-A personal experience with nutrition and exercise-

Thursday, May 6, 2010

On going process...

So I have decided to split my big meals into smaller more frequent meals to see what effect it has on my composition. I've been talking with one of my weightlifting buddies and he has convinced me to up my protein and eat more frequently. I have been apprehensive about this because our "ancestors" didn't eat like this. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I am not doing things my ancestors were doing anyway. Sometimes you have to break the mold and learn what has worked for others too.

So my meals right now are about 50grams of complete protein and 100grams of carbs. I looking to reach about 5-6 meals a day.

*-Just the first day of doing this I feel alot less tired and didn't feel like taking a nap after a meal which was always the case with the big meals*

I have tweaked my program a little as far as I am going to do the volume double split and I am a incorporating a deadlift specialization program. My goal is to get to 405 by the end of the year. I am also going to be attempting to gain 25lbs of lean mass by the end of the summer and prove that it can be done without gaining much, if any fat.

25 comments:

  1. Riles, Are you changing your program again? This is why I brought up the pinballing! You will never make progress if you don't stick with something. Why are you doing a deadlift specialization program? If your goal is mass then you shouldn't be training on strength programs.Splitting your meals up is probably a good idea, and you will probably be able to eat more.
    If I was you I would not do a bulking or cutting diet right now. Just eat 5-6 times a day with good clean sources of protein and carbs. Get on and stay on a good bodybuilding program. The link you had on setting up an able training split was a good place to start.

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  2. No, I haven't changed my routine really at all. I am still doing the bodybuilding volume routine I have been doing for a while now, with sets of 4-5 x reps around 12 with around 3-4 exercises per body part. I have just added the deadlift because it has been a goal of mine for a long time to get a pull of 405. The program is only one day a week. I figure with the summer and increasing my cals the way I am, is a great time to work on my deadlift.

    I agree that I should be able to eat more by splitting up my meals. I am generally eating the same things as before (lean beef, egg whites & potatoes) just more often and more of it. I am not really worried any more about cutting/bulking, just hitting the gym hard and eating my foods.

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  3. It is good that you are not worried anymore about cutting or bulking. You might have a difficult time emotionally with bulking if you have had issues in the past with being too heavy. Maybe eventually you could work your way into the cycle diet if you think you will be able to tolerate the strict discipline during the diet part.

    Gaining 25 lbs of pure muscle and no fat in a few months is a very difficult if not impossible goal unless you have a lot of drugs, or you are recovering from a major illness or layoff. Muscle usually just does not grow that fast even thought a lot of the marketing tells us it does. Don't worry so much about the scale anyways, go by the mirror.

    I also like to see that you have gotten over the limitation of thinking that you should only do something if your ancestors did it. It took me a long time to get over this, but I am so glad I did. The paleo ideology was a big mental block for me and it affected my life and health in a negative way.

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  4. It has taken awhile but I have reached the point where I am ready to put vanity aside if need be and really give gaining muscle and eating lots of clean food and working out hard a solid go.

    The reason I think that I can gain around 20lbs is because that is close to where I was last summer. With my healthier and more anabolic diet(because of the carbs) I feel as though I should be able to re-gain at least 15 lbs that I have lost. Although you are right that I should focus on the mirror and not the scale. In the past I used to weigh myself every morning, but now its more like every 2 weeks or so.

    I think at some point I will work up to the cycle diet when I am able to be strict as far as diet is concerned and I am at a stable set-point.

    You and a couple people that I workout with have really helped my advance past the paleo "logic" and realize I need to eat and work for my specific goals or I will just be spinning my wheels.

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  5. Hey Riles, it'll be interesting to see how 5-6 small meals treat you. I'm going to add some fructose in my diet in the form of orange juice squeezed from oranges with no added sugar or anything. I plan on drinking it in the morning for breakfast after my weight lifting workout in addition with my meal of potatoes and red meat so it'll be interesting to see how my body handles that.

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  6. rosenfeltc,
    That is a good way to try to work in some sugars. If you have problems taking it in the morning switch it to the afternoon or evening and you may be able to handle it better. If you notice that you get cold or sleepy after consuming it, it is probably adrenal related.

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  7. @ Nathan,
    I am not sure what my 1 rep is at this moment but my 3 rep is 325 with a form that is not very good but slowly being corrected.

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  8. Riles,
    From a hypertrophy perspective you would be better off increasing your 3 rep max instead of 1rm.

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  9. @ Chris,
    I will definitely keep updated about the smaller meals. It is kind of strange for me as now I never feel really hunger or full, always in between.
    That orange juice sounds like a good experiment. I have a buddy that I work out with and he is as lean and muscular as all hell and will literally suck honey out of those little bear shaped bottles all day long.
    I have been emailing ray peat about some diet questions to get his opinions on things recently on sugars and such.

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  10. @ JT,
    I was wondering if you could describe some of the symptoms you had from your adrenal taxation.

    I almost always wake up each night at between 2-4 a.m. to pee and I wake up extremely hot naturally at 6:30ish and am extremely hot but after eating my first meal, become cold after about 30 mins. I was wondering if either of these are related to adrenals or maybe cortisol.

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  11. Riles,
    Extreme lethargy especially in the morning was my major symptom. Difficulties handling fruit and sugar was another. For example, if I ate fruit by itself, my body temperature would drop and I would get really shaky and weak right away. I am not sure about your symptoms, it could be adrenal related, but you would probably need to get tested to know for sure. But, you are on a good exercise program now and you are eating good mixed meals 5 times a day, and that is what you need, so hopefully you will get better.

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  12. Ok, I was just curious. The things i noticed are not really bothersome but I was just trying to see if they were related to anything. I definitely feel best when I get plenty of sleep at night.

    I have increased the amount of protein I have been eating and that seems to have improved my recovery rate, which is a good thing.

    The only thing I hate about eating 5 meals a day is all the damn cooking I have to do.

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  13. You need to come up with a system to cut food prep time. It is really easy and convenient, and my cooking time is less now than ever. I cook almost all of my meat on Sunday nights and i have rice cooker that i set every night before bed. I do cook dinner most nights though, but this is something I enjoy doing with my girlfriend after working all day.

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  14. I believe you can put back on all the muscle you previously had without gaining much fat. Are you aware of muscle memory? Here's a good article:

    http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/haycock/muscle-memory.htm

    Basically your brain keeps memory of your previous muscle fiber recruitment from muscle hypertrophy and is able to reach that size after you continue training from an extended break period of no training. You develop muscle atrophy from either inadequate calorie intake, sleep, over training, or a break from training. You can quickly gain back all of your muscular development.

    Just take in enough calories to support your lean body mass development, where the muscle fibers are located, and with the proper training you can gain all your muscle back.

    How long have you been training Riles? According to this article it takes 5 solid years of training to attain your genetic potential.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wotw51.htm

    I believe age also plays a role. Your body frame expands more so once you're 25 and doesn't reach it's peak in size until you are 35 years old. Ideally you won't meet your very limits until you are 35 years of age, and that's including steroid usage.

    Steroid usage isn't recommended for professionals until they are at least 25 years of age otherwise you could develop a "deformed" appearance like Casey Viator or at times it can even stunt your growth completely. I knew a guy from high school who is short and says it's because he had to take steroids in his youth.

    By developing new areas of strength you increase your capacity for muscle memory. Whether that is joint, tendon, bone, and muscle fiber development. While you were previously massive with muscles at 225 pounds it's hard to say whether or not you even developed 50% of your true potential in regards to strength, ability, or even muscle hypertrophy of the type II fast twitch muscle fibers. I'm not too sure but I think muscle memory even involves coordination and the 5+ senses of the body in conjunction with mind/muscle connection.

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  15. Thanks Dan, those links are really good. I have done weightlifting for about 3 years or so, but it has been only the last year that I have really worked hypertrophy seriously and have seen results. So I would say I've got approximately a year under my belt. It is good to know that at the very least, I still have potentially a few more years to really grow.

    Each day I can see my physique getting better and I am slowly incorporating more of an instinctive mind set which is helping me get past any slumps, plus it actually helps motivate me to push harder.

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  16. Looks good Riles. Be sure to share the Peat knowledge once he gets back to you.......

    Your routine posted in the previous post is amazing. Doing chest/back again today looking to up the weights!

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  17. So finally got around to starting with your routine. So far, volume looks good, however I think I probably needed slightly less than an hour for the chest workout, also I did screw up the order a bit at some point.^^ Well, of course I cannot tell yet what kind of results it will lead, but now that I'm finished with the workout, my appetite has gone through the roof, which I suppose is a good thing.
    Also, do you do anything special as a warm-up?

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  18. madmuhhh,
    The order isn't something that is super important. It just allows an easier transition from exercise to exercise. If your appetite increases, that means you are training properly! Good job! For warming up I generally do a couple minutes of abdominal work and about 15-20 push-ups.

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  19. JT,
    I am curious what Ayurvedic Dosha type you are. I seem to be more Pitta or a slight combination of Pitta-Vata

    Also, I seem to feel fine on rice, what do you think about switching from potatoes to rice for convenience even though it is less nutritious? I was previously concerned about getting lots of nutrients but now I am more open minded.

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  20. Oh and another thing I wanted to comment on. A few posts ago you mentioned that you were not quite sure whether to consume potatoes with or without the peel, because of the iron content of the peel.
    I dunno if this is of any use to you, but I wanted to inform you that I've recently come to the conclusion that eating the potatoes without the peel seems to be the favorable option. Not just because of the iron, but also because of the antinutrients - most of which are located on the peel as well and cooking does not seem to be able to reduce that amount significantly. Actually eating potatoes without the peel is the traditional way to prepare it and all those pesticides and sprout inhibitors that may be on the, certainly won't benefit anyone as well.
    So right now, I'm simply boiling the potatoes with the peel and remoce it afterwards, which is super simple and easy, especially if you plunge the boiled potatoes in ice water for a few secs.
    Dunno if this really interests you or whether you think it's worth the (minimal) effort, but I just thought I might share this.

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  21. Thanks,
    I have been lazy and have been eating the peels. I normally eat around 5lbs a day and I am guessing that in that amount there are quite a lot of anti-nutrients and other junk. I think i will definitely take the effort to remove the peel as I am just now starting to taste the bitterness of the peels and am kind of getting sick of it.

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  22. Riles,
    I am Pitta 50%, Vata 25%, and Kapha 25%. Most people are a mixture of all three with one that is dominant. I would have to see more pictures of you to be able to tell for sure. You might be a mix similar to mine. Weren't you pretty chubby in the past, and now you are excessively slim? If this is the case you are probably a mix and are able to easily get either Kapha or Vata disorders depending on lifestyle and diet.

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  23. Actually now that you mention I looked back at some of the quizzes I have taken and several say that I am balanced and Tri-doshic. Another said that I lean towards Pitta. I am curious how I should accommodate this type that I am as far as diet goes. Yes I was pretty chubby and now I am definitely a little leaner than I think I should be. I look "skinny" in street clothes but look pretty big wearing say a tanktop.

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  24. Yeah, you are probably Pitta dominant, but still pretty balanced with the 3 doshas. Any one of them could get out of balance and you could develop a disorder of excess. As far as diet goes, you are in a good situation because you can really eat all types of food. The important thing would be to make sure it is balanced with not too much and not too little of anything.

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  25. I tried taking a Dosha test and it just confused me. I couldn't make up my mind which choice to go with.

    So overall Riles you're about 20% of your true potential. I'm probably a good solid year into it too. I've been lifting on and off since I was 14 years old.

    It would be nice to put together a comparison chart of lifters at different stages.

    This guy is definitely at his full potential:

    http://lh4.ggpht.com/fisherwy/Rv-7t4pBJqI/AAAAAAAAJRk/9cuX_5gaBdo/Mr.png

    Is this guy at the 2 year or the 5 year full potential? :

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ImlQtPt7i98/SKmis1iS6sI/AAAAAAAAAIk/He8iJU99CAs/s1600-h/brock+lesnar.jpg

    Here's an article I found on training for muscle fibers:

    http://www.stevesaville.com/Muscle_FiberType_and_You.html

    I still don't see the logic in doing more than one set for each muscle fiber type. For 1 rep max and 12 rep max sets I space out working that body group of muscle every 5 minutes. Even 12 rep max sets involve a portion of Type 2B fast-twitch muscle fibers which takes 5 minutes to completely recovery. I use the same principal as super setting where I work out an opposing body group for the next set.

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