First Week of the OCCAM Protocol
- Tactix James
- Oct 4, 2015
- 4 min read
So last Wednesday I started my first workout using the OCCAM Protocol and to be honest I'm still a bit skeptical regarding this program. After getting my starting numbers a couple days before, I started off with Workout A: which consists of the Yates Row and the Shoulder press.
THE WORKOUT
For the Yates row I started with 150 lbs doing 1 set of 7 reps at a cadence of 5 seconds (as instructed in the book).
After the Yates Row I proceeded with the shoulder press, starting with 85 lbs 1 set of 7 reps at a 5 second candence.
and then I ended things off with 15 myotactic crunches. The book doesn't really specify how many you're suppose to do...or maybe it does and I just missed that shit but after about 12 reps my abs we're burning. I used a slow cadence for these as well.
And that's it, I was in and out within 15 minutes. By far the quickest workout I've ever had and I didn't even break a sweat, which has me questioning if this will actually give me the results I'm looking for.
As for Yesterday October 3rd, I did Workout B and I have to admit this one was a bit more intense and really hit my nervous system HARD!!
I kicked things off with Squats lifting 195 lbs, doing 1 set of 10 reps with a 5 second cadence (My legs almost gave out on me....arg!!! I hate doing squats to begin with and having to slow down the tempo is such a bitch.
After squats I moved onto the bench press. I don't normally do a lot of bench press as it really serves no functional purpose other than making your chest look bigger. I started with 125 lbs.
And finally, I ended the session with 50 kettlebell swings using 50 lbs and this is pretty much where I almost died. I'm fairly new to kettlebells but Tim Ferriss swears by them. What may look like a simple exercise, will surely leave you in the fetal position after 20+ consecutive swings.
THE DIET
Sunday Sept 27th, 2015
Meal 1:
EggSmart Big Breakfast (4 eggs, 4 sausages, 2 strips of bacon and 2 pieces of French toast)
Meal 2:
Sping rolls (I had the all you can eat special so really not sure how many calories I had here)
Total Calories: If I had to guess I'd say I consumed close to if not 3000 calories for the day
Monday Sept 28th, 2015
Meal 1:
Chicken and Bacon Ranch Sub on Flatbread
Meal 2:
Brazil Nuts (3)
Meal 3:
Banana Bread (1 slice)
Mutant Mass Protein Shake - 3 scoops
Frozen berries (1cup)
Green Super food (1 scoop)
Kale (1 cup)
Peanut Butter (1 tsp)
Total Calories: 2510
Tuesday, Sept 29th, 2015
Meal 1:
Chicken Bacon ( 3 slices)
Boiled eggs (4)
Nutella with Peanut butter on Toast (2 slices)
Meal 2
Mutant Mass Protein Shake - 2 scoops
Frozen berries (1cup)
Kale (1 cup)
Meal 3:
Curry Chicken and Rice
Total Calories: 1627
Wednesday, Sept 30th, 2015
Meal 1:
Brazil Nuts (3)
Meal 2:
Mutant Mass Protein Shake - 2 scoops
Frozen berries (1cup)
Kale (1 cup)
Meal 3:
Chicken Bacon ( 3 slices)
Boiled eggs (4)
Nutella with Peanut butter on Toast (2 slices)
Total Calories: 1280
Thursday, Oct 1st, 2015
Today was a hectic day so unfortunately I barely had a chance to eat.
Meal 1:
Brazil nuts (3)
Meal 2: Dominos (Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza - The entire box cause I'm a G)
Total Calories: 971
Friday, Oct 2nd, 2015
Meal 1:
Brazil Nuts (3)
Meal 2:
Scrambled Eggs (4)
Chicken Bacon (4)
Marble Cheese (30g)
Saturday, Oct 3rd, 2015
Meal 1:
Brazil Nuts (3)
Banana
Meal 2:
Mutant Mass Protein shake
Meal 3:
Sweet Chilli Chicken Burrito
Almonds (1 cup)
Meal 4:
Spanish Rice with Rotisserie Chicken
Meal 5:
Mutant Mass Protein Shake
Brazil Nuts (3)
CONCLUSION:
I'm only in week 1 so I'm not going to reflect to heavily on this routine yet, however I find it really hard to settle on just doing 1 set for each exercise. The book does specify that upon doing the protocol you'll be itching to do more but to refrain from exceeding what is suggested.
Based on my diet I know I've got to include more vegetables and also consume more calories if I want to put on some more mass.
Regarding supplementation, I finished my loading phase using glutamine and found that it definitely did work in speeding up recovery as I'm not as sore as I would have been had I not taken it. However because I don't mind the soreness that much (i may regret that statement later on) and because this protocol has me resting more than what I'm use to, I'm not sure if glutamine is really going to be necessary so I don't think I'll be purchasing another bottle.
While on the topic of rest, I've been making sure that I'm at least getting 7 hours of sleep each night and trying to get to bed by 12am...although I often push that time to 1am. My hopes for this program is that it can become an effective method for training because I'll admit I don't enjoy lifting weights, it's boring and at times, uncomfortable but I do acknowledge the benefits from it hence why I still do it to this day.
If I can spend less time lifting weights in a more time productive way then it leaves more room to work on other areas of fitness that I care more about. I guess only time will tell....I'll be sure to keep you all updated for those following my progress.
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