the 2 million pounds per month challenge
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Yes, it's unthinkably insane for an aging male of 48 years to undertake such a gruelling and lofty challenge, but a good mix of great diet, dedication, and genetics affords me the opportunity. 6'4", 200-205lbs, 5-7% body fat, more than 50% lean skeletal muscle mass, I get to be atypical. An anti-inflammatory diet goes a long way.
Not only have I met, but have handily exceeded my volume totals, meaning it is time to set even higher goals through progressive overload. I've been pounding away at the gym steadily for a few years now, but it is a process of constant tweaking and refinement. I can take pride in the work, and the results. Each lift is at least at advanced level, and many are elite category.
*Goal Achieved!* (Now on to 2 million lbs!)
It looks like my napkin math was setting myself up to get to 1.5 million pounds per month by April 2026, but I am just now close to hitting that in a few weeks.
The 6-day cycle, green cells indicate where I've increased since August 26, 2025 to November 21, 2025:
Not only have I met, but have handily exceeded my volume totals, meaning it is time to set even higher goals through progressive overload. I've been pounding away at the gym steadily for a few years now, but it is a process of constant tweaking and refinement. I can take pride in the work, and the results. Each lift is at least at advanced level, and many are elite category.
*Goal Achieved!* (Now on to 2 million lbs!)
It looks like my napkin math was setting myself up to get to 1.5 million pounds per month by April 2026, but I am just now close to hitting that in a few weeks.
The 6-day cycle, green cells indicate where I've increased since August 26, 2025 to November 21, 2025:
UPDATES
November 21: Feeding the Beast
This is a standard nutrition profile of what I may eat on a typical day (so, for instance, the yellow entries are morning, orange, afternoon, and red is dinner from which there may be some substitutions). This is in addition to a handful of vitamins, minerals, omega-3s. Cinnamon is included in the daily oat bran / peanut butter / goji berries / 27g high quality whey protein powder bowl.
It begins with a tablespoon of a blended mix of turmeric, black pepper, fenugreek, and garlic powder. This is an optimized mix (ratio of 4-2-1-1). Each plays an important role, and they interact well. In fact, mixing turmeric (a natural blood sugar regulator and anti-inflammatory agent) with black pepper (piperine), increases absorption and bioavailability by 800%. The fenugreek provides some blood sugar regulating benefit, but more importantly has the ability to activate free testosterone which is important for all the heavy lifting.
The comes an underripe banana, and a bowl of two scoops pure oat bran, 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter, 27g of high quality (no sugar or additives) whey protein, less than a handful of goji berries, and cinnamon. High fibre and a slow absorbing carb, it is my most “carb” meal of the day.
And then off to the gym with a shaker of 81g whey protein to drink throughout the workout. When I get back, taking advantage of the anabolic window during post-workout period, it may be two cans of tuna or six eggs (boiled, or fried in avocado oil).
Throughout the day, I may snack on nuts and seeds. By dinner, it is usually baked plain fish with an enormous helping of cruciferous vegetables + red bell pepper and red onion (for the quercetin), usually at a ratio of 1::3 servings fish (or chicken) to vegetables. Flavouring agents are natural things like cilantro, balsamic vinegar, no-salt (potassium based) herb seasoning, hot peppers, garlic, black pepper.
If I need “dessert”, that takes the form of a bowl of probiotic lactose-free plain yogurt with another 27g scoop of whey protein, low glycemic berries, tablespoon of natural peanut butter, and cinnamon. Or, it might be low fat cottage cheese and grape tomatoes.
There are other dishes we make here. I do make a zucchini-based pesto-chicken pasta (i.e., spiralized zucchini instead of actual pasta), or a chicken and vegetable-heavy chilli with 6-7 types of no-salt beans. We also make a delicious cauliflower crust pizza.
What is missing? Of note, I abide by my no bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, beef, pork, sugar, salt, or high-glycemic fruits. Obviously, desserts and salty snacks don’t exist in my diet. Salt and sugar will only occur in trace amounts naturally in foods, never an additive. It makes eating out a real challenge if I cannot see or control the ingredients, but I’ve become quite the chef in the last few years. I also make hummus from scratch with real olive oil, tahini, no-salt beans, spinach galore. Oh, and I make various stews and soups just loaded in every vegetable imaginable, even bok choi. I even made coleslaw from scratch using red and green cabbage, apple cider vinegar, shallots.
There is a preponderance in the diet for anti-inflammatory foods for good reason. Many chronic diseases have their origin in, or are exacerbated by, body-wide inflammation. The probiotic yogurt and healthy diet is what keeps the gut flora good, which can be a strong contributing factor in bodily inflammation. Since I work out like a fiend, inflammation goes along with that, so any foods to temper it is just good sense. Joints, tendons, ligaments are quite happy despite the arguably obscene loads I lift!
There are also a lot of healthy fats in the mix here, particularly from fish, nuts, seeds, eggs, and avocado. I cook with avocado oil which, although pricier, has a higher smoke point and is a much healthier option than canola or vegetable oil. That said, I don’t eat deep-fried anything.
Shopping at the grocery store really means traveling the outer perimeter. I have not much reason to visit the aisles of canned goods, crackers, chips, snacks, sugary fruit juices, unhealthy soups. Sure, I need coffee, jars of natural peanut butter, beans, nuts, and oat bran, but for the most part we eat fresh and frozen vegetables, fish and poultry. Dairy is limited to my weakness for cheese, or otherwise low fat cottage cheese and lactose-free plain yogurt.
This is not a keto diet because fibre is essential to health. The proof is in the pudding according to body scans. Performance is excellent. No aches or pains. And, immune function is fairly mutant as it has been about five years since I had the sniffles. This diet is a low carb, high (good) fat, vegetable-rich, protein-high variety.
It begins with a tablespoon of a blended mix of turmeric, black pepper, fenugreek, and garlic powder. This is an optimized mix (ratio of 4-2-1-1). Each plays an important role, and they interact well. In fact, mixing turmeric (a natural blood sugar regulator and anti-inflammatory agent) with black pepper (piperine), increases absorption and bioavailability by 800%. The fenugreek provides some blood sugar regulating benefit, but more importantly has the ability to activate free testosterone which is important for all the heavy lifting.
The comes an underripe banana, and a bowl of two scoops pure oat bran, 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter, 27g of high quality (no sugar or additives) whey protein, less than a handful of goji berries, and cinnamon. High fibre and a slow absorbing carb, it is my most “carb” meal of the day.
And then off to the gym with a shaker of 81g whey protein to drink throughout the workout. When I get back, taking advantage of the anabolic window during post-workout period, it may be two cans of tuna or six eggs (boiled, or fried in avocado oil).
Throughout the day, I may snack on nuts and seeds. By dinner, it is usually baked plain fish with an enormous helping of cruciferous vegetables + red bell pepper and red onion (for the quercetin), usually at a ratio of 1::3 servings fish (or chicken) to vegetables. Flavouring agents are natural things like cilantro, balsamic vinegar, no-salt (potassium based) herb seasoning, hot peppers, garlic, black pepper.
If I need “dessert”, that takes the form of a bowl of probiotic lactose-free plain yogurt with another 27g scoop of whey protein, low glycemic berries, tablespoon of natural peanut butter, and cinnamon. Or, it might be low fat cottage cheese and grape tomatoes.
There are other dishes we make here. I do make a zucchini-based pesto-chicken pasta (i.e., spiralized zucchini instead of actual pasta), or a chicken and vegetable-heavy chilli with 6-7 types of no-salt beans. We also make a delicious cauliflower crust pizza.
What is missing? Of note, I abide by my no bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, beef, pork, sugar, salt, or high-glycemic fruits. Obviously, desserts and salty snacks don’t exist in my diet. Salt and sugar will only occur in trace amounts naturally in foods, never an additive. It makes eating out a real challenge if I cannot see or control the ingredients, but I’ve become quite the chef in the last few years. I also make hummus from scratch with real olive oil, tahini, no-salt beans, spinach galore. Oh, and I make various stews and soups just loaded in every vegetable imaginable, even bok choi. I even made coleslaw from scratch using red and green cabbage, apple cider vinegar, shallots.
There is a preponderance in the diet for anti-inflammatory foods for good reason. Many chronic diseases have their origin in, or are exacerbated by, body-wide inflammation. The probiotic yogurt and healthy diet is what keeps the gut flora good, which can be a strong contributing factor in bodily inflammation. Since I work out like a fiend, inflammation goes along with that, so any foods to temper it is just good sense. Joints, tendons, ligaments are quite happy despite the arguably obscene loads I lift!
There are also a lot of healthy fats in the mix here, particularly from fish, nuts, seeds, eggs, and avocado. I cook with avocado oil which, although pricier, has a higher smoke point and is a much healthier option than canola or vegetable oil. That said, I don’t eat deep-fried anything.
Shopping at the grocery store really means traveling the outer perimeter. I have not much reason to visit the aisles of canned goods, crackers, chips, snacks, sugary fruit juices, unhealthy soups. Sure, I need coffee, jars of natural peanut butter, beans, nuts, and oat bran, but for the most part we eat fresh and frozen vegetables, fish and poultry. Dairy is limited to my weakness for cheese, or otherwise low fat cottage cheese and lactose-free plain yogurt.
This is not a keto diet because fibre is essential to health. The proof is in the pudding according to body scans. Performance is excellent. No aches or pains. And, immune function is fairly mutant as it has been about five years since I had the sniffles. This diet is a low carb, high (good) fat, vegetable-rich, protein-high variety.
.
November 15, 2025 - Tack on another 130k+
Ever more added to the stacks since October 23. Grand total of 1,738, 400 lbs/month. Highlights:
* Glute bridges now at 360lbs x 30
* Hip adduction to 295lbs x 30 (machine max)
* Back extensions and calf raises at 50 reps
* Rear delt flyes at 145lbs x 30
* Chest press at 235lbs x 30
* Preacher curl and machine triceps pushdown both at 155lbs x 30
* Added cable work for biceps
* Added overhead shoulder presses (light: 30 x 90lbs).
October 23, 2025 - ~21% increase over August 2025.
Well, adding more exercises and progressive overload has resulted in busting my projections of hitting 1.5 million by April 2026. As of today, the monthly average now stands at 1,600,960lbs. Or, in other words, just a touch shy of 805 tons (729 metric tons). That is more than the weight of the Antonov AN-225 aircraft, the heaviest plane ever built. Or, about 110 full grown elephants.
Where I gained the most:
* Ab wheel rollouts now stand at 100
* Glute bridges are at 320lbs per pop
* Rear delt flyes got a bump to 145lbs
* Hip abduction from 265-295
* Added 10 more reps for back extensions and calf raises
I also forgot to add the bicep cable curl finishers, but that only adds about 400ish lbs on arms/abs day.
NEXT STEPS:
I'm not sure just how sustainable these volume loads are, but it would be neat and tidy to shoot for 2 million... at some point. A 20% gain in such a relatively short time is something I'll take pride in. Getting a bit of complaint from the mid-delt, so will not be pushing too hard there, whereas other lifts seem a bit too easy with no way of making them harder. Sleep for recovery is not so great. Likely poor. I am often asleep by 9ish and up 2:30-3am to make the gym for 5am so I can get my ~2 hours in before having to teach early morning classes. There is not enough recovery time, which obviously puts a damper on my fitness goals and adds more cortisol to the system. I am hoping that by semester's end and a new schedule for winter that I can rectify that.
Ever more added to the stacks since October 23. Grand total of 1,738, 400 lbs/month. Highlights:
* Glute bridges now at 360lbs x 30
* Hip adduction to 295lbs x 30 (machine max)
* Back extensions and calf raises at 50 reps
* Rear delt flyes at 145lbs x 30
* Chest press at 235lbs x 30
* Preacher curl and machine triceps pushdown both at 155lbs x 30
* Added cable work for biceps
* Added overhead shoulder presses (light: 30 x 90lbs).
October 23, 2025 - ~21% increase over August 2025.
Well, adding more exercises and progressive overload has resulted in busting my projections of hitting 1.5 million by April 2026. As of today, the monthly average now stands at 1,600,960lbs. Or, in other words, just a touch shy of 805 tons (729 metric tons). That is more than the weight of the Antonov AN-225 aircraft, the heaviest plane ever built. Or, about 110 full grown elephants.
Where I gained the most:
* Ab wheel rollouts now stand at 100
* Glute bridges are at 320lbs per pop
* Rear delt flyes got a bump to 145lbs
* Hip abduction from 265-295
* Added 10 more reps for back extensions and calf raises
I also forgot to add the bicep cable curl finishers, but that only adds about 400ish lbs on arms/abs day.
NEXT STEPS:
I'm not sure just how sustainable these volume loads are, but it would be neat and tidy to shoot for 2 million... at some point. A 20% gain in such a relatively short time is something I'll take pride in. Getting a bit of complaint from the mid-delt, so will not be pushing too hard there, whereas other lifts seem a bit too easy with no way of making them harder. Sleep for recovery is not so great. Likely poor. I am often asleep by 9ish and up 2:30-3am to make the gym for 5am so I can get my ~2 hours in before having to teach early morning classes. There is not enough recovery time, which obviously puts a damper on my fitness goals and adds more cortisol to the system. I am hoping that by semester's end and a new schedule for winter that I can rectify that.