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Started Famine today, since I know what to expect I am really going to push hard to drive my body into a high stress state. Based on my current weight and level of exercise my maint calories are about 3300 for this phase i will eat 1500 calories and keep protein under 40gms a day.
I will follow the workout regimen and will be adding some higher level cardio.


Supps during Famine
Fish Oil 2x a day
Animal Flex
Lecithen

Age : 45
Wt : 254
BP 114/63 RHR 65
I will post up measurements tonight

Breakfast
1/2c Watermelon
1/2c Sweet Potato
7 Triscuits
2 Fish Oil Caps
3 Orange Triad
I will be dropping the Fish oil

Okay W/O
6.8Mph Jog 10 minutes
Squats super set with cable rows
225x8/225x8 for 3 sets
Curls on Olympic Bar 65x10x3 still tweaks the elbow a bit in set 1
Incline Curls 35x10

Standing DB Curls 35x10
time spent lifting 25 miniutes
Stairmaster 7 mins
Jacobs ladder 3 mins
Cals burned 705

Dinner
2.5 Cups Cabbage
1/2 Onion
1 TBS Olive Oil
2 Slices Oatmeal Bread

Macros
1443kcal
40g Fat
246g Carbs
33gm Fiber
33gm Protein

Hell Yeah Hank. Are you going for a recomp this time or continue the success you had in the last run?

I cant wait to famine again, Rob was so right about craving it. Im going to punish my body for how great of gains it made

Sova I am torn bud, I like being the "big" guy and really really enjoy the strength gains that come with the somewhat easy(for me) size gains, but I really want to get leaner and defined.

I want to use this BP to recomp, but my goal is a 300lb bench and if the experts think that I cant do one without the other then I will recomp next time

What is your max right now? I would say based on my recomp run, anything above 105% of 1RM would be pretty tough. I am not saying I did anything perfectly or scientifically but I think that the strength gain came second to fat loss. I would think that if I went for size and strength I would have done somewhere closer to 250-260 by the end of the loading pattern.

You should try eating maint or 110% on workout days and 70% on your off days. How many days of cardio do you normally incorporate into your 7 day plan? What type? How long do you perform it? What cardio type?

sovabrat wrote:What is your max right now?

You should try eating maint or 110% on workout days and 70% on your off days. How many days of cardio do you normally incorporate into your 7 day plan? What type? How long do you perform it? What cardio type?

Max 275Lbs

I slacked on cardio 1st run doing maybe 1 day a week of LISS, in the past I have done intervals, sprints, plyos, aerobics and boot camp.

My new plan each lifting day i will try and get 20 minutes of Intervals post w/o on non lifting days I will go 45-1hr in , mixing steady state and intervals using a combo of the StairMaster, Jacobs Ladder, elliptical and Dreadmill, Tuesdays , Thursdays at lunch I have a small group of peeps that I do old skewl calisthenics with I usually burn close to 1000 kcals an hour..plus if i ever build the sled. I am also comfortable doing 2 a days

That plan sounds on par with what I was doing. I did anywhere from 15-20 minutes of HIIT on bike, elliptical or stairs after workouts. This was usually contingent on how much time I had before I needed to leave. On my in between days I was doing anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes of LISS. Almost exclusively on the elliptical. I find that machine to make me less sore and its easy on my shins and knees.

I was doing anywhere from 4-6 days of cardio a week. Depending on your caloric intake this will still probably get you the strength gains you are looking for. If you dont keep up your cals though you will start to lose some muscle I fear. Its a slippery slope but if you track your intake on livestrong you will be able to tell pretty quickly. I was losing almost 2 lbs a week. If you are a bigger guy you could probably see 2-3 lbs or more. I know I had to lose some muscle to cut down, but I think it was negligible. I still increased in every lift I performed, especially weighted pullups. I went from barely doing 3-4 to 3x8x 5lbs dangling on a weight belt.

Choose a strategy and test it out. At the very least, if you lose 15-20 lbs and your bench only goes up to 285, you will be pretty ripped looking. I havent taken any pictures to compare yet but I cant imagine my muscles are much bigger, they are just much more defined because of the body fat%. That is always a plus for bathing suit season.

Edit: I would think about doing weighted ab work on inbetween days as well as 100 seated calf raises on days after your lower workouts.. its fun and makes your calves HUGE.

"Choose a strategy and test it out. At the very least, if you lose 15-20 lbs and your bench only goes up to 285, you will be pretty ripped looking".

Man this is no small accomplishment. I ALWAYS lose the upper body strength first, never the legs. Especially with that magnitude of weight loss. I have a few tricks up my sleeve though, as you well know

Rob I am all for being your guinea pig teach me tricks

I want to get get the measurements posted up before i start dropping lbs
I have also linked my original post in the 1st run, I gained some size that I really didn't expect

https://bodybuildingsupplements.com/phpB ... .php?t=266

Weight 254 was 253 March 15
Chest 49 inches / was 47 on March 15(measured underarms over nips)
thighs 29 were 27.5
calf's 17.25/17.5
waist by my pants 36 jeans/38 work pants
by the tape 41
And the arms on march 15, Flexed i was 16.5l 17R now flexed 17.25 and 17.5+

I gained inches and only gained 1lb of weight, I was surprised and happy, I will remeasure waist post dookie in the am..wow

That's excellent Hank! A true re-comp by every definition..

Sovabrat has some GREAT recommendations here insofar as cycling calories too. And as far as the experts are concerned....always question assumptions.

Provided the training is spot on, you can achieve that 300lb bench press. The answer is usually found in what you HAVEN'T recently tried.

Which loading pattern haven't you tried yet/in awhile? I'd look there first for some clues...

Wt 253.8
BP 104/60
RHR 63

No soreness from W/o yesterday

In your corner, Hank!

Blessed Stair stepper oh how I loathe you

40 Mins Cardio Sprints and Stair stepper flippin HR hit 183 lol I was panting like a dog

Breakfast
8 Oz Almond Milk
I cup Organic Frozen Berries
1/2 Oats
Banana
1 Spoon Lecithin
Coffee w cream and sugar

Lunch
Sweet potato 1 Small
Apple
Banana
7 Triscuits

Snack
3 Cups Mixed Greens
Yougurt Dressing

Masala Chai w Stevia

Dinner
Sautéed Cabbage with Onion, Zucchini and Garlic

Macros
1575 Cal
46gm fat
286g Carbs
46g Fiber
30G Protein

Burned 800 caloies

One thing about famine is I am sharp no mental dips during the day, quite nice

Great observation Hank. I've heard it time and time again... Famine ain't that bad the 2nd time around. Sounds like you're experiencing the same...

Are you using any energy supps?

Hey Rob I have been usining an energy sup Black Cats fro Applied Nutracuieticals, I like them quite a bit I dont get grumpy like when i use EC.

So far 2nd Famine is much easier to deal with because i know what to expect.. I am looking forward to engineering a clean feast, the idea of cutting is growing on me, I can always shoot for 300lbs if not this run then by Sep

Weight upon waking

251.3 (down 2.7)
didnt take BP or RHR

Famine Workout 2

5 minute run for warm up
Flat Bench 185x10x2
DB Press 50'sx10x2

Delcine Close Grip
205x10x2
DB Press 50x10x2

Wide Grip
135x10
DB Press 50x10

Tricep Extensions
80lb x10 x3
Rope Extensions 60x10x3

Jumped rope till i burned 500 cals total

Time in gym roughly 45 min