Hello Cup of Joe

A housekeeping note from my last post about a month ago: I think I'm dunzo with pre-workout for now. There are a couple of different kinds sitting in my kitchen, but I'm just tired of it...tired of buying it, tired of feeling dependent on it (if I don't drink my pre-workout, my workout will be s@#$...not true, more on that in a sec), and tired of it blowing out my a@#$%& (sorry if that's TMI).

I never even knew what pre-workout was until a few years ago. Once I started taking it, I loved the rush I would get as I started my workout. You felt like you could run through a wall. But if I'm being honest with myself, over time I felt the positive effects less and less. Different brands boast of giving you that energy boost without "crashing" as the pre-workout leaves your system. Well, from my experience, the only ones that make you feel anything all have that crash effect, and the little boost you get doesn't last that long...maybe for the 1st 5-10 minutes of your workout (which would probably equate to 3-4 sets of something, depending on what you're doing). The ones that advertise as having figured out the no post-pre-workout crash thing don't make me feel anything at all. I'm sure other people have different experiences, but that's my 2 cents, kid.

Now, for most workouts you're probably doing the toughest, most strenuous exercise right off the bat anyway because that's when you are least fatigued, so maybe that works out...but it sucks to feel like the hulk for 10 minutes of your training session and then want to take a nap.

I had this thought of quitting pre-workout a few months back when I had read an article about this trend happening where professional basketball players were drinking coffee prior to games. The reasoning: the caffeine from coffee was more effective than expensive sports drinks, pre-workouts, or other supplements at giving them a sustained energy boost throughout a 2-3 hour game without the drawbacks of crashing afterwards or being so amped that they couldn't fall back asleep when they went back to their hotels post-game. Interesting, very interesting...if it was good enough for Dame Lillard, why was it not good enough to help me through leg day?

A few weeks later my brother-in-law was staying with us for a few days when he was in town on business. He was waking up before work at the a@#-crack of dawn, drinking black coffee on an empty stomach, and hitting the gym. (I should also mention that he's built like an action figure and is one of the people that 1st put me on to pre-workout.) What gives? I'd seen this man consume double or triple scoops of pre-workout prior the gym before, and now he was skipping it completely for regular ol' black coffee?!? Apparently, he had some of the same thoughts as I had (not aware of the basketball player thing though), and was pre-workout-free for several months.

[Sidenote: This continues a trend dating back years where if I think of doing something from a training or diet perspective, I undoubtedly find out that Mike started doing it already...thus of course making me look like a copycat poser once I start doing it, even though I independently thought of it...just a step too late. But that's why I look the before picture and he looks like the after picture for a HGH ad or something!]

And guess what? I've been doing the coffee thing for a few weeks now, and I love it. 1st of all, I just like coffee. I like the taste of it. I like a nice, hot beverage...makes me feel warm and tingly inside. I don't feel like I'm going to bounce off the walls with it, but I don't feel like I need a nap when it wears off. And it works just fine (set a squat PR last week after drinking coffee). The stigma in my head about not drinking pre-workout is over. Unless anyone wants it, my pre-workout might be headed for the trash.

And this has got me wondering about some of the other expensive powders sitting on my shelf like protein and creatine. I'm still using them, but I've noticed myself reaching for them less and less over time. You can see it right in my Vitamin Shoppe order history, as I've slowly went from re-stocking it ever 3 months to every 6 months to every 8 months to whatever. How much is the protein really helping me? Can't I just eat more eggs, more steak, more chicken? (Nodding head furiously as I type this, yes, yes, yes...)

I think that puts a wrap on this post. My original thought was to just add a quick line or 2 about pre-workout vs. coffee, and talk more about how I think I'm going to put strength training (specifically heavy squats) on the shelf for now, but I let the keyboard get away from me on this one, as this turned into a full-blown pre-workout rant. Until next time, kids...

Training Update: GVT, Madcow 5x5, and Pre-Workout vs. Coffee

1. So, a few weeks back I officially wrapped up my 1st foray into German Volume Training. According to my handy-dandy GVT spreadsheet, I did 14 5-day cycles that spanned 10 weeks. My overall assessment: I enjoyed it (especially in the beginning), but I'm not sure I reaped the full benefits of it. This is not me blaming the program or saying the program doesn't work. It's possible that I didn't follow it as closely as I thought I was in the moment (tempo, form, etc.). The 1st few weeks are killer, and I loved it. It felt like my chest and arms were going to explode out of my shirt, and my legs would shake and cramp up. As it went along though, either my body adjusted to the routines, or I subconsciously just wasn't focusing up as hard on the tempo (or maybe I wasn't going heavy enough). I would love to give it another shot in a few months (maybe revising my personal routine though a little). The other problem is that it is a hypertrophy program, and I admittedly did a s@$% job of tracking my progress. Strength programs are easy to track. Weight go up = good! But I didn't take any before/after pictures, didn't take any body measurements (arms, chest, quads, etc.). It looks like I gained 2 lb. from start to finish, but weight alone is not usually a good statistical measurement for such things. So, either I gained 2 lb. of muscle, or my diet and cardio haven't been as great over the last 10 weeks.
2.  The end of GVT led into my next challenge: Madcow 5x5. Madcow is basically a progression of StrongLifts 5x5. It's a progressive strength program like StrongLifts with some differences: it's more bench/row focused than deadlift/press, the weights only go up weekly instead of per workout, and your weights jump up from set-to-set instead of doing the same weight every set for a particular workout (among a couple of other differences). 2 weeks in, I really like the program...although you are scheduled to hit your previous max weights pretty early on, which scares me. Just like Joel Embid would say though, trust the process.
3. Lastly, I'm contemplating dropping pre-workout for just straight-up coffee. I was thinking about it a few months ago, and then I read an article that many pro basketball players have adopted coffee is a pre-game beverage (over energy drinks and other supps). And then I was talking to my warrior-machine brother-in-law, who independently made the switch to coffee not that long ago (he somehow is always like telepathically 1 step ahead of me). I don't know. Just hate having to buy it, feel like I could get a lot of the same benefit from good ol' coffee, and I already drink it anyway. Plus, I wonder sometimes if the pre-workout is effing up my stomach on some days...more on that later.

German Volume Training: Two-Thirds Assessment

In my last post on here about a month and a half ago, I had signaled that I was ready for a change. StrongLifts 5x5 had served me very well for 2 separate multi-month programs, but it had gotten a little stale and monotonous, and I had started to plateau across all 5 lifts as well...but I didn't want to go back to just hodge-podging together random arm days, chest days, leg days, etc. I have come to love "programmatic" style training, where every exercise, set, and rep is laid out ahead of time. No I wonder what I'm lifting today as I walk into the gym, no making up routines as I go...programs take out the guesswork, they make you more accountable, and, not shockingly, they work.

After 6 months straight of basically lifting heavy (for me at least), I needed something different. Enter "German Volume Training." GVT is a well documented method (go ahead and do a quick Google search) for packing on muscle quickly. If I had to characterize it, it's based on (at least initially) 10 sets of 10 reps for each exercise, but you are using lighter weights and a very slow tempo (4020 for most exercises).

After the 1st week of doing this, I thought I was going to die. After the chest/back workout, I thought my chest was going to explode. I couldn't walk without limping for days after the leg/abs day. Initially, I could see why this method seemed so tried and true. But 8 cycles deep through a 12 cycle program (GVT is based on 12 5-day cycles of chest/back day, legs/abs day, rest, arms/shoulders day, rest), I'm finding myself ready to be done and try my hand at Madcow or some other strength program where I can throw around some heavier weights (and it's not because it's too hard).

My main problem with GVT is that things aren't laid out quite as strictly as StrongLifts or Madcow. I researched 3 different bodybuilding sites, and I got a slightly different workout routine from all 3. The basic principles were the same (10x10, 4020 tempo, 12 5-day cycles), but for example for chest/back day some routines had you doing lat pulldowns, some had you doing dumbbell rows, some had you doing bentover (barbell) rows, etc. This is a positive in that not everyone has access to all types of equipment (I don't have a lat pulldown at my house), and you can kind of build your own program, but it leaves you wondering if you are truly maximizing your workouts. Also, all these other programs I've done calculate how much weight you should be lifting for each exercise down to the pound. GVT is a little more loosey-goosey (start with a weight about 60% of your 1RM or a weight you can do about 20 reps with).

So with all that being said, I'm skeptical that GVT is working for me. The workouts have gotten easier even with the weight slightly increasing over time, and while I never took any before pictures or measurements, my overall body weight has stayed the same, and I don't notice any huge differences looking in the mirror. Maybe my body has just adjusted to the routines after the initial shock. Maybe my form and tempo have not been as strict (even though I think they have been pretty ok). Maybe I just miss lifting heavy. Maybe I just feel blah simply because I'm right in the middle of the 3 cycle de-loading period before it's supposed to get pretty tough again for the final 3 cycles, and the de-loading feels too easy. Nevertheless, it's been a good change of pace and a different style of lifting than what I've been doing, so I with all my gripes I'd recommend GVT on that basis alone. Another update to come when I wrap the whole thing up.

Time for a Change

As I've detailed in my last few (although infrequent posts), there are a lot of great benefits to following a training program vs. just winging it in the gym. However, all training programs have their limits. When you've reached that limit for a particular program and the gains (whether in strength, size, speed, whatever) stop coming even though you're putting in the work, it may be time to put that program to bed. Doesn't mean that program isn't any good. It just means your body has adapted, and it's time to graduate to something a little more advanced (or totally different altogether).

After wrapping my 1st 12 week Stronglifts 5x5 sesh back in August, I decided to revisit the program after a few months off. As I detailed back then, I had started to reach my proverbial "limit." I had made some decent progress, especially in increasing my squat numbers, but I was just about tapped out across the board in terms of increasing the weight of all 5 lifts. I thought I could have kept going another 5-10 lb. with my squat, but what I think was a very slight groin strain was barking at me the last couple weeks of that program, and I didn't want to push it to where I was really hurt.

I let the groin calm down for a couple months, and restarted Stronglifts from scratch. Fast-forward 15 weeks into this 2nd Stronglifts go-round, and I'm 3 workouts away from besting my previous successful 5x5 max squat. My legs feel good (knocking on wood), but the reality is that regardless of the outcome this will be my last week of Stronglifts for the foreseeable future. 3 more successful workouts, and I'll at least be able to hang my hat on setting a new PR for squats.

However, it's time to do something a little different...possibly more of a hypertrophy program instead of another strength program. One of the great things I've found about strength programs like Stronglifts is that you never really experience intense soreness after a workout (like not being able to walk without a limp for a week after an intense leg day), but you just feel a general body-tiredness most of the time. And by the time you near the end of a program when it starts to get heavy, 3 compound movements a day will leave you drained. When the time comes to go back to more of a strength-oriented program, I think I've graduated from Stronglifts (more of a beginner to program) to something more intermediate (Madcow 5x5 has drawn my attention). So, happy trails to Stronglifts. For 27 weeks (off and on), you served me well!