Intro
This entry is not meant to serve as advice to anyone in any way. It is just a way to log what I have done. I do not claim any of the theories/methods/techniques/philosophies/systems/ WhateverYouWantToCallThem as my own ideas. I just found them online and anything posted here is assuredly inferior to whatever source I got the idea from. If you are thinking about trying Intermittent Fasting (IF), LeanGains (LG), or Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT), go to the source. Conduct your own research and/or contact Martin Berkhan or Andy Morgan for a personal consultation. There is lots of free information available about all of these subjects, written by people that are much more knowledgeable than myself.
Since initially reading about LF, IF and RPT, I can see errors in how I interpreted or understood the information, and at times, simply misread it. I have also found more websites and blogs explaining the ideas in different ways, as well as re-read much of the information I used to create the plan below. As a result, I have revised my thinking on some of the information posted here. On my next cutting phase (I plan on doing this again, from 01/06/13 to 03/03/13), I will do things differently.
Background
During the summer of 2012 (May – August), I was hiking nearly every weekend, working out 3-4 days per week and doing my best to eat healthy.My weight was down to 174 lbs and was relatively happy with the way I looked. Near the end of August, my wife and I had our first child. Six weeks (and lots of fast food) after our child was born, I found myself at 186 lbs. After a few weeks of intense cardio and being hungry all of the time, I got down to 180lbs. The weight wasn’t coming off fast enough and I was having a hard time restricting calories. Free time was also becoming scarce and I knew I would not be able to spend as much time doing cardio in the future. A few weeks prior, I had read about IF and LG. I decided that this was the perfect time to give it a shot.
I spent hours reading all of the information I could find on LeanGains.com and RippedBody.jp, as well as many of the blogs about the LG ‘branch’ of IF. There is a ton of information out there and I found some of it to be conflicting or confusing. I got overwhelmed, so I took notes to make sense of it all, picking and choosing what I thought would work for me. After a couple of weeks of research, I came up with a plan and put it into motion. Here are the basic points that I picked up:
- Fast 16 hours per day and eat all of your food during an 8 hour period. To help your body adjust to this cycle, try to keep the ‘feeding window’ during the same time each day.
- Lift heavy 3 times per week, keeping your workouts to no more than 45 minutes.
- At a minimum, eat roughly 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight. If you’re able to determine your body fat percentage, eating 2.5-3 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass will give you a more precise figure to shoot for.
- On rest days eat at a calorie deficit. On training days eat a surplus for recovery and muscle growth, unless your goal is extreme weight loss
- For training days, eat high carbs and low fat. On rest days, eat low carbs and higher fat.
- Cardio is not necessary for fat loss. For most people, it is not an efficient fat loss tool – eat fewer calories if your reason for cardio is fat loss.
Putting a Plan Together
Diet – The Plan
I initially started the LG diet on 10/27. I used the IF Calculator to figure out my caloric intake and macronutirents (carbs, protein & fat). I tracked my calories and macros very closely from the start. After two weeks, I had not lost any weight and had increased my waist size by ¼ inch (read: increased my bodyfat %!). I was very frustrated and nearly gave up on the diet. Venting my frustration on Fitocracy.com , I was told that I likely overestimated my activity level, which I should have set at ‘sedentary’ when calculating my Total Daily Expected Expenditure (TDEE). After I learned this, I recalculated my calories and macros and decided I’d give the diet another 6 weeks (11/10 – 12/24). I wanted to lose the fat quickly and was willing to sacrifice some lean body mass if necessary (it is usually recommended that a surplus of calories are eaten on training days, even during a cut phase). In calculating my calories and macros, I set the following guidelines:
Fasting: I would eat using a 16/8 split – 16 hours of fasting followed by an 8 hour feeding window. I would train fasted, only consuming water and BCAAs before working out. The first meal of the day (especially on workout days) would account for a majority of my daily intake.
Caloric Intake: I set my caloric intake at -30% of TDEE on rest days and -10% TDEE on training days.
Protein Intake: I decided to eat 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight on both rest and training days
Carbohydrate Intake: On training days, carbs would make up 75% of the remaining calories (those not accounted for by protein). On rest days, carbs would account for 50% of the remaining calories.
Fat Intake: On training days, I’d try to keep fat as low as possible (no more than 25% of remaining calories). On rest days, fat could account 50%.
So,
Rest Day Intake:
Eat @ -30% TDEE
180 g protein, 50/50 carb to fat ratio
Daily Intake – 1520 kcal / 180 g protein / 100 g carbs / 48 g fat
First meal of the day – 750 kcal / 90 g protein / 50 g carbs / 24 g fat
Training Day Intake:
Eat @ -10% TDEE
180 g protein, 75/25 carb to fat ratio
Daily intake – 1950kcal / 180 g protein / 232 g carbs / 34 g fat
First meal – 1000 kcal / 100 g protein / 120 g carbs / 17 g fat
Water Consumption: Since I was consuming such a large amount of protein, I set the goal of drinking 1 gallon of water per day. This was to help ensure that my body cleansed itself of the uric acid that is a by-product of the breakdown of protein.
Supplements: Based on the information posted on LeanGains.com (click for supplement guide), I decided to take:
- Multivitamin
- BCAA (10 mg) pre-workout
- Glucosamine & Chondroitin with MSM
- Vitamin D
- Calcium
- Fish oil (4 mg) with my last meal
- Caffeine – occasional use as a pre-workout boost or to suppress hunger
- Protein – occasionally use if I don’t get enough from whole food. My favorites are Micellar Creme, Muscle Milk, & EAS Myoplex
Training – the Plan
One of the first things I did was purchase the Starting Strength (SS) book and DVD. I developed some back issues over the last couple of years and since LG called for dead lifts and squats as part of the workouts, I wanted to do all that I could to ensure that I was using proper form. After looking at the SS materials, I realized that I had been taught to do both of these very important lifts incorrectly.
For the training program, I decided to do Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT). This method seemed to fit because of my time constraints and the fact that I was eating at a deficiency, even on training days. The RPT method is straight forward once you have an idea of what your 1 Repetition Max (1RM) is for the exercises you’re doing. To help me figure out my 1RM for my exercises, I used the Predicting One-rep Max Calculator. As part of the RPT protocol, you do your heaviest set first, after a few warm-up sets. On each subsequent set, you drop the weight just enough to allow you to do one more rep than you did on your previous set.
For example:
Barbell Bench Press
Warm-up Set 1: 95 x 10
Warm-up Set 2: 145 x 10
Warm-up Set 3: 185 x 6
Warm-up Set 4: 205 x 4
Working Set 1: 225 x 5
Working Set 2: 215 x 6
Working Set 3: 210 x 7
The first working set is done to failure. Each subsequent ‘back-down’ set is done to near-failure or one repetition short of failure. I found the basics of the plan below on LeanGains.com(see item #10). I modified it some to suit my preferences and my weekend hiking schedule.
Workout 1 (Monday)
- 10 min walk to gym for warm-up
- Squats: 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5-10 mins - Chin-ups: 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5-10 mins - Curls: 1-2 sets of 8-10 reps
Workout 2 (Wednesday)
- 10 min walk to gym for warm-up
- Barbell Bench Press: 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5-10 mins - Dips: 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5 mins - Walking Lunges: 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps
Rest 5 mins
Workout 3 (Friday)
- 10 min walk to gym for warm-up
- Deadlift: 2-3 sets of 4-5 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5-10 mins. - Leg Extensions: 1-2 sets of 6-8 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5 mins - Overhead Press: 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps reverse pyramid style
Rest 5 mins - Pull-ups: 1-2 sets with body weight
Rest 5 mins
Putting the Plan in Motion
Diet – In Practice
This diet was much easier to follow than any of the other ‘restrictive’ diets I’ve tried. By restrictive, I mean any diet limiting calories, carbs, meal sizes, etc. Dealing with hunger pangs for a few minutes per day is much more manageable than eating lots of small, un-satiating meals. With the fasting period that is essential to this diet, I still feel like I’m eating lots of food when I do eat. I still get that feeling of fullness and satisfaction that is absent from other diets. I also seem to enjoy the food that I eat much more.
Fasting: The first couple weeks of fasting were tough. Once my body adjusted, it got much easier. I found that drinking lots of water and staying busy helped. I eventually added coffee and tea (no calorie sweetener, 1 tbsp of milk) to my fasting period, as well as sugar-free (no calorie) soft drinks. The caffeine in the coffee and tea suppressed my appetite and kept me motivated to stay busy (not thinking about food).
Caloric Intake: For the most part, I was able to nail my daily goals. Some days my calorie intake would be a little low or a little high. I would not stress about this as long as it was within 10-15% of my goal, with the understanding I could adjust my intake the next day or later in the week to compensate.
Protein Intake: At first, I had a hard time getting my allotted protein from whole foods. I needed to supplement with protein powder. I soon got to the point where I wanted to chew all of my calories (especially on rest days) and the use of protein powder dropped steadily. Since I was eating lots of protein, it’s what was most readily available to me. Sometimes, it was all I had available. As a result, there were days where my intake was at 200+ grams. On the rare days that my protein intake was low, I made some Protein Pudding to make up the difference.
Carbohydrate Intake: At first I had a hard time keeping my rest day carbs down. I found that if I tried to avoid them completely on rest days, it was much easier mentally. So in practice, it wasn’t uncommon for my rest day carbs to be around 25 grams or less. On training days, I was usually in the 200-250 gram range.
Fat Intake: On training days, I tried to keep this as low as possible without stressing about it, usually in the 20-40 gram range. On rest days, this was usually in the 50-75 gram range or even higher, particularly on days when I was trying to go really low on carbs.
Daily Schedule and Meal Examples:
This is what a typical day look like for me, as well as some meal examples:
Typical Training Day Schedule
0500: wake up
0500-0700: ~ 40 oz of water
0700: 12oz tea
0800-1100: 20-40 oz of water
1045: BCAA supplement
1100-1145: workout, drinking 20+ ounces of water
1400: Largest meal of the day: 1000 kcal / 100 g protein / 120 g carbs / 17 g fat
1700: small meal if I was hungry
2000-2100: last meal of the day
Typical Rest Day Schedule
0500: wake up
0500-0700: ~ 40 oz of water
0700: 12oz tea
0800-1400: 40 oz of water
1100: 12oz tea or diet soda
1130-1400: 40 oz of water
1400 or later, if not hungry: Largest meal of the day: 750 kcal / 90 g protein / 0-20 g carbs / 24 g fat
1700: small meal if I was hungry
2000-2100: last meal of the day
Rest Day Example 1 (1392 kcal / 188 g protein / 51 g carbs / 57 g fat):
Meal 1
- Baby Spinach
Servings: 1.6 (Serving Size: 3 oz. )
Calories: 33.6 Total Fat: 0.0 g Total Carbs: 4.8 g Protein: 3.2 g - Tomato
Servings: 1.75 (Serving Size: 3 oz. )
Calories: 28.0 Total Fat: 0.0 g Total Carbs: 7.0 g Protein: 1.8 g - Cottage Cheese – 4% Milkfat
Servings: 0.5 (Serving Size: 0.5 c. )
Calories: 55.0 Total Fat: 2.5 g Total Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 6.0 g - Kirkland Extra Lean Turkey Burgers
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 400.0 Total Fat: 12.0 g Total Carbs: 4.0 g Protein: 70.0 g
Meal 2
- Chunk Light Tuna in Water (Chicken of the Sea)
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 6 oz. )
Calories: 150.0 Total Fat: 1.5 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 33.0 g - Snack Cheese
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 160.0 Total Fat: 14.0 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 10.0 g - Spicy Buffalo Mayo
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 1 T. )
Calories: 35.0 Total Fat: 3.5 g Total Carbs: 1.0 g Protein: 0.0 g
Meal 3
- Chicken Salad
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 0.5 c. )
Calories: 170.0 Total Fat: 6.0 g Total Carbs: 4.0 g Protein: 24.0 g - Whole Wheat Bread (Nature’s Own)
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 100.0 Total Fat: 2.0 g Total Carbs: 20.0 g Protein: 8.0 g - Cottage Cheese – 4% Milkfat
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 0.5 c. )
Calories: 110.0 Total Fat: 5.0 g Total Carbs: 5.0 g Protein: 12.0 g - Muscle Milk Light (Chocolate)
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 8.25 fl. oz. ) |
Calories: 150.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 9.5 g Protein: 20.0 g
Rest Day Example 2 (1410kcal / 181 g protein / 20 g carbs / 70 g fat):
1 Meal Only after 22 hour fasting period
- In-n-Out Cheeseburger, Double Double, Protein Style
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 1 burger)
Calories: 520.0 Total Fat: 39.0 g Total Carbs: 11.0 g Protein: 33.0 g - Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken Breast
Servings: 3 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 330.0 Total Fat: 4.5 g Total Carbs: 3.0 g Protein: 72.0 g - Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein with water
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 33 g )
Calories: 240.0 Total Fat: 2.0 g Total Carbs: 6.0 g Protein: 48.0 g - String Cheese
Servings: 4 (Serving Size: 1 item)
Calories: 320.0 Total Fat: 24.0 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 28.0 g
Training Day Example 1 (1960 kcal / 181 g protein / 238 g carbs / 32 g fat):
Meal 1
- Pasta – La Moderna
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 62 g )
Calories: 230.0 Total Fat: 1.0 g Total Carbs: 48.0 g Protein: 7.0 g - Roast Beef in Broth (Harvest Creek)
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 320.0 Total Fat: 6.0 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 60.0 g - Chili – 99% fat free Beef (Dennisons)
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 c. )
Calories: 420.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 58.0 g Protein: 40.0 g - Whole Wheat Bread (Nature’s Own)
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 100.0 Total Fat: 2.0 g Total Carbs: 20.0 g Protein: 8.0 g - String Cheese
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 80.0 Total Fat: 6.0 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 7.0 g
Meal 2
- Kirkland Tilapia Loins
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 220.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 46.0 g - Supersweet Cut Corn
Servings: 1.5 (Serving Size: 0.667 c. )
Calories: 150.0 Total Fat: 1.5 g Total Carbs: 31.5 g Protein: 4.5 g - Rice – Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 1 item )
Calories: 220.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 41.0 g Protein: 4.0 g - Ice Cream – Mud Pie, Dreyers Slow Churned
Servings: 1.5 (Serving Size: 0.5 c)
Calories: 180.0 Total Fat: 3.8 g Total Carbs: 31.5 g Protein: 4.5 g - Kroger Whipped Topping, Fat Free
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 2 Tbsp)
Calories: 40.0 Total Fat: 0.0 g Total Carbs: 8.0 g Protein: 0.0 g
Training Day Example 2 (1832 kcal / 170 g protein / 213 g carbs / 35 g fat):
Meal 1
- Mashed Potatoes (Trader Joes)
Servings: 2.5 (Serving Size: 112 g )
Calories: 225.0 Total Fat: 5.0 g Total Carbs: 40.0 g Protein: 5.0 g - Chili – 99% fat free Beef (Dennisons )
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 1 c. )
Calories: 420.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 58.0 g Protein: 40.0 g - Supersweet Cut Corn
Servings: 1.5 (Serving Size: 0.667 c. )
Calories: 150.0 Total Fat: 1.5 g Total Carbs: 31.5 g Protein: 4.5 g - Chicken – Grilled Strips
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 3 oz. )
Calories: 220.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 0.0 g Protein: 44.0 g - Cottage Cheese – 4% Milkfat
Servings: 0.5 (Serving Size: 0.5 c. )
Calories: 55.0 Total Fat: 2.5 g Total Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 6.0 g
Meal 2
- Muscle Milk Light (Chocolate)
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 8.25 fl. oz. )
Calories: 150.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 9.5 g Protein: 20.0 g - Triscuits
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 6 item )
Calories: 120.0 Total Fat: 4.0 g Total Carbs: 20.0 g Protein: 3.0 g
Meal 3
- TJ Roasted Potatoes with Peppers & Onions
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 0.75 c.)
Calories: 140.0 Total Fat: 2.0 g Total Carbs: 28.0 g Protein: 4.0 g - Tyson Grilled & Ready Roasted Garlic Chicken Breast
Servings: 2 (Serving Size: 100 g)
Calories: 260.0 Total Fat: 6.0 g Total Carbs: 8.0 g Protein: 42.0 g - Ice Cream – Mud Pie, Dreyer’s Slow Churned
Servings: 1 (Serving Size: 0.5 c.)
Calories: 120.0 Total Fat: 2.5 g Total Carbs: 21.0 g Protein: 3.0 g - Fat Free Whipped Topping
Servings: 1.5 (Serving Size: 2 T. )
Calories: 22.5 Total Fat: 0.0 g Total Carbs: 4.5 g Protein: 0.0 g
One thing that surprises people is that I was able to fit In-n-Out and ice cream into my diet. I was able to basically eat any food that I wanted, as long as I didn’t over do it and was able to make it fit my calories and macros. One exception to this was pizza, which is usually both high in carbs and fat. If I needed a pizza fix, I’d save it for a hiking/cheat day, or I’d make some meatza.
Cheat Days and Hiking: There were a couple of Saturdays during this period that we we went to eat at a friend’s house or that we went out to dinner. For the most part, I did not track my calories or macros on these days, but at the same time, I did not pig out. I usually limited my portions and/or fasted up until this meal, even if it was later in the day. When eating during these circumstances, I usually tried to stick to vegetables and low-carb foods if they were available.
During this 6 week period, I completed 3 serious hikes. On these days, I did not track calories, and usually did not fast. After the hike and sometimes the following day, I allowed myself to eat whatever I felt like eating, as I probably burned more than 5000 calories on these hikes. Plus, it was a nice reward for all of the hard work.
Tweaking Calories/Macros: As I lost weight, I tweaked the calories/macros slightly. I usually did this on Monday or Tuesday morning after I took my weekly measurements (more on this later).
Training – In Practice
After a week or two, I realized a few things about my routine:
- I was not ready to do RPT for all of my exercises. The exercises I chose to do basically fell into two categories – those that I had been doing for years and could go heavy on and those that I was inexperienced with. In the end I decided to do RPT with some exercises (Bench, Chin-ups, shoulder presses) and a standard 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions for the other exercises.
- The accessory exercises were not needed or they interfered too much with my hiking. As a result, bicep curls, walking lunges and leg extensions were removed from my plan.
- I’m really impatient and I did not like waiting for 5-10 minutes between sets*. As a result, I did some exercises in alternating sets. For example, 1 set of squats, wait 3 mins, 1 set of chins, wait 3 mins, then back to squats. This still gave me 6 minutes between sets of squats, but I wasn’t sitting idle the entire time.*I later realized the ‘5-10 minutes rest’ I read about was time between exercises, not sets. I ended up sticking with alternating exercises because I liked doing it. The rest time between sets should be 2-3 minutes in most cases.
In practice, this is what the first workout of the week may have looked like for me. ‘Body weight’ is abbreviated as ‘BW’:
The weight used for squats was low, especially in comparison to what I used on dead lifts and bench press (see below). Quite often during this time period, my legs were either sore from a Saturday hike (workout 1 was frequently on Monday) or I was worried that if I went too heavy on squats, my legs would not be fully recovered for the upcoming Saturday’s hike. In my experience, it is not uncommon for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) from a Monday leg workout to last until Friday or Saturday. Sometimes DOMS was such a concern that if I had a big hike coming up, I would substitute barbell squats with body weight squats (3 set of 20) or goblet squats (3 sets of 15 with a 50 lb dumbbell).
Chin ups quickly became one of my favorite exercise,s as I was able to add weight each week and could really see myself getting stronger. If the dip/chin assist machine was free, I would do a couple of assisted sets to warm up. If not, I would do a set with just my body weight. For weighted chins during this period, I was using two heavy chains combined with dumbbells (held between my ankles). I have gotten to a point where this is tough to do, so I will be purchasing a dip belt.
This was typical of my second workout of the week:
During this 6 week period I occasionally substituted barbell bench press with neutral grip dumbbell presses. The neutral grip is much easier on my shoulders and I feel I get a better chest workout from it; I feel my chest working instead of pain in my shoulders. In the future, I may try to use neutral presses as my primary chest exercise and only bench once or twice per month.
With dips, I initially started out by doing 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions with just my body weight. Dips were an exercise that I never liked and never really gave a chance. After I got used to the movement though, I was able to add weight.
Deadlifts were once one of my favorites lifts. In college, the people I lifted with weren’t interested in doing them and I eventually gave them up completely. After starting this program and getting a feel for them again, they are once again becoming a favorite. I am somewhat afraid of progressing too quickly with them though and have been limiting the weight I’m doing (by keeping the reps high). After a couple more weeks of taking it ‘easy’ and relearning the proper form, I hope to increase the weight and lower the reps down into a typical RPT rep range.
On a related note, I started to develop some pain in my left bicep. I eventually figured out that it was caused by using a mixed grip on my first working (heaviest) set. From now on, I will be using overhand grip on all sets. If I am unable to hold the weight in that manner, I will be using powerlifting hooks.
Results
Body Composition
I did not have the money to have my body composition measured professionally. I figured with a few simple tools and keeping my methods consistent, I could at least tell whether or not I was headed in the right direction. I used fat calipers, cloth tape measure and a scale. I measured myself under the same circumstances each week to track my progress. For example, I usually did my weekly weigh-in on a Monday or Tuesday morning, which was after 1 or 2 rest days (read: low carbs). I always took my measurements on an empty stomach.
This is what I started with:
Weight: 178 lbs (week 1 low)
Body fat per IF Calculator : 18% (35” waist on 11/10)
Body fat per fat calipers (skin fold test): 15.7% (12 mm at suprailliac site)
Avg body fat tested: 16.8%
Lean Body Mass: 148 lbs
Fat Body Mass: 30 lbs
and this is where I ended up, six weeks later:
Weight: 168 lbs (average of 12/24 – 12/25)
Body fat per IF Calculator: 12.9% (32.75” waist on 12/24)
Body fat per fat calipers (skin fold test): 10.1% (7-8 mm at suprailliac site)
Avg body fat tested: 11.5%
Lean Body Mass: 149 lbs
Fat Body Mass: 19 lbs
Strength Gain
I had set out wanting to use 4 lifts as a way to measure my progress. In the end, I did not do squats consistently, so they are not included below. ‘1 Repetition Max’ is abbreviated as ‘1RM.’
Chins-ups:
Before: BW(178 lbs) x 8 reps
After: BW(168 lbs)+10lbs x 14 reps
+ 6 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
Before: 185 lbs x 8 reps ~ 230 lb 1RM
After: 200 lbs x 10 reps ~ 265 lb 1RM
+35 lbs*
Dead Lifts:
Before: 175 lbs x 10 reps ~ 230 lb 1RM
After: 255 lbs x 8 reps ~ 315 lb 1RM
+85 lbs**
*Some progress may be due to muscle memory. For some workouts, especially near the end of the 6 weeks, I used neutral grip dumbbell presses to reduce strain on my rotator cuffs. I believe that some/most of the gain for barbell bench press may be due to giving my rotator cuffs a break. When I set my ‘after 1RM,’ it had been several weeks since I had done barbell bench press and my shoulders felt great. Based on past experience, I thought I would do around 6 reps, not the 10 I ended up doing.
**Some progress may be due to muscle memory, however it’s been 15 years since I’ve done dead lifts regularly.
Conclusion/Thoughts:
When I started this 6 week period, I told myself I needed to get through the diet aspect of it, no matter how hard it got. This was necessary to give LG/IF a fair shot and to prove to myself that I could stick with something like this. I had failed pretty miserably at previous diet attempts and was questioning whether I still had the drive to push myself. I also wanted to see if following LG was ‘worth it,’ meaning if the struggles/challenges encountered were worth the results. In my opinion, they were. The diet and training regimen compliment my work schedule and they do not interfere much with my home life; I cook dinners most nights now, which my wife loves. I am also able to complete the majority of the workouts at work during my lunch break.
In terms of the workouts, they definitely got me out of my rut and got me back to doing basics. I got into the mindset of ‘more is better’ and I can now see that I was wasting much of the time I spent at the gym; I could have been getting stronger by doing less. I am also amazed that I was able to lose weight while increasing my strength levels, which seems to strengthen the idea that I was really doing things wrong before.
Overall, I’d say this trial period was a success. I was willing to lose some lean body mass and strength to get rid of the gut, but in the end, I actually got stronger and spent less time in the gym. It’s hard to beat that!
What’s Next?
For my next phase (8 week cut), I will try to do more squatting as long as it does not interfere with my hiking too much. I will also measure benchmarks for the Cooper Strength Test (push ups), 1 mile run, and estimated VO2 max. I will go into more detail on this in another post, once I have the plan nailed down.
Helpful Links:
LeanGains – Blog written by the founder of LG
RippedBody – One of the best sources for IF & LG information
RippedBody FAQ – self explanatory
RPT Revisited – RPT explained by Berkhan
‘Three Day Split RPT’ Routine – RPT explained by Morgan
Intermittent Fasting Calculator – Helpful tool for figuring out TDEE & macronutirents
ExRx.net – lots of fitness calculators. The ‘Predicting 1RM’ calculator is very helpful
Linear Software – lots of different calucators for Body Fat % Calculation
Cooper Fitness Tests – Good/Simple ways to test your fitness level relative to your age
Wait, what about cardio?
As explained by both Martin Berkhan and Andy Morgan, in most cases, cardio is not necessary for fat loss and there may be other things you can do to make more effective use of your time. Since I am an avid hiker, I did do some cardio during this period, but it was basically limited to 3 long hikes. Here are some links regarding cardio as a fat loss tool, as well as it’s effect on strength training:
