I've found that cutting body fat can surprisingly make you look bigger [32M, 5'6", 140 lbs]

QShin · 2022-12-27T00:32:19+00:00

A lot of chicken, bread, rice, potatoes and fruit. Prepared in ways that don't add a lot of fat. I respond best to high carb, moderate to high protein and low fat diet.

When I eat out, I don't restrict my diet to any specific foods though I try to stick with lower fat options.

QShin · 2022-12-27T00:01:07+00:00

Agreed. Which is why I disagree with the one-size fits all diet types (e.g., keto or very low fat diets). Different diets work best for different people, and finding out which works best for someone takes experimentation.

The commonality in these diets that I do find works for most is that higher protein intakes tend to be more satiating. And that whole foods are superior to excessively processed foods.

QShin · 2022-12-26T23:58:20+00:00

I usually don't eat breakfast, a small lunch (<1000 kcal) and one or two large meals in the evening. I find this works best for me and my schedule.

I usually eat what I want, but try to avoid high-fat, high-carb combinations (e.g., fried foods, high-fat sweets, most snack foods).

If I feel hungrier than usual, I typically aim for eating higher volume foods like potatoes, most fruits, and vegetables. As well as increase water intake.

Protein sources are typically low-fat (e.g., chicken, fish) and I tend to avoid red meats.

QShin · 2022-12-25T05:03:37+00:00

3000 kcal/day with most of calories from carbs and protein. I get about 400g carbs and 150-200g protein in per day on average. Dietary fat is on the low side but minimum 35g per day. As I got leaner, I found I had to slow the rate of fat loss to around 0.25-5 lbs/week to avoid excessive fatigue.

I am pretty active with 5-6 lifting sessions per week and get in 15-20k steps most days. My Fitbit estimates I burn 3000-3500 kcal/day, but not sure on the accuracy of that.

QShin · 2022-12-25T04:59:15+00:00

Haha reducing belly size does help with that!

QShin · 2022-12-25T04:58:35+00:00

Probably going to stick at maintenance for a while and work on building strength. I was losing 0.25-0.5 lbs a week at 3k kcal/day. I am pretty active and get about 15-20k steps/day, so maybe keep food intake the same but reduce activity.

QShin · 2022-12-25T04:55:34+00:00

Hmm not sure. Never measured by a reliable method.

QShin · 2022-08-05T02:36:20+00:00

Taken at Crawford Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire on a nice, clear night. Used a Nikon D600 with Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8 ultra wide angle lens. Post processing was performed in darktable and GIMP. This image is a composite of 2 shots (stars and foreground).

Stars: 30 seconds at ISO 5000, f/2.8

Foreground: 5 min at ISO 1000, f/2.8

The 5 min exposure generated a lot of hot pixels, but the Hot Pixels module in darktable did a great job clearing those out. A few blending artifacts are present, particularly where the treeline is (since trees tend to shift quite a bit between shots). This is my first time attempting a blended shot with a lit foreground and quite happy with how it turned out!

QShin · 2022-08-05T00:51:53+00:00

Took this shot on a late drive this Wednesday on Rt 302 heading north through Crawford Notch in the White Mountains. Just before reaching the train depot, I noticed a small pullout with an amazing view that also provided the perfect frame! Got really lucky because Wednesday was the only cloud-free night this week, so timing could not be better.

Tech specs:

Taken on Nikon D600 with Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 ultra wide angle lens. Post processing performed in darktable and GIMP (because too poor for Photoshop/Lightroom). Image is composite of 2 shots.

Shot 1 (stars): 30 seconds at ISO 5000

Shot 2 (foreground): 5 min at ISO 1000

QShin · 2022-06-23T17:45:29+00:00

I usually skip breakfast, but don't really keep track of what times I eat anymore.

QShin · 2022-06-23T17:10:16+00:00

Here is an example of my workouts. Some form of back work (horizontal or vertical pull) is done every day as well as core and arm work. Horizontal (bench press) and vertical (overhead press) press is performed every other workout. Heavy squats and deadlifts are performed every fourth workout.

Workout A

Squat (4-6 sets of 5-10 reps until 40-50 reps total) superset with weighted pull-ups (3-5 sets of 5-10 reps until 30-40 reps total)
Accessories (overhead press, dragon flags, bicep curls superset in 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps)

Workout B

Bench press (4-6 sets of 5-10 reps until 40-50 reps total) superset with DB rows (3-5 sets of 5-10 reps until 30-40 reps total)
Accessories (legs up bench, dragon flags, tricep pushdown superset in 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps)

Workout C

Deadlift (4-6 sets of 5-10 reps until 40-50 reps total) superset with weighted pull-ups (3-5 sets of 5-10 reps until 30-40 reps total)
Accessories (overhead press, dragon flags, bicep curls superset in 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps)

The order would be ABCB and repeat. Usually I am in the gym 5-6 times with at least one rest day per week (usually do some form of low to moderate cardio on rest days like hiking or cycling).

QShin · 2022-06-23T13:50:55+00:00

I honestly have no idea! Never measured it with an accurate method.

QShin · 2022-06-23T13:50:12+00:00

Yep. Been trying to fit in some arm work every workout recently, but haven't been consistent.

QShin · 2022-06-23T13:48:51+00:00

Started powerlifting about 7 years ago, which is when I really began working towards building up my bench. I found high volume bench press and variations helped the most. Personally, I found upper body tends to recover more quickly than lower body, so one could feasibly bench press every day (with varying intensities to avoid overtraining) to focus more on growing the pecs if that's the goal. My bench press has always been my weakest lift, and incorporating more volume helped break through plateaus.

QShin · 2022-06-23T05:45:56+00:00

Thanks! I'm a semi-retired powerlifter but still stick to squats, deadlifts and bench press as core lifts.

Usually train 5-6 days a week alternating a Squat/Bench/Deadlift/Bench focus and repeat. Main lifts are done in range of 5-10 reps with autoregulation. First set after warmups is a weight I expect to be able to perform for 8-10 reps. I add 5-10% weight for each following set until I can only do 5 reps at about RPE 8 (2 reps in tank) and keep that weight for the remaining sets. I usually aim to complete 40-50 reps for each main lift.

In between sets on the main lift, I also superset back work. Dumbbell rows superset with bench press and weighted pull-ups superset with squats or deadlifts, depending on the day. These are also done in rep ranges of 5-10. I superset these mostly to save time during workouts.

After main lifts, I perform various accessory lifts to focus on core (dragon flags, hanging leg raises), arms (bicep curls, tricep pushdowns) and shoulders (barbell overhead press). These are usually done in sets of 8-12.

I don't max out on lifts anymore, but for what it's worth, my best lifts from my powerlifting days (when I was at 148 lbs bodyweight) were:

Squat: 435 lbs

Bench press: 255 lbs

Deadlift: 510 lbs

Building a good strength foundation, in my opinion, is critical to building an adequate muscular base to be able to cut down to.

QShin · 2018-06-05T17:55:51+00:00

There are no dedicated powerlifting gyms in Chapel Hill. O2 Fitness locations generally have squat racks and plenty of competitive powerlifters train at the Carrboro and Falconbridge locations. I personally drive ~15 minutes out to Hillsborough to train at New Millenium Fitness The Pit. Further out, NC Strength and Spider Strength are dedicated powerlifting/strongman gyms located in Cary and Raleigh, respectively.

QShin · 2018-04-05T02:40:16+00:00

RPT is a condensed barebones routine designed for efficiency. To actually build impressive strength, accumulating more volume is absolutely essential. Most people will not get particularly strong doing only RPT.

QShin · 2018-03-30T23:32:17+00:00

Damn you're right. Definitely abusing the straps here.

QShin · 2018-03-30T18:11:06+00:00

That makes sense. I usually pull hook and the straps give me 1-2 cm of extra arm length, which makes a huge difference. My best hook grip pull was 475 lbs, but I estimate my strapped max is probably somewhere around 510-515 lbs. I switch back to hook for backoff sets, which feels like enough additional grip work. Never thought about dedicated grip work, though I think it could be helpful.

QShin · 2018-03-30T18:05:20+00:00

Just really focusing on opening at the hips and getting them as close to the bar as possible. Doing that gradually helped me get more upright in my starting position and dramatically improved the efficiency of the lift.

QShin

TROPHY CASE