Lifting Club Gets Personal

Lifting Club Gets Personal
Beloved readers,

PREFACE: Prepare to have your socks blown off. There will be another Lifting Club newsletter this week discussing our first official competition. I won’t give it all away yet, but there will be prizes for winners and participators. Show up and you could win big. Stay tuned.

This week I’m going to muster all the arrogance I can because I’m about to interview myself. Actually. Maybe some of you are going to wonder, wow, Palmer has a huge ego. Well, you’d be right. While part of the reason for this newsletter is to pat myself on the back, the other reason is that people ask me what I do and I have a hard time giving a simple answer. Hopefully I can set the record straight. I don’t do everything perfect (despite what my mommy says), but I think I serve as a real-life model for what I’ve been writing about all these months. Without further wait, let the arrogance begin.

I’ll start with my training. Right now I train three times a week, following an upper-lower split. Would four days a week be ideal? Maybe, but it’s convenient and flexible. I train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, switching from lower to upper body. This provides me with plenty of recovery, which allows me to train harder when I am in the gym. My main goal is getting more explosive while maintaining or increasing my strength and size. As such, I’ve been doing more explosive lifting and using a method called post-activation potentiation (PAP)*, which is when you do a heavy lift (3 reps) followed by an explosive movement for 3 reps. PAP is a good method especially for people who have a good strength base, but lack explosiveness (example A: Palmer, Robert). Here’s a recent workout:

Barbell jump squats 8x3 (8 sets of 3 reps)
1A Trap bar deadlift 4x3
2A Broad jump 5x3
Reverse Lunges 3x8
Core, TRX, and whatever else I feel like

I paired up the trap bar deadlift with a broad jump for PAP. It is important that the exercises use the same muscles. In this case, both exercises hit the hamstrings and glutes. If you noticed, there’s not a ton of volume or high-fatigue sets. Why? I’m focusing on getting more explosive. If I wanted to get bigger, I would add more volume and adjust the exercises accordingly.

On a related note, I have been busting out the Vibram Fivefingers (toe-shoes) and I’ve been pleased with them. I used to get shin splints easily, but haven’t had issues since switching to the Vibrams. Of course, I am doing cluster ultimate, but I’ll take it. I’ve also been wearing them in the gym. They’re great for my lower body days because they don’t have a thick sole (hint: deadlift barefoot). The material itself is breathable and I don’t think they smell too bad. However, it meets the most important criteria: just like Australian accents, the ladies love ‘em. Seriously, like I almost got in a conversation with a girl because of them. Soooo close. At the very least, I now have stronger feet.

You might have also seen me using my renegade TRX in the gym. For the cost of production, it was very much worth it. There are a lot of great core exercise you can do on it as well as some challenging body exercises. I’ve also made designed some timed finishers for the end of my workouts which I do on occasion. My one complaint is that I wish I had a weight vest to make some of the exercises more challenging. Nevertheless, it’s an awesome piece of equipment for beginners and advanced lifters alike.

I’m still doing a few 16-hour fasts a week. I actually fasted during my Bio AP, so if I bombed it I can always blame it on the fasting and not my laziness and lack of studying. Why? Some people suggest that fasting increases focus. While I can’t say objectively whether or not I’ve noticed a difference, I never feel less focused on a fast. Some people might wonder why I would fast if I am trying to gain weight. It does seem like fasting would be detrimental to muscle gain, but anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. There are loads of people who have gained muscle while fasting regularly. Even though my training puts lets emphasis on muscle growth and I fast, in the past month I’ve gained weight without any noticeable fat gain.

Another tweak to my diet is that I’ve been carb-cycling. I’ve done this instinctively for awhile. The premise of carb-cycling is that you consume more carbohydrates on days when you train and less when you aren’t. Why? You are providing your body more fuel when your body needs it and less when your body doesn’t. On my training days I’ll have sweet potatoes and some fruit, whereas on my rest days it’s very low carb. Of course, if there’s an important game of cluster ultimate that day, I really have to gorge on carbs to play my best. You know, because cluster ultimate is a serious sport. Let me also say this: carbs are not the devil’s incarnate. However, non-athletes could stand to lower their carb intake for two reasons: most people get their carbs from crappy, nutrient-depleted sources (i.e. white pasta, bagels, etc.) and high amounts of carbs are just unnecessary and potentially unhealthy. For the athlete, it’s a different story.

Still getting to bed early, waking up early, and taking naps every day. The naps are lifesavers. If you don’t take power naps regularly, start.

As I attempt to put myself in contention for the prestigious “weirdest student award,” I fashioned myself a standing desk. I took the desk chair that Andover gives every boarder, puts it on my desk, put my laptop on top of the chair, tied the laptop down with a belt, and now I have a standing desk. This should work for people almost anyone except for giants and dwarfs. Why? First, it reinforces good posture, whereas sitting slumped over at a desk for hours ruins posture. Some people also suggest that it improves efficiency. Again, I can’t objectively say I’ve noticed a difference. Regardless, I recommend people give it a try. If you don’t like it you can disassemble it quickly. No harm done.

My current supplement routine: lots of fish oil, cal/mag/zinc, 5000 iu’s of vitamin d on days when I don’t get sun, and a probiotic. Not too complicated. I also make smoothies that I drink before and after my workouts, which consist of whey, a little frozen fruit, flax, coconut, cinnamon, almond butter, and a little dark chocolate. Orgasmic.

My current snack of choice is sliced coconut (it comes in bags). I like the taste of it plain, although you can mix it with other stuff. It’s high fat and especially high saturated fat. Don’t worry, you probably won’t get a heart attack from this stuff. A lot of people claim that consuming coconut products helps their skin. The other interesting tid-bit about coconut is that most of the fats are medium-chain triglycerides, which are digested quicker than most fats. While they’re not a better source of energy for athletes than carbs, there’s some interesting research about MCT’s. If you ever look at a tub of Muscle Milk, you’ll notice they brag about their high MCT content. Coconut is also pretty cheap and you can get it down at Whole Foods.

I’ve bragged enough for one newsletter. Get excited for that next email.

Palmer