Overkill

Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. - Col. Michael Lowe, USMC

The Mozambique Drill is a close quarters shooting technique in which one fires twice into the torso then a head shot.  The first two are a hammered pair – quick shots to the center of mass.  The technique originated with Mike Rousseau, a Rhodesian who was in close quarters combat with a communist terrorist in Mozambique.  His adversary was armed with an AK-47 at ten paces and Rousseau had only his 9mm sidearm.  He fired two rounds into the upper chest but his enemy kept advancing until a third head shot ended the fight.  Is the third security round overkill?  Maybe.  But it is always a good cost / benefit as the cost is a bullet and the benefit could be saving your life.  It saved Rousseau’s life that day in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique and it has become standard operating procedure for tactical training programs around the world ever since. 

Today’s topic: overkill.  I somewhat frequently get accused of it and I never mind.  Here’s where I’m trying to go over the line a bit to help me find the line, before subsequent tweaks.

Training

What’s wrong with CrossFit?  Not much.  I love it and it will always be part of my everyday life.  But there are a few things to watch out for.  First of all, Mark Twight notes that the one hour schedule is commercially, not physically, optimal.  Most people need more time training.  I certainly do.  So I hired a new strength and conditioning coach for a 12 week program four times a week to supplement CrossFit with more of a bodybuilding approach.  We take breaks between sets and go to failure (neither that common in WODs) to optimize hypertrophy instead of speed. 

If this proves to be too much, then I’ll consider dialing back after twelve weeks.  Is it working?  Here is a fun test to find out. This is a good standard for hybrid athletes: the SEAL SWCC PST calculator.  It works for everybody but is critical for any teenager interested in BUD/S.  Failing and you’re not on track, fair and you are on the right path, good and you might not be miserable if/when you arrive.  Oh and on the topic of BUD/S – this is one more venue where SARMs are becoming ubiquitous but use is still hidden.  If you want to compete there, you’ll be competing against people who are optimizing their hormones for performance. Maybe time to bring that conversation into the open where it can be professionally tested and measured.  

Fueling

You are not eating enough protein.  I’m not either.  My plan is to keep <10% body fat while increasing lean muscle mass.  My next goal is to go from 100 to 105 pounds.  That requires at least 221 grams of protein per day or 74 grams per meal.  I’m really not concerned about going over.  My best current sources are eggs, chicken, fish, pork, beef, and two daily scoops of whey (one in my morning coffee and a second in my afternoon shake).  It gets somewhat more exotic, but hard to avoid those basics to hit my macros.  Fats are important but I’m really never at risk – I eat plenty of almonds and avocados so hit that macro effortlessly.  As for carbs, I’m ketoish but not militant about it.  I primarily eat apples for carbs.  If it is an unprocessed/whole food, I’ll eat it without guilt even if it throws off ketosis (in any event I suspect the percentage of people who talk about keto who are actually in ketosis is in the single digits). 

In practice, does anyone really eat too much protein?  No.  Even at a steakhouse, you might get too many calories, but that is the bread and martinis.  You are safe with steak.  Even at McDonald’s you can get a healthy meal of a black coffee and order of eggs and just the quarter pounder patties off menu (hat tip to Dr. Cam Sepah for this trick).  The great thing about protein is that it is so satiating that I feel stuffed far before I exceed the 3,300-3,500 calories that I need to maintain my weight.  The only trick to it is to hit your macros with as little extra junk in your fuel as possible. Watch for anything advertising protein but sneaking in sugar.  This is addiction of pandemic proportions:

Deciding to consume “normal” levels of sugar in a standard American diet is synonymous with deciding to be obese and pre-diabetic by middle age.  To opt out, you essentially need to opt out of corporate food, because they sneak it in everything, not just desserts, in order to addict you. 

Pharma

Every dude should take enclomiphene citrate.  The highest dose studied in a clinical setting is 25 mgs/day.  That should be standard for anyone over 18 years old with XY chromosomes.  Beyond that, I’m curious about higher doses as well as combining it with Kyzatrex.  Getting my next bloodwork done September 1, so will see where I am in a few days.  Can always dial back if I overdo it.

Conclusion

Stay safe and measure everything you care about, but don’t be afraid to go over the line sometimes or you’ll never find the line.  How many times have I really gone too far in CrossFit this past year?  Once?  My head coach worked out next to me on the ski erg and I had no business whatsoever anywhere in the vicinity of keeping up.  But I tried.  Had to check if my ribs were broken after from breathing so hard.  Lungs were bleeding; mouth tasted like iron.  Needed to throw up but lacked the energy.  It was too much.  But I survived; hell the ribs didn’t even break.  And I learned where the line was. 

TL; DR

Fire the security round; train intensely; increase protein; optimize hormones.  Be accused of overkill and take it as a compliment, whether or not it was intended as such.