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Here are a few things I have learned that I thought were worth sharing.
Everything here I have actually tried by implementing on myself and here is what I learned in the process.
1. Shoulder Pressing
For 12 months I did nothing for my shoulders except lateral raises of all kinds; heavy partials, one arm 45 degrees, regular 2 arm, high rep, low rep, mixed reps etc..
Lesson: Within 3 months of pressing again my delts have exploded and in particular my medial delt so now I am convinced nothing can replace presses for delt size. Tell yourself your shoulders are nice and capped all you want (I did the same) then start pressing again and see what happens.
2. Diet
Followed a carb timing diet for years (carbs only pre,intra,post) and got some good results
Lesson: It wasn’t until I started eating the same macros for each meal that the real results came. I don’t know why as macros and calories were the same in both approaches however I noticed a big difference in fullness, strength and performance. Also my digestion has improved a lot which I personally thought would go the other way. Recovery has been the same with both approaches and its easier now to just make meals based on my set macros.
As a side note I have always been afraid of carbs and been all about HIGH PROTEIN but now I look the best and feel the best in terms of digestion, performance and fullness on what I would consider a HIGH CARB diet – 25% Protein – 20% Fat – 55% Carbs.
3. Intra Workout Drinks
Tried every combination of intra workout drink and they DO make a difference in recovery and performance and in soreness i.e. without the intra drink I feel sore for another 24-36 hours after as opposed to when I have one.
Lesson: I will list in order of BEST to WORST in terms of recovery, pump, performance etc (cost and taste not really being factors for me)
PeptoPro + Glycofuse (BY FAR THE BEST FOR RECOVERY AND PERFORMANCE HANDS DOWN!!)
PeptoPro + Powerade
Casein Hydrolysate + Glycofuse
Whey Hydrolysate + Glycofuse
EAA + Gycofuse
EAA + Powerade
PeptoPro is superior to all proteins for this. Argue all you want about EAA’s being the same etc but they aren’t when you aren’t worried about costs and about getting the best product.
4. Meal Frequency
During cutting diet was eating 4 meals per day (spaced 4-5 hours apart) with a set number of macros per day then I hit a plateu in fat loss
Lesson: I spread the exact same macros over 5 meals (eating every 3.5-4.5 hours) and fat loss began again at 0.5kg per week. After 4 weeks it stalled again and I started eating every 3 hours and it gave me another 5 weeks of fat loss at the same macros of another 0.5kg per week. Not sure if meal frequency matters when bulking but during a cut it seems to have given me another 9 weeks fat loss without dropping food any lower.
5. Red Meat
I am a big red meat eater (grass fed only) but went 4 weeks without heaving any red meat so my main protein sources were chicken, eggs, egg whites and some tuna here and there.
Lesson: If I had to choose between every supplement available on the market and red meat, the meat would WIN with no contest. As soon as I started eating red meat again (specifically beef that I eat 3 times a day) my strength went up, I felt better and it was easier to gain muscle with all calories being equal.
That’s all for now, next lessons learned will be about training.
Everything here I have actually tried by implementing on myself and here is what I learned in the process.
1. Shoulder Pressing
For 12 months I did nothing for my shoulders except lateral raises of all kinds; heavy partials, one arm 45 degrees, regular 2 arm, high rep, low rep, mixed reps etc..
Lesson: Within 3 months of pressing again my delts have exploded and in particular my medial delt so now I am convinced nothing can replace presses for delt size. Tell yourself your shoulders are nice and capped all you want (I did the same) then start pressing again and see what happens.
2. Diet
Followed a carb timing diet for years (carbs only pre,intra,post) and got some good results
Lesson: It wasn’t until I started eating the same macros for each meal that the real results came. I don’t know why as macros and calories were the same in both approaches however I noticed a big difference in fullness, strength and performance. Also my digestion has improved a lot which I personally thought would go the other way. Recovery has been the same with both approaches and its easier now to just make meals based on my set macros.
As a side note I have always been afraid of carbs and been all about HIGH PROTEIN but now I look the best and feel the best in terms of digestion, performance and fullness on what I would consider a HIGH CARB diet – 25% Protein – 20% Fat – 55% Carbs.
3. Intra Workout Drinks
Tried every combination of intra workout drink and they DO make a difference in recovery and performance and in soreness i.e. without the intra drink I feel sore for another 24-36 hours after as opposed to when I have one.
Lesson: I will list in order of BEST to WORST in terms of recovery, pump, performance etc (cost and taste not really being factors for me)
PeptoPro + Glycofuse (BY FAR THE BEST FOR RECOVERY AND PERFORMANCE HANDS DOWN!!)
PeptoPro + Powerade
Casein Hydrolysate + Glycofuse
Whey Hydrolysate + Glycofuse
EAA + Gycofuse
EAA + Powerade
PeptoPro is superior to all proteins for this. Argue all you want about EAA’s being the same etc but they aren’t when you aren’t worried about costs and about getting the best product.
4. Meal Frequency
During cutting diet was eating 4 meals per day (spaced 4-5 hours apart) with a set number of macros per day then I hit a plateu in fat loss
Lesson: I spread the exact same macros over 5 meals (eating every 3.5-4.5 hours) and fat loss began again at 0.5kg per week. After 4 weeks it stalled again and I started eating every 3 hours and it gave me another 5 weeks of fat loss at the same macros of another 0.5kg per week. Not sure if meal frequency matters when bulking but during a cut it seems to have given me another 9 weeks fat loss without dropping food any lower.
5. Red Meat
I am a big red meat eater (grass fed only) but went 4 weeks without heaving any red meat so my main protein sources were chicken, eggs, egg whites and some tuna here and there.
Lesson: If I had to choose between every supplement available on the market and red meat, the meat would WIN with no contest. As soon as I started eating red meat again (specifically beef that I eat 3 times a day) my strength went up, I felt better and it was easier to gain muscle with all calories being equal.
That’s all for now, next lessons learned will be about training.
