RAD High Intensity Training

Here are some pictures I promised a long time ago:

I am now dieting towards ketosis correctly.  Honestly,  I thought I could get away with eating 50 grams of carbs a day with all the fat and moderate amount of protein to enter Ketosis.  I was wrong.  I experienced lethargy day in day out towards the 3rd week of my ketosis attempt and it persisted for the next 3.  Now I have decided to reduce my carb intake to no more than 20 grams.  I am also adding a bit of calories to my fat intake.  I want to get into ketosis as fast as I possibly can.  Not sure exactly what was happening but this post about pit-falls of low carb nutrition inspired me to get serious and lower my carb intake even more.

Surprisingly, I’ve been getting stronger on some lifts with such a low amount of carbs.  My energy in the gym is working against me the whole time yet I’m still hitting my reps on all lifts.  The lifts that have been troublesome for me are the ones where my form is not correct.  I’ve been getting weaker which is not a surprise because I realize that when I use correct form I can control the weight and keep the muscle tight at all times.  It’s not possible to do this with weight that you do not have the strength to control.

I now weight 176 lbs, down from 183.  I don’t carry water weight anymore, but these number tell me I’ve still burned off about 3 pounds of mostly fat in the last month and a half.  This is good!  I’ve been at a light bulk caloric intake on my lift days and just below maintenance on my off days.  We’ll see how this progresses.

My cut didn’t go as planned.  I believe my t3 and thyroid hormones lowered significantly slowing my transit time causing me much discomfort.  I took another look at the ketogenic diet my ex-trainer informed me of as he was transitioning into ketosis, and from extremely limited research I decided to make the switch.  My goals are still to get ripped now while gaining muscle (even just a little) and gaining strength.  The Ketogenic diet is the way.

I’ll post some pictures in a few months when I’ve shed more fat so we can all see the difference.  In the meantime my workouts have been interesting.  My energy is depleted in about 25 minutes  I need to figure out how to maintain intensity for just enough time during my intense workout.  One thing to change is I’m going to begin taking 5mg of creatine a day per darthluiggi’s TKD protocol found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains/comments/1z9jv1/the_tkd_experiment/

For now, I’m doing my own research to convince myself of it’s benefits and to overlook the negative effects, that possibly might not exist for this diet! :)  I predict I’ll continue doing my research on this for the foreseeable future.  It will probably become a habit and I may become an elite nutritionist for the ketogenic community.  I’m not confident in that statement but whatever information I begin to understand I will share my conclusions.

I am about to begin cutting. I believe this will be my 2nd cut for this year.  Much sooner than I anticipated, for sure.  Before you continue reading, the rest of this post has a lot of FYI’s about my life with some rambling, but I’ve included some lessons learned I hope that you can take to heart.  It’s not as philosophical as it could be, LOL!

To update you guys, I have recently finished an intensive training course to become certified to teach foreign learners English.  This is why I mentioned I’ll be traveling abroad a couple months ago.  I’ve since moved back home to live with my parents and began guest teaching at my local school district for supplemental income while applying to various teaching positions in China and South Korea; one of which will accommodate me for the next year beginning in February.

I’ve decided in favor of my pessimistic mind to not teach in Thailand or Vietnam.  Tensions seem to be rising in Thailand and the healthcare system is less than satisfactory to American and English standards in Vietnam. Almost certainly I’m not going to need to go to the hospital, but living with the parents has its negative side effects to accompany its many benefits and that is you sometimes cornered and forced to listen a little to advice given, whether it’s good OR bad, regardless of what your adventurous soul wants to do.  Either way, subconsciously I let it early on influence some of my decisions, no doubt.

It’s important for me now to begin cutting because when I got home, I put on weight fast and hit 180lbs from 173lbs within 3 weeks.  I’ve maintained between 180-183 for the last month and told myself I’d cut once I’ve hit 185, which I have.  My lifts are up and I’m deadlifting more than I ever have.  I’m hammer curling more than I ever have, however other lifts are lacking. Form is key which is a critical factor in gaining size and strength especially for isolation movements such as calf raises, where I’m struggling to fine tune the aspects of consistency, range of motion and constant tension.

However, I’m beginning to ingrain in my own mind that doubt is the reason why I have struggled and has prevented me from my goals 100%.  So as long as I keep my head clear, and goals clearly defined, nothing will stand in my way. I’ve spent the last month having to instruct my parents the importance of self-knowledge and making my own mistakes and learning from them 100% at this stage in my life (late 20s) and that it’s no longer required of them to treat me like a child.  It has been a constant and exhaustive battle for everyone and I have made some compromises since living with them.  It was a factor of influencing an unbalanced perception of life where I let doubt in and it seemed to be defeating the optimist in me stronger than it ever has before, but it’s important to remember that an unhealthy weight of doubt is what keeps us stagnant and not achieving excellence.  We are much stronger than we give ourselves credit for.  I’ve taken certain measures already to ensure my cut is successful.  It’s going to be the hardest cut ever, but I’m going to learn a lot.

I believe I’ll be in the state of mind of constant progress for at least a short period of time on this cut.  I have a lot of thinking to do about my body building goals for the long term and other goals I want to accomplish with-in the next 10 years that will define a path of righteousness for my life with the certainty of influencing and leading others on a similar path.

Hey everyone!  I am now working out every single day.  I’m not eating enough but whatever, I got my record best deadlift.  185 lbs. for 20 reps and this wasn’t failure.  Next time I max or think I’ll max I’ll get a video!

I’ve been eating mostly almonds, cashews, shrimp, fish, chicken, veggies and sweet potatoes!  I’m considering slowly switching over to a ketogenic diet.  For now, I’m going to focus on eating quality, counting calories and gaining strength.

Some may be thinking, why switch to everyday workout and not stick with High Instensity?  High Intensity Training requires exceptional self-control and I unfortunately sabotaged myself by thinking like a victim for the past year.  I didn’t enjoy my time in the gym and I took my new found mental awareness for granted.  Fuck, man.  But might as well have done it from the beginning consciously.  Now, I can do it all on my own which is the hardest path anyone can take.  Until I learn how to not take things for granted this is the only way.  Hahaha.

Mike Mentzer

EXERCISING YOUR WILL-Simply manipulating the variables cited above isn’t the whole picture as far as increasing intensity goes; there also exists a very strong mental barrier to inducing greater and greater muscular contractions—and with good reason: A very large and strong muscle contracting with maximum intensity places much greater demands on the body’s recuperative subsystems than does a smaller, weaker one. Because these demands upon the body’s resources are potentially life threatening, your mind as well as your body will do everything possible to prevent such taxing high-intensity exertion. Lassitude, anxiety, and even a preference for low-intensity workouts are manifestations of the mind’s disinclination to engage the body in such maximal efforts. Therefore, as your muscles get stronger and stronger, you must exercise your will to get stronger apace. Having been successful in my efforts to become both muscularly massive and very strong, I can assure you that the principle of intensity refers almost exclusively to the human will and the ability to command your muscles to contract against the only real resistance—your own mind.