Starting out questions: Stop creatine? Drop fat? Stop powerlifting?

[Brian Siedenburg]

Hey all. Like many, I was just introduced to coach Sommers by Tim Ferriss' podcast. Being an avid listener to all of his stuff, especially the strength and fitness related things, I am quite intrigued. I knew of the idea of GST before, and had seen the impressive physiques and massive amounts of strength that these gymnasts had, but I had no idea where to begin. Now I want to dive in head first. 

A bit of background. I'm 28 currently - I was obese and lost 120 pounds about 6 years ago and have been powerlifting and doing olympic lifts since. I have a 3.1x bodyweight deadlift and a 2.45x bodyweight squat. My bench is rather pathetic. I did the four step free GST assessment and could hold the positions for the required three sets - however I was very shaky and without perfect form on the third. And as far as the standing pike I could get my hands flat on the floor with my knees straight, but could not reach behind my ankles and as far as standing on my tip toes...Forget about it! Haha. So yeah, I'll admit I'm basically a zombie when it comes to GST, as coach Sommers would put it. 

Food lifestyle: All whole food with copious amounts of plant matter. Lots of eggs, lots of fatty fish. One day a week me and my girlfriend go out and I will have some wine, scotch, and/or some processed foods, but every day I still practice portion control and generally hover around maintenance calories or a little below. 

I do plan on starting with the Fundamentals, but I have a few questions first.

First off: Should I stop powerlifting altogether for a while? I struggle with insomnia and my sleep isn't great - thus my recovery capacity suffers and I have learned to live with it and train accordingly. As I start fundamentals, I realize I can probably include powerlifting since it's really just identifying weaknesses and deficiencies, right? As I progress into Foundations, should I begin to phase it out altogether? 

Secondly: I'm 5' 10", morning dehydrated weight around 174, but training weight with clothes and hydration would be around 184. I'm around 12.5% bodyfat. Should I -focus- on dropping fat first to make these movements much easier, or should I just focus on mastering the program? I have extensive caloric restriction experience and would have no problem getting to <10%; I just know my performance would suffer at first.

Third and in the same vein: I currently supplement with 5-7g of creatine a day. When I started doing this, I gained around 6 pounds in 1-2 days. My strength stayed the same, but my work capacity as far as lifting volume goes increased dramatically. Should I continue supplementing with creatine and keep the weight on, or would it be beneficial to stop supplementing to get rid of the extra water weight? 

 

Whew, long winded. TL;DR: Should I focus on losing fat or focus on the progressions? Should I stop supplementing with creatine to lose excess water weight or will the performance benefits be good for GST? Should I slowly phase out powerlifting going from the fundamentals to foundations or stop it as soon as I start the fundamentals? Thanks.

[Mark Collins]

You can continue to powerlift with Fundamentals. Many people have continued other sports in conjuction with Foundation. This includes lifting. It really depends on your goals. What is your long term goal? Most people find that the deeper they get into Foundation the less they do of other strength related activities.

Do not worry about your weight as you are not too heavy. You need to get further into Foundation before deciding what is your optimal weight for bodyweight performance.

If you perform better in terms of strength and feel bette health with creatine then keep taking it.

[Brian Siedenburg]

Thanks a lot for your reply. I tend to over-think the minutia so I'll just feel it out as I'm progressing. 

[Mark Collins]

10 hours ago, Brian Siedenburg said:

Thanks a lot for your reply. I tend to over-think the minutia so I'll just feel it out as I'm progressing. 

It is a long learning process. Be patient and enjoy the joirney.