On training post contest:
How long should I wait after a contest till i can start training again? also what do you think about detox diets like 3 days of just fruits and veggies?
you can start training immediately after, in fact it’s not a good idea to take a week off like so many people do
‘detox’ diets are gimmicks and bullshit
On bloating post contest:
After my binging fest of a couple days after my show I have noticed alot of bloating.. is this normal? Is it bc of the dairy products and refined sugars that I am not used to?
yea bro… if you’ve been binging for a few days you are going to be bloated… especially after a keto diet. I’ve seen people eat themselves into offseason condition in under a week
On transition to offseason from competition:
Do you give your body time to adjust after a contest before you start your first bulk cycle? Even though I’m not quite 8 weeks out, want to start planning (failure to plan is planning to fail!) I was thinking a gradual increase (maybe 150 per week?) would be wise until I’m 300 Kcals above maintenance, then hold that for the 6-8 week bulk cycle. Your thoughts on that?
I just wrote something about this on another forum
Post contest is a very difficult situation and if you go on a full out bulk post contest you are going to do nothing but get fat. Usually what I do is take the carb amount that the person was taking in before the show and add 50g to it, while keeping protein & fat the same, maybe slightly higher on fat. After they stop gaining weight from this; I add in another 20g of carbs & 5g of fat, when they stop gaining weight on that; I add another 25g of carbs and so on and so forth. typically it takes about 10-16 weeks to get back into a full blown offseason; but done right, the fat gain can be kept to a minimum
this was also posted by madman911 on my forum and I thought it was right on target
“We’ve all heard of the anabolic rebound after contest prep, and many gurus advocate eating like a horse immediately after a contest to take advantage of the huge lean gains possible during this period, but I gotta agree with Layne that it doesn’t work that way. The body wants to get back to its baseline body fat levels ASAP, that will always be the body’s first order of business when your body fat is literally at starvation levels. I don’t agree with the assertion that the body tends toward lean mass gains when body fat is low, I believe that the body likely gains lean mass most efficiently when a threshold level of body fat is achieved. When the body is satisfied that it is no longer in immediate danger of starvation, then an environment promoting lean mass gains is created. The ultimate goal should be to gradually bring the body up to that threshold level of body fat in a slow, controlled way without exceeding what is necessary to promote muscle growth. Many bodybuilders no doubt believe they are gaining tons of lean mass post-contest (not saying that’s you quelly, you seem smarter than that), when, in reality, they are adding 2 points to their body fat each week. Going from 5% to 10% bodyfat in the first 2-3 weeks post-contest seems very common and I’m sure most guys think they’re packing on slabs of muscle and they are just ‘holding water’ post-contest and that’s why they’re looking smooth again…. Nope, you’re just 5% fatter.”
Interesting thought but isn’t it just that? a speculation? Couldn’t it also be said that since your muscles were in a starvation type period for so long (heavy workouts + restricted calories) that they would be readily available to absorb nutrients and supercompensate if you will for the lack of food available while dieting? also you will be able to work out with more intensity, etc. Just playing devils advocate i don’t know if one way is right or the other
long dieting = low leptin, low T3, reduced metabolic rate = primed to store fat. Sure it’s speculation but it’s based on years of research on my part and also years of experimentation with myself and people I work with
On resetting metabolism:
Does the body typically need 10 to 16 weeks to reset its metabolism? Because a cutting diet is catabolic per se, even the most thought out carb cycle, will lead to a metabolic drop, right?
Let’s imagine you cut on 12 Kcal/lbs of BW a day. Usually (or theoretically here) if you want to maintain fat loss the longer you’re in the diet, the lower the calories fall, even if you cycle and try to minimize this effect.
So in reality even if you make your calories go progressively lower and lower, you constantly stay on 12 Kcal/lbs BW/day BUT BASED on your CONSTANTLY DECREASING BMR. Which leads to another question, or maybe a way to evaluate/calculate your current BMR at different times into the diet. Which would actually be a quiet useful tool, I think. I’d be really interested to hear what you think about this.
The more of a caloric deficit you go into the more your metabolism slows. And yes, it takes that long to ‘reset’ your metabolism
On hunger post contest:
After contest how many days does it take normaly to feel no hunger at all or it is only happen when I rich my bodyfat setpoint?
Thanks
alot of this is physiological but much of it is also psychological. Studies have found that it can take weeks and even months to properly recover from a diet that includes your appetite regulation. What you DO NOT want to do is gorge yourself post contest. Basically I take whatever number of carbohydrates I was eating during my contest and I add 75 to that, with my protein starting at 225 and my fat starting at 60. once my weight stabalizes I add another 25g of carbs and wait til my weight stabalizes. Then I add 25g of carbs again , and keep repeating, this way you add weight slowly so you don’t overshoot your bodyfat setpoint.
On offseason post contest:
As far as offseason goes , is it basically like your pre-contest article on bodybuilding.com , find you protein need , find your fat need , then subtract it from your calorie totals and the left over calories would carbs ? for example :
I’m 220 pound male body builder about 8% bf age 21. I take in 220 grams of protein, 15 -20 % fat which would be 78 grams of fat . As for carbs that would make it about 440 grams carbs Does this sound like I’m on the right track for nutrition ratios?
That is exactly what i recommend
awesome , and then with the competition stage you adjust the protein to 1.2 gramsper pound , and adjust the fat to no more then 30% and left over once again goes to carbs , also one other thing , do ou still do your pre contest dieting as stated in your article at bb.com
slightly different but the principles are very similar still
