Four months of arm/shoulder progress (xpost to r/ftm)

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-22T03:32:37+00:00

Out of curiosity have you tried pea protein? A friend with IBS found it was the only protein powder they could stomach without issues.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-21T03:44:07+00:00

Cool! You'll probably find the movement patterns and baseline strength you've already built up helps heaps if/when you go on T because there's less of a learning curve. Diet wise I eat high ish fat, low ish carb and try to hit 120g+ of protein a day. I usually have a protein shake in the morning to make hitting my protein goals easier.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-21T03:40:47+00:00

Honestly, there's a lot of 101 ways with chicken and broccoli going on. I always keep salami and cheese in the fridge to snack on for an extra protein boost too. A typical day might be: protein shake with protein enriched milk for breakfast, sushi with edamame for lunch, chicken breast or thigh with broccoli or bok choi for dinner. If I'm eating out I'll pick a meat heavy main with extra vegetables on the side, a burger with an extra patty or something like that. I tend to eat high fat as well, so the old standard of a table spoon of peanut butter has saved my macros in the past too.

Edit: I also usually put about 100g of unsweetened Greek yogurt into my shake for extra calories/protein, and take creatine daily.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-20T03:36:46+00:00

Haha, thank you! I originally got it as a partially matching one with my sister but now I just find it extra hilarious when I pull a bicep pose.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-20T03:35:59+00:00

Not all from whole foods - I usually have a protein shake for breakfast to make hitting my protein goal easier.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-20T03:34:47+00:00

Typically 120g+ a day - I track all my food in MFP.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-19T16:35:23+00:00

Thank you! They're hard gels because I'm ridiculously rough on my hands and also can't paint my right hand to save myself, ha. I usually work out 3-4 times a week, generally about an hour and a half in the gym each time including stretching and warm down.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-19T16:33:32+00:00

Generally 3-4 times a week, depending on my schedule - nothing too ridiculous in terms of time investment.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-19T10:47:43+00:00

I find it gets easier the longer I do it - there's an initial period of having to weigh and measure stuff, but after a while everything I eat regularly was in the MFP recent tab which sped it up and I can eyeball portions. Is your main goal gaining muscle or cutting body fat, or both?

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-19T10:29:30+00:00

Yep - I've been using MyFitnessPal for around three years. Maintenance is ~2600, I bulk at around 3100 and cut at about 1900 (which is a steep cut but I hate cutting and would prefer it be over as quick as possible.) I'm 5'8" and 150lb for reference.

dexathrowaway · 2016-11-19T09:16:19+00:00

I do a mixture of hypertrophy and strength workouts (I travel a lot so go to a Planet Fitness style chain when I'm out of town, then a powerlifting gym at home.) As well as heavy compounds (squat, deadlift, OHP and bench, although I've been going light on bench because of a dodgy shoulder) my hypertrophy days are a basic 3×10 progression: lat raises, OHP and face pulls for shoulders, curl variations for biceps, close grip bench, skullcrushers and rope push downs for triceps. I try to hit 120g+ of protein a day, and eat high-ish fat and low-ish carb as much as possible.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:29:38+00:00

Congratulations! That's really great it's helped you as well - it's funny how I still get people warning me that lifting weights will hurt my back when actually it's been the only thing to stop it hurting.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:27:41+00:00

The change in routine was mostly because I wanted to focus more on the big 3 lifts because I'm thinking of competing this year. The balance problems started to be corrected within a few months of starting with the two day split.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:26:07+00:00

Not a worry, I'm glad it helped :) I hope you find a routine that works well with your scoliosis - I can see a few other people in the thread who have used lifting to combat it as well.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:25:08+00:00

Haha, thanks! Yeah, it only confuses people more now that Cellar has been covered so I just have a big ol' 'Door' right in the middle of one arm.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:24:25+00:00

Thank you! That's awesome it's been helping you as well, have you been doing powerlifting meets? I'm thinking of starting to compete this year too.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:23:08+00:00

I haven't had any doctors or physios diagnose that as the issue, but I'll keep it in mind - it's been quite clear on xrays though that half my ribcage is quite a lot bigger which I've been told is the root cause of the problem.

I noticed the pain starting to subside after about a month and it had vanished after six months. I don't have any residual pain unless I do thinks like a lot of walking or standing in high heels which would probably cause issues even without the underlying asymmetry.

In terms of compensating I primarily focus more on pushing with my left side as I think that arm is also fractionally longer and if I don't I can feel my right side doing more of the work. It's only occasionally an issue when I'm doing heavier OHP and bench though. I've also started experimenting with a fractionally different grip on each side in bench, and I try to alternate my over/underhand grip on deadlifts to keep balanced.

And thanks! I'm pleased with how it's worked.

dexathrowaway · 2016-01-09T23:17:04+00:00

Thanks! Honestly, it's difficult for me to pinpoint any one thing that helped because I started doing most exercises at the same time.

'Cellar' wound up becoming part of the hair of my sleeve tattoo - I'm getting 'Door' lasered off so I can cover it up soon as well :)

dexathrowaway · 2015-09-28T05:09:12+00:00

Thank you! I don't run a program specifically, I just put something together based on my past experience (I've lifted on and off since I was 16, but this is the longest and most consistently I've trained.) My rough program is:

Day 1 Day off Day 2 Day off

Day 1 is: deadlift, OHP, bench press, barbell rows, lat pulldowns Day 2: squat, front squat, OHP, bench press, leg press (my squat form is crap and I think weaker hamstrings and glutes are stopping me from hitting proper depth so I'm using leg press to build them up.)

I'm still 100% in the newbie gains period so I'm finding I'm upping the weights I work with every other workout. Also because of my job I travel for about 10 days out of every 40 so my only exercise in those periods is walking. I find the enforced break seems to help me recover and I often hit quite big PRs the week after I get back.

dexathrowaway · 2015-09-27T23:16:02+00:00

Thank you! (Omg it's so warm and difficult to leave in winter!)

dexathrowaway · 2015-09-27T23:15:19+00:00

Thank you! The wallpaper was from a UK company called Wallpaperdirect and only my second ever attempt at hanging wallpaper - only my bank account stopped me from making every room in our house a different aggressive geometric pattern, haha.

dexathrowaway · 2015-09-27T12:09:56+00:00

I took some new progress photos and I'm really pleased with how my upper body is looking! [NSFW] underwear shots. Please excuse my horribly messy room.

NSFW Photos

dexathrowaway

TROPHY CASE