Getting Healthy

I initially wanted to make a vlog about this since I think it's a really important and overlooked topic, but I haven't had much time in front of a camera lately, so this will have to do.

The fitness industry has become so wrapped up in gimmicks, politics, recognition, and gossip that it is starting to overshadow what fitness should really be about: health.

I absolutely do not think that fitness and health are synonymous. In order to look good or to be strong, competitive individuals use terribly unhealthy tactics to give them an edge over their competition: drugs, starvation, dehydration, risk of bodily injury, you name it. Just look at what happened to Brandon Lilly at the American Cup this last weekend. In laymans' terms, he snapped all his shit up!

Now I had always thought I was taking the healthier route in terms of fitness. I was eating well, resting well, and being cautious with my training. What I couldn't figure out is why I always felt terrible, bloated, tired, and was gaining weight so rapidly during my powerlifting training. Some weight gain was to be expected, but I know my body and I recognized something was off.

After a few lab tests and vague advice from my doctor, "You're eating 200 grams of protein a day?! Reduce that to 50 grams and you'll be okay!" Doc, do you even athlete? Anyway... I needed real help.

I was lucky enough to have someone around who had experience in the industry. We watched my diet, tweaked things around, and started using natural supplements to get things functioning again. I severely decreased my caffeine intake, increased my water, and am finally feeling healthy again. I'm able to eat more, move more, and still get leaner as the weeks go by because my body is becoming more and more functional and efficient.

It's very easy to overlook your bad habits when you're the only person monitoring yourself. I had never known the true value of having good coaching until these last few months. The help I've been getting with both my nutrition as well as my training has been invaluable to me, and I recommend that anyone who is serious about getting healthy and fit, and becoming a well rounded athlete gets the help they deserve.

Until next time.

Bathroom Swolfie

Reverse Dieting Bullshit

About a month ago I wrote about my peeves regarding the use of the phrase "metabolic damage," which leads me into my peeves with the overuse of this new popular phrase, "reverse dieting."

Reverse dieting is the phrase coined to define the process of slowly increasing caloric consumption after a period of dieting so as not to rebound and gain a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time (yo-yo) post-competition. Some gurus recommend an increase of roughly 20 Calories a week so that the body can adjust to the energy increase, and so the least amount of weight is gained in the process of going back to eating at maintenance. In a sense, it is considered a "solution" to metabolic damage. Bleghk.

There are so many issues with these concepts that I don't even know where to begin.

First off -- If you are consuming 1400 Calories the week before you step on stage, and your maintenance is 2000 Calories, and you were to follow this guru advice and add in 20 calories each week, it would take you 30 weeks or 7 and a half months to get back up to maintenance calories. This means that you would still be at a deficit for almost 8 months post-competition. I don't know if this seems realistic to any of you, but I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a deficit for the course of an entire year: 3-4 months prep, 7-8 months post-comp, no thank you.

Second -- 20 calories is a whopping 5 grams of protein or carbs, or a little over 2 grams of fat. Even the most meticulous dieters often don't control their diets to that degree, especially post-competition.

OMG, five extra pieces of broccoli?! Yayyyy. 

Third -- Your training post-competition is so different from prep, that this minor caloric increase wouldn't make much of tangible difference. How can someone advise changes in nutrition based off of a training protocol that's not even being implemented post-comp?

Lastly -- Rebounding from a competition isn't even that big of a deal. Most of it is water weight and bloat, and easily comes off once the dieter is eating at maintenance again. Nobody stays competition lean unless they're following a competition diet. That's how it works. You can't stay lean on a diet that doesn't make you lean. You will look the way you eat and train.

In my opinion, all these fancy new bullshit terms are there to scare people into thinking they need more help than they really do. You're not going to die from binging a day or two after your competition (as far as I know, but I'm not a doctor so don't blame me if you suffer from a heart attack post-comp after binging on donuts and ice cream). Just enjoy yourself, take some time off, eat normally, then get right back into the swing of things once you feel mentally and physically ready. Don't go off and diet more after you just got finished dieting, that's just stupid. Our bodies and minds need a break!

A competitor doesn't build their body in a few days, and won't destroy it in a few days, either. As with all things, you need time and consistency to achieve your goals. Just stick with it and stop over-complicating things.

Metabolic Damage Bullshit.

People hate to admit that they are painfully average. Everywhere you look, people are complaining of “metabolic damage” or blaming their genetics for being under or overweight.

Yeah, there are outliers, but statistically speaking, most people are average. And this is because… that’s how statistics work. They base scientific research on averages, because well, a scientist would want the average person to be able to use and apply their research. Right?

So it’s not bad to be average, it’s actually really damn good; it gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the information that is out there, and to apply data that has taken years to collect. That’s great!

So what is the deal with these stories about metabolic damage or horrible genetics?

Well, for one thing, people don’t know a damn thing about how their own bodies work. Most people who are thin do NOT have “naturally” fast metabolisms. They either are highly active, don’t eat very much at all, or both.

The opposite goes for the chunkier folks. They are either highly sedentary, eat way too much for their frame, or usually both.

Many competitors, whether in powerlifting or bodybuilding, are also grossly unaware of how bodies and metabolisms work. Someone who is 300lbs is obviously going to require more calories than someone who weighs only 250lbs. So if you lose 50lbs and you hit a plateau on a “deficit,” it is not because you are experiencing “metabolic damage,” but that your body simply requires significantly less calories because it is composed of significantly less mass. This is why diets need to be tweaked every few weeks; if you’re making progress and you are leaning out, you will start to need less and less calories. That’s how bodies work.

That’s not to say that metabolic damage doesn’t exist; I’m not qualified to make those claims. I’m just saying that people need to stop trying to find reasons for why they aren’t getting results, and get up and work their asses off instead.

Next up: Reverse dieting bullshit. Stay tuned.

Hate to break it to you.