Juls Borg- 181 lb Powerlifter Who Went 1504 In His First Meet (And Has Been Strength Training For Less Than A Year)

Jules prior to training and now (before you ask, he's walking around at about 195 these days)

Juls is a 26 year old chiropractic student who makes his living by working as a Krav Maga instructor. After studying law and becoming disgusted with both the legal system and his fellow practitioners, he started to read up on treatment methods for athletes and decided to pursue a bachelor’s and then a master’s degree in the art of breaking someone’s spine.

Besides kicking people in the nuts for a living, he played in 2 death metal bands, one called And I Saw The Desolation (RIP), and Impact36, which he joined in November and replaced the old singer, who had shit vocals and is also a vegetarian.

He’s also an avid Warhammer 40k enthusiast, painting miniatures and annoying people at the Games Workshop with his presence.

I became friends with him over the last year while coaching him in preparation for his first meet, in which he absolutely destroyed his opposition and nearly posted an elite total.

Q: So, bro- you just tore the asshole out of Germany’s best at 181 lbs, right?  What was the meet and what were your lifts?

A: The meet were the nationals of the WPU, the german arm of the GPU. I competed in the 181lbs weight class. I wanted to do it after googling Powerlifting Deutschland when I was 4 months into Destroy the Opposition and being disgusted by the old records, which were lower than my numbers then.

The category I competed in was ‘’classic raw’’, meaning without wraps, which I consider to be an assisting piece of equipment that defeats the purpose of raw lifting. Sleeves were allowed, but I didn’t use them.

After fucking myself up 2 months prior to the meet (I had an accident in a monolift, where I squatted 485 for a single, had my shorts tear and had to shift my weight to the right to re-rack the weight, knocking my hip out of place), I wasn’t able to squat heavy and stuck to belt squats and front squats with the occasional lockouts with 793 lbs. My chiropractor fixed me though, which saved me 2 weeks prior to the meet.

Since I was a bit afraid of fucking up, my opener on the deadlift was 22 lbs lighter as planned, the squat was 44 lbs lighter.

I opened my squat with 440lbs, second attempt at 485 lbs, third attempt at 529 lbs for a PR.
My bench started at 330 lbs, which had the other competitors shitting their pants since I warmed up with 308lbs for a double. After that I benched an easy 374 lbs and got carried away, attempting 407lbs for my third attempt, only to fail halfway through.

My deadlift started at 507 lbs, my second attempt were 551 lbs which flew up easy. I then decided to pull my gym PR, 600lbs, which weren’t hard at all, probably due to the adrenaline, Ferox and ammonia. Fourth attempts weren’t possible during that meet due to time constraints. One of the others dropped 496 lbs on his foot during a sumo pull, which was one of the funnier moments.

I totalled 1504 lbs at my first meet after 9 months of heavy strength training.

Q: Jesus fuck. Only 9 months of heavy training?  Give us a rundown of how you’ve trained over the years.

A: I started with Krav Maga and Escrima 7 years ago, which I did 6 days a week with a 3h intensive course every 3 weeks on Sunday. After getting thrown around a lot since I was 150lbs, I decided to start weight training in mid 2015, although I had no fucking idea what I was doing and no idea how to eat. The trainers at the gym told me to eat a lot of carbs and do a high repetition machine and isolation exercise training, no squatting and deadlifting because of injury risks, no overhead pressing, 10-15 rep range on 4 exercises for 3 sets a day and 4 days a week. No progress was made at all, and I dropped weight training for half a year since it was pointless. I restarted to do the same shit in 2016, this time 5 days a week and trying to squat, which were probably the worst high bar quarter squats you’ve ever seen. In my defense I didn’t use the pussy pad.

After doing a bit of reading I found Layne Norton’s PHAT program, which I did for 3 months, which had me deadlifting for the first time and squatting regularly, where I figured out how to squat like a normal human. In 2017 I wanted a change since I got fed up with the program and the nutrition part was lacking too, since I was still on the high carb train.

I then found this blog, started reading and I was interested by the notion of doing more, going heavy and actually killing yourself in the gym. I started training the way it was outlined in this blog and behold, I was actually making progress, both visually and in the numbers.

It's not just Juls making crazy progress on the APD and Chaos and Pain- his girlfriend, Gina, has dropped 55lbs over the last 6 months using the APD and training her ass off.

Q: How’d you even find out about Chaos and Pain, anyway?

A: It’s actually a quite funny thing. Since I was doing the PHAT routine at the time and going to Krav Maga 5 to 6 times a week, some trainer at my gym said I was overtraining. So I googled ‘’overtraining is bullshit’’. I ended up on reddit of all places, and someone mentioned someone called Jamie Lewis and Chaos and Pain.

Googling that, I found your blog and started reading, I probably devoured the blog in less than 5 days. I was pretty amused by the fact that you shat on vegetarians, nofap, the latter running, as I learned a few days ago, rampant among younger lifters, runners and other assorted vermin.

I then found out you guys were an actual supplement company, and ordered a Ferox off a german reseller. It blew the Hyde I had out of the water.

Q: Ha!  The "assorted vermin" comment has me chuckling.  Redditors generally hate me more than Tara Reid hates sobriety.  That’s amusing.  I’ll have to google the Norton program- I’ve never heard of it.  Anyway, what’s your plan going forward?  Are you planning on competing again soon?  Any fights coming up?

A: I will try to get the 661 lbs in the deadlift until November, besides that my goal is to become stronger, bigger and leaner while not fucking myself up in that piece of shit monolift, which I surely won’t use again. We’ll also try to get the band going, we have an album planned for this year, which is going into pre-production in a few weeks. I will also try to put more emphasis on grinding out knots to prevent injury, which I often forget because I am a lazy bastard who prefers to do other shit at home, and I’d rather shoot myself before I start flopping around on the floor at the gym like some autistic faggot instead of actually training.
My next competition is the European Championship of the GPU, where I intend to rape the rest of the continent in the 181 lbs while totalling at least 1565 lbs.
Krav Maga isn’t competitive, so the only fights I will be having are bar fights or whatever happens at hardcore shows.

Q:  I fucking hate monolifts, too- it's like trying to start a squat while in the middle of a fucking earthquake.  I'd sooner squat standing on a fucking Bosu ball, and that is one hell of a packed schedule you've got on your hands.  Anyway, since you have had such success as a new powerlifter, do you have any advice for a struggling or new powerlifter? Also what do you recommend for bench, since you managed a 180 kg bench in under a year?

Well, the advice I have is the one that I was missing before, eat a shitton of protein and train your ass off, heavy weights and a lot of volume. Also don’t skimp on conditioning, be it sprints, heavy bag work, sleigh drags, whatever. It helped me tremendously with short rest in between sets.

The realization that the lifts are a movement that vary from person to person and that ‘’ideal form’’ is only possible in a textbook was eye-opening for me.

For the bench press, I did a lot of weighted dips, sitting now at 155lbs for 8 sets of 6, with a minute rest in between, whereas on light days I just do 500 bodyweight dips with 15 secs in between. Also treating the close grip bench press as a push accessory instead of a substitute for the bench press helped me with developing tricep strength, which was lagging behind since I didn’t press for a long time due to having a shit program.

The Apex Predator Diet does a body good.

Q: Conditioning, is key?  Interesting- I never do it outside of regular training at a fast pace, but I think that's an excellent point.  Also excellent point about the value of weighted dips- most people (myself included) tend to forget about them.   Alright, time to ask the question that every Redditor and Bodybuilding.com poster is fucking screaming at his laptop.  I imagine them just shaking with impotent rage, woozy with exhaustion from the effort of standing and shaking their fist, spittle spraying across the screen as they scream a single word- "STEROIDS!"  If you don't mind, why not go ahead and tell these goofballs why they should take a big step back and literally fuck their own faces.

A: I'm on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) due to an injury I suffered while sparring in Krav Maga.  Without going into all theory, testicle rupturing details, my cup did not save the day one day.  I've been on 200mg of testosterone enanthate for the last three years as a result. 

Q: 200mg of test e a week?  And people say I run crazy low amounts, haha.  I'm sure the aforementioned collection of incels are still going to have "natty or not" convos about you and claim that you can't achieve that level of leanness without "eating clen and trenning hard," but there's nothing to be done about those useless little nofapping fucktards anway.  While we're at it, and I don't give a fuck that this isn't germane to the topic at hand behind the establishment of a particular mindset, how about you give us your favorite book, movie, album, quote, and kink/genre of porn?

A: Nonfiction: Bruce Tegner's Complete Book of Self Defense
Fiction: Unremembered Empire (Warhammer 40k) by Dan Abnett
Movie: Same as you, The Devil's Rejects
Favorite album: This is a tie. Either Erebos by Hate or Destroy the Opposition by Dying Fetus.
Quote: "He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee."
Porn: Anything when the chick is tied up/restrained/hogtied.

I have no idea what he's talking about.  That exists?

Q:Well, it's time to wrap this up, so how about you tell everyone about your exciting evening the other day, hahaha.  That’s a pretty awesome story.

A: Since I have to drive a lot due to my studies I decided to train at a gym on the way home, which entirely unlit. So I had to walk a narrow path back to my car, in the snow, while wearing a heavy winter jacket which obscured any body details. Considering I couldn’t see much, I pushed the button on my car key to know where I had to go. After arriving to my car, I put my bag on the ground and had someone grab my ass. Thinking that someone tries to steal my wallet, I turned around, hitting whoever in the nose with my right palm and kneeing that person in the stomach and face, only to see someone else run or rather stumble away in the snow. Not bothering to run after the guy I watched the dude lying on the ground and called the police. They took the guy in, asked me around 3 times for a description of the other guy, which I couldn’t give since I didn’t see shit, and told them they should ask the guy they picked off the floor for a description of his buddy. At least they didn’t tell me to accompany them. The two chucklefucks must have thought I was one of the bigger chicks training at that particular gym, since it didn’t play out like a robbery, but more like an attempted rape/groping. According to the police they must have been watching the place, since in the evening, the place is full of women. The cops told me I’ll hear from them, but the incident is a few weeks ago and I didn’t hear anything, same thing as with my bike tires that were stolen 2 years back. I know that I’ll avoid that particular place in the future, non consensual anal sex isn’t on my to-do list in the near future.

Hahahahaha.  Awesome.  Well, there you have it- the man himself explaining how he totaled 1504lbs in his first powerlifting meet.  For those of you who have been following the resurrected Chaos and Pain podcast, Juls is the one who recorded our new intro.  Nothing like having the physique to match your brutal vocals.

Coming up, I've got a baddest motherfuckers, the second part of my long-abandoned training for the apocalypse series, another article about my current methods, and a stewroids article. 

Go be epic.

Paleotards Are Doing It Wrong, Part Quatre

Identifying Which Type of "Paleo" Dieting is Best for You

​By this point, it should be apparent  that there is hardly any consensus on what, exactly, comprises the diet of our Paleolithic forebears, be it in the media, scholastic circles, the general public, or even the hard sciences.  The debate on this topic, which is generally about as civil as those witnessed between the heavily tanned, overly medicated, and utterly worthless, vapid cunts on Real Housewives of New Jersey, seems to have no logical ending point.  Due to the reticence of the scientific community to support it (ostensibly due to massive pressure more nefarious than Ivan the Terrible's secret police), no clear answer in regards to what constitutes an ancestral or Paleolithic diet can be reached.  Moreover, due to modern agriculture and the unwillingness of most people to accept the facts that 1) no one who eats modern produce is truly eating "Paleo" and 2) there is no one "ultimate" or "perfect" Paleolithic Diet, this question literally cannot be resolved because we cannot recreate the diet without foraging and because the answer is far more complex than a simple yes or no.

Happy hunting!

Interestingly, I stumbled across an article in Scientific American that echoed my sentiments regarding the relative futility of attempting to isolate the "ultimate" paleo diet- you might as well hunt for the Lost Ark, the Fountain of Youth, and Lemuria while you're at it.  According to the author of the article in SA, "the Paleo diet is founded more on privilege than logic" (Jabr).  Another author, Marlene Zuk, supported that argument in her book Paleofantasies, stating that "'Paleofantasies' call to mind a time when everything about us- body, mind, and behavior- was in sync with the environment... but no such time existed" (Ibid).

Every single species consumed today, as I've mentioned previously, is about as different from its Paleolithic ancestor as Mini Me from Austin Powers is from a prototypical, bloodthirsty, take-no-prisoners-because-we'll-eat-them-before-we-get-home Cro-Magnon man.  Whether flora or fauna, we've selectively bred everything we eat for desirable traits, rendering them totally dissimilar to their Paleolithic forebears.  The entire Brassica family (brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, kale, bok choi, etc) is derived from a single plant that wasn't domesticated until 4000 BCE.  Contrary to the assertions of the popular media, J. Stanton suggests that the most damning evidence to the conception of Paleolithic starches, fruits, and veggies as wholly similar to those of the modern era (in terms of glycemic load and carbohydrate content) is the utter lack of tooth decay in Paleolithic remains.

"There’s some currently fashionable dogma out there that “we found some starch stuck in a dead guy’s teeth, so cavemen definitely ate lots of carbs,” but the condition of the teeth disprove that: carb-heavy diets = tooth decay in a land without toothbrushes and fluoridated toothpaste, and Paleolithic teeth, including the ones found with starch stuck in them, are uniformly excellent.  The single exception: someone found a place they were eating lots of acorns in the almost-Neolithic (15 KYa = 15,000 years ago) and they indeed had shitty teeth.  Unlike every other “starch in teeth” site, they also found the remains of woven baskets for storing those acorns: there’s a world of difference between “we ate it because it was on the ground for a few days and we’re hungry” and “we gather it, store it, and live off it for a substantial part of the year.”

The “starch in teeth” carb apologists also neglect to note that Paleolithic digs often contain thousands of handaxes, scrapers, flakes, and other meat-processing tools, and thousands of animal bones. (Example: 18,500 stone artifacts.)  And the wide variation in salivary amylase gene copy number between different races and cultures of modern humans (Perry 2007) suggests that the adaptation to high-starch diets is both very recent and incomplete" (Stanton).

Throw on top of that brutally damning heap of factual pain the ridiculously stark lack of diversity in modern Paleo diets, and the idea that modern humans could eat a truly Paleolithic diet is nailed shut harder than a porn star in a 500 man gangbang.

Another issue I previously mentioned was the conception of regional diversity in Paleo and hunter-gatherer diets, which vary widely in food selection and macronutrient profiles.  The Scientific American again backed my assertions in this regard, pointing to four different hunter-gatherer societies and their respective diets- the Inuit, Hiwi, !Kung, and Hazda.  To see exactly how disparate their diets are/were, check out this badass infographic.

As you can see, their versions of Paleo are about as different as African carnies would be from a pack of white bread assholes in an East Coast country club.  Having made all of those points and covered all of the caveats, it's about time to pick a Paleo diet.  Before we delve into the abyss on making the determination that people seem to think will either provide the meaning of life or utter and complete physical destruction, it seems it would behoove us to rehash their various types, however.  There are four main types:

Strict Paleo

• Allowed: Meat, fat, organs, and any other unprocessed animal product from animals fed and finished on grass (or forage, in the case of non-grass-eaters like chickens); fish and shellfish; eggs; tree nuts; vegetables; roots; berries; mushrooms; certain fruits in limited quantities; raw honey in small amounts.
• Forbidden:  Dairy products, legumes, grains, potatoes, sugar, added salt, and processed foods of any kind.   

Strict Paleo Pros

1. It works very well for fat loss and recomposition.
2. It is very black and white, so there is no confusion as to what is and what is not allowed.

Strict Paleo Cons

1. It was based on incomplete information, so it's about as restrictive as a whalebone corset on one of those fat pinup girls who think that good lighting and a shitload of makeup take off 50 lbs, and the corset takes off another 50..
2. Saltless could mean electrolyte imbalances if you're doing a lot of GPP, cardio, cutting weight, or training in the eat.  You could end up cramping like 
3. It's bland as all hell.
4. It's pretty low calorie, so it would be hard to gain muscle or even maintain a lot of muscle on this diet.

Traditional Paleo

• Allowed:  Everything in strict paleo with the addition of salt, and other spices (except soy sauce and other grain-derived sauces); sweet potatoes; cooking oils made from animals or fruits (tallow, coconut, palm, olive); clarified butter; limited amounts of coffee, tea, mate, and other stimulant-laden beverages.  Red meat is encouraged over white, eating the entire animal (offal and all) is encouraged.
• Forbidden: Legumes, grains, white potatoes, sugar, and processed foods of any kind.   

Traditional Paleo Pros

1. It falls much more in line with what we know about the eating patterns of Paleolithic man.  One Paleolithic site in Egypt showed residues of 157 different plant and herb species, and it's believed that even more were used that left no residue (Moore 327–99).  Robb Wolf espouses the use of a variety of spices for their medicinal purposes, and it's known that Paleolithic man used spices as medicinal aids as well (Karnes)
2. The use of oil was in place during the Paleolithic, though they seem to have used nut oil for cooking.  Loren Cordain suggests that good modern cooking oils, other than animal fats, are flaxseed, walnut, olive, macadamia, coconut, and avocado (Vuolo).
3. It's well known that hunter-gatherers dating back to the Neanderthals utilized stimulants ranging from coca leaves to khat to ephedra.  As such, it only makes sense that stimulants be allowed in a paleo diet.

Traditional Paleo Cons

1. It's still light on carbs, for people who are very carb-centric, but not on calories, as fattier meat is encouraged to stave off "rabbit starvation."

Primal

• Allowed: White potatoes (which I've explained are not only not paleo, but they were not even considered edible food in medieval in Europe), dairy if you tolerate it well, and gluten-free soy sauce is OK.  Carb recommendation is around 150g/day.  Occasional cheating on the diet is ok- i.e. the “80/20 rule.”
• Forbidden: Grains and “vegetable oils” like corn, soy, sunflower, grapeseed, and canola; corn syrup; textured vegetable protein.

Primal Paleo Pros

1. It's easy.
2. It offers a lot of food choices.
3. It's a simple way for normal people to eat "clean".

Primal Paleo Cons

1. It's really not paleo.
2. It allows a lot of high GI carbs.
3. I'd not going to afford the same kind of fat loss or lean muscle as the previous types of paleo.

Perfect Health Diet

• In short, this is Primal with the addition of white rice and a few other tropical “safe starches” (e.g. cassava, sago, taro, tapioca), and is in no way, shape or form, actually paleo.  This is paleo-lite for housewives.  Avoid it.

There should be a man selling meat on a stick on every street corner in the world.

​So, this leaves us with a choice.  To me, the choice is clear- I've done it and it works.  Traditional paleo kicks ass.  I will say that I've included a post workout meal of durum kebab most of the time that I've done the traditional paleo route, so as to get more calories and some post workout carbs, so I was eating about a half pound of roast chicken slathered in hot sauce on a burrito shell / flatbread.  This was necessary because at the time I was eating far too low fat, but one must remember that when Ray Audette wrote Neanderthin, the study of Paleolithic diets was in its infancy, so he's off base in some ways.  Strict paleo left me hungry and weak most of the time, and eating food without salt is like having sex without penetration.  Robb Wolf knows his stuff and a higher fat diet that includes seasonings is exactly what I espouse with my Apex Predator Diet.  I will agree that identifying the “type” of paleo is an issue, but to me this is a problem in and of itself.    Wolf’s recommendations (Traditional Paleo), to my mind, fall best in line with what archaeology tells us Paleolithic diets were like, but none of the rest resemble Paleolithic diets in any way.  Instead, they’re ridiculous alterations of a very simple concept simply to make the diet palatable to the general public.

Lastly, it should be mentioned that pretty much everyone who slams into the weights like a rhino into a Land Rover on safari modifies whatever paleo diet they've chosen in some way.  I mentioned I included protein shakes, one flatbread a day, and weekly cheat meals, though I still consdered my diet to be paleo.  That's what Robb Wolf refers to as your "paleo percentage." According to a writer for Robb's website,

"Logically, we all ‘get’ what these paleo percentages mean, right? It’s not rocket science. You eat clean paleo (this means no paleo pancakes, paleo cookies, or other hybrid paleo creations that are showing up on some Paleo cooking blogs)a given percent of the time (like 80 or 90) and then the other 10-20 percent of the time you enjoy some non-sanctioned deliciousness. That’s really all there is to it. Everybody got that" (Kubal).

I might also mention that I chug Diet Coke, or as it was called in Vienna "Coke Lite", like a man dying of dehydration, so no matter what paleo diet type you choose, remember that you're a human being living in the Modern Era and none of the stuff you eat will actually be Paleolithic, so just don't take yourself as seriously as an Evangelical Christian who accidentally wandered into a sex toy shop and just eat as closely to the diet of your choice as possible.  Pick the type of diet that suits your goals and personal food preferences and you'll be solid.

So there you have it- Paleolithic dieting broken down like a fat kid in gym class.  As Wolf's famous for saying "Eat to live, don't live to eat."  Just don't take this shit too seriously- YOLO, bitches.

Sources:
Jabr, Ferris.  How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked.  Scientific American.  3 Jun 2013.  Web.  8 Oct 2015.  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat/

Karnes, Amber.  The Paleo Table: 8 herbs & spices you should get to know.  Robb Wolf.  29 Nov 2010.  Web.  19 Aug 2015.  http://robbwolf.com/2010/11/29/the-paleo-table-8-herbs-spices-you-should-get-to-know/

Kubal, Amy.  90/10, 80/20, 40/60… What’s Your Paleo Percentage?  RobbWolf.com.  11 Jul 2013.  Web.  8 Oct 2015.  http://robbwolf.com/2013/07/11/9010-8020-4060-whats-paleo-percentage/

Moore AMT, Hillman GC, Legge AJ, ed.  Village on the Euphrates.  Oxford University Press: 2000,

Stanton, J.  Personal Correspondence.

Vuolo, Stephanie.  Paleo diet primer: fats and oils.  The Paleo Diet.  Web.  19 Aug 2015. http://thepaleodiet.com/paleo-diet-primer-fats-and-oils/  

Trevor Kashey- Beardo, Nerd, Strongman, and Bodybuilder

At the risk of flogging a deceased equine, there truly are myriad ways to reach the same end point, whether you be dieting or training.  One guy whose theories and practices differ wildly from my own yet obviously produce massive results is Trevor Kashey, a bodybuilder-turned strongman who's a PhD candidate in biochemistry and the "science guy" for Mountain Dog Diet.  A couple of months ago, I contacted Trevor after being pointed in his direction by a reader, and what follows is the produce of our ensuing back and forth about strength training and nutrition.

First off, tell everyone about yourself.

Pleasure to get to talk with you! My Name is Trevor Kashey, I am a currently a PhD(c) in biochemistry, pursuing my RD and am certified through the International Society of Sports Nutrition with the advanced nutritionist certification. I am currently 22 years old, and received my bachelors degree in biochemistry in my wee teenage years. I also have 2 years of industrial nutraceutical formulation experience.  I have always been huge into science, and when I discovered lifting weights in high school, the two melded pretty quickly. It was amazing to me how many people lacked the most basic nutritional concepts, and I made it my goal to try and educate the best I could. As such, I lecture relatively frequently at local colleges in the areas of supplementation and effective applicable nutrition.

The people who know just enough about nutrition care WAY too much about advanced concepts that don’t even apply to them (why do fat middle aged men care about the osmolality of their intra-workout carbohydrate!?). I try to help moderate both ends.  I did my first bodybuilding competition at 15, my second at 19 (won them both) and then almost immediately transitioned into strongman. I have been in many competitions at the local level and have competed nationally. Most recently, I won the title of Arizona’s Strongest Man in my weight class.

I see you're a licensed nutritionist, which blows my mind because you're as hardcore about keto as I am it seems, and sports nutrition and keto generally go together like testicles and napalm.  Which came first- keto or the nutritionist gig?  How'd you get the two to sit in a room together and play nicely without keto running across the room and stabbing conventional dieting conceptions to death and raping its girlfriend?

Ironically, they both came about at the same time. As a scientist, I tend to think of things more pragmatically and thermodynamically (likely to a fault). It may not be the best what (what is?) but I find it the most straightforward and scientifically based. Sports nutrition is kind of a catch-all. I think the reason why keto and sports nutrition seem to be bitter enemies is because of the current lack of scientific studies backing it (from the viewpoint of performance). It’s not that there is any science saying high fat low carbohydrate is BAD. There are just tons of data that suggest high carbohydrate is GOOD. So people take the position while not being completely informed. Not to mention, almost all the damn studies out there are on endurance athletes. Of the studies that do in fact look at high fat, nearly none of them take into account the amount of time it takes for the body to correct it’s chemistry to accommodate the new diet (everyone feels like crap the first 1-2 weeks of cutting their carbs out). OF COURSE performance will decrease… The money is after this transition has occurred.

There is data emerging in this community that is slowly showing otherwise. Also, I’d like to mention I’m not against carbohydrates at all, I’m just NOT against fat. It isn’t my goal to show that tons of fat is better than tons of carbohydrate.

It was merely to show that fat:

1.  Is not as poisonous as people think (with blood work to show it).
2.  Will not destroy a lean physique in high amounts (barring energy balance is maintained).
3. Can provide the energy necessary (when combined with adequate protein) for high intensity strength training.

So to answer your question, I didn’t stop it. I watched and grinned; it’s just energy for christ’s sake. You either use it or you don’t. You can argue the other minutia until you are blue in the face. Total energy content is priority 1, with total protein at number 2.

That's a hell of a resume at 22.  I noticed you went to Chico State East (I went to U of A and we spent no small amounts of time mocking ASU for being the repository of all of the drunken retards of the West), but you must have burned right through that curriculum.  How'd you manage all that at your age?

I started college courses at around 14 or so while in high school, combined with advanced placement tests, I started at the university (full time) with more than half of my undergraduate already completed. In fact, I was almost booted out of high school my senior year because I was regularly “ditching” school to get to my organic chemistry class early. Combined with overall hatred for bureaucratic nonsense, I forged my way into almost twice the allowed credits. I slithered my way through the cracks unnoticed until my graduating semester. By then all the damage had been done.

ASU definitely has its share of drunken retards. Unfortunately, that’s most of the school’s population that can speak fluent English. I spent most of my time with the 90 pound scientists who eat microwaved fish eyeballs with broccori.

So to answer your question, I didn’t stop it. I watched and grinned. It’s just energy for christ’s sake. You either use it or you don’t. You can argue the other minutia until you are blue in the face. Total energy content is priority 1, with total protein at number 2.

So, how do you train?  I know I have a lot of strongmen who read my stuff, but I rarely have the chance to cover training for strongman- in the couple of contests I have done for fun, I really didn't alter my training at all.  Wind becomes and issue, but you just nut up.  Rest-pause training with huge weights and low reps seems to translate decently, for me, into strongman.

My programming is actually very simple.
I train in 12-16 week cycles. I train 4 days per week. 5 days per week pre contest.

M: Squat
T:  Overhead
W: Rest
Th: Deadlift
F:  Bench
S:  Rest (events pre-contest)
Su: Rest

• I train 1 heavy compound movement with 3-4 single joint exercises.
• With the accessory moves, I focus on mind-muscle connection, bodybuilding style.
• As the training cycle progresses, I lower my reps. I try to hit a weight PR in the rep range I am currently working in before I switch to the next rep range. I don’t really test my 1 rep maxes at all. At the end of a training cycle I just take a week off and then go back to the grind.
• I ride my bicycle to work and to the gym to train, so I think that also keeps me moderately athletic.
• I don’t feel like it’s terribly beneficial to train events year-round. Unless you really have no idea how to do the event, I find that they only serve as ways to beat you up and cause premature fatigue in a training cycle. It is different when prepping for a specific contest, but most all strongman events are so heavy in the posterior chain that it’ll just stall out your power lifts. Training the events enough to become proficient at them is really all that is needed at the amateur level. Other than that, focusing on static strength (and grip strength) is probably going to prove more useful.

I get my training professionally programmed, so out of respect for my coach I won’t go too much more specific than that, but I think I get the point across.

Triple bodyweight beltless farmer's walks..

You use a strength coach?  WHAT?  Explain.

A little over a year ago, I was huge, and I was strong. My mobility was also GARBAGE.

All hell broke loose.

1. I suffered a catastrophic groin tear (which then got infected and went septic).  I spent a long time in the hospital and couldn't even walk with the help of crutches for weeks. As soon as I was able to roll out of bed and not want to rip the head off of a neonate, I drug my ass back to the gym so I could at least bench press.
2. My high volume bench press ended up causing a pec tear.  So here I am, super gimp. By the time the inflammation on my pec went down enough for me to function, I was able to stand on my own and not want to die, I started overhead pressing.
3. My left shoulder decided to take a dump.  Due to an underactive serratus anterior, and proximal biceps tendon that refused to stay in the groove, my shoulder decided it did not want to stay in the socket when I overhead pressed.

I had to start over.

When I was functional enough to move around (almost) like a modern human, I took on the strength coach Mike Mastell. This man has helped me to improve my mobility drastically, work around and improve weaknesses to prevent reinjury, and made the mechanics of my lifts light-years better than they were before.

Almost a year later, I am tons more athletic, flexible, and stronger, while at a much lighter weight. I still have huge hypertrophic imbalances that we are currently working on to maximize my potential and help prevent reinjury.

I'm not ashamed in the least that I enlisted the help of an expert for my training. The information I gained was invaluable.

Bodybuilder first, strongman second.

That sounds like the worse year of anyone's life, ever.  You could have contracted Ebola and had a marginally better year.  Hell, you could have discovered you were raped in your sleep and contracted AIDS and would have been less miserable.  Anyway, I won't dig into your program too deeply as I don't want to steal from your coach, but I find your comment in re hypertrophic imbalances interesting.  You're incredibly young to have that many catastrophic injuries, and I think it speaks to a psychotic rant I recently made about why the under-25 crowd is going to kill the sport of powerlifting.  To summarize- they're insanely dogmatic and close- minded, and seem to think training for hypertrophy (i.e. bodybuilding) is tantamount to powerlifting sacrilege.  Thus, they end up with no shortage of injuries and plateaus they could have avoided if they'd just do hamstring curls on occasion.  You, as I recall, were a bodybuilder first, so how do you think you came all of these imbalances?

I am pretty sure all my imbalances started in high school when I was doing some barbell squats and managed to tweak my psoas. I didn’t know any better and just ignored it. Honestly, I think everything just went downhill from there.

Here is the history of dismemberment: Look close enough, and the order makes sense.
Psoas tweak > pelvic tilt > spine misalignment > shoulder girdle shift > groin tear > pec tear > shoulder subluxations.

This of course did not happen overnight, it was years of acting like a total idiot on top of massive weight and strength gain that caused this.

 I was never really taught how to lift weights by anybody; I just copied older kids on the football team and hoped for the best. Most people get gains no matter how poor their form is when they start initially. I saw that I was improving and never realized I was doing something particularly wrong.

After my second bodybuilding competition, I quickly switched to strongman where I was EASILY the smallest fish in the pond. Where your weight classes are over and under 231… I weighed in at a measly 180 pounds. For my first several contests, I wasn’t even strong enough to move the prescribed weights for the competition, so I spent the entire time trying to play catch up with the big boys. Every competition I entered was just slightly heavier than the previous, never giving me a mental break from sitting back and actually having a rational training program. I was too obsessed with being able to compete at a particular contest and not looking at the big picture.

This is also important to realize the issue of competing TOO regularly. By the end of my first year of strongman I had gained 50 pounds and qualified for nationals; I competed and actually did pretty well! After that, my body pretty much shut down on me. I kept getting heavier and stronger so I just didn’t bother doing routine maintenance. It caught up with me.

Pig liver on celery with mustard.

You are ripped to fucking shreds.  Run us through a day of eating, if you would, because I know everyone's dying to know what your diet looks like.

Sure thing! I suppose I’ll just answer your question succinctly instead of trying to give you some pre-meditated answers to questions you may have about it. I will let you know, that I have not always eaten like this, and it has taken me almost a year to get up to this point. It’s an interesting story in itself and has been an ongoing self-experiment since about 11 months ago. I have been increasing my calories EVERY SINGLE WEEK since the inception of this diet.

Here is an off day example:

Meal 1:
(112g) 4 oz fatless meat (chicken breast/turkey breast/white fish/pork tenderloin etc. etc.)
(56g) 2.5 oz nuts (peanuts/almonds/cashews)
(84g) 3 oz green veggies

Meal 2:
(112g) 4 oz fatless meat (chicken breast/turkey breast/white fish/pork tenderloin etc. etc.)
(56g) 2.5 oz nuts (peanuts/almonds/cashews)
(84g) 3 oz green veggies

Meal 3:
(112g) 4 oz fatless meat (chicken breast/turkey breast/white fish/pork tenderloin etc. etc.)
(56g) 2.5 oz nuts (peanuts/almonds/cashews)
(84g) 3 oz green veggies

Meal 4:
(112g) 4 oz fatless meat (chicken breast/turkey breast/white fish/pork tenderloin etc. etc.)
(56g) 2.5 oz nuts (peanuts/almonds/cashews)
(84g) 3 oz green veggies

Meal 5:
6 eggs
(56g) 2 oz sharp cheddar cheese
(84g) 3 oz green veggies
(28g) 1 oz nuts

~3000 calories ~80g carbs ~200g fat ~215g protein

The numbers vary a little depending on meat/nut/veggie choice, but you get the idea. I hit 3000 calories on off days (currently)

Here is an ON day example:

Meal 1:
(112g) 4 oz lean meat
(160g) 2 cups oats

Meal 2:
(112g) 4 oz lean meat
(160g) 2 cups oats

Meal 3: (pre workout)
(112g) 4 oz lean meat
(80g) 1 cup oats

Intra workout:
15g EAA
5g BCAA
50g carbohydrate

Meal 4:
1 scoop whey
7 cups of kids cereal
1 cup almond milk
(170g) pasta
(112g) pasta sauce

Meal 5:
(112g) 4 oz lean meat
(200g) Cornbread (from mix)

~4550 calories ~780 carbs ~80g fat ~220g protein

Again, all these numbers vary a little depending on exact food choices, but this week my goal was to hit 4550 calories for my total energy content on workout days.
I realize I have discrete meals after my workout listed, but the reality is that I just get home from the gym and eat until I pass out.

I see you eat carbs around your training- I don't because all of lifting is really done in 5 seconds or less.  Muscle glycogen is never touched.  What's your take on ketogenic dieting for people who train with more time under tension than that?

I think that people may be short-changing themselves by not consuming carbohydrates while training with more time under tension (or just overall higher volume). It has been shown in a controlled setting that consuming carbohydrates before and during resistance training increases peak force output and time to exhaustion (study was done in elite lifters, not old ladies). So even though carbohydrates don’t DIRECTLY lead to increases in skeletal muscle protein synthesis; by lifting more weight for longer periods, I feel you can put yourself into a better position for supercompensation (via neural adaptation, or otherwise). There are other factors involved, but for somebody trying to squeeze every ounce out of their training as humanly possible, allocating some calories for peri-workout carbohydrates won’t hurt. If somebody has a protein intake as massive of yours, what little glycogen you do use will be replenished through gluconeogenesis anyway. Since you have multiple meals before your next training session, you are almost never at a risk of going depleted.

Four ounces of meat is about the same size as a deck of cards or a small child's snack.

Your protein consumption seems low to the point of near criminality.  What's the logic behind such a low protein intake?  4oz of lean meat only yields about 25 grams of protein.  I fail to understand the logic behind that.  to give you some idea of how diametrically opposed our diets are, my Apex Predator Diet consists basically of meat on the bone, and is about 45% protein, 50% fat, and 5% carbs.  I essence, I double my bodyweight in protein and then halve that for grams of fat.  Carbs are limited to one or two days a week, capped off by an epic cheat meal for three to four hours one evening.

In short? It's because there are other foods that contain protein.

It doesn't have to be meat. Heck, on some days I get well over 150 g protein from (non-soy) plant sources (Nuts/Graints etc). These are NOT insignificant amounts. Just because the general fitness community does not count these foods as protein sources does not mean they don't contain protein and that your body cannot utilize it (for muscle building OR energy). There seems to be a bastardization of the diabetic exchange used by most these days. 1000's of calories are unaccounted for in some cases. As your carbohydrate intake increases, the need for protein (as an energy source) decreases. So I believe there is a happy medium between eating protein for maximizing anabolic capacity and consuming carbohydrate to prevent protein from being oxidized as energy and used for anabolic processes.

People can argue the "completeness" of protein all they'd like. It still contains calories, and just because there might a shortage of lysine or cysteine in a particular non-meat protein doesn't mean the metabolic capabilities are FUBAR. It's not like the body says "Hey! There is no methionine in there, shit this out undigested!". Furthermore, a person may gain precious few GRAMS of muscle mass per workout MAYBE (per week more likely). Scarfing an extra 200g protein (daily) will hardly result in a dramatic increase in (lean) mass gain. People hit the asymptote of maximizing anabolic capacity (via protein intake) at a much lower amount than they think. The extra protein will just be used for purposes of general metabolic expenditure, in which case I don't believe including carbohydrate instead of extra protein would hurt you. I don't honestly think I'd be bursting through an xxxl shirt (at this bodyfat) if I ate more meat. I am confident I get enough essential amino acids (and more importantly BCAA) from the food choices I make to maximize my anabolic capacity. I've attached a more recent picture of me supporting 222 lbs on what some (and by some I mean A TON) people would calculate as around 110 grams of protein daily (meat/dairy sources only).

There are times I eat massive amounts of meat, but this is because I am HUNGRY, NOT because I want to add more muscle mass. I'll just make isocaloric adjustments as necessary.

Trevor's diet leaves a hell of a lot of steak for the rest of us.

Interesting in re the protein consumption.  Given the wildly contradictory scientific evidence and the mountains of anecdotal/historical evidence suggesting that humans have the ability to absorb and utilize high intakes of protein, I err on the side of caution.  Additionally, I may just have low nitrogen retention naturally, but I've found that I cannot maintain high bodyweight at lower protein levels.  Whereas your diet is based on calories, mine is based on protein- I double my bodyweight for grams of protein per day, then make that roughly half of my caloric intake.  Thus, I eat about half as many grams of fat as I do grams of protein.  In practice, it ends up being more like 40% protein/60% fat, because I need the calories, but I'm more of a broad strokes than a minutia guy.

I only consume as much protein as I feel I need to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. The rest, as most everyone knows, just gets oxidized as energy. So instead of eating sacrificial protein, I just replace it with other calories instead. I eat more protein if I want, but I keep my intake at roughly 1g per pound. As I raise my calories, it of course goes up, but I don’t make a point to eat massive amounts. My meat servings are in the 4 oz range. I’d also like to mention that I count protein from all sources. That’s another can of worms that tends to make people cringe. Evidently, protein calories don’t count in sources besides meat and dairy in a large percentage of the population. EVERYONE KNOWS  “incomplete” proteins don’t get oxidized for energy at all (yikes). I don’t know why some people think that if a protein source is deficient in something like lysine, it no longer has the capacity to participate in anabolic biochemistry.

Protein is protein, eh?  That's a surprisingly laissez faire take on something that usually gets people foaming at the mouth.   You eat a surprisingly small amount of calories for a guy who's 230 lbs.  What's the logic behind that?  Are you not trying to continue to gain, or are you trying to lean out?

Correct, I am not Keto as much as I am PRO fat. Like I said before, I am just on a mission to prove that fat is not as poisonous as people think. People can argue until they are blue in the face, but as a biochemist I just view it as form of energy. I have regularly used ketogenic style diets in order to drop bodyfat.

Taking into consideration that athletic prowess (not just strength and power) is a priority of mine; I don't feel that a ketogenic diet (year round) is optimal for my performance.

Currently I am around 220 lbs. Before my catastrophic groin injury I was tipping the scale in the mid 250's. A combination of depression and not being able to walk deflated me to around 220.
After I was mobile enough to get around I just decided to diet all the way down to 200. I was very lean at this weight. Since I had to start EVERYTHING over (It was so bad that I was keeping track of PR's on how look it took me to get out of bed). I decided to slowly increase my calories and work my way back up the food chain the RIGHT way. I now maintain a low body fat percentage while adding food every week. I am stronger, healthier, and more athletic than I was at my heaviest weight. The bodybuilding mentality has really made my diet and training extremely productive. I am happy to be able to view this injury as a blessing in disguise.

Picture 1 (October 2012): 255 lbs Pre Injury
Picture 2 (May 2013):       200 lbs (May 2013) Post injury (recovering) and Post diet.
Picture 3 (Feb 2014):        210 lbs On the upswing with the priority of staying lean

I suppose my beard growth is as good of an indicator of chronology as any.

Going back to your training, I forgot to ask- to your training, how many days a week do you train heavy?

Out of the 4 days per week I train:
2 of them are heavy: Squat and overhead
1 moderate: Deadlift (lots of speed work, unilateral work, and volume per unit time)
 
Instead of trying to lift heavier weights all the time, I just try and squeeze in extra sets and/or extra reps within a time limit and set PR's that way. Eventually weights go up, but right now squat is my priority lower body lift due to having (previously) inactivated glutes and hamstrings. I have footballs for spinal erectors and concaved craters for glutes. Now that my mechanics and muscle activation have improved, everything is starting to explode up in weight and speed. Most of the 10 pounds I put on all went to my glutes and hamstrings. Squat was terribly behind because I could not perform it correctly, It was ALL lower back.

Anything you want to impart to everyone in regards to avoiding muscular imbalances?

1. STAY MOBILE
2. Maintain good mind muscle connection
3. DON'T work through injuries.  It impresses nobody. Work AROUND them.
4. Make sure that your lifts have adequate form for your body type. There are multiple correct ways to perform all lifts, make sure you find the variation that suits your body the best.
5. Train every muscle. Every one. No matter what sport you are in. Not to mention, there is nothing shameful about having a symmetrical physique.

In any event, what's on the horizon for you?  you look to be in contest ready shape, and I'm guessing the sub-200 strongman weightclass is going to be out of reach for you soon.  Any upcoming competitions?

I am zoning in on several pro-qualifier competitions this year for strongman. Since there is no pro class for 200 (and nor am I naturally that light), I have been focusing on adding lean mass so I don’t have to embarrass my fellow strongmen by beating them whilst 25 pounds under the weight limit (yeah, right).

Staying as lean as possible while adding beef has been the goal, I think I am heading in the right direction, regardless of how the scale changes. I have always been a fat kid; so keeping my body fat low has been my top priority, above strength even. As Dan Green says (paraphrased) “competing without abs kicks you up a weight class unnecessarily”.
At my height, I will need to accrue considerably more lean mass to be competitive in bodybuilding (at higher levels). Until such time, I will be strength training for purposes of powerlifting and strongman. But EATING to gain muscle and keep fat down.

You're a crossover athlete. What do you think allowed you to easily transition from sport to sport? Do you have any recommendations for guys going from bodybuilding to strongman, strongman to bodybuilding, or either to or from powerlifting?

For bodybuilding at the local level, it’s all about conditioning. I think anyone can be a successful bodybuilder at the state level so long as they eat like one. I think the bodybuilding lifestyle can improve performance in ANY of the strength sports. Eating like a bodybuilder and training like a powerlifter/strongman will only help you. If you want to prepare for a bodybuilding contest, there is no reason to change the way you train, just beware that you won’t be at 100% strength when your body fat gets freakishly low. It’s all about the diet. I “easily” transitioned to strongman because it was the PERFECT excuse to get fat and strong. So I did. In the long run, it did not help me.

I’ve become rather infamous for this phrase, but I will own it:

Guys who refuse to lose their bellies because they are scared they will lose their strength are no better than the chicks that refuse to lift weights because they think they will get bulky.

Using the strength as a security blanket to have a gut isn’t only unnecessary, it is unhealthy. People making a (legitimate) living off of being strong (or trying)? Fine. These men are in the dozens.

Before I forget, everyone always wants to know how tall everyone is.  I've no idea why.  As I know they'll all be dying to know, how tall are you?

I am in the 5’10-5’11 range. Depends on whether or not I do heavy yoke walks the week before.

How would you recommend that an average trainee train to best prepare him or herself for any or all of those sports?

Train to be strong and healthy. Use rational, progressive overload with adequate fatigue management. If you get strong and eat correctly, the muscles will come. I think powerlifting year round for the strongman (with tweaks as necessary) and training events only some weeks before a contest is the best way to increase longevity and overall workload throughout the year.
You’ll build as big of a muscular base as any from powerlifting. If one decides to transition to bodybuilding from a strength sport you are at an even bigger hypertrophic advantage. If you start strong, then your higher rep work sets will be at a heavier weight than a person who has trained for hypertrophy only. Repping 405 will elicit more growth than repping 315.
Any well known cookie cutter strength program will work, the problem is just sticking to it. People try to outsmart themselves and just program in circles, never getting anywhere. If you tweak something it is no longer the original program.

Some pundits are crediting a return of power building with the rise in crossover athletes. I've always insisted everyone train to have great all-round strength and never be fat, which I suppose is power building. What's your take on this trend and that approach?

Not only is staying lean sexier, it is healthier. I aim to keep this trend going full-steam ahead. I am REALLY trying to force a paradigm shift in strength sports and body fat levels. If you don’t care how you look or feel that is one thing (or, as previously stated, if you make your living being strong), but purposefully sacrificing health in order to add a few pounds to a bench press is silly for the weekend warrior. I just can’t see a reason for a strength athlete to NOT eat for muscle mass and fat loss. I am not saying everyone has to walk around carrying abdominal veins, but if you are so massively fat it impedes everyday function (but helps your squat leverages) you may want to reconsider your lifestyle choices.

What are your general diet recommendations for the average trainee? Does the diet change much from sport to sport?

Generally, I don’t think the type of diet has to be different between sports. You either eat to build lean mass, or you don’t. Powerlifters and other strength athletes will need less overall caloric load (likely from carbohydrate) in order to facilitate progress because they just don’t burn as many calories in (or out) of the gym. On the same token, I don’t think intra-workout nutrition is as important for the strength only athlete due to the exercise load. To me, the low volume workouts don’t justify extra intra-workout calories. Although it certainly won’t hurt.

So long as your protein and fat requirements are met then filling in the rest of your energy gap to achieve a surplus is really up to you, I just choose carbohydrate because there is a greater pharmacological value compared to fat or protein.
Everyone is different, and there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are many “advanced” nutritional guidelines some people follow, and they may work, which is great! However, I am not convinced they work any better than keeping your diet simple stupid. If you are implementing more “advanced” nutritional principles but still making gains the same as a person eating a moderate diet, then you are unnecessarily complicating your life, this will be almost 100% of the time.

For the most part, there is a reason why most all the best athletes (strength or otherwise) and bodybuilders in the world eat a balanced diet. Present company excluded, of course.

Ah, that made me smile.  My diet is balanced as hell- 50% fat and 50% protein, bro!  Anyway, that was awesome and interesting.  If people have more questions, how can they get in touch with you?

I can be contacted through my website: www.trevorkashey.com
My facebook is also totally public: www.facebook.com/trevor.kashey

Trevor also has a badass food blog with some seriously cool recipes (like almost no carb waffles) here http://throwaneggonit.blogspot.com/

So there's something to tide you over as I continue to pound away at the data for the third and final portion of Powerlifting Is Not A Fucking Fun Run series, which should be out early this week, followed by a new Baddest Motherfuckers article, a Keto recipes article, and an article about the training methods of elite armwrestlers like Alexey Voevoda.