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OddLot Daddy's avatar

Love it, very cool interview.

Chris how about a post about abs? Diet, specific exercises, best incorporating cardio, and some perspectives from trainers or your peeps?

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Chris DeMuth Jr's avatar

Good topic. 90% diet / 9% strength training / 1% cardio. Cardio okay for burning cals, but works out to about a wash after increased appetite. In terms of strengthening, I did an hour of plank this month and will do an hour of flutter kicks next (working with a friend at the very beginning of his fitness efforts, joining him for this effort). At CrossFit, I love GHDs and have a GHD machine at home. But my favorite ab exercise is dragon flags -- slooooow! But it is mostly diet. With a normal amount of core strengthening from weight training, just shedding body fat will make the biggest impact. Abs are made in the kitchen.

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OddLot Daddy's avatar

Nice, thanks. Are you happy w/ where you're at for this area?

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Chris DeMuth Jr's avatar

Am I happy with where I am in strength? No. Totally dissatisfied. I badly want to be stronger. Trail running feels like a benign activity at the moment; I'm comfortable and enjoying it. Strength: I'm a knot of ambition and energy. Nothing is coming fast enough. But my body feels good. I just want it all at once. The only glimmer of progress is that my joints seem to be strengthening. And my form keeps improving. I had a WOD with my older son on Sunday that was an assault bike sprint then GHDs and deadlifts. The DL RX was 185 lbs for sets of 8 but I finished off at sets of 365 and they didn't even feel heavier. As soon as I warm up my hips, I'm good. Grip fine. Just less strength than I want.

Abs specifically? It is annoying. I enjoy being lean. It feels better for running and for BJJ. But I need to keep eating for CrossFit and stone lifting. Cardio fine. Diet quality fine. But my optimal aesthetics are leaner than my optimal strength performance. Currently trying to gain weight, but like how I look much more lighter. I am strongest around 10% body fat but look better at 8. Currently right in the middle.

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Pavel Kadera's avatar

So Chris, are you going to the Gathering this year?

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Chris DeMuth Jr's avatar

I hope to but it is somewhat TBD this year; I need to see how I'm feeling after Eiger in July.

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Pavel Kadera's avatar

I need to find a suitable competition for you near Moravský Karlov. :)

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