Joel- I notice you reccomended malto/dextrose mixed with whey after morning cardio. I agree, but this differs from your website reccomendation of waiting 50 minutes to eat, and NO malto/dextrose. Have you altered your opinion maybe? Also, how do you feel about Berardi’s nutrition views? For one, you two seriously differ in the amount of calories when dieting. Bw X 10 for calories seems rather low, but, I guess it worked for you.
I had a sports nutrition guy write me a diet and exercise program. He laid out the workout split and advised me on a few different exercises but the actual workout was completed by me. I used fairly low reps and used his recommendations for cardio. He didn’t lay out the overall calorie levels or the macronutrient profile, probably so I’d have to come back to him if it needed tweaking. At first when my BF was higher it worked fine and I lost mostly fat. Then as I got closer to 12% I stopped losing much weight of any kind. Then I started losing muscle. I just took the time to convert all the measurements to ounces and use a nutritional calculator to figure the calories, etc. Damn. Some days it’s a low as 8.9 per pound. It’s a CKD and the carb up is pretty skimpy too. I did notice that when I took a break from the diet and went back that I dropped fat more. Live and learn. I’m upping the protein a bit, switching back to low reps (5x5), dumping the 3+ hours of cardio a week, adding HIIT, and making the carb up more in line with what Lyle McDonald recommends. I guess I’ll see in a couple of weeks how that works.
Sorry for the confusion. Yes, the nutrition information on my site is outdated…it needs to be updated with my current knowledge, but honestly I havn’t had the time to do this yet…and now that the college is barren for the summer, I doubt I’ll be able to take care of it soon.
John Berardi recently shared some research with me which confirms that fat metabolism is not interrupted when a carb drink is taken immediatly after HIIT. I had previously recommended waiting 50 minutes before consuming a malto drink, but research has shown that it's A-okay to consume it immediatly following a HIIT session.
As far as calories are concerned, I can get away with slightly more calories with the massive eating protocol; however, I never have been able to eat the calories that John has recommended without putting on excess fat. Caloric intakes are highly individual and need to be treated as such. One formula will not work for everyone; some will be higher, some will be lower. Having said that, by combining nutrients the way that Berardi recommends, anyone will be able to eat more calories than they normally would be able to.
Again, that whole page needs to be updated so that it coincides with my current knowledge.
I saw somewhere that you do interval rope jumping for your HIIT. What does your program for that look like? That’s something I could easily do at work during slack periods so it does have it’s attractive features.
Just saw your post! I follow a interval rope jumping program similar to the one prescribed in Meltdown: Perform six “sets” of rope jumping for 60 seconds each set. Rest 180 seconds between sets.
Of course, now I've played around with the amount of sets (will perform 8 to 9-sets).
Joel- Yeah, figured ya just hadn’t updated your nutrition page. Quick question- Iif I’m dropping body weight, but not not body fat %, what am I doing wrong? Do I need more calories, or maybe more of a certain macro?(protein, fat). Also, do you still have a cheat day once a week? Thanks.
What does your diet look like right now? When did this particular phase of your diet start (i.e. did you recently cut calories or carbs?). I have a few ideas, but I’ll be able to do a better job assessing what’s going on with that information.
Next, yes, I always have a cheat day (it usually starts sometime in the evening, and ends whenever I go to bed) once a week, whether I am bulking or cutting. I have tried both, for weeks at a time, kept detailed logs of progress/losses and have concluded that I make more progress when I take an evening and eat whatever I want. However, I am not "everyone." Here are some of the possible scenarios:
1. You have a cheat meal and you can't get back to your diet; therefore, it hurts more than helps.
2. You have a cheat meal and it detracts from the physiological progress that you have made all week; therefore, it hurts more than it helps.
3. You have a cheat meal and it provides you with a great deal of psychological benefit, but no physiological benefit (it doesn't help you lose, but it doesn't make you gain either). I would still recommend it in this case. Some people just need to cheat once in a while to, otherwise, eating a strict diet for weeks becomes somewhat overwhelming, and they'll crash.
4. It provides both psychological and physiological benefits (this is me). I progress faster, and I can feel "free" to be social and eat with no guilt.
Each individual needs assess how their body reacts to a meal such as this and then make the smart choice.
Joel, I starting using the 5x5 during my keto diet but it is exhausting me. My workout, 3 times a week, is: bench press, rows, military press, lat pulldown, leg extension, leg curl, squat, dead lift, curls and french curls, with 30 sec. rest between sets. What do you think is wrong? What do you suggest?
Ok Joel, here’s a rundown of what I’ve been doing for about the last month.
Training- Mon- Squats, Bench, Rows, 3 sets, 6-8 reps, 1 back off of 12. Forearm curls- 1 strip set 20-20-20 reps.
Wed-Biceps,Triceps, 3 sets, 6-8 reps, Shrugs 1 strip set 10-10-10 reps, Calf Raises 1 strip set 15-15-15 reps.
Fri-Deadlifts, Shoulder Press, Chins, 3 sets 6-8 reps, 1 back off of 12. Rev forearms 1 strip set 20-20-20 reps.
30 minutes cardio following each weight session at 70-75% max.
Tue and Sat-30 minute Berardi sprints
Thu-off.
After hearing your reccomendations, and through past experiences, I plan to switch to 5x5 but haven’t yet.
Diet.
Sample training day.
2 servings oats, 1.5 scoops Des Pro
2 servings oats, 1.5 scoops Des Pro
1 95% lean Ground Beef patty, .5 scoop Des, 1 tbsp flax
1/2 serving surge Workout
1/2 serving surge Post workout
2 sevings cottage cheese, 1 serving Smart Start, 1 banana, .5 scoop Des Pro 1hr Post w/O
2 servings Oats, 2 scoops Low Carb Grow
This works out to about: 50g fat-300gcarbs-220gpro and 2550 calories.
Non workout days and sprint days have less carbs(Bout 250g) and about 2350 cals.
I cheat exactly how you do, every Sunday, starting at dinner, until I go to bed.
I weigh bout 165-170lbs, and have a bf% around 10%. Would like around 8%. I can squat around 310, deadlift 370, and bench 230. Any suggestions?
Ok, there are a couple of things wrong. First, your workout is too long. Second, you are not giving yourself adequate time to rest between sets. Check out the thread “Don Alessi’s response to Meltdown on low-carb diets.” An example 5x5 routine is layed out there, and rest periods are also described. If you have any questions after reviewing this information, then don’t hesitate to ask.
-JM
I would definitly include more variety in your diet (i.e. more than just oats and powdered protein). Other than that, things look good. Give the 5x5 program that I outlined on the Alessi thread a shot. If you have any questions, just ask.
-JM
So, since now you’ve seen my nutrition and training, I still have the problem of losing weight, but not body fat. Any suggestions to stop this trend?
The only two ways I know of that you can lose weight and not lose fat is to 1) lose lean mass or 2) lose water and glycogen weight. My guess is that some of the intial weight you lost was both glycogen and water, but you still failed to create a caloric deficit and you aren’t losing much fat. Cut your calories by about 200 daily for two weeks and see what happens. If you are still not losing fat, make another reduction (200 should be sufficient). That’s my best guess due to the limited knowledge I have.
-JM
Okay since reading all the great reviews on the 5x5 program i’m thinking about trying it out. My question is which biotest product would help me get some gains.I have never taken any supplements other than Grow, or once in while Yohimbe fuel with a thermogenic for cutting. I tried out Creatine for 6 months but I guess it didn’t work for me. Have always been leery of taking anything other than these. Now after lurking on this site a while and learning how safe they are I would like to take the plunge.I would like to make some noticable gains by mid July and tighten up the ABs a bit but with all the info out there I need some real world advice from the folks who actually used them. Any info or recommendations will be greatly
appreciated.
“Knowledge Gives Birth to Strength”
How much are you planning on cuttin calories and how long have you been lifting for?
Joel, I read the threa, which suggests 1-2 min between sets. Please give me suggestions to reduce my routine with the exercises that I do.
Thanks a lot.
I have been lifting off and on for about 4 years, most of the exercises I have done has been geared for military functionality since i’m in the service. I started again back in Aug o1 and had lost motivation due to work constraints and was just going through the motions back in Oct til I found this site. This is the first time I had stayed this long with my work outs, currently I make time to go to the Gym 3-4 times a week. Started with 45 lbs squats in late Dec. currently up to 315 for 2 sets of 6 without a belt, can’t barbell bench due to shoulder injury so I use dumbbells up to 85 to 90 lbs for 3x8-10.Funny thing is I have only gained 8 lbs since Dec got stronger but no noticable muscle gain. I take in 2300 cals. a day through food and MRPs.I am 39 hitting 40 in a couple months.5’2 142 lbs. regulated to being a desk jockey due to promotion. I do have noticable “love handles” (reason for yohimbe and thermogenic)I can see the upper portion of my ABS, have implemented Squats,Deads, and started learning about Hangcleans 4 weeks ago, along with isolation exercises.On a side note the exercises Matt Furey does utilizing body weight I have been doing for years. again thanks for any info.
“Knowledge gives Birth To Strength”
Just so you guys know, Joel will be enjoying the fruits of his BFL success in Maui this week. He may check in, but I would not count on it. I’ve got to run now, but I will try to answer the questions posed to Joel at the end of this thread later.
This is to anybody that has success with the 5x5 method. How many exercise per body part do you recommend?
Just wondering for if anybody has ever used the 6x4 method while dieting?