*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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So I've been doing the low-carb diet (following CKD, dropped my carbs from 200-250g/day to 5-6g/day) since Monday (28th), and as of today, I've dropped for 206lbs down to 194.2lbs. I suspect a lot of that is going to be water weight as losing 5.3kg in 5 days can't all be fat surely.

I've got some proper digital scales coming on Saturday which will also tell me things like my body fat %, water %, etc, so it'll be easier to monitor what's being lost as of then.

One things for sure, I feel exhausted in the gym (a good sign?)! But that's really only as of Thursday, and I'm starting a slight carb up tonight and a good carb up tomorrow.
 
Eggs, bacon, tuna, chicken, cheese, mince, fish - pretty much any meat. That's pretty much been my diet this week.

The carbs I eat only come from broccli, gravy and mayonaise!

It's been interesting figuring out meal ideas, quite hard when you want to be taking none or very little carbs in.
 
MoNkeE said:
I'll try and give my two penneth :)



That's my recommendation for legs and shoulders. You'll be working all angles of your delts, and hammering your traps with shrugs and rows :)
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Clum said:
There's nothing wrong with wholewheat bread, yoghurt, or fruit as long as you don't go too nuts, especially if trying to bulk. Just don't eat a loaf per day or 30 bananas. Sure porridge is better, but not everyone can carry a bowl of porridge around with them all day! Do what works for you. The only thing I'd stay away from permanently are concentrated or refined sugars such as dried fruit and obviously things like sweets/cake/chocolate (easier said than done at times.....mmmm chocolate cake!). PWO being the exception.

The protein from the seeds and cereals in those pitas, although protein, lacks the amino profiles of meat so isn't really all that wonderful. They're probably marginally better than bread, but it's not a big deal by any means.




You will really need to stick to something for more than a few weeks either way. Sure mix things a little every once in a while to keep the body guessing, but the core of any routine is to do it for long enough, as well as consistently increasing the weights as much as possible, for your body to adapt to it so that it builds some strength. If you've really got your heart set on a 3x8 split then go for it as long as you're doing it for the right reasons and have done the appropriate research....not just because it's what you've always done.
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Cheers for your help MoNkeE & Clum,

Theres a lot here for me to digest, really is.

I'd like to add a little bulk to my Calves and my Upper Body, before cutting (just to complicate things!).

Biggest struggle for me is getting my Abs to show, I've struggled with this for years - back when I was studying at University as well as training for the Royal Navy (never happened though, but I got very fit) and when starting again, some 3-4 years later in March 2010, when I started on a big drive to increase my fitness levels & how I looked.

As far as I am aware, 5 reps or less does strength, 6-12 does size and 15+ does endurance.

But I still don't know what to do, I want something different for each part of my Body.

The upper-legs I am wanting to cut more than they are already (If I bulk them anymore, Jeans will be impossible to fit, they're tight already on my thighs); and my Calves I want to add a fair bit more size to before cutting.

Upper Body wise, I want to get mass+definition on everything.
 
Gamefreak501 said:
Theres a lot here for me to digest, really is.
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Badoom, tsssch..........! :p

Gamefreak501 said:
I'd like to add a little bulk to my Calves and my Upper Body, before cutting (just to complicate things!).
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Get a Smith machine and a step, and start doing some heavy calve raises on there then :) If you're anywhere near as strong as me, which I imagine you are, you won't struggle starting at 100kg (do some warm ups first tho!)

Gamefreak501 said:
Biggest struggle for me is getting my Abs to show
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As everyone says, abs are made in the kitchen. Yes they're a muscle that response to training the same as any other (2 - 4 exercises, 3x8 etc), but they only really show thru when you're at pretty low body fat %. So if you're bulking, don't expect abs :)

Gamefreak501 said:
But I still don't know what to do, I want something different for each part of my Body.
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You don't have to work the entire body 5x5 or 3x8. For my legs I generally do heavy weight for lots of volume. For my chest, I typically do 3x8, for my shoulders I aim for 3x15 for certain exercises, 3x8 for others. Depends what those specific muscles respond well to, and I think this leads on to the muscle defniitions. Meaning if a muscle is fast twitch or slow twitch, I think - I've not researched in to this aspect yet!

Gamefreak501 said:
Upper Body wise, I want to get mass+definition on everything.
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Someone may be happy to correct me, but mass comes from eating lots, definition comes from cutting down. Obviously putting on a lot of lean muscle will improve definition, but is very hard to do unless you can stick yourself in to such a strict routine and diet!
 
Actually, question for those who are on low-carb, or have done low-carb, diets.

I noticed on Tuesday (low-carb started on Monday) that my sweat had a slight smell to it when I was doing cardio. I've never noticed it to do that before. I also noticed it on Thursday, again doing cardio.

A quick Google suggests it's one of these:

1. Nitrogen issue. Actually when you smell ammonia as a result of sweating, it is usually related to a chemical reaction. I mean no acids are used by your body for energy as a result of glucose not being available for such a purpose. Ultimately what happens is the remaining nitrogen that is left binds together with other compounds and finally translates into urea which eventually is excreted from the body. The reason why you smell ammonia when sweating is often due to an excess amount of nitrogen that is not processed and becomes excreted as sweat and the end result is an odor that is reminiscent of ammonia. One easy fix for this problem is to drink plenty of water as this will flush out the smell from your body.

2. Carbohydrates. Some believe that one of the reasons why your sweat smells like ammonia is due to ketosis. If you are not consuming enough carbohydrates than there is a high likelihood that you are burning protein and the side effect is often ketosis. This often leads to a sweat that smells like ammonia.
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Now I have no idea what it smelt of, it just didn't smell "normal" which is why I noticed it.

Anyone else noticed/had this? Is it anything to be worried about?

(Hope this isn't classed as medical?)
 
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