Ryu's Lean Up Log

[Ryujiin]

Nano-update;

98.40kg this am. 

There will be no adjustments to diet and training this week from last week. 

I will be dropping the high does yohimbine tomorrow as I have run out (and I will not be ordering more as the effect does not seem to warrant it) 

My next target to hit is 97.70kg this coming weekend. My end goal pre-blast might be a little nuts, but you never know until you try. 

Pics end of week as well I suppose, to keep up the monthly photo updates. 

 

[airman]

Hope you had a great Christmas. 

Reading your log, I'd like to make a few suggestions.  I think the reason for your slow down (other than hormone issues) is that you've been on very low calories for a long time.  If I were you I'd take 4 weeks to reset your metabolism.  Feed your body, and I believe that after four weeks you should see fat loss even at the higher calories.  (I've seen it in the past with many clients).  It's a bit of a mind fuck when you gain a pound or two at the beginning, but believe me this won't make you fat.  If I were you, I'd structure my diet/cardio this way: 

Wake up:  20 to 30 minutes cardio, drink a glass of water and go for a fast paced walk outside if you don't have cardio equipment at home.

Meal 1: 40g of Oats or 45g Cream of Rice (dry weight) with 1 scoop protein, 1 table spoon (15g) Natural Peanut Butter or Almond Butter, 50g Blueberries

Meal 2: 150g Flank Steak (if can't get it then 150g extra lean ground beef) with 1 small or half large Avocado (about 75g without pit/skin)

Meal 3: 1 can tuna, 3 chopped celery stalks, half a red Apple diced, 28g walnuts crushed.  Mix it all up.  Can add some hot sauce or other zero/or low calorie sauce, but the apple and stuff makes it pretty to easy without sauces

Meal 4: (about 1.5 to 2 hours pre-workout) 200g lean white fish (Basa, Tilapia, Cod, Haddock etc...) with 150g Cooked White Rice

Meal 5: Post Workout : 150g Cooked Rice, 150g Chicken Breast, 75g Red Kidney Beans, 100g pineapple.

If extremely hungry (dying) or post workout meal is hours away from sleep (meaning 5 meals don't cover the whole day) you can add in a protein shake post workout and delay your post workout meal a bit. 

As far as cardio, not sure if you are actually running on the treadmill (as I interpret incline 8 at level 5 meaning 5mph) but that is extremely difficult and if you are hanging on to the handles, you are just wasting your time.  I prefer to have people doing a fast paced walk on the treadmill at an incline of 4 to 6 and speed of 3 to 4mph with no hands on the handles at all.   This is what I would do post workout for 20 to 30 minutes.  

Workouts, make sure they are intense.  Make your work sets count.  Last couple reps should be extremely difficult.  The kind of difficult where even if you had a gun to your head, you couldn't do anymore.  Try throwing in a couple rest pause, where you go to failure, rack it, rest for 15 seconds and try to do a few more reps, rack it again, rest for 15 seconds and try to do another rep or two.  (do this on your last set, do it on machines where it's safe to fail, don't try this on squats lol)

Anyways, you don't have to follow my advice but this is how I would approach it.  Forget fasting and other diet gimmicks.  Feed your body every 2 to 3 hours, let it get used to digesting a good amount of food, keep working out intensely, and I promise the body will start burning fat again.  Maybe not the first week, but it will.  

 

[Ryujiin]

Awesome @airman

Greatly appreciate the feedback and I think I will be giving this a go to see what happens. Its about time for a change and this looks pretty darn good. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Just to put this out there, my current TDEE is around 3000cal (if my hormone levels were optimized) 

So the recommendation for a reset from Airman is 100% spot on as my metabolism must be ghosted at my current calorie intake after a few months of riding this low curve. 

Ill throw up a new set of pics and weight stats to give a better feel of were I am currently at on Monday.  

Feb 22 is still my planned kick off day to go back on (assuming my wife is knocked up by then) as you all know I had to come off of my TRT in effort to get my swimmers swimming again. Normal volume, terrible motility. 

Blood work next month hopefully. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Just to throw up the food and macro's for yesterday and what should be similar today;

Meal1:
50g oats w/ cinnamon & 1.5 servings whey, 1Tbsp NPB

Meal 2:
150g chicken, 150-200g sweet potato, 75g edamame, 1Tbsp Coconut oil 

Meal 3:
Medium Apple, 1.5 servings whey or 150g chicken/fish, 1Tbsp NPB

Meal 4:
150g chicken, 150-250g rice, 1Tbsp Coconut Oil 

Post Workout: 
1 Serving Whey, 1 serving psyllium 

Meal 5: PW Meal 
150g fish, 150g rice, mixed veggies  

Meal 1: C 43.2, F 21.2, P 50.3 CAL 547

Meal 2:  C 39, F 18.5, P 44.8, CAL 509

Meal 3:  C 40.5, F 17.9, P 44.6, CAL 476

Meal 4: C 42, F 15.9, P 38.4 CAL 475

Post Workout: C 19.5, F 1.5, P 36, CAL 240

Meal 5: C 42, F 15.9, P 38.4 CAL 475

Total macros: C 226, F 90.9, P 252.5 CAL 2722

It was actually hard to put this amount of food down.

Training;

No adjustments.

As an FYI, I wont be stepping on the scale for the next week or 2 if I can help it to avoid the forthcoming mind fuck, so it is what it is. I did notice my should strength during my push workout was abnormally high, so that made me feel the warm and fuzzies. Not sure how my body is going to react to the influx of calories, but hopefully well. 

Some Berberine HCL on the way to help with the carb load, but I wont be using it at the doses I have seen, more in the range of 200mg at both pre and post workout meals. 

On the life side, nothing special for new years eve, but; new years day I felt like I was dying. 

I woke up feeling fine, drank some water and then proceeded to vomit for 20min.  This was follow by 48 hours of fluid rejection from the other end and my entire body feeling like I was hit by a bus. Needless to say, 2 days bed rest. Good times. 
 

 

[Ryujiin]

Not much to update on aside from that to my surprise, my weight has not moved since starting the new diet and I certainly thought it would bounce up a little. On the flip side, gym sessions have been so much better this past week. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Things I put in my mouth yesterday:

Meal 0: Pre-food

1Tbsp apple cider vinegar, half lemon (squeezed) mixed in 500ml water.

Meal1:

50g oats w/ cinnamon & 2 servings whey, 50g black berries, 1tbsp NPB

Meal 2:

100g lean beef, 150 white rice, 75g tofu 

Meal 3: Pre-workout 

Medium Apple, 150g chicken w/ hot sauce 

Meal 4: Post-workout 

2 servings whey, 1 medium banana, 1 soft chew dark chocolate granola bar

Meal 5: PW Meal 

200g baked fish, 150g rice, large salad with 1tbsp sesame dressing (ya, I know, wasted calories) 

Health sups have not changed much:

AM: 1g NAC, 500mg curcumin, 2g astragalus, 10mg cialis, baby aspirin  

Meal 1: 300mg berberine  

Meal 2: 200mg Q10, K2+D3, 2 fish oil, multi-V, 300mg berberine 

Meal 3: 300mg berberine   

Meal 5: 1g vitamin C, 400iu vitamin E, 300mg berberine

Bed: 200mg magnesium chelate   

Still running a legs, push, pull split monday to friday with 20min cardio after, weekends off except for outdoor activities or yoga at home with the wife. Am cardio if I can wake my ass up and drag myself out of a warm bed into the cold. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Here is what I ended up running yesterday and so on track to run today. 

This seems to be the easiest for me to follow and plan out so far as I can keep most items at work with no real prep. 

I'm wondering if the calories and macros are lacking, but I'm sure they are not as clean as My Fitness Pal lays them out to be.  But you know, I would not be against some cheese on my wrap lol.

@airman I know you laid out a pretty bad ass plan above and I greatly appreciate it man.  Just wondering what you think about this one?  Given how shredded you are, Ill take anything you give...(that statement reads out all kinds of Shawshank Redemption level wrong)

Meal1:

50g oats w/ cinnamon, 25g berries & 2 servings whey, 1 Tbsp NPB

Meal 2:

150g chicken, mustard, 1 apple, 1 tbsp NPB*

Meal 3: Pre Workout

150g chicken, 2 wraps, mustard

Meal 4: Post Workout

2 Serving Whey, 1 granola bar, 1 banana

Meal 5: PW Meal

200g shrimp, 150g rice, mixed veggies  

Meal 1: C 56, F 14.4, P 60.3.3 CAL 579

Meal 2:  C 33.5, F 10.4, P 39 CAL 365

Meal 3: C 44.3, F 9.2, P 42.6 CAL 422

Meal 4: C 51, F 4.9, P 50.3, CAL 445

Meal 5: C 51.4, F 2.5, P 39.1 CAL 474

Total macros: C 236, F 41, P 231

CAL 2284 (I would guess an actual value more in the 2500+/- range)

I was also thinking about switching up my training split (still doing walks in the AM and 20-30min cardio post) to the follow (as I cant make it to the gym on weekends).  Note that weekends will be active though with walks, yoga, etc. 

Monday - High Rep Push (100-200 rep leg press/just the sled or extensions)

Tuesday - High Rep Pull

Wed – Low Rep Legs

Thursday – Low Rep Push

Friday – Low Rep Pull (100-200 rep leg press/just the sled or extensions)

*Wed will include Squats, Friday will include Deadlifts (appropriate mobility work and warm up sets pre)

 

[airman]

The diet looks fine, no issues with it. 

Not really liking the workout.  If I understand correctly, on the high days you are planning to do 100 to 200 (unbelievable) rep sets, it's a little pointless and almost ridiculous.  100 reps in a single set will achieve nothing but some caloric expenditure and lactic acid buildup.  I'm not even sure I can do 100 rep bodysquats. 

If your goal is still to burn some fat, there is no need to change your workout. Weightlifting is not about burning fat, it's about building or maintaining muscle.  100 rep workouts I think would make me lose muscle. 

My recommendation, whether you are cutting or trying to grow is to stick to 8 to 12 rep ranges for most exercises and maybe on legs when doing leg go up to 12 to 15 maybe even as high as 20 reps.  (to save my lower back, knee pain, if I'm doing squats now, I pick a slightly lower weight and do 20 reps, rather than heavy and only 8 reps, but I'm picking a weight that I almost fail at 20 reps or do fail if its safe to do so)

If you are planning to do a PPL split, and want to workout 5 days in a row (M thru F), I would do Pull, Push, Legs and then Thursday and Friday I would save for body parts that need most attention.  Maybe do an arm day on Thurs, and Shoulders on Friday or whatever.  If you are truly training hard, I think it would be very difficult to do pull, push, legs, pull, push  without a break. 

If doing a pull push legs split, keep it to 2 exercises per body part, and only two worksets per exercise.  Maybe first workset heavy where you fail between 6 to 8 reps, and second set a more back off set where you fail at 8 to 12 reps.  Log your weights and once you beat the reps you are aiming for, next time move up in weight.  So if for example on the hammer incline press you are doing 2plates a side and you hit it for 9 reps, next time I would up the weight to 2 plates +5lbs  per side and try to get more than 8 reps again.  If you don't stick to the same weight next week and try to beat it again.  This is what I would do.  

A sample workout for you might look like this: 

Monday: Pull - Back Width and Biceps

Back Width:
Pull Ups: 2 worksets to failure
Hammer Strength High Row: 2 worksets; 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Close Grip Pulldown: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps

Biceps:
Dumbbell Curls: 2 worksets 8 to 12 reps
Hammer Curls: 2 worksets   8 to 12 reps

Tuesday: Push - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Incline Bench (dumbell, smith, wherever you can fail safely): 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Machine Press: 2 worksets, 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Flies (pec dec, cable or dumbbell)): 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps

Dips (hits triceps and chest): 3 worksets to failure

Rear Delts (pec deck, or bent over dumbbell swings): 3 sets 20 reps
Machine Shoulder press: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 worksets to 12 to 15 reps

Wednesday Legs: 
Seated Leg Curl: 3 worksets 8 to 12 reps (push to real failure here)
Squat or Hacks: 2 worksets 12 to 15 reps (if using machine push to real failure)
Leg Press: 2 worksets 12 to 15 reps (to failure)
Leg Extension: 2 worksets 12 to 15 reps
Lunges: 2 sets 

Thursday: Back Thickness
Bent over Barbell or Chest Supported Rows: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Machine Low Row: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Dumbbell Rows: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps
Deadlift or Rack Pulls: 2 worksets 8 to 12 reps

Friday: Arm Day

Alternate Tricep and Bicep Exercises

Cable Pushdown:  3 worksets 10 to 15 reps
Dumbbell or Cable Curs: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps

Dips: 3 worksets to failure
Hammer Curls: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps

Overhead Tricep Extension: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps
Preacher Curls: 3 works sets 10 to 15 reps

That's it.  If you truly bring those worksets to failure, I don't think you will need to do much else.  Doesn't have to be exactly this split or exercises, but that's the way I would structure it if I was to workout 5 days straight and wanted to hit bodyparts multiple times per week. 

Whatever you do, just remember that your job at the gym is to destroy the muscle (smartly), and feed yourself properly and allow the muscle to recover outside the gym. 

Let me know if you have any questions, here to help (will be checking this thread daily on weekdays)

Are you still dropping weight? 

 

 

[Ryujiin]

Man when you post you go all out. That a solid plan/split. I should have been more clear in that the 100rep leg press is just the warmup to get blood moving, heart rate up and hopefully have some impact on the muscle fibers in my legs as they are what I would say is my weak point. The rest of high rep day was more in the 10-15 range to failure and low rep day was more 5-10 to failure. 

I think the plan you outlined looks much more solid though, and honestly, probably more enjoyable. 

My weight actually went up to 103kg and then stabilized for the last week, so I am hoping to see some improvement after this week.

On a different note, my wife tested positive so the fertility plan worked. That means in about 3 weeks I will hopefully be back on either my TRT or go all out with the low dose blast previously mentioned.  Honestly, having low test levels sucks alot, and not just in body comp, but mood, sleep, focus. Everything has taken a big hit. 

 

[airman]

Congrats on the pregnancy!  Nice!

For warmups no need to go that super high.  I would rather just walk on treadmill or stepmill for 8 minutes then just do maybe like a light 20 rep, then higher weight 10 rep, then higher weight 5 rep, then higher weight rep 2 rep, then higher weight 1 rep, and then go hard on my work sets.  Basically the warm up sets are more about getting the body, CNS, primed for the movement with heavy weight rather than just get blood moving.  After the first exercise, I wouldn't do as many warm up sets, maybe just 2 as you should be warmed up.  I try not to waste energy warming up, so it doesn't affect my intensity on the real worksets.  

 

[Ryujiin]

Quick update.

My body is just now starting to get used to the diet change. It was a big shift in not only calorie content/macros but also in timeframe. As mentioned above, my weight has seem to stabilized around 103kg +/-

Ill post new pics up as a fresh starting point for phase 1.1a, better known as the "shut up and listen to airman" phase. 

I have just under two weeks of active gym time left before everything shuts down for CNY and probably Covid round 2, so who knows. I'm being looked at like a walking disease again, which is always fun. 

Yesterday looked like:

Meal 1: 10am

50g oats w/ cinnamon, 25g berries & 2 servings whey, 1 Tsp NPB

Meal 2: 1pm

150g chicken, mustard, 1 apple, 1 tbsp NPB*

Meal 3: Pre Workout 4pm

150g chicken, 2 wraps, mustard

Meal 4: Post Workout 7pm

2 Serving Whey, 1 granola bar, 1 banana

Meal 5: PW Meal 9pm

200g shrimp, 150g rice, mixed veggies  

Supplements:

Wakeup: 500mg curcumin, 1g astragalus, 1g NAC, 1 baby asprin, 10mg cialis, 3 caps NOW prostate support, 500mg berberine

With meal 2: 3g fish oil, 1 cap K2/D3, 200mg Q10, 1 serving Nutrex Vitadapt

With meal 3: 500mg berberine 

45min pre-workout: 1/2 serving ANS Prophecy   

With meal 5: 400IU vitamin E, 1g vitamin C, 500mg berberine

Before bed: 200mg magnesium chelate  

For the gym, I gave the above leg session by airman a go. Pretty solid and my hamstrings are oddly sore today. For squats, ChinTTPump was in the rack for the entire time I was at the gym, so I did them on smith with a more forward foot placement and a little more lean back into the bar. 

20min post cardio. 8 percent incline, 5km/h give or take.  Not easy as my knock off Beats finally died during leg press...so ya, debate on what to get as a replacement. 

I'm not expecting much to happen over the next few weeks and I feel like I took 50 steps backwards since coming off TRT, so I am very much looking forward to getting back on. I am surprised that my strength has not declined at all over the last few months which has been nice. I am pretty sure so fat has rolled back onto my frame as you will see later when I slap up new picks. 

All in all in a good place outside of my wife already going into pregnant beast mode.  Dragon lady is a solid term and ironically, she is a dragon zodiac.  Pretty sure I am cut off for the next 9 months so if my sex drive comes back....FML 

 

[Ryujiin]

Nano-update. 

Weight rolled down to 100.3kg randomly, so I'm hoping its a good sign that my body has adapted to the new diet and workload.  We will see where I am sitting after this week, then things will be a few steps backwards as everything shuts down for CNY but post that, I plan to come out swinging and this log will be moving to version 2.0 with new baseline photos and stats. Feb 22 is the official kick off for that. 

On the life side, wife is 6 weeks officially, 108 beats per min and 5x10mm or something like that. According to the doc, everything looks good so far and this coming weekend we are back for another check up. Im surprised how hungry she is for only 6 weeks, but Im thinking its a good sign. So far, things seem better this time around then last time. So, fingers crossed and lots of being careful about diet and stress etc. 

Also decided that when I do reach my goal BF%, Ill be getting some ink as a reward. I guess I should start saving now as I have been dying for a shoulder/half arm sleeve. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Micro-update:

Had a solid workout last night. I will not that I have confirmed Im a fat ass again via mirror, but I still have veins in my bi's and calves, so at least there is that. 

Monday: Pull - Back Width and Biceps

Back Width:
Wide neutral grip pulldowns: 3 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12), 60 seconds hold in stretched position 
One arm cable high row: 2 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12)
Close grip pulldown: 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12), 60 seconds hold in stretched position 

Biceps:
Dumbbell curls: 2 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (8-12), 1 back off set (20)
Hammer curls: 2 work sets to failure (8-12), 1 back off set (20)

Calves:
Standing calf raises: 4 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (8-12), 1 back off set (20)

20 min incline treadmill 

 

[Ryujiin]

Pico-update: 

Push workout was solid last night. The higher carb/calorie content combined with berebrine supplementation has been giving me some interesting pumps and strength. Felt like a firehose when I was doing dips. 

Digging the plan laid out by Airman. 

3 more workouts before it all shuts down for 10 days.

Tuesday: Push - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Chest:
Incline DB Bench: 3 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12)
Machine Press: 2 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12)
Cable Flies (mid position)pec dec, cable or dumbbell)2 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12)

Dips: 3 work sets to failure

Rear Delt Deck: 2 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12)
DB Shoulder Press: 2 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (6-8), 1 back off set (8-12)
Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 work sets

 

[Ryujiin]

Leg workout decimated me (to the point I could note do the bonus set of lunges I was wanted to)

Sweating and gasping. Good times. Grow you twig fooks. 

Wednesday Legs: 

Laying Leg Curl: 3 progressive warmup sets, 3 work sets to failure (8-12), 1 back off set (20)
Squat or Hacks: 3 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (12-15), F that noise. 
Leg Press: 2 work sets to failure (12-15), 1 back off set (20)
Unilateral Leg Extension: 3 progressive warmup sets, 2 work sets to failure (12-15)
Lunges: 2 sets bodyweight (death) 

Still fat. All in due time. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Have been looking back through this log and it looks like my peak was August/September last year before stuff happened, even though I was still fat, looking at the photo I realize that at that heavier weight I was leaner than I am now. Rough. 

Life. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Leg workout decimated me (to the point I could note do the bonus set of lunges I was wanted to)

Seems my grasp on typing the English language has gone to hell. 

Last workout in yesterday pre-CNY, so now its 10 days of at home workouts until things re-open.

Weather is getting warmer and sun is breaking the skyline sooner in the Am, so morning walks are becoming a little nicer. 

Honestly, as much as I have regressed, this past year was a worthwhile venture/roller coaster and I did make some good progress when I was able to focus fully.  

Official kick off to the refreshed recomp will be Monday Feb 22. See how much I can do over 20 weeks. Get er done. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Time for a reset. 

Day 1, here we go with a starting weight of 106.5kg (post CNY break), diet and training as laid out above. 

Also pushed my first pin of test/tren/mast today @ 125/100/125mg and this will be done twice a week.

Lets see how things go over the next 20 weeks.  Yes 20 weeks, hence the low dosages. Playing the long game after all. 

 On a side note; being off TRT for the last several months has not been pleasant at all (and yes, Im old as Ill be 40 pretty soon) 

Wish me luck that this round turn out better then the last 12 month shit show. 

 

[Ryujiin]

Arm day was brutal, in a good way. Im a fat fuk though. As noted, I dont go to the gym on weekends as its fam time, but I do get in my 10K steps and throw in a jog and some yoga if I am feeling a little fem. 

Also note that Friday will not always be arm day as on occasion I will use it as a touch up day. 

Anyway, here is the slightly updated diet model:

Weekdays;

5:30am: 1/2 Pre-workout + 5km walk, functional movement stretching 

7:00AM: Health Supps

8:30am: ACV + Lemon in 1L water  

10:00AM Meal 1: 50g oats w/ cinnamon, 25g berries & 2 servings whey, 3 EFA, 1 Tbsp NPB, 500mg Berberine

1:00PM Meal 2: 150g chicken, 1 serving whey w/Fiber, Tbsp NPB, MV, Q10, K2/D3, 2EFA

4:00PM Meal 3: Pre Workout 150g chicken, 2 wraps, mustard, 500mg Berberine

5:00PM Pre-Workout: 1/2 Serving Pre-workout*

6:00PM: EAA Intra Workout*

7:30PM Meal 4 Post Workout: 2 Serving Whey w/ cinnamon, 1 granola bar, 1 banana, 500mg Berberine

9PM Meal 5 PW Meal: 3 eggs, 150g chicken or shrimp, spinach, VC, VE

10-10:30PM: Health Supps

Pre-Bed: Sleep Aid

Weekends;

Same as above, however; meal 3 gets replaced with another meal 2 (minus the vitamins) and meal 4 turns into a shake with fiber and cinnamon added. 

Also, chicken will often be switched out to 150-250g of seafood (octopus, squid, shrimp, salmon, etc) or duck. 

Ill throw up a starting point pic Monday, but its bad, really bad.