LJ’s “ TrainHard” Journey

[walkerl60]

Per Warrior Cookies suggestion, I am starting a progress log.

7/31/14
Age 53
Starting weight: 171.2
Body Fat( OMRON hand held): 14.6%

8/01/14
Famine Phase started. Calories @ 1300 macros: 5%c/25%p/70%f
I started the famine phase to coincide with my first feast phase workout to fall on my first day off. My work schedule is a 4 on 4 off rotation. My resistance training usually consists of 2 workouts on my days off because the days I work are very long and start very early. Getting to the gym on these days is not optimal. Waiting for my bottle of MPS to arrive in the mail.

8/05: End of BRUTAL famine phase
Weight: 166 @ 13.7% bf
Lean mass: 143.26

8/06: Feast phase begins (time to GROW)
Calories @ 2700 w/macros at 40c/35p/25f
With my sedentary schedule during work days( 10 hrs sitting at a desk), my maintenance calories are around 2000. During my lifting days, they are around 2400. My bottle of MPS arrived on 8/11 and immediately started taking it AND results were noticeable right away. From improved recovery to much better sleep!!

8/14: One full week of eating big and three days of training HARD
Weight: 172.6 @ 14.7%
Lean mass: 147.23 (I know most of the gains is probably water weight, but I definitely feel and look different)

To be continued…….

[warriorcookie]

Awesome man! Glad you're having us all along for the ride!

Sounds like famine was spot on. It's always brutal for everyone the first time. Myself, I found it easier the second time. Don't tell anyone, but the third time I was actually looking forward to it....


Looks like you're loving the MPS. First time for me too. No DOMS and the recovery time has been blindingly fast.


Keep it coming and ask lots of questions! Meet you in gainsville!

[walkerl60]

Ok so I completed the deload workout last night. After surfing the forum and coming across the "warmup" routine that Rob posted for working up to the "work" set left me leaving the gym feeling like I didn't give 100%. Up until last night, my warmup routine was 3-4 sets of anywhere between 8-12 reps. This may have affected my working set some, but when I was done, I felt done!!

Help me out guys and tell me to trust the program before I go rogue and stray off course!!!

LJ

[RobRegish]

Stay the course brother, you WILL be rewarded!

Plus, you've already been through the hard part. NOW is the time to commit yourself to having a LONG, SOLID run...

[walkerl60]

I ate like a horse yesterday in anticipation of my first feast phase PR workout. Tomorrow I start the GLP program. I took advantage of every single calorie in my workout today and it felt AMAZING!!! For the last 12 month's, I've been following IFBB Pro BPak's (Ben Pakulski) Hypertrophy Max program and haven't lifted anything heavier than a 75# dumbell so my strength has gone to hell. But just since I started this program, it's coming back like a locomotive busting thru the snow!!!

Things are good and looking to get better....see you in GAINSVILLE!!!

LJ

[walkerl60]

Ok...hope I can get some sound scientific advice on this question:

My concern again is, as I have experienced in the past, consuming too many carbs on a daily basis. I am on week three of the feast phase, and getting pretty soft around the middle. Of course, I'm still doing NO cardio, but should it really be a must??

Current calorie's and macros are about 2800 with a breakdown of 275-300 carbs, 250 protein and the rest fats.

Is there an issue with lowering the carbs to around 200-225 grams, keeping protein around 250 grams, and filling the rest with healthy fats? This will put my fats up around 100-120 grams.

Looking for some help here......

[bigpelo]

Carb cycling?

50-75g of carbs on off training day and 250-300g of carbs on training day taken mainly post workout.

[walkerl60]

Carb cycling?

50-75g of carbs on off training day and 250-300g of carbs on training day taken mainly post workout.

That's the answer I was hoping to get!!!

For the first week, it was no problem tring to consume all the excess calories. Now I find myself forcing meals down just to get all the nutrients in. Can't wait for my next phamine phase!!!

Thx Pelo...

[walkerl60]

Current stats from running the BP diet/workouts + MPS the first time are certainly getting my attention.
But honestly, I am struggling with consuming all the extra calories all week long to stay in a surplus. After re-reading the BP, it looks like I can at least reduce my protein macros after 3 weeks, which is tomorrow. I would much rather add an extra tbl spoon of heavy cream to my morning coffee as opposed to eating an extra ounce of chicken every meal to meet my calorie goals.

Weight: 175.4 lbs
BF: 14.6% (Omron)
Lean mass: 149.8 lbs ( 6.54 lb increase from end of phamine phase)

[RobRegish]

Much easier to drink 1,000 calories (example), than it is to eat them...

[walkerl60]

Much easier to drink 1,000 calories (example), than it is to eat them...

Damn Rob....I forgot all about that. Thx for the reminder. I will definitely use that on my next feast.

LJ

[RobRegish]

No problem man. Do take care to insert extra rest days if your strength gains slow down/stall.

They really the key to maximizing efficacy. Other than that, your carb cycling approach - I like. One other tip: On training days, try to consume up to 50% of your carbs/calories in the 2 hours AFTER training.

Following along...

[warriorcookie]

Weight: 175.4 lbs
BF: 14.6% (Omron)
Lean mass: 149.8 lbs ( 6.54 lb increase from end of phamine phase)

Damn... 6.5lbs of muscle and you're only 3 weeks in... Your doing something right that's for sure!

[walkerl60]

Weight: 175.4 lbs
BF: 14.6% (Omron)
Lean mass: 149.8 lbs ( 6.54 lb increase from end of phamine phase)

Damn... 6.5lbs of muscle and you're only 3 weeks in... Your doing something right that's for sure!

Thx warrior. I wish I could say it's all muscle. The problem with "lean" mass is it's calculated as "everything" that's not fat. This would include H20!! I sure I've gained 2-3 lbs of actual muscle by just the way I feel and look! Gainesville here I come!!!