Calling out for diet and training support.

[Francofranco]

Hey friends Franco here. A little bout myself, 29 5-10 230ish 15%bf. previous cycles have been test-p, winny, dbol, and epi. Been training as a serious athlete for about 10 years but the last 5 years been out of the game trying to maintain and build muscle. At 29 i still respond very well to weights and find it very easy to gain... And not all my gains are lean! So keeping body fat down is a struggle! So my goals before i start another cycle is to get down to at the most 10% bodyfat! So im asking you my peers for any feedback on dieting, training, and any encouragement will be appreciated lol!

Currently workout 5 days a week. Saturdays usually do high intensity curcuit training with weights. Sunday i rest and load up on carbs. My workouts differ from week to week using different specific exercises for each body part. Usually high rep training mostly with low rep training thrown in every so often. Cardio is usually the treadmill( need help here) and MMA 2-3 times a week.

Diet i try to stay away from simple sugars, but my staples are chicken, fish, sweet potatoe, broccli, beans, vegies, protein shakes after workout, ketoburn and daa currently on, oatmeal, shredded wheat, some steak but not often. Weakness are icecream and mexican food. So sundays all day and thurs night are my cheat days lol.

Ok guys and gals hit me up.. Criticize me, comment on my diet... Any feedback is cool i can take it. Honesty is key i think.
-Franco

 

[raze]

All day cheat day throw that idea out the window bro. I'm cutting atm and if I had a whole day to eat whatever I think it would be very counter productive. Foods sounds good, all about getting that calorie intake right.

 

[Francofranco]

Thanks bro! I see what your saying... Ive been checking out the stickys on diet and calorie intake... Trying to make sense of it all and taylor it to myself. Before when i played sports it was so easy to stay in shape... Now im having to educate myself to get to that 10% goal. Well thats great raze, hope your cut goes well! Thanks again for the input! Your comments do raise concern about my cheat meals and calorie intake and i will figure a better approach for that. Its not always easy to cut and the support on here is priceless... Iam here for you raze and everyone busting their ass to attain their BEST!

 

[Labtec70]

Hi Franco

From what I'm reading I'd totally agree with Raze. A cheat day is at this time counterproductive to your goals. By all means have a "cheat snack or small meal" on that day, but a whole day is not going to see you achieve the results you want. More so, when you consider the strict adherence to the low fat diet on the other 6-days.

A couple of extra points:

From a purely physiological point of view, your body will not distinguish between cheat days or other. If it did it would likely consider your rest day's CHO loading as being a cheat day too.
Essentially, it appears that you've got two high calorie CHO days and five lower CHO and high protein days. This equates to nearly 30% of your week's meal intake provided by high CHO and possibly high fat depending on what you're consuming.

Personally, in the absence of a food diary I'd recommend:
1. Either have the rest day high CHO diet or the cheat day, but not both.
2. For even better results, cut out both of them and just incorporate one or two cheat snacks in the week after HIT.
3. Scrutinise your weekly caloric intake and reduce by 1500-3500kcals per week.
4. If you're hardcore, cut out the cheat day and CHO loading days and also increase caloric deficit by 500kcals on other 5/7 days.

Obviously, I can only go on the information you've provided and I may be way off the mark, but I think I can make a reasonable assumption that my recommendation is valid.

Hope you get it worked out soon. Summer's on the way.

Craig

 

[Francofranco]

Thank you. Great information! Im taking notes and tweaking things now in my diet thanks to you and raze... And yes you were right on in your assumptions.
How about cardio? Does 3 times a week sound sufficient? Im switching it up from MMA to treadmill currently.

 

[Labtec70]

Hey Franco

If you're attending to the dietary aspect of training, I see no reason why you can't stick to your current training regimen. You seem to train at a high intensity and for most days of the week as it, and increasing your cardiovascular output could leave you feeling overtrained and burned out when considering the introduction of kcal and nutritional adjustments.

Personally speaking, I'd apply the new dietary strategies and gauge how your body responds over a week or two. If you feel you're tiring too easily you may need to make small incremental adjustments to your calorie intake again. Or...you may need to reduce your CV intensity, frequency, or duration. What I'm saying is, if you decided to increase or ammend your physical activity schedule at the same time as dietary changes, it would be more difficult to judge whether one or the other approach is working or having a detrimental effect. So, make the dietary changes first, then assess the response, then make further dietary or physical activity changes (if applicable or necessary) to suit afterwards.

Best of luck with the training and your upcoming competition.

Craig

 

[Francofranco]

Thanks Craig! Been applying your advice and just in a weeks time of tweaking my diet i have noticed i am feeling much leaner... Even to the point of others noticing my physical differences! Awesome!! One issue i am having, whether its something i have to just overcome mentally but it centers around my energy level. Around mid week Iam feeling a little tired and can still hit the training hard i just feel less full in my muscles and a "lazy" feeling. So far Ive tried lessoning my Volume in sets and still cant kick the weak feeling. I have noticed today being it is my cheat day that after consuming some goodol honeynut cheerios i felt better all day and that lethargic feeling went away. I am still going to keep to my new diet strategy very strictly but since its probably low glycogenic levels what could i do to still keep with my goals and battle my lethargy? Ive tried the karbolyn but makes me retain water. Never tried plain waxy-maize. Maybe eat plenty fruits? what are your thoughts? Well any help is appreciated.

 

[Labtec70]

Hi Franco

If you're muscles are feeling deflated and you're lacking strength and energy, then it is likely to be due to low levels of glycogen in the muscles and also low(er) levels of blood glucose.
So, in the absence of drugs and herbal supplements, there is only so much you can do. Firstly, if it is purely a transitory effect and goes away after a bowl of complex carbs, then that is your answer (bowl of Cheerios). Other solutions below.

1. Slightly increase your low/medium GI carbs to a 400kcal meal every day in the morning. You can probably take a little off your other macro groups (fats/protein) if you're uneasy about the caloric increase.
2. Whenever you feel you're suffering from a hypoglacaemic response consume a piece or two of fruit. E.g. large apple or banana, or small apple and small banana. See how your body reacts energy wise.
3. Analyse your daily carbohydrate consumption for adequate sources of slow burning CHO to ensure steady blood levels of glucose. Also consider the timing of meals and space between sittings.
4. Are you consuming enough fluids? Especially water?
5. Consider lowering intensity of resistance training workouts later in the week and avoid cramming too much CV work in later in the week too.
6. Look at dietary supplementation that will help you power through workouts and CV routines.
7. Ensure you're getting enough rest, especially sleep.
8. Consider caffeine and aspirin stack to maximise fat burning and enhance energy during workout time.

Hope these little titbits will provide some ideas. Hopefully, some other guys who are where you are in training can offer their thoughts.

Best regards,
Craig

 

[Francofranco]

Thanks bro! Im going to fiddle with some things and see how my body responds. I like your advice, very sound! Im going to conquer this and when summer hits ill be posting pics! Again thank you Craig.