Well, it’s 2018 and Squatober has kicked off once again.  A big THANK YOU to the Maine Man Tony Robinson (see what I did there) for inviting me to this year’s festivities.

It already sucks.

Kidding…this is going to be great.

Short story long:  Myself and the other folks around the world who are participating will be squatting just about every day in October, with a PR party scheduled for Halloween.  The workouts change daily, and there is a good mix of upper body and short accessory work to keep it interesting.

But here’s the thing:  We will be squatting just about every day.  I said that already right?  I am not huge squatter; never really have been.  I’ve been chasing a 600+ squat for years, and every time I got close (ish) something would happen…blown out knee, herniated discs, tummy ache.  Something.  Eight knee surgeries later here I am…back under the bar and ready to do the thing.  Squatting every day is as much a test of one’s determination as it is their legs…it’s not like 500 pounds is going to feel lighter tomorrow than it did today.

I fully intend to hit a 600 pound squat this Halloween.  I’ll have a belt on and wraps.  Not going to be the guy who claims a 600 pound squat with no vid, so there will be film.  I’ll either rack it or bonk.

I am going to include screenshots from penandpaperstrengthapp, the architects of this madness, with each post…then you’ll know just what we signed up for.

Here we go!

 

What a month!  I fully intended to blog early and often about my experience with the Carnivore Diet…just didn’t happen.  I have been so slammed here at work and my other projects that this completely went off the rails.

I stuck to the diet though, and man oh man am I stoked to keep at it!

Long story short, I ate red meat, chicken, pork, and an unconscionable amount of dry beef jerky.  I paired this with water and sparkling/bubble water except for one time when I grabbed a flavored sparkling water instead of the other kind.  Wasn’t going to waste it, but that was my only real goof.

Plenty of sleep.

And ALL THE TRAINING.  Anyone who knows me knows I kill it in the gym.  Kill it dead.  Kill it with fire.  That’s never going to change.

So, the final final:  Down 10 pounds.  My joints are less inflamed…at least they do not feel as awful as they normally do.  And this my Friends was the whole point of giving Carnivore a run…I am not overly concerned with the numbers on the scale.  As long as my Doctors say my BP is good, my heart is healthy, and I am in the green across the board then my weight is what it is.  As a Highland Games Athlete, I was always most comfortable and fastest at 280-285 pounds; I did cut to 253 once for a Games.  What a mistake that was…even my cramps cramped.

I will be doing the Carnivore thing again this month and will tighten it up even more.  Adding in the 75 Hundo workouts from Train Aggressive and Squatober I will either hit November 1 as a freaking god among men or I will be DRT.

Follow along for my DAILY Squatober posts.  For real for real.

Kept the food the same as yesterday, almost to the gram.  What are the chances?  Added my PWO (Transparent Labs LEAN) back in and had a HELLA GOOD lift.

Adding fasted cardio back into the mix as well.

So far all positives…minus one thing:  My wheels have yet to recover from lifting the other day.  This is a problem with deadlifts looming Friday!!!

I do not intend to break diet protocol, and am researching whether or not adding ZMA back into my pre-bed routine will help or will just throw off what I am trying to accomplish.  More on that in the coming weeks.

Between the diet, return to the stacks, and the fasted cardio, the weight loss has been real.  I am down 4 pounds.  I feel “lighter,” if you know what I’m driving at.  No real noticeable change in body composition, but I definitely do not feel as bloated as I used to…interesting.

I have a few posts to catch up on, so stick around!  Drop me a line if you want to talk training!!!

I ate everything today.  All the things.  Just under two pounds of ground 80/20 and two ribeyes.

Calorie/Fat/Protein Breakdown in Grams (Best estimate after cooking):

Calories – 4780

Fat – 380

Protein – 310

Again, these are rough estimates; I usually eat my steaks medium-medium rare (like a grown-up) and I actually weighed the 80/20 after cooking.  Still on point.  Almost 2 gallons of water today…spring and seltzer water.

Workout today was INSANE.  It was my first lift back from a 2 week deload; my joints were bothering me so much I had to take a step back and rest.  One week wasn’t enough, so I took another.  In any case:

Leg Press – 10×15 @ 700

Bulgarian Split Squat – 6×10 (3 sets per leg) @ Bodyweight…so heavy

Seated Calf Raise (Why not?) – 3×10 @ 180

ALL THE ABS; Finished with 2 2:00 rounds of battle ropes.  These are the gym ropes, so heavy but short.  Not nearly as hard as the ones from The Ludus.

In any case, my headache is gone and I’ve managed to keep my 1100-1700 IF schedule.  It’s 1920 right now and I feel full.  I think I might have eaten a shade too much, and will probably take that down a peg, but steak is fun.  A few more glasses of water before bed.

Shoulders tomorrow.

A big shout out to my Friend and Client, Willie “Jörmungandr” H., who after three months of lifting and keeping the diet tight, has gone from 210 to 225 with almost 0% body fat increase.  Fifteen SOLID pounds.  No drugs.

Hard work works.

Time to do something different.  As many who’ve worked with me can attest, I track everything.  I measure everything.  I’ve been keeping my diet pretty tight for the past few months…getting older and dealing with chronic joint pain and inflammation is a real motivator…but I needed a change.  Hunting around the web I came across the “Carnivore Diet,” and thought “What the hell…why not?”  Drop a little weight, stay in mild ketosis for a month…after all meat has no carbs…and maybe alleviate some of the pain in my joints.  To that end, it was time to do some research, make a grocery list, clean out the fridge, and get to work.  The following daily blog posts will detail my experiences, positive and negative, so check them out; any questions, just drop me a line!

Day 1 in the books…two pounds of 80/20 ground beef, a ribeye steak, and 5 sticks of beef jerky.  So much water…well over a gallon.  Kinda felt like running to the head wa my job today.  Bought all the meat (steaks, pork tenderloin, chicken breasts, beef jerky, and ground beef 80/20) at Sam’s…wasn’t nearly as expensive as I thought it was going to be; was actually pretty close to my normal monthly food bill.

Gave up energy drinks for the month…Rockstars…I will miss you.

Calorie/Fat/Protein Breakdown in Grams (Best estimate after cooking):

Calories – 3816

Fat – 298

Protein – 271

Coupled this with IF from 1100-1700 hours…doing my best to make this “situation normal” for the month of September.

Deload from the gym is over as well; left the workout on my desk…will update tomorrow.