Fasted Training Vs Fed State Training

Hey guys, I hope you all had a great Christmas and will be having a great new years tonight, but please don't make those gimmicky resolutions. So lame.

Anyways, I have been on a specific progressive overload program developed by JC Deen, but now that the training program is no longer being coached by JC. I had a strong urge to tweak certain aspects of the program to make it more useful for ME.

The easiest and biggest aspect of training is nutrition, so that is where I began the manipulation. Since I do IF (intermittent fasting 16hours/8hours) I have been training fasted ever since I began IF, which was about a year and a half ago. I thought it was suppose to be magical and all sort of godly things. It ended up not helping me gain weight (lean mass). So I figured I'd try eating before i train. This annoys me because I cant train at 7 am anymore, I now train about 2 hours after I eat, and it pushes it to about 12 noon.

So the inconvenience was not something I enjoyed. But the results are astonishing. I believe its a myth that some gurus say that timing = nothing. Well... sorry to burst their bubble, but with my calories staying the same, I have gained 3 lbs in the last 2.5 weeks... This has helped me get up to 183lbs. 

Why does the "myth" work, vs fasted training? Well what sparked it for me is that people say Fasted training is a good method of using fat stores during training. However, I am BULKING which means I want muscle, and I don't care about the added fat. Your body cannot burn fat and put muscle on, especially on a more advanced trainee. So, the timing helps because your body is mainly focusing on getting rid of the fat and then after your workout, you eat the food and replenish the storage.

So, this method worked for ME, I think the bf%, age, and my body type played all the right cards for this experiment. I have little body fat, sub 10%. Burning fat during a workout is extremely hard for my body and most likely broke down some amino's in the process, resulting in a loss of lean + fat mass. Then the post workout nutrition restores both stores and has be neutralized. So the method I just explained is a very good method of maintaining your physique. However, not for gaining muscle or losing fat.

In the end of the day I eat the same amount of calories, I have been eating the same exact food, eating within the same 8 hour window and sleeping the same. All variables during my test remained the same; sure this is not a clinical test, but even clinical tests have many holes and too many variables.

I did the study because I have been researching for journals of testing the theory. People on bodybuilding.com are trying to pollute the net with crap saying that meal timing is irrelevant. I've gotten to the part of my life that I believe every one's chemistry is different, therefore the small differences, like meal timing, does have an effect. The effect can even be huge, just like the fed state I am talking about.

In conclusion, fed state training does have an effect on your body, and fasted training has an effect on your body, but both are different in results.

• Fasted training (with BCAA Supplements) is great for cutting fat mass and retaining lean mass
• Fed Training; A great method to use when trying to add mass to your structure
• Fasted Training is also good for keeping your exact physique while eating enormous amount of calories.
• Debunked the myth that meal timing does do something, it has an effect on many things. What is going on in my body? I don't know, i didn't do blood tests, or urine tests. I used a scale, bf calipers, and a mirror.

So, before you listen to a blanket statement on whether something works or not, why don't you test out a strategy and have fun with it. I love testing the crap that I hear and proving it wrong. I know I'll have a lot of people tell me I am wrong. But, evidence is enough for me to believe it. Like I said before, "Don't think your the same as me and think that meal timing is the reason your not gaining weight. It could be that or something else, and you wont know until you try something different." Theirs no such thing as a blanket statement, even IIFYM is a myth if you think it works for EVERYONE. Diabetics would get fat on the diet I eat. So please, ask an expert or test it out before you believe the things on the net!

Until next time...

Scale Weight Vs Visual impact!

This isn't something commonly seen in males, so if your a male. You probably don't need to worry too much about this post. But... this is a common theme i see in ALL of my female clients. Yes, if your being trained by me right now and female then this is pertaining to YOU.

So, most of my clients tell me they want to drop SCALE weight. But I usually defer and comment on mirror aesthetics. I believe scales are misused by the majority of everyone, and this is a major factor because of Weight watchers and Biggest loser. These shows and programs are irrelevant to the majority of society. Why?

Because weight isn't the problem, its the amount of fat. Even women should think about adding lean mass... Why? Because fat is less than muscle.. Substantially less. And the visual impact of fat is mass, lean muscle is smaller and defined.

Think about a rock vs a balloon... I want to keep this post simple and sweet so Ill forget adding scientific reasons for why this is and why fat is stored.. blah blah blah. Ill let you see a secret though.

Here is a client (not mine) that shows her body off and her transformation. Notice the end result and her end weight.

SHE WEIGHED MORE?! and looked impressive. I think she looks extremely in shape, but yet her weight is way higher. This is why you shouldn't confuse yourself for being heavy and fat. If your heavy, it doesn't mean your fat.. it just means you have dense muscle. Society has shown us all that big numbers on the scale = bad. So, next time your bestie asks you about your scale weight, lift your shirt up and show off your six pack and tell her to not worry about it ;)

How to eat with Skyler!

Alright, you are probably reading this because I sent you here (your a client of mine, and your seeing this because your paying for me to train you.)

And your curious, about what you should do with all these calories you have calculated out (hopefully you read my post earlier about calories, if not. Dont read this and GO read it now, so this information doesn't confuse you.)

What I believe in...

I believe in something called "Carb cycling" and this has to do with days you are training and days you aren't training. Training means that you did some EXTREMELY hard work. This doesn't mean when you go for a run for 20 mins, or when you do your "homework" assignments I give you. I'm talking about an hour run, or stair sprints for 45mins, or when you goto the gym for an hour (like the sessions you do with me.) 

So on these training days, you should eat your "maintenance" calories that you figured out (basal metabolism)... and add 10% to that amount, this is no matter if your trying to gain weight or trying to lose weight. Trust me, so take your maintenance (lets say its 2500 calories), so i'll add 10% to that amount.

2500+10%(250)=2750calories, this is only on the days i goto the gym. And since your eating more, and your doing heavy exercise, I want you to eat high carbs, low fat, and high protein. So take your bodyweight and eat that in grams of protein (if I weigh 180lbs, that means 180grams of protein.) 

And then put about 40g of fat in there, then fill the rest of your calories with carbs, it'll probably end up being around 300g of carbs. 

And as for your "off days" or the days your not working your ass off in the gym with me, then eat your maintenance calories but take off bout 20% of calories. So lets assume again my Basal Metabolism is at 2500, so lets take away 20%.

2500 - 20% (500) = 2000 calories on my off days. So, like on your "training days" you had low fat and high carbs. Well on your off days its the opposite. You want low carbs, aim for around 150 MAX on carbs if not less, around 100grams would be probably a good spot to start with.

Aim for your bodyweight in protein (so 180grams for me.) As for fat, it should be the rest of your calories. You'll probably end up with something around 80-100grams of fat. These should be on the days your not doing much.

So there you go. Please get out and go run stairs!!! Stairs are good, increases lean muscle mass and makes your more flexible in your hips. I like to skip stairs on my sprints because it makes your muscles stretch further in order to get up the stairs quicker!

Then go do some push ups and jumping jacks! GO!

See you guys later!

Sitting here sipping on my Chamomile tea, i stumbled upon a wonderful study on insulin and endurance athletes... The study talks a great storm on obese individuals and previously trained. The obese are not only fat but they have diabetes type 2. Both groups performed exercise and they both did reach different levels of exercise performance, but the results were conclusive. And that had said that skeletal muscle became more insulin sensitive and were prone to lipid oxidation.

For those who are completely lost by what i said, its quite simple. This study shows that with exercise, muscles become better at dealing with sugar. The more insulin sensitive, the better your muscles are at transporting important nutrients into them. Therefore, the more insulin sensitive you are, the more muscles you grow.

As for the lipid oxidation, it means that body fat (lipid = stored energy) is released in larger quanities than if your body was less oxidizing. So, this means your body is more efficient at burning those precious fat stores your body has held onto.

So in conclusion, this study is saying... through exercise, your body is more capable of building new lean mass and better at burning the fat mass. Although, the more lean you are, the more these qualities are pronounced. The lean individuals were far more insulin sensitive and more efficient at oxidizing lipid stores.

There you have it! Exercise creates a better you, even if you believe its too late!

I like to think, there is no such thing as too late.

Calculating your Calories

Hi there!

You are seeing this page because I have directed you here in order to complete your knowledge of fitness and how you can reach your goals faster.

As you are already aware, nutrition is extremely important if you want to begin altering your body composition. Food is your energy and you need this to participate in activities. The amount of calories you need is based off your activity level, lean body mass (LBM, or BF%), age, and sex.

First off, what you should eat isnt as important as getting your calories in for weight loss. So, yes eating big mac's will still result in a net loss of weight AS LONG as its lower than your Base Metabolic Rate. This will be figured out in a second, but let me say that if you are striving to lose all your body fat rather then losing your muscle AND fat (which i don't want, who wants to look like a skeleton anyways?!) then you need to make sure you are eating plenty of protein, carbohydrates, and fats to make your body have the ability to drop weight.

I personally think your diet should be filled with protein as a priority, then look at carbohydrates (which is the body's first thing to use for energy) and then fill up with fats.

Based off of the general population. Lots of people believe fats will make you fat, and that sugary foods will spike your insulin and make you gain fat.

This is not true and insulin is constantly being raised whenever you eat carbs, so... Dont listen to Jenny Craig. Its full of crap.

Now, i am not telling you to gorge yourself with donuts and wine.. I am telling you that you CAN enjoy some "sinful" foods whenever you want, just make sure to eat healthy 90% of the time. 

So that means, eat oatmeal for breakfast with some coffee and skim milk. Have an egg or two if you are still hungry. Then for lunch, eat something like a subway sandwich, or eat some brown rice and chicken with teriyaki sauce.

Then make yourself something for dinner that is healthy, maybe some baked fish and potatoes and veggies. All of a sudden you realize its your anniversary and you remember what your trainer said...

DONT DO IT! Wait... no thats not what he said. Heaven forbid, EAT a slice of cake, as long as your calories are in check. I usually say its ok to splurge a little bit on your diet, but first before you make that decision  check your daily calories and see how much you got left for sinful sweets, and make sure your protein is hit for the day.

So now we understand what we have to eat right? Well sort of, but thats why you can ask me questions to refine the information to make more special attention to your needs.

Also, i would say that its easier for ME to drink protein shakes, i usually have one a day mixed with 2 cups of milk, a crap load of ice, 2 scoops of protein, a frozen banana or whatever fruit i got in the icebox, and sometimes peanut butter and i blend it all after i workout. I am not endorsed by any company and I am not telling you that you have to buy protein powder. It just makes it easier for me since i am usually too busy to fill all my calories up with all this food. Plus, for example, I eat 4,200 calories a day and if i had to eat food all day then my stomach would explode. Protein shakes are quick easy, and tasty if you find the right one.

Anyways, onto finding out your own calorie needs.

First lets figure out your BASE Metabolic rate... Firstly theres something you need to figure out, if your 14x Sedative (desk job, drive to school, and do school all day, and nothing else excluding the gym)

15x Lightly active (desk job, walk to school, and school all day)

16x Moderately Active (on feet at work, walk to school or other means, and school all day)

17x Very Active (on feet all day, do sports outside of the gym, and always running around, never sitting)

18x+ Extremely Active (i dont think you guys need to worry about this one, only superior professional athletes are here)

Just to give you guys all a clue, i am very active... I workout a lot, on my feet all day, my job is training you guys.. so pretty much training all day and i bike to school.

Anyways, once you chose one, here is when you take your Body weight (your weight in pounds) and multiply it with whatever one you chose.

So say you weigh 180lbs, and you are moderately active... you will do 180x16=2880 calories!

So now that you found your 2880 calories as your Base Metabolic rate... you need to consider if you are trying to lose weight or if your trying to get stronger/bigger.

Or maybe your super complex an you want to stay the same weight but you just want to lose fat and replace it with lean muscle (also called body recomposition, leaning out)

So, this is three categories, goto the one below that you feel is mostly what you want to concentrate on.

Losing Weight:

So you take your base calories (2880 as the example) and since i want to lose about a pound a week or less. (this is because an extreme cut of calories will impact your brain, health, lean muscle, organs, and metabolism... so don't cut your calories too drastic or you will be in health trouble!!)

I like to say that this is easy, take your calories... 2880 and take away 500 calories a day. This is 2380 for that 180lb man. Now since you got your calories... Take your calories down to the part where it is called "Macronutrients"

Gaining Weight:

So, take your calories, and in this example it was 2880, so take that amount of calories and simply add 500calories day to it, so everyday you should end up with 3380 as your total amount of calories A DAY. So dont go up another 500 the next day, stay at 3380 unless you start seeing fat accumulate, this means drop a couple hundred calories and keep pursuing. Now, that you have your calories... Take it down to the part that says "Macronutrients"

Body Composition:

Based on the majority of the goals you guys have... This one seems like the most popular of the three. This one is actually extremely easy to figure out. Stay at your Base Metabolic Rate (so in the example it would be 2880) The reason why you stay in the middle is because exercise will cause a deficit in your calories for the day (energy is expended when you do a session with me).

It will not be big enough though to drop significant weight on the scale, because a pound of fat = 3500 calories.. so, you get the idea, that you aren't burning 3500 calories, but you are creating muscle and fat is slowly burning off.

With that happening, you slowly become leaner and more muscular while dropping body fat!

So now that you have your calories, take it down to the title "Macronutrients"

Macronutrients!

Finally the thing i keep telling you guys about!! Now we are going to finally figure out what these stupid things are... So calories is the amount of energy your body is using in a day. So what are those calories made up of?

Just like your body is made up of organs, bones, and muscles. Your calories are made up of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. 

So now that you have your calories from the step you just did (determining if you are gaining weight, losing, or recomposition). That amount of calories will be now divided up.

So I will stick with my example. I am going to be the example and I am going to be gaining weight, so my calories are 3380.

So this is what I want you guys to do...

Protein:

First your Body weight x 4... Mine in the example is 180 x 4 = 720 calories. This is the amount of calories from protein. You must consume your body weight in grams of protein. So since i am 180lbs, i need 180grams a day of protein.

Fat:

Now take your body weight and multiply it with 50%, so that looks like this...

180 x .5 = 90grams of fat a day for me. Now take that number and times it by 9...

So i have 90grams x 9 = 810 calories.

So right now i have 810calories from fat, and 720 calories from protein... So add these together and i get 1530 calories.

Remember that i am suppose to be eating 3380 calories a day? Well since i am at 1530 calories with fat and protein, it means that the rest of my calories are coming from carbs!

Carbohydrates:

So take that number that you got from adding your fat calories and protein calories together. I got 1530.

So take your number of calories that you are eating a day and subtract that number from protein and fat from it.

So for me its, 3380 - 1530 = 1850 calories left a day for carbs!! Woohoo...

So take your amount of calories left and divide it by 4... so for me it looks like this 

1850/4= 462.5grams of carbs a day.

So now that I figured it out!

180g of protein a day

90g of fat

462.5g of carbs

3380calories a day and i will be gaining roughly one pound a week!

So now that you know your calories you are probably wondering how the hell do you know how much your eating... right?

Well i use a program called.. caloriecount.about.com and this site does it all for you! You plug in what you ate and bam it tells you how many calories you've eaten!

Thanks for reading, more information to come, as per requests.

Thanks for being my clients and giving me the ability to help you reach your goals!

Stay tuned!

Your Trainer,

Skyler Allanson

FAT? NO... Carbs?! NO! Ill get fat!? Then what do we eat?

So, the question I am always being bombarded with everyday at the gym is, what should i eat? Should i eat carbs? Should I eat fat?

I always tell them that all of the macronutrients are important, and this is simple because protein is essential to repair and grow more muscles. Carbohydrates are used to fill the muscle storage and liver with glycogen. Finally, fat is one of the most important forgotten nutrients on most people's diets. The dogma around the word fat is that itll make you fat if you eat it. This is extremely interesting... I don't know how this has blown up so big.

Every year the health industry targets another source as bad... fat, then it was carbs, then people said protein hurt your liver. And now I run into people who are all over the place with their nutrition. Most diets are just ways to either control hunger, or by making it more simple and less likely to over eat.

In a perfect world, calories are nothing different from each other, but there are variables that change depending on what the person wants. Say, a male wanting to drop fat and keep muscle. This right here is a prime example of 80% of the people in the gym in today's world. The easiest way to eat is to choose high protein, high carbs, and low fat. I generally say keep fat around 50g, so you can still maintain your organs and such, get at least your bodyweight in protein and rest goes to carbs.

Wow, your probably thinking your going to get fat because so much of your calories are coming from carbs. But, this is not the case. The reasoning? Your muscles need to replenish the sugars and energy in your muscles, and this can only be done through carbohydrates. Fat storage isn't your bodies main priority especially if your working out constantly and running around. This is especially true for people in their teens and twenty's. My metabolism for example easily eats up 600g of carbs a day and i result in no fat gain. So, no particular food or nutrient will make you fat. Keep it simple and make sure you dont eat more calories then your body can handle.

Yes, that means you can go out and eat a cheeseburger, especially when its within your calorie budget for the day.

Effects of Macro-nutrients... part II

So, i've been extremely interested in trying to find out the effects of different macronutrients in relation to body composition. Do you really have to have certain amounts of carbohydrates/fat/protein to get ripped while making sure lean muscle mass is stored?

Well, i've been peaking around the scholarly articles online and have found some interesting results.
Today I found an article and this article was particularly interesting because for the longest time I actually thought that that the higher protein diets are the most beneficial, and don't get me wrong. This little article didn't completely change it for me just yet. I do understand that this is a very understudied subject because the health industry, cattle farmers, and any other protein source cash earners are obviously not going to support such scientific studies. This kind of studies will have to be done by some people trying to upset the growth of these companies... But anyways enough of those politics.

Back to the case study, the study showed that rats gained a slight advantage in the lean mass category, where as the fat mass actually was limited/declined. WHAT?!

Did you say gained muscle and burned fat at the same time?! i thought this was only possible in obese or beginning untrained individuals. Wait, those rats had to be fat right?! No, these were actually normal rats fed two different diets.

1. High protein, same calories
2. Low protein, High L-Arginine

This is quite interesting.. a micronutrient taking the place of protein. The results ended up being surprising. Well, these Argnine levels were showed to be about 0-8g/ per BW. So obviously this is not a cheap supplementation and I would rather just eat protein shakes.

But, this is one of the first studies on this topic and it showed interesting results. I am wondering if protein powder is even necessary anymore (in which case its not... its just a nice cheap way to get your protein in without spending hundred of dollars on chicken and meat.


Links
http://www.springerlink.com/content/e6l80v5002242g85/
http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2012/01/tale-of-macro-micronutrient.html

Is Sugar the reason your fat?

Am I fat because of sugar?!

No... your not, its because you eat too many calories. Its that simple, and its sad how difficult the fitness industry makes it seem like its all of these different things. Its because your not drinking protein shakes, your not working out six days a week with this famous bodybuilders plan, your not taking hydroxycut, blah..blah..
The truth is, your calories are out of whack, and its not sugar. Sure, sugar releases insulin... but what is insulin anyways?

Insulin...What is it? 

Well insulin is a chemical in your body that is secreted once food is released in your body, its a storage hormone, and no matter what you eat, your body will release insulin. Of course, their are boundaries to that statement because if your diabetic, your insulin is injected through a needle. But in any case, lets assume your not diabetic. So, insulin is released and all of a sudden the sugar you just ate is turned into fat and stored! Right? No. Stupid magazines say this. Their is actually no reason your body would store sugar over apples. Apples are full of nutrition and vitamins. Why would a voided food like sugar be automatically stored? Will this help us with survival? No... But sure sugar is easier to break down than an apple, but why would our body break it down if we weren't going to use it/store it? Our bodies would just poop it out if that was the case.

The fact is, calories are what are being stored to keep our body warm and pumping blood. Our bodies are like a furnace or a factory. We put fuel in and our body shuttles that fuel to whatever part of the body that needs it the most.

Have a cut? Fuel goes there to heal it. 

Sore from lifting a bed or something? Your body puts fuel there too.

Your brain is trying to think through a problem... Yup fuel

So its actually all about calories in and calories out. Its not all about sugar and low GI foods and all of that crap. I remember reading on the "GI Tract" site that the FDA created. Guess what was a High GI Food?

WATERMELON?! Okay what is this shit, so watermelon is suppose to make you fat? A fruit from earth and apparently spikes your insulin and all of a sudden you get fat. Yeah... right, so i never bought into that crap. I actually go on diets full of ice cream, frozen yogurt, french toast, popcorn, fried chicken, and croissants! Wow... I must be fat, right?

No, that is not the case, and I actually train people to eat normal but be conscious of their macros, which is a nickname for Macronutrients (Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat). This is important because of nitrogen balance, and in order to have a good body composition, you must have an adequate source of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. I am not telling you to go eat dougnuts all day... but you shouldn't be scared of having a slice of pizza every once an a while, or a beer... Go do it, as long as your relatively healthy and your getting your correct proteins in. 

Heres a study showing the results of what sugar does to your body

http://www.jci.org/articles/view/111533

And then to end on this quote by a doctor, this should get you going on what i mean exactly,

"Everything in moderation," she says. "We are blaming individual sugars or individual fats when we should be focusing on calories. If someone drinks a 64-ounce soda, who cares if it is high-fructose corn syrup or cane sugar? It's still about 800 calories."

Thanks to Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, CNS.

Tired of the bullshit?

I feel like I am constantly blessed with listening to others blab on about bullshit. Everyday, i sit their and nod my head and act like they are really insightful. After they stop talking, i contemplate on whether to believe the person or not. More often then not, i don't because in today's society, especially in college, the majority talk a big talk but don't know shit in reality. Research studies are now my new best friend on debunking this crap.

However, i do believe some people but that only happens when three or more sources start to tell me the same exact thing. Sure, the internet is vast and google spiders lurk in all corners of the web, but if three RELIABLE sources tell me that intermittent fasting is the shit... then well, its probably the shit.

Some sources that i think are reliable are...
Aran Alagon
Lyle Mcdonald
JC Dean
Martin Berkhan

All of these guys know their stuff an i wish someday, i'll achieve the level of success in fitness that they have. The new fleet of nutritionists and trainers are becoming more and more self disciplined rather than university approved, and i like that. A LOT. Why?
Because it means i can put my foot in the door with my enormous motivation skills. So, in order to make this post more meaningful, i wrote this post to introduce you to a new way to look at fitness.

Whenever i open my mouth around friends or family about fitness, they roll their eyes and are like "oh god... why cant you be normal" ... Wait, what is normal in america? Go out to bars drink a bunch of beer, eat pizza, then wake up at noon the next day, jump on the couch and plug on the tele? Wow, America is a worthless heep of crap if that is the answer.

To me, you can still have fun out and drink a bunch WITH fitness goals. Its not like everyone needs to be as investive in health and nutrition as i am. I enjoy researching new techniques and learning about all the myths that have become in todays society. So, why not just go for a run or maybe even lift with some of your drinking buddies. You don't need to make loud noises or wear tank tops, or even have all the "fitness gear".
Hell, just because you workout, doesn't mean you have to give up anything... It is simple, go to the gym push harder each week, just a tad more, add a rep to one of your lifts or add a 2 1/2lb weight to your bench press.

All i am trying to say, is if you put in a little extra time at the gym (I am just asking for 1hour a day, 3 days a week), and that little bit of time will completely change your life. You'll begin to stop being sick, you will lose a pant size or two, you will have natural energy (good by coffee!!), and your mood will never swing anymore. And all it takes is three hours to completely rewire your body for the better?

So, why roll your eyes at me when all i am trying to say is take 3 hours out of your 168 hour week!! Keep on drinking your beer and just enjoy your weekends, then during the week, run over to the gym and bust out an hour of working out before work. In the end you'll wonder why it took you so long to get in the gym.

Just another thing i wanted to add, Why would so many people be in the gym and paying the amount of money they do if it wasn't fun? Do you really think every single person goes to the gym looks like Arnold? Do you think every girl who lifts weights turns into Ronnie Coleman? No... This isn't the case, to look like either of the two, you will need at least a DECADE of pure lifting, countless stashes of steroids, 9 hours of sleep a night, and about 1.5 - 3 hours a day of lifting. So, unless you plan on juicing, girls and guys should have no way of thinking about getting too "big."