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  1. #1
    MuscleChemistry Newbie Board Certified Psy.D
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    Default Oldschool Contest Prep

    This is some contest prep from a former trainer of mine Scott Abel, thought it was interesting. He doesn't prep people anymore, Jenn has been real busy so I'm posting something for her.




    Monday, July 11, 2011The Skinny on Fat Loading: What you need to know, from the man who created it! fficeffice" />>>
    If you have used fat loading to peak for a contest or a photoshoot in the last ten years, then chances are your approach was a variation to the “Fat Load” I created way back in the late 80’s. However the recent trend of internet “Guru-itis” has now mutated some of my concepts into unworkable and flawed protocols. Seems certain people wanting to make a name for themselves are morphing some of my procedures like Fat Loading, or the Cycle Diet in order just to make them “look” different. But as they stray away from the method, they also tend to violate the principles behind it. In the end, the result can hurt the intent for a polished and peaked physique, rather than help it. Allow me to set the record straight. Fat Loading is one of the coolest and most productive and efficient ways to peak a physique, and volumize muscles in those crucial hours and days before taking the stage. Let’s take a closer look at how and why it works.>>
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    Understanding Energy Storage>>
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    Energy is stored throughout the body in various places for various uses. For competitors the number one emphasis is max fuel storage within the muscles, but as little as possible in the interstitial spaces. But this is near impossible to achieve. As a competitor diets to rid the body of any and all fat, the body also sacrifices fuel storage within the muscles as well. This is the body’s way of maintaining some kind of energy balance and sustainability. Competitors overwhelmingly are taught to focus on glycogen storage and replacement. But this is the blindside of peaking strategy. Any average student in nutritional biochemistry can tell you that glycogen storage capacity in the body is limited. Moreover, replacement can take days and even weeks. This presents a dilemma when trying to peak a physique which as been depleted over weeks or even months of calories deficits and intense training.>>
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    The neophyte but misplaced approach to volumizing muscles before a show is to “carb load.” But this is misguided for many reasons. The recognized “recipe” for carb loading is 6-10 grams of carbs per kilo of bodyweight over three days: Sounds viable - And ‘looks good’ on paper. But it is flirting with disaster when trying to cosmetically peak a physique. For the 220 lbs bodybuilder for example, this amount is upwards of 1,000 grams of carbs over three days. However; this “recipe” is not the whole story and its where most competitors sabotage all those months of dieting by following a process without understanding all the contributing factors. (once again, proof of the statement, "it’s not the recipe, it’s the chef," that matters).>>
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    The storage capacity for glycogen is much lower than these amounts above. The storage limit is said to be about 400 grams or so. And what most paper-experts do not understand is that the body Supercompensates to energy sites where the energy is most needed. So for glycogen loading, most of these calories go to - and are stored in the liver. Moreover, true glycogen loading takes time, and the time involved will certainly compromise the cosmetically prepared, peaked physique. And yet these are only a few of the issues, beyond the paper understanding of carbs loading. >>
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    Osmotic Influence and Response>>
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    Once again, even a beginner nutritional biochemist will tell you that each gram of carbohydrate stores 2.7 grams of water along with it. From the above we know that the body has a limited capacity for storage within the muscles. And within this capacity must store 2.7 grams of water with each gram of glycogen. Well 400 grams is only 1600 calories. But the recipe above is for 1,000 grams over a few days. So clearly we have an issue when intake exceeds storage capacity. And this plays itself out in the guts of the ill-advised carb-loading strategy.>>
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    Glycogen loading in this short window of time is hard on digestion. (most competitors can tell horror stories on that reality) Sugars, in sudden and dense infusion into the gut produce a very specific osmotic response. Sugars attract water to the gut to aid digestion. So competitors who are already dehydrated – have this state of dehydration signal to the body to pull water from the muscles and deliver it to the gut to aid the digestion of all these sudden carbohydrate calories influx. This can lead to stomach distension, bloating and cramps; and the cramps are both in the gut, and now in the muscles since water has been displaced from muscle tissue to aid digestion. Clearly we have a worst-case scenario, rather than best-case scenario happening. And on top of this the attempt to load beyond the body’s limited storage capacity; this has certainly led to the dreaded spill-over everyone talks about. So carb loading has as much to do with ruining a stage-ready physique as it does with peaking one.>>
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    The Fat Load Solution>>
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    However, if we turn our attention to how the body really stores energy we see the importance of intramuscular fats and triglycerides and we can see how easily it can be to manipulate these for peaking benefits in the real world and not just on paper! That sample 220 lbs bodybuilder mentioned above has virtually an unlimited storage capacity of fats within the muscle. (something like 10,000 calories) The key is in understanding proper Supercompensation. Remember once body fat has been reduced to contest or photoshoot levels, the body is in a depleted state. It will “supercompensate” energy stores to where the energy is needed most. And for a depleted body, energy is always stored first within the muscle, especially if it is a saturated fat source. (Remember glycogen Supercompensation goes primarily to the liver first)>>
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    But here’s the important thing. Unlike carbs, fats do not tend to store water along with them in the intracellular spaces. And fat loads tend to neither create nor release or displace metabolic water the way carb loading does. Indeed fats tend to create more of a magnetic effect and draw and absorb water into the cell along with them. This has the effect of volumizing muscle while at the same time, “pulling” water from the undesired interstitial spaces and the gut, into the muscles. This is what "peaking" is supposed to do. But this is not the whole story yet.>>
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    Fats alone will not volumize and peak the depleted physique. Taking in carbs along with the fats, in well-timed intervals, will deliver as much glycogen swelling into the muscles as possible. But there is no risk of spillover; because the delivery system is different, since fats are accentuated, not just carbs.>>
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    How to do it>>
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    Well the actual methods can vary and the application should always be an individual one. This is why I always say, “it’s not the recipe, it’s the chef.” How much supercomp someone can handle depends on what they’ve been through in terms of diet and training and how depleted they are as a result. There are no “one size fits all” last week peaking recipes! Having said that, the general strategy is as follows:>>
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    The first day of loading should be simple enough: Double calories, but cut protein in half. Make up the difference in carbs spread over several meals. This serves as a primer for the metabolic environment for the ongoing loading. The first day added carbs will be more quickly absorbed. The body has not had time to react yet. By the second day the door should be wide open for fat/carb loading. A typical day looks like the one below, highlighted by the Abel Body Steakhouse fat load, now so popular in so many countries. >>
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    Friday: day before show (based on 220 lbs bodybuilder, dieting 12-16 weeks)>>
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    Meal 1: 5 whole eggs any style, 2 handfuls cashews, (roasted and unsalted) 1 snickers bar (or in US Pay Day Bar) >>
    Meal 2: 8-12 oz any kind of steak, 1 cup rice, 1 cup peas,1/2 cup pineapple >>
    Meal 3: 150 grams chicken, 1 handful cashews, 2 Eat More Bars (Pay Day Bars, or Snickers Bars) >>
    Meal 4: I can tuna, 30 rice cakes, any flavour, or 300 grams potatoes >>
    Meal 5: Any fine steakhouse, largest prime rib (20+ oz), and eat all the fat; T-bone cut is fine as well; add fries, even super size it; sometimes even large Caesar salad, piece of cheesecake, rinse and spit process as needed, no drinking of any fluids. >>
    Meal 6: Repeat meal 3 (middle of the night), if hungry. >>
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    The morning of the show usually continues the fat load. Depending on how dry the competitor looks at this point I use one of two options. The first is 3-4 whole eggs, along with 4-5 large rice cakes covered with peanut butter and add jelly. The other option is steak or eggs, with a large bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar added (to replace some water from the dehydration sequence – but this requires feedback assessment and evaluation).>>
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    The rest of the day focuses on normal contest dieting or more fat load/simple carbs combination, according the athlete’s biofeedback. But one word of caution is in order. Once a person starts loading and starts using fats to load, intestinal motility slows down. Therefore the timing of meals becomes very important. The stomach can only handle so much incoming food when it has not been used to it for so many weeks. Again, this is why expertise is so highly valued. Knowledge is one thing. Knowing how to apply it, PRICELESS. So many pretenders in this game have neither the former nor the latter.>>
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    When you don’t want to play dice the last few days before a show with hardcore risky procedures like insulin loading with carbs infusion - then fat loading - is the tried and true method of peaking the physique. It’s enjoyable, it’s productive, and it works.>>
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    And this article has been a peep-hole view into how and why it works. This article is also about the reality of its application vs. the way it is now being misrepresented by wannabe Guru’s, all over the net. This is the skinny, on Fat Loading ! I should know, I’m the one who started it all, back in the 80’s. But I doubt anyone ever mentions this to their competitors or performers. >>
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    MuscleChemistry Registered Member Board Certified MD
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    This is one of those posts that I need to get a pen and piece of paper for. Awesome info, but it would be cool to try to see how my body reacts to it
    The Dude Abides

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    Good info Honey
     

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