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"Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re a fool than to open it and remove all doubt!”  Unknown author

America, in the last blog, I talked about the differences in human macronutrients in regard to optimal protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake. The take-home message was that what works for you may not work for your BFF, sister, or even your identical twin!  Be careful when receiving a nutritional plan from me or any other trainer and passing it along thinking it will work for someone else.  If one plan worked for everyone…well…there’d only be one plan out there, right?  Anyone who suggests only one specific nutritional plan for every person is gonna have problems because of the differences in individual metabolisms from person to person.  And the reality of the problem is that only a small percentage of all those people will get excellent results.  Most will achieve moderate results at best, and many will get poor results.  Then the trainer or coach will ask, “What are you cheating on, ‘cause you can’t be following the plan.  It works for ‘everybody’!”  The trainer refuses to believe that his or her plan is flawed simply by the fact that no one plan works for everyone!  So the blame is projected onto the client.  Now you’re runnin’ ‘round all stressed out tryin’ to figure out if you’re truly doing everything that you were told to do.  Madness, America!  Oh, ya’ll ain’t listening to me…I just said something!!!

Back in my Exercise Physiology class at PLU my professor, Dr. Evans, warned us, “Be careful of agreeing with statements that have ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘no one’ and ‘everyone’ in them.  There are not very many absolutes in this world outside of ‘Once you are born, you will die’!”  I say that to say this…when you hear or read about the latest, greatest plan or product that ‘guarantees’ results regardless of work ethic, nutrition, sex, age, height, weight, and body composition, and that you’ll build an incredible 3,477% of muscle while brushing your teeth, and burn an astounding 6,393% of bodyfat while readin’ this blog, and you’re thinking about trying it, well…I have a special pig that flies that you might be interested in as well…

So how do we make sense of all of this nonsense, America?  How do we find out what works best? After all, aren’t we all after the same end result – optimal positive change? We need to know that our daily efforts in the gym are not being sabotaged by what we’re doing in the kitchen, and vice versa.

In the case of all of this macronutrient mis-information I can say without reservation that there’s no substitute for experimentation and documentation – the S.W.A.G. (Scientific Wild-A$$ed Guess) if you will.  As you continue to play this game and progress, you need to be willing to change things around to see how your body responds to various manipulations of protein, carbohydrate, and fat.  When it comes to the new bodybuilding nutrition we don’t wanna live by “There’s only one way to skin a cat!”  Don’t believe that there’s only one way to diet down, America.  You want to experiment with different plans so that you can see what works, but you also have to give your body enough time with a new plan to see if it actually works. 

Guy Overby, one of the guys I’m helping, is coming down nicely.  Today, at 5 weeks out, his carbs are still at 350 gms/day.  For one week we’re gonna change things up slightly just to see the effect.  Nothing drastic which will cause him to drop like crazy – just a slight repartition of macronutrients.  He’s on a one-to-one ratio of protein to carbs – 350 gms of protein to 350 gms of carbs.  He does that every day and has been coming down slowly.  But I want to carb-cycle him for a week to see if that might work better.  So we’re switching up to one day lower-carb/one day normal carb/lower-carb/normal carb routine through next Sunday to see the effects.  Notice I didn’t say LOW carbs!  He’s lean and full now with a small layer of BF.  Why would I want to overdiet him and run the risk of stringing him out?  So what am I doing with him?  Sorry America – that’s privileged information – can’t give out all my secrets.  Besides, it probably wouldn’t work for you anyway, remember?  […Insert shameless plug…you wanna know what works for you?  Gimme a call and we’ll schedule a consultation…and yes…I do charge!  End shamless plug…]. 

I’ve got another guy who I’m working with, John Pizarro, who’s doing something totally different as far as his nutrition and he’s coming down just as smooth.  Keri, down in Vancouver, is on a plan that works for her, whereas Bren is doing well on her plan.  All different plans, all good results.  Another example real quick…Guy is at 50-60 minutes of cardio first session and just bumped to 50 minutes second session whereas John has been at two 60-minute sessions for a couple of weeks.  I haven’t even started my second sessions yet, and my first sessions are 45-50 minutes.  All three of us are doing the Oregon St. and Washington St in five and six weeks.  Bio-chemical individuality, America!  Everybody is different.    

While experimentation is very important, without proper guidance you’re pi$$ing in the wind.  My job is to provide that guidance – to make things a bit easier for you, not to say, “Dude, just do this."  Even though we have bio-chemical individuality, there are a few factors than can provide insight into what range of macronutrient intake may work best for you as an individual. Those factors include lean body mass, age, training status, and body type. So let's take a look at each of these factors and see how they affect our recommendations.

Lean Body Mass.  Pretty straight-forward here. All things being equal, people who have more muscle tissue will tend to burn more calories, since muscle is more metabolically-active than fat tissue.  The more muscle you have, the more food you get to eat.  In addition to requiring more total calories during a bulking phase (but not too much more, because excess calories have greater potential to be stored as bodyfat) more muscular people are also able to tolerate more calories during a cutting phase (unless you let yourself get too fat and didn’t give yourself enough time to diet down, at which point you’ve got to drastically cut carbs and calories to lean out).

A middleweight male competitor will eat more calories than a lightweight man, all things being equal.  Factor in the dark side and things change, but we’re not talking about that.  A heavyweight woman will eat more than a figure competitor, in general.  They may eat the same foods, but the ratios and amounts have to be customized.  Since a larger person has more muscle, he or she will be able to store more glycogen (carbs), which means more food.  This also means more protein to optimize protein synthesis (growth).  Now is it possible that a 5’1” figure competitor could out-eat a 5’6” female bodybuilder and still get lean?  Sure!  But those are the rare extremes, not the norms.  This blog is already long enough!  Let’s stay in that 66% of the bell curve, okay?

Age. This is a factor that affects all of us. As we age, our metabolic rate tends to decrease as our physical activity decreases, and this decreases our caloric requirements. But it also affects the optimum intake of specific macronutrients. When we’re young (puberty to late teens), our bodies are very much hormone-driven. Insulin (and to a lesser degree, GH) is released in large amounts to facilitate growth.  Young individuals can tolerate much greater carbohydrate intake and require less protein to optimize muscle protein synthesis, as young people are much more sensitive to the anabolic effects of amino acids.  This changes as we move into adulthood.  We become less tolerant of carbohydrates and less sensitive to the anabolic properties of insulin. Our muscle growth becomes less growth hormone (Insulin, GH, systemic IGF-1) driven and more driven by nutrition and proper training. Protein requirements increase for adults as the body continues to age.  We crest at 28-35 years old and then the inevitable happens…we begin to start losing muscle – slowly at first, but then the juggernaut starts picking up speed.  Proper training and nutrition can delay it but everyone ages, America!  There’s no drug, no Pandora’s box or Fountain of Youth out there that will stop the inevitable.   

There’s also a shift as we get into our 50’s (where I’m at) and 60’s.  We’re much less insulin-sensitive and far less sensitive to the anabolic effects of amino acids. Thus, our carb intake will need to decrease and our protein intake will need to increase to compensate for these differences. I see this now in me.  I just can’t take in the high carbs like I used to.  The days of 400-500 gm carb days for me are gone.  I used to be able to eat a cup of uncooked oatmeal, a couple pieces of toast with jelly, and still junk out and not gain a pound.  Now I get a horrible headache if I eat ½ cup oatmeal with one piece of plain toast.  I was a donut junkie growing up – maple bars and cinnamon rolls were my favorite.  Now let me eat 1/3 maple bar and I need Excedrin for a couple of days!  Sugars hit me harder and faster than when I was younger.  I also find that protein now works better for me as far as feeling better.  So in general, younger individuals should be able to consume more carbohydrates and less protein, but the older we get, the less carbohydrates and the more protein/fat we should consume, to make up our caloric balance.

Training Status. Obviously, all things being equal, the more intensely you train, the more calories you’ll need to consume to optimize recovery and growth and make up for the amount of calories burned during training. Someone undergoing a vigorous routine that causes more muscle damage will need more total calories and probably more carbohydrates to fuel training, possibly more protein for recovery, and maybe even more fat. So although total calories will need to increase or decrease, depending upon training frequency, intensity, and duration, the ratios of protein, carbohydrates, and fat may not change that much.  Once the proper ratio is determined for each individual, that ratio should hold for a while, but once again, factors can come into play which can cause a shift in the macronutrients from season to season and show to show.

One note…if you’re restricting your carbs for the sake of contest and you’re training intensely, your protein requirements will actually increase.  How much?  Can’t answer that, but in general, if you follow the 1.5 gms/lb BW formula, then I’d recommend bumping it up to 2 gms/lb BW, especially if you’re more of an Ectomorphic individual.

Body Type. We’ve covered the Ecto-Meso-Endomorphs in several previous blogs so I won’t bore you with the details again.  To net it out, endomorphs are individuals who tend to have more difficulty losing body fat while dieting and more difficulty keeping body fat off while bulking. For these individuals, they usually should consume fewer carbohydrates, because they tend to have lower insulin sensitivity, and they should consume more protein and fiber, because protein and fiber have beneficial effects on thermogenesis.

Compare this with typical ectomorphs who have difficulty gaining weight, but have no trouble losing body fat. These individuals should consume more carbohydrates and less protein, because they are more sensitive to insulin and they do not want to create excess thermogenesis from greater protein intake, which will make it even more difficult for them to gain weight and muscle. Obviously, mesomorphs will fall in-between endomorphs and ectomorphs, in terms of recommendations. 

Recommendations?  I’m so glad you asked!  Rather than give canned food plans, I use formulas.  The formulas individualize each person from the scientific perspective.  From there it’s the S.W.A.G.  I build each diet starting with protein, plug in the veggies, determine how much fat I think each person should take in, and from there it’s the manipulation of the carbs that take you either up, hold you, or lean you out.  Add in the cardio and you dial in.  Not rocket science, America, but cha’better know what you’re doing if you want that optimal look you’re after. 

Long blog today, America…y’boy is out!  Time to eat, watch a lil’ tube, and then hit the sack.  Holla if y’need help!  Peace…

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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It’s what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!  John Wooden – 1910-2010

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