PDA

View Full Version : A Unique Combination Of Science And Experience Based Pre-Contest Advice. Part 3



guardianactual
02-08-2015, 04:59 PM
The Diet
In order to come up with macronutrient totals for a diet, it is necessary to assess how many lbs per week one will need to lose to be in contest shape. This is not an exact science, however we can still get a reasonable experience-based estimate. Here are some example calculations so that you may have an understanding of how to go about doing this.

For example, we have a subject who is a mesomorph weighing 200 pounds and has 13% bodyfat. Since 3-4% is considered "stage condition", that means the subject will need to drop roughly 10% body fat which equates to about 20 pounds. To recapitulate, I do not recommend dropping weight any faster than 1-1.5 lbs per week. Since 20 weeks is a long time to diet, let's have the subject lose about 1.5 pounds per week.

Calculate Number Of Weeks To Diet ...
I recommend that one lose approximately 80% of their weight due to calorie restriction and 20% of their weight due to cardio (someone who is ectomorphic should do less cardio, while someone with an endomorphic build should do more cardio). To lose 1.2 pounds (80%) per week from diet, there must be a 600 kcal per day deficit from diet. To lose the other .3 pounds (20%) per week from cardio, one should perform 3 cardio sessions per week, which burn 350 kcals per session.


WHAT'S YOUR BODY TYPE?

What body type are you? How can you tell? Take our simple test and know! Learn how to train for your body type and what the differences are.

Take the test here.
The best way to determine one's caloric intake required to lose fat at a certain rate is to chart calorie intake for a period of a few weeks and try to determine at what level the subject does not gain weight (this is the caloric baseline). For those who do not exercise this method, a rough estimate can be made using the following strategy.

Utilize The Subsequent Equations To Find Your Caloric Baseline:
Mesomorphs - bodyweight x 15.
Ectomorphs - bodyweight x 16-17.
Endomorphs - bodyweight x 13-14.
Endomorphs - bodyweight x 13-14.
So for our subject; 200 X 15 = 3000 kcals per day. This is the subject's caloric baseline (roughly). So if he wishes to lose 1.2 pounds per week from dieting (caloric restriction of 600 kcals per day); 3000 - 600 = 2400 kcals per day.

Meal Frequency Is As Follows:
Mesomorphs - eat every 2.5 - 3.5 hours.
Ectomorphs - eat every 2 - 3 hours.
Endomorphs - eat every 3.5 - 5 hours

Protein Intake

The "golden standard" protein intake for a bodybuilder is around 1 g/lb of bodyweight. This will need to be increased while dieting. Protein is a thermogenic macronutrient key in sparing muscle tissue when in a caloric deficit (see aforementioned section on protein). I recommend the following protein intakes for different body types:
Mesomorphs - 1.2g/lb - 1.3g/lb.
Ectomorphs - 1.4g/lb - 1.6g/lb.
Endomorphs - 1.4g/lb - 1.5g/lb.*
For our subject, this equates to a protein intake of around 240-260 g protein per day. Let's go 'middle of the road' and set the subjects protein intake at 250 g protein per day. This means 1000 kcals have been devoted to protein intake, leaving us with 1400 kcals for fat and carbohydrate intake.

Fat Intake

Fat intakes are as follows:
Mesomorphs - 17% - 23% of total calories.
Ectomophs - 24%-28% of total calories.
Endomorphs - 23%-28% of total calories (fat intake is increased in order to reduce carbohydrate intake, as endomorphs may have a difficult time losing fat with higher carbohydrate intakes).
For our subject, this equates to about 400 - 550 kcal from fat per day (45g - 60g fat per day) Once again, I prefer the 'middle of the road' approach and would set his fat intake at around 55g fat per day (495 kcals/day from fat).

Carbohydrate Intake

Whatever calories that have not been allotted to protein and fat intake will make up total daily carbohydrate intake. For our subject in question, this leaves 2400 (1000 + 495) = 905 kcals per day for carbohydrate intake. This equates to 225g of carbohydrates per day.

*I recommend a higher protein intake for endomorph's while dieting because of the thermogenic effect of a higher protein intake and increased protein turnover, not because they need more protein to maintain muscle mass

Re-Feeding
One should also incorporate re-feeds into their diet plan. Re-feeds help boost a hormone called leptin, which is the mother of all fat burning hormones. As one diets, leptin levels drop in an attempt by the body to spare body fat. Periodic, proper re-feeding can raise leptin levels and help one continue to burn fat an optimum rate.

A person who is lean will need to re-feed more frequently than someone who has a higher body fat percentage. For those who are below 10%, it is probably a wise idea to incorporate re-feeds two times per week. For those people who are in the 10-15% range, re-feeding every 6-12 days will probably be adequate, for those who are above 15%, re-feeding will probably not need to be done more than once every week to two weeks. Obviously as one loses body fat they will need to re-feed more often.

Re-Feed Days Should Be Planned As Follows:
Re-feed on the day you work your worst body part(s) as re-feeding will not only raise leptin, but be quite anabolic.
Keep fat as low as possible during re-feed days as high insulin levels will increase dietary fat transport into adipose tissue. In addition dietary fat has little to no impact on leptin levels.
Reduce protein intake to 1 g/lb bodyweight.
Consume as little fructose as possible as fructose does not have an impact on leptin levels.
Increase calories to maintenance level (or above if you are an ectomorph) and increase carbs by at least 50-100% (endo's stay on the low end, while ecto's should stay on the high end) over normal diet levels.
This section was only a brief introduction to leptin and re-feeding. I highly recommend you read the following articles by Par Deus and Spook to gain a greater understanding of leptin.

Nutrient Timing
As previously discussed before, carbohydrates cause insulin release, which is muscle-sparing, but also anti-lipolytic. It is therefore important that we construct a diet so that we intersperse long periods of low insulin levels in order to maximize lipolysis, coupled with short periods of high insulin levels to protect muscle when it is at the greatest risk of catabolism.

There are essentially two crucial times during the day when muscle tissue is at the greatest risk of catabolism. The most crucial time is during your workout. As many of you already know, working out is actually catabolic. When one is in a calorie deficit, the catabolic effect of working out is enhanced, as the body will attempt to raise low glucose levels by de-aminating amino acids and converting them to glucose.

One of the main hormones that control this action is cortisol. Unfortunately this is quite catabolic as some of these amino acids may come from muscle tissue (See carbohydrates section). It is crucial that one consumes carbohydrates before exercise for several reasons.

Dietary carbohydrates will provide fuel for the anaerobic pathway, and spare muscle tissue from being converted to glucose for fuel.
Dietary carbohydrates will cause the release of insulin, which blocks the release of cortisol from the pancreas.
Dietary carbohydrates will increase muscle glycogen levels which will improve performance and decrease fatigue.
I suggest one consume 35% of their total daily carbohydrates in a meal 1.5-to-2 hours before their workout as this will allow the carbohydrates adequate time to be digested and enter the bloodstream.

I also suggest consuming a shake composed of 30-40g of whey protein along with dextrose or maltodextrin during their workout. The carbohydrates in the shake should account for about 20% of one's total daily carbohydrate intake.

This Shake Will Have Several Benefits:
Spare muscle glycogen and increase performance.
Spare muscle tissue.

Spare muscle glycogen and increase performance.
Spare muscle tissue.
Maintain a constant release of insulin, therefore inhibiting cortisol release.
The continuous ingestion of carbohydrates will ensure that adequate substrate is available for the glycolytic pathway.
It is also a wise idea to consume a post workout meal composed of whole food, low GI carbohydrate sources (although one may consume another protein shake if they feel so inclined) about 30 minutes after finishing the in workout shake.

This low GI carbohydrate should contain about 25% of your total daily carbohydrates and will help stabilize blood sugar levels. You see, dextrose causes a large insulin spike, and actually can cause insulin to be over secreted, when insulin is over secreted, blood sugar levels will drop rapidly as insulin disposes of the glucose into the tissues and one may even begin to experience hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Low blood sugar may lead one to experience an increase in hunger. A lower GI carbohydrate and protein meal post workout will help counteract this negative effect by stabilizing blood sugar levels.

The other time of day when one should consume a meal containing carbohydrates is upon rising. Waking up is actually a stressful time on the body and in an effort to "ready itself" the body releases several catabolic hormones in order to produce energy for the fasted person.

The main two hormones released are cortisol and glucogen both of which can be catabolic to muscle tissue. Consuming a carbohydrate meal will retard the release of these catabolic hormones and spare muscle tissue. It will also make you feel better by providing fuel for your brain to run on.

There is some anecdotal evidence that suggests consuming a meal containing carbohydrates may also help suppress hunger later in the day. I suggest consuming 15% of your daily carbohydrate intake at this meal in the form of low GI carbohydrates. The remaining 5% of your total daily carbohydrates should come from veggies throughout the day such as salad, broccoli, peas, etc.

If you happen to workout after breakfast, merely combine breakfast and your pre workout meal. Thus 35% + 15% = 50% of daily carbohydrate intake should be in pre workout/breakfast meal

During these high carbohydrate meals one should aim to keep fat as low as possible. High insulin levels increases fatty acid transport into adipose tissue, so it is a good idea to keep your fat low during times of high insulin. You should spread your remaining fat intake evenly over the rest of your low carbohydrate meals. Protein intake should be spread fairly evenly over all of your meals.