Hunter-gatherers, Westerners use same amount of energy, contrary to theory

I guess hunter-gatherers aren't leaner because they're more active. I'm sure it has nothing whatsoever to do with eating real food rather than big gulps, soyflour, and veggie-bacon.

Update: Full write-up

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (7-23-2012)
squat 135x5, 225x3, 255x2; 295 3, 3, 3, 2
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 205 2x5, 135x10
dumbbell row 95 3x10

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2; 305 2x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 115x2; 130 3, 3, 2, 2
chinups +45 4x5, 6

Wednesday
powerclean 95x3, 135x3, 155x1; 145 2x3, 1, 1
box jumps 30" 5x5
kettlebell swing 60 3x15

Thursday
squat 135x5, 225x3, 245x2; 265 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 220 3, 2, 2, 2, 1
dumbbell row 95 3x10

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 295x2; 345 4x2, 1, 1
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2; 115 2x5
chinups +45 2x5
pullups 2x6

Weight (Friday): 177 lb

Notes:Good week, weight steady, strength steady and improving.  Light days appear to be helping.  One more week of this -- peaking with doubles or singles -- and then a rest week to follow.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (7-16-2012)
squat 135x5, 225x3, 255x2; 285 5, 3, 2
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 215 5, 3, 2
dumbbell row 100 4x6

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 285x2; 335 3, 3, 2, 2
press 65x5, 95x3, 110x2; 130 3, 3, 2, 2
chinups +45 4x5

Thursday
squat 135x5, 225x3, 245x2; 285 5, 3, 2
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 220 3, 3, 2, 2
dumbbell row 100 4x6

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 285x2; 335 3, 3, 2, 2
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2; 130 2, 2, 1 (fail); 105 2x5
chinups +45 4x5

Weight (Friday): 177 lb

Notes: Weight is creeping up, appetite's been high.  Not sure if it's going to muscle or fat.  Might be pushing a little too much intensity, as evidenced by Friday's presses.  Bench and press would likely benefit from some modulation of intensity and volume, deadlift and squat seem to be doing fine with this setup.  I've got an unavoidable rest week coming up after two more weeks, so I don't want to lighten up too much, rather to keep momentum going until that last training week, so maybe just going light on Monday's bench and Friday's press will be enough.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (7-9-2012)
squat 135x5, 225x3, 245x2, 275 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 215 5, 3, 2
dumbbell row 100 3x8

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2; 325 5, 3, 2
press 65x5, 95x3, 110x2; 125 4, 3, 3
chinups +45 3x5, unweighted 8

Thursday
squat 135x5, 225x3, 245x2, 275 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 215 5, 4, 3
dumbbell row 100 3x8

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 325 6x2
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2; 125 5, 3, 2
chinups +50 2x5; +45 5, 4, 4, unweighted 8, 6
rope pressdowns 90x8, 110x8

Weight (Sunday): 176 lb

Notes:  Steady, slow progress on strength and work capacity.  Lousy on diet this week, and it showed on the scale.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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 Monday (7-2-2012)
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 265 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 210 2x5
dumbbell row 100 3x8

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315 2x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 120 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Wednesday
power-clean 95x3, 135 10x3
two-hand kettlebell swing 60 5x15
box jumps 30" 10x5

Thursday
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 265 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 210 2x5
dumbbell row 110 2x8, 90 3x8

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 325 6x2
presspress 65x5, 95x3, 105x2; 125 5, 3, 2
chinups+45 4x5

Weight (Friday): 175 lb

Notes: Thursday and Friday were both at Powerhouse Monroe.  Lighting is dim, dumbbells go to 125, and the knurling is so smooth as to almost be unnoticeable.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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830AM black coffee, 1 cup.

930AM black coffee, 1 cup.  I was back home at this point after learning the power was out at my office.

11AM 8g BCAA.

1230PM 1 quart low-fat goat's milk, 1 larabar (chocolate chip cookie dough).  Not my ideal post-workout meal, but I'd had to drive to Powerhouse Monroe and I wanted to get something convenient in me during the post-workout window.  Why low-fat milk?  I'd never seen it before and wanted to see how it was.  Not bad.

240PM  1.2 lb ground sirloin with black pepper, 1 oz sharp cheddar, spicy brown mustard, 2g vitamin C, 7000 IU D3, 4g fish oil (capsules).  This is closer to where I like my post-workout meal to be in terms of protein.  Ordinarily I'd have some carbs here to spike my insulin when I'm most sensitive to it, but I'd already had plenty in my convenience meal up above.  If I were strictly trying to lose weight and maintain muscle, that wouldn't be called for.  Insulin is an anabolic hormone, though, and it's best to take advantage of that if possible.  That's also why I generally don't add too much fat to my post-workout meals: if insulin is high and dietary fat is available, it can be shoved into cells; having little to no fat around circumvents that.  High insulin and lots of free amino acids is a nicely anabolic state to be in, assuming you're insulin-sensitive.  I fought my way to that over a couple of years, so this isn't for anyone who's metabolically "broken".

530PM Handful of baby carrots.

810PM 0.6 lb of ground round, spicy brown mustard  (wife wanted something grilled), iced tea with one whole lime's worth of juice.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:17 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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My friend Mare was curious about what I ate in a typical day, so I'm going to diary a few of them for posterity.

9AM:  Discovered leftover coffee from yesterday, reheated in microwave and drank it.

10AM: 8g of branched-chain amino acids.  I try to take a dose about this size prior to a fasted workout.  My daily fasting window is typically 16-18 hours followed by lifting prior to my first meal.  The BCAAs are insurance: my fast should be just the right length that I've had some positive autophagy without triggering any muscle catabolism; available BCAAs reduce the chances of catabolic breakdown even further.

1030AM to 1130AM: Workout time.  Today was metabolic conditioning and explosive work: power cleans, kettlebell swings, and box jumps.

12PM: 8g BCAAs.  I wasn't planning to eat for another couple of hours, so I took another dose for the same reasons outlined above.

1PM: 1 oz sharp cheddar, 1 large green pepper, 4000 IU D3.  The D3 is half my normal dose because I actually had some time to sunbathe today.

230PM: 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs baked with Stubbs spicy BBQ sauce, 5g of fish oil, iced tea with the juice of one whole lime.  I added fish oil to the meal because I find I get fewer fish burps that way, and chicken fat in particular has a pretty terrible w-3 to w-6 fatty acid ratio, so this is an attempt at recovering some balance.

7PM:  0.7lb flat iron steak, seasoned with Montreal Steak seasoning, and pan-fried in Kerrygold Irish butter (pastured cattle, so the fats are well-balanced), 1c or so of steamed broccoli.  I put a tsp or so pat of butter on the broccoli after it was on the plate.  And another pat on the steak, because it's delicious that way.

8PM:  Another glass of iced tea with another lime's worth of juice.

9PM:  500mg Mg.  Helps me sleep, and it's one of those things that's hard to get with diet.  I never go higher than this dose, and I don't always take it (can result in loose stool).

And that's it, that's everything I ate today.  It's actually a fairly typical non-work day for me.  On a work day, lunch would be something out of the crock pot or something at a restaurant (Indian or Chinese buffet, typically).  Black coffee is my normal breakfast.

EDIT  forgot D3 and Mg initially

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 10:24 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Monday (6-25-2012)
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 255 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 205 2x5
dumbbell row 95 2x8

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 305 2x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 115 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Wednesday
power-clean 95x3, 135x3; 155 3x3, 3x2
two-hand kettlebell swing 60 3x15
box jumps 30" 5x5

Thursday
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 255 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 205 2x5
dumbbell row 100 3x6

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315 2x5
presspress 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 120 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Weight (Friday): 176 lb

Notes:  Sticking with this for awhile, adding in some power work/metabolic conditioning.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 12:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Monday (6-18-2012)
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 185x2; 205 4, 3, 3
dumbbell row 95 2x8

Tuesday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 265x2, 295 2x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 115 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Thursday
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245 2x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 205 2x5
dumbbell row 100 3x5

Friday
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 295 2x5
presspress 65x5, 95x3, 105x2, 115 2x5
chinups+45 3x5

Weight (Friday): 176 lb

Notes:  I need a break from 5/3/1 while I finish cutting, so I'm taking it.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (6-11-2012)
press warmup 55x5, 70x5, 85x3
press working 105x5, 120x3, 135x1
press accessory 70 5x10
chinups +25 8x5

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 280x5, 315x3, 355x2, 1
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x15

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 175x5, 200x3, 225x3, 1
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 90 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 190x3
squat working 235x5, 265x3, 300x1
squat accessory 160 lb 5x10
leg curl 110 lb 3x10, 100 lb 2x10

Weight (Friday): 177 lb

Notes:  Final working week of cycle 3.  I feel like my 1RM is going up, but my 5RM is declining.  Gaining intensity while losing work capacity.  I don't think I like it.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 11:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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24 oz of thick cut bacon
16 oz of mild italian sausage
All the cloves in one small garlic bulb
1 green pepper
4-6 oz extra sharp cheddar
BBQ sauce (spicy or sweet, your choice, I used spicy)
BBQ rub (something you’d use on pork ribs)

Make a bacon lattice square about 6-7 slices wide. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just sturdy. Cook the rest of the bacon in the usual fashion until crispy, set aside to cool.

Using a freezer bag, mush the sausage out to fill the same area as the weave. You can do this without the bag, but it sucks.

Cut away the bag from the sausage square, carefully align and press the sausage square on top of the bacon weave.

Dice the garlic cloves and green pepper, crumble the cooked bacon into bits, and spread all evenly onto sausage. Drizzle BBQ sauce on top of veggies evenly. Just enough sauce for flavor, we don’t need extra moisture here.

Grate cheddar and spread that over top, pizza style. Sprinkle some BBQ rub over top.

Roll up the whole beast so that the bottom side of the bacon weave is now the outside of the roll, then liberally apply rub to clean bacon surface. Place in foil lined pan on rack (it’s going to render like a fat man at Cedar Point in August, the foil helps cleanup).

Bake at 250F for 1.5 hours, 275F for 0.5 hours, then 300F for another 0.5 hours.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 03:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (6-4-2012)
press warmup 60x5, 75x5, 85x3
press working 100x3, 115x3, 125x5, 2, ... 2
press accessory 70 5x10
chinups +25 8x5

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 260x3, 300x3, 335x6
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x15

Wednesday
power-clean 95 lb 3x3, 135 lb 8x3
box jumps 30" 10x5
elliptical 12 min

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 165x3, 190x3, 210x5, 2, 2
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 85 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 190x3
squat working 220x3, 250x3, 280x3, 1
squat accessory 160 lb 5x10
leg curl 110 lb 3x10, 100 lb 2x10

Weight (Friday): 180 lb

Notes:  Monday was disappointing, but not awful.  Tuesday was okay.  Thursday suggested a regression, possibly due to calorie deficit.  Friday was terrible, probably for the same reason.  The was the first week I've tried to do a real food intake cut, as well as strong carbohydrate restriction.  I didn't feel "weak" per se, but things that should have been light felt very heavy.  It might be a programmatic issue.  The volume and intensity on 5/3/1 seem fine at first, but I'm starting to feel really burnt out.  I think I may have broken the rule and pushed to actual failure too often, rather than going just shy of failure.  I'm starting to think I'm better adapted to -- or at least get better results from -- higher frequency with lower intensity and volume.  There are a lot of variables at play, and I don't want to abandon the program if I'm still making progress.  We'll see how this week goes.  Today's presses weren't awful, but I only got a single on a "1+" set.  If that's the best I can manage at all of this week's targets, changing programs might be my best bet.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (5-28-2012)
press warmup 60x5, 75x5, 85x3
press working 95x5, 105x5, 120x7, 2
press accessory 95 3x8, 85 2x8
weighted chinups 25 8x5
hammer curl 30 2x8

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 240x5, 280x5, 315x7, 2
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x15

Wednesday
power-clean 95 2x3, 135 2x3, 155 5x3
box jumps 30" 8x5

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 165x5, 185x5, 200x8, 2
bench accessory 120 5x10
kroc row 55 lb 3x20, 3x15
rope pressdowns 50 3x8
hammer curl 30 3x8

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 190x3
squat working 205x5, 235x5, 265x6, 4
squat accessory 160 5x10
leg curl 100 5x10
donkey calf raise 400 5x15

Weight (Friday): 184 lb

Notes: First week of cycle 3. So far, so good.  Little iffy on squat day.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (5-21-2012)
press 55 2x5, 65 2x5, 85 2x5
chinups +25 5x5

Tuesday
deadlift 155 2x5, 185 2x5, 225 2x5
planks 3x60s

Thursday
bench warmup 95 2x5, 115 2x5, 145 2x5
kroc row 60 lb 20, 20, 15, 10

Friday
squat 135 2x5, 155 2x5, 185 2x5
leg curl 150 5, 140 2x5
power clean 95 3x3, 135 3x3, 162 2
chinup +45 5, 5, 4
pullup 2x6

Weight (Friday): 182 lb

Notes: Backoff week on 5/3/1.  Looking forward to next cycle, tried out weighted chins and they went better than expected.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:38 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Monday (5-14-2012)
press warmup 55x5, 65x5, 85x3
press working 100x5, 115x3, 130x4, 1
press accessory 70 5x10
chinups 7x6, 5, 3

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 275x5, 315x3, 350x2, 1
deadlift accessory 190 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x10

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 170x3, 195x3, 220x4, 2
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 85 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 185x3
squat working 230x5, 265x3, 295x4
squat accessory 160 5x10
leg curl 100 lb 5x10

Weight (Friday): 185 lb

Notes:  Final working week of cycle 2.  I'm almost back to where I was before my hip injury, but my lower-body lifts are still lagging a little.  Going to add 5 lb to presses and deadlifts, but squats stay where they are for now.  Don't want to risk going too high on those yet.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 11:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (5-7-2012)
press warmup 55x5, 65x5, 85x3
press working 95x3, 110x3, 120x6, 2
press accessory 70 5x10
chinups 10, 7, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, 6

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 260x3, 295x3, 335x5, 1
deadlift accessory 190 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x10

Wednesday
power-clean 95 lb 5x3, 135 lb 5x3
farmer's walk 80 lb 6x50'
box jumps 24" 5x5

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 160x3, 185x3, 205x7, 2
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 85 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 185x3
squat working 215x3, 250x3, 280x5, 2
squat accessory  185 lb 12, 10, 8
leg curl 120 lb 3x8

Weight (Friday): 182 lb

Notes: 2nd week of cycle 2.  Still going strong.  Squats are still scary because I worry about my hip and the vein in my head.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (4-30-2012)
press warmup 55x5, 65x5, 80x3
press working 85x5, 100x5, 115x8, 2
press accessory 70 5x10
parallel grip pullups 9, 8, 7, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 155x5, 185x5, 225x3
deadlift working 245x5, 275x5, 315x7, 2
deadlift accessory 190 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x10

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 145x3
bench working 150x5, 170x5, 195x8, 3
bench accessory 120 5x10
dumbbell row 85 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 185x3
squat working 200x5, 230x5, 265x8, 2
squat accessory 160 5x10
leg curl 100 lb 5x10

Weight (Friday): 183 lb

Notes:  First week of cycle 2.  So far, so good.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 01:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (4-23-2012)
press warmup 50x5, 65x5, 95x3
press working 65x5, 85x5, 95x5
press accessory 65 5x10
chinups 11, 7, 7, 6, 5, 5, 6, 6
barbell shrug 135x10, 185x5x2, 135x10

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 145x5x2, 185x5x2, 215x5x2
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x10

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5x2, 115x5x2, 135x5x2
bench accessory 115 5x10
dumbbell row 80 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5x2, 155x5x2, 185x5x2
squat accessory 155 5x10
leg curl 100 lb 5x10

Weight (Friday): 181 lb

Notes:  Backoff week on 5/3/1.  I took the opportunity to undereat a little and drop some weight before starting the next cycle.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (4-16-2012)
press warmup 50x5, 65x5, 80x3
press working 95x5, 110x3, 125x5,3
press accessory 65 5x10
chinups 11, 8, 8, 6, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 145x5, 185x5, 215x3
deadlift working 270x5, 305x3, 340x3,1
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x10

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 135x3
bench working 170x5, 190x3, 215x6
bench accessory 115 5x10
dumbbell row 80 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 185x3
squat working 225x5, 255x3, 285x3
squat accessory 155 5x10
leg curl 100 lb 5x10
donkey calf raise 400 lb 10, 20

Weight (Friday): 185 lb

Notes: Managed to get at least 3 on all of my 1+ targets for the 3rd week of the cycle.  Seem to have made really good progress on the bench press, finally.  Going to go ahead with Wendler's recommendation and step up my press targets by 5lb and squats and deads by 10lb for next cycle.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (4-9-2012)
press warmup 50x5, 65x5, 80x3
press working 90x3, 105x3, 115x7
press accessory 65 5x10
chinups 10, 10, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Tuesday
deadlift warmup 145x5, 185x5, 215x3
deadlift working 255x3, 295x3, 325x5,2
deadlift accessory 185 5x10
hanging leg raise 5x10

Thursday
bench warmup 95x5, 115x5, 135x3
bench working 155x3, 185x3, 200x8
bench accessory 115 5x10
dumbbell row 80 lb 5x10 each side

Friday
squat warmup 135x5, 155x5, 185x3
squat working 215x3, 240x3, 270x5, 2
squat accessory 155 5x10
leg curl 100 lb 5x10

Weight (Friday): 183 lb

Notes:  Thursday was great, Friday was disappointing.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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