Newuxtreme

Ketosis Log Entry 3 - Dead PR

2012-04-07T13:43:00.002-07:00

Hit a 324lbx3 Deadlift, with chalk, no straps so no bouncing. Dem bicepts coming in with some nice shape, I've honestly actually never seen my bi's ever form a ball kind of a shape, so I'm superbly excited that in the past 2-3 days or so I'm seeing a nice ball or at least a bare minimum peak kind of shape in my biceps. Triceps in good shape/definition as well. Had a few drinks this weekend, along with a spectacular night out in town with this cute new chick I met. Let's hope it doesn't wreak havoc in my cut, interested to see what the scale is going to say on Tuesday.
Did a hard and fast 20 minute cross trainer post W/O.
Got a funny comment/compliment today from a flight attendant who keeps flying in and out of my current town, perhaps he hasn't seen me in a week or 10 days or so, he said what the heck is up, you've dropped an insane amount. The funny comment was "Did you meet a girl? Cause the way you look mimics what a girl your age might find attractive." Put a smile on my face :)

Ketosis Log Entry 2 - (Single day update)

2012-04-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today was measuring day of Week 2 into Ketosis. Also had a shoulder and abs workout today.

Took the routine pictures and stats log. Weight on the scale didn't change much, maybe .25 kg at max, but the visible changes on the mirror are quite astonishing. Back 'feels' more ripped than it has been in a long long time, liking the chest definition quite a bit. Standing in front of the mirror without any pump or anything, abdominal wall was quite visible and peeking through...motivated a bit further to see the results at the end of 4 weeks and then 6 depending on how long we need to go.

Lifts are kind of stagnant, not much of an improvement, hit the same old PR 135 for 3 reps, and 3 was super slow, but lifted with a different technique, the CNS wasn't adapted to, so acceptable I guess. Increased lifts in other shoulder exercises though, hit a 405lb Rack Pull from the 2nd level for 1 rep, after that I believe I attempted a 385 and couldn't even get that lol. Fried I guess.

If at all the only thing I'm questioning, is the number on the scale, everytime I have cut before, I go for a 1kg/week rate of loss, this comes out to ~ 8-9kgs or so that I lose over 6 weeks including water and glycogen of the 1st week. I personally feel the aesthetics for me strike at ~77-78kg, I have never found reason enough to go below that up until now. Let's see how long it takes to reach there, or if we even have the need to reach there at all.

Hope everyone else is making good progress and improving performance as well!

Next post going to come up pretty soon, w.r.t Broscience or 'I've heard this stuff' vs Scientific Facts.

Ketosis Log Entry 1(Day 1 to Day 11)

2012-03-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

For all who do not know I've started my cutting phase. I had a really successful 'Bulk' phase you can call it, though it wasn't actually a true bulk, as there wasn't any 'new' progress. I succumbed to Typhoid last year and had lost a lot of strength and size. A LOT of strength and size. Will detail it from a previous post here once again.

So anyways bulked up to a heavy 83.5 or so Kgs(85.5-86 in the evenings). Learnt about a new diet that professional bodybuilders supposedly use, to get down from 23-25%BF to ~3-4%. This is my self experiment on trying it out for the first time and see it's efficiency for myself. I do take weekly pictures and measurements and log them, will share the log, but not the pictures as of right now, will update the log at the end with a before after shot, where you will obviously see the pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A6I8dP8fec&feature=player_embedded

At this point I have now made a complete recovery, and even surpassed comeback in both size and strength after Typhoid. Had lost about 8 kg's(was pretty lean when it hit) and became even skinnier, all lifts had gone to sh*t, I have rebuilt from a 55kg Bench, 55kg Squat and a 75kg Dead-lift at 74kg bw. Now lifts are 87.5kg Bench(might capture this lift day after), 103.75kg Squat and this 143.5kg Deadlift bw approx. 83 or 85kg(don't have a scale). All current PR's.
Size also came up in huge figures, listed in my log, but to mention the bodypart that everyone cares about, my arms came from ~12.75 now to 15 when last measured(over 2 weeks ago), and are now probably a bit bigger.

Next plan is to start cutting from the beginning of next week, and get down to my 8 pack while trying to maintain as much strength and size as possible over the next 6-8 weeks. This might be the first time I go on an elite bodybuilders pre competition diet, so I'm pretty excited!

As of the time of this post being written, I've been on the diet for 10-12 days can't remember which exactly, but even in such a short span of time I'm shockingly impressed with the results. You can check the same from the log below.

Post 1 -

Alright so I've started with the glycogen depletion, which should take me about 5-6 days. I've decided to go for 6 days of daily cardio added on to the normal lifting routine. Completed my first cardio run today. For not running properly in about 1 year or so I'm still in pretty decent cardio vascular condition. Anyways will only get better.

My previous lifting routine was not a split rather a total body workout but with little to no volume whatsoever and only a 5RM intensity.
My new routine is going to comprise of the following:-
Chest n Tris
Back n Bis
Shoulders n Abs
Legs

Post 2 -

Just finished Day 2 of Glycogen depletion and Day 1 of my new workout routine. I was expecting for my strength and bench to go down, but it actually increased... Let's hope it keeps going the same way... Looking forward to my whole chicken and my pre bed time Chocolate protein shake.

Post 3 -

Finished Day 3 of Glycogen depletion.

I know this is way too early to be seeing results or the lot, but one of the women in my Nutritions course just said that I was looking leaner than what I did when I first came into the class.
On top of that I see a bit more definition on the framework of my ab wall. I know that this is going to be only water and glycogen depletion, but either which way I am very excited to see the first week and then the second week results.

Back n Biceps day tomorrow.

Post 4 -

Sorry for not updating yesterday, but I had a long day, had to go for my CPR certification and take a general train and then walk a long way. On top of that didn't have anything besides my protein shakes, and only two of em up until like 8 hours or so into the day, so was tired as hell.

Got my cardio/glycogen depletion just doing the hospital work yesterday.

Will be leaving for shoulders and abs in 30 minutes.
Wow, all gyms closed due to some holiday... Couldn't get in the workout + cardio... Will do tomorrow. Diet on track 100% though, and surely will not stop till I reach my goal.

I feel a bit more lean/defined on my chest compared to the looks... Ab wall definition there and pretty good at the top 2 abs, excited to see results on Tuesday and beyond.

Part 5 -

Finished shoulder day, kind of forgot to hit the abs, so just did a few leg raises at the end of the day. Hit cardio hard, HIIT.

Part 6 -

Done my Cardio last night, went pretty high intensity on the HIIT. Hit 15 on the treadmill and even 14.5 and 13.5 I think.

Have my Leg workout today with my mentor, kind of nervous he's going to crap all over my form lol.

Part 7 -

Completed leg workout today, did some sitting/rested squats in the hole. I successfully did upto 205lb for a 1 rep. I failed on 215, but I already had SOOOO many sets in already, I might actually have hit a 225lb squat with a resting in the hole squat. Will have to check later on. I was enjoying the in the hole squatting since it meant I had FINALLY gone past parallel and had achieved ATG.
Something I have been trying to do for the past 4 years. I think with my squatting technique improving, I might be making quite some good progress in the coming years. My target is to go for a 405 1RM.
Also did 315x3 1 or 2 notches below standing height with the squat bar. Will keep improving on those to keep getting stronger and hit higher maxes.

Part 8 -

Got in my cardio for the night.
Went in SUPER HARD if I do say so myself. 15,16,14,14. Pretty good.

Part 9 -

Also should mention some visual results... In the past 2 days I have noticed my 6 pack just barely popping out and in when I flex it and exhale. It's super light though. Also, it could be just some tricks my minds playin on me but I think I can actually see a peak forming in my bicep. I have NEVER EVER had a bicep peak, I just started doing these peak exercises just for two weeks while on maintainance and now. Matter of fact I think I've hit them only 3-4 separate times and not more.

Not way too much at all, but quite a bit for just 9-10 days I feel. Haven't even started a thermogenic supplement yet, but will start one soon. Workout volume is probably going to increase since I'm going to be having physical classes as well. Very excited and satisfied with the diet for just 10 days, looking forward to the next 20!

Part 10 -

Completed a successful back workout with the Mentor today. Did a 316x3 with a dead stop as opposed to my otherwise touch and go routine on the deadlifts.
Had a challenging workout with the 90's for DB rows. Had an impressive pull up performance and the weight felt quite light surprisingly.
Most surprisingly though, my biceps are fucking fried. Like seriously, they're fucking gone! I couldn't even do one set of reverse curls on them. Mentor told me, that just means that the job is done. I personally feel I'll get in 2 sets of biceps exercises tomorrow, but other than that I'm quite happy with my performance.

Visually, from a distance and with my shirt up I got to see my 4 pack abs. Quite literally and without as much of a flex, a quite clear 4 pack. Of course I still have a LONG ways to go, but I'm quite happy with the way things are going and am looking forward to the 4 week mark and beyond.

This is the extended log up until now, from now on they logs will keep coming in small and daily or every alternate day or so.

Off-Topic Post on Blogging

2012-03-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

An OT post here. It's my first time blogging so please bear with whatever mistakes I make and please let me know about them if they are too distracting/bothersome. I have no clue on how to work about and around advertising etc so please bear with the ads if you might see too many of them. I can't change or switch positions because I can't see them! Despite logging out I still can't see them. If anyone has experience with blogging and such please let me know how to go about the same and whatever else is possible to make the blogging experience more enjoyable for myself and others.

Thanks

Fit = NO FRUITS! Lolwut?!

2012-03-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah I hate lolkatz too!

Following is a discussion I had with a few people, some asking whether or not Fruits are a good wholesome food and then some "what-if's" about Fruit.

But I feel its better to eat fruit bowl / assortment of fruits / banana/orange etc during evening instead of junk like maggie.

Surprisingly to most peeps, even Fruit is a restricted food if you want to lean down, and a miserly given/eaten food on a gain. Point is fruits are considered to give essential fibre and multivitamins and even some minerals. Well the truth is Fibres you are supposed to get in from your veggies, and if and when you do, fruit fibres are negligible compared to vegetable fibres. Then comes the vitamins and minerals. These are super trace amounts! Really, having one apple or banana or anything will not give you enough Calcium and Potassium that your body desires, rather just add in other extra unwanted calories. For the multivitamins and minerals and antioxidants we just take over the counter pills, which give you EXACTLY what you want from the fruits, and you can have it in the EXACT QUANTITY for your body. No calories.

Another big red sign with fruits is that fruits are high in Fructose. Fructose is one sugar, that is processed in the liver. To greatly simplify the situation: When too much fructose enters the liver, the liver can't process it all fast enough for the body to use as sugar. Instead, it starts making fats from the fructose and sending them off into the bloodstream as triglycerides. Also Fructose is a very significant cause for high Uric acid levels. Fructose is also available in quite a few ketchup type sauces, so please be careful the next time you are going to go purchase some in the store!

http://goutcuresnow.com/uric-acid/impact-fructose-uric-acid-levels/

Fruits gonna F**K U UP!

@newuxtreme
You're technically correct about fruits and it is true that for people planning to lean down, fruits are kinda discouraged. But I'm totally against that philosophy. I'd rather eat all the fruits I want and do something extra. For eg, a couple of more sets in each workout I do in a day or a couple of extra kilometers in my jog. That's the kind of suggestion I'd expect you to be giving. I hope you weren't suggesting people planning to lean down to cut down on fruits. And pills to replace nutrients obtained from fruits? Very inspiring :|

I totally get where you're coming from, and I can under your shock/hesitation for the same, specially since I recommend taking pills/tablets or powders, considered 'artificial/synthetic' substances over 'natural'. Our psyche is partial to natural substances.

Let me just try to explain again and underline WHY I say what I say. Before anything else however I would like to clearly announce I do not have any hand in the supplement market of any type. No endorsements, no advertising one over another , I don't get a better deal if I push one supp over another or anything. I do not let my understanding & education of nutrition sciences get corrupted by supp company politics and money.

Taking a simple example. You are hungry. You try to abide by a fit/healthy lifestyle. One option is having a Domino's Pizza. The other is a home cooked meal with veggies, good source of lean meat and some good carbs(roti/chapati). Which one would you choose?

The healthier option.

Let me try to explain with the help of the generic protein example. 1 Egg contains 7gms of the highest class pf proteins ever (BV 100) & ~7gm of EXCELLENT fat. 1 cup of Dal contains 7gms also but of a very low class (BV 35), but contains 20+gms of protein & I don't even know how much fat and whether or not it is good.

Of the above two which one would you choose as a source of your protein and when you need MAJORTIY protein compared to anything else? I eat 10 whole eggs everyday as a minimum, to give 70 gm highest class of proteins and fats (which do not make me fat) vs I can't eat 10 cups of dal in a day to give me 70gms of bad protein, and 200gms of carbs!!! (Carbs make you fat vs dietary fat making you fat I hope I mentioned that earlier.) Calorie count over the roof, calories supplied by bad source of food, and worst source of protein!

I'll explain this again and try to go in a bit more of detail this time, please read and understand this, if you do so you can get exactly what I meant and why I said what I said.

Carbs are of two types, slow and fast digesting. The slow digesting are the one's we always want and the fast the one's we try and avoid. Slow = Low GI, Fast = High GI. All carbs are in nutrition terms labeled as dietary sugars, NOT to be confused with your table sugar.

Glucose is the highest and fastest dissolving carb/sugar, with a rating of 100, it's the comparing standard, much like Egg is for protein.

All carbs are converted into glucose(blood sugars) and the higher the GI the more the amount of sugar released into the blood stream at a time. If the amount of sugar in the blood stream is high, the Insulin hormone is spiked in our body. Insulin has the function of controlling blood sugar and blood glucose levels. That's it's job. It doesn't matter whether it puts it into muscle/liver glycogen stores(which is what you want, also these are small reservoirs or stores) or used up as current energy in the cells, or store it as a source of energy for later use in Fat cells(large reservoir/store).

Insulin sees high blood sugar activity, it panics, and it starts picking up the sugars from the blood stream and start storing them in your fat cells or adipose tissue, which is what you see as fat from the outside. It doesn't matter whether this spike was for 30 seconds or 3 minutes, the point is Insulin goes into survival mode for your body and starts working extra fast to do the same.

You eat roti or chapati or brown rice though... The carbs are low GI, and slow releasing.... Now the carbs that are being converted into blood sugar are giving a slow and steady stream of glucose. No spike. Insulin activity is controlled since it's not a fight for survival now. It will conveniently direct the sugars into your current energy using cells and then to your Muscle and Liver Glycogen and THEN to you fat cells. But it goes every where it SHOULD first, and then proceeds to get into the Fat cells only if there is an excess of sugars left.

BOO!

Now coming to the point of working out more and eating more fruits vs not working out and eating less fruits.

Forget fruits. Let's take it as chicken or egg or fish. If you have enough for your survival and your work, none will go for storage as fat. It doesn't depend whether it's a protein or a carb or a fat. Excess food WILL get converted into fat on the body.

I'd rather eat all the fruits I want and do something extra. For eg, a couple of more sets in each workout I do in a day or a couple of extra kilometers in my jog.

The point is not about working out more or less. What you mentioned in terms of your explanation, wasn't totally correct since you are ONLY thinking in terms of calories.You are not thinking in terms of what happens when you put in different foods, and how different food types behave in the body. Whether you work out or not, will not change the fact how high GI sugars are going to be stored in your body.

I hope you now understood the point I was trying to put across, and I don't seem like a supplement wh0re. It's all about what foods your body needs and which is the most efficient form of giving it.

****************************************************

Also things are different in different parts of the world. If anyone of use has/have ever been to the US/UK/Canada/Australia or other industrialized parts of the world, where groceries and marketing have been established and refined time and again, you would notice the following things:-

You have probably never seen 90% of the foods that you see over there, here in India.
You were probably shocked the first time you went into a grocery 'shop' which turned out to be bigger than some of our Indian malls.
You were probably shocked at the insane varieties that one can possible create of just one product! Seriously Peanut butter has like over 100-120 varieties. I haven't seen or heard of more than 2-3 here in India. They have at least 30-50 different providers of Bread and different combination of foods in each type of bread. Not more than 4-5 in India.
There is a whole section for meats!!! Those are bigger than most houses! The amount of meats, red meats , lean meats, varieties of beef, steak, fish, pre cooked, semi cooked, raw, organic, inorganic, chemically fed/chemical, free, pre cut, pre grilled, pre flavoured etc etc etc! In India we have to go to a butcher shop in order to get meat, or in some backstorage or freezer, since having meat in the grocery shops put most Indian religious people off.
I have yet to see Eggnog or egg whites or any form of liquidized eggs being sold in India. whereas the varieties outside are limitless!
We have low fat/virgin olive oil etc etc type of oils in our food trying to make cooking easier and better, outside they have cooking spray. 0 cals, no cholestrol, and non stick as well.

I can go on and on!

People in such places do not NEED supplements the way our Indian society does, since they never have a deficiency in proteins and the like. Every single meal outside is made around a lean source of protein and veggies. We cannot compare ourselves to people living in different countries.

First Post!!! – Proteins w.r.t. Fitness & Activity (Pt. I) w VIDEO!

2012-03-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I’ve explained and gone through this a number of times, posting and replying to different questions and queries that I receive over emails, message boards and just in daily life from clients or even fitness enthusiasts. Having had to repeat the same answer(along with a few specifications and individualization) time and again, I considered creating a blog, wherein I can create a list of such topics, that I can refer back to not only for my own self and revision, but also refer to other people who are undoubtedly going to ask me the same again. I want to maximize the output and spread potential while being able to save as much time as possible, both my own and the inquisitive, and so think it a good idea to keep a resource, which will never be wiped away, and can be accessed at any time and place, for the ease of the viewer/reader.
Well let’s get to the topic at hand, viz. Proteins!!!

First and foremost is my very first video on the discussion of what proteins are, how are they useful, the difference and importance of protein in a diet compared to carbs or fats, what are supplements, what are protein supplements, and so on… Whatever has been missed, or even considered very important, will be highlighted and mentioned in the blog post. So after checking out the video, it would be a good idea to check on the post to see any updates or additions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8EJFjueAIM

Stuff I forgot to mention in the video, which is otherwise very important, but something that any enthusiast knows/reads up on as the very first thing when he/she begins his own research and reading:-
You NEED 1gm/lb or 2.2gms/kg of bodyweight of FIRST CLASS proteins, every day if you are into any form of physical activity(which I assume is the majority of you, otherwise why would you be bothering on reading up a topic on proteins w.r.t fitness and activity! ).

Other topics which I didn’t want to elongate in the video, but have previously answered a question about PDCAAS and Biological Value.

Alright so I found out the deal behind the ‘gold standard’ that is PDCAAS. The BV had been in existence since a long time and rated proteins on the basis of their usefulness in diet, specifically in the sense of how fast something was absorbed and how much of the EAAs it could provide for the body. Just like glucose is the comparing standard for all sugars(when we compare carbs in the GI index, we compare it with glucose which has max value of 100), similarly BV ratings put Eggs as the highest standard and gave it the top value of 100. All other proteins were compared w.r.t Egg. Then Whey came into the picture. But whey was not only faster absorbing, but depending on the combination, provided even more EAAs. Hence they rated Whey off the scale at a level of 104. All veg proteins were second graded and not even comparable to the First class sources, specially amongst the heaviest users(athletes). This upset the Soy lobby. The Soy lobby brought in a new standard of comparison which favoured them graciously. In PDCAAS both Eggs and Soy are labeled at 1.0 peak value. That’s like comparing an Ambassador to a Formula F1 car, with the speedometer limit fixed to 60kmph. Since both can reach the speed limit, they both are considered equal.
“This is in sharp contrast to the original & most effective protein rating system which is Biological value (Bio-availability) which gives a score of 100 to Eggs & 69 to Soy & 104 to Whey.
The whole concept of 1st class protein started from the Biological value of foods…The PDCAAS was not even needed as an alternative rating system. Since the Soy lobby could not prove equality with Egg or whey or the animal meats…it came out with its own convoluted system.”
Besides all the political protein wars, the most significant fact is that Soy is deficient in Methionine.
http://www.wisegeek….-methionine.htm

Sorry for a super long first post, I just wanted to do justice to it. Even with this length and so much of information the chapter and topic of Proteins isn’t completely covered. However further, finer details really aren’t of AS much importance to the average gym goer, rather only to the extreme athlete at a competitive level. If you want further details and discussions please do start on in the comments section and I will more than willingly participate and maybe even create another video on the same…

Please show some love for a first post and video! (As you can see I’m a complete n00b at blogging… Haven’t even been able to figure out a right template and bordering! :p )

newuxtreme