Fitness Safari

I've been getting dizzy. For the past few days, whenever I sit up too fast from lying down or if I move too quickly, I get that odd out-of-balance feeling and feel like I may fall over - just for a second or two. Curious as to whether this phenomenon was diet or life-threatening-malady related, I did what anyone would do: I Googled it.  "dizzy, low carb diet" yielded the following diagnosis: Orthostatic hypotension, also known as posutral hypotention, orthostasis, and colloquially as head rush or dizzy spell, is a form of hypotension in which a person's blood pressure suddenly falls when the person stands up or stretches. - Wikipedia. I also found a number of forum discussions on various low-carb diet websites discussing this very problem. Some say it's sodium related. Some say it's calorie related. Some say it's fat related...and so on. But the idea that this has something to do with a lack of sodium makes the most sense to me - and it fi...

Yesterday I went to my new gym for my first Saturday workout with a group of men - and one woman - who meet each week to squat, deadlift and bench press. The most helpful of these folks was Jack (#1). Age 77, Jack #1 is a former team USA powerlifter who deadlifts around 440 lbs. Did i mention, he probably weigh 150 lbs soaking wet? He helped me rack and unrack the weights and set up for each person we were working with. He also followed me at the end of each set to ensure I got it racked correctly and safely. Also in the mix was Jack #2 (nicknamed 'the old Russian'). Aged 60-something, in his day, Jack #2 held 14 powerlifting records. I'm not sure if they were state, National or International - I will find out and get back to you. Anyway, the two Jacks were quite helpful and I found it very motivating to work in with them. Since the rack we were using was not adjustable, I had to step outside of it to get ATG in my squats. They all said my form was spot-on and, if any...

Just a quick look back at, well, at my back...to remind me that I am making progress. The cut diet is hard and I'm struggling, but I'm trying to stay positive and stick to it. Every now and again I like to look back to find the motivation I need to stay the course. The harsher flash in the second pic washes out what I believe are my improving back muscles...anyway, here's today's inspiration: January 2011 - 129 lbs of 'skinny fat'  January 2012 - 119 lbs; goodbye 'skinny fat'

This is me Jan 3 - before I started the cut. Ok, I'm on day 7 of my 12-week cut with Andy Morgan and I'm feeling good. Days 1-3 were pretty brutal as I adjusted to the wakeup call of very low calories. My first workout, which fell on Day 3, was absolutely horrid - and it wasn't even fasted. My lack of energy and poor performance was probably related to a number of factors - diet, sleep, stress, etc - but I was weaker than I had been in months. Then, just two days later I headed to the gym for what would end up being my best squat workout to date - this time fasted and on hour 17 with only BCAAs and 200mg caffeine on board.  Those of you who have been following my journey know I only began squatting a couple of months ago due to a knee injury, so my weights aren't all that impressive. At about 119.6 lbs, my back squat on Sunday was 135 x 5 (top set) - still a new record for me. And I went below parallel for each - super low. I also added a third drop set to eac...