Steroids.

This is mostly a subject for the boys, although I don't want to exclude women. Steroids affect every gym and therefore many people get tempted to take them. They seem to be the worst kept secret in any gym. There is always an undertow of drug use in any gym you walk into, and the people on them are rarely obviously so. I want to do an investigation into the risks, the benefits, the cost/benefit ratio, and mostly importantly who needs to do them.

I do want to point out that this is not a moral blog post, I have no qualms about anyone taking steroids, it's your choice, your body, but to be informed, we should be educated, and that's kind of where I come in (to some small extent).

I personally don't think I've met any, or at least, too many people who have needed steroids or "roids". I've trained hardgainers, hardlosers and I've been both myself. I don't want to fall into the fallacy of "I did it, you should be able to do it too", but this what I looked like at age 23 (left) and 25 (right):

If ever there was someone you could call a "hardgainer", in the sense that I walked into a gym as a scrawny little kid, with no knowledge of nutrition or training, that guy on the left is! 

Here I am at my fattest

This was me at about 110-115kgs with a bodyfat percentage of about 22-25%











And after 6 months of dieting and training, with a loss of about 15-20kgs and about 7-10% bodyfat. This may (depending on your definition) categorize me as a hardloser too, or maybe, and the point I'm trying to make is, most people just don't do enough in the gym, and eat well enough outside it.--->

As you can see, I'm still not very lean in the pic on the right, now you could attribute that to my training and my knowledge, and you could be right. But the point is, I never touched roids and I could claim as anyone can, that I was a hardgainer or a hardloser, which really meant "I didn't get as big as I liked or as lean" which were my failures, in diet and training, not because of my "genetic potential". Excuses, which I think roids are in a lot of cases, are always plentiful, but are they necessary? Of course not, and as we discuss the health concerns below, we can see why, when there are safer alternatives (actually showing up to your training sessions, and eating your meals), you have to wonder why anyone would take roids? I think it's psychological, not physiological.

Going back a step, I'm not sure how much I subscribe to this hardgainer/loser mentality, I think a lot of people use it as an excuse to keep them down, to keep them from pushing hard. Perhaps I'm wrong, I have been once or twice. Having said that though, there are, scientifically speaking, technical "hardgainers" and "hardlosers", whose somatotypes fit a certain profile (ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph), this doesn't mean they need roids to get big or lean, it just means that based on a certain somatotype, an individaul would need a specifically tailored program, nothing chemical and nothing dangerous, and no different from anyone else! I would say I'm an ectomorph in the left (top) photo, endomorph in the right. What does that mean? It means those categories aren't set in stone and they don't dictate who you're going to be, training wise. Like anyone else can and, fallacies aside, I got results, without roids, without extraneous supplement use (I cycled creatine and always used protein), results happen naturally, in time, and trust me when I say, there is nothing special about me, or my training!

Now are there people who need roids due to hormonal imbalances? Well this is the same kind of excuse that some overweight people use about their "gland problems" etc, to which I would say the same to them, if that is actually the case, if you have been to the doctors and have been diagnosed with low testosterone levels or gland problems, then in those rare cases, I support what you need to do (well I'll support whatever you need to do anyway, but I'm making a rhetorical point!). But I'm not sure how often low testosterone levels occur in 18-25 year old men (but, if ever it was going to happen, it'd be in today's society), but having said that I have no on hand statistics, to support my position. My point, as belaboured as it is, in the world of fat loss or muscle gain, we all have certain disadvantages, some are psychosomatic, some are real, but neither are solved by excuses and cop outs (*steps of soapbox*).

Definitions and effects

Now, onto the more technical stuff, without going into too much detail David J. Kroll has a great article defining roids and their risks, so we'll begin with him:

"(on testosterone) When I was interviewed by Dan Harris for ABC World News Sunday last weekend, we discussed in footage that did not appear whether testosterone qualified as an “anabolic steroid.” The public normally thinks of ultrapotent, clandestine compounds as being the anabolic steroids used by athletes. But in purely pharmacological terms, testosterone is a steroid based on its chemical structure and it has anabolic, or tissue-building, activity. However, testosterone is an anabolic steroid that we make naturally, men and women.
Hence, testosterone is an endogenous anabolic steroid. When injected as testosterone cypionate, this would be called the exogenous supplementation of an endogenous steroid. But true bodybuilders wouldn’t bother with something like testosterone when more potent and effective synthetic anabolic steroids are available on the clandestine market...Testosterone and human growth hormone (hGH) are anabolic agents. That is, they enhance the development of lean, skeletal muscle mass.

Human growth hormone (hGH) is a peptide normally produced in the pituitary gland that is also anabolic on its own and augments the muscle-building effects of testosterone." (Kroll 2010)

There are obviously different types of steroids; dianabol, stanozolol, sustanon, winstrol, clomid, andriol, anavar, deca-durabolin  etc, but for our purposes its enough to know some examples and their effects. The side effects are common to most, and are listed below.

Steroid.com, the logical place to go for information has this to say on some of the side effects: 

"1. Inhibition of Natural Hormones 
2. Liver Damage 
3. Cholesterol (Blood Lipid Profile) 
4. Gynocomastia (Development of breast tissue in males) 
5. Acne 
6. Roid Rage." (steroid.com "Steroids Side Effects")

The website goes into gruesome detail regarding the aforementioned side effects, complete with studies and references, which I encourage you to check out (link below).  As Kroll succinctly states:

"A person taking an anabolic steroid regimen (recall that testosterone is a natural anabolic steroid) is prone to mood swings, anxiety, and aggressive behavior." (Kroll 2010)

Conclusion
Obviously this is a very basic treatment of steroids, as I'm concerned that too much detail may be a little too hard to swallow for my lay clients. But the point, I think, is delivered, and that is, there are risks, there are benefits, but roids are not a necessary part of your exercise regimen, hence are a completely unnecessary risk.


References:

Kroll J. D., (2010). James Ray and testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Science Based Medicine. Retrieved 29/03/2011-http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3333.

Steroids.com. Steroids Side Effects. Retrieved 29/03/2011. http://www.steroid.com/steroids_side_effects.php.

Training Diary-Phase 2- Wk2.

Hey guys, feeling pretty good this week, have had nachos 4 times, but as I was saying to a client last night, at 4 meals a week of 35 meals total, that's about a 10% variance from my allotted meals, so I'm not too upset. Feeling good on the program as well, moving a little more weight, and despite the fact that I'm having trouble sleeping at night, I'm getting in in the mornings which is adding a little variety to my training which I like. It is getting to the stage though that when I get to my Thursday off, and my Friday afternoons off, I need the sleep, and am doing 12-14hr stints, or 2-3 x5 hour stints.

I'm feeling good without meat, it seems those 1 or 2 meals are all I need to even me out (wow how much do I sound like a junkie?). I'm still taking my multivitamin supplement (obviously we can debate on whether that's even necessary), and my moods are good, even and I'm feeling back to normal (huzzah!).

Rob Superset
Phase 2
Day 1
Upper Body	S	R	Wk1
BB Inc Press/ DB BO Row	3	10	60kg/32.5kg, 80kg/37.5kg, 90kg/40kg.
DB Bench/ Core Row	3	10	32.5kg/17.5kg, 35kg/20kg, 35kg/20kg.
DB Std Prss/ CG Pullup	3	10	27.5kg/BWx9, 30kg/BWx8, 30kg/BWx8.
Dip/ Preacher Crl	3	10	BWx10/37.5kg, BWx 10/42.5kg, BWx10/42.5kg.
CG Pushup/ DB Hammer Crl	3	10	Yes I continue to be weak.
Day 2
Lower Body/Abs	S	R	Wk1
Front Squat	3	10	70kg, 80kg, 80kg.
DB Rvrs Lng/ PullThrough	3	10	20kg/140kg, 25kg/150kg, 25kg/150kg.
Hack Squat/BB  Hip Ext	3	10	60kg/60kg, 70kg/60kg, 70kg/60kg.
Pallof Press (each side)	3	10	80kg, 90kg, 90kg.
Day 3
Upper Body	S	R	Wk1
DB Inc Bench/ BB BO Row	3	10	35kg/60kg, 35kg/80kg, 35kg/90kg.
Wghtd Pushup/ Invrtd Pullup *	3	10	40kg/20kg, 40kg/20kg, 40kg/20kg.
DB Std Arnold/ Mx Grip Pullup	3	10	25kg/BWx9, 27.5kg/BWx9, Ran out of time.
CG Bench/ DB Alt Curl	3	10	Same
DB O/H Ext/ BB Curl	3	10

Day 4
Lower Body	S	R	Wk1
BB Sumo Deadlift	3	10	80kg, 100kg, 120kg.
RFESS/ Kttlbll Swg	3	10	22.5kg/28kg, 25kg/28kg, 25kg/28kg.
Leg Press/ Sngl Leg Curl	3	10	120kg/1, 240kg/1. 240kg/1.
Valslide Rllt/ Plank		10	1/1, 1/1, 1/1
* Pushup and Inverted pullups are weighted

I've been having green tea before most workouts and I guess it's been making me feel good, my numbers are going up and so are my stats. I did a weight and bodyfat percentage test on the OMRON on Tuesday and I was sitting at 96kgs and 17.5%BF, which is a 2kg weight increrase with only a .5% bf increase (about 350-400g of fat?) which is pretty good in about the 4 weeks since I last measured it, a nice vindication and reassurance that what I'm doing is working. I might add a creatine supplement when my weight gets to 100kgs, and I'll start dieting if I get close to 20%, otherwise I'll just be too fat, by summer. As it was on my last 6 month diet (from January to June last year) I went from 100kgs to 93kgs in 6 months and lost 5% bodyfat (from about 18% to 14%), and I went pretty hard. I was training 6 days a week, I did Alwyn Cosgroves "Alternating Set System" which was a 12 week program followed by a 12 week x3 day a week circuit program with progressively more intense intervals on non weight training days (I basically followed Cosgrove's heirarchy of fat loss). Which is possibly what I may do this time round.

Breakfast: 1 cup of oats with 1 scoop protein powder, hi lo milk, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. 700mL of water.

Meal after morning shift:  Smoothy- 1/2 cup of berries, 1 cup of mixed veggies, 1 banana, 1 pear/apple, 1/2 cup of walnuts/cashews, a touch of cinnamon, 750mL of water, 1 cup of yogurt, 150g cottage cheese, 3 broccoli stems, handful of cherry tomatoes, lentils, chick peas (or various other types of beans/lentils). I also forgot to note, this makes 2 shakes that I have over the course of the day, or I have the leftover one the next day.

Meal before training and afternoon shift: 1 can of salt reduced baked beans, 1 glass of Hilo milk. 500mL water.

Post workout shake: x2  up n go "energize"'s, 30g of protein powder. 500-700mL of water during training.

Dinner: Various egg options, I cooked up my chicken and made a korma curry with it.But as you see above, have only had 2 meals from it, other meals included eggs on toast, egg white omelette's with toast etc.

Supplements. 3-4 fish oil tabs with my morning smoothy, and I've started taking a multivitamin supplement once-twice a day.

Training Diary-Phase 2- Wk1.

Hey guys, so here we are on the next phase of my 12 week, by 3 phase program. I started out bad this week, I missed training on Monday due to a total lack of organization on my part, so I'm training 4 days in a row this week.  I just got home from dinner with my girl, I had a non-vegetarian thali (obsessed much?). I also had chicken on Monday night, and Friday night but that's it in the meat department. The slight addition of meat into the diet has made me feel waaaay more even, more whole, so I think I'm going to keep it up for a while.And if you think about it, at 5 meals a day 7 days a week (35 meals p/week), 3 meat meals is only a failure of just under 10% (how's my math??), considering my meat intake was closer to 40% a couple of weeks ago, I'm not too upset about a slight inclusion of some meat.

So I did a very basic and quick warm up on Tuesday and Wednesday, foam rolling for the body parts used in that workout, followed by some basic stretches, no mobility (except for my thoracic spine) or activation work though. If you check out my blog on both foam rolling and stretching, you'll see what I did (essentially).The thoracic mobility work is not included in those blogs and could make a good blog post on it's own.

Rob Superset
Phase 2
Day 1
Upper Body	S	R	Wk1
BB Inc Press/ DB BO Row	3	10	60kg/32.5kg, 70kg/35kg, 70kg/37.5kg.
DB Bench/ Core Row	3	10	32.5kg/10kg, 32.5kg/15kg Skipped last set.
DB Std Prss/ CG Pullup	3	10	22.5kg/BWx9, 27.5kg/BWx9, 30kg/BWx8.
Dip/ Preacher Crl	3	10	BWx10/37.5kg, BWx 10/37.5kg, BWx10/37.5kg.
CG Pushup/ DB Hammer Crl	3	10	Yes I continue to be weak.
Day 2
Lower Body/Abs	S	R	Wk1
Front Squat	3	10	60kg, 70kg, 80kg.
DB Rvrs Lng/ PullThrough	3	10	17.5kg/140kg, 20kg/150kg, 22.5kg/150kg.
Hack Squat/BB  Hip Ext	3	10	60kg/60kg, 60kg/60kg, 60kg/60kg.
Pallof Press (each side)	3	10	70kg, 80kg, 80kg.
Day 3
Upper Body	S	R	Wk1
DB Inc Bench/ BB BO Row	3	10	30kg/60kg, 35kg/80kg, 35kg/80kg.
Wghtd Pushup/ Invrtd Pullup *	3	10	22.5kg/Weighted Vest (10kg), 45kg/WV, 45kg/WV.
DB Std Arnold/ Mx Grip Pullup	3	10	25kg/BWx9, 25kg/BWx10, 25kg/BWx9.
CG Bench/ DB Alt Curl	3	10	60kg/15kg, 60kg/17.5kg. Skipped due to time (and weakness)
DB O/H Ext/ BB Curl	3	10	Ditto.

Day 4
Lower Body	S	R	Wk1
BB Sumo Deadlift	3	10	60kg, 80kg, 100kg
RFESS/ Kttlbll Swg	3	10	20kg/28kg, 20kg/28kg, 20kg/28kg
Leg Press/ Sngl Leg Curl	3	10	Skipped
Valslide Rllt/ Plank		10	1/1, 1/1, 1/1
* Pushup and Inverted pullups are weighted

If anyone is having any problems understanding my training program writing style, allow me to elaborate.  I've used abbreviations for all the exercises as I have them in an excel spreadsheet, and have simply copied them over and I don't have much room. Usually I take out the vowels, for example: DB= Dumbbell, Mx Grip Pullup: Mixed Grip Pullup, RFESS: Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat, DB BO Row: Dumbbell Bent Over Row, S= Set, R= Reps etc. Does this help?

You'll also see some repetition in the exercises, there is quite a lot of volume in this routine, many exercises and little choice, as I generally don't like to use machines, though they do come in handy for variation. What I've done is try to take different grips, move the same exercises around in the workout to try an minimise the law of diminishing returns. I've also made a concerted effort, where possible, to increase the weight lifted, but first week and all, we'll see. Some interesting points were brought up to me by my buddy Matt, I thought I'd include his thoughts for you guys:

"I’ve been paying more attention to your articles lately.  And I actually send them on to a couple of people who are interested too.  I guess it’s confusing because sometimes an article will make a point that seemingly contradicts something from a routine you’ve designed.  I realise that like any science there’s different theories and methods but I suppose I find it odd if you’re the one promoting the articles but also designing the routines...

For example in the ‘lose fat, stay strong’ article the author suggests total reps for his strength circuit shouldn’t be more than 250 although in your current routine some days are as high as 360 reps total for the workout.  Likewise the, ‘28 things I’ve learned that bear repeating’ article states that rep ranges above 10 are largely a waste of time for ordinary people.  Are these claims to be isolated to the training context within which they are made?

The reason I ask is because lately I’ve been thinking I made need to try and be a little more forensic in my approach to training and diet.  In this regard. I am currently able to finish the routine you designed (except for the pull-ups and chin-ups) but I noticed that often you do not.  It is better for me to aim to complete the program or should I be pushing myself harder earlier even if it means not completing all exercises?" (Hollis 2011)

I appreciate everyone's comments, so thanks to Matt for his well thought out email. This goes out to anyone who might have been thinking the same as Matt. The program is intensive, exhaustive and as you see, I don't always finish it. There are reasons, ad hoc or not, but here they are: I want to work at a high intensity, to keep my bodyfat levels down, I like intensity for hypertrophy workouts, and they still only take about 45mins, so it's not like I'm spending hours in the gym. I have very little rest time, and due to the volume I do cut myself some slack, and as I said to Matt, because my arms grow so easily, if there's an area I'm gonna skimp on, it's my arms. Would my program work for others? Maybe not, remember, this program is tailored to me, my goals, what I know my body can handle and what I feel I need. It depends on your goals, training age, body type, injury history, things of this nature. My thought process by behind the rep ranges were: as I move to each phase of the program, the reps come down, the weight goes up, so as the reps come down, more weight is moved, hence as I get more accustomed to a program I'm constantly tweaking variables to shock my body. I like to think I have enough baseline strength to be able to lift reasonable weight for 10-12 reps, so I was willing to overlook the possible loss of maximal muscle gain to give myself a place to go, perhaps in the future I will tailor my program so that when I get to phase 3, I will be at 6 reps, as opposed to the 8 I will be by the end of this program. Either way, some things to think about.

My next program will be more body part intensive, with less volume, to shock my body up. Any strength coaches will invariably cringe when reading this, as bodypart training is out of popularity, but I will try to make the program as "functional" as possible. I am after all going for muscle, not function. Though having said that, I would still like to retain and maintain as much function as possible and not causing myself injury.


Diet has been pretty similar, keep in mind this is a general outline, I do vary from this, and I suggest you all vary your diets too. I've added a little more oats into my breakfast, thanks to Eloise's suggestions.

Breakfast: 1 cup of oats with 1 scoop protein powder, hi lo milk, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. 700mL of water.

Meal after morning shift:  Smoothy- 1/2 cup of berries, 1 cup of mixed veggies, 1 banana, 1 pear/apple, 1/2 cup of walnuts/cashews, a touch of cinnamon, 750mL of water, 1 cup of yogurt, 150g cottage cheese, 3 broccoli stems, handful of cherry tomatoes, lentils, chick peas (or various other types of beans/lentils). I also forgot to note, this makes 2 shakes that I have over the course of the day, or I have the leftover one the next day.

Meal before training and afternoon shift: 1 can of salt reduced baked beans, 1 glass of Hilo milk. 500mL water.

Post workout shake: x2  up n go "energize"'s, 30g of protein powder. 500-700mL of water during training.

Dinner: Various egg options, I cooked up my chicken and made a korma curry with it.But as you see above, have only had 2 meals from it, other meals included eggs on toast, egg white omelette's with toast etc.

Supplements. 3-4 fish oil tabs with my morning smoothy, and I've started taking a multivitamin supplement once-twice a day.

Training Diary-Phase 1- Wk4.

I'm writing this at 12:40am on Thursday night/Friday morning. My training this week has been, well, non existent. Due to the public holiday on Monday (and the resulting concert: Soundwave, which was awesome by the way!), then having the day off Tuesday to sleep it off (re: not hungover, didn't drink at all, just uber tired and somewhat sun burnt), my first day of training this week was Wednesday night, in which I did day 3's workout. It was a pretty weak workout, I felt flat, and tired, mostly matched personal bests (went a little under on some exercises). Could be the break in the routine, could have been the sun from Monday, could be the diet.  Thursday, I didn't train, as I didn't work (didn't want to do the hour and a half drive) so now I have only tomorrow morning before work (as I have to take my car in to the garage after work), which will largely depend on how tired I feel in the next 2-3 hours, at the moment I'm hopeful I'll go in (note: I didn't go in). Maybe I could make it in over the weekend as well, maybe if I got to shmoopy's house on Saturday night, I could stop in an do a workout, hmmmm... That'll mean I only miss one workout, which is.. acceptable, as an anomaly (note: I didn't go in over the weekend). I started on day 3's workout as I anticipated only getting in for 2 sessions this week, if I go in on Saturday, I'll do day 1's workout. I have phase 2 next week of this superset program, which I expect will be hard, at first, as most programs are.

Oh one thing that I've forgotten to include which I am a total hypocrite on, is the warm up, I basically don't do one. Not a meaningful one anyway, I walk from my car, which is about 10 minutes away, is this a warm up? No.  Is it better than nothing? Mmm not by much. I haven't done it simply because I'm lazy, that's it, and I pay the price, with poor movement and tightness. I don't recommend it, and if you're one of my clients, you know how much of a hypocrite I am, by not doing a good, or even moderate warm up, it's something I intend to fix! When I start my new program I will attempt to warm up.


Program

Rob Build Up
Phase 1
Superset
Day 1
Upper Body	S	R	Wk3
BB Bench/ BB BO Row	3	12
DB Inc Bench/ Suppt T-bar	3	12
BB Military Press/ Pullup	3	12
Skullcrusher/ BB Curl	3	12
Dip/ DB Alt Curl	3	12
Day 2
Lower Body/Abs	S	R	Wk3
Hex Bar Deadlift	3	12
DB Split Squat/SLDL	3	12
DB Step Up/ Lateral Lunge	3	12
Rollout/ Dynamic Plank	3	12
Day 3	S	R	Wk3
Upper Body
BB Decline/ DB BO Row	3	12	70kg/30kg, 90kg/32.5kg, 100kg/35kg
DB Bench/ CG Seated Row	3	12	30kg/90kg, 30kg/90kg, 30kg/95kg
DB Military Press/ Chinup	3	12	20kg/BWx8, 20kg/BWx7, 22.5kg/BWx8
CG Bench/ Preacher Curl	3	12
Rope Pulldown/ DB Curl	3	12
Day 4	S	R	Wk3
Lower Body
BB Back Squat	3	12
DB Walking Lnge/ Good Mrng	3	12
Hack Squat/ Lying Leg Curl	3	12
Bodysaw/ Hanging Leg Raise	3	12

Diet wise things have been ok, I haven't had any meat in almost 2 weeks, I went to dinner twice (Maya Masala- Indian, Lido- Vietnamese Restaurant) last weekend, and had a vegetarian thali at Maya, and Tofu at Lido, both were excellent, even if I did miss the meat meals and looked enviously at everyone eating them (fortunately both meals I ate with other vegetarians with the exception of Claire at Lido, a former vegetarian herself). I thought energy levels were levelling out, I felt less reactionary, less angry, and much more reasonable, until I realised people are telling me how grumpy I've been and I succumbed to road rage the other day, which I never do (not exactly scientific conclusions I'm coming to here I know). I've been pretty tempted to rationalise a meat meal here and there (convenience and laziness mostly), but have resisted. I've bought some tofu this week, which I'm going to cook up into a korma curry and store in the fridge like I used to do with my chicken and beef, to be eaten over the week (post workout meals mostly). If anyone knows how long I can store cooked tofu I'd really appreciate some info.

Well, as of writing that on Thursday night, it is now Sunday afternoon, and 2 things have happened, (1) I had meat on Friday night (Maya Masala) and I've gotta tell ya, it was delicious and made me feel great! (2) As some of you know, there has been a debate on my Facebook page (my name is Rob El, add me if you haven't), regarding tofu/psuedoscience. It's based on questions like "is tofu safe", if it is "who's saying it is" and "are they reliable" some say yes, some say no. I want to do a blog on tofu because it's a great source of protein for vegetarians. And there is some controversy as to its safety.

Having said that, and as I originally claimed, I was going to take a more semivegetarian stance, but I've dived right into a vegtarian lifestyle, and it's been killing me, it's killing my relationships and it's killing my ability to think (which I admit could be my fault by going from 0-60 in 2 seconds or not getting enough from my diet). So I may perhaps try to include 1 meat meal a day, or every 2 days (or whenever I feel like I need it). Coincidentally a friend of mine, Wolf (awesome name right?) sent me a blog post, from his blog on beef/meat, and he contacted me (via Facebook) to send me some information about meat in regards to my blog on the nutritional benefits of a vegetarian diet:

" ...the nutritional argument for vegetarianism doesnt hold up to the available evidence and that while it *can* be better than the typical western diet, it is not (imo) the optimal diet for health. Meat contains a lot more nutrients than protein/iron/b12 and by cutting it out completely you are depriving yourself of one super nutrient dense food group. I posted this on my blog a while back which I think demonstrates that while there are concerns about red meat, you can have your cake and eat it too, if you take some steps in preparing it first."

Here is a link to his blog, for those who are interested: http://myopinionofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/beef-is-not-four-letter-word.html

It's important to look at what he's saying simply in the context of nutrition, he's simply stating meat has benefits, and that my argument doesn't hold a lot of water (overall). Check it out guys, some great work there.

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of oats with 1 scoop protein powder, hilo milk, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. 700mL of water.

Meal after morning shift:  Smoothy- 1 cup of berries, 1 cup of mixed veggies, 1 banana, 1 pear, 1/2 cup of walnuts, a touch of cinnamon, 750mL of water, 1 cup of yogurt, 150g cottage cheese, 3 broccoli stems, handful of cherry tomatoes, lentils, chick peas (or various other types of beans/lentils). I also forgot to note, this makes 2 shakes that I have over the course of the day, or I have the next day.

Meal before training and afternoon shift: 1 can of salt reduced baked beans, 1 glass of Hilo milk. 500mL water.

Post workout shake: x2  up n go "energize"'s, 30g of protein powder. 500mL water during training.

Dinner: Various egg options, I have a kg of chicken to cook up too, I'll make a korma curry with that (I still haven't cooked it up, but will this week). I have the chicken still from the 1st week and I have tofu, but as you will see on Facebook, I may not eat it.

Supplements. 3-4 fish oil tabs with my morning smoothy, and I've started taking a multivitamin tablet once-twice a day.

Had nachos 4 times this week, I'm a fatty :(

Next week I'm into the new program, so it's "balls to the wall" again!! Stay tuned.

Here are some progress shots that I took on Friday the 11th at like 3 in the morning after I got home from my girls house (was the back story necessary Rob?)

I'm not sure what I weigh, but last check was 94kgs @ 17% Bodyfat.

Training Diary-Phase 1- Wk3.

So, my first week attempting to move toward vegetarian options has commenced, eep! It should be noted I actually started last week, and I started badly, I had McDonald's on the weekend and Maya Masala (Indian, a non-vegetarian thali).  So I havent' been altogether good. I'm essentially taking a semivegetarian to lactoovovegetarian/ovolactovegetarian stance, basically trying to cut out red meat, and over time, reduce my other animal products. Having said that though I didn't eat any other meat, from when I started (Thursday), so that's something, I guess. I'm going to try to look at meat as a special occasion kind of thing, perhaps as a reward for cutting down on my nachos. The most important thing, I haven't had any meat this week, have been relying on vegetarian sources, dairy and eggs for my protein and I gotta tell ya, I don't feel any different. People have said I'd struggle, and admittedly it is only Wednesday night (as I write this portion of the diary), so let's not count our chickens. But I feel good and confident about my decision.

Ok it's Friday morning as I write this, and I've noticed my emotions taking over a bit, have been reactionary, somewhat distant, a little aggressive, paranoid, I may be those things normally, but I feel I can control them, with reason. I brought a multivitamin supplement, and I feel somewhat more even, let's see how we go?

I've been butting heads, in the most respectful way possible of course, with a few people about this, mostly guys, and mostly guys who like meat. It seems to always come back to this "I want meat because I like it" tautology, that's fine, but that's not a good argument. I don't judge it, eat meat for whatever reason you choose, this is my personal choice, and I'm not a anti-meat warrior. But it does make me think about the faulty logic of such argument, and that's why I stopped eating it. When I realised I was causing, though my purchase of these products, suffering and pain to animals capable of both and contributing to the ruin of this planet, slowly but surely, all for my personal appeal toward meat? Well, let's say, when that clicked, it wasn't much of a choice at all.

It's also been pointed out to me that my vegetarian "moral argument" on suffering is based on a non-falsifiable principle, which is the kicker for me. It basically means my choice to be a vegetarian, is essentially, not very valid, or is rather simplistic (which I would agree with), and really can only act as a personal justification for me, not for you. I plan to do more research and see what other arguments I can find.

Program

Rob Build Up
Phase 1
Superset
Day 1
Upper Body	S	R	Wk3
BB Bench/ BB BO Row	3	12	70kg/70kg, 90kg/90kg, 90kg/90kg
DB Inc Bench/ Suppt T-bar	3	12	27.5kg/50kg, 30kg/60kg, 30kg/60kg
BB Military Press/ Pullup	3	12	45kg/BWx10, 45kg/BWx8,45kg/BWx8
Skullcrusher/ BB Curl	3	12	37.5kg/37.5kg, 37.5kg/37.5kg, 37.5kg/37.5kg
Dip/ DB Alt Curl	3	12	Skipped, due to time, but I had some caffeine, might start supplmenting with it, I felt I could go on, with less intensity.
Day 2
Lower Body/Abs	S	R	Wk3
Hex Bar Deadlift	3	12	100kg, 120kg, 140kg
DB Split Squat/SLDL	3	12	20kg/45kg, 27.5kg/45kg, 27.5kg/45kg
DB Step Up/ Lateral Lunge	3	12	15kg/15kg, 17.5kg/15kg-skipped last set.
Rollout/ Dynamic Plank	3	12	1/1, 1/1, 1/1.
Day 3	S	R	Wk3
Upper Body
BB Decline/ DB BO Row	3	12	70kg/27.5kg, 90kg/32.5kg, 100kg/35kg
DB Bench/ CG Seated Row	3	12	32.5kg/90kg, 32.5kg/90kg, 32.5kg/95kg
DB Military Press/ Chinup	3	12	20kg/BWx8, 20kg/BWx8, 22.5kg/BWx9
CG Bench/ Preacher Curl	3	12	60kg/30kg, 60kg/37.5kg, Skipped, due to fatigue
Rope Pulldown/ DB Curl	3	12	Ditto!
Day 4	S	R	Wk3
Lower Body
BB Back Squat	3	12	80kg, 100kg, 110kg
DB Walking Lnge/ Good Mrng	3	12	17.5kg/60kg, 20kg/60kg, 20kg/70kg
Hack Squat/ Lying Leg Curl	3	12	60kg/40kg, 60kg/40kg, 60kg/40kg
Bodysaw/ Hanging Leg Raise	3	12	1/1, 1/1- Skipped last set.

Feeling better actually, on the reduced meat diet. I have a lil more energy (sometimes), workouts feel good, the baked beans give me a more steady feel of energy. With the spaghetti I was feeling quite flat, though I admit that could have been the crappy food in the morning, and now thinking about, it was probably due to that. Reducing meat isn't too bad in daily life, it will hit when I socialise. It's also hard as so much of the plant food has carbs in the protein sources, so I'm gonna have to get drastic when I diet, but that's some time away, I have time to adjust to this thing. Who knows I may not stick to it...

I've been feeling strong on the gym floor, still objectively weak as the numbers suggest, but I'm getting stronger. I'm still huffing and puffing my butt off,  and have no endurance, but I'm getting there, if only because I'm conscious of my efforts and results from this blog. Many of my numbers are still climbing, I'm trying to be honest with myself about what to lift, I think about everyone reading this blog, and that helps to motivate me to push harder, as there are a few exercises I back off on, due to, well laziness (essentially).

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of oats with 1 scoop protein powder, hilo milk, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. 700mL of water.

Meal after morning shift:  Smoothy- 1 cup of berries, 1 cup of mixed veggies, 1 banana, 1 pear, 1/2 cup of walnuts, a touch of cinnamon, 750mL of water, 1 cup of yogurt, 150g cottage cheese, 3 broccoli stems, handful of cherry tomatoes, lentils, chick peas. I also forgot to note, this makes 2 shakes that I have over the course of the day, or I have the next day.

Meal before training and afternoon shift: 1 can of salt reduced baked beans, 1 glass of Hilo milk. 500mL water.

Post workout shake: x2  up n go "energize"'s, 30g of protein powder. 500mL water during training.

Dinner: Various egg options, I have a kg of chicken to cook up too, I'll make a korma curry with that (I still haven't cooked it up, but will this week).

One thing I forgot to add:

Supplements. 3-4 fish oil tabs with my morning smoothy, and I'm finishing off the probiotics I was taking (everything is in working order again, if anyone was wondering).

As you can see my diet looks a lot better, much cleaner. It's not so much to the wonders of a vegetarian diet at the moment, and more to do with being exited to do something new.

The Continuing Discussion On Vegetarianism.

The discussion about my first Vegetarianism blog has started, and it's great, as it get's me to sharpen my ideas, and my choices.  One of my clients, Sean "P Diddy" Powell contacted me tonight, via email, with these list of, shall we say concerns? Objections? Points? Regarding my argument, and what I considered or lacked in my argument. His email was so good I got his permission to post it here. And it got me to thinking, if anyone has any responses to the vegetarianism blog, please contact me at the blog and I may chuck them up. To address things I haven't or to allow me to defend my (unpopular) position, as best I can.
Here is P Diddy:

"Being of a squeamish nature, I haven’t watched the video, but do you know where it is sourced from?  Australia has pretty strict laws on how animals are processed (to use the clinical term) for slaughter and AQIS does regular inspections of all Australian abattoirs.  Even cattle slaughtered for halal consumption has a stungun applied to the forehead and then the halal slaughterman cuts the throat.  I’m guessing that the video is probably American, and without the benefit of the stungun.

I agree that animals can feel pain, show love (or a variation defined as fondness, loyalty, or at worst associating human presence with reward) and express  curiosity – anyone who has cared for a pet would most likely agree.  But I also think that there is a human ability to accept double standards or turn a blind eye or delude ourselves that lets most of us enjoy our meat while not thinking about where it comes from.

There is also a concept which you didn’t refer to – you may have considered it but not thought it worth raising – being the right of the predator, or the food chain concept.  Do humans, as a more capable predator, have the right to kill and eat other animals -  which admittedly is a slightly elemental argument, but if we eliminate the suffering aspect and breed, raise and kill humanely without suffering, does that make it ok.  I don’t think Australian abattoirs are there yet because focus is on throughput and volume because its run as a business but it could get to the same stage that the egg industry has moved to where eggs are graded as caged, barn or free range (my personal protest is that I only buy free range eggs...)" (Powell 2011) 

My reply:

"I haven't sourced the video no, and that is something I probably should have done, I think the point was even if the animals are killed humanely (is that possible? Think, for example your loved ones being killed the ways in the video, or the ways you mentioned), there are still the other issues of environment and suffering, all of which I think are reason enough, on their own, to give up meat. But when added together? Make a very strong case for me, at least, to abandon meat..

I agree, yes humans can accept a double standard, but that's also what I'm arguing against, as in, what is the basis for the double standard? Is it valid? Again, for me? No, for you? Sure. The same double standard is what allows us to live happily while places like Africa and the Middle East suffer, which I also don't agree with, as in we can do something to help, which is what I'm advocating with the denial of meat.

The last point you raised is an interesting one, and was cited to me tonight. I don't agree with it, but let me tell you why. It seems to me if I have understood you (and others), than an argument from biology is being made, as in, we have evolved to be the best at killing, or have evoled to be at the top of the food chain so shouldn't we kill? I think a hidden premise in this argument might also be: other animals kill, but do we think a lion is inhumane for killing the gazelle?

In response I would say, evolution has adapted us to also have consciousness, intelligence and as an emergent result we have culture, science etc. We also have the ability to deny our biological urges (laws against rape go directly against our biological urge to procreate), hence it seems plausible that as the dominant species on this planet, it falls to us, to maintain the well-being of ourselves, this planet, and all the other life on this planet. With that in mind, it seems plausible to me, that given we know our eating of these animals causes either suffering or pain or both (and environmental concerns) that we are duty-bound, as the dominant species to protect other species, to reduce suffering. Especially as we can live healthily without meat. I guess the point is, and I take a long time getting there I know, is we deny our biology and the rules of this planet all the time, I think we are justified in doing it in this case. As in the hidden premise (that I admit, could be my own interpretation), a lion doesn't have the capabilities to know it can be a vegetarian, it doesn't have consciousness, self awareness etc, hence it does what it's biology tells it, it doesn't keep animals in pens and it's eating of the gazelle doesn't cause environmental concerns. So while it still is causing pain, it has no other way to live it's life, we do." (Bezant 2011)

I encourage anyone who has concerns to offer critique or argument, see if I can justify myself.

As if upon request I received a startling beat down from the President of the Atheist Community of Austin (Texas), and all round smart dude, Matt Dillahunty

"The pain argument is a non-starter, for me. Certainly I'm against excessive pain and animal cruelty and I'll favor improvements in the slaughter industry, but if suffering (the awareness and cognizance of pain) is the foundation, then the argument fails the instant one points out that it is possible to kill without pain.

This is a rights issue. What sort of rights should we afford non-humans - and why? And are all non-humans afforded the same rights - and why or why not? Do the gnat, chicken, dolphin and chimp have the same standing?

Humans aren't granted rights because we can experience pain and suffering, we initially take those rights as an act of volition and then grant them as a matter of empathy, practicality and a conscious awareness that it increases the well-being of all of us.

I tend to afford the same opportunity for rights and defense of rights to all animals and I do so equitably. It's not immoral for the shark or the lion to eat me...and vice versa.

All that said, there are other arguments (including ethical ones) for vegetarianism that still intrigue me and may even sway me, but the simplistic pain arguments are, I think, horribly flawed.

Is it immoral for me to anesthetize a bunny so that it doesn't feel pain? If I then lop off it's head, am I immoral - even though it did not suffer?

Suffering simply can't be the criteria. It's a good emotional argument but it fails in its task. I could kill another human being and make it downright pleasant, using the right drugs - and it'd still be immoral.

It baffles me that so many science-minded individuals fail to see that the suffering argument fails falsification." (Dillahunty 2011)

Any thoughts guys?

Vegetarianism Part 1- The Moral Argument.

Scientist P.Z Myers posted this video on his blog Pharyngula a couple of days ago, it is a disturbing video taken from an abattoir, showing how they kill animals that are intended to be provided for us to eat.

Warning, the video is disturbing to watch!!

How disturbed I got during the video got me to thinking, "perhaps I don't need to eat meat". As a heavy weight trainer I eat my fare share of meat, I generally buy 2kgs of red meat (mince) a week to make into spaghetti and curry. I, like many, are aware of the ethical issues of this, some of us choose to turn a blind eye to that, some don't, some can't eat meat, due to repulsion, some like me, enjoy meat almost exclusively! I've seen this argument going around, perhaps you may not have, let's see what people are saying. Michael De Dora over at Massimo Pagliucci's blog "rationally speaking" has this to say:

"Many vegetarians (and vegan, but let’s stick with one position) argue that we should not use animals as a means to some end, but as inherently important, worthy of certain rights and protections. This is a morsel from Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy. Kant argued that every human being is deserving of respect (i.e., moral concern) because of its cognitive faculties – its autonomy, ability to reason, make free choices, and plan for the future. Vegetarians would have us expand this to non-human animals. But there is no reason to suppose that animals have such capacities, and I see little reason – judging from scientific evidence and philosophical thinking – to give them the benefit of the doubt." (De Dora 2011)

I agree that animals deserve rights, sure, they're rights we give them, but that matters little, as I'm not necessarily making an argument against the use of animals as "beasts of burden" (although I'm sure there's a discussion there). The issue, at least for me (and Sam Harris) is about working toward of state of more well-being than harm, for every living creature. I'm not sure that this idea "... there is no reason to suppose that animals have such capacities, and I see little reason – judging from scientific evidence and philosophical thinking – to give them the benefit of the doubt." is accurate, in fact this seems like a remnant of a Descartian era way of thinking (Descartes assumed erroneously that animals couldn't feel pain). Other authors on the "rationally speaking" blog disagree with De Dora too, as Scott Berjot-Stafiej states:

"according to Michael, one may promote animal quality of life and, in a humane way (i.e., with a minimum amount of mental or physical suffering), kill animals without substantial ethical qualms. I disagree...My first disagreement comes from what I believe to be an unintentional over-simplification. What I assume Michael means with the above statement is that animals exhibit the mentioned capacities to a lesser degree than humans, not that they don't exhibit them at all. Virtually all of the traits described may be found to some degree in the animal kingdom: dolphins have been known to hoard trash at the bottom of a pool when there was the prospect of future reward for gathering it; certain fish have shown memory of a year or more and have used memory of negative experiences to develop ways of becoming less easy to catch; ravens make tools; rats solve puzzles; many mammals socialize, etc. While it is relatively certain that most animals have a far less defined sense of self, it is, I believe, scientifically uncontroversial to say that many animals have the ability to reason and make projections at least to a degree." (Berjot-Stafiej 2011)

John Loftus appears to agree with Berjot-Stafiej as I do, that animals not only feel pain, but are developed enough to have similar cognitive processes to humans, or at least analogous to humans which Loftus states in his book, The Christian Delusion:

"There can be little doubt any longer that animals feel pain depending on their central nervous systems. We have evidence of it in their increased heart beats, breathing rhythms, and in the activity of the pain centers of the brains when animals are subjected to pain stimuli." (Loftus 2010)

There is no doubt, that chickens and particularly lambs/cows have fully developed central nervous systems capable of feeling pain, as intensely as you or I. Loftus also quotes Andrew Lizney who states:

"There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience not just pain, but also suffering, to a greater or lesser degree than we do ourselves. The scientific reason is straightforward. Animals and humans show a common ancestor, display similar behaviours, and have physiological similarities. Because of these triple conditions, these shared characteristics, it is perfectly logical to believe that animals experience many of the same emotions as humans. " (Loftus 2010)

Here De Dora reaches the crux of his argument, and changes gears slightly:

"Here, then, is where we reach an interesting juncture: if there are no compelling ethical reasons to not kill animals for food, then vegetarianism risks degenerating from a moral stance to the level of preference.

Then again, there may be other compelling reasons in favor of the vegetarian stance. An immediate and undeniable one is the manner in which meat is typically produced, as it relates to the animals themselves.* In the U.S., factory-farmed animals are treated horribly. This matters because of the fact that animals are sentient – that is, they can feel or perceive pain. Thus, one could argue that eating meat is immoral given how the meat is produced. This would once again make vegetarianism a moral stance. This is now the basis of my vegetarianism. In fact, I have realized that it was all along." (De Dora 2011)

Although De Dora seems to be contradicting himself, I think he made an interesting point above, that even if you don't agree with his initial position that animals don't feel pain, there are still the issues of their keeping and the issues this raises about their ability to suffer. But, having said that, what about suffering? If we are to consider an animals plight, we should consider not only their ability to feel pain, but their ability to suffer, and if they do suffer, how much worse is their plight. John Loftus continues his argument:

"An argument has been made that animals cannot anticipate the future or remember the past and so their pain is only momentary. For instance it's claimed they don't worry about the future, nor do they have guilt and the fear of death. This says nothing about their present pain, and we know they experience it. But even if it's the case they have no memory of the past and cannot anticipate the future, such a state of affairs may actually increase their present pain, for in Wennberg's words "precisely because animals lack vivid links to the future (or to the past) physical pain may be actually worse, since there are no future oriented distractions to mitigate these powerful sensations..." Human suffering, by contrast writes Andrew Lizney "can be softened by an intellectual comprehension of the circumstances" of the suffering itself. For instance, a visit to the dentist's chair can be painful, but human beings know why such suffering is needed. This is not the case with animal suffering, for they "experience the raw terror of not knowing." So even if the argument can be made that animals do not suffer as much as humans, Wennberg argues: "The fact remains animals suffer physical pain and suffer from negative emotions, and at times suffer considerably."... in fact, animals can remember, show evidence of guilt, joy, fear, and curiosity, and there is evidence they think and draw conclusions as well (Loftus provides several books demonstrating this point)." (Loftus 2010)

I think we can see in the video above that the sheep who watch the other sheep being killed, are afraid, that the animals being killed are feeling fear, pain and discomfort. But let's assume an animal has no extra dimension to their pain, as in the added case of suffering, is momentary excruciating pain ok? Are we willing to let animals feel excruciating pain, who, if we deny Loftus' argument above, won't be able to reason their way out of the situation, to mitigate their pain, just because we may not think they can suffer (as in when they're kept and killed)? Perhaps, but that's an argument each of us need to wrestle with. I've seen videos like the above before, but this one got to me.


The Environmental issue and agribusiness

One more issue I want to briefly mention, are the environmental concerns in regards to the agribusiness of producing meat. An article by Paul Roberts in SEED magazine demonstrates this:

"The production process has itself brought a slew of complications. Rivers of sewage from China’s new “concentrated animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs, overwhelm local treatment facilities. Public health experts are increasingly worried about avian flu, whose epicenter is Asian poultry. And because factory-raised livestock need so much feed—it takes 4.5 kilograms of feed to make a kilogram of poultry meat and 20 kilograms of feed to make a kilogram of beef (emphasis added)—China’s yen for meat is jacking up grain prices globally. In fact, because Chinese farmland is already so scarce, and because decades of industrialized agricultural have unleashed huge ecological problems (from chemical runoff to groundwater depletion), China has turned increasingly to imported feed—effectively pushing the “external” costs of its meat revolution onto farms in the United States, Argentina, and elsewhere... Even now, China’s meat mania is implicated in everything from deforestation in Brazil to food-price inflation in Africa, and most resources specialists expect that this nutritional domino effect will only intensify." (Roberts 2008)

Obviously China is not the main or only offender, wealthy countries like the United States (and others) are where the real cost comes. The future of this industry can lead to some dire predictions. To quote the article again:

"By 2050, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), worldwide meat consumption will reach nearly half a billion tons a year, more than twice the current level. And yet, no one has any idea how, or even if, the world can support that volume (emphasis added). Quite aside from issues of obesity or sewage, world farmers would need to grow another one billion tons of feed each year by mid-century—and this from an agricultural system already staggering under the impacts of declining acreage, water scarcity, climate change, and soaring energy costs. To be sure, all food production, like all economic activity, affects the natural systems on which life ultimately depends. But because meat represents such a concentrated use of resources, it has now forced a debate over the future of food—a debate that is beginning to reveal the flaws in an economic model premised on endless growth."(Roberts 2008)

I obviously can't go into the sheer depth of the agribusiness and environmental issues here, but this small, uncontroversial snippet should hopefully demonstrate in some small part the reality we face with a growing world wide economy, developing countries and our stunning lack of resources. To quote Massimo Pagliucci: 

"It needs to be said the predictions of climate change models range from: "this is pretty serious" to "this is catastrophic". Not "there's nothing to worry about" to "we should move our butts"!" (Pagliucci 2010)

Conclusion
So to sum up my above points, it seems scientifically verified, if we accept Loftus, Lizney, and Berjot-Stafiej, that animals suffer, and animals feel pain, particularly animals with more developed central nervous systems, and depending on those systems their suffering and pain, can be quite close to a humans. It seems also quite apparent that there is not just the animal suffering and pain to consider, but also the effect the production of meat is having on our resources and on this planet. In my next part on vegetarianism I will discuss the health benefits of vegetarianism, and what strategies one can employ to make the change from an omnivorous diet to vegetarian one.


References 
Berjot-Stafiej S., (2011). Is a Humane Killing Ethical? Retrieved 24/02/2011. http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2011/01/is-humane-killing-ethical.html

De Dora M., (2011). Vegetarianism: moral stance or mere preference? Retrieved 24/02/2011. http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2011/01/vegetarianism-moral-stance-or-mere.html.

Loftus J.W., (2009). The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (edited John W. Loftus). Amherst, New York. Prometheus Books.Pp253-254.

Pagliucci M., (2010). CPBD 055: Massimo Pigliucci – The Limits of Science. Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot podcast. Retrieved 23/02/2011. http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=9436

Roberts P., (2008).Humanity's rapidly increasing appetite for meat is fast becoming a matter of global consequence. Paul Roberts on the science, and morality, of our planet's modern palate. Carnivores like us. Retrieved 26/02/2011. http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/carnivores_like_us/