Thanks Thibs. I’m more concerned at this moment with gaining mass. I did a year of long-distance running and cut off a considerable amount of fat. I’m not completely lean (I need about another inch of my waist to get to that point) but enough that I think I could benefit my body composition by lifting.
I’ve heard you talk about using different off days for different in-take of carbs. Is this reccomenended for a newbie, or should I just keep my intake low (say, 50-80g) everyday?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
J.Wollmann wrote:
Thib, I have a question.
My average day consists of 100-120g carbs (this includes dietary fiber and whole grains), 120g fat (also includes Omega-3 and polysaturated fats) and 270 grams protein from all sources (Milk, eggs, grains, and whey isolate.) Workout days average 3000-3200 calories and non-workout days (with or without NEPA) range from 2700 to 2800. At 6’1 and 176 pounds, is this a sufficient amount to gain mass AND lose fat over a long period of time? My goal is to drop my BF by 1-2% in eight weeks and see modest gains (half to three quarter inch bicep gain, for example). Are my goals lofty, and do they fit along with my diet?
Always remember that unless you are a total beginner or returning to training after a layoff it is EXTREMELY hard to:
Lose a significant amount of fat while gaining muscle
Gain a lot of muscle while losing fat
Both goals basically require different nutritional status… gaining muscle requires you to be in a caloric surplus, losing fat that you are in a caloric deficit.
Now, it IS possible to do both to a limited extent (lose a bit of fat, gain a bit of muscle) although it might not be the best approach. The “trick” to accomplish that is to nail para-workout nutrition and go low/no carbs the rest of the day.[/quote]
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
J.Wollmann wrote:
Thib, I have a question.
My average day consists of 100-120g carbs (this includes dietary fiber and whole grains), 120g fat (also includes Omega-3 and polysaturated fats) and 270 grams protein from all sources (Milk, eggs, grains, and whey isolate.) Workout days average 3000-3200 calories and non-workout days (with or without NEPA) range from 2700 to 2800. At 6’1 and 176 pounds, is this a sufficient amount to gain mass AND lose fat over a long period of time? My goal is to drop my BF by 1-2% in eight weeks and see modest gains (half to three quarter inch bicep gain, for example). Are my goals lofty, and do they fit along with my diet?
Always remember that unless you are a total beginner or returning to training after a layoff it is EXTREMELY hard to:
Lose a significant amount of fat while gaining muscle
Gain a lot of muscle while losing fat
Both goals basically require different nutritional status… gaining muscle requires you to be in a caloric surplus, losing fat that you are in a caloric deficit.
Now, it IS possible to do both to a limited extent (lose a bit of fat, gain a bit of muscle) although it might not be the best approach. The “trick” to accomplish that is to nail para-workout nutrition and go low/no carbs the rest of the day.[/quote]
Thib,
While this is a fat loss forum, the following question relates to your comment about the two situations that are unlikely to happen to any significant extent outside of beginners and those returning to training after a layoff. I’m specifically interested in the ability to return to a given level of leanness and muscle mass after a layoff of several years. Now in the past I think you have noted that the length of time you were at a given level of body composition and the length of a layoff are major factors in how quickly a person can return to that particular level.
If dealing with someone who had several years of quality training and gains, then suffered a series of serious injuries outside of the gym that caused those gains to disappear over the course of a few years, is it essentially back to square one? e.g. Would you likely be able to make some quick “beginner gains” when finally getting back to consistent serious training but take longer to achieve your previous high point in strength and mass than if the layoff had been months instead of years?
CT,
If the only carbs I’m taking are para-workout carbs (Surge Workout Fuel, FINiBARs, Surge Recovery) and I stopped making progress losing fat, what should I cut out first? I do cardio 4X and week along with weightraining.
[quote]wutan wrote:
CT,
If the only carbs I’m taking are para-workout carbs (Surge Workout Fuel, FINiBARs, Surge Recovery) and I stopped making progress losing fat, what should I cut out first? I do cardio 4X and week along with weightraining.
Thanks[/quote]
What’s your fat intake like? How many carbs are you taking in?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
wutan wrote:
CT,
If the only carbs I’m taking are para-workout carbs (Surge Workout Fuel, FINiBARs, Surge Recovery) and I stopped making progress losing fat, what should I cut out first? I do cardio 4X and week along with weightraining.
Thanks
What’s your fat intake like? How many carbs are you taking in?[/quote]
Para-workout I take 1 Finibar, 1 scoop of SWF, and 1 scoop of Surge Recovery. Non-workout days I take 50 grams of carbs. Fat intake is 100 grams per day (not including 8 grams of fish oil).
What do you think of doing heavy weight walking carries as described in one of the new articles as a form of lactate inducing exercise for the purpose of fat loss? How would it compare to, say, your metabolic pairings? I am planning on adding in an extra day with 30 mins of heavy walking carries then 30 mins of moderate intensity cardio.
Wasn’t sure where to put this but…while cutting and maintaining size/strength, would you reccomend training heavy with 5x5’s or lowering reps per set to something like 8x3’s(i know you’re a low-rep guy for building muscle but i wasn’t sure if you would recommend going to lower reps for maintenance)?
I’m 5’9" 160lbs ~9-10% BF. I want to optimize my muscle gains while still losing bodyfat. In the past, I have had to lower my carbs drastically to lose fat/inches of my waist.
What is the MINIMUM number of daily carbs you would recommend to me for optimum muscle growth? (Assuming my diet has 1-1.25g/lb protein, low fat)
[quote]wutan wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
wutan wrote:
CT,
If the only carbs I’m taking are para-workout carbs (Surge Workout Fuel, FINiBARs, Surge Recovery) and I stopped making progress losing fat, what should I cut out first? I do cardio 4X and week along with weightraining.
Thanks
What’s your fat intake like? How many carbs are you taking in?
Para-workout I take 1 Finibar, 1 scoop of SWF, and 1 scoop of Surge Recovery. Non-workout days I take 50 grams of carbs. Fat intake is 100 grams per day (not including 8 grams of fish oil).[/quote]
What do you think of doing heavy weight walking carries as described in one of the new articles as a form of lactate inducing exercise for the purpose of fat loss? How would it compare to, say, your metabolic pairings? I am planning on adding in an extra day with 30 mins of heavy walking carries then 30 mins of moderate intensity cardio.[/quote]
I often use movements such as carries and walks with my clients. My personal favorites are:
Sled walk/sprints
Sandbag carry
Sandbag lift and carry
Tire flip for time
I’m 5’9" 160lbs ~9-10% BF. I want to optimize my muscle gains while still losing bodyfat. In the past, I have had to lower my carbs drastically to lose fat/inches of my waist.
What is the MINIMUM number of daily carbs you would recommend to me for optimum muscle growth? (Assuming my diet has 1-1.25g/lb protein, low fat)[/quote]
You cannot gain muscle OPTIMALLY while losing fat. You can add a bit of muscle when losing fat but adding a lot of it while losing fat is unrealistic unless you are:
a complete beginner
returning to training after a layoff
a genetic freak
on drugs
That having been said, you can come close to what you want to accomplish by consuming all of your carbs before and during training and being low-carbs the rest of the day.
What do you think of doing heavy weight walking carries as described in one of the new articles as a form of lactate inducing exercise for the purpose of fat loss? How would it compare to, say, your metabolic pairings? I am planning on adding in an extra day with 30 mins of heavy walking carries then 30 mins of moderate intensity cardio.
I often use movements such as carries and walks with my clients. My personal favorites are:
Sled walk/sprints
Sandbag carry
Sandbag lift and carry
Tire flip for time
I also do a lot of sledgehammer striking
[/quote]
Thib,
Is there a particular maximum duration for these types of exercises over which you don’t like to go? e.g. you may tack on extra movements to increase the total duration by making a circuit, but any one movement would ideally be X seconds or less?
As far as stress on the CNS, where would this rank in the hierarchy of conditioning work? Obviously short sprints and HIIT can be stressful on the CNS and have to be carefully managed relative to your weight training sessions and such.
With carrying, dragging, sledge hammers, etc., would there be many issues with CNS stress? I’m guessing that since it’s a lot of isometric action (and some concentric with certain movements) but not a lot of eccentric stress that this is probably not the case.
But I was just curious as to how mindful a trainee should be if using shorter durations per movement and loading things up a bit more.
I’m 5’9" 160lbs ~9-10% BF. I want to optimize my muscle gains while still losing bodyfat. In the past, I have had to lower my carbs drastically to lose fat/inches of my waist.
What is the MINIMUM number of daily carbs you would recommend to me for optimum muscle growth? (Assuming my diet has 1-1.25g/lb protein, low fat)
You cannot gain muscle OPTIMALLY while losing fat. You can add a bit of muscle when losing fat but adding a lot of it while losing fat is unrealistic unless you are:
a complete beginner
returning to training after a layoff
a genetic freak
on drugs
That having been said, you can come close to what you want to accomplish by consuming all of your carbs before and during training and being low-carbs the rest of the day.[/quote]
Hey Coach,
So do you recommend something like 4wks of complete focus on fat cutting with the minimal protocol for para-workout nutrition, then jump to either the regular or heavy paraworkout nutrition for muscle building at the end of 4wks?
What do you think of doing heavy weight walking carries as described in one of the new articles as a form of lactate inducing exercise for the purpose of fat loss? How would it compare to, say, your metabolic pairings? I am planning on adding in an extra day with 30 mins of heavy walking carries then 30 mins of moderate intensity cardio.
I often use movements such as carries and walks with my clients. My personal favorites are:
Sled walk/sprints
Sandbag carry
Sandbag lift and carry
Tire flip for time
I also do a lot of sledgehammer striking
[/quote]
Here is another suggestion as well that Thib had Crew do during his physique clinic. (Did it today with my training partner because the gym was closed for cleaning, WOW… was beat after!)
Barbarian Day
Here’s what I’d like you to do tomorrow. I call this the “Barbarian day.” (every Sunday)
Buy an army duffel bag and three 45lbs sand bags at Home Depot. Put the 3 bags in the duffel bag (don’t open them).
Buy a wheelbarrow, or borrow one.
Bring your car.
HERE’S THE FIRST BARBARIAN WORKOUT
Exercise 1 - bag lift and carry
Lift the bag off the ground, walk 10 steps, put it back down, pick it up, walk 10 steps, etc. Continue to do so until you can’t lift the bag.
Exercise 2 - Wheelbarrow carry
Put the duffel bag in the wheelbarrow
Walk 50 yards, do 15 push ups
Walk 50 yards, do 15 body weight squats
Walk 50 yards, do 15 vertical jumps
Repeat until you can’t go on anymore.
Exercise 3 - Car push
Well… it is what it is
5 x 50m car push
CT, I just started a low carb diet to lose about 12 lbs of fat. What I have been doing is just counting the carbs before and after my workout and then eating free veggies the rest of the day. For instance before I train I will eat some oatmeal, after the workout I will get a shake in me, the total of those two is about 60 g of carbs. The rest of the day I eat green veggies, cauliflower, summer squash ,onions, red cabbage. I make sure I get the necessary protein and healthy fats but after my training I do not really count carbs. Would this work in shedding fat and keeping insulin levels low?
I’ve been doing some research on the anabolic diet and to my understanding, the general message is that if you want to burn more fat you need to take in more fat while keeping intake of starchy carbs to a minimum (massively simplified summary). It seems as though the author’s theory is that your body will burn more fat for energy while preserving carb stores if there is an abundance of fat in the diet. Could this also happen with protein intake? For example, could getting a higher percentage of calories from protein than from carbs and fat cause your body to burn more calories from protein stores (i.e. muscles) while preserving carb and fat stores? Based on these thoughts, do you think it is possible to take in too much protein, or rather, more protein than we really need?
Forgive me if you’ve already answered this…What are you thoughts on artificial sweeteners? Do they stall fat loss? and how much water do you reccomend taking in daily? I’m 123 Pounds, about 17 percent bf. Thank you:)
(1) Is the I, BODYBUILDER program going to have cardio recommendations built into it as well?
(2) Will the I, BODYBUILDER program be able to be modified to suit someone wanting to do a fat-loss protocal (e.g., I read where you stated to ingest para-workout protocol carbs and then go low/zero carbs for the rest of the day)?
THANKS IN ADVANCE!!! KEEP UP THE REVOLUTIONARY WORK!!!
In the pic of the I, Bodybuilder program you looks like a Pro. Can you comment how was the last three weeks to get ready, from the nutritional pont of view? How you set up the macros as you was close, etc.
By the way, with that amount of muscle your body is really a furnace.
