G-Flux: Building the Ultimate Body

by Dr John M Berardi

Those Legs

I remember the first time I saw those legs.

I was walking down the stairs at the Olympic Oval in Calgary Alberta – and with about
three stairs to go, I looked up and saw the legendary quads, the peaked hamstrings, and
the rock-hard glutes.

Of course, describing body parts that way might make them sound less sexy. So don't get
the wrong idea, this woman was 100% babe.

But back to those legs. They had shape, they had definition, they had muscle. Even more,
that shapely, defined muscle had carried her to countless Olympic medals, world
championships, and world records.
That's right, Catriona Lemay-Doan was not only the fastest woman on ice, but she also
looked the part. She was lean, muscular, and, of course, it didn't hurt that she was a super
babe.

So I stalked her.

No, no, I didn't stalk her.

But since I was just starting out as a nutritional consultant to the Calgary Olympic centre
at the time, I did resolve to find how she got that smokin' body, especially those legs –
legs that most T-Nation readers wouldn't mind calling their own (easy boys, that's not
what I mean).

Come to find out, no one told Catriona that her muscles would catabolize themselves if
she exercised for more than 45 minutes at a time. And no one told her that she'd overtrain
if she lifted weights more than 3-4 times per week.

No, she wasn't cautioned that if she did any aerobic work, she'd lose all her muscle mass.
Nor was she told that eating more than 100g of carbs would make her fat. And she
certainly wasn't provided kettlebells, bosu balls, gymnastics rings, or any of the latest
faddy equipment to help her reach her training and body comp goals.
Nope, Catriona simply trained 2-3 times per day, accumulating about 15-20 hours of
physical activity per week. She worked on multiple physiological qualities during each
training phase, including: speed strength, maximal strength, elastic strength, muscular
endurance, anaerobic power, and aerobic power. She skated, biked, and ran at different
intensities and durations. She did Olympic lifts. She did max effort lifts. She did
plyometrics. And she ate a high calorie, mixed macronutrient diet that included liquid
recovery supplements.

And thank God!

If she would have bought into any of the current fitness nonsense or weird fitness trends;
if she would have learned to be deathly afraid of overtraining, or if she would have been
scared of any particular macronutrient, she would never have become a world and
Olympic champion, never would have become one of the most recognizable speed
skaters of all time, and likely never would have had such fine, fine legs.

How Much Can You Bench?

"How much can he bench?" I asked incredulously when I first saw Pavle Jovanovic, the
world's top brakeman and US gold medal hopeful (with Todd Hays) in this year's
Olympic games. Someone had just whispered some of his stats and I instantly felt small
and weak, very small and weak.
After all, how many of you have ever seen a guy who is 6' tall, 220lbs, under 6% body
fat, can run 30m in 3.54 sec, can clean 167.5kg (368.5lbs), and can squat 260kg (572lbs)?

I've seen a few. But trust me when I say it's still a novelty watching a guy like this sprint,
push a bobsled, or lift weights.

But so what, a guy like this is nothing but a genetic freak, right? Sure he's a genetic freak.

However, we can take a few pages out of his workout journal to learn something about
being big strong, functional, while still looking the part.

You bet your scrawny butt we can.

For starters, Pavle trains about 20-25 hours a week, split over 2 x 2 hour daily sessions.
His sessions include maximum strength, speed strength, and elastic strength workouts as
well as higher repetition general strength work. He sprints often and, of course, he spends
quite a bit of time pushing a bobsled. In addition to his training week, he spends about 10
hours a week performing yoga, Jiao Dai, and stretching for recovery and regeneration.

Like Catriona, he's not afraid of overtraining, high reps, low reps, conditioning work, or
any particular macronutrient. This guy simply trains a lot of hours each week, trains a lot
of different muscle qualities each week, eats a lot of clean, organic calories each week
(Pavel is an organic food junkie and ingests in excess of 6,000 calories per day), and is
one of the best and most complete strength and power athletes in the world.

How Much Body Fat Did You Lose?

When 19-year-old Alice Graham came to me, she and her ice dancing partner Andrew
Poje were reining bronze medalists from the Canadian Jr. National Skating
Championships.
However, since she was 17 years old, Alice had been gradually gaining weight. Her
coaches and competitors were starting to notice. And in skating, this is the kiss of death.

You see, when most young girls in skating hit 17 or so, their girlish figures disappear as
they begin to carry more "womanly" body fat. Since very, very few individuals in skating
know anything about proper off-ice training or nutrition, when a girl starts gaining, she's
either pressured into an eating disorder or she gains weight and she's out.
So, going into this year's Canadian Senior National Championships, Alice and Andrew
were a write-off. They were destined to place out of the top 10 spots, never to climb the
skating ranks.

Well, that was until she sought me out.

With three months left till Nationals and the 5'6" Alice at an all-time body weight and fat
high (135lbs and 22% fat), we began a 3 month experiment in G-Flux.

What's G-Flux?

Well, G-Flux, otherwise known as energy flux (or energy turnover) is the relationship
between energy intake and expenditure. It's the balance between the two. Put another
way, it's the amount of calories you "turn over".

And as you'll learn in this article, having a high G-Flux is 100%, without a doubt,
absolutely critical to building your ultimate body – which I'm assuming includes strong,
functional, well-adapted muscle, low body fat, and great health.

After all, if that's not your goal – what the hell are you doing here at Testosterone?

And, speaking of a great body, just ask Alice, who showed up at Nationals at 122lbs and
14% body fat, what G-Flux can do.

That's right; in 3 months she lost about 13lbs of fat while preserving all her lean mass,
accomplishing this with large increases in energy flux. Specifically, we increased her
energy intake in a fairly huge way (by over 50% - and that wasn't arbitrary, folks) while
re-prioritizing her training time (which was already about 5 hours per day) so that she
would still be able to complete her skill work, but would also be able to work different
energy systems, burning more total energy day in and day out.

And, by the way, these manipulations helped her and her partner place 9th overall, an
impressive senior National debut.

How Much Muscle Did You Gain?

You could also ask CFL football athlete and Toronto-based speed and strength coach,
Kris Aiken, what impact optimizing energy flux can have on the body.
Kris came to me as a 10% fat, 160lb, under-sized University of Western Ontario
cornerback and after 18 months of applying the principles you'll learn in this article, he
showed up at his CFL tryouts at the same exact body fat percentage (10%) yet 35lbs
heavier (195lbs), running a 4.4s 40, with between 30-40% improvements in each of his
lifts including his bench press, his squat, his deadlift, his cleans, and his snatch.

As I trained side-by-side with Kris during this time, I know exactly how he trained and
ate. In fact, as roommates, we did the same exact workouts and ate the same exact meals.
We trained about 10-12 hours per week, mixing max and dynamic effort days with speed
work on the field, on the track, and even on a cycle ergometer. We also ate about 5000
calories per day.
 Dr. Berardi, hoofin' it.

What's The Point?

So what's the point of these four examples? Why discuss the routines of 4 elite athletes
and one washed up ol' nutrition coach?

Well, there are a few important points that I'd like you to take away.

1. Whether you're an athlete or not, whether you're a national level ice dancer or
professional football player, an Olympic speed skater or recreational weight lifter, the
steps to achieving your ideal body are surprisingly similar. Now, when I say this, I want
to be clear – each of these athletes may have different methods, but the basic principles of
their training, nutrition, and recovery are surprisingly similar. To steal a line from
strength coach Alwyn Cosgrove, "methods change, principles stay the same."

2. Speaking of principles, the best principles associated with maximizing your muscle
mass while minimizing your fat mass focus on finding the right balance between energy
intake and expenditure – albeit, finding that balance at a high level of G-Flux.

Sure, you think you already know this. But do you? After all, this goes way beyond most
people's conception of energy balance. You see, most people think there is one point of
energy balance for each individual and that energy balance point doesn't change.

But that's not true. Energy balance is a roving parameter and as you'll learn, finding your
highest energy balance point leads to the highest metabolic rate and the best body.

3. To speak specifically to that last point, most of those individuals who have the best
bodies in the world have built those bodies at high levels of G-Flux. Sure, if you're not an
elite athlete, you might not be able to put in Pavle-like workout durations. However, if
you're expecting to have a body like any of the individuals pictured above, your puny 45-
min workouts and 3-hour a week efforts ain't gonna cut it. So, if you want to have a really
great body and you just aren't getting there, you'd better be fluxing it up!

4. Of course, high levels of G-Flux require very high energy-intakes and very high levels
of energy expenditure.

Now, keep this in mind. High expenditure can be accomplished one of three ways. First,
you can do a large amount of weekly physical activity (as all the athletes discussed above
are doing).

Secondly, you can be born with a genetically screaming metabolic rate (like many of the
ectomorphs out there who put on a little size and can look sorta' muscular and lean
without really high levels of weekly exercise).

Third, you can force an average metabolic rate to scream along with the help of metabolic
drugs or high doses of stimulants (witness the results of some of our bodybuilder friends
– they're big, they're ripped, they spend only a few hours per week in the gym – and, oh
yea, they've got more drugs than Kobe's got shots from the field).

5. So, if you're not gifted with a screaming metabolic rate or you don't have a
polypharmacy of metabolic enhancement drugs coursing through your veins, it should be
obvious that building a fantastic body means eating a lot and exercising a lot. Perhaps
more than you're doing now.

Ok, here comes the caution. With lots of exercise, it's important to focus on finding the
right balance of exercise modalities to get your high dose of weekly exercise without
overtraining. Overtraining comes from stressing one system too heavily — not from
simply exercising "too many hours" each week or by spending more than 1 hour
exercising.

Despite what you've heard...

And that study on Testosterone levels...

I know, it blows away your preconceived notions. Good. That's what I'm here to do.

So, by training multiple muscle qualities in the same training cycle, it's easy to
accumulate a lot of total exercise volume while recovering like an Olympian.

6. To give you a few examples of what I'm talking about with respect to "training
multiple muscle qualities", your workouts might include 3 weight training sessions per
week, 3 high intensity interval sessions per week, and 3 low intensity aerobic sessions per
week. Or you could do 2 max effort (heavy loading) sessions per week, 2 dynamic effort
(speed lifting) sessions per week, and 3 GPP sessions per week. And, all the while,
making sure you're taking in enough calories to accommodate this increased activity
level.

7. Now, I could waste your entire day showing you how to get your high energy
expenditure while working multiple muscle qualities without overtraining – but I'll stop
here – for now. Besides, there are probably quite a few coaches right here at T-Nation
that would do a better job at this than I could. (That's right Cosgrove, Cressey, John,
Poliquin, Robertson, Staley, Tate, Thib, Waterbury, et al – I'm calling you all out!)

Just remember, there are lots of methods out there but the principles are the same. On the
training side of things, if you want that ultimate body — the strong, muscular, functional,
lean, healthy physique I can only imagine you're looking for — then you'd better be
training frequently, training multiple qualities, and using different training tools (whether
those tools are weights, track lanes, med balls, big-ass tires, sledgehammers, ergometers,
yoga mats, or just your plain ol' Nikes). Just get your damn G-Flux!

8. And the most important point of all of these is the following — while building the
ultimate body will include a lot of exercise and eating, neither should be done without
specific attention to your goals and without some sort of plan. While you need a high
volume, that volume had better prioritize your goals. And that program had better contain
balance and be designed for progression. Of course, on the eating side, your eating needs
to be targeted, focusing on the right amounts, the right selections, and the right timing.

At this point I'm gonna let you chew on those concepts for a while. After all, I don't want
to rock your world too much with a single article! So hang tight, start to think about how
these principles can work for you, discuss them here on the T-Nation forums, and in
future articles, I'll delve into the specifics of G-Flux including both the science and the
application of this critical concept.

However, in the meantime, lest you start thinking that G-Flux is only for elite athletes, I
want to share one more client story with you.

No Longer Scrawny!

Fennell, as we call him around here, is a landscape architect and a front man/keyboardist
for Wonderjack, a rock band (coming out with a new EP in Feb). Read that – he's a full
time architect AND a musician in his free time. So I don't want to hear no lip about how
you just don't have the time to do more exercise!

When Fennell first got motivated to do something about his body, he stood in front of the
mirror at 5'8" and 127lbs and about 10% body fat. When he turned sideways, he
disappeared. When he took a shower, he had to jump around to get wet. In short, Fennell
needed to put on some size – and badly!
After using some of the nutrition and training advice he found here at T-Nation and after
working with my coaching team for the last year, Fennell now tips the scales at 167lbs
and 10% body fat.
How did he accomplish this? How did he gain 40lbs, while remaining relatively lean
throughout (his body fat never once went above 12% throughout this entire process)?

Through the principles of G-Flux.

Fennell devoted between 6-8 hours a week to training. Although different training phases
required different training modalities, Fennell usually mixed max effort work, speed
strength work, more conventional bodybuilding work, and even interval work. And
Fennell ate a TON of food.

When asked about the routine, Fennell tells me: "I just feel so great exercising and eating
as much as I am right now."

And when pressed about the changes: "It's especially fun to go to events and see friends
that I haven't seen for years. At one of my band's gigs, an old friend who I used to "gig
with" did an opening set for us. He started his set by saying "Yep, I used to play in a band
with Fennell way back in the day. Since that time, I've gotten fat, and Fennell's gotten
jacked."
And while Fennell doesn't consider himself "jacked" quite yet, he's a far cry from the
127lbs he started at. Plus, he's still getting better!

So, over the next few weeks, think about this concept of G-Flux. Brainstorm ways to find
a higher energy balance point through the use of good training principles, good nutrition
principles, and good supplementation principles. Start to apply the concept of G-Flux and
watch as your path to the ultimate body gets shorter and shorter.

Special thanks to 3 great strength coaches - Matt Jordan of The Olympic Oval in Calgary
and Jordan Strength (www.jordanstrength.com) - Stu McMillan, Strength and Speed
Coach for the US Bobsled Team - and Carter Schoffer, Science Link Head Strength and
Nutrition Coach. These guys are at the top of this field and I appreciate their valuable
contributions to this article.

John M. Berardi, PhD, CSCS, is one of the world's foremost experts in the field of human
performance and nutrition. John is a prolific author, a sought-after speaker and a
consultant to Olympic, professional and elite athletes, as well as executives and
recreational weightlifters serious about achieving optimal results. For more information
about John, his team and the services he offers, visit www.johnberardi.com, his author
site or www.precisionnutrition.com for information about his comprehensive nutrition
program – Precision Nutrition.

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