Don’t neglect hip extensions, one of the biggest mechanical issues as human beings we have is that we sit….LOTS. This tightness in the hips can resonate into what appears to be lower back pain. It is Infact your hip flexors.

Slow down your lowering of the weight (eccentric). If your intention is to stimulate muscle growth this is the most important phase. Make sure you also don’t bounce out the bottom of the lift.

Stand and face a mirror with hands loosely clenched around two pens. If the line formed by the pens meets pretty close to you stretch your pecs and do some soft tissue work on the insertion in the anterior portion of the shoulder.

Sit upright on a leg extension as the purpose is to hit your quads in an isolative fashion (bodybuilding) this eliminates the hip involvement. Less weight will be used as its distributed over less muscle tissue.

Make sure when training your back you change the way your palms face. You my b inadvertently hitting the same areas with only slight equipment changes.

If you feel you squat I lacking in speed perform a few low box jumps from a seated position before squatting. You cannot jump slow.

If you intend tagging CV onto your workout take your post workout drink following weights then get on it. Much more about burning ‘more’ energy than a specific type.

Learn to prep several days food at a time. Invaluable in living a physique conscious lifestyle.

In any standing lift dont forget that you are exerting force through the floor. Ground your feet well and wear footwear that doesn’t get compressed hugely under force (running shoes a no no).

Only use a switch or reverse grip on a deadlift if you intend competing in something where this is applicable. Wear lifting straps if not. Much more forgiving aesthetically and keeps muscular strength in nice balance.

If your intention is to get strong, lower controlled lift fast (or intend to) at all times!

Only use fat burners when you feel your diet is over 95% right!

Post workout is the most critical supplement for progress in almost all cases. PhD Recovery 2.1 or a combination of PhD Waxy Vol and Pharma Whey HT are superb solutions.

Don’t consume whey on its own a a snack or meal. It gets absorbed too quickly, add some fats and/or carbs to it which slows absorption.

Oil the steak not the pan…

In any pressing movement don’t over-reach with the shoulders.

Don’t neglect your legs! I STILL see people only training upper body. There is a point that upper body development will cease as the body knows what keeps it up is too weak….common sense right!

Sit upright.

Phil Learney

PhD Strength & Conditioning Expert

So Max effort Lower today, so the idea is heavy weight, over load the CNS and get strong! We did some reverse band squats with a mini blue band, so it is -25kg at the bottom of the lift, so heavy at top, a little lighter at bottom to overload the CNS and getting use to heavy weight, with the aim of hitting that weight in competition eventually.

So the idea today was max out in full kit and started out like this:

Raw  at this point warming up

bar x lots
65kg + bands x 3
105kg + bands x 3
So at this point, get into my squat suit, only halfsuit for now, everything feels nice and explosive set up feels great.

145kg + bands x 2
185kg + bands x 1
205kg + bands x 1
225kg + bands x 1

Still feeling great, explosive, not even wearing knee wraps just the half suit, so jumped straight to my top set in full suit straps up, ego got the better of me and I didn’t use knee wraps when I should have at this point!

250kg + bands x 0

I got down perfectly, perfect depth, tight, core strong looks good but no power out the hole due to the absence of my wraps, ego can be a harsh thing, get the head straight, put the knee wraps on, loose but their on at least go for it again.

250kg + bands x 1 (PB)

Boom! Good depth, came up well, perfect form, bit of a fight for lockout but due to fatigue more than anything. Really happy!

We went onto raw block pulls, I went light on this, im a week away from Bodypower, maxed out twice last week on deadlifts so recovering till competition day till Bodypower which is  Bench and Deadlift only competition.

60kg x 3
100kg x 3
140kg x 2
180kg x 2

Considering im usually slow off blocks and it was raw, felt good but left it at that, didnt want to burn myself out after last weeks deadlifting efforts so I can be fresh on comp day.

Some quick assitance exercise focusing on core and hip/glutes

3 sets of abductor machine for 12 reps, yes girly as they seem, awesome for wide squatters and sumo deadlifters really works the glutes and hips!

3 sets of Decline sit ups with a 10kg plate for 15 reps, really liking this helped my core strength to no end but getting easier now so may alternate next time for different harder movement.

That was that! Ruined and if had not been my training partner Adam giving me a lift home no idea how I would of gotten home as I live 90mins away from the gym (dedication for you!), necked down my 2 scoops of Pharma Whey and scoop of maltodextrin shake and went on home!

Rest tomorrow, Friday will be Dynamic Effort Upper and back/delt assistance

As the man responsible for the PhD Ask the expert service I often get repeats of the same kind of questions.

One of the most common question revolves around setting up diets and where to start. I also get asked a lot to write a diet for people. Unfortunately the service doesn’t stretch to that as sadly the man hours, expertise and individual assessment would take hours alone.

When out and about with one of my fellow trainers the other day she pointed out one of the ‘balanced’ ranges one of the major UK supermarkets produced and that several of her clients had been using it with some pretty good success. Their sales pitch for it was that it had a higher level of protein and a better ratio of carbs and fats. Curious I purchased one of their dishes and preceded to break down calories into percentages.

Now, I’m going to explain how to do this.

Total calories 2000k/cal

Protein 30g (4k/cal per gram) 120k/cal from protein.

Carbohydrate 35g  (4k/cal per gram) 140k/cal

Fats 8g  (9k/cal per gram) 89k/cal

Protein 120k/cal   –   33%
Carbs 140k/cal   -    39%
Fats 89k/cal    –    28%

Total Calories 359k/cal

Now this ratio isn’t at all bad in my view as a start point for any nutritional plan and it will certainly be infinitely times better than what someone ‘was’ eating. The next task was to look at the ingredients to check that the food was relatively ‘clean’. At this point I’m looking for additives, E numbers, stabilisers, preservatives, colourants, any questionable ingredients, corn oil, emulsifiers, and the obvious salts and sugars. If they’re high up the list I will put the food down as a ‘sub standard’ form of nutrition. If it is what it is with perhaps a couple of things cropping up later in the list it is ‘ok’.

I have several approaches to nutritional strategies and my personal recommendations will be VERY specific to the individual. However I know a lot of people see diet as something they can take responsibility for themselves. Which is very odd considering some of the remarkably bad comments I hear about it, nevertheless I digress….

A great start point for anyone I believe is a evenly split ratio of macros (carbohydrates, proteins and fats). Using 33-34% of your intake of each will give you a great base to begin and assess from. Using the above equations will give you your percentages.

To find a total calorie requirement logging your current dietary intake is another great start point for actual calories, if this however too much of a task for you use a basic BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculator online. Remember that this is what you need to survive so add another 10% on top of that number at least. Failure to eat ‘enough’ calories results in a loss of muscle tissue and increase in fat. You in essence get lighter but fatter. Not good!

This BMR in my experience is typically low so don’t worry if it appears high.

So to repeat:

BMR 2000
+10%
= 2200 k/cal

Roughly 734 k/cal from each nutrient.

Carbohydrates 734 k/cal divided by 4
183.5g (184g)

Protein 734 k/cal divided by 4
183.5g (184g)

Fats 734 k/cal divided by 9
81.5g (82g)

What you’re left with divide each macro by 6 and you have your individual meals in cals and macros. Simple right.

On workout days add in a serving of PhD Recovery 2.1 post workout on top of all of this and you have a pretty good dietary structure.

Get out a pen, paper and a calculator now and get to it!!!!!

Article written by PhD Strength & Conditioning expert Phil Learney

For starters I’ll tell you that the overused button on CV equipment with ‘Fat Loss Zone’ or whatever speculative claim is rubbish. It’s based on the wrong figures anyways and BAD science. Considering that most severely obese people will walk around generally in this heart rate zone tells us point blank this is wrong.

Having said this, low level ‘fuel’ work, walking, general movement and staying active will help us stay on top of fuel usage so is useful in many respects. It DOESNT burn fat but ensure we keep fuel stores down to enable us to burn fat. Cardiovascular training WILL NOT and can not burn fat directly. Indirectly perhaps. Directly NO.

To efficiently burn fat we:

A) Need to put ourselves into a suitable nutritional state in order to do so.

B) Utilise fuel without compromising lean tissue (our main metabolic furnace) that would compromise maintaining any level of leaness.

Resistance training will ALWAYS be a better tool for this reason and one of the things I always make people aware of is that if you don’t use it YOU WILL lose it.

This is why technical efficiency during lifts is important and we don’t get lazy when lifting. The human body will happily make weaker points weaker or shut them down when a superior or stronger unit may do the same job just as well.

A few examples:

Back extension will dominate over hip extension

Erector spinae will dominate over gluteus maximus

Anterior Delt will dominate over Pectorals

This isnt just an issue when striving for fat loss but when the body is in a state of breakdown the body will ‘steal’ protein from the areas we perhaps don’t use as much. The human body is smart which sometimes helps us othertimes NOT.

So what do we need to do…

A) We need to create a state in which the body is crossing over energy systems with the priority being on anything that lasts between roughly 10-30 seconds. This is our high octane fuel, the stuff that burns fuel quick and gives us the carry over ‘afterburn’ effect. By minimising rest periods we also cross into training the aerobic system therefore negating the need to use CV for it’s direct benefits.

B) We need to use LARGE movements. I always base movements and their value on how many active joints are working at one point. The more joints being used the more fuel per unit we will utilise. Single joint movements, single flexion and extension movements are pretty redundant when fat loss is the priority. TONE comes from low body fat and dense tissue. NOT training that muscle group all the time…..cmon, you’ve tried it before along with millions of others IT DOESNT WORK! If you use large movements the need for direct ab training again becomes pointless.

C) Minimise REST and crank up intensity. This means you may only be 25-45mins in the gym. If so thats GOOD. I have people telling me they work intensely for 60 mins they have no idea what intensity is – that simple.

D) Use a whole body or whole body split routine. This means we create a concerted anabolic response, elevation of growth hormone and protection of muscle tissue.

E) REST, MORE – is not always better. Most people could only tolerate this type of intensity perhaps 4-5 times per week maximum. The days in between if you insist do some ‘fuel’ work either outdoors or indoors. I recommend staying away from running as the impact on your joints wont help you fat loss workouts.

F) SUCK IT UP!! Burning fat is hard otherwise everyone would be doing it. Set a plan and see it through!!

…..good luck!!

Article written by PhD Strength & Conditioning expert Phil Learney

THE STAPLES

These are the supplements I feel any athlete or weekend warrior shouldn’t be without. These should be in your gym bag, in your cupboards at home, in your lunch bag hell even in your car. DO NOT get caught short without these.

PhD Pharma Whey HT or Diet Whey

Whey protein has so many uses and is a vital component to any compositional based training program. Whey can be used to supplement protein within a meal but don’t make the mistake of using it alone as a snack or meal replacement. Whey is designed to be absorbed and utilised fast by the body and its most important structural position is post workout for this reason. If you intend to use it as a supplemental protein within your general diet structure add something that has fibre and/or fats in it. This will help slow down the release and absorption of the amino acids. This makes it more of a food based supplement.

PhD L’Glutamine

The safety amino as I like to refer to it. L’glutamine I could be here all day listing the benefits. People with any gut problems should be taking large amounts of this every day. I would use Glutamine first thing when you wake and last thing before you go to bed. This will serve to protect that hard earned muscle tissue. Strength athletes I will use a large dose drank during their workout on top of their BCAAs.

PhD BCAAs 

BCAAs are something I utilise a LOT with people. They always seem shocked at the dosage but using BCAA’s DURING your session will serve to keep the body in a nicely stable ANABOLIC state. I recommend using one capsule per 2-3kg of lean bodyweight.

PhD Catalyst

A staple to any nutritional regime. Simple support for all of the essential vitamins and minerals a trained individual requires.

PhD Recovery 2.1 or a combination of PhD Pharma Whey HT and PhD Waxy Vol

Post workout…..what more can I say. If I could only give someone ONE supplement it would be a post workout drink. Using Recovery 2.1 is the ideal base ratio for post workout recovery. Those of you who find weight hard to gain ramp up that ratio to 3:1 or even 4:1 by adding PhD Waxy Vol to it.

THE SPECIALISTS

Lean Degree

The only time I use thermogenics is when someone is training HARD and consistently, their diet has been 95-100% correct and followed for a long period of time and their fat loss has stalled. Stalled just incase you wondered isn’t what happens when things aren’t dialled in and as planned. This is called inconsistency and NO supplement can change this fact.

V-Max Pump

Bodybuilders and those looking at pure aesthetics or muscular size make use of this supplement. This will help you engorge muscle tissue with blood and fluid and get that elusive ‘PUMP’. Tear muscle tissue and have a diet that is in line you WILL grow, basic adaptation. STRENGTH ATHLETES IN STRENGTH PHASES AVOID THIS SUPPLEMENT! You want to pass on lactate production (the by-product of muscle breakdown).

Wired

This is the one for the strength, power and performance athletes out there. A hefty dose of ‘Neural stimulation’ means those motor units (the engines to muscle tissue) are firing on all cyclinders. Nothing to promote muscle pumps or tearing in here so good.

-Charged+

See ‘V-Max Pump’ an alternative delivery mechanism and not so many sugars. Give it a go. I find some people respond better to gels than liquids for absorption.

Battery+/-3

Great for endurance athletes, Electrolytes, fluids and most importantly amino acids to protect muscle tissue. Even in distance events the fastest person will almost always win so protect that muscle tissue!

Creatine

Anyone working in sets that last below 10 seconds should give creatine a go. There are a few ‘non-responders’ out there but most people respond nicely to creatine. This helps fuel and keep the ATP-PC system stocked up. This helps us perform multiple sets within the 10 seconds of explosive strength.

HMB

If you’ve never used or you’re a beginner give HMB a go. I find in more experienced trainees this doesn’t work greatly however those that havn’t used before or are just beginning their quest a SUPERB supplement!!

Pharma Gain

What can I say….I will keep going back to Pharma Gain as a bit of an unsung hero. This is one of the greatest (although they will argue this) parts of the whole PhD supplement range in my opinion as it will be the reason so many people make progress effectively. PhD needed a product that sat in the ‘Weight Gain’ market and instead of selling their soul to the supplement industry and produce a simple weight gainer which is packed full of cheap filling supplements that are too calorie dense to absorb they used their noggins and produced a meal replacement powder. The reason most ‘hard gainers’ cant gain effective weight is meal frequency and a high food turnover. This allows the user to have small ‘meal’ based drinks inbetween meals and keep that turnover high.

‘It’s not what you eat, its what you absorb and digest’

LIFESTYLE SUPPLEMENTS
Flapjacks
Growth Factor 50
Diet Whey bars
Pharma Gain

All of the above are supplements and snacks I make sure people have tucked in bags, briefcases, glove boxes, suitcases etc etc. They are FALLBACKS incase you get caught on the hop or simply want a healthy and nutritious treat that ticks the boxes you need ticked for your physique goals. DO NOT become overly reliant on these or lazy, real food will win everytime but as a fallback great to have around (and a nice treat now and again)!

Synergy Iso 7

If you want an all in one supplement or you’re on a budget Synergy is superb! The only additional advice I’d give with it is to use it with a scoop of PhD Waxy Vol added if you use it post workout.

Article Written by Strength & Conditioning Expert Phil Learney

There is a tendency as human beings to want things quicker than we can get them and this means we have the ‘solution’ correct a lot of the time without even realising it yet move on to try something we believe will work better or faster before its given any chance to work.

Whenever a client of mine says ‘oh I will try to do that’ I will correct them immediately as in my books you either do something or you don’t. Things get in your way at times sure but when someone comes to me explaining they ‘tried’ to eat what we’d planned but instead ate a pizza and ice cream? Thats not a matter of ‘trying’ its a matter of not doing.

I tried not to go out on the weekend and  drink alcohol with all my peers

I tried not to eat that chocolate bar

I tried to go to the gym four times this week

You either do something or you don’t right? People ask me go the ‘secrets’ all the time and ‘what is your client over there taking?’

 Their ‘secret’ is they listen and do what they need to do!

What are they ‘taking’?

They’re taking a hold of their own life and not being dictated by others around them.

They’re taking intelligent advise.

They’re taking everything they where led to believe and shelving it as it didn’t work the first or even the illustrious and lucky ‘third time’.

They’re taking in high quality foods as their dietary staple and complimenting this with intelligent supplemental regimes and high quality products.

They’re taking their training seriously, working their arses off an making NO excuses.

They’re taking adequate rest and  recovery.

Most of all they’re taking ALL of this and doing it again and again and again…….THIS is why consistency remains and IS so important to success.

Consistently train hard!

Consistently eat well!

Consistently take your supplements!

Consistently value detail!

Get out there and DO it people! Don’t just ‘try’!

Written by PhD Strength & Conditioning Coach – Phil Learney

You will here me use the word typically a LOT as there are never any hard or fast rules as responsiveness of individuals will depend on such a large amount of parameters. There is no ‘BEST’ way of doing something only an optimal way for an individual.

THE EXERCISE 

In many cases the exercise is a reflection on a movement pattern, it won’t be depicted as such in most cases but this could be described as something as complex as a bilateral triple flexion and extension push or could be just described as a squat variation. If a trainer hasn’t seen you personally or you’re not in a rehab program often this will be about the movement pattern rather than the specific movement. If I have an elite athlete they DO THE movement I name, not a variation of as it will be specific mechanically to them and their requirements. Someone looking at aesthetic or general performance improvements the movement patterns are generally more what it’s about. If you get a program that has a seated dumbell shoulder press in it, it can in most cases be replaced by any type of vertical push so DO NOT panic if the gym you’re in doesn’t have a specific piece of equipment. Break it down into the movement pattern.

THE REPETITIONS (REPS)

The reps are assigned based on a specific goal. Typically the lower the reps the heavier the weight becomes and the closer it comes to strength training. Higher reps put the muscle under tension longer and the corresponding pump of blood into the muscle will illicit the adaptation to size or strength endurance (based on the tempo we use, coming up ). Sets will also vary depending upon the reps so again the lower the reps the higher the sets, the lower the sets the higher the reps. Reps and what you get from them MUST be influence by intent (what you’re trying to do with the weight), the speed (Tempo) at which you lift, time under tension (TUT), the load selection, rest periods and the style of movement.

In strength protocols a number will be definitive. If it says 5 you DO 5 as this is controlling volume which is essential to avoid injury and ensure progression. Size protocols the reps will be a range typically as fatigue is anticipated, 8-12 as an example.

THE SETS

Sets are the number of groups of repetitions you do with an accompanying rest in-between each. Sets are dictated by the volume of either repetitions or weight that someone requires for their given goals. A basic set system such as 3×12@100kg would be looking at a target of 36 reps and a volume of 3600kg.

Typically the number of sets would go up as the number of repetitions go down. This is how a strength athlete would peak towards a maximum single lift in most cases.

Weight per repetition is what a strength athlete would be seeking or some improvement in the force equation.

Force = Mass x Acceleration

A physique athlete would be looking more at the total volume of weight moved. The ego driven workouts of most people striving for physique improvements mean in most cases they get more proficient at a movement and get stronger when the goal is actually for size or tonal improvements.

TEMPO

Probably one of the most important and overlooked parameters in lifting as this dictates what you train the muscle to do. The lifting portion being most important to someone looking to develop strength or power and the lowering more important for physique improvements. Tempo may be depicted with either 3 or 4 numbers, I favour 4 as it tells you what is happening at either end of a lift.

3-2-X-1

This is an obscure tempo structure simply to explain it better.

In a squat this would dictate that there is a 3 second (or count) lowering (eccentric) of the weight. At the bottom of the squat there is a 2 second pause, the X indicates that the lifting (concentric) phase is as FAST as possible, some people will favour using a 0 rather than an X.  The final number indicates a 1 second pause (strength) OR a contraction (size or physique alterations) at the top of the lift.

For size a tempo of 2-1-2-1 works well and for strength 2-0-X-0. Try them out if you haven’t.

In a set of 12 the time under tension (TUT) would be 72 seconds (size) or 24 seconds respectively. See the difference. The goal of size is to pump blood and sarcoplasmic fluid into the tissue, the goal of strength is to increase contractile force and motor unit usage.

REST

Rest is all about the intent of the set. Again typically the heavier the weight and lower the rest period the longer the rest required. In sets lasting less than 10 seconds in total TUT would need between 3-5minutes between them as this utilizes the ATP-PC energy system that requires this duration to recover fully. Also if the weight is HEAVY this would be required as it will break 2 energy systems, ATP-PC and the alactic anaerobic. If the set lasts beyond this the rest is manipulated dependant upon the intent of the session.

If bodybuilding or training for size provided the aforementioned parameters are correct the rest period needs to be limited to 60-75secs. There will always be the temptation to take longer as when you break down tissue and fill full of blood it hurts and its uncomfortable. If you want to get bigger suck it up and get used to it!

Examples:

5×5         180 secs rest

4×8         90-120 secs rest

3×8-12   60-75 secs rest

Hopefully this will all give you an insight into your current structure or one you plan to devise. I will be doing a video explaining TEMPO that will be up soon on the PhD page to explain further.

Article Written by Phil Learney – PhD Strength & Conditioning expert.

The strategies for ‘during’ workout nutrition when considering strength and hypertrophy as the key goals didn’t tend to waver too much. Everyone is in agreement that large dose BCAAs work optimally at around 1g per 3kg of body weight. These are taken throughout the workout. It was also noted that the difference in PH levels that both types of athletes are striving for. Bodybuilders or those looking at breaking down tissue to build it need to favour an acidic environment during workout and strength athletes an alkaline environment. For a strength athletes consuming a greens drink or adding a small amount of lemon or lime juice into  their ‘during’ workout beverage would work well, 1g of L’Glutamine per kg of body weight is also a good strategy.

Post workout there are differing opinions as to the levels we should ingest. I will stick by my guns here and maintain that a ratio of 2:1 carbs and protein (PhD Recovery 2.1) is optimal for the most part…..but…..

On occasions people, due to their general lifestyle choose to opt for what would in modern society be considered a ‘low carb’ diet. I say this as define low or high?

If your general diet is low in carbs yet you need to further increase calories in order to illicit a larger anabolic response and give that much needed extra fuel here is a strategy to think about.

Taking either PhD Recovery 2.1 or a combination of PhD Pharma Whey HT and PhD Waxy Vol adjust that ratio to between 3:1 or 4:1 post workout. Add Waxy Vol to Recovery2.1 to adjust the ratio.  At this primed time if you’re to ingest an excess of fuels safely this is the time to do it.

2:1 0.8g/kg: 0.4g/kg

3.1 1.2g/kg: 0.4g/kg

4:1 1.6g/kg: 0.4g/kg

Give it a go, am sure you may be surprised how effective this is.

Written by PhD Strength & Conditioning expert Phil Learney

Truth be told, there is no set structure. When I’m assessing someone I’m looking at their physique type, hormonal structure, limb length, physiological issues, what is compromising their goals and how we overcome those issues. So to say there is a particular method or ‘system’ I use would be lying. Every single person is different.

I’m going to give you a little insight into the criteria I use for deciding what type of training split or routine I have. This will only help you if you’re truly honest about where you are now. Those guys in particular that are reading this with delusions of grandeur may need to just suck it up a little and become a little ‘less’ advanced with your training methods.

The Media Issue….as in problem.

Before we go any further I’ll let you in on a little secret. As PhDs Strength and Conditioning expert I get 20-30 questions a week regarding training advice. Questions that are and remain the most popular are:

How do I lose X amount of body fat in a given time scale?

How do I add size to my arms and chest?

What ab exercises are best for a six pack?

How do I get rid of my tummy/love handles/man boobs?

What’s the best thing to eat for fat loss?

What are the best exercises for my bum and hips?

Every commercial piece of literature or website is designed to catch your eye therefore you buy it or at least continue to read it. This will therefore have a given solution to one, many or all of the above. It will define a time scale, a measurement or a percentage. People STILL like to believe there is a single solution or answer to all of the above in some way, shape or form………and the scary thing is people will continue to believe it (as I still get the questions right).  If you don’t believe me look at the cover of any commercial magazine…

The issue is exactly the same with programming there is no ‘one solution’ or method.

Just to note:

How do I lose X amount of body fat in a given time scale?

Combination of the correct diet and training, how fast depends on how much damage someone has done to their metabolism over the previous number of years.

How do I add size to my arms and chest?

An inch of size on the arms will equate to about 10lbs of muscle tissue, this will take about a year to develop in most cases using a great nutritional and training program. Training arms MORE will not do this. The chest typically the issue we have is an internal rotation of the shoulders therefore actually ‘hitting’ the pecs is the issue.

What ab exercises are best for a six pack?

Diet, diet and more diet.

How do I get rid of my tummy/love handles/man boobs, bum, hips?

Diet, diet and more diet…… which will in turn lead to better hormonal management, the reason for specific fat deposition in certain areas. You CANNOT train down a specific area, training abs will NOT make your abs flat, doing endless hip adduction, abduction will NOT make your hips smaller.

What’s the best thing to eat for fat loss?

Best thing is to ask yourself what shouldn’t I eat for fat loss. People still ask this question despite throwing back fast food and sweets every week.

I digress….

Programming

Ok, this is pretty simple to begin with and for now I’m going to keep it that way. There are numerous things I’m looking for when establishing how many sessions someone would do to progress and also the type of sessions or training split I use with them. Without getting into the intricacies of sports and that type of training I am going to focus on someone simply looking at looking better neked!

1. Training age.

This is fundamentally how long someone has been continuously training for without notable breaks from it. I would class anyone who has trained themselves for less than 2 years a beginner, someone 2-4 years Intermediate and someone 4+ Years advanced. Now these classifications are based on the fact they have seen in that time a considerable change. If they havn’t (which is the case a LOT) they have merely been exercising NOT training and they are classified in every case as a beginner. Someone more experienced needs to hit muscle groups more often as not only is recovery better but the level of adaptation is higher.

2. Available Time.

Obviously this needs to be a consideration and is often reflected around work schedules etc. Best time to train? In nearly ALL cases JUST train. The differential in what times make is so marginal it doesn’t really matter. Find the time and do it. Time in the gym for anyone looking at fat loss or composition, unless they are of an advanced training age and with considerable muscular development should be under 60 minutes. Beyond this we start to compromise muscular tissue. YOU are NOT an exception and anyone who does those mammoth 90 min plus sessions WILL be losing tone/muscle and gaining bodyfat! I will happily bet money on it!

3. Physiological Type

I’ve explained the use of this as a method of assessment before. The three somatotypes give a good indication to the type of training someone would respond to. It almost comes down to the hunter, gatherer scenario. Would you run after an animal if you where hunting it or throw something at it. If you resemble a thrower list heavy and fast. If you’re also a Mesomorph you can get away probably with whole body splits. Besides Mesomorphs or VERY experienced and heavily muscled bodybuilders I wouldn’t use a whole body split (different muscle groups on different days) with anyone.

In review, if someone can only hit the gym 3 times a week I will almost always use a whole body routine at every session. Four times I will split Upper and Lower body. If someone is genetically at the top of the tree, heavily muscled or VERY experienced with  4+ years of heavy training I ‘may’ use a whole body split routine.

Remember that the more weight or load on the body the larger the anabolic response, this is the basis of building new tissue.  Having an ‘arms’ day unless your arms are already pretty big will give very little anabolic response and even less of a positive hormonal response. Breakdown and Recover, repeat and don’t value one less than the other.

Article Written by Phil Learney (PhD Nutrition Strength & Conditioning expert).

The thing about carbohydrates as a nutrient they’re non-essential. There are numerous functions and mechanisms within the body that rely heavily on glycogen in order to be operational but we can convert and make glycogen from the other two essential nutrients protein (Amino acids) and Dietary fats.

As westerners the issue and challenge that we have is that we’re just not very good at this conversion. Years of filling our plates with carbohydrates as a priority have led our systems to be inefficient at this whole process. Couple this with the fact that we only have a distinct warning mechanism for drops in blood sugar we continue to overeat on this raw form of ‘energy’. This leaves us, if weight loss is our goal with the only option but to restrict calories. In many cases this makes us fall short of the two essential nutrients that are in essence free as they have a constant and if training evolving job. This restriction from a longevity perspective is hugely detrimental but from an aesthetic perspective makes adaptation to training almost impossible.

Protein yields 4k/cal of energy per gram.

Dietary fats 9k/cal of energy per gram.

All of this energy can be converted to glycogen should we need it, carbohydrates have a more direct path which unless under HIGH energy demands isnt required.

The one great thing about carbohydrates which has always been at the forefront of the food industry is they’re cheap to both produce, cheap for the consumer and yield a healthy profit margin.

in·dus·try/ˈindəstrē/

The FOOD Industry is defined by not what we should be eating but more of what serves our economy the best.

Sickness, food addictions and obesity are ALL incredible money spinners for governments worldwide. They will however tell us that it’s a concern now and again to keep us happy.

This filters right into the supplement industry and the ‘other’ market the mass gain market which is riddled with powders which create huge caloric influxes and cheap fillers that do this. Food turnover is the issue and frequency of meals when lean (note the word lean) mass gain is the goal. PhD Pharma Gain is therefore despite the ‘market’ its designed and branded to sit in actually a meal replacement. It is a simple ‘sell out’ and profit based supplements for most companies and is infact one of the reasons and ethical decisions that PhD make that makes me continue to work alongside them.

Carbohydrate intake is based on many criteria. If you refer to my ‘getting jacked’ article that you will find further down the page a reference to body types and carbohydrate tolerance/requirements. For those of a more scientific nature these decisions are based on the level of insulin resistance or sensitivity.

I will refer to the 3 charts I’ve used before that define 3 body types.

In essence those of you who want to drop body fat the level of heavy carbohydrates in your diet should be very restricted with the only influx coming post workout (critical for progress, PhD Recovery 2.1 serves this purpose or a blend of PhD Waxy Vol and Pharma Whey HT). Ninety percent of westerners in the style of jobs they do can get enough fuel in their diets from proteins, fats and vegetables.

We just need a little transitional period to learn to use them effectively.

Just as a note, fruits are carbs as are vegetables and dairy produce. I don’t recommend a lot of fruit or dairy as its conversion to fuel isn’t great and makes the body work excessively hard to obtain it.

Carbohydrates are certainly not our enemy, they just need to be intelligently  and strategically used. Omitting them completely is dangerous as is eating crazy amounts and as ever refined food MUST be avoided if health and looking good naked is a priority.

Phil Learney – Strength & Conditioning expert