The Beast's Training Journal!

[WalkingBeast]

This was today's diet:


Big100 metrx protein bar for first meal

(32) Big100 metrx protein bar for second meal,(64)

(4 string cheeses)(92)(18 oz skim milk)(119)

12 oz shrimp for third meal, (197)(18 oz skim milk)(224)(18 oz skim milk)(251)

2 cans of sardines in hotsauce for fourth meal,(285

)Big100 metrx
protein bar for fifth meal,

(317 grams protein)


Extremely simple diet as you can see. I used shrimp and sardines to get in more protein while keeping my calories low. Im aiming for a minimum of 200 grams of protein daily, but I do exceed that often when I put in some effort to my diet. If tommorrow I only took in 150 grams of protein , I still have the extra 117 grams from today. So it averages out to 200 and above minimum when I keep ontop of it. Minimum generally means that a bad day would be 200. Though there are rare exceptions where its lower. Right now I am not as consistant as this is only a leaning phase for me. Whatever muscle I lose will come right back when I switch to a growth phase again.

The protein bars are 400 calories each so they might actually be useful for a growth phase. Four or five protein bars could easily be added to my regular diet during a growth phase. During this leaning phase its easy to over use them. My calories were maybe around 3200 as a rough estimate today. So I exceeded my usual protein and calorie intake lately. Ive been aiming for around 2000 and its been effective so far at both gaining back my old muscle and leaning out slowly. I will probably get away with that today because I did around 44 sets in 50-55 minutes during arm training today.

Ill eat more real food when Im back on a growth phase again. The way I list "meals" can be deceptive. I ate my last two meals back to back. So it was really like one meal. I dont give a fuck about the way its listed aslong as I get it in. Sometimes I eat very slow, sometimes very fast. Sometimes meals are back to back. Other times I drink milk heavily throughout most of the day with very few meals. Especially now with leaning, its mostly milk with very little else. Ill tweak it as results slow down though.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Largest arm back up to 19 1/4 inches cold flexed. Chest/back is at 54 inches cold flexed right now. Chest/back measurement tends to fluctuate alot but its also harder to self measure. Its a large area and the tape doesnt always stay up. So i will still probably measure it at 55 on some days. Im down from 56 inch chest and 19 1/2 arms, but im also still 20 lbs lighter.

My navel measurement was 41 upon waking but gets down to around 40 depending on bloat level. I ate more than usual yesterday as listed. So the protein has not yet digested. Around waistline was 39 upon waking. It was down to 38 1/4 recently though. So the waist will fluctuate depending on bloat level. Its a 2 inch improvement so far. I started a few weeks ago at 42 inch navel, 40 inch at waistline. This was after the break and i was also way smaller from not training for 5 1/2 weeks. So i am still filling out and getting leaner at the same time, for now.

I lost most of that weight from the 5 1/2 week break. Then instead of gaining the size back first i decided to just lean out. The health issues were becoming too major with the acid. It may not help much but its one of the last things to try.

This is something new and so far its working, losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. Its very early now, and im only regaining my muscle memory mass at this stage. So it wont really mean anything until im gaining new muscle while getting leaner. If i end up doing that its a bonus but the main goal is just leaning out first. Ill blow up again when i start eating for muscle again. As a result training will also be heavier too and other aspects of it will be increased as well.

Kill that shit

 

[WalkingBeast]

To those using a George Foreman grill to cook with. Try placing a long piece of aluminum foil to cover both heating plates. Fold it in the center where the grill closes. You can grill your food without any clean up. The food is in the foil so you remove it that way. Always looking for ways to minimise preparation and clean up with meals. The other method I mentioned was boiling tilapia in the individual bags they come in. No real clean up that way either. Wait til water is boiling and throw the bags of fish in. After about 3 minutes of boiling they should all be white and cooked.

GRILL THAT SHIT !!

 

[WalkingBeast]

I should add, Im actually 2 lbs lighter then I was several weeks ago when I started training from the 5 1/2 week break. Ive added several inches to all my muscular measurements and lost 2 inches around gut, plus put on some water weight from the HRT. The creatine I do not think has added much water weight. Maybe a little initially when I was taking 5 grams everyday for the first 2 weeks. Since I was in the gym everyday. Mostly for the cardio only. Now I only take creatine 3x a week which probably adds no water weight. So I will probably continue to grow with very little change in my bodyweight.

Its important to realise how much the scale doesnt show. The body can definately perform multiple processes at once. It does it all the time with all the body functions. So losing fat and regaining or gaining new muscle is doable. The body doesnt need to pick one over the other. Of course you are going to be able to get the best results by focusing on one goal at a time.

Im regaining my old muscle and also leaning at the moment but I cant say if that will change once I have all my old muscle back. If I can gain new muscle it would be interesting, under these conditions and restrictions.

Im doing it this way now because Id like to minimise muscle loss, or even grow slowly if possible. At the same time I want to get lean now to solve my health issues mainly.

Same thing with the tape as with the scale. The tape only measures the muscle in a straight line. You can be adding muscle size to parts that arent being measured. Such as traps, which most people probably dont measure at all. Individual delt width. The arm is a good example of how certain parts are thicker than others. You can gain mass on your upper chest but of you measure around your nipples it will likely never show up on the tape. This can happen with ALL measurements. It helps to understand this so that you dont become too obsessed with measuring tapes and scales and understand that there are more subtleties involved.

KILL THAT SHIT !!

 

[WalkingBeast]

This was today's diet

Big100 Metrx protein bar for first meal, (32)

4 large sausages in guacamole for second meal,

(92)Big100 metrx protein bar for third meal,



(124)(18 oz skim milk)(151)(18 oz skim milk)(178)(18 oz skim milk)

(205 grams protein)


Could have very easily pushed the protein beyond 300 again today just by adding a bag of shrimp and some string cheese. Even another protein bar ontop of that. However Ill save that for when Im looking specifically to add new muscle. Right now I have to balance low calories with enough protein to maintain or even grow new muscle. Lean protein sources like shrimp and tilapia are very low calorie, so those are effective for getting alot of protein in while keeping low calories.

The protein bars are 400 calories each with only 32 grams of protein. Better for adding muscle when incorporated with regular eating. Next time I think Ill hit them heavy when adding muscle. For now I have to be careful not to exceed 2 a day. With 3 I end up with 1200 calories just from those. I am trying not to exceed 2000 by much when I do. Yesterday I took in 317 protein so I had some in reserve. This is all an experiment , leaning out, but Ill be playing with higher protein intake for gaining muscle next time I think. Reason being I want to grow on a cleaner diet next time, if I can.

I already have some very easy methods to be able to balance the diet easier into my life. As I said I am looking to master this shit and really balance it now. Not like in the past of pure grinding. I didnt really work towards easier ways to do anything. I just did shit how I did it, to get it done. Its all the little things that really add up and allow you to make so much more progress in this shit. They seem small but Ive been making much more progress by making diet and training tweaks over the years.

I just tried putting tin foil in the foreman grill yesterday to grill those sausages. Zero clean up afterwards. Just throw the foil in the trash. The tilapia I boil in the little bags they come in. No clean up there, except changing water occasionally. These two things alone are huge time savers. Ive now been incorporating alot of protein bars (higher calorie, metrx big100 version) into my diet. Super easy source of extra cals and protein. Drinking fairlife milk all throughout the day. I got that unspillable thermos I mentioned by mighty mug. Keeps the shit cold all day long and rarely needs to be cleaned because of that. The fairlife milk has 50 percent more protein as well as less sugar, etc. Lactose free as well. Cant drink regular.

The last big thing was adding pro bcaa (amino acid powder) into my intratraining. I dillute it with 5 grams creatine and 2 scoops of the pro bcaas during training. I refill it before it empties with more water. So now I drink 64-96 oz of water during training, that I normally would not have. Simple changes make a huge difference.

Lastly, while experimenting with leaning out I simply modified my diet and kept my training regimen very similiar. I just dont aim for going as heavy and have been using less rest and more no rest sets. I switched to diet soda to wash down my meals. Skim milk instead of chocolate. More protein and less calories. Very easy so far. Im looking to lean slowly so I can maintain as much muscle as possible, maybe even slowly grow. I cant say that I will accomplish new muscle growth until ive actually done it though. I dont speak about shit that I havent done. Leaning is new to me. For now I am just regaining my old muscle from the break and getting slowly leaner. Its a good start but its not the same as adding new muscle mass.

Bodyweight will be interesting. It may stay around 225 for a while. Since I am losing fat and regaining muscle simultaneously. I may try to get down to a 34 inch waist. Definately want to get down to 36 at the very least. Id like to get a little lower so that I can buy myself some time before I fatten up again.

My moderate estimate is that I should be pretty lean at 210-220 lbs when finished. I base this off of the fact that when I was much smaller in 2009, I had a 36 inch waist, 49 inch chest, 18 1/2 inch arms at 202 lbs. Since then ive increased 7 inches on chest to 56, an inch on arms to 19 1/2, several inches on legs etc. That slow steady progress is what really adds up in the end. If I lose alot of muscle then I may end up much lighter initially. I dont think Ill have to lose too much, and maybe even gain some but cant say yet. Its too early and Im inexperienced with leaning.

36 inches for me is pretty lean. My abs are quite visible. My midsection is pretty thick from all the heavy weighted work I did over the years. Partly to rehabilitate a busted spine initially, but also because I always believed in heavy abdominal and lower back training. Not for looks but for core strength. I also have some distention from all my intestinal issues.

Slowly ive been embracing the leaning phase, as much as I hate to not be getting larger and stronger, as I could be. Though my motivation is extremely non existant at times. I try to take advantage of any energy I have to get my meals in and train 3x a week.

Acid may even be improving. Im super fucking skeptical about everything, so itll take time before I accept that anything has changed. I dont even believe things that I feel at times. I think it will improve as I continue to get rid of this sloppy weight I accumulated from injury breaks over the years.

Im about to train chest rehab and some shoulders. I may only go with 90 lb dumbbell presses, maybe 100s but I dont wanna fuck with my chest strains too much. 90s felt decent on the area, no pain. I was also heavily pre exhausted, and will maybe aim for 90x20 plus after heavy pre exhaustion. Nothing crazy with chest. I just wanna get some fucking blood in there and re inforce the tendons. Maybe add some size back on my chest if I can for now.

With the shoulders Ill mostly use dropsets with pressing and laterals. Im not concerned right now with breaking strength records. Maybe Ill film some pressing to show what Im doing, even though it is light shit for me.


KILL THAT SHIT !!

 

[WalkingBeast]

Chest rehab , Delts and Rear Delts


Light, Low volume, Leaning phase and break return



This session was good for what it was. My chest damage seems to be reinforcing and the area is getting stronger weekly. Not much tendon pain. Almost none during training today. I do feel it from time to time, so its not gone. Even with heavy pre exhaustion I didnt go above the 100s today on the dumbbell presses. I was hitting 100x48 on the incline db presses, so the flat should come up in the coming weeks too. Im not really concerned with pushing strength though on chest. It will happen with the reps but training will be focused on pump and low rest for a while, for chest. Its not worth the risk right now , to pop the shit again. Large strength increases though as I hit the 100s for around the same number of reps as I hit the 90s last week, pre exhausted.

I also went up to 270 today on the nautilus plate loaded horizontal press and hit it for 30 reps. Im not pushing it hard with rest pause reps right now. I still dont trust that shit. I can feel the power and endurance coming back in the area but no plans to test my low rep power anytime soon.


Largest arm hit 19 1/4 yesterday, cold flexed. Only 1/4 inch from peak size. Chest/back seems to be around 54 inches cold flexed. I think its down mostly because of not being able to train my chest properly. I should be able to fix that by training high rep with low rest.

I filmed some videos today, even though the shit was super light, but I crushed my phone somehow. I dont know yet if Ill be able to transfer the data to another phone and upload, but Ill see what I can do.

The shoulder portion was heavier, but not super heavy. I went up to 540 for a few reps on the nautilus overhead press, plate loaded, but there was low rest between most sets and I wasnt focused on record lifts. This is just a leaning phase where Im trying to keep as much muscle as I can. My pressing strength for shoulders is also way down at this point it seems but size is coming up steadily despite getting leaner. Thats all that really matters for this phase. Didnt feel too light headed today but low carbs probably play into why I dont feel as powerful overall.


(227 lbs after previous nights meals. Getting heavier while getting leaner. Not sure yet where my end weight will end up, since Im regaining old muscle and leaning at the same time. They counteract eachother)


CHEST REHAB

Flat Barbell Bench Press (I use this just to warm up)

Bar X 100+ With bar stretches

Nautilus Horizontal Chest Press (plate loaded)


No rest til line

90x50 barbell grip
90x50 inside grip
180x20 barbell grip
180x10 inside grip
------

No rest til line

230x40 barbell grip
230x10-16 inside grip
-----------

No rest til line

270x30 barbell grip
270x5 inside grip
------

No rest til line

270x15 barbell grip
270x5 inside grip
230x10-15 barbell grip
230x5-10 inside grip
180x15-20 barbell
180x5-10 inside
140x?? barbell
140x30 inside grip
----------------

Flat Bench Dumbbell Presses (constant tension style)

No rest til line (Not all individual sets are to failure on any of these no rest sets)

45x50
60x15
-----------

no rest til line (Video pending)

90x25
60x15
45x20

------

No rest til line (video pending)

100x14
60x20
45x20
--------

Nautilus Overhead Press (plate loaded) (No chest twitching today during these. May indicate that the area is healing)

no rest til line

180x30
270x20
360x5
450x2
--------------

450x11 (May have filmed this. Phone is broke so will try to recover these)

No rest til line (Video pending)

540x6
450x6
360x6
270x10
180x20
---------------

Dumbbell Laterals (trap focused version)

no rest til line

45x30
60x10
45x10
----------

No rest til line

60x25
80x10
45x15
-------------

no rest til line

60x25
55x10
45x10
---------------

No rest til line

60x15
55x10
45x10
---------------

Rotator Cuff Work (waiting for a machine)


Cable rotations 40-50 lbs x 20-30 for each side


Reverse Machine Flies

130x15 (long holds)
220x10 (same)
250x10 (same)

No rest til line (Mostly long holds but mixed)

285x15
220x10
190x5
160x5
130x10
100x15
--------

KILL THAT SHIT

Videos will be below if I can recover them

 

[WalkingBeast]

Videos uploading. Nothing special but I try to give some illustration to the journal through the videos. Normally I would not consider this part of my training significant, because its not what I normally do. Now I see it as all a part of the entire picture. I should come back much larger and leaner, improved overall once I get this leaning shit done and start building new muscle again.

Just a simple side by side comparison




Right side is current and left side is when I was in the low 240's . When the difference in fullness can be seen in that massive shirt , its definately there. Measurements are not that far off. Maybe 2 inches on chest/back. Arms only about 1/4 inch flexed. The relaxed measurement may be off by a little more however. That is the sacrifice of going through the leaning phase though. I prefer to be more powerful and fuller, minus the gut, but for now I will complete this phase.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

 

[WalkingBeast]

 

[WalkingBeast]