Here you go:

TMC’s Diet- Down to a Science

M1. 2 Scoops Muscle Milk, 1Scoop Pro Complex, 1+ tbspoon Udo’s Choice EFA oil

M2. 4-5oz Turkey breast or tuna 4oz. Sweet Potato, 1 tbspoon Peanut Butter

M3. 4-5oz Chicken or Lean Beef, 1-2 cups veggies or salad

M4. 4oz  Turkey breast (maybe few veggies)

M5. 1.5 Scoop Pro Complex, 1 tbspoon Peanut butter, 1+ tbspoon Udo’s Choice EFA oil

M6. TRAINING DAY ONLY 1scoop Muscle Milk

Gallon of ICE COLD water
Supplements Bone-Up, VPX Redline, Multi-Vitamin, and Fish Oil Caps are the only additional supplements.

Cardio Only Day 2000cal  65g fat 103g carb 245g prot
Training Day 2100cal  70g fat 111g carb 260g prot

I’m finding that I’ve lost any and all major cravings for anything else at the moment…..very satisfying diet.  Haven’t so much as thought of having a diet coke or a coffee either, although I’m not purposely denying myself those things.  My body just wants that water, and my caffeine fix is taken care of by the VPX.  (I’m still hooked on my morning, pre-cardio, diet red bull…just a small one though!)

A word about daily fasted morning cardio:

This is going to sound cliche’, because I could have gotten off my ass and done this at anytime if I hadn’t been brainwashed into drinking the “no-cardio kool aid”, but the cardio has been life changing. (Of course, I’m an intelligent, independent thinker so I only have myself to blame).  By the second day, I went from almost 30 years of morning grouchiness to being a morning person.

I obviously have not seen any immediate physique changes, but as far as energy levels, lack of “stiffness”, and mental state, I have seen amzing improvements.  I keep telling myself that I can take a day off on the weekends, but I actually look forward to doing it Saturday and Sunday,  followed by a relaxing “cool down” on my back patio with the weekend morning paper.  Honestly, its been a revelation.

For the people out there harping on the fact they “ARE NOT A MORNING PERSON”, re-read what he just said. 

Here are a couple of pics from this morning upon waking up.

One more day of “Two-a-Day” Cardio and then no more.  Getting to the point where muscle preservation is now most important.

• Maintaining 204 pounds and now about 6.8% body fat.
• Still eating about 10-12 kcals per pound.
• Carbs in the form of Oat Meal, Brown Rice and Veggies and none after 6PM.
• Protein from Chicken and Casein Protein Powder in Oatmeal.
• Fats from EFA Caps and Udo’s Oil
• 8 Minutes of “filtered UV Tanning daily from our good friend Michael Jennings @ Club 1 Tanning in Summerlin. *For any of our Vegas Friends, hit me up for the BEST TANNING DEAL IN VEGAS*
• 1.5 Gallons of Distilled water per day
• Only 3 Days of HIT Training this week (Chest-Triceps-Rectus/Back-Biceps/Obliques|Intercostals/Delts-Legs-Calves)
• Considering some IF(Intermittent Fasting) during the 3 Day Carb Down. (More on that methodology soon)

Hoping to do a daily post from here on out.

Stay tuned.

MIHWCS

THE OVER-RATED ASPECTS OF THE FITNESS INDUSTRY: DAVE’S VIEW ON CARDIO

Durell lambasts the traditional manner in which most people do cardio as “a complete joke” and “a sad commentary on our society in general… everybody wants to always take the easy way out, and fool themselves into thinking they are doing something productive, when in their heart of hearts they know that they are really cheating themselves.”  While the most commonly used piece of cardio in the gym is the treadmill, he equates “walking on a treadmill at 2.8 miles per hour to improve your cardiovascular conditioning” to “trying to get a suntan by standing in front of a 60 watt light bulb.”  He cites the fact that “you have to put your name on a list for the apparatus that lets you walk slowly” while the “one-and-only Step Mill in the gym” remains available as “quite disgusting.”

He relates the story of client with a history of open heart surgery who had “blown away” his cardiologist’s stress test performed by monitoring his heart rate on a treadmill, while his exercise regime consisted only of performing two high intensity workouts comprised of 1 set of 10-12 exercises for the full body each week.  Nonetheless, his cardiologist recommended that he “do more cardio” in an effort to “look out for him long term.”  Durell calls the cardiologist’s advice and his client’s blind acceptance of his advice, despite the outstanding cardiovascular results he was achieving with HIT “very sad” and a product of a society of “second-handers” with “a follower’s mentality,” not using their brains to “think critically, examine the facts of reality for themselves, and apply them logically to their own lives,” questioning “why would you change a thing… and why wouldn’t the cardiologist want to know what I had my guy doing, so all his patients could get similar results?”  He cites the “coddling” mentality of the medical and fitness community to the people that they are ostensibly committed to helping as largely at fault for the gross misconceptions about cardio and workouts.  Dave summarizes his views on cardio vascular exercise in one quote

“if something doesn’t make you huff and puff, it’s probably not going to do very much for you fitness-wise.”

THE UNDERRATED ASPECTS OF FITNESS: DAVE’S VIEW ON RECOVERY

“The workout, understand, doesn’t produce muscle growth, but merely serves to stimulate the body’s growth mechanism into motion. It is the body that produces the growth, but only if left undisturbed during a sufficient rest period.”  -Mike Mentzer, Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body

Durell cites the foundation of a successful training program as stress management; too little stress, and you don’t stimulate any changes; too much stress, and you don’t get the desired response.”  He relates the story of Arthur Jones, who had bodybuilders flying into Daytona Beach from all over the country to test his claim that he could increase arm size by ½ inch in one workout.  Jones would have the “chronically over-trained bodybuilder” rest for three days in a hotel on the beach, on the fourth day put them through a “murderous” arm workout, and then have them spend the fifth day resting; his claims were valid, as a result of the rest, the bodybuilder had an average size increase of ½ inch after a single workout.

Similarly, distance runners who have been forced to take several weeks off from training due to illness or injury often win major championships on their return.“Bottom line: Don’t underestimate the value of recovery to your training success. Take a little extra time once in a while to let your body, and your mind, fully recover from the stress of training, and life in general. Some extra rest and relaxation will not hinder your training efforts; on the contrary, it is one of the best things you can do to enhance them.”

DIET AND NUTRITION

Building on the framework of a properly balanced diet, Durell shares the proper equation for building pure muscle and the underlying logic:  Muscle tissue consists of approximately 70% water, 22% protein, 6% lipids, and 2% inorganic materials.  Since water contains no calories, the most abundant nutrient in muscle tissue that does contain calories is protein.  This makes sense, because protein is responsible for growth, maintenance and repair of tissue throughout the human body.

So how much extra dietary protein do you actually need to build more muscle?  Probably not as much as you may have been led to believe-especially by people trying to sell you protein supplements.  A little simple mathematics will give us a good idea.  Let’s say, for example, that you are going to train hard enough, and have the genetic potential, to build 20 pounds of muscle in the next 4 months.  Dietary protein is usually measured in grams, so we need to break the goal down to that level.  We know that a pound of muscle is roughly 22% protein.  There are 16 ounces in a pound.  22% of 16 ounces is about 3.52 ounces.  There are approximately 28.4 grams in an ounce; 3.52 ounces times 28.4 grams per ounce equals approximately 99.97 grams of protein in one pound of muscle.  To be on the safe side (and make the rest of the math easier), let’s round that up to 100 grams of protein in one pound of muscle.

Therefore, to gain 20 pounds of muscle, you would need about 2000 extra grams of protein.  Dividing this amount by the number of days in 4 months-let’s say 120- equals 16.67 grams of protein per day.So you need about 17 grams of extra protein a day to build 20 pounds of muscle in 4 months.  Not 1700.  Not 170.  Only 17 grams a day.  Since protein contains 4 calories per gram, those 17 grams of protein add up to 68 additional calories per day, over and above your daily maintenance needs.  It really shouldn’t be very difficult to consume an extra 68 calories worth of low-fat protein per day.

And how do you know if your goal of gaining 20 pounds of pure muscle in 4 months is really attainable?  There’s only one way to find out: GO FOR IT.  While Durell’s formula most likely reveals a gross over-saturation of protein in your own diet, his insightful formula and logic help effectively set dietary goals for building muscle and, “Even if you only get halfway there, that will still be an extraordinary accomplishment.”

TRAINING PLATEAUS

Dave Durell imparts valuable advice on breaking past the much-dreaded but inevitable plateau that everyone has experienced at some point during training or weight loss, sharing excerpts from his new book.

“Training to failure, with brief workouts performed infrequently (1-2 workouts/week), will yield excellent results for a majority of trainees for quite a long time.  However, at some point a plateau will be reached.  Even though you are lifting heavy weights until you can’t lift them anymore, you are keeping your workouts brief, and you are providing enough rest days between workouts for full recovery, the time will come when that won’t be enough to stimulate more size and strength.  The reason is that even though you are taking each set to a point of failure, where you can’t possibly lift the weight any more, the truth is there is still a lot of strength left in that muscle.  And in order to continue making gains, you have to tap into that unused strength.  The way to do that is to incorporate techniques that will exhaust these remaining strength levels—and that’s what Hyper Intensity Training is all about.”

“As mentioned previously, the skeletal muscles of the human body all possess 3 levels of strength.  The first level is the positive, or concentric, level, which is used to lift or raise a weight, as the muscle contracts and goes from an extended position toward the fully contracted position.  The second level of strength is the static level, which is used when you hold the weight at any given point in the range of motion, such as the fully contracted position.  Your static strength level is considerably stronger than your positive strength; meaning you can hold quite a bit more weight at any point in the range of motion than you can lift from the start position to the finish position of the exercise.  Your static strength level, however, is not as strong as the negative strength level.  When you release the weight from the finish position (figure 2 above) and return it to the start position (figure 1 above), resisting the pull of the weight slowly under full muscular control, you are using your negative, or eccentric, level of strength.  Your negative strength is by far the strongest level.

No matter why it happens, it’s clear that these strength differences exist; what we need to figure out now is-how do we utilize this information to our advantage?  To answer that question, we first need to gain an understanding of the concept of “inroad”, a term coined many years ago by our friction theory guy, Arthur Jones.  Inroad refers to the reduction in the level of starting strength as a result of performing muscular work; in other words, how much strength got used up by performing the exercise.  The creation of this inroad is the stimulus that will, given enough time and resources for full recovery, cause your muscles to adapt by getting bigger and stronger.  And the greater the inroad, the greater the stimulus.”  Dave’s new book, sharing his extensive knowledge and experience on training plateaus, is set for release in the next few weeks.

HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING AND WOMEN

Dave began training his wife, Patty, using HIT principles shortly after they met in 1992, after she expressed dissatisfaction with the results she had from her traditional workout routine that she had been practicing for several years, working out daily, performing multiple sets, and using unchallenging weights.  She finally garnered the desired results by modifying her workout to adhere to HIT principles, working out once every five days and only doing aerobic activity “for pleasure.”  She cites being 20 pounds lighter and “in the best shape I’ve ever been… I’m definitely more confident in myself.  I feel stronger, I don’t have as many aches and pains as I used to.”  The weight loss achieved with HIT is sustainable weight loss, her workouts are “definitely” hitting her target heart rate zone, and “I just overall feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in and I like the way I look a whole lot more than I did seven or eight years ago.”

The principles of HIT are the same physically for women as for men, the differences are in the mental blocks women have pertaining to lifting heavy weights and weight-training in general; “No special changes or adaptations are required for female trainees, all human beings have the same skeletal muscles.”  Patty advises that women need to rid themselves of the mentality that “‘if I lift heavy weights I’m going to look big’… I’m pretty strong and I think I lift pretty heavy weights and I’m definitely not a Lenda Murray-looking woman.”  She propones that women can lift heavy weights without bulking up, the size gained is determined by genetics, not workout intensity and advocates the importance for women of finding “a good, reliable training partner who has the same goals in mind as you do to achieve through weight training.

Durell’s use of HIT principles, focus on proper rest, form, and exertion, and unwillingness to adhere to the practices that coddle to the lazy have transformed the lives of many that he has trained and many that have read his story and books.  Dave Durell’s journey from “classic weakling” to fitness expert is a riveting exploration of the transformative power of the mind over the body, revealing that with inspiration, determination, and an unwillingness to give up, we can triumph.

We encourage any of our readers to reach out to Dave regarding any of the information or recommendations found in this interview.  He is a fountain of knowledge and would be glad to get back to you.

More interviews are coming.

We’d love to have you submit ideas for topics you’d like more information about.  If you know of somebody worth mentioning or writing about, please let us know.  Nothing is more important to us than giving praise to people worthy of it.

We continue to appreciate your patronage of our site.

MIHWCS

These are amazing and can be served chilled, frozen or room temperature.

Make them at any Holiday Party and you’ll have your guests screaming for more.

No Bake Oatmeal Protein Bars

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups of Oatmeal or cooking oats
• 2-1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 4 scoops of Protein powder(we use Cinnamon Bun Muscle Milk)
• 1/2-1 cup of water

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl

Line square baking pan with wax paper. Spray cooking spray over the wax paper. Spread mixed ingredient all over the pan with a spatula.

Freeze for 30 mins or more.

Remove from freezer and cut into your preferred bar size cubes.  They are absolutely delicious.

Enjoy!

MIHWCS

TMC loves this video.

Please watch and think about what is being said.  There is some incredible “cutting edge” data being discussed.

We encourage you to ask follow up questions to any of the commentary.

Enjoy your weekends!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAtbpPVYh1k

MIHWCS

Between working 3 jobs, competing for the Muscle Mania Fitness Competition, the stress of dieting and kcal restriction, and chasing Muscle B’s through the house and neighborhood, it ain’t easy for this family to BLOG!

Many of these tips come from careful introspection over the last 20 years.  Depending on your individual situation and genetics, you may or may not receive different results.  For the most part, these tips will help most anybody.

There is no order to them and many may surprise you as they represent recent findings and learnings.

We are hopeful you can use just a few and apply them to your life with successful results.

• A GREAT personal trainer or training partner is essential to developing a world class physique
  • TMC up until hiring our first personal trainer Markus Reinhardt would have never said this previously.  Jay was a CPT through ACE and also a CSCS through the National Strength and Condition Association in the mid to late 90′s.   You absolutely must have somebody to challenge you each and every workout.  Even if it’s a just a workout partner with similar to equal strength who can spot you so you can train with progressive overload principles week to week and workout to workout.  Sometimes the challenge is just psychological.  There is just no way one person can motivate themselves to the fullest extent of their capabilities(physically and psychologically) each and every time they train.  A good lifting partner or trainer will see this as their main goal at every workout.

• Excess protein consumption is a fraud and a myth perpetrated by the supplement companies
  • Their main focus is to grow their bottom line and fleece your pockets of your hard earned scrilla.   Nobody with one notable exception needs more than .75-1gms of high quality protein per pound of lean muscle mass.  The exception being AAS, GH and Thyroid Hormone using athletes.  For them, (and yes this is most of the people you see in the muscle magazines) their BMR is so jacked up, they need excess protein to stay in positive nitrogen balance from the excess tissue turnover caused from the drugs they are using.  If you aren’t using drugs, save your money and learn to eat clean, solid meals with maybe a protein shake or two thrown in daily for convenience. (for the busy folks who lack the time to eat solid clean meals)

• Less is more when it comes to improving  your performance and enhancing your physique
  • This tip will never be followed by 95% of the training population due to advertising and cultural norms of “if some is good, more is better”.   TMC has only recently learned this after years of over training, over dieting, and over physical stimulation.  As hard as it is for us to even admit it, the quality of your training is way more important than the quantity.  There are obvious exceptions especially when it comes to endurance training and  endurance specific events/competition.  But generally speaking, if your goal is to look great naked and perform at the highest level in your chosen athletic endeavor, infrequent, intense, scientifically applied training sessions will provide the best bang for your buck.  (This topic deserves it’s own blog, and we’ll have much more on it very soon)

• The single best way to develop your calves to the maximum of your genetic expression is by using your toes in your daily walking gait and in all cardio.
  • Calves are incredibly resistant to change.   Make sure you always walk on the balls of your feet and when you perform your cardio, make sure to emphasize the front part of your upper foot (the big toe and the next two toes)as your point of emphasis when striking the surface of the pedal, treadmill, elliptical or stair master.  This repetition will lead to impressive and muscular calves in no time.  You should still train your calves in your regular training routine utilizing a progressive overload model.

• Noticeable abdominals can’t possibly be developed without heavy resistance and progressive overload.
  • High rep ab training is the fraud of frauds.  You’re actually going backwards with high rep training as its possible to convert the fibers into slower twitch/smoother muscle.  If you want a thick, well developed and noticeable ab wall, you must train your abs with resistance each and every time you train them.(remembering to forcibly contract your rectus)   And seeing your abs (if you haven’t learned from this site by now) is purely a function of your diet and restricted kcals to burn the fat tissue over top of them.

• There is only one more important component to the success of a bodybuilder than perfectly controlled cadence in every rep of every set.
  • Every time TMC walks into the gym, we are saddened to watch the majority of trainees exploding through their sets with poor form and the force of momentum controlling their movements.  It’s amazing how fast you can change your appearance and improve the size, tone and strength of your muscle fibers by utilizing a weight you can control in perfect form in both the eccentric and concentric phase of the lift.  Slow down, time every rep, (2 second concentric, and 4 second eccentric as basis) and maximally contract your targeted muscle fibers.

• Maximally contracting muscle fibers is the single most important component to the success of a bodybuilder.
  • Most people who train with weights have no idea how to maximally enervate the target fibers of the muscle they are training.  Through the force of momentum, poor form and incorrect technique, most people execute rep after rep, set after set incorrectly.  Imagine the kind of results they’d have if they could learn to properly contract their muscle fibers through good controlled cadence and technique.  As we have stated here previously, learning to contract fibers isn’t something you can learn to do by reading a book or observing another person training.  You have to learn to do it through practice and it will take time.

• What really matters when dieting for body fat loss is kcal reduction, portion reduction per feeding, and controlling insulin production.
  • Confusion is rampant about the correct macronutrient %’s to consume when dieting.So many Diet Authors/Guru’s discuss 40-30-30 or 50-30-20 etc.   TMC has learned after much trial and error and years of experimental dieting protocols (Ketogenic, Low Carb, Reduced Carb, Zone Diet, Anabolic Diet, Bodyopus, etc) that only kcal restriction (cycling amounts up and down), small frequent feedings and minimizing and modulating insulin release is what matters.   Shockingly, we’ve found we can eat a “carb based diet” and still get shredded.   As long as kcals are below maintenance and feedings are regular and small portions (combining protein, clean carbs and some EFA’s), the fat will strip off you.

• Regular and Moderate to HIT Cardiovascular exercise is the key to living a long, healthy life.
  • Sure resistance training is crucial for posture, bone density and improving BMR through increased skeletal muscle.  But cardio is king when it comes to improving the strength of your lungs, heart and various brain pathways.  You need oxygen rich blood flowing through your veins at all times.  Nothing will improve this ability better than regular, consistent lifelong cardiovascular training.   Most hard core bodybuilder and strength training athletes could dramatically alter their performance and appearance by adding in regular cardio to their regimens.

• Basic principles of nutrition must be understood to build and maintain a high quality physique.
  • There are many-many people (hopefully not many readers of this site) who don’t understand the difference between a protein, fat and carbohydrate.  Compounding that issue is a lack of understanding of how to best combine all three macronutrients when eating.  ie…Many folks don’t understand you should never eat Fat (saturated/trans) with starchy carbs.  Why?  The body has to preferentially choose which source to burn as fuel and what source to “store”.  Often times depending on a host of other factors, this leads to fat deposition. When you also understand starchy carbs and saturated fats are playing havoc with your insulin secretion, you have a messy biochemical situation the body must deal with.  Learn what macronutrient combinations are best  and you will avoid scenarios where your body is prone to store fat.

Stay tuned for Part 2 sometime soon!

MIHWCS

50 Rules Of Fat-Burning: The Strongest Clinical Research From Around The World

We also think this site is pretty cool too:

Simply Shredded.com

Check it out when you have a few minutes.

Some of our favorite rules from the article with our our own commentary:

Get Fat

Not only will certain fats–particularly omega-3s –not lead to fat gain, but they can actually promote fat loss. Eating fat to lose fat seems counterintuitive, but if you keep your fat intake at about 30% of your total daily calories by choosing fatty fish such as salmon, sardines or trout as well as other healthy fat sources such as olive oil, peanut butter and walnuts, you can actually boost your fat loss compared to eating a low-fat diet.

Never forget the added value of EFA supplementation in the form of Fish Oil, Ultimate Oil Capsules or liquid forms like UDO’s Oil.

Unforbidden Fruit

A study from the Scripps Clinic (San Diego) reported that subjects eating half a grapefruit or drinking 8 ounces of grapefruit juice three times a day while otherwise eating normally lost an average of 4 pounds in 12 weeks, with some test subjects losing more than 10 pounds without dieting. The researchers suggest the effect is likely due to grapefruit’s ability to reduce insulin levels. Try adding half a grapefruit to a few of your meals such as breakfast, lunch and preworkout.

Grapefruit usage is very underutilized and underestimated by dieters.  Especially dieting bodybuilders and fitness athletes.  Google “naringen” and you will find all you need to know about its potential benefits.

Go Green

The main ingredient in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), inhibits the enzyme that normally breaks down the neurohormone norepinephrine.  Norepinephrine keeps the metabolic rate up, so preventing its breakdown helps you burn more calories throughout the day. Drinking green tea is a great way to stay hydrated during workouts, as a new study in The Journal of Nutrition reported that subjects drinking green tea and exercising lost significantly more abdominal fat than those drinking a placebo.

TMC discusses and writes about the wonders of Green Tea often.  More and more benefits are found out about its thermogenic powers daily.

Get Thick

When you whip up a protein shake, consider making it thicker by using less water. It could help you feel less hungry while dieting. In a study from Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana), subjects drank two shakes that were identical in nutritional content, and reported significantly greater and more prolonged reductions in hunger after drinking the thicker shake.

Always use Casein to increase thickness and constitution.   It also dramatically improves feelings of satiety for dieters.

Be Negative

In one recent study, subjects who performed a negative-rep workout of three sets of the bench press and squat increased their GH levels by almost 4,000%. Since GH frees up fat from fat cells, using negative reps may help you shed extra bodyfat. To add negatives to your routine, either have a spotter help you get 3-5 negative reps after reaching failure on a regular set, or load the bar with about 120% of your one-rep max and have a spotter help you perform five negative reps that take you 3-5 seconds each to complete.

Negatives are INCREDIBLE for improving strength and generating real skeletal mass gains.  But they also can be counter-productive if over used or performed incorrectly/ballistically.  We’ll have much more to offer soon in a new post about the wonders of HIT Training.

Hiit It

The best way to burn the most fat with cardio is via high-intensity interval training (HIIT). This involves doing intervals of high-intensity exercise (such as running at 90% of your max heart rate) followed by intervals of low-intensity exercise (walking at a moderate pace) or rest. A litany of research confirms that this burns more fat than the continuous, steady-state cardio most people do at a moderate intensity, such as walking for 30 minutes at 60%-70% of their max heart rates.

What else needs to be said about HIT Cardio?  There is nothing more effective or productive per unit of time.  Perform it regularly and watch your body change by the day.

MIHWCS

TMC believes there are some very good recommendations in here.

Here are a few:

3. Think before you drink. The average person drinks more than 400 calories a day–double what he or she used to–and alone gets around 10 teaspoons of added sugar every single day from soft drinks. Swap out sweetened teas and sodas for no-cal drinks and you could lose up to 40 pounds in a single year! (To see more proof of how wayward beverages can utterly destroy your diet, check out the 20 Worst Drinks in America. Many of these drinks contain more than a day’s worth of calories, sugar and fat!)

5. Eat protein at every meal. Dieters who eat the most protein tend to lose more weight while feeling less deprived than those who eat the least protein. It appears that protein is the best nutrient for jumpstarting your metabolism, squashing your appetite, and helping you eat less at subsequent meals.

7. Think fish. Consuming two 4- to 6-ounce servings of oily fish a week will sharpen your mind. Among the best: salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel, and trout. They’re high in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which may reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. Study participants who had high blood levels of DHA also performed better on noverbal reasoning tests and showed better mental flexibility, working memory, and vocabulary than those with lower levels.

We encourage to read the rest of the article as it’s pretty solid.

Hope everybody had a great Labor Day Weekend!

MIHWCS

For our readers who train at Las Vegas Athletic Club (LVAC) on Flamingo and 215, you’ve probably seen us with MR as he continues to shock us HIT style.

We’re now getting to the nitty gritty of our diet and preparation.

<NOTE>We obviously deviate from these diets at times due to the pressures of life and children.  We try as much as possible to adhere but sometimes it’s impossible.

Here is an Acronym Primer for our diets.

TDO: Training Days Only (We only consume or perform this on days we lift weights)

NTDO: Non Training Days (The opposite of above)

SBA&J:    Split Between Anh & Jay (We consume a shake or eat something together. Normally Jay will get a bit more than Anh due to size difference)

TMCM:    The Muscle Couple Mix (Protein, Liquid/Powder Carbs, and Glutamine/Creatine mixed together in Shaker Bottle consumed before and during training)

PWS: Post Workout Shake(Protein and Carbs consumed within 15-30 minutes post training)

CSTB: Cardio Stationary Bike (2x a day on Non Training Days and First thing in the morning on Training Days)

GTc: Green Tea Capsules

ALCARc: Acetyl-L Carnitine Capsules

EFAc: Essential Fatty Acid Capsules

VPXMD: VPX Meltdown Thermogenic Supplement

2:1: World’s First 2:1 Protein Bar-32gms Whey Protein and 15gms Carbs-6gms Fiber(More on this company in an upcoming blog)

Jay’s Diet-Supplement and Cardio Schedule

• 6:25am:      1st Thermogenic Dose VPXMD Cap/3GTc/3ALCARc/4 EFAc/
• 6:30am       CSTB-30 minutes with 20 mins of Intervals (5 Mins Warm Up and 5 Mins cool down)
• 7am:            3 Sets of Ab Wheel or Hanging Leg Raises  (Full Rectus Contraction Until Positive Failure)
• 8am:           Meal 1 (Shake -50gms Protein-30gms EFA’s-15gms Carbs) Vitamins-2gms C-800iu’s E-3 caps Bone Up
• 10am:         2nd Thermogenic Dose-1VPXMD-3GTc-3ALCARc-4EFAc-
• 11am:           2:1 Protein Bar
• 12:30:          Meal 2 (Tuna&Mayo-Broccoli/GreenBeans and Almonds)
• 1:30:             3rd Thermogenic Dose-1VPXMD-3GTc-3ALCARc-4EFAc
• 3pm:            2:1 Protein Bar
• 4:30pm:      Meal 3 (Tuna&Mayo-Broccoli/GreenBeans-Almonds)
• 6:30pm:      CSTB for 30 Minutes NTDO (Mon-Thur-Sun)
• 6:45pm        Meal 4 TMCM (SBA&J) 60gms Protein 30gms Carbs, 15gms Glutamine, 5gms Creatine)  TDO (T-W-F)
• 7:30pm:       Meal 4-Protein(Chicken-Ground Turkey-EggWhites-Lean Red Meat) and Salad/Green Vegies -NTDO
• 8:30pm:       Meal 5 PWS (80gms Protein and 50 gms Carbs-SBA&J) TDO (T-W-F)
• 9:30pm:       Meal 6-Protein (Chicken-Ground Turkey-EggWhites-Lean Red Meat) and Salad/Green Vegies TDO
• 10pm:           Meal 5 Cassein Shake with 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter NTDO (M-Thur-Sun)

Jay weighs 198 Pounds Currently at about 8% Bodyfat

Protein-225-275gms per day (1000kcals daily average)

Carbs-75-150gms per day (460kcals daily average) (Higher amounts on Training Days Only)

Fat-100-150gms per day (1125kcals daily average) (varies due to meat protein source)

Average Daily kcals

2584 @ 13kcals per pound of bodyweight

Depending on how fat loss progresses (ultimate goal of preserving maximum muscle mass) Jay will vary his kcals all the way down to 10kcals per pound.

He will also utilize brief periods of Intermittent Fasting and Caloric Restriction in the last 4 weeks if necessary.

10kcals per pound is not recommended for anyone other than a hardcore advanced dieter.  <More on extreme low calorie diets and dieting in an upcoming blog>

Please feel free to ask questions about any of this.

We’ve put links to the providers of some of the supplements we use as we find them high quality and cost effective.

If you end up ordering from them, please tell them The Muscle Couple sent you. (We don’t receive a single dime or profit from anybody we recommend)

MIHWCS

MusclePharm’s New Breakthrough Protein Supplement, MuscleGel, Set to Hit the Market | Business Wire.

“MuscleGel is one of the most revolutionary products to hit the sports nutrition market,” Bodybuilding.com President Jeremy Deluca said. “We are very excited to be the first retailer to carry the line and we have great expectations for this new and revolutionary product.”

“MuscleGel is the future of protein supplementation and protein has never been retailed this way before,” MusclePharm’s Chief Medical Researcher Dr. Jeffery Stout (Director, Metabolic and Body Composition Laboratory at University of Oklahoma) . “It is a high-quality protein supplement, it has a high absorption rate and, perhaps best of all, and it is convenient for the busy individual. This supplement answers a lot of needs for our consumers.”

We have not used this nor spoken with anyone who has.

It looks interesting and you can bet we’ll be back soon with a review and more information.  If anybody has used it, please feel free to leave a comment or send us an email.

MIHWCS