|
by Lyle McDonald
Lyle McDonald is the author of the
Ketogenic Diet as well as the
Rapid Fat Loss
Handbook and the
Guide to
Flexible Dieting. He has been interested in all aspects of human
performance physiology since becoming involved in competitive sports as
a teenager. Pursuing a degree in Physiological Sciences from UCLA, he has
devoted nearly 20 years of his life to studying human physiology and the
science, art and practice of human performance, muscle gain, fat loss and
body recomposition.
Publication Date: August 1998
Dear Lyle,
My name is Kirk. I'm a 29 year old
amateur. kickboxer. I suffered a nerve injury and wasn't able to
train. In this time I put on a lot of weight and have not been able
to take it off. I, like yourself have been lean but not as lean as I
would like. I was just wondering if I could use this diet and if so,
what are the specifics of this diet.
My first question would be if you are able to train now. The
particulars of the Bodyopus diet require that you be able (at least)
to weight train three days per week. If not, the diet won't work for
you. In a similar vein, any fat loss effort not accompanied by
exercise results in the loss of muscle tissue which is unacceptable.
So if your injury is still preventing you from training, you will
need to wait to start your diet.
Now if you are able to train, there are a few specific
implications of the cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) in terms of
performance. Weight training/bodybuilding is that highly performance
oriented as many other sports (that should get me some hate mail).
Yes it's technical but other sports have far more technical
requirements. From that standpoint, high intensity activity (i.e.
kickboxing) and skill work should only be done when you have carbs
in your system. Put differently, a low carb diet can NOT sustain
high intensity activity. That is why the CKD has a carb-loading
period, to refill muscle glycogen stores to sustain high intensity
exercise.
So any type of kickboxing practice (assuming you are able to do
it) will need to be done either during the carb-up or in the 2 days
right afterwards. The other days of the week, your performance will
be terrible on anything other than low intensity activity (i.e.
running, walking, low intensity conditioning).
So here's the basic gist of the diet.
Lowcarb phase: during this phase, you are allowed no more than 30
grams of carbs per day. And less is probably better. Calories should
be set at 12-13 calories per pound of bodyweight. Protein is set at
0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight and fat makes up the rest.
Carb-up phase: during this phase, carbs should make up 70% of
your total calories or roughly 10 grams of carbs/kilogram of lean
body mass. In practice this can work out to 600 grams of carbs or
more. Protein should be a little less than 1 gram/pound of
bodyweight and fat should be kept low-ish.
The week typically looks like this:
Mon: no carbs, high intensity training (typically weights but
could be kickboxing for you)
Tue: no carbs, high intensity training
Note: you will need to work on both your upper and lower body on
Monday and Tuesday to deplete muscle glycogen. So either weight
train a split routine or do both upper and lower body kickboxing
drills.
Wed/Thu: no carbs, low intensity training only. So if you do any
kind of running as part of your training, this is the day to do it.
Fri: no carbs during until your workout. This workout should also
be high intensity to finish depleting muscle glycogen. Again, most
do weights but you could do an intense kickboxing workout. Start
your carb-up phase right after this workout.
Saturday: continue carbing up until bedtime. Typically most
people don't train during the carb-up but this is another day you
could do high intensity training.
Sunday: back to no carbs. Since you're carb-loaded you can do
high intensity training but realize that it will affect your Mon/Tue
workouts if you're lifting weights on those days.
Dear Lyle,
I've been following the Body Opus diet
for a couple months now, but not too precise. What I mean by that is
that Monday and Tuesday training I've substituted, with Mike
Mentzer's advice to those who do not make continual gains, the
consolidation routine. I do this by working out only every Monday
(but include the depletion workout of Friday) and it consists of a 2
day program: 1-leg press, shoulder press, and pulldowns,
2-deadlifts, incline press, calf raises, abs.
Now that I've given you my background,
my question is this: Should I follow the original workout schedule
outlined by Duchaine or should I follow Mentzer's advice as to keep
training less doing no isolation exercises?
P.S. How has Dan's "Body Contract"
worked with people?
My first question would be simply this: How is the diet working
for you? If you're losing fat at a rate that is acceptable to you,
then don't change anything.
However, I doubt this is the case. One potential 'problem' with
Cyclical ketogenic diets is that, to make them work optimally, you
really need to deplete muscle glycogen completely within the span of
5 days. This requires quite a bit of volume (see other questions
this month). AS well, the Mon/Tue/Fri workout seems to work best.
My general feeling is to use the time tested schedule that
Duchaine suggests while you're dieting and switch back to your mass
training style of choice (in your case, Heavy Duty) when you come
off of your diet. This should optimize fat loss (meaning that you
don't have to diet as long) but can make the mass gains that you
want. Of course if you're losing fat at a rate that you're happier
with, don't change a thing.
As to Dan's Body Contract workout, I don't know anyone who has
tried it. Since I don't have two training partners, I can't try it
myself.
Dear Lyle,
I read your articles with great
interest and they have been extremely helpful. Thank you so much for
such great and easy reading. I recently bought the Bodyopus book and
if it wasn't for your articles on the Internet, I'd still be very
confused.
I am now in the 2nd day of my BodyOpus
diet and into ketosis. I want very much to lose fat very fast as I
am getting ready for the EAS (Muscle Media) contest. In part 2, you
have a section about "how to lose fat very quickly". I would like to
follow your suggestion but I am a bit confused about the "one
concentrated meal one hour in length right after Friday's workout".
Could you please elaborate on this topic? what is a one concentrated
meal one hour in length? How much do I have to eat in one hour (in
calories) . You don't mentioned this anywhere else and I would
really like to know what exactly do you mean.
I started the BodyOpus diet working out
on Monday and Tuesday. Friday, I was going to do the depletion
workout but now, I would like to modify this a bit and follow the
one hour meal and go back to low carbs. Could you please help?
Answer:
The idea being the 'one concentrated' carb meal was to extend the
time in ketosis (see last question for some comments on that in
general) without losing your mind from the lack of low-carbs. As
well, the one carb meal will refill some muscle glycogen to sustain
training intensity. So you eat a ton of carbs for one meal and then
go right back to no carb life.
Basically, your two weeks would look like this:
Mon: no carbs, weights
Tue: no carbs, weights
Wed/Thu: cardio optional
Fri: full body workout, eat a bunch of carbs (like 150 grams)
with some protein right after training. If you want, eat more carbs
but it will keep you out of ketosis longer.
Sat/sun: no carbs, cardio optional
Mon/Tue: no carbs, weights
Wed/Thu: no carbs, cardio optional
Fri: full body workout, begin real carb-up
Sat: continue to carb-up
Sun: no carbs
Dear Lyle,
I'm sorta frustrated with the BodyOpus
diet since my results were bad. In 6 weeks of dieting, I lost very
little bodyfat, only 3 lbs. I ate 13 kcal/lb. and tried to keep
carbs below 15 g and protein at .8 x my bodyweight. Carbup was
mostly high glycemic carbs after workout with protein and no fat,
followed by med. glycemic carbs towards the end of the 24 hrs. while
keeping fats below 83g. Workouts were lower and upper body split on
each day followed by intervals and low intensity aerobics for about
15 min. Sat on my butt from Tues. to Fri, and of course a HIT
workout prior to carb comp. Sorry for being a bit detailed, I just
want to know if I did anything wrong.
I'm frustrated from dieting and getting
hardly nowhere that I decided to try the shortcut, DNP. I know this
stuff is dangerous at 3x the normal dosage, but I do have common
sense and I have never overdosed on any type of drug, even the ECA
stack. I've heard 4mg/kg of bodyweight is pretty safe and effective.
What's your overall opinion on DNP, and should I lower my caloric
intake.
Answer:
I agree, 3 lbs. of fat lost in 6 weeks is not that great. One
thing to look at is how did you measure fat loss. If it was by
caliper measurements, make sure you got them taken by the same
person each time.
The only thing I can see is that you may have needed to cut
calories further or increase cardio a bit (on Wed and Thu).
Depending on bodyweight, decreasing to 12 cal/lb. should have netted
you some additional fat loss.
Other than those two things, it doesn't look like you did
anything explicitly 'wrong' with your diet. One thing you didn't
mention was the number of sets you did on Mon/Tue which can
indirectly affect fat loss. To make the BodyOpus diet work, you have
to fully deplete muscle glycogen during the 5 lowcarb days. This
takes quite a bit of volume. Depending on the length of your
carb-up, you're looking at 3-6 sets per bodypart (and this assumes
that each set lasts 45 seconds) on the Mon/Tue workouts and another
1-2 on Friday.
As to DNP, the first thing to note is that it generally doesn't
work on a lowcarb diet. For some reason, it increases carb cravings.
When I took it oh so long ago, I found myself snacking on bagels
around midnight every night.
I think the first thing you should do is take 1 week off of your
diet. At the 6 weeks mark, your body is adapting. Eat maintenance
calories (around 15-16 cal/lb. of total bodyweight) and normal
carbs. Then go back to Bodyopus and try 12 cal/lb. for 2 weeks. If
fat loss still isn't happening quickly enough, add a little cardio
on Wed/Thu. 20-30' at a low intensity is plenty, especially since
you're already doing intervals. I think that is your best bet before
making yourself miserable with DNP.
Good luck.
Dear Lyle,
I am new to this life style, and I do
not know a lot about these supplements. You were saying something in
a letter about DNP. What the hell is that. I am somewhat like how
you described in the letter. I am not at my desired body fat ratio
6'1 185-190 lbs. That does not sound bad, I love the weight I am at,
but I want to cut the fat off. I was reading about this DNP, what
does it do? Is it legal, and if so how and where do I get it (if it
is a supplement)?
Answer:
Ok, first the disclaimer. DNP is a potentially FATAL compound to
use. So do not take any potential use lightly. If you screw up, you
will die. That said, here's what DNP is.
DNP is what is termed a metabolic uncoupler meaning that it
uncouples one metabolic process from another.
Specifically DNP blocks oxidative phosphorylation in the
mitochondria of Type I muscle fibers. I bet that clears it right up.
Ok, let's take these words from the back to the front.
Type I muscle fibers: these are slow twitch muscle fibers used
mostly for endurance events. They use mainly fat for fuel.
Mitochondria: these are the 'powerhouses' of the cell (in-joke
for any physiology types since EVERY book I've ever read that
mentions mitochondria has to comment that they are the powerhouses
of the cell) which are involved in energy production, primarily
through the breakdown of fat.
Oxidative phosphorylation: this is the chemical process by which
the mitochondria makes ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the cell. ATP
is the only energy source that the body can use directly. When ATP
is used, as during exercise, the body will make more ATP by breaking
other stuff down (i.e. fat and carbohydrate).
So how does DNP work? DNP blocks the cell's ability to produce
ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. This causes the cell to
become low in ATP. The cell doesn't like being low in ATP so it
tries to make more through oxidative phosphorylation (which breaks
down fat for fuel). So it burns some fat in an attempt to make ATP.
But it can't, being blocked by DNP. So it burns some more fat in an
attempt to make ATP. But it can't. This continues as long as the DNP
is in your system. End result: lots of fat burned in a futile
attempt to make ATP.
But here's the problem: energy is just heat. When the body breaks
down fat to try to make ATP, some heat is generated. Since the ATP
is never made (because of the DNP), the heat is dissipated out from
the cell. Since fat continues to be burned (at very high rates) the
body continues to produce more and more heat.
If you take too much DNP, your body will literally cook itself
from the inside. it would not be a pleasant way to die. As an
example, when I used DNP it was approximately 20 degrees outside
(winter) and I still had to run a fan to keep cool. Nasty, nasty.
So that's what DNP does.
As to your second question, thankfully DNP is not a supplement.
It is legal (it is used to make bug spray because it cooks the bugs
from the inside out) but the average person wouldn't be able to get
any (it can only be bought from chemical supply houses who typically
don't sell to individuals). And if you told anyone you were going to
eat it, they'd think you were nuts.
Dear Lyle,
I take a supplement called Ripped Fuel
by Twinlab. I heard that it can affect a woman's ability to
reproduce. Is this true?
Answer:
Oh good an easy one finally. To answer this let's look at the
ingredients in Twinlab's Ripped Fuel:
MaHuang: this is herbal ephedrine. It acts as a beta-agonist
meaning that it stimulates a variety of processes in the body
including calorie burning, fat burning, heart rate blood pressure,
etc. I can't even imagine a way that this could alter reproductive
function in women. In mean of course it can cause a short term
inability to 'get it up' (I sadly speak from experience) but that's
a different issue entirely.
Guarana (or is it kola nut): Either way both of these are herbal
forms of caffeine. Caffeine is probably the most (ab)used drug in
the world. If it made women sterile, we'd know about it.
White willow bark (I think this is still in there): this is a
herbal form of aspirin. Again, like caffeine it's been used for
centuries without any problem that I can see.
Chromium picolinate: This is a mineral involved in glucose
metabolism. There was one study a while back suggesting that very
high dose chromium (like so high that it's unrealistic to consider
that a human could take enough) caused some chromosomal damage in
cells.
L-carnitine: this is an amino acid involved in fat metabolism.
This can't have any effect.
So looking at the ingredients, I can't see any way that this
product could affect reproductive function. Maybe if you took like
10 times the recommended dose and had a stroke or something but
you'd have bigger problems. Sounds like more scare tactics to me.
Hi Lyle,
My question has to due with the ECA
stack (great
article on it by Bryan Haycock). I was wondering if yohimbe
and/or grapefruit (naringenin) would enhance the stack further. In
Dan's book, yohimbe was referred to "letting off the brake where ECA
was like stepping on the gas" and I read that naringenin has the
ability to prevent caffeine to breakdown in the liver. Any thoughts
on this?
Another question I got has to do with diet. I'm on a high protein/carb
diet with low fat (maybe too low). My body has actually
transformed. I'm no longer worried about losing fat (I find it
kinda easy if want it bad enough). But I am worried about my
metabolism slowing up. So I've decided to take a few weeks off
dieting. I still get my 40gms protein every 2.5 hrs (religious
about that) but I'll eat anything. Pizza, chocolate cake...
anything. Funny thing is I feel great. I'm sure I'm packing on
some fat but I actually feel stronger in the gym. I figure losing
fat is easy compared to building muscle. How do you feel about
this? Maybe I should go back on my diet and supplement with some
flax... I am still learning.
Answer:
Yohimbe + ECA does seem to have more potent effects than ECA
alone for exactly the reasons that Dan says. ECA stimulates beta
receptors which increase fat breakdown and calorie burning (like
stepping on the gas pedal). Yohimbe inhibits alpha receptors which
slow fat breakdown and calorie burning (like stepping on the
brake). So the combo has a dual effect. But there is a potential
problem. The same receptors which control fat burning and calorie
burning (gas and brake pedals) also control heart rate and blood
pressure. Some people get very high heart rate and blood pressure
responses from combining the two and that can be potentially
dangerous. So all I can say is be careful and monitor yourself.
If your heart rate jumps very high when taking ECA and yohimbe, for
god's sake drop the yohimbe. Also see the last question for other
details.
AS to naringenin, there is some debate over how much affect it will
have. Peak Training Journal had an article about the effects on
grapefruit juice and the author (Lonnie Lowery) referenced several
studies showing that it was other substances in grapefruit juice
(not naringenin) that was having the effect. I do know that ECA
seemed to have more of a kick when I took it with grapefruit juice
but that's about all I can say about it.
In general, I would say that alternating periods of dieting (4-6
weeks unless you have a contest or something) and mass gaining seem
to work best. This will keep bodyfat under control while allowing
lean body mass to increase gradually. That is, rather than just
bulking and bulking and bulking and ending up with a lot more lean
body mass AND a lot more fat, you can see saw your way up in lean
body mass while keeping bodyfat under control. I'm not surprised
that you're strength is going up since you've come off the diet. It
seems the the people who are the most anal about their diets while
gaining mass tend to gain much slower. I'm personally a believer in
eating big to get big (within bodyfat limits of course). Since it
seems to be working for you, I'd say go with it. You're getting
adequate protein but you might try to sneak some flax in there
somewhere, it is a healthy fat.
Dear Lyle,
I’m a big fan of yours Lyle as you have
always provided invaluable advice for bodybuilders on the net! Lyle
I was wondering if you can help me out. I am in the middle of losing
bodyfat and cutting up. I have been on the ECA stack with 500 mg of
l-tyrosine for months now and have seen very good results along with
my morning cardio. I was wondering what you
I thought about Yohimbine for fat lose
in MEN (I know women see good results with it). Should I take
yohimbine (Twinlab) for further fat loss or is it an unstudied
product for fat loss? Also if I take yohimbine, should I take it
with the ECA stack or on days I am not on the ECA stack? How much
l-tyrosine is effective when taking the stack? I have been taking
500 mg but have been told 1 gm is much better. Lyle, are thermogenic
products like Ripped Fuel even close to the real ECA stack? I find
Ripped Fuel and Thermadrene are not as effective. Should I take
Ripped Fuel with an aspirin and l-tyrosine to make it better? thanks
for your help Lyle and God bless!
Answer:
Jeez, where to start?
I would have to say that yohimbe will have relatively greater
effects in women than men but only because women tend to have higher
levels of alpha-2 receptors than men do. But it might cause some
additional fat loss in men and I think it's worth a try. Do note
that some people get really wild heart rate responses from combining
ECA with yohimbe so make sure to raise the dosage of the yohimbe
gradually. Yohimbe needs to be taken on an empty stomach and is
probably going to be most beneficial for cardio done first things in
the morning. A female bodybuilder I helped prep for a contest last
year got her best results taking yohimbe by itself (she worked up to
24 mg per day) with caffeine before her morning cardio. Then she'd
wait about 4 hours (to let the yohimbe clear her system) and then
use ECA during the rest of the day. And she was ripped.
AS to tyrosine, 500-1000 mg seems to work well for most people.
As a real life example, I gave my training partner (who has been on
ECA non-stop for almost 3 years now) 1000 mg of l-tyrosine and he
noticed a BIG kick from it.
I would have to say that the herbal forms of ECA (like ripped
fuel) are probably not as potent as the drug forms. They don't have
the same kick but they don't have as many side effects either (in
terms of jitters, etc). so it's a six of one, half a dozen of
another situation. If you can get and handle ECA, I think it's the
better choice. If ECA gets you too wired (or you can't get real
ephedrine) you can use the herbals and get at least *some* effects.
I do think that the tyrosine will help with herbal ECA products
though. There is still some debate on just how much the aspirin
helps. The studies seem to suggest that it does more for obese
individuals compared to lean but I don't see that it can really
hurt.
Dear Lyle,
I have a quick question about the diet.
I've been on the diet for three weeks and experienced little
results. By Friday I look good and lean, but by Sunday night I am
the same weight and look bloated. I tried to reduce the time I carb
up. I started sat morning and finished sun night. The results didn't
improve much. I feel I'm following the guidelines in the book and
the extra info in you body opus 20 week post. My carb choices are
not the best, but I refer to your comment that carbs should play
that much of a role as long as they are carbs. I think I'm going to
try to extend by time in ketosis to 10 or to 14 days. I also find it
hard to hit ketosis very early usually by late wed or Thurs morning.
I remember that you had mentioned that some people had tried to
extend the time in ketosis for greater results. I'm 5'6" and 180
lbs. by sat am I can get down to 171. My body fat is 19%!! I know. I
feel that I'm yo-yoing back and forth throughout the week and I'm
only losing water and carbs in my muscles and when I'm carbing up
I'm gaining it all back. I workout mon: back chest legs, Tues:
shoulders ,arms, then Friday I do a full body workout. Any comments
or suggestions would be helpful thanks.
Answer:
Although you didn't mention training volume for any of your
workouts, it is a critical aspect of making the Bodyopus Diet work.
This is addressed in two other questions this month as well as in
my article on
Mesomorphosis.
The other major problem I see is that you should NOT be starting
your carb-up on Saturday if you are training on Friday. The whole
point of the diet is to artificially raise insulin sensitivity with
exercise and carb depletion. But insulin sensitivity is THE highest
right after your Friday workout. So that is when you should start
your carb-up. By waiting until Saturday morning, you are missing the
first 6 or so hours when glycogen resynthesis is at it's highest and
screwing yourself.
So before you try longer periods in ketosis, you should try
cutting your carb-up even further, to 30 hours or less. That is,
your weekly schedule will look like this:
Sunday: no carbs, cardio optional
Mon/Tue: weights
Wed/Thu: cardio optional
Fri: in evening, do Friday workout, start carb-up immediately
afterwards.
Sat: carb until bedtime, then stop carbing.
Dear Lyle,
I have been training for the past 5
months. I am a vegetarian. I want a good vegetarian diet that will
help me gain Mass.
Answer:
I'll say up front that I do not think a vegetarian diet is ideal
for gaining muscle mass. Of course it depends on what degree of
vegetarian you are. Since some readers have no idea what I'm talking
about, I'll describe each below.
Pseudo-vegetarian (my term): someone who doesn't eat red meat but
eats chicken and fish. These types of individuals typically give
some spurious "But fish isn't meat" argument. The way I figure it,
dead animal is dead animal. These people aren't 'real' vegetarians
in my mind. Although I think red meat is an excellent part of a mass
gaining diet, the chicken and fish content will ensure sufficient
protein.
Ovo/Lacto vegetarians: this individual eats no animal flesh but
does eat milk and eggs. As with the previous group, there shouldn't
be any problem gaining mass since both egg and milk are high quality
proteins.
Vegan: this individual eats no food from animal sources. That
means no eggs, milk, cheese, butter, or even honey. In my opinion,
this type of individual will find it nearly impossible to gain mass.
With that in mind, let's discuss the basics of gaining mass on
ANY diet. To do so you need:
1. Adequate protein: in my experience (both as a vegetarian for
about 6 months in college as well as knowing some) many vegetarians
don't get enough protein. an ex-girlfriend of mine basically lived
on starches (bagels, pasta, rice). As long as you're eating eggs or
milk, it shouldn't be as much of an issue. However there are an
increasing number of vegetarian protein foods (soy based sausages
and the like) that can provide protein if you won't eat milk or
eggs. A good guidelines for protein is a little less than 1 gram of
protein per pound of bodyweight.
2. Adequate calories: This probably won't be a problem for most
vegetarians but it might be depending on fat intake. I find it
difficult to consume enough calories eating a very low fat diet. You
can only eat so much pasta, rice, etc. Good starting place for
calories is 16 calories per pound and up. One individual I know
needed 25 cal/lb. to start growing.
That's a lot of rice.
3. Adequate fat: This ties into #2 but is also important in it's
own right. Extremely low fat diets have been shown to lower
testosterone which will hurt muscle gains. As well, vegetarian diets
tend to lower testosterone as well although it's hard to separate
the vegetarianism per se from other dietary facts (fat, calories).
15-25% of total calories or so should come from fat.
So depending on what level of a vegetarian you are, you may or
may not have to worry about consuming enough protein. Past that
follow the other basic rules of mass gaining: lots of small meals,
protein in regular intervals, etc, etc.
|
