It’s been a solid 11 months since I last posted an update about my carnivore journey, so I figured we were due a check-in. Everything is smooth sailing at this point, I’m sitting at 95kg, and feeling well set to make some all-time PBs across the big lifts.
Chasing Big Totals And Rising Past Injuries
I’ve already notched up a 285kg deadlift this week, and that mythical 300 is suddenly looking awfully within reach.
That’s also the second time my core has actually started shaking during a lift. The previous time being just a decade ago, when I took on a one plate squat. What a nostalgia trip.
I’ve matched last year’s PBs across the squat and bench press, and should be breaking new ground in the next few weeks.
All of this puts a spring in my step, because the chief reason for my protracted bulk has been to acquire freak strength. I’m not going to turn down the offer of more muscle, but a big PB hits different compared to seeing the chest go up half an inch.
My lifts had plateaued and meandered since last summer, partly due to a few persistent niggles, and one outright injury. I tore something in my back on a 250kg deadlift where I hadn’t braced properly, hobbled around for a week afterward, and then had to begin a slow plod back up from a measly 200.
There are still days where my back kicks up a fuss, but they’re a mild nuisance at this point.
Over this same time frame, my knees have been unforgiving, wrecking my chances of pushing the squat up without settling for reps that barely flirt with parallel. But in the last couple of months I’ve had something of a breakthrough by realising that my body loved a buttwink, and had terrible ankle mobility.
Since then I’ve been focusing on improving the brace and keep it tight through the deeper ranges of squat and deadlift, while also including ankle mobility drills to improve mobility.
Meanwhile the bench has been held back by the fact that my shoulder has been a problem ever since I made the daft decision of trying to climb up the slippery rocks of a jetty wall in order to get out of a rip tide. Next time I’ll skip the years of rotator cuff rehab and accept my fate instead.
Thankfully it’s become much better now that I’ve started practicing leg drive and cut down on the bench volume. Everything is more stable, and I’m not constantly overdoing it and leaving the shoulder inflamed.
Much of getting big totals does really come down to practicing the perfect setup. From there it’s just the simple matter of training hard, not going crazy with the volume, and then bringing it home with a steady caloric surplus from high quality nutrient sources.
Repeated day after day.
Week after week.
Month after month.
Year upon year.
It’s not that hard really.
Brisket And Carnivore Sauce
The appetite has been pretty reasonable over the last few months, which is a relief, because that’s the trap that tends to curtail my bulk. I steady inched the scales up to a point where my appetite shuts down and I lose any will to plough through three pounds of steak a day.
Rather than eat more meat, which would undoubtedly trash my appetite and involve more chewing time than I’m happy to free up, I’ve gone for the option of increasing rendered fats instead. Initially I was chugging down bottles of heavy cream, but I found the avalanche of calories were making me drowsy.
Delicious though.
Now I’ve settled for making an intricate fully carnivorous sauce that adds everything I need to complement the steak. Taste, texture, and a calorie bump. We’re still in the early days of testing, but energy has been great, and it coincidentally arrived at the same time that my lifts started to shoot up.
I’ve analysed the data, and decided to call it anabolic alfredos.
Keeping Anxiety At Bay
Finally, the aspect of an apex lifestyle that brings it altogether. Which also happens to be the one that I struggle at. I haven’t made a secret of my constant battle with both anxiety (existential dread) and social anxiety (people dread), and I’ve been doing my bit to work through it.
Meditation has come and gone, inconvenienced by me struggling to stay awake during an evening session, and unable to free up the time during turbulent mornings that are heavily occupied by steak prep. But I have made a regular habit of keeping a bedside journal, where I reflect on the day, assess what I could have done better, and make a plan for the following day.
At the very least, it serves as a way to offload subconscious thoughts and put incomplete tasks aside that might otherwise disturb my sleep. But I’m really looking for journaling to help me face up to the emotions I’ve been suppressing all my life, and use the flame of reason to reveal them for what they are. A light but persistent dose of self-therapy. This is one method of the philosophy of stoicism that I’ve been writing about so much recently.
As of writing this article, I can still get pretty emotional. But I’m handling it, and I’m extremely grateful with how the carnivore diet has aided me by mellowing out the highs and lows, while also giving me an unstoppable drive to get to the best version of myself.
It’s been three years, but we’re still only at the start.
Want To Take On The Carnivore Transformation For Yourself?
Join my online membership where you get all the tools you need to get the best out carnivore’s muscle-building and blubber-melting potential.
The Apex Membership Includes
- Customised carnivore or carnivore-style (with carbs) diet plans for either weight loss or weight gain.
- Dedicated training plans with video tutorials for each exercise
- Regular video check-ins with me
Get More Of My Content On My Socials
Carnivore = 0 carbs and bulking on carnivore has proven impossible. Carnivore with carbs isn’t carnivore. So.. FUCK OFF.
Do you realise what the word ‘proven’ means? You need back that statement up.
And carnivore with a workout carbs is still carnivore to me, let’s not get pinned down by technicalities. That extra dose of sugar isn’t lasting past the workout.
Hi Sama
You write really well. I’ve enjoyed reading your carnivore info and have found it really useful in my own carnivore journey. I found your article about using dextrose before a workout particularly useful. Thanks!
I appreciate that lovely feedback Maxine!