Month: July 2021

7/11/21
I suggest you read the JM Blakeley articles on weight gain and weight loss.

But first something said to me on the pf gym floor :

“You powerlift?”
“No. I go to planet fitness.”

We’re at pf of course, the kid saying it a short muscular and lean (a very good build) 18yo, and his buddy a short burly had played football lineman 19yo with a massive neck.

(Both were very well built, especially factoring in their age.)

My buddy said some compliment about me being big after the initial exchange, and I had a good conversation with the two aforementioned.

Talking about “man strength” and how one naturally gets leaner, a more quality build at the same bodyweight as they age assuming they trained consistently during that time.

Earlier in the session between sets of seated row my buddy and I talked food some.

I’ve been living on microwaveable chicken. He said he had some chicken last night, which is strange for him – he eats mostly vegetarian.

It clicked right then for me how he struggles to get in 3000 calories.

At 5’10” and a lean 200lbs he rarely eats meat, I’d guess vegetarian five days a week.

A quart of milk and two scoops of whey powder isn’t going to up his vegetarian calories enough.

What he needs is some bacon cheeseburgers and frozen pizzas.

I’ve noticed that my fasting at work through the day, then before gym/after work meal (optional), and my daily nighttime meal is coming out to a similar calorie level.

Of course I’m losing weight – 3000 calories isn’t high with a highly physical job, and a staunch refusal to not go to the gym daily.

I train every day.
It’s pf, so it’s volume, even if I’m doing my lazy sets of 7 on the seated row.

I realized that right now I perform better with higher calories.

So I upped calories by supplementing this with my late meal…

J.M. Blakeley talks of Hershey’s bars.

Me?

I use twix, dutch apple pie, or donuts depending on the craving.

Since taking care of my grandma a few years ago I’ve been grocery shopping daily or nearly so.

I buy what I crave for a day or two at a time.

Right now it’s the laziest of healthy meals.

Microwaveable chicken (I found some that is 100% meat with zero soy/tvp added), recently I discovered ready rice/90 second rice, and have been putting off making bacon by buying decent amounts of the precooked kind that costs something silly like 6x as much.

Chicken sandwiches or just on the plate depending on how lazy I’m being and/or how badly I feel I should take in some good good saturated fat/butter which is always slathered on the bread.

I do wonder what true meal prep, making the time, putting in the effort (it’s not), would do for me.

Right now my eating is fairly low calorie and clean minus the recently added candy calorie upper.

I felt and to myself looked flat.
That’s why the candy addition.

Upping the calories I’m stronger again.

I say up the physical effort to counteract any overeating.

I actually have trained arms.
I added in regular leg work.

Putting my philosophies into play.

I looked at what the job is, realized arm specialization wouldn’t have any downside, and realized it was time to squat – even if that’s in the smith machine…

Persistence & Tenacity

I briefly hit a variant of most muscular in the unlit bathroom mirror, think “damn I’m jacked”, wonder what an hour a day of flexing would do as your entire training program, and recall a couple of recent conversations :

•the asian college kid telling me my cut will look insane, that I’ll have a greek god body soon

•my former coworker stressing that I’m a big athletic dude

I had a laugh thinking about how the kid who wrestled at 125/130 the year I wrestled at 189 went to the school weight room, set the leg press (pin loaded) to his weight or heavier, and did it for minutes (longer than 6:00/match length) saying it’d make his legs strong for the mat.

I realized how that groks to my getting people to rep progressively weighted sets of 100 on pf’s similar machine.

“When in doubt do high reps.”

I could use that work too.
I’ve been adding in glute and quad work again. Hilarious to be hip thrusting 5p in the smith machine, yet using a plate, even less to feel the muscle work on smith squats.

I know that I’m causing a show, 5p, at pf.

“Believe in it, and it’ll work.”

That’s a universal truth. I’m very good about applying this to my gym training. I need to work on taking this lesson from the gym and applying it to my entire life.

There is no perfect program.
There is no silly program.

How a program’s effectiveness is defined is by whether you’ve bought into it or not.

Do you believe that it will, or believe that it won’t?

Will!

I tell you I can revert to nothing but one set of pushups a day, and continue to get stronger full body.

I’ve bought in to pushups that much, in intensity of belief, and in frequency of opting in/renewing the belief to make it so.

Persistence & Tenacity

7/5/21 ~4pm
I walk up to the bar disinterested, coax myself into “one set of 10”, and immediately heckle myself “do 12, it’s the only set today”, decide to do 12, hop up, and it feels easy, so easy, like a new PR light.

Easily I’m at 15.

“What’s PR? 22? 23?” I think about 17 reps in – I keep going, only slightly feeling it once at 20.

I continue, and drop from the bar having hit 25, a new PR.

At 14 years old I hit my first chin up, today I hit 25, probably weighing about 240.

Please train daily.
Please!

You get a lot to show for it.

-J

P.S. Chins are getting to comical in ability, 25 weighing 240? What 50+ when I’m at 215? The ability to do reps is getting to how pushups have been for me for years. They’re easy now.

To end the session about 85 minutes later – another set of 20.
It’s cool hitting multiple 20s on the same day.

Of note I used the massage chair the night before. A performance gain by being more loose?

I notice that feeling/being loose in the mid back that my lats look bigger.

“Excuse me.”
“What’s up?”
“Your cut is gonna look insane, you’ll have the body of a greek god in no time, soon.”

I said “thanks”, impressed that a tiny seemingly shy college kid (5’2″ fit asian) had had the guts to say something to me.

The compliment added onto a great day.

I’ve written before how a more physical job makes you more physical outside of work, and thought two years back to a short shift, followed by a day off where I hiked, went to the lake, and went to the gym four times in a 36 hour time span of my buddy and I hanging out with our time off from the moving company.

I’ve been being a bitch about the requirements of this job. So I changed the outlook. I’m cutting without trying cause of it, and I go to the gym daily because I love doing so.

Do more on my days off.
More.

That applies to everything, not just physicality.

7/3/21
You can take a smith machine as far as you like.

“Wow I have legs!”

I’m laughing at myself, feeling a bit sore from comically light for a bunch of sets of five.

This is how I’d add/I’m adding leg work, meaningful leg work back in.

Comically light, a bunch of sets of five.

“Wow I have legs!”
You reawaken them, it always feels good.

It’s a smith machine – the smart route forces you to ease into it – cause smith machines force you into a wonky bar path – not smart to load up too quickly.

Ease into the poundage, starting comically light…for a bunch of sets of five – you’ll strengthen the long asleep tendon and ligament strength.

I’ve built their strength running as long as 8-9 months of squat every day.

At this point I’m committed to staying at pf, making the place work for me.

Committed.

No need to quadruple my monthly gym dues at the “hardcore?/powerlifting?” places replacement.

I think I’ll smith squat comically light…for a bunch of fives every few days, and call it good.

Some leg work is better than none leg work, and I’m on the “cutting” lifestyle by work alone – this will make me stronger, and help ride the weight loss down to a higher quality build.

It looks like I’m becoming a bodybuilder.

Smith machines always feel heavier to me than the same barbell poundage.

3p for a bunch of sets and reps – I’ll be strong enough, besides I’m eating, sleeping, breathing back work…I’ll be strong.

Lots of back work.

Probably end up at something like a lean and mean 215, that’d be quality, “greyhounded up” in Wes Watson video terminology.

215 hitting lots of chins, heavier in leg development – I like the mental image.

We’ll see how I even get that “light”, it’s been around six years since, and that was barely eating in the vegas heat…the same circumstances lol.

(barely eating, in the heat)

Then ease back up to 235…a beast.
I know I’ve got that size potential.

It seems to me that all naturals need to force feed up to a heavier weight than is their comfortable as nature intended athletic weight.

You change somatotype that way – at the very least shifting towards mesomorph as you’ve forced your body to add a bunch of muscle.

Then you lean out, keep all your strength (it never leaves), then add some size back, and are a beast ; and it’s cause you did what most never were willing to try.

Fasting is easy.
Force feeding was more effort.

I’ve never “dieted” as per standard bodybuilding bunch of small meals chicken breast, broccoli, and clean carb protocol.

I prefer to take an hour of my day to do pushups at the gym, than five minutes at home.

I can lift a barbell at home when I choose once I buy a house, and that’s soon, then a client or two a day on barbells in my home gym.

Keep a big ole dog around the place, name him “woof woof”, “bark bark”, or something similarly amusing.

Cause it adds to the gym atmosphere.

For now – this job, get clients, keep training – I’m never taking a day off from training!

7/3/21
The bass booms in the work truck, I’ve got wokq bumping – a teenage coworker says he had adjusted it to be like that, I haven’t figured out how to adjust it.

Not that I will.

It amuses me to be blasting country with booming bass (you can hear me fore you see me), while today in the rain all day I enjoyed my job.

Thinking to myself all day “fat loss day”, lots of movement, the body getting rained on.

Underdress for the weather, the body works harder = more lean.

I’m okay with letting this job get me lean and mean.

It will, irregardless, and particularly eating bodybuilding foods.

I’m not at that point yet, I’m eating bbq chicken and chex mix as I type, I need the salt, and had fasted sans one 16oz water bottle at the beginning and end of shift.

No gatorades, not a bite til probably an hour after punching out. 16-18 hour fast.

Kinda funny having “5 o’clock somewhere” blare as you’re in the truck about to hit ot.

This morning I thought I’d eat, nap, then gym after work.

I am adapting physically to this job.

Today I realized I’m okay with this job making me lighter in bodyweight – truly whatever happens happens, and the quality of that size ; I control that!

Eat right
&
Train

That’s all it takes, the job is so much activity that good things are guaranteed.

7/2/21
Ate about 10oz bacon (raw weight), similar weight of a dutch apple pie from wally world – up about 12 hours at this point, worked most of that, at work I was given some chocolates, and candies – ate those, 500 calories tops, fasted otherwise.

Got rained on, drank only water, the gatorades will be for another day.

Probably to the gym too late to train with a couple buddies, I’m fueling up after a fast, and still have to figure out fuel at work.

Alternating chicken breast, bacon, and almonds probably every hour or so sounds right.

That’d entail food prep.
I’d have to make time.

It’d work – both for the job, and bodybuilding purposes.

I’m not meeting up with one buddy cause I want to sleep before work tommorow.

He too wanted to gym with me.
It would’ve ran late.

Another dude was hoping to run into me for weighted pullups, told him we could today, don’t expect to run into him, I likely worked too late.

Need clients, one a day, and I could quit this job.

This job that I don’t want to stay at…even though it’s a “good job”,
and admittedly has awesome coworkers – so foreign compared to the moving company.

It just works you a lot.
I’m not digging it’s work/life balance.

Ten clients at the local hourly rate, ten hours a week doing what I need to be doing, and it’d pay better than 52 hours at this job.

Right now work this job, ride the fat loss from it to lean & mean, get to having a client a day.