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Things seem to be turning a corner. It's been a rough 6 weeks for my health - norovirus, quickly followed by the flu, followed by several weeks of lingering respiratory infection/cough/shortness of breath. And of course the shoulder falling apart before, during, and after the viruses.
That has all set my workouts back pretty far - lots of days off, and when I have been able to work out, it's been at lower weights and intensity, to avoid coughing and hacking fits with a barbell on my shoulders. But I'm finally able to breathe again and had a great workout Wednesday - after doing more reading, it seemed pretty clear that I wasn't helping the shoulder with my form on the bench press. With some help from YouTube of all places - Dave Tate's "So you think you can bench" video series in particular - I made a few tweaks and everything almost literally fell into place. The pressing was clearly taking pressure off of the shoulder and triceps, and activating the chest instead. The shoulder was much more comfortable and a lot less noisy. It was very encouraging, and restored a lot of the motivation that was slipping away - for better or worse, actual or even just potential progress is a big motivator for me, and injuries take that away.
So, the last issue is diet. My patience for this cut has just about run out at the finish line; I set a somewhat arbitrary goal of 167 lbs before transitioning back to a bulk, but I can't quite push over that finish line - because I'm having trouble caring. Shedding a few vanity pounds of fat after a bulk isn't quite as motivating as the very serious health and fitness concerns that got the whole ball rolling, and I'm just having trouble giving enough of a damn to hit an arbitrary number, so I've just been maintaining for the last 10 days.
It doesn't help that I don't have quite enough muscle mass yet to cut properly - and given the choice between dropping another 10 lbs and being shredded, or just getting back to the business of anabolism, it's hard to justify getting any smaller. But I'm stubborn, so I will probably just cheat and drop some quick water weight to push below the 167 line, whether or not it makes any difference.
Apparently stoicism doesn't make me immune from fat loss frustration. Imagine that!
Diet Calendar Entry for 25 January 2013:
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2002 kcal
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Fat: 42.16g | Prot: 147.59g | Carb: 212.71g.
Breakfast: spinach, carlson fish oil, apple, dry roasted peanuts, meijer lowfat cottage cheese, broccoli slaw, dannon light & fit greek. Lunch: cocoa roast almonds, spinach, california stir fry, chicken breast, tomato, bumble bee salmon. Dinner: vegetable medley, dannon light & fit greek, progresso light chicken noodle. Snacks/Other: planters natural, quest bar, bell's amber ale, Extra Dessert Delights Sugarfree Gum - Mint Chocolate Chip. more...
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 Comments
well good job anyway, I also got injured after xmas which did not help to recover from the calorie surpluses of the xmas holidays :(
How do you set your targets in terms of body composition (LBM and FAT %). I am currently around 21% fat and have a goal in mind of about 12% before starting to do some heavier resistance training but I have not really studied the issue and am curious to find out what is your experience.
25 Jan 13 by member: paperiniko
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One "standard" recommendation for men is to bulk when your body fat is at 10%, and cut back down to 10% once you reach 15%. The idea is that adipose is metabolically active - the higher your body fat, the lower your testosterone will tend to be, and the more estrogen you will have. T levels have a dramatic impact upon calorie partitioning; i.e., the relative proportions of surplus energy that end up as fat vs lean mass. So, the leaner you are when you begin lifting and overeating (bulking), the better your partitioning will tend to be. I have had trouble with that, for a few reasons: I'm 41, have somewhat low testosterone levels (related to being 41), a history of obesity, and not as much muscle mass as those who have been training for longer. The hormones and age are the two biggest impediments - it gets exponentially harder to lose body fat while preserving my lean mass, the lower my body fat is. So basically, I just use the mirror. I was around 150lbs when I started bulking, and hit 182 when I decided that I was simply fat enough. I think I was around 18 to 20% body fat at that point. Since getting all the way down to 10% would have been prohibitive in time, I aimed for 12 to 13%. That has been much more manageable, and I think I'm just about there. So, if you want to go by the book, bulk from 10% up to 15%, then cut back down. If you're not 21 and swimming in testosterone, and don't have enough existing muscle mass to support a cut properly - well, use the mirror. But just adding 2 or 3% to the "recommended" numbers seems to be a good compromise.
25 Jan 13 by member: Nimm
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Since links get truncated in journal comments, I'll send you a message with some links for some helpful articles on the topic.
25 Jan 13 by member: Nimm
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Glad you're turning a corner, my friend. Breathing IS essential. You're so smart about lifting science. Nimm. You should train. I love your journals and journal responses. I learn something every day.
26 Jan 13 by member: Helewis
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