Learning How To Count Your Macros
The 4 Rules Of Counting Macros
Rule #1 – Keep it Simple
You want to keep your diet as simple and effortless as possible. Therefore I recommend using simplified rules. These include:
1. Don’t bother counting calories from fibrous veggies/greens
Trust me, there is nothing to gain from being obsessive compulsive and weighing/measuring your veggies. These foods are very high in vitamins/minerals/fiber and very low in calories. The amount of calories your body can actually utilize from fibrous veggies is so small it’s practically a zero calorie food. Therefore I recommend consuming a moderate intake of fibrous veggies/greens with each meal without regard for calorie/macro intake.
2. Don’t bother counting calories from low calorie sauces/flavorings (mustard, hot sauce, tomato sauce, soya sauce, rice vinegar)
Low calorie sauces add very few calories. Just be conscious of how much you use and there is no need to have to count that towards your calorie/macro intake.
3. Don’t bother counting trace proteins
Starchy carbs usually come with a trace amount of protein but I recommend ignoring this. It’s simpler just to count your protein from meat. So a big serving of potatoes might have 10g of protein. Consider that extra protein a bonus. When you start having to count protein from your starches it makes things very complicated when you are increasing or decreasing your carb intake. In addition, you don’t want to reduce your meat intake because you are consuming more starches. Meat intake should stay relatively constant.
4. Don’t worry about hitting your calories and macronutrients exactly
Aim to be within shooting distance of them. So within 5g of your fat intake, within 10g of your protein and carb intake and within 50 calories of your calorie intake. Trying to be 100% exact is ridiculous. Even if you are 100% exact, you won’t be. This is because food labels and measuring your food isn’t even 100% accurate. You can’t be 100% accurate, you just need to be within shooting distance.
Rule #2 – Use an App
To really keep yourself accountable I recommend recording everything you eat with a handy smart phone app. I really like MyNetDiary.com, it’s a simple and easy to use app that has many neat functions. You can customize your daily calories and macros, you can search practically any food, you can scan bar codes, you can create custom foods, you can even track your weight and measurements.
The customized food function is really helpful. You can find out how many carbs are in a serving of potatoes, rice, rice pasta and you can customize that food subtracting the trace protein and trace protein calories. This way it won’t count the trace nutrients towards your calorie and macro count.
Rule #3 – Get a Electronic Food Scale
I strongly recommend you purchase an electronic food scale. This will allow you to quickly and easily weigh your food so you can accurately enter it into your app to determine the number of calories and macros your are consuming.
Rule #4 – Weigh Your Meat Raw
There is a lot of confusion whether you should weigh your meat before or after cooking. For greatest accuracy you should weigh it in the raw state. However, you need to make sure that you are using the uncooked nutrition information when you enter it into your app. This is because cooking your meat can reduce the weight of the food by 25-35%. So if you are weighing your chicken raw and entering it into your app as grilled chicken your calorie and protein numbers will be much higher than they should.
What counts as fat?
On most grocery store bought meats the nutritional information is listed on the back. This refers to it in it’s raw state. Go by those measurements. 100g of raw meat most likely has around 20g of protein. Depending on the type of meat, there could be anywhere from 0-20g of fat. These fat numbers need to be counted towards your macro and calorie intake.
Hitting Your Macros
Count or calculate your protein numbers from meat, your carb numbers from starches (potatoes, rice, rice pasta, yams, fruits), your fat numbers from meat and added fats (coconut oil, butter, macadamia nut oil, nuts). If you want to add any additional food on top of that, you will need to count both the carb and fat numbers.
Example Meal – 60g protein, 20g fat and 100g carbs
- 300g chicken breast (60g protein)
- 4tsp of oil/butter (20g fat)
- 135g rice/pasta (100g carbs)
- Broccoli (zero)
In this example, chicken breast is practically fat free so you need to get all of your fat from added fats. In this case you can use oil/butter for cooking and taste. I like to use 1-2 tsp of oil for cooking and I also like to add the rest of the fat to the rice cooker to give the rice more flavor.
Example Meal 2 – 80 protein, 25 fats, 120 carbs
- 400g Flank Steak (80g protein, 20g fat)
- 1tsp of oil (5g fat)
- 600g Potatoes/Yams (120g carbs)
- Cauliflower (zero)
In this example, flank steak has fat so we need to take that into account and reduce our added fats. We have 1tsp of fat to work with so we will just use it for cooking or to add for taste.
Example Meal 3 – 75g protein, 25g fat, 100g carbs
What if you want to work some desert into the meal? How about a Haagen Daz ice cream bar with 25g fat and 30g carbs. Well in this example you would need to keep your fat intake very low in the meal and reduce your carb intake to make room.
- 375g Chicken Breast (75g protein)
- 350g Sweet Potato (70g carbs)
- 1 Haagen Daz Icecream Bar (25g fat and 30g carbs)
- Veggies
It’s really this easy!
You will be surprised how easy it is to hit your macros when you stick to lean meats, starches and added fats. Just count your protein and fat from the meat, get any extra fat you need from butter, coconut oil or macadamia oil. Alternatively, you could add almonds or peanut butter or even a yummy desert to reach your fat numbers so long that you take into account any extra carbs. And of course, get the bulk of your carbs from sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, rice or gluten free pasta (rice pasta).
Fat loss will never be so effortless and rewarding!
Once you get in the habit of being accountable for your overall macronutrient and calorie intake then getting lean will become as easy as a stroll through the park. You will no longer be fighting your food cravings being victim to a restricted lifestyle. Instead, you will be able to eat whatever you like. This results in a very cool shift in thinking. Knowing that you can have whatever you like creates a very healthy relationship with food.
Just by being accountable, you tend to gravitate towards healthy, natural foods and deserts only in moderation. This is because you want to make the diet as enjoyable as possible and natural, wholesome foods are the best for satiety. If refined foods, sweets or deserts make up a big portion of your overall food intake, hunger may become exacerbated. So by default your diet becomes perfectly balanced without having to set stringent rules. But when you tell yourself, you can never have chocolate cake or ice cream again, you will be fighting a monkey off your back for the rest of your life.
Epic Kinobody Meals
Want to see the type of daily hedonism I subject myself to? On my instagram I post up some of my favorite meals.
Beach Ripped Article Series
- Part 1 – DIY Guide
- Part 2 – Counting Macros
- Part 3 – Cardio for Fat loss
- Part 4 – Single Digit Body Fat
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Night time is supposed to be detoxification time for liver… so if i eat a big fat meal late at night will it affect my liver health?plus our ancestors were hunter gatherers and they used to eat a big meal late at night.thats true..but how can we say thats optimal from health’s point of view?? i meant we have no records of how healthy their organs were?their life expectancy?their hormonal levels etc.i am already convinced by the whole idea of fasting and fat loss thing.but when it comes to late night eating am bit concerned. pls answer this qn..thanx in advance
Hey Greg,
I know this is one of your oldest threads, but I was just wondering, if you could open a similar thread to this one and instead of talking about macros in general, try to explain us how much fiber we need to consume daily ? For example, how much fiber I need to eat a certain amount of protein, or calories altogether ? Because if we aint careful here all sort of problems can occur. One of them is called constipation, which can lead to many serious health problems in the future (hemorrhoids, anal fissure, etc) and I’m sure none of us want to mess with this horror.
Take care and rock on !
Sandi
It’s usually 10-15g of fiber per 1000 cals
Just wondering how to calculate what your calorie intake each day should be?
Greg i am curious when you say stuff like don’t bother counting veggies because the body doesn’t really use the calories and so eat some with every meal what exactly do you mean? Like say I buy a bag of brocolli and cauliflower and it says a serving is 30 cal and there are 5 servings does the bag have 150 cal or not? Because until now if I ate a bag of veggies I docked my carbs for the amount
I just don’t think some veggie intake makes a huge difference. So I tell my clients not to bother counting. Plus veggies are very high in fiber, and fiber technically has 2 calories per grams, but gets counted as 4.
Hey man!
Just one question. What are the percentages of macros if you’re cutting and bulking. Cool site btw.
It can really vary depending on preferences and activity level. For cutting I’d suggest around 25-30% fat, 30-40% protein and 35-40% carbs. For bulking I’d suggest 25-30% fat, 25-30% protein and 40-50% carbs.
Bulking has more carbs and less protein since you’re consuming more calories you can get a smaller percentage from protein.
[…] Aim for around 1 gram per pound of lean body weight of protein per day, and around 0.42 grams per pound of lean body weight for your dietary fat intake. I use MyFitnessPal for this. The app remembers your favorite foods and it literally only takes me a few minutes each day to log it down. I will be making a guide on how to hit your macros soon, but for now a great one to go over is Greg O’Gallagher’s guide over at Kinobody. […]
Hi Greg,
Thank you SO MUCH for this amazing site. It’s really cool of you to take the massive amount of time it must take to gather all this information for us.
I have a question on dieting and cutting while being restricted from working out. Due to an injury I need to keep my pulse and blood preassure low for a couple of weeks, and basically can’t perform any kind of working out except from long easy walks. I thought I’d take the opportunity to lower my BF using IF and a calorie deficit with a lower carb intake, but I am worried that I’ll completely destroy my muscle percentage if I cut without lifting. Would you recommend skipping the cut and instead just maintain a calorie balance until I can combine a cut with heavy lifting, or should I be OK as long as I hit my protein numbers and stay within a 20 percent calorie cut? Again, thanks a million for your work!
Great question! As long as you’re not cutting below 10-12% body fat you’ll be fine. If you’re trying to get super shredded without strength training you’ll lose quite a bit of muscle. So I would drop fat until you’re around the 10-12% body fat mark. Sure you’ll lose muscle but not much more than if you were to rest and eat maintenance. Plus you’ll gain the muscle back just as fast and look better with a leaner physique.
That’s great, thank you so much for replying man!
Hi Greg!
I’m gonna start counting macros and I want to make it as simple as possible, so I have a couple of questions I’d like to ask you:
1. Do you use any other simplified rules other than the one you talk about in rule 1# or do you look up each meat/ fish/ starch nutrition facts individualy? For example do you use a set, average number of protein and fats for certain meats and fish (both leaner and fattier cuts)? Do you use a set number of carbs for starch sources?
Can you share what other simplifications you use with us?
2. My mom does all the cooking so I only get the chance to weigh meats, fish and starches after they’re cooked. How do you convert the macros of raw foods into those of cooked foods?
Thanks a lot!
1. Usually I will look up the meat to see how much fat per serving.
2. You’ll want to use about 25% less if it’s been cooked.
Hi Greg.
In your GGMBP you don’t differenciate macronutrients breakdown from rest and workout days. Many people go lower carb and higher fat on rest days when compared to workout days.
How do you recommend adjusting the macro breakdown from rest days to workout days? Do you keep protein and fats the same and simply adjust the carbs to meet the daily calories or do you change the both the fats and the carbs?
Yah that approach is pretty unnecessary and stupid. Fat should be kept constant. Dropping fat on training days and raising fat on rest days serves no purpose. Carbs will naturally be lower on rest days simply because you’re consuming less calories.
You’ll get better results including a moderate amount of carbs on rest days. It will support muscle growth, testosterone and sleep. Balanced macros are the key to enjoying food, feeling great and making all kinds of gains.
Brought the shredded program…losing weight and love the post..one question in your meal examples I see you have 100 grams of carbs is that per meal or 100 grams a day , thanks keep up the great work and motivation
For me that’s per meal.
Trying to cut up , bought your program lost 10 lb. Im not losing any weight stuck at 188 .Eating 1800 calories . Do you recommend 100 grams of carbs a day. one meal or spread it out, In one of your older post you went low carb to cut up! thanks for your time
Don’t rush to drop cals further man. It’s possible you’re dropping fat and the scale isn’t showing it yet. Look at pics to see if you’re improving. Are your lifts going up?
I downloaded that app.
Wow! Do the calories add up fast.
I didn’t realize his much I was consuming before.
Thanks for all the info, Greg.
hahah yep!
Hey Greg!
I´ve got to say that all of you´re articles are amazingly good. I´m about to start IF but had one question about carbs. How do you count your carbs in grams for pasta, rice and potatoes, cooked or uncooked? Thanks dude and keep up the good work.
Get the app My Net Diary. It will help with that.
Great article, fantastic tips, started using mynetdiary (useless name, amazing app!) and the weights been melting off, single digit BF here we come!
Cheers as always Greg.
Kind regards,
Awesome to hear! Keep up the great work.
Erm Greg, I wanted to ask. Does this macro list for me look correctly?
Lifting Days:
2900 calories
Protein : 175 gram = 700 calories
Fat: 80 gram = 720 calories
Carbohydrate: 661,25 gram = 2,646 calories
I’m 72 kg and I’m 19 years old.. But what I calculated seems excessive or is it just me?
Yes you completely calculated it wrong lol. It should be 370g of carbs.
My question is regarding BCAAs before working out and in a fasted state. Lately i have been taking my BCAAs when in a completely fasted state, but i was eating too late and wanted to change it up. So i now plan on having my first meal around 11-11:30AM, and working out around 2-2:30PM, roughly 2.5-3 hours after my first meal. Should i only take the BCAA if I’m in a complete 16 hour fast, or should i also take if it’s only been 3 hours since i last ate? My BCAA is also a pre workout so i guess it would come down to preference, i just want to make sure i’m NOT taking it if it’s mainly for a complete fasted state. Don’t want to be counter productive although i don’t see BCAAs being counter productive. As always, thanks man! The Shredding Program is AWESOME bro.
Only take BCAA if you’re completely fasted. Otherwise BCAA just aren’t really needed.
Glad you like the shredding program :)
I cook my meat in bulk. I may bake 6 chicken breasts until almost done, then slice it up and finish it in a pan with some coconut oil. My question is how do I then determine the portion size (grams/ounces) for a meal? I no longer know the pre-cooked weight of the meat. Is there some standard adjustment…like use 70% of the uncooked weight to measure cooked meat?
Thanks
Yah I’d recommend using about 70-75% of the uncooked weight for cooked meat. That should be right in the ball park.
Do i need to count calories if i gonna use a sauce like Mayonnaise?
Of course!
I taking fish oil. Should i count that in my macros? or is that unnecessary.
Fish oil has calories so it would be good to add it in.
Would you count salsasauce like a low calorie sauce? what sauces would you recommend to meats like beef and chicken?
Yes… Mustard, soya sauce and hot sauce are good. You can also find low cal barbecue and teriyaki sauces.
I had this blazing question in my mind since many days..of my intermittent fasting…since u say to take 1-2 cups of black coffe after u wake up…
in my coffe i have coffe powder,water and sugar…out of these i was considering Sugar which i only take minimum…maybe less than half a teaspoon…it contains calories…whereas u say not to consume any calorie…
so i was wondering ….should i add Sugar..to my coffee or drink just coffee and water without sugar..
please answer sir…
No sugar! Black coffee only.
Hi Greg!
Great stuff! I’ve been following all your advice for the last 6 weeks I’ve achieved single digit body fat percentage! Thank you for this!
The reason I came back to this article is because you said not to count calories from veggies. I’ve been doing that too for the last month because I’ve been eating at least 500 grams per day of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, cabbage (this sort of veggies), and I’ve realized that they actually contain some carbs and calories, which add up in large amounts. My question is: Should I reduce the amount of veggies I eat so that I can have more room in my macros for starchy carbs? From what Nate Miyaki says, starchy carbs are the ones that support resistance training and not fruits and vegetables.
If you have the time I’d appreciate your answer :)
Way to go dude!
No, I don’t see any reason to reduce your vegetable intake. But now that you’re at single digit body fat you can increase your calories to maintenance. So you’ll easily be able to increase your starchy carb intake.
Ok, thanks!
macro ratios for Type II Diabetics … I would like your opinion .
Upping the carbs may be an option for everyone else, but since I am a type 2 diabetic, the only way I can maintain or reduce my bodyfat percentage is to minimize my insulin intake.. which means minimizing carbs. This is the same case with the many of the other millions of type 2 diabetics out there.
What would you suggest as a macro mix for us?
Probably something like 40% protein, 40% fat and 20% carbs.
Hey Greg, thanks for the great site! I think it would be really helpful if you could put together a “Kinobody Cookbook” with recipes and specific meal breakdowns (listing the things you should eat in each meal).
I’m actually going to make some cooking videos on youtube.
Sweet! Looking forward to it!
Ha ha definitely. I’ve noticed now that instead of guessing at my macros to actually taking it seriously how possible it is to actually get lean. I used to be 300 lbs now I’m at 199 over the past 3 years. When you’re big it doesn’t seem possible, but it’s insane when it actually starts to happen.
Would you say the old “Don’t eat at night” adage is more for just manipulation of the scale in the morning if you are in a deficit?
Not necessarily…. Some people beleived that if you eat late at night it’s more likely to be stored as fat since you’re generally less active in the evening and thus you won’t be burning the energy. This, of course, is bull shit.
Hey Greg,
Two observations:
1. You write “Post workout shakes aren’t needed…” How the heck is this possible? Isn’t necessary to replenish carbs/proteins in about 15-30 minutes right after workout?
2. Someone writes “4 hour fast after workout and before my 12pm-6pm feeding window…” Don’t I have to eat 1 big meal 1 hour after the workout?
Thanks a lot for your answers!
1. That’s a complete myth! It’s BS, there designed to sell supplements. Getting in your calories and macros within the course of the entire day is what’s most important. Meal timing is irrelevant assuming you’re not training multiple times per day. Not to mention protein synthesis stays elevated for hours after the workout.
2. No, you don’t. You can take BCAA before/after training.
Hi greg , i ve a problem with a diet, in the days of workout i ate 330 carb 210 pro (180 from animal protein) and 65 fat , (im 71kg 156lb and i follow diet plan 2800kcal day on and 2400kcal dai off)
Day on 2800kcal
-first meal at 11-12am and its 100carb 60pro 20 fat ,
– i do workout 3-3.30 pm
-second meal/PW at 4.30-5 pm and its 130carb 85pro 20fat
-third meal at 8-8.30 pm and its 100carb 70pro 25 fat
You think that its a good meal plan? (I dont counting vegetables macronutrient, i counting the protein about rice and oats infact i ate 180 gr protein animal and other protein are the extra protein and i arrive to 210gr)
In the day off i dont know how i can organize the meal can you help me ? How i can structure diet? ? Carb ?pro ?fat and time for meal for a total of 2400kcal
Thanks; )
Looks good to me. On rest days just reduce carbs by 100.
Hi greg i ve another question, whats the best post wo meal ? 600 gr sweet potato with 400 gr of cicken and 30gr of nuts or 600 gr sweet potato and 400 gr of red meat skin and 5 gr of extra virgin oil? (You say that you cook sweet potato for 40-60 min in 400f but in the pot or in the pressure cooker or in the furnace with Silver-plated paper??
Both those are good options! Neither is necessarily better.
If I make baked potato I will cook it for close to an hour in the oven (furnace). If I make potato wedges I will cook it on a tray with tinfoil in the oven/furnace for 30 minutes.
I loved the beach ripped posts
1. hello greg, is the same if I make 4-5 meals a day instead of 3? 2 with only 3 meals a day you do not have high cortisol and degrades the muscles? 3 for post-exercise is best to use whey that are the fastest? a meal made from chicken and sweet potato is not too slow? the chicken takes about 2-3 hours to be digested (honestly rather do 3 meals very abundant everywhere but I read that in order to grow muscle mass you need to eat 5 meals a day for subdividing cho pro and carb)
What you heard/read is basically broscience! There is no research to support that eating 4-5 meals per day is better than 2-3. You should stick with the meal frequency and set up that you prefer. You also don’t need to stress out about eating fast absorbing nutrients right after training. If you ate 2-3 hours before working out you will still have amino acids in the bloodstream. Post workout shakes aren’t needed. And even still, protein synthesis is elevated for 3 hours after training so eating a meal within 2 hours of your workout is completely fine.
Hey Greg,
I saw you recommend weighing meats when they are raw and not cooked. Is this the same for White Rice and Potatoes? Should i measure my rice amount before i cook it or after? I’m having trouble losing weight and body fat, but i dont think i have been hitting my macros effectively or doing enough cardio. I feel myself getting toned, but no actual weight loss. Like ive read in your previous post, diet is key in losing body fat so im trying to fine tune my macro counting. Thanks as always man.
I recommend weighing your rice raw and same with potatoes. Although it really depends on what measurement you’re going by. If you’re using a calorie tracking app then you need to ensure you have the right form selected, uncooked, baked, grilled….
Hey gregg , I just wanted to say what a great podcast you and Chris are firing out . I work out in the Indian ocean doing a pretty boring job at times providing armed security for vessels transiting Somalia .Your podcast is unreal at smashing through the watches then hitting some hard training afterwords. Keep up the good work !
Awesome Sam! Glad you’ve been enjoying it. The next one will be up on monday or tuesday. Let me know if there is anything specific you want us to cover.
Greg, thanks for your comment.
I have another question, do I need to count the calories of fruits? like bananas, apples etc.
Of course
Hi greg,
I bake my eggs with olive oil(but I dont eat the oil), do I need to count the olive oil within my macros?
And do you know some high carbs foods with low calories
Well the oil will infuse in with the eggs and some of it will be lost through heat or stuck. I would count it unless you’re only using a teaspoon. Also I would opt for coconut oil or macadamia nut oil over olive oil for cooking. Olive oil is unstable at cooking temperatures and will go rancid.
Opinions on 2 24 hour fasts per week opposed to everyday 16/8 style fasts? :)
I prefer daily intermittent fasting of 16-18 hours per day. I am very anti breakfast. I feel way better when I skip breakfast and eat more later in the day and evening. As well, there are other advantages to daily fasting. Your hunger hormones adjust to fasting and you only become hungry and experience cravings until later in the day. As well, there are mental benefits to fasting.
Hi Greg,
another awesome article. You make tracking calories/macros so easy!
I’ve been doing your strength and density routine for a while and getting great results. My question is should I count calories when lean bulking too? And on off days I’ve been doing slow paced cardio for 40-45 mins after abs workout, which is better: slow cardio or HIIT on rest days when lean bulking?
Thank you very much!
Great to here that I’m making things simpler!
I would definitely recommend tracking calories when lean bulking. You want to ensure that you are at the right surplus.
Slow cardio and HIIT are both effective. Slow cardio is better for recovery, especially if you are doing leg lifts. That said, it takes longer to burn the same number of calories. HIIT sessions are shorter, you get awesome conditioning benefits but it can cut into recovery.
If you’re not training legs directly then you can handle 2-3 HIIT sessions per week. If you are hitting legs once per week, 1-2 HIIT sessions per week max.
Thank you Greg! I’m doing the sample 2 of your workout, so I do Bulgarian Split Squats 1 or 2 times per week, so I’ll keep doing 45 mins of slow cardio on my rest days. Do you recommend any kind of stretch after workout? I do 25 stretching movements for 30 seconds each, after every workout.
That’s a lot of stretching movements! I’m all about efficiency. The bridge stretches out all the muscles along the front of my body. Hanging leg raise / dip bar movements stretch out the muscles on my back side. I’ll also do a twisting stretch for the lateral chain and extra hip flexor stretches.
So I only stretch after cardio/abs workout?
Yes, you can stretch more often if you like though. Don’t stretch before lifting as it can relax the muscles and make them weaker, less powerful.
Greg, I am wondering if it is possible to achieve a physique of “Kinobody” Status if you hit your macros no matter where they may come from. Is it possible if those macros are coming from primarily fruits and veggies as well as grains. Can this be done in absence of meats and soy in your diet? I am inclined to believe that it is possible if your getting sufficient calories, proteins,carbs, and fats, but I am wondering what your thoughts are on this thanks.
You have to understand that you won’t be able to hit your macros with only fruits, veggies and grains! Where are your fat sources and protein sources? Nuts can work for fat. But you need a high protein food.
Thanks for the reply.
Are those yams or sweet potatoes in your picture? Also how did you cook them? And how long did you cook them?
Sweet potatoes. I baked them at 400f for 50-60 minutes.
Hey bro you look real ripped in this pic, out of curiosity what’s your current stats in this pic? Height, Weight, BF %? Thanks!
I’m pretty sure I’m 190 lbs here, at 5’10. Waist is 33″ relaxed and body fat is around 11 or 11.5%. I’m cutting to around 185 lbs and 9% body fat.
Good Luck on your cut and your website is an inspiration!
Thanks Romain!
Hey Greg how much fat intake a day is good?
It depends, I usually recommend 20-30% of calories from fat. Some people prefer 25-30% and others prefer 20-25%.
How do I increase my speed for sprinting for track? Hills?
Sprint coach Barry Ross has found the sumo deadlift to help contribute to sprinting power. If you can build up to a very strong sumo deadlift proportionate to your weight then you should be able to increase your horse power for sprinting.
Hey Greg,
This is isn’t a dieting question. But i have recently dieted down to 160 lbs at 8% bf. i am quite slim being 6 ft. however iv been doing your strength workouts from your muscle building program and i think iv reached a considerable strength level for my weight i think.
Ex. incline bench press 95kg for 5 reps. Standing shoulder press 72.5kg for 5 reps.
weighted pull ups. 37.5kg attached for 5 reps
i just wondered if you thought it would be a good idea to go onto the superhero phase to try and build some serious size, or whether i should stick to gaining muscle mass through strength progression. I feel i still have a lot of muscle to gain
could you possibly clear up a couple of queries i have.
1. will you lose all your sarcoplasmic growth if you go back to the initial strength workouts in the program? (does the same volume need to be continued?)
2. Will i be able to make strength gains at the same rate as i would doing the strength workouts alone without the pump training, in order to make permanent muscle gains.
Your thoughts would be much appreciated man. Thanks for all these amazing posts dude, keep it up.
Yah your lifts are very solid! You can definitely go onto the superhero program.
1. No you should be able to maintain most of your superhero gains following the S&D routine. That seems to be the case for me and most of my clients.
2. Depends…. For me, the extra volume made it difficult to make strength gains at the same rate. For other people, strength gains were just as good in the superhero phase. You will have to see for yourself.
Hey Greg first of all happy Easter ( a little early ) secondly being a vegetarian it’s definitely a lot harder to meet those macronutrient recommendations. I mainly just try to make sure I’m in a deficit and getting as close to the amount of protein as I can. Anyways I eat a Greek yogurt at lunch usually one of the flavored ones and I was wondering if that would be to much carbs for the carb back loading? I think it’s like 25 grams.
Look, I’m not on the carbbackloading band wagon. I think it’s a great marketing strategy but not effective or substantiated. Track your macros, be in a caloric deficit and there is no reason to worry about 25 grams of carbs with your lunch.
Hey I notice you eat alot of protein in one meal. What about your body only being able to handle a certain amount of protein at a time? It was always my understanding that you had to eat only what your body could handle per hour through out the day?
Yah that is one of the many big protein lies that makes people think they need to eat only 30g of protein multiple times per day. It’s a myth to sell protein supplements. The truth is that your body can digest and utilize it’s entire daily allotment of protein in a single sitting. Meals very high in protein just means it will take longer for it to digest and assimilate. Therefore you will have amino acids in your bloodstream for several hours after a big meal.
If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to find a study that supports the idea that you can only digest a certain amount of protein in a single sitting. Hint: there isn’t any.
I’m drying for the rest of this series to come out! When can we expect the rest!? Summer is right around the corner! Thanks for doing what you do!
Next one, the cardio workout, give me until monday.
hey man, great website and am loving your kinobody fitness course. I’v previously done visual impact phase and just had a few questions on my mind before starting your workout.
1. Can you still remain defined or even grow on 3 workouts a week? With VI Iv been training 4-5 times a week.
2.On back bi’s and legs day you have hang cleans that work the legs, so they get worked 1-2 times a week or every 4-5 days. i want to sprint once a week but am not sure how to add it in. Could I add 10min of HIIT style sprints to chest shoulder tri’s or would it be too much. That would mean week 1 you do hang cleans 2x and sprint 1x and week 2 sprint 2x and hang cleans 1x.
3. What if I wanted to do antagonistic body parts (chest back legs, and shoulders arms) like visual impact phase 3. As it balances out the muscles at the end of the workout and avoids biceps being pulled forward or shoulders hunched over by working the opposing muscle right after or is it not a problem? This is what i’v come up with. Alternating 3 days a week.
Workout A (chest back legs)
Hang cleans 3×4-6
Incline press 3×4-8
Incline db press 2×8
Weighted chinups 3×3-8
Row 2×8
Calf raises 4×8-12
Light cardio 15min
Workout B (shoulders arms)
Overhead press 3×4-8
Lateral raise 4×8-12
Facepull/rear delt fly 4×8-12
Incline curls 3×4-6
Cable curl 3×6-10
Dips 3×4-8
HIIT 10min
Light cardio 20min
1. Yes, most definitely.
2. Yes, that should be tolerable. Judge by recovery. Possibly don’t go 100% full out on the sprints. Save some in the tank.
3. If you wish to do antagonistic lifting then I’d recommend only 2 upper-body workouts per week. Otherwise you will be hitting your muscles too frequently and strength will suffer. For example, doing biceps and triceps and then trying to bench and do heavy chin ups 2 days later is not a good idea. Biceps and triceps will be in recovery mode and negatively impact pushing and pulling strength.
Hey Greg. This beach ripped program seems perfect for me! Haha. I just had two questions, are you planning on posting a cardio regime to go along with this? & if not, which one of your cardio programs do you recommend? Appreciate everything you’re doing on this site(:
Yes! Cardio coming soon.
Hey Greg.
I am getting ready to start my cut for spring and summer this week. I was wondering since I work out at 7:00am if a 12 noon to 6pm feeding window was ideal? I work out fasted and have creatine in water around 8:00am. Do i need to add BCAAs?
Also since I have not started cardio yet would you reccomend a very low calorie day when you do not perform resistance exercises (ie. 20 hour fast leading up to only meal of the day) once a week?
BCAA are probably a good idea. Not completely necessary but it does side step a couple issues including protein breakdown.
No, that’s too extreme. If you’re not doing cardio you can just cut back on the calorie intake by about 300 cals or so. Consider adding some movement to your day on non lifting days.
is the 4 hour fast after workout and before my 12noon-6pm feeding window alright?
Yes that’s fine.
Hey Greg,
What is more effective ?
The kinobody shredding programe or the series that you are posting right now. Because I want to begin with losing fat and I want to chose the best option.
Both options are effective and there is more than one way to skin a cat. With the shredding program you will have 3 maintenance calorie days per week, 2-3 low calorie days and 1-2 20-24 hour fast days.
With beach ripped calorie intake will be mostly constant throughout the week.
Hey Greg. Once again, stellar post. This is great cuz I was just planning on changing my diet & now I know what I need to do haha. But one thing I was curious of is if I could do this without 16 or more hours of fasting? I’m in high school & my schedule doesn’t really allow for fasting. But if fasting is pertinent to my results, I will find a way to incorporate it. Thanks a ton.
You don’t need to fast. If you wish to have a morning meal I’d recommend something fairly light. Cottage cheese or greek yogurt and a piece of fruit, scrambled eggs and fruit or a protein shake and a banana.
Hey Greg. With all this talk of hitting macros, what happens if when you don’t? A) if you’re trying to build lean muscle. B) If you’re trying to burn body fat?
The most important thing is to be in a caloric deficit for fat loss or slight surplus for muscle gain. If you have that then you’re pretty set. The next most important thing is getting in sufficient protein. After which, you want enough carbs to support training and recovery and enough fat to support testosterone and hormone functioning.
Thanks. Much appreciated. I’m now counting macros like a beast and loving it, but with shifting to eating my carbs at night I’m having a real problem hitting my carb numbers. I’ve done my calculations and I’m aiming for around 220grams which I can’t seem to get in my evening meal. Additionally, I’m finding it hard to eat enough calories over essentially just 2 meals throughout the day. Particularly with Nate suggesting you give yourself a few hours after having your carbs before sleeping. I’m pretty sure the simple answer is to just eat more/bigger but that essentially means doubling my portion sizes which is kinda hard as I’m just not used to eating that much food. I get too full. Any suggestions?
No need to have all your carbs in your last meal. I prefer to split them more evenly. If two meals is too much food then consider adding a small meal somewhere.
Thanks for the feedback man. Much appreciated. Nice and simple. Makes sense.
Spot on my dude! Especially weighing your meats raw. Many of my clients overlook this detail, so I’m glad to see another fitness enthusiast throw this crucial point out there. Cheers!
I’ve got an app called My Fitness Pal that’s free. Set it up for counting macros and it seems to work pretty well. You can input your food, scan bar codes and it has tons of content. I live in the UK and it has all the numbers for the things you buy in Sainsbury’s Tesco, Asda ect as well as the numbers for take-away foods from Pret to KFC. You can also put in your workouts for the day. Anyways, it’s free so worth checking out, but it’s the number 1 free health and fitness app in the app store, so it must be doing something right.
Thanks! My Fitness Pal is definitely an awesome App.
And an other quick question.
If i bench for example 220×5 lbs and i’m dieting probably i get stronger not bigger.
But if i get stronger how can i get bigger if i’m already strong?
If you’re already strong, you get bigger by
1) getting even stronger
2) eating enough food to supply the nutrients for raw muscle growth
3) Get enough workout volume in to promote muscle growth
One more question, please. I have been following your guidelines to lose weight and the fat is coming off, especially in my ab area. Now my rib area is getting bony. What exercises can I do to build up the muscles that cover the ribs? Thanks again!
Not much you can do to add muscle onto your ribs. You will just need to focus on adding muscle overall to your body. That will help reduce any boniness.
hey Greg,
Quick question. would you count protein/carbs coming from milk towards you macros?
Yes, definitely!
Hey man if you eat to maintain LBM will you burn fat?
My LBM is 114 so 1710 maintenance calories.
Just wondering.
thank you!
I’m not sure I understand your question completely. Eating to maintain lean body mass or eating to maintain bodyweight? That’s entirely different and if you’re talking about lean body mass then you aren’t making any sense. You can eat at a calorie deficit and maintain lean body mass if you are consuming enough protein and strength training. If you’re talking about eating maintenance calories then it will be hard to lose fat. Beginners can experience this recomp effect but that’s about it. Better to set your calorie intake in line with your goals.
Hey love your stuff. I’m 6’1 and have gotten down to 160 pounds while lifting heavy and making decent gains on my lifts. I still don’t have the warrior physique but don’t want to lose any more weight. Suggestions to lose body fat but not weight? Thanks
You can do a muscle building cycle and build up to 170 lbs. Then cut down to 165. That’s really the only way to do it. Alternatively you could eat to maintain your weight at 160 and see if you can get leaner and stronger.
Do you no longer agree with Brad Pilon’s protein guidelines? I have always had a hard time eating 1g per lb of bodyweight. It should be a little easier now though now after reading this article.
Brad Pilons figures are really on the low end for resistance training athletes. The research actually support a protein intake of 0.82g per pound for maximum benefits. Going higher than this has no further benefits.
Whats your opinion on fish? i notice you never use it as an example.
hahaha! Good catch, pun intended. Taste wise I’m not a huge fish fan so I don’t really incorporate it into my meals often. That said, If you like fish you should have it. I’d recommend limiting fish to 2x per week though. Fish can be high in mercury and consuming it too often can be harmful.
also just wondering if it is ok to drink alcohol occasionally? if so whats your best bet to drink? I know alcohol is high in calories.
Yes occasional alcohol consumption is allowed. I’d recommend drinking only 1-2 nights per week. Ideally stick to liquor on the rocks or mixed with diet soda. This has the fewest calories.
I use this nutrion calculator for my foods
http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-chicken-breast-without-skin-raw_f-ZmlkPTY4Mjc1.html
I really need to start relooking my diet now.
hahah! Yah you need to weigh it raw then. Otherwise you will have to find the information for grilled chicken (already cooked).
So let me get this straight, so your bascially saying cooking your meat doesn’t alter its nutrional content? Fuck…If thats the case, I’ve been eating 300-500g of meat protein per day( no joke)
I was under the impression that when you cook meat, water and fluids is lost during the cooking process and therefore the weight is changed and the value of the nutrients is changed. I always weigh my food cooked. I see it as that im not eating in the raw state, im eating it when its cook and that weight and nutrional content of that cooked weight is what matters.
So for instance: I buy 30 big ass large double sided chicken breast per month. Before I put everything in a zip lock bag to store in my freezer, I weigh each one. Just one of those weigh about 23-28oz including bone. When I weigh it after I thaw and cook it, it weighs 12-14oz. I eat one of those a day in 2 seperate meals+ protein shakes and lactose free milk as my protein sources.
Same goes for my ground beef. I weigh out a pound( 16oz) raw before freezing it. When I thaw and cook it, it weighs about 10-12oz.
I never doubted you before… But are you absolutly sure thats the case with wieghing meat? That raw weight matters vs cooked weight?
If so, then Im seriously eating like…2000cals of meat alone. Definetly dirty bulking. I might be eating way too much. I could save myself a shit load of money on grocerys each month if thats the case.
Hahha yah, I made the same mistake a couple years ago. Cooking usually results in water loss and not protein loss. So that 1 lbs of ground beef should be about 90-100g of protein, even after cooking. If you are going to weigh your meat cooked then you need to find the nutrition information for cooked meats. Some nutrition apps and nutrition websites have this information. But if you use the nutrition information in the raw state but weigh it after being cooked then you are going to completely underestimate the amount of protein and calories you are consuming by about 25-35%.
In your example meal three I noticed you did not count the fat for chicken breast.. If we eat boneless frozen chicken breast do I count the fat that is in the chicken?
Well chicken breast is very lean. Usually only 1g of fat per 100g of chicken. This is pretty negligible, especially when you count oil as 5g per teaspoon, it’s really more like 4.5.
Hey Greg,
Just wanted to thank you for publishing the last two articles because the moment I started counting my macro’s I broke my plateau of 187 lbs; dropped 7 pounds in 12 days. Hitting the weights also caused my skin to tighten up.
Thanks, I will keep your informed of my progress.
Dude! That’s incredible, keep it up man.
Hi Greg
Really enjoying reading your articles.
I see that you recommend gluten-free pasta. Is that because it’s inflammatory? Do you therefore recommend to always avoid wheat products?
What’s your opinion on foods such as milk, cheese and honey?
Thanks!
On a nutrition program, I like to see people opt for gluten free starches. Gluten can be very problematic for gut health, immune system and inflammation.
Milk and cheese is fine for those of us who can tolerate dairy.
Greg, I have been very curious about the whole gluten-free trend. If you still remember them, could you possibly point me towards the papers from which you got your information? I haven’t found any conclusive publications on non-celiac gluten sensitivity on pubmed. Thanks!
Ditto
I think so far there’s no scientific evidence gluten can be a problematic food or that anything like gluten sensitivity even exists. The only evidence out there points out to two things:
1) some people are allergic to gluten the same way some people are allergic to peanuts or strawberries, i..e those who are not allergic to strawberries can’t be “mildly intolerant” to them. Either strawberries are a poison to them or either they’re 100% harmless. The number of truly gluten allergic people is very small
2) there are quacks who are seeling fake gluten sensitivity tests online who makes a lot of normal people test positive and who have been showed extensively to use wrong and pseudoscientific approach to “detect” gluten intolerance
3) some people into the paleo dogma believes humans are not suited to eating gluten. But not only there’s no evidence of gluten being a problem food for humans in generals but it’s not even true that our digestive system is the same it was in the paleolithic. Contrary to popular pseudoscientific paleo beliefs we had a lot of time to evolve and we did.
What can i do if i surpass my calories and macros one day, for example going into a family party, or going to the cinema i always eat soda and popcorn?
Once per week it’s okay to go higher in calories, just keep it moderated. If you’re going over in calories 2-3+ times per week then you have a problem. You need to be dedicated and stick to the macros. Going way over one day then having to compensate by going super low the next day is an inefficient strategy.