If I am reading that correctly, it is stating that consuming artificial sweeteners tricks your body into thinking it is consuming sugar and produces many of the same metabolic effects so that while your calorie count may go down all of the other negative health effects are still present. Is that right?

Sup bitches. How's everyone doing? I'm doing great this week, thanks for asking.

-Lowest body weight
-PR dumbbell bench press for 8 reps
-x2 PR's for deadlift

TFW, you deadlift your old PR for 3 and then deadlift your original fat starting weight before walking the path of iron

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1375924697

I ate a sandwich today for lunch because it was catered for my orientation day at my new job. It was tasty. I felt terrible within 15 minutes.

Does anyone want to school me on sodium and potasium? My sodium intake has been off the charts lately and potasium has been pretty low.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1378159802

Time for a big cut. 6 weeks off work. Nothing to do but spend cash on my car while crying...and work out.

-HIIT cardio 3x a week in the mornings. Wind sprints.
-6 lifting sessions a week. Volume work. Saturday will be an extra compound-lift day focusing on deadlifts, hang cleans, snatches and lots of stretching.
-Mini cardio session after lifting. 13-15 minutes LIIT/HIIT on the treadmill to help keep metabolism working late.

-Eating 4-5 times a day but keeping a caloric deficit while keeping a strict Macro scale for fats/protein/carbs.

I'm at 205lbs right now. The goal is 185lbs by the 2nd week in October.

Lets do this.

Im down to ~177 from 190. I haven't been doing strict low carb, Im still getting carbs but only from natural sources like fruit. I dont want to get in the habit of eating nothing but meat and cheese.

Like I stated in the beginning of this thread. Zero cal is fucking bullshit. How combustible food is has nothing to do with the human metabolism and artificial sugar is just as bad for you as normal sugar.
I drink water all day like a bawse.

I havent even been exercising. Just not eating shit and drinking soda, and Im losing weight. Before I was busting ass on my bicycle every day, still eating shit, and I didnt lose any weight.
Once I get back on my exercise schedule, and continue eating well, I should be able to go back to being a skinny fuck like back in the day.

Lift weights ^

Im just going to do cock pushups

So today i tried this pre-workout called Hyde... i'm in love.

Details and link? I've been meaning to try a pre-workout and creatine.

Edit: early morning HIIT. Wind sprints, stationary bike sprints.....fuck you

seems like this thread got a little of topic but:

I drink diet soda often (and probably alot more than I should) and I am at 5% body fat. So diet soda alone will not make you fat.


Also those trying to loose weight try insanity. That shit works if you follow the schedule and eat healthy. I went from 13% to 8% body fat in 2 months.

Heres a random link. You should be able to find it cheaper.
Mr. Hyde Pre Workout Amplifier Watermelon by ProSupps - Buy Mr. Hyde Pre Workout Amplifier Watermelon 8.67 Powder at the vitamin shoppe

I got mine for 35 bucks from xsport + 20% off so 28. 40 servings.

Who cares? Donuts alone won't make you fat either. Doesn't make them healthy, and doesn't mean it's not making your life harder.

Also, time for a new China Study!

China

lol so what that link is saying we've evolved to be fat so we can get little fatter before developing type 2 diabetes.

#YOLO


but all kidding aside I really should look into this topic... But right now it falls into the TLDR category for most articles. I did cut all soda out of my diet for a year once and didn't notice much of a difference when I returned to drinking it again.

alcohol, on the other hand, is a different story. I feel much more energetic and athletic when I cut all alcohol from my diet. sorry for the thread drift.

There is no way you'll ever be able to convince anyone that drinking soda has no negative effects, long term or otherwise. I sure as hell noticed a huge difference.

Insanity is good but it burns muscle. I did it to get myself into semi-shape so I could start lifting heavy and running easily.

Now it's all about HIIT and heavy weights.

I bloated hardcore over the 4 day lake house meet. Alcohol, sugar, carbs, etc...13lbs of water weight, lol. Took me a week to get it all off.

U're gonna die regardless.

I used to drink soda. 4-5 cans a day, every day. Nothing but soda. Then I got kidney stones.. it was awful. I stopped drinking soda. Water only... 3 years later got kidney stones again.

I feel like cyotani must be pretty close to his Golden Mean. I don't think he is trying to convince anyone there are no negative side effects or that it's particularly healthy. Assuming his 5% BF is not BS, he seems to have a reasonable handle on his situation.

Mark - Screwdrivers and gin & tonics alone won't make you fat either. Doesn't make them healthy; and doesn't mean it's not making your life harder. On the other hand, it might make your life a lot more enjoyable than being a teetotaler. :)

Recently, I drank several bourbon cocktails the night before I ran my second competitive 5k. I turned in a personal best of ~8:17/mile pace, then I had some thick cut bacon and cinnamon rolls cooked in a waffle iron. :dealwithit:


In what way is "HIIT" different from Insanity, which I would consider high intensity interval training? How are you deciding that it "burns muscle?"

What your analysis leaves out is that screwdrivers and gin&tonics are awesome and diet soda is nasty.

No clue what HIIT is however if you want to pack on muscle, stay away from endurance training. The endurance runner vs the speed runner is a good example. Jokes aside back in the 90s before they started getting strict on steroids the speed runners looked like animals. Speed runners looked like thin weight lifters.

I'd rather die looking good and not feeling like shit, lol.

Insanity is not strict HIIT even though Shaun T says "MAX INTERVAL TRAINING" a lot. It's more conditioning. The problem is the length, you'll eventually start to burn muscle, but you will indeed lean out if you're a fatty. I dropped somewhere around 40lbs doing it, but I noticed that I was "floppy", so I started HIIT and lifting weights.

I'm not saying it's the same as solid state running 10 miles, but it's nothing like wind sprints could offer you. But the benefit is having an easy to follow routine when you're starting to get into shape is hard to beat. I'm not knocking the program at all, trust me.

Ex: My skinny-fat friend started running to "lose weight" and "get ripped". He did nothing but solid state cardio and constantly criticized me "wasting my time in the gym, cardio burns fat". Fast forward; I'm 2:30 seconds faster than him in a 1-mile run and was only doing cardio once a week for 15 minutes.

Fast forward: he asked to borrow my insanity dvd's. He follows it to a T thinking he'll "get ripped" without setting foot in a gym. After one cycle he's dropped 10-15lbs and now looks like a skeleton.

HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=HIIT

You're not kidding about sprinters vs distance runners.
http://crossfitoneworld.typepad.com/...49e7970b-800wi

I am still not clear in what way you are making a distinction between Insanity-style workouts and "HIIT." Hell, from your own links "HIIT" is such a generic term that it can mean almost anything.

You mention the length of the workout - what does a session of wind sprints look like for you and what are you calling a "wind sprint?"

I know. It sounded weird from just reading my post back to myself. I'm having a hard time explaining.

Real HIIT (max interval) should only be done 3x's a week and is usually done in less than 12-15 minutes. Mostly due to fatigue. Insanity gets by this using length and different movements to spread the workout longer. But you're right, there are tons of variations for HIIT workouts. I should have mentioned that I was talking strictly about max HIIT cardio. Nothing gets harder than stop/start wind sprints.

Wind sprints (what I do, at least) is a full on sprint from a stop for at least 20 seconds, then a 20-30 second break. I do that until I am no longer able to sprint past the 10 second mark. I also do them on the treadmill at the gym if I still have energy leftover. Set the incline to 3, jack the speed up and just run until you can't stand it, then jump onto the sides. Wait for that heart rate to drop, then repeat until you almost die.

It's almost sickening how exhausted you become.

Endurance training and gaining muscle at the same time is a very difficult thing to do. I probably consumed more calories and ate twice as much carbs the past two month than any other point of my life.

I did manage to put on 8 or so lbs of muscle during marathon training tho. I wonder how that would have changed without running 30+ miles a week. Sad thing is when I start school in 2 weeks I'll go back to my soda induced, fast food driven busy as days with no time for the gym or running.

That makes sense to me. I can see a distinction between sprints and Insanity, because there is no real way to go flat out doing walking push-ups and if you actually went flat out doing a couple of minutes of power jumps and high knees with proper form, you'd pass out.

Good grief.

Saturday, I decided to do some sprints. I did 6x ~40 yard dashes, with about 1-2 minutes walk in between. Then, I did stacked suicide sprints of about 20 yards. I started with 2 (there + back = 2). Then I walked about 2 minutes and ran 3 (there + back + there), then walked another 2 minutes. I finished with 6. I'm ballparking, I sprinted a total combined distance of about 640 yards.

Today, pretty much every part of me - from my shoulders and sides, to almost every major muscle from the quads down (plus some minor muscles like some in my feet!) - is sore.

Yup speed runs are fun.

^ tada!

Now do that 3 times a week. Also drop that rest period to 30-45 seconds

Congrats, man. That's a great way to start.

Well, good results. I managed to lean out and get stronger. Hanging around 200-2005 instead of 210-215. Set PR's for nearly every lift. That 199 is coming soon. Already taped out at the recruiter's office, so I'm stoked about that.

Pusha took this pic for me, lol. Enjoying my super comfy 36" shorts and my slightly baggy large shirt.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1380770985

The guy who writes my lifting programs asked me to take a form check video. This is after a deadlift contest with my best friend last Friday; so no heavy lifting, no working sets. 315x1 and 365x3. Yes, my Gundam Wing shirt is the shit. I wish it still fit.

I have the same flip flops as you

Ive been plotting my weight as measured every morning. Ive been too bust to exercise regularly, but Im drinking nothing but water and not eating bread or sugar (other than natural sugar in fruit).

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1380773160

Figure id update my stronglifts progress. I started the program by the book and didnt skip any increments. I have yet to stall on any excercise. Squats 215, overhead press 125, deadlift 255, bench 145, barbell pulls 145.

Squats, overhead press, deadlift are now feeling very heavy. It will be interesting to see when the stall point occurs.

Ive been taking protein powder, and coconut oil in my coffee. Ive gained 8lbs, and look like ive lost some flab.

Good job, everyone.

VoM - That's a wide-ass squat stance. Sumo style, eh?

FTB - Good work. I would probably graph a 5 or 7 day moving average to smooth out some of the noise of daily data. It should be interesting when you finally get some regular exercise in.

DJP - That's good progress. The row/BB pull and the overhead press were definitely the first to get heavy for me and still maintain good form.


I stopped lifting and started just doing cardio/plyo as part of a half-assed training regimen for a mini triathlon. I am pretty close to giving up on putting on significant muscle mass. I just don't have the dedication to commit so much time and effort in to cooking and eating.

Since my last bitch post here I've managed to knock off ~15lbs. Just water, green tea and coffee. No sodas for the past months and no significant changes in diet or exercize. Running/cycling and football (soccer) have been put off because of old knee injury that keeps acting up. When I get that sorted and can get some cardio in, I should see some decent results pretty quick.

I've done zero lifting since this thread started. But I did build a shed mostly by myself over the last 4 months. It included magically lifting sheets of sheathing up onto a steep roof without assistance and powerlifting some walls into place.

weight has remained fairly stable but the gut is slowly getting smaller.

Once the shed is done, I will be back at the gym.

I need to work on cardio, since going to the stronglifts ive gained a lot of strength, but would probably die if I tried to run up and down a set of stairs a few times. I do enjoy the lifting though. I can tell that I need to bump my calories again because the gains really slowed, but I also don't want to put on a bunch of fat. I'm pretty happy where I'm at. Sad part is that lifting gets boring when Just trying to maintain

You might want to check out bodybuildings website. Yes the forum is douchebags that show up at movie theaters to stalk 16 year old twilight lover girls but the profile section is quite useful. It allows u to put weight and measurements and what not as you go and make nice little pretty graphs.

On a side note i was at 13% fat when i started 2 years ago (130lb) at 5'7". Now i'm at 7% fat at 165.

How are you measuring that? I feel like I have been single digits before and I was shredded. I was also a LOT smaller and leaner with a lot less muscle than I remember you being, based on the couple of pictures you've put up.

Think: "130 pound Muay Thai fighter, sporting an 8-pack" skinny. Pro body builders compete in the 3 - 5% range, I think.


Ultimately, I guess the delta is more important than the nominal, but if you really put on 35 pounds and are walking around at sub-10% BF, you are doing serious work. I would offer you a toast, but I assume you are not drinking anything with carbs and/or sugars. ;)

I think I'll start today.

I'm trying to go three times a week and I'm currently at squats 115, overhead press 75, deadlift 155, bench 115, and never done pulls. I'm signifcantly below what I was at this time last year (pretty sure I was deadlifting 225 before), but I haven't gymed regularly in just under a year. I'm picking it back up as I've gained almost 10 pounds back over that year.

Brain - If you are going to start the actual SL 5x5 program, I would do the full routine, "by the book" (i.e. start with really light weights and add each workout). If you start at the weights you were doing routinely before, I would be shocked if you made significant progress for the entire period.

If you've already done the SL 5x5 and know all this, disregard. :)

I'll read through the "the book" and see what's up.

edit: seems to be almost exactly what i was doing last year (and evne now) very similar exercises alternating, but i was just doing 3x12 each time.

we were doing 3x12-10-8 to failure each time.

Were you increasing the weight in a structured format every single workout?

Good point.
I know weight is an imperfect statistic, but Ive got a boner for statistics, so if I have a graph to look forward to updating every day it gives me motivation to try to eat well. Its like the worlds most tedious game, lol

lol i am not really on a strict diet. Currently i'm having a disgusting piece of little cesars pizza and some coca cola. Dont get me wrong though most of my meals are chicken and white rice or chicken and boiled potatoes.

Most bodybuilders compete at 2-4ish. Its a last 3-4 day thing right before the competition. The rest of the time like on their bulk cycle they are in the 8s-9s. My dads last competition before he retired he measured 1.7% with the pinch scale on 16 skin folds or some thing like that.

Thats how i measured my fat too at 7.48%. For the first time i suggest measuring with skin folds on as many points as possible to get a base line and then measure on just few points from there on every 2 months or whatever.

Skinfolds is the most accurate way of measuring for a fair price. Sure you can go in the water test method and xrays or whatever it was using but thats not logical from budget point of view for the average person.

If you keep at it you won't stall. SL 5x5 is a great program. Swap the barbell for dumbbells on your flat bench, do rack pulls and change stances to keep your deadlifts tight and just keep squatting. Slight changes every 2-3 weeks will prevent most stalls.

Heck yes. I have poor hip/ankle flexibility so sumo is my home. I was worried that I would stall from switching stances a few months back, but since then I've made big leaps and am shooting for the 400's next week.

:sadwavey: nooooooo

Think how many cats you'll be able to hold at once after you start lifting again!

We tried to.

Starting on 1/2/12, I was deadlifting 135 and benching 95. By March of 2012 I was at 175 and 115. I had lost 5lbs and an inch around my waist.

But like matt said, they way we were "stalling" did not help. I was never really able to bench any higher than 115 in that entire 3 month sample. I don't think I've ever gone above 135.


It's kinda funny as our workout was very similar to this 5x5 stronglifts program, and did give results: We would do squats, overhead press, and pulldowns one day, then bench press, deadlifts, and rows the next. We would simply do 3x12 and then 1x15-20 with an empty barbell until fatigued.

I'm looking at a spreadsheet I used to plot down weights with and after 4 months (when I stopped filling it out) I was deadlifting 60 lbs more from where I started, but the bench press stalled out completely.

Like I said, I gained closer to 10lbs. back over ther last year. I completely stopped going to the gym from Aug 2012 - Aug 2013, picked it back up again recently, but it wasn't as regular. I don't like that I put on the weight (fatty weight, not good weight) so I want to get back into a better routine that will help my gain strength and shed the fat.

So we'll see how this program works and if I can keep it up. I have a huge motivational problem when I get home from work (if you notice I almost never post online at night or the weekend).

What calipers are you using that have that level of precision? I've got some cheap ones that reads in a range that can span a couple of hundred basis points (e.g. "11% - 13%").

I'm a "hard gainer" with a naturally slim frame. Putting on significant muscle mass while maintaining a semblance of my six pack would probably involve me constantly snacking on grilled chicken breasts throughout the day. I just don't have the motivation to buy, cook, and eat that much food.

I already eat pretty often and pretty clean with a decent amount of protein, but I'm just not mentally dedicated enough at this time to take it to the next level. Look at the stack of protein powder that our man Triple bought. I'm just not there.

There are some tips and suggestions for how to deal with plateauing in the program as well.

I understand completely. I typically have to workout in the mornings because if I wait until I leave the office (which is usually after 7:00 PM), I am just going straight home to dinner and the DVR with the missus.

That's another thing I liked about the SL 5x5 program: each workout is short enough that you can be done in under an hour, including a few minutes of warmup.

I hope to get Scott back into a co-dependent gym relationship with me.

You mean the one where he paid for the gym membership, then used his free person card for you everytime, then you were to tired to go a lot?

Actually we switched off and he did that for me for a year until I moved away :)

Going to try and pull 405lbs tomorrow. Wish me luck.

sumo style?

Yes. I started training sumo to help my conventional, but then I started using conventional to help my sumo because I was able to pull much easier that way. With my tight hips (lol :party:) sumo is the easier lift style for me. I do rack pulls conventional, too.

Plus it makes my glutes tight
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1381334327

and the result.

Edit: Watch in that super high def 720

Very nice pull man, props. Back seemed very straight so overall good form pull.

Thanks man. They all felt solid. My lockouts are still "meh", though.

Now it's time to train a shit ton of cardio.... :cry:

I never got into cardio. Was doing a mile everyday after my workout but just uck. Sprints/walks were a lot more fun and felt more productive. I'm doing this for my self though so no marathons or anything like that. After being tiny in highschool at only 115 lb i find it fun to bulk now that i'm pushing hard. Got another 2ish weeks of my cut cycle. With the way its been going i'm estimating i'll be in the 6.5% BF. I've never had abs that are nice and rounded but now i'm pushing hard to get them and its definitely fun. Hope i can stay at or above 160 when i reach the 6.5%.