So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:18 am

I don't have a favorite really. I just use the same online sources as everyone else does. My biggest concern is the recipes must be low in salt and sugar, low in fat and preferably low in protein and must not use any expensive, exotic, hard to find ingredients. I do try to use as little salt as I can get away with and definitely stay under the 1500 mg sodium per day recommendation. On the sugar side however, I play kind of loose with that for a couple reasons. I already get more than adequate amounts of nutrition, I'm not worried about my weight, its low protein, and even large amounts as used by Dr Kempner, in his rice diet did not appear to be detrimental to his very sick patients and of course, Dr McDougall isn't as well too worried about it. Now that doesnt mean I use a ton of sugar on everything. I bet I still use way less than most on the McDougall program and I stay well within Jeff's guidelines, I just am not as concerned over it as most people are. Sugar in and of itself is not the great evilness most make of it.
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:40 pm

11/5/2019

B: oatmeal and orange
L: rice and veggies with salsa and apple
D: 2 x bake potatoes

Not too hun gry, but definitely feeling the DOMS from yesterdays workout, Though its not as bad as I expected it to be. Didn't sleep as well as I had hoped, but did get in a nap this afternoon that helped a lot.

So lets talk my exercise routine. I believe at least 3 things are needed for physical health:

1. Strength
2. Cardiovascular improvements
3. Flexibility

All within the context of movement/activity as a part of a healthy lifestyle.

So for strength, again within the context of my exercise mandate, SEE - Safety, Effectiveness, Efficiency I have chosen to do the following:

1. Weight training - I believe that is the most efficient and effective method for gaining strength. And if done properly can be quite safe.

Now lets understand that of the 3 points of my SEE mandate, there is no perfection. There will be times when you need to trade or balance one factor against another. Compromises may need to be made. However, I never make compromises in Safety. If something is not safe then I simply don't do it. There is always a risk/reward ratio in anything you do, but I won't compromise on safety. So if I do make compromises its between effectivess and efficiency of exercise.

So for weight training I choose to use compound exercises (i.e., those exercises that make use of multi-joint movements). This is because these are the most efficient to do in order to get a full body workout in the least amount of time. Many think that compound exercises give you a more effective/better workout, but thats not really true. It does work more muscles at one time per exercise. But single joint exercise actually can provide more directed and effective exercise at any particular muscle group. Given my time availability, age, energy levels, etc... I choose to trade off a little more effectiveness for greater efficiency. Thus, I will focus on compound exercises over single joint exercises.

Also, my goal in strength training is to get stronger. Now many people think that getting stronger and building muscles is two different things and require two different methods of training. Thats just not true. You can do the same exercises to get stronger and get a better body shape. What people often dont understand is specificity of exercise. Basically, if you want to get stronger for a weight lifting competition then you need to get stronger overall, but you also need to do specific exercises that will help you perform that one max lift competitive lift you are trying to maximise. If you want to gain overall strength, then you do an overall strength training program, not one targeted to a specific competitive lift.

Now some will say you need to use this program to get stronger and that program to get bigger muscles. Thats wrong as well. The entire process of getting stronger overall will also grow all your muscles overall. However, how much they grow, is entirely based on your genetics (everything else being equal), not on which strength training exercise you do. Thats the dirty little secret of bodybuilding. You can always get stronger and build your muscles bigger, but only a few will have that rare genetic potential to be an Arnold Schwartzenegger. And another point about those that are genetically gifted...it doesn't matter what weight training exercise routine they use, they will always be bigger than the average person. They could lift barbells or use machines or lift rocks or tree trunks, it doesn't matter, their genetic potential will get them bigger far more than the rest of us.

But none of that is important. What is important is simply getting stronger. Focus on overall, balanced strength, throughout your overall musculo-skeketal system. That will bring you far more health advantages then trying to focus on bigger biceps or a max lift bench press. And yes, you will get bigger, shaplier, muscles (to the limits of genetic potential).

Thats enough for now...
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby petersk » Wed Nov 06, 2019 3:20 am

Have not visited this website for a while and was delighted to find that you have restarted a new journal! Great news - made my day!!

When in doubt or in need of a boost, I often re-read your past journals and posts - always insightful and inspiring. Look forward to your new journal!!!
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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby VeggieSue » Wed Nov 06, 2019 4:13 am

Lyndzie wrote:Do either of you have a BBQ sauce recipe that you’d recommend?


Jeannine Elder, author of the Potato Reset, has posted this one a few times. Sorry, but I haven't tried it myself so can't vouch for its flavor.

BBQ Sauce
¾ cup tomato paste (5.5 fl oz / 156 mL)
½ cup water
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp maple or date syrup (optional)
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp liquid smoke
1 tbsp mustard
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp smoked paprika

Stir until smooth.



The same goes for this one, written by a follower of Chef AJ's UWL program:

BBQ Sauce

Recipe by Shayda Soleymani

Ingredients

1 six-ounce can of tomato paste
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup date paste (page 65 in Unprocessed)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp stone ground mustard (salt-free)
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 to 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chipotle power
1/2 tsp "smoked" paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
A little liquid smoke (optional)

Preparation

Blend everything in a high-speed blender


And as for date paste itself:

Date Paste
© Chef AJ

Make sure you always have some on hand to create a healthy dessert in no time.

One pound of pitted dates
One cup of liquid (water, unsweetened non-dairy milk, unsweetened juice)

Soak dates in liquid overnight or for several hours until much of the liquid is absorbed.
In food processor fitted with the “S” blade, process dates and liquid until completely smooth.
Store date paste in the refrigerator.
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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby JeffN » Wed Nov 06, 2019 7:01 am

VeggieSue wrote: I use recipes from the Esselstyns ... so SOS free, when I make them, but hubby fell in love with Sriracha and Bone Sucking Sauce when he saw they were Esselstyn-approved.


Just for the record, the Esselstyn's do not recommend a SOS free diet. As Ann and Dr Esselstyn said to me this morning, "if that was true, it would invalidate all our previous recipes. We recommend "minimal" salt and sugar."

VeggieSue wrote: And as for date paste itself:.


Just as an FYI, date paste & date syrup are considered a concentrated sugar (even if home made). It’s virtually as concentrated in calories and sugar as maple syrup and the same concerns & limits apply. While often promoted for its nutrient content, the amount of these nutrients is negligible when used according to our recommendations and the fiber has been highly disrupted by the processing (yes, it is processed).

Date syrup/paste (Date Lady)
1 tbsp (20 gm)
Calories 54
Sugar 13 gm
Calorie Density 1200
Sugar density 295

Date syrup/paste (according to above recipe using water)
1 tbsp (~20 gm)
Calories ~55
Sugar ~14 gm
Calorie Density 1257
Sugar density 301

Maple syrup
1 tbsp (20 gm)
Calories 51
Sugar 12 gm
Calorie Density 1180
Sugar Density 275

Use it if you want but don't think it isn't a concentrated sugar or any better.

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:02 pm

11/6/2019

B: oatmeal and banana
L: rice and veggies with sala and an apple
D: rice with chili beans and veggies and an orange

E: squats, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, bentover rows, chin ups, dips

Wow DOMS has really set in. I was quite sore today as expected. When I was younger, getting through DOMS was usually a matter of a week or so of soreness. But at my age I think it may take a bit longer, so I wouldn't be surprised if 2 weeks will be needed. There's not really a lot you can do beyond having a great diet and letting your body adjust and compensate for its new level of activity. If the soreness is too bad, a simple NSAID can take the edge off till the DOMS naturally goes away. What you don't want to do is stop your exercise program. So my recommendation is to contiue working out for the next couple weeks, stretch some to keep limber, and just keep moving. Analgesics, if really needed, should be used sparingly. Personally, when I'm very sore, I'll just take an Naproxen Sodium tablet once a day to take the soreness edge away and I'm good. Just understand that DOMS soreness is NOT the same as sharp pains from say pulled/torn muscles/ligament/tendons etc... For those, definitely stop working out and see your Doctor immediately!

I wanted to write more about my current workout routine but I'm really pressed for time right now so I'll leave it for my next post.

BTW thank you to everyone for your posts and questions, keep them coming! And nice to see you post here as well Jeff :nod:
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:49 am

11/7/2019

B: oatmeal and banana
L: rice and potatoes and veggies and apple
D: rice and beans and veggies and orange

DOMS is still making me sore but felt better today. Didn't need an NSAID.

Q: Whats my workout like?

A: So I believe Compound lifts are the best for me in my resistance training do to there effectiveness and efficiency. But what compound exercises are the best of the best? Most would say what is commonly refered to as the "Big 5":

1. Squats - For legs
2. Deadlifts - For back
3. Bench press as a sub for this you could also do Dips - For chest
4. Overhead (military) Press - For shoulders
5. Bent-over rows as a sub for this you could also do Chin Ups - For upper back, Lats ( Lattisimus Dorsi)

These 5 exercises provide a complete full body workout of all the major muscle groups in and of themselves. And I generally do them in the order provided, i.e., generally from largest muscles to smallest. This is not a requirement but since your strongest in the beginning of your workout its best to workout those muscle groups that are largest and strongest first. Notice there is no direct exercise for upper/lower arms or wrists/hands or abdominals/hips. Thats because you already get so much stimulus from the other exercises that you don't need any more for those particular muscle groups (at least that's the theory and in practice it does work pretty well). However should you find your weaker in one body part over another, you can try a single- joint movement to more directly work a particular muscle, but thats a topic for another day.

Tomorrow, I will write more on my particular routine, how I do it and how I manage my progress. I think you may be surprised at the simplicity of it all :-)
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Sat Nov 09, 2019 1:02 am

11/8/2019

B: Nothing
L: Rice and veggies and BBQ sauce and banana
D: Rice and beans and veggies and apple
S: Orange

Wasn't hungry for breakfast so skipped it.

E: Deadlift, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Bentover Rows and Squats

One week of workouts done...51 more to go :-) Still DOMS sore but its getting better. A bit tired today. Did a little less today as I've decided to change my schedule from being M-W-F to Sun-Tues-Thurs. So I won't get 2 days off this week. Working the new schedule means I only have to work out on one workday. This gives me more time to get things done as my work schedule has moved up an hour for the holiday season. I have a strange work schedule in that I work Wed thru Sat Evenings (10 hr shifts). Only having to exercise on one work day a week makes a big difference for me and hopefully I will be less tired on my work days.

Q: So what is my strength routine like?

A: Simple answer is it is a high intensity routine comprised of one set of 5-7 exercises taken to momentary muscular failure (MMF).

Q: Can you be more specific?

A: Sure! I use a relatively low starting weight. Generally somewhere around 50% of what I think I can lift in any particular exercise. I don't limit reps. Rather, I lift the weight as many times as I can, with perfect form, in a slow controlled manner without stopping on the top or bottom of the lifts. A rep is usually done 2 secs up and 4 secs down or 3 up/3 down. It doesn't really make too much difference, as long as you are moving smoothly and not jerking/swaying/explosively lifting or dropping the weight. You do not want to involve momentum in your lifts. So a rep takes about 6 secs. Now I do as many reps as needed till I can't lift the weight anymore (or I think I can't) and on the last rep I will do a very slow 30 sec or so lowering of the weight, i.e., I accentuate the eccentric motion on the very last rep. I try to make a set last about 2 mins.

Q: How do you know when to progressively increase the weights?

A: When I can do more than 15 reps (or about 90 secs of lifting + 30 sec of the last rep eccentric lowering, i.e., ~ 2 mins) then I will increase the weights on the next workout. I try to add no more than 5% extra weight for the next workout.

Q: How do you track all this info?

A: I don't! I neither keep a notebook or log the weights and such that I use. Its not necessary at all. I have a separate barbell or dumbbells for each exercise I do. The first workout I set them all up with the weights I want to start with. When I do an exercise, if I have exceeded those 15 reps then I know I will need to increase the weights the next workout. Rather than writing this all down or trying to remember it. I simply add the extra weight I will be using immediately after I have done the set and am resting before the next exercise. Now that exercise is ready for the next workout...nothing to remember or write down and no time wasted setting things up on your next workout. So I don't need to know what weights I need to use or keep track of. Its already on the bar and ready for the next workout. If I really want to know the numbers I can just look at the bar and count the weights. Simple! And remember the whole purpose of this resistance training is to get progressively stronger, not to lift some maximum weight for some record. So the actual numbers don't matter! The only thing that is important is that you progressively keep getting stronger.

Q: So why do you do that extra 30 sec lowering of the weight on the last rep?

A: Thats the key to the High intensity workout! Most people simply cant workout at a high enough intensity level. Why? Because its hard, its tiring and lactic acid buildup (that burning sensation) in your muscles hurt. Your mind rebels against the pain and tells you you've had enough before you really have. Thats why many people recommend partners and trainers. They help drive you and motivate you to work harder and reach your potential. Left to our own devices we simply can't do it ourselves continuously with out some added push. But what do you do when you don't have a partner or trainer to push you and you want to reach that momentary muscular failure point on your own? The simple way is to do as many reps as you think you can and on the last rep, lower the weight very slowly for 30 secs or so. This will completely exhaust your muscle (in a safe way, since your lowering it) and will guarantee that you have reached MMF...all without any help. After the 30 second lowering you will be amazed at how week you feel and no matter how hard you try you won't be able to lift the weight anymore...you have reached true momentary muscular failure (at least as it pertains to the particular weight you are using). Why this works is because you are actually significantly stronger on the lowering portion (eccentric) part of an exercise than the lifting (concentric) portion. Lowering a weight just doesn't feel as hard as raising it, but its very effective to increasing strength. In fact, some say that doing nothing but eccentric lifts can be more effective than lifting of the weights. The major downfall to eccentrics however is that they are brutally hard on your muscles and your recuperability may be taxed to the limit.

OK enough for now...
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:36 pm

11/9/2019

B: Oatmeal with cinnamon and sugar
L: Rice and veggies with BBQ sauce and a banana
D: Rice and chili beans and veggies and an apple
S: Orange

Feeling better and more energy today. DOMS is still here but at a reduced level so all is going good. BTW I didn't mention it but I have also increased the weights on 3 of the 5 exercises I do and the other 2 I'm getting more reps in...so things are looking good and progress is being made.

Q: So why HIT (High Intensity Training) style training?

A: I've tried a lot of different styles over the years, from Low Rep/High Load to High Rep/Low load and everything in between and even the standard go to method: 3 sets of 10 reps for 10-12 exercises. And guess what? They ALL work for a time, but they all have their issues. I'm not a gym rat and have no intention of living in one and I'm also quite risk averse so I don't take chances on hurting myself. What I have found and believe in is HIT style resistance training. I find it to be the most effective protocol...it will get you stronger, quicker and let you reach your genetic potential faster than any other method I've tried or know of. Its also the most time efficient method for working out...30 mins or less, 3 times a week or less. Its also the safest method IMHO. Why? Because it demands utmost control of the load and a slow/controlled/deliberate practice of lifting weights without the use of highly dynamic/explosive movements that use momentum instead of your muscles to lift a weight. It also does not require heavy weights. You can use significantly lighter weights and achieve your goals. Some studies have shown even as little as 30% of your maximum is perfectly usable, though I prefer more around 50%.

That all sounds nice, but it can be very brutal and taxing and taxing as well. Which is why many won't consider it...it requires hard work and many are averse to that, even if it is brief.

Q: So whats this Intensity stuff all about? Well it refers to intensity of effort...many think that means lifting heavy and lifting for hours on end and confuse the term intensity with those properties. But intensity in HIT refers only to the amount of effort expended at one time. For instance, many people would say that running a marathon is high intensity, after all it takes hours to finish and your exhausted by the time your done, so you've worked extremely hard, right?. However, that's an example of a low intensity exercise. Low intensity because your basically pacing yourself the entire run. Your level of effort at any moment is relatively low. On the other hand running the 100M sprint is a very high intensity activity. It requires you to go all out throughout the brief race. There is no pacing or slowing down. Its all out effort for 10 seconds or so. At the end, they have little energy left and are completely but briefly exhausted, for a moment.

In HIT that's what we try to achieve...Momentary Muscular Failure (MMF). I.e., we want to get to the point were we can't make another rep no matter how hard we try...we fail for a moment. We've momentarily exhausted our level of strength. We've pushed our muscles to the limit, briefly, momentarily. Why is that so important? Because that's how the body grows stronger. The body reacts to unexpected stress by over compensation. It forces itself to grow more so that it won't be surprised by the next time it sees that stress and won't have to use a lot of extra energy to keep itself going.

You see the body is smart and efficient. Its sole purpose is to keep itself alive for as long as it can. But it needs energy to do that. A continuous source of energy everyday. But it also knows that that energy source may not be so reliable and thus has learned to compensate for that by trying to be as efficient in its energy usage as possible. Its doesn't want to waste one calorie needlessly. It uses a variety of compensation mechanisms to ensure that it keeps its limited energy resource usage as efficient as possible. Some compensation mechanisms are things like storing excess energy as fat. Creating an immune system to help efficiently fight off disease. And of course what we are trying to do...get stronger...it compensates for that stress by things such as increasing neuro-muscular efficiencies, increases in mitochondria (energy creators), and what we are interested in...growing muscular tissue amongst a whole host of other mechanisms. So you see, the body strives very hard to not have to be energy inefficient. And when it gets stressed it tries to reduce that stress through compensation mechanisms which will then allow it to be better prepared the next time it sees that stress and be much more energy efficient in dealing with it. This is also why you lose muscles when you don't use them. Bigger muscles use more energy, but if your not using those muscles, then over time your body will reduce your muscle size so it can reclaim all that extra energy it doesn't need to expend. Its all brilliant really...our creator, (whomever you believe that is), really did their homework. I've really simplified all this as we dn't really need to delve into the details, we just need a rudimentary understanding of whats going on... a 20,000 ft view.

So now we know why muscles grow, but what stress/stimulus does the body need to make it overcompensate for that stressor. That answer is not really known. I believe the answer is in Momentary Muscular Failure. That level of stressor seems to be the best suited for ideal muscular growth and strength gains. You can always get stronger without muscle growth (through neurological efficiencies, leveraging body movements, etc... but to grow muscles you MUST get stronger. MMF seems to be just the right amount of stress to cause the muscular growth overcompensation mechanism to kick in and with proper nutrition and rest...your muscles WILL grow and should grow at their optimal rate given your genetic potential. And MMF is easy to measure and achieve...you just keep lifting until you can't do another rep. Think about it, if I told you the best stressor was to lift until you can stop 2 reps before your last how would you measure that while your lifting? You can't with any accuracy. But lifting to MMF is simple and easy to measure and quantify.

But not everything is so rosy with HIT or any other method you might use...we will continue tomorrow...
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:08 pm

11/10/2019

B: Oatmeal and banana
L: Rice and veggies with salsa and apple
D: rice and potatoes and veggies with a touch of salt (Our dog ate half my plate...she loves rice and potatoes and veggies)
S: whole wheat sphagetti and marinara sauce. and banana

Ate more than usual as I felt hungry and the dog ate my dinner... for real :-) My daughter feeds Karen a raw meat diet during the day and I suppliment that with an MWL style menu :nod:

E: Deadlift, bench press, overhead press, bentover rows, squats

Felt good during my exercises but afterward ward felt tired throughout the day and a bit hungry. I continue to progress on each exercise either by adding reps or weight. DOMS is still present but at a much lower level than last week. So thats good. I think I will finish off this week and then next week add in some stretching and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).

Q: WHat do you mean everything is not so rosy with HIT style exercise?

A: The problem with any method of exercise is your capacity of the body to recuperate from the stress and then overcompensate by building a stronger body. In terms of weight lifting the average male has the capacity to build their strength, over time, 200-300%. However, the body ability to recover from that exercise, over time, only increases about 40%. So as your getting stronger, your body is also increasing its recuperative powers, but at a uch significant lesser rate. Thus at some point you will stress your body more than its capacity to recuperate and build your body stronger. Theres only one way really to overcome this and that is simply to rest more. Instead of working out every other day so your completely resting one day between workouts, as you get stronger you will need to increase the rest time to maybe 2 days between workouts. This is a very important point as its the leading cause of over-training and not making any gains and wanting to quit. It can be a very fine line between optimal level of stress to make optimal gains and a corresponding amount of time for recovery depending on your recuperability. I know most people think just the oppisite...that as you get stronger you will need even more exercise to improve. But in reality this is the path to quickly over-training and actually losing strength and muscular gains and potentially hurting yourself.

So what role does HIT play in all this. The problem with HIT is that it can be so Stressful that it can easily outstrip your bodies recuperability powers. You musr be constantly aware of your progress (stress level) and tiredness levels to ensure that you are giving yourself adequate rest to give your body plenty of time to recuperate and overcompensate.

So the whole process looks like this: Stress the body (exercise) -> rest -> body recuperates -> body overcompensate (to get stronger), then repeat.. The stronger you get and the higher the level of stress you impose on the body, the more rest you need...the body only grows when its resting, not when its exercising...Exercise is the stimulus to create the overcompensation growth process for the body to protect itself and keep itself as efficient as possible. Rest is when the growth process happens. Not enough rest and you don't grow, too much rest and you don't grow as much...its a delicate balance, but not difficult to achieve, to have the proper level of stress (exercise) and the proper level of rest to recuperate and grow (overcompensate). HIT can make that a bit more difficult to balance. So you must be more aware of your body when using HIT.

Hopefully that makes sense...
geo

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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:54 am

11/11/2019

B: Oatmeal with sugar and banana
L: Rice and veggies with BBQ sauce
D: Mashed Potatoes and corn and veggies
S: Qatmeal with a touch of maple syrup

E: none

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... We got a good 8" or more all day and night. Had to go out 4 times to clean it all off so I got hungry and tired. Though it was fun watching Karen trying to figure out what to do with all the white stuff...evidently burying your head in it and eating it seemed like a good idea to her :-)

Too tired to think about writing much else right now...I love this time of the season...
geo

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Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:36 pm

11/12/219

B: Oatmeal with sugar
L: Rice and beans with veggies and a banana
D: Whole Wheat pancakes with maple syrup

E: Deadlift, bench Press, Overhead press, Bentover Row, Sqauts

Yep, I ate something that was not MWL. But still McD compliant and I enjoyed it. I was hungry again today. It was a treat that I haven't had in a long time...and now that I have it will probably be a long time before I do again. Thats how it is with me. I don't fear my food, I just understand why I eat it and why its an infrequent treat.

My exercise today was hard. I didn't realize how much I took out of myself yesterday when I spent about 3 hours moving really wet and heavy snow. I progressed on only one exercise today - bench press. All the other exercises I did poorly on, because they all dealt with my back and thats what I used most yesterday. So I'm not surprised. The workout was still good and left me pretty tired and hungry...thus the pancakes :-)

I'll write more tomorrow...I think I will go to bed early...
geo

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Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Wed Nov 13, 2019 11:56 pm

11/13/2019

B: Oatmeal and raisins
L: Rice and corn and veggies and BBQ sauce
D: Rice and beans and corn and veggies and an orange
S: Apple

E: none

Felt pretty good today. Not as tired as yesterday, though I also took a nap :-) Wasn't so hungry today but ate well.

Q: If the body requires a stimulus (stress) to overcompensate and grow its strength/muscles, how do you know how much stimulus is needed for optimal growth?

A: That's the $64,000 question. No one knows for sure. However, a hundred+ years of traditional strength training and modern technology can give us useful clues. The standard strength training routine is often stated as 10 exercises done for 3 sets of 8-10 reps each starting with a weight that is approx 70-80 % of your max lift in an exercise. So if you can lift 100 lbs over your head, then you should start with 70-80 lbs to do about 10 reps. This gives us a pretty good base line known to make you stronger over time as long as you progressively increase the reps or weight over time. It works, but is it optimal?

Those that follow HIT principles say no. Those that Body-build say no, and those that power-lift or Olympic weight-lift say no. I know sounds contradictory. HIT folks say you need high intensity but few sets and less volume. Bodybuilders say you need moderate weights but more exercises, more sets, and more volume. Power/Olympic lifters say you need heavy weights fewer reps, fewer exercises but 5+ sets. No one can agree, yet all generally succeed at one thing, getting stronger and those that need to do specific exercises for their sport (specificity of exercise) generally do better in those areas...though some will say that's because thy are genetically predisposed to be better at some things and they will then tend to gravitate towards those specific sports. I.e., if you tend to be strong, you will tend to gravitate towards power/Olympic lifting, if you naturally seem to have large muscles you will tend to gravitate towards bodybuilding, etc...

So none of this really answers the question, whats best to optimally stimulate muscle to grow and get stronger...which is why we are here right?

I personally believe in HIT. I think its been shown scientifically that intensity of effort is the key to obtaining optimal stimulus for strength increases both effectively and efficiently. But how much intensity? There's really no good way to measure intensity while your exercising. So in HIT what we do is exercise till momentary muscular failure. That way we assure ourselves that we are exercising intensely enough to stimulate growth. We don't limit reps, we don't try to stick to a particular weight and we don't generally go beyond one set per exercise. Its low volume for sure, but you are going to momentary muscular failure during the set which is a very hard thing to do. That seems to be enough for most people to stimulate strength gains are a very good level. The only other thing you need to do is...rest. Remember you don't grow during exercise...you stimulate during exercise...you grow only during rest...don't get adequate rest and you won't grow and may even decline...get too much rest and you will still grow but more slowly as you won't be providing an optimal stimulus.

So with HIT, its all about getting in there and working your butt off hard, but briefly, then rest sufficiently, then rinse, repeat. No long hours at the gym doing set after set after set of exercise and no need to try to lift the heaviest weights possible. We stimulate growth via intensity of effort and your body can only recuperate properly if that intensity is high and done briefly to MMF and then allowed to rest (recuperate) and then overcompensate.

Hopefully, I havent glazed everybodies eyes over... :nod:
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
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Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Fri Nov 15, 2019 12:55 am

11/14/2019

B: oatmeal and cinnamon
L: potatoes O'Brian (aka hash browns with onions and green peppers) and veggies and a touch of salt.
D: rice and chili beans and veggies and apple
S: orange

E: dead lift, bench press, ovrehead lift, bentover rows, squats

Really good day today. Felt strong and managed to increase weights and/or reps in all my exercises to day. Also DOMS, now appears to be over. I'm no longer sore. Its funny how DOMS just seems to magically go away. One day your sore as all heck and the next your not. Every-time I've ever restarted an exercise program after a long layoff, DOMS effected me severely. When I was in my twenties, DOMS would last about a week. As I got older and restarted exercising several times, DOMS would last a little longer...maybe 9-10 days...So now at 62.5 DOMS lasted for 2 full weeks just as I expected. Yet another reason why its harder to get older folks started into an exercise program...the soreness can be too much for many. But persevere and you will be rewarded. During those 2 weeks of break-in, I had to take 1 Aleve (Naproxen Sodium) on 4 separate days to reduce the soreness. That's not bad at all. So now that I'm broken in I'll start adding in some flexibility training for maybe a week or two and then add in some cardio work to round out the program. At my age I think it makes more sense to go slowly then try to do everything at once in the beginning. So right now I'm really happy with how things are going. After 2 weeks, I am definitely stronger and improving consistently.

So tomorrow I'll talk a bit more about the equipment I use for my resistance training. Then the day after start talking about my flexibility program...
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
geo
 
Posts: 2445
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:53 am

Re: So What Now? 2019 - Geo

Postby geo » Fri Nov 15, 2019 11:59 pm

11/15/2019

B: oatmeal with cinnamon
L: hash bowns and veggies and orange
D: rice and veggies with salsa and an apple

E: none

Feeling good today. Slept really poorly last night and got up after only 3 hours of sleep. Sinus issues and nose runny. Maybe be getting a cold bug. Stayed up a couple hours for my head to clear, then went back to bed and got another 3 hours or so of sleep that was better. Otherwise I felt good today. No muscle soreness at all or muscle tiredness.

Q: What do you do for warmups, prior to your exercises.

A: Nothing. Warmups are simply not needed. Muscles work at any time and are kept at the bodies natural temperature...98.6 degrees...they don't need to be warmed up to be used...if that was the case...then how would you get out of bed in the morning? I mean you just spent 8 hours sleeping and letting your muscles get "cold"...if they need to be warmed up before you use them how do you do that from bed? No, the whole idea of "warming" up muscles before you use them is simply ridiculous.

And if you really did need to warm them up a bit the simple act of walking to your exercise room or basement or whatever would more than warm them up. And if that wasn't enough, the first few reps of any resistance exercise are just warm ups. There is absolutely no reason to warm up prior to exercise...that simply just wastes precious energy and muscular strength that won't be put to good use to get stronger.

Now I hear some of you shouting but don't you need to be flexible before you exercise? Well sure but a little flexibility is not a warm up, its just stretching and loosening up your muscles...which point in fact aren't strictly necessary either as again the first few reps of your exercises, if you are doing them properly, will stretch your muscles more than adequately as well.

Now if what you are trying to say is...so I can just go out and immediately pick up the heaviest weight I can do and lift it over my head without any warm up? Well that's not the point really is it? No one is telling you to go do that... and its not a way I would recommend at all to exercise. Single lift max's are IMHO not safe and should not be done without a specific context and extensive training to do them...such as you are an amateur or professional weightlifter practicing for a competition or in a competition...and even then those types of movements with heavy weights are still not safe at their core.

After saying all that, your still not convinced you don't need warm ups...fine... then do 10 sit-ups, 10 pushups, and 10 squats and call it a day...3 mins max...there you go, a quick simple warm up for your legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms and core... but again it ain't necessary :-)
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
geo
 
Posts: 2445
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:53 am

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