Off Season Conditioning

[Tooth]

GNC Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60.

To get the most out of resistance training, you need to load up on Protein both before and after workouts. The problem with getting protein from food after a workout is that it doesn't digest fast enough to get into the blood stream and to the muscles within the first hour following a work out. That is the most critical time for muscle recovery. At least, that's what the muscle heads at the gym tell me.

The whey before is great but you need whey and fast carbs together right after the workout. A 1:1 or 2:1 ratio is best dependent on somatotype. This is the only time of the day where fast acting carbs are recommended. Be careful though. If you are an endomorph like me the 1:1 is the way to go. Optimum Nutrition makes Recovery powders with the premixed ratios all ready for the water. Also before you workout try Jackd 3d. Go slow with this stuff. Have it about 30 mins before the resistance workout. Will be a life changer.

 

[Tooth]

For a quick can on the run, I like Pure Protein 35g ($2.71 at GNC).

For at home post-workouts, I like Elite Gourmet (chocolate or vanilla) because they both taste great with skim milk (some protein powders taste like azz), and I like how they're a whey/casein blend (as opposed to just whey).

I love the Elite Gourmet also. Best used as meal replacement for the reasons of the casein involvement. Tricky stuff but if you do it right then holy smokes it works. It takes a plan.

 

[Nick]

I use 100% whey protein shakes- the two brands I most often use have 18mg and 23 mg apiece.

I'm usinG Isopure. A bit more expensive but it mixes really well.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I love the Elite Gourmet also. Best used as meal replacement for the reasons of the casein involvement. Tricky stuff but if you do it right then holy smokes it works. It takes a plan.

I've heard some bodybuilders will drink a casein shake before bed, on the belief that because it's a slow acting protein, it will give the body protein as they sleep (i.e. not forcing the body to eat muscle for fuel). I dont know about all that, but it's an interesting theory nonetheless.

 

[Tooth]

I've heard some bodybuilders will drink a casein shake before bed, on the belief that because it's a slow acting protein, it will give the body protein as they sleep (i.e. not forcing the body to eat muscle for fuel). I dont know about all that, but it's an interesting theory nonetheless.

They do. I don't need those extra cals that late. Would go to pure fat.

 

[deadheadskier]

Be careful though. If you are an endomorph like me the 1:1 is the way to go. Optimum Nutrition makes Recovery powders with the premixed ratios all ready for the water. Also before you workout try Jackd 3d. Go slow with this stuff. Have it about 30 mins before the resistance workout. Will be a life changer.

I feel your pain brother. Fellow Endomorph. Even when I was very light in college at 155# (I'm 5'8") I always had a spare tire. I'd have to give up the booze and manage my diet to the extreme to have a very low body fat percentage. I have never had nor probably ever will have 'Six Pack Abs'; not that vanity is all that important to me or why I work out. Ski performance is the #1 reason, followed by just generally feeling better and having more energy.

Not sure if this is the case for you, but the danger of being an Endomorph for me is that I gain weight very proportionately. I was shocked 2 years ago when I stepped on the scale at 215. I thought maybe 195. I hadn't weighed myself in probably five years. Never before had I seen the scale go over 200.

Only exercise I've ever gotten in my life has been from playing sports. In my post college adult life that's been skiing 15-30 days a season and going swimming once a week in the summer. I've never been a runner, biker etc, and never lifted weights. Until I saw 215. Joined the gym the next day.

With no changes to my diet or alcohol consumption, 3 resistance training days per week and 4-5 days of cardio, I lost 25# and got down to 190 in a year. I had been plateaued at that weight until this summer. In July, I asked a personal trainer at the gym what his thoughts were on supplements and if I should take them.

He recommended I take what he does, which is the Protein shake, but instead of all 60 grams after a workout, 30 before and 30 after and don't take it on off days like the product suggests

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3509954

a vitamin pack on workout days

http://www.gnc.com/pwr/product-revi...Mega-Men-EXTREME-ATHLETE-Vitapak-Program.html

and Fishoil every day

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2965535

For two months I've done that and made the following diet changes. I eat a light breakfast every midweek day (half a bagel with no fat cream cheese) when before I just had coffee in the morning. I eat the exact same amount of calories for lunch, but instead of all at once around 12:30 or so, I have half of it at 11:00 and the other half at 2:00. I eat the same large dinner. I drink the same amount of booze. So, by adding the Bagel and the Protein Shakes, I'm actually consuming 200- 750 calories more per day.

I stepped on the scale this morning at 182. I've lost 8 pounds in two months after being plateaued at 190 for the 10 months prior.

Given my experience, I definitely give the supplements I take a glowing endorsement.

Tell me about the Jack'd product. Maybe that might be a better product than the vitamin pack I take.

 

[Tooth]

Hey Deadheadskier. Thats sounds awesome. Smart to get someone who gave you a solid plan. The protien you are taking is kick ass. I do the same before and after 30-30. Sometimes if I am getting to big I cut it down to 15-20g before and after. The Jack3d wont replace your multivitamin pak. Its great for pre resistance training. It is for energy, creatine, and nitric oxide. It will cause your blood vessels to vasodilate or open up more so that more nutrients are carried to your muscles. I know it sounds like BS but this preworkout class of supplements have really helped people make major changes. I use it at half strength and all I can say is wow from a results standpoint. No extra cals to speak of and the energy is the main reason I use it. The key is to go slow and find your level. They say 3 scoops but Ive never been there. 2 max and Im set.

http://www.jack-3d.com/

 

[k ski patroler]

Is this how I will be when I get old? I don't want to eat healthy

 

[deadheadskier]

Is this how I will be when I get old? I don't want to eat healthy

check the dinner thread. I hardly eat healthy outside of the Bagel with no fat cream cheese and even that's not really 'healthy'.

and who you calling old :flame:

 

[bvibert]

Even though I haven't been very good about keeping within my recommended calorie intake I still managed to drop about 5 pounds in the last few weeks. Tracking my food has caused me to be more conscious about how much I'm eating and as a result I've been eating less, even if I have a long way to go.

Now all I need to do is get off my ass and do some exercise!

 

[Tooth]

Bad weekend for the old diet. I had way too much of everything from Thai food to cheesecake to steak bombs. Man I hate it when I do that stuff. At the moment it seems so right after a few stiff drinks. Now the payback begins. I am going to try and go clean eating for 6 weeks straight. Its time to stop the playing. I have a ton of weight to drop before the conditions get really good in January. Its now or never. 20 pounds needs to go.

 

[wa-loaf]

Bad weekend for the old diet. I had way too much of everything from Thai food to cheesecake to steak bombs. Man I hate it when I do that stuff. At the moment it seems so right after a few stiff drinks. Now the payback begins. I am going to try and go clean eating for 6 weeks straight. Its time to stop the playing. I have a ton of weight to drop before the conditions get really good in January. Its now or never. 20 pounds needs to go.

Wedding party on Saturday, boston cream pie, beer, bacon wrapped scallops ... seems Sat is just my day to blow the calorie count. Keeping the rest of the week in check though and still losing so I think it's cool.

 

[Tooth]

Wedding party on Saturday, boston cream pie, beer, bacon wrapped scallops ... seems Sat is just my day to blow the calorie count. Keeping the rest of the week in check though and still losing so I think it's cool.

Some very cutting edge PHDs, etc., in the field of nutrition and exercise physiology feel that a cheat day in a persons diet helps to reset what is called leptin. Leptin levels affect how a person readily loses fat during dieting. After a week of calorie depletion leptin levels fall dramatically thus losing weight becomes increasingly more difficult. By having a cheat day to eat what you like during the entire day, once a week, it is believed to keep your leptin levels from falling off the charts, thus keeping your "fat burning furnace" operating at a very high level. Look up Joel Marion and his Xtreme fat loss diet stuff. It works very well. I usually am super disciplined with this stuff but I'm in a two month slip. Time to pull it back together. You know how you have to be really ready to commit or its just futile.

 

[bvibert]

Some very cutting edge PHDs, etc., in the field of nutrition and exercise physiology feel that a cheat day in a persons diet helps to reset what is called leptin. Leptin levels affect how a person readily loses fat during dieting. After a week of calorie depletion leptin levels fall dramatically thus losing weight becomes increasingly more difficult. By having a cheat day to eat what you like during the entire day, once a week, it is believed to keep your leptin levels from falling off the charts, thus keeping your "fat burning furnace" operating at a very high level. Look up Joel Marion and his Xtreme fat loss diet stuff. It works very well. I usually am super disciplined with this stuff but I'm in a two month slip. Time to pull it back together. You know how you have to be really ready to commit or its just futile.

Whether it's for physical or psychological reasons I think I cheat day every once and a while is a good idea, provided it's kept to every once and a while. The last part is what usually gets me.

Ideally I need to change how I eat all the time, not just after I realize that I've gotten too fat. So I need to come up with a good compromise and stick to it. If I don't allow myself to indulge sometimes I'll never stick to it.

 

[jrmagic]

Whether it's for physical or psychological reasons I think I cheat day every once and a while is a good idea, provided it's kept to every once and a while. The last part is what usually gets me.

Ideally I need to change how I eat all the time, not just after I realize that I've gotten too fat. So I need to come up with a good compromise and stick to it. If I don't allow myself to indulge sometimes I'll never stick to it.

I think the frequency of my every once in a while doesn't coincide with what the pros think lol. Friday night and Saturday were abd for me. Friday night it was a couple of helpings of baked ziti and a few MGD64s followed up on Saturday by cheseburgers, sausages and a few IPAs but as of this morning the impact of that was gone and I am down 25 lbs and starting to feel really good in the gym and on the trail

 

[Nick]

I'm back in the 180's as of this morning. 189.8 :lol:

Down 6.7 pounds total since October 9th. I only plan on keeping this up for 3 - 4 more weeks or so, I'd like to get down to ~180.

 

[Nick]

Bad weekend for the old diet. I had way too much of everything from Thai food to cheesecake to steak bombs. Man I hate it when I do that stuff. At the moment it seems so right after a few stiff drinks. Now the payback begins. I am going to try and go clean eating for 6 weeks straight. Its time to stop the playing. I have a ton of weight to drop before the conditions get really good in January. Its now or never. 20 pounds needs to go.

What drives me crazy is I will literally "start my diet" every Monday. The problem with me is excess, it's one or the other. Either I'm eating super clean and healthy, not cheating at all, or I'm eating 5,000 calories a day in alcohol, fries, and other crap.

Why is it so hard to find a good middle ground!

 

[Madroch]

Scale is stuck at the moment... Happens from time to time. Last week of insanity... Rest week and then p90x/insanity hybrid. If i'm not in shape this year I never will be.... plateau Can't be from the lack of leptin resetting cheat day.... Maybe I didn't go wild enough.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm back in the 180's as of this morning. 189.8 :lol:

Down 6.7 pounds total since October 9th. I only plan on keeping this up for 3 - 4 more weeks or so, I'd like to get down to ~180.

That's quite a bit of weight to lose in 2 weeks. Most nutritionists recommend 1-2 pounds per week. So, whatever you are doing seems to be working.

One thing to understand with weight loss is that once you reach a certain threshold, you can actually start eating more calories than what your calorie consumption is/was during your diet and maintain your weight or even continue to lose weight. This has to do with the bacteria in your stomach that help with digestion.

The two dominant kinds of bacteria in your stomach are Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. Obese people have a higher percentage of Firmicutes where as lean people have a higher percentage of Bacteroidetes. Bacteroidetes burn calories as energy much more efficiently than Firmicutes. People with a high body fat percentage, have a high ratio of Frimicutes, don't burn calories as efficiently and convert the calories into more fat perpetuating the problem. As you lose weight and become leaner, the ratio tilts in favor of Bacteroidetes making it easier to remain lean. Some scientists think this is just happenstance, but there is growing evidence supporting the claims that increasing the Bacteroidetes ratio in the gut helps keep the weight off. Coincidentally, low carb diets have shown to reduce Firmicutes, so it's of little wonder why nutritionists recommend eating lesser amounts of carbs to achieve weight loss.

Understanding how bacteria affects metabolism is a relatively recent discovery in the past 10 years. With the increasing problem of obesity in America, I think artificial manipulation of bacteria ratios will be the next big thing in terms of weight loss programs.

 

[Tooth]

I have zero problem eating "bugs". ZERO. Bring on the bugs. I'll go first.