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Mars' 1st shot at the Blueprint

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:15 pm
by mars88
Hey guys i'm gonna introduce myself here and post some background information. I'm not gonna be starting the blueprint till around the end of may/beginning of june. I just bought the blueprint because of all the hype that was going on bodybuilding forums. The blueprint ran with e-bol and many suggest doing the whole stack ebol,tbol trib,cbol creatine and yes bioforge so that is what i wll be doing. After reading the blueprint i was def confused and had alot of questions but Rob has been great in clearing them up for me and is even going as far as to creating a specific plan for me so that i can fully maximize my potential on my 1st run of the blueprint.

Something interesting is that alot of you guys ive seen run the bp are much bigger than i am and have been lifting for years.. i have actucally been only lifting for 10 months now and im hoping maybe i'll have a chance to realllly excel with this program!

I'm 21 years old, 5'9 currently 140 lbs. I began lifting last june. Back in highschool i was a fatty around 170-180 and lost the weight through cardio+diet but never lifted weights so ended up skinnyfat 120lbs. Stopped doing anything for about 2 years and ended up at 140 lb skinnyfat last june and that's when i started. I wasnt too knowledgable on the subject but throughout the past 10 months i have learned alot and have been putting it to use. I bulked to 170lbs by the end of october which meant i put on way too much fat but my strength went through the roof starting bench of 95lbs to pushing about 205 now with my spotter(he has 2 fingers under the bar).

I've been cutting now for 4 months at the end of march. I'm back down to 140 pounds but the body composistion is entirely different. I'm finishing up my cut at the end of april. Currently on ACTX+LX and finishing 2nd can of animalcuts. Seeing solid strength gains with actx/lx. Will then use actx and mito for april extending the actx cycle for 8 weeks. I will then use may to start upping the calories with lean xtreme and prepare for the blueprint.

My goal for the blueprint is to put on as much lean mass and gain as much strength as possible. I will have 8 weeks worth of bioforge,ebol,tbol trib,cbol creatine. My current split consists of 4-5 days a week training each bodypart twice a week. Something like chest/backtris, shoulders/legs/bis off repeat then 2 more off.

If theres anything else i need to add please let me know so we can come up with a perfect plan for me. I've been using keto for 4 months to cut and will switch to the carb cycling diet that mitotropin provides. Thanks for the help thus far this is going to be a great run when the time comes, getting prepared early as you can see :) The fact that just purchasing the book, and rob is still willing to come up with an entire plan for me is just great. Awesome service and help guys thanks!

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:30 pm
by TURBOFLEX
welcome and best of luck to you bud.... looking forward to following your log in the future

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 4:15 am
by RobRegish
Welcome aboard Mars and you have a robust community pulling for you here so glad to have you..

Now at your bodyweight I have many ideas in mind. LOTS of growth to exploit and in many ways, it speaks to DaCookie's recent experience: He gained 16 solid pounds during his first BP run with a week or two left to go! Start of BP he was 154. As of yesterday he was 170lbs!

I'm going to take this step by step so let's start with the Famine week:

DIET DURING FAMINE


- Your total daily calories for the Famine will be on the order of 1,120. Let's round that up to 1,200 for simplicity's sake. Highly recommend as part of those 1,200 calories you include a freshly juiced drink throughout the day along the lines of the following (use organic ingredients if at all possible):

Carrot + Apple + Celery Juice

4 Carrots
1 Apple
3 Celery Stalks

Juice these fruits in your Juice machine. You can combine equal parts of the 3 juices if you wish but experiment until you find the proportions that suit you best.

Alfalfa and Carrot Juice + Red Peppers

4-5 Carrots
1 cup Alfalfa Sprouts
1 large Red Bell Pepper
Chopped Parsley (optional)

Juice as usual and top with some chopped parsley.

TRAINING DURING FAMINE

For your training, please consider the following:

Monday

Legs, Back and Bi's with 2 minutes of rest between sets, 3 total sets for each movement in the 4-6 rep range. These should be structured as jump sets in the following fashion.

Legs/Back
- Squat OR leg press (feet close, high on platform) supersetted w/seated
cable rows, Tbar rows and lat pulldowns

As you can see, I favor 3 different movements for back. I'm doing so mostly to ensure shoulder health, working across 3 different planes; Horizontal (cable rows), Veritcal (lat pulldowns) and in somewhere between (Tbar rows).

As an added bonus, your brain will be taxed/challenged as the strength curve is modulated differently in each movement.

Biceps
- Biceps should be placed after legs/back.
- I suggest you pick 3 movements, 1 set of each:

Standing barbell curls
Incline dumbell curls
Preacher curls

- 3 total sets with 2 minutes of rest between each. Select a weight that
puts you in the 4-6 rep range

Wednesday

Chest, shoulders and tri's with 1 minute in between sets, 4 total sets for
each movement in the 8-10 rep range. Jump set pairings should be as follows:

Chest/Shoulders

- Wide grip bench press, right into shoulder presses. Either BB, DB or
machine
- Incline presses right into shoulder presses. Either BB, DB or machine
- Decline presses right into shoulder presses. Either BB, DB or machine

- One superset of each, resting 1 minute between sets

Triceps

- Skull crushers/lying tricep extensions right into tricep pressdowns (cable)

4 total sets, resting 1 minute in between sets

Friday

Repeat Monday's workout but with this time with 5 sets and just 30 seconds between sets.

- Select a weight that puts you in the 12-15 rep range.

This is absolutely brutal but it gets us to where we need to be in the specified 5 day timeframe.

Let me know if you have any questions or require further clarification. We now have many, many BP Diehard's mith multiple BP cycles under their belts so I'm sure they'll weigh in to tell you what to expect. It will be difficult but also a necessary and healthy exercise.

In time, you will come to appreciate the mental, physical and even spiritual effects the Famine generates. I'm not going all Zen on anyone but there's a reason every major religion in the world includes fasting as a means of cleansing. It works, it's available to everyone and with respect to adaptogen use is absolutely necessary.

For with no stress to adapt to, adaptogens perform sub-optimally. It logically follows then, that any optimal use paradigm includes a brief state wherein a biological stressor is introduced that disrupts homeostasis. When you're in homeostasis, the anti-catabolic/anabolic mechanisms in your body lay dormant. They need to be "woken up" so to speak.

We accomplish this by creating a caloric and protein deficit, add in radically increasing physical demands and measure via both objective and subjective means to ensure accuracy.

Chief among these are resting heart rate being elevated to a point of 8 beats or more above baseline and Multistix(tm) urinary testing strips for protein breakdown (shows greater and greater amounts of green as you progress deeper into Famine).

These are proof positive what we're doing is working and as others can attest to.... Famine delivers.

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:29 pm
by mars88
After reading more info on this i am getting really excited to starting the blueprint, damn cant wait! Thanks for all the help rob. If i could gain 16 pounds like DaCookie that would be amazing and i feel that its possible for sure at my current bw. Of the 16 pounds he gained.. how much fat did he gain? I really wanna limit fat gains because ive been cutting hard!

On to the famine phase: 1200 calories lol that will be fun! The drink that you speak of is just something i drink throughout the day correct? And then i'd still eat fruits/whatever else to get up to 1200 calories? Or is the drink it? You have 2 options am i supposed to do both or just one?

Now on to the training
Q1.Were doing 4-6 rep range so that would mean the max weight i can lift for 4-6 reps?

Q2(workout 1). The routine would be: Squat 4-6reps then right away seated cable rows. This is 1 set then i rest 2 minutes? Then squat 4-6reps right away with t-bar rows? then 2 minute rest and finally squat 4-6 reps and right away lat pulldowns. 2 minute rest then i go straight to biceps? So basically im squatting 3 sets for legs and each set is supersetted with 1 set of cable rows, tbar rows and lat pulldowns for a total of 3 back sets but 3 different excercices. Then for Biceps simply do 3 sets 3 different excercices so standing barbell curls, incline dumbell curls, preacher curls whatever weight i can do for 4-6 reps with 2 minute rest between each set/excercise. With that said, how do i do an incline dumbell curl? And instead of standing barbell curls could i do standing hammer dumbell curls or should i stick with barbell curls? (very big question haha)

Q3(workout 2). Benchpress 8-10reps then right away seated dumbell shoulder press. Rest 1 minute. Then Incline Dumbell Press for 8-10reps then right away seated dumbell shoulder press. Rest 1 minute. Then Decline Press( Can i do weighted dips here instead?) and right away seated dumbell press. This would then mean 3 dumbell presses sets for shoulders 3 chest excercises but just 1 set of each chest excercise, correct? Take 1 minute rest after my last set of chest/shoulders and go into triceps: Skullcrushers 8-10 reps then right away pulldowns and repeate the same thing for a total of 4 sets of skullcrushers and 4 sets of pulldowns with 1 minute of rest between each superset?

Q4(Workout 3). Ok i see this is the same thing as workout 1 so just instead of 3 sets were doing 5 sets of squats and 5 sets of back so then what would i do? squat followed by seated rows, 30 second rest, squat followed by tbar rows, 30 second rest, squat followed by lat pulldown 30 second rest, then squat followed by seated rows again, 30 sec rest and then squat followed by tbar rows. 30 second rest and go right into biceps. Which means we have 3 excercices 3 sets and repeat 2 of those excercices for 2 mroe sets making it a total of 5 sets, is that correct? And just to be correct the weight is decreasing each workout since first workout i do whatever for 4-6 reps, then decrease weight to be able to do it for 8-10 and finally decrease some more to do 12-15?

I know im being very specific here but i just wanna be 100% sure and 100% ready for this run when i begin,(spending at least 300$ for the supps so gotta take advantage of it ) truly wanna take my physique to the next level. And in regards to diet then how much protein do i want per day? Do i limit it to pretty much nothing? Could my diet be something like: Breakfast some sort of kiddie cereal like corn pops or special k with milk? then lunch a few appels dinner a few bananans and snack a granloa bar or whatever? So basically just carbs and no fat no protein to make up 1200 calories?

And Then i'd begin my supps during the FEAST phase and i see some people are running the entire stack of bio/e/t/c but you had recommend i just run e and t and save the bio and c for later.. wouldnt it better to run all 4 right away during the feast? Esp because i saw you said its good to add creatine as well which would be the cbol creatine. The protein i'll be using is myofusions for feast whiich is ok right? And for bcaa's just some sort of bulk powder or maybe even xtend? Never supplemented with bcaas before jsut whatever is in myofusion/ ON gold standard, did take sizeon once during workouts. Could i order it from bodybuildingsupplements.com what would be the cheapest most effect bcaa powder on bodybuildingsupplements.com?

and finally 1 more question. Its for my current bench press and current training. I do 3 sets 1st set is 135x10 warmup then 185x8 205x6. My spotter has 2 fingers under the bar for the final 2 sets. I notice when he doesnt have his fingers there its harder, what should i do? Decrease weight and bench without his fingers under bar or is that okay to continue what im doing?

Alot of questions i know sorry about that but thanks for all your help Rob!

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:10 pm
by RobRegish
OK here we go!

Q. Of the 16 pounds he gained.. how much fat did he gain? I really wanna limit fat gains because ive been cutting hard!

A. Unclear but from his posts, the VAST majority of it was muscle tissue. His lifts validate this as well..

Q. The drink that you speak of is just something i drink throughout the day correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And then i'd still eat fruits/whatever else to get up to 1200 calories? Or is the drink it? You have 2 options am i supposed to do both or just one?

A. Yes, the difference is made up else where in your diet. Total = 1,200K for the day. Pick one of the two drinks. You could use both, but easier for the 5 days to use just one. That's my preference..


Q1.Were doing 4-6 rep range so that would mean the max weight i can lift for 4-6 reps?

A. Yes. Some experimentation might be needed but you will find it..

Q2(workout 1). The routine would be: Squat 4-6reps then right away seated cable rows. This is 1 set then i rest 2 minutes?

A. Correct

Q. Then squat 4-6reps right away with t-bar rows?

A. Correct.

Q/ then 2 minute rest and finally squat 4-6 reps and right away lat pulldowns. 2 minute rest then i go straight to biceps?

A. Correct. A brief pause before biceps is acceptable for setup, etc.

Q. So basically im squatting 3 sets for legs and each set is supersetted with 1 set of cable rows, tbar rows and lat pulldowns for a total of 3 back sets but 3 different excercices. Then for Biceps simply do 3 sets 3 different excercices so standing barbell curls, incline dumbell curls, preacher curls whatever weight i can do for 4-6 reps with 2 minute rest between each set/excercise. With that said, how do i do an incline dumbell curl?

A. Lay back on the bench. Curls the weight up to shoulder. You may either twist it or do it in hammer curl fashion. I favor the hammer.

Q. And instead of standing barbell curls could i do standing hammer dumbell curls or should i stick with barbell curls? (very big question haha)

A. Either is acceptable.

Q3(workout 2). Benchpress 8-10reps then right away seated dumbell shoulder press. Rest 1 minute. Then Incline Dumbell Press for 8-10reps then right away seated dumbell shoulder press. Rest 1 minute. Then Decline Press( Can i do weighted dips here instead?) and right away seated dumbell press. This would then mean 3 dumbell presses sets for shoulders 3 chest excercises but just 1 set of each chest excercise, correct?

A. Correct. Do try to use DB's for the shoulders.

Q. Take 1 minute rest after my last set of chest/shoulders and go into triceps: Skullcrushers 8-10 reps then right away pulldowns and repeate the same thing for a total of 4 sets of skullcrushers and 4 sets of pulldowns with 1 minute of rest between each superset?

A. Correct.

Q4(Workout 3). Ok i see this is the same thing as workout 1 so just instead of 3 sets were doing 5 sets of squats and 5 sets of back so then what would i do? squat followed by seated rows, 30 second rest, squat followed by tbar rows, 30 second rest, squat followed by lat pulldown 30 second rest, then squat followed by seated rows again, 30 sec rest and then squat followed by tbar rows. 30 second rest and go right into biceps. Which means we have 3 excercices 3 sets and repeat 2 of those excercices for 2 mroe sets making it a total of 5 sets, is that correct?

A. Correct.

Q. And just to be correct the weight is decreasing each workout since first workout i do whatever for 4-6 reps, then decrease weight to be able to do it for 8-10 and finally decrease some more to do 12-15?

A. Correct

Q. I know im being very specific here but i just wanna be 100% sure and 100% ready for this run when i begin,(spending at least 300$ for the supps so gotta take advantage of it ) truly wanna take my physique to the next level. And in regards to diet then how much protein do i want per day? Do i limit it to pretty much nothing? Could my diet be something like: Breakfast some sort of kiddie cereal like corn pops or special k with milk? then lunch a few appels dinner a few bananans and snack a granloa bar or whatever? So basically just carbs and no fat no protein to make up 1200 calories?

A. Largely correct. Suggest 50g or under for protein during this time.

Q. And Then i'd begin my supps during the FEAST phase and i see some people are running the entire stack of bio/e/t/c but you had recommend i just run e and t and save the bio and c for later.. wouldnt it better to run all 4 right away during the feast?

A. No. I favor prudent, logical use of nutraceuticals to ensure variables are limited during this time for evaluation reasons. There is a time and a place and BF/C will serve you well during transition to cruise/solification phase. Plus, too much money in my book. I'm big into saving money :)

Q. Esp because i saw you said its good to add creatine as well which would be the cbol creatine. The protein i'll be using is myofusions for feast whiich is ok right?

A. Myofusion is fine.

Q. And for bcaa's just some sort of bulk powder or maybe even xtend? Never supplemented with bcaas before jsut whatever is in myofusion/ ON gold standard, did take sizeon once during workouts. Could i order it from bodybuildingsupplements.com what would be the cheapest most effect bcaa powder on bodybuildingsupplements.com?

A. Either is acceptable Best to either buy in bulk or if looking for a primo formula look into MassPro Amino. I'm not sure exactly what formula they're using but it's top notch. I'll be expanding further about this in 3.0.

Q. and finally 1 more question. Its for my current bench press and current training. I do 3 sets 1st set is 135x10 warmup then 185x8 205x6. My spotter has 2 fingers under the bar for the final 2 sets. I notice when he doesnt have his fingers there its harder, what should i do? Decrease weight and bench without his fingers under bar or is that okay to continue what im doing?

A. Definately drop the finer assist. Even a slight amount of assistance skews your results. It's been said a million times and it's true... if you're max is 200lbs then 201 is way too much. It might as well be 301. It has to be you and only you..

Alot of questions i know sorry about that but thanks for all your help Rob

A. It is my priviledge and pleasure :)

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:20 pm
by mars88
Great that clears everything up! Thanks so now i know what to do for the famine phase. Whats next? In regards to the 1200 calories can i just eat cereal and fruits all day?

And to be clear so its only 3 workouts for Phase 1 which lasts a total of 5 days of famine?

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:59 am
by RobRegish
What's next after Famine is the big payoff... Feast.

Let's stay focused though. As anyone here can tell you, first time out Famine is a lot to handle. You need every ounce of physical/mental energy and determination to make it through.

Once we're done with that, I'll walk you through the Feast. Now, on the remaining 1,200 calories you'll be consuming. Fruit is OK, cereal really isn't. I've become a big fan of organic fruits, veggies and food as a whole

Here's a tip that'll help. It cooks fast, is loaded with super high quality carbs, lots of fiber (important in keeping you full) and other goodies:

Quiona

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 1,539 kJ (368 kcal)
Carbohydrates 64 g
Starch 52 g
Dietary fibre 7 g
Fat 6 g
polyunsaturated 3.3 g
Protein 14 g
Water 13
Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.36 mg (28%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.32 mg (21%)
Vitamin B6 0.5 mg (38%)
Folate (Vit. B9) 184 μg (46%)
Vitamin E 2.4 mg (16%)
Iron 4.6 mg (37%)
Magnesium 197 mg (53%)
Phosphorus 457 mg (65%)
Zinc 3.1 mg (31%)

Just look at that macro and especially micro-nutrient profile! Mother nature did a fine job with ths one. You should thank her.

I highlight protein content here b/c as we all know, it's a no-no during Famine. Still, 2 servings of this a day is HIGHLY recommended and you'd be obtaining just 28g of protein, 736 calories )or more than half your allowance). Loaded, absolutely loaded from a nutrient/calorie ratio.

Best to add chicken broth/chicken stock or one of the McCormick seasonings to it.

"Power Grain" doesn't begin to describe it. Speaking of which, POWER is what it'll give you during Feast, too. Quiona is so powerful its being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights!

Reference:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi. ... 015664.pdf

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:01 pm
by mars88
Sounds good i will look into getting that for sure. I can't wait for my run at this! I know im being repetitve about this but just wanted to clarify, i see that in turboflex log he is running the entire stack i think its bet.. but with me you suggest i run the bioforge and cbol creatine in the cruise phase instead of with tbol trib and e-bol. Is this because you think at my bw i have a chance to add even more size throughout the cruise phase with the addition of bioforge and cbol creatine?

And to check waking heart rate i can do that by checking my pulse at my neck, right?

Also tomorrow will be my chest/back/tri day so im going to start benching without that finger assist.. sadly i think im goign to be shocked at how much this is going to change my lift :( Ive been doing 185 and 205 as my 2nd and 3rd and set and my spotter would always say he doesnt help but has his fingers there.. we'll see how much that is going to change.. i dont even know if ill hit 185 anymore :(

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:06 pm
by mars88
oh and rob i have a couple questions not in regards to the blueprint but hopefully you can help me out.. its with my current cutting plan. Ive been using the keto diet to cut for 4 months and have went from 16-18 bf to 12-13 and currently on activate xtreme+lean xtreme combo. Lean Xtreme is 4 weeks on 4 weeks off but the activate can be used for 8 straight. I've ran 2 cans of animalcuts today is my last day of ac. I will then finish the remaining 2 weeks of lean and activate and then continue activate xtreme 2nd bottle for another 4 weeks stacked with mitotropin. After 4 weeks of mito i will run lean xtreme for 4 weeks which will be in may. My question is should i use the diet mitotrpin provides which i believe is a carb cycling one or stick with keto? And originally the plan was to use lean xtreme in may to start upping my calories and get ready for my clean bulk which will be with the blueprint of course so should i do that? i guess lean xtreme 4 weeks in may then take a week off training then start famine?

Also i read somewhere i think your not fond of LISS? Is jogging at say a speed of 5 on a treadmill sufficient? And for the famine phase can i do cardio?

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:14 pm
by RobRegish
OK Mars, here we go with round 1:

Q. Sounds good i will look into getting that for sure. I can't wait for my run at this! I know im being repetitve about this but just wanted to clarify, i see that in turboflex log he is running the entire stack i think its bet.. but with me you suggest i run the bioforge and cbol creatine in the cruise phase instead of with tbol trib and e-bol. Is this because you think at my bw i have a chance to add even more size throughout the cruise phase with the addition of bioforge and cbol creatine?

A. I stagger them this way for a # of reasons. First, tbol trib and BF accomplish much the same thing (increased test/free test) albeit via different mechanisms. Duplicative IMO. Second, creatine as in cbol creatine is more beneficial to a total tonnage scheme as seen in 5x5 training and will do you the most good positioned there. Finally, it'll be a good way for you to evaluate the relative merit of those combinations. I have every confidence you will continue to gain in the cruise/maintenance stage. It's happenening now with regularity...

Q. And to check waking heart rate i can do that by checking my pulse at my neck, right?

A. You could, but I find the wrist is best especially if using a stopwatch. Better still is an automatic blood pressure cuff. Calculates it for you :)

Also tomorrow will be my chest/back/tri day so im going to start benching without that finger assist.. sadly i think im goign to be shocked at how much this is going to change my lift Ive been doing 185 and 205 as my 2nd and 3rd and set and my spotter would always say he doesnt help but has his fingers there.. we'll see how much that is going to change.. i dont even know if ill hit 185 anymore

A. Don't be too distraught. You're doing the right thing and who knows, you might surprise yourself. Besides, whatever it is you achieve in terms of a 1RM is going to be a distant memory :)

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:25 pm
by RobRegish
And here we go with round 2:

Q. oh and rob i have a couple questions not in regards to the blueprint but hopefully you can help me out.. its with my current cutting plan. Ive been using the keto diet to cut for 4 months and have went from 16-18 bf to 12-13 and currently on activate xtreme+lean xtreme combo. Lean Xtreme is 4 weeks on 4 weeks off but the activate can be used for 8 straight. I've ran 2 cans of animalcuts today is my last day of ac. I will then finish the remaining 2 weeks of lean and activate and then continue activate xtreme 2nd bottle for another 4 weeks stacked with mitotropin. After 4 weeks of mito i will run lean xtreme for 4 weeks which will be in may. My question is should i use the diet mitotrpin provides which i believe is a carb cycling one or stick with keto?

A. I haven't seen the Mitotropin diet but I favor carb cycling over straight keto every day. Suggest heavy carb loading peri-workout on the order of 1g of waxy maize/karbolyn per pound of bodyweight. Doing so will ensure virtually all of the carbs are used for fuel/stored as glycogen and you'll re-establish ketosis rather quickly. I've found that if you've been on a keto diet for any length of time it becomes very forgiving. It takes a solid 48+ hours of carb re-feeds to get me OUT of ketosis. Certainly carbs peri-workout (especially of this nature and at this time) won't hurt you.

Q. And originally the plan was to use lean xtreme in may to start upping my calories and get ready for my clean bulk which will be with the blueprint of course so should i do that? i guess lean xtreme 4 weeks in may then take a week off training then start famine?

A. This is logical, but I'd like to point something out. Virtually any diet (keto or otherwise) will fail with time given a set caloric intake. The body will auto-regulate metabolism to downshift in order to match energy intake. There's that adaptation again. Suggest rotating 100% of maintenance days (training days) with 70% of maintenance on non-training days.

For your BP run, we'll switch to 100% of maintenance on non-training days and 120% of maintenance on training days... depending upon whether or not you continue to do keto.

Doing so will prevent your metabolism from downshifting and fat loss plateuing.

Q. Also i read somewhere i think your not fond of LISS? Is jogging at say a speed of 5 on a treadmill sufficient? And for the famine phase can i do cardio?

A. Not a fan of steady state cardio, no. Big fan of HIIT type cardio in a fasted state (before breakfast, let's say). Doing so will burn the same amount of calories, but the key is where those calories come from. Given a metabolism that oxidizes fats efficients (keto diet) and in the absence of any glucose, the percentage of calories burned from fat will be much higher in this state.

You may do cardio during famine, yes. If LISS cardio is to be used, I'd place it here. You'll need the break from high intensity anything. Trust me on that one... :)

The fat loss supps you have are fine and good products. There is thought behind them etc.. BUT, any fat burning effect derived from them is marginal vs. total caloric intake, macronutrient breakouts and of course your training. You can liberalize all of the fats you'd like but without an energy deficit or greater energy demand, they won't be oxidized.

My strategy addresses both.

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:56 pm
by mars88
As alway quick and efficient with the answers, you are a bodybuilding god! Thanks for the help again. I'm not too sure what you mean tho in regards to " This is logical, but I'd like to point something out. Virtually any diet (keto or otherwise) will fail with time given a set caloric intake. The body will auto-regulate metabolism to downshift in order to match energy intake. There's that adaptation again. Suggest rotating 100% of maintenance days (training days) with 70% of maintenance on non-training days. "

And for the blueprint i will not be using keto, will do a standard 40/40/20 split because i miss my carbs! And i understand now what your saying about the sups and the use of it so lets make this happen. I'm really excited.. 2 more months dammit! Would it be possible that at the end of the blueprint i could be in the 165-170 lb range with minimal fat gain or is that too high of an expectation?

And i notice that at the beinning of the feast alot of people are eating esentially whatever they want, how forgiving is the blueprint when it comes to that in terms of fat gain.. i have had a very few amount of cheat meals during my 4 month cut and so im wondering how my diet would be in terms of cleanness during the blueprint. Would i be able ot have cheat meals or should it still be clean?

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:58 pm
by RobRegish
Thanks!

Q. I'm not too sure what you mean tho in regards to " This is logical, but I'd like to point something out. Virtually any diet (keto or otherwise) will fail with time given a set caloric intake. The body will auto-regulate metabolism to downshift in order to match energy intake. There's that adaptation again. Suggest rotating 100% of maintenance days (training days) with 70% of maintenance on non-training days. "

A. I was speaking to "the plan was to use lean xtreme in may to start upping my calories and get ready for my clean bulk which will be with the blueprint of course so should i do that? i guess lean xtreme 4 weeks in may then take a week off training then start famine?" - Hope that clarifies.

My zig-zagging of caloric intake answer was with respect to any diet, as I was unsure about what Mitotropin was advocating. Hopefully, Gaspari and company took that into consideration. I'd be interested in seeing it if you wouldn't mind. If it's really long, maybe just some bullet points?

Q. And for the blueprint i will not be using keto, will do a standard 40/40/20 split because i miss my carbs! And i understand now what your saying about the sups and the use of it so lets make this happen. I'm really excited.. 2 more months dammit! Would it be possible that at the end of the blueprint i could be in the 165-170 lb range with minimal fat gain or is that too high of an expectation?

A. Entirely possible, yes. Much of this depends upon how much of a bounce you'll get from the additional carb intake. Of that 40% carb mix, I'd suggest the majority come from Quiona (see my post in the diet section title "Quiona - Your new best friend" and Waxy Maize starch in your shakes.

Both of these will go a long way toward adding the quality carbs needed to fuel your workouts, spare the protein to build muscle and do so with a minimal amount of water retention or "bloat" so common when re-introducing carbs.

Q. And i notice that at the beinning of the feast alot of people are eating esentially whatever they want, how forgiving is the blueprint when it comes to that in terms of fat gain? i have had a very few amount of cheat meals during my 4 month cut and so im wondering how my diet would be in terms of cleanness during the blueprint. Would i be able ot have cheat meals or should it still be clean?

A. I would suggest introducing one cheat meal a week to assess tolerance. To further mitigate any spillover, suggest placing that meal an hour or so post workout.

How forgiving is the Blueprint in terms of fat gain? Pretty darn forgiving the first 3 weeks. It seems enzyme turnover doesn't catch up to you until the 4th, provided calories aren't above 125% of maintenance levels. Over-feeding above that level will find enzyme turnover rate accelerating.

Additional strategies you may want to consider are the descending caloric spiral. Briefly, the first two weeks find you over-feeding pretty heavily.. around 20 x bodyweight. The next two you'd bring it down to 15 x bodyweight or so and the final two weeks you'd dip into the 10/12 x bodyweight area. Doing so keeps pace with the enzyme turnover and respects the body's adaptation curve.

And I appreciate the bodybuilding god note. The truth is, we were all given gifts and we're expected to share those gifts with others.

My gift was obsessive compulsive disorder :)

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:25 pm
by mars88
Oh i will def post up the mitotropin diet when it arrives, ive ordered it so it should take a week or so to get here. I will def get quinoa and add it to my shakes, havent read the thread yet but im assuming this is for the feast and famine phase right.

Im loving the answer on fat gain! As i learned through my first bulk that i gained too much fat this is good to know. I am sure together we will truly make this is a great run. With your knowledge and constant step by step help and plan i will destroy the weights!

Lol at the ocd!

I just put together some pics since i started training. Here it is Image

The caption is too small so basically: 1st pic is me 140 lbs last june 2009 right when i began lifting, clearly skinnyfat! 2nd pic is me at 170 lbs end of november and a bad bulk but strength went up nicely. 3rd pic is 2 months of cutting 1st day of animalcuts. 4th pic is end of 1st can of animalcuts. 5th pic is end of 2nd can of animalcuts stacked with lean xtreme and activate xtreme. The 5th pic is my current pic how i look now at 139 pounds. I still got 2 weeks left of actx+lx. So in 10 months ive gone from 140 pounds to 139 pounds and look completely different and with strength going up through the roof! What do you think rob? Criticism will be highly apprecicated and feedback!