Lies! - Meal Frequency, Abs Everyday, and Casein ProteinBefore Bed

My work schedule has been horrendous and demanding of my time.  I apologize for not posting regularly, but I appreciate your continued support in reading my blog on eating and exercise.  I intend to share with you some knowledge that have literally opened my eyes to all things fitness, as I have been blinded since the first day I picked up a dumbell.

Have you heard of and believe in such popular fitness adages such as...

"Eat small and frequent meals throughout the day."
"To get shredded abs, you need to do abs every day."
"You have to have casein protein at night before you go to bed."

Fact or muscle myths?  For years, I have thought the above statements to be true.  However, in the past year with my own personal interest to independently research fitness topics in seek of the truth, I have found most of these accepted facts that echo from gym-rat strangers, friends, and even fitness "experts" to be absolutely FALSE.  I am not going to get scientific on you and regurgitate all the science articles that debunk these adages, but share what I have gathered from scouring the net for answers over time.  If you like documented facts and articles that prove scientific theorum then I implore you to do the independent studies on your own to seek the truth and give you peace of mind that what I am sharing with you is true.

"Eat at small and frequent meals throughout the day."  I will start with the conclusion.  As long as you consume the amount of calories and macronutrients at the end of each day, no matter it be 8 small frequent meals or 1 incredibly large meal, it will make little to no difference in your physique over time.  This explains why IIFYM, intermittent fasting, the old-school bodybuilding diet, and any diet works.  Why?  Simply because the body is smart and adapts.  But don't you have to eat small and frequent meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism up?  If you eat your total daily protein requirements of 200g in one sitting, your body won't be able to absorb it all and you'll just end up shitting it all out!

Your body is smart and will adapt.  Just as much of that protein will be absorbed in one feast fest compared to 8 small evenly distributed meals consisting of 25g protein each with each meal spaced out every 2 hours.  It's got to go somewhere.  Your body will not poop protein that it cannot absorb or does not need.  Let's say your body only requires 150g protein for function like to build muscle and for muscle repair.  The overage of 50g of protein that you consumed will be stored as energy (or fat).  And this goes the same for carbohydrates and fat as well.  This is why calories in and calories out is the most simple and truthful theory of weight gain and weight loss.  If you consume calories (made up of any amount of protein, carbs, or fat), your body will use this energy for immediate use, like bodily functions and exercise; or it will be stored as fat.

"To get shredded abs, you need to do abs every day."  This one is awesome!  If only I knew the truth since I first started working out over 10 years ago, I probably would have saved a year of my life doing other meaningful things instead of spending it on the floor doing crunches or hanging on bars doing leg lifts all day everyday.  Abs are a muscle.  Muscles only do 2 things - get bigger or get smaller through training.  The reason why I spent most of my high school life on the floor doing crunches and sit-ups and still was not able to attain that coveted 6-pack abs was simply because I wasn't lean enough.  Doing more reps or adding more weight to your crunches, sit-ups, and leg lifts will mostly benefit one thing - making the abdominals bigger.  More reps or more weight is added stress to your muscles.  Stress is what stimulates muscle growth.  If you want washboard abs or just a slimmer midsection and always wondered why all those crunches you were doing everyday isn't working, perhaps you should pay more attention to your diet and lower your caloric intake.  Less fat on your body will reveal the muscles underneath.  Voile!  Abs!  There they are!

"You have to have casein protein at night before you go to bed."  I believe I heard this one first from a certified trainer when I first picked up a weight.  I must have put added stress on myself to make sure I am stocked with a jug of whey and a jug of casein at all times to maximize muscle growth.  At the end of the day, all that matters is that a protein is a protein, whether it be whey, casein, soy, etc.  It is true that casein is absorbed slower.  However, it really does not matter whether you choose whey or casein or whatever type of protein you choose to use at night prior to sleeping.  Now if you're not taking in enough protein and ultimately, calories, than your body needs, then you will go catabolic and potentially lose muscle.  Cut diets in itself are catabolic in nature.  If you are afraid of going catabolic, then make sure you eat enough protein and be at a caloric level that is at least considered maintenance at the very least.

I hope this has been helpful for you.  I enjoy learning every day and I hope that before you accept what certified trainers and gym-rats are telling you as truths, just do a little bit of googling and verify the supposed facts.  It would save you a lot of time and money to do the research first and decide whether it is a good idea to implement the tips into daily practice after you get your facts straight.  Otherwise, you would just be pissing in the wind... or spending 20 minutes every day on the floor doing abs, dreaming of that 6-pack.  It's the same thing.

March 1st, 2013 - Updates & Pull-Push-Legs Routine

I feel slightly more tired throughout the day after my morning workouts with this new Pull-Push-Legs routine.  It’s a great sign that my body and fitness is being challenged with this new protocol.  It’s not about the amount of weight you are lifting.  It’s the level of stress you put on your muscles that is the catalyst for growth.  Stress your muscle like you have never experienced before and it will force it to adapt, growing stronger (and larger) to handle the stress level. 

New PRs Since Last Week!

-Bentover Dumbell Rows—100 lb DBs x 8

-Romanian Deadlifts—405 lb x 9

-Decline Barbell Press—315 lb x 7

-Incline Dumbell Press—120 lb DBs x9

-Wide-grip Lat Pulldown on Cables—270 lb x 6

Here is my ever-changing Pull-Push-Legs routine.  Some days I switch it up and use dumbells instead of barbells or even machines.  It just depends on my mood, but I try to do more of what I think I am weakest at.  3 sets are performed for Upper body exercises and 4-5 sets are performed for Lower body exercises H.I.T. style.  On my last set of each exercise, I goal myself to achieve 5-6 reps usually to failure with as heavy of weight as possible. 

Pull – Back + Biceps

-Wide-grip Lat Pulldowns on the Cables

-Lawnmowers with Dumbells

-Seated Wide-grip Rows on the Cables

-Bentover Dumbell Rows

-Yates (Underhand-grip) Machine Rows

-Standing Barbell Curls

-Hanging Dumbell Curls with EZ Bar (leaning chest down on incline bench)

-Incline Dumbell Curls

-Shrugs

Push – Chest + Shoulders + Triceps

-Incline Dumbell Bench Press

-Decline Barbell Bench Press

-Seated Military Press with Dumbells

-Behind-the-neck Machine Shoulder Press

-Close-grip Bench Press

-Tricep Extensions on Cables with Bar

-Standing Cable Flyes

-Side Laterals with Dumbells

-Front Laterals with Barbell

-Bentover Rear Laterals on Cables with D-handle

Legs on Wednesdays (Quad Focus)

-Hack Squat

-Machine Squat

-Olympic Squat

-Seated Calf Raises

-Machine Leg Extensions

-Seated Leg Curls

-Standing Calf Raises

Legs on Saturdays (Ham Focus)

-Romanian Deadlifts

-Sumo Deadlifts

-Close-stance Leg Presses

-Seated Calf Raises

-Standing Calf Raises

-Machine Leg Extensions

-Seated Leg Curls

-Lying Leg Curls

*Abs (1-3x a week, 3 sets each exercise)

-Leg Raises

-Weighted Crunches/Sit-Ups

-Cable Crunches

I perform this routine twice a week with one much needed rest day.  I weighed in at 169.0 lbs. this morning and I am happy with my progress thus far.  I will continue to eat more when I do not see any increases in body weight (0.5-2.0 lbs./week).  I’ve never eaten so much in my life, but I’ve never looked this good at this body weight in my life either.  If I want to put on size, I know there will be times that I simply do not have the appetite to eat anymore.  However, if you want to get bigger, you have to eat bigger.  This is the same mindset I had when I was cutting for a competition.  If I wanted to be leaner than everyone else, I need to diet harder than everyone else.  No pain, no gain, right?  At least with bulking, I am not hungry.

Here's a picture of me at my leanest and dryest condition during my pre-contest cutting phase:

146.8 lbs. & Hungry.... To Win

  

February 25th, 2013

I'm ready for a change in my routine.  I have been on a 6-day "bro" split with an extra leg day for the past few months.  It looked a little something like this:

1 - Chest & Biceps [A]
2 - Shoulders & Triceps [B]
3 - Legs (Quad Focus) on WEDNESDAYS
4 - Back [C]
5 - Chest & Biceps [A]
6 - Legs (Ham Focus) on SATURDAYS
7 - Rest or Cardio Only or Weak Point Training

Leg days are always fixed on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  [A] Chest & Biceps, [B] Shoulders & Triceps, and [C] Back are in rotation throughout the week.  I've experienced incredible gains in size and strength by increasing the frequency of my leg workouts.  Ever since I started training them twice a week versus only once a week, I have only experienced positive results; especially now that I have the nutrition to support growth.  With that said, this gives me reason to increase frequencies in my upper body workouts.  I am now on a Pull-Push-Legs routine which started today:

1 - Pull (Back & Biceps)
2 - Push (Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps)
3 - Legs (Quad Focus)

4 - Pull (Back & Biceps)
5 - Push (Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps)
6 - Legs (Quad Focus)

7 - Rest or Cardio Only or Weak Point Training

With this new routine, I anticipate a greater amount of calorie burn per week versus my previous routine.  I am not doing a Push-Pull-Legs schedule because doing Legs after Back (Pull) would be too strenuous.  Rest times will be minimal (~1 minute between sets) and the style of training will continue to be like Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates' HIT.

On Saturday, I trained legs and met a new personal record with the Romanian Deadlifts with 405 lbs. x 9 reps (I think I could've done 10, but my hands were clammy and the weight slipped).  Today, I had a Pull day and did some strict Lawnmowers on the incline with 150 lbs. x 9 reps and I also did some wide-grip Lat Pulldowns on the cable at 270 lbs. x 6 reps.  

Meanwhile, I think I will need the caloric support to back up my new training program:

Weekdays ~3000 calories
Protein: 210g
Fat: 60g
Carbs: 420g

Weekends ~3300 calories
Protein: 210g
Fat: 50g
Carbs: 500g (CARB CITY!!!  This will be my new PR with recorded carb intake.)

I am currently at 168.6 lbs.  I'm somewhere around ~12% bodyfat and I'm ready for more gains!

New Personal Record! 365 lb. Decline Press for 1RM!

As promised, but fashionably late, here is the video of my new personal record on the decline bench press of 365 lbs. for one rep max.  I'm not a proponent of 1RMs, as I do not believe it is beneficial for hypertrophy.  I believe it is more of a means to measure your strength gains.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed this pinnacle moment.  I feel like my sweet spot to spark muscle growth is the 5-6 rep range.  No more fun and games...  Time to get back on the gain train!

February 15th, 2013

A week has past since my last post and I mentioned that I would keep the caloric level steady at about ~3000 calories while adjusting my macros.  Last week, I noticed I was taking the scale weight to heart more than any other key indicators of progress with lean muscle gains.  The highest caloric intake I have experienced in this experiment so far was at about ~3200 calories at which I noticed quite a bit of fat gain and increase of water storage in the subcutaneous.  I know it's my impatience that got the better of me, as Rome was not built overnight, bodily change as a result to diet doesn't either.

I took a different approach in maintaining calories this past week.  Instead of keeping calories the same at ~3000 each day, I did about ~2800-2900 calories on the weekdays and ~3100-3200 calories on the weekends.  I dropped my protein intake because I wanted to make more room for carbohydrates.  I am still taking in over 1g of protein per lb. of LBM, and that's plenty for a natural.  The past week, I have been following these macros:

Weekdays ~2800 kCal.
Protein:  210g
Fat: 60g
Carbohydrates: 360g


Weekends ~3200 kCal.
Protein:  210g
Fat: 50g
Carbohydrates: 450g

I've stuck with this and will continue to be patient until I am a bit leaner (10-12% BF).  Gaining mass is an art.  It's easy to become real impatient and chase those gains quickly by taking in calories at a rate that your body is unable to process.  Thus, more fat is stored.  It's not a race, which is why I had to pump the brakes.  More than a week ago, I hit an all-time high of 170 lbs. on the scale, and now I'm about 167 lbs.  2 weeks ago, I was at 167 lbs but I was not as strong as I am now.  I am getting leaner and I am steadily getting stronger.  Strength will always be my #1 indicator of lean muscle gains despite what the scale says.  I will continue to focus on building up my legs and chest.  Once the elbow pains subside, I will focus more on arms as well.

Today, I've managed to hit a PR of 1RM on the decline barbell bench of 365 lbs.  I'm not into 1RMs because it's more of a measure of power than a benefit in building muscle.  I believe 5-8 reps is an optimal hypertrophy range.  I just wanted to mention this milestone because I was never able to bench more than 3 plates (315 lbs) on the bench.  I pulled both rotator cuffs in my collegiate years from a little rowing sport called dragonboat.  Since then, it's been a slow recovery, starting from the ground up with 95 lbs., focusing on form and then gradually move up in weight.  My coach was able to record this lift and I'll try to post it later today.

I'll remain with this nutrition plan until strength gains have halted and I appear a little leaner in the mirror.  Then, I will continue adding more calories in and keep progressing.  I estimate that if I lean out to contest conditions, I should be about 5 lbs. heavier than I was on Dec. 1.  This experiment may last longer than anticipated, but I am not mad that I get to keep eating!

February 8th, 2013 - Genetics & Updates

Genetics play a huge role in determining the aesthetic of your physique.  Sure, you can combat it with impeccable nutrition and intense training.  But, some may have to work harder to attain the same results as another person that is exactly your same height and weight.  This is due largely in part to genetics.  Let’s say you and Person X are exactly the same height and weight and start off eating exactly the same kinds and amounts of food – same amount of calories, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.  His genetics may direct the nutrients from the food into muscle building more than fat storing, while you may experience the opposite.  Sucks, huh?

Some people, like that bastardly Person X, can eat all the carbs in the world and they stay lean and vascular.  You, on the other hand, may experience bloating and water retention under the skin.  What the hell?  On a bulk, Person X seems to gain only 1 lb. of fat per 3 lbs. of lean muscle mass.  You may gain 3 lbs. of fat for every pound of lean muscle mass.  Following another person’s diet may not reward you with the same results because everyone is different.  This is called nutrition partitioning and it is because of genetics that separates us all as individuals. Nutrition plans should be catered to an individual.  Cookie cutter diet plans cannot be applied to everyone and expect the same results across the board.  We all burn calories at different rates, store fat in different places, and build muscle at different paces. 

On that note, let's bring up the topic of spot reduction.  An example of this is doing crunches all day every day to bring out those abdominals.  Lies!  What brings out your abs is not with infinite sit-ups.  It is burning more calories than you take in and leaning out to a point that it starts showing.  Just because that burning sensation exists from doing all those leg raises and crunches exists, does not mean it is burning the fat around it.  Your genetics will dictate where on your body that fat will melt off first.  So do yourself a favor and burn calories the efficient way and do cardio and/or eat less.  

It is not to say that because you believe you were born with handicapped genetics that it is an excuse to stop dreaming and stop trying to achieve the ultimate physique.  Far from it!  It just means you have to work harder.  Can’t seem to gain any weight and strength?  You aren’t eating enough and you aren’t lifting hard enough.  Can’t seem to get that six pack to show?  You aren’t dieting enough and you aren’t burning enough calories.  In life, your body is the one thing you have complete control over.  You have complete control over what you feed yourself and whether you choose to spend your evening on your ass or in the gym. 

With that said, I’m not Person X.  I’m the other guy.  Fat loves to congregate around my “love handles” and carbs make me bloat.  However, I will probably not add anymore calories at this point because I believe I have hit that 12-15% bodyfat threshold that I would like not to go over during this bulking phase.  I will also play with my macros a bit but still maintain that ~3000 daily calorie mark.  For the next week or two, I will use strength gain as a primary indicator of bulking progress versus the number on the scale.  I have witnessed steady and consistent strength gains in most of my lifts.  The prime focus of this bulking project was to build up my legs and I am happy with the results so far.  Back and shoulder strength have steadily increased and I've never felt stronger in those areas.  My arms and chest are lagging but they have never been my strong suit.  One thing at a time.  

Current Macros:
240g protein
90g fat
300g carbs

February 1st, 2013 - Thoughts on Energy Sources & Updates

With extensive research, I have determined that adding more fats to my current bulking diet may stray me away from the path of achieving a leaner bulk experience.  I recently upped my fats from low to medium-high levels from 50g to 90g in order to increase my calories.  Fat is an energy source, like carbohydrates, but it isn't a preferred energy source by the body because it must undergo a longer process to be utilized as energy.  If carbohydrate levels are low or depleted, that's when the body usually utilizes fat as an energy source, which was what my previous cut diet was based on for competition (cyclical ketogenic diet).

Currently, my carb intake is at 360g.  That's really high for me, but in a bulking situation, I believe it is required.  Carbs are not an essential, meaning the human body can survive without it.  But, it thrives on it and prefers it as an energy source over fats because it is fast acting.  On a strenuous calorie-burning day like leg day, I may be able to burn off 360g of glycogen (stored energy from carbs).  Fats are also more likely to be stored as fat if not used right away.  If I kept my fats high, and continued to leave my carb levels high, then there is a chance that I won't be able to burn off the amount of fat I am taking in.

I complained in a previous post that it had been increasingly difficult to eat the food on my daily menu to gain weight.  I thought I can just use fats to increase my calories instead of carbohydrates, like organic peanut butter because it's easier to eat than 3-4 slices of Ezekiel bread.  But, I've also noticed that by doing so, I stay fuller longer.  Fats slow the rate of digestion... and now I feel like I'm pissing in the wind.  Not only am I exposing myself to a greater possibility of increasing body fat, but I am unable to eat every 2-3 hours.  I also complained about the carbs possibly having a negative impact on my skin (psoriasis).  However, I have noticed that it has been getting a little better and I haven't decreased my carb level.

There will be no more complaints!  I need to remind myself that I'm on a bulk, and I don't need to be trying anything fancy.  I just need to stick to simple science and continue doing what works for me - high protein, high carbs, and low fats.  Fats will come in handy on a cut or maintenance diet that is low in carbohydrates.  After all, I'm on a quest for SWOLness.

This will begin immediately:

Current Weight: 167.2 lbs.
New Daily Caloric Intake:  ~3200 calories
New Macros: 450g C, 240g P, 50g F