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I just got the call yesterday that I will be having my ACL reconstruction surgery early next week.

I was wondering what you(Rob) or anyone else would suggest to:
1) Speed recovery
2) Maintain Muscle Mass
3) Burn fat.

While lying on the couch, doing next to zero activity for 2-4 weeks.

I'm spending today planning my diet and supplement regime for post-surgery. Any magic combos you can think of, or new supplements, or protocols... please share. I want to be back on my feet and running within 6 months (generally 9-12 months is expected for recovery, and my past experiences tell me I'm at the far end of that range)

beefcake66 wrote:I just got the call yesterday that I will be having my ACL reconstruction surgery early next week.

I was wondering what you(Rob) or anyone else would suggest to:
1) Speed recovery
2) Maintain Muscle Mass
3) Burn fat.

While lying on the couch, doing next to zero activity for 2-4 weeks.

I'm spending today planning my diet and supplement regime for post-surgery. Any magic combos you can think of, or new supplements, or protocols... please share. I want to be back on my feet and running within 6 months (generally 9-12 months is expected for recovery, and my past experiences tell me I'm at the far end of that range)

The short list:

Synthagen
Tranquilogen
Cissus (10% extract or lower)
Knox Gelatin
MSM
Glucosamine/Chondroitin
Hyaluronic Acid
Boswellia Serrata

That last item works fast, is inexpensive and way overlooked...

RobRegish wrote: Synthagen @ 2 caps 5x/day?
Tranquilogen @ 1 cap 2x/day?
Cissus (10% extract or lower) 1g 3x/day?
Knox Gelatin can add to smoothies, 1-2pkts/day?
MSM in "Actistatin Pro Athlete"
Glucosamine/Chondroitin in "Actistatin Pro Athlete"
Hyaluronic Acid need to find
Boswellia Serrata need to find

I'm looking into some Boswellia Serrata now, I have everything else ready to go at home (or on the way).

I picked up Actistatin when i was at the Olympia expo. I have other joint supplements too I can throw in.


I will be taking HMB, Creatine, and BCAAs (for the Leucine) heavily for the first few weeks of recovery. I will also be eating a TON of protein (read suggestions of 2g/lb BW), and follow Maintenance calories (in my case, 1800cals). Which means the majority of my calories will be protein so I will be following a very low carb and low-ish fat diet. I'm gonna try that for 2 weeks but I will very likely need a cheat day somewhere in there for sanity's sake. Or just take more painkillers...


For the fat loss/weight management, I'm going to be taking Caffeine+EGCG+Yohimbine in the morning, followed by Caffeine+EGCG+Ephedrine twice throughout the day.

There's a ton of other supplements/vitamins (such as Multilife, Alkaplex, Vit C+D+E, etc) that I will be taking as well.

I may consider making a recovery log, but I don't think I'd be in the state of mind to keep it up very well.

I'd caution against 2 things here..

1.) That's too much protein. When you feed your body this much, it's gets REAL good at burning protein for fuel. Including your muscles, when that much dietary protein isn't around - like at night.

It's also spendy, and metabolically inefficient. Meaning it throws off a LOT of ammonia and urea. You'll smell this in your sweat, it smell like cat piss. Not cool. Suggest majority of your cals come from fats, then protein then carbs.

This way, you'll train your body to burn fat (including bodyfat), and the protein will be free to do its job - repair and recovery.

2.) Watch that Yohimbe + EC on the same day! Much better to dose them on separate days. Yohimbe potentiates the HELL out of any other stim. It's not pleasant...

My $.05...

Synthagen @ 2 caps 5x/day?
Tranquilogen @ 1 cap 2x/day?
Cissus (10% extract or lower) 1g 3x/day?
Knox Gelatin can add to smoothies, 1-2pkts/day?
MSM in "Actistatin Pro Athlete"
Glucosamine/Chondroitin in "Actistatin Pro Athlete"
Hyaluronic Acid need to find
Boswellia Serrata need to find

MPS = 3 caps, 3x's a day just prior to your 3 biggest meals. TRAINING DAYS: 5 caps pre/post workout (or whatever your lowest effective dose is).
TQ = 1 cap in the AM, 1 in the PM.
CISSUS = 1.6g, spread out over 3 or 4 doses/day with food
KNOX = At least 1 packet/day

You're throwing the kitchen sink at it Beefer, but it'll all be worth it if you can accelerate wound healing repair both pre (and especially post) surgery.

beefcake66,

fwiw -
don't forget high quality Aloe... it's not just for outer scars anymore...
and
starting a couple weeks into recovery, add in proteolytic enzymes

All the best...

I'm really interested to see how this turns out.

Beefer, I've never seen anyone taking so many repair/recovery items, LOL

yeah Beef, please let us know how it's going ...

also, curious, why no Ecdysterones in your stack?

BrainSquirts wrote:yeah Beef, please let us know how it's going ...

also, curious, why no Ecdysterones in your stack?

Given the research on cartilage repair in joints, this is an excellent question!

https://www.ergo-log.com/ecdysteronejoints.html

I wish I had seen more of these replies before the surgery!

I went under the knife Feb 17. I took my stack for a solid week before i got sick of taking pills.


Re: ecdy - im not sure. I have megaturk here somewhere I should've been taking... I thought MPS would have that covered but I was mistaken.

I'm just over 3 weeks post op now, i'm off the crutches and I've started physio... I'm pretty sure my VM quad muscle has completely shrunk. It's terrible :'( Getting the quads to fire properly is the major focus of the physio at this point.

I'm gonna start popping my supps again... The diet went completely out the window. Definitely lots of undereating and then random binges. Gonna try to follow my plan a little better than I was... gotta get back in the gym. I've been playing with my 15lb dumbbells between matches of video games.. thats the extent of my exercising of late, besides rehab.

beefcake66 wrote:I wish I had seen more of these replies before the surgery!

I went under the knife Feb 17. I took my stack for a solid week before i got sick of taking pills.


Re: ecdy - im not sure. I have megaturk here somewhere I should've been taking... I thought MPS would have that covered but I was mistaken.

I'm just over 3 weeks post op now, i'm off the crutches and I've started physio... I'm pretty sure my VM quad muscle has completely shrunk. It's terrible :'( Getting the quads to fire properly is the major focus of the physio at this point.

I'm gonna start popping my supps again... The diet went completely out the window. Definitely lots of undereating and then random binges. Gonna try to follow my plan a little better than I was... gotta get back in the gym. I've been playing with my 15lb dumbbells between matches of video games.. thats the extent of my exercising of late, besides rehab.

Onward and upward Beefer! With respect to the Ecdy, MPS has you MORE than covered. It's much preferred for virtually every goal vs. Turk, save for increasing your VO2 Max/endurance (boosts red blood cells big time). Full Spectrum RCE's contains MANY ecdysteroids, but most importantly in very specific ratios (referred to as "leveseins", in the former Soviet literature.

On the diet thing, don't sweat it too much. Days of underfeeding following by binges, etc. Look at it like this: You were zig-zagging calories...

beefcake66 wrote:I wish I had seen more of these replies before the surgery!

I went under the knife Feb 17. I took my stack for a solid week before i got sick of taking pills.


Re: ecdy - im not sure. I have megaturk here somewhere I should've been taking... I thought MPS would have that covered but I was mistaken.

I'm just over 3 weeks post op now, i'm off the crutches and I've started physio... I'm pretty sure my VM quad muscle has completely shrunk. It's terrible :'( Getting the quads to fire properly is the major focus of the physio at this point.

I'm gonna start popping my supps again... The diet went completely out the window. Definitely lots of undereating and then random binges. Gonna try to follow my plan a little better than I was... gotta get back in the gym. I've been playing with my 15lb dumbbells between matches of video games.. thats the extent of my exercising of late, besides rehab.

Onward and upward Beefer! With respect to the Ecdy, MPS has you MORE than covered. It's much preferred for virtually every goal vs. Turk, save for increasing your VO2 Max/endurance (boosts red blood cells big time). Full Spectrum RCE's contains MANY ecdysteroids, but most importantly in very specific ratios (referred to as "leveseins", in the former Soviet literature.

On the diet thing, don't sweat it too much. Days of underfeeding following by binges, etc. Look at it like this: You were zig-zagging calories...

RobRegish wrote:On the diet thing, don't sweat it too much. Days of underfeeding following by binges, etc. Look at it like this: You were zig-zagging calories...

This very dieting strategy has worked wonders for me. I use it year round, to mitigate fat gain and to cut. My particular strategy is low cal during the week then lots of calories on the weekend. I take it to extremes, so I don't claim that my version is optimal, but it's sustainable for me. Going on three years now...each year my muscle/bodyfat ratio improves a little bit more than the year before all while only working out 15 min/4 days a week (calisthenics) and enjoying calories on the weekend. I really can't ask for more considering my goals (see my signature).

Beefcake, something to consider once you're all healed up is to incorporate fasting. Longer periods of fasting have proven very beneficial to folks at higher body fat percentages. Two years ago, I was only eating on Tues, Thurs, Sat, & Sun. At higher body fat percentages, the body is willing to sacrifice significantly more fat than muscle, assuming you're taxing the muscle. This worked well for me a few years ago when I was ~30-35lbs heavier. When you eat (all in one meal), you won't be able to compensate for the calorie restriction. Because of this, you'll naturally be in a deficit even though you eat as much as you can (make it healthy). Also, once you're body adapts/detoxes, the initial headaches, lack of energy, and all the things that go along with fasting go away and it actually feels pretty good. Another benefit is that by default you'll be alternating mini-"famines", with protein pulses. The schedule above follows this pattern:

1) Mon - Yank the caloric rug out from under the body (body says, "oh crap!")
2) Tues - Put the rug back (body says "ahhh")
3) Wed - Yank the caloric rug out from under the body (body says "what's going on???")
4) Thurs - Put the rug back (body says "better take advantage of the nutrients")
5) Fri - Yank the caloric rug out from under the body (body says "this fool is nuts!!!")
6) Sat - Put the rug back...lots of carbs (body says "i better ramp up all metabolic processes since this jerk keeps starving me!!!!")
7) Sun - Put the rug back...lots of carbs (body says "that's better, life is good...that jerk must've come to his/her senses")
Mon - Yank the caloric rug out from under the body while the metabolic/leptin momentum is strong like a freakin' juggernaut (body says, "Crap Crap Crap, you've got to be kidding me") while the cycle starts all over.

This really takes advantage of a metabolic "see/saw". The thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to limit the amount of time you spend at a >20% caloric deficit. If you use the blueprint shell, and apply this deficit to the "feast" phase, you'll be covered. Once you lean down, you might want to reduce the fasting periods to keep the muscle/fat loss ratio in check. The leaner you get, the more you're body will be willing to sacrifice muscle.

Suppversity has some good articles on the scientifically proven benefits if you're interested.

I don't claim that my version is optimal, but it's sustainable for me. Going on three years now...each year my muscle/bodyfat ratio improves a little bit more than the year before all while only working out 15 min/4 days a week (calisthenics) and enjoying calories on the weekend.

Right here brother, what I'm pointing out is important. Thicketman has a sustainable diet, which eludes most because they chase perfection. The beauty of a sustainable diet is that you can take more extreme things out for a test drive, but hop back into something that's familiar, ongoing and gets results.

You're to be commended brother...