Cardio - Muscle - Dieting - Three common sense principles

If you really want to get fat off, you're going to have to do SOME cardio - 

A dude I know wrote sometime back "if you don't want to show up shredded for a show, then by all means, don't do fasted cardio."

This was in response to a study done that showed that fasted cardio and cardio in a non-fasted state, showed no measurable difference in bodyfat loss.

Bodybuilders read this study, and because of their own trial and error, for the most part, dismissed it.

You know why?  Because despite such a study, most of them had gotten ready for competition several ways.  By doing both fasted cardio, non-fasted, and no cardio at all (relying purely on dieting alone).

And what won out every time?

Fasted cardio.

I actually didn't start writing this part to debate fasted cardio, but kinda like how you don't plan on plowing that ugly chick from the party who won't stop hitting on you, after one too many Schlitz Malt liquors, hey it just kinda happens.

Look the point is this, for every one guy you know that is lean year round and eats Krispy Kream everyday, you're not that guy more than likely.  And if you are, then yeah you don't need this part.

For the other 99%, diet alone is usually not enough to dip into the fat stores to get to a very low level of bodyfat.

I get it.  You don't want to don the trunks and be a bodybuilder.  This still applies to you more than likely.  And I will tell you why.  Because it's better to diet down to a lower percentage of bodyfat than to diet down to the one you want, because at some point, you'll eat "normally" again, and some bodyfat will pile back on.  If you get below where you want, when that normal eating resumes (and by normal I mean NORMAL, not back in a god damn 4everbulk mode) you'll end up where you want to be.  Not back in a state contemplating how in the hell you got so fat again after all of that work to get leaner.

Remember this, dropping down to a set point in bodyfat levels where you feel pretty comfortable isn't that difficult.  You stop eating pop-tarts, whole pizzas, and drinking regular coke, and replace that with some decent food(s) and in a few weeks or months, that 20 pounds comes off.  The problem is, most guys that are pretty heavy need more than 20 pounds off.  Or to put it bluntly, even with that 20 pounds off you're still too fat.

A friend of mine told me "every powerlifter thinks if he takes 20 pounds off he's going to be lean.  They all lose that 20 pounds and just sort of stop there.  And most of em are still fat."

I can't argue with this.  I know lots of guys that have done that exact thing.  They drop the 20, and feel pretty good about it.

Well the fact is, if you're 275+ you're probably not that lean.  So 20 pounds off really isn't a huge deal.  Yeah, you'll look better and feel better than you did with that extra 20 on, but truthfully, you still probably have another 20 to go.  And that 20 isn't as easy to get off.

And here is where doing SOME cardio comes into play.

There comes a point where lowering calories is not a great option.  Not if you still need to train, and recover.  So it's a better idea to create an energy deficit by doing more work, than lowering calories.

In fact, it's better to do cardio twice a day to get leaner, than to continue to lower calories.  And stop fretting about losing muscle.  This drives me crazy.  So long as you are giving your body a reason to hold on to muscle, it will do so.  Will you lose SOME muscle if you diet down into really super low levels of bodyfat?  Possibly.  But not enough to really destroy your reason to live.  So take the shotgun out of your mouth and get a grip on something else.  Like a protein shake or a dumbbell or something.


Conditioning comes easiest, strength is next, lean mass is hardest - 

In the grand scheme of what is easy, harder, hardest, this is how these things all play out.

Getting into awesome condition is pretty easy.  I'm talking from a running, jumping, fucking for 4 hours nonstop standpoint.

Building strength is harder.  But it's not as hard as building tons and heaps of muscle mass.  That takes much longer.

Now here is the thing, unless you're some crazy endurance athlete, most of your time for the year should be spent on gaining muscle.

That's it.  That's all.

If you gain more mass, you can peak to a bigger strength total.

If you are in strongman, you can reserve just a few weeks before competition for conditioning blocks.  This of course, gives you more time and energy in order to continue building muscle, or to focus those weeks on strength peaking.

Right back to square one, the more mass you have, the higher your peak will be for strength.

This gets lost on a lot of strength-only athletes.  They shun bodybuilding all the while missing the boat that no one ever got significantly larger, gained more muscle, then said "oh man I got weak as hell after that."

NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON!

It's possible that their maximal strength output may have gone down temporarily because they have not been training for maximal strength, but again, simply peaking for maximal strength would have fixed that issue.

This is why I personally believe that most of the year should be spent on gaining mass, and injury prevention.  If you gain more mass, everything else takes care of itself.  If you aren't injured, you can train more optimally.

Seems simple.


No one ever got bigger by NOT eating - 

I'm using an absolute here by writing "no one" but in this instance, I'm fine with it.

So I will write it again.

NO ONE ever got big by not eating.  This is why I don't understand the concept of using something like intermittent fasting (IF) as a means to add muscle mass.

It does NOT work for that.

Does it have merit in regards to getting leaner?  Well, yes.  It does.

I mean this is a simple concept.  If you take someone's food away for most of the day, they will probably get leaner.  This is not rocket surgery.

I really don't care about "lean gains" and other such nonsense.  I also don't care about a single god damn study that says eating the same amount of calories in an 8 hour period shows no difference than spreading them out over the course of the day.

This is straight up fucking bullshit.

I don't know of a single hard clanging and banging mother fucker, that is jacked and strong as a mule's kick, that goes without eating before and after training.

"Well you can adjust it for...."

Stop.  This is just flat out nonsense.

I don't care about some dude that's 168 pounds sporting rock-hard infomercial abs.  I don't.

What I do know is, I've never met a single impressively large and strong dude that told me he got that way....by not eating.  Or by eating in a small few hours window of the day.  I know an inordinate amount of dudes that got big by eating a whole bunch of food at every meal many times a day.  But not a one that did that in two or three meals in a day, in a small window.

It does NOT work that way.  This is where "science" absolutely shits the fucking bed.

Maybe for some sedentary individuals, eating in an eight hour window showed similar body comp results as the person eating 5 or 6 meals, but for someone trying to gain new lean mass, it does not work.  At least, not to any significant degree worth instituting such a ridiculous "dieting" strategy.

Eating is one of the main catalysts behind growing.  So let's be clear here, if you don't eat, you're not gonna grow.  And by "eat" I mean eating a lot, and often throughout the day.  Do not expect to shovel down two large meals in eight hours and get massive.

That's like expecting a porn star to be celibate for five years and get their virginity back.  It just doesn't work that way at all.  It's illogical and flat out stupid.

Train for stimulus, eat and sleep to grow.  Not "oh I eat...but only between the hours of..."


Conclusion - 

There are times when you have to put the textbooks and studies away and get back to working at the street level.  Without street cred, no other G's are going to listen to what you have to say.

None of that had shit to do with what I just wrote but I wanted to work some gangsta thug stuff into this article as I don't believe I've ever done that before.

Peace out.


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Oz update #1

Some thoughts on travel so far -

When I got picked up by the driver at the airport, I went to get into the car on the drivers side. You know, because the drivers side in Aussie is the passengers side in the states. He said nothing to me as I did this as he knew it was going to happen, and had a good laugh at my expense. Totally forgetting where I was, when I opened the door I literally said aloud "now what the fuck? Oh yeah..."

People here in Sydney don't know how to get out of the way. I don't know how to explain it but they just keep walking right at you, and don't move. In the elevator literally everyone in the elevator bumped into me twice. It felt like being in a human bumper car ride at the fair.

People here REALLY obey the crosswalks. I mean even if no traffic is coming they hit that button and wait on the green man walking sign across the road. This is such a huge contrast from the Dominican Republic where people literally give ZERO fucks about traffic laws or walking across the road. In the DR, people literally run across the interstate holding their kids at rush hour. Here? They won't cross the road until that sign tells them it's ok. No matter what.

When I got out of the airport in Melbourne and walked outside, it smelled awesome. Not sure now to describe it, but it just smelled good outside. Not like a bar-b-q or anything. Can't describe the smell, it just smelled good. That's it. Good.

Because I am sarcastic, everytime someone asks me if I'm from the states I want to say something like "no, I'm from Transylvania." in a very deadpan way. I haven't done it yet, but it's coming.

There are some sweet ass rides here. I have no idea what the fuck they are, but I like em. I will grab some pics if I can this week.

I can't help it, but the Asian dudes here dress hysterical. And there's no theme going on, like all wearing skinny jeans or whatever. Some wear skinny jeans, and some wear....pajamas? I have no idea what I'd call it but the variation in dress is wide and bizarre. One dude had on flip flops and knee high white socks, with shorts down to about where the socks stopped, then something I can only describe (his shirt) as something you'd find in a young girls pajama section of the department store.

The weather here is great. Someone told me it'd be cold but I guess that's because it's been super hot. But to me it feels perfect since I got here.

I brought my shears to cut my hair and trim my beard, and had to get an outlet adapter. Well, I am guessing the juice from an outlet here is a lot more than in the States because when I turned my shears on, they sounded like a weed eater on steroids and it scared the shit out of me. Eventually, it got hot to the touch and the fucking blade on the underside of the shears shot right the fuck out of the god damn thing and made me jump. I'm telling you, it was so loud I was scared my neighbors were going to think I was practicing the Texas chainsaw massacre in my apartment.

I found a department store and bought new shears.

More updates later this week............

LRB in Aussie

Sorry for no updates in a while.

I've been swamped for the past week and a half getting ready to go to Australia.  And well, now I'm here.

John Meadows, Ed Coan, and myself will be doing some workshops over here for the next month.  John and I are doing one here in Sydney next week, then Ed and I go to Perth and back here to Sydney again.

I will be doing more detailed write ups about all of this for flexonline.  I will link it here when it gets published.

Openings for 10 week max muscle program.

Ok I am taking clients for the next round of the Maximum Muscle Mass program.
It's 10 weeks and $275.
If want to get in on this round email me at paul@lift-run-bang.com
If you are overly fat, there is a plan for that (obviously, if you've looked at the before and after pics).
Serious mother fuckers only.
This round will start on the 6th of April.

Training - Legs

Bodyweight - 245

Leg Curls - 5 sets of 12 using 3/4 of the stack.  5 second negatives.
Standing Calf - stack x 14, 10
Sumo Leg Press - 5 plates x 3 sets of 15, 7 plates x 2 sets of 8
Hack Squats - 315 x 10, 405 x 10, 500 x 8
Stiff Legs - 315 x 8,8

Notes - Ouch.

10 week Maximum Muscle Mass - Another before and after

1 pound difference in the before and after.  223 to 222.

Myths, fallacies, and flat out bullshit

Almost every day I sift through an assortment of "information" (if you want to call it that) of training "gems" (and by gems I mean polished turds) and "wisdom" (and by wisdom I mean shit that makes me want to slap myself in the nutsack) doled out by people who apparently think they are doing people a favor by enlightening them.

This article is profanity laced.  So if profanity makes your pussy hurt, get out now.

Just go heavy - 

This has probably become one of my most hated mottos in lifting.

"When in doubt, just go heavy."

"Go heavy or go home."

"Some hardcore bullshit on a shirt about grinding."

The fact is, going heavy should comprise the LEAST amount of your training time for the year.  The LEAST.

Your low rep work like doubles, triples and such, should be fast.  Not grinding.

Your rep work, support work, bodybuilding, etc should all be in rep ranges that automatically mean you're using a fairly low percentage of your one rep max.

I once read a really simple peaking approach by Andy Bolton, who I think knows a lot about intelligent program design, and he basically summed up 6 weeks like this.

Week 1 - Light
Week 2 - Light
Week 3 - Medium
Week 4 - Medium
Week 5 - Heavy
Week 6 - Heavy

This looks smart to me.  Intelligent.  I have no idea what "heavy all the time" is supposed to look like, in regards to programming.   Maybe it looks like this.....

Week 1 - heavy
Week 2 - epically heavy
Week 3 - brutally heavy
Week 4 - homicidally heavy
Week 5 - makes ethic cleansing look like easter at Grandma's house HEAVY
Week 6 - FUCKING HEAVY AS FUCKING FUCK HEAVY FUCK HEAVY HEAVY I JUST TORE EVERYTHING IN MY BODY HEAVY...........FUCK!

The best way to grind your progress to a halt is to push weights onto the bar too quickly.  The best way to get bogged down mentally and physically is to "load the bar" every training session.  There's something to be said in regards to staying fresh, and feeling good and the impact that has on stringing together many weeks and months of productive training.

Using absolutes in training is usually a terrible idea (see how I avoided using an absolute right there?).  So if the answer is "just" go heavy, it's bullshit.  Going heavy is only a small piece of the training puzzle.


Cardio - 

Why so much fretting over it?  I see people debate whether you need to do HIIT or that steady state is worthless, or now that of all things, cardio will make you fat.  All those decades, bodybuilders did cardio only to step onstage fat.  When generally it was the ones that didn't do enough cardio (and clen) that stepped onstage fat.  And I know some of those.

To quote my diet guy Trevor Kashey on this matter, and something I've reiterated myself multiple times, from a muscular development standpoint, you can and probably will max out your genetic potential in 5-10 years naturally, with just proper training and nutrition.  If you don't stay natural, well, there's all sorts of possibilities and they vary from person to person based on the laws of individuality.

But let's cut through some bullshit here.

If you think you're going to lose gains or muscle mass because you did 30 minutes worth of cardio a few times a week, then you are a candidate for those suffering from extreme mental poverty.

It is true that if you just stop training all together that muscle loss will occur fairly rapidly.  However it doesn't take a lot of training to simply maintain what you have built.  The fear of muscle loss across the spectrum of the lifting community boggles my fucking mind.  People have all sorts of panic now over losing gains if they miss a workout or two, or miss a meal or go for a fucking hike for a few hours.

"Went for a hike bro.  All gains lost!"

Cardio isn't going to strip you of all of your mass.  Unless most of that mass is you know, FAT MASS.

It will help get you in better shape, help you drop some fat, and unless you're just going overboard with it, it's not going to rob you of all the precious muscle you built.  Especially if you keep it at a low enough intensity.  You know, like that same degree of intensity you just walk around casually at? Yeah, you're not going to suddenly find muscle falling off of you if you do cardio at that kind of pace.  Especially if you're not natural.

And so long as you're training even moderately hard and giving your body a reason to retain muscle mass, it's pretty much fucking impossible to just "lose muscle."  unless your diet is totally devoid of any adequate amount of protein or so low in calories not even a hamster could go a few rotations on a wheel.  So yeah, eat some protein, do some cardio, keep training.  You aren't going to suddenly wake up and find all of your muscle gone from some fucking cardio.

If anything, getting in better shape will help your work capacity tremendously and generally that means you can do more work in the gym in less time, and that actually means the ability to provide more stimulus to spark the growth process.  From there, it's rest and food.  But cardio isn't the fucking devil or even your ex-wife/husband.  It's not even a shitty one night stand.

It's not going to strip you of all your muscle and the constant fear of muscle loss in the training community is at a paranoid level and completely overstated.  Stop freaking the fuck out about it.

A big reason why so many guys think they lose muscle when they actually do cardio and diet properly is because (and I've said this before) most guys think they aren't as fat as they actually are.  The 15% dude is usually 20% or more.  So he always thinks he can just drop 25 pounds and be lean.  Then of course it doesn't happen.  So if he continues he usually has to end up losing a lot of fat, and complains he lost muscle in the process because now he's a "shell" of his former self.  When in all reality he was just too fat to begin with.

So do some cardio and train and stop fucking worrying about it.  If you plan on doing a bodybuilding show, and want to show up fat as fuck, then by all means avoid cardio all together.  Mission will be accomplished.



Natural vs Enhanced Frequency - 

There's been this ongoing trend, especially in the natural "community" to bench, squat, deadlift, etc multiple times a week.  Calling it the "natural community" makes me feel like "nattys" are similar to the Amish.  Except instead of going without electricity, they go without "sauce".  And just like the Amish, many of them need to broadcast their abstinence of "good things" quite often.  Like we care.

Juicers (no, not the people who mix up fruits and veggies in a highly powdered blender), apparently recover faster, can train more, train harder, run faster, swim farther, fuck harder and for longer (that part is really true), tan easier, cook tastier meals, free fall from the sky at greater velocity, shoot guns with more accuracy, and build faster drag cars than people suffering in the "natty community".

So if enhanced guys can recover faster, train harder, and more often, then why aren't they taking advantage of that by benching 10,087 times a week, squatting 392,302 times a week and pulling 12,304 times a week?

I keep reading that this is what natural guys must do in order to maximize their potential.  So they have to train more, because they recover less easily.

Wait.

I'm confusing myself.

Lemme try this again.

The enhanced guy = recovers faster, so he can train less often and still make those sweet gainz.

Natural guy = recovers slower than enhanced man, must train more often because....he recovers slower....in order to make those sweet gainz.

"Paul, the enhanced guy can not train at all and gain muscle.  It's been shown in studies."

Oh I know.  I know so many fucking jacked roided out guys that do nothing at all in the way of gym time.  They just sit on their couch and blast tren and mast and test all day everyday, and get jacked as fuck.  Never lift a weight at all.

Now THAT most excellent sire, is truly cheating.

Unfortunately, it really doesn't work that way.  Regardless of what some study reported.

Both guys have to train in a way that suits their recovery ability.  Just because you get "on" doesn't mean you suddenly have super recovery powers.  If that were the case, then all the guys "on" would just train more, as the pundits constantly point out, and they would progress at such a rapid speed that people would accuse them of being on steroids.

Wait........

Ok, nevermind.

I've literally heard every single side of this debate and it always sounds like people talking in circles to me.

So let's clear the air here a little bit.

Natural guys don't have to train the lifts more often.  Some guys may need to, and some may not.  It really all depends on how they respond to such frequency.  There is no magic in benching multiple times a week for everyone.  Same for squatting, and same for deadlifting.

When/if you get on or are on, the same rule applies.

I don't write programs and ask if the guy is a member of the natural Amish community, or a dirty fucking steroid user.  I just program him based off of the information he gives me, and we roll with it from there, and adjust based on what I'm seeing.  Sometimes you take things away, and sometimes you add.  It's all based on his own personal progression.

My own personal experience is that the systematic recovery of sauce is a bit overstated.  I think the localized muscle recovery process is sped up quite significantly.  However, as noted in my article about overtraining, there are many other factors that involve recovery that I don't believe anabolics play as much of a significant role in.  I know, some bookworm will link a study, but I am speaking from my own personal experience, and the experience of other dudes I've talked to about this.  None of them told me that their training frequency increased once they got on the sauce.  I do believe that anabolics make you more "training sensitive", i.e. your body grows better/more efficiently but again, I believe that is mostly do to increases muscle protein synthesis and that does not address the systematic issue of recovery.  So yes, I do understand "why" a guy on the sauce can train with less frequency, and still make sweet ass gainz.

However what I am getting at then is this....

If training the lifts more often each week is what works for the Amish, then why don't guys on the sauce do it, since they recovery better, and going by this particular anecdote, would make even better gains?

For some reason it just doesn't work that way for everyone now does it?

No.

And this is why you can't always rely on a god damn study.

Conclusion - 

Anytime something goes against the grain of everything we have seen anecdotally, I question it until I can either rule it out, or until I understand it.

Lots of articles are nothing more than click bait to get people in an uproar (much like this one...no I'm just kidding....but seriously maybe it is....no I'm just kidding....but maybe...) and it often works.

The fact is, regardless of what science finds, we do IN FACT, already know what works.  At this point, studies and science are really just filling in some small details.  Many times, about things that in the big picture, largely unimportant.

This doesn't keep me from reading most of it, as I do want to know and understand these things to the best of my ability.  However it also keeps me from buying into a lot of bullshit, or even being able to say that regardless of what the study reported, or what some internet guru wrote (no I'm not a guru, so stop) is complete bullshit as well.

Enjoy.


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