Refinement and Resetting

So I was feeling extremely drained and tired this whole week. My sleep these last few weeks has been very light with waking 1-2 times each night to urinate. Then last night I couldn't even sleep because I was so hungry. After watching the Science Behind the Cycle Diet DVD this week I realized that these are signs of being in a super-compensatory state. Therefore tonight, I thought I would try a little refeed of types. I ordered a Pappa Johns' XL Cheese pizza. I ate the entire thing in about 1 hr. After finishing I felt a little full but other than that I felt great. I checked my blood sugar after 2 hrs of finishing and it was 105. It seems that my insulin sensitivity is pretty good. My vascularity right now is pretty impressive and I feel like I'm burnin' at 100 degrees.

I am finally getting my routine narrowed down and that is making me feel more confident. I feel that I am getting a little "skinny" and seem to have lost some size trying to get too lean. I am going to be taking a little break and when I come back I am going to go for a more traditional weight gaining cycle. I am going to be trying to consume 4500-5000 kcals a day(HED style) to try and regain muscle that was lost a while ago due to much under-eating. I am confident I will gain minimum fat as I have a few trick I am going to try. Early afternoon today I weighed 185 on the scale that I usually use(don't know exactly how accurate it is). My goal right is about 25 lbs I want to get back. I am going to keep a log going and will update my progress weekly.

I have lately been intrigued with bodyweight exercises and have been playing around with them. I was able to do 6 hand stand push-ups today. My goal is to get to 15+

EDIT: My waking/fasting blood glocuse the following morning was 85

Current Condition... Inspiration

So I haven't really changed my diet much as far as items go. I am still generally eating potatoes, egg whites and lean beef and feeling really good. I am definitely getting more separation in my physique and the scale tells me my weight is around 185-187, although Im not sure how accurate it is.

My training routine has changed considerably. And I have continued to increase my volume of training. I have found that my body responds best to this types of training when my goals are hypertrophy. The routine is based on that of Serge Nubret. I feel that if a person is looking to increase strength, than yes, low volume is best as it causes more stress on CNS. One of the best ways to increase intensity is not through simply increasing weight but actually decreasing resting time between sets. I have also found that increase work capacity is also crucial in muscle hypertrophy.

Serge Nubret in my opinion is probably the greatest and most humble bodybuilder to come after the Golden Age. He grew-up in Guadeloupe and learned how to train through his on experiences and eating his native foods. He is against the use of supplements including protein powder, and eats and recommends a diet of Red Meat, Rice and Beans. His training style is based on the Mind-Muscle connection which I have found the most success with. I have learned not to worry about how much weight I am using and concentrate on the pump as well as the actual movement of the weight. I have included an interview which you can hear him talk about bodybuilding.

Serge Nubret Interview

I should be receiving my Science Behind the Cycle Diet DVD on Tuesday and will be reviewing it on here. I have been reading much of Scott's forum and posts and it is painting a picture for me as to how I should read my biofeedback. After viewing it, I am going to try and apply the principles if they will work for me this summer. If not, I will wait until fall time to try it.

Overfeeding, Increased Testosterone and Diet Composition

As most know, for the body to create new tissue, the body must be in a caloric excess. When a person eats more than the body can utilize, the excess is stored as fat or wasted through generating heat.

What I have been reading recently is that what you eat has an effect on what happens with excess calories that are consumed.

"This was different from the response

in our carbohydrate overfeeding study

(1), in which all subjects had an increase in

basal metabolic rate (mean 12%). One possible

explanation for this difference is that carbohydrate

overfeeding increased serum T3 levels

in all subjects (mean 32%), whereas in this

study mixed overfeeding did not always increase

serum T3 levels. It seems unlikely that

a small increase in serum T3 levels alone could

increase total energy expenditure very much,

since pharmacologically doubling T3 levels

(without overfeeding) increases basal metabolic

rate only 6% and does not affect the

thermic effect of meals or exercise (23). We

cannot rule out the possibility that increased

conversion of T4 to T3 in tissues contributes

to the increase in metabolic rate during overfeeding,

and increased responsiveness to T3

during overfeeding cannot be excluded as a

factor in the increased metabolic rate."

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/41/5/881.pdf

In this study the increased carbohydrate content increased T3 serum concentrations which in turn raised the metabolic rate. This is exactly what you want as a suppressed metabolism means suppressed hormones. It should be mentioned that the added calories in the diet were from extra desserts taken at meals (sucrose). Therefore they found that insulin levels were higher after the overfeeding, but I feel this would be different had the carbohydrates been glucose or starch based. It should be noted that in other studies:

"It has been observed that diets rich in

carbohydrate improve glucose tolerance (12,

13)"

Therefore I feel that overfeeding on a unrefined high starch diet will allow the greatest amounts of muscle to be gained while also limiting fat gains to zero or extremely low.

Diet composition plays an integral part in the hormones of the body. To gain the greatest amounts of muscle you must stimulate the muscle, feed the muscle, and have proper hormonal balance.

Many bodybuilding diets focus on consuming large amounts a protein. Extra protein that is not necessary and is a burden on the systems of the body. Protein is not a normal energy source and is extremely inefficient if it is called on to become one. While doing much studying, I have found yet another reason to avoid too much protein:

"The significant negative correlation between protein and resting T concentrations is consistent with the findings of Anderson et al. (2), who demonstrated that a low-protein diet (10% of total energy) was associated with higher levels of T compared with a diet higher in protein (44% of total energy)"

http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/82/1/49#B24

"Testosterone concentrations in seven normal men were consistently higher after ten days on a high carbohydrate diet (468 +/- 34 ng/dl, mean +/- S.E.) than during a high protein diet (371 +/- 23 ng/dl, p less than 0.05)"

"In contrast, cortisol concentrations were consistently lower during the high carbohydrate diet than during the high protein diet (7.74 +/- 0.71 micrograms/dl vs. 10.6 +/- 0.4 micrograms/dl respectively, p less than 0.05)"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3573976?dopt=Abstract

Increased Testosterone and decreased Cortisol!! That is the perfect combination. It appears that a high carbohydrate is extremely anabolic and anti-catabolic.

By this chart, that correlates the effects of macro-nutrients on testosterone concentrations, you can easily see that the optimal diet is one that contains High Carbohydrates, Moderate Protein, and a High ratio of Saturated to unsaturated fats. This diet seems to be consistent with what Matt Stone's RRARF and my own recommendations. So as you you look to build muscle keep these variables in mind.

My next post I will discuss proper exercise regimens and how the utilize them.