As it relates to nutrition, you
get out of your body precisely what you put into it which is why nutrition is
just as important as strength training if you want to maximize your return per
investment of time. While training is the catalyst to which there’d be no
results if you didn’t train, if you don’t provide your body with what it needs recover
from the training then you’re selling yourself short. If you put in quality
nutrients on a daily basis your body will function optimally and you’ll more
than likely live a stress free, healthy life, disease free and look and
feel just the way you want. On the other hand, if you put in processed garbage
and trans fats then you’ll more than likely see negative changes start to take
place to your physique and health profile.
A lot of people think that
simply ‘eating right’ is enough to make positive changes to their physique, and
generally it is, but at a much slower pace than if a few basic principles were
adhered to. Nutrition is one of those things in which just a little attention
to detail can go a long way, much further than simply eating right if, or when,
you decide to eat.
The first thing anyone needs to
know when personalizing a nutrition protocol is to find out what their Basal
Metabolic Rate is (the amount of calories you would burn in a 24 hr time
period while doing absolutely nothing).
This is the calculation for MEN:
66 + (13.7 x weight in KG) + (5 x height in CM) – (6.8 x AGE)
This is the calculation for WOMEN:
655 + (9.6 x weight in KG) + (1.7 x height in CM) – (4.7 x AGE)
To give a practical idea of
where to go from here, I’ll use my own statistics for the remainder of the
article, which are: 80 KG, 170 CM, 26 yrs old. These numbers would then be
plugged into the formula above, which would look like this: 66 + 1096 + 850 –
176.8 = 1835.2
This means in my current state
that I burn 1835.2 calories per day if I don’t move for an entire day. Therefore,
if I want to stay in the same shape I’m currently in I need to consume 1835.2
calories per day. If I fail to do so I will lose weight, primarily in the form
of muscle, by default of not taking in enough calories to maintain the
foundation I’ve built. If I want to gain I need to take in more than that. If I
fail to even come close to getting the calories that I need each day for a
prolonged period of time, when I do eat my body will hold onto more of what I
ingest in the form of fat as it anticipates that I will continue to deprive
myself of the daily required amount.
Now, because that number is
based on not moving for an entire day, it’s not necessarily accurate because my
life requires that I actually get out of bed and do things.
Because of the fact that I do
get out of bed every day, go to work daily and also put myself through rather
intense training sessions, I need to multiply that by my daily activity level.
Therefore, the next step after calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate is
identifying your daily activity level.
Activity levels will vary for different
people as well as the same people on different days, so simply use the scale
below to figure out your activity level and multiply it by your Basal
Metabolic Rate to get an idea of how many calories you’ll burn on a given day,
or simply average it out over the course of a week and go with that.
X 1.0 (means you do not move all
day, and since no one does this for multiple days in a row, your average number
should be greater than this)
X1.2 (means you barely move all
day ex. Work at a desk, and consider walking to the bathroom a form of
exercise)
X1.4 (not at the level where you
actually work out, but maybe you move around a lot on a daily basis or even
walk to and from work)
X1.6 (this is the average person
who works at a desk but does work out, typically 3 or 4 days a week and
actually uses weights, not just saunters along on the treadmill)
X1.8 (give yourself a 1.8
activity level if you work out regularly plus you live a rather active
lifestyle ex. Play on a local sports team on a weekly basis or more as well as
having a physically demanding job)
X2.0 (this is the other end of
the spectrum, and unless you work out two or more times a day, while playing
professionally or semi-pro sports that require daily practice at the very
minimum as well as have a physically demanding job and a highly active
lifestyle, don’t bother giving yourself a 2.0 average activity rating)
For me, being a strength
coach that works out intensely on a daily basis and trains clients during
the day as well, along with walking my dogs for an average of an hour a
day, I give myself a 1.7 activity rating. So my average Basal Metabolic
Rate becomes 1835.2 x 1.7 = 3119.84.
From here the goal of wanting to
gain weight, in the form of muscle, or lose weight in the form of fat needs to
be decided. If you want to gain muscle without adding fat, you want to take in
10-20% more than your Basal Metabolic Rate per day and if you want to
reduce body fat you would adjust your daily intake to 10 or 20% less than your Basal
Metabolic Rate. Anymore than 10-20% could lead to unnecessary fat gain, and
under 10-20% could easily result in less fat being burnt as the body tries to
prevent from losing too much too quick.
Using myself once again, with
wanting to gain muscle I need to take in at least 3119.84 + 10% = 3431.824 per
day. At the very most I’d take in around 3119.84 + 20% = 3743.808 calories per
day comfortably without risking additional body fat from being stored.
Now that we have some numbers to
work with we have to divide them up amongst different macronutrients, as all
calories are NOT equal. Based on the fact that I would need 3119.84 calories
per day to stay in the shape I’m currently in, if I were to eat my favorite Kit
Kat ice cream to make up the over three thousand calories, I’d likely lose some
muscle mass and pile on unwanted bodyfat!
The 3 types of macronutrients/calories
which account for the calories that should make up your diet are: protein,
carbohydrates, and fat.
Protein
The word protein comes from a
Greek word meaning first or of primary importance. The body breaks down protein
and turns it into muscle through a process called protein synthesis. Protein
synthesis is also called muscular anabolism which comes from another Greek word
meaning to build up or ascend. Protein synthesis (converting protein you eat
into muscle on your body) is dependent on your hormone levels as well as
gene expression.
Hormones are basically
messengers running around the body, making the body do things. Protein
synthesis is one of those things. The higher your anabolic hormone levels are,
like testosterone, the greater ability your body has to use protein to
build muscle. This way, the more protein you take in, the more muscle you’ll be
capable of building. However, there is a point where too much in relation to
other macronutrients becomes a problem.
If you were to take in all your
daily calories from protein, you run the risk of your body adapting to protein
as its main energy source, and burning it off which will lead to less of it
being used to build muscle. Therefore the recommended amount is generally
around 1.5 to 2 grams per pound of bodyweight per day.
For me this would fall somewhere
between 264 to 352 grams of protein per day. Now, ONE GRAM OF PROTEIN IS
EQUIVALENT TO 4 CALORIES so if I took in 352 grams of protein per day that
would take care of 1408 out of the 3743.808 calories per day I’d need to gain
muscle. 3743.808 – 1408 = 2335.808 calories would be left for me to take in
over the course of one day if I really wanted to build muscle.
Carbs
Carbohydrates are what the body
would prefer to use as its source of energy for physical and mental work, but if
you take in a high percentage of carbs your body will not decide to use fat for
fuel.
What happens when you eat carbs
is your body breaks them down into sugar. The main differences between
different types of carbs, is how quickly your body converts them into sugar.
The faster the conversion, the greater the insulin spike will be.
Insulin
Insulin is basically a double
edge sword of a hormone, and is said to be the most anabolic (muscle building)
hormone in the body. Aside from being extremely anabolic, which is good, it
also increases inflammation and accelerates aging. Insulin can be thought of as
the hormone responsible for transporting the building blocks that are
macronutrients to the cell, and acts like a flow of keys running around your
body looking for doors to unlock, the latter referring to muscle, fat and the liver
as storing facilities with locks on them.
Basically those three storing facilities
have locks on them to which insulin unlocks them when it comes in contact with
them allowing nutrients to flow in. If a facility (muscle, fat, or liver) has
more locks to unlock, then insulin will unlock them and more nutrients will be
stored in them. Insulin also prevents mobilization of stored nutrients, which
means it doesn’t allow what’s already been stored (muscle or fat) to be taken
out and broken down and used for energy, which is a good thing as far as
conserving muscle mass is concerned, but bad if you are trying to burn fat. Insulin
basically promotes muscle gain and diminishes muscle breakdown. Insulin is
released into the blood in response to an increase in blood sugar from eating
carbs.
On the other hand, if you fail
to take in enough carbs, your glucagon (insulin’s antagonistic hormone) levels
elevate. Glucagon is released if blood sugar levels are low, and it promotes
the mobilization of stored nutrients (muscle or fat), which basically means it
may potentially take proteins from muscle and break them down for energy, but
it also may use carbs or fat which can be seen as a positive thing.
Insulin sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity refers to
how well a tissue or structure responds to insulin. Tissues with a high degree
of sensitivity to insulin need less of it to unlock it, and will respond better
than tissues with a lower sensitivity to insulin.
Your cells sensitivity to insulin
depends on several factors including genetics, activity level and current
physical condition. Sensitivity will also vary depending on what time of day it
is. Your body basically adjusts itself based on current demands.
For example, after a workout or
some sort of strenuous activity, your body’s priority becomes restoring
expended energy and repairing the damage to the muscles. If you are relatively inactive,
your muscles don’t need to be repaired and your body goes into survival mode
and therefore stores energy for future needs in the form of fat. Not good!
Also, if you have a lot of
muscle mass, your muscles will have a high sensitivity to insulin. On the other
hand, if you have a high level of body fat, your fat will have a higher
sensitivity to insulin. Basically the fatter you are the more fat you’ll store,
and the fitter you are the less fat you’ll store and more muscle you’ll build.
There are certain circumstances
when having an elevated level of insulin can be a good thing. Those times
specifically are first thing in the morning, and post workout. When you wake up
you want to shuttle nutrients into your muscles and break the 8 hour fast, or
however many hours of sleep you get, and after a workout when you want to
deliver nutrients to your muscles to initiate the recovery and building process
immediately.
Any other time, consuming carbs
is not necessarily a good idea for body composition, although before bed may
help with sleep due to the calming effect that the neurotransmitter serotonin
has, which is bumped up in response to eating carbs. insulin levels stay
elevated for about 4-5 hours after eating carbs, and when insulin is running
through your body, your body is in storing mode, and makes it nearly impossible
to mobilize (take out and break down for energy) fat.
Not only will carbs promote
storing, but they also prevent fat burning and if looking the way you want
means being lean, then carbs need to be consumed accordingly. Even though carbs
are the body’s preferred source for energy, they aren’t essential and you could
definitely manage without them. Your body would simply adjust and use other
resources for energy.
ONE GRAM OF CARBS IS EQUIVALENT
TO 4 CALORIES just like protein is, and the amount you should take in is goal
dependent. If gaining weight is the goal then 1.5 to 2.5 grams per pound of
body weight is sufficient. If losing weight is the goal then anywhere from ½ a
gram to 1 gram would be effective. Depending on how your body reacts, you would
simply adjust the total amount higher or lower based on your goals and
progress. Over time your body will adapt, and the amount you are taking in
would no longer be effective.
Going back to the example using
myself, this means I would need to take in 1.5 x 176 = 264 grams of carbs per
day, divided over 3 meals (breakfast, post workout, and an hour or so after my
workout). Ideally you want to take in 25% of your carbs at breakfast as well as
the meal an hour after your workout and 50% of your daily intake immediately
after your workout.
For me that would be 66 grams
when I wake up, 132 after my workout and another 66 an hour after my workout.
264 grams of carbs is equivalent to 1056 calories bringing my daily total up to
1056 + 1408 = 2464 calories meaning I would have 3743.808 - 2464 = 1279.808
calories left to consume, and they would have to come from fat.
Fat
ONE GRAM OF FAT IS EQUIVALENT TO
9 CALORIES so that means I would need to take in 1279.808 ÷ 9 = 142.2 grams of fat.
Depending on how many meals I would have, let’s say 6, 3 with carbs, 3 with fat,
that would be 142.2 ÷ 3 = 47.4 or 48 grams of fat per meal.
When I say fat I mean essential fats,
which means fats that the body cannot produce itself and needs to function
optimally. There are 2 main categories of essential fats: omega-3 and
omega-6. Omega-6 comes in the form of animal protein sources and omega-3 come
in the form of fish.
Your body uses fat to produce
certain hormones and if you don’t get enough, your testosterone levels
will drop. About 0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day are needed
to maintain adequate hormone levels.
Omega-3’s in particular,
have several other benefits. They increase insulin sensitivity, which means, as
you may already know, that your body will transport nutrients to your muscles
as opposed to fat. Omega-3’s also promote healing and recovery, and
reduce inflammation. They improve neural recovery, which takes longer than
muscular recovery, and they also increase the mobilization of fat, which means
it takes fat out from where it’s stored and burns it for energy.
SUMMARY
1 gram of PROTEIN = 4 calories
1 gram of CARBS = 4 calories
1 gram of FAT = 9 calories
Once you know your BMR, decide
whether you want to gain or lose weight. Add 10-20% to your BMR to gain without
getting fat and reduce 10-20% to lose weight without losing muscle mass.
Protein is essential and should
be eaten at every meal. NEARLY EVERYONE DOES NOT EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN! When
people start to take in the right amount, changes start to take place rather
rapidly.
Carbs should only be eaten in
the morning upon waking up, and post workout.
Carbs put the body in storing
mode and put a halt to the fat burning process.
You can decide to go without carbs
in your diet as long as you take in enough fat to compensate.
Essential fats are healthy
and necessary. Your body needs energy from somewhere, if you cut carbs and
aren’t taking in enough fat, your body will use the muscle that you have for
energy. If your body burns muscle for energy your lean mass will deteriorate
and will slow down your metabolism. A slower metabolism will lead to less fat
being burned and more being stored.
The more muscle you have, the
higher you muscles insulin sensitivity will be, meaning when you do have carbs,
nutrients will be driven into your muscles, not your fat. The opposite will
take place if your body fat is high.
Essential fats like omega-3’s promote
burning body fat. Consuming the right fats will burn fat off your body.
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