Burning Bright 🔥

[Flash_Fire]

Welcome to my thread! It's been a very long time.

Two and a half weeks ago I started to train again after almost a year of just the odd casual workout. It weighed heavy on my shoulders and this year I felt that I aged more than the last 6 combined. First and foremost health is the driving factor to balance out the factory work and to keep a functional body for as long as possible. BUT! I want to compete again next year in endurance races. I have to say, even while I was competing in the past, I never managed to train consistently, I would make EXTREME progress in 3 months only to hit a brick wall. Drawing from these many experiences but also following exercise research I believe I'm able to plan better than ever!

I have fond memories of the hive from almost a decade ago and I'm checking in again to connect to like minded people but also discuss sports in search of optimization. I'll probably only do weekly updates and fill the room in between with discussion.


Right now I'm on the first training block and my focus is to just get back into it, strengthen weak points and build a little initial muscle mass. In these two and a half weeks I already gained 4kg and went down 1% in bodyfat. I'll only write down the working sets, not the warmups, nor the specific stretches. I go literal LENGTHS to do every exercise at full range of motion. From squatting ass to grass, to benching the dumbbells real slow, as deep as to feel the different fibers of the chest getting sowly pulled taut. I try to stop at the earliest 2 reps before failure, but on safe exercises I'll go as far as possible and have a super slowed last negative rep.

So, for the last 7 Days:
Thursday: Gym
Front Squat:
60kg*6
60kg*7
50kg*10
50kg*9
Deadlift
100kg*7
90kg*10
90kg*7
Barbell Overhead Press(-> Push Press)
40kg*4(+2)
35kg*6(+2)
30kg*7(+2)
Pull Ups
regular*2 (at this point my energy level got so low, I was unable to tell the muscles to work anymore)
chin-up*4

Friday: Swim
1km

Monday: Gym
Front Squat
70kg*6
60kg*8
50kg*11
Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
12kg*12/side
12kg*9/side
Barbell Overhead Press(-> Jerk)
40kg*5(+2)
35kg*7(+2)
30kg*9(+2)
Dumbbell Bench Press
17,5kg/hand*9
17,5kg/hand*10
Decline Push Ups
8 reps
Pull Ups
regular*3
chin-up*4,5
Around the World
15kg*14
Hanging Knee Raises
10 reps

Thursday: Gym
Cossack Squats
20kg*14
15kg*17
Cable Side Leg Raises (from inside to out)
12kg*10/side
Cable Side Leg (...uh the opposite way, pulling the foot in and across)
12kg*20/side
Kettlebell Tibialis Curl
8kg*12/side
Single Leg Calf Raises
12kg*12/side
Pull Ups
Rings*5
Dips (on a box, I couldn't get stable floating on rings and it hurt the tricep a little)
6 reps

I'm planning to stay on two times of gym and a swim per week and adding two runs, hopefully I'll find a group for a wednesday run and I want a solo long run on the weekends. On rest days I do nothing or if I'm stiff 10 minutes of stretching.

 

[JohnStrong]

Welcome back

 

[MadamMeow]

Nice to meet you!

 

[Flash_Fire]

Thank you for the welcomes @JohnStrong @MadamMeow !


To learn to do tricep dips on rings (my gym is tiny, and altough it has some very good implements it lacks grips for these) I think of changing the decline push ups of the Monday session to some push ups on the rings, close to the ground. Additionally I'll continue with the dips on a box, with the feet on the ground on Thursdays. I'd love to get a suggestion to progress that!

There are some more weakpoints that I need to address, for the sport specifically I need to train the feet/ankles to take impacts with them flexed the other way round as in cossack squats. I have no idea how to train that except for aggressively sprinting curves or running on very uneven ground, which doesn't exist here.
Then I should do more for the hands and wrists as well as the neck/I don't think swimming once a week quite cuts it. The metal concert tonight will do, but that doesn't happen every week Headbanging, jumping and shoving people around!
I'm thinking of maybe planning a cute mobilization home workout where these things are also lightly strengthened. To be performed on a "rest" day.

 

[Fremen]

Welcome

 

[aku-chan]

 

[Anek]

Hello and welcome!

 

[FlowersandPetals]

 

[Flash_Fire]

Thank you for welcoming me @Fremen @aku-chan @Anek @FlowersandPetals !

The lesson of today is not to be too mechanical about stuff. I shouldn't have gone for a swim, and I shouldn't wait with updates until the weekend when I write something earlier. To be adaptive.
Is there a policy for "difficult" topics? As some would call trigger warnings? Beause when I will talk about todays concert it'll cover WW1 and its associated brutality.


Sooo after a nap I did actually go for a swim, but it was wayyyyyyyy too short and late. On Fridays a lot of kids and youths come and there is no real space to do lengths at your own pace. Sometimes you have to chill in someones backwater, but if you decide to overtake you have to be very quick as to not bump into anybody coming the opposite way, then you have to calm down the cardio and as that happens way better swimmers rush past you and it just isn't a good feeling. Can't concentrate on the sport. I did do a few lengths, got a small chest pump and left.


The concert was absolutely brutal and more than enough sport for today! They did cover WW1 in the same artistic manner as "All quiet on the western front", but musically.
The first band was more athmospheric but the sound wasn't very clear. The drummer was labouring away, blasting beats to push the eardrums into the brain and shake the bones, bassist and guitarrist went methodically about their work for a good melody and the singer stood over them as a statue and sometime would let his gutteral growls rip through the crowd and vibrate the muscles and hairs on the arms. Pretty good.

Now for the second one, OH MY, MADNESS!
They put fake artillery on the stage and build trenches with sandbags, barbed wire etc... and the whole concert was as if the masses in front of them would be sloughtered as soldiers being ground down for the gains of a few rulers. They blasted the crowd with a fake flamethrower, and with bubbles and cold fog they simulated winter trench warfare, they used a combination of blast beats, strobe lights and absolute darkness as machinegun fire, later they fired an actual flamethrower horizontally over the heads of the masses and between songs there were subtle costume changes to fit the mood. The standard was a german soldiers uniform but with a completely black face mask, no breathing holes, no peeping holes. They changed for example into moles, tasked with digging under the enemy, took out their carbide lamps and at the end their designated mole suffering from the stress of cave-ins, suffocation and encounters with the enemy underground "shot his brains out". For an other song, they were sailors of a U-Boot which was their steel coffin and so on...
The crowd went crazy, there was basically a moshpit from start to end. Most people took time-outs, but I challenged myself to stay in the middle the whole time, get a few dancing moves in. I "only" fell down three times, the first, by myself on the slippery floor, the second time backwards over someone already lying on the ground and the third time as a mass crash with a (probably) 120kg dude landing on my chest. Only during the first song I already got someones teeth knocking on the back of my skull and got doused in beer! Later elbows to chin, lip, nose, push-punch to the solar plexus. Almost sprained the wrist twice, lifted people up for crowdsurfing! Good times! There were a bunch of machines taking part, probably 30-50kg heavier than I am and a lot of it muscle. Pushing against them would make me go backwards! Needed momentum or a very good stance to get these mountains out of my way. Like three wall of deaths, one of which I managed to push through three ranks of people charging at us and come out the other side. Let me tell you, today was a HARD day of training!

 

[Flash_Fire]

Hello Everyone!

I was physically all used up from that concert, but on Saturday I still forced myself to go for a run. I had to go slower than I wanted to and also take a teeny tiny shortcut. Still just over an hour, but with that I reached my (temporary) limit of what I could do on and to my knees. I will have to postpone the next run because of another concert, but for now that's fine, there's no urgency in building mileage.

On Monday I didn't feel alright, so I postponed the gym workout to today and with a caffeine overdose and scared of the weights on the bar I did amazing progress! Most notably on Deadlifts: I added +20kg AND 3 reps to my max!!! I can lift the 100kg now with a conventional grip, whereas I needed an alternating one before! Here's the working sets:
Front Squats
75*4
70*5
Deadlifts
120*10
100*9
Barbell Overhead Press -> Jerk
40*6(+2)
35*7(+2)
Dumbbell Bench Press
20/side*8
17,5/side*7
Ring Push Ups
3 reps
Pull Ups
regular*5
chin-up*3
Around the world
15kg*14
Hanging side knee raises
8 reps

Reducing the volume to at most 2 sets per exercise is much better! And a single warm-up set per exercise, EXCEPT front squats, since it is the first exercise and I need to "dive into the technique" (if that makes sense). I get the heaviest sets in, which already provide a great training stimulus but I have less trouble to recover before I need to perform again. Still am somewhat cooked at the end of training. Today I had a warm-up set of deadlifts too many, because I couldn't gauge where was at, so I warmed up with 70 & 100kg, next time only 100.

The way I structure my gym training seems to be in accordance with the female course record setter at UTMB: https://trainright.com/how-she-did-it-katie-schides-western-states-winning-formula/
She lifts twice a week, goes relatively heavy (she says 2 reps in reserve) and has a high protein diet. All things that I do as well.

Looking at the elite men, especially the weight and fat percentage tells me I should re-adjust my goals: I should lose AT LEAST 7kg for next summer without losing (or barely) any muscle. that would put me at or lower than 11 or 10% bf which would be a great number! I just have to get used to the idea of becoming a shredded stick No more bulking!

 

[Flash_Fire]

This post marks the end of the first ~4 weeks of training and it is time to look back for a second before going forward. They mark a turning point in life and laid a base, I mostly established my routine and quickly made strength gains. In daily life it's gotten easier to ride the trams without holding onto anything, in some moments I feel taller (from better posture), the only pain in my back now isn't it being stiff anymore but just muscle soreness. This week we got delivered a new grinding stone at work and boss-man was like "How do we get it to stand up? (in order to attach it to a crane) The both of us aren't strong enough!". I didn't say anything, but wedged my fingers underneath and could just lift it to his surprise!

Looking forward, I feel like I could just continue making linear progress, but I planned for a recovery week now, not totally without exercise but with wayyyy reduced volume. Only next Sunday there will be gym Christmas, so a workout and then going to the market together. Will have to see how I will handle that, if I'm just starting the next week early and add a run or if I'm just going for some heavy back squats and bench pressing to see where I'm at and not add the second run quite yet. Afterwards I think of doing blocks of 3 weeks plus 1 week of recovery in between. Planning it instead of being forced to is always preferable! There will be small evolutions in schedule, but mostly the same of what I established the last two weeks.

Sooooo I finished this week and the end of this training block on a high note!

Thursday: Gym
Cossack Squats:
20kg*18
20kg*10
Cable Hip Extension
12kg*13/side
Cable Hip Flexion
18kg*16/side
Kettlebell Tibialis Curl
12kg*5/side
Calf Raises
16kg*13/side
Ring Pull Ups
5 reps
Dips
7 reps
Especially for the Tib Curl the limitation wasn't the muscle, but the pain the tension put on the back of the foot and also how the area where the calf becomes the achilles tendon was squished against the bench I was sitting on. To a minor degree this also happened on the calf raises where the bottom of the foot hurt on the edge of the step. I do all my gym raining barefooted and will have to condition them better (by doing more of the same)

Friday: Swim
1km+100m
At first I thought, "oh this will be soooo easy, maybe I should do 1,5km" but around the 2/3rd mark I started suffering and was happy to get the full km. Telling myself I wanted to finish this block on a high note, I took a moment to recover, then did another 100 meters faster. I'm unsure how to evolve my swimming, the main reason I'm doing it is to improve my cardio without impacting the legs. Sooo maybe I should focus on intervals? Or do a little more distance at a relatively hard pace? I don't know as of now.

Saturday: Concert
This time around it was wayyyyyy bigger and also in a neigbouring city. I didn't manage to get to the front during the first bands (Testament) playtime, but for the second one (Anthrax) I spent 100% of the time in the moshpit, got a solid core workout in, have one side of my jaw swollen from recieving a hard shoulder in there and repaid the favour to someone else haha (unintentionally, I excused myself straight away). I went home early, because I didn't see anything good coming from exerting myself more, not eating well and going to bed wayyy late, so Kreator had to play without me being there. It was the right call I'd say

Sunday: Run
Today I went for a run, it was much better than last time, no real pains, no shortcuts and a faster pace, not pushing it, for most of the time breathing only through the nostrils was enough. Mostly the sore quads held me back. Left the watch at home, I have no idea about the time, but probably a bit over an hour.

 

[Flash_Fire]

Last week was my recovery week, I was helpless like a beached whale and you made target practice out of me! Y'all hit me 20 times!
@Germanamazon @JohnStrong @Maegaranthelas @Magpie @neilarey

I was tempted but forced myself not to interact with it, give my weakness (IT bands) real time to recover.
Last week I went for a low volume maintanance gym workout and the collective christmas workout. Today then an INTENSE session! Now we'll be adding back the swimming and running and next week add a second run.
So,
Tuesday: Gym (Maintenance)
-Front Squat 75kg*5
-Single Leg RDL 16*8/side
-Barbell Overhead Press -> Jerk 40*6(+2)
-Dumbell Bench Press 20kg/side*10
-Ring Push Ups 4
-Regular Pull Ups 6
-Chin Ups 4
-Around the World 15kg*16
-Hanging Side Knee Raises 10

Sunday: Gym X-Mas Workout
Oke, this is a little complicated. We started at 1, did one rep, then went to two, did two reps of that and one rep of the first until all 12 sets were completed. So the 3rd set would be:
-3 box jumps
-2 push ups
-1 pull up.
Here's the complete exercise list:
1. Pull Up
2. Push Ups
3. Box Jumps
4. Wall Balls (I used a 9kg one)
5. Sit Ups/Toes to bar (did Toes to Bar the first 2 sets, Sit-Ups afterwards)
6. Walking Lunges (used 30kg)
7. Burpees
8. Kettlebell Swings (used a 20kg one)
9. Mountain Climbers
10. Jump Squats
11. Shoulder Taps
12. calories on the ski machine
I did not like it, I found out a few people do Hyrox and this workout was made with that mentality, where the completion of reps was the focus, not the training, so people were flopping to the ground and standing up instead of burpees, or just little jumps instead of squatting down and then exploding out of that position. Imagine taking a hard high burn workout from Darebee and competing who's done the fastest, nothing else counts.
Needless to say (and also because I'm just starting to train again) everyone else was at least 1 set faster than me and I had to give up during the last one. Tunnelvision got very small and I could see the light! With every movement sweat drops were flying off my body, I went so hard as to almost lose conciousness.
I don't think the fatigue/stimulus ratio of this workout is a price I'm willing to pay

Tuesday (today): Gym
Had an amazing session, fought very hard and reached my true maximum in Deadlifts! After a single set I could barely take the plates off, not even think about doing a second lighter one. Anything more and I'd probably be hurt. Plus small improvements across the board.
As you may see, I'm only deadlifting every second week and not during rest week, alternating it with the stiff legged RDL. That is in line with what some of the best strongmen on this planet say about this lift (Eddie Hall & Mitchell Hooper): Going heavy every week puts too much total stress on the body to recover within only one week, so in between one should go lighter or do something different.
Front Squats
75*6
70*7
Deadlifts
130*5
Barbell Overhead Press -> Jerk
40*7(+2)
35*7(+2)
Dumbbell Bench Press
20/side*10
20/side*8
Ring Push Ups
4 reps
Pull Ups
regular*6
chin-up*4
Around the world
15kg*18
Hanging side knee raises
10 reps
I wobbled to mickeyD's on the way home, stuffed myself and am looking forward to some rest. Lower back muscles are destroyed!

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Sorry mate, I think you became a target due to being, uh, online at some point when I had to throw snowballs xD
I also prefer quality over quantity in exercise, it prevents injuries!

 

[Germanamazon]

Hoppla, entschuldige. Loved your name when it popped up and was like yeah let's get it.
Your workouts Sound extremely intensiv. Way too hard for me at this moment, but I love watching Eddie so I see where you got the training from.

 

[Flash_Fire]

@Maegaranthelas @Germanamazon haha it's alright, though when I saw the tags coming in, I stopped visiting the site for a few days for that exact reason hahaha
Yeah I like to train at very high intensity..or not at all, it has a few perks but also massive downsides. That means I can dig super deep in the last 10% in races and just these fast finishes add at least a week of soreness then. You take a dept with your body. Burn through what is not supposed to be touched except in a fight or die situation.
In training that means, once I set my mind to it and as long as I stick to a schedule, I can make very fast progress, while at the same time being always close to injury. Hence the forced rest
Edit: oh yeah, Eddie is a huge baby, it's funny! Funny, some good insights, he certainly brings intensity but sadly he also has a fragile ego.

Hmm, I think I have a strain in my lower back, and yeah it prooobably comes from increasing Deadlifts too quickly, but I think I didn't pay attention to my form and I should pay extra attention having a more pronunciated "S" in my spine, especially the lower part, I mostly fixed the upper long ago. So if I'm completely recovered by Sunday evening, I'll just continue and get comfortable around this load for a few weeks before looking at progressing or I'll have o take a small step back.
One thing leads to another and thinking, googling and feeling, I'm pretty sure my hollow back comes from a short psoas muscle. Today I've come up with a mobility routine for me that I'll probably do 1-2/week. That specific muscle isn't focused down a whole lot, but a bit with the leg swings, the kneeled lean backs and the boe poses. Especially the bow poses show the tightness: I can barely lift the knees off the floor while I struggle holding onto my ankles. I'm planning on slowly adding Bulgarian Split Squats into my strength routine, which should take care of that in the long run, especially if I focus down the rear leg.

Anyways, here's that routine (WIP):
-Rotate Arms 10
-Open Arms Vertical 20
-Open Arms Horizontal10
-Twists 20
-Front2Back leg swings 20/side
-Side2Side leg swings 20/side
-Split Alternating Foot Reaches 20
-Full ROM calf raises 10
-Kneeled Lean Back 10
-Dynamic Deep Squat 30 seconds
-Dynamic Bow Pose 10
-hollow/round back 10

 

[Flash_Fire]

Another week of steeeeeeep progress! Additionally I'm setting sights on a race quite close, at the beginning of April, which necessitates that I change my training faster than I originally wanted.

But let us go in chronological order:
Thursday: Gym
Cossack Squats
20kg*20
20kg*14
Cable Hip Extension
18kg*12/side
Cable Hip Flexion
24kg*15/side
Kettlebell Tib Curl
12kg*11/side
SL Calf Raise
20kg*11/side
Ring PullUs
6 reps
Dips
12 reps
I've improved across the board either in reps or in weight on every single exercise. On most exercises I felt like having some more in reserve,but especially on unilateral ones I want that to be the case to be sure I hit the same number on the other side as well. Another thing I've learned is for the hip exercises to put the height of the cable machine above my hip to ensure that there is sideways tension even in the deepest stretch.
I used to warm up on something like an assault bike for 2minutes to 2minutes30, now I switched to the curved treadmill and I do about 3minutes30 with 2 very short sprints. Afterwards of course some mobilization/easy stretching for legs to prepare them.

Friday: Swim
1km, I don't think I should focus/ovrecomplicate this workout, the goals are to improve back health and lung capacity so I'll keep it at a steady swim of at least 1km, more if I feel like it. This time they put more chemicals in the water, the eyes hurt and were shot red! So I didn't feel like more.

Saturday: Run
13km a little further and faster than last time, forgot again to check my watch. Felt solid!

Sunday: Mobilization
To the previous routine I added some in- to outside ankle tilts, wrist curls in every direction, neck curls in every direction and slighty rearranged the exercise order.

Monday: Gym
Front Squat
80kg*5
70kg*8
SL RDL
20kg*12/side
20kg*10/side
OHP->Jerk
40kg*8(+2)
35kg*8(+2)
Dips
12 reps
Pull Ups
regular*6
chin-up*5
regular*4 (1h30 later, outside the gym while fooling around in a park)
Around the World
15kg*20
Hanging Side Knee Raises
10 reps
Again, improvements across the board and especially for the heavier front squats I am convinced to have had at least another rep of 80 in the tank. RDLs need more weight, I cut the bench pressing completely out of my program since it doesn't benefit running nor any of the other exercises/movements I want to build up to. Moved the Dips to the first gym workout per week and will perform the ring pushups on the second, it is just more pleasing to group 2 ring exercises together on the same day, hahah. Googling "Around the World" yields people passing a kettlebell around their hip, but what I do is pick up a weight plate and pass it around at face level and I lean into it as well. I think that will lead to a stronger, healthier core than simply resisting movement.

 

[Flash_Fire]

I hope y'all had a good start in 2025! Looks like there's hard times ahead, the only sensible thing to do is toughen up and be there for each other.


I'm posting early since I want to talk about dieting. I managed to stop gaining weight over the festivities and actually lose 1 kg after! Buuuut it's tough, it may be my glycogen levels being at an all time low or caffeine withdrawal but today I cracked and bought energy drinks again. I also dream of stuffing myself with 3(!) whole mickeyDs meals! (if it wasn't so damn expensive ) I feel drained a lot of the time, staaaaarving. Even directly after eating.

I approached being officially overweight and as long as you carry a bit of muscle that can still be a very healthy weight, but I want to diet down for racing. Less weight means less work for the heart and less impact on the connective tissues, so that may also reduce injury risk. My goal is getting down to my previous racing weight, so between 70 and 75 kg, right now sitting at a comfortable 82,5 kg.
Let me describe my diet and maybe you have some input on how to make it easier.

For the two weeks of holidays a typical day of eating looked like:
(except for a few bigger meals around the festivities and two or three times fast food)
Breakfast:
-130g of canned tuna mixed with 2 teaspoons of light mayo OR 5 eggs
-2 slices of bread
-1 piece of fruit
Lunch:
-Source of protein: 250-300g: tuna steak/chicken legs/sausages
-Salad out of 125g of full fat mozzarella, 3 tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno
Dinner:
-Source of protein: 5 eggs OR 250-300g: tuna steak/chicken legs/sausages
-2 slices of bread OR 200g of fried veggies
Snacks:
-1-2 extra pieces of fruit
-1 protein shake

Now that I'll start working again next week it'll be like this:
Breakfast:
-2 Hotdogs in a bun with onion, ketchup, cheese
-1-2 handful of nut-berry mix
-250ml ayran
Lunch:
-some microwave meal, ~600-800 kcal
-high protein pudding
Dinner:
-Source of protein: 5 eggs OR 250-300g: tuna steak/chicken legs/sausages
200g of fried veggies OR Salad out of 125g of full fat mozzarella, 3 tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno
Snacks:
-1-2 pieces of fruit
-1 protein shake



The training part went quite well, after the extra Wednesday run I had some knee pain but after a day it was gone. Today, after the longer run the legs feel better than back then, so I feel confident of pushing for another week. Hopefully fit in a 3rd run already! I made this rule for myself that if connective tissue hurt for more than 1 day in a row I'd take an early recovery week.
I've read and watched a bunch more things about sports and a thing that I'd have to verify and until then I'll treat it as very probable pseudosience, but one competitive runner said that after a month of (re)starting would be when your connective tissue would start re-arranging and when you'd momentarily be weaker than when you started and at least if we talk running, that'd be during this training block!
Another thing for the future is that I'll slightly expand my mobility routine again and perform it twice weekly.

Wednesday: easy Run
7km

Thursday: Gym
Balance Pad Bulgarian Split Squads (BP BSS for the future)
20kg*8/side
20kg*10/side
SL RDL
25kg*8/side
20kg*8/side
Cable Hip Extension
18kg*18/side
Cable Hip Flexion
24kg*16/side
Kettlebell Tib Curl
12kg*14/side
SL Calf Raise
20kg*12/side
Ring PullUs
7 reps
Ring PushUs
6 reps
As you can see I dropped the weighed Cossack Squats in favor of the BP BSS, since it is more specific to the sport. I'll still do a few cossack ones unweighed during warmups. I also added the SL RDL to Thursdays as I prepare to radically change my routine on Mondays in the next block to one that is more focused on explosive strength, coordination and more specific. For many of the single leg exercises after I had trouble matching good reps on the other side, so next time I wont increase those anymore but focus on clean form and maximum range of motion. This was the first time in a long time I managed to get more than 6 pull ups as well! Even though I'm not focussing them and always doing them at the end of workouts when the tank is empty it still feels really good to actually be able to do good numbers!

Friday: Swim
650 meters
It's cheaper to go in the evening, closer to their closing time, but I mismanaged and went too late to finish my swim! I'd need about 30 minutes inside the water to finish a whole km!

Saturday: long run
13km
Started at a decent but not too hard pace, but suddenly someone who looked way fitter came from a side-path in front of me and was running my speed. Not wanting to have him in front of me all the time I put in the work but I felt like he accelerated as well as I overtook him, so I pushed the tempo really high for the first half of the run to make sure to not see him again. Afterwards I slowed to a very comfortable pace. Probably took an ample 1h10mins for those 13 km

 

[Tranquil_warrior]

I remember you!
You run so much tho :0 wowwwww

I am wishing you the best of luck in losing that weight :]

Also whats Pull Us?

 

[Germanamazon]

Hallo Kamerad!

Man a lot of exercise and such. I do wonder if you are eating enough since you said you feel like you are starving all the time.
We are in Germany, go ask a licensed trainer or dietitian if your food intake is enough for the exercise you are doing.
I am slightly envious of all the things you can do.

 

[Flash_Fire]

@Tranquil_warrior thanks a lot! but right now I am running very little in comparison to what I used to do, training hard to get back on that level and go even further! My highest volume weeks ever reached over 100km in training. That's 6 or 7 years ago.
PullUs, Pull Ups, I am shortening the names of most exercises for the small pages of my notebook and out of lazyness I type the same way haha

@Germanamazon I prefer a Genossenschaft to a Kameradschaft thanks though
Eh, that is linked with administrative stress of GESUNDHEITSGUTSCHEINBEANTRAGUNG as the first step of many and usually they don't even pay the full sum. If I have to fight bureaucracy, there are a few much more urgent things I have to do...
The point is to not eat enough! How else is this going to work? One kg of fat is around 7700 kcal, there is no way around. It it'd be nice to feel more at ease and have a clearer mind. A bunch of people I talked to reported fasting to have the effect of clearing up their mind, I'd love that! Or just love to hear from someone who made this change fast and managed to consolidate their success.

I'm fairly certain I get all the important nutrients and my diet is healthy, it is just a matter of portion size and if I wanted fullness I could add beans or lentils. Or chocolate doughnuts!!!! A lot of choc doughnuts or other chocolate filled pastries is what made up a significant part of my diet last year in an attempt to put on weight hahahaha. Now we reverse the direction

My race is in 13 weeks, I still carry around 2kg of water weight from creatine supplementation (I had an open bag and decided to use it to lift a little better) and will just use up the rest, then not buy it anymore, so that leaves 8 kg to go. Realistically the last 1 or 2 weeks before I will stop losing and even putting a little back on to be energized. If the math is right that means 800kcal deficit per day or to say, okay that is not possible and accept that I won't be in the desired form by then.

 

[Germanamazon]

@Tranquil_warrior thanks a lot! but right now I am running very little in comparison to what I used to do, training hard to get back on that level and go even further! My highest volume weeks ever reached over 100km in training. That's 6 or 7 years ago.
PullUs, Pull Ups, I am shortening the names of most exercises for the small pages of my notebook and out of lazyness I type the same way haha

@Germanamazon I prefer a Genossenschaft to a Kameradschaft thanks though
Eh, that is linked with administrative stress of GESUNDHEITSGUTSCHEINBEANTRAGUNG as the first step of many and usually they don't even pay the full sum. If I have to fight bureaucracy, there are a few much more urgent things I have to do...
The point is to not eat enough! How else is this going to work? One kg of fat is around 7700 kcal, there is no way around. It it'd be nice to feel more at ease and have a clearer mind. A bunch of people I talked to reported fasting to have the effect of clearing up their mind, I'd love that! Or just love to hear from someone who made this change fast and managed to consolidate their success.

I'm fairly certain I get all the important nutrients and my diet is healthy, it is just a matter of portion size and if I wanted fullness I could add beans or lentils. Or chocolate doughnuts!!!! A lot of choc doughnuts or other chocolate filled pastries is what made up a significant part of my diet last year in an attempt to put on weight hahahaha. Now we reverse the direction

My race is in 13 weeks, I still carry around 2kg of water weight from creatine supplementation (I had an open bag and decided to use it to lift a little better) and will just use up the rest, then not buy it anymore, so that leaves 8 kg to go. Realistically the last 1 or 2 weeks before I will stop losing and even putting a little back on to be energized. If the math is right that means 800kcal deficit per day or to say, okay that is not possible and accept that I won't be in the desired form by then.

Ahh yes, germans just love the paperwork. I agree that it is hard to get to see a dietitian on the official way.
No hate on chocolate donuts either. My downfall was always kraeppel.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

I understand that you're trying to lose weight for a very specific goal, but I have to say that the only healthy way to lose is in small amounts.
If you are eating so little that you are constantly hungry, your body will just start to adjust to getting less food.
Which will lead to weight gain if you ever go back to eating a normal amount of food.
I've been learning over the past few years that the science on weight gain and loss isn't actually nearly as clear as we've been told.
Scientists don't really know why some people gain or lose weight more quickly, or what the best way is do lose weight.
It's just clear that trying to lose weight quickly is most likely to lead to long-term weight gain :')

Also I used to spend time with someone on a very strict deficit for a bodybuilding competition, and she was so hangry all the time she was miserable company xD
So please be kind to your body

 

[Tranquil_warrior]

@Tranquil_warrior thanks a lot! but right now I am running very little in comparison to what I used to do, training hard to get back on that level and go even further! My highest volume weeks ever reached over 100km in training. That's 6 or 7 years ago.
PullUs, Pull Ups, I am shortening the names of most exercises for the small pages of my notebook and out of lazyness I type the same way haha

Woowwww that is so cool. Its so amazing you could run that far at any point in your life. I can't imagine doing that. But I hope I get to achieve the things I want in my life

 

[Flash_Fire]

@Germanamazon which is you favourite? Especially in November I ate alot of those from Lidl with nougat filling, supertasty!

@Maegaranthelas thank you for your concerns buuuuttttt, it's not like I'd be eating so very little, those are quite normal amounts of food I'd say. The main change is I stopped trying to bulk and eat healthier while increasing expenditure. I'll probably have to increase the intake a little while still losing as the deficit will only grow more with more sports. And it's not like I'm getting weak either, today I hit another squat PR! And lastly I stand by the principle of calories in vs calories out, it is scientific and true, you can't manifest energy or ...mass for that matter The issue is to account for all variables and changes that happen throughout the diet. I'm not measuring at all, but 800kcal a day is what I must've lost each day last week and what I strive for as long as I can still perform. If next weekend the scale says another kilo down I know I'm bang on target, if it's more or less I can adjust the easiest parameters to change: feed and activity.... in relation to how well I'm taking it also. Being adaptable is key. I guess I'm not concerned at all about how healthy or not, just the headspace and there is one or two big stressors which compound things...
Oh wow, you did compete? What is more hardcore? Low bodyfat% or drying yourself up? Looking to get down to between 8-10%. Now at 16,5%. I am lucky others don't have to suffer because of my mood, I'm just all over the place when alone, but stay friendly.


@Tranquil_warrior I hope so, but we need to be prepared to take failures and push on. If we achieved our dreams is less important than knowing we gave our best in my opinion.



For Training, Sunday was all over the place, didn't do mobilizations, but today I did them, went to bed for 20 minutes, then headed to the gym!

The updated mobilization routine:
Rotate Arms 10
Open Arms Vertical 20
Open Arms Horizontal 10
Twists 20
Front2Back leg swings 20/side
Side2Side leg swings 20/side
Split Alternating Foot Reaches 20
Figure 4 20sec/side
Calf Raises 10
in- to outside ankle tilt 10
Max ankle rotation (each direction) and hold for 10 sec
Kneeled Lean Back 10
Dynamic Deep Squat 30 sec
Dynamic Bow Pose 10
hollow/round back 10
4 direction wrist curls 5/direction
4 direction neck curls 5/direction


The Gym for today was.... wild
Front Squats
82,5*6
70*8
Deadlift
130*0
110*5
Clean & Jerk
30*2
40*2
50*2
55*8
Barbell compounds (basically cleaning the weight off the floor, then starting to overhead press)
40*1 clean+6 OHP
35*1 clean+6 OHP
empty barbell movements
2 minutes of cleans, front & back squat, overhead squat, stretching shoulders (barbell is 20kg)
Sled Pull AND Push
5 sets of 2*17meters*(53,75kg plate load+sled weight)
Pull Ups
7*regular
4*chin-up
Around the World
15*20
Hanging Side Knee Raises
8 reps

I started off strong with the front squats, I knew I had that 6th rep of 80kg so I supercheated progression and added unnoticable teeny tiny plates to add both weight and a rep.
I am uncertain what happened on the deadlifts, as the 130kg left the floor I was intuitively certain I shouldn't do it and sat them back down. Maybe it has to do because last time was a bit much and those were self-preservation signals, maybe because last week I added a second day of single leg romanian deadlifts AND added weight, maybe it was because I went all out on the heavy squats today? Too many variables.
Anyways I toyed with the barbell to learn the new main movement of the coming training. A few shin scrapes and hard catches later, I feel confidence coming. The clean and jerk is like a combination of Deadlifts, Front Squats and Overhead Presses, but the focus being more on explosiveness and technique. I'll probably do the other movements complementary and later in the workout.
The second big thing for the future heavy gym session is sled pushes and pulls. I do the pushes conventionally but for the pulls I put on a belt and chain it to the sled, then run backwards. Apparently that is super healthy for the knees, but I don't remember where that comes from and frankly I'm too tired to research it now.
The ending part went mooostly as expected but I forgot the Dips and was tooo cooked by the time it came to the hanging knee raises to perform well.
I need to invest in some good wide toebox gym shoes... once the money is there, so February. The C&J beat up my soles and since I have to use socks I was slipping a little during the sled pushes.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Oh I wasn't the one competing xD
My body has trouble enough staying alive as it is, no need to bother it with severely restricting my eating
but I was in a band with someone cutting for a competition and they were just tired and grumpy the whole time :')