JohnnyIrish's Diet/Workout Log

[shaunuk]

jonny has definitely lost fat since 11/24, but from 2/18 to 8/24 I'm not so sure

 

[Rampage1]

yup fat loss not that noticeable in the latter stage, however your frame has definitely got stronger looking.. chest however looks weak in comparison to your back!

 

[Quagmire911]

Yeh your back looks improved but the bf hasn't really changed.

Hopefully Alex will get you sorted out.

Strength is way up though, and that is the main thing

 

[Warboss Alex]

Johnny, with the greatest respect in the world, the BCAAs around your workout aren't what's missing from your current regime. Your problem is your weight hasn't really changed in nine months and neither has your body composition. A little fat has been lost and some muscle has been gained, but nowhere near as much a significant physical change as I would have expected from a beginning trainer in their first year.

You need put on 20 or 30 solid lbs, get your squat and deadlift up into the 300's and bench 2 plates at least. You don't have to get fat doing this, and I truly think it should be your first priority. In fact, it should be any beginning trainer's priority unless they're VERY fat or want to stay a certain weight. But for someone like you, trying to cut fat while gaining muscle is just going to make you spin your wheels as essentially you're doing now. That's not an insult, it's just you really need to get your strength and muscle up to a level where it's going to positively affect you metabolically and with regards to insulin sensitivity etc - i.e. have a more profound effect on your physique.

Gaining 2lbs muscle here and losing 2lbs fat there isn't gonna get you to a head-turning physique anytime soon. There's actually no reason to cut any fat because a) you don't really have a lot of fat on you and b) if you do cut, you'll look emaciated, not ripped. And by gaining such a small amount of muscle at a time, it'll take you ten years to gain what you could've in one year.

A lot of people hear 'lose fat and gain muscle at the same time' and have images of becoming big and ripped fast, their chests and shoulders ballooning up while those abs come through - it doesn't work that way. Do I believe in body recomposition as opposed to bulk/cut cycles? Yes, absolutely. But for someone whose physique is balanced enough! Right now your bf% isn't a problem and your muscle mass is low. There's no reason for you to try and gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, it's just slowing you down way too much.

I mean no offence by this, and I don't think for a minute that you're slacking at all in your training, in fact I think your dedication and enthusiasm is awesome, which is why it sucks you to make such slow progress. Simply put, you deserve better for your efforts.

That's my opinion anyway.

 

[JohnnyIrish]

First, thanks for your information Warboss. Wow.. so I have been spinning my wheels. I mean sure I have gained strength which is cool but I'd be lying if I didn't need to see results as well.. and you concur there isn't much change there.

If your willing to tell me what I need to change I'll do it.. This makes me angry.. and that just makes me want it more! :box:

 

[shaunuk]

hmm, I always thought to myself, I wonder why you're trying to lose fat? You don't really have much at all...I'm fatter than you..

If you wanna gain more size, you want to start eating enough calories to gain weight and enough protein (1.5g/lb-2g/lb)

 

[JohnnyIrish]

shaunuk:

Instead of bulking and cutting.. I wanted to loose body fat (abs) and gain mass.. I knew it was slower if you worked on both but I read it was totally doable.. however after looking at my pics.. I realize I have gained so little mass in the last 6 months something is definitely wrong. I thought all I needed to do was keep protein 2x body weight to gain mass.. well not so much. I've gained strength that way but apparently not much if any real mass.

If I wanted the twigly look I wouldn't work out. Yep, something will be changing soon and it'll most definitely be my diet.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Instead of bulking and cutting.. I wanted to loose body fat (abs) and gain mass.. I knew it was slower if you worked on both but I read it was totally doable..

It is totally doable, but you're not doing it! But really, you have barely any fat to lose and a low amount of muscle mass. The way you're going now your progress is too slow. You will get where you want to go this way, in like 15 years. lol.

Lots of guys who want to be big and lean try to do body recomposition thinking they'll drop 20lbs of fat and gain 20lbs of new muscle (not gain back lost muscle) in a reasonably short time. Sorry no - for most genetically average guys that sort of physical change won't happen unless pretty much EVERYTHING in on point and because it takes a long time for people to figure out what works for them and what doesn't, it's rare for a beginning trainer to be able to do that.

Also, your body has to be primed for body recomp. That means a high metabolic rate, optimised insulin sensitivity, higher work capacity and digestive ability. For a beginner who hasn't got any of these things, there's a very good chance they'll just spin their wheels trying to recomp. Your body has to be FORCED to change. If you've been skinny-fat all your life and you don't even bench 200 yet (LOTS of guys like this) do you really think a few BCAAs and a bit of morning cardio is going to help you? NO! You have to change physiologically as well as physically - that means hormonally and metabolically among other things. Simply put, if your metabolism and hormones in good shape, you wouldn't be asking anyone if you'd made progress or not, you and everyone around you would see it. (When I say 'you' I don't mean Johnny specifically although it does apply to him as well)

Once you have gained 20lbs or so then you can slow down and refine what you have, stay around the same weight and recomp as Johnny is trying to do. This also goes for fat guys who want to be big and lean. They're better off trying to lose 20-30lbs instead of trying to recomp their way to leanness.

I'm not saying people should bulk up. I'm saying people should gain 20lbs. There's a difference! (at least in my view) That means twenty lbs of mostly muscle. To do this you'll have to eat a lot of calories and raise your metabolism so any excesses are mopped up. High protein, high calories, high vegetables, high water, lots of cardio and heavy training (according to your recovery levels). Ironically many people find that eating more and doing more during the day helps them lose fat as they gain muscle - as opposed to the 'eat at maintainance or slightly above/below for a slow recomp' (which is a fine strategy for people who want to stay the same weight AND already have a good muscular/bodyfat level).

Once you're in a better physical state (either by losing/gaining 20-30lbs) then I think yes, recomping is the best way. Then it becomes a life style of slow but steady body recomposition, but that means refining and improving what you already have, NOT trying to dramatically change your bodyfat or muscular levels.

A lot of people on this forum have the 'lean muscular' goal. So it makes sense to try and lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Fair enough. But the problem is, a lot of people don't know just how MUCH muscle they have to gain to look good and what it takes to get there. (similarly: for people who want to get ripped and think they need to lose 10lbs - most of the time they actually need to lose 20lbs). A lot of the time they need gain a bunch of muscle just to have that physique base, and lots of people underestimate how much mass that is. I mean, you are NOT going to recomp your way to looking like John Cena, for example (well, maybe you would, but it'd take you most of your natural life). You'd need to gain like 30-40lbs and then 'refine' it if your bodyfat is acceptable, or go on a more intense diet phase (if you got fat gaining the weight).

I think another problem is a lot of people don't have clear or realistic goals. "I want to get big and ripped" in their minds might mean they need to gain 10lbs mucsle and get rid of the 'stubborn' belly fat. It does not work like that, otherwise we'd all be huge and ripped.

Johnny:

I agree your diet is definitely your failing. You've been gaining strength and your lifts are going up, so I don't see a need to change the routine. Maybe change some exercises if you have certain weaknesses but to be honest, at 160lbs or so, everything is weak. (not an insult, I just mean you need to get stronger and bigger overall)

You have the advantage of knowing that your current high fat diet with periodic carb ups isn't making you fat (well, who woulda guessed it...) so what you can do is modify the current template:
- First, ensure that each day you're getting in 300-350g of protein. Hell do 400 if you want. Actually, do 400g anyway.
- Increase your calories by way of adding fats. Adding say a dozen raw eggs in whey would be a great start. This will also bump your protein levels.
- Increase your activity levels for a higher metabolism and to take care of excesses. A bit more cardio. Make your morning sessions 45 mins at least but take some protein (half a scoop maybe) or those BCAAs beforehand (1 heaped teaspoon).
- Add a few carbs post workout. 40-50g of fast/slow carbs would be a good start. The type of carb doesn't really matter but I wouldn't have crappy sugars.
- Mix your BCAAs in gatorade/powerade, drink some just before your workout and sip this drink during training. After your workout have whey (isolate if possible) and carbs as above.
- Have one carb day a week and make it clean carbs, moderate protein and fats. Start with 400g carbs - it's kinda low for a carb day but you are taking in carbs during the week and your insulin sensitivity isn't too good right now. Make these clean carbs - by that I mean things like fruit, rice, oats, potatoes, some cereal, pancakes with jelly and syrup - I don't mean things like pizza, fries, or triple cheeseburgers. High calories + junk food refeeds isn't a good thing. If you really can't avoid (or resist) cheating, have ONE cheat meal (one sitting) and half as many clean carbs as normal the rest of the day, i.e. 200g.

This is basically what you're doing now, only with higher calories and post workout carbs. There's only one carb day because I think consecutive carb days screw up insulin sensitivity, and because you're taking in carbs during the week.

Once you've made your dietary changes, estimate how many calories you're taking in and let us know.

Take progress pictures monthly and monitor that waistline. Keep putting weight on the bar. And don't forget, we're behind ya.

 

[JohnnyIrish]

Did anybody ever tell you when you open your mouth pure gold follows because it does! What you said makes a lot of sense to me.. Now I see my error clearly and with your instructions (THANK YOU!!!) will fix it. :woo:

Looking back, I went on the anabolic diet and after a month on it went more or less in the cut phase. Except calories weren't low enough to really cut the fat I see.. and they weren't high enough to add mass. Well I reread that part of the AD last night and I focused on the mass phase this time. I chose my ideal weight as 180lbs (I think thats doable) so according to their calculations (ideal bwx25) I need to start eating 4,500 cal/day. Seeing as how I've been eating more like 2500-3kish a day this will be a big change. I'll work on this week getting my body use to eating that many calories. This weekend I'll do some large batches of cooking and increase the portion size accordingly.

Today for starters I changed my 3egg 3 scoops protein shake into a 6 egg, 2 scoop protein, 3tsb evoo. = 84g protein, 70gfat, 966calories.

I'll be using fitday.com for the next couple of weeks to monitor my dietary progress.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Work up to eating 3500 calories, then 4000, then 4500 IF you need go that high. Muscle can be only built so fast and hiiiiiigh calories are just gonna make you fat (as well as muscular). Do 3500 for 3 weeks then increase to 4000, and see what happens. ideal bwt x 25 is a LOT of calories.

Glad I could help. Time ta grow now.

 

[JohnnyIrish]

Ya know.. I had more energy today for my workout. I didn't feel as exhausted as I usually do (yay for not feeling like **** after a workout! ). Seeing as I didn't get any more sleep then normal I attribute this to the additional 6eggs, 6 tsb of evoo, and several ounces of cheese I ate today which was all in addition to what I normally eat (so I added roughly 1k calories to my diet doing that). I'll get on the numbers.. but I can see the extra calories helping with energy (likely the fat). The only problem is that I've been feeling like I'm gonna barf haha. It doesn't look like much but once I added the above I'm soooo not hungry even at my next meal time so its been tough getting the food down. I think tomorrow I'll use a little less evoo. Hopefully my stomach will adjust.

FYI Post workout drink:
1.5 scoops of carbs + 3 scoops of whey = 69g protein and roughly 50-60g carbs.

Today:

Box Squats (3 black boxes high) 2x5:
bar x 10
85 x 6
115 x 1
145 x 1
205 x 3.5 F
195 x 3

/\ Got owned by squats today. Thats somewhat expected as I missed two workouts (last Friday and Monday). However if next time I have the same problem.. then there may be issues.

Pullthroughs 3 x 10: PR
132.5 x 10
132.5 x 10
132.5 x 10

/\ Like clock work I added 5lbs like usual. If all my exercises were as consistent as this with lb increase haha.

Chest supported Row 4 x 6: PR
bar x 8
25 x 4
50x 1
100 x 7
100 x 7
100 x 6.5
100 x 7

/\ Sweet, gained 3 reps!

CoC: 3x10
Right hand: #T x8 x6 (full closes!)
Left hand: #T x5 x2 (almost closes..)

/\ Alright, now I'm concentrating on the full closes.

Pinch plates:
3 sets, pinching a door and leaning back slightly, held for 20 seconds. Each hand worked individually.

/\ Nice burn in my forearms. I was right at failure with each set at the 20 second mark.

Horizontal Calf Raises:3x15
70 x 10
110 x 6
150 x 1
190 x 13
190 x 10
190 x 10

/\ Lost some reps here (3 reps). Thats ok.. not too bad. I'll get them back.

Stretches:
squat stretches: 1 reps, each held for 25 seconds at the bottom
Hamstring stretches (good morning stretches): 2 reps each held for 30 seconds

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Post that diet up...I want to see how your doing it

Glad you took WBA's advice and decided to bulk up. You can achieve your goals at a much faster rate now. Then you can lean out when the time comes and get ripped looking. OF COURSE THEN when we are both beasts we can meet in the center of jersey and have a godzilla vs. King kong style battle against each other. Throwing signs, smashing houses, and maybe snatch a couple women and eat them. Excited? You better be!

Btw, I'm King Kong because I'm a hairy fvcker.

 

[JohnnyIrish]

:crackup:

It'll be time to rampage in Jersey! (Quagmire's the silver wolf?)

Alas, I got quite a ways to go first but I'll get there.
(Just start getting scared when you see little asian people running down the street screaming "Gojira!!")

 

[JohnnyIrish]

Speaking of changing exercises.. I was using Kerpal's method (I believe it was Kerpal.. if I'm wrong I appologize) to extend the poundage for pullthroughs but I maxed that out (can't fit a bigger plate onto the peg).

Whats a good exercise to replace pullthroughs with? Goodmornings?

 

[shaunuk]

Leg curls?

hm, can't you put a bigger peg in? Like, you can steal a peg from another machine and shove that in the hole () instead?

or just do GMs if you want

 

[Quagmire911]

Hyperextensions would probably be a better replacement as they are less CNS intensive. Or GHR's if you have access to the machine.

You can try the good mornings and see how you get on with them. You could also try romanian deadlifts.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Log your cardio and your daily diet for a while Johnny.

 

[Lifeforce]

Ye I'd go good mornings. When I do them to "isolate" the lower back I usually bend my knees a bit so I don't feel my hamstrings working too much. Dont go too low though so it turns into a semi squat. Make sure you dont bend or unbend during the lift.

 

[JohnnyIrish]

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll do hypers.. as its been like 7ish months since I did them last and I kind of liked them. If I get tired of them then I'll go the good morning route as plan B.

Warboss:
Roger that. Will do.

Diet yesterday:

I believe I at my goal of 400g carbs as I ate (not in order):
almost a lb of pasta
2 pieces of multigrain toast with butter
small salad
med size piece of garlic bread (with pasta)
small piece of cheese steak (was 6am, was starving.. it was there)
2 med size yams w/butter (sweet potatoes)

Today so far:

Shake: breakfast 6 eggs, 2 tsb olive oil, 2 scoops whey, 1 scoop casin
*then hit the gym*
During workout: gatoraid with 20g BCAAs mixed in
After workout shake: 2 scoops waxy maze (70g carbs), 3 scoops whey (69g protein), 20g creatine (starting the loading phase today).

Cardio:

Unless we count female bedroom cardio from Fri/Sat I'm drastically in need here. I'll do some Tuesday before work.


Today:

Felt strong today. I was exhausted Sat night and sleept like a rock. I got 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night. That never happens.. I actually felt well rested today! Note, I worked out today instead of Monday as I plan to make tomorrow a shore trip.

Also that gatoraid drink with 20g bcaas really helped I think (its either that or the sleep.. or both).

Barbell Bench press: 3x5 PR
bar x 10
75 x 6
125 x 1
170 x 5
170 x 5
170 x 5

/\
Its been over a week since I worked bench last.. and I still made a PR sweet! (I gained half a rep.. but its still again.)

Incline Dumbbell bench press: 4 x 8
120 x 8.5
120 x 8
120 x 7
120 x 4

/\ lost 3 reps here

Dumbbell shoulder press: 3 x 8
80 x 5
80 x 5.5 f
80 x 5.5 f


/\ Lost a bunch of reps here.. Shoulders seem the first to go. I'll get them back.

Skull crushers: 3 x 10
60 x 11
60 x 8
60 x 7.5 f

/\ Looks like I gained a rep here.

Hanging leg raises 3x10: PR
10,10,10

/\ Decent form. The last set I still was able to raise my legs (I didn't cheat and raise just my knees). My forearms were failing.

Stretches:
squat stretches: 1 reps, each held for 25 seconds at the bottom
Hamstring stretches (good morning stretches): 2 reps each held for 30 seconds

 

[Warboss Alex]

Carb day looked good. Why did you only have a small piece of cheesesteak if the whole thing was there? :|

Definitely do cardio. 30 mins minimum before breakfast on the days you don't workout, at as brisk a pace as you can manage. (don't run though)

How long you been losing reps on the presses and how long's your bench been 170?