Post 138 Slingshot Training Revised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PRIME/BLAST/CRUISE
The Slingshot Training System
By Ronnie Rowland author of the “Slingshot Training System.”
WARNING: READ FIRST
No liability is assumed by the author for information contained within. Anabolic steroids are illegal in many countries and are not condoned by the author. All readers, are advises that any form of supplements or drugs described may be illegal, prohibited, or used only with a doctors prescription. The author does not participate, advocate, or encourage in any illegal activities. Readers must consult with appropriate legal and medical authorities if not certain about what has been stated in this article.
Important Note: Sample training splits begin on post 144 in this thread! Beginner routines are located at the bottom of post #146.
Introduction:
When many bodybuilders hit a plateau, what do they do? They begin to push even harder by adding more intensity or exercises to their routine. This kind of thinking is wrong because a muscle has to be exposed to something it is not used to doing without over-training the nervous system and joints. Adding additional exercises or trying to use beyond failure techniques is widely accepted for producing frustrated bodybuilders!
It's no secret that progressively adding more weight to every lift is a sure-fire way to increase total lean body mass, given the diet, training volume, and exercise selection is spot on. Almost everyone starts out using low volume. They grow at a phenomenal rate until the body adapts and quits responding. Because some feel the gains were so great using the lower volume approach, they begin to try and lift heavier weights while using the same program for extended periods of time. They put continued pressure on themselves to try to beat personal records each training session in hopes it will somehow further their muscle mass. Unfortunately, they end up with nothing more than chronic injuries and stagnation as a result.
The intelligent trainer's switch-over to using more volume, while the less fortunate keep thinking less is always more! The next mistake comes into play by the trainees who have switched over to using the higher volume approach. Many bodybuilders become so overwhelmed with their newly found muscle mass after having increased the volume that they begin to reason with themselves thinking more must always be done from that point on. They quickly hit a point of diminishing returns and eventually develop over-use injuries and an over-trained nervous system, instead of reverting back to using a lower amount of volume that worked so well at the beginning.
Sometimes their training will take the form of more sets-reps, exercises, intensity, training sessions, etc. Some are in constant search for the latest routines that will shock their muscles even further. However, all this does is hold them back even more because no one can overcome diminishing returns or keep using the same routine for extended periods of time and expect to make good gains!
** As a bodybuilder you will be going up against giants. In biblical times David used a "slingshot" to destroy his largest opponent of all, Goliath. Slingshot Training will dramatically change your physique in a short amount of time, trust me on this one.* *
Every time I browse the internet it’s the same old question being asked over and over again; “What’s the best training routine to gain lean muscle mass and strength?” Many of you are jumping from program to program and it’s not really making any noticeable differences in your strength or appearance. Some of you were making gains but have now reached a plateau. Others believe that a properly structured routine won’t really make much difference in comparison to other training programs and you tend to be either an obsessive-compulsive high volume bodybuilder (always going for a pump) or an obsessive-compulsive low volume bodybuilder (always trying to gain more strength). If you fall into any of these categories, I want to share with you what I have found optimal for making forward progress as an off-season bodybuilder.
First, not everything that works is good. You can be sincere in what you believe and still be wrong. So far, so good, doesn’t mean you’re not going to have some serious issues with joint and tendon pain later on down the road. All too often a hero on this months muscle magazine turns into a zero a few months down the road because they become injured and can no longer train. Listen carefully, opinions and trends come and go. I get a head ache just thinking about all the high-intensity training techniques such as pre-exhaustion, forced reps, negative reps, partial reps, down the rack, rest-pause, super sets, burns, drop sets, and the list goes on, and on!
Let me be clear, various training techniques have nothing to do with genetic capablitlies. There is not one single variable that is the total downfall of not being able to gain more muscle size. Forced reps, rest pause, drop sets, etc will all depict some form of muscular hypertrophy. However, a major problem (other than these techniques being less effective at stimulating muscular size-strength and putting more strain on the joints, tendons, and CNS) is that they take in a very selected group of principles and apply them. The theory of combining all different training techniques to increase muscle hypertrophy is short-sighting the way the human body responds. If genetics dictated the needs for a different training style, then some could use rest-pause or drop-sets and get bigger/stronger than what they could obtain with straight sets, and we know this is not the case! Time has proven that the gentically superior will respond better to all forms of training methods when compared to the genetically inferior. Simply changing the way you create damage by employing various beyond failure training methods does not alter the fact that over¬training of the CNS and joints/tendons will out pace muscular damage. So, it all boils down to finding that one training method that’s not only the most effective for all genetic types, but the safest. It just so happens that straight sets is that one training method. In final, straight sets is the superior training style that out does all the rest when periodized properly!
* * Just because something has been shown to work doesn't mean it’s the best way**
A lot of talented people fail because they don't have a strong work ethic or they get poor information and stick too it. It's very important to get the right information. Do some investigating. Our projection of things is how all of us make our decisions. And all too often, people tend to believe something just because they have heard others say it over and over again. You must resist letting others condition or brainwash you into believing something that is not altogether true. Be skeptical when someone is trying to sell you something. It pays to be defensive because there is always something being promoted as "new and amazing" that turns out to be pure garbage. I'm not telling you that Slingshot Training is the only one way to success, or that all other training systems are wrong. I'm all about teaching others what I have found to be optimal. I get tired of all the silly debates on the internet that means absolutely nothing. For every article debunking a certain method, 25 can be found supporting it. Studies are fine, and theories are great, but reality hits hard and the paper studies that are put out become worthless when the truth is finally revealed. When someone gives the default answer "Well there's not an effective off-season program that will work for everyone in terms of maxing out their genetics potential," I realize they are basically admitting they do not understand how the human body responds to outside stimuli.
The big picture is learning what it takes to create an effective progressive over-load (lift more weight) without getting injured and then taking those strength gains and proceeding forward to create a true progressive over-load (performing more sets with heavier weight loads) without developing over-use injuries and over-training. Add the proper nutrition into the mix and that’s how you get results. I refer to this as using a slingshot approach (hurling intensity to the muscles).
If you gain strength but fail to gain some muscle size over time, it’s because you are not eating enough calories. If you gain strength but neglect to increase training volume during a period of using more calories to put on weight, you will gain more body fat and less muscle size. Combining more volume with extra calories and increased strength gains is what causes maximum growth. Then you must periodize these 3 factors so progress and recuperation can be made year round.
Training has to do with adaptation. Volume, Intensity, Frequency and Strength have their limitations. None of them are infinite. For e.g.; If you perform 1 intense set of heavy barbell curls twice a week, the neural pathways will eventually adjust themselves by getting stronger so they can handle an even heavier weight load next time you train. Yes, the biceps will get stronger, but not a lot bigger. Stay with me here! When you take advantage of the added strength gains made by using less volume and then co-mingle those added strength gains with additional training volume while not over-training, you can be assured you will grow bigger muscles. That is how you create a true progressive overload! You can use all the fancy beyond failure training methods such as drop sets and rest-pause for hours on end and never create a true progressive overload because limitless adaptation equals a heavier workload in conjunction with additional volume to breakdown down more muscle tissue, while never going past the point of diminishing returns.
A progressive over-load and a true progressive over-load are not one in the same. Creating a progressive over-load is brought forth by being able to lift more weight using the same form, amount of work sets, and rest periods between sets. A true progressive over-load (a phrase I coined) is also brought forth when you can lift more weight using the same form, and rest periods between sets, but the amount of work sets performed must be greater than what’s required to produce a progressive over-load!
After each subsequent set that follows the first work set, the type-1 fibers tire out earlier in the set and the type 2 fibers that are most responsible for giving you muscle size-strength take over the load for longer periods of time. By the time you have done only 2-3 intense sets, the endurance fibers are shutting down much earlier in the set and it's mostly the type-2 fibers lifting the weight. This is why volume training works well for pro-bodybuilders. The type-2 fibers must be made to adapt to lift more weight for longer periods of time in order to grow larger. In order to accomplish this feat, you must handle heavier weights over time. By training each bodypart only once a week as a "baseline" you will produce the most size gains with the least amount of effort while sparing the joints and central nervous system. Once the body adapts to once a week bodypart training you'll need to periodically hit each muscle group twice a week in order to keep progressing forward at the fastest rate humanly possible! Always training each muscle group once a week or always training a muscle group twice a week stops being productive for the more advanced bodybuilder. Once the muscles have adapted to the training frequency it must be changed if you are to continue to force the body to adapt. When done correctly this leads to further growth and strength gains!
Multitudes of people, especially our youth, are often guilty of listening to those who are taking or have taken a ton of anabolic drugs. Not that there’s anything wrong with adults taking anabolics if they chose to do so, but when these individuals use their stats to bolster arguments in favor of some idiosyncratic approach to training and dieting, it becomes the flavor-of-the-month approach to bodybuilding. The truth is, a lot of drug- enhanced bodybuilders make impressive initial gains, but are not making continued gains because they do not know what constitutes proper diet and training. My suggestion to everyone is to approach training in a simplistic manner. There's no reason whatseover to be filled with doubts. The best thing you can do is not over analyze and just train consistently hard and what ever can happen will happen in the long run. This will put you on the right track!
Note: Research has clearly shown that worry, negative thoughts, stress and (Type-A behavior) will cause cortisol to spike throughout the day–hence fat storage/muscle loss becomes inevitable!
Due to all the chaos, we now have much division in the bodybuilding community. On one side we have the low volume crowd screaming everyone’s over training! On the extreme opposite end we have the high volume advocates preaching that anyone who uses low volume is lazy and are not doing enough work to stimulate muscle growth! Then there’s the moderate volume crew who believes low volume and high volume bodybuilders are nothing more than a bunch of extremist! Next, we have the powerlifters claiming the only way to obtain size is to lift with heavy weights and low reps! Last, we come to the radicals who have given up on finding any truth and go around telling everyone all they need to do is lift until they drop and eat like a mad man!
Next, we come to the fad diets. On one side we have the high carb crowd claiming if you eat dietary fats they are more likely to be stored as bodyfat. Then, we have the high fat diet advocates teaching that carbohydrates are a menace because they increases insulin levels causing our body’s to store fat. Yes, there are also groups who teach you should never eat carbs and fats in the same meal or eat carbs at night. Other self-proclaimed experts are saying the body is only capable of digesting a certain amounts of protein in each meal and the rest is stored as bodyfat or eliminated by the body. Last, we have the radicals who believe the more protein you eat the bigger and stronger your muscles will become. So, if you’re tired of all the chaos, and I know you are, you have finally found the right training system!
The advantages of Slingshot Training over other routines is that it’s fun and exciting, it's not a cheesy cookie cutter routine, there’s training splits and exercises that will fit everyone’s daily schedule, it allows you to work on weak points, there's a diet plan to fit everyones needs, it’s easy to follow and it will allow you to reach your utmost full-genetic potential in muscle size at a faster pace without becoming injured or over-trained. Many of you are fed up with not looking any different and you do not want to spend the next few years wasting time jumping from program to program and being confused by all the different opinions. Slingshot Training is precisely what everyone is looking for in this day and age of complexity and over-analysis!
Important Note: I've received a ton of emails on various boards concerning training splits. For the record-I do not believe in "cookie cutter routines" because they do not work for everyone! Everybody has a unique training preference. This includes both exercise selection and the way the body parts are split. No one split can be said to be holy grail because so much is dependent on individual preferences. The training splits I have listed are mere samples that have worked extremely well for many bodybuilders. But, you can use your own customized split. Just keep the sets and 3 training cyles (PRIME/BLAST/CRUISE) as I have outlined. DO NOT use poor splits were a lot of over-lapping occurs between bodyparts if you want Slingshot Training to work for you!
Straight sets
I am of the opinion that all beyond failure training techniques are just an egotistical way to promote a radically different training method! I have developed an advanced training system that will work for anyone that is willing to give it a chance. It goes against a lot of the Muscle Mag Dogma that’s continually being rehashed. There’s no rest-pause, drop sets, super sets, forced reps, etc. Many training systems sound whacky because they are whacky! If you do something extreme, it’s going to be something you can’t live with so it’s bound to fail. No one has nor will they ever, devise a training technique that will work as good as straight sets for building size and strength. There’s a very good reason that most veterans in this sport have stopped using extreme training techniques. It doesn’t matter if beyond failure training techniques are used in the lower rep-ranges or the higher rep-ranges because the burn and stress still carries over to the vulnerable joints and tendons-hence greatly increasing your odds of developing tendonitis and tearing a tendon. Using beyond failure training methods like rest-pause, forced reps and drop sets will force you to train with less volume and weight. Therefore, you won’t be able to keep the training volume and weight loads high enough for a long enough period to experience maximum muscular growth.
Power-lifters and those who compete in the world’s strongest man competitions are some of the largest men to ever walk on the face of this planet. They obtain their massiveness by utilizing nothing other than straight sets. Every training method other than straight sets has fallen short of what I consider optimal for providing fast, safe, and efficient results. There has never been any evidence to show that any training method regardless of how many bells and whistles it comes equipped with can increase your muscle mass and strength as efficiently as straight sets. Trust me on this one! Who do you think would make the most gains; a guy who does 4 sets of 10 reps using 400 lbs on the vertical leg press machine or the guy who does 1 triple drop set using 400 lbs, 350 lbs, 300 lbs and finally 270 lbs? The obvious answer is the guy who used more weight on all 4 sets. Why? Because straight sets allows you the power to lift a greater weight-load range. With beyond failure techniques such as drop sets, you’re basically breaking down less muscle tissue yet annihilating the nervous system and joints. The same rule applies to rest-pause training as well because with each subsequent set you are using fewer reps with the same amount of weight. A rest-paused set done in the 8-12 rep range will not create the same kind of strength gains that are obtained by using a straight set for 4-6 reps simply because you cannot lift heavy when training near the point of non-stop. Straight sets give you the best of both worlds because it allows you to stay within the bodies recovery limits while building maximum size and strength. Using beyond failure training methods will force you to train with less volume-hence you won’t be able to keep the training volume high enough to experience maximum muscular growth.
* * There’s a lot to be said for being logically consistent* *
Important Note: Researchers from Truman State University (Kirksville Missouri) investigated whether the amount of rest taken between sets had an impact on the immune system/CNS. What they found was something I have known for some time: "Nine male college students performed two workouts of 10 sets of 10 reps of the leg press, resting either 1 minute or 3 minutes between sets. They found that the one-minute rest periods caused more strain on the subjects immune systems compared to 3-minute rest periods". The graphs shown in this article suggest that higher-intensity training techniques by way of shortening rest periods by only 2 minutes increases strain on the immune by an extra 60% on the Lymphocytes scale and 40% on the Monocytes scale. . Now just imagine how much more of an an increase you would get by using beyond failure techniques!!! Regardless of what anyone claims, no ones body does well moving rapidly between sets or pushing beyond failure. It's just not as effective for increasing weight load-range and workload capacity as common power-lifting fundamentals. If so, every power-lifter and strongman on the face the planet would be using beyond failure training techniques instead of straight sets and we know that’s not the case. When over-training of the CNS occurs you are exhausting all the neurotransmitters in the nerves so that now they have trouble telling the muscles how to contract with optimum efficiency!
12 STS Training Principles
12 Slingshot training principles: 1) Use only safe and effective straight sets to spare the Central Nervous System, joints and tendons.
2) You need some repetitive motion because adaptation is what produces muscle growth and strength. Choose 2 exercises (a key exercise and a secondary exercise) for each bodypart that works the muscle from different angles. The secondary exercise can be another compound exercise or an isolation exercise. The exercises you shoe should agree with your biomechanics so you can make strength gains and increase volume during specific training phases without experiencing pain in the joints/tendons. The exercises listed in the routines below are mere sample exercises. You must insert the exercises that work best for you so the muscles will get fuller and fuller from set to set. Do not use the exercises I have listed if they are not right for you! You can choose up to 3 different exercises for each major bodypart and use up to 12 work sets once you have become a very advanced bodybuilder and are using the 4 or 5 day split. You can choose up to 2-3 exercises and use up to 10-12 work sets for any major body part when using the 4-5 day split. You do not need to hit a muscle group from a lot of different angles. You can choose 2 exercises and use up to 8-10 set with the 3 day per week split based routine. All you really need is one KEY movement that produces a good stimulus to the bulk of the muscle and one SECONDARY movement that does a better job isolating and/or hitting the weaker regions of that muscle group. A third exercise can be thrown in if desired when using the 4 or 5 day split.
3) Perform multiple sets in the 8-10 rep-ranges to build the most muscle size possible. Perform 1 heavy set in the 4-6 rep-ranges with compound exercises to make continued strength and size gains. Utilize 1 set in the 12-15 rep-ranges to build endurance, sarcoplasmic growth and aid in healing. This is how you obtain total bodypart mass and full-blown muscle-belly development.
4) Train to the point of not being able to get another good repetition during every work set except the prep-set. I define this as good failure. If you neglect to use great intensity, you will not fully stimulate the type-2 muscle fibers.
5) Do your heaviest low rep work sets at the beginning instead of waiting around towards the end when you are too fatigued to push maximum weight loads. Perform a “prep-set” by stopping 1 rep shy of good failure before proceeding to the heavy-low rep set when using key movements. The medium rep-range prep-set is still considered a work set and is designed to awaken and optimize the firing of the neural pathways so more weight can be used with key exercises on the following set.
6) You must train hard and heavy when using isolation exercises and secondary exercises. These movements work different secondary and supportive muscles allowing you to get stronger on key movements. They can also build up the neural pathways because it's a more concentrated effort.
7) A key movement is the exercise that provides you with the ability to build the most mass and strength. For the torso and legs, the key exercise should be a compound exercise. A key movement for the arms can be an isolation exercise. Secondary exercises for the legs and torso can be either a compound exercise or an isolation exercise.
8) Bodybuilding and power-lifting are not one in the same and if you want to be good at either you'll do well to remember this! When lifting weights you can develop muscles or injuries-the choice is ultimately yours! Use a controlled negative taking about 2 seconds to lower the weight. The positive stroke of each repetition should be somewhat explosive yet controlled to the point it's working the muscles to the fullest extent. Make sure and do a slight pause before doing each rep in order to make the muscles do all the work and to prevent injury. Concentrate on feeling the muscles squeeze and contract as you lift. Anyone who has been in the iron game for any length of time knows they’ll experience much better muscle development when they use less weight and a controlled form that allows the muscles to work harder without the use of momentum. The muscles are clueless as to how much weight is being lifted because they only know tension. It’s been proven that trainees who focus on the muscle being trained as opposed to how much weight is being lifted will activate more muscle fibers. I’m not saying our muscles only react to stress because no top-level competitor could have obtained their size if they where still lifting the same weight loads used as a novice. The muscle building progress occurs by making the exercise as hard as humanly possible and then gradually adding weight to the bar over a period of time while simulataneously using proper periodization. With compound movements smoothly explode the weight faster with full power after completing approximately one fourth of the complete repetition. It should take you about a second to a second and a half to complete the positive stroke when performing heavy compound movements. With isolation movements, you should wait and move the weight faster at about the half way point of the repetition. With full-stretch exercises the muscle and tendons are easily damaged with sudden burst at the beginning of the movement. With isolation movements the positive stroke should take you around 1 ½ seconds to complete! The controlled negative should be around 2 seconds for both categories of exercises. The negative phase builds both muscle and strength! A very critical component that many avoid is peforming a slight pause before engaging in the positive stroke. Most injuries occur during the transition phase between the negative and positive portions of the movement. For example: A rapid lowering of the weight (negative stroke) prior to moving the weight upwards (positive stroke) will create a scene where momentum comes into play. When these forces come together it can exceed the strength of your muscles, joints, and tendons. This is why you must lower the bar with complete control. This does not mean you should do a long pause, but there should be a very brief stopping of the weight to keep momentum out of the picture. You won’t be able to lift as much weight on the positive stroke when you do a brief pause at the beginning of each repetition followed by a deliberate movement, but in the long run you'll build a lot more muscle and inguire a lot less injuries. I think a lack of education and an inflated ego is to blame for the bad form being used in gyms across the world. Why some bodybuilders refuse to focus on form and contraction is beyond me? Instead, they go for as much weight as they can possibly lift-hence they end up using other muscles trying to get the weight up besides the targeted muscle group!
9) Perform up to 3 non-fatiguing warm up sets starting at 12 reps and working your way down to 4-6 reps before working cold muscle groups with intense work sets.
10) Take about a 2 minute rest between work sets involving isolation movements and about 3 minutes when using compound movements. With legs you may need around 4 minutes.
11) You’ll need to do moderate intensity aerobics as opposed to HIIT or HIT if at all possible during the entire off-season if possible or you can struggle with being able to fully restore the sympathetic nervous system used during intense weight lifting.
12. Perform no more than one cardio session per week during the 4-8 week anabolic blast if possible because too much cardio during a high volume phase will decrease insulin sensitivity.
Important Note: You have the option of increasing sets and/or adding 1 additional exercises for ancillary bodyparts like traps if they are lagging behind. When using 10 sets for traps choose 1 key movement and 1 secondary exercises. It could go as follows: 5 sets of seated dumbbell shrugs and 5 sets of standing barbell shrugs during the blast. "Forearm work" is optional but highly recommended for most. I would suggest adding some wrist curls and reverse wrist curls to your regimine. Perform approximately 4 to 6 sets of each exercise during a high volume blast. As with traps no heavy low-rep sets are required during the second work set.
12 Slingshot nutrition principles:
1) You must increase overall-caloric intake to put on muscular weight. This needs to be done during a time the body is very sensitive to insulin and other anabolic hormones so more of those calories will be stored as muscle instead of ugly bodyfat. Slingshot training is designed to increase food intake during the 6 week mass phase. The 6-10 week mass phase is made up of a 4-8 week “anabolic blast” and a 2 week “anabolic cruise”. Aim to gain 1-2 pounds of body weight per week when going for mass if you need to gain weight. If you only want to harden up, then simply eat at maintenance level during the mass phase while making sure to get in enough protein and healthy fats to help build additional muscle tissue. Calorie intake should remain the same on non-training days in order to aid in repair of damaged muscle tissue.
2) You’ll need to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight on a daily basis. After meeting your protein deductible, consume about 2 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of dietary fat. Going over board with carbs produces too much insulin (a fat storage hormone) which causes you to gain body fat and accelerates the development of chronic diseases. By replacing some carbs with healthy fats (non insulin producing) you can put on muscular weight without as much bodyfat.
3) Those of you with fast metabolisms will need more carb and fat calories to accompany your protein deductible because a fast metabolism burns off carbs and fats at a faster pace than someone with a slower metabolism.
4) Turn catabolic periods (morning on non-workout days and morning/post workout on training days) into anabolic periods by spiking insulin, cholesterol, amino acids/protein and over-all calories during a 6-10 week mass phase.
5) Those of you who tend to gain bodyfat easily will need to try and eat fewer calories derived from carbs later in the day. But, some carbs are needed for a good nights sleep.
6) Bodybuilders who gain fat easily will need less over-all hyperinsulinemia (an insulin response to the extreme caused by combining saturated fats from protein sources like red meat and hi glycemic index carbs like baked potatoes).
7) The majority of your calories should come from lean protein sources, lower glycemic carbs and healthy fats like ***** 3’s- 6’s, ***** 3 enriched eggs, almonds, smart balance peanut butter, macadamia nut oil, olive oil ,etc. Total calories determined how much weight you will lose or gain, but its macronutrient ratios and the quality of calories that will largely impact how much muscle you lose or gain while making those adjustments. Protein builds muscle, fats help increase strength so you can lift more weight and carbs provide energy to crank out repetitions.
8) You’ll need to reduce your protein intake dramatically the first 3 days upon entering the blasting phase so when normal amounts of protein are added back into the diet ,your muscles will latch on to that extra protein and build new muscle tissue. Replace protein calories with clean carbs and keep fat intake about the same. Return to eating normal amounts of protein 3 days later so your muscles will latch on to that extra protein and start building new muscle tissue. I would take in no more than about 100 grams of protein per day for those 3 days. If you advance to 12 week training cycles you can decrease protein intake by about 50% for 7 days as opposed to 3! Advanced bodybuilders should begin reducing protein intake during the last 4 days of the prime while returning to normal amounts 7 days later. Understand here that a very high protein diet can also cause insulin resistance. Obviously this is a problem for off-season bodybuilders. This means that long term bulking with moderate amounts of carbs that accompany protein will be more inclined to increase your blood glucose levels. Monosaturated fats are safe unless over indulged from a calorie stand point.
9) When you gain bodyfat, the body becomes insulin resistant. So, you must increase your sensitivity to insulin and other anabolic hormones during the anabolic prime. If you are already lean then it’s not necessary to lose any body weight during this 2 week prime. All that would be required to increase insulin/hormonal sensitivity for lean people is simply dropping all fast-acting anabolic supplements and decreasing the amount of saturated fats and hi-glycemic carbs consumed. If you need to drop weight during the prime but cannot do cardio or the extra cardio is not enough, simply decrease carb calories. Those of you who struggle with gaining bodyfat easy or who have gained too much adipose tissue during the 6 week mass phase will need to try and lose about 1-2 pounds of body fat per week during the 2 week anabolic prime. Do not go overboard by losing too much weight. You should never go hungry during the prime. This is not pre-contest it’s simply a prime. All body types will be required to eat less saturated fat and hi GI carbs during the prime. The leaner you become the more saturated fats and hi GI carbs you'll be able to consume during an anabolic prime and still increase hormonal sensitivity. This means being able to come back and gain additional muscle tissue during the following mass phase without as much body fat!
10) Eat 5 to 6 meals per day.
11) Drink some caffeine before you train with weights but do not over do it. Caffeine awakens the nervous system and decrease pain during intense training.
12) Carb cycling is the superior way to "gain muscle" during the mass phase and "lose fat" during the prime. Keeping carbs/calories in check 5 days per week during the off-season is the best way for all somatotypes to add lean muscle mass without putting on as much bodyfat and getting too smooth. On the other hand, aggressively increasing caloric and carb intake twice a week will actually help prevent the build-up of adipose tissue. The body responds in a positive manner when 2 non-consecutive calorie/carb up days are included each week. It does so by driving up anabolic hormones and increasing thyroid hormone output-hence speeding up the metabolism and increasing lean muscle mass. When carbs are constantly kept in check, your body adapts and the metabolism slows down. Insulin is needed for muscle repair. Keeping carbs under control for too long will sabatoge muscle gains and your bodys fat burning potential since muscle burns calories. Carbing up must be done as I have suggested or you will gain bodyfat and decrease insulin sensitivity. In general, I would sugest you increase overall carb calories by 1500 during one day of the week and by a whopping 2000 on the second carb up day (cheat day). Keep in mind that a carb up day and a cheat day are not one in the same! Eating less carbs/calories 5 days per week helps keep body fat levels in check while increasing carbs/calories intake twice a week encourages your body to burn more body fat for fuel. Focus on making one calorie/carb up day a clean eating day full of complex carbs and have some junk food like pizza during the second calorie/carb up day (preferably after leg day). A good plan is to have one calorie/carb up day the day after training legs because that’s when you’ll find your self the hungriest. Bumping up the nutrition the day after training back is another good idea since it’s also a very demanding group to train. By using this approach you will kill two birds with one stone! If you begin to gain to much bodyfat during the 6 week mass phase simply take away some carb calories even if it puts you below the 2-1 carb to fat ratio. If your carbs are already low then you will need to reduce fats inorder to have an adequate supply of glycogen to fuel workouts. Set aside a designated cheat day once a week (my preference is Saturday after leg day) where you go wild on the unclean carbs within reason. Splurge according to your metabolism. Start carbing up twice a week during the 2nd week of the 6 week mass phase and continue throughout. No need in counting calories with unclean carb up/calorie up day. You can have Pizza, Mexican food, etc. Make sure and consume adequate protein. Drink a protein shake with these meals if needed. Low fat products like cereal, oats, baked chips, fat free pancakes and syrup, wheat thins, fruit, fat free ice cream, etc work great. The extra sugar is going to boost your metabolism, make you sharper in regards to your diet the rest of the week and give you something to look forward to-“big-time”. You have to be disciplined but you need a day to look forward to each week where you can ease the cravings for junk food. By night-time your muscles will be absolutely full and vascular from all the extra glycogen stored in the muscles. You should use a 3 lower-1 higher-2 lower-1 higher carb/calorie rotation. Monday-low, Tuesday-low, Wednesday-high (carbs clean on the first carb up day (day 3), Thursday-low, Friday-low, Saturday-high (cheat day), Sunday-low. Add in some junk food carbs like pizza on the second carb up day (day 6 Saturday). Increase calories by around 1500 as a baseline on the first carb up day (for i.e. Wednesdays) and by around 2000 as a basleine on the second carb up/cheat day (for i.e. Saturdays). Carb up/calorie up according to your metabolism. There is no set limit in the offseason. For starters, I recommend 2 carb grams for each fat gram consumed after having met your protein deductible. You have the option of matching carb grams for fat grams on lower carb days to make even leaner gains after reaching your protein deductible or you can consume around 1.5 carb grams for each fat gram consumed. Increase cals gradually in 300-500 weekly increments to keep bodyfat levels low. Experiment to find your sweet spot!
To recap:
A) Cycle carbs during prime, 3 low, day 4 +1500 or so, 2 days low, day 7 +2000 or so. The figures above are just a baseline. You'll have to experiement to see which works best for you! Some may eat upwards of an additional 2,000 cals or so on their biggest carb up day..
B) You need two carb/cal up days during the first week of the prime but no cheat days because saturated fats and hi GI carbs are to be avoided as much as possible. A lot of body weight should not be lost in the 2 week prime, if any at all. Just some body fat if needed.
C) Beginning week 2 of the blast-2 carb loading days should be utlized with the second carb load being more pronounced (a cheat day).
Think of it as the same things as the 3 lower-1 higher-2 lower-1 higher weekly carb rotation used by pro-bodybuilders to get ripped before a competition, in exception to the fact, you will be trying to shock your system to gain muscle weight as opposed to losing body fat. Monday-low, Tuesday-low, Wednesday-high (carbs clean on the first carb up day (day 3) after training lats a hard body part, Thursday-low, Friday-low, Saturday-high (have cheat day) because leg training on friday will make you hungry, Sunday-low. Add in some junk food carbs like pizza with the second carb up day (day 6 Saturday). The results will be dramatic-moslty in muscle weight gain with less adipose tissue!
When priming the body for future gains you should try and cut out as much saturated fat and hi GI carbs as possible (dependent on your metabolism) but you can keep the two higher carb days in tact. So, no insulin spikes are needed during the 2 week prime and this includes post-workout and breakfast! I recommend having only 1 cheat meal on the cheat day when priming. When you take the lower insulin route, the body drops some bodyfat. On the other side of the coin, your metabolism will stall over-time. The body adapts very fast so increasing carbs/cals twice a week during the prime helps keep the metabolism from slowing down and it keeps you from losing too much muscle weight. I cannot stress enough how imporant it is not go overboard as some have already done with calorie restrictions during the prime. Doing so will create a catabolic state (muscle wasting) as opposed to a controlled catabolic state (preserving muscle and priming the body for future growth).
Eating for more muscle mass
The anabolic prime involves adding more aerobics if needed to improve insulin sensitivity and/or dropping a small amount of calories from carbs and or fats, as well as dropping all anabolic supplements along with most saturated fats and high glycemic index carbs for 2 weeks. During the anabolic prime, the diet will consist mostly of lower glycemic index carbs, healthy fats, and slow releasing proteins to harden the musculature and enhance hormonal sensitivity. You'll need to prime the body to improve insulin resistance so you can enter a mass phase (composed of a 4-8 blast and a 2 week cruising phase) and put on more muscle weight as opposed to fat weight. A person with a poor metabolism won’t be able to grow muscle and keep bodyfat levels low because they are insulin resistant. Anyone who wants to succeed in building a better body must establish outstanding insulin sensitivity by changing their BMR.
You drop protein intake by around half for a whole week while you prepare to enter a mass phase. This is to be done during the last 4 days of the prime and during the first 3 three days upon entering the anabolic blast. On day 1 of the anabolic blasting phase you can start taking anabolic supplements like creatine and leucine to increase nitrogen retention and protein synthesis. After a two-week prime, you have now created an environment for amazing muscular-strength gains. During the blast you have the option of making muscular weight gains or just getting leaner by eating at maintenance level the proper calories and macronutrient ratios. An increase in overall calories is made through eating a clean-balanced diet that now includes a few more saturated fats from protein sources, some higher glycemic index carbs for breakfast and post workout, and any anabolic supplement you chose to use. The faster your metabolism, the more saturated fats from protein sources and the more hi glycemic carbs you can consume without compromising energy levels and health.
Carb/calorie cycling works best! Low carbs days have fewer calories, while higher carb days, have more calories. Fats should remain the same so the muscles will fill out to the max. The body gets accustomed to a repetitive diet and one should also manipulate their carb/calorie intake while leaving fats and proteins alone.
Keeping carbs/calories in check 5 days per week during the off-season is the best way for all somatotypes to add lean muscle mass without putting on as much bodyfat and getting overly smooth. In addition, aggressively increasing caloric and carb intake twice a week will actually help prevent the build-up of adipose tissue while increasing lean mass. The body responds in a positive manner when 2 non-consecutive calorie/carb up days are included each week because the extra carb/calories tricks the metabolism into working harder to burn off the extra food. It does so by driving up anabolic hormones and increasing thyroid hormone output-hence speeding up the metabolism and increasing lean muscle mass. When carbs and calories are constantly kept in check, your body adapts and the metabolism slows down. Insulin is needed for muscle repair. Keeping carbs under control for too long will sabotage muscle gains and your body fat burning potential since muscle burns calories. Increasing caloric intake by way of carbing up is best done as I have suggested or you can gain more bodyfat and decrease insulin sensitivity at a much faster rate. Loading up on carbs/calories twice a week increases protein synthesis by increasing amino acid up take in muscle cells.
Eating to lose bodyfat
Just as you have to periodize your training, the nutrition plan must also be periodized. Staying on a low calorie/low carb diet for too long will not just lead to fat loss, but a lot of muscle loss as well. A huge mistake most people make when trying to lose body fat is sticking with the same exact calorie-carb reduced meal plan seven days a week. This will not work optimally because the body has a finely tuned system that protects itself from starvation mode. When the body feels threatened it begins to store bodyfat as opposed to releasing it after only a short few weeks. By including two weekly carb up/calorie up days it tricks the human body into believing it’s getting a huge calorie surplus and –hence negating the slowing down of the metabolism that comes from calorie depletion. Protein does not need to be reduced twice a week when dieting down because the body can readily use protein for fuel when in a calorie deficit.
Relying on fibrous carbs helps improve ones conditioning. Everyone should think of high-fiber foods as a diet aid. Every carb you take in should have a decent amount of fiber in it. Slowing down carb absorption also helps keep your energy up longer during the day when dieting. If you take in 50 grams of carbs that are absorbed quickly, you're going to process them quickly, and then you're going to feel tired and depleted. When you take in the same amount of carbs with a high amount of fiber, they'll stay in your system longer, and you'll have a lot more energy. The fiber also slows down the digestion of protein. The longer that it takes your body to process the protein, the more efficiently it will use each gram!
I continue to read a lot about the separation of carbs and fats in the same meal.
It's been my experience that separating carbs and fats is the best route when trying to lose bodyfat or when staying at maintenance levels and leaning out. When trying to gain as much size-strength humanly possible you need to eat both carbs and fats in the same meals along with your protein. Doing so produces a synergistic muscle building effect that trumps what the separation of carbs and fats can provide.
Take this information and apply it to your goals. My fat intake is pretty low right now since I am in a cutting phase using carb cycling. Most of my fats are for dinner in the form of olive oil/meat and my pre-bedtime meal is smart balance peanut butter/whey shake. Carb/protein meals are utlized earlier in the day for energy when carb cycling. At night you need less carbs unless you train late. When you are not in ketosis you'll need the carbs for energy. When you are in ketosis you need more fats for energy. I am of the opinion that carb cycling is safer when used long but ketosis is still a great way to lose bodyfat and preserve muscle size when calories are reduced gradually. When following carb cycling or ketosis, calories can be reduced by around 300 in weekly increments when cardio is not used. If you eventually reach a sticking point with cardio cals can still be reduced.
12 Slingshot Nutritional Principles
12 Slingshot nutrition principles:
1) You must increase overall-caloric intake to put on muscular weight. This needs to be done during a time the body is very sensitive to insulin and other anabolic hormones so more of those calories will be stored as muscle instead of ugly bodyfat. Slingshot training is designed to increase food intake during the 6 week mass phase. The 6 week mass phase is made up of a 4 week “anabolic blast” and a 2 week “anabolic cruise”. Aim to gain 1-2 pounds of body weight per week when going for mass. Calorie intake should remain the same on non-training days in order to aid in repair of damaged muscle tissue.
2) You’ll need to consume 1.25-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight on a daily basis. After meeting your protein deductible, consume a bout 2 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of dietary fat. Going over board with carbs produces too much insulin (a fat storage hormone) which causes you to gain body fat and accelerates the development of chronic diseases. By replacing some carbs with healthy fats (non insulin producing) you can put on muscular weight without as much bodyfat.
3) Those of you with fast metabolisms will need more carb and fat calories to accompany your protein deductible because a fast metabolism burns off carbs and fats at a faster pace than someone with a slower metabolism.
4) Turn catabolic periods (morning on non-workout days and post workout on training days) into anabolic periods by spiking insulin, cholesterol, amino acids/protein and over-all calories during a 6 week mass phase.
5) Those of you who tend to gain bodyfat easily will need to try and eat fewer calories derived from carbs later in the day. But, some carbs are needed for a good nights sleep.
6) Bodybuilders who gain fat easily will need less over-all hyperinsulinemia (an insulin response to the extreme caused by combining saturated fats from protein sources like red meat and hi glycemic index carbs like baked potatoes).
7) The majority of your calories should come from lean protein sources, lower glycemic carbs and healthy fats like ***** 3’s- 6’s, ***** 3 enriched eggs, almonds, smart balance peanut butter, macadamia nut oil, olive oil ,etc. Total calories determined how much weight you will lose or gain, but its macronutrient ratios and the quality of calories that will largely impact how much muscle you lose or gain while making those adjustments. Protein builds muscle, fats help increase strength so you can lift more weight and carbs provide energy to crank out repetitions. During this 4 week “anabolic blast” you want to try and consume around 1 gram of fat for every 2 grams of carbohydrates. This means if you ingest 200 grams of carbs you’ll want to try and get in about 100 grams of fat. It may sound like a lot of fat grams to some of you, but this is the best kept nutritional secret for making leaner muscle mass gains and increasing strength! It has been exciting for me as a professional trainer to watch physical transformations by those who have never utilized higher amounts of calories through healthy fats such as olive oil and ***** 3-6s. When bodybuilder’s consume the same total calories per day as they had been prior to switching over to a higher fat intake, they not only lose bodyfat, they also are able to increase both muscle mass and strength. I’m here to tell you, healthy dietary fats makes a huge difference in how many calories you can consume without getting fat! It’s the same scenario as having to bump up essential fatty acids in order to see improvements in body composition when dieting down for a competition. This is simple to explain. Since essential fatty acids do not elicit an insulin response like carbs and protein, less of those calories will be stored as adipose tissue. Healthy fats such as fatty fish, olive oil, flax seed oil, macadamia nut oil, mixed nuts, almonds and natural peanut butter/butter like Smart Balance are great for gaining muscular weight. Whole eggs contain a mixture of both saturated fats and ***** 3’s. You can consume as many whole *****-3 eggs (egglands best brand) as you desire since most of the saturated fat has been replaced with Heart Healthy *****-3 Fats. Many healthy fats can be added to your protein shakes, oatmeal, put on salads, and put on top of baked foods such as chicken to increase the body’s production of an anabolic substance called prostaglandins and to increase testosterone levels. Most love baked fish or chicken in macadamia nut oil or olive oil. Get creative! Healthy fats spare the burning of glycogen allowing less carbs to be eaten and making the carbs you eat go a further distance before being burned for fuel. They also accelerate the formation of new glycogen by stimulating the receptors on the muscles to draw carbs into the muscle. Healthy fats not only help burn off body fat they are anabolic and are used as a fuel source to spare protein. Muscle cells are made up of both protein and fat. You won't build a lot of additional muscle tissue without consuming both fat and protein. You must eat enough of both to repair your cell membranes. Eating more healthy fats is not just about increasing anabolic hormones; it's about muscle repair!!!
It’s only when carbohydrate intake is very low for your particular body type that you have to worry about the body using amino acids as a fuel source. If you have a very physical job or play sports then you can bump up the carb intake as needed. Consuming a higher ratio of carbohydrate grams than fat grams offers better gains and faster recovery. There is absolutely no question about this. Carbs provide the energy necessary for intense workouts more efficiently than fats and protein and are necessary for amino acids to work. You want to be holding a little water in the off-season. When carbs replenish glycogen in the muscles, it makes them more anabolic. Consuming too many carbs during a mass phase will definitely result in bloating and unwanted fatty deposits. A serious problem with most weight lifters off-season diets is they consume way too many calories through the ingestion of carbs and begin to get puffy and fat. This is because their bodies are never called upon to use the stored bodyfat for energy. If you consume carbs in excess you are going to under-feed your body with protein and fats needed for maximum protein synthesis. When your glycogen deposits are already full, excess carbs will be turned into unattractive bodyfat when in a calorie surplus!
In the off-season you’ll need to have less concern of gaining some additional body fat. You cannot build muscle during the 6 week mass phase without accumulating some adipose unless your a rich person who can afford to inject 10 ius or more of Growth Hormone on a daily basis. If you attempt to stay lean year-round, you will sabotage your efforts in becoming as muscular as humanly possible. If you want more muscle size you cannot be constantly worrying about body fat levels. If you are a bodybuilder trying to put on pure lean muscle without any added body fat, you are going to have very small gains! It’s okay to have that smooth look in the off- season because your body needs that time to grow from eating higher calorie foods in order to pack on muscle size. The top pro and amateur bodybuilders do not look in contest shape all year long as some of you may have been led to believe. The pictures you see in the muscle magazines are taken the day after a contest after they have dieted down hard for many weeks using stimulants and are using diurectics.
Understand here that muscle is much harder to build than fat. I also want you to understand it’s easier to lose fat than muscle because muscle is rather easy to maintain while dieting off body fat. All too often people have a hard time comprehending the fact that when they can gain 4 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of bodyfat during a 6-week mass phase they’re actually becoming leaner. Obviously if you gain 4 pounds of bodyfat and only a half pound of muscle your losing leanness, but even if you gain 4 pounds of muscle and 4 pounds of bodyfat you still come out even-hence you’ll have more muscle mass than ever before. After the 2 week priming phase you will keep the muscle and lose fat-hence improve your lean body mass to bodyfat ratio even further!
The key to the entire muscular weight gaining process is learning how to manipulate both training and calorie factors. Diet is not 90% of how you look unless it’s right before a bodybuilding competition. Diet is about 50% and training makes up the rest. You can eat the perfect diet, but if you don’t lift to get progressively stronger by reducing training volume in a highly specialized training phase or you neglect to increase training volume in a highly specialized training phases in order obtain a full muscle pump after having made additional strength gains, you will not be turning a lot of heads when you walk down the street unless you are a genetic freak. On the other hand, you can eat what’s considered a less than optimal diet for gaining size and people will still take notice as long as you train properly. By combining the proper nutrition with the proper training you get the best of both worlds!
Insulin spikes should be kept to only 2 per day on weight lifting days and at peak times for everyone in order to stay leaner and have steadier energy levels. The body performs best with 2 daily cholesterol, amino acid, insulin and calorie spikes from foods like whole milk, eggs yolks and red meat to increases size-strength to the maximum on the days you weight train. Only one spike is needed on the days you do not lift weights and this spike should occur during breakfast. Saturated fat is a natural precursor to testosterone. And foods such as red meat is choke-full of pro-inflammatory fats that increase muscle mass. It should be no surprise that a steak and potato combo will result in serious muscle growth. Additional calories should be consumed throughout the day (depending on your metabolism), especially during the 2 most catabolic periods of the day (breakfast and post workout) in order to minimize fat gains caused by insulin, cholesterol, amino acid, and calorie spikes. On non-training days the second “anabolic meal” can be eaten at any time that’s convenient for you-“my preference is dinner”. If you created very high insulin levels and consumed just as many calories during the 3-4 smaller meals, less would end up in muscle stores to promote recovery and more of those calories would be stored as fat- hence body composition would get worse over time. When you consume more calories and spike insulin, cholesterol, and amino acids during breakfast and after exercise, more calories will be absorbed and go towards muscle recovery and growth as opposed to being stored as fat. This means body composition will improve over time! And the body's metabolism revs up more efficiently after a somewhat "dirty meal” than after a “clean meal” when eaten during catabolic periods. That said, the bulk of your dietary fat and carb intake should still come in the form of healthy fats like raw nuts/oils and carbs ranging on the lower end of the glycemic index scale such as steel cut oats. **Total calories determined how much weight you will lose or gain, but macronutrient ratios determines how much muscle you will lose or gain while making those calorie adjustments. * *
8) You’ll need to reduce your protein intake dramatically the first 3 days upon entering the blasting phase so when normal amounts of protein are added back into the diet ,your muscles will latch on to that extra protein and build new muscle tissue. Replace protein calories with clean carbs and keep fat intake about the same. Return to eating normal amounts of protein 3 days later so your muscles will latch on to that extra protein and start building new muscle tissue. 8) You’ll need to reduce your protein intake dramatically the first 3 days upon entering the blasting phase so when normal amounts of protein are added back into the diet ,your muscles will latch on to that extra protein and build new muscle tissue. Replace protein calories with clean carbs and keep fat intake about the same. Return to eating normal amounts of protein 3 days later so your muscles will latch on to that extra protein and start building new muscle tissue. As you advance you can decrease protein intake by about 50% for 7 days as opposed to 3! Advanced bodybuilders should begin reducing protein intake during the last 4 days of the prime while returning to nornal amounts 7 days later. Understand here that a very high protein diet can also cause insulin resistance. Obviously this is a problem for off-season bodybuilders. This means that long term bulking with moderate amounts of carbs that accompany protein will be more inclined to increase your blood glucose levels. Monosaturated fats are safe unless over indulged from a calorie stand point.
9) When you gain bodyfat, the body becomes insulin resistant. So, you must increase your sensitivity to insulin and other anabolic hormones during the anabolic prime. If you are already lean then it’s not necessary to lose any body weight during this 2 week prime. All that would be required to increase insulin/hormonal sensitivity for lean people is simply dropping all fast-acting anabolic supplements and decreasing the amount of saturated fats and hi-glycemic carbs consumed. If you need to drop weight during the prime but cannot do cardio or the extra cardio is not enough, simply decrease carb calories. Those of you who struggle with gaining bodyfat easy or who have gained too much adipose tissue during the 6 week mass phase will need to try and lose about 1-2 pounds of body fat per week during the 2 week anabolic prime. Do not go overboard by losing too much weight. You should never go hungry during the prime. This is not pre-contest it’s simply a prime. All body types will be required to eat less saturated fat and hi GI carbs during the prime. The leaner you become the more saturated fats and hi GI carbs you'll be able to consume during an anabolic prime and still increase hormonal sensitivity. This means being able to come back and gain additional muscle tissue during the following 6 week mass phase without as much body fat!
10) Eat 5 to 6 meals per day.
11) Drink some caffeine before you train with weights but do not over do it. Caffeine awakens the nervous system and decrease pain during intense training.
12) 12) Keeping carbs/calories in check 5 days per week during the off-season is the best way for all somatotypes to add lean muscle mass without putting on as much bodyfat and getting too smooth. On the other hand, aggressively increasing caloric and carb intake twice a week will actually help prevent the build-up of adipose tissue. The body responds in a positive manner when 2 non-consecutive calorie/carb up days are included each week. It does so by driving up anabolic hormones and increasing thyroid hormone output-hence speeding up the metabolism and increasing lean muscle mass. When carbs are constantly kept in check, your body adapts and the metabolism slows down. Eating less carbs/calories 5 days per week helps keep body fat levels in check while increasing carbs/calories intake twice a week encourages your body to burn more body fat for fuel. Focus on making one calorie/carb up day a clean eating day full of complex carbs and have some junk food like pizza during the second calorie/carb up day (preferably after leg day). A good plan is to have one calorie/carb up day the day after training legs because that’s when you’ll find your self the hungriest. Bumping up the nutrition the day after training back is another good idea since it’s also a very demanding group to train. By using this approach you will kill two birds with one stone! If you begin to gain to much bodyfat during the 6 week mass phase simply take away some carb calories even if it puts you below the 2-1 carb to fat ratio. If your carbs are already low then you will need to reduce fats inorder to have an adequate supply of glycogen to fuel workouts. Set aside a designated cheat day once a week (my preference is Saturday after leg day) where you go wild on the unclean carbs within reason. Carbs should replace fat calories for the most part. Splurge according to your metabolism. Start carbing up twice a week during the 2nd week of the 6 week mass phase and continue throughout. No need in counting calories with unclean carb up/calorie up day. You can have Pizza, Mexican food, etc. Make sure and consume adequate protein. Drink a protein shake with these meals if needed. Low fat products like cereal, oats, baked chips, fat free pancakes and syrup, wheat thins, fruit, fat free ice cream, etc work great. The extra sugar is going to boost your metabolism, make you sharper in regards to your diet the rest of the week and give you something to look forward to-“big-time”. You have to be disciplined but you need a day to look forward to each week where you can ease the cravings for junk food. By night-time your muscles will be absolutely full and vascular from all the extra glycogen stored in the muscles! You should use a 3 lower-1 higher-2 lower-1 higher carb/calorie rotation. Monday-low, Tuesday-low, Wednesday-high (carbs clean on the first carb up day (day 3), Thursday-low, Friday-low, Saturday-high (cheat day), Sunday-low. Add in some junk food carbs like pizza on the second carb up day (day 6 Saturday). Increase calories by around 500 as a baseline on the first carb up day (for i.e. Wednesdays) and by around 1000 as a basleine on the second carb up/cheat day (for i.e. Saturdays). Carb up/calorie up according to your metabolism. There is no set limit in the offseason. As a baseline I recommend 2 carb grams for each fat gram consumed after having met your protein deductible. You have the option of matching carb grams for fat grams on lower carb days to make even leaner gains after reaching your protein deductible or you can consume around 1.5 carb grams for each fat gram consumed. Experiment to find your sweet spot!
Important Note: When priming the body for future gains you should try and cut out as much saturated fat and hi GI carbs as possible (dependent on your metabolism) but you can keep the two higher carb days in tact. So, no insulin spikes are needed during the 2 week prime and this includes post-workout and breakfast! I recommend having only 1 cheat meal on the cheat day when priming. When you take the lower insulin route, the body drops some bodyfat. On the other side of the coin, your metabolism will stall over-time. The body adapts very fast so increasing carbs/cals twice a week during the prime helps keep the metabolism from slowing down and it keeps you from losing too much muscle weight. I cannot stress enough how imporant it is not go overboard as some have already done with calorie restrictions during the prime. Doing so will create a catabolic state (muscle wasting) as opposed to a controlled catabolic state (preserving muscle and priming the body for future growth).
Slingshot Cutting Routines
The Slingshot Training Cutting System!
You should perform 8-12 sets per major body part only once a week while utilizing 2-3 exercises per body part hwne trying to get ripped. For example, quads could be 4 sets of squats, 4 sets of lunges on smith machine and 4 sets of leg extensions. You will want to start out with high reps and finish with a low rep set. No need in working in the 4-5 rep range when cutting and there's certainly no need for doing a power set during the second set with a key movement. When dieting down the risk of injury is too great for such training. Basically, you are blasting the entire duration to eat up glycogen levels and burn calories. Here's how you want to pyramid after warm up sets if you do 4 sets per exercise-
Squats-
1st set is a high rep set (12-15 reps) to good failure
2nd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
3rd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
4th set is a low rep set (6-8 reps) to good failure)
Smith machine lunges-
1st set is a high rep set (12-15 reps) to good failure
2nd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
3rd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
4th set is a low rep set (6-8 reps) to good failure)
Leg extensions-
1st set is a high rep set (12-15 reps) to good failure
2nd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
3rd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
4th set is a low rep set (6-8 reps) to good failure)
Here's how to pyramid using 3 sets per exercise to good failure
Squats-
1st set is a high rep set (12-15 reps) to good failure
2nd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
3rd set is a low rep set (6-8 reps) to good failure)
Smith machine lunges-
1st set is a high rep set (12-15 reps) to good failure
2nd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
3rd set is a low rep set (6-8 reps) to good failure)
Leg extensions-
1st set is a high rep set (12-15 reps) to good failure
2nd set is a medium rep set (8-10 reps) to good failure
3rd set is a low rep set (6-8 reps) to good failure)
This program will work using any split. Here's a sample diet plan using the 5 day per week training split.
Eating to lose bodyfat
Just as you have to periodize your training, the nutrition plan must also be periodized. Staying on a low calorie/low carb diet for too long will not just lead to fat loss, but a lot of muscle loss as well. A huge mistake most people make when trying to lose body fat is sticking with the same exact calorie-carb reduced meal plan seven days a week or redcuing calories too much up front. This will not work optimally because the body has a finely tuned system that protects itself from starvation mode. When the body feels threatened it begins to store bodyfat as opposed to releasing it after only a short few weeks! By including two weekly carb up/calorie up days it tricks the human body into believing it’s getting a huge calorie surplus and –hence negating the slowing down of the metabolism that comes from calorie depletion. Relying on fibrous carbs helps improve ones conditioning. Everyone should think of high-fiber foods as a diet aid. Every carb you take in should have a decent amount of fiber in it. Slowing down carb absorption also helps keep your energy up longer during the day when dieting. If you take in 30 grams of carbs that are absorbed quickly, you're going to process them quickly, and then you're going to feel tired and depleted. When you take in the same amount of carbs with a high amount of fiber, they'll stay in your system longer, and you'll have a lot more energy. The fiber also slows down the digestion of protein. The longer that it takes your body to process the protein, the more efficiently it will use each gram!
I continue to read a lot about the separation of carbs and fats in the same meal.
It's been my experience that separating carbs and fats is the best route when trying to lose bodyfat or when staying at maintenance levels and leaning out. When trying to gain as much size-strength humanly possible you need to eat both carbs and fats in the same meals along with your protein. Doing so produces a synergistic muscle building effect that trumps what the separation of carbs and fats can provide.
Take this information and apply it to your goals. Fat intake should be low during a cutting phase using carb cycling. Most of your fats should be for dinner in the form of olive oil on a salad, etc, meat and a pre-bedtime meal such as smart balance peanut butter or almonds and awhey shake. Carb/protein meals are utlized earlier in the day for energy when carb cycling. At night you need less carbs unless you train late. When you are not in ketosis you'll need the carbs for energy. If you decided to use ketosis you need more fats for energy. I am of the opinion that carb cycling is safer when used long but ketosis is still a great way to lose bodyfat and preserve muscle size when calories are reduced gradually. When following carb cycling or ketosis, calories can be reduced by around 300 in weekly increments when cardio is not used. If you eventually reach a sticking point with cardio cals can still be reduced. WHen follwing the ketosis diet take in no more than 40 grams for carbs each day. Have one designated day (example:Sunday) were you carb up for a meal or two. You will be back in ketosis by the next morning.
When carb cycling, I would start out using a three low, one high-two low, one high carb rotation. On the low carb days take in about 100-125 grams of carbs and 250 or more carb grams on high carb days. So, you should use a 3 low-1 high-2 low-1 high weekly carb/calorie rotation. Monday-low, Tuesday-low, Wednesday-high (carbs clean on the first carb up day (day 3) after training lats a hard body part, Thursday-low, Friday-low, Saturday-high (have one cheat meal) because leg training on friday will make you hungry, Sunday-low. Add in some junk food carbs like pizza in one meal with the second carb up day (day 6 Saturday). The extra sugar is going to boost your metabolism, make you sharper in regards to your diet the rest of the week and give you something to look forward to-“big-time”. You have to be disciplined but you need a day to look forward to each week where you can ease the cravings for junk food. By saturday night your muscles will be absolutely full and vascular from all the extra glycogen stored in the muscles. Do this for 8 weeks!
Cardio should be kept low up front and bumped up every 2 weeks if needed. For example:
Weeks 1-2 could be 15 minutes of cardio 5 days per week post training or in morning on empty stomach.
Weeks 3-4 could be 30 minutes of cardio 5 days per week post training or in morning on empty stomach.
Weeks 5-6 coud be 45 minutes of cardio 5 days per week post training or in morning on empty stomach.
Weeks 7-8 could be 60 minutes of cardio 5 days per week post training or in morning on empty stomach