I love training, If I could train 3 times a day and recover and provide a good life for my family I would. There’s something about the challenge each workout brings that gets me fired up day after day.
I also love tracking things, I love to see the progress of what my training and eating does for my body and the amount of weight I can lift on the bar.
So to keep myself from guessing I do regular InBody Scans to see what my Body Fat percentage is and how many pounds of body fat I’m carrying, how many pounds of lean mass I’m carrying is and how much water my body has. The weight number on the scale just doesn’t cut it anymore because 5 pounds of water can fluctuate over night and your actual composition of fat and muscle hasn’t changed.
So today I’m going to give you a breakdown of my last 8 months, what I look like, what the numbers say, what my diet was like, what my performance was like and how I felt emotionally. Buckle down for some time travel.
PIC 1 and 2 at the top was October last year(2018) 8 months ago just before I left to Power Monkey Camp in Tennessee to train and compete with some of the best CrossFit Coaches and athletes on the planet! I made sure I was in shape and representing Radix well. The Stats- I was 205 pounds 7.5% Body Fat with 51 pounds of lean mass and 15.5 pounds of body fat mass. This is about as lean as I get without comprimising my performance and even then I’m playing the line. My daily diet was 205 grams of Protein 85 grams of Fat and 450-500 grams of Carbs depending on whether I did a 2 a day or not. I RARELY cheated and only ate clean. I was training 6x a week with emphasis on Aerobic Capacity and Muscle Endurance. During workouts I felt great, I was fast and go for long periods, lifting wise I was able to Front Squat 275 pounds for 12 reps which was pretty good. At Power Monkey Camp I was able to PR my 500m Row at 1:15 which is stupid fast and the day after was in a partner comp that had a 400m row which my pace was 1:12 for about 350m, again stupid fast. I don’t feel my strongest at this weight with the barbell but strong enough. Outside of training I felt horrible, hungry a lot, craving fat, muscle always hurting and achy, staying away from social fun and going out, it’s a hard way to live but you look good in photos lol.
PIC 3 and 4 in the middle was 3 months later I fell down the stairs, dislocated my elbow and was in a sling for 2 months. I stopped training as I needed a break both mentally and physically and that fall took it all out of me. I still tracked my food but was a lot more lose on choices and had 3-4 cheat meals a week. The stats- 212 pounds 13% Body Fat 49.8 pounds of Lean Mass and 27.6 pounds of Fat Mass. I don’t have a shirtless photo during this time as it was January and I wasn’t particularly fond of my pasty white out of shape look lol but I wish I did just for a comparison for you guys. I was eating 215 grams of Protein 100 grams of Fat and 300 grams of Carbs a day. This was a tough go for me, no training made me sad, being burnt out made me sad, knowing the Open was coming and I’d miss it made me sad, so I buckled down and focused on business and the systems in the gym and we went from having our worst month in December 2018 to our best in March 2019. It was something I could focus on and make a change and it gave me drive. Physically I felt not so good, you can go from being in the best shape of your life to not in shape in 2 months no problem.
PIC 5 and 6 was last week almost 5 months post fall, I’ve been training HARD again for the past 3.5 months with a focus on Leg Strength as my shoulder hasn’t healed up completely after that fall. The Stats- 216 pounds 10% Body Fat 52.5 pounds of Lean Mass and 21 pounds of Fat Mass. This has been an awesome turn around for me. Physically I feel STRONG over the last 3 months I’ve deadlifted 500 pounds for a double (smoothAF) and last week I Frankenstein Front Squatted 365 pounds for a relatively easy single. My muscle is coming back, I’m not trying to be super lean cause the bit of extra fat helps with injury repair and I’m in good shape, I PR’d my Karen Time (150 wallballs for time) at 4:36 which is quick. Mentally I feel good, I eat Ice cream when I want and still track everyday with my macros at 205 grams of Protein 90 grams of Fat and 400 grams of Carbs everyday, I train 5x a week with a random 2 a day with the boys. I need to be as strong as I can because I might have surgery and I want the recovery process to be as fast as possible. This is a good place for me to be most of the year and cut down to 205-210 for big competitions like The Open. I turn 35 next year and would love to compete at the highest level possible in my age group. I love competing and training and this lifestyle and I love helping people live the best life they can live.
If you’re like me and love this stuff, you should be doing body scans every couple months and seeing what your diet and training is doing for and to you. Then we can make educated decisions to help you get to where you want to be.
-Coach Dan