My Experience On the Anabolic Diet Part III

Nutrition
121

[quote]GramboUSMC88 wrote:
When would be the best time to take measurements? I have been taking them at the end of the week before any carbs are eaten. Should i take them after my carb up?

thanks[/quote]

If you really want to freak yourself out…measure yourself every day!

No, seriously…it really doesn’t matter WHEN you measure -so long as you ALWAYS measure consistently. You need normative data to establish and detect variance.
Pick a day and a time and ALWAYS measure on that day and at that time of day.

There are so many variables (hydration, dehydration, slight edema) that can throw off your scale-weight and body measurements.

The best self-measurements are often photographs.
Try photographing yourself every 6 weeks -print the photos and compare.

You’ll be shocked.

What you thought you saw in the mirror (muscle)…well -it either isn’t there…or there’s more fat than you thought -and you can’t see the muscle you thought you saw.

Try it!

:^)

122

What am I going to do with you…

If long, treadmill type work actually works for you…well then do it.

But from a performance standpoint…we know that long, steady-state, energy-expending work will deaden your CNS and your muscles will respond by performing in a slow-twitch dominant fashion. But if you’re cool with that -whatever.

Eating ‘meat and vegetables’ only is NOT a cutting strategy.

You weigh 185, right?
Are you eating 300 - 350 grams of protein daily? -Not liquid protein either…don’t tell me about your “shakes” …they don’t count. That’s not real food -and real muscle is built from real food. Yes, you need fat in your diet -and quality fats too…but don’t get all hung-up on crazy ratios. If you’re eating plenty of fresh, organic animal protein and supplementing with 30gr (+/-) of quality fish oil daily…you’ll grow and be lean.

As for your re-feeds…I’m not sure I understand your ‘squak’ there.

Stick with one re-feed meal a week until your waistline comes back to where you want it.
Eat 60 grams of protein first, then you can have whatever you want, for as long as you want…until your butt gets off the chair -then the re-feed is OVER!
So set your table carefully!!

;^)

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Pauli D wrote:

You are still taking your own skinfolds?
With what?

Harpendens cost around $500. If you aren’t using Harendens (or they aren’t being used on you) you shouldn’t even bother. Even in the hands of an experienced assessor -self assessment with Harpendens (or anything else) is a waste of time.

The skinfold measurements were kind of a random thing, the tape measure has been what I’ve been mostly using recently

Stick with a tape measure around your waist.
Do something that makes your heart pound out of your chest for 30 minutes, three times a week.
Squat. Deadlift. Bench. Overhead press.
Eat meat and vegetables…nothing else.

If you’re still not happy with your waist measurement -do a one meal refeed -once a week -that’s it -until you are happy with your waist measurement.

A few questions/comments

  1. When I got to college I started doing cardio as 3 days a week I take the stairs up and down every time I go to my floor. Thats 18 flights (2 per floor and I’m on the 9th floor) up and 18 flights down each time I go to/from the dorm which is about 3-4x on those days. So about 63 flights up and 63 down each of those days instead of my previous low intensity cardio I was doing before I got back to college. Should I do this everyday or something?

  2. As far as “eat meat and vegetables”, this seems like a cutting recommendation. Just so you know I’m looking to gain muscle with minimal fat gain, my main focus isn’t currently on fat loss. So would the general message (even for muscle gain?) be to increase protein and decrease fat? I’m at 320p/200f on workout days 4x per week and 295p/100f on off days 3x per week.

  3. As far as refeeds, when I began those seemed to be the days I had the least problems with fat gain lol, like I would look leaner the next day and it seems like most of the fat gain was coming from the week day foods.

Thanks a lot

Thanks
[/quote]

123

Pauli,

I came off my rest phase – 24 days was long enough – and started back on the AD today with the goal of further fat loss. I will apply the one-meal-a-week refeed concept through October and post the results here. “Stick with one re-feed meal a week until your waistline comes back to where you want it.” That makes a hell of a lot of sense and is as simple as it gets. I am well aware that I tend to overdo the loads, even if I make them only twelve hours long, so I am confident that this will help.
M

124

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
What am I going to do with you…

If long, treadmill type work actually works for you…well then do it.

But from a performance standpoint…we know that long, steady-state, energy-expending work will deaden your CNS and your muscles will respond by performing in a slow-twitch dominant fashion. But if you’re cool with that -whatever.

Eating ‘meat and vegetables’ only is NOT a cutting strategy.

You weigh 185, right?
Are you eating 300 - 350 grams of protein daily? -Not liquid protein either…don’t tell me about your “shakes” …they don’t count. That’s not real food -and real muscle is built from real food. Yes, you need fat in your diet -and quality fats too…but don’t get all hung-up on crazy ratios. If you’re eating plenty of fresh, organic animal protein and supplementing with 30gr (+/-) of quality fish oil daily…you’ll grow and be lean.
[/quote]
lol…um, a few things :slight_smile: first of all though I appreciate your help with this

  1. I eat about 320g of protein daily, 50g or so is from protein powder and the rest is from chicken, burgers, eggs, and a little cottage cheese

  2. I would love to be able to eat steak, fish, ground turkey/beef, etc… but at college right now I generally only have access to grilled chicken, high-fat burgers, scrambled eggs (with whatever they put in them), and cottage cheese. Because of this I usually end up eating 16oz of chicken, 8 eggs, 2-3 scoops of protein, 1-3 burgers, and a little cottage cheese each day to hit 320g protein. In addition to this I’ll have olive oil to bring fat up to 200g on workout days (and 100g on off days although the olive oil isn’t necessary to reach the 100g).

  3. I didn’t mean a cutting recommendation so much as a recommendation to eat lower fat and higher protein since I wouldn’t be adding olive oil if I was just eating meats and vegetables so to hit the same calories that would mean even more than the almost 2g/lb I’m eating now and less fat.

  4. I have about 4g of fish oil a day

lol what I meant by my ‘squak’ was that I felt/feel as though it isn’t the carb up causing me to gain fat as much as it is the weekly diet so I figured reducing it wouldn’t help as much. Assuming I switch to the above recommendation of eating whatever I want as long as I want…

  1. As someone who’s worked with lifters I’m sure you can understand that “as much as I want, as long as I want” would be a hell of a lot lol. Right now since switching to a 1 day carb up I eat 3200 calories 75f/450c/185p. Eating as much as I wanted even if only one meal would probably be around there depending largely on what I ate

  2. Is there any specific recommendations for this? Low fat, high/low glycemic/sugars, anything like that?

  3. What should I have for the rest of the day and why would eating a binge of unhealthy foods be better than spreading equal ratio’s of healthy foods across the day like I’m doing now?

I know that’s a lot of questions, but I’m a curious guy :slight_smile:

Thanks

125

Hi all,

thought i’d post a lil introduction here from downunder.
I from Australia - I’ve been training for about 16years now.
I started the AD at the start of last year.
I did read bits and pieces of the first thread that was on here
but never posted cos I felt I was still too new to this.
Well some 19 months later I gotta say this diet rocks.

A question to those that are fat adapted here though - anyone find
extra virgin olive oil extremely addictive? I find EVOO and whole eggs
seem to give me the biggest energy boost - prob more evoo over everything
really… I know that it was recommended by Dr Di Pasquali and others
to mainly use nuts and red meat as primary fat sources - but evoo just seems
to work like high octane fuel for me - am i the only one finding this?

cheers.

gav

126

Hi Andyr,

Well the real issue is that, just as with anything, the body attempts to find homeostasis and make anything a “zero sum game” eventually. These are techniques designed to by-pass this frustration.

And as far as all CHO based diets being static (that is with a constant caloric intake day after day) that’s just what you’ve been exposed too.

Its not a characteristic that is inherent to the AD only, which is what I’m gathering you may be assuming. Its just that Mauro is using the zig-zag (or waving etc…)technique to show you what to do when you need a little something extra to spur progress.

Zig-Zagging is a great way to eat no matter if you want to gain or lose. I usually suggest it only when the standard approach of eating the same calorie total each day fails to produce. BTW, Hatfield advocates it with a CHO diet.

In short its a smart way to keep BMR up when dieting and a smart way to minimize fat gain while massing up. Beyond that, large loads after strict dieting during the low CHO phase can work well for lean guys to look uber-swole!

DH[quote]andyr wrote:
Hi DH,

Just another question. I’ve been curious as to why on the AD, you can use the total calories at the end of the week. For example, on a high carbohydrate you want to keep calories roughly the same every day of the week, because on non-training days you need those calories to recover.

On the other hand, the AD allows you to really eat a lot on the weekends and less on the weekdays (sometimes even zig-zagging calories through the week)

Has it got something to do with calorie partitioning, or the hormonal environment the AD creates?

[/quote]

127

These impatient kids will kill us, Paulie! OCD, thy name is young Adult. :slight_smile:

PD is a serious go-to guy here. Much respect, my friend.

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
pumped340 wrote:

This morning: 186.5, 32 9/16in… :frowning: strength has been going up though in most lifts, albeit slowly. No increase in arm or calf measurements which I guess I wouldn’t expect with only a few pounds gained. I don’t mind slow/steady strength gains, it’s just the fat that’s the issue.

Not that calipers can ever be completely precise/accurate but both my chest and abdominal skinfolds have gone from 13-15mm to 20-22+mm (obviously a huge increase for such a small weight gain) yet thigh skinfolds have stayed at around 21-22 the whole time.

You are still taking your own skinfolds?
With what?

Harpendens cost around $500. If you aren’t using Harendens (or they aren’t being used on you) you shouldn’t even bother. Even in the hands of an experienced assessor -self assessment with Harpendens (or anything else) is a waste of time.

Stick with a tape measure around your waist.
Do something that makes your heart pound out of your chest for 30 minutes, three times a week.
Squat. Deadlift. Bench. Overhead press.
Eat meat and vegetables…nothing else.

If you’re still not happy with your waist measurement -do a one meal refeed -once a week -that’s it -until you are happy with your waist measurement.

Sorry -short on time. But that’s the best I can give you.
I think you may still be ‘majoring in the minors’ as DH would say

;^)
[/quote]

128

Good post. You’ve learned alot and I like what you have to say.

Its all about what works for you, while adhering to the principles.

Glad to have you aboard.

BTW, Im not a fan of GVT for most. I would highly recommend EDT instead. Very effective, very fun, and very joint friendly. Good for muscle and fat loss.

Best,
DH

[quote]Braunbeck wrote:
Thought I’d chime in, I started the diet last year and did it for 13 weeks went from 350’s to 330’s. I lost a good amount of weight up front and then slowly added some on a few pounds at a time. Then fell off the wagon, so I started it again this past February and didn’t have the initial results I had from the previous time. I did manage to drop about 10 pounds or so over 7 weeks.

Then I decide to consult a professional, I paid for some help. He started me off on carb cycling, then a no carb (well low, low carb) routine. I had great success up front on the carb cycling and had good energy. Then I started to slow and switched to no carb phase and was doing well for a good while also. I dropped just over 40 pounds in around 4 months, was doing a DC program with cardio. I was able to continue getting stronger and loose fat with all the diets combined and also increase my work capacity (my rest intervals were short between sets). The only thing that derailed me was the intense tendon pain I had in my forearms and just getting sick of chicken, eggs and nuts. I felt like I was going to shit eggs and grow feathers at one point. So I took 3 weeks off everything (training, cardio & diet). Then started back on AD, it’s been 3 weeks now that I’ve been back. I wanted to start with AD again so I can taste real food, but the kicker is while using the diets provide by the professional I actually learned something.

Here is what I took away, I don’t sit down and eat a whole 12-14 oz steak, with salad and other crap now. I portion my food out and shoot for 60 grams of protein a serving and shoot for 5-6 meals a day. I rotate protein sources, I use beef, chicken, fish, omega 3 eggs, bacon, ON ProComplex. I still use nuts, although cashews have had a bad reaction as of late with bloating and gas. I use EVOO, fish oil, primrose and I still have cheese although I limit it to 4-6 oz a day. I eat broccoli and salad as well as take in fiber supplement.

As I stated though I limit my portion size to 60 grams, so I may have 4 oz steak, with some cheese, a few pieces of bacon and that’s it.

I also changed my workout up and started the GVT, which by the way is a complete train wreck for some old fat guy that has been lifting heavy and lower reps his whole life (powerlifting). But I want to pack on some muscle get a good change and loose more fat. I also stopped using machines for cardio and go to a local high school and use the track, bleachers and field. I find propelling my own weight feels like more work and actually running and working towards sprinting again is motivating.

I found that limiting my refeed/carb up has helped also. Even eating 80-90% clean I still was gaining to much in a weekend. I now start at 12/noon on Saturday and end just after breakfast on Sunday, but I don’t go balls out with it. I start with rice, work in some tatos or pasta and that’s about it. As I progress I’m going to limit it even further and may add in a mid week jump since Wednesday’s leg day is sucking and is an ass kicker, but I will limit it to post and one other meal after that and it will most likely consist of old fashion oats in a shake post workout and more oats or brown rice after that with a total some where from 50 to 100 grams.

I guess I wanted to post this after reading 5 pages of it so far, I think that people get to much freedom with the diet and it leads to gaining fat and weight. I know that’s what happened to me, I was adding in 2 tablespoon of heavy cream, which in my opinion is a waste of a fat source. Also I see what everyone is eating, but don’t see what they are supplementing.

I’m far from being in great shape and a prefect roll model for health and advise, but I thought I’d share how things are going for me and what I’ve taken away so far. Currently I’m 311 down from a beginning weight of 353 (and probably higher prior to that meeting with the scale) and shooting for 300 or just under in the next 3-4 weeks and most likely I’ll be modifying my diet again in the next few weeks back to a cleaner protein source, nuts, eggs and salad.

In the lifting world it’s said everything works, but nothing works forever! I’m sure Louie at WSB made reference to this and I’ve carried it over to diet now. The info I took away from the assistance with dieting has been great. I’m on my own now by choice, I want to see what I can do by myself, but will always owe my success to the paid consultations!

Look forward to reading more post and would love to hear some feedback from DH on my thinking and layout.

Later [/quote]

129

[quote]Metalhead603 wrote:
Pauli,

I came off my rest phase – 24 days was long enough – and started back on the AD today with the goal of further fat loss. I will apply the one-meal-a-week refeed concept through October and post the results here. “Stick with one re-feed meal a week until your waistline comes back to where you want it.” That makes a hell of a lot of sense and is as simple as it gets. I am well aware that I tend to overdo the loads, even if I make them only twelve hours long, so I am confident that this will help.
M[/quote]

You got it!
The loads are tricky -of this there is no doubt!

Charles (Poliquin) has said on many occasions that Mauro is ‘the most brilliant man’ he has ever known but that Mauro’s brilliance is ‘often lost on the masses.’

What he means is that Mauro developed his work and the science of the AD using himself and other seriously trained individuals as the test subjects. The thing most of us miss is that “Seriously Trained” edge.

A 48 or 36 hour load is just too long for the average trainer -way, way too long.
Why?

Well, why do we load? To refill glycogen stores, right? Okay, but how much glycogen are we storing…I mean really? Probably not enough to warrant a long load…and that’s my point.

So yes, Metalhead…cutting down the loads is the most sensible thing we can do…however for many it’s the load that makes the AD so appealing!!

Pizza and beer on the weekends? Sure! Sign me up!
I can eat steak all week long and eggs and bacon and more steak…“that’s all me Dude!”
And then relax the standards on the weekends…sure no problem there…
But do you see? That IS the problem!!

If you’re unhappy with your fat…stick to a one meal load.
Get that right…and then…then we can work up to a half-day load, a 12 hour load -an 18 hour load etc…

Now…if you’re lean and can’t seem to gain muscular mass…well then, we have to delve into a totally different conversation. And we can do that, but most folks who dabble with the AD are looking to lean up and gain some muscle mass. And for them, the typical loads are just too long.

I’m rambling here…it’s Friday night…I need to get a life

“Oh Sweetheart? I’m getting off the internet! Let’s put the girls to bed and watch some tv”

Good night fellas.
It’s Friday night…are you loading already?
How much muscle glycogen needs replenishing?
Think about it…

~Paul

I know this is antagonistic of much of what is written in the AD…but if you’re not succeeding -if you haven’t built a solid base of energy burning tissue (muscle) and you aren’t scorching bodyfat …perhaps …just perhaps ~we can do better

130

[quote]DH wrote:
These impatient kids will kill us, Paulie! OCD, thy name is young Adult. :slight_smile:

PD is a serious go-to guy here. Much respect, my friend.

[/quote]

That DH…always spreadin’ the love -that big lug!

Funny thing is…I learned so much from DH in the original AD thread -that when I finally met and began working with Charles Poliquin in 2008…Charles actually respected me as if I knew what I was talking about!! …and I guess I kinda did!

I have learned a TON from Charles in the last year…but the staple of all that I do for a living now comes from the knowledge and experience I gained listening to DH and the other vets in that old, original AD thread.

You really need to write that book, DH
(make it a series…the ‘Youth’ need to be spoon-fed -you know this)

You have my support. I would be all too happy to run up sales promoting your work…heck, who am I kidding? I’d be selling all those copies to my clients!!

Do it, pal…just Do It!

131

Oh it’s dead on PD. Mauro mentions repeatedly in the original AD that it’s about results and that short loading is needed by some. I’m amazed at how many “experts”, even ones on T-Nation, always deride the original AD. He DOES differentiate between protein quality and he DOES caution on length and quality of the load. I think too many people’s eyes glazed over on the pizza and beer parts and stopped reading right there. Then when “experts” make claims as to what was and was not in the AD, the masses begin to parrot that information as fact. Frustrating.

Its as simple as this: Loading is directly proportional to depletion, is limited by capacity(to store and burn), and is restricted by current bodyfat.

You gotta earn that load, gents. Your only goal is to FTM (feed the machine) not die of a food orgy. Otherwise its a one way trip to tubbyville albeit a tasty one. :wink:

Best,
DH

132

Whoa! an IC sighting! What’s next? Bigfoot? Aliens? High Carb diets?!

[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:
Calorie waving … good idea.

Most will notice this tends to happen naturally. Some days you are hungry, some not so much. I like Grambo’s set up, tho I’d have a hell of a time making friday a low cal day. My best days seem to be sunday and thursday.[/quote]

133

Gotta finish these last few posts tomorrow but did Pauli/DH did you see my post on the previous page asking about your advice? Mainly looking for clarification on the ideas/questions

Thanks

134

[quote]DH wrote:
Oh it’s dead on PD. Mauro mentions repeatedly in the original AD that it’s about results and that short loading is needed by some. I’m amazed at how many “experts”, even ones on T-Nation, always deride the original AD. He DOES differentiate between protein quality and he DOES caution on length and quality of the load. I think too many people’s eyes glazed over on the pizza and beer parts and stopped reading right there. Then when “experts” make claims as to what was and was not in the AD, the masses begin to parrot that information as fact. Frustrating.

Its as simple as this: Loading is directly proportional to depletion, is limited by capacity(to store and burn), and is restricted by current bodyfat.

You gotta earn that load, gents. Your only goal is to FTM (feed the machine) not die of a food orgy. Otherwise its a one way trip to tubbyville albeit a tasty one. :wink:

Best,
DH
[/quote]

Relating to that, I used to do a little HIIT but now I’ve just been doing 5/3/1 and my only cardio has been LISS. Since I’ll be starting BBB soon, which you know is MUCH higher volume, would you recommend keeping my load up? I’m at 450g across 1 day right now. Although I feel like it isn’t the load causing the annoying fat gain I’ve experienced I’m still wondering about this.

135

[quote]pumped340 wrote:
DH wrote:

Its as simple as this: Loading is directly proportional to depletion, is limited by capacity(to store and burn), and is restricted by current bodyfat.

You gotta earn that load, gents. Your only goal is to FTM (feed the machine) not die of a food orgy. Otherwise its a one way trip to tubbyville albeit a tasty one. :wink:

Best,
DH

Relating to that, I used to do a little HIIT but now I’ve just been doing 5/3/1 and my only cardio has been LISS. Since I’ll be starting BBB soon, which you know is MUCH higher volume, would you recommend keeping my load up? I’m at 450g across 1 day right now. Although I feel like it isn’t the load causing the annoying fat gain I’ve experienced I’m still wondering about this.
[/quote]

What is your rationale for changing programs?

No, I would not recommend a long load. Just the opposite, in fact.

Limit your load to one meal, once a week.
Eat 60gr of protein, then carb-up. When you’re full, or the instant your butt leaves the chair…the load is over. It’s just that simple.

Do that for 6 weeks and see if you don’t become leaner.
If in the process you are not getting leaner, then you’re eating too much during the week. That is a simple fix -just eat less.

136

I second this, P340.

Also, due to the severity of BBB, I would actually suggest doing some LISS on an incline treadmill. Controlled duration/frequency of LISS will negate the catabolic potential of cardio. In fact if you take a little protein/leucine/BCAA before you can get a small boost of protein synthesis during a time when blood perfusion could be used to your advantage. The DC guys do this and feel it really helps with recovery and anti-catabolism. They use BCAA and that would be my choice as well.

As an aside, DC also advocates large dosages of green tea for fat loss. And while it is effective in this regard, it also lowers androgen levels. Now the equalizer here that must be considered by natural bb’s is that DC guys are often on at least a gram of test per week and often more. That’s not a knock on Dante. He’s a great guy, but its a fact that needs to be considered by natural guys. We don’t want to impede fT and T.

Again, as PD says, if you want to really lean out, then FORCE your body to burn it’s stores by loading once a week. The nice thing about BBB is that your high rep days are close to the load, if you do a load meal on Sat or Sun.

Once you’re happy with your leanness, you can then begin to slowly build CHO loading back up to see where your sweet spot is.

DH

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
DH wrote:

Its as simple as this: Loading is directly proportional to depletion, is limited by capacity(to store and burn), and is restricted by current bodyfat.

You gotta earn that load, gents. Your only goal is to FTM (feed the machine) not die of a food orgy. Otherwise its a one way trip to tubbyville albeit a tasty one. :wink:

Best,
DH

Relating to that, I used to do a little HIIT but now I’ve just been doing 5/3/1 and my only cardio has been LISS. Since I’ll be starting BBB soon, which you know is MUCH higher volume, would you recommend keeping my load up? I’m at 450g across 1 day right now. Although I feel like it isn’t the load causing the annoying fat gain I’ve experienced I’m still wondering about this.

What is your rationale for changing programs?

No, I would not recommend a long load. Just the opposite, in fact.

Limit your load to one meal, once a week.
Eat 60gr of protein, then carb-up. When you’re full, or the instant your butt leaves the chair…the load is over. It’s just that simple.

Do that for 6 weeks and see if you don’t become leaner.
If in the process you are not getting leaner, then you’re eating too much during the week. That is a simple fix -just eat less. [/quote]

137

[quote]Pauli D wrote:

What is your rationale for changing programs?
[/quote]
Strength gain has been bad, most exercises either not moving very fast or at all so I’m hoping the routine switch will help.

“That simple”…so basically your saying it would be just as acceptable/good to eat, after my protein, 8 pieces of pizza (high c+f) as it would be to at 5 waffles with syrup (A lot of very high GI carbs) which would be as good as just eating a bunch of oatmeal?

[quote]
Do that for 6 weeks and see if you don’t become leaner.
If in the process you are not getting leaner, then you’re eating too much during the week. That is a simple fix -just eat less. [/quote]

I’m trying to gain muscle though and even with this fat gain I’ve only gained about 2lb. total. I feel like a dick to keep saying things contradicting your advice but I am trying to gain muscle here, just with minimal fat gain which is why the large fat gain with no/low muscle gain is annoying. Getting leaner, although it would be a good side effect, isn’t the goal right now (although it may have to be soon if this continues which sucks considering how light I am compared to last time I cut)

138

Changing your program is not necessarily going to make you stronger. Sticking with the same program and running it “by the numbers” will. The 5/3/1 program is a very solid program -but so are a lot of other programs.

You just need to stick to one program and run it for a good solid year before you can be in a position to make any value judgments. Are you breaking rep PR’s with some regularity? If not, you may have to reset your training maxes lower.

As for what to eat on your load… What do you think is going to replenish your glycogen best? What do you think is going to be the healthiest choice? Experiment a little and see how you react. Experimentation is important on the AD. But It’s a lot simpler and far more safe to experiment in micro loads (one meal) than it is to try to nail down an effective strategy over 12 -18 -24 or 36 hour loads…see my point?

Gaining muscle is made simpler when you’re lean. The more fat you carry the more fat you gain when in caloric surplus. You are probably insulin resistant to some degree which makes building muscle extremely tough. Your caloric partitioning is all out of whack. Your body is not responding to insulin properly and as result you gain as much -if not more -fat than you do muscle.

Getting lean is the best first step to getting jacked.

Now, of course you can still get big and strong without getting lean first. But you will gain fat to a higher degree as well. It’s a decision that most trainees can’t seem to make. Just when their body gets set to build some mass -they flip out because they lose some definition -so they hold back or diet and end up not making any progress at all.

139

BAM! A guy could stop right here and do well for himself.

You’ve been holding back, PD. :wink:

DH

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
Changing your program is not necessarily going to make you stronger. Sticking with the same program and running it “by the numbers” will. The 5/3/1 program is a very solid program -but so are a lot of other programs.

You just need to stick to one program and run it for a good solid year before you can be in a position to make any value judgments. Are you breaking rep PR’s with some regularity? If not, you may have to reset your training maxes lower.

As for what to eat on your load… What do you think is going to replenish your glycogen best? What do you think is going to be the healthiest choice? Experiment a little and see how you react. Experimentation is important on the AD. But It’s a lot simpler and far more safe to experiment in micro loads (one meal) than it is to try to nail down an effective strategy over 12 -18 -24 or 36 hour loads…see my point?

Gaining muscle is made simpler when you’re lean. The more fat you carry the more fat you gain when in caloric surplus. You are probably insulin resistant to some degree which makes building muscle extremely tough. Your caloric partitioning is all out of whack. Your body is not responding to insulin properly and as result you gain as much -if not more -fat than you do muscle.

Getting lean is the best first step to getting jacked.

Now, of course you can still get big and strong without getting lean first. But you will gain fat to a higher degree as well. It’s a decision that most trainees can’t seem to make. Just when their body gets set to build some mass -they flip out because they lose some definition -so they hold back or diet and end up not making any progress at all.

[/quote]

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[quote]Pauli D wrote:
Changing your program is not necessarily going to make you stronger. Sticking with the same program and running it “by the numbers” will. The 5/3/1 program is a very solid program -but so are a lot of other programs.

You just need to stick to one program and run it for a good solid year before you can be in a position to make any value judgments. Are you breaking rep PR’s with some regularity? If not, you may have to reset your training maxes lower.
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My plan was to stick with 5/3/1 for 3-4 months at a minimum, but results have gotten pretty bad after the 2nd cycle. I’ve been using pretty much the same dumbbells for my incline and flat DB bench accessory work the whole time, Military press went up but hasn’t this cycle on any of the workouts, same with bench. Front squat actually went down because I think something with my back, deadlifts last time were very bad as well. Yes some exercises definitely made some progress but overall progress has been very slow or nonexistent on most exercises unfortunately.

I’m not trying to get wrapped up in “doing Bodybuilding training” with BBB over getting stronger (which I know I should) with 5/3/1, it’s just that 5/3/1 hasn’t been giving me results. A few others on IronAddicts seem to feel this way too which does surprise me because as you mentioned it seems like a solid routine.

I do see your point, I just wasn’t thinking it was best to shove down 3-400g of carbs in one meal. So lets say I give this a shot next week, what do I eat after breakfast for the rest of the day? And should this meal be before or after I workout? I could see myself getting sick if it was before but also not having anything in me if afterwards

I’m deloading/taking next week off before I start BBB so I guess carb up should be more moderate in that case?

DH is there any reason you’ve never recommended such a plan for the carb up?

I completely see your point, it’s just that I was closer to 11% at this weight 2 years ago and I’m not at 14-15%…it’s strange because I’m also probably very slightly taller too, yet my arms are a little bigger and I’m stronger…riddle me that lol. But anyway my point is that to cut now (with my damn 14.5in. calves!) I would even skinnier and be the lightest I’ve been in a very long time. I know it’s a mental thing but it’s annoying all the same :slight_smile:

See right there is a problem with my, I wonder if I gain muscle better when not as lean? I have no idea honestly I just seem to always put on loads of fat for a little bit of muscle.