I’ll have another Q&A up soon, but I figure I’d drop by real quick and link some worthwhile reading and listening material.
- Ryan Zielonka writes about his experience with my RPT system.
“Intelligent HIT – the kind promulgated by Martin, at least – keeps volume to a minimum. Major movements are trained infrequently. Martin has taken his cues from guys like Arthur Jones and Stuart McRobert, altering the workout week to an extended 8-day schedule and emphasizing progressive overload over volume.
…”For the past four weeks I was in the gym three times every eight days. My bench press improved by 30lbs for five reps. My deadlift improved dramatically, over 80lbs for four reps. Back squat didn’t move as much as I would have liked, from four to six reps with a 15lb increase in weight.
Ryan
Some pretty solid gains. I’ve been getting e-mails from people that tried my template from The Minimalist, reporting similar increases – the most notable being +160 lbs deads, +120 lbs squats and +75 lbs bench over 100 days (10 x 10-day cycles).
- In the trenches with Alan Aragon. Alan talks some sense on various issues. There’s a brief discussion related to intermittent fasting.
- The Energy Balance Equation
For example, people will point out that replacing carbs with protein leads to greater weight loss although they have the same calories; ergo the equation is wrong. What they fail to realize is that protein has a higher thermogenic effect and this modifies the TEF value of the equation; the energy OUT side of the equation changes if you replace carbs with protein.
Lyle
Let me talk about that last part for a minute. A new study recently came out where it was shown that increasing protein from 12% to 30% lead to an approximate increase of 75 kcal/day at the same total calorie intake (1). A researcher named Livesey proposed that the impact of 1 gram protein on your metabolism is about 3,25 kcal, and not 4 kcal (2).
Back in 2004, I came across Livesey’s findings and created a diet called The Thermogenic Diet (4) – basically, a very high protein, moderate fat, low carb TKD (3). It’s not very different from PSMF, but more liberal when it comes intake. I released it as an article on one of the swedish forums, where it became an instant hit, and still is. Among the many people that have used it with great success is natural bodybuilder and client of mine Andreaz Engström
Keep protein high, and you will lose fat at a higher calorie intake than on any other macronutrient combination. What’s the point of this rambling? Not much, except serving as a reminder for you to eat your protein when dieting. A lot. Keeping protein high is a given; carb and fat intake is much more dependent on your personal preferences, and should be treated accordingly.
- Veldhorst, et al. Gluconeogenesis and energy expenditure after a high-protein, carbohydrate-free diet. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul 29.
- Livesey. Metabolizable energy of macronutrients. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Nov;62(5 Suppl):1135S-1142S. See this post for more (“Q: Why is protein kept so high on rest days?”)
- TKD – Targeted Ketogenic Diet (except with the Thermogenic Diet you’d not hit ketosis due to protein being so high)
- There is no english translation available, but maybe I’ll look into that if enough people are interested in reading it.
