This is exactly what I do on my Saturdays. Granted, there might be some manipulation of the schedule due to work, but this whole thing is based on my last experience with this diet.

When I wake up in the morning, I will usually have some kind of carbohydrate (Fructose) before I go to the gym. Either an apple or something like a soda drink. This will be between 100 and 200 calories. This meal is usually at around 10 O'clock in the morning or so (I like to sleep in). One thing I like about doing my depletion workout at this time on Saturday is because after it, I will start the carb-up and not have to worry about the quality of fat I had for the day earlier. Since my last fat/protein meal was on Friday night, I don't have to worry about the whole insulin sensitivity thing as much. Meaning, most people who do this diet will be eating a lot of saturated fat, and we all know that mixing this fat with high GI carbs isn't the best of things to do. Therefore, when I wake up on Saturday, I take in my 100-200 calories of carbs and go to the gym about an hour and a half later. EASY.

When I get to the gym, I will now start my whole body depletion workout. The whole point of this workout is to deplete the muscles and liver of their glycogen as far as possible to create the condition known as "supercompensation" for the carb-up. Although most people may be able to get away with just training certain parts of the body for compensation, I have always had better results with the whole body workout. The workout is by no means supposed to stress the muscles in any way. I use the same kind of set-up as I did for my Monday and Tuesday after cycle sets. I will do a circuit type set that hits all the muscles. Each exercise will consist of 18-25 reps each with a 1 minute rest in between exercises. This is what my typical plan looks like:

1. Leg press: (20 reps) Not to failure!!!
**rest 1 minute

2. D-bell flyes (flat bench)
**REST 1 MINUTE

3. CLOSE GRIP CABLE ROWS
**REST 1 MINUTE

4. D-BELL SHOULDER PRESS
**REST 1 MINUTE

5. TRICEPS CABLE EXTENSIONS/PUSHDOWNS
**REST 1 MINUTE

6. BARBELL CURLS
**REST 1 MINUTE

7. STANDING CALVE RAISES
**REST 1 MINUTE

8. CLOSE GRIP CABLE PULLDOWNS TO CHEST
**REST 1 MINUTE

9. D-BELL SHRUGS
**REST 1 MINUTE

10. INCLINE D-BELL PRESS

11. DECLINE TWISTING CRUNCHES (OR WHATEVER THEIR CALLED).
**REST 1 MINUTE.

12. SITTING CALVE MACHINE
**REST 1 MINUTE

13. LEG PULL-INS OFF BENCH FOR LOWER ABS
**REST 1 MINUTE

14. HYPEREXTENSIONS
***REST 3-5 MINUTES AND REPEAT CYCLE.

***This seems like a lot of exercises but remember, some muscles will reach depletion faster than others. Therefore, after about 2 sets, the number of exercises may decrease considerably. Usually this will be the smaller exercises like calves, arms and shoulders. chest and back will probably take a little longer to deplete. This will also depend on how depleted the muscles are prior to this workout. Sometimes I may get away with only 2 circuit sets, and some days it may take up to 5 sets for some muscles. This will vary. I may also add some leg extensions and leg curls to the sets, but I have to be careful not to overtrain the legs because of the cardio that was done during the week. I usually do a 20 minute cardio session after my last circuit set to further deplete the liver of any glycogen.

***How do you know when your muscles reach depletion? This has been covered many times by various members as well as by Lyle and Duchaine. "You just know". Your muscles will just give out. At this point, there is no need to work this muscle group any further.

***If for some reason you get nauseous during the workout, which is fairly easy to do, slow things down and take a longer break between sets. Your blood is simply becomming to acidic, which means you will puke if no proper time between sets is given. I like to keep this workout aerobic (hence: "circuit training set"), but it does not necessarily mean that it will quicken your muscles to depletion with less rest between sets. Again, I stress that this workout should not be done to failure with the exercises. You want to keep muscle soreness down to somewhat of a minimum. This will also help with the carb-up, and make it more efficient. I'm sure others have gotten great results with working out heavy, but I do not. Plus I get a better fat burning effect with the higher reps (not counting the quicker depletion of glycogen I get too). You do not want to head back into Monday's workout feeling sore.

People make this workout harder than it is supposed to be. Like I said, my primary function of this workout is to deplete glycogen levels to extreme levels. At the end of the sets, I hardly ever get sick because its not like i am really pushing myself hard. Yes, you might look like a sissy with the light weight, but this should not be looked down on. Trying to impress other members in the gym will only hurt your progress. After all, you will not be able to lift real heavy anyway so don't be a show off. Accept the fact that you will look depleted and PUNY. After the carb-up, you will be full again anyway (or somewhat full depending on the length of time). This workout takes me around 2 hours to do. Long YES, hard NO!!!

I am gonna stop here because I need some time to figure out my carb-up numbers. Plus, I do not want to have to write what I just did again because of some computer "shut-off". I will add to this using the "edit" fuction. Later,
MR. BMJ

**SUPPLEMENTS UP TO THE WORKOUT:
I cut out the thermogenic stack, except for the Yohimbine. Yes, this supplement will become useless once the carb-up starts, but its effects make a difference until then. Also, this is the only dose of it that will be taken. After the workout, it will be discontinued because of the increased insulin levels brought upon by the carb-up, which will render it useless.

***SUPPLEMENT USE AFTER THE WORKOUT:
This will be covered with each meal I do. To make it short, it will be chromium and magnesium. I do not take ALA during the carb-up. I wait to take the ALA for its effects on glycogen depletion on Sunday after my last carb meal (as stated in day one/monday's post). I also will take HCA for its hunger negating effect. I have found that the HCA controls my hunger and keeps me from eating over my allowance. This supplemnt is still up to debate on its other effects, so I will not delve into them. It does seem to make me a little "tighter" though. This is something in which every one will have to experience with and find out if it works for them or not.

BEGINNING OF CARB-UP: After my workout, my carb-up will begin directly after it. When I get home, I will have my first carb-up meal which is usually around 2:00pm in the afternoon. For the first 24 hours, I will set my calorie intake to:

10 X My bodyweight in Kg's.

For example, 180 divided by 2.2 = 81.8 Kg.

81.8 Kg. X 10 = 818 grams of carbs for the 1st 24 hours of the carb-up. This will be distributed as follows:

MEALS 1-3: These are quick digesting/High GI liquid carbs and proteins. This can be grape juice, dextrose powder, or Ultra fuel drinks etc. I like Ultra fuel for my liquids because it is easier for me to calculate there calories. I will try to take in 10-15 grams of whey protein with these meals, but I do not stress-out if I do not include them. It is debateful on whether or not the protein will interfere with the digestion rate of the carbs (in short). I take in 1.5 X my bodyweight in Kg's for each meal. Therefore it looks like this:

1.5 X 81.8 Kg. = ~122.7 grams of carbs for each of the 1st three meals.

MEAL #1 (2:00 PM): 20 OZ ULTRA FUEL 10-15 GRAMS OF WHEY AND WATER. Chromium and magnesium.

MEAL #2 (4:00 PM): Same as meals #1.

MEAL #3 (6:00 PM): Same as meals 1 and 2.

***Notes: Since we are taking advantage of our insulin and other growth hormones at this time, the meals will start out having more calories and work their way down as the carb-up progresses. Also, The GI of the carbs ingested will decrease also.

MEALS 4 AND 5: Again, your hormonal state will allow you to take in supra-amounts of carbs and get away with it. I usually switch to a high GI solid food like jelly beans for these meals. You can get away with liquids still, but I get tired of them after about 3 meals. Anyway, Jelly beans are slightly lower on the GI list but still relatively high (114 or 80 depending on which chart you use). For these 2 meals I take in 1.0 grams X 81.8 kg = ~80 grams of carbs for each meal. The protein is the same, and I still haven't added fat as well (which I seemed to have forgot to mention) because I do not want it to effect the digestion rates of my carbs. I don't have the calorie values for jelly beans right here in front of me so just figure the amount in with the equation above. Here is what they look like:

MEAL #4 (8:00 PM): Jelly beans and whey protein. Chromium and Magnesium.

MEAL #5 (10 PM): Same as meal #4.

NOTES: As you can see, I have opted to eat every 2 hours up to this point, but this will change after the next meal.

MEAL #6 (12 am/midnight): This is actually where Sunday begins (obviously), but I will keep it here on Saturday since it is my last meal until the morning. Like I just said, this is my last meal of the night. I have woken up every 2 hours like directed in BodyOpus, but I am not a wake-up/Go back to sleep kind of guy. Does it give better results? Yes, I think it does, but not really by much to make a fuss about. Plus, after eating all these carbs, you will be tired as hell anyway and want to sleep all day/night. Therefore, to make sure that my muscles are being fed with a constant amount of glucose and amino acids through the night while I am asleep, this is where I add my fat, more protein, and slower digesting (lower GI) carbs. Also, I will increase the calorie amount back up to 1.5 gm per kg of bodyweight since it will be awhile until I eat again. This is what I eat:

MEAL #6: 2-2.5 cups of corn flakes, 2 cups skim milk, 1-2 Tablespoons of Adam's All Natural Peanut Butter, and 3 scoops of Whey protein (~30 grams or so). I also take my chromium and magnesium.

***NOTE: It just occured to me that I have not mentioned water intake. I try to take in a cup of water per meal, or there abouts.

***NOTE #2: I also forgot about Creatine intake. Dammnit!!! Anyway, I usually take in 2-5 grams of creatine with each of my meals during the carb-up.

***NOTE #3: About the GI list. I know it is not the most accurate thing in the world, but it is the best we got, so deal with it, and learn to use it and understand its weaknesses and strengths.

SATURDAY CONCLUSIONS: I have probably forgot to mention a lot of things, as well as explain certain reasons why I do the things I do so I will add anything that comes to mind as I go along with Sunday's thread. Again, I give props to both Duchaine and Lyle Mcdonald for giving me a basic understanding of these diets, as well as a good baseline to work from. As you can see, it is a cross between their 2 diets. As you can see, I am doing a 28-30 hour carb-up, which has worked better for me than a longer one. I find that there is less "spill-over" when Monday rolls around. Anyway, I will begin Sunday with Meal #7, etc.
MR. BMJ
1/3/2001
[This message has been edited by MR. BMJ (edited January 03, 2001).]