Lee's challenge part 2!
Discussion
I'm also considering CLA to go with the fish oils I will be buying this week.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mike8.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mike8.htm
Dave_ITR said:
Excellent thread, looking forward to the progress & would appreciate your comments/advise on the following.
I am a typical Endomorph so primarily want to loose the gut, tighten up the abs & develop some pec's.
From what I have been reading, I gather I am best to stick with a certain amount of reps (usually 4 x 8) at a weight I find a bit of a challenge (but not going crazy) as opposed to more reps of a lower more comfortable weight.
For the Bench Press (which I am piss poor at atm), assuming 4 sets of 8 reps, am I best to up the weight as soon as I can achieve the 32 reps without straining too much (still a bit of a suggle) or am I best to stick with a particular weight until I am really comfortable with it before increasing?
Regarding abs, is it only sit-up's that are going to help develop here? Is there anything else that you can recommend?
When taking a protein shake after training, I have read that it should be taken immediately after training. Is it really important that I get this down my neck as soon as I walk out of the gym as opposed to taking this when I get home after a 10 minute walk from the gym back home?
Should I be taking protein shakes everyday? Even on days when I am not going to the gym.
Thanks in advance.
If you are aiming to build some muscle it's worth while doing 3 x 8 with a weight that is heavy for you. The last set should be a struggle to complete and the last reps incredibly difficult if not impossible for you right now to complete. If you can do all of the sets without too much of a struggle you're going far too light in weight terms.I am a typical Endomorph so primarily want to loose the gut, tighten up the abs & develop some pec's.
From what I have been reading, I gather I am best to stick with a certain amount of reps (usually 4 x 8) at a weight I find a bit of a challenge (but not going crazy) as opposed to more reps of a lower more comfortable weight.
For the Bench Press (which I am piss poor at atm), assuming 4 sets of 8 reps, am I best to up the weight as soon as I can achieve the 32 reps without straining too much (still a bit of a suggle) or am I best to stick with a particular weight until I am really comfortable with it before increasing?
Regarding abs, is it only sit-up's that are going to help develop here? Is there anything else that you can recommend?
When taking a protein shake after training, I have read that it should be taken immediately after training. Is it really important that I get this down my neck as soon as I walk out of the gym as opposed to taking this when I get home after a 10 minute walk from the gym back home?
Should I be taking protein shakes everyday? Even on days when I am not going to the gym.
Thanks in advance.
It is the last reps when the muscle is nearing failure where most of the growth comes from. If you're training alone just stop one rep before failure, if you've got a training partner get him to assist you once you can no longer get the weight up.
As soon as you're in a place where you can complete the final set then you know the weight isn't enough!
In terms of abs, this is really more about fat loss than muscle in the early days. To get your abs on show you've got to get to a really low fat level (sub 10% and possibly sub 8% to see them all of the time).
As they say abs are made in the kitchen and not in the gym!
Anyway in terms of training the muscle, if you do squats, deadlifts and the like you'll be using them heavily as part of the training but I do isolate them once a week as you can see from my plan. I personally believe abs should be trained in a way that overloads them as opposed to doing 1 million situps and crunches per week. They are a muscle like any other and benefit from weighted work. If you're gym has similar to mine, I'd recommend those two exercises as my abs suffer for days after that type of training and they are very effective techniques!
As for the protein question, there is a window up to 45 minutes after an intense training session to replenish your muscles and this if the research is to be believed will yield far improved results. I usually take a protein shake when I get home (usually about 30 mins after exercise) and then eat an hour after that.
Protein shakes are worthwhile if you can't get enough protein from your diet, they are also worthwhile for things like post workout. However if you're getting around 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyfat you probably don't need them!
I'm seriously considering changing to BCAA's and EEA's instead of protein because they don't contain half as much in calorific terms but deliver a similar result!
If you have any more questions just let me know!
Lee
didelydoo said:
Good going thus far OC- what is the aim of your training- is it primarily for looks?
Yeah looks and health.I love weight lifting just as an excuse to challenge myself physically after sitting in an office-day-in-day-out.
I'm not too worried about overall strength and whilst I want to gain a bit more size I've no interest in becoming a monster.
I always find I feel so much better in myself when I exercise be it running or weights.
jimbobsimmonds said:
In the opinion of the PH masses should I throw in 30g of protein shake before bed on the nights I am not training...
Basically I am riding my bike to work and running 3 or 4 times a week so i don't think the extra 100 cals will do too much harm. At least they are "good" cals...
I'd suggest unless you're doing damage to your body you probably don't need it. Simple CV will most likely mean you get tired as opposed to damaged if you like.Basically I am riding my bike to work and running 3 or 4 times a week so i don't think the extra 100 cals will do too much harm. At least they are "good" cals...
Are you weight lifting right now?
jimbobsimmonds said:
Ordinary_Chap said:
I'd suggest unless you're doing damage to your body you probably don't need it. Simple CV will most likely mean you get tired as opposed to damaged if you like.
Are you weight lifting right now?
Right now I'm sitting at home on the laptop Are you weight lifting right now?
This week is slightly unusual as I'm working massive OT but normally I will do weights 4 times a week, running 3 times a week and riding my bike for an hour a day 4 times a week...
jimbobsimmonds said:
Will do. See how it affect me. Im doing pushups until failure (2 or 3 sets) 5 times a week before bed too... I'll throw another shake in and see how I do...
The truth of it is, it won't make a massive difference either way but I'd personally do it to make sure you've got the bases covered as it were.So last night was a night off due to a company event.
Tonight was biceps and back.
Lateral pull down (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 70kg
Seated pulls (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 80kg
Bicep curls 3 x 8 @ 30kg
Hammer curls 3 x 8 @ 22kg (per dumbbell)
And that was it.
I'm really quite weak when it comes to biceps and after the back exercises my biceps are usually in bad shape so the bicep exercises are very difficult for me to the point that my arms/forearms get locked and very hot for about 4-5 hours after. It's definitely my weakest area.
Tonight was biceps and back.
Lateral pull down (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 70kg
Seated pulls (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 80kg
Bicep curls 3 x 8 @ 30kg
Hammer curls 3 x 8 @ 22kg (per dumbbell)
And that was it.
I'm really quite weak when it comes to biceps and after the back exercises my biceps are usually in bad shape so the bicep exercises are very difficult for me to the point that my arms/forearms get locked and very hot for about 4-5 hours after. It's definitely my weakest area.
jimbobsimmonds said:
Ordinary_Chap said:
So last night was a night off due to a company event.
Tonight was biceps and back.
Lateral pull down (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 70kg
Seated pulls (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 80kg
Bicep curls 3 x 8 @ 30kg
Hammer curls 3 x 8 @ 22kg (per dumbbell)
And that was it.
I'm really quite weak when it comes to biceps and after the back exercises my biceps are usually in bad shape so the bicep exercises are very difficult for me to the point that my arms/forearms get locked and very hot for about 4-5 hours after. It's definitely my weakest area.
Seems weird to be giving you training advice but have you tried doing the curls first? If I do my back exercises before the bicep curls I just cannot do them, but the other way round I can squeeze the back exercises out still...Tonight was biceps and back.
Lateral pull down (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 70kg
Seated pulls (close grip) 3 x 8 @ 80kg
Bicep curls 3 x 8 @ 30kg
Hammer curls 3 x 8 @ 22kg (per dumbbell)
And that was it.
I'm really quite weak when it comes to biceps and after the back exercises my biceps are usually in bad shape so the bicep exercises are very difficult for me to the point that my arms/forearms get locked and very hot for about 4-5 hours after. It's definitely my weakest area.
Also with regards to grip when I first started training two years ago I had the exact same problem. Have you tried gripping more with the thumb? I tend to hook my wrists less when I do that...
You working each body part twice a week?
The reason why I don't do them first is because they get a bloody good workout without isolation exercises so even though I struggle it's not a concern, my biceps are pretty decently sized for my frame anyway and I've not got an issue with them. I know plenty of folk who don't even train their biceps directly because back exercises give their biceps all the training they need. They are only little muscles after all even if people do go crazy trying to get them big.
And on top of that I'd never focus on biceps over my back although I could change the split but I'd still damage my biceps on back days.
In terms of grip, I've tried different grips and come to the conclusion they are my weakest body part.
The problem stems from my military days when all of the arm exercises we did were predominately focused around the tricep area and my biceps have been chronically under-trained for many years.
I'm going to be completely honest about my training and what I get up to, the good and the bad!
Momentofmadness said:
jimbobsimmonds said:
I'm doing at least a set to failure every night before bed... Still no improvement!
Isn't that the problem? You need to let those muscles rest and repair themselves?I immediately found when I give my muscles the time they needed to recover I got far stronger and more capable.
For those that saw the original thread when I lost a huge amount of weight in 50 days I also lost strength by chronically over-training.
jimbobsimmonds said:
okgo said:
What bit of the forces are you training for?
You don't need to use free weights at all really? My old housemate joined the marines and didn't do anything other than what they require, chin ups, press ups, sit ups, running. He got in fairly easily.
Only the TA. But would rather go in knowing I was fit enough to be a reg (the way I see it the regs are always going to look down on you unless you prove you can keep up with them when it counts), and to be honest, at 20 years old there is no excuse not to be...You don't need to use free weights at all really? My old housemate joined the marines and didn't do anything other than what they require, chin ups, press ups, sit ups, running. He got in fairly easily.
I was thinking of turning my Sunday chest routine into just doing as many sets of pushups in the day as I can then letting them rest until Tuesday...
Me personally? I never gave them a hard time, You can't expect people who do it part time to be at your level or even half of your level.
If you're training specifically for the TA, as was mentioned above, drop the weights and do circuits + CV and then go back to the weights at another point.
So today I've been out to buy some Flaxseed oil and Wellman vitamins.
I'm a big believer in Flaxseed oil and other similar sources of omega 3,6 and 9 for general health. I usually try to take two 5ml spoonfuls per day when I'm training hard and on a tight diet.
I also use Wellman vitamins when my diet is restricted. I know it's arguable if they are required but I do it because in my own simple little mind if the diet is restricted there is a good chance I'm not going to get everything I need somewhere in my diet so for the sake of about £7 per month I use them.
Other than that the only two supplements I use are protein powder and creatine (powder from MP).
I'm currently using Maxi-Raw protein complex and the reason I'm using it as I won about £60 worth of it! Although that's not to suggest its not good, it actually is but as I'm aiming to reduce carbs I'm probably going to put it in storage until after the competition and buy some MP Whey Isolate. In the grand scheme of things this I don't think will make a huge difference but I'm going to stick to a tried and tested approach and not leave too much too chance.
I also don't expect my diet will be perfect since I have to attend a lot of company outings and I won't be doing anything but the ordinary when that happens so I feel I will do better to avoid excesses in other areas.
I'm a big believer in Flaxseed oil and other similar sources of omega 3,6 and 9 for general health. I usually try to take two 5ml spoonfuls per day when I'm training hard and on a tight diet.
I also use Wellman vitamins when my diet is restricted. I know it's arguable if they are required but I do it because in my own simple little mind if the diet is restricted there is a good chance I'm not going to get everything I need somewhere in my diet so for the sake of about £7 per month I use them.
Other than that the only two supplements I use are protein powder and creatine (powder from MP).
I'm currently using Maxi-Raw protein complex and the reason I'm using it as I won about £60 worth of it! Although that's not to suggest its not good, it actually is but as I'm aiming to reduce carbs I'm probably going to put it in storage until after the competition and buy some MP Whey Isolate. In the grand scheme of things this I don't think will make a huge difference but I'm going to stick to a tried and tested approach and not leave too much too chance.
I also don't expect my diet will be perfect since I have to attend a lot of company outings and I won't be doing anything but the ordinary when that happens so I feel I will do better to avoid excesses in other areas.
Edited by Ordinary_Chap on Sunday 3rd April 14:45
Oh and I thought I'd add in some of the great work an American poster on UK-Muscle has put together. His name is HackSkii and he's a doctor and has over the years contributed some amazing and insightful work.
Why am I posting this? Well after the controversy over my low carb suggestions lots of folks have been messaging me about it so I thought I'd post one of my influences regarding the management of carbs.
Why am I posting this? Well after the controversy over my low carb suggestions lots of folks have been messaging me about it so I thought I'd post one of my influences regarding the management of carbs.
hackskii said:
Carbohydrates and blood sugars. Dieting and carbohydrates and misunderstandings.
First off this article is for people that want to lose weight and have a problem with carbohydrates and spiking blood sugars. This article is not complete but I will finish later as it is a long read.
What about grains? Well, 8000 years ago, there were no grains, bread or pasta.
Agriculture is a very recent (by evolutionary standards) invention.
We regularly eat large quantities of dense, highly processed carbohydrates such as grains and grain based products like pasta. Because we haven’t evolved to a stage where we can eat excessive amounts of these high density carbohydrates without adverse biochemical consequences, our bodies aren’t able to operate properly. We gain excess weight, suffer from diabetes, heard disease and a host of other ills, feel sluggish, and generally perform at a sub-par level.
Much of the information we received over the years about losing weight is simply wrong.
Over the past 20 years, this misinformation has been responsible for making us fat-phobic. We consume only foods low in fat in a attempt to remain or get thin.
What has been the payoff for our fat obsession? Has our dedication to low fat lifestyle turned us into a nation of lean healthy people?
NO! In fact the exact opposite has resulted. Over the past 20 years the US population (as well as most countries that eat a western diet) has experienced a consistent increase in excess body fat. Obesity over the last ten years has reached widespread levels in the U.S. despite the public actually consuming less fat than before.
In November of 1998, the U.S. Surgeon General declared an epidemic on obesity in America.
THE FOOD PYRAMID………..I don’t think you guys in the UK have this but I am sure there are similar things judging by your diets.
The food pyramid was not designed by the medical establishment. It was designed by the US Agricultural Department. Now the Agricultural Department job is to sell agricultural products.
The current “Healthy” diet consists of about sixty-five percent carbohydrates, fifteen percent fat, and twenty percent protein. These numbers are shown in this pyramid. As you see, we have been told to eat almost eleven servings a day of breads, cereal, rice, and pasta. They are at the basis of the pyramid. These products are refined carbohydrates. They are manmade carbohydrates.
Was this diet ever tested in the human population prior to being recommended by the US government? Surprisingly, the answer is no. This diet came out in the late sixties in response to the rising epidemic of heart disease. For some reason people still think this is healthy eating habits.
The American Heart Association decided that since fat is a key component for one of the risk factors for heart disease, then Americans should start eating less saturated fat. The problem is that there are more types of fat than just saturated fat. The government assumed we were not smart enough to just cut out saturated fats, so it urged us to cut out all fat. Fat was labeled as the enemy.
Fat is a source of calories. When you cut out fat, you have to replace those calories with something else. The replacement was carbohydrates, because carbohydrates often don't have any fat. The vacuum formed by reducing all the fat in our diets was taken up by carbohydrates.
When this diet was created in the late sixties, twenty-five percent of the adult population was obese. We have now hit the fifty percent mark.
Dietary Fat Does Not Make You Fat!
The solution to this apparent riddle might surprise you, but the explanation is simple. Eating fat in the proper amounts does not make you fat. I will take this one step farther. Eating fat does not make you fat. This sounds like nutritional heresy, but there’s scientific proof. In the 1950’s, Kekwick and Pawan at the University of London in England published a landmark study. They put patients on a diet that was low in calories (1000) but high in fat. In fact, fat supplied 90 percent of the total calories. What happened? Those patients lost significant amounts of weight. When the same patients were put on a high-carbohydrate diet (90% of the calories form carbs) with the same number of calories, there was virtually no weight loss.
There is one industry that has devoted a lot of money to the understanding what fattens animals up. The cattle and hog industry. They know the fastest way to fatten animals up to get the most profit. How do they do this? By not allowing the cattle to roam and graze and feed them lots and lots of low fat, complex carbohydrates, in the form of grain.
What is the fastest way to fatten us up just like cows? Eat lots of low-fat processed carbohydrates.
I am not against carbohydrates just the processed man made ones. Fresh fruits and vegetables are better than breads and pasta’s any day.
Eating carbohydrates stimulates insulin secretion. Since your body has a limited capacity to store carbohydrates, doesn't know when its next meal might be, and has an unlimited ability to store food as fat, insulin does just that. Insulin turns the excess carbohydrates into fat! Dietary fat, on the other hand, does not stimulate insulin secretion. By eating the proper ratio of low-density carbohydrates, dietary fat, and protein, you can control your insulin production.
INSULIN-STIMULATING CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT
Since a carbohydrate restricting Diet is about insulin control, you have to realize that not all carbohydrates affect insulin equally. Every complex carbohydrate must be broken down into simple sugars and will eventually enter the bloodstream as glucose, which in turn will have a stimulatory effect on insulin secretion. Fiber (both soluble and insoluble) cannot be broken down into simple sugars, and therefore it will have no impact on insulin. Taking this into account
If a carbohydrate source (such as pasta) has very little fiber content, then virtually all of its listed carbohydrate content will be insulin-stimulating carbohydrate. On the other hand, if a carbohydrate source is rich in fiber (such as broccoli), then its insulin-stimulating carbohydrate content will be significantly reduced. This means that more volume of fiber-rich carbohydrate source must be consumed to have the same impact on insulin secretion as a much smaller volume of low-fiber content carbohydrate.
You can quickly see that you would have to eat a tremendous volume of broccoli (approximately 12 cups) to have the same impact on insulin as eating a relatively small amount of cooked pasta. This is why starches and grains are considered high-density carbohydrates, whereas fruits are medium-density carbohydrates, and vegetables are low-density carbohydrates. The Atkins and Zone Diets relies heavily on low-density carbohydrates, so large volumes of food must be consumed in order to have an appreciable impact on insulin. This is also why high-density carbohydrates are used in moderation on the Zone Diet because very small volumes can stimulate excess insulin production
The glycemic index is a measure of the entry rates of various carbohydrate sources into the bloodstream. The faster their rate of entry, the greater the effect on insulin secretion. There are three factors that affect the glycemic index of a particular carbohydrate. The first is the amount of fiber (and especially soluble fiber) a carbohydrate contains; the second is the amount of fat found in the carbohydrate source (the more fat consumed with the carbohydrate, the slower the rate of entry into the bloodstream); the third is the composition of the complex carbohydrate itself. The greater the amount of glucose it contains, the higher the glycemic index; whereas the more fructose a carbohydrate contains, the lower the glycemic index. This is because fructose cannot enter into the bloodstream without first being converted into glucose, a relatively slow process that takes place in the liver.
With time the glycemic index soon became the new fashionable guideline to determine which carbohydrates to eat. However, the glycemic index had significant experimental problems in dealing with low-density carbohydrates, such as vegetables.
The difficulties arose because determination of the glycemic index requires that a sufficient intake of carbohydrate (usually 50 grams) be consumed. But it is simply too difficult to consume this amount of carbohydrate from most vegetables at a sitting. For instance this would require consuming about 16 cups of steamed broccoli. As a result, nearly all the glycemic index work has been done with grains, starches, and some fruits, and virtually nothing is known about the glycemic index of low-density vegetables that are the backbone of the Zone and Atkins Diets.
Ultimately, a healthy diet is obtained through insulin moderation, which can best be achieved by primarily consuming low-density carbohydrates that also have a low-glycemic index. That means eating a lot of vegetables.
Even though the glycemic index of each of these carbohydrates (1 cup pasta and 1 cup broccoli) are about the same, 1 cup of pasta generates 20 times the insulin response as 1 cup of broccoli. And a single apple generates about 6 times the insulin response as the 1 cup of broccoli.
And you can also understand why many of the carbohydrates found in traditional grain-based vegetarian diets are likely to dramatically increase insulin levels. For example, white rice generates a tremendous amount of insulin response compared to the same volume of oatmeal or barley because rice has a greater glycemic load. Likewise, most breakfast cereals will have the same impact on insulin as a Snickers bar, since their glycemic loads are approximately the same. Meanwhile cooked vegetables represent a very low glycemic load, which is why they are a critical component of the Zone and Atkins Diets.
But remember that the more processed a food, the higher the glycemic load. This is why boiled beans have a much lower glycemic load than the same volume of canned beans. And when you make any bean (like black beans) into a soup, the glycemic load skyrockets because the prolonged cooking breaks down the cell walls of the bean making it easier for the body to digest it into simple sugars for absorption.
Carbs before bed?
If you eat a carbohydrate rich snack before bed, you’ve done everything in your power to inhibit growth hormone release. Why? Because you raised insulin levels, and insulin retards the secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.
At this point this article is incomplete and am going to post anyway but I will add to it later when I get a chance. I wanted to go into carbohydrate addictions but will have to add that later.
Thread continues here; http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/losing-weight/1941-carb...First off this article is for people that want to lose weight and have a problem with carbohydrates and spiking blood sugars. This article is not complete but I will finish later as it is a long read.
What about grains? Well, 8000 years ago, there were no grains, bread or pasta.
Agriculture is a very recent (by evolutionary standards) invention.
We regularly eat large quantities of dense, highly processed carbohydrates such as grains and grain based products like pasta. Because we haven’t evolved to a stage where we can eat excessive amounts of these high density carbohydrates without adverse biochemical consequences, our bodies aren’t able to operate properly. We gain excess weight, suffer from diabetes, heard disease and a host of other ills, feel sluggish, and generally perform at a sub-par level.
Much of the information we received over the years about losing weight is simply wrong.
Over the past 20 years, this misinformation has been responsible for making us fat-phobic. We consume only foods low in fat in a attempt to remain or get thin.
What has been the payoff for our fat obsession? Has our dedication to low fat lifestyle turned us into a nation of lean healthy people?
NO! In fact the exact opposite has resulted. Over the past 20 years the US population (as well as most countries that eat a western diet) has experienced a consistent increase in excess body fat. Obesity over the last ten years has reached widespread levels in the U.S. despite the public actually consuming less fat than before.
In November of 1998, the U.S. Surgeon General declared an epidemic on obesity in America.
THE FOOD PYRAMID………..I don’t think you guys in the UK have this but I am sure there are similar things judging by your diets.
The food pyramid was not designed by the medical establishment. It was designed by the US Agricultural Department. Now the Agricultural Department job is to sell agricultural products.
The current “Healthy” diet consists of about sixty-five percent carbohydrates, fifteen percent fat, and twenty percent protein. These numbers are shown in this pyramid. As you see, we have been told to eat almost eleven servings a day of breads, cereal, rice, and pasta. They are at the basis of the pyramid. These products are refined carbohydrates. They are manmade carbohydrates.
Was this diet ever tested in the human population prior to being recommended by the US government? Surprisingly, the answer is no. This diet came out in the late sixties in response to the rising epidemic of heart disease. For some reason people still think this is healthy eating habits.
The American Heart Association decided that since fat is a key component for one of the risk factors for heart disease, then Americans should start eating less saturated fat. The problem is that there are more types of fat than just saturated fat. The government assumed we were not smart enough to just cut out saturated fats, so it urged us to cut out all fat. Fat was labeled as the enemy.
Fat is a source of calories. When you cut out fat, you have to replace those calories with something else. The replacement was carbohydrates, because carbohydrates often don't have any fat. The vacuum formed by reducing all the fat in our diets was taken up by carbohydrates.
When this diet was created in the late sixties, twenty-five percent of the adult population was obese. We have now hit the fifty percent mark.
Dietary Fat Does Not Make You Fat!
The solution to this apparent riddle might surprise you, but the explanation is simple. Eating fat in the proper amounts does not make you fat. I will take this one step farther. Eating fat does not make you fat. This sounds like nutritional heresy, but there’s scientific proof. In the 1950’s, Kekwick and Pawan at the University of London in England published a landmark study. They put patients on a diet that was low in calories (1000) but high in fat. In fact, fat supplied 90 percent of the total calories. What happened? Those patients lost significant amounts of weight. When the same patients were put on a high-carbohydrate diet (90% of the calories form carbs) with the same number of calories, there was virtually no weight loss.
There is one industry that has devoted a lot of money to the understanding what fattens animals up. The cattle and hog industry. They know the fastest way to fatten animals up to get the most profit. How do they do this? By not allowing the cattle to roam and graze and feed them lots and lots of low fat, complex carbohydrates, in the form of grain.
What is the fastest way to fatten us up just like cows? Eat lots of low-fat processed carbohydrates.
I am not against carbohydrates just the processed man made ones. Fresh fruits and vegetables are better than breads and pasta’s any day.
Eating carbohydrates stimulates insulin secretion. Since your body has a limited capacity to store carbohydrates, doesn't know when its next meal might be, and has an unlimited ability to store food as fat, insulin does just that. Insulin turns the excess carbohydrates into fat! Dietary fat, on the other hand, does not stimulate insulin secretion. By eating the proper ratio of low-density carbohydrates, dietary fat, and protein, you can control your insulin production.
INSULIN-STIMULATING CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT
Since a carbohydrate restricting Diet is about insulin control, you have to realize that not all carbohydrates affect insulin equally. Every complex carbohydrate must be broken down into simple sugars and will eventually enter the bloodstream as glucose, which in turn will have a stimulatory effect on insulin secretion. Fiber (both soluble and insoluble) cannot be broken down into simple sugars, and therefore it will have no impact on insulin. Taking this into account
If a carbohydrate source (such as pasta) has very little fiber content, then virtually all of its listed carbohydrate content will be insulin-stimulating carbohydrate. On the other hand, if a carbohydrate source is rich in fiber (such as broccoli), then its insulin-stimulating carbohydrate content will be significantly reduced. This means that more volume of fiber-rich carbohydrate source must be consumed to have the same impact on insulin secretion as a much smaller volume of low-fiber content carbohydrate.
You can quickly see that you would have to eat a tremendous volume of broccoli (approximately 12 cups) to have the same impact on insulin as eating a relatively small amount of cooked pasta. This is why starches and grains are considered high-density carbohydrates, whereas fruits are medium-density carbohydrates, and vegetables are low-density carbohydrates. The Atkins and Zone Diets relies heavily on low-density carbohydrates, so large volumes of food must be consumed in order to have an appreciable impact on insulin. This is also why high-density carbohydrates are used in moderation on the Zone Diet because very small volumes can stimulate excess insulin production
The glycemic index is a measure of the entry rates of various carbohydrate sources into the bloodstream. The faster their rate of entry, the greater the effect on insulin secretion. There are three factors that affect the glycemic index of a particular carbohydrate. The first is the amount of fiber (and especially soluble fiber) a carbohydrate contains; the second is the amount of fat found in the carbohydrate source (the more fat consumed with the carbohydrate, the slower the rate of entry into the bloodstream); the third is the composition of the complex carbohydrate itself. The greater the amount of glucose it contains, the higher the glycemic index; whereas the more fructose a carbohydrate contains, the lower the glycemic index. This is because fructose cannot enter into the bloodstream without first being converted into glucose, a relatively slow process that takes place in the liver.
With time the glycemic index soon became the new fashionable guideline to determine which carbohydrates to eat. However, the glycemic index had significant experimental problems in dealing with low-density carbohydrates, such as vegetables.
The difficulties arose because determination of the glycemic index requires that a sufficient intake of carbohydrate (usually 50 grams) be consumed. But it is simply too difficult to consume this amount of carbohydrate from most vegetables at a sitting. For instance this would require consuming about 16 cups of steamed broccoli. As a result, nearly all the glycemic index work has been done with grains, starches, and some fruits, and virtually nothing is known about the glycemic index of low-density vegetables that are the backbone of the Zone and Atkins Diets.
Ultimately, a healthy diet is obtained through insulin moderation, which can best be achieved by primarily consuming low-density carbohydrates that also have a low-glycemic index. That means eating a lot of vegetables.
Even though the glycemic index of each of these carbohydrates (1 cup pasta and 1 cup broccoli) are about the same, 1 cup of pasta generates 20 times the insulin response as 1 cup of broccoli. And a single apple generates about 6 times the insulin response as the 1 cup of broccoli.
And you can also understand why many of the carbohydrates found in traditional grain-based vegetarian diets are likely to dramatically increase insulin levels. For example, white rice generates a tremendous amount of insulin response compared to the same volume of oatmeal or barley because rice has a greater glycemic load. Likewise, most breakfast cereals will have the same impact on insulin as a Snickers bar, since their glycemic loads are approximately the same. Meanwhile cooked vegetables represent a very low glycemic load, which is why they are a critical component of the Zone and Atkins Diets.
But remember that the more processed a food, the higher the glycemic load. This is why boiled beans have a much lower glycemic load than the same volume of canned beans. And when you make any bean (like black beans) into a soup, the glycemic load skyrockets because the prolonged cooking breaks down the cell walls of the bean making it easier for the body to digest it into simple sugars for absorption.
Carbs before bed?
If you eat a carbohydrate rich snack before bed, you’ve done everything in your power to inhibit growth hormone release. Why? Because you raised insulin levels, and insulin retards the secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.
At this point this article is incomplete and am going to post anyway but I will add to it later when I get a chance. I wanted to go into carbohydrate addictions but will have to add that later.
Legs tonight.
Leg extensions 3 x 8 @ 70kg
Squat 1 x 10 @ 60kg, 3 x 8 @ 110kg
Leg press 3 x 8 @ 200kg
Reverse leg curl 3 X 8 @ 50kg
And that was it my legs ceased to function! It always makes me laugh the legs equipment is downstairs and I have to almost crawl up the stairs in slow motion like a 90 year old man then stumble down the street to my car whilst the locals give me some odd looks!
So I've been using the Flaxseed oil and to say its wrench inducing would be to understate the fact!
I've also spent 40 mins chatting with my coach who has made some big changes to my diet and told me to stop being a fatty and do more CV now!
Leg extensions 3 x 8 @ 70kg
Squat 1 x 10 @ 60kg, 3 x 8 @ 110kg
Leg press 3 x 8 @ 200kg
Reverse leg curl 3 X 8 @ 50kg
And that was it my legs ceased to function! It always makes me laugh the legs equipment is downstairs and I have to almost crawl up the stairs in slow motion like a 90 year old man then stumble down the street to my car whilst the locals give me some odd looks!
So I've been using the Flaxseed oil and to say its wrench inducing would be to understate the fact!
I've also spent 40 mins chatting with my coach who has made some big changes to my diet and told me to stop being a fatty and do more CV now!
okgo said:
Just do more sqauts?
I see no place for the leg press if you have a squat rack?
My expert coach believes it has a different effect on the muscles than just doing the squat and quite frankly his word is good enough for me. He consistently produces amazing results from the folk he mentors.I see no place for the leg press if you have a squat rack?
To be truthfully honest, I'm not sure about the science behind this but his training is usually based around scientific facts. I will ask next time I see him.
Although most bodybuilders I see usually do a mix of legs and the press is very popular after the squat.
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