back to training - loaded carries

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, tropo said:

I bought some Himalayan Pink (rock) salt at Foodland for about the same price I got it on eBay the time before. I bought Celtic Sea Salt and Redmond Real Salt from iHerb. 

 

Regarding your time without drinking. Irrespective of the time you go to bed if you stop drinking at 5 pm, even if you get up at 5 am, you haven't had any fluids for 12 hours. I'm guessing you don't get up that early, so even longer than 12 hours. Water is extremely important and even more important in a hard-working athlete like yourself. You train twice per day. You need that water to carry waste products away from and nutrients to your muscle for repair. To add to that, you're living in a climate where the temperature is mostly above 30C with high humidity. You need a lot of water and you don't get enough over 10 hours per day of drinking.

 

I disagree that getting up once or twice to urinate is a problem. It's normal. I've woken up to pee at least twice a night my whole life. Only on rare occasions, it's once. When I'm training really hard and drinking a lot I can wake up 3 - 4 times to pee. Your problem is not waking up to pee, but getting back to sleep again. You're so stressed about not getting back to sleep again you can't. The anxiety keeps you awake. I'd be working on that, not dehydrating your body so you don't have to wake up. You're so convinced it's a problem, you're making it a problem. 

 

It becomes a problem if the prostate is enlarged and you cannot pass a full bladder load, which will require more effort and more frequent urination. That's when people start sleeping with catheters.

I am less stressed about sleeping and taking water later protein too, so its no longer that much of an issue. That said does not  mean I drink as much at night as during the day. 

[tropo]

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

I am less stressed about sleeping and taking water later protein too, so its no longer that much of an issue. That said does not  mean I drink as much at night as during the day. 

You mentioned you don't drink after 5 pm. Do you mean you now drink closer to bed and accept waking up? I know you didn't like the idea, but a bottle next to the bed is a fantastic solution. No walking - no turning on lights - no aiming and flushing. Just stand up and lay back down when the job is done... no problem in the dark. I discovered this when I started using one in PI where the toilet was miles away and upstairs. Maybe you're embarrassed to do this in front of your new girl. I get that. I wouldn't be doing this in front of a date.

[tropo]

5 hours ago, robblok said:

But Rob does pop caffeine tablets 400 mg in the morning. But right now waking up is not a major problem anymore. Its getting less not sure what the issue is. I got tablets for the prostate problems but not sure they are needed. I will be monitoring the changes that are happening because I changed diet and am taking my thyroid medicine again (also has influence). Will see.

 

I still have some of those Rob. I keep them for special occasions. I'm scared to use them regularly though as my workouts may start to depend on them. I wonder how 400 mg compares to a normal cup of coffee. I must say I don't get much out of coffee anymore - I'm drinking it more for pleasure than effect. What happens if you don't take them?

[robblok]

Just now, tropo said:

You mentioned you don't drink after 5 pm. Do you mean you now drink closer to bed and accept waking up? I know you didn't like the idea, but a bottle next to the bed is a fantastic solution. No walking - no turning on lights - no aiming and flushing. Just stand up and lay back down when the job is done... no problem in the dark. I discovered this when I started using one in PI where the toilet was miles away and upstairs. Maybe you're embarrassed to do this in front of your new girl. I get that. I wouldn't be doing this in front of a date.

I mentioned it before but as my sleeping got better got less worried about drinking later I even take a cassein shake just before going to bed. I have to wake up once anyway at least so I don't care to much anymore. I am placing too much stress on my body now with all that exercising to not have some drink and protein at night. 

 

My idea's about sleeping are changing a bit, i fall asleep quite fast anyway there were other factors at play that made me tired during the day. I am trying (with some success) to combat those things. I think once a night waking up is not a big deal. My problem was lack of energy and that had to do for a big part with my thyroid. I stopped taking medicine for it long ago as it kept me awake, now at a lower dose and t3 instead of t4 things work better. I even think the salt is helping a bit, i used to pee a lot everything that went int went out as i had almost no salt in my body. 

 

I ate too clean, just did not use salt or many products that had salt in it. I really noticed it that day that i had to lie down after loaded caries. Now thinking back about it i remember many times i have had cramps (i thought normal) during ab exercises at the end of sessions. Seems i was always quite low in salt but at that time my diet was still a bit more "dirty". But now with the salt and the fish things are better, more clear brain too. 

[tropo]

6 hours ago, GarryP said:

Off topic but here goes. As we age we tend to get up more often in the night to pee as a result of prostate issues. I have found that water has never been the problem and like you i keep a bottle of water by my bed. I found that as soon as I reduced my caffeine intake, the problem of night time bathroom visits was resolved. Once a night is fine by me. Luckily, I never have a problem falling back to sleep. 

 

Rob doesn't drink coffee, though so this would not help him unless he is drinking other caffeine loaded beverages.  

I mostly go twice, but I drink quite a bit close to sleeping. It's usually about 500 ml. I also keep water next to the bed and take a big swig when I wake up. I also tend to drink coffee throughout the evening. The wakeups don't usually affect my sleep, but on some occasions if I have a lot on my mind, I start thinking, and then not be able to get back to sleep. On most occasions, I can get back to the same dream LOL.

[robblok]

4 minutes ago, tropo said:

I still have some of those Rob. I keep them for special occasions. I'm scared to use them regularly though as my workouts may start to depend on them. I wonder how 400 mg compares to a normal cup of coffee. I must say I don't get much out of coffee anymore - I'm drinking it more for pleasure than effect. What happens if you don't take them?

If i don't take them I am just a bit more tired, I actually used to take more caffeine but cut back on it.  Just did not want to be too dependent on it. But its said that coffee can have as much as 70-140 mg of caffeine per shot. Now I could cut down even more on the caffeine but I don't use it anymore before workouts and stuff like that. Its just the 2 tabs in the morning and that is it.  

[tropo]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

I mentioned it before but as my sleeping got better got less worried about drinking later I even take a cassein shake just before going to bed. I have to wake up once anyway at least so I don't care to much anymore. I am placing too much stress on my body now with all that exercising to not have some drink and protein at night. 

 

My idea's about sleeping are changing a bit, i fall asleep quite fast anyway there were other factors at play that made me tired during the day. I am trying (with some success) to combat those things. I think once a night waking up is not a big deal. My problem was lack of energy and that had to do for a big part with my thyroid. I stopped taking medicine for it long ago as it kept me awake, now at a lower dose and t3 instead of t4 things work better. I even think the salt is helping a bit, i used to pee a lot everything that went int went out as i had almost no salt in my body. 

 

I ate too clean, just did not use salt or many products that had salt in it. I really noticed it that day that i had to lie down after loaded caries. Now thinking back about it i remember many times i have had cramps (i thought normal) during ab exercises at the end of sessions. Seems i was always quite low in salt but at that time my diet was still a bit more "dirty". But now with the salt and the fish things are better, more clear brain too. 

You're probably taking it, considering your thyroid issues, but I thought I should mention that without iodised table salt an iodine supplement could be necessary unless you're getting enough from a good food source. Most multi supplements don't have enough. Even iodine supplements are probably too low for optimum health. Iodine is the only way to leach out excess bromine and fluorine from our bodies as they compete for iodine receptor sites.

[robblok]

19 minutes ago, tropo said:

You're probably taking it, considering your thyroid issues, but I thought I should mention that without iodised table salt an iodine supplement could be necessary unless you're getting enough from a good food source. Most multi supplements don't have enough. Even iodine supplements are probably too low for optimum health. Iodine is the only way to leach out excess bromine and fluorine from our bodies as they compete for iodine receptor sites.

I have taken iodine supplements but the funny things was it never influenced my thyroid (and I have done quite a few tests). My thyroid was always at the lowest of normal or below. I had a  big box of iodine supplements next to me and dutifully took them. I might need to take it again. I now actually take quite a few supplements some probably useless.

- Potassium / magnesium / calcium (dont think useless as i sweat like crazy during my exercise)

- Green tea extract (not for weight loss but for other benefits)

- Ginko balboa supposed to get your cortisol down after a workout just a trial batch not sure if it works and probably no way of finding out if it works. 

- Hawthorn (blood pressure and other stuff as HRT could give higher blood pressure and seen it high at times)

- 5htp (for sleep its what makes melatonin also no idea if its working or not but sleep is improving)

- Turmeric (supposed to be good for inflamation not sure if it works or not just a trial batch)

- Vitamin D (after listening to Stan Eferding on sleep also something i just recently took and have no idea if its helping

 

Some of the stuff i might quit with as I am not sure if it works or not but for sleep im trying new things and as sleep is getting better it might work or be the placebo effect. 

 

I got 2 of those pill housings one for evening and one for morning so its not that hard popping the stuff. 

 

Normally I never take that many supplements but i really do need to keep my minerals up because of the sweating. Some of the other stuff I might drop but its all relatively inexpensive.

Edited May 30, 2018 by robblok

[tropo]

2 hours ago, robblok said:

I have taken iodine supplements but the funny things was it never influenced my thyroid (and I have done quite a few tests). My thyroid was always at the lowest of normal or below. I had a  big box of iodine supplements next to me and dutifully took them. I might need to take it again. I now actually take quite a few supplements some probably useless.

- Potassium / magnesium / calcium (dont think useless as i sweat like crazy during my exercise)

- Green tea extract (not for weight loss but for other benefits)

- Ginko balboa supposed to get your cortisol down after a workout just a trial batch not sure if it works and probably no way of finding out if it works. 

- Hawthorn (blood pressure and other stuff as HRT could give higher blood pressure and seen it high at times)

- 5htp (for sleep its what makes melatonin also no idea if its working or not but sleep is improving)

- Turmeric (supposed to be good for inflamation not sure if it works or not just a trial batch)

- Vitamin D (after listening to Stan Eferding on sleep also something i just recently took and have no idea if its helping

 

Some of the stuff i might quit with as I am not sure if it works or not but for sleep im trying new things and as sleep is getting better it might work or be the placebo effect. 

 

I got 2 of those pill housings one for evening and one for morning so its not that hard popping the stuff. 

 

Normally I never take that many supplements but i really do need to keep my minerals up because of the sweating. Some of the other stuff I might drop but its all relatively inexpensive.

I wouldn't stop taking vitamin D. Hardly anyone gets enough Vitamin D from the sun, and if you were, you'd be damaging your skin. If you get tanned it takes even more time in the sun to get sufficient Vitamin D. I take 10,000 IU per day, but I spend no time in the sun. I based my dose on what people who spend a lot of time in the sun get daily - people who have the highest plasma Vitamin D. That's somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 IU. 

 

There's a lot more to taking iodine than just thyroid support. I don't have a thyroid problem, but take a lot of it. Most supplements have mcg quantities, no more than 1000 mcg (1 mg) per tablet. I take it in mg quantities, up to about 30 mg per day.

 

Have you tried taking about 200 mg of magnesium (elemental) before bed? I noticed I big improvement in the quality of my sleep after doing that. I started sleeping 7 - 8 hours, which was unusual for me. I dose magnesium after workouts AND before bed.

Edited May 30, 2018 by tropo

[robblok]

14 hours ago, tropo said:

I wouldn't stop taking vitamin D. Hardly anyone gets enough Vitamin D from the sun, and if you were, you'd be damaging your skin. If you get tanned it takes even more time in the sun to get sufficient Vitamin D. I take 10,000 IU per day, but I spend no time in the sun. I based my dose on what people who spend a lot of time in the sun get daily - people who have the highest plasma Vitamin D. That's somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 IU. 

 

There's a lot more to taking iodine than just thyroid support. I don't have a thyroid problem, but take a lot of it. Most supplements have mcg quantities, no more than 1000 mcg (1 mg) per tablet. I take it in mg quantities, up to about 30 mg per day.

 

Have you tried taking about 200 mg of magnesium (elemental) before bed? I noticed I big improvement in the quality of my sleep after doing that. I started sleeping 7 - 8 hours, which was unusual for me. I dose magnesium after workouts AND before bed.

I got enough vit D so I wont be stopping it any time soon. I was taking 8,000 IU and i do get some sun every morning when i do my walks. 

 

I might go back to iodine  my idone tablets were  150mcg .. that is indeed not high if it takes 30 mg per day. (took 3 tabs)  I take my magnesium in the morning but I can switch to night that is not a problem. 

[robblok]

Today i walked for the first time with 10% extra weight. Still nog much just 22 kg each hand but I could feel the difference. Last time I did 7 rounds now I did 5 1/2 round. The 5 1/2 was my normal ending point. I am sure I could have done 6 but i still felt the difference. But its nice to be able to go up a bit.  

 

I like it as an exercise in the morning it takes a little bit of setting up all the sweatbands, music and walking my dog before i go (otherwise he will keep scratching the fence and watching me as i pass the house each round). Once I am walking its all good, i really think salt is making a difference for me. 

[transam]

Good watch for old guys (me)........

 

 

[robblok]

@ trans

 

Yea they are still at it and I am pretty sure Stalone does a far better pull up then I do. I never managed to do weighted pull ups. I am happy if my non weighted pull ups go well (form wise). I am getting stronger at them but they are my weak point. 

 

Its just a matter of keeping in shape maintenance is easier then building. But these guys do have good genetics and I (think) they are on HRT too. Nothing wrong with that as I am too and it helps. 

 

Getting old is no fun but it beats the alternative.

[tropo]

7 hours ago, robblok said:

I got enough vit D so I wont be stopping it any time soon. I was taking 8,000 IU and i do get some sun every morning when i do my walks. 

 

I might go back to iodine  my idone tablets were  150mcg .. that is indeed not high if it takes 30 mg per day. (took 3 tabs)  I take my magnesium in the morning but I can switch to night that is not a problem. 

150 mcg is minute quantity - so small it's hardly even worth mentioning. I have 1000 mcg tablets from iHerb, which I consider extremely low. I just pop them when I forget my Lugol's drops. The amount of iodine you need to avoid goiter is extremely low. Just breathing salt air near the ocean is enough. They started putting iodine into table salt after they discovered that people living in the Great Lakes area, far from the ocean were getting goiter, whereas people living on the coast were not. There's a lot more to iodine that just trying to avoid goiter. I just make my own Lugol's 5% solution from raw materials I bought on eBay. About 500 baht set me up with enough iodine to last many years. This is convenient for coffee drinkers as you can't taste a couple of drops in a cup of coffee. I add it to my protein shakes. Iodine tablets will always be too low IMO because that is regulated by the FDA and other agencies. This is another example of how people are being f***** by regulatory bodies. I don't even know if you can buy straight vitamin D or iodine in Thailand.

[tropo]

3 hours ago, robblok said:

@ trans

 

Yea they are still at it and I am pretty sure Stalone does a far better pull up then I do. I never managed to do weighted pull ups. I am happy if my non weighted pull ups go well (form wise). I am getting stronger at them but they are my weak point. 

 

Its just a matter of keeping in shape maintenance is easier then building. But these guys do have good genetics and I (think) they are on HRT too. Nothing wrong with that as I am too and it helps. 

 

Getting old is no fun but it beats the alternative.

If you want to improve on pullups you have to add weight, there's no other way to get your unweighted reps higher. I've always used weight on pull-ups... I should have said always used to. I no longer have a place to do pull-ups, but I'm too heavy for them to be safe so I decided not to bother with getting a bar set up for them and stick with pulldowns. There's no point doing an exercise where my starting weight is over 100kg. It's an ego thing when you're young, but it's time to be sensible and THINK about what I'm doing rather than letting the ego lead the way.

 

 

[robblok]

1 minute ago, tropo said:

150 mcg is minute quantity - so small it's hardly even worth mentioning. I have 1000 mcg tablets from iHerb, which I consider extremely low. I just pop them when I forget my Lugol's drops. The amount of iodine you need to avoid goiter is extremely low. Just breathing salt air near the ocean is enough. They started putting iodine into table salt after they discovered that people living in the Great Lakes area, far from the ocean were getting goiter, whereas people living on the coast were not. There's a lot more to iodine that just trying to avoid goiter. I just make my own Lugol's 5% solution from raw materials I bought on eBay. About 500 baht set me up with enough iodine to last many years. This is convenient for coffee drinkers as you can't taste a couple of drops in a cup of coffee. I add it to my protein shakes. Iodine tablets will always be too low IMO because that is regulated by the FDA and other agencies. This is another example of how people are being f***** by regulatory bodies. I don't even know if you can buy straight vitamin D or iodine in Thailand.

I will get more information from you on how to make your own Lugol's drops. I put my sea salt in my protein (taste like crap but so be it), or put it in my kefir (that is a bit better then in my protein but as i take 3x a day some salt (bit more then tea spoon) i have no choice as to add it to protein too.

 

I do notice now that i got a bit more stamina (not strength), and I don't cramp up with abs or last reps. I always considered a bit of cramping (not extreme though with abs it could get extreme) was normal. So i guess its not i sorta got used to it. 

 

I buy my vitamin D in the UK (ebay with low shipping costs). 

 

Just an other question.. do any of you guys need to recover after a training session.. i mean like 15-20 mins to get your breath back and brain fog gone ?. I train quite intense with timed breaks if i make my breaks longer of course then I don't need to recover that long. Normal breaks 60-90 secs up to 2 min if deadlift or bench or pull ups others mostly between 60-90 seconds. Not training till failure but maybe close to it. Bench I am always close to failure often the last set no reps left or just 1 or 2. Other exercises close too but never as close as bench as i know my limits there best.  I have of course also sessions that are not that intense can't have each and every session at the same intensity. Tomorrow for instance will be legs and triceps (legs will be intense but triceps will be hard but not really needing to catch breath after that)

[robblok]

1 minute ago, tropo said:

If you want to improve on pullups you have to add weight, there's no other way to get your unweighted reps higher. I've always used weight on pull-ups... I should have said always used to. I no longer have a place to do pull-ups, but I'm too heavy for them to be safe so I decided not to bother with getting a bar set up for them and stick with pulldowns. There's no point doing an exercise where my starting weight is over 100kg. It's an ego thing when you're young, but it's time to be sensible and THINK about what I'm doing rather than letting the ego lead the way.

 

 

I have read about some other techniques like ladders and such (not real ladders but a certain rep scheme). Right now I am not thinking too much about improving strength.. i am on a caloric deficit i feel I am already pushing myself real hard maybe too hard at times I don't expect gain in strength.  (not on exercises that I have been doing a long time). Loaded carries is different because i started that only a few months ago then there is still some stretch. 

 

After next month whatever happens I end my caloric deficit and will be slowly adding calories as not to gain weight too fast, I will be trying a bit of reverse dieting. I either get where I want to get with my diet at the end of next month or take a 2 month break (and make sure I don't gain much or at all) and go on again. I think its counter productive to be on a caloric deficit too long. 

 

I have until november to be in the shape i want to be in (brother is coming over so extra motivation to be looking my best revenge for early childhood)

[tropo]

19 minutes ago, robblok said:

I will get more information from you on how to make your own Lugol's drops. I put my sea salt in my protein (taste like crap but so be it), or put it in my kefir (that is a bit better then in my protein but as i take 3x a day some salt (bit more then tea spoon) i have no choice as to add it to protein too.

 

I do notice now that i got a bit more stamina (not strength), and I don't cramp up with abs or last reps. I always considered a bit of cramping (not extreme though with abs it could get extreme) was normal. So i guess its not i sorta got used to it. 

 

I buy my vitamin D in the UK (ebay with low shipping costs). 

 

Just an other question.. do any of you guys need to recover after a training session.. i mean like 15-20 mins to get your breath back and brain fog gone ?. I train quite intense with timed breaks if i make my breaks longer of course then I don't need to recover that long. Normal breaks 60-90 secs up to 2 min if deadlift or bench or pull ups others mostly between 60-90 seconds. Not training till failure but maybe close to it. Bench I am always close to failure often the last set no reps left or just 1 or 2. Other exercises close too but never as close as bench as i know my limits there best.  I have of course also sessions that are not that intense can't have each and every session at the same intensity. Tomorrow for instance will be legs and triceps (legs will be intense but triceps will be hard but not really needing to catch breath after that)

Don't spoil your other drinks with salt solution. Put that in a little water and swig it down, followed by clean water... then enjoy your protein drink. I put a half tablespoon of sole solution into my protein drink, but with a banana and blueberries, I can hardly taste it.

 

I have never suffered from cramps in my whole life, other than maybe in the quads a few times when I came back after a long layoff, so I most definitely would find cramps highly irregular in conditioned muscles.

 

I don't take rests, other than the time it takes to set an exercise up or adjust weights. I also superset exercises for opposing muscle groups. Straight after a chest exercise, I'm doing a back exercise. Straight after a shoulder exercise, I'm doing a back exercise. Straight after a set of squats, I'm doing an ab exercise. A bicep exercise would be followed by tricep exercise. I've done this for decades. If my heart is racing, I will do a quick stretch until it gets below 130 bpm. I never, ever sit around and wait for a rest period. May I recommend you do your workouts with a HRM so you can see how high your heart rate goes. Bench presses don't raise the heart rate by much. Pullups, standing presses and squats will. Floor ab exercises don't... even when they are screaming out for mercy.

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, hyku1147 said:

Are you including deload and/or active rest?

Not a real planned one, but there are weeks after weeks of hard work that i just train less but I have been hitting it hard now since 25 march with those loaded carries added (so that means 3 to 4 times a week 2 training sessions a day). Plus that I am on a caloric deficit. That is kinda why i said that after next month i stop with the caloric deficit because i am a bit worried about over training. I have been real fanatic and hard training the last couple of months so it might be time for a bit of rest. Its something that has been playing in the back of my head. So far i havent seen weights go down but im certainly losing a bit of power on my bench.

 

That is actually the one I notice most because I am so attuned to it not because I think its an important exercise. My last set usually varies between 4-8 reps depending on the day... today i only managed 4. 

[tropo]

26 minutes ago, robblok said:

I have read about some other techniques like ladders and such (not real ladders but a certain rep scheme).  

 

Just strap on the weights, adding a little every week. Your own bodyweight will start feeling light.

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, tropo said:

Don't spoil your other drinks with salt solution. Put that in a little water and swig it down, followed by clean water... then enjoy your protein drink. I put a half tablespoon of sole solution into my protein drink, but with a banana and blueberries, I can hardly taste it.

  

I have never suffered from cramps in my whole life, other than maybe in the quads a few times when I came back after a long layoff, so I most definitely would find cramps highly irregular in conditioned muscles.

 

I don't take rests, other than the time it takes to set an exercise up or adjust weights. I also superset exercises for opposing muscle groups. Straight after a chest exercise, I'm doing a back exercise. Straight after a shoulder exercise, I'm doing a back exercise. Straight after a set of squats, I'm doing an ab exercise. A bicep exercise would be followed by tricep exercise. I've done this for decades. If my heart is racing, I will do a quick stretch until it gets below 130 bpm. I never, ever sit around and wait for a rest period. May I recommend you do your workouts with a HRM so you can see how high your heart rate goes. Bench presses don't raise the heart rate by much. Pullups, standing presses and squats will. Floor ab exercises don't... even when they are screaming out for mercy.

Might need to get the old heart rate monitor back up to see how high my heart rate is going. I agree bench does not raise the heart rate much but I do need the rest. Deadlifts and squats will surely raise the heart rate abs like you said wont but they still exhaust me.

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, tropo said:

Just strap on the weights, adding a little every week. Your own bodyweight will start feeling light.

Could try it might be just a mental block that holds me from progressing, i just wanted my reps to be perfectly controlled (and they are getting better except for set 4)

[tropo]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Not a real planned one, but there are weeks after weeks of hard work that i just train less but I have been hitting it hard now since 25 march with those loaded carries added (so that means 3 to 4 times a week 2 training sessions a day). Plus that I am on a caloric deficit. That is kinda why i said that after next month i stop with the caloric deficit because i am a bit worried about over training. I have been real fanatic and hard training the last couple of months so it might be time for a bit of rest. Its something that has been playing in the back of my head. So far i havent seen weights go down but im certainly losing a bit of power on my bench.

 

That is actually the one I notice most because I am so attuned to it not because I think its an important exercise. My last set usually varies between 4-8 reps depending on the day... today i only managed 4. 

Rather than trying to equal your previous strength levels in the various exercises, why not disguise it by changing the rep scheme. For example go for 15 - 20 reps on everything. Try even higher, up to 30 reps, on some exercises. You'll burn more calories too. You won't lose your strength, and it may even improve. You'll definitely improve your strength endurance.

[robblok]

I never did much super setting, might be something i will try have to change things up once in a while. I like drop sets and so on. Super sets are of course a good way to get more things done. 

[tropo]

Just now, robblok said:

Could try it might be just a mental block that holds me from progressing, i just wanted my reps to be perfectly controlled (and they are getting better except for set 4)

I would always do the first and last sets unweighted, with about 3 weighted sets in between. Once you've taken off the weight, your last set could be your best set.

[robblok]

Just now, tropo said:

Rather than trying to equal your previous strength levels in the various exercises, why not disguise it by changing the rep scheme. For example go for 15 - 20 reps on everything. Try even higher, up to 30 reps, on some exercises. You'll burn more calories too. You won't lose your strength, and it may even improve. You'll definitely improve your strength endurance.

That is the opposite advice that others give they say don't go light keep it heavy to make your body hold on to muscle and not lose it while your on a cut. Not sure what advice to follow, the people writing the said advice were all renowned strength and bodybuilding trainers. 

[tropo]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

I never did much super setting, might be something i will try have to change things up once in a while. I like drop sets and so on. Super sets are of course a good way to get more things done. 

I do it for a number of reasons. It adds to my performance because it relaxes the pushing muscles when you're pulling and vice versa, it saves time, and your pump will be much better. Arnold always trained like this. I watched a recent video where he explained in great detail how he used to train. They didn't rest. 

[tropo]

10 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is the opposite advice that others give they say don't go light keep it heavy to make your body hold on to muscle and not lose it while your on a cut. Not sure what advice to follow, the people writing the said advice were all renowned strength and bodybuilding trainers. 

There's a difference between doing 20 reps and doing 20 reps to failure. Those guys giving that advice don't realise you can grow on high reps... and who's talking about light? Lighter, but not light. I can find some recent scientific studies that show you can grow muscle on higher reps, but they must be to failure and not rushed, but done under control, adding time under tension.

 

Edit: I'm not saying you will grow on high reps on calorie restriction, but you won't lose anything, and the worst that can happen is that you burn more calories and increase muscle conditioning.

Edited May 31, 2018 by tropo

[tropo]

23 minutes ago, robblok said:

Might need to get the old heart rate monitor back up to see how high my heart rate is going. I agree bench does not raise the heart rate much but I do need the rest. Deadlifts and squats will surely raise the heart rate abs like you said wont but they still exhaust me.

Of course, if you've never trained this way before, it may seem tough, but you really don't need to rest after bench presses. You can walk straight up to the pull-down machine and go for it. I wouldn't pair them with bent over rows though, as that is a tough one that raises the heart rate quite a bit.

 

Would you believe I sometimes pair deadlifts with pulldowns? Even squats. The pulldown relieves tension in the spine between sets.

[robblok]

17 minutes ago, tropo said:

There's a difference between doing 20 reps and doing 20 reps to failure. Those guys giving that advice don't realise you can grow on high reps... and who's talking about light? Lighter, but not light. I can find some recent scientific studies that show you can grow muscle on higher reps, but they must be to failure and not rushed, but done under control, adding time under tension.

 

Edit: I'm not saying you will grow on high reps on calorie restriction, but you won't lose anything, and the worst that can happen is that you burn more calories and increase muscle conditioning.

Those guys realize you can grow on high reps, seen articles from them about it they just advise against going light during a diet as you will lose your muscle. Usually high reps means a lighter weight and lighter exercise in general. There are exceptions of course. I prefer to follow these guys as they are quite famous and know their stuff. My plan was to stop doing bench as a first exercise but doing incline DB presses. Still in the same rep ranges, i only used bench presses as a measurement because I am so fine attuned to it. I don't worry about it much but if i see it drop I know I am losing strength and something is going wrong. It just makes sense to use the exercise that your most attuned to  measure if your program is doing what it should be doing. 

 

Anyway I don't expect to grow on a caloric restriction, I just want to make sure I don't lose muscle or over train (the last one is the one i worry about most at the moment) That is why i placed a time restriction on my diet. I actually think i did grown a bit around the shoulders and traps but that is an other story.