May update

Numbers

Started the month at 170, aiming for 165. After spending much of the second half of the month stuck at 166, I finally on the last day of the month saw a 165 on the scale!


BJJ and musculation and cardio: did BJJ every week, felt pretty good overall. Did my isometrics every week, though for a couple of the weeks I didn’t have as much energy for it and only did the minimum, possibly because of cardio stuff or possibly because of experimenting with some new isometric positions that more effectively pushed my ability (or, possibly because of the calorie deficit and the new low weight!). Did my cardio every week - two sessions of ten minutes each, and by the end of the month I was up to 120 burpees in those ten minutes (or rather in 9:20 by the end of the month); pretty brutal, but it has made the most massive difference for my BJJ.


Reflections

165 is lower than I have ever ever been as an adult. I’m starting to doubt I’ll ever be able to see a proper six pack; I think the loose skin is probably undermining that effort. But having built up some muscle now, I feel like I look lean without looking small, which is nice. The lower fat and higher muscle mass makes me feel pretty athletic, especially with the flexibility from the lengthened isometrics and the cardio and explosiveness from the burpees. Athleticism is not really something I’ve ever associated with myself but I feel like I’m more there now than I’ve ever been before. That feels good going into the BJJ competition.


As I think I said in a post earlier this month, I think my goal for the next while will be mainly just to stay under 170. So there will be no conscious bulking, but probably over time the weight will creep up and when it gets too high I’ll have to push it back down and then I’ll try to maintain (maingain? gaintain?) and weight will creep up and then I’ll have to deficit my way down again. I’m excited for that. I feel like that will be a good way to gain muscle and will also keep me at a weight that I’m really happy with. This next phase of the recomposition journey should be quite an enjoyable one, I suspect.


I’ve kept with the tic tac tactic (as I now call it) and it really has been amazing for weight loss. And also much much cheaper to buy a new big container of tic tacs every couple weeks rather than enough frozen berries and frozen greens for a couple big salads every day.


BJJ has been good. One week this month I got stuck with a real dud of a training partner, an arrogant, didactic old fellow, which felt like a big waste, but otherwise I feel like I’ve been getting a lot out of the training and have been doing quite well in the rolls afterward. I don’t know how I’ll do in the competition but I feel like I’m in a pretty good place walking into it and I’ll be able to feel proud of the preparation I’ve done no matter how it ends up turning out.


And at BJJ, people keep telling me how strong I am. And not just in the backhanded compliment way BJJ people sometimes do. So I think that although I vaingloriously chose lengthened isometrics more for hypertrophy than strength, I’m apparently getting a lot of bang for my buck in both aspects, which is a very nice surprise.


The high intensity intervals with burpees has been bruutal, pushing my heart and lungs to their limit, leaving my hips and thighs burning from the effort, and leaving my lying there totally spent even after I’ve caught my breath and rested my muscles. It is hard work. But I see the difference. At BJJ I’ll bounce to my feet after a hard roll ready to roll again. I think the burpees have somehow also improved my reflexes - I’ll knock something down on the counter and then snatch it out of the air before it can impact, which never used to be something I could do.


I am still working on wardrobe stuff but it’s coming slowly. Had to send back more pairs of pants and shorts. But I think I’m at about six that I’ve actually kept, a couple button down shirts and a pair of pants and one of shorts and a pair of new shoes and of sandals, so starting to get somewhere I think.


Predictions

Ended the month at 165, aiming, I think, for, maybe 162 would be good, by the time of the BJJ competition on the 20th of the month; if I regain a bit of weight in the days after the competition then that’s okay with me.


BJJ and musculation and cardio: keep doing at least the minimum every week; but also, probably some kind of a taper/deload for isometrics and burpees in the week or two before the competition so I show up fresh.

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