- Compared to the effects of nutrition and exercise, most supps don't really work or are have only very weak effects
- Don't overcomplicate your exercise routine and don't forget about the basics
- Most people I see really overestimate the power of exercising and underestimate nutrition
Put it to the test, it's quite easy: use an extremely sophisticated routine, the whole split thing taking into account which muscles you workout on which day, doing the muscle tearing special curls, going on a high volume and the perfect rep range, changing routine in order to get the right stimulus, take all the BCAAs you need, all the best protein isolates you want, the cutting edge super turbo test booster, preworkout booster, intraworkout booster and postworkout super intense immediate recovery powder thingy and don't pay attention to what you really eat and when...
And then use a routine, where you do dips, deadlifts, squats, pullups, bench press, shoulder presses. That's it. No matter how, no matter when, as long as you give your body a day of rest after exercising (I'm really not a fan of complicated routine. I love my full body routine, it makes me feel good and it give me good results, what do I want more?!). Do as much volume as you can, take as much weights as you can. And then pay close attention to your nutrition. Fast around 18 hours on rest days and fast on workout days until your exercise begins - and then eat carbs around your exercise time. Take always your protein shake in the morning and after exercising. And before going to bed of course.
I tried it, and the results are dramatical - which led me to the conclusion that nutrition really makes up something like 80% of the success you're having. The rest is a nice training routine. I have to add of course that I'm not a fan of bulking. So what I'm talking about is always either recomp or cutting. I don't see the point in bulking. Putting so much strain on my body and building up huge mass by eating like a pig... It's not an art, it's not elegant, it's really just messy (ok, there are people that can bulk nicely and clean. I have a friend who is doing a fantastic job at it, so it's really just my opinion here!). Call me vain, but being lean just looks damn sexy. So it's really a few simple rules you need to obey:
- Don't overeat if you're not moving on a specific day. Fast and eat before going to bed. If you're hungry, eat fruits and vegetables, protein bread, low-carb protein bars, just anything that won't let your insulin spike. You want to keep that insulin down, your body will thank you. Again, don't eat until you're not hungry anymore. Just eat what you really need! If you're not moving, your body is fine with vegetables, fruits and perhaps some bread, meat etc. You don't need 2000 calories ond days you're not really doing jack!
- On training days overeat around your training. If you're planning to do a heavy strength training, then eat carbs before and after your exercise. Take as well some BCAA and a protein shake after your exercise. I find that gummy bears are lovely and the gelatine is an added bonus. On training days you can overeat after your exercise. If you don't feel comfortable in doing so, then don't. I find that my hunger is the best mate when trying to determine whether I ate too little or too much today.
- Don't eat outside your eating window. Don't, not even fruits. Nada.
- If you react to carbs with bloating and building up weight as quickly as I do, use coconut oil to give you a boost if you're feeling really low on energy - it's the Red Bull for the smart person. I take one spoon, it works wonders. (Read up on coconut oil and why it's so good - google it.)
- Don't use prefabricated preworkout boosters. They are expensive and usually really have everything in it you actually don't want before your exercise. There is a body of evidence showing that you can and should take your creatine before as well as after your workout. However, make sure you take it with something to spike your insulin. Don't just take plain creatine, that's really a waste. (Source: Antonio, J. and Ciccine, C. The effects of pre versus post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. Journal of The International Society of Nutrition10:36, 2013.)
- Build your own preworkout booster, you really only need a few things to give you tht extra boost:
- Beta-Alanine: Great for endurance and as an n.o. booster. I find that 4-6g work best for me. I usually go as high as 8g for a workout, where the pump really gets great.
- L-arginine or arginin alphaketoglutarate: great as a n.o. booster. If you take l-arginine you'll need something to reduce the activity of the enzyme arginase, which will break it down very quickly. 200mg of l-norvaline are great for this purpose. Use aroung 3g of Arginine or AAKG.
-Citrulline malate: again a good n.o. booster. Add it if you want. Citrulline malate has also been shown to be great against muscle waste while dieting, a lot better than l-leucine. L-leucine is great with proteins, but not when lacking a rich protein source. (Source: http://anabolicminds.com/forum/content/citrulline-maintains-muscle-4375/)
- Caffeine: 200mg usually works ok. You don't want to overdo it with caffeine, as it lowers your insuline sensitivity. This will again have a bad impact on the way your body reacts to your post-workout carbs. So keep it only as high as necessary.
During your workout: If you feel like you're low on energy during your workout, use l-leucine to boost your energy. I don't like eating carbs while exercising, it's just unnecessary additional energy (only for really long session, i.e. >60 minutes, it's worth taking additional carbs, you don't need it otherwise). Usually l-leucine does a very good job and won't add calories to my diet.
Right after your workout: carbs, creatine and BCAA. This will make sure you don't enter a catabolic state. Take as well a protein shake. It doesn't really matter when you take these things. You just want to avoid to wait too long, this will make you feel really tired and consumed. Up to one hour after exercising I find is still ok.
BCAA is really expensive. Given that l-leucine really is responsible for most benefits we see in the BCAA, I usually only order l-leucine and that's it. 5-10 grams of l-leucine will really blow your mind. And it costs the same per weight as BCAA, but it's pure l-leucine.
Remember that your caloric intake and your macronutrients will determine how successful your training is. Once you've stimulated your muscles in the gym, it's the rest of the time out of the gym that determines what happens with your body. It's that simple. Cardio is highly overrated again for exactly this reason: The main reason you should do cardio is for your cardiovascular system, to keep it healthy, not to lose weight. You will achieve better resutls by eating clean and doing deadlifts. At least that's my point if view.
Give your central nervous system a break. Overtraining doesn't happen in the muscles, it happens in your nervous system, as it gets overstimulated. Recomping and even more so cutting adds stress to your system. So make sure to give it enough rest. You will see better results (remember, most of the magic happens outside the gym, not in the gym.)
