7 Weeks in and I can already declare that the course has exceeded my expectations. Not only has my knowledge base increased in nutrition, an area I thought I was already quite knowledgeable in, but I’ve been able to make actual changes to my diet to improve my health and physique results. There’s plenty of in depth analysis of the subject matter, but also practical take aways you can put into practice immediately. The ketogenic diet section was a well thought out and concise description of not only how the diet works, but who may benefit from it and who it’s probably not well suited for, how to actually monitor your level of ketosis and as with all the nutritional modules, how to focus on real food to ensure optimal health. I spent the better part of 3 years on a low carb diet, thinking it was a keto diet, but I was likely rarely in ketosis due to my excessive protein intake. It almost makes me want to try it again to see how I feel, but I’ll likely save it for when I’m dieting to lose body fat and the calories are getting low, because appetite suppression is one of the key benefits of the keto diet.
When I signed up, I was most interested in the program design aspects of the course as it’s where I most often collide with the ceiling of my know how, but what I’ve learned about energy balance, the macro nutrients and how to set up a healthy diet for one’s goals is very impressive.
I certainly undervalue some aspects of lifestyle and how they impact not only results of training, but general health and I’ve tweaked some habits there as well. A lot of small things will add up to real results. It reminds me of one of my favorite Warren Buffett quotes: “it isn’t necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.”
I’m still in a bulking phase and see no reason to change course other than that I enjoy being leaner. I have a few pics at 169.7 lbs saved and I was pretty damn lean, but undersized. I’m at 178.8 now, so 9 lbs heavier over the last 7 months. The plan is to continue a “lean bulk” until my body fat reaches a level where a cut would be in order. I’m currently eating the most daily calories that I’ve eaten since I began tracking years ago.
I haven’t studied hard enough to fully grasp how to do the statistical analysis of various studies, and while I feel a bit lazy for skimming that and some other sections I’m not wholly interested in, the reality is that I’m doing this for myself, not with the intention of ever coaching or training anyone else. I find people are, for the most part non-compliant, and I’m not going to spend time setting someone up with detailed diet and training only to have to argue about my suggestions or have them just not do it. If I was getting paid to do it that would likely alleviate some of the frustration, but not all. So I’m focusing on the aspects that will help me, and glossing over some of the more esoteric topics suitable really only for someone who wants to be an expert in the field.
My training remains focused on hypertrophy and I regularly set rep PRs in all my lifts and add to the load as often as possible while staying in what is for me, a pretty high rep range. As an example, I didn’t get less than 10 reps in any set of any exercise I did today in a full body workout. It’s a far cry from the powerlifting training I’d been doing.
My left elbow is starting to heal finally, but I will continue avoiding pulling motions like rows and chins until I am completely pain fee. It was about as bad of an injury as any I’ve had from lifting and I have no desire to feel it again.
Meanwhile, I’m having a colonoscopy Monday morning, which I’m dreading almost as much as colon cancer, so I will not only be not training the next two days, I’ll be doing a 24-hour fast! Fuck me.
Joe's Blog 