I decided to do a poll on my facebook fitness page. I wanted to know what everyone’s number one goals were. The options were as follows:
1. Gain Muscle
2. Lose Fat
3. Gain Muscle & Lose Fat
According to the results most people are looking to build muscle and lose fat. The results did not surprise me because most people that workout still need to lose 5-10 lbs of fat and gain 10 lbs of muscle if they really want to look awesome.
Bulking and Cutting Cycles SUCK
The conventional approach in the fitness world is to engage in bulking and cutting cycles. This is where you would spend several months focusing on bulking up followed by a few months trying to get ripped. Unfortunately this method rarely ever works. A sustained caloric surplus eventually leads to inevitable fat gain (unless you take steroids). On the other hand dieting for an extended period of time sucks. The bulking and cutting approach is like the ultimate grind and is extremely exhausting. Your social life suffers and you have to spend a large portion of the year looking a little pudgy.
The New Way – Get Bigger and Leaner Every Week
Yes. It is possible for you to get bigger and leaner every single week. The power is in cycling calories. But first I need to introduce you to the term ‘nutrient partitioning’. Nutrient partitioning refers to where excess calories are stored. In a perfect world all excess calories would be stored into the muscles. Unfortunately this is rarely ever the case. However there are techniques and tactics to maximize nutrient partitioning. By consuming excess calories during optimal partitioning times and restricting calories the other times you can get bigger and leaner every single week.
Strength Training Increases Nutrient Partitioning
By consuming excess calories on your workout days you can maximize muscle growth. Best results are from consuming the most calories and carbohydrates in the post workout period.
The Muscle Building Effects of Calorie Restriction
Restricting calories (dieting) can create an anabolic rebound effect. This is due to the body’s response during low calories where all kinds of anabolic hormones and receptors are up regulated. As a result once you start eating normally again you will temporarily be able to partition a lot of nutrients towards building muscle.
Maximize Fat Loss from Prior Overfeeding
Eating a surplus of calories maximizes the fat loss effects of dieting. When you eat a lot your body up regulates fat burning hormones and fat burning machinery. This is the reason why most people tend to lose fat the fastest at the beginning of a diet.
Putting it Together
The first step is to determine your maintenance calories. A good estimate is 15 calories x body-weight. Example for a 150 lbs guy: 150 x 15 = 2250.
On training days (3-4x per week max) you would bump this number up by 20%. Ex: 2250 x 1.2 = 2700 calories
On rest days (3-4x per week – cardio optional) you would lower this number by 20%. Ex: 2250 x 0.8 = 1800 calories
By cycling between high calorie and low calorie days you can maximize muscle building and fat loss.
What to eat on the high calorie days
On the high calorie days I recommend eating high carb, moderate protein and low fat. Best options here are leaner cuts of meat, protein shakes, egg whites, fruits, rice, pasta, cereals…….
What to eat on the low calorie days
On the low calorie days I recommend going high protein, moderate fat and low carb. Having plenty of protein on the low calorie days will help keep you satisfied and not hungry. This is because protein has the greatest effects on satiety. Good food choices here are fattier cuts of meat, protein shakes, coconut milk/oil, advocados, limited fruits, vegetables…
What Workout Program
For best results I recommend investing in Visual Impact Muscle Building. This is the workout program I follow. You can see my VI Transformation here –> //www.visualimpactmusclebuilding.org
