Well, it happened. I finally got my seventy seven year old mom to work out. First time in her life, two weeks ago. She goes to the physio and has him train her – she trusts him not to hurt her. And if he does, well, he can fix her!
Let me back up a bit though. I got mom dieting in November and she’s lost 15 pounds. I’m keeping it REALLY simple with her – basically Atkins without the induction. Meat, fats, green veggies and a few berries are all fine. Nuts, natural peanut butter, coffee and tea, also fine. The only restriction: nothing starchy, nothing sweet. Initially, no fruit. We’re easing into a few berries, or an apple over the course of a day.
Fast, short term crash diets like this can only be done safely with a PSMF – protein sparing modified fast. This is what she has set for herself, brave soul. We all wish her well.
Dree’s history: Dree has been training for a long time, and she’s already in very good shape – her build is symmetric and she doesn’t have any really bad problem areas – her bodyfat is distributed evenly, which is a real blessing and I truly hate her for this.
She has been following more of a “typical” bodybuilder routine – high-ish reps (around 10-rep sets for most work), drop sets, super-sets… and has been doing cardio: stepper for half an hour three times a week. We’ll be easing her into heavier, lower-rep training as we move her cardio from steady-state toward a more interval-based approach.
Because the last few times Dree tried to cut too fast, like many of us she ended up getting burnt out quitting too soon (and who could blame her – starvation and overtraining SUCKS!). So this time, we’re going to lean her out very very slowly and get her in a holding pattern at around 16%. She may wish to compete at some point next year, and it’s a LOT easier to prep from 16% than it is from 24%!
The plan: Because there’s no huge rush, we’re going to VERY slowly lean Dree out so she can hang onto her muscle mass while slowly hardening up.
Dree’s starting parameters:
Maintenance calories are approximately 1900, with about 150g each protein and carb. Her fats have been a little low for my liking – around 40g per day. I’d like to see if we can increase this a bit.
150 lbs, 24% bodyfat (assumed)
114 lbs lean mass
chest: 35″
hips: 36″
calves: 14.5″
arms: 13″
waist: 31″
Shoulders: 42.5″
The plan is to get her to 16% – roughly 135 lbs – in about five months.
For reference, the cut plan is based on the following information:(more…)
My friend Lisa has three beautiful children – and is still nursing the most recent addition to her family. She’s already started to lose the baby weight – Lisa is already down to 196 lbs, having started at 226 lbs a few months ago. She’s doing really well, and wants to make sure she continues to make progress while building up her strength training.
Starting Parameters
Height: 5’7.5” Weight: 196# (but I’m holding water big-time—I think my “real” weight is 193.) Bodyfat estimate: 39.6% LBM: about 118 lbs based on this estimate (more…)
My friend Moe wants to try out my cutting protocol. I’ve helped her set this up based on what she can train with, work-arounds for her injuries, and the days she can make it to the gym.