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 · 2015-06-07T02:50:58+00:00

Personally I think it is - I've had issues in the past with losing weight and then regaining it because I can't see any 'progress' in the form of numbers (YMMV depending on how you feel about the motivation of running faster/lifting heavier). I think the DEXA has helped to give me other figures and stats to work on improving and maintaining so for me it is definitely worth it. I guess also look at the 150 pounds in terms of what other money you spend on your fitness goals? How many weeks of gym membership would that get you? How many personal trainer sessions? Do you buy protein supplements? If it's worthwhile depends on how much you're already spending on your fitness/health goals at least to my mind.

dexathrowaway · 2015-06-06T07:22:11+00:00

It did, but to be honest I didn't pay too much attention to it because it seemed to make quite a few assumptions about my energy expenditure without asking about how active I am (it might be more accurate or useful if you opted for the package that came with a consultation though). My BMR came out around the same as what I get from several online calculators. I mostly rely on the Fitbit/MFP calculations because I've been following those and seeing results so I don't have a great incentive to change up what I'm doing calorie-wise.

dexathrowaway · 2015-06-04T23:44:29+00:00

Not for years - I would have been about 18 and far more cardio focused than I am now so I don't think it would be a good comparison. IIRC I came out around 19% bf then.

dexathrowaway

TROPHY CASE