Thib's Q&A - Up to the End of May

Training
221

[quote]Italiano wrote:
In regards to the one low-protein day you previously recommended once per week. depending on individual goals, should carbs from fruit and non-green veggies along with healthy fats be increased in order to get roughly the same amount of calories that you normally would be ingesting during the rest of the week?

I am following you Get Jacked program and wanted to add in a low-protein day if it is going to be beneficial. But i want to make sure I set it up correctly. I was planning on having the low-protein day on the same day as I have my 1 cheat meal per week (last meal of day). Should I be increasing both carbs and fat on this day?

Thanks, any advice is appreciated[/quote]

X2

Only, Im on strictly LOW CARBS, so thinking of also making my low protein day, my cheat day too because low carbs and protein will be difficultā€¦What would we eat, green veggies and a little protien and fats I guessā€¦

I planned on simply eating 4 meals on the low protein day, lower protein for the first two meals and higher for the last two, staying withing 0.5g/lb for total g/lb.

IF I was lean enough I would make my low protein day a carb focus day, with low protein of coarse, but have to stick to the 1 CHEAT MEAL for now.

GJ

222

Actually,

I have a great question regarding amino acid pulsing:

How does one vary this diet when trying to gain lean mass or lose fat?

Do you simply use less carbs when dieting down and add more carbs PARA workout when trying to gain lean mass?

Thanks coach,
GJ

223

ā€œWhile Iā€™m sure there are more scientific (and better) answers from CT, perhaps you should just eat a whole lot more food, as 2400 is generally at best a maintenance amount of cals?ā€

True. But given the fact that I weigh 150 , 2400 cal. is leaning more towards gain phase but thatā€™s not the issue.

224

I received my lab results today.

It shows : Total testosterone 665 ng/dL
Progesterone 1.3 ng/mL

More to come, but are these values hardy for a 20 year old male??

225

Hey Coach,

What supplement/diet strategies would you recommend for a weight classed strength athlete (77kg OL).

Currently my diet is fairly simple, I eat almost the same thing everyday with carbs in morning, post workout, dinner, while keeping the rest of the day fairly low. Everything is whole foods with no junk.

My current supplementation is similar as well, with a BCAA/Carb/Protein blend post workout, MRP for certain meals, fish oils, 5g creatine, and a greens/antiox product.

I workout 6 times a week with my coach, about 2 hours each workout guranteed to have snatches and CJs up to 80%. 170lbs right now at approximately 10-12% BF.

Are there any specific supplements or broad dieting strategies (carb cycling, protein cycling, etc.) that I could use to improve performance and possibly illicit positive body recompositions.

226

Hi Coach

Regarding the hyperaminoacidemia protocol, would there be any value of ingesting an esential amino acid powder formula as an alternative to whey-based products? And is so what type of dosage would be optimal?
Many thanks in advance for your time.

JB

227

Hi coach,

I am a 6 feet tall,187 pound athlete currently using strategies from your Refined physique transformation article trying to get to very low body fat levels, around 4-6%, currently at around 10%, possibly even 8%.

I would be interested in how to incorporate your new diet approach regarding pulse feeding into refined physique transformation strategies. . After browsing through your several previous posts, by biggest concern and area I am not totally clear about is fat intake. As I understood one should try to keep calories coming from fat higher than protein calories. But, with so much whey and egg whites and no mention of fat except in late afternoon or evenings the ratio between the two seems off.

Could you please clarify this for me?

228

Hey Thibs, I am need of a little help with my amino pulse timing. Here is an example of what I am currently eating and at their respective times

6:30 CH
7 10 egg whites
10 250g pork tenderloin
12 60min pre workout 0.2g/lb BCAA
12:30, 1 scoop WF
1 1 scoop WF + 20g CH
2 1 scoop Recovery + superfood + Leucine
3 20g CH
5 300g beef + veggies
7 10 egg whites
10 200g chicken + 1 scoop MD

I am not asking you to evaluate my diet seeing that you know nothing else about me, just asking your opinion on my timing and food choices during me training days.

Thank you,

Dan

229

Hi coach,
I am now in a fat loss phase and thinking of adding some cardio after my weight training on upper body days
Would it be better if I do 1 or 2 metabolic pairs for 15-20 min instead of cardio. I donā€™t have separate metabaloic days anyway. I have 2 upper body and 2 lower body workouts only

Thanks in advance

230

Hello Coach Thibs,

First, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us on the T-Nation forums, Iā€™ve learned alot from reading your replies to questions.

Second, is there a strength coach that you would recommend in the Philadelphia area? Any information you could give me would be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

231

[quote]Oreste wrote:
Hi coach thibaudeauā€¦Iā€™m an italian BBer and Iā€™m your fanā€¦I have all your books,and Iā€™ve studied them! I love them! Never mind, I have a question for you about EMS. In a your book of the 2004, You tell about EMS,now, I have a professional/medical EMS and I would create my own program by myselfā€¦Iā€™ve read the study reported in your book and I have done the program with 70hs for start and 100 hs for the end, 5 second of contraction and 10 of rest, for 10 minutes 3 times a weekā€¦Is It ok? How can I improve my program? What about the Hs (intensity) of the study? Your help will be very treasured! Your fan, Oreste.Thank Youā€¦[/quote]
Up!

232

[quote]jeenumj wrote:
Hi coach,
I am now in a fat loss phase and thinking of adding some cardio after my weight training on upper body days
Would it be better if I do 1 or 2 metabolic pairs for 15-20 min instead of cardio. I donā€™t have separate metabaloic days anyway. I have 2 upper body and 2 lower body workouts only

Thanks in advance[/quote]

It dependsā€¦ if you are feeling weak during your strength workouts and do not have much energy during the day, metabolic pairings would be a bad idea as they will interfere with strength recovery.

If your strength is good and you are still feeling energetic, go for the pairings.

233

[quote]brus01 wrote:
Hi coach,

I am a 6 feet tall,187 pound athlete currently using strategies from your Refined physique transformation article trying to get to very low body fat levels, around 4-6%, currently at around 10%, possibly even 8%.

I would be interested in how to incorporate your new diet approach regarding pulse feeding into refined physique transformation strategies. . After browsing through your several previous posts, by biggest concern and area I am not totally clear about is fat intake. As I understood one should try to keep calories coming from fat higher than protein calories. But, with so much whey and egg whites and no mention of fat except in late afternoon or evenings the ratio between the two seems off.

Could you please clarify this for me?
[/quote]

The fat intake depends on your carbohydrate intake. Energetic nutrients (carbs and fats) should make up 50-60% of your nutritional intake while dieting. If your carbs are higher, then your fats will be lower and vice-versa.

234

[quote]JamesBrawn007 wrote:
Hi Coach

Regarding the hyperaminoacidemia protocol, would there be any value of ingesting an esential amino acid powder formula as an alternative to whey-based products? And is so what type of dosage would be optimal?
Many thanks in advance for your time.

JB[/quote]

Essential aminos and BCAAs can create stimulate protein synthesis. But since they do not provide the complete spectrum of aminos, they are not optimal to lead to muscle growth. They are not a waste as they can added on, but if the proper types of protein are used, the EAA or BCAA are not as useful as the protein itself will stimulate hyperaminoacidemia.

235

[quote]gladiator88 wrote:
I received my lab results today.

It shows : Total testosterone 665 ng/dL
Progesterone 1.3 ng/mL

More to come, but are these values hardy for a 20 year old male??[/quote]

Your total testosterone is in the middle of what medical norms consider normal (normal being from 300 to 1200ng/dL). But that average is based on males from all ages. At 20, it should be 800 or above.

But more importantly what is your FREE testosterone level? Your total test doesnā€™t really mean much. You could have super high total test levels but very little free test, which would make you feel like a prebubescent girl!

On the other hand even if your total test is lowish, if most of it is free, then you will function more like an Alpha Male.

As for your progesterone, itā€™s fairly high. In males it should be below 1.

236

[quote]Gymjunkie wrote:
Actually,

I have a great question regarding amino acid pulsing:

How does one vary this diet when trying to gain lean mass or lose fat?

Do you simply use less carbs when dieting down and add more carbs PARA workout when trying to gain lean mass?

Thanks coach,
GJ[/quote]

Thatā€™s it, play with para-workout carbs. Heck, in some instances as much as 500g of carbs can be used pre-workout!!!

237

ā€œAs for your progesterone, itā€™s fairly high. In males it should be below 1.ā€

Thanks for the fast input! Is there anything you recommend to lower this value?

238

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
brus01 wrote:
Hi coach,

I am a 6 feet tall,187 pound athlete currently using strategies from your Refined physique transformation article trying to get to very low body fat levels, around 4-6%, currently at around 10%, possibly even 8%.

I would be interested in how to incorporate your new diet approach regarding pulse feeding into refined physique transformation strategies. . After browsing through your several previous posts, by biggest concern and area I am not totally clear about is fat intake. As I understood one should try to keep calories coming from fat higher than protein calories. But, with so much whey and egg whites and no mention of fat except in late afternoon or evenings the ratio between the two seems off.

Could you please clarify this for me?

The fat intake depends on your carbohydrate intake. Energetic nutrients (carbs and fats) should make up 50-60% of your nutritional intake while dieting. If your carbs are higher, then your fats will be lower and vice-versa.[/quote]

Tnx coach!

So eating walnuts or taking olive oil with egg whites wonā€™t decrease effects of pulse feeding ( my premise was that fat slows down the absorption of protein) as long as I watch my carbs. I am currently using 85g of carbs per day, most during para-workout period(187lbs, 8-10% body fat).

also, regarding egg whites(heck, even whey on such often basis), what about developing intolerance to them ( or this is just an issue with whole eggs?)

Btw, I would just like to thank you for sharing all your knowledge. Iā€™ve learned so much from reading your articles and q&a in the last 6 months. Keep up the good job! all the best from Croatia! :slight_smile:
.

239

CT

Would there be any benefit of adding 5g leucine to the meals or would that take away from the pulse?

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
daffyduck wrote:
Wow, this is really interesting. Iā€™ve been eating at least 1.5 grams of protein for at least 4 yrs. What would a sample day of this look like if one weighed 170lbs. And how long should one do this and how often should one do this strategy.

*** I know that you are at less than 10% body fat (since I measured you myself) and that you want to gain sizeā€¦ so:

PRE-BREAKFAST
20g of casein hydrolysate
5g leucine

BREAKFAST (20-30 minutes later)
8-10 egg whites
200g berries

SNACK (3 hours after breakfast)
20g of casein hydrolysate OR 30g of whey hydrolysate
5g leucine

LUNCH (90-120 minutes after snack)
200g pork tenderloin or 10 egg whites
1 cup rice or 1 potatoe

SNACK (3 hours after snack)
20g of casein hydrolysate OR 30g of whey hydrolysate
5g leucine

DINNER
OPTION 1 (if dinner is at least 2 hours after your workout)
300g red meat
Big salad with olive oil

OPTION 2 (if dinner is prior to your workoutā€¦ but in that case it has to be at least 2 hours prior)
200g pork tenderloin or 10 egg whites
1 cup rice or 1 potatoe

EVENING SNACK
2 whole eggs
100g cottage cheese or 1 scoop low-carbs Metabolic Drive
Green veggies

To that you tack on the para-workout strategy explained in my prior post.

*NOTE: someone who is LEAN (under 10%), is in a mass-gaining phase, and canā€™t afford or find casein hydrolysate, can use 1 scoop of SURGE RECOVERY instead of the casein hydrolysate (since SR is whey hydrolysate and some BCAAs plus some carbs).

*NOTE 2: I recommend one low-protein day per week (non-training day) where you only protein (in a signficant amount) during the last two meals of the day (solid food).
[/quote]

240

Hi Thib

I have a question regarding TUT if i use a rep count of 6 seconds for a squat 3(neg)2(pause at bottom)1(pos).But what about say on a curl would it be 3(neg)2(pause at top)1(pos) as to get as much tension on the working muscle as possible.

Thanks
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