Adventures with Slyfox115

Hey Guys,

I really am not sure how to start an intro like this so we will just roll with it.  I was a mod with Scott and Dan back in the day and have learned through trial and error what works and what doesn’t.  I don’t decipher 100 page studies, I don’t hold an SLNDA (Super Long Name Degree Association) or any other form like that.  What I do hold is 11 years of callous ripping nose-to-the-grindstone experimentation on bringing an average genetic human to above average standards physically (and mentally).  My respect is deeply rooted with someone who has had to use every trick in the book to get where that is at today compared to the genetic freak that picked up a weight and suddenly became the top 1%.   This is not I and not the majority of us.

My all time best lifts are (at 250lb) are a 645 deadlift, 545 squat, and 350lb bench.  Not anything amazing by any means, but I have fought for every single inch I have gotten since I have began the pursuit of awesomeness.  I have learned a lot along the way in working with Josh Bryant, Brian Carroll, and most recently…Kiefer.  They all had their own style of training, which allowed me to take certain things away from it that I would use long term.

I have had a few guest posts on Carb-Backloading (CBL), which you may have seen.  If you guys follow Mark Bell you have probably seen his freakish progress on Carb Nite (CN) (http://www.markbellpower.com/no-mo-back-fat/).  He has gone from a bloated powerlifter to a jacked ripped physique, plain and simple.  Granted there are certain things about Mark physiologically that are different from us natural individuals (which he openly admits).  Nonetheless this intrigued me to have a run with CN again, while increasing strength.  Increasing strength on a ULC diet?  Not possible?  Time will tell.  There are some tweaks I learned from Kiefer that have been working well the past 3 months.

The weight loss is slow (which I want), the fat loss is moderate but noticeable, and the strength is slowly climbing.  This is all happening while my scale for weighing food is sitting in a storage box along with my P90X DVD’s (just kidding about that last part).  I know you would like to hear I am dropping 10lbs of fat per week and my bench is increasing 20lbs per week, but Lucharilla keeps it real, and for you regulars around here we just know this is not possible for the majority of us.

I have thrown ALL of my eggs in a performance based mindset since I pretty much started this process.  Needless to say as I got a bit older (I’m 27) and smarter, which led me to start looking at health as a form of progression.  I follow John Meadows, Kiefer, Chris Kresser, Robb Wolf, Jim Laird, and a few others who try to find that perfect balance between health and performance.

After balancing my focus a bit I started to notice I was recovering better, feeling better (even though I thought I felt great before), and fat loss was increased.  Even though CN is advertised at a “get ripped fast” diet it’s amazing at how you can tweak (namely good fats) it to also alleviate a LARGE number of health issues.  Let’s face it, the majority of us are not professional athletes or have physique related jobs.  We have to go to our jobs, spend time with the family, and tend of a ton of other commitments we have.  In between the craziness of life….we train… we train because we love it.  We train because no matter what aspects of our life are “not so optimal”, the iron is always there waiting for you.  We take pride in the fact that we are the 1% NOT contributing to the pussification that is happening to our country.

My point to this is that if you are this family man/super hero in the gym it is irresponsible to neglect your health.  For the “family man” your health will allow you to be around longer to see your kids grow up and drastically improve your quality of life along the way.  On the performance side, from what I have learned, the healthy millions of cells you have in your body are going to operate a hell of a lot better than a cell operating at 70% due to you being “hardcore”.  This in turn will allow you to push the envelope farther in the long run.  You will have less sick days (I haven’t been sick in two years), you will have the energy to still play with your kids, and you will have enough testosterone to satisfy a Bengal tiger (along with your wife or girlfriend).  I will dive into this a bit more in the future but I wanted to give you my stance on this.  We really should not be discounting health as a form of progression.

Scott and Dan have asked me to be one of the main contributors to the site and I am grateful for the opportunity.  I have a few ideas of what I would like to post in the future but if you guys want me to expand on anything more specifically please let me know.