My Leangains Journey page 4

[BuffaloGrok]

Huge day yesterday for lifting. Hit some new PR's and its starting make me think I should be lifting much heavier that I have been:

Squat:
245x8 - which is up from 225x8 from last week. I need to start being less of a pussy and adding some real weight to the bar!!
220x9
205x11

Lunch - Chipotle chicken and rice bowl (yea yea, I know they use soybean oil, shoot me!)
Dinner - 1lb lean ground turkey, 2 cups mixed veggies, 400g sweet potato and 10oz fat free greek yogurt

[BuffaloGrok]

Been slacking on my posting here, but I'm not sure who reads this anyways, so whatever!!

The weather has been perfect here in Buffalo so I went to a track and had myself a nice little workout in the sunshine.

Sprints:

6x100m. Sprint full distance, turn and walk back to start. Touch and go.

WOD:

3 rounds:

10 tire flip
10 tire "box" jumps
20 burpees
2 stair flights

Dinner: Standard meat and sweet potato fare. Nothing crazy and topped it off with 2 glasses of really really good cabsauv that I had been craving.

Needless to say, my legs are shot today. Not a painful sore in any way, as I sometimes get after a lot of tire flips. More just tight groin and butt that comes with sprinting

[beaver]

BG,
I have been slightly keeping up and curious to see how you progress. I was doing starting strength until early january and stopped cause I suffered a shoulder injury. I am currently doing simplefit and will throughout the summer to stay in shape and let my shoulder heal. Plus I will be traveling alot and won't be able to commit to the weights.

keep up the good work

[ChrisS]

Have no worries BG, I am reading your journal, it's helping me convince myself on trying a combination of leangains and primal, though I'm not quite ready to take the plunge yet! Just wondering, how's the muscle definition and energy levels looking and feeling as opposed to before starting LG's?

[fearless]

Congrats on making progress!

I've been doing LG for over a year, correctly, but to say I could be a poster child is high overrated. lol
I've lost 13 pounds of bodyfat as I have gained in strength, though I had to fight through a few plateaus.

Isn't there a conflict doing LG's protocol vs Primal/Paleo when it comes to macro-intake?
For example, according LG, I would need to consume 300g of carb on my workout days vs less than 50g on the restdays, whereas, primal/paleo would keep you in between 50 - 100 grams of carb regardless?
I've read Mark Sisson's articles about POW meals and fasting, and I'm sure there are many scientific data to support it.

So, I question: Which are healthier and more effective?

[kcarol]

Huge day yesterday for lifting. Hit some new PR's and its starting make me think I should be lifting much heavier that I have been:

Squat:
245x8 - which is up from 225x8 from last week. I need to start being less of a pussy and adding some real weight to the bar!!

I always wonder if I'm lifting heavy enough too, but I remember on a Robb Wolf podcast that a max effort and reps that go to failure shouldn't be literal "failure," but at a point where you can't do the lift with same consistency and efficiency. I'm totally new to this, so I was shocked to hear that. I thought max effort was MAX effort, and if I'm going 80% max effort on a set, then how should that feel?

It's just confusing to me.

On another note, squatting 245 lbs is WOW. I tried to come up with an analogy (it's like squatting my weight...) but the analogies were lighter than 245.

Awesome!

[StackingPlates]

kcarol - the key is not necessarily the overall weight you are lifting, but rather the muscle tension / fiber recruitment during the set; although the two are intimately related. As you provide adequate muscle tension, your strength will naturally increase over time and the weight will increase in concert with your new-found strength.

[BuffaloGrok]

Congrats on making progress!

I've been doing LG for over a year, correctly, but to say I could be a poster child is high overrated. lol
I've lost 13 pounds of bodyfat as I have gained in strength, though I had to fight through a few plateaus.

Isn't there a conflict doing LG's protocol vs Primal/Paleo when it comes to macro-intake?
For example, according LG, I would need to consume 300g of carb on my workout days vs less than 50g on the restdays, whereas, primal/paleo would keep you in between 50 - 100 grams of carb regardless?
I've read Mark Sisson's articles about POW meals and fasting, and I'm sure there are many scientific data to support it.

So, I question: Which are healthier and more effective?

I like to think of Mark's carb curve as simply a guide for the masses who are following the PB. I can't perform on 50-100g of carbs on heavy lifting days and I think that is the point. A majority of the people starting the PB are sick from a lifetime of SAD and countless food issues.

For you, keep eating the carbs and don't worry about the haters.

[BuffaloGrok]

I always wonder if I'm lifting heavy enough too, but I remember on a Robb Wolf podcast that a max effort and reps that go to failure shouldn't be literal "failure," but at a point where you can't do the lift with same consistency and efficiency. I'm totally new to this, so I was shocked to hear that. I thought max effort was MAX effort, and if I'm going 80% max effort on a set, then how should that feel?

It's just confusing to me.

On another note, squatting 245 lbs is WOW. I tried to come up with an analogy (it's like squatting my weight...) but the analogies were lighter than 245.

Awesome!

Thanks! Keep lifting heavy and EATING and you will get there too.

Learning to lift by percentages is going to take time and practice. The first step is to find your literal 1 rep max for each of the lifts. From that number you will be taking the percentage of weight and adding to the bar.

80% is going to feel incredibly heavy, as it should. You are nearly at your max load for 1 rep. Do not expect this set to be easy or high in reps. As StackingPlates reminds, muscle tension and fiber recruitment is also important and will be high at this point.

[FlyingPig]

This is an old post but I thought to ask: any update? How has this whole Leangains and primal combination worked out for everybody?
I'm considering giving it a go using kettlebells (see http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread64884.html), although I'm not sure if that is wise. Guess I'll do some more research, main thing is to keep it primal and to lean out from home as much as I can...