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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: January
15, 1999
General Announcements
Before getting to the Q&A's, let me say that I hope everyone had
a safe and healthy holiday season. If you were in a mass phase,
hopefully you gained the 7-10 lbs. that the average person gains
during the holidays (I didn't). If you were dieting well, it's time
for a new Year's resolution anyhow.
Ok, gotta get some things out of the way for the new year before
I get to the questions.
First I apologize for taking so long to get to some of them. I
generally answer questions in the order they come (occasional
exceptions are made of course, for particularly interesting
questions) and I answer 15 questions per month. I have quite a
backlog of questions however so be patient. Also, I'm getting a lot
of repeat and/or similar questions and I'm trying to avoid answering
the same questions over and over. Even if you're specific question
isn't answered, one similar enough to it should be. Hopefully, this
will allow me to address some other topics.
Before submitting a question, please check out the
archives. Many topics regarding the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (and
fat loss in general) and supplements have already been addressed and
you'll save yourself a lot of time if you check the archives first,
instead of waiting for me to answer your question (which may take 3
months at this point).
Third, I don't (and can't) generally set up diets in terms of what
specific foods you should eat and stuff like that. Sorry, but I
can't know what kinds of foods you like, or have access to. The best
I can do is give general information in a forum like this, but you
have to take the ball and run with it from there. Most foods have
nutritional labels and I highly recommend that trainees get in the
habit of reading them. Alternately, get a basic food-counter book
(Corinne T. Netzer's "Complete
Book of Food Counts" is my current favorite). For those in
college, most places will give you a nutritional breakdown of the
foods available in the cafeteria or food service outlets since we
all know how college students typically eat. With a little practice,
you can set up your own diet based around your food preferences and
on the general guidelines I can provide.
Finally, so people can quit asking
my book went to the publishers 2 weeks before Christmas and I
should have them back by the end of January or so. They will be
available at BeyondMuscle.com.
And with all of that said, let's kick off a new year of Q&A's.
Correction to last month: MCT Fuel by Twinlab
Last month I received a question regarding the nutrient breakdown
of Twinlab MCT fuel and stated that it contained 14 grams of fat per
tablespoon. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. A reader was kind enough
to send me this:
"I noticed your answer regarding fat content of MCT Fuel and I
believe it needs to be corrected. MCT Fuel is not a pure oil; it is
an emulsion and contains eight (8) grams of MCT oil in each serving
of two (2) tablespoons. I verified this via a call to Twinlab who
said that there were approximately 68 calories per serving."
Me again:
I made the ASSumption that MCT fuel was 100% oil, not realizing that
it contained other stuff in it. Maybe that will teach me to answer
something without checking for sure before I do. I apologize for any
inconvenience my mistake has caused.
GNC Profile Protein
Hey Lyle,
since reading your article on protein, I thought I’d ask you what
you thought of GNC's Profile Protein. supposedly they did a study
showing its superiority to whey/carbs for post workout protein
synthesis. Their theory behind Profile is to simply provide the body
with the aminos that are needed after a workout, instead of having
the body take an hour digesting whey. what do you think?
I haven't seen GNC profile protein so I can't say for sure. But if
they are claiming what you say, I'm am very dubious. I don't
honestly see how protein alone could have a greater impact on
protein synthesis than protein and carbs. Maybe the same amount of
an impact but no greater.
Also, the entire theory behind post-workout protein is to provide
the body with aminos for recovery, so that is nothing new. And as I
stated in my article, considering the *relatively* long time for
ingested protein to start hitting the bloodstream (even whey as a
'fast' protein still takes an hour to peak blood amino acid levels),
it makes more sense to me to consume protein *before* training so
that blood AA level are peaking right as the workout is ending.
This means that, assuming it didn't make you puke during your
workout, I'd expect a protein drink consumed right as your workout
is starting (assuming workout is about an hour long) to have a
greater impact *immediately* after training. Of course, I still
think post-workout protein is a good idea since you want to keep
aminos flowing to your muscles at that time period.
What I'm saying is this:
3-4 hours before training: normal mixed meal of protein, carbs, fat
and fiber 1 hour before end of workout: protein drink immediately
after training: protein and carbs (glycogen resynthesis and such)
2-3 hours after training: normal mixed meal
Something along those lines.
Hormones in Foods
Dear Lyle,
I eat a lot of tofu and am now hearing that it contains many plant
estrogens in it. Will these plant hormones have any effect on my
hormonal status. If so, what are some foods that promote anabolic
hormones, and which promote "bad" hormones.
Thanks for your time,
Chris
This is an interesting question. I had a discussion a few years
ago with a friend (MD who knows his stuff about nutrition) of mine
about this. Although I forget the name of his home-country (I
remember that it was Hispanic), he commented that girls in his
country had started to mature earlier, most likely from the presence
of hormones in the food supply (esp. meats). While it's hard to show
direct correlation, it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case.
I farmed this question out to my friend Elzi Volk and she, who has
read more endocrinological stuff than I have had this to say. Take
it away Elzi:
"Researchers were able to show that in developed countries, where
the residue in food/meat is closely monitored, this is unlikely.
They actually sampled food/meat from the US and other countries for
hormone residue and it was very low (poultry tested with the highest
residue). Rather, the earlier onset of menarche (the first menstrual
period in pubertal girls) is more likely due to healthier diet and
weight gain. In many animals, body weight is an important
determinant signal for reproduction cycling (both in females and in
males). This is a mechanism of reproduction control in livestock
management. It has been shown to be a factor in humans as well.
There are some third (second :) world countries where the meat
residue content is higher, but still within tolerance to not be a
direct stimulator of earlier menarche (i.e. most of the people can't
afford the commercially raised meat, etc.).
Although soy products are abundant in phytoestrogens, research has
shown that their content in soy products vary substantially. And
bioavailability varies considerably depending on absorption and
intestinal degradation, and possible gender differences in
metabolism. One would have to be eating enormous amounts of soy
products to have any substantial impact on hormone levels. Research
on diets in Asian countries has been inconclusive and conflicting.
Actually, there are plants which contain sterols, but most are not
active as androgens. Unless you were eating pine bark (source of
androstenedione).
<g>"
Thanks, Elzi.
So there you have it. All we need now is a transdermal pine bark
supplement (BARKoderm). Or maybe Syntrax will make an injectable
(oh, I'm sorry, it's not an injectable, it's just a sterile liquid
packaged in a multi-use vial that *could* be injected).
Alpha Lipoic Acid and Bodyopus
Lyle,
You have made a couple of references lately regarding Alpha Lipoic
Acid as being the most potent glucose disposal agent while on
Bodyopus. I had previously looked into the stuff myself and was
quite impressed. Since Alpha Lipoic Acid "to some extent" mimics
insulin (and not wanting to take the risk of injecting it), I was
wondering if there is any way to find out if it is powerful enough
to be taken after Monday and Tuesday's workouts with a specified
amount and type of carbohydrates to where they could be driven into
the muscles, and the body would reach ketosis on schedule. It would
be nice if this is possible. Thanks!
I think in theory, yes this could work. A couple of years ago, I
heard about bodybuilders on the Bodyopus diet who were taking in
lots of post-workout carbs with insulin. The idea was to push lots
of carbs into the muscle AND re-establish ketosis at the same time.
Of course, the key is to find the right amount of carbs and insulin
to accomplish this goal. I'd imagine it would help to limit
post-workout catabolism, by lowering cortisol and raising insulin.
Then you get whatever anti-catabolic effects of ketosis by
re-establishing ketosis.
If you look back in the archives, someone asked me about using
lipoic acid to help establish ketosis on Mon-Tue and commented that
they were going hypoglycemic. My guess as to the reason was that the
lipoic acid was *too potent* to use without carbs and I still feel
that way. However, you might be able to take some lipoic acid with
carbs right after workout and mimic the effects of using insulin
that I described above. The only thing to work out (and this will
simply be a trial and error issue) is dosages of each. Depending on
training volume, I'd think 50-100 grams of carbs with some protein
right after workout to be about right. So what you'd need to do is
this:
- Right after workout check your level of ketosis with
Ketostix
- Consume your carbs/protein and lipoic acid
- Check for levels of ketosis every couple of hours afterwards
to see if you are kicked out and, if you are kicked out, when
you drop back into ketosis
Your best bet I think is to keep carbs/protein constant and
experiment with different doses of lipoic acid, starting low and
working up, until you find the amount of lipoic acid, that gets you
back into ketosis quickly *without* making you go hypoglycemic
(you'll get really fatigued, you might sweat and get the shakes,
those are the most common symptoms of true hypoglycemia).
Good luck.
DNP
Lyle,
What’s your opinion on DNP nowadays? I remember reading about
your experience somewhere on the web and I was just curious as to
what you think of it now.
My basic feeling is that DNP should be used only for very specific
situations such as:
- A bodybuilder getting ready for a contest, where
*maintenance* of a given level of bodyfat isn't necessarily the
goal
- Extreme, extreme obesity where (where the risk of remaining
obese is higher than the risk of the treatment) one has to take
off as much fat as possible in a minimum amount of time. In the
situation of extreme obesity, exercise is usually out of the
question, and even extreme dieting only works so well.
In both of these cases, I could see a *potential* use for DNP.
Outside of that, I think it's better to establish proper diet and
exercise habits, especially considering the generally odious nature
of DNP's side effects.
I did a week of 500mg per day at a bodyweight of 235 or so and
lost like 5lbs of fat, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t accomplish
without an extra 2 weeks of dieting.......
Exactly. Again, if you've got a contest coming up and you're way
behind on your diet, that kind of fat loss might be useful. But it's
usually nothing that can't be done with a couple extra weeks of
'normal' dieting.
I’m just hesitant to think that anything that will make u lose
that much fat in a week could be healthy, although I have a hard
time believing 3.5 grams could actually do any serious damage to you
over the course of seven days.... not so sure about repeated
exposure though. It doesn’t seem like something someone should use
every summer when they feel like getting lean.
I agree. As with anything that extreme, long-term use is probably
not gonna be terribly healthy.
Alcohol on CKD
Hi Lyle,
I'm wondering what kind of effect alcohol has on a CKD. I've
poured extensively over all your diaries, the newsgroups, etc. and
haven't been able to find ANYTHING at all. So I thought I'd go right
to the source. Will having a couple beers in the middle of the week
kick you out of ketosis? What about hard alcohol? I've heard that
alcohol is like a simple sugar, so I've stayed away from it on my
CKD’s. But what's the real story?
I can't remember if I answered this one already (and I've got a
related, but more serious sitting in my queue box) so I'll take
another whack at it.
If anything, alcohol tends to deepen, not disrupt ketosis (this
would of course assume there weren't any normal sugars present in
the alcohol). In fact, there is a condition called alcoholic
ketoacidosis which is potentially dangerous. It typically occurs in
individuals who aren't eating any food (hence, eating no
carbohydrates, hence liver glycogen becomes depleted, hence ketosis
is established) but drinking heavily. Alcohol affects liver
metabolism (it affects redox state and the ratio of NADH/NAD+) such
that more ketones are produced when alcohol is consumed. In the case
of alcoholic ketoacidosis, this causes problems with acidosis, etc.
They are typically treated by feeding the person carb which
de-establishes ketosis.
Also, even though alcohol is technically a carbohydrate, it is
metabolized differently than other carbs, being converted to
triglyceride in the liver. I would expect that alcohol conversion to
TG in the liver also has an impact on ketone production.
So to answer your question, alcohol shouldn't kick you out of
ketosis (and that I'm aware of there is no distinction between beer
and hard liquor in the literature on alcoholic ketoacidosis), but
will make it deeper.
Two final things:
- Calories as alcohol are burned in preference to all other
macronutrients, so alcohol use will tend to detract from fat
loss.
- Anecdotally, several people have reported that they get
drunk faster when they are in ketosis, than when they are not.
So use caution.
Oh yeah, as to the question which is sitting in my queue (that IM
still looking for an answer to), it has to do with whether ketosis
can falsely trigger a positive test on a Breathalyzer. When I find
an answer, I will post it to Mesomorphosis as well as responding to
the asker personally.
Bodyopus and Duchaine's Book
Dear Mr. McDonald,
I need help! Basically I function best ( feel mentally sharp,
have great energy etc etc ) when I am on a ketogenic diet. I try and
cycle about half an hour per day or slightly longer and I work at
present as a painter. My LBM is 132 and I am about 5ft 11 inches. I
simply want to get my body fat down to about 10-12 %. Can you point
in the direction and has your book on ketogenic diets been published
yet.. and if so by whom.
Well, there's no much I can give in terms of an answer here. My
basic rules for fat loss that I've posted in previous Q&A's still
basically apply to a keto diet. They are:
- Moderate caloric deficit: 10-20% below maintenance, or just
use 12-13 cal/lb. current total bodyweight as a starting point
and adjust based on changes in bodyfat level.
- Adequate dietary protein: arguably the single most critical
aspect of any diet, because insufficient protein will allow
muscle loss to occur. For a keto diet, anywhere from 0.8-1.0
g/lb. should be about right. For some people, too much protein
kicks them out of ketosis. One person has reported that less
protein allows him to lose more fat. Go figure.
- The rest of the diet is dietary fat (ok, figure 10 grams/day
of carbs).
Information on carb-up stuff can be found in
my article on Mesomorphosis.
As to the book, I sent the final proof to the printer Jan 7th (with
45 corrected pages, aarrrgggghhhh!!!) and should get the books back
in 3-4 weeks. They will be
available here on Mesomorphosis and one of these days I'll get
some ad copy written up.
Advice on Fat Loss
Dear Lyle:
My name is Rick and I would like to first thank you for having a
great web site with plenty of useful and "needed" information. My
dilemma. I am about 250 at 5'11, with about 38% body fat. I need to
drop at least 60 pounds because I am going to Naval Officer
Candidate School next Summer. needless to say I am in trouble. I was
told to try the Bodyopus diet, and to work on cardio (running)
Monday through Friday. What do you think? Is it a lost cause? What
fat burning supplement are out there that really do work?
Ok, let's do some math. As I'm sitting here writing this, it is Jan
11th (sorry for the delay) and you've got 6 months to
lose 60 lbs. (assuming you haven't lost any already). that's 10
lbs./month or roughly 2.5 lbs./week. As a general rule, I'd say it's
a lost cause but individuals carrying more bodyfat tend to lose more
quickly than leaner individuals so you might be able to pull this
off. If you worked at fat loss the last 2 months of 1998, you should
be in an even better place.
Basically, the same rules that I suggested to the last question are
what I'd recommend, a moderate caloric deficit, sufficient protein,
the rest fat. While cardio is good, too much can hinder, not help
fat loss. 5 days/week might be pushing it but you can try it at
first.
Some other strategies to consider are:
- Carb-up only other weekend: Anecdotally, people lose more
fat when they do this than when they carb every weekend.
- Weight train: of course, this is important to avoid losing
muscle mass
- Interval training: basically, sprint training. A couple of
studies have shown profoundly greater fat loss with intervals
compared to normal cardio. They'll also improve your fitness
level for Naval Officer Candidate School as well. What I'd
probably suggest is normal cardio 2-3 days per week and
intervals 3-2 days per week (meaning that if you do intervals 3
times/week, do normal cardio twice per week and vice versa). You
should always warm-up for 3-5' at a low intensity prior to
interval training. Then, you should alternate periods (anywhere
from 30-90 seconds) of very high-intensity activity (start at a
moderate level and gradually increase intensity until you are
working near your maximum) with periods (again, 30-90 seconds)
of low-intensity activity to recovery. Anywhere from 5-10
intervals can be done and I'd suggest you start with 2-3 and
increase gradually.
AS far as fat loss supplements, probably the best is the ECA
stack of ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin. There should be tons of
questions in the archives (also see Bryan Haycock's
article on beta-adrenoreceptors) about ECA but typical dose is
20 mg ephedrine, 200 mg caffeine and 81 mg aspirin taken three times
per day. ECA is a stimulant and most people start with one dose for
a few days before adding the second and third dose.
Good luck.
Clenbuterol versus Ripped Fuel
I am an 18 year old student, and have been working out pretty
hard for a year and a half. My body has become pretty solid, but is
lacking definition. I have used both ripped fuel, and creatine. I
have heard that clenbuterol would be an ideal supplement for me to
use. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me the pro's and
con's of it's use, and in what manner it should be taken if I had
the supplement in pill form. Thanks for your time.
The pros of clenbuterol:
- Less side effects than ECA
- Appears to cause greater fat loss than ECA in the same time
period
- May be anabolic (muscle building) but this is highly
debatable in humans, may only occur in animals
The cons of clenbuterol:
- Harder to get than ECA
- Stops working in 2 weeks
The second con of clenbuterol is the biggest reason I'm not a big
fan. Even if it works stunningly with less side effects than ECA, it
typically only works for a couple of weeks at a time (this has to do
with downregulation of the beta-2 receptor, see
Bryan Haycock's article here on Mesomorphosis). I think
clenbuterol is best for bodybuilders getting ready for a show since
it's use will be relatively shorter term. For someone looking at
longer term dieting, I think ECA is the better choice.
Thermogenics While on the CKD
I was just wondering about the addition of thermogenics like
the ECA stack or Yohimbine while on the CKD. Will they help increase
fat loss or are they unnecessary?
I think they will be beneficial. Outside of possible fatty acid
mobilizing effects of ECA, they most definitely increase
thermogenesis, meaning that more calories are burned per unit time.
Additionally, some research suggests that they prevent the drop in
metabolic rate that occurs on a diet. Of course, most ECA studies
have been done with very-low-calorie diets (800 cal/day or below) so
they may have limited applicability to a more moderate caloric
deficit. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that ECA certainly
helps on a CKD.
Since Yohimbine helps with fat mobilization I figure that it will
improve fat reduction in some of those trouble spots. Are there any
dangers with adding these compounds to this type of diet.
Only one that I can think of. Low carb diets tend to increase levels
of the catecholamine hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline, the
fight or flight hormones) in and of themselves. ECA and yohimbe work
through similar mechanisms. This means that the *potential* impact
of both might be greater, especially in terms of side effects (heart
rate and blood pressure). Speaking from experience, I tend to get
edgy (even edgier than normal) on a CKD, but ECA makes it that much
worse. I'm a downright asshole to be around (people on the lowcarb-l
list can vouch). So if you're sensitive to the effects of a keto
diet in terms of mood (or heart rate/blood pressure), the addition
of ECA or yohimbe can tend to make it worse.
I have used these substances before but never on the CKD. I am
also curious about alcohol consumption. I am not talking about beer
or mixed drinks but a distilled alcohol. I know alcohol can cause
drops in testosterone and catabolism but how it is metabolized? Is
it converted into glycogen or not? Any information would be
appreciated.
I answered this in another question in this update. Alcohol will
tend to deepen ketosis by affecting liver metabolism. I don't see
any reason why distilled alcohol would be different than beer or
mixed drinks.
Water Pill
Hi Lyle,
First I would like to say you’re doing a great job. I enjoy
Mesomorphosis site and enjoy reading your Q & A. My question is,
there’s this supplement I bought from GNC, its called: Optibolic.
Its a "Water Pill". On the Label, it says: "Indication: Traditional
Herbal Medicine to help increase the flow of Urine."
Each capsule contains:
Uva Ursi Leaf 200mg
Buchu Leaf 100mg
does this product work to remove water from under the skin? is it
like the drug Lasix? could you please tell me whether it is a good
diuretic or not.
Uva ursi and buchu leaves are both herbal diuretics (another that
has good effects is dandelion root). Most diuretics (and this
includes the hardcore stuff like Lasix, Aldactone, etc) work by
stimulating the kidney to produce more urine, causing water to be
lost. This simply causes an overall shift in water metabolism to
maintain body water balance.
The unfortunate reality is that while water may be pulled from under
the skin (good for appearance), water can also be pulled out of the
muscle (bad for appearance since it makes you look flat). However,
the herbal diuretics are nowhere near as potent as Lasix or any of
the drug diuretics. So I'd be surprised if someone had similar
negative effects. And, yes, they do work.
CKD and Thyroid Disassociation
I've heard it mentioned a few times that thyroid levels and
metabolism seem to disassociate on a ketogenic eating plan. Do you
know if this is accurate or not? If so, do you have any idea what
the mechanism is for the eventual downgrade in metabolism on a CKD.
In the world of bodybuilding (and a lot of dieting literature), it
has become common to blame the drop in metabolic rate on levels of
circulating thyroid hormone and nothing else (see for example the
current rash of thyroid supporting products, containing stuff like
soy protein and brown guggul, both of which affect T4, thyroxine,
but probably have little impact on T3, triiodothyronine which is the
more active hormone).
This is a very reductive way of looking at metabolic rate. At the
very least, I can think of three major factors which govern
metabolic rate (and I'm sure there are others): thryoid hormone,
catecholamine levels, and possibly leptin (which I haven't read much
on at this point in time, which is why I said 'possibly').
I'm aware of at least two or three studies on keto diets showing no
change in oxygen uptake (an indicator) of metabolic rate despite a
large drop in thyroid hormones. In one of those, individuals were
studied for a period of 4 weeks on a maintenance calorie keto diet
(no carb-ups of course). Over that timer period, thyroid dropped
considerably, with no change in oxygen uptake, suggesting the
dissociation between thyroid and metabolic rate that you have seen
discussed.
Here's something to consider, several studies of
very-low-calorie-diets (800 cal/day or less) have noted a drop in
metabolic rate within ONE-day of starting the diet. Of course, this
is far before thyroid hormones start to drop, suggesting that the
thyroid explanation of metabolic rate is incomplete.
Another obvious factor in the drop in metabolic rate is a loss of
lean body mass as well as total body mass. What people sometimes
forget is that basal metabolic rate is higher for heavier
individuals (not all studies show this of course). As well, heavier
individuals burn more calories during exercise (especially stuff
like walking where you're supporting your body weight). So simply
losing bodyweight causes a drop in metabolic rate. In fact, the drop
in metabolic rate on very low calorie diets typically shows a
pattern of a rapid drop (see above paragraph, from a drop in
thermogenesis) than a more-gradual decrease (which correlates with
the loss of lean body mass).
This is where we have to get into a discussion of thermogenesis and
catecholamines. Thermogenesis refers generally to the burning of
calories to make heat. The ECA stack stimulates thermogenesis,
eating typically raises metabolic rate via thermogenesis, shivering
when you're cold is another type of thermogenesis.
In any event, studies show that extreme calorie deficits cause a
rapid drop in thermogenesis (and I think a decrease in calories
burned during exercise although I won't swear by it, have to go dig
through my research piles), far before thyroid hormone is affected.
This is most likely mediated via changes in catecholamine levels
(studies usually measure something like noradrenaline excretion,
which typically goes down during a diet, signifying that less is
being produced). I think this is a big part of why the ECA stack
works so well on a diet, since some studies show that it prevents
the drop in thermogenesis that normally occurs. Additionally, as I
mentioned in the last question, levels of catecholamines go *up* on
a keto diet. I might speculate that the increase in catecholamine
levels stimulates thermogenesis and makes up for any drop in
metabolic rate from decreased thyroid.
So, to finally answer your question, while thyroid may play a small
role in metabolic rate on a keto diet (or any diet for that matter),
I'm more inclined to think that changes in thermogenesis (mediated
by the catecholamines) and changes in body weight.
Whew.
Weight Loss and Toning Up
Mr. McDonald,
Over the last three years I have been quite serious about
losing weight and have managed to lose around eighty pounds. Right
now I weight one-hundred seventy-five and cannot seem to tone up no
matter what I do, or what kind of supplements I take. I have
discussed this with a couple doctors and I try what they say but not
much works. Right now I am running forty-five minutes (three miles)
almost daily, also lifting full time. If you could give me any hints
as to what I am doing wrong, or what I should be doing I would
appreciate it greatly.
When most people use the term 'tone up', they mean a situation where
the following conditions exist:
- There is sufficient muscle mass to make the area in question
look firm
- There is not so much bodyfat to obscure what the muscle
looks like
To better understand what I'm mumbling about, let's look at two
major extremes:
- Marathon runners: these athletes are typically extremely
lean (an elite runner may maintain a bodyfat of 4-5%) yet don't
look particularly 'toned' by most people's definition. This has
to do with a lack of muscle mass.
- Super heavy weight Olympic or Powerlifters: this should get
me some hate mail but, on average, athletes in the super heavy
weight category of any athlete carry a fair amount of fat. So
even though this athletes have a *ton* of muscle, they still
don't look 'toned' by most people's standards because the muscle
is obscured by fat
So we're ultimately looking at a goal of adequate muscle mass AND
sufficiently low bodyfat to show off that muscle. You didn't state
your current bodyfat level but that is one place to look. For men to
appear 'toned', they'd probably have to get their bodyfat level to
the low teens. Abs generally won't start to come in until they reach
below 10% bodyfat (my abs don't show up even at 8% bodyfat). For
women to appear 'toned', I'd guess bodyfat would need to be in the
mid-high teens or so. For legs to get particularly defined generally
requires lower bodyfat levels.
The second thing to look at is whether you've put on much muscle
mass while you dieted down. After the initial stages, it's generally
rare to gain a lot of muscle while dieting. So you may simply need
to put on some muscle. I'm not sure what you mean by lifting weights
'full-time' but I'll assume a daily, or nearly-so weight training
program.
In my opinion, this is more of a problem than a boon. That is, I've
watched lots of people train every day and make very little
progress. They invariably do better if they cut back their weight
training program (in terms of muscle gain). IMO, if you can't gain
muscle on 3-4 days/week in the gym (an hour max weight training),
you're not gonna gain by doing more, and you'll probably gain doing
less. Try cutting your weight training back to 3-4 days/week maximum
(each bodypart hit no more than once every 4-7 days), no more than
4-6 sets/bodypart (and less is better for some people), moderate
reps (6-12 is the usual recommendation but you can experiment with
lower and higher reps).
Your focus should be on increasing the weight on the bar. When you
can get your goal reps (say 12) in perfect form, add a few pounds to
the bar. The key to adding muscle mass, despite the confusing crap
that is written in most magazines, is progressive overload. So if
you want to put on muscle mass, you have to add weight to the bar to
continue to challenge the muscle and make it get bigger.
Good luck.
Belts
Hi, I am 16 and work out. I use a belt for support but I’m not
sure which exercises to use with it. Please tell me. Thank you.
Wow, a non-nutrition question. I am flush and heady.
That main reason that most people in the gym wear a belt is as a
fashion statement (makes the waist look narrower for men, just looks
damn cute for a woman to be wearing a little pink Valeo belt while
she's doing lateral raises with the 5-lb dumbbells).
Sarcasm aside, from a practical standpoint, there aren't any
exercises which you truly *need* to wear a belt on although there
are some where it can be helpful. The belt's main purpose (at least
it's ostensible purpose) is to support the low back. In this regard,
it raises something called intra-abdominal pressurer (IAP) which
represents the amount of pressure built up in the abdominal cavity.
IAP supports the spine and helps to prevent the low back from
rounding or being otherwise moved out of it's normal anatomical
position. The times that this might occur are when direct
compressive stress is applied to the spine (as in overhead lifting
or squats and deadlifts). While some powerlifters like to wear belts
for a bench press, I can't honestly see the point, since there is no
direct stress on the low back during this movement.
But, let's look at what else can accomplish this vital role. The two
major muscles (and there are others) which help to generate IAP are
the abdominals and the low-back muscles. By properly strengthening
the low back and abs, a belt becomes generally unnecessary. I
personally prefer that individuals don't use a belt for the most
part, I would rather them strengthen the abs and low back.
For what it's worth, I've watched my training partner squat 400+
lbs. without a belt and Olympic lifters regularly squat this much
and more without a belt. So when I see Joe Gym-rat belting up for a
set at 135 lbs., I'm not terribly impressed. I think the best times
to use a belt are:
- For truly near limit lifts. That is, if you’re doing a
maximal single, or are lifting *huge* weights in the squat,
deadlift or overhead press, I can see the purpose of a belt.
Other than that, you don't really need one.
- As a cue to keep your back tight. A loosely worn belt can
signal some lifters to keep their abs tight and low back flat
(really, slightly arched) during a lift to maintain spinal
safety. Special thanks to Dr. Mel Siff for this idea.
Dieting for the Long Term
Lyle,
Great work on the Mesomorphosis page, and from the old
Cyberpump stuff too.
I am not sure if you are answering this type of question, but I am
having trouble controlling my bodyfat percentage, and I am getting
kind of desperate. I am a hobby weightlifter who at 25 years and 195
lbs., has resigned myself to stay under 200 lbs., for purposes of
overall long-term health. I have been training heavy for the last
three years (I recently got a 1200 lbs. three lift total in a gym
meet), and I consider myself to be in good cardiovascular shape. My
problem is that my family is almost all obese, and I have really
struggled to get my bodyfat down to 15%.
In the past, I have eaten like I trained: instinctively. But as I
have crept close to that 200 mark, I have tried to force a change in
body composition, 1st by a low-fat diet, and more recently by
cutting extra carbs. But, I have discovered that after about 2 weeks
of reduced calories, I sustain a muscle injury. This has happened on
four occasions in the last eighteen months (rhomboid, low-back,
shoulder, hamstring) , and I have become hesitant to do any more
dieting, because if I have to quit lifting, I will lose my sanity.
I find this odd, that you'd get injured during your diet. I can't
really see any specific reason that this would occur but obviously
it is to you. One thing that comes to mind is that insufficient
mineral intake might be causing muscle cramps or pulls while you're
dieting. Other than that, I can't see any reason for this to occur.
It might also signal that you need to back off your lifting
intensity a bit while you're dieting to avoid injuring yourself
again.
I am assuming that a big part of my problem is that I am a hack
at this, and probably need some help. Would you recommend a
particular book for long-term diet strategies (i.e. not a short-term
diet like CKD or Bodyopus) or would you recommend that I see a
nutritionist or diet counselor to help me achieve my goals?
That I can think of, there aren't a lot of books on long-term
dietary strategies out there (although
Duchaine's Bodyopus gets into maintenance a little bit). most
are either explicitly aimed at fat loss or at muscle gain, not
maintenance.
Ultimately, I think a good maintenance diet should achieve several
things.
First and foremost, caloric intake has to match caloric expenditure.
This is ultimately sort of the key to maintaining bodyfat/bodyweight
levels at a stable place, by matching calories. Within this context,
there is a lot of leeway in terms of dietary choices.
I would say that in general, most people (and there are some genetic
defects in this regard) tend to maintain bodyweight at a more or
less stable level for the most part with changes in bodyfat/weight
occurring over a long period of time. To a great degree, the body
will regulate appetite in this regard (again, there are some defects
in this). However, this is predicated on eating when hungry, and not
for other reasons (i.e. psychological or social reasons). If you pay
attention to little children, they tend to eat when hungry and not
eat when not-hungry. But as we get older, we tend to eat for reasons
other than true hunger, because it's 'lunch-time', or because we are
sad, or at party, etc. So a big part of maintaining current
bodyfat/weight levels is to 'listen to your hunger'. When a hunger
pang hits, wait 5-10', if it goes away it wasn't true physiological
hunger, if it doesn't, it's your body telling you that it needs
food. An alternate strategy is to eat lots of small meals throughout
the day (called a grazing diet in some literature) as that tends to
keep hunger on an even keel and maintain blood glucose levels more
stable.
The second component of a maintenance diet is that it should be
nutritionally adequate. The food pyramid is roughly ok for this. As
a lifter, you'll need more protein (and probably less carbs) than
the pyramid recommends but it's a good starting point. Fruits and
vegetables are probably the most overlooked facet of a good diet
(I'll admit I'm not as good as I should be).
One of the best strategies I've found to help regulate food intake
is to get a mix of nutrients (fat, protein, carbs, fiber at each
meal). Although this goes against the common dogma to reduce dietary
fat, I've found that many individuals are hungrier if fat intake is
too low, then with a more moderate fat intake. Even if the increased
fat intake means more calories, it may mean less total calories in
the long run if it keeps appetite at bay. There aren't any hard and
fast rules but I'd consider a good maintenance diet to be about
50-55% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat or so. You may need to play
with the ratios a bit, but as long as you ensure sufficient dietary
fat, protein and carbs (don't forget fibrous stuff like veggies as
fiber slows digestion and helps blunt hunger) at each meal, your
appetite should more or less regulate itself.
Also, is it reasonable to expect that a person can maintain a
Bodyfat percentage long-term that is significantly lower than what
the genetic pre-disposition might direct? In the end, how much
control can a person have in the long-term if they have a poor
genetic make-up for staying both lean and strong/fit.
Ah, now we get into the set-point theory of bodyweight/bodyfat. In
it's simplest term, this theory states that individuals have a
genetic set-point that their bodyweight/bodyfat will attempt to
achieve. Invariably studies are cited which show that post-obese (a
term referring to previously obese individuals who have lost fat)
have a lowered metabolic rate both relative to their previous weight
as well as to a non-previously obese individual at the same weight
(that is, if you dieted from 200 lbs. to 170 lbs., you'd have a
lower metabolic rate than someone who normally weighed 170 lbs.).
Thus, post-obese individuals are more prone to regain bodyweight,
usually to their previous bodyweight/bodyfat level.
And this is true if you look at studies which use diet only as the
main method of weight loss (i.e. no exercise). When you look at
exercise studies, as long as the caloric deficit isn't too severe,
metabolic rate is generally not decreased (except due to a lowering
of bodyweight, see the question about thyroid and CKD in this
update).
My feeling is that the body gets used to it's 'habitual' level of
bodyfat, but that there isn't much of a 'set-point'. If this were
the case, then NO-ONE could ever lose fat and keep it off, because
the body would fight back to it's previous weight level. Yet,
individuals do it. And how, you ask, do they do it? Generally, it is
with some combination of dietary changes and exercise.
However, the key to maintaining a given level of bodyfat/bodyweight
is that the strategies that you got you there in the first place be
maintained in the long term. This is why I generally dislike rapid
weight-loss approaches (starvation diets, excessive amounts of
exercise). Because, by definition, they can't be maintained in the
long-term. However, if someone makes dietary changes and adds 3-4
days of exercise to their regimen, they are more likely to maintain
that level of activity/dietary change in the long-term. And they
will be more-likely to maintain that fat loss.
So to summarize a bunch of boring paragraphs, I do think it's
reasonable to maintain a given level of bodyfat, but with the caveat
that you keep doing whatever it was that got you to that bodyfat
level in the first place. So, if you wanna do 10 hours/week of
aerobics to lose fat, you had better be prepared to continue doing
10 hours/week of aerobics to maintain that bodyfat level.
Hope that helps, good luck. |
