The Underground, Unauthorized Leangains Guide: (Not) by Martin Berkhan

The Underground,
Unauthorized
Leangains Guide
(not) by Martin Berkhan
Table of Contents
Sure-Fire Fat Loss....................................................................................................................... 2
Diet methodology ........................................................................................................................ 4
Calories and macronutrients: timing and cycling. ................................................................... 4
Food choices ........................................................................................................................... 4
Protein...................................................................................................................................... 5
Social events/eating ................................................................................................................ 6
Foods to avoid ......................................................................................................................... 6
Summary.................................................................................................................................. 9
Fasting and feeding................................................................................................................... 10
How to set up your diet ............................................................................................................. 11
Calories .................................................................................................................................. 11
Macro Setting......................................................................................................................... 13
Putting it all together .............................................................................................................. 14
Fasted Training ......................................................................................................................... 15
The Protocols......................................................................................................................... 15
Key points .............................................................................................................................. 16
Weight Training ......................................................................................................................... 17
Progress and Goals ............................................................................................................... 17
The Three Day Split RPT Routine......................................................................................... 19
Supplements ............................................................................................................................. 22
Final Thoughts........................................................................................................................... 22
The Marshmallow Test .......................................................................................................... 22
Guidelines and attitudes to live by ........................................................................................ 24
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 26
Top Ten Fasting Myths Debunked............................................................................................ 26
Fuckarounditis ........................................................................................................................... 39
1
Sure-Fire Fat Loss
My name is Martin Berkhan and I work as a nutritional consultant, magazine writer and personal
trainer. I also happen to be a proponent of intermittent fasting for health, fitness and fat loss. I
have my own blog about fasting (www.leangains.com). If you're unclear about what intermittent
fasting is, read this.
Intermittent Fasting involves a longer period of no food intake followed by a relatively brief
period of eating.There’s not really a clear cut definition of it, and studies looking at IF, and
human subjects, have been using a wide range of fasting periods; 20 hours in a recent study
and up to 48 hours in studies on ADF (Alternate Day Fasting). This is where it becomes a bit
problematic with regards to weight training and diet adherence.
We know that we need proper pre-workout nutrition in order to maximize protein synthesis, in
conjunction with weight training, and research supports the benefits of ingesting carbohydrates
and protein prior to the workout. Not really doable with one meal per day. There’s also the issue
of diet adherence – limiting the calorie intake to one big meal, once a day might not really be
conducive to staying on track in the long term, and may even cause some gastrointestinal
problems due to ingesting a day’s worth of calories in such a short time.
My take on IF shortens the fasting period down to 16 hours – in my opinion, an ideal

compromise between getting the best out of the fasting, without the negatives that may follow
with a longer fast. This leaves eight hours as your eating window, in which myself and most of
my clients, eat three meals, leaving room for proper pre – and post workout nutrition.
The Leangains protocol consists of two phases; 16 hours of fasting, followed by 8 hours of
feeding. During this period, three meals are usually eaten. Depending on the day, the
composition of those meals varies; on workout days, carbs are prioritized before fat, while on
rest days fat intake is higher. Protein remains fairly high on all days. That’s a very basic and
general description of the protocol I employ; of course, variables change depending on goals,
gender, age, body fat and activity levels, but it would be hard to describe it in greater detail
without drifting off too far.
Most of my clients are fitness enthusiasts, athletes and weight trainers, but the great majority of
them have one thing in common – to look good naked. The ‘gain’ in Leangains can therefore be
a bit misleading, as most of my clients wants to lose fat, while retaining as much muscle as
possible in the process. While their diets might vary, it rests on some nutritional principles that I
thought I’d present to the crowd reading this post. These principles will work for everyone,
regardless of fitness level.
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Here are a few guidelines that I consider success factors for performance, fat loss and excellent
diet compliance.
● On workout days, break the fast with meat, veggies and a fruit. If you’re planning to train
shortly after this meal, add a few carbs in the form of a starch source – potatoes or
whole grain bread, for example. Make it a medium sized meal and don’t stuff yourself.
Train within 3 hrs of having eaten this meal and have a much larger meal after your
workout; in this meal, add more complex carbs – and you may even have one of your
favourite treats as dessert, if it’s not too high in fat and if eaten in moderation. Good
examples of what I refer to as ‘treats’: low fat ice cream, sorbet or JC’s cheesecake. Bad
example: Chinese buffet or your son’s birthday cake. You get the point, keep it within
moderation and don’t pig out.
● On rest days, eat less calories than on workout days - do this by cutting down on carb
intake, and make meat, fibrous veggies and fruit the foundation of your diet for this day.
The first meal of the day should be the largest, in contrast to workout days where the
post-workout meal is the largest. Largest doesn’t necessarily mean largest in terms of
volume; I suggest getting at least 40% of your calorie intake in this meal, and the
dominant macronutrient should be protein. I’ll have some clients eating upwards to 100 g
protein in this meal, so don’t be afraid to pile on the meat (or whichever protein source
you prefer). Fattier meat and fish like ground beef and salmon are examples of some
excellent protein sources that may be consumed on rest days.
● In the last meal of the day, include a slow digesting protein source; preferably egg
protein, cottage cheese (or any other source of casein based protein). Meat or fish is
also ok if you add veggies or supplement with fiber. This meal will keep you full during
the fast and exert an anti-catabolic effect on muscle protein stores by ensuring that your
body has an ample supply of amino acids until the next meal.
● Whole and unprocessed foods should always take priority over processed or liquid
foods, unless circumstance demands a compromise. For example, you might find
yourself in situations when there is little time to eat or prepare foods – in such a
situation, having a protein shake or meal replacement bar is ok, whereas solid, more
satiating foods should be consumed whenever there is ample time to cook.
These are a few of the principles I’ve employed with great success; there’s a bit more to it, but
this should get you started in the right direction.
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Diet methodology
Your diet is where you fix things first and foremost. Adding more cardio when your diet is
suboptimal is an inefficient and time-wasting strategy that will result in an increased risk of
burnout and overtraining.
Calories, foods and macronutrient choices play an important role in the optimal diet. There’s no
food that, once you eat it, flips on a metabolic switch that completely shuts down fat burning and
weight loss if you’re maintaining a daily caloric deficit. It’s a question of quantity, moderation and
context.
Calories and macronutrients: timing and cycling.
Macronutrient and calorie cycling is an important part of a proper intermittent fasting setup.
There's a tendency for people to go lax and take too many liberties on diet setups and don't
cycle phases of over-and underfeeding cycles.
Surplus calories should not be consumed each and every day, but in conjunction with training -
when they are likely to be used for repair of damaged muscle tissues and recovery of glycogen
stores. Conversely, slight underfeeding on rest days may have benefits mediated via
mechanisms that kick in during calorie restriction (on top of the independent and positive effects
of intermittent fasting), such as improvement in blood lipids and other health markers.
And then there's the fact that people simply get more productive with a lessened focus on food
on rest days - they get stuff done. But this effect is unique for the short term. It's certainly not
something that occurs with prolonged dieting, where thoughts of food may become
overwhelming and obsessive. I actually prefer to have a few dieting days now and then. I've
noticed I am at my most productive during those days and I certainly don't experience "dieting"
symptoms such as increases in hunger.
So, cycling between overfeeding (training days) and slight underfeeding (rest days) is another
excellent strategy to remain lean regardless of your goal. The benefits are not only
physiological, but also behavioral.
Food choices
Most of your diet should consist of whole and unprocessed foods. One critical mistake people
make when transitioning from dieting to (failed) maintenance or a muscle gaining diet is
changing the food composition of the diet significantly. Out goes the fibrous veggies and whole
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food protein and in comes the refined carbs and protein shakes. Such foods invite overeating
sooner or later. Most people don't have a problem gaining weight, they have trouble keeping it
off - especially after dieting and reaching a low body fat percentage.
What you ate during your fat loss diet, satiating foods like veggies, fruit, berries, meat and
cottage cheese, should also be a staple of your diet regardless of goal (muscle gain,
bodyrecomposition, lifestyle). And minimize liquid calorie intake. Chew your calories, don't drink
them.
While I'm not big on supplements, there are a select few that should be added to your diet if
there is a need for it. For example, calcium increases fat excretion and Vitamin D plays an
important role for metabolism. Making sure there is no lack of these micronutrients is therefore
conducive to maintaining the lean state.
Protein
Some people rely heavily on cardio in order to maintain their leanness. This allows them to be
somewhat more lenient with their diet. I am however no fan of cardio and don't use it to stay
lean. In my view cardio as a strategy to maintain a low body fat percentage is not only time-
consuming, but also a sure-fire way to hamper muscle and strength gains. If nor time or muscle
gain is a concern then by all means continue your cardio regimen. But considering my priorities
and those of my clients, I focus on the macrocomposition of the diet to maintain the lean state.
You'll often hear that 1 g protein/lb body weight is a good guideline for muscle gain. That's true.
Studies show no additional benefit in going higher than that, assuming adequate calorie intake.
But protein has other important qualities. I put great emphasis on it in every diet I design and
believe it needs to be kept higher than the generic guidelines.
First and foremost, the effect on satiety is far superior to both carbs and fat. This ensures good
diet compliance, since you won't get hungry and risk overeating.
Secondly, TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) is much greater for protein than for both carbs and fat.
It's so significant that a researcher named Livesey proposed that protein should actually be
counted as 3.2 kcal and not 4 kcal as the current guidelines state. In simple terms, in comparing
two hypo-energetic diets at the same calorie intake, the diet with the highest protein percentage
of total calorie intake will show superior results.
Last but not least, a high protein intake is absolutely crucial during fat loss if you want to
optimize retention of muscle mass while losing weight.
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A high protein diet is a key strategy to prevent overeating and warding off fat gain when
attempting to gain qualitative weight. For fat loss additional benefits arise in terms of greater
satiety, accelerated fat loss and sparing of lean mass.
Social events/eating
Some of my clients get anxious about attending social events, such as big family gatherings,
parties and weddings. There will be tempting foods, maybe alcohol and various snacks and they
will likely deviate from their diet. And when some people deviate from their diet, they lose control
and overeat (usually on a plethora of sub par foods and snacks). Learning how to tackle social
events that involve eating is therefore important for anyone wanting to get lean and remain lean
- unless you plan on living your life like a hermit.
These events can be made into smaller issues with a good dose of self-control. But I can't
assume that everyone is able to "eat in moderation." No, I have special strategy for such
occasions. Assuming the event is in the evening, and that the client initiates his feeding phase
around noon, I tell them to eat their full allotment of protein for the day before attending the
event. They should keep everything else low; fat and carbs are consumed in whatever low
amounts that are contained in the high protein foods eaten before the event. This creates a big
caloric buffer for social eating AND ensures that the client comes to the party reasonably
satiated and less prone to eat a bunch of junk.
Foods to avoid
I believe most foods can be consumed in the right context, but should be avoided in another
context, in order to optimize body recomposition and fat loss. For example, most of my clients
consume a fair amount of starchy carbohydrates following a workout. This isn’t a problem
because it’s part of optimizing the plan. In this context, starchy carbs are great for restoring
muscle glycogen. On rest days however, my clients might skip starches, eating fewer carbs and
more satiating ones. This strategy optimizes satiety, fat loss, diet adherence and performance.
That being said, there are some foods that should be ditched first from your diet if weight loss is
stalling or if you want to speed things up. Same thing goes if you just want to make the diet as
easy and painless as possible. Having reviewed and created hundreds of meal plans throughout
the years, I know a little something about this topic.
Nuts, protein bars and dried fruit
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Nuts in all their various forms are the most overrated and overhyped foods in the “health
conscious” community. Just because it’s a natural food doesn’t mean it’s all that diet friendly or
even healthy for that matter.
Packing a higher calorie density than chocolate, it’s no big mystery that people easily overdo it
with nuts. Some people rationalize a high nut consumption by saying it’s a healthy and natural
snack, but this is wrong. Nuts contain an incomplete amino acid profile and consist mostly of
plant fats. The westernized diet is already highly unbalanced in the omega 3: omega 6-ratio—
the polyunsaturated fats from nuts certainly won’t help.
Optimize the fat composition of your diet by kicking nuts to the curb and add more fish, that’s my
recommendation. You’ll be more satiated and healthier to boot.
A protein bar is nothing more than a chocolate bar with slightly higher protein content and
crappier taste. A whopping 300 calories for a bar that you’ll gulf down in a few minutes is crazy.
For most women that amount makes up about ¼-1/5 of the daily total calorie intake needed to
lose fat efficiently. Besides that, eating protein bars to up your protein intake isn’t a great
strategy as a bar’s protein content makes up only about 30-40% of its calories. You could down
half a Snickers bar and a protein shake, and end up consuming fewer calories with a better
nutritional breakdown than having your typical protein bar. Protein bars are nothing more than
glamorized candy. And you don’t eat candy on a regular basis if you want to optimize fat loss
and diet adherence.
Unprocessed fruit is good, but dried fruit including dried apricots, dates and raisins are just
sugar lumps with some extra fiber. These snacks have high calorie density and tend to stimulate
hunger rather than quench it. Out of the three popular snacks discussed here, dried fruit may
just be the worst of the lot. You don’t want or need them on a fat loss diet.
Shakes
Shakes, liquids and anything else that resembles baby food shouldn’t stay on menu when it’s
time to shave off calories or make your diet more manageable and painless. This includes
“recovery shakes” with high-glycemic index carbs and protein shakes, fruit juices, milk and
yogurt. Packing a good deal of calories in proportion to the little satiety they provide, liquid
calories have no place in your diet other than for convenience.
Think you need a “recovery shake” post-workout? Think again. Unless you’re an elite athlete
training twice a day and need to refill muscle glycogen as fast as possible for your next training
session, “fast carbs” are a complete waste of calories. Your time (and money) is better spent
with whole food carbohydrates that offer chewing resistance.
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Are you drinking whey protein shakes throughout the day because you’re too lazy to cook or eat
real food? Well, if you’re too lazy to step into the kitchen or chew your food, you’re probably not
going to reach your fat loss goals anyway. I’d rather have you learn to savour a good steak with
veggies rather than rapidly chugging insulin-spiking and appetite-triggering whey protein
shakes. Liquid calories should be replaced with whole foods, including your protein choices. But
if you must supplement your diet with protein shakes, I recommend casein or milk protein isolate
over whey.
What about those vitamin drinks, smoothies and fruit juices people are drinking to make sure
they’re getting enough antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals? Another complete waste of calories
Do you think you risk missing vital nutrients if you cut these “health drinks” out from your diet?
It’s actually the other way around: strong evidence suggests that overdoing intake of
antioxidants and vitamins can negatively affect your health and your training results. A balanced
diet with wholesome foods such as meat, eggs, berries, veggies and some starches, doesn’t
need vitamin or antioxidant support. It has everything in abundance. If you’re still paranoid, take
a multivitamin with your first meal.
Breakfast
I apologize in advance to readers who were expecting a third group of food items that I think
should be ditched from your diet. This is in part tongue-in-cheek. There is nothing inherently bad
about breakfast. Nor is there anything inherently good about it either. But for me, skipping
breakfast was the single greatest diet fix I ever made and the one that allowed me to really take
it to the next level in terms of lowering my body fat. There’s a lesson in here, so keep reading
even if you don’t think you can live without breakfast.
I was never a breakfast person in the sense that I wasn’t hungry in the morning and preferred to
eat later in the day and evening. Yet I forced myself to eat breakfast on every diet attempt I
made until a few years ago. I believed breakfast was absolutely crucial for a few different
reasons.
First, sleeping supposedly leaves your muscles without a steady supply of amino acids for
several hours, making breakfast crucial to keep your muscles from falling off.
Second, my poor fragile metabolism apparently couldn’t handle a few hours without food before
completely shutting down.
And third, breakfast-eaters were on average healthier and weighed less than breakfast-skippers
so there had to be something good about it, right?
8
One day I looked into all of this—the actual studies that is, and not what I had learned through
fitness magazines and supplement ads. Guess what? All of those claims about the healthiness
of breakfast, muscle catabolism and metabolic rate were wrong.
I’ve written a lot about this topic on my blog, but let me provide the main points.
Your metabolism doesn’t scavenge amino acids from your muscles after an overnight fast. Fatty
acid metabolism is highly up-regulated, but muscle catabolism doesn’t occur in short-term
fasting for up to 24 hours. If you’re still paranoid about this (I am), make sure to eat some slowly
absorbed protein before bed, such as cottage cheese, egg white protein or meat with veggies
(the extra fiber will slow absorption as meat is generally considered a “fast” protein). Another
thing to keep in mind is the very slow absorption rate of whole food proteins. We’re talking a few
grams per hour, which means that a mixed meal with 40-50 grams of protein will maintain a
steady level of amino acids in your bloodstream well through the night and into the next day.The
belief that a few hours without food will cause muscle catabolism is absurd.
Metabolic rate does not slow down during short-term fasting. It actually increases slightly. That’s
probably the complete opposite from what you’ve heard, but this is an undisputed fact. It takes
more than three days without food before metabolic rate is negatively affected via down-
regulation of thyroid activity. That skipping breakfast or missing a meal affects metabolic rate, a
myth still propagated in the fitness and health community, is ludicrous.
What about those studies showing breakfast is healthy and people that eat breakfast weigh less
than breakfast-skippers? Those are all correlational studies. Skipping breakfast is connected to
a certain dysregulated eating behavior that predisposes people to weigh more. The Average
Joe or Jane breakfast-skipper is the personality type to grab a donut on the way to work, eat
junk food for lunch and finish the day off with a big dinner and snack in front of the TV. Those
studies have no relevance to the conscious dieter that skips breakfast as a fat loss strategy.
Summary
Did you see the red line with regards to what foods should be ditched from your fat loss diet in
order to optimize it? Chew your calories. Generally speaking, the more chewing resistance a
food provides, the slower the digestion will be and the longer and faster you’ll stay satisfied and
full.
Don’t half-ass your calories with calorie-dense snacks and shakes. Another factor to consider
with snacks and shakes is the appetite stimulating effect they have on some people.
If the choice stands between three big meals and six small meals, three meals come out on top
with regards to appetite control. Three meals is also a meal frequency that I have favored for
9
years. Invest some time in your meals and eat less frequently. Ditch the snacks and shakes in
between meals.
Don’t let dogma or false beliefs dictate your meal frequency. Choose a meal frequency
completely based on personal preferences. That was the lesson I wanted to teach through with
my tale of skipping breakfast. If you never were a breakfast-eater like me, skip breakfast and eat
later in the day. You can have lunch, dinner and an evening meal. Or whatever other eating
pattern that lets you adhere the best to your diet.
Fasting and feeding
My general position on the fasted phase is that it should last through the night and during the
morning hours. Ideally the fast should then be broken at noon or shortly thereafter if you arise at
6-7 AM like most people. Afternoons and evenings are usually spent in the fed state.
However, the fast could also also be broken later in the day depending on your personal
preferences and daily routine. I personally tend to break the fast as late as 4-6 PM since I work
well into the night and rise later than most people with normal jobs.
The recommendation for fasting through the earlier part of the day, as opposed to the latter part
of the day, is for behavioral and social reasons. Most people simply find it easier to fast after
awakening and prefer going to bed satiated. Afternoons and evenings are times to unwind and
eat. For adherence reasons during dieting, I've also found that placing the feeding phase later in
the day is ideal for most people.
No calories are to be ingested during the fasted phase, though coffee, calorie free sweeteners,
diet soda and sugar free gum are ok (even though they might contain trace amount of calories).
A tiny splash of milk in your coffee won’t affect anything either (½-1 teaspoon of milk per cup at
the most - use sparingly and sensibly if you drink a lot of coffee). Neither will sugar free gum in
moderation (~20 g).
The fast is the perfect time to be productive and get things done. Don’t sit around, get bored and
brood about food.
Meal frequency during the feeding phase is irrelevant. However, most people, including me,
prefer three meals.
The majority of your daily calorie intake is consumed in the post-workout period. Depending on
setup, this means that approximately 95-99% (fasted training), 80% (one pre-workout meal) or
60% (two pre-workout meals) of your daily calorie intake is consumed after training.
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The feeding window should be kept somewhat constant due to the hormonal entrainment of
meal patterns. We tend to get hungry when we're used to eating and maintaining a regular
pattern makes diet adherence easier. If you're used to breaking the fast at 12-2 PM and ending
it at 8-10 PM, then try to maintain that pattern every day.
On rest days, meal one should ideally be the largest meal, as opposed to training days where
the post-workout meal is the largest meal. A good rule of thumb is to make meal one on rest
days at least 35-40% of your daily calorie intake. This meal should be very high in protein; some
of my clients consume more than 100 g of protein in this meal.
When working with clients I am always open to compromising on the above rule. If your
preference is to eat a larger meal in the evening instead of noon, or whenever you break the
fast, it's no great harm. Some people prefer to save the largest meal on rest days for dinner with
their family instead of having a large lunch and that's fine by me if it makes them enjoy and
adhere to their diet better.
Macronutrients and calorie intakes are always cycled through the week. The specifics depends
on the client's ultimate goal: fat loss, muscle gain or bodyrecomposition. Generally speaking,
carbs and total calorie intake is highest on training days. On rest days, carbs are lower and fat is
higher. Protein is kept high on all days.
How to set up your diet
There is a very clear order of priority when setting up your diet. If you don’t understand it, at best
you’ll just be wasting money, at worst your time and effort as well. Unfortunately there is a large
amount of confusion and misconceptions over what is important. I see this a lot with the one-
on-one nutritional coaching also, and I’m sure you see it around the internet too. What this
means is that you can’t eat just ‘clean foods’ and ignore calories, you can’t supplement your
way
out of a bad diet, and you can’t use the morning fast to enable you to binge eat on the evenings.
Calories
I don’t make any claims whatsoever on calorie counting not being necessary on IF. Whether
your goal is muscle gain, fat loss, performance enhancement or weight maintenance for your
sport, the single most important piece of the nutritional puzzle is getting your energy intake right.
People generally have one of two goals – fat loss or muscle gain – though most wish for both.
Our ability to gain muscle while being in a caloric deficit decreases with body fat percentage,
training advancement and the size of that caloric deficit.
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Essentially, the fatter you are and the less training experience you have, the more likely you are
able to achieve both, provided you don’t cut calories too far and hamper your ability to do this.
Deficits can (and arguably should) be greater than surpluses.
Diet changes, rather than manipulations to training, should be used to create an energy deficit
or surplus.
Calculating Your Calorie Needs
Step 1. Calculate your BMR

BMR = 370 + (21.6 x lean mass in kg)
Step 2. Adjust for Activity
You need to add an ‘Activity Multiplier’ (x1.2~x1.9) to your BMR depending on your
lifestyle/training.
TDEE = BMR x Activity Multiplier
● Sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR x 1.2
● Lightly active (training/sports 2-3 days/week): BMR x 1.375
● Moderately active (training/sports 4-5 days/week): BMR x 1.55
● Very active (training/sports 6-7 days a week): BMR x 1.725
● Extremely active (training/sports and physical job): BMR x 1.9
Step 3. Calculate the deficit or surplus need to achieve the weight loss (or gain) based on your
goal
● Cut
○ Rest Day = TDEE - 30%
○ Training Day = TDEE +10%
● Recomp
● Bulk
Example:
30-year old male. Average Height. 200 lbs. 20% body fat. Moderately active. Goal: Cut.
● Lean Body Mass = 160 lbs (72.57 kgs)
● BMR = 1,938
● TDEE = 3,004 (round to 3,000 for simplicity)
● Rest Day calories = 2,100
● Training Day calories = 3,300
● Average weekly calories = 2,614
○ Note, this is based on 3 days/week training, which is what I recommend for most
clients. If you train more or less frequently, you will need to adjust your calories
to maintain the appropriate deficit.
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Macro Setting
When people in the industry refer to their ‘macros’ they are talking about the three
macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein and fat. You may have heard it said that while energy
balance determines whether weight is gained or lost, macronutrients determine whether that
change is fat or muscle mass. Though that is a gross oversimplification, they play the second
most important role when it comes to the fat loss/muscle gain equation.
Protein
1 g protein/lb body weight is a good guideline for muscle gain and preserving lean tissue while
dieting. However it is not as simple as saying more = better. The amount of protein that is
optimal depends on our lean body mass. As body-fat ranges vary dramatically I don’t like to
base calculations solely on body weight because that risks giving fatter people too much protein
and leaner people too little.
Here is what I believe are the ‘optimal’ protein intake ranges for physique goals:
● Cutting: 2.3-3.1 g/kg LBM (~1.1-1.4 g/lb)
● Bulking: 1.6-2.2 g/kg LBM (~0.8-1.0 g/lb)
These ranges should provide quantity of protein that is high enough to reasonably cover all
potential benefits, without being so high that it becomes unnecessarily expensive and limiting to
food choice by reducing the quantity of the other macronutrients we can consume while keeping
to our calorie budget for the day.
Fat
Fat should make up roughly 20% to 30% of daily calories.
When cutting we need to take in fewer calories. Fat is the most energy dense of the
macronutrients, so decreasing fat intake is an easy way to make large changes to your overall
energy intake. As with protein though, there is a minimum amount you don’t want to go under.
Consumption of dietary fat is important for regular hormonal function, especially testosterone
production. If you drop very low with your fat intake the most obvious change you will notice is a
decrease in sex drive. It should never be eliminated from a diet.
Carbohydrates
After setting protein and fat levels, the rest of the diet should be filled with carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are the only macronutrient we can live without. However, carbs have positive
impacts on hormones, help fuel us through our workouts, replace muscle glycogen (the primary
13
and preferred fuel source of our muscles), and make life a lot tastier. So, while we restrict them
(through lack of any other choice) I do not recommend eliminating them from your diet.
Resistance training is likely equally, if not more important than adequate protein intake for
retaining muscle mass when dieting. I mention this here because it’s relevant when it comes to
setting your carb intake.
Putting it all together
Example:
30-year old male. Average Height. 200 lbs. 20% body fat. Moderately active. Goal: Cut.
● Lean Body Mass = 160 lbs (72.57 kgs)
● Average weekly calories = ~ 2,600
Step 1: Calculate protein intake

● 72.57 x 2.5 = ~181.4 (round to 180) grams of protein/day
Step 2: Calculate fat intake
● 2600 x 0.25 = 650 calories from fat per day
● 650 / 9 calories per gram of fat = ~72.22 (round to 72) grams of protein/day
Step 3: Calculate carbohydrate intake
● 2,600 - (180 g protein x 4 kcals/g) = 2,600 - 720 = 1,880 non-protein calories
● 1880 - 650 calories from fat = 1,230 calories from carbohydrates
● 1,230 / 4 kcals/g = 307.5 (round to 310) grams or carbohydrates
Step 4: (Rounded) average intakes
● Protein: 180 g
● Fat: 72 g
● Carbs: 310 g
Step 5: Determine the macro split (assuming 3 workout days / week)
● Significantly more carbs should be consumed on the training days than the rest days.
● Significantly less fat should be consumed on the training days than the rest days.
● Fat intake must not go below the calculated daily target on average for the week.
● For the sake of simplicity, protein intake can be kept the same for each day. This may
be adjusted during the diet based on training recovery and client feedback.
● Subtract the protein calories from the Rest and Training Day calories to determine the
remaining calories for each day
○ Training = 3,300 - 720 = 2,580 kcals
○ Rest = 2,100 - 720 = 1,380 kcals
○ Fat needs to average around 72g/day
■ Split 59g on Training Days, 82g on Rest Days
○ Carbohydrates fill the rest of the calorie needs
■ Training = 2,580 - (59 x 9) = 2,049 /4 = 512.25 g
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■ Rest = 1,380 - (82 x 9) = 642 / 4 = 160.5 g
● Final macro targets (rounded for simplicity)
○ Training Day
■ 180g protein
■ 500g carbs
■ 60g fat
○ Rest Day
■ 180g protein
■ 160g carbs
■ 80g fat
Fasted Training
For fasted training, BCAA or an essential amino acid mixture is highly recommended. However,
if this feels like too much micromanaging or simply questionable from an economic standpoint,
you could also make due with some whey protein.
Training is initiated on an empty stomach and after ingestion of 10 g BCAA or similar amino acid
mixture. This "pre-workout" meal is not counted towards the feeding phase. Technically, training
is not completely fasted - that would be detrimental. The pre-workout protein intake, with its
stimulatory effect on protein synthesis and metabolism, is a crucial compromise to optimize
results.
The 8-hour feeding phase starts with the post-workout meal.
The Protocols
I work with four different protocols depending on when my clients train. Depending on setup,
one, two, or three meals are eaten in the post-workout period.
Afternoon training
11.30-12 AM or 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA
12-1 PM: Training
1 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal of the day).
4 PM: Second meal.
9 PM: Last meal before the fast.
Calories and carbs are tapered down throughout the day in the example above.
Early morning fasted training
15
Here's a sample setup for a client that trains early in the morning and prefers the feeding phase
at noon or later. Read this for details regarding this protocol.
6 AM: 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA.

6-7 AM: Training.
8 AM: 10 g BCAA.
10 AM: 10 g BCAA
12-1 PM: The "real" post-workout meal (largest meal of the day). Start of the 8 hour feeding-
window.
8-9 PM: Last meal before the fast.
For the sake of conveniency, I recommend getting BCAA in the form of powder and not tabs.
Simply mix 30 g of BCAA powder in a shake and drink one third of it every other hour starting 5-
15 minutes pre-workout. Tabs are cheaper, but much more of a hassle (you're going to have to
pop a lot of tabs). Check my supplements guide for specific brand recommendations.
One pre-workout meal

This is the most common setup for my younger clients that are still in college or have flexible
working hours.
12-1 PM or around lunch/noon: Pre-workout meal. Approximately 20-25% of daily total calorie
intake.
3-4 PM: Training should happen a few hours after the pre-workout meal.
4-5 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal).
8-9 PM: Last meal before the fast.
Two pre-workout meals

This is the usual protocol for people with normal working hours.
12-1 PM or around lunch/noon: Meal one. Approximately 20-25% of daily total calorie intake.
4-5 PM: Pre-workout meal. Roughly equal to the first meal.
8-9 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal).
Key points
● No calories are to be ingested during the fasted phase, though coffee, calorie free
sweeteners, diet soda and sugar free gum are ok (even though they might contain trace
amount of calories). A tiny splash of milk in your coffee won’t affect anything either (½-1
teaspoon of milk per cup at the most - use sparingly and sensibly if you drink a lot of
coffee). Neither will sugar free gum in moderation (~20 g).
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● The fast is the perfect time to be productive and get things done. Don’t sit around, get
bored and brood about food.
● Meal frequency during the feeding phase is irrelevant. However, most people, including
me, prefer three meals.
● The majority of your daily calorie intake is consumed in the post-workout period.
Depending on setup, this means that approximately 95-99% (fasted training), 80% (one
pre-workout meal) or 60% (two pre-workout meals) of your daily calorie intake is
consumed after training.
● The feeding window should be kept somewhat constant due to the hormonal
entrainment of meal patterns. We tend to get hungry when we're used to eating and
maintaining a regular pattern makes diet adherence easier. If you're used to breaking the
fast at 12-2 PM and ending it at 8-10 PM, then try to maintain that pattern every day.
● On rest days, meal one should ideally be the largest meal, as opposed to training days
where the post-workout meal is the largest meal. A good rule of thumb is to make meal
one on rest days at least 35-40% of your daily calorie intake. This meal should be very
high in protein; some of my clients consume more than 100 g of protein in this meal.
● When working with clients I am always open to compromising on the above rule. If your
preference is to eat a larger meal in the evening instead of noon, or whenever you break
the fast, it's no great harm. Some people prefer to save the largest meal on rest days for
dinner with their family instead of having a large lunch and that's fine by me if it makes
them enjoy and adhere to their diet better.
● Even from a physiological perspective, each protocol has it's own strengths and
theoretical benefits. With "physiological perspective" I mean in terms of nutrient
partitioning, fat loss and muscle growth. This deserves an article on it's own. I have
some interesting and compelling arguments that I think are very unique.
● People sometimes ask me which protocol is best. I tend to look at things from a
behavioral perspective first and foremost, so my reply to that is to choose the protocol
best suited to your daily routine and training preferences. When dealing with clients I
make the choice for them. If you work a 9-5 job and your only option is to train after
work, training fasted is generally a bad idea and I always choose the one or two meals
pre-workout protocol.
Weight Training
Progress and Goals
For someone interested in aesthetics, relative strength is the single best measure of progress
and the quality of your physique. Before seeing a picture of a client, I can easily get a very good
idea of his or hers body composition by simply knowing three stats: weight, height and strength.
Relative strength is therefore the parameter that will be used to determine reasonable rates of
progress, which will then tell you whether you might be suffering of fuckarounditis or not.
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Within two years of consistent training on a decent routine, the average male should be able to
progress to the following levels of strength (1RM):
Strength Goals: Intermediate

● Bench press: body weight x 1.2
● Chin-ups or pull-ups: body weight x 1.2 or 8 reps with body weight.
● Squat: body weight x 1.6
● Deadlift: body weight x 2
These numbers are for a raw (no straps, belt or knee wraps) single repetition.
The progress towards the intermediate strength goals should be fairly linear, meaning that there
should be no plateaus that cannot be solved in an uncomplicated manner. By "consistent"
training I do not mean never missing a training day, nor do I consider taking 2-3 months off from
training consistent.
By "decent training routine", I mean "not doing blatantly stupid shit" (training 5-6 days/week, 20-
25 sets for chest and arms, etc.). I do not mean optimal and flawless.
Strength Goals: Advanced

Under the exact same conditions as the previous example, 3 out of 4 of the following goals
should be reached within five years, along with all of the strength goals listed under
"intermediate":

● Squat: body weight x 2
● Deadlift: body weight x 2.5
Strength Goals: Highly Advanced

Under the exact same conditions, all of the following goals should be reached within ten years.
Alternatively, 3 out of 4 should be reached, and one should be "Elite":
● Bench press: body weight x 1.5, or x 1.8 (elite)

● Chin-ups or pull-ups: body weight x 1.5 or 15 reps with body weight, or x 1.8 / 20 reps
(elite)
● Squat: body weight x 2, or x 2.4 (elite)
● Deadlift: body weight x 2.5, or x 3 (elite)
"Elite" denotes one lift that is often ahead of the others. For example, people who are natural
pullers (long arms) may very well hit a 3 x body weight deadlift before a 1.5 x body weight
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bench, and vice versa for the presser (short arms, stocky and barrel-chested) benching 1.8 x
body weight but not being able to pull 2.5 x body weight in the deadlift.
The highly advanced strength goals falls in line with what could be considered the pinnacle of
physique and strength development for most average and natural trainers. At this point,
progress is very slow.
A 185-lb male that has been training consistently for 5-10 years should therefore be expected
to:
● Bench press 275-280 lbs.

● Do a chin-up with 90-95 lbs hanging from his waist.
● Squat 370 lbs.
● Deadlift 460-465 lbs.
Respective goals for women:
For women in the 115-155-lb range, the corresponding advanced strength goals are 0.9 x body
weight bench, 1.1 x body weight chin-up, 1.5 x body weight squat and 1.8 x body weight
deadlift. Relative to men, women have much less muscle mass around the chest area and
shoulder girdle (men have much higher androgen-receptor density in this particular area), but
the lower body is comparativly strong to the upper body.
A 135-lb woman that has been training consistently for 5-10 years should then be expected to:

● Do 4-5 chin-ups with body weight or do one with an extra 10-15 lbs hanging from her
waist.
● Squat 200-205 lbs.
The Three Day Split RPT Routine

Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT) is a style of set-rep pattern where the trainee puts their
heaviest set first, then ‘pyramids down’ to a lighter weight, usually with more reps for the latter
sets. It is best suited to the main compound movements (the squat, deadlift, bench press, etc.).
It’s a very time-efficient training style, but it requires very high intensity.
The goal of the experienced trainee when cutting is merely to maintain muscle mass while they
are burning the fat off. Under calorie deficit circumstances recovery capacity is lower. Training
volume is best reduced to match the reduction in recovery capacity. This helps avoid the
negative systemic stress effects of too high a workload, which prevents you from experiencing
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undue soreness and regressing in your training. Yes, I’m talking about getting weaker and
potentially losing muscle. Unnecessary accessory work is therefore not used/removed.
RPT In A Nutshell:
1. Do warm-up sets, gradually working up to around 80% of your ‘top set’ load.
2. Put the heaviest working set (aka. the top set) first.
3. Drop the weight, rest and do the second working set.
4. Drop the weight, rest and do the third working set.
5. Rest and move onto the next exercise.
6. Push HARD. Do as many reps as you can without reaching failure.
‘Failure’ is defined as the point at which a rep can no longer be completed with good form. You
never want to go to form failure with the compound movements because that is where injuries
happen, though occasionally it may happen without your planning. – That is what the safety pins
(or a spotter if you have one) are for when squatting and benching, or the bumper plates and
padding on the floor for, when deadlifting.
RPT is a set-rep pattern, not any specific workout. However, RPT does have popular routine
incarnations. One such incarnation is this three day split.
Example 3-day RPT Split

Monday
1. Deadlift
● Warm-up sets
● Top Set 4-6reps – 3mins rest
● Set 2 (-~10-15%) 6-8reps – 2mins rest
● Set 3 (-~10-15%) 8-10reps
● 3mins rest (or however long it takes you to warm-up and be ready for the next exercise)
2. Weighted Chin-ups
● Warm-up set(s)
● Top Set 6-8reps – 3mins rest / Set 2 (-~10-15%) 8-10reps – 2mins rest / Set 3 (-~10-
15%) 10-12reps
● Cool-down: 5-10mins cardio, foam rolling, stretch out any tight places.
Wednesday
1. Bench
● Warm-up sets
15%) 10-12reps
2. Push-ups
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● 2 sets, 3 mins rest. Raise feet off floor when too easy, add two second cadence. 8-
12reps
Friday
1. Squat
● Warm-up sets
15%) 10-12reps
2. Overhead Press
● Warm-up sets
● Top Set 6-8reps – 3mins rest / Set 2 (-~10-15%) 8-10reps – 2mins rest /Set 3 (-~10-
15%) 10-12reps
RPT uses a double progression system. So that means the target is to increase either the
weight or reps, if you can, at each session. There are rules for doing so.
● For the first workout you likely need to guess at how heavy you should load the bar so
that your maximum effort is within the target rep range.
● Let’s say that this week you get 7 reps with 100kg and your target rep range was 6-8
reps. The next week you’re going to stay with 100kg and try to hit 8 reps. If you do that
then increase the weight slightly (102.5kg) and try to get 6 reps or more the following
workout.
● If you fail to get the minimum required number or reps at any point in time, reduce the
weight.
● For your second and third sets, your target rep rage will be a couple of reps higher.
Because of this, and the cumulative fatigue of the previous set(s) you will need to reduce
the weight on the bar. 10-15% is a ballpark figure for this.
TIPS:
Adjust all sets independently of each other. The ~10-15% reduction that I’ve suggested is just a
guide for your first workout. (If you need to reduce it more or less that doesn’t mean there is
anything wrong!) From that point onward you want to adjust your subsequent sets
independently as you would for that top set.
Keep the other training circumstances the same, particularly time, and keep rest intervals strict.
For the chin-ups, always keep a full range, keep it slow and smooth. Chin-ups may be very
tough at first, that’s fine. Band-assisted chin-ups are a good option until you have built up the
strength to do full-reps, as is jumping up and holding yourself in the top position and fighting
gravity until it takes you down for as long as you can. – This way you will train both ends of the
rep range. Eventually you’ll want to add weight.
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Supplements
Here are the supplements I recommend everyone to take on a daily basis: a multivitamin, fish
oil, vitamin D and extra calcium (unless dairy is consumed on a regular and daily basis).
Final Thoughts
People will often feel inclined to explain to you why the numerous constraints in their lives have
prevented them to achieve the their goal.
They have so much else going on in their lives. A job, a girlfriend, social events to attend. Time-
consuming hobbies. A car that needs fixing or some other project of critical importance. Those
are the reasons why they're out of shape or have attained only mediocre results.
For them, the idea of losing body fat or attaining muscle is about time. The notion that you have
to spend hours in the gym and meticulously plan your diet every day is accepted as a truism.
They think that if they could just find enough time, they'd easily get a physique comparable to a
front-cover fitness model. But life gets in the way.
When a conversation reaches that point, and in my experience it often does, I try to terminate
the discussion or switch to another topic. I have a very low tolerance for such drivel.
Some of my most successful clients are very busy people. They get in excellent shape, despite
managing a business, family and many other obligations. In fact, I'm convinced that having too
much free time is counterproductive. Surely it would be logical to assume that unlimited time for
cardio, training and cooking would equal better results and make fat loss a walk in the park? Not
so. How can this paradox be explained?
The Marshmallow Test
In the early 1970s, a psychologist named Walter Mischel conducted an experiment involving
four-year-olds. He placed each child in a room, where they sat down at a table. In front of them,
a marshmallow. Mischel then made each child an offer. He could eat the marshmallow right
away or wait for a few more minutes and receive another one. Almost everyone decided to wait.
Mischel then left the room for twenty minutes.
While a few of the four-year-olds were able to resist the temptation for up to fifteen minutes,
many lasted less than one minute. Others just ate the marshmallow as soon as Mischel left the
room.
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This was a test of self-control. If the child wanted to achieve the goal of receiving another
marshmallow, then he needed to temporarily ignore his feelings and delay gratification for a few
more minutes. What this study showed was that some children at the early age of four were
much better at this than others.
What I found interesting are the strategies the successful children employed in order to endure
the experiment. They kept themselves distracted. Covered their eyes, played with their hands or
just entered a trance-like state where it seemed they were lost in their thoughts. Their attention
was elsewhere.
The failed strategy of the unsuccessful children was the complete opposite of that; in essence,
they fixated on the marshmallow almost as if attempting to stare it down, actively fighting the
temptation.
How does this translate to the various strategies used by the fitness crowd?
When some people are dieting, they are DIETING. They treat it like a full-time job and they're in
the gym every day, sometimes twice a day. Their spartan diet is meticulously planned and
carefully dispensed throughout the day. They are the ones that fixate on the marshmallow.
Others take a more balanced approach. Diet and training is part of their life, but it blends in
beautifully. They are the ones that tries to forget about the marshmallow. It's background noise
to them.
I'll give you a concrete example to show you what I mean. Some people schedule a weekly
cheat day, which usually involves a day on the weekend when they can eat what they want. In
practical terms, this often means that they pig out and end up on the couch in a torpor-like state.
This day becomes the high point of their week. They restrict calories severely throughout the
week in order to allow themselves the cheat day. Their training typically includes hours of
cardio. On Thursday they start planning their shopping list for Saturday and on Friday they lie
sleepless in giddy anticipation of the forthcoming food fest. They are fixating on the
marshmallow, making it the center of the world.
I could give you a similar example when it comes to training. The overly enthusiastic young guy
embarking on a 6-day-split that ends up overtraining and sick or hurt. He too was fixating on the
marshmallow.
The solution then is to stay distracted.
You shouldn't buy into the myth of what it takes to achieve your goals. Don't get me wrong, it
takes dedication. Sweat, yes. But that needs to be maintained as a regular, long-term
commitment. And that's impossible to do if you're constantly thinking about it. It needs to be part
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of your daily routine, but it needs to blend in. Again, background noise and balanced. Or else
you won't last.
If you're too fixated on the marshmallow, you'll eat it sooner or later. In this context it means
you'll screw up your diet and/or training, burn out and lose all motivation. The more physical and
mental energy you invest in your training and diet, the more likely you are to fail.
And that's why some of the busiest people are the most successful ones when it comes to
reaching their physique goals. They have other things to think about.
Guidelines and attitudes to live by
Fat loss in the single digit body fat-range needs to be slow and tempered. In my experience, this
allows for a smooth transition into maintenance and minimizes muscle loss. I also believe it
might lessen the negative effect of dieting on leptin, which ultimately makes maintenance of low
body fat achievable. I think most people diet too hard, which has a profoundly negative effect on
leptin - and this is part of the reason why the weight gain rebound is so common in folks who
finally manage to reach their goal (and then screw up everything by binging).
Planned and regular refeeds should be in place. This affects leptin positively and allows for
maintenance of muscle and strength. Even if your goal ultimately is fat loss, entering an
anabolic phase with post-workout overfeeding will serve you well.
Spend too much time focusing on your goal and you will end up sabotaging yourself. This may
not hold much ground in other areas of life where, in order to be successful, focus and time
investment is of critical importance; such as building a business, managing a large corporation
or becoming a highly-competitive elite athlete. But it's definitely one that applies to diet and
strength training for the average Joe. Stay distracted. Have hobbies. Have a life. If diet and
training become the sole focus of your daily routine, the road to your goals will feel like a very
long road indeed.
Commitment and dedication dispensed over a longer time period is superior to more focused
efforts. The latter has a higher rate of failure and greater chance of backfiring on you and is why
people fall off the wagon. This is my personal experience, but it's also backed up by studies. A
good example of this are the numerous reformed health enthusiasts that pop up after New
Year's Eve. They go at it hard for a few weeks, but are often back into their old patterns of
sporadic training and a sub par diet by February. Another example is the rebound that many
competitors experience after contest dieting. Avoid this with a balanced approach without
extremes.
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Most people will not benefit from more than four training sessions per week when attempting to
gain muscle mass. The great majority shouldn't be in the gym more than three times per week
when cutting. You don't need the gym for cardio. Go outside.
Use checkpoints to help you focus on long-term and not short-term progress
Never attempt to train yourself into a caloric deficit. Don't spend hours on the treadmill. Diet
comes first, cardio second. The dumbest fat loss strategy ever devised is used by people that
wake up early in the morning before going to work to do cardio and follow that up with "recovery
shake." Congratulations, you just wasted two hours of your life. Cardio is good for
cardiovascular health, but most people use cardio as a fat loss tool - and force themselves
through regimens that aren't very conducive to their daily routine (or mental sanity). Next time,
skip the shake and the cardio. Sleep two hours longer, but skip breakfast and fast until lunch
time. This way you can create the same caloric deficit with the added bonus of feeling more
rested and having saved more time. You'll be much better off.
Intermittent fasting is an easy way to create a calorie deficit. Your "cardio" is to stay productive
during the fast and work. If you don't have a job, work on projects that are important to you.
Learn. Read books. Write. Don't sit around and brood about your diet or what you have in the
fridge.
Final note: I first learned about the marshmallow test in How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer. A
good read if you're interested in human behavior and psychology. It's interesting to note that the
marshmallow test predicted future success in many other areas of life. When a follow-up study
on each child was done twenty years later, it was found that children who waited longer also
had better academic success and less behavioral problems than the ones who ate the treat
sooner.
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Appendix
Top Ten Fasting Myths Debunked
Everyone who learns about nutrition through the usual channels, be it fitness magazines,
mainstream diet books and forums, gets cursed with the prevailing belief system of what
constitutes a good diet.
Though specific dietary recommendations vary slightly depending on who you listen to, there
are many common denominators and "rules" that you are told you must adhere to. Call it
broscience, incompetence or ignorance, same thing. We've all been there and we've all followed
these rules. Led like sheep, not knowing better. Trusting that those we listen to knew what they
were talking about. While these dietary myths run rampant in the bodybuilding and fitness
community, you'll find that many are being endlessly propagated in the mainstream as well.
Upon closer scrutiny, the great majority lack scientific basis. They are born out out of half-truths,
faulty conclusions drawn from poorly conducted studies or created when a study gets cited out
of context.
1. Myth: Eat frequently to "stoke the metabolic fire".
Truth
Each time you eat, metabolic rate increases slightly for a few hours. Paradoxically, it takes
energy to break down and absorb energy. This is the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). The amount
of energy expended is directly proportional to the amount of calories and nutrients consumed in
the meal.
Let's assume that we are measuring TEF during 24 hours in a diet of 2700 kcal with 40%
protein, 40% carbohydrate and 20% fat. We run three different trials where the only thing we
change is the the meal frequency.
A) Three meals: 900 kcal per meal.

B) Six meals: 450 kcal per meal.
C) Nine meals: 300 kcal per meal.
What we'd find is a different pattern in regards to TEF. Example "A" would yield a larger and
long lasting boost in metabolic rate that would gradually taper off until the next meal came
around; TEF would show a "peak and valley"-pattern. "C" would yield a very weak but
consistent boost in metabolic rate; an even pattern. "B" would be somewhere in between.
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However, at the end of the 24-hour period, or as long as it would take to assimilate the nutrients,
there would be no difference in TEF. The total amount of energy expended by TEF would be
identical in each scenario. Meal frequency does not affect total TEF. You cannot "trick" the body
into burning more or less calories by manipulating meal frequency.
The most extensive review of studies on various meal frequencies and TEF was published in
1997. It looked at many different studies that compared TEF during meal frequencies ranging
from 1-17 meals and concluded:
"Studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24 h energy
expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging".
Since then, no studies have refuted this.
One of the most ridiculous arguments against a low (or should I say normal?) meal frequency is
the one of sumo wrestlers eating habits. Since sumo wrestlers eat two times a day it must be
the best way to get fat and exactly what you shouldn’t be doing for fat loss, or so the logic goes.
I wouldn’t have blamed anyone for bringing this argument into the discussion 34 years ago –
because it was actually what some researchers believed at that time.
The methods and logic used to arrive at such a conclusion was completely retarded. For
example, as a “control group” they used healthy Japanese males weighing 105-130 lbs eating
three meals a day. Brilliant. It’s fair to say that nutritional science and research wasn't exactly
stellar at that time but this “study” was terrible even by medieval standards. Yes, it must be meal
frequency that’s to blame. Never mind the 5000+ calories consumed on a daily basis.
The traditional dish consumed by sumo wrestlers, Chankonabe, is actually not bad at all in
terms of calorie density and food composition. Seems it’s even popular among thin Japanese
women. However, since Chankonabe is so deeply entrenched into sumo culture, wrestlers will
only count a dish served with Chankonabe as a meal. Snacks eaten in between the two daily
Chankonabe meals, which are events that are treated like rituals of great importance, simply
aren’t considered as meals or reported as such. This quote is pretty telling: “…I eat hamburgers
and foods I purchase at convenience stores as snacks.” (From "Sumo meal now what the petite
eat.")
I found the tidbit about Chankonabe tradition interesting, but it's also one very big confounder
that was not considered in that old worthless study. The reported mean intake of the wrestlers,
5100-5600 kcal is quite a lot for a 230 lb male (average weight in the study,) but considering the
daily training sumo wrestlers go through, it’s certainly not a mind boggling amount. It’s safe to
say that calorie intake was probably significantly higher given the exclusion of snacks. There
was no tracking of the sumo wrestlers diet by the researchers. It's amazing that this study
passed its peer review.
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Origin
Seeing how conclusive and clear research is on the topic of meal frequency, you might wonder
why it is that some people, quite often RDs in fact, keep repeating the myth of "stoking the
metabolic fire" by eating small meals on a frequent basis. My best guess is that they've
somehow misunderstood TEF. After all, they're technically right to say you keep your
metabolism humming along by eating frequently. They just missed that critical part where it was
explained that TEF is proportional to the calories consumed in each meal.
Another guess is that they base the advice on some epidemiological studies that found an
inverse correlation between high meal frequency and body weight in the population. What that
means is that researchers may look at the dietary pattern of thousands individuals and find that
those who eat more frequently tend to weigh less than those who eat less frequently. It's
important to point out that these studies are uncontrolled in terms of calorie intake and are done
on Average Joes (i.e. normal people who do not count calories and just eat spontaneously like
most people).
There's a saying that goes "correlation does not imply causation" and this warrants further
explanation since it explains many other dietary myths and fallacies. Just because there's a
connection between low meal frequencies and higher body weights, doesn't mean that low meal
frequencies cause weight gain. Those studies likely show that people who tend to eat less
frequently have:
● Dysregulated eating patterns; the personality type that skips breakfast in favor of a donut
in the car on the way to work, undereat during the day, and overeat in the evening. They
tend to be less concerned with health and diet than those who eat more frequently.
● Another feasible explanation for the association between low meal frequencies and
higher body weight is that meal skipping is often used as a weight loss strategy. People
who are overweight are more likely to be on a diet and eat fewer meals.
● The connection between lower meal frequency and higher body weight in the general
population, and vice versa, is connected to behavioral patterns - not metabolism.
2. Myth: Eat smaller meals more often for hunger control.
Truth
Given the importance of finding the most favorable meal pattern for hunger and appetite control,
there's a surprising scarcity of studies on the topic. The most widely cited study is one where
obese males were fed 33% of their daily calorie requirement ("pre-load") in either one single
meal or five meals before being allowed to eat ad libitum five hours later (meaning as much as
they desired).
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A: One single meal was consumed. 5 hours later they were free to eat as much as they desired,
"buffet"-style.
B: Same setup as above. However, the single meal was now split into five smaller meals, which
were consumed every hour leading up to the ad libitum meal.
The results showed that subjects undergoing "A" ate 27% more calories when given the ad
libitum meal. The same setup was used by the same researchers on lean males and showed
similar results. However, upon closer scrutiny it's clear how little real world application those
results have. The macrocomposition of the pre-load was 70% carbs, 15% fat and 15% protein;
given as pasta, ice cream and orange juice. The situation created was highly artificial and
abnormal. Who sits around nibbling on pasta and ice cream, sipping orange juice, every hour
leading up to a regular meal?
The latest research, performed under conditions that more closely resemble a real-world
scenario, shows the opposite result. In this study, three high-protein meals lead to greater
fullness and appetite control when compared to six high-protein meals.
There's no doubt that meal frequency is highly individual. However, absolute statements
claiming smaller meals are superior for hunger and appetite control are untrue and are based on
studies using methods that greatly differed from real-world meal patterns. Current research with
a normal meal pattern and protein intakes that are closer to what can be seen in a typical non-
retarded diet, suggests superior appetite control when eating fewer and larger meals.
Origin
This myth might have originated from the limited data from studies on meal frequencies and
appetite control. It's also likely that it's another case of mistaking correlation for causation from
studies and meal frequencies and higher body weights; if people who eat more often weigh less,
then it must mean they can control their hunger better, etc.
3. Myth: Eat small meals to keep blood sugar levels under control.
Truth
According to legions of diet and health "experts," eating small meals every so often will help you
avoid hunger pangs, provide you with stable energy throughout the day and keep you mentally
sharp. Contrary to what many people seem to believe, blood sugar is extremely well-regulated
and maintained within a tight range in healthy people. It does not swing wildly up and down like
a chimpanzee on meth and it doesn't plummet from going a few hours without food. Or even a
full day without food. Or a week without food for that matter.
People seem to believe they will suffer severe hunger and mental impairment from not eating
every so often. Consider for a second the evolutionary consequences for survival if this was
true. Given that regular periods of fasting, even famine, was a natural part of our past, do you
29
think we'd be here today if we were unable to function when obtaining food was most critical? I
have seen healthy young males, bodybuilders nonetheless, complain of lethargy and mental
haze if they didn't get to eat for a few hours. It's completely absurd. But I digress...
Maintaining blood sugar is of very high priority and we have developed efficient pathways that
will make it happen even under extreme conditions. If you were to fast for 23 hrs and then go for
a 90 min run at 70-75% VO2max, your blood sugar after the run would be identical to the same
run performed in the fed state. It would take no less than three days or 84 hours of fasting to
reach blood sugar levels low enough to affect your mental state; and this is temporary, as your
brain adapts to the use of ketones. During 48 hours of fasting, or severe calorie deprivation,
blood sugar is maintained within a normal range no measure of cognitive performance is
negatively affected.
What about blood sugar and hunger? Blood sugar is one of many short-term feedback
mechanisms used to regulate hunger and the notion which exists to say that low blood sugar
may cause hunger is correct. Low just means lower range. This is subject to numerous
confounders, such as your habitual diet, energy intake and genetics. Most importantly perhaps,
it's subject to entrained meal patterns, regulated by ghrelin and other metabolic hormones. In
essence, this means that blood sugar follows the meal pattern you are used to. This is relevant
for those who fear blood sugar issues and hunger from regular periods of fasting, as it serves to
explain why people can easily adapt to regular periods of fasting without negative effects.
Origin
Not sure how people came to believe that skipping a meal would dumb them down. There is
some truth to blood sugar and hunger, but this is often taken out of context. There's no need to
eat regularly to "maintain" blood sugar as it maintains itself just fine and adapts to whatever
meal pattern you choose.
4. Myth: Fasting tricks the body into "starvation mode".
Truth
Efficient adaptation to famine was important for survival during rough times in our evolution.
Lowering metabolic rate during starvation allowed us to live longer, increasing the possibility
that we might come across something to eat. Starvation literally means starvation. It doesn't
mean skipping a meal not eating for 24 hours. Or not eating for three days even. The belief that
meal skipping or short-term fasting causes "starvation mode" is so completely ridiculous and
absurd that it makes me want to jump out the window.
Looking at the numerous studies I've read, the earliest evidence for lowered metabolic rate in
response to fasting occurred after 60 hours (-8% in resting metabolic rate). Other studies show
metabolic rate is not impacted until 72-96 hours have passed (George Cahill has contributed a
lot on this topic).
30
Seemingly paradoxical, metabolic rate is actually increased in short-term fasting. For some
concrete numbers, studies have shown an increase of 3.6% - 10% after 36-48 hours (Mansell
PI, et al, and Zauner C, et al). This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Epinephrine
and norepinephrine (adrenaline/noradrenaline) sharpens the mind and makes us want to move
around. Desirable traits that encouraged us to seek for food, or for the hunter to kill his prey,
increasing survival. At some point, after several days of no eating, this benefit would confer no
benefit to survival and probably would have done more harm than good; instead, an adaptation
that favored conservation of energy turned out to be advantageous. Thus metabolic rate is
increased in short-term fasting (up to 60 hours).
Again, I have choosen extreme examples to show how absurd the myth of "starvation mode" is -
especially when you consider that the exact opposite is true in the context of how the term is
thrown around.
Origin
I guess some genius read that fasting or starvation causes metabolic rate to drop and took that
to mean that meal skipping, or not eating for a day or two, would cause starvation mode.
5. Myth: Maintain a steady supply of amino acids by eating protein every 2-3 hours. The
body can only absorb 30 grams of protein in one sitting.
Truth
Whenever you hear something really crazy you need to ask yourself if it makes sense from an
evolutionary perspective. It's a great way to quickly determine if something may be valid or if it's
more likely a steaming pile of horseshit. This myth is a great example of the latter. Do you think
we would be here today if our bodies could only make use of 30 grams of protein per meal?
The simple truth is that more protein just takes a longer time to digest and be utilized. For some
concrete numbers, digestion of a standard meal is still incomplete after five hours. Amino acids
are still being released into your bloodstream and absorbed into muscles. You are still
"anabolic." This is a fairly standard "Average Joe"-meal: 600 kcal, 75 g carbs, 37 g protein and
17 g fat. Best of all? This was after eating pizza, a refined food that should be quickly absorbed
relatively speaking.
Think about this for a second. How long do you think a big steak, with double the protein intake
of the above example, and a big pile of veggies would last you? More than 10 hours, that's for
sure. Meal composition plays an important role in absorption speed, especially when it comes to
amino acids. Type of protein, fiber, carbohydrates and prior meals eaten all affect how long
you'll have amino acids released and being taken up by tissues after meals.
One critical study that often comes up in the context of a high meal frequency being beneficial
when dieting. In “Effects of meal frequency on body composition during weight control in
31
boxers.” it was found that boxers eating two meals a day on a 1200-calorie diet lost more
muscle than the six-meal-group. There are many errors with this conclusion. Lyle McDonald
summarized them nicely:
“In this study, boxers were given either 2 or 6 meals per day with identical protein and
calories and examined for lean body mass lost; the 2 meal per day group lost more lean
body mass (note: both groups lost lean body mass, the 2 meal per day group simply lost
more). Aha, higher meal frequency spares lean body mass. Well, not exactly.
In that study, boxers were put on low calories and then an inadequate amount of liquid
protein was given to both groups and the meals were divided up into 2 or 6 meals. But
the study design was pretty crappy and I want to look at a few reasons why I think that.
First and foremost, a 2 vs. 6 meal per day comparison isn’t realistic. As discussed in The
Protein Book, a typical whole food meal will only maintain an anabolic state for 5-6
hours, with only 2 meals per day, that’s simply too long between meals and three vs. six
meals would have been far more realistic (I would note that the IF’ing folks are doing just
fine not eating for 16 hours per day).
Additionally is the use of a liquid protein that confounds things even more. Liquids digest
that much more quickly than solid foods so the study was basically set up to fail for the
low meal frequency group. They were given an inadequate amount of rapidly digesting
liquid protein too infrequently to spare muscle loss. But what if they had been given
sufficient amounts of solid protein (e.g. 1.5 g/lb lean body mass) at those same
intervals? The results would have been completely different.
As discussed in The Protein Book in some detail, meal frequency only really matters
when protein intake is inadequate in the first place. Under those conditions, a higher
meal frequency spares lean body mass. But when protein intake is adequate in the first
place (and again that usually means 1.5 g/lb lean body mass for lean dieters), meal
frequency makes no difference. And that’s why the boxer study is meaningless so far as
I’m concerned. An inadequate amount of liquid protein given twice per day is nothing like
how folks should be dieting in the first place.”
From: “Meal Frequency and Mass Gains.”
So in summary, a low calorie intake coupled with an inadequate amount of liquid protein. Liquid
protein is rapidly absorbed. This would leave the low meal frequency-group without dietary
protein available in between meals, causing DNG, de novo gluconeogenesis, of endogenous
protein stores (muscle). The large energy deficit and leanness of the boxers are also factors to
consider.
32
None of this is apparent if you look at the abstract of the study; no protein intake or protein type
is mentioned. Details that are critical to know in this context.
Origin
I think this "30 grams of protein"-nonsense started to circulate after a classic study from 1997 by
Boirie and colleagues."Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein
accretion" was the first study to quantify the absorption rate of whey and casein protein and
gave birth to the concept of fast and slow protein. After that, whey protein came to be known for
it's ability to rapidly elevate amino acids in the blood stream and casein for it's ability to create a
sustained release of amino acids. Whey was anabolic and casein anti-catabolic.
Given that 30 grams of whey protein was absorbed within 3-4 hours, I guess some people
believed that meant 30 grams of protein can only be used in one sitting. Or that you had to eat
every 3-4 hours to stay "anabolic." Unfortunately, people missed a few facts that made these
findings irrelevant to real-world scenarios. First of all, this study looked at the absorption rate of
whey protein in the fasted state. On it's own, and with no meals eaten beforehand, 30 grams of
whey protein is absorbed within a mere 3-4 hours. With meals eaten earlier in the day, or if
you'd consume a whey shake after a meal, absorption would be much slower.
Second of all, whey protein is the fastest protein of all and digests at 10 g/hour. Casein is much
slower; in Boirie's study, the casein protein was still being absorbed when they stopped the
experiment 7 hours later. Most whole food proteins are absorbed at a rate of 3-6 grams an hour.
Add other macronutrients to that and they'll take longer.
Per Lyle McDonald:
“The 30 g/meal thing has been around for decades, much older than the 1997 paper. A few gut
hunches on where it came from.
1. Marketing: I base this on the fact that the value has changed over the years. When Met-RX
sold products with 30 grams protein, 30 g/meal was the cutoff. When they moved to 42 g/meal,
42 grams was the cutoff. Weider probably did it before then.
2. Bodybuilders looking to rationalize their desire to eat lots of mini-meals after the fact. So take
an average male bodybuilder, 180 lbs eating 1 g/lb who has decided that 6 meals/day is optimal
and....
3. Even there, I think Gironda had written this. It probably came out of some bullshit paper in the
50's that was taken out of context and just got repeated long enough to become dogmatic truth.”
33
6. Myth: Fasting causes muscle loss.
Truth
This myth hinges on people's belief it's important to have a steady stream of amino acids
available to not lose muscle. As I explained earlier, protein is absorbed at a very slow rate. After
a large high-protein meal, amino acids trickle into your bloodstream for several hours.
No studies have looked at this in a context that is relevant to most of us. For example, by
examining amino acid appearance in the blood and tissue utilization of amino acids after a large
steak, veggies and followed up with some cottage cheese with berries for dessert. That's easily
100 grams of protein and a typical meal for those that follow the Leangains approach. We are
left to draw our own conclusions based on what we know; that a modest amount of casein,
consumed as a liquid on an empty stomach is still releasing amino acids after 7 hours. With this
in mind it's no stretch to assume that 100 grams of protein as part of a mixed meal at the end of
the day would still be releasing aminos for 16-24 hours.
Few studies has examined the effects of regular fasting on muscle retention and compared it to
a control diet. None of them are relevant to how most people fast and some are marred by flaws
in study design and methodology. Like this study which showed increased muscle gain and fat
loss, with no weight training or change in calorie intake, just by changing meal frequency. While
I would love to cite that study as proof for the benefits of intermittent fasting, body composition
was measured by BIA, which is notoriously imprecise.
Only in prolonged fasting does protein catabolism become an issue. This happens when stored
liver glycogen becomes depleted. In order to maintain blood glucose, conversion of amino acids
into glucose must occur (DNG: de novo glucogenesis). This happens gradually and if amino
acids are not available from food, protein must be taken from bodily stores such as muscle.
Cahill looked at the contribution of amino acids to DNG after a 100 gram glucose load. He found
that amino acids from muscle contributed 50% to glucose maintenance after 16 hours and
almost 100% after 28 hours (when stored liver glycogen was fully depleted). Obviously, for
someone who eats a high protein meal before fasting, this is a moot point as you will have
plenty of aminos available from food during the fast.
Origin
An example of severe exaggeration of physiological and scientific fact, not relevant to anyone
who's not undergoing prolonged fasting or starvation.
7. Myth: Skipping breakfast is bad and will make you fat.
Truth
Breakfast skipping is associated with higher body weights in the population. The explanation is
similar to that of lower meal frequencies and higher body weights. Breakfast skippers have
34
dysregulated eating habits and show a higher disregard for health. People who skip breakfast
are also more likely to be dieting, thus by default they are also likely to be heavier than non-
dieters. Keep in mind that most people who resort to breakfast skipping are not the type that sit
around and read about nutrition. They are like most people dieting in a haphazard manner. The
type to go on a 800 calorie-crash diet and then rebound, gaining all the weight (and then some)
back.
Sometimes, an argument is made for eating breakfast as we are more insulin sensitive in the
morning. This is true; you are always more insulin sensitive after an overnight fast. Or rather,
you are always the most insulin sensitive during the first meal of the day. Insulin sensitivity is
increased after glycogen depletion. If you haven't eaten in 8-10 hours, liver glycogen is
modestly depleted. This is what increases insulin sensitivity - not some magical time period
during the morning hours. Same thing with weight training. Insulin sensitivity is increased as
long as muscle glycogen stores aren't full. It doesn't disappear if you omit carbs after your
workout.
Origin
First of all, we have the large scale epidemiological studies showing an association with
breakfast skipping and higher body weights in the population. One researcher from that study,
commenting on the association with breakfast skipping or food choices for breakfast, said:
"These groups appear to represent people 'on the run,' eating only candy or soda, or grabbing a
glass of milk or a piece of cheese. Their higher BMI would appear to
support the notion that 'dysregulated' eating patterns are associated with obesity, instead of or
in addition to total energy intake per se."
Kellogg's and clueless RDs love to cite them over and over again, so people are lead to believe
that breakfast has unique metabolic and health-related benefits. In reality, these studies just
show breakfast eaters maintain better dietary habits overall.
Other studies frequently cited claiming that breakfast is beneficial for insulin sensitivity are all
marred with methodological flaws and largely uncontrolled in design.
In one widely cited study, subjects were entrusted to eat most meals in free-living conditions.
The breakfast skipping group ate more and gained weight, which affected health parameters
negatively.
From the abstract: "Reported energy intake was significantly lower in the EB period (P=0.001),
and resting energy expenditure did not differ significantly between the 2 periods." EB = eating
breakfast. In essence, people who ate breakfast could control their energy intake better for the
rest of the day. They didn't gain any weight but the breakfast skipping group did. Fat gain
always affects insulin sensitivity and other health parameters negatively. Thus what people took
35
this to mean is that breakfast is healthy and improves insulin sensitivity. Which isn't at all what
the study showed.
8. Myth: Fasting increases cortisol.
Truth
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that maintains blood pressure, regulates the immune system and
helps break down proteins, glucose and lipids. It's a hormone that's gotten quite a bad rep in the
fitness and health community but we have it for a reason. The morning peak in cortisol makes
us get out of bed and get going. A blunted morning cortisol peak is associated with lethargy and
depression. Cortisol is elevated during exercise, which helps mobilize fats, increase
performance and experience euphoria after and during workouts. Trying to suppress acute
elevations of cortisol during exercise, or the normal diurnal rhythm, is foolish. Chronically
elevated levels of cortisol, resulting from psychological and/or physiological stress, is another
thing and unquestionably bad for your health; it increases protein breakdown, appetite and may
lead to depression.
Short-term fasting has no effect on average cortisol levels and this is an area that has been
extensively studied in the context of Ramadan fasting. Cortisol typically follows a diurnal
variation, which means that its levels peak in the morning at around 8 a.m. and decline in the
evenings. What changes during Ramadan is simply the cortisol rhythm, average levels across
24 hours remain unchanged.
In one Ramadan study on rugby players, subjects lost fat and retained muscle very well. And
they did despite training in a dehydrated state, without pre-workout or post-workout protein
intake, and with a lower protein intake overall nonetheless. Quoting directly from the paper:
"Body mass decreased significantly and progressively over the 4-week period; fat was lost, but
lean tissue was conserved..."
"...Plasma urea concentrations actually decreased during Ramadan, supporting the view that
there was no increase of endogenous protein metabolism to compensate for the decreased
protein intake."
In one study on intermittent fasting, the fasting group even saw "significant decrease in
concentrations of cortisol." However, this study should be taken with a grain of salt as it had
some flaws in study design.
In conclusion, the belief that fasting increases cortisol, which then might cause all kinds of
mischief such as muscle loss, has no scientific basis whatsoever.
Origin
36
Prolonged fasting or severe calorie restriction causes elevated baseline levels of cortisol. This
occurs in conjunction with depletion of liver glycogen, as cortisol speeds up DNG, which is
necessary to maintain blood sugar in absence of dietary carbs, protein, or stored glycogen.
Again, it seems someone looked at what happens during starvation and took that to mean that
short-term fasting is bad.
9. Myth: Fasted training sucks. You'll lose muscle and have no strength.
Truth
A large body of research on sports performance during Ramadan concludes that aerobic
activities, such as 60 minutes of running, has a small yet significant negative impact on
performance. A very large confounder here is dehydration, as Ramadan fasting involves fluid
restriction. That said, anaerobic performance, such as weight training, is much less impacted.
However, more relevant and telling studies, which don't involve fluid restriction, show that
strength and lower intensity endurance training is unaffected - even after 3.5 days of fasting.
New research on fasted training supports this. If you read my review of that study, you'll see that
the only parameter the fed group did better on was improvements in V02max, which is likely
explained by the fact that the carbs allowed them to train at a higher intensity. However, note
the other interesting results obtained in the fasted group. Also note that a review I did of another
fasted endurance training study showed no negative effect of fasting on endurance or VO2max
(quite the contrary in fact). This can be explained by the lower intensity.
In conclusion, training in the fasted state does not affect your performance during weight
training, which is what most people reading this are interested in. However, training in a
completely fasted state is still not something I recommend for optimal progress. Research is
quite clear on the benefits of pre-workout and post-workout protein intake for maximizing protein
synthesis. For this reason, I suggest supplementing with 10 g BCAA prior to fasted training.
Origin
It's actually intuitive that a big pre-workout meal would help with performance, so it's not
surprising that people have their doubts about training on an empty stomach.
10. Myth: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch a queen, dinner like a pauper."
Truth
Also connected to this saying, is the belief that you should reduce carbs in the evening as they
will be less likely to be stored as fat. While this might sound good on paper, there's nothing to
support it and a lot that shows it to be wrong.
The strongest argument against this are the numerous studies available on body composition
and health after and during Ramadan fasting. This meal pattern of regular nightly feasts has a
37
neutral or positive effect on body fat percentage and other health parameters. This is quite an
extreme and telling example. People literally gorge on carbs and treats in the middle of the night
to no ill effect. And yet, in the bizarre world of bodybuilding and fitness, people worry whether
it's OK to eat 50 grams of carbs in their last meal.
If the scientific data on Ramadan fasting aren't enough, there are plenty of other studies
showing no effect on weight loss or weight gain from eating later in the day.
In one study comparing two meal patterns, which involved one group eating more calories
earlier in the day and one group eating most calories later in the day, more favorable results
were found in the group eating large evening meals. While those who ate more in the AM lost
more weight, the extra weight was in the form of muscle mass. The late evening eaters
conserved muscle mass better, which resulted in a larger drop in body fat percentage.
Origin
Just like breakfast skipping is associated with higher body weights in the general population,
you will find associations with late night eating and higher body weights. If you have been
reading this far, you'll understand the logical fallacy of saying that late night eating must cause
weight gain based on such studies. People who engage in late night eating, such as snacking in
front of the TV, are likely to weigh more than others. It's not the fact that they are eating later in
the day that causes weight gain, it's their lifestyle. No controlled studies show larger evening
meals affect body composition negatively in comparison to meals eaten earlier in the day.
Sometimes studies on shift workers are cited to claim that late night eating is bad. These are all
uncontrolled (in terms of calorie intake) and observational studies confounded by the fact that
shift work has an independent and negative effect on some health parameters like glucose
tolerance and blood lipids. Keep this in mind. Context is always relevant.
While I normally don't cite studies on animals, Science Daily featured an article dispelling the
late-night eating myth based on findings on rhesus monkeys. It's worth citing since monkeys are
metabolically closer to humans than rodents.
38
Fuckarounditis
Dear readers, it is with troublesome news I break my three months of silence.
The statistics all point towards the same conclusion: we have a global outbreak of
fuckarounditis.
Fuckarounditis is a behavioral disorder characterized by a mediocre physique and

complete lack of progress, despite significant amounts of time spent in the gym.
Fuckarounditis most commonly manifests itself as an intense preoccupation with

crunches, curls, cable movements, belts, gloves, balance boards, Swiss Balls and Tyler
Durden. Fear of squats and deadlifts is another distinguishing trait. Physical exertion is
either completely lacking or misapplied (towards questionable or unproductive training
practices).
Despite an alarming increase of fuckarounditis in recent years, prevalence may vary

greatly depending on location. However, in most commercial gyms, it has been
estimated that 90-100% of individuals are affected to varying degrees.
Environment and social networks are crucial factors for triggering the disease. It has
been proposed that the roots of the disease stems from misinformation and
counterproductive training advice found in popular media ("fitness magazines") and
information hubs on the Internet.
Human nature and the so-called "laziness", "magic bullet" and "complacency" genes
plays a permissive role for allowing the disease to take hold.
The disease spreads rapidly, as carriers of the disease communicate with other
individuals in locker rooms, Internet discussion forums and other arenas of interaction
and information exchange in real life or otherwise.
The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood and may go undiagnosed for
a lifetime. Diagnosis is set by a professional and based on observed behaviors and
physique progress.
Symptoms, preventative measures and intervention strategies are reviewed and

discussed.
39
- Berkhan, M. (2011) "Targeting The Fuckarounditis Epidemic: Preventative Measures and
Intervention Strategies."
Fuckarounditis: A Serious Threat
I have been trying to cure people of fuckarounditis since the late 90's, starting from the day I
was first cleansed from it myself. Ever since I recognized the disease, I have acknowledged it
as a serious threat to physique development and mental well-being. It is therefore with shock
and horror I have watched an increasing number of people fall victim to the disease and the
dubious training practices it inspires.
In educating myself of good strength training practices, I was very lucky. Yes, I wasted some
time with the usual bench'n'curl/bodybuilding magazine-inspired crapola all my friends were
doing, spending my time in the gym joking around more than doing any actual training. I was 16
or so when I first set my foot at the gym. (See "My Transformation" for pictures from this time
period.)
However, I did not spend more than a few months fooling around with my friends. I found that I
enjoyed strength training, so I started to take an increasing interest in the topic. I started to
explore and I eventually came across an excellent resource that set the tone for my entire
approach and attitude. The resource was the book Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert, and it
taught me the value of working hard at the right things.
However, I may have never been lucky enough to find this tome of wisdom if I had first lost
myself in the malicious maze that resides behind...the illusion of complexity.
The Illusion of Complexity
The Internet provides a rich soil for fuckarounditis to grow and take hold of the unsuspecting
observer. Too much information, shit, clutter, woo-woo, noise, bullshit, loony toon theories, too
many quacks, morons and people with good intentions giving you bad advice and uninformed
answers. Ah yes, the information age.
Some of it is bullshit wrapped up in a fancy paper with scientific terms, elaborate detail,
promising cutting edge strategies based on the latest research. This makes it easier to swallow
for intellectuals and those seeking a quick fix; two different groups, both equally susceptible to
bullshittery and easy prey for scam artists.
Yes, if anything has surprised me so far in my work, it's the complete disassociation between IQ
and "exercise intelligence" (essentially common sense and knowledge in regards to training
fundamentals). I have many clients from academic circles, many clients that are very successful
40
financially and in their each respective field, but some were complete idiots with regards to their
training before they came to me.
The problem at the core of the fuckarounditis epidemic is the overabundance of information we
have available to us. If there are so many theories, articles and opinions on a topic, we perceive
it as something complex, something hard to understand. An illusion of complexity is created.
We must read everything. Think long and hard about our choices. Only then can we hope to
make an informed choice, we reason. And there are so many choices. Finally, that which we
perceive as a good and informed choice is often the complete opposite, usually the result of
whatever fad routine is trendy at the moment. Sometimes we do a little bit of everything - "can't
be bad trying to be 'well-rounded' now, can it?" we foolishly argue.
When it comes to strength training, the right choices are limited and uncomplicated. There are
right and wrong ways to do things, not "it depends", not alternative theories based on new
science that we need to investigate or try. Basic do's and don't's that never change.
Unfortunately, these fundamental training principles are lost to many, and stumbling over them
is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Isn't it the same with nutrition? Do we have diet-related fuckarounditis? Sure enough, there's
diet-related fuckarounditis; people who live in the fear of insulin faeries, avoid carbs like the
plague for a few days and then binge the hell out of a few boxes of cereal, and never manage to
get lean, for example.
However, in contrast to training-related fuckarounditis, rates of diet-related fuckarounditis have

remained fairly stable. The lipophobes have merely been replaced by carbophobes. On the
whole, I might even venture to say that people have been getting a bit smarter with regards to
nutrition. Not so with training practices, unfortunately.
Yes, the global prevalence of fuckarounditis is increasing at an alarming rate. The plethora of
bad choices increases at a much higher rate than the good choices. Soon the bad choices will
all but drown out the good ones, I fear.
"I See Weak People"
In my dreams? No. In gyms? Yes. Walking around like regular people. They don't see each
other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're weak.
The afflicted are everywhere; the Shape Magazine-reading receptionist who greets you at the
gym, the 135-lb skinny-fat PT who tells you that deadlifts are off limits, the bandana wearing bro
in the cable-cross machine and the guy with entire day devoted to "abs". All of them suffer to
41
varying degrees of the debilitating disorder known as fuckarounditis. Yes, even you might be
among the afflicted. Today you shall find out if there is cause for alarm.
Keep in mind that this is a disease that sneaks up on you and then progresses gradually. Some
people walk around with a mild case of fuckarounditis that do not completely impair their results
in its initial stages. In others, the disease has reached a severe state, which dramatically
interferes with their progress and usually stalls it completely.
Finally, there are those who are all but lost and for whom there is little hope of a cure.
Unfortunately, these people will probably never read this. They are too busy emulating the latest
bodybuilding pro, doing the Biceps Blaster routine, or rolling around on a Swiss Ball
somewhere.
How can you tell if you are suffering from the fuckarounditis? Ultimately, it boils down to your
results and whether your progress is reasonable relative to the time you put in.
Let's be concrete and talk numbers. After all, there needs to be some overarching and objective
way of judging whether you are afflicted or not.
Progress and Goals
For someone interested in aesthetics, which I assume most my readers are, relative strength is
the single best measure of progress and the quality of your physique. Before seeing a picture of
a client, I can easily get a very good idea of his or hers body composition by simply knowing
three stats: weight, height and strength. Relative strength is therefore the parameter that will be
used to determine reasonable rates of progress, which will then tell you whether you might be
suffering of fuckarounditis or not.
Within two years of consistent training on a decent routine, the average male should be able to
progress to the following levels of strength (1RM):
Strength Goals: Intermediate

● Squat: body weight x 1.6
● Deadlift: body weight x 2
These numbers are for a raw (no straps, belt or knee wraps) single repetition.
The progress towards the intermediate strength goals should be fairly linear, meaning that there
should be no plateaus that cannot be solved in an uncomplicated manner. By "consistent"
42
training I do not mean never missing a training day, nor do I consider taking 2-3 months off from
training consistent.
By "decent training routine", I mean "not doing blatantly stupid shit" (training 5-6 days/week, 20-
25 sets for chest and arms, etc.). I do not mean optimal and flawless.
Strength Goals: Advanced
Under the exact same conditions as the previous example, 3 out of 4 of the following goals
should be reached within five years, along with all of the strength goals listed under
"intermediate":

● Squat: body weight x 2
● Deadlift: body weight x 2.5
Strength Goals: Highly Advanced
Under the exact same conditions, all of the following goals should be reached within ten years.
Alternatively, 3 out of 4 should be reached, and one should be "Elite":
● Bench press: body weight x 1.5, or x 1.8 (elite)

● Chin-ups or pull-ups: body weight x 1.5 or 15 reps with body weight, or x 1.8 / 20 reps
(elite)
● Squat: body weight x 2, or x 2.4 (elite)
● Deadlift: body weight x 2.5, or x 3 (elite)
"Elite" denotes one lift that is often ahead of the others. For example, people who are natural
pullers (long arms) may very well hit a 3 x body weight deadlift before a 1.5 x body weight
bench, and vice versa for the presser (short arms, stocky and barrel-chested) benching 1.8 x
body weight but not being able to pull 2.5 x body weight in the deadlift.
The highly advanced strength goals falls in line with what could be considered the pinnacle of
physique and strength development for most average and natural trainers. At this point,
progress is very slow.
A 185-lb male that has been training consistently for 5-10 years should therefore be expected
to:
43
● Do a chin-up with 90-95 lbs hanging from his waist.
● Squat 370 lbs.
Respective goals for women:
For women in the 115-155-lb range, the corresponding advanced strength goals are 0.9 x body
weight bench, 1.1 x body weight chin-up, 1.5 x body weight squat and 1.8 x body weight
deadlift. Relative to men, women have much less muscle mass around the chest area and
shoulder girdle (men have much higher androgen-receptor density in this particular area), but
the lower body is comparativly strong to the upper body.
A 135-lb woman that has been training consistently for 5-10 years should then be expected to:

● Do 4-5 chin-ups with body weight or do one with an extra 10-15 lbs hanging from her
waist.
● Squat 200-205 lbs.
So where do you fall in regards to these goals? If you've met them, you've received a
reasonable return on the time you've invested in your training and it's safe to say that you do not
suffer from fuckarounditis - even if you have some of the symptoms, remember that it's not
fucking around if what you're doing is working for you.
If you have not met them, then something is amiss. And if you can't do 8 good chin-ups or
struggle with being able to bench press your body weight after a decade of working
out....something is horribly amiss.
This is no laughing matter. I've had clients that spent 10-15 years working out with little or
nothing to show for it and some made very basic mistakes that could have been fixed at an
early stage. But as fuckarounditis took root, they seemed to only have succumbed deeper,
eventually losing that last shred of training sense.
Taking early preventative measures is key. Where this is not possible, rapid intervention can
save the situation. Enter The Fuckarounditis Test.
The Fuckarounditis Test
Please review these 25 common symptoms and behaviors associated with fuckarounditis. If you
recognize yourself in any of these, and have not met the strength standards recently discussed,
44
you must immediately cease the behavior and implement the necessary changes. There is no
time to waste.
1. You don't keep track.
How much can you bench, squat and deadlift? How many chin-ups? You need to be able to
answer those questions right now. Don't let me hear "I THINK I can" or "I'm not sure but...". You
need to know how much weight you can maximally lift in one set when you're fresh.
Whether it's a set of 1, 4 ,6 or 8 reps doesn't matter. You need to have concrete reference
points in order to evaluate your progress. Keep track of them in a training log. Not "in your
head", write it down. The single act of writing it down is more important than you think, whether
you keep those data points in a notebook, on your computer or on Post-It notes like me.
With tracking comes the motivation to train, the results and everything else. I can't even imagine
where people get their motivation from if they don't keep track and just choose weights at
random based on whatever feels good that day.
You should at all times be aware of the best performance in a few key lifts, your body weight
and the conditions under which those sets were performed.
More on tracking progress and "checkpoints" in "How to Look Awesome Every Day".
When I recently evaluated client and American poker pro Phil Galfond's progress after his first
month on my training routine, I was pleased to see his bench jump from his old personal best of
225 lbs x 4 to 225 lbs x 8 - and he's dieting. Phil says "The 4 to 8 rep jump is actually bigger
than it sounds, since my 4 reps were done with terrible form, bouncing the weight as hard as I
45
could, and the 8 reps were done very controlled." That's outstanding progress, but in order to
spot it, you need to keep track.
2. You are not methodical.
The only thing that should be changing from week to week is the load on the bar or the reps with
the same load you used last time. If you're doing it right, these should be increasing. Everything
else stays the same; the movements and the order you did them in, the sets and the rest
periods in between sets. You don't add in new stuff.
This is the only way you can fairly evaluate your progress and see if you're headed in the right
direction. It might sound tedious to keep doing the same movements every week and the appeal
of "mixing it up" can seem strong.
However, the tediousness will soon be replaced by the much stronger joy you get from seeing
your lifts go up on a weekly basis. Don't fall for "muscle confusion" bullshit. The only ones
confused are the people who keep talking about such nonsense.
Mixing together too much shit and being methodical about the process was one of the
fuckarounditis symptoms that plagued social media expert Julien Smith, co-author of Trust
Agents, before I set him straight. Here's what I told him back when he asked me to comment on
his "routine" before we started working together:
...Summing it up, I suspect that your laughable progress can be explained by the following:
1. Your bullshit training routine, which is a haphazard mixture of strength and conditioning.
Some people get decent results from CrossFit and the like, but it spells death for hardgainers
like yourself. If we work together you will stop flopping around like a fool and start lifting heavy,
with plenty of rest in between sets.
2. Not tracking progress, be that in some key movements like chins, bench press, etc, or
benchmark CrossFit-sessions (which I use regularly for CF clients). Training whatever feels
good for the moment is one of the worst ways possible to make progress, not to mention serious
progress. It's such a fucking waste of time that I was completely horrified of how you
approached it all. That's going to change if we work together.
He has since then gained muscle, added more than a hundred pounds to the main lifts, and has
not gained an iota of body fat. I cured him with lots of food and a simple regimen of basic
movements done consistently on a weekly basis.
3. You don't plan for progress.
Never choose training weights at random. You look at what you used last session and make the
choice based solely on that. Not on your ego. Not because you feel like trying higher or lower
reps for shits and giggles.
46
There many good progression models but I will recommend two common models that I use
depending on the situation.
Beginners and people who need a "reboot", i.e. they may have training experience but have
been fucking around so much they're essentially at the beginner stage (e.g., I used a slightly
modified SS routine for Julien), Starting Strength is an excellent model.
This is a very simple 3x/week-program with frequent training and practice of the Big Three
(bench, squat and deadlift), starting at 1-3 sets of 5. Example:
Squat: 200 x 5 x 3.
When you can complete 3 sets of 5 reps with 200 lbs, resting 5 minutes between each set,
increase the weight next session. The training load starts at your 7-8RM, which means that you
do not go to failure initially.
For experienced trainers, I recommend the double progression model of reverse pyramid
training. This is what built most of my physique and it's also by far the most common approach I
use with clients. Example:
Squat: 200 x 6-8 x 2.
Set 1: 200 x 8
Rest 3-5 mins. Reduce the load by 10% for the second set.
Set 2: 180 x 8 (however many reps you can get)
When the highest number in the interval (6-8) is reached ("8" in this case), increase the weight
by 2.5% or 5 lbs the next session. Thus in the above example, you would use 205 and 185 lbs
for your sets the next time. All sets are to be performed with maximal effort and movements are
only done once a week (3x/week training frequency). "Double progression" means that you
progress both in reps and load; first you hit the reps you need, then you increase the load.
RPT is very time-efficient. It's also far superior to anything else I've tried for strength/muscle
retention/muscle gain during a diet.
4. You're doing too much shit.
Be a minimalist, like me.
47
I snapped this yesterday and stay in this condition all year round.
I built my physique with these movements primarily: squats, deadlifts, bench presses, chin-ups,
triceps extensions and calf raises. These have remained staples throughout the years. I have
flirted with other movements, but these were brief periods.
On the whole, that's one movement per muscle group, with the exception of abs and biceps,
which I never really trained except for early in my training career, and then very sporadically
every once in a while.
The point is that most people are doing too much shit. This dilutes the focus and effort that they
are able to put into that which really delivers.
5. You think more about supplements than squats.
No single factor in strength training receives so much attention, yet deliver so little in return.
Don't play the fool who chases magic pills, thinking it will compensate for a lack of effort, a
fundamentally flawed training routine or a poor diet.
There are supplements that you might actually find useful, but they won't turn the tide if what
you're doing right now is not working without them.
48
6. You're lifting weights for the calorie burn.
Strength is strength. Cardio is cardio. Don't mix, keep them separate, and use cardio sparingly
on a diet or if your primary goal is strength and muscle gain.
If you're adding 2-3 sessions of HIIT to your 3 sessions of weights, it is almost comparable to
adding 2-3 days of weights. Keyword is "almost", I'm obviously not drawing direct comparisons.
That's all fine and dandy if you think working out 5-6 days/week is a good idea on a diet. But I
don't think anyone - no matter what level of experience - needs more than 3 days a week in the
gym when cutting. (Yes, this goes for competitors and beginners alike.)
In conclusion, if conditioning is not terribly important for you, if your goal is really about getting
shredded while keeping your muscle, I highly suggest limiting moderate to high intensity cardio
on a diet - or ditch it completely. Save it for some other time when your recovery is good and not
limited by your diet.
A calorie deficit is a recovery deficit. Avoid deficit spending.
My full answer here.
49
Rickard Nikoley is one of those I saved from fuckarounditis. Before I intervened, Richard was
flopping around like a monkey in the gym. Nothing good came from that. There's nothing primal
or Paleo about being weak. I cured him with squats, bench presses, deadlifts and proper rest
periods. That way he could put up the effort when it counted.
7. You're looking a bit too happy in there.
If you're not grimacing, grunting, or experiencing some sort of discomfort, you're not training
hard enough. One good set where you have to fight for the reps is better than a week of half-ass
sets.
8. You spend more than 5 minutes on abs.
If you can't see your abs, you need to unfatten yourself. Simple as that. You can't spot reduce
and you'll get plenty of ab work with squats, deadlifts, chin-ups and overhead presses. Let me
see someone at 5-6% body fat deadlift 2.5-3 x body weight for reps with with weak abs and
underdeveloped abs. It ain't happening.
I'll allow you one set of "abs". Beyond that don't waste your time with crunches, ab machines,
hanging leg raises or whatever the hell you're doing. It won't give you shit and it will only suck
time and energy from what you should be doing.
9. Is this you?
10. You're afraid of "bulky muscles" and use terms like "toning."
Women, you need to put down those pink dumbbells, throw that Shape Magazine in the trash
can and stop with this nonsense. You seem to believe that the modest amount of strain will
cause you to wake up looking like a bodybuilder in the morning. Horseshit. You're not using
enough drugs to ever come close to looking muscle bound. With the training intensity I see most
women apply in the gym, they might as well skip weight training altogether and stay on the
treadmill.
Leangains: Jenn does chin-ups, body weight + 17.5 lbs x 5
Jenn has actually gotten stronger since she shot that video; she's now up to 27.5 lbs added weight. That's
more than 99% of the guys at my gym...and I bet it's more than many male readers of this site as well.
Her routine?
Day 1 (Monday)
50
5-min walk for warm-up.
Deadlift 2-3 sets of 4-5 reps reverse pyramid style.
Rest 5-10 mins.
Leg extensions - Same setup as deadlifts, but reps a bit higher (6-8).
Rest 5-10 mins.
Chins - Same as deads.
Day 3 (Wednesday)
5-min walk for warm-up.

Bench press 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps reverse pyramid style.
Rest 5-10 mins
Pull-ups 2-3 sets with body weight.
Rest 5-10 mins
Day 5 (Friday)
Squats 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps reverse pyramid style.

Rest 5-10 mins.
Walking lunges 2-3 sets same as squats.
Rest 5-10 mins.
Overhead Press 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps reverse pyramid style.
Rest 5-10 mins
That's the routine Jenn was doing when she sent me the video and the one she gained all that
strength on. This is a solid routine, regardless of gender, and it's vastly superior to what you're
doing if you're in the fuckarounditis camp. Why not try it and see for yourself? Throw in a set or
two of curls, triceps and calves if you want but don't mess with it beyond that.
11. You're "training the core"...and it involves a Swiss Ball, Bosu Ball or something else
that makes you look like an idiot.
"Training the core" is a phrase that is all too often used by people who are afraid to squat. You
don't need special movements for the core, because it comes with the territory if you squat,
deadlift, press and chin. No one squats 2 x body weight with a weak core.
12. You want that Tyler Durden look.
Whenever I hear a client say this, alarm bells go off. There's nothing wrong in having ideals.
The problem is all the pain I feel after seeing the dumb shit that follows in the questionnaire,
under the part where I ask them about their current training routine. I'll often see some horrifying
51
cardio/pump'n'tone hybrid, some celebrity workout variety or the kind you'd expect to see in
those kind of routines. Nothing more faddish than made-up "celebrity workouts". God damn,
how I hate those.
Want to look like Tyler Durden? Then you need to build up some modest amount of muscle and
then you need to lose fat, period. The muscle is best built with heavy weight training, not 15-25-
rep set flyes followed by an hour in the pec deck machine. Your gut is best lost with a good diet,
not "fat burning workouts"/tons of cardio/pump'n'tone crapola. All those will do is leave you
under-muscled, weak and with a severe case of fuckarounditis.
The Tyler Durden look, brought to you by squats, deadlifts, bench, chin-ups and a good diet.
When this client told me that he was "closing in on his goal" of achieving a physique similar to
that of Brad Pitt, AKA Tyler Durden in "Fight Club", I told him to gain some fat, start smoking,
get into a fight, and stop training his arms and shoulders. (The implication of that being that he
had already surpassed his goal.)
13. You're using belts, gloves and straps for no good reason.
52
What is your reason exactly? Don't use equipment as a crutch.
14. You avoid squats and deadlift, because you think they'll give you a wide waist.
Bitch please. Yes, squats and deadlifts will put muscle on your obliques and thicken up your
lower back. But weighted chin-ups or pull-ups will give you wider lats, and if you train all these
movements, your waist-to-shoulder ratio will develop very favorably. Training all these
movements will also help you grow some balls, so you can finally stop making up bullshit
excuses for why you shouldn't train hard (AKA squat and deadlift).
Petter, the Tyler Durden lookalike, was squatting and deadlifting regularly on my routine. Last
time I checked, he was squatting 2 x body weight (300 lbs) for 9 reps. He was also close to
being able to complete a one-arm pull-up. Does it look like he has a wide waist? Are my clients
notable for their wide waists? Take your "wide waist"-argument/excuse and shove it up your ass
right now.
What's funny is that this argument is usually brought up by guys who want a
"Hollywood"/underwear model type physique. They're often a) dieting, b) not training legs and c)
likely doing tons of cardio. That particular combination will strip off whatever little leg muscle
they have faster than Gary Busey can do a gram of coke off his dog Chili's back. It leaves them
looking pathetic and weak, and if that sounds good to you then go ahead.
15. Doing this?
16. Are you still warming up? I can't tell.
A warm-up is a warm-up. Treat it as such. It should be light, just enough to get the blood flowing
and prepare the nervous system for the real stuff. It should never cause fatigue or interfere with
your performance in the work sets. All the time, I see people doing sets of 10-15 reps before
they get to something that remotely resembles their real set. Which is completely retarded,
because you will be fatigued and glycogen-depleted, and your performance in the work sets will
be limited for metabolic reasons, and not limited by your actual strength.
The only standing recommendation I have regarding warm-ups is for compound movements: 1-
3 sets of 4-6 reps of 40%-80% of target weight for the first work set. Warm-ups for assistance
movements is whatever you feel is needed. Personally, I only warm up for squats, deadlift,
bench press and chins. If you do these at the start of your workout, which you should, you'll find
that they usually get your whole body warmed up, which makes warm-ups redundant or entirely
unnecessary for the rest of the workout.
53
17. Are you still warming up? I can't tell. What's that? You're already done and I can take
the bench?
Let's see some fucking effort next time. Don't take up precious space here when you can get a
better workout from walking your dog through the park outside.
You can be doing everything perfectly, but you will not go anywhere if you're not willing to
experience discomfort on a regular basis. If you're in the gym 5-6 days a week, lack of effort
might actually be the explanation for your lack of progress. If you were actually in there training
hard, most people wouldn't be coming back for more 5-6 days a week.
18. Was this you?
Learn good form early, so you don't have to pay for it with injuries and shitty results later down
the road. Don't let your ego screw you and don't slap on weight indiscriminately. Be methodical
and patient.
No need to be a form nazi either. People who "practice" form in all eternity are sometimes just
afraid to train hard. Striving for picture perfect form on your final reps can be counterproductive
when taken to the extreme.
19. Your workout buddy gets a set of barbell rows on the house when he "spots" you
benching.
Tell him to keep his fingers off the damn bar and assist you as little as possible and only when
it's truly needed; meaning only if you are about to fail on the very last rep in the set. Don't be
one of those clowns slapping on twice of what they could lift by themselves to stroke their ego. It
looks pathetic and it will make it impossible for you to properly evaluate your progress.
And for me, an unwanted spotter can make it hard to evaluate the progress of the client, like I
had to explain to this actor/client:
I am your trainer, the guy who follows you around is only there to make sure your form is not
completely retarded. His function right now should be redundant. I assume you know how to
perform most movements well by now. If he interferes with your sets, he is counterproductive to
the outcome.
You're my only client right now with a personal trainer on top of the help you receive from me. I
imagine he is eager to "correct" your form and tinker with your training in any way he can in
order to not feel useless. Make sure he stays out of it beyond spotting you on some sets where
it's warranted (i.e. when and if you are about to fail). Some PTs can't even get that part right and
goes way overboard with the helping part.
54
This is another danger of having him around, as it gets impossible for me to measure your
progress (strength gains) accurately (i.e. did you gain strength since the last session or did he
just help you more this time?). Make it very clear to him when and how he should help (last rep
you can't complete by yourself).
This actor played a key role in an award winning and Oscar-nominated movie last year. I'm
preparing him for a new movie with some very big names that start shooting early next year. I
can't tell you more beyond that, but rest assured that his "celebrity workout" does not include
mickey mouse curls supersetted with cable flyes, or anything of the usual variety you read about
in magazines.
20. You obsess about "tempo".
Forget about tempo. Tempo takes care of itself if you're working with heavy weights (80% 1RM /
8 reps or less), because your control over the load is very limited. Lift the damn weight, repeat,
it's that simple. Don't overthink it.
Tempo was hot stuff a few years ago and frequently discusses in articles an on the boards. It
seems to have slipped off the radar now. Why? Because it's yet another distraction from the
important stuff.
21. You're into "functional" training.
But you can't squat body weight and your "functional" muscle mass is non-existent. Unless
you're an athlete with a very good reason, stay the hell away from anything that involves Swiss
Balls, balance boards or pogo sticks.
22. You're the guy who sent me these two direct messages 5 minutes after I tweeted this:
do you think 8x20 abs is enough ?? i do hanging superstrict..really feel working lower abs!!. also
i need bcaa if i situps in fasted state??
also how much bcaa u recommend
23. You're working on your "lagging biceps", but you can't even do 8 chin-ups with good
form.
First of all, you're weak and fat. Second of all, body part specialization has its place, but it's
always the ones least qualified that are doing it. Worry about body part specialization after you
achieve the major goalposts involving the muscle group that lags behind. Until then, body part
specialization is a distraction that will interfere with your development as a whole.
Let's see if your chest and your shoulders are lagging once you can bench 1.5 x body weight or
overhead press your body weight and if your legs and back are lagging with a 2 x body weight
55
squat and 2.5 x body weight deadlift. Keep doing targeted work for muscle groups like triceps,
hams and calves.
Yes, you can keep a few sets of curls in there, but 2-3 sets is enough for now. Do you really
think your guns will be lagging once you're doing chin-ups with 100 lbs hanging from your
waist? My clients have told me they saw more biceps growth from the increased focus on
weighted chin-ups than any amount of curls they did in the past. I never spent any time on curls
and they grew just fine from all those chin-ups. I can say for damn sure you'll put on a good deal
of size on your arms if you add 50 lbs to whatever you can chin-up right now.
Ask Paul Wilson and his 8 reps with 110 lbs of solid chin-up mastery:
Paul flexing in exclusive LG Gear, only available as an award for excellency and strength.
24. You think ripped abs will get you laid.
I hate to bust your bubble lil' buddy, but women don't give a shit beyond a guy looking
reasonably fit. Lower than 10-12% body fat won't make an ounce of a difference. If women is
your main motivation for dieting, don't bother getting shredded. Women have similar delusions
in terms of thinking men like them super-skinny.
Training to be liked by others is a very poor motivational factor in itself. You need internal
motivation, not external. No one that ends up making something out of his or hers physique,
56
something impressive and head-turning, gets there by training to get liked by others. It might
have started out as such, but it changes. I think this quote sums up why and how we make it:
You have to discipline yourself, and through this discipline will come some level of achievement,
and from this achievement will come your pride.
- David Lee Roth.
And then there's the fact that nothing beats the feeling you get from breaking a new personal
record. Some of the happiest moments I remember are from walking home after a new 20-rep
squat record way back in the days. Walking up stairs was like being repeatedly stabbed with a
blunt and rusty butterknife. But it was still pure bliss.
25. You have all kinds of elaborate excuses for why you don't need to squat and deadlift.
You get your leg training from playing soccer, you're afraid you might hurt your back, you read
somewhere that single-leg training is better, you talk about rear-foot elevated split squats with a
45-degree twist during the concentric being the future of leg training, etc. Horseshit, all of it.
Listen carefully. Squats and deadlifts are undisputably the two best full body movements in the
goddamn Universe and that's reason enough to be doing them.
But that's not the whole story. Their true greatness lies in the mental fortitude they foster if you
train them hard and consistently. This will benefit your training as a whole and leave echoes in
your life outside the gym.
57

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The Underground,

My take on IF shortens the fasting period down to 16 hours – in my opinion, an ideal

Calories and macronutrients: timing and cycling.

Nuts, protein bars and dried fruit

Fasting and feeding

How to set up your diet

Calculating Your Calorie Needs

Step 1. Calculate your BMR

Fat should make up roughly 20% to 30% of daily calories.

Putting it all together

Step 1: Calculate protein intake

The 8-hour feeding phase starts with the post-workout meal.

Early morning fasted training

6 AM: 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA.

One pre-workout meal

Two pre-workout meals

Strength Goals: Intermediate

Strength Goals: Advanced

● Bench press: body weight x 1.5

Strength Goals: Highly Advanced

● Bench press: body weight x 1.5, or x 1.8 (elite)

● Bench press 275-280 lbs.

Respective goals for women:

● Bench press 120-125 lbs.

The Three Day Split RPT Routine

Example 3-day RPT Split

The Marshmallow Test

The solution then is to stay distracted.

Guidelines and attitudes to live by

1. Myth: Eat frequently to "stoke the metabolic fire".

A) Three meals: 900 kcal per meal.

Since then, no studies have refuted this.

2. Myth: Eat smaller meals more often for hunger control.

4. Myth: Fasting tricks the body into "starvation mode".

From: “Meal Frequency and Mass Gains.”

Per Lyle McDonald:

7. Myth: Skipping breakfast is bad and will make you fat.

8. Myth: Fasting increases cortisol.

Fuckarounditis is a behavioral disorder characterized by a mediocre physique and

Fuckarounditis most commonly manifests itself as an intense preoccupation with

Despite an alarming increase of fuckarounditis in recent years, prevalence may vary

Symptoms, preventative measures and intervention strategies are reviewed and

Fuckarounditis: A Serious Threat

The Illusion of Complexity

However, in contrast to training-related fuckarounditis, rates of diet-related fuckarounditis have

"I See Weak People"

Progress and Goals

Strength Goals: Intermediate

Strength Goals: Advanced

● Bench press: body weight x 1.5

Strength Goals: Highly Advanced

● Bench press: body weight x 1.5, or x 1.8 (elite)

● Bench press 275-280 lbs.

Respective goals for women:

● Bench press 120-125 lbs.

The Fuckarounditis Test

1. You don't keep track.

2. You are not methodical.

3. You don't plan for progress.

Squat: 200 x 6-8 x 2.

4. You're doing too much shit.

Be a minimalist, like me.

5. You think more about supplements than squats.