Question on "Heavy Lifting"

[Justin Murphy]

Hi All,About a year ago, I was using CN in conjunction with BJJ 3-4 times per week. I did that for 3 months, had moderate results, but wanted to try CBL. I ended up just falling out the bandwagon. I recently just started lifting weight again last week, Tuesdays and Thursdays:Warm up with HIIT on stationary bike:-4 mins off @ 80-90 RPMs on level 3-1 min on @ 110-120 RPMs on level 10-6 rounds total (30 mins)Lifts/Exercises:-Bench - 3 sets of 7 @ 145 lbs-Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 145 lbs-Lat Pull-downs - 3 sets of 10 @ 100 (not sure what unit of measurement is on this machine)-Machine Rows - 3 sets of 10 @ 100 (not sure what unit of measurement is on this machine)-Lower back body weight resistance - 2 sets of 10-Situps, slow on the way down - 3 sets of 15BW: 205 lbs.Age: 27Height: 5'11"Sex: MaleBackload Day Macros:-Wake up between 7-8am-First snack at 10am (handful of nuts)-First meal at 11-12 (meat and veggies cooked in butter)-ULC pre-CBL - 120g protein /  40-60g fat-CBL: 300g-400g carbs / 20-40g protein...unsure on fatULC Day Macros:-Wake up between 7-8am-First snack at 10am (handful of nuts)-First meal at 11-12 (meat and veggies cooked in butter)-140-160g protein /  50-60g fatI haven't been doing backloads on days doing BJJ, only on lifting days, or if I went more than 2 nights without lifting, I will have a small carb meal, as per instructions in the CBL book. I know that a lot of people on the forums recommend more fat, but I wanted to try and stay true to the table that is outlined in the book. I'll add more fat down the line to test this. Right now, I'm feeling pretty darn good.My question is this: what constitutes a heavy lift? I'm new to lifting, and I don't really know how I should be feeling. A lot of times after BJJ, especially after intense sparring, I can feel VERY drained across my entire body. Other nights, not so much. However, with lifting, it's very different. It feels more local to certain spots, and not even in a "fatigued" kind of way necessarily. For example, on Tuesday, I felt SPENT, and I ate about 6 pieces of pizza on my backload, and I felt GREAT the next day. Tonight, I just got done lifting, and I don't feel like my body needs a backload...even though I added weight and reps to my lifts tonight. I thought that was very odd. Has anyone else experienced this?Thanks for your input. Let me know if there's any other info you need.

[Bruno Cattorini]

I don't know if this helps but the way I usually measure it is:If you were aiming for 5 reps and after rep 5 you felt that you could keep going, then you should probably increase the weight for the next set. If you were aiming for 5 reps and you failed at 4, then rest enough I try same weight again next set.You can also try using a MAX rep calculator as an estimate for a starting point: http://www.ivannikolov.com/calculators/rep-max-calculator/  I am not an expert but I have been doing fine with this guideline. Maybe someone else here with more experience can give a better advice.

[TCB]

“Heavy” is a relative term. You want it to be tough for whatever amount of reps you're aiming for. If you're shooting for 8 reps, and you get the 8th, but know you couldn't have gotten anymore than 9, then you just lifted heavy in that rep range. The difference between BJJ and the lifting is that they both use glycogen. However, BJJ is pretty much constantly in the glycolitic pathway, so you'll likely use more glycogen, across your whole body anyway, than lifting. The problem comes in when you consider what the real magic of CBL is; GLUT translocation. This isn't achieved with BJJ, but through hard muscular contractions (lifting "heavy"). So, with BJJ, you're more glycogen depleted and in need of carbs to replenish glycogen. With lifting, you've made it more easy for your muscles to draw in the carbs you do eat to assist with anti-catabolism/rebuilding, and to replenish the bit of glycogen you did use.So in a way, it makes more sense that you feel more wholly drained after BJJ. Just keep in mind that you're likely losing some of the "magic" of CBL by backloading after BJJ. (Which is NOT me telling you not to do it, only that it isn't the same thing as backloading after lifting)

[Justin Murphy]

Thanks for the feedback. That's a very interesting distinction, and one I never considered: Just because BJJ makes me feel more “depleted” doesn't necessarily mean that I'm getting the benefit of glut translocation. Gotcha.

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