly about 30 mins, all with the 40 on/55 off timer, and most everything but the buy in is antagonistic.

Mains have been BBBO and dyno pushups
RDLs and light squatting or trap deads
trying to do chins and cleans regularly
I'll get numbers on exercise frequencies. I have been adjusting on the fly, based on what I feel like doing out there.

Sets have been mostly 
2/2 for the buy in FW/rollouts
4 of power clean, or chins
4/3 for the main
cash out 4/3 ez and ring dip or tri, or Hip/add squats (now Goblet add squats)

Macros are spot on: 109g fat, 108g carb, 288g pro day/average.38/17/45% - remember that I wanted to only be under 20% with carb 9 (under 125g/day) and over 40% with protein (over 225g/day). I'm averaging 40 over the 2500 maintenance calories per day.

I've been doing IF each day, weekends 95% too. 
Sleep has been good, if I nap I keep up. Late in the month I was getting squeezed with early starts at work and ppl staying up late now that they're on summer break (and Konrad's football practices go til 8 - if I go to sleep at 8, I get 8).
The right knee has felt sketchy, I think it was a MCL strain about 7 weeks ago. It's starting to feel better, but I was unable to squat on it for the longest, and completely unable to sit cross-legged until just yesterday.

To adjust:
more so:
- Less or zero cals on off days (as it was for these first 4 weeks, I ate an average of almost 100 more calories on OFF days than I did on ON days, and, more significantly, an average of 23g more carbs on OFF days than ON days, and it should be reversed). I'd like to see an average of 50g LESS on OFF days than ON days.
- Less cals on off days (300 less = to the workout cals, perhaps, and therefore, 600 more on ON days to counter). So, Wave my intake. Which is to say, plan my workout days, instead of trying to exercise when I can or as many days/week as I can.
- My schedule is only allowing me to workout in the PMs (and with the heat, I'm doing well) but that doesn't allow for the first carbs of the day to be post-workout - I wish this was the case
- Wave volume so that you're not doing 4/3 sets all the time
less so:
- Add in heavy, low rep work on key exercises (power clean, pulls)
- I've only done the cosgrove complex a few times, once a week is good, but expand to 2x/week (and the complex can change to be WoD rounds)
- add in some work capacity work
- add in some skill work (read, MA bag rounds)

3 day breakdowns in the future, instead of two (three alternating Mains):

A
buy in - clean/FTB
Add - weighted chin or weighted pull
3 alternating Mains - BBBO/Archer, or ring row-meadows/dyno, or more pulls-chins/OHP
cash out - ez in/tri, ez out/tri, or ez/ring dip on OHP day

L
buy in - FW/rollouts
Add - KB swing
3 alternating Mains - RDL/squat, or dRDL/front squat, or heavy RDL/trap dead
cash out - Hip/Add squat

Tonic - or Bonus
buy in - cleans or kb/chins
Main - complex
cash out - direct arm work, cav press iso and hammer to burnout

--
8 Weeks, July is in the bank

Lost 4 lbs, another inch off of the waist - down to 38". This is the primary goal, so keeping pace at .25" off the waist per week is great. See "8_weeks_measurements" - fractional gain on the neck, loss on the arm, but everything else is static. Look, I'm doing the impossible! Spot fat loss!

It's been really hot, and doing workouts in the afternoons has really sucked. But I have been keeping it up; 17 on and 11 off this cycle (22 on, 9 off last cycle). Frequency is a bit lower, but the cals per workout (and thus, time per workout) is up from 280 to 307. 
Last cycle I ate 100 cals more on off days than on days, but this cycle I ate nearly the same amount on all days (2700/days, with a maintenance of 2500). Last cycle I ate a third more carbs on off days than on on days, but this month I ate more than a quarter less - a good change. 
Carbs on all days were under a hundred grams (with no fatigue or drained feeling - maybe all the days off, or the hypertrophy work instead of the heavy RPT work, or because I'm eating 2700 cals instead of 2300 and less?). 
See "8_weeks_macros"

People are starting to notice and say things about how I look. The numbers haven't really moved using the tape measure, so it's mostly a function of probably having lost subcutaneous fat, and everyone in the world wearing less clothes for summer while looking like beached whales.

My right knee is still sketchy, so my squatting is very light. I'm adding weight in most all exercises. OHP feels good at 93# plus chains, archer presses feel good at 74#, added 5# to the curl bar, dips are 11 reps across. Chins and pull ups feel good, dunno if there's much of a breakout but I think I've added 1 rep across for these. Anyway, I'm not flagging or losing strength (although I'm not testing the tops of my lifts, even with 5RM days), just saying that I feel good.

I added in trap deads, and wanted to be powercleaning every other day. I'm probably power cleaning every 3rd day. I didn't do those complexes this cycle, did do bag work once. I would like to do more of all of it, and add in rucking and add in sprinting and, and, and. I'll stick with this until it pans out.
Until then, if I can hold an inch off a month, that means 37" at the end of August, then 36" at the end of September, and finally 35" at the end of October?
I could/would have to buckle down the cals at some point. Anyway, 35 inch waist on Halloween, then hold steady without blowing up again during Squatober?
CFFB with Konrad isn't going to happen (he's not motivated to lift, and his practices are evenings in the heat), but we should adjust after his football season is over. Maybe he will do Squatober.
--
12 weeks, August
The final month was hot, making workouts in the evenings either a chore, or skippable. The biggest difference in the schedule was the frequency (18 on, 14 off; or 1.29 … went down to half of the June frequency of 22 to 9 or 2.44). The exercise amount per session went up (355 cals in Aug from 280 in June, so sessions were longer. Not double, but longer). Same rest interval, so more sets per workout.
Timer was 40 on, 55 rest.

Eating was as clean as July, the big difference was fat was down an average of 14g/day, which cut cals by almost 200. June I ate just slightly over the 2500 mark (2540) and July I ate 170 above, August I hit right at 2501. I wasn't focused on eating less fat, I just did. I was eating a lot of hunks of cheese and plain lunchmeats for lunch after IF all morning with just coffee. Simple, some would say yucky, but I have a high tolerance for eating what's good for me and sameness.
Costco ON Whey Isolate protein in the $50 bag was a 2x/day staple. If I was under, and I was under a lot of days, I'd have Halo Top ice cream with peanut butter on it as an after-dinner treat. Cut that out and one could really lose fat. I ran out of BCAAs and didn't have them to drink in the mornings with the coffee, that was probably not a good way to start my day (thinking that drinking a bigbig cup of water firstthing with C and BCAAs is a keystone habit).

For August, hit all the marks that were focal : above 250g/day for protein, under 100g/day for carbs, and right at 200 cals/day average for exercise. 
Not that cals are a good indicator of work done with weights, it's just the LoseIt! metric.

I didn't wave the volume this month at all, the workouts were infrequent and I mostly did the sets shown below (22 or 16 sets-ish). 

Measurements stalled this month - partly because the workouts were more spotty, maybe because an 8 week "cut" is good enough. Waistline didn't move, that was first on the list of things to change. Everything else stayed static too, basically. Did lose a couple of pounds while maintaining size, which means that I did lose some more subcutaneous fat (maybe partially a product of summer heat, maybe just what one would expect from this program of slow fat loss and slow muscle growth).

I kept up with the power cleans, didn't do any complexes at all this month. Mostly mainline HT work, with less of an eye to the paperschedule and more of a feel for what I wanted to do. Squats started to feel good at the end of the whole program - nagging right knee thing since February sprint session kept bothering me all the way (got it x-rayed and they said it was arthritic, so fuck it then, if it's not an MCL tear or strain, I'm not resting it anymore, I'm going to let it hurt until it figures out who's boss).

Sessions in August mostly looked like:
- Buy In
Power Cleans/Pulls 4/4                 
FW/Rollouts 2/2

- Push-Pull Antagonists
BBBO/Archer or OHP/Chins 4/3 
Squat/RDL 4/4 or 5/4

- Cash out
C/T, many times hammers 4/3 
Hip/Add Goblet squats, many times add calf raises 4/3

Looking forward to a switch. I'll kinda clean bulk in Squatober for 4 weeks. Until then, I'll do "Sprintember" because sprinting M/Th while Konrad's at football practice has been easy to do, then maybe morning work when it's cool on S/Sn/W… I promised myself that I would be rucking on the weekends this summer to up my work capacity, but that never really happened. 

I'll keep eating clean and keep the cals in moderation, keep doing HT (A/L/A on those S/Sn/W workouts, because the sprinting is L day, really).
_______
Lessons learned for next times:
8 weeks of more intense cutting will be more beneficial than 12 weeks of more moderate gradual recomping. Next time, even 6 weeks of a true cut with 6 weeks of a clean bulk is in order. Going until you stall isn't as good as changing while you're still feeling fresh.

Carb cycling would have been good to do - get under 50g/day on off days, and up to 125g-ish on work days. This would be a facet of that more intense cut.

Either get a different job, or don't expect to get your workouts done outside in Bakersfield in the summertime. Many days I'd be off at 2:30 and there's no way to touch the bar, even if it's been shaded under a towel. It's mentally wearing. Winter mornings don't work, heck, all mornings are bad early because I'll wake the neighbors and because mornings are for Morning Watch, but Summer mornings are best. 

Be more scientific and smart about rep/set schemes and waved volume (and frequency as an aspect of total volume). Sketch out days and what's going to be accomplished. I went by feel way too much the last 6 weeks. How many total sets per week; how many total sets per day; what days; what weight to use based on what you used before; what work is going to be 10-rep HT and what work is going to be low-rep Strength building (maybe only one item per workout, but it's not a bad thing to do to maintain str during a recomp). Anyway, you get it. The nutrition was the focus this time, and I did nail it. Now, to step up the game and be smarter about the work.

Having a sketch of on/off days will allow for carb and calorie cycling too. That's a consideration for a true cut ala Leangains style, which, I've already mentioned, is the way to go next time. Because stubborn waistline fat needs to be shocked.

Time to Assess the Not Much - 20160828

I've been doing, but not logging, some work - kinda every other day, and mostly BW stuff, quick and dirty. Nothing to write (home) about. So I haven't been. Did some lunges and air squats yesterday, and today I'm sore. So yeah, not writing about how little I'm doing and how low my tolerance is.

Today was some basic shoulder ROM HT.

4 rounds, HT timer
Meadows row, alternated, one per round x10
Dynamic push up x6/6

14 mins.

4 rounds, HT timer
Bent over row x10 @ 1233
OH press x7ish @ 123#
7 min.

For the final quarter of the year, I'm going with a really simple set up:

1. Heavy squatting and isolateral stepping - 2 and 2x/week

     Breaks down as: Oly Squat/BB Step up/Front Squat/LSD step thoughs (w/ assistance)

2. HT and explosive hinging - 3x/week

     Break down: Hpull/Hpull iso/Vpress; Hpull/Vpull/Vpush; Vpull/Hpush/Vpress

3. MA and conditioning - 2x/week

     Mostly Hill sprints and bag work, you know the drill.

Prioritized in that order. ... yes, that looks like it's 9 sessions a week, but I'm treating it like 9 blocks a week. So I may be only sessioning 4x/week (that's minimum possible, I know, 3x/week looks like it's in range, and I might just do that if I cycle the squatting/stepping down one notch). 

I will be doing IF and, until Boots on the Ground is complete, walking easy in the AMs.

Don't know if I'm going to be religious about logging here. Some of this is going to feel like it's not work-worthy-of-mentioning, still. Stay tuned. I'm logging, but it's all the deep spiritual stuff that people really don't want to hear about, so that's getting my reflective attention, elsewhere.

Chins n' Assessment - 20160605

Just did a chin pyramid today in the park. As I've been saying for months now, catch as catch can. I haven't even been logging work, since I haven't been doing any noteworthy work worth logging. Which makes what you're about to see ... noteworthy.

Assessment for the quarter:

These are the numbers from someone who's been sitting in a truck 6 hours a day, with little oomph to get under the bar, to work or to eat according to a plan. I'm down 2% BF at the same BW from two months ago. Chest is down an inch, waist is the same, and all else is up. I grew muscle by doing nothing. I lost fat by eating garbage. My results fly in the face of years of training, study and experience.
If I really really cared about my HT situation, I'd say it was all God. Since I don't, I'll say this anyway: it's all God. God cares about the stuff that we don't let ourselves care about; those pursuits that we've shelved because we don't have room anymore for any passion for them because the passion for His kingdom and His righteousness have superseded all else.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. - Matthew 6:33

Squat Reps & Assistance & Assessment - 20160419

4 rounds, no timer
Hip Thruster x10-15 @ 2 strong bands
RDL x10 @ 133/163///
16 mins.

Oly Squat @ 185 x6/7/8/10/10
4x12+ Standing Calf DB singles @ 43
...no timer.
17 mins.

Honestly, who needs a squat warm up set when you're not anywhere near maximal limit, and you've done activation work? Treating this like press day from now on: Jump right in, if you can't hang, you shouldn't be here.

7 hours, 2130/0530 - just so languid this AM, fought getting up. 34 minutes total. PE: 7.

Here's assessment from the 17th. Surprised by these numbers - better than a year ago, when I was training much harder, eating much better, and not sitting in a truck for 6+ hours/day and getting less than 6 hours sleep/day. Still, I'll take these numbers over 6/15. I'd do a performance metric but I don't have a training block to comp - just catching as catch can. Can't blame my training and dedication ... it's God's grace and inner renewal walking me forward.

GtG 4.1 - Oly Squat - 151228

AM
6x7ish hammer curl w/ 41# water jugs
7 mins.

Buy in
5 Rounds, no timer
2x25 Hip Thruster, strong band
2x25 Adductor, medium band
6 mins.
3x25 Hip Thruster, strong band
3x10-11 RDL @ 133#
6 mins.

Main Set
Oly Squat, in .30 on 2.00
10x 135/6x 205/3x6 @235
11 mins.

Adding in RDLs today, really feeling the lack of balance with no hamstring work in this squat-focused program, and with all the sitting in the truck for work (6+ hours today). 
Squats were ATG, no messing around. 6's @ 235 isn't anything to write home about, but it's progress from where I've been. Infrequent sessions, crazy schedule, no-watch nutrition, and I'm still moving forward - I'll totally take it.

Did assessment today. Not much movement in a month; see lots of loss in upper body size  with no real upper body work on this program. This misses the GTG week 4.



6.5 hours - 2130/0400. 32 mins total. 5 days, PE 8. 226.

Assessment & GtG 1 - Goblet Squats - 151128

2 rounds, no timer
Band abductions, medium band x10
Hip Thruster, medium band x20
7 mins.

3 rounds, no timer
Goblet squats w/ 53# KB x20
5 mins.

Easy day to kick this off. Not every day has to hurt - just force some adaptation, yah.

Baseline measurements for the upcoming month:

Pretty much the same as all year.

For the next um, 29 more days, we'll be squatting every day with one grace day on Sundays; only going for increased volume rather than weight through the month. Base looks like this:

Workout 1                                    MON          THU
Assist 1 Banded Hip Thrust              2 x 20 2 x 20
Assist 2 Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 10 2 x 10
Main: Oly Squat (245#)                    3 x 3         4 x 3

Workout 2                                   TUE         FRI
Assist 1 Banded Hip Thrust             2 x 20 2 x 20
Assist 2 Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 10 2 x 10
Main: Front Squat (135#)                3 x8-12 3 x8-12

Workout 3                                     WED       SAT
Assist 1 Banded Hip Thrust               2 x 20 2 x 20
Assist 2 Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 10 2 x 10
Main: Goblet Squat (all at 1.5 pood)  2 x 20 2 x 20

Today's Saturday, so today was Workout 3 of Week 1.

Week 2
Assist 1 Banded Hip Thrust             3 x 20 3 x 20
Assist 2 Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 15 2 x 15
Back Squat increases to                3 x 4       4 x 4
Front Squat remains the same 3 x8-12 3 x8-12
Goblet Squat increases to              3 x 20 3 x 20

Week 3
Assist 1 Banded Hip Thrust             4 x 20 4 x 20
Assist 2 Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 20 2 x 20
Back Squat increases to                3 x 5        4 x 5
Front Squat remains the same 3 x8-12 3 x8-12
Goblet Squat increases to               4 x 20 4 x 20

Week 4
Assist 1 Banded Hip Thrust             5 x 20 5 x 20
Assist 2 Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 25 2 x 25
Back Squat increases to                3 x 6         4 x 6
Front Squat remains the same 3 x8-12 3 x8-12
Goblet Squat increases to              5 x 20 5 x 20

If the Oly and Front squats are way too easy, I'll increase the weight - but for now, I'll keep it all light if only to get over this nagging knee pain. Movement! Technique! Grease the groove! There's more to get excited about than moving mass.

Every other day when squat work is done and time allows, I'll rotate the three additions:
A: Clean/Y-pulls - Pendlay row/Ring dips
B: DB Thrusters/Deadlift - Weighted Chins/OH press
C: Weighted Pulls - MA Bag Work

Nothing hard, nothing over the top. Squats are the movement of the month.

8 hours - 2200/0630. 14 mins total. 24 hours, PE 5. 228/12.

HT Comp, the Goodbye.

HT Comp, it's not your fault. It's not you, it's me.

You're beautiful and there's so much to love about you. Your programming is sound. I just didn't have the work schedule this summer to give our relationship the attention you deserve. Up too early, too hot in the afternoons, too lazy late. You weren't feeling the love, and I understand. I just wasn't there for you.

We'd been dating since the end of May, and here it is in August and we're both just not feeling it. I wasn't afraid of the commitment, but I surely wasn't serious about us either. I know I should have focused more on spending some small amount of quality time with you at least every other day, but most weeks during June and July, we were only seeing each other twice weekly, and, even then, only for a short visit.

All those Back/Oly/Front squatting dates that I'd promised you never happened, and those that did, well, you know my heart wasn't really in them. I guess that shows with the 2" loss in hip size. Nothing else really changed for me during our time together. And that's a shame.

Sorry that you wasted so much time with me when there is surely someone, somewhere, who could have given you some real love and attention.

Maybe we can get together again - maybe, perhaps, after the new year? Maybe we can have new feelings for each other then. 

PS. If you see me grunting and gyrating all out-of-breath and body-to-body with that slutty Strength Block in the next couple of months, don't take it personally. I'm planning on using her for 12 weeks and then moving on. What can I say? I'm on the rebound.

HT Comp - Squat Reps n' PushPull - Assessment - June 29

What? 102 degrees and muggy today. Up too early to get 'er done, so it's get under the hot bar or nothing at all.

Oly Squat, deeps, in .30 on 2:00
@ 135#
x10/11/12/13/14/15
12 mins.

- 3 mins -

5 rounds, HT timer
Pull up x Max reps
Press @ 135# x6/7/8/6/6
... one more Pull up round
14 mins.

7 hours - 2100/0400. 30 minutes total. PE: 8. 224/14.
Week Ave: P 125g/22%, C 197g/35%, F 108g/43%. 127 cal over the weekly budget (2161/day).

One month on this HT Comp cutting cycle, numbers are pretty good. Best numbers in a long while, actually. Weight hasn't really changed so to speak, but 1.5" off the midsection means that the calorie restriction is burning fat. I'm not working hard, most weeks are 1 on, 1 off because of my work schedule. 

That Does It: Spring Assessment

Couple of things happened this week. One, I was dressing for CC's graduation, and my clothes weren't fitting. I feel big and strong and solid. But. But I was thinking, "How am I supposed to tuck my shirt in? My pants feel like lycra already." During the event, this pic happened.

Second, I got out the measuring tape for composition assessment. Sure enough, the camera didn't lie. I've gained 7 lbs since the last quarter assessment (and since dropping the BodyX membership).

No changes; on the plus side, my calves haven't lost size even though I'm not really sprinting or doing direct calf work, and the regular squatting has added size to my hips and thighs.
Downsides: my neck is fatter, my waist is an inch bigger.



Okay, so it was time for a fresh into-the-summer cycle anyway. HT here we come. Vanity, I know. Also a challenge. I've not done any composition/cutting for at least 5 years now.

Let's start with a couple of purposes.

I hope to lose 15 lbs. down to 215 - if that's all fat, and all from around my middle at 5 lbs an inch, then I should hope to see a 37" measurement at the waist.

I'm going to focus on greasing the groove on squat and deadlift - half the time to a 5RM, half for reps. I might not get any stronger in these lifts, since I'll be in a cutting nutritional phase, but I will run a lot of electrons over the neural pathways.  This should set me up to add weight later in the year. Squat three times a week (front/oly/front), DL twice a week. One other day to Power clean/Overhead squat. 4 on, 1 off.

I'll be doing antagonist couplets after/with the Squat/DL work. Pendlay rows/Ring Pushups, Pull up/Overhead Press, Ring row/Ring dips. When there's no couplet, there's a Death by pull up, Death by press, Death by power clean or GtO. 3 on, 1 off.

Adding back in conditioning. Bike trail sprints, Brighthouse hill repeats, Train grade repeats, MA tabata bag work, and KB chippers. These I'll do in the AM while I have an extra half hour because I'm not driving kids to work. 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off (which is to say, Monday and Friday mornings off from this second-early session).

I'll be using Lose it to track calories (and won't be worrying about Macros); ceiling set at 2213 cal/day before exercise allowance. I'll be doing IF through the morning more often than not - eating in the noon to 6 window.

That does it. Rotational work with medium volume, higher frequency and alternating load. Lots of water and sleep, and a lot less food. See you in 15 lbs. - or 12 weeks, whichever comes first.

Lab Rat: Lose It! and the Bodyweight/Calorie/Exercise Intersection

One year later, we're revisiting some of the aggregated data we've generated via the Lose It! app. See the 2014 write up here. Consider this a 7-year test of whether or not the Lose It app functions as a weight loss instrument for someone who exercises regularly. 
I'll ruin any suspense early: it does.

What we'll be doing differently here is ignoring the type of exercise done (which, Lose It the app doesn't really care about anyway; converting all work into calories expended). If we were doing hypertrophy work, we'd expect some weight gain. If we were doing more endurance work, we'd expect muscle loss, and therefore, weight loss. Maybe. But we're also not going to have any composition data to compare in this set up. Bodyfat up or down? We'll not know.
Optimally, we want to compare Bodyweight/Bodyfat to total food intake, with a macros breakdown, and an additional layer comparing total work volume done; and that, by work type - perhaps broken down by energy system.

Lose It! assumes that the user wants to lose bodyweight, and simply assumes that the less you eat, the less you'll weigh. Which is true; if you eat nothing, soon you'll weigh as much as worm shite since you'll be dead. Lose It does compute work calories by subtracting them from your daily total ingested. So if you work more, you get to eat more that day without going over your daily "limit." So we can examine those three factors while using the app - Bodyweight, Calories ingested, and Calories expended through exercise.

We've got 7 years of tracking, with a two-year hiatus hole in the middle where I didn't do any logging. Let's just look at the graphed data overlays and see what they suggest. First, we compare Bodyweight to Calories ingested:

...and see no real correllation. Late in the graph, we see that where the purple calories are up, weight goes down. Not what one might expect at all, right?
There's those two peaks on the right, where calories dipped and bodyweight dipped correspondingly by about 8-9 pounds, but generally, there's 3 years worth of plateau-ed intake with inexplicable BW change.

Compare the same Bodyweight chart, but now to an overlay of Calories expended during exercise. 

Before the hiatus, we see low BW when calorie expenditure via exercise is high, and a general BW climb when exercise calories are lower. After the hiatus, exercise climbs and BW drops - still what the general consensus would presume. Especially since we aren't comparing intake as well.

So, let's add that. The three factors compared:

 Which is messy. Cut to the chase. Here's where Lose It shines. The app takes the Calories In for the day minus Calories Out and ka-smushes them, into total Calories over or under your daily limit (which is the red line below, each data dot is a monthly average either above or below the limit line).

Very nearly a direct relationship between calories over showing as bodyweight gain, and calories under showing as bodyweight loss. Even with exercise type, and any macros breakdown, removed from the equation, the Eat-to-Work-to-Bodyweight math works within the limits of the app.

If you'll notice, there's also a month of lag-time along the rise and fall of the graph - maybe I have to undereat for a couple of months before my body decides it's going to be losing weight. The same happens when gaining. A visual reminder to me: whether cutting or building, have patience in the programming.

2014 Year in Review. And It Begins for 2015.

Some few big days in a year where the status quo kinda won the overall title.

Some of what was noteworthy is what didn't happen this year. Didn't do the Lighthouse Century, or Blues Fest, Village Fest, Volkslauf, or Brian Setzer. Did make the Christian Youth Film Fest, played guitar at Ft. Tejon, got over to Carpinteria for a quick trip, Catalina in July (thanks to Nena footing the bill) and a few Disneyland trips on the annual passes, most notably one in December with the Bennetts for JJ's 2nd.
Spring saw a big day for me when TeeDub invited me to his mostly-family-only 50th birthday get-together. In fact, I was the only non-family member there. That resonated with me in an important way. I really felt that I had a friend that day. It was a cold winter and early spring for me; a lonely stretch. With so many people in his life, and he'd pick me as the one friend to choose? Yeah.
Spent Tuesday nights at Todd's too all summer with energetic and delightful collegians with the School of Discipleship. Really a highlight for my year. Such a great group, with interaction that doesn't really happen with adults in small groups. Great to be a part, to teach a little, and simply feel inspired by others who are mining deep into the Lord's mountain.
Had a great few days with CC at the Forks of the Kern, where we faced down the echoes of a sasquatch. We tried for a Half Dome lottery slot, but got rejected.
My 50th was filthy. Just the kind of day, and event, I needed. Not the level of nitpicking perfectionistic detail that I'd have brought to the planning a couple of decades ago, and that says something good, I think. Still, all the needful things were there: challenge, sweat, the right people, and minutes packed from bed-to-bed hustling from one event to the other.
Haley and I did the Brewery Art Walk in October. What a great day that was.
In December, I received an email from myself using Futureme.org. A year ago, I wrote:

Are you alive now? Because there are a lot of days, a lot of moments, when I think it's not really worth it. God's far away right now, and silent, and church is the same. I'm a misfit. A stranger in my own life. I wonder why I was created.

I need to be around to feed, clothe, provide shelter for my wife and children. I know that Konrad wants and needs me. If that's my only role that's a reason to keep taking one step forward at a time. ... How to earn their respect ... I just want to insulate myself from rejection.

...I have delusions of wanting to create some kind of supergym - just how different than any existing gym is a function of reality and economics vs. creativity and personal preference.

I want to do something significant before I clock out. I want to be involved with some like-minded people. I want to be in community with some Christians who aren't fucking hypocrites or Americanized to the point of worldliness ... if they'd have me, since I'm such a chameleon myself.

I'm mostly retreated into the iron game right now. It's the only thing I think I'm doing that consumes my creativity and challenges me.

I want something more. I hope you've found it. If not, I don't have any advice for you.

That last part was answered with School of Discipleship over the summer. There's still something out there for me in the Christian community, but it's not going to be in merely attending somewhere in the Americanized consumer-small c-christianity model. Still a lot of question marks in my life. Think I would have solved all the riddles by now.

2015? An arbitrary marker, this first of a new year calendar line-crossing. Still, here we are, re-viewing everything with an eye to intentionality.

A sound mind led by a sound spirit in a sound body. Be all three.

I'm claiming this as my slogan for the year. I'll keep my spirit sound by worshipping and digging deeper on the guitar this year, working through a chapter a day/formulating a message a week, and daily prayer time/wasted time.

I'm setting my mind to focus on intentional relationship building with those few, to intentional creation (ie, One Way Entry plans, secondary level plans / mobile app flowchart / Presenter song sets / Backyard gym completion), and filling in some gaps in my learning

Sound body: I'm not breaking down the year based on exercises. I'm basically going to make sure I make a sweeping focus on these three: 531/CFFB, Bag Work/Agility work, Stretching and Floor work. Which is to say, maximal strength/movement/flexibility.

Wasn't ready to leave CFFB, since I was enjoying it and challenged by it, but it's time to change things up for a cycle after 14 weeks. I hope to steep myself in CFFB this year - but need to cycle off for a period. 
Back to 531. Numbers have been pared way down since the last Spring percentages. MaXmas didn't get finished (sick, tired) and the numbers weren't encouraging, and, I'm simply being realistic about my expectations regarding the poundages. If everything goes better than anticipated and I'm moving weight, I'll adjust after a month. But we're doing two months through the 8-day split.

 Assessment:
I got bigger doing CFFB - these measurements aren't fresh outta the cycle (after two weeks of MaXmas and sickness/off), but they still speak volumes about gaining unexpected size with more weight/lower reps. Oh, and creatine. 
I would have sworn that an HT cycle would have done this - when it didn't, and hasn't. 

Assessment, in the Brief.

Taking a rest day today, time out to review and consider what happened this summer. 

Was mentally focused on surviving the Filthy 50, which, while I didn't spell out a tick-by-tick training plan and instead worked more by feel, the survival turned into thrive-al as the day went better than I could have hoped. Marathons used to cramp me up, and while I flirted with the raw edges of cramping, that was only in the pool and only after 4.5 hours of work. My energy systems and endurance improved over the summer.

I lost some maximal strength, no doubt about it. Overhead pressing fell off by about 10%, and Bench pressing by about 15%. I stopped squatting at the top ranges altogether and sought depth and reps in the 5-8 range - again, at about 15% less weight than I was using. Will be seeing just how much maximal strength was lost in the next couple of weeks as this next CFFB cycle comes up and demands 3RM/5RM work.

On the composition front, only a couple notable changes:

Over the last month, all things remained equal. Got thicker in the chest and around the middle, probably because of rowing (good) and all the biking (not good), which pre-empted some of the cardio time that might have been devoted to more calisthenic work. This quarter saw a lot less MA bag work, overhead squatting, cleaning, intense wods - and more steady state work and HT. Although the HT work didn't blow me up like it might've if I'd been focused completely on sizing up. All this is a sideshow, but I admit that my ego feels some deflation when I see photos of the fat guy.

But hey, the fat guy can trash a multi-event day filled with heinous work - I learned that this quarter. Chalk one up for the ages.