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America, I don’t know if all of you knew this, but Marga Overby, my Mixed Pairs partner at the Emerald Cup this year, was featured as the cover story in the newest issue of the Parrillo Performance Press.  You can check out her story at http://www.parrillo.com.  Big ups to Marga and Guy for ‘makin’ it do what it do!’  Speaking of couples, I’m in the market for a female partner for the summer and fall shows.  We have to match up well as far as physiques and we’ll need to be in the same geographical area to practice, practice, practice!  I’ve got a couple of songs that I’d like to do, and with the right partner I think we can make something happen, not to mention that it’ll be entertaining for the crowd.  You might be asking, why not Marga or Janet (my usual partner)?  Well, Marga is Guy’s wife and mixed pairs partner.  He was so gracious to allow me to use her for this one routine.  We rocked it but she’s back with her hubba hubba husband. Janet is taking time off and will probably not be doing the shows I want to do.  So if any of you ladies out there can stand to work with me, you’ve got a good look and will dial in nicely (hey…I always wanna win, remember…), and just want to have a lot of fun onstage, then contact me via email, phone, FB, or this blog.  Now accepting applications…~chuckle~

Speaking of Guy Overby, once again he came through in the clutch.  He sent me a link to a great article that I was going to rework and then post, but I saw that it was part 3.  So I went into the archives, found the first two articles, read em, saw that they also were very good, and decided to rework and add my own style to them.  This is the first in a series of three.  The original article was titled “The Great Macronutrient Debate Part I, by Layne Norton.  Much of his stuff is left in.  I changed a few things around, added some stuff that works for me, and renamed it.  So before you yell “plagiarism” I’ve given credit where credit is due.  Everything that Layne said I’ve said before in other articles and blogs, but it’s nice to read a different style on the same subject.  I was thinking as I read it, “This guy knows his stuff and I like his style of writing.”  Hmmm…wonder why?  ‘Nuff said?  Good – enjoy!

The Great Debacle: Part I

“Differences of opinion can be creatively stimulating as well as frustrating.”  Jim Coleman

When it comes to bodybuilding nutrition and trying to decipher what protein, carbs, and fat intake to implement, things can certainly get confusing for us. If you ask certain gurus out there, they will tell you that carbohydrates are absolutely useless and need to be completely cut out. Others will shout from the rooftops that a high carbohydrate intake is required for maximal anabolism. Old-school bodybuilders may tell you that the only thing that matters is eating a zillion grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Many of these gurus will also make it a point to discredit the arguments of anyone else who has a difference of opinion from their own. In fact, a more appropriate quote to use for this article may be "Opinions are like a$$holes. Everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks."

To be sure, there are many times when I feel bad for our readers getting so much conflicting information from so many different sources. So who’s right? Should you be cutting all carbs out and following modified versions of Adkins but with a bodybuilding emphasis? Should you be eating so much protein that you need to raise your own cattle in order to cover the staggering cost of your beef eating (remember the old commercial for Wendy’s with the lil’ old lady who shouted “Where’s The Beef?”)?  Or should you be eating so many carbohydrates that you spend half the day in a delirious insulin coma (Momma, is that you?”)?

Well I’m here to settle all this nonsense for you, hopefully for the last time. All these gurus are right… and they are all wrong. What a shockingly un-helpful revelation, huh?  But as John Parrillo so eloquently put it over 30 years ago, “All diets work, and all diets fail!”  Let me explain what I mean. Despite us all having the same metabolic pathways, our bodies are strikingly different from individual to individual in their responses to various macronutrient profiles. Perhaps this is why even in the scientific community we see quite a bit of variability in the outcomes of controlled studies examining different macronutrient profiles. Increasing information about gene polymorphisms and different individual tolerances to drug and nutrient responses has made it very clear that in the coming years, nutritional advice is going to need to shift from generalized recommendations to specific targeted recommendations for the individual.  That’s why I’ve preached for over 20 years that ‘cookie-cutter’ type nutrition plans don’t work.  There’s no way you can put everyone on the same plan and expect them all to get the same results.  Just not possible!

A practical example of what I’m talking about would be the case of a few actual clients I have worked with in the past. I’ve changed the first couple names to Sam and Dave to protect the innocent. Both Sam and Dave were approximately the same age (52 and 55 respectively), same height (about 5'10") and roughly the same weight to begin prepping for their shows (about 175 pounds). They both ended up at approximately the same weight for competition (about 160 and 162 pounds respectively). They both had similar structures and started at almost the exact same body fat.

As a coach, if you just looked at their stats on a piece of paper you’d think they should be on the same plan.  After all, same height, same weight, same age, same %BF…what would make you think otherwise?  And if you had them following generalized recommendations from a cookie-cutter type formula for protein, carbs, and fat intake, then it is likely they both should end up with similar, if not exact results.  But within a few weeks of working with the both of them I realized that they had different tolerances to macronutrients, carbohydrates in particular. Sam couldn’t go above 75 gms per day and he was able to get completely shredded. Dave, on the other hand, tolerated carbohydrates extremely well and I was able to keep him up around 200-250 gms per day. But in the end, both of them got shredded and both of them won their respective shows.  Right now I’m working with two guys who, 7 weeks out from their show (the Washington State), are both in excess of 300 gms of carbs/day!  As it stands now, I plan on keeping them high – above 200 gms – through the show.  I’ve already had to build their carbohydrate intake recently.  As the science of nutrition evolves, we’re seeing that the old “starve em to get em lean” philosophy is no longer holding true.

Now I have hundreds of other examples of clients who have a similar story. I’ve worked with people who got contest-lean on 400 grams of carbs. I’ve worked with people who had to drop all the way down to 50 grams of carbs per day to get lean enough! That’s a huge difference! It took me a while to figure out one female, but after a couple of months, she worked best on 125 gms of carbs/day with 20 gms at each meal.  Another female had to cut out literally all carbs and just go with the 25 gm wt (17 gms of carbs) of oatmeal as her starchy carbs for the whole day for almost 12 weeks.  As we’ve seen here however, finding exactly where you fit in the macronutrient continuum can make the difference between winning and being the pudgy person onstage who everyone asks, “Are you kiddin’ me???”

This is the reason that I always chuckle when I hear people talk about “doing Dave Patterson’s diet” or “following Dave Patterson’s diet program.” There is no such thing. What works for me may not work for your metabolism. I’ve worked with thousands of people over the years and all of them had different plans, at least subtly based on how they responded to various manipulations in protein/carbohydrate/fat intake. Whether they were a regular client or a competitor, each plan was customized and individualized.  It still is.  I might start with a general broad plan for the first week just to see in which direction I should head, but very quickly I start changing things to make it work for that particular individual.  Experience has taught me that I can look at someone and categorize them – i.e., I can roughly figure out what their macros are simply by looking at and talking with them.  This is my SWAG (Scientific Wild-A$$ed Guess).  It gets me close.  From there it’s the art within the science.  But to do this, I need time – enough time to figure out your metabolism and system.  All the variables have to be considered…cardio, weights, sleep, job, stress level, mindset…everything comes into play.  That’s why there’s no such thing in my book as a “one-plan-for-every-person” program.  You might want to consider that and ask your trainer about that the next time you start dialling down for a show.

For a fortunate few, I’ve determined that they tolerated carbohydrates extremely well. This meant some individuals got to consume large amounts of carbs off-season, pre-contest, and right up to the show while staying lean! For others, it meant staying high-protein, higher fat and moderate-to-low-carbs, even in the off-season in order to prevent excess fat gain. So if you hear someone talk about “Dave Patterson’s diet program” you can be sure that they have no idea what they are talking about.  I have about 20,000+ diet plans, and every time I pick up a new client that number grows.

As discussed previously, it seems that many trainers and coaches out there champions a certain macronutrient or a certain type of diet and tries to apply that to every single person. As we’ve just demonstrated, that is the exact WRONG way to do things. Are there people out there who respond well to low-carb, high-fat diets?  Absolutely!  Are there people out there who shrivel up like Lorena Bobbitt’s ex-husband when he looks at her when they follow a low-carb diet?  You bet your unsalted nuts there are. All the macronutrients have various benefits; the biggest thing is keeping a balance that is beneficial for your individual metabolism. So before we go any further, let’s quickly look at the benefits of each.

Protein: I’m not going to beat you over the head with the importance of protein. Unless this is the first time you’ve ever read on protein, you know that protein is important. High-protein meals have been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis more than ‘adequate’ protein meals. Protein also has a thermogenic effect and high-protein diets have been shown to cause greater fat loss, compared to normal protein diets. But you can have too much of a good thing, so it’s important to keep protein in balance.  In general, somewhere between one to two gms of protein per pound of bodyweight is the accepted norm, but remember, you’ll have to experiment to find your optimal amount.  And one final note…it could change from show to show based upon LBM, conditioning, age, and lots of other variables.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates increase muscle glycogen and spare dietary and muscle protein from being oxidized (burned) and used as energy. This saves the precious amino acids from dietary protein for what they are intended - muscle-building purposes. Furthermore, carbohydrates have been shown to have a synergistic effect with dietary protein on muscle protein synthesis. That’s why you should always take in carbs you’re your protein.  The amount should be determined through trial and error.  Insulin has also been shown to decrease protein breakdown. So as you can see, carbohydrates do have benefits, but need to be controlled to prevent excess fat gain.

Fats: Fats provide energy and are important for cellular integrity, turnover, and may be protein sparing.  Fats provide for joint lubrication, healthy skin, hair, nails, teeth, and so many other functions.  But the reality is that (in general) fat makes you fat.  Now again, if you happen to be one of the few individuals who can tolerate large amounts of fat, then you’re one of the few lucky ones.  But most cannot and will not. 

So the big question is: How do you figure out where you fit?  What is optimal for YOUR body’s metabolism? Well, I’ll be frank and say that there is simply no substitute for experimentation, documentation, and patience. Try different things and see how your body reacts, but make sure you are patient enough to give everything enough time. This means that you DON’T jump from plan to plan to plan every week, or every time you read about this or that diet, or even if your BFF tells you that his ‘guru’ (me included) is all that AND a can of pork-n-beans!  This also means tracking your protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake and documenting your response to various macronutrient profiles.  The only way you’re truly going to be able to make this happen is to weigh and measure your foods.  I’m not talking pieces and cups either.  I’m talking grams and ounces.  Buy a food scale people!  Write it down until you learn what works for you.  At the start of every single pre-contest diet I weigh every single thing that goes into my mouth.  That’s the only true way I can tell what’s working for me. 

Now I know for some of you, that sounds like a lot of work, but let me tell you something, if you want to build a great physique, then you had better be ready to work your butt off, and if you are afraid of counting macronutrients, then all I can tell you is to cowboy up and get over it. Besides, programs on the net like fitday.com make tracking your intake very easy, compared to when I got into the game and had to do it on pen and paper. Did I mention I had to walk to and from school in 10 feet of snow uphill with no shoes on – both ways!!!? So for exact macronutrient intake, I’m not going to be able to help you much with the exact amounts that will be optimal for YOU without working with you, and anyone who says they can determine that for everyone and put it in an article either is flat-out arrogant, ignorant, or a snake-oil shyster.

The best I can do is give you some general recommendations to get you pointed in the right direction. In general, you want to eat enough protein to maximize anabolism, enough fat to get optimal fatty acid intakes, and keep carbs as high as you can while still losing fat at an appropriate rate.  As discussed previously, the exact amount will vary greatly from person to person. In the next blog I’ll elaborate on my recommendations and show you how to use some basic information to give you insight as to what may be optimal for your body.

The Dr.

http://www.facebook.com/drbuff

David “Dr. Buff” Patterson

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

 www.personaltrainingsystems.net 

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 Mobile:  253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

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