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Kettlebell Aesthetics

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Hello,

My best hypertrophy gains come from high reps (15+, depending on the move) low loads, which tends to be quite rare. I am more an endurance guy, and basically fairly skinny (60kg for 1,83m). Nonetheless, my best strength gains remain with very low reps (1-5) and high loads.

I never cycles my routine. I mostly go by feel.

Do you think, at least in the old time, they did cycles (high rep / low rep) and also modified their diet in function of their cycles ? Indeed, nowadays, to get "superhero physiques", most of the folks do a bulking diet, then some "fasting" to get rid of the fat surplus.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
@pet'

IDK, they probably ate a little less when getting up on a photo shoot, but possible they just reached a good body comp and ran with it. The old timers were jacked up, but not ridiculously shredded, so it would have been a lot easier to maintain. And being performers they probably stayed in good trim all the time.

Reading on them I have to believe they did cycles, but maybe not intentionally. Gearing up to do some serious strength stunts you have to actually do the stunt, many times. So lots of heavy singles, mixed with high rep work on different days? Cycles by practical necessity.

And many of them speak consistently about focusing on the mental activation of muscle, the intent to express strength as being very important. I am convinced they only shared a small amount of what they did in training - the basics.
 
Hello,

In addition to the above, oldtime strongmen sometimes had specific diet:
Old Time Strongman Diet -

Kind regards,

Pet'


I could adopt their diet tomorrow, sounds solid!

Well, maybe no egg yolk in my beer but then again I've never tried it :D. Seems like an extremely inclusive diet. Don't get hands near their plate at mealtime, you might not get everything back!
 
Hello,

I wonder what modern science would say about these diet eheh !

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Hello,

Too much fruit, you'll never burn any fat!

That bread will kill your gains and ruin your intestines!

Table sugar??!!:mad: GET OUT and take your singlet with you!
This is amazing to see the physique they had, considering the diet the have. I guess they'd had a lot of other physical activities.

Here is a picture I recently found on Stew Smith's page. This guy is a former military. He is extremely "health and gpp oriented":
upload_2019-1-11_8-43-36.png

Regarding nutrition, I tend to eat not that much fat, but mostly carb. Indeed, my diet is very Japanese inspired.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
one of the main factor of "gaining muscle", or just gaining weight is eating, but i always have the problem with sucking as much food as possible. today the scale is 69 kg, 2 kg increases. what i did in last 3 weeks is snatching and swinging mostly, plus cold shower for 5- 10 minutes. somehow the cold shower really makes me hungry, i eat all the time. and if i don't change back to ballistics only with about 100 reps per day but continue with ROTK, then i don't think i have enough energy to stand in cold water for 5 minutes.
 
Hello,

@q.Hung
I feel the same. If I am tired, no matter the cause (training, work, etc...) I have difficulties to withstand the cold shower.

However, I also noticed that this harder to gain weight when we do "a lot" of aerobic / conditioning activities (walking, running, swimming, kb swings / snatches, etc...). The more we move, the more we have to eat but to a certain extent, it becomes mentally taxing IMO.

For instance, I took advantage of the Christmas break to end up with IF (24/4 - 19/5). Now, I eat 3 times a day, with good amount of carbs and proteins and moderate to low fat. I barely gained 700g, with the same amount of training.

I am not sure some of the "superhero physique" are achievable only with strength training. To a certain extent, some cardio is necessary (even if it would be walking, cycling, etc...) at least 2 or 3 times a week.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
any of you exprience the same thing?
Yes
However, I also noticed that this harder to gain weight when we do "a lot" of aerobic / conditioning activities (walking, running, swimming, kb swings / snatches, etc...). The more we move, the more we have to eat but to a certain extent, it becomes mentally taxing IMO.
Have you tried 'Bovril'?
 
one of the main factor of "gaining muscle", or just gaining weight is eating, but i always have the problem with sucking as much food as possible. today the scale is 69 kg, 2 kg increases. what i did in last 3 weeks is snatching and swinging mostly, plus cold shower for 5- 10 minutes. somehow the cold shower really makes me hungry, i eat all the time. and if i don't change back to ballistics only with about 100 reps per day but continue with ROTK, then i don't think i have enough energy to stand in cold water for 5 minutes.

No experience with the cold showers except in the Summer I'll use them to cool off after a workout - once acclimated I can hang out for a while.

Re gaining lean weight, I have never had an easy time of this. In my opinion some of the extra calories need to come from protein shakes of some sort - homemade or other. It is too difficult for me to eat the additional calories consistently so they need to be drunk instead.

Any infusion of calories above what the body has gotten used to will tend to initially increase energy reserves - whatever the routine it will become less mentally demanding. If you hold back, the odds of making lean gains decrease and the extra calories will show up as fat reserves, so there is no sense in not increasing weight at the least (better than increasing volume).

Anytime you increase calories, a lot of it will be burned up with this higher capacity and then you will begin to put on weight. Almost invariably whatever surplus you planned into the diet is not enough or will make much slower gains than on paper.

For me this breaks down to a week or two of increased energy, followed by a month or two of potential weight gain before it begins to show up on my midsection. Dial it back for a month or so to maintain, and repeat the process. I have never figured out how to indefinitely pack on lean lbs, but I'm not a fan of the overeating to pudge and then lose the fat. The amount of retained lean weight over the same period would have been not much different to just gain it lean in the first place.

All depends on the starting weight too, but I've also never been a fan of leaning down to bulk up. To put on lean weight you need to increase volume, which will torch off whatever unwanted fat reserves you have anyway and spare the carbs and protein for putting on mass.
 
No experience with the cold showers except in the Summer I'll use them to cool off after a workout - once acclimated I can hang out for a while.

Re gaining lean weight, I have never had an easy time of this. In my opinion some of the extra calories need to come from protein shakes of some sort - homemade or other. It is too difficult for me to eat the additional calories consistently so they need to be drunk instead.

Any infusion of calories above what the body has gotten used to will tend to initially increase energy reserves - whatever the routine it will become less mentally demanding. If you hold back, the odds of making lean gains decrease and the extra calories will show up as fat reserves, so there is no sense in not increasing weight at the least (better than increasing volume).

Anytime you increase calories, a lot of it will be burned up with this higher capacity and then you will begin to put on weight. Almost invariably whatever surplus you planned into the diet is not enough or will make much slower gains than on paper.

For me this breaks down to a week or two of increased energy, followed by a month or two of potential weight gain before it begins to show up on my midsection. Dial it back for a month or so to maintain, and repeat the process. I have never figured out how to indefinitely pack on lean lbs, but I'm not a fan of the overeating to pudge and then lose the fat. The amount of retained lean weight over the same period would have been not much different to just gain it lean in the first place.

All depends on the starting weight too, but I've also never been a fan of leaning down to bulk up. To put on lean weight you need to increase volume, which will torch off whatever unwanted fat reserves you have anyway and spare the carbs and protein for putting on mass.
I've been thinking lately (since it's winter) that I need more lean protein in my diet. Just finished a big construction job and lost 5-6 lbs while eating more, at least 50% more..
I'm going to eat more eggs for awhile, my girl doesn't eat beef so I crave it. My mouth was watering looking at bison meat in Costco. Usually that's a good indicator of bodily needs for me. Right now I'm craving meat and veggies.
 
I've been thinking lately (since it's winter) that I need more lean protein in my diet. Just finished a big construction job and lost 5-6 lbs while eating more, at least 50% more..
I'm going to eat more eggs for awhile, my girl doesn't eat beef so I crave it. My mouth was watering looking at bison meat in Costco. Usually that's a good indicator of bodily needs for me. Right now I'm craving meat and veggies.

I'm sneaking up on a bulking period. Am adding nutritional yeast to any soups or meals with ground meats or sauces (meatballs), and a scoop of whey in my AM milk and PM post workout shake.

Other than that I've increased the size of my AM fruit snack and a little more fat with my breakfast and midmorning snack. Am hoping to just put on one lean pound/week or so.
 
I'm sneaking up on a bulking period. Am adding nutritional yeast to any soups or meals with ground meats or sauces (meatballs), and a scoop of whey in my AM milk and PM post workout shake.

Other than that I've increased the size of my AM fruit snack and a little more fat with my breakfast and midmorning snack. Am hoping to just put on one lean pound/week or so.
Kirkland brand protein bars rate high on Labdoor with 1 gm sugar and 20 gms protein, I don't have a stable enough life to do shakes or I would, my gut instinct is I need to get more calories going to gain weight/strength.
I'm thinking of some strategies to boost food intake that fit my current semi-transient lifestyle. Let's face it, it's easier to be lean and ripped than to bulk in terms of diet. I'm not a snacker but may start adding some between meal snacks. I'm thinking of pre-cooking some burgers to munch with cottage cheese and some nuts. Also I want to do the self made kefir trick with the 1/2 gal of milk.
The meatball in soup idea is good
 
Kirkland brand protein bars rate high on Labdoor with 1 gm sugar and 20 gms protein, I don't have a stable enough life to do shakes or I would, my gut instinct is I need to get more calories going to gain weight/strength.
I'm thinking of some strategies to boost food intake that fit my current semi-transient lifestyle. Let's face it, it's easier to be lean and ripped than to bulk in terms of diet. I'm not a snacker but may start adding some between meal snacks. I'm thinking of pre-cooking some burgers to munch with cottage cheese and some nuts. Also I want to do the self made kefir trick with the 1/2 gal of milk.
The meatball in soup idea is good

For doing this with a transient lifestyle is not easy. I mix up powdered milk and whey sometimes, just add water and can even be mixed with some oatmeal - makes a nasty bit of tupperware cleanup later.

Nuts, jerky, etc. You're 100% it is so much easier to maintain a less mass, especially if running a more endurance minded training.

When I pulled a lot of shiftwork I would sometimes survive for 12 hours on just one 1800cal protein shake and a quart of OJ. Sure wasn't putting on any weight though.
 
For doing this with a transient lifestyle is not easy. I mix up powdered milk and whey sometimes, just add water and can even be mixed with some oatmeal - makes a nasty bit of tupperware cleanup later.

Nuts, jerky, etc. You're 100% it is so much easier to maintain a less mass, especially if running a more endurance minded training.

When I pulled a lot of shiftwork I would sometimes survive for 12 hours on just one 1800cal protein shake and a quart of OJ. Sure wasn't putting on any weight though.
Like you I want to find that sweet spot of added calories and some muscle vs too much adding and gaining the little bit of lower ab paunch. It'll be interesting to play with this, I'm lean but have a steady base strength going, dare I say 'increasing' but it's time to go a bit further dietwise.

I'm thinking of some more focus on arm size, 18" pumped would be doable and nice, guns training was always a favorite of mine, I don't mind a little vanity training so long as my base strength lifts are going well.
Just got a DL setup going this week



DL setup.jpg

and a rucking setup
20190108_134538_Film1.jpg
 
Hello,

Have you tried 'Bovril'?
I never tried it but this is pretty famous. Did you try it ?

Most of proteins comes from fishes, tofu and eggs. Most of my carbs come from fruits, vegetables and mostly cereals (rice, quinoa, beans...) My fats come from avocado, olive oil, "fat fishes" (such as salmon, etc...)

Of course, I sometimes have my cravings. For instance, I enjoy good choose (hand made ones, etc...).

Like @North Coast Miller I have hard times over eating. Basically, I have more hungry when I change my routine or after a cold shower. After a while, the body gets adapted. But in all cases, regarding the amount of physical activities I have, I guess I should spend all my day eating to gain a few pounds...

I never calculated my needs in carbs / fats / proteins. Maybe I should do it to gain lean mass without being too fat in the meanwhile. However, I consider this is an overthinking approach to food (but I am French so...). I do not want to do maths each time I use my fork :(

Back in the days, they did not have all these informations. Then I supposed their approach was more "intuitive": Mirror, scale, digestion.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Back in the days, they did not have all these informations. Then I supposed their approach was more "intuitive": Mirror, scale, digestion.
This is the way I fly, can't stand the thought of measuring food portions. your diet is good and similar to mine, my gut instinct is I need more meat right now, I don't know the how or why of it and in the end it really doesn't matter. The body lets you know what it needs if you pay attention to the subtle signals.
 
@Brett S
I'm at a good spot to do whatever currently. Will probably go back to sandbags as they seem to work better for mass than my other options, and am already using them for my squat and hinge.

Finally dialed in the variations of unilateral leg and hinge work, in fact the scale tells me I've put on 5lbs already and pretty sure its all in the legs. My vanity focus is going to be rear delts, which will also blow up my traps some.

My diet is in surplus but just barely, so this should be a nice easy roll for the next couple of months as long as I don't go overboard with the higher metabolic stuff. Is also part of an experiment I'm running with the isometrics mixed in - in theory that should reduce my energy demands while still calling for more growth. Been at it for about 6 weeks and just recently beginning to feel like it's kicked into a new phase.

For nutrition - eat more eat less, the only change I make is portion sizes and maybe a little more or less snacking between meals and more or less protein supplement whey and/or nutritional yeast.
 
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