3rd person input- One year progress

So I have rounded out a solid year with Brandon Crabill. Though I was a less than... perfect client (I love pizza and Mexican food way too much...), I still made decent progress. I'm far from where I want to be, but with that said.  Here's the results:

Same bodyweight - The fact that I'm stronger than when I started, less fat, better health overall... I'd say I'm moving in the right direction.

Natural results; No anabolics. Current supplements are creatine, protein powder, and a few multivitamins, with a few other amino acid supplements. Lab work has improved minimally, dropping my LDL from the 150's to the 140's. LDL from 28 to 36. Testosterone level has improved from the 270's (hypogonadal much?) to the 400's...


I'm not the most diligent with updates to this blog, but as is apparent, there have been a few phases I've gone through with Coach Crabs... Strength, mass, fat loss, etc.

My current wave is pushing fat loss hard. Increased conditioning, increased work volume, caloric restrictions (2500kcal with 250g protein, <100g carbs).

Lifting is in a transition... Just came off of a high rep tempo based block... Transitioning into something new. 10/20/life from Brian Carroll is one possibility... As is a more bodybuilder style template - DC training or the like.


I have absolutely no idea how much progress I would have made without Coach Crabs, but considering my long track record of working hard and spinning my wheels? I'd say minimal improvement would have been seen.

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Work? Well... It's work.
Neurology is still fascinating, and I love the subject. I'm even more excited about the future of sports neurology. I'm leaning more and more towards this as a profession as I've mentioned a few times. I likely will need an additional year as a fellow to increase my marketability and knowledge about the specifics of treating athletes as a patient population with their unique problems and requirements.

I took my residency in training exam (RITE) which told me I'm right where I should be as far as knowledge base... That honestly isn't a surprise, but good to have it affirmed... I just need to continue to read I guess...


Finishing up a week off right now which is always welcome... Spending all day watching Disney movies with my daughter. I swear Ives even Tangled, Brave, and Frozen at least 5 times each now...

12 week progress.

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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 Work:

Out of the deepest depths of depression, I am emerging.

The worst 7 months of my life to date are over.  As work wore on me, I found myself questioning what I was doing, why I was doing it, and what possible alternative careers were available. I frantically searched for ANYTHING that I could scrape a living together from instead of neurology... instead of this residency. Disrespected, treated like bottom-dwelling trash, getting paid less than the damn janitor who cleans my call room (I am completely appreciative of them); I was sick of it. I still am. I still harbor feelings that have soured my entire outlook of residency and my medical training. Pure fury, pent up like a caged animal remains, and my temper wasn't the most stable to begin with.

"We've been spoon-fed baby food when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert."  -The Hacker's Manifesto

Alternatives exist, though they aren't an option when I'm staring down the barrel of $400k student debt... yes... $400,000 I owe to the government for the two letters after my name. 

I'm beat down. I'm just looking to get through the next 2 years.  Work is on the back burner now... considerably far behind family and fitness.   I've lost my 'give a fuck' to deal with it. 
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Lifting:

Finished a 12wk block focused on as cleanly as possible adding mass... with strength being an unintended consequence.  At the end of the block,  I tripled (+) my initial training maxes.   Progress...

We (coach and I) had a long discussion about new goals for my upcoming phase/year. I have no plans on competing this year, so I'm more interested in decreasing my bodyfat by ~10% or so. I understand that this will come at the expense of building max strength, I'm ok with that for now. I'll likely thread in 30m conditioning HIIT or otherwise most days of the week to help this along. My lifting will be geared towards this end, with increased lean body mass the goal...

I have no doubts how shitty these workouts will be.

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Diet: 

I've added ~10lbs of bodyweight in the last 12 weeks... Minimal addition of fat. My legs and arms(triceps especially) have gotten the biggest boost from my training.  Occlusion work is interesting and I feel a large part of my gains. 

Much the same as before:

Shake 45g protein w/ coconut oil
Eggs/protein fat meal +/- berries/fruit.
protein fat
Shake 1hr pre workout
Glycofuse and Aminolast(or xtend) intra workout
Shake post workout
 Protein fat meal ~40-50g carbs
Snack (greek yogurt&fruit, protein shake, w/e)

**green veggies will be almost unlimited... Salads, greens, asparagus, etc.

protein sources:  Grass fed beef, Chicken breast/thighs, Wild caught salmon, Omega 3 eggs
Fat sources:  Coconut oil, olive oil, natty peanut butter, almonds. 
Carbs: Brown rice, veggies, occasional tortillas.

 I'll likely be cutting back on the carbs a little bit, and only eating junk food occasionally... instead of weekly...

Body weight ~253 in December;       February @264

Vacation...

Trap Thursdays!

A much needed break was had from work.The wife and I went to Chicago for a few days. I had not been in that city for ~15 years, so it was 'new'. I got adapt at navigating the bus system, and using an app called "Uber"  which auto-pays and calls taxis, private cars, and SUV's. Between my wife and I signing up, we scored a solid $60 of free cabs.

Observations:This city is expensive as piss... I've never thought in my life "Wow, Starbucks is cheap."  But in Chicago, I did... Combine that with a massive bottled water tax, and all I saw was $4 bottles of water. It's fucking absurd. Boots are a necessity, especially in the slush and snow. I think we walked a total of 15 miles or so just touring the city in sub-zero temperatures. It was pretty sweet...

Hilton ceiling. Pretty swanky hotel.

Yes, I can one handed overhead press 16 tons...

View from the 'gym'.

Lifting

lifting went well this week (week 4), no real issues. Starting to add back in some heavier sets. I still feel a little weak in the squat, and my bench technique, while improving, is still pretty sad.  I deadlifted at the hotel, got yelled at for 'dropping weights'.  I said fuck off, I paid $27 to use this facility for my stay; either refund it or let me finish...  I finished. Not to mention, I ran out of weights... so was doing sets at 300-400...

 

 

   Week 5 lifting:

-9 degree weather made this a rough week. Espeicially combined with my 'conditioning' of shoveling the 30" of snow... 

Squats went poorly. 330 moved slow as shit. and... my camera doesnt function at these temperatures... I did find a bit of benefit that as i descend, I force my knees out. It lets me drop in a straighter pathway and seems to give me good rebound.   We'll see if it continues to hold true.

Bench. 275 top set.   I feel like I should be lifting more than this or at least moving this weight faster/easier... maybe the cold was the cultprit.

Deadlift: It was a warm 31 degrees out that night!  Holy shit, I almost wore shorts... 

Weights moved fine, My knee was was not happy about the sumo deads though, and really, my right knee was not letting me pull equally right to left. This lead me to i feel lean and rely more on my left side to complete the initial part of the pull. 

315 speed single moving fast as shit. 

Top set of sumo... this was followed by 100000 more deadlifts in various forms. I fucked my thumb up bad during one of these torturous things...

Week 6

 This was a VERY cold week... -5 degrees Fahrenheit for most of my sessions... and working a solid 146 hours and counting these last 2 weeks...

This is how I stay so thick despite working 90% of my life in the hospital...  Simply thick!

Squat

Top Set- last of 4 sets at 285

   

Bench

Rep PR by default (225x10? no record of any higher weight for 10 reps... seriously... did I mention I hate reps?)

  

Dead

Last set at 365.  Nice and fast... fucking gloves on an already fat powerbar... someday I'll invest in a deadlift bar... and a safety squat bar... and a GHD... and a reverse hyper... uh... yeah...

Looking forward to a deload week...   Also--> I joined a fitness center... $10/month with Daycare included?   I guess I have no excuse not to do my conditioning anymore... The weight area is not half bad either...  

Something I've noticed being out of the 'gym' environment for the past year +?...  I have some strange body dysmorphic disorder. I swear EVERYONE in that gym is bigger than me. Even these 160lb guys make me go "Man, he has bigger muscles than I do..."

The fuck is wrong with THAT thought...?