Haven’t had the success you thought using commercial diet/training methods?
Latest Update: 20th Jan 2013
.Do you look the same you did six months ago?
Perhaps you’ve just stumbled upon this without wasting your time on that stuff before. Either way, welcome.
I’ve tried to keep this guide simple and to the point, but with enough detail so that you can do it yourself.
If you follow the advice here, you’ll be able to look like an athlete, but without all the training that athletes have to endure. I’m not going to pretend that this is the answer, but I honestly believe it’s the simplest for 95% of people.
I’ve included a lot of useful links in here, to inspire you, so you can connect to a world of ordinary people that are using the system and having great success themselves, and to make you realise that you can do it too.
Are you going to keep ‘spinning your wheels’ or dare to try something new?
Are you thinking you can’t do this? Have a quick look at the results page. Don’t read it, just look through. For every one you see there are 100 times more scattered throughout the internet. These are regular people that decided they would do something, rather than complain about genetics or some other excuse. There are no more excuses, all the information is right here, right now. Stop reading right now and click. Self belief is important.
Body-recomposition is 70% diet, 30% training. Put your efforts in that ratio for results.
So your first thoughts are, “Shut up Andy, how do I get to the training section?” You have already lost. You can go ahead and click on the ‘Training’ tab underneath the banner and find it there. Bear in mind it is this exact thinking, the stress on training over diet, that has stopped you seeing the changes you have been working for these last 6 months.
Allow me to hammer this point home with an image.
This man trains once every 3 days, for less than an hour, with no cardio. He is natural, doesn’t use fancy supplements, and used to be fat and flabby himself.
His name is Martin Berkhan and is the founder of the diet system I introduce in this guide.
The Diet
Dieting generally isn’t very fun, but by reducing meal frequency it’s possible to still feel full and satisfied most of the time and yet lose weight. I have more clients complain about being too full than too hungry – a nice problem to have considering we’re supposed to be ‘dieting’. There’s comments all over the site confirming how little hunger is a problem using this method.
The ‘Leangains‘ method of Intermittent Fasting (I.F.) is a hassle-free way to get ripped quick and you can basically think of it as
- Purposefully skipping breakfast.
- Eating more food when your body needs it:
- More carbs for recovery on the days you weight train; less on those you rest.
- More calorie intake after you train than before on the days you do.
Keep the diet tight during your cut and then reap the rewards later.
Most people that use this system find it so flexible and gives such great results, that they continue to use it once they have achieved their fat-loss goals. The great thing is, due to hormonal reasons, (primarily improved insulin and leptin sensitivity) once you are lean, the diet can be a lot more relaxed and you will still be able to maintain your physique.
My advice is to keep the diet tight during your cut and then reap the rewards later. It’s not uncommon to be able to eat 2-3x the number of carbs after the diet and still maintain your abs. This is not magic, it’s science.
Key Leangains Diet Points & Basic Set-Up
- Choose an 8 hour ‘feeding window’. This means two times within which you will consume all your calories for the day.
- So as not to destroy your social life it’s better for most people to skip breakfast and have eat lunch and dinner. Something like 1-9pm. Think about when you usually eat with your family or friends when deciding.
- Don’t eat for the other 16 hours. (A splash of milk in the coffee/s is fine.)
- If you have irregular work hours/schedule see this guide.
- Getting it right 90% of the time is good enough. Somedays timing will be off. Don’t stress it. Yes, you can still drink on the weekend and not have to worry about your feeding window too much.
- Meal frequency doest matter, but simplicity is your friend. Two meals (at 1pm and 8:30pm for example) or three meals is fine if you prefer.
- Weight train 3 days a week. Rest 4 days a week.
- Training days: eat more carbs and less fat.
- Rest days: eat less carbs and more fat.
- Keep protein high on both days.
- Leaner cuts of meat/fish for training days.
- Fattier-cuts of meat/fish on a rest-days.
You have three options for your diet:
- The Basic Self-Set-Up (written above)
- The Detailed Self-Set-Up using my Leangains Macros Guide
- The Professionally-Planned Set-Up, Guidance, Coaching & Monitoring
The Training
Looking ‘Lean’ or ‘Ripped’ is a function of two things:
1. Low levels of body fat. 2. Developed Muscle Mass
You need both.
Strength training using barbells is the most effective for building strength and is what I strongly recommend. (For reasons see article “Why Barbells?“.
- Train for one hour, 3 days a week. Do big compound movements and forget about the rest for now. (Squat, Deadlift, Press, Chin-ups, Benchpress, Dips)
- Use correct form so that you build yourself in the fastest safest way.
- Read the book ‘Starting Strength‘.
- Watch Mark Rippetoe’s coaching videos if you are unsure of form. (If you’re going to spend 3 hours in the gym a week, it makes sense to spend an hour or two reading about what you should be doing in there. Very few people do this though.)
- Hire a good trainer. It can be tell the good trainers from the bad. Certificates don’t mean a damn. My guide on how to decide is here.
- Check out the Training Guide for details on how to get the maximum return on your gym time. Basically:
- New to barbells? Do the Squat/Deadlift/Benchpress every session for the first 2-3 months to maximize gains. You don’t need the recovery time that advanced trainees need because you haven’t learned to push yourself to the point of being sore for days after training yet. Don’t mess around with split routines.
- Barbell training experience? Consider some form of split routine.
- Details on how to choose what routine you should be using are in the guide.
- All training questions posted as comments will be answered there also.
- Can’t get to a gym? Use bodyweight exercises and workout at home, but bear in mind that you are likely to plateau at some point.
- Here are bodyweight exercise articles by Jason Ferruggia and Mark Sisson.
- Use Youtube too see how to perform exercises you don’t know.
- Your training times can vary. It doesn’t always have to be at the same time but you’ll need to adjust your meals. For a details check out Martin’s ‘Leangains Guide‘.
I have clients so I know the mistakes that people often make.
It’s worth paying attention to the advice below.
Tips for Success
- Seeing is believing. There are stories scattered all over the internet.
- Use this site: Most of the articles are accessed under the banner tabs.
- Get support:
- Read the FAQ. A whole lotta love has gone into that baby.
- Can’t find an answer? Use the comments on the site. 7000 so far.
- Use the Facebook page. Join the community.
- Sign-up to fitocracy.com log your workouts, compare & get motivated by the awesome supportive community there.
- Reddit has a very active Leangains Page too. You are certainly not alone.
- Ladies, there are over 4000 of you on this Facebook Group.
- Cook your meals for the fastest gains. -Abs are made in the kitchen.
- Count macronutrients, not calories, and give yourself targets for training days and non-training days. This makes everything a lot easier and thus sustainable. Here you can find a post on the simplified macro counting rules I use for clients.
- Eat the same meals frequently and often for ease and success. – This way you only have to count the macros in each of your favorite meals once. Get inspiration for meals from here, here and here.
- Educate yourself. Many people will tell you that not eating breakfast is bad, or that if you don’t eat for 16 hours your muscles will fall off. Arm yourself with the facts. Great places to start are:
- Martin’s Top Ten Fasting Myths Debunked article.
- “I.F., The Benefits, and about Leangains” – outline.
- “Why is Leangains so effective?” – more detailed reasons.
For more guidelines see this article by Martin called Sure-Fire Fat Loss.
***************************
Many people have created their own diet and training plan following the guidelines and had great success. However I appreciate those that there are those that may feel overwhelmed, or just want a diet plan made simple for them.
If you don’t want the guess work of optimal macronutrients/meal timing/training and want this area of your life taken care of, for good, I offer personal consultations. Everything is personalized and tailored to you. I don’t mess around. My clients get results.
(I am making constant improvements to this page. If there is anything you don’t understand, it means I have missed something in this guide. Kindly post a question in the comments.)
Andy,
I have a question I’ve always wondered about these activity multipliers. As an example, my BMR is around 2100kcal, I have a desk job, and I work out 3 times a week. One way of looking at this (my preferred way) is to go with the 1.2 sedentary modifier (putting me up to a round 2500kcal) and then add in my workouts at roughly 300kcal a pop – giving me a weekly total of (2500×7)+(300×3) – 18,400kcal.
However, if I was to go for the ‘lightly active’ multiplier (“1-3 days/wk of light exercise”) it’d be 2100*1.375* 7 – 20,212kcal, a pretty big 2000kcal difference. A quick bit of maths helps explain this – at my BMR, changing from activity level 1.2 to 1.375 is a calorie difference of 2600 a week – that’s close to a pound of fat. This is supposedly the difference between a week of no exercise and 1-3 days/wk of ‘light exercise’.
So, my question is: Do you think this is realistic? Does exercising a few times a week really speed your metabolism to that extent? – Obviously it’s unrealistic, through ‘light exercise’ at least, to burn near that amount purely from exercise, but is this gap because of the ‘afterburn’ which boosts your metabolism for a longer period?
If not – and you state earlier that people often over-estimate calories burned through – do you think that activity multipliers could be reviewed?
Interested to hear your opinion.
John
Building muscle is wat increases your BMR and thus TDEE. I think you’re confusing this with calorie burn through activity. Regardless, what you need to do is to pick a number, track it, and then adjust accordingly.
Hi, Andy! I have a question – is it better to be fasting during the active part of the day or not? I was thinking of making my meal plan so that I eat my last meal 1-2 hours before I go to bed (maybe even less). Is it best to eat before bed or should I be in a fasted state while sleeping? I have read that when sleeping all calories go to fat because the body doesnt need calories, but I do not really belive this. So my question is when is the best time for me to have the 16 hours fast and 8 hours feeding window if I intend to sleep from 3AM to 10AM ? Currently I plan to eat from 5PM to 1AM, so I can have my workout at around 3PM.
See this post.
Hi andy!! I am considering to give IF a try, my eating time would be from 2-10 pm, I usually work out at 7 pm when I am out of work. Do you think it will be better to move my training before the eating period, so I can train in a fasted state and have all my meals afterwards? or it does not matter when I train as long as I respect the IF norms?.
Do whichever suits your schedule best.
Hi Andy,
Trying to figure some of these things out on my own. Unfortunately while I can see and measure muscle gains and I’m making progress in all lifts but squats…I don’t seem to be losing much off the midsection (by looking and measuring).
The question I have relates to counting fat from protein sources. I feel like quite a bit of fat is cooked off and left in the pan. Even still, on training days (lean buffalo and just enough butter to slick the pan for veggies) I don’t add any fat. On rest days (85% lean beef) I figure it’s accounting for about 45-50g of fat. Do you see a problem with this logic?
Or is the answer just patience? On week 7.
Thanks,
Danny
Just make your best guess and be consistent.
Hi Andy,
I’ve spend weeks reading about If and learning about it on different websites. I just had my 3 rd child 9 weeks ago via C section. This was my first week on IF and I’m feeling great. It has even help me have a bowel movement each day in the morning!!! I’m usually constipated after I have surgery for weeks. TMI LOL Anyways I have a question, I’m one of the ones that have always thought you needed to do cardio for so many hours. Now that I read so much information it’s making sense to me. But I’m still confuse, what can I do for exercise to burn fat faster. I can’t do any lifting because my body is still healing. In the morning do I do HIIT? LISS? I own 3 kettlebells but don’t want to use them yet because of my surgery. I love doing planks. My doctor said I can start working out but to stay away from any abs workouts. My main goal is to first drop all the lbs. I have gained during my pregnancy and then start gaining muscle.
Have a read of this article Brenda. “When is Cardio a Valid Tool for Fat Loss with Intermittent Fasting?”
Hi Andy,
I have a whole bag of Leucine. Would it be OK to use 10g before a fasted workout instead of BCAAs.
Thanks
No, I don’t believe so, sorry bud.
What are your thoughts on 2 (8a.m and 10a.m) whey hydrosolate pulses during the fasting hours with lunch being at 12:30pm and the same shake pre-workout and I train at 4:30pm?
This is not fasting.
Hi Andy. I am confused with my calorie intake. Since i used weight gainer Iso Mass from Ultimate Nutrition which gives 650 calories, 80 gr carbs, 65 gr protein and 7 gr fat. I count my BMR and it was 1600 calories. So i am on Body Recomposition which is +20% (1925 cal) on training day and -20%(1283 cal) on rest day. Is it ok to get 1300 calories from real food and 600 cal from my Mass Gainer? or i need to get all of my calories from real food. I have been doing leangains since 4 weeks ago and using Isomass aswell. my abs began to visible but i afraid i am still at calorie deficit because i am sure workout 5 days a week will give me more fat from eating calorie surplus 5 days in a row. But what i saw here was visible abs not big belly like it was. Am i wrong or keep going?
Thanks in advance
Food is better then shakes when dieting because it is more filling.
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I’m doing the warrior diet. On my workout days I take 10g of BCAAs before training (like Martin suggests) and then nothing until I eat 8-10 hours later. Since I’m not eating a post-workout meal, should I ingest more BCAAs after the workout? Or are BCAAs only necessary pre-workout? Thank you in advance.
If you’re doing the warrior diet then you are best to follow the author’s recommendations rather than mixing and matching.
Hello Andy,
Thank you for this greate Site! In This Article you mention that your
“advice is to keep the diet tight during your cut and then reap the rewards later. It’s not uncommon to be able to eat 2-3x the number of carbs after the diet and still maintain your abs. This is not magic, it’s science.”
Can you please give me a explanation for this effect or maybe just a source why it is better to cut first? It sounds really interesting for me.
Partially about insulin sensitivity, partially about p-ratio.
Thank you for your reply.
I have read the article but I realy could not detect why the p-ratio becomes better with a lower body fat percentage. I just read that people that are naturaly very lean tend to gain more muscle and less fat when they overfeed.
(“naturally lean (but NOT folks who have dieted to lean) individuals tend to gain more muscle and less fat when they overfeed and fatter individuals tend to gain more fat and less muscle when they overfeed.”)
Maybe I just misinterpreted something wrong?
I am looking foward to your answer.
Best Regards
Leon
Because insulin sensitivity improves, leading to better calorie partitioning. I did tell you those key words in the reply, but I guess expecting you to put that in the search box in Lyle’s site was asking too much?
Life favours the proactive; dishes out a bad hand to the lazy. Don’t let it form as a habit.
Well I read the whole article but I probaply skiped it.
But sorry for asking you I guess expecting you to explain something was asking too much?
voltron77535
A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.
If you are curious about something, go research it. Help yourself, the information is there.
what kind of rice do you reccomend, and how do you prepare it?
Any kind that you like, in any way that you prefer, as long as it fits your macros.
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Hey, Andy. Thanks for the wealth of information. Using your simplified rules – I’m assuming carbs should always be used to adjust and tweak if a slightly lower deficit is needed, right? Also, when switching from a standard recomp to slow bulking where does the shift in calories, or macros, go? Say our rest day is P160 C50 F55 with training days at P150 C350 F25 would you up Carbs to maybe Rest 75-Training 400?
Hi Tom.
1. Right.
2. Steadily upwards. In most cases, most to carbs and some to fats.
Hey I have a question about rest days, i usually do low carbs 25-45g and im fine with that, does it matter what sources it comes from on a rest day? eg, would it be ok if it was 35g carbs and 25 of that sugar? i know carbs are carbs but is it more vital on a rest day?
See the FAQ carl.
Hey Andy mate, hope you’re well. Stuff going good my end, took a lil break for a while, got back on it now – wanted to ask your opinion on something though, before I get too far into it..
My current eating window is roughly: 12-6 pm – i assume it was okay, but lately I’ve been reading a lot about eating later in the evening (mainly what I read over @ leangains).
I know its probably relevant to each person, but I can eat/fast at any times – would 12-6 be fine anyway? or from your experience/your clients experiences would you recommend something where I eat like 3-8 instead?
Cheers mate.
12-6 will be fine. The important thing is what suits your schedule best. The value specifically of putting things late at night is over stated.
Hi andy im about to embark on my journey with leangains. Im sick of my 6 meals a day. Ive never tracked macros before just always thought i was eating enough but never seen any gains. Im 150lbs and going to do the clean bulk approach. My carb intake on training days is 340ish i was just wondering what foods you would eat to get to this amount. Thanks man keep up the good work
Hello, Andrew – what a wonderful site you have here, I’ve been following your guidelines a lot lately, one question I have after todays meals though.. I decided to add the Sugar tab on myfitnessspal, and I had 260g carbs today, and 130g of that was sugar (cooking sauces, an energy drink & Almond Milk) – Is this too much? If it is, could you tell me the maximum amount you would personally allow from sugar, IF your macro was 260g carbs on a training day
thank you very much!
There isn’t single answer to this as it depends on a few things. This article/video may be useful.
Interesting article. As my goal is weight loss as I am cutting – could this sugar (being half of my carbs) have a negative affect on my fat loss?
Presuming you took the lessons from the video/article on board it may not the sugar per se but high carbs generally could not be suited to you at this time. Depends Ryan. On a lot of things. Have a read of the diet coach posts mate. First, second.
Hi Andy,
1) so how much skim milk in my coffee is ok? I have about 24-32 oz in the morning and then the same amount later, with each cup being 16 oz. The 1/2-1 teaspon splash that Martin mentions “per cup” doesn’t even change the color of a 16oz cup. He said limit it if you drink a lot, but I’m not sure what qualifies as a lot. Doing the math, 1 teaspoon of milk is 90/48 approximately 2 calories.
2) I have probably 2 2-liter bottles of diet soda during my fast on most days. Are these trace calories adding up enough to screw up my fasted state, or not really?
Thanks
The general guide is that <50kCal during the entire fast is ok.
That’s great to know, thanks. So 2-3 2-liter diet sodas (approx 1 cal per bottle, trivial), 48-64 oz of coffee at 2 calories per 8 oz, and 3-4 tablespoons of skim milk at 6 calories per tablespoon adds up to 42 kCAl max, so should be fine.
Hi Andy thanks for the reply yeah no one is perfect just wanted to know but thanks, last question, once calculated macros and my protein is high both days and in 2 meals wud have to hav 200g of protein wudnt it be better in 2-3 meals for how much protein ur body can take in that time? Like example say half 1 and half 7-9 are my meals but say each 1 hav a chicken breast some carbs and veg on training days, so like half 3 and half 5 cud hav just a pure protein shake? So even tho its really like 4 meals do you understand what I mean? Lol Thanks Daniel
I don’t understand what you mean, can you re-write that? Please spell properly this time as it doesn’t help things, we’re not in the 90′s/00′s anymore, everything has predictive text.
Sorry did not realise, what I meant was on my macros my protein is high for both days 200g but I eat 2 meals and I was meaning to say is it ok to have maybe 2 meals together having 100g of carbs and having 2 other times shakes or 1 time have a shake? Reason I’m asking is because your body only taking so much of that protein in 2-3 hours…so my example is 1st meal at half 1 50g of protein, then say half 4 protein shake and then half 7 50-100g of protein? Or even half 1, half 3, half 5 and half 7 have 50g of protein but only half 3 and 5 being a shake? It that’s more understanding lol thank you Daniel
“Reason I’m asking is because your body only taking so much of that protein in 2-3 hours”
Wrong, that’s a myth. A two or three meal schedule for a recreational trainee is fine.
Hi Andy- I haven’t seen this asked yet, but apologize if it has been already. When further adjustments are needed to lower calories, where is it best to make them? Lower on rest days or training days or both equally? Also, I get the impression that the switch from 3x/week to 2x/week workouts is normally predicated on novice vs advanced lifters, but but do you ever use 2x/week plans for increasing the weekly deficit since working out 2x/week allows for more rest days (and t/f lower weekly cal intake)? Actually, I’d be curious to hear whatever you have to say as to why someone would use 2x vs 3x per week workouts generally…Thanks!
I usually use carbs to manipulate things.
hi andy my 8 hour window is 1-9 and sometimes i eat at like 5-7 in the evening, the next dfay i was at work (having ate at half 5 night before) and i ate my dinner but somehow clock was too far forward and i ate at 11.45 so i had fasted for 18 hours but ate over an hour before my window time started if i carry on as normal and eat 7-9 tonight and then normal again tomorrow does it matter? thanks daniel
Doesn’t matter. Don’t stress the small things. No one is perfect all the time.
The setup is pretty convenient – alternating 3 days training and 4 days rest per week.
A problem many may face is what to do when they have the occasional training frequency change that is beyond their control. E.g. A weekend football tournament where you might play 2-3 games both Sat and Sun.
In such a situation, what do people think? Three likely options?
1. Eat standard training day (overfeed) targets both days and then change your next training day into a rest day.
2. Keep the same eating plan despite activity change.
3. Divide the training overfeed and rest underfeed evenly between both days but eat training day macro proportions (low fat, high carb)? E.g. If you were +30%, -10%, you’d eat +10% both days.
I’m thinking option 1. Would love to hear others experience or thoughts.
Cheers,
Peter
Or 4, eat a few extra pieces of fruit on this day and don’t worry about it. – Seriously, that’s what I would do. In the long run it will all work out fine.
Interesting point, thanks Andy. Am guessing the basis for 4 is that the exercise, despite multiple games, is still of minimal impact on daily calorie requirements.
No, mainly it’s to keep things simple. An exact calorie match is not required. Adjustments based on tracking will sort out whether the deficit is left too severe or too little.
Hi Andy
please, I would like to ask you something.. Martin mentioned taking BCAA prior training.. I don’t have BCAA.. I only have hydrolyzed whey.. I have read that it spikes insulin… Do you think that if I took Hydro whey it would negatively affect my fat loss during workout ?? I mean that insulin.. thank you 
Have a read of martin’s thoughts on whey here. Whey and hydrolysed whey, same thing net.
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Dear Andy
Thanks for all detail and information about IF
I had lose 7KG start from November till now and I not take it so serious and work out all time but I still work for me. I normally skip breakfast & lunch and take dinner only. and I have give my self a holiday like 2 week and 3 days not doing IF, keep eating lot and I gain 1 KG then without 2 week I doing like usual skip 2 meal and have the last meal and I lose 2KG, I think I gain muscles that why I sudden lose 2 KG. The most important part is I learn how to control my mind by stop eating . . . . . hahaha because before that I ate lot of junk food every days but now 1 meal per day and green tea for lunch. I feel energy and healthy now my target need to drop till 85KG this year the bad things is I will go holiday again and eat lot fat food for 3 weeks hope I can successful get my body fit.
Many Thanks,
Regard Nicholas Koo
Good luck!
Hey Andy. I’ve implemented the ripped body cut method and am on week 5. I seem to be getting slightly skinny fat with a little bit of at noticeable around the ab area. Have you ever seen this happen? After looking at my macros it doesn’t appear as though I’m going over 15-20 g of fat on training day. Is this too low and could it have a negative effect?
Mike your first question is too vague. To the second, yes that is too low and will negatively impact your hormones. Increase it.
Thanks for the reply. I will increase fat for now and see what happens. Hopefully I can muster up some cash soon to hire you full time, would be much easier to deal with the expert himself so I don’t have to figure out the issues!
I there just found this site through lifehacker. I usually train with dumbbells as I workout alone and my gym isn’t spotter friendly. Is there much difference from the barbell for things like deadlift and bench?
yes. The importance of this difference to you personally decreases on your fat level, increases with training experience.
Hi Andy,
Is the eating routine followed every day? So 16hrs fast then 8hrs eating window? Some sites say fasting 2 days out of 7 so whats your advice on how many days a week to fast.
Great site by the way. Thankyou
Sam
Yes, every day. You’ve just confused different styles and are probably thinking of this one.
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Hey Andy,
First and foremost this is a great site. I’ve been reading up on intermittent fasting from yours and Martin’s websites for the past few weeks and am eager to see how it may work for me. However, I do have one question for you. Forgive me if this has been covered already or has a common sense answer, but would you say that the training regimens covered on here along with intermittent fasting would work well for athletes looking to improve their athleticism? I ask because I’m a basketball player a few years removed from playing college ball and am contemplating trying to play at that high level again and I saw you wrote that people can have the “body of an athlete without all the training an athlete may have to endure.” It seems obvious that a person who loses fat but gains muscle along with strength will also make improvements with their athleticism, but I just wanted your input on how well you think intermittent fasting and these training routines would translate into the physical abilities (leaping, quickness, speed) used in basketball.
Thanks again,
Andrew
Andrew, thanks for the comment. Think of a car you want to improve for a track: make it lighter, bigger engined and put better suspension on it for handling. As you say, being leaner will make you a better player as you have less weight to shift around. Getting stronger will make you faster, higher jumping and more physically present also. Keep in your coaches mobility drills and you’re gold. Here‘s a good article on the importance of a strong base for athletes. This one also.
Thanks for the quick reply, Andy. I’ve started training and I used your self setup guide for calculating my training and rest day macros so I can meet each day’s caloric goals respectively. I do have a question for you though that I’m beginning to get hung up on.
I weigh 186 pounds and am 24 years old, and with an estimate of my lean body mass I calculated my BMR to be around 1950 calories. I chose to do body recomposition so my training days are around 2300 calories and my rest days around 1600 calories. I’ve had my protein at 200g each day but while I was re-reading some things on your site I saw that you wrote that research suggests there is little benefit to going higher than 2g/kg of lean body mass for protein. So with a body fat percentage at around 14% my lean body mass is 72kg. Do you think I may have set my protein goals for each day a little too high? With that calculation it seems I should have set my protein goals more in the range of 140-150g per day. It’s only been about a week and a half so it may be too soon to ask this question, but I’ve already put on a couple of pounds that I wasn’t expecting and am now at 189lbs so I just wanted to see what you thought. Each training session thus far I’ve been able to increase my weight for each exercise so that’s been encouraging, but I just wanted to see if I’ve made some simple mistakes along the way of calculating my macronutrients.
Also, I’ve been supplementing creating each day so I’m sure those few pounds could very well just some extra water weight. But based on this little information does it seem like I’ve set my protein goals too high?
As you said Andrew, it’s too early to tell. Track your progress and see. Be objective about it.
Andy,
I’ve been very satisfied with my results and gains I’ve made in my lifts in the short time I’ve been using intermittent fasting and The Big 3 lifting routine. I’m still fresh on it as it’s only been 5 weeks since my start date, but I can tell the the program is working well. However, I’ve come across a snag already because I’ve been experiencing a lot of elbow/arm pain after I do my squats. I looked into it and it looks like I just need to improve on my form and possibly flexibility because that seems to be the cause of the problem (grip too close, back possibly too vertical). Regardless, I’m planning on resting and taking 1 or 2 training days off and getting it checked out by a doctor to see if they can give me any answers to if I injured myself more than I think.
So my question right now is are there any exercises you might suggest to use in place of squats if my elbows continue to give me problems? I know it’s a crucial exercise and there’s probably not many adequate replacements for it, but it’s been bad enough my past two sessions that after my squats I wasn’t even able to finish my workout due to the pain in my elbows and arms.
Thanks again for all the info, Andy.
Andrew
You need to speak to the doctor and see what the issue is before you plan on how to work around it.
Thanks for the great advice !
I want to ask sicne i’ll be out of work ” on vacation ” i’ll be in the gym everyday is that ok ?
If you had your entire life to dedicate to training and training alone, I still wouldn’t advise that you trained every day. More doesn’t equal better.
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Hi Andy,
Firstly, just want to say thanks so much for the wonderful site. I have been playing around with IF for a while now with mixed results but have decided to do the leangains method and really focus on it and see how I get on for the next 12 weeks. Just one quick question, I can only work out late in the evening due to work and having a young family which means that I am usually not in from my workout until roughly 9.30 – 10.00 at night and I was wondering what your take is on me having my largest meal of the day (approx 1300 cals of a 2700 total training day allowance). Do you think that this is too late at night to be eating such a large meal bearing in mind that I follow this with a minimum of a 16-18 hour fast the following day?
That will be fine.
What would happen if I cycled my BMR calories instead of TDEE on a cut
You would be under your energy requirements and thus things wouldn’t be in balance. If cutting then it would be a quicker cut, you may lose muscle.
I’ve been following Leangains since september, started with recomp to get used to the lifestyle and gained shitloads of strenght and lost plenty of fat (been away from the gym for almost two years, only riding mountain bikes). I’ve now been on a -30/+10 cut for 6 weeks and are pretty much at my target weight, not lost any strength in any movement, rather the other way around (3 slit RPT). Forever cured from fuckarounditis, feels god damn good. I know that it’s been said before, but this is so damn easy to adhere to, cutting is delightful! Don’t underestimate the talk about productivity during the fast, I’ve been nailing top grades in every course at Uni this fall and doing 80% of my work between 8am-1pm (masters degree in engineering).
Now I’m looking to transfer slowly to maintenance then enter slow bulk until summer. For me keeping low bf is more important than massive gains, so I was thinking about doing an even slower bulk, just with greater focus on minimized fat gain. I’m a downhill and enduro mountain bike racer that simply wants to look good, so no bodybuilding aspirations here…
Would it be “better” to reduce the calories on rest days to a larger deficit, or on training days to a smaller surplus to fight the fat? I was thinking in terms of difference from let say -15/+30 compared to -10/+25 or even -20/+40. Last but not least, thanks Andy for macro counting rules and all around awesome info – a great compliment to Martin’s work and in many cases a lot easier to understand and apply. Thanks!
As an athlete clearly you are well in tune with your body. Now that you have a good baseline, when adjusting things upwards or downwards, try both. Note how you feel after your regular training sessions. Use the one that makes you feel and perform best for your sport.
You have made lean gains if very easy to understand ! Thank you ! In my first week now and looking forward to the next six weeks .
Cheers. Good luck Adam!
Hi Andy, last year I did a three month body re-comp as an online client, achieving okay results. When we parted ways, we decided to switch to a cutting diet, dropping training day carbs from 300g to 200g. After four weeks I evaluated progress, and felt i’d hit a ‘stick point’. I reduced training day carbs down to 150g / rest day 50g.
My question is this: is it possible to go too low with my carb intake (especially on training days), thus hindering fat loss? I’ve just recalculated my cutting macros, and based on the website rules, I should be eating around 340g of carbs on training day. I’m currently consuming under half of that amount. Could this be detrimental?
I don’t want to mess things up by reducing calories too much, but at the same time my progress on the old macros seemed to slow right down. Advice would be great, i’m happy to calculate things myself, but could do with your opinion please mate.
Cheers, Phil
Hi Phil, have a diet break and follow the guidelines I wrote in that mail for you.
Cheers Andy, I’ve read back through that email and that’s given me a good reminder, but why the need for a diet break?
A bit confused. I had two weeks over Xmas/New Year where i took a break from my usual diet routine, so another break scares me haha!
I’ve set my own criteria for my cut (3cm’s off stomach, visible lower abs), not there yet. Is it possible my body has decided its had enough of this cutting diet?
Sure, it’s more likely though that either:
1. You didn’t follow the diet break rules well enough and so it didn’t have the desired hormonal effect.
2. It’s a lack of patience.
Andy thanks for your quick reply. I’ve got two queries regarding your response, if you could answer these ill be a happy man (and get back to training as opposed to reading/thinking :
1. The diet break rules – are these explained anywhere, or can you elaborate?
2. Patience – I agree , this is essential. The reason I question is because I feel I’m very focused & committed (classic OCD character!). Been following the programme for over 6 months, but see people achieving better results in only 2/3 months on the website. This makes me feel I’m doing it wrong?
Again, serious props for your time, most appreciated mate
Cheers, Phil
1. Guidelines sent to your inbox.
2. Do they really? Or are there factors there that you’re missing? (More initial muscle mass, age, sleep etc.) Regardless, focus on yourself and improvements of yourself only.
Hi I would like to ask something about my meal plan. I am currently on something like this :
13:00 – tuna – cca 150kcal 30 g protein
15:00-16:30 WO
17:30 – 300g rice 500g breasts 200g cottage + vegetables….
20:00 – 250g cottage + nuts
I have been on this for about 5 months.I have gained some muscles with fat as well.. This meal routine is like 2700-2800kcal (about 300kcal over my maintaince). I have read that if I want LG for fat loss or recomp, it is best to train fasted and according to martin berkh…
it is best to take some bcaas but I am not about to buy any bcaa, because I don’t have enough money.. I only have a protein and I would like to know, if I can replace bcaa with it.
so it would look like this :
13:00 whey protein (2 scoops maybe)+ maybe with some nuts because I would already break my fast with protein, so I would add some nuts… it is only my intuition, correct me if I am wrong..
15:00-16:30 WO (should I take some protein after my workout or no??)
17:00-17:30 – the same
20:00 – the same
I would like to do recomp – add some muscles and lose some fat.
what do you think about that ?? do you think that it is ok to replace those bcaa with whey ??
thank you
Hi Patrik.
For your set up please note the comments in red on this page.
“Do you think that it is ok to replace those bcaa with whey?”
You don’t need to take BCAA as you aren’t training fasted. Better to have real food than whey for lunch.
Hi, great site.
What’s your protocol with training early morning 7:30am, the same guidelines as leangains ? Using bcaa pre & post workout?
What about lglutamine & creatine can these supplements be taken in the fasted state?
Is it still possible to gain as much muscle with this protocol than the normal fasted workout time?
Hi Ryan. 1. I introduce Martin’s work as best I can on this site, so yes please follow his guidelines.
2. Glutamine – don’t bother.
3. Creatine – take it or leave it.
4. Yes.
Hi, Andy. Not having any trouble meeting the Macros prescribed. This way of eating seems quite sustainable. The protein intake is quite a bit higher than I am accustomed to so I am wondering if after the Cut Phase of the program is the protein intake relieved at all in favor of more carbs on training days and/or more fat on rest days during the Slow Bulk or maintenance? Thanks
Protein requirements are not as great when at maintenance or bulking.
Hello Andy! first of all congrats and thanks for an amazing blog – its so inspirational just like leangains when I first found it. To keep this short, I have a couple of questions:
1. I am training fasted in the morning at 7:45. I’m taking 10g glutamine + 3g taurine pre-training, 10g leucine during and 10g glutamine post-training. Also right now I am adding arginine to pre and post. 15-20mins after the post drink I have a 70g recovery drink. Does this make any sense, as it breaks the fast (lunch comes 2hrs later)? Also, would I be better with “real” BCAA instead of glut/leucine/arginine combo?
2. I did a “half-assed” version of leangains during last year where my macro-cycling and calorie-split were not wide enough (I still did cut 10+ kilos), and I am correcting this now as per your simplified rules. I have a desk job and currently dont do any other activity than walking max 5km total per day and playing some drums, so I chose 1.1 activity multiplier. The calories seem *very* low to me, should I just go with this for say 2-4 weeks and then adjust to 1.2 if needed? I’m going with recomp first to get used to it.
Stats today 78kg, BF17%, 36yrs.
Thanks and all the best to fellow IF’ers from Helsinki!
Hi Toni. Your first question to me is focussed on supplements. This is a completely ass-backwards way of looking at your nutritional goals. This has been mentioned in several posts, not least the introduction. The fact that you have also asked whether a 70g post-workout recovery drink will break the fast boggles my mind. So much so in fact, that though I have a cracking answer for you on the sups, it’s completely drained me of motivation to write the long response. You “half-assed” your question, forgive my responding in kind.
Ok thanks, I realise what you mean and understand that supps are non-significant, but I clearly had overlooked that it also included basic recovery drinks per se. I suppose judging by this I will ditch the PWO drink completely and focus on the macros.
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Andy great blog. Currently my eating window is between 1pm & 9pm. I workout at noon and eat post workout at 1pm. My second & final meal is at 8-8:30 and this has worked well for me.
I will be leaving the country for a month and I will continue to lift however I will not be able to lift at noon. I will most likely end up working out between 5-7pm. I’m not sure how/if I should adjust my ‘eating window’ (I do like the 1pm to 9pm window & would prefer to stick with that). Should I eat a small meal @ 1pm and move the majority of my food to my last meal of the day? Thanks, J
Keep it at that. 2 meal, 40/60 split will work fine.
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Hey, Andrew
I am posting my questions here as requested, wasn’t sure which part of the site but I assume this part is probably the right place!
1) I read on your site about cheat meals, what should I be aiming for on a rest day but cheat meal day.. do I hit my macros still? and do I aim for high carb, low fat or high fat low carb (I know its a rest day but i thought an idea of a cheat meal was to get carbs in to feel better psychologically basically once a week i eat with my family/friends and It’d be nice to know how far i can go without torturing myself about it..
2) Carbs from cooking sauces/energy drinks are sugar as I believe.. do they just count to carbs like normal? or should they be avoided totally?
3) What kind of macros should I be hitting on a diet break? Should it be low fat/high carb or high fat/low carb – I assume protein always stays at the same as like before.
3b) Should I be using maintenance calories on rest day AND training days during a diet break? Or still eating more on my training day
Thank’s so much again mate!
Hi Richard.
1. I don’t support the idea of cheat meals or cheat meal days in the sense of ‘ad-lib’, but I don’t think everyone should hit their macros 100% of the time. It’s not realistic. A little common sense will get you through when eating out.
2. See FAQ.
3. Eat to your hunger.
Thanks, I read through the FAQ and yeah, ok carbs are carbs are carbs
– I get that, but I guess the idea of an energy drink for carbs makes me think its just a bad thing? But I guess it is okay?
And eat to my hunger and ignore macros for 2 weeks but just don’t go ridiculous?
thx!
Right
Hi Andy,
I’m a 20 year old guy, skinny-fat, 5.7 and 150 pounds
I have been spinning my wheel for months because I have been told that I’m already scrawny and I can’t lose weight as I don’t weight enough and I should bulk instead but since I’m already at 16-17% I’m afraid of what I would look like after a bulk.
I wonder what do you think of this? Do you think in bbing forums there’s a fear of losing weight and so everyone think gaining weight is the answer when actually losing it is the better move?
Do you think people underestimate how low your weight can be if you want to be lean?
I’m paralyzed. I’m afraid to bulk as my face is already fatter than I like even though my arms are as thin as twigs. I’m afraid to cut and lose the small amount of muscle I already have.
I’m soft, shapeless, small but also plump. Is a body type you’re familiar with and what do you suggest to people like me usually?
Thanks
Have a look at this post Jared.
Thanks Andy
I read the article and you say skinny-fat people should try recomposition macros but also said that cutting is an harsh reality-check. Does that mean I should recompose but with a focus on losing weight? I mean that the scale should go down?
It really depends where you are with your lifting and thus how much potential you have to make linear gains. Based on that I’d choose a deficit, rough maintenance or somewhere in-between. Whether your can achieve concurrent fat loss and muscle gain also depends on how good/badly timed your diet is, how good your training is…
It’s not a simple question, hence the long article mate. As with most things the unfortunate answer is… it depends.
Hi Andy,
Thx for putting such a great site.
Lots of stuff to learn.
Question. I am 38 and 6″.
I was pretty lean when I started your diet. My start weigh was 176 but sometimes it would spike to 180 which I assume is normal due to water retention. My lifts slowly go up, but what frustrates me that my belly fat looks the same. I can see 2pack and sometimes 4pack but that’s all. I never can get to that look your clients get where you can see belly veins.
My macros are 160 protein, 40g fat on training day and 80g on non training.
Carbs 0 or little on rest day ,240g on training days. I train 3 times a week.
Stats are: deadlift = 275×8-10
Incline dumbbell press 65×9
Squat 135×19 – I don’t go heavy here in favor of deadlift – not a squat type body friendly
Chin body weight+ 40lbx5
I have been on your system for 8months and I look exactly same but stronger. I did 1 diet break for 1 week after 4 months, but did not see a difference. Last two months I tried to lower the carbs to 200 and I still did not see any difference. I know how to calculate macros so i definitely eat right calculated amount.
What change would you recommend if any? Thx in advance If this is something you can answer.
That really depends on what the data says. Did you take body measurements? Never go by just the mirror. See my guide on tracking your progress.
You’ll probably want to make a cut to your macros somewhere and usually the best place to do that is to carbs, for various reasons.
thx for reply, I always though that going lower with carbs would not work because I was already on deficit. I will go to 150 for 2 months and adjust from there. Again, thx for your tip. What is your take on leptin.
Here and here.
thx man, those were great articles!!! Your site all together with links you provide is a ocean of information.
Turns out that it is all about finding the right macros by experimenting.
It is amazing how body works. Last time I ate less carbs and on my rest day I barely could go to sleep and all I was thinking was food, but when I eat a little more carbs on training day I don’t get that sensation on rest day. Is this a good sigh and does it mean I am on bigger deficit and loosing fat?
Tape measures don’t lie.
Hi Andy, I am a vegetarian so getting protein is a bit of a task. I usually use shakes and bars. Any suggestions? Thank you
Depends what kind of vegetarian you are. Have a look around on google, I’m sure there are hundreds of sites out there that deal with protein recommendations for vegetarians.
Hey Andy, in regards to adjusting ones carbs/calories on training say (while cutting) is there a reccomended amount to drop or increase by (ie: drop 25g if not leaning out. Or increase 25g if getting very lean). Also should the rest of the calories be made up for some how, when reducing the carbs
I do have a guide to this, but I save it for clients, not because it’s “a secret” but because it makes a lot more sense after going through the process of how I do things for 12 weeks together. To publish it without that would be confuse rather than educate.
Hi andy just want to know when following this diet how often can you hav a cheat meal, I just recover’d had the flu and cudnt diet for a week, so wana no wt cn I do to lose this excess body fat that I hav picked up, picked up 2kgs in a week, and my body fat was 5% its 9 % again now
If you can’t be bothered to type properly then I don’t see why I should spend the time answering.
Hi Andy,
How important is eating “clean”? or is it ok to eat whatever (within reason) if you are hitting your macros consistently?
The latter.
What’s your fitocracy profile?
it would be great inspiration.
andy-morgan
However due to injuries and working around them I don’t really post up workouts anymore as it will just confuse people.
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Andy, after a couple of weeks having problems with sticking to my macro’s, I finally figured out the problem i am having. Fasting is no problem at all. However as soon as i have eaten, and this counts for every meal on every day. I stay hungry for around a half hour. Even after my post workout meal which gives me almost stomach pain because i am that full. However, I stay ‘hungry’ for that half hour.
When I manage not to eat in that half hour, problems are gone. But sometimes those moments really are a pain in the ass, especially when i am at home chilling, doing nothing, watching television with my girlfriend, i already hit my macro’s and she is eating crap haha. I obviously cant tell my girlfriend not to eat it.
Any thoughts on this?
It takes your body time to recognise that you are full. Same for everyone. If it’s truly that much of a “pain in the ass” as you put it then eat more slowly. You’ve probably heard the old advice of chewing your food 20x before swallowing right? That’s where it comes from.
is diet for a while I just don’t know how to structure it to my day to day life.
I work from 7pm to 7 am. I work 3 days per week with every other weekend. I also pick my son up from school everyday at 11am. I then come.back and sleep some more if I have to work that night.
I have calculated my macros already. BTW I am 6 feet 238lbs and trying to get to 195-200 then slow bulk to 215-220.
I am not sure how to set up my fasting and feeding periods.
I plan on working out on mwf at around 11:30am or noon. I just don’t know if I could workout, eat my pwo meal and then go to sleep for a bit if I have to work a night that I have a workout scheduled for.
I will be doing stronglifts or starting strength so I can gain some strength back. I have gotten very weak which I new would happen going from over 300lbs in February to my current weight of 238. I just don’t want to lose any more strength.
How would you do this?is diet for a while I just don’t know how to structure it to my day to day life.
I work from 7pm to 7 am. I work 3 days per week with every other weekend. I also pick my son up from school everyday at 11am. I then come.back and sleep some more if I have to work that night.
I have calculated my macros already. BTW I am 6 feet 238lbs and trying to get to 195-200 then slow bulk to 215-220.
I am not sure how to set up my fasting and feeding periods.
I plan on working out on mwf at around 11:30am or noon. I just don’t know if I could workout, eat my pwo meal and then go to sleep for a bit if I have to work a night that I have a workout scheduled for.
I will be doing stronglifts or starting strength so I can gain some strength back. I have gotten very weak which I new would happen going from over 300lbs in February to my current weight of 238. I just don’t want to lose any more strength.
How would you do this?
There is a point on the FAQ specifically on this subject mate. Hope it helps. Think it was the last addition to the diet section.
hi andy,
a quick question that i’d be grateful for an answer to.
on rest days, is it detrimental to consume BCAA powder before the feeding window? i have a feeling you’re going o say it’s unnecessary, but i suppose there’s something psychological in me that wants to “top up” in the mornings…
thanks for reading.
It causes an insulin spike which you don’t want. It’s a necessary evil on balance on the training days, and just pissing in the wind on rest days. In the medium term it’s most likely it will make little difference to body composition, but you’re just wasting money.
aha. i knew there had to be a a good reason. cheers. i’ll stop trying to find ways around it all and stick to the guides.
thanks mate
Andy, I know you say the number of meals is irrelevant but does that really include one meal a day? On many of my rest days, one meal is actually most convenient (so yes, I end up fasting more like 18-20 hours sometimes before the next day’s meal. But is this less than ideal or is it close enough?
And do quality whole-grain carbs mattter on training days if I’m getting enough veggies? What if I want to get most of my carbs from veggies and low-fat froyo?
Andres, had been covered elsewhere and will be covered in an upcoming blog post. In short: Eat two meals a day minimum and keep your feeding window consistent.
Hoping for a reply on here. Stats are 5’11″ (71in) 169lbs. I am in the military and consider myself fairly active. I always use 1.3 for my activity level to avoid over estimating. I have been using IF/LG for about a month now and I have dropped a few % of BF and went from ~180 to my current weight of 169. At ~10% looking to get down to 4-6% BF before I start to slow bulk. I workout 3x a week and focus on Deadlifts, Chins, Squats and BenchPress. My question is about my Macros. This is what I am currently using.
Macro Split – Workout Day
Caloric Goal 2200
Protein(g) 170
Fat(g) 30
Carbohydrates(g) 313
Macro Split – Rest Day
Caloric Goal 1600
Protein(g) 170
Fat(g) 60
Carbohydrates(g) 96
That puts me at an average of 1900 cal a day. I calculate my maintenance calories to be 2337 which means i am at a decent deficit. Results have been slowing which is understandable but how should I tweak my macros to finish up the last few % of BF? Should I go even higher on workout days and lower on rest days? Workout days are usually 2 meals and rest days are usually 1 with a shake to hit my protein for the day. Any critic would be wonderful!
Given that you have posted on this page first Joshua I am willing to bet that you haven’t read the blog that deeply yet. Keep reading and you will find your answers.
Dear Andy,
I see that the feeding window should be no more than an hour after my workout. However, I typically lift in the evenings. After my workout, I usually shower at the gym, change and have a 45 min commute home. So in my case, it ends up being about 2 (sometimes even 3) hours afterwards. Is this still an acceptable time to take in my post workout meal? Or do I have to stick to the window of no more than an hour after a workout session?
Thank you so much, and I hope you’re enjoying your time in Japan!
When is your previous meal? Or do you train fasted?
I have a pre-workout meal which I consume at around 4pm. My workout session starts at around 6-7pm depending on my schedule for that day.
I’d also like to add that my workout is usually about 45 mins long, including the warm-up and stretching. I end up consuming my post workout meal at around 10pm.
Thank you!
Presuming that’s a real food meal with protein content then you won’t need to eat immediately PWO. A couple of hours after is fine. If you wished to be conservative then a whey shake after your workout.
Hey Andy,
How do decide whether to do a cut or a recomp?
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac96/thousandreasons/Photoon2012-11-02at1349.jpg
Please help by setting me in the right direction!
Appreciate everything you do with the site.
Thanks in advance mate.
Some info might be helpful;
20 yrs old, 83 kg, 6 ft 1.
Used to be 120 kg but just counted calories to get to where I am now.
I just can decide whether I’m skinny fat or just fat (pretty normal weight for my height but I’m flabby).. Also, my lifts are pretty weak even though I’ve been training for 6+ months.
Once again, thank you.
Have a read of this article mate.
Hey Andy, I really enjoy how detailed this program is and it does make sense. I am sure this has been mentioned in a previous post however, I do my lifting in the morning and my feeding-window will be from 1pm to 9pm. I am sure that will not be a problem, my only concern is lifting on an empty stomach. I assume this will just take some getting used to? Have energy levels been sustained?
Isn’t an issue for 99% of people. For the set-up have a read here.
Hey Andy,
I workout 5 days a week (going to the gym has become an addiction). However I just started IF (2pm-10pm) and I am wondering if become of the amount of time I spend in the gym it could cause muscle loss.
Thanks in advance! I have told many of my friends about this site, hopefully they will believe me when I get these last sets of packs
Keep reading buddy, you’ll come across my thoughts on training. Follow the links there also and you’ll have your answer. – When you have one tell me what it is in a reply.
Hi Andy,
I have small question about BW workout
I have constructed my routine
Monday: Pull-ups (weighted) ; leg rises; calv rises each 4 sets up to 10 rep
Wednesday: Bridges; Head Stand; push-ups;
Friday: Dips (weighted); Squats; 4 sets up to 10 rep
I do not feel huge soreness after my workouts, I can finish them in 35-45 minutes
Basically my question is about is that enough to support carb cycling or, should I add more exercises to my routine??
Thank you in advance. I really appreciate your opinion.
Depending on how this is executed then is could well be yes. I won’t say a blanket “yes” as that’ll just give people the green light to use it and screw around.
Ohh.. the comment section is really hot here. I really admire your patience, Andy
Thanks again for this great content you have here.
Think the FAQ and the macros posts have it beat though.
Hey, great post.
I usually train 5pm-6pm sometimes 5.30-6.30
I have been fasting 3 days now, does the below plan sound good (recently purchased the Renegade diet)
12:00 Eat 3 eggs, greens, vit tab
17:00 Train – 10g bcaa 15 mins pre workout, post 25 gram whey shake
19:00 Eat Main Meal
20:00-9:00 Smaller meal (on higher carb days)
thanks for your share
Keep reading Yoda. All the information is here. I can’t yay or nay a meal plan without looking at the picture as a whole. Furthermore, If you’re doing another diet plan then you had better follow the rules of that diet plan.
Hey Andy, great info here and I’ve enjoyed this site. I work graveyards x3 a week straight and tend to stay up all day for the first and last day. Seems hard to fast those days any ideas? Also, I’m finding it hard to eat the required calories for a re-comp and have been eating higher fat to get there…… should I do a cut first? I have a slight skinny fat type body with 12-15% bf.
Thanks,
Mike
Hi Mike.
1. See the FAQ for advice on setting things up with shift work.
2. See this post to help you decide between cut/recomp/bulk.
Thanks man, looking forward to working with you!
Very nice andy! i’d like to ask is it ok to use my pre work out supplements during fast period? and take whey and such for my post work out period? im kinda confuse as starter! im not new to working out but yes fasting is so new i dont even know where to start lol .. plsss advice ! many thanks!!
If you are training fasted then try and keep any pre-workout supplement under 50kCal and take your BCAAs. Refer to Martin’s “Leangains Guide” if you are looking to do early morning fasted training as you will not want to take a shake PWO. If you are not, then it isn’t necessary. Keep reading buddy.
Hi Andy I am new to IMF but it makes sense. How many weeks should it be done? I barbell train 3 times a week but really need to fix my diet to lose fat. Thanks
Once you start, you will not likely go back.
First of all thank you for all the simplified information. Martin says about 90% of your macros will come post workout if you follow the 1-9pm feeding (workout @ 12 pm). Their has to be an error in that? This diet forces you in a lot of ways outside your box and what we consider normal and the results page shows that this is valid. According to my macros that would be 198g protein, 301 g carbs and about 28 g fat at 1 meal!! Unless I read his pages on leangains wrong. I know its necessary tapering down carbs and other macros but do you have a recomendation on percents? Like 50% total from your macros post workout, 25% second meal and 25% at your last meal before fast starts. I hope its not even more complicated like 70% carbs and only 30% protein post workout, etc….
Rob, stop waffling and give me a specific example and I will advise.
I am a Endomorph. The Macros for my workout days are 335g carbs, 30 g fat and 220g protein. My activity level i placed at a 1 doing calculations even though i am doing the workouts already that you suggested, 3 days a week, thats pretty much as active as i get. Your thoughts on doing the meal structure as follows
1pm-167g carbs,15g fat, 110g protein (50% of total calories)
4pm-83g carbs, 7.5g fat 55g protein 7.5g fat (25% total calories)
8:30pm-83 g carbs, 7.5g fat 55g protein 7.5g fat (25% total calories)
Oh crap i just went back and read where you hate these questions with peoples detailed macros!! i understand, let me retract my previous post and just ask if you think a 50% post workout meal followed by two 25% of my total calorie meals will suffice.
No worries.
Presuming fasted training that split looks fine. However, that is not a comment on the macros themselves. My thoughts on macros are here. Note the part written in red.
Hi need help im on around 1400 calories doing lifting tht you reccomend, but havent lost any weight in 1st too weeks dnt no wht im doing wrong.having my window 12-8 getting bulk calories postwork out which is6.45pm. Eating really well no rubbish.just need some help as what im doing wrong. Thnks
If you’ve been dieting for an extended period then the reason you’re not losing weight could be due to metabolic slowdown. Or, it could be that you are growing muscle at the same rate that you are losing fat if you are a beginner. Measure your stomach.
yea have measure my waist belly button area and where i dip and all same,no havent really been dieting for extended period either,so quiet confused
Stress. Lack of sleep. Underestimation of calories consumed.
Hi andy
Im currently following a leangains diet using simplified rules because I dont have the time to count calories and macros.
By this I mean I just aim to eat low fat high carb foods on training days and high fat low carb on rest days.
I’m just wondering on a rest (high fat low carbs day) could you give me any general advice on the amount of carbs I can consume? Is it strictly as little as possible (e.g <50g) or I am able to consume more than this as long as its not too much? I dont mean can I go and eat pasta on rest days or anything I just find a lot of the high protein recipes I see in leangains and other sources are carby, and to get this protein its seems I have to get the carbs along with this.
Also whats the maximum amount of time you recommend staying in the fasted state? Sometimes its more convenient for me to fast for 18-20 hours, am I burning muscle by this stage?
Any advice would be great, thank you in advance
Hi Ben, one or two pieces of fruit and plenty of veggies as a general guide.
The latter answer is much more complicated. If you don’t have a good reason then don’t screw around with the feeding window. Don’t go less than 4 hours.
Andy, is it better to train fasting or after I’ve broke my fast, which is more beneficial. Also, I can train at 6:30 am on an empty stomach or a at 8:00 pm after breaking fast. I’m not sure which to do
There isn’t conclusive evidence for either as yet, so I would try both a few times and see which gives you better performance in the gym. The caveat is that you can eat a sufficient number of your daily calories before bed without sleep being interrupted. -Some sleep like a baby on a full stomach, some can’t get off.
Hi Andy,
If my training time is 9.30-10.30 am and my first meal of the day is 1.00pm, does it affect my diet in any way? I saw somewhere on leangains.com to drink 10g BCAA at 2 hour intervals till breaking fast. Is that a necessity?
Also, if on a rest day I decided to do some light exercise (rugby for example for 30 mins) how would it affect my rest day diet? (if it does, what about 1 hour)
1. Yes drink them.
2. No, don’t change things, unless you’re shredded and thus being very careful about deficits.
Hi Andy,
I’m a little confused. Does this mean that We fast everyday or 2 times a week. And in the 8 hour window do we consume all the calories we usually eat for a day or a reduced amount.
My apologies for being thick
You’re not being thick Ali, you just haven’t clicked the links in this article and read the further information. Do that, then if you have a genuine question fire away.
Im curious as to what is considered a training day. Say I workout at 10pm and then go to bed. Should the day leading up the workout be a training day or rest day meal plan?
Eat after your workout. That’s nutrition 101 right there.
hi,great articles really intresting but still but confused. with my work schedule i cant train till late like 530 or 630 would i have my biggest meal straight after. im around 66kg and struggling with how many calories i should have.im female do i have a longer window to eat or stay with 8 hour.many thanks
Presuming you go to bed before midnight, have lunch at a usual time then have a bigger dinner. Follow those descriptions, as long as you’re within your macro budget for the day then the exact split isn’t such an issue.
Thank you very much for this article. I’m going to start exercising again and this has definitely inspired me to want to start up again.
Good to her Guillaume. Good luck.
Hi Andy:
I found this website by accident yesterday and it pretty much kept me up way past my bed time reading all the articles.
I’ve been on a pretty strict workout/diet regimen w/ supplements for the past 8 weeks and although I have seen some growth in my upper body, I feel like the results have come to kind of a stand-still in the last few weeks. My workout buddies swear by cardio for the fat-loss in the midsection I want, but they also say things like “abs are made in the kitchen” and this seems like a bit of a contradiction. My diet has been good for the most part — lean meats, whole grains, healthy fats, 5-6 meals a day. I average between 1,200 – 1,800 calories on any given day. Even though I have lost weight (from being inactive to pretty active will do that on its own, I’m sure) I feel like after 8 weeks I should have seen better results by now. So I’ve decided to try out I.F.
I’m 28, 5’6ish, and around 160lbs and after following the formula you outlined, I determined on my training days I should be taking in around 2,400 calories and on rest days around 1,500… Is this right?? 2,400 calories to CUT weight? It seems nearly impossible to ingest that many healthy calories in an 8 hour time span and I (forgive me if I overlooked it) wanted to ask personally if this was normal? Because my calorie intake from my current diet is WAY below that and I’m not seeing crazy good results like you have pictured on here.
Also — do protein shakes need to be taken within the 8 hour span or can these be taken at other times?
Thanks in advance for any insight, and I look forward to trying out I.F.
Please have a look at the post “How to calculate your macros“.
Thanks for your response, Andy. I did. If I calculated it right, they look like this:
Training Days: 180P/ 30F/ 350C
Rest Days: 180P/ 60F/ 120C
The rest days are pretty easy but I’m having a hard time meeting my carb quota on training days. Either way, thanks again for this awesome site. I’ve been I.F. for 3 days now and it’s really not that tough at all.
One more quick question: My food window is 12-8. Because of my occupation, my sleep schedule is wildly erratic. One day I went to bed at 10 and woke up at 6. Yesterday I went to bed at 4am and woke up at 12pm. Should I stay on the 12-8 food window no matter what, or should I push it back an hour or two when I wake up late?
Thanks so much buddy.
Keep to your eating schedule mate so your body gets used to those times and you don’t feel hungry at others.
Thanks pal!
Hi Andy,
I am 26 years old, never worked seriously on weight or sports training in and i just want to do something with my life – most importantly to improve my health, strength and well-being. I am really interested in the whole IF approach, and i think i understand the principles pretty well. But i have a peculiar situation in my hands. I live in a small town where here is no….ummm…gym….
In the whole “i wanna change my body/health” approach, i have just bought a pair of adjustable dumbbells 15kg/33lbs each (in a total of 30kg/66lbs) and i also have a simple chinup bar – no handle variations. But that’s about it as far as equipment goes. (I don have the money to invest on a n olympic barbell setup, or more dumbbells – for the time being)
Could you suggest a training programm that can be combined with Martin’s IF with my equipment limitations?
I am also thinking of skipping dinner (much easier for me than skipping breakfast) and working in the morning (8-9am) instead of 12-1 am that Martin suggests.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you for your time,
Nick
(PS sorry if i made any spelling mistakes)
A bodyweight workout can work. Plenty out there. Just google and follow the principle of progressive overload. You’ll want to get a barbell set in the end though.
Hi Andy i have just found your site and keen to have a go at IF. I was 120kgs 5yrs ago and managed with low GI eating and walking lost 30kgs ,but now have hit that wall !
What to do and where to go from here ? Over the last 18mths I have tried a number of methods to change my body comp ie Paul Chek
Poliquin but to no real gain ,had a DEXA scan &
still have 23% Body fat.. Hope you can advice on my next move..
Cheers Russ
I hope this site can in some way help you find an answer to that. With such little information I am at a loss of where to start. Please have a good read.
Andy,
Should I eat carbs in my pre workout meal? Or only eat all of the carbs post workout for boosting insulin?
thx
Worry less about insulin and more about having the right overall calorie balance before and after.
So I started my training day, ate my macros for lunch….come evening a work emergency held me at the office – so I skipped the gym.
-What would you do for the second meal? Just stick to the macros?
-What would you do the next day? Lower the carbs?
Thanks!
Lower the carbs. Don’t adjust anything the next day. One meal, don’t stress it.
Hey Andy, first of all thanks for the loads of info on the site, you make it much clearer than Martin’s site. Here is the thing, i have been doing LG for several months now, but my progress is very slow (to the point where i sometimes believe i have no progress at all). I dont do the compound exercises recommended, but am doing gymnastics training on rings 3 times a week, which include dips, pull-ups, core and generally whole-body exercises. My macro’s are about 10% Tdays/-30% Rdays. I get around 200g pro, 270g carbs, and 20g fat on training days, and 200g pro, 60g carbs, and 30g fat on rest days. My body fat is around 15-17%, so from the testimonials of some of your clients, i should in reality have lost much more fat than i have. What am i doing wrong?
Could be you need a diet break.
That’s weird… I notice on my end that I get gassy during high-carb days. XD
Hi Andy, this is Ex- client Ben a quick question for you,I am sure other people would have experienced this but maybe not wanted to post about it, Is there anything that can be done about the amount of “gas” that is produced on a high protein diet from you rear end!! My wife is on the brink of divorce
lol!!
Any suggestions welcome, “oops there I go again, Ben!!)
Haven’t had this or heard of this particularly. Perhaps something you’re eating is disagreeing with you. Try googling this.
Hi.
I work from 8 to 15-17 and i can do a workout as soon as i get home. Is it ok if my feeding window will be shorter than 8 hours? For example: fasted workout at 17.00, meal nr 1 after workout about 18, meal nr 2 about 21.00, going to bed about 23.00. Is it ok to eat a meal at late evening? The goal is to loose fat. Thanks
Yes.
You don’t have to train fasted, have a lunch meal, then another at 9pm.
I am completely confused on this diet? Is this right? chose an 8 hour window for eating? so you only eat 2x a day? a full meal 2x a day?
Yes, and maybe. Depends on your particular training set-up. Keep reading, all the information is here in the site.
Hi there, long time lurker of the site, so helpful to have all the info condensed and easily accessed.
One question, would it be a problem if I was to have only one big meal a day post workout?
You can but it’s not a good idea. I’ve answered this before in quite a lot of detail. I’ll put it up on the FAQ eventually but just trust me for now.
Hi Andy,
Did you answer it in this thread? I could imagine it may not be optimal (although I’m unsure why), but your words of “it’s not a good idea” seem to read a little more strong than just ‘not optimal’?
If I give the man a soft answer with no explanation then he will ignore me and it will not benefit him, so I worded it more strongly. If you have read a more detailed version above then instead of “nit-picking” on my choice of words, do the man a favour and link him to the information.
What’s your take on martial arts vs lifting as a hobby and for improving physique? If you could only do one, which would it be (along with IF)?
Have a read of the introduction post “Funny things that brought me to Japan“
Out of the blue, a friend of mine from way back just let me know he is in town tonight and offered to meet up for a few beers. It’s a rest day for me and I’ve already had my first of two meals. If this diet is going to work it needs to be able to work around these rare occurrences right? What do I do to minimize the damage? Hope you can answer this soon but I know you are very busy. Thanks Andy.
Andy, I just saw this:
“Just continue as normal. One night out is not going to screw you up in the long-term. (If you were a weight-division athlete or bodybuilder with something coming up it would be different.)”
Makes sense to me. Thanks bud.
Do nothing. Stressing an uncontrollable situation like this and worrying about making modifications is not going to lead to long term success.
Hey Andy,
When is the best time to measure Body Fat? While fasting and dehydrated? After a meal? Before a meal? Ensure that I am not dehydrated? Currently, I’m doing a 3-point caliper measurement, and it’s telling me i have 7% body fat, which I think is bogus.
I don’t measure body fat. See this article for reasons.
really quick question…. im a 27 yr old male. 185lbs(92k) 78k lean body mass. just figured out my calculations to be:
BMR= 3,543 (im very active crossfitter lifts heavy, some hiit, occassional multi day sessions)
a) If I am trying to get as lean as possible without compromising too much strength, is body recomp best? or cut then slow bulk?
b) i figured my macros to be (if on recomp +20tday/-20rday)
P=200g F=25-50g C=795g (training day)
P=200g F=50-100g C=373g (rest day)
is this wayyyyy too many carbohydrates???
C) should i go to a cut then slow bulk with a +20tday/-40rday?
please help me figure this out as there is a lot of stuff on these posts and i cant figure out which is best for me. were my calculations off?? or am i really supposed to ingest that much Carb on both rest and training days?
please please help. thanks
rob
Hi Robert.
a) A cut done right will not lose you strength in your top sets overall, with the exception of the bench. Further sets may be harder, but then it depends on your priority. You could always start with a recomp and then adjust downwards if your strength is fine.
b) Eat that on your next training day and you will have a very clear answer.
c) See answer to “a”. For the calculations then use my macros guide.
Hey Andy,
After a 2 week diet break I cut for 8 weeks. I lost 0.75cm from my stomach and 1kg in weight. Also lost strength and hunger was an issue, so I was wary about cutting macros. As you recommended initially, I added some macros to switch to a recomp about 4 weeks ago. I’m still quite hungry (not during the fast though, only after feeding), but my strength loses have halted and some lifts have slight increases. However, the 0.75cm from my stomach has also come back, although my weight has remained stable.
So have I just hit a limit, where to get any leaner I’ll just need to accept the hunger and strength losses and perhaps add some cardio? Or is there something else I should try first?
Thanks,
Chris.
Hold on a minute Chris, you were hungry during the diet break? Because if so then you didn’t do it right, you won’t have had the “hormonal reset” and that could explain the other problems.
No sorry for not being clear. The diet break was fine and I felt fine during those two weeks. However, then I switched to cutting macros and within a few weeks hunger become an issue. From the cutting macros I went straight into recomp macros with no diet break.
So I’ve done a 2 week diet break, 8 weeks cut, and then 4 weeks recomp.
So you fixed the problem of hunger by recomping, correct? Presuming your weight is stable then you’re recomping in a classic sense, and you shouldn’t be hungry if food choices are optimal. Have a look at the FAQ on hunger Chris and see if that applies to you.
Well I wouldn’t say 100% corrected – but it’s much better than when on cutting macros. What is really bothering me though, is that after 8 weeks cutting and 4 weeks recomping, I haven’t lost anything from my stomach. I feel a little stuck, because cutting macros made me hungrier, I lost strength, and really struggled with workouts, all without any objective progress. So have I hit a limit? Or do I just have to suck it up and get more aggressive with cutting macros and accept the strength losses and increased hunger to progress?
Could possibly be because you slightly over-did it on the diet break and the didn’t “cut” for a week or two to compensate. Might be good to cut for a few weeks.
As for the hunger, try putting more fats into your days. As a rough guide sacrifice 2g of carbs for every 1g of fats you add in.
OK – thanks for the advice Andy, I’ll switch back to cutting.
Hey, do I have to do squat/deadlift/bench 3 days a week or can I just do other high volume routines eg arms/traps/abs, back/curls, chest/abs, legs/abs? or will it really be better if I do exercises stated above? my routines are really intense, after doing these 3 i always felt like I could do more so I switched it.
of course I’m also doing benchpress, dips, squats while training those parts.
There is nothing in this world that you have to do. However you would be wise to look at your goals, look at the available methods of achieving your goals (studying may be necessary to find that out), and then choose the most effective method.
Feeling exhausted after a workout may make you feel good, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting bigger. Focus on getting stronger in the main compound lifts and you will change your body for the better.
Thank you very much for your response, I really appreciate it;) Anyways I’ve been using your method for few months now and so far I lost 14,5 kg. However for like 2/3 weeks i stopped to lose weight. I’ve stopped at 70kg. And right now I’m not quite sure what to do, I train hard, I count my macros. Should I stay and train another few weeks and wait for results (should i bother about weight?) or should i try to change something right now? I’m quite confused because ive never had 6pack in my entire life, and im really trying hard to get it. Thank you for your great blog and motivation
Start measuring with a tape measure. See this post.
Thank you very much, I will do right as it says. I’ll stick to my training routine for few more weeks and take photos every 2 weeks. If it still doesnt work I’ll change routine to big 3 in 1 day (right now my routines are different, however I’m doing these exercises with many more, if it doesnt work ill go minimalistic). Thanks for your help
Welcome
eh I think after few months of dieting i have to do 2 week break. I stopped to lose weight and also measuring is not showing any drop, dont know why, because i think i do everythink as i should, counting macro properly and training… oh well, thats my luck
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I’ve done a fair amount of reading of leangains.com and google bought me here and i’m so glad I found this site. I am fairly new to bodybuilding/weightlifting and I’m completely unsure if this approach is right for a beginner? Most of the guys on the images/results page look pretty muscular before they lean out, revealing abs etc which makes me wonder If I have to get muscular and fatter (high caloric intake needed?) before I can go about doing IF.
You can use the same principles and just set the energy balance according to your goals. See this and this article.
I’ve been searching through your site but haven’t found the answer so I thought I’d just ask. I am curious what bf% is a good goal for a guy like me: 6ft1, 36yo, 222lbs, 22.%bf. I want to be lean and strong and I’m doing the RPT split as I have been lifting pretty much since high school (love the program btw). I am doing a cut but can you provide me with a reasonable goal for a bf% that I should be aiming for – something that is reasonable to maintain. I see other sites have numbers but I don’t trust them to be using the most current info. Thanks Andy.
Roger, what car should I buy?
Point taken.
I know it varies per individual, but what would you advice general macro percentage guidelines for a cut regimen after calculating kcals?
I don’t, my guide on doing things is here, but that doesn’t make a percentage based calculation bad, just different.
Andy-
I can’t find where you wrote about this anywhere on the site if you did, or if you answered this.
I’ll keep it short. If you are on the heavier side and cutting, how often do you need to recalculate your macros?
-Billy
There is no one answer to this.
Hey man I want to try this diet (LG/IF) but there are certain things I’m not clear about.
#1 I’m a martial artist so I usually workout 2 times/day at least 5days a but I do lift weights 3 times per week though. will this work for me?
#2 What if I decide to put my feeding window right after getting up in the morning from 6am to 2pm?
#3 Since I rest just one or two times per week would you recommend carb cycling only on rest days?
Hi Jesus.
1. This will be fine. Only count the barbell training as your workout days. Consider adding in extra carbs on the Martial Arts days.
2. Fine, but kills all social life.
3. See above.
Thanks, in that case, what is the minimum I can get away with on rest days? I don’t do too well with fats.
That depends.
I just sent you a consultation email as I realize this may not be the place to ask very specific advise, hope to hear from you.
Thanks again!
Ok thank you.
Hi Andy!
Thanks for all the great info! I was wondering if I can go low-fat high carb on my rest days too as long as I keep my calories at the same deficit. Why are fats recommended for rest days? Is it just a question of satiety or can I just as well use carbs if I far prefer them? Thank you so much!
Sophie
No you need fats for hormonal balance. very important.
Andy,
Is it fair to say the main difference between Cut, Recomp, or Lean Bulk is really just about the calories?
I mean, the basic foods stay the same, there is still surplus on the Training Days, still higher-carb, lower-carb days, all I can see is the food *quantity* changes in what you have already been eating.
In a general sense yes, but there’s lots of factors to be taken into account for the individual.
Andy,
Great site! A real complement to Martin’s original. Some questions.
1. I train 2 days a week (a full body workout centered on three compound moves each day, not unlike Scott). The ordinary format calls for 3 training days at +20% calories and then -20% on the rest days. Would you suggest I simply add another (a third) +20% calories day given that I train only twice weekly?
2. What are your views on where, when, and if to include the following:
• Oatmeal (I usually have some with lots of almonds and milk).
• Milk (I do drink some with an evening Protein Shake but am flexible in losing it).
3. Did my first fasted training session today (deadlift day) and was pleased I didn’t black out. I rested long enough between sets to help manage this transition. Have you or anyone here really seen a difference in Fat Loss when using fasted Strength Training (with only the BCAAs prior) vs. having one or more normal meals prior to training?
Thanks.
1. No, make your workout days’ intake proportionately bigger, or more ideally taper the calories accordingly.
2. IIFYM then it’s fine.
3. I haven’t. But I haven’t been doing proper controlled research with it.
Thanks, Andy. I understand your suggestion to do ++ calories on my two training days only. By more ideally “taper” the calories” what do you mean and what days are you referring to?
Also, do you experience bloating on these + calorie days? If so, what do you do about it if anything. I have always bloated a bit after the first (large) meal on all the days (with any protocol), be it the first meal of the rest day, or the first (larger) meal of training day. Thanks.
Thanks again for a great site.
Taper the calories. – High, medium and low day if you’re doing 2 days training only a week. -Just one way of doing it.
Bloating comes with lots of carbs and water. Don’t let it phase you.
PS… Does my current 20g of BCAA’S count in my daily protein allowance?
Hi Andy…
Great website and what looks to be a great program…
I break my fas at 11.30am with 25% of my daily calories I already take 10g of BCAA’S pre workout about 4pm and another 10g during my workout
My question is instead of coffee ( which i would need sugar or milk in ) could I sip on BCAA’S between getting up and 11.30am?
Thanks in advance for your reply
Yvette
1. Why would you sip on the BCAAs instead of coffee? If you don’t drink coffee then just stick to water.
2. Yes and no. The BCAAs of roughly 4x the equivalent weight in protein are there, which is good, but the calories aren’t.
I know most fitness experts are very anti-drinking, but at 26 I enjoy going out and having a few drinks with the guys. Nothing crazy these days, just a couple bourbons. I don’t do beer or mixed fruity drinks, usually whiskey on the rocks, so basically no carbs and few calories.
My question is, how will this work with my feeding window? Martin recommends keeping the same window every day, but my bar hopping hours are typically 10:00 PM – 2:00 PM every few weeks, while my feeding window is 1:00 PM – 9 :00 PM. Should I change my daily feeding window to, say, 4:00 PM – 12:00 AM? Or just allow 1 day every few weeks to have a drink during my fast? (No food.)
I understand and appreciate that many are anti-alcohol, but please spare me the speeches and just let me know your recommendations.
At the end of the day mate, you’re going to drink regardless of the window you set, so don’t worry about it.
The point of keeping your window is to have regular meal times, so that your body gets used to those times and doesn’t feel hungry during the fast.
I haven’t experienced any negatives in terms of hunger (ghrelin entrainment being upset) when drinking late, regularly on weekends. Whether this is due to the alcohol being more of a “drip feed” of energy rather than a shotgun full of calories, who knows?
Read the alcohol guide though as it will screw you up if not careful because of the energy balance.
Thanks for the fast reply! I’m glad I stumbled on this page!
Welcome!
Hi Andy,
got a couple of questions myself if you got the time!
- Do I take my postworkout meal RIGHT after my workout? Or do I wait a couple of hours before eating?
Some people believe waiting will cause the body to burn more fat thus working out earlier in the day. Broscience on youtube: /watch?v=zmXLqmqBzeU
- Right now I fast 16 hours on workout days (eating window 15:00 – 21:00) and 18 hours on resting days (ew 17:00 – 21:00)
So I maximize the fatburning hours (read eatstopeat) however can the window shifting between workout and resting days do me more bad then good?
Love your website, keep the knowledge sharing going!
Regards.
1. 2 hours is fine if you’ve had a meal pre-workout or took BCAA’s and some after.
2. Better to keep the same times. -Ghrelin entrainment. (You will get hungry otherwise.)
1. Well I wouldn’t mind working out earlier and waiting another couple of hours before I eat but does it have any benefits? Martin recommends eating RIGHT after you workout.
2. Same here, no benefits in fasting longer on resting days?
Marginal. Don’t try and fix something that ain’t broke Bruno. You gotta have success first before you get your “license to screw around”.
Well said, thank you that piece of wisdom!
Hey Andy, I am not a body builder I played college basketball and have always been lean but now that im older and dont play as much basketball or have as much time to workout, my leaness is starting to go away. And i think this exactly what i need, but i know im going to sound silly but I dont get the macrosnutrient training plan for instance when you estimate this number for a training day P210/F30/C320. This means 210 Grams of protein, 30 Grams of Fat, and 320 Grams of carbs and thats for the whole day within your 8 hour feeding window? and lets say my window is 1-9 and I eat at 1 but, I only eat a third of my amount needed for the day; can i eat again at 4 and again at 9 to finish required amount I need for the day? or should I should I just eat 2 times for the day? and just one more question. Like alot of people stated already I workout in the morning and my fasting would end at 1 Is it detremental if I dont take the BCAA shake after and just wait til 1 to eat and just drink some water to hydrate myself? Because I would like to stay away from any supplements if possible.
Thanks,
I look forward to hearing your response
The number of meals you eat is completely irrelevant Adam.
Doable but not optimal. This should help for the BCAA question.
Hey Andy I got a question. I would really like to try this routine but I play High School soccer and I have to run everyday for practice. I know you say cardio is unnecessary but if should I just eat more from the calories I’ve lost or what? Thank you.
You will want to make adjustments. As it’s every day then adjusting the multiplier should be fine.
Hi Andy, great guide.
Just wandered if it matters when the feeding window is in relation to training. For example, I can only weight train early in the morning but want to have my feeding window from 1-9 to fit around my social life. Will this mean that muscle stores following my workout wont be properly replenished or will it be ok to wait a few hours before I eat?
See Martin’s “The Leangains Guide” for fasted set-up examples.
Andy, i just finished the book you recommended: Beyond Brawn.
First of all thank you. This is the best book I have ever read in regards to body building.
What hit me the most was the recovery component and its importance.
You said it many times, but sometimes it takes years to get it!!!
I also found this very intriguing:
”
Your body has a minimum “set point” as far as your bodyfat is
concerned. To try to get lower than that is extremely difficult to
achieve. You may have to accept a bodyfat level a little higher than
your ideal, because the price to pay for getting a lower bodyfat
level may be extreme measures, loss of muscular bodyweight, and
a negatively altered metabolism.
”
Could this mean that I hit that point and i cannot get lower and I will never be able to get ripped, even with Lean Gains approach?
thx
What Stuart refers to is an unskilled, unknowledgable individual using a general calorie restriction method and suffering at the end of a diet. With the information on this site any man should be able to reveal their abs. There will always be a point where it’s hard to get leaner but that point depends on your skill. Or you can use that as an excuse to settle for mediocracy for the rest of your life and to shit on all the hard work of clients, non-clients, and everyone that has tried to improve themselves if you like. But judging by the 50 or so comments you’ve put on the site in the last year I’m guessing you will work at it.
Thanks for the comment, of course i am not giving up.
I have seen too much success on your site to give up!!!
I switched to 2 times a week training , still RTP style to see if I might need more recovery. I also wonder if stuff like playing basketball 2 times a week for an hour and swimming half a mile two times a week could any affects my results.
Bart, 61 comments so far. Enough is enough. Shut up and start doing.
Haha, I am shut.
The thing is that I never stop doing!!! I find your comments interesting so I ask. Sorry if that was too much.
Hey, I’m wondering if 300g/carbs on t-days is too much for me. Im 175cm(5’9) and 71 kg(156lb) male 18year old. 1percentedge ifcalculator gave me something like macros of 180prot, 300carbs, 50gfat for t days. Im doing Push/pull prog with 2 days of strenght (4-6reps) and 2 days of h.trophy(8-15reps depends on movement). I also run like 20-30km a week.
I don’t use that calculator Toni. Nor do I help individuals with their macros in the comments on the site. Thank you for the interest though.
Hey Andy I’m about to start this diet was just curious to know, during the 16 hour fast can you consume liquids? Juice or water or tea?
See the FAQ Tash.
Another question, Andy.
I really dislike exercising my legs and would prefer upper body only. Can I skip squats?
Thanks again,
Dan.
Andy,
I have been doing IF for a few months now with a variable success as I wasn’t aware of the proper macro ratio (until I found your website – many many thanks!) I was way too low on my carb intake which often led me to binge in the evening.
I have somewhat of a different question:
What do you think about fasting for more than 24 hrs – both as calorie control and overall health? Sometimes I get into “the zone” and can go for 40 hrs on just diet drinks (and maybe occational milk in the coffee). As I am righting this, I am finishing 48 hrs and consider going for another 24. I feel totally fine although I am a bit weak.
I do exercise daily, nevertheless, although don’t go too heavy – 30 min bike, pull-ups, push-ups, leg-raises.
Do you think I will lose muscle mass? I am about 10% body fat.
Love all the info on your site – I haven’t been this excited since I saw leangains.com! But you provide all of the practical info!
Thanks a million!
Dan.
At 10% body fat you will lose muscle mass.
Hey Captain,
On my second week of recomp, the only issue I have run into is recovery of my hamstrings and some hunger issues. The hammies are tight and screaming although my deadlift has gone up. Keep in mind I am deadlifting 3 times a week and my overall thigh measurement has gone up. Any recommendations on hammy recovery? Regarding the hunger, I eat more green leaf veggies. I know better than to increase eating, since I can’t see my abs fully.
Hmm, time to drop the middle day deadlifting perhaps. Doesn’t mean you need to add other things in though.
I think I’m doing too many reps on my first 3 work sets. After all, after warmup sets, my first work set is 10 reps, second is 8 reps and third is 6 reps. What are your thoughts on dropping down to 5 reps a work set? I’d hate to drop a day of them, since I think I can really squeeze more out of them. My back is always roaring to go. I am going to do some stretching and add some foam roller work to get those hammies ready. Of these don’t work then perhaps getting rid of the middle day deads?
Sure do that if you want. There are many ways to do things. My thoughts are on those training pages.
Hey Andy,
I just had a quick question. I am currently doing insanity (halfway through and just started IF (literally today), but I perform my insanity workout early morning (7am) and then sometimes weight lift (2-3 days a week) after work around 7pm. I was wondering what feeding window would be better for me. Currently, my feeding window is from 2-10pm, so that I can get in a good amount of macros after weight lifting. My main concern is that I am not getting in any food after my high intensity cardio workout at 7am. Should I be worried about this as far as muscle gains go? In case it matters I am 205lbs and currently around 25% BF (5’7″). Thanks!
Want a Top tip Tuan? -Drop the cardio. Bad time investment, especially at your bf level.
Hey Andy,
Thanks for the top tip. However, I am unable to do so for now (I am also training for a 3mile obstacle course, so I will need the conditioning), but I will definitely drop the cardio down to just a little bit per week for some health benefits and concentrate on the lifting again. Really appreciate the site, lots of great info here man.
Cheers, good luck.
Been doing alot of research on IF and currently workout about 5 times a week and rest 2. I know you and Leangaines both state that you’ll only need to work out 3 times. My question is:
If I dont change my calories on the days I rest and lift, but add one day of a full 24 hour fast, then would that equal the same caloric intake if I worked out 3 times a week and rested two?
Whether it equals the same is not the point. Adjust your calories accordingly across all days for the right weekly balance.
Hey Andy – top stuff – must admit I started IF then fell off the wagon but looking to get back on the IF lifestyle.
Question do you see merit in combining the IF styles of Leangains, Warrior diet, Full fast days with full cheat days over the course of a week?
Cheers bro
No. This is like people that keep trying to make the perfect training program out of several instead of sticking to one that works. They all work.
Secondly, this will just make things complicated and that in itself leads to a high failure rate.
Thirdly, you’ll upset the ghrelin entrainment potentially.
Fourthly, yo… just no Jono.
Hi,
Somebody told me about This website, and im reading it with great interest!
My question/ comment is: how can i use This program in my work. I work full shifts (day/evening/night) for à average of 4 days à week.
Thanks!
Greetings Tom Graaf from holland
See this question in the FAQ.
Hi Andy,
I love your site. The tone is especially inviting and so are you. Hope you don’t mind a bit of a read. I’m obese and I used to lead a *very* sedentary lifestyle. Five weeks ago I decided to do something about my body and began using the My Fitness Pal app to count my calories. At the time I weighed 129kg; I’m 182cm tall.
Around 3 weeks in I had lost 10kg by sticking as close to my calorie goals as I could(couch potato fat, I guess). I would also commute-walk 20-40 mins a day and take the stairs whenever I can.
I’ve recently become interested in IF and have been fasting for about a week now. I did not exercise since I wanted to take it one step at a time(get my mind used to fasting). Yesterday, I did my first bodyweight workout (squats, push-ups, lunges). I figure I’d do bodyweights for a couple of weeks and then hit the gym and get stuck into the lifts.
My Fitness Pal has me at 1880 cals a day, which I’m sticking to pretty well(some days I can barely manage 1200). But, I’m wondering if this needs to be adjusted since I’m doing bodyweight exercises. Should I be changing my calorie consumption for workout/rest days? Or is it better for faster fat loss if I keep a deficit everyday? I also plan on paying a lot more attention to my macros.
Sorry, if this has been addressed before, I haven’t been able to find very much information on IF/LG for obese people.
Being obese it’s not necessary to consume more than your TDEE every day, but it would be a good idea to still cycle the caloric loads. BMR and TDEE are different. The rest I leave to you.
Thank you very much!
No worries.
Hi Andy!
Love your work! I consider to book you, but I’m a student, and my $$$$ i short, so I’ll just go for a couple questions here, an reconsider after the summer is over.
Sorry for my bad english, but I’ll do my best. Have som questions, hope you’ll answer me
Tried to eat 2000kcal a day for abt 2 months now, no cycle with carbs etc, but Trained RPT. Every day was about 200ish prots, 100 carbs 80 fat. Found about your style/LG now. Has this held my “transformation”/results back?
And I eat between 13-21.. But i have a problem with sleep. I don’t fal lasleep before 2-3 on school-days and 4-5 when i have day off or vacation (like now). I do my training 17:00 ish, try to eat breakfast 12, small PWO-meal 18ish and the biggest meal 21, because i know i won’t fall asleep before laaaaate, so i hate that starving-feeling.. Does also the sleep-part ruin this? Or should i just eat like that and continue my thing?
- Tony
Tony, 1. Cycle your carbs/macros for reasons in this article. 2. Sleep will hinder progress, yes. 3. Don’t apologize for your english and then use shitty english knowingly. “Laaaaate” -Keep things concise.
Thnx for the link! good read. And yessir, ill hold it concise.
I probably mail you for booking after summers. cheers mate!
About my english.. haters gonna hate
PS. I should have also stated that when I do start my first meal at 930 am that is because i ended my previous days fast much earlier than 730 pm.
See the latest FAQ point for more on this.
Great site Andy, thanks for this and I’ll thank Martin as well…..here’s my question.
I know it’s beneficial to try to keep to the same fast/feeding schedule daily but would it be that bad if my fast/feed schedule is altered about 2 hours a day?
Example…some days my first meals is 1130 am and last meal about 730 pm.
Other days my first meal is 930 am. and last meal is 530 pm.
Would such a difference be a negative factor in a leangains approach???
Thanks
Ron
I think it would be fine, the negative would be hunger, but only for a couple of hours. If this were to become a problem then the simple solution would be to try and keep it in a tighter range.
Thanks. it’s beneficial to know that a 2 hour diffference is not going to impede me.
if i workout in the mornings, and have my 8 hr feeding window 1-9pm, do i take a protein shake after i workout, or would working out inside of my window be better? Thanks
You’d take BCAAs if you’ve got a 2hr + gap to that meal. See here for examples.
Hey, Andy i just want to ask you that I’m a bit confuse on my training because I’m a newbie.
When it comes to Squat,deadlift and benchpress how heavy and how many reps for each set?
i don’t know when to change the weights and when to increase or deacrese my reps. Thanks, Andy!
i’m 5’6 and 175lbs.
It’s all here: http://rippedbody.jp/the-big-3-routine/
1st set – Start with enough weight so you can do 6-8 reps (go to failure).
2nd set – Take of 10-15% of the weight off and aim for 8-10 reps (NOT to failure)
3rd set – Take another 10-15% off and aim for 10-12 reps (NOT to failure)
When you hit the maximum number of reps for the set you can move up a notch (2.5kg / 5lbs). Each set is adjusted in isolation.
For deadlift, take 2 reps of min and max for each set.
Cheers Steve.
Really good resource here Andy, thanks for the work. I’m 185cm/66kg presently. I’ve been VLC/ZC paleo meat, fat, and greens only for 6 months. I’m already 16/8 IF’ing. Suits my rock climbing and I feel great, and look pretty good, but I cannot break through my fat loss plateau; working a great ’4-pack’ here. Carbs are really gonna make me feel sick after being ketosis-adapted for so long, but I want to give leangains a shot. So, being carb averse:
What’s the minimum amount of carb g/% I can get away with on rest days; 0% possible/advisable?
What’s the maximum amount of fat g/% I can get away with on training days?
Do you recommend a particular carb/fat/resting/training split in this case?
I’m a thin, small muscled, ectomorph kinda guy, and whenever I’ve tried to bulk up, no matter the diet ratios, no matter the training (deadlifts 3x/week anyone?), I gain fat and very little muscle mass. This winter I tried with 3.0g/protein/kg and I got fat. Now I’m feeling good on 2.0g/protein/kg.
I want to get shredded first, see if it works, then TRY to add mass later.
Any ideas?
Thanks a bunch. BTW, I’m in Tokyo
Beau if you’re 66kg at 185cm (6ft1) and not shredded then you must be very weak. Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you got those last 2 abs to come through, would you look good overall? You’d probably be best focussing on strength gains. As a rough guide to start get your squats up to 250-300lbs, and deadlift to 300-350lbs and adjust your diet to allow you to deliver that. -I’d bet that it’s trying to do too many things at once previously that has lead you here.
Here are some good initial strength targets from LG.com:
Bench Press: 1.2 x BW
Chins: 1.2 x BW or 8 reps
Squat: 1.6 x BW
Deads: 2 x BW
I understand how it seems. I dont actually look that weak in person. My body seems to prefer a set point of light weight. Has always been that way. I’ve been doing deads/chins/pullups/kettlebells/dips Pavel Tsatsouline style training for 10 years. I do deads for a few cycles then stop, as they interfere with my hiking/climbing. I just finished two 6 week Pavel modified DeLorme deadlift cycles doing HIGH volume 5 rep sets at 80% 1RM, eating 2700 calories a day, 2x per week Yakiniku tabehodai 1-2 kilo beef gorge fests…….gained only 3 kilos, half fat. My dead 1RM has remained at around 100kilos forever. I’m not built for heavy weight training. But, I can kettlebell like crazy, do sets of pullups all day, lead rock climb for 9 hours, cycle up 2000 vertical meters in under 3 hrs, and hike up kitadake and return in 6 hrs. My body likes endurance, and RESPONDS to that kind of training. Winters I focus ONLY on weights, no cardio (and I quit biking a year ago). 2x bodyweight deads are a dream far away. Won’t happen. Doing 5x5x80 kilos feels good, rounded off with 9 sets of 5 pullups and dips focusing on slow tension.
Anyway, your site and advice are appreciated. I’m going to try the leangains -30/+10 cut. But since I prefer no carbs, on rest days, I’d like to eat none. So, what’s the min carbs on rest days, max fat on training days I can get away with? My body likes meat and fat. Carbs make me sick (insulin resistant/metabolic syndrome as theorized), but I’m gonna try.
Thanks
There’s no minimum with carbs. For the fats have a look at the macros post and the simplified counting rules mate.
Hi Andy,
I’m new to leangains and would like some advice as to what plan to use.
Here are my stats, I’m 6’2″ and 172lbs. My goal is to get a shredded look similar to yours, basically a lean, cut look with nice arms and definition. I definitely don’t want a huge look. More of a Hollywood fit look, if you know what I mean. I’m not sure whether to start with lean gains or recomp. I definitely want to get a lower body fat, but also need to bulk up. I have time, I’m in it for the long run, but I just want to know what is the best action plan. Should I get cut first, even if that means losing weight and looking a little scrawny for a bit and then bulk up? Let me know what you think is the best course of action for my goal. Thank you for your time and advice.
Best,
Kaspar
Kaspar please see this post.
Thanks Andy,
The post was very helpful, I definitely am in the skinny category, so I picked Lean Massing, is that the same as slow bulking or is weight gain more appropriate?
Same.
Thank you.
Welcome.
Hey, so I just have a few questions. I’m fifteen and have been doing three day split for a while and am currently bulking, but it’s hard for me to eat enough, and my abs are visible but I’ve put on some fat, so my question: Is it ok for someone my age to do IF, cuz i know there is some like activity exception or something for teenagers cuz we burn calories faster or whatever. My calculated macros according to your method is: T-Day Macros: P-310, C-421, F-30
R-Day Macros: P-310. C-88, F-60. Calories on t-day are 3195, on r-days are 2131, do these seem correct? thanks for reading.
Anthony you’re 15. Buy Starting Strength, follow the book to the letter. Eat. Don’t complicate things further. -Learn to push yourself hard in the gym. It will hurt. Learn to love the pain of squatting and you will be rewarded.
Hi Andy,
Thank you very much for such an easy to follow guide. I have been on Leangains for 4 month but have limited success because I was not watching my Macros at all.
I really like and enjoy your site vs LG by Martin because of the simple layout and straight forwardness. You put all the important information toghether!
Thanks again for the inspiration and such a good job on the site.
Most welcome Darren, cheers for taking the time to comment.
Andy,
I have a question regarding how much fat the human body can burn when on deficit.
Not sure, but I think Martin wrote something about it somewhere, but I cannot find any reference.
For example lets say the individual has BMR of 2000 calories a day.
During that day individual eats 1200 calories so it creates deficit of 800.
How much of that 800 will utilize fat for the energy?
How much muscles will be lost?
What I am trying to say here, that the one can get to the point where macros are calculated in such a way, that too much muscles is wasted and only little fat is utilized.
I am talking about scenario where you are already lean and want to get leaner.
I say that because if one tries to be on huge deficit for long time while working out there is no way to get ripped (at least this is what i noticed from my own experiments) so the macros must be at optimal spot for the best fat loos?
It feels like we need be at the spot when we burn max fat and sacrifice a little muscle at the same time meaning we must be always on deficit during the cut?
What do you think?
Does above make sense?
Yes it makes sense as the leaner you are the less FFA’s are available to the body. There has been some research on this, but it’s limited and I can’t remember the source. Lyle McDonald has also hypothesized about there being a limit. Practically though it’s fine to stick to the general rule -take it slower the leaner you get.
Dear Andy
(sorry for my english, I am not a native speaker)
I would like some suggestions about this new way of eating and training.
I am Italian. Up to now I followed a zone diet, now I shift on a paleo zone (it means that before I eat 11 blocks composed of 77gr of proteins, 99 gr of carbs, 33 gr of fats, now I eat 77 gr of proteins, only 4 blocks of carbs (just fruit and vegetables) substituting 1 block of carb with one block of fat (extravirgin olive oil, almonds, avocados, coconut, coca more than 85%).
It is enough? I am 61 kg.
I did gym (3 days a week I folow a course (GAG) in which for half an hour we did exercise sometimes with weights, other times with steps and we did squats and the other half an hour we did abdominals, leg and bottom exercizes). I tried to include also a weight training on tuesday and thursday, but the instructors just assign me tapis roulant and some legs exercizes and bottom excerzises with 10-15 kilos). Can I continue my GAG course? Eventually, I have to add the weight exercize in the same day or in a different day? which exercise I have to prefer? (I would not wast time and I would like too devote to the gym excercize not more than 1 hour).
My phisic is a typical mediterranean physic, I am lean in the up side of my body (but I need to tone my lower abdomen) and I have heavy tights (almost my fat is situated there and I have also cellulite). Can I do something for this and change my body like that one of the Japanesse girl in the results section? I ordered the McRobert book
Thanks for your help
Best regards
Stefania Veltri
Stefania thank you for the comment. I’m looking at the above and I’m not really sure about the blocks you refer to, nor the “GAG” style training. -You’re better off on another forum for specifics on your Paleo Zone diet and that. If you’d like me to put it quite simply, lift heavy barbells till it hurts, and you’re fine. If GAG is that, then good.
The best way to change your body is the same as it is for everyone -we simply cannot choose where the fat is deposited or burned. The ladies on the results page all squatted.
You will love the book.
Dear Andy
thanks for Your answer.
I was describing my diet in order to find a way to follow this regime under a paleo (perhaps could be highten up my carbos and lower my fats in the training day and do the opposite in the rest day.
There questions about diet:
1) when you talk about carbs you mean just vegetables and fruit?
2) when you talk about fats you mean monoinsatured ones (extravirgine olive oil, avocados, almond etc)?
3) in calculating my BMR Have I to refer to my bodyweight in kilos (or lbs)? If I calculate it in this way I could just eat less than 800 calories. In the zone diet the minimum amount is 1100 calories (divided in blocks composed of 40% carbs, 30% proteins, 30% fats, this was what I mean with blocks).
As regards the exercises, I konw that I cannot change the shape of my body but the photos are really amazing, I recognize to belong to the skinny-fat people and Iit would be wonderful if I can transform myself just with eating and training. Two questions:
1) when You said all girls squatted, do you mean squats with weights?
2) GAG means legs (gambe in italian language), abdominals (addominali) and bottom (glutei) in other word we do squat, split squat abds etc but without weights. If I want to continue this corse, it is better to train in the gym with weights in the same day or in another one? (the gym is the same)
3) with my weight (61 kilos) and my height (1,60 centimeters) How much kilos can/have I to pull up? I have difficulties with chin exercize, I cannot elevate me over the bar
thanks for your attention
Stefania
1. No.
2. No.
3. Depends on the formula you use.
1. Yes of course.
2. You’ve never worked out with weights, so you’ll be weak. Train everything on the same day. See the training guide.
3. Use an elastic band to assist you.
It’s quite clear that you are asking questions without having bothered to look through the blog and read the posts I have put on the subjects of macros and training. No more questions.
I am a female hoping to slim down. I enjoy running, but lifting…not so much. Will this guide help me slim down and get tone if I do sprints and running vs. weights? I have been doing IF and calorie restriction, but don’t seem to be losing any weight, so I’m a bit nervous to increase my cals, but maybe that will stimulate some progress?
Thanks!
Lois
Yes. Read this and this. Then come back and re-read the above. Good luck!
Andy,
Thank you for posting the article “Women: Running into Trouble.” As a runner I have been struggling with the “skinny fat”/jiggly thighs and thought that with additional running it would go away. This article has really opened my eyes and sheds a whole new light on things. I’ll be cutting back on the running and increasing the weights from now on.
A question though – I do love running. How can I still do it but increase and maintain muscle mass? Do I just cut down the amount per week or do I need to stop altogether?
Thank you!
Kristin
Squat. I’ve seen it several times now in runner clients and the effects have always been consistent.
hey andy,
on my 4th week now doing the 2 pre-workout meals since i train at around 6pm then fast from 9pm-1pm. first meal is at 1pm then at 4pm then at 9pm. few questions: do i still need to take BCAAs before the i train? will a heavy cheat day throw me off bigtime?
thanks!
1. No. You’ll have plenty of BCAAs flowing through your veins with the two meals still digesting from before.
2. Depends how heavy really. But most of the weight you put on will be water -which will make you panic the next day when you jump on the scale, but will be gone a few days later. God knows how many people have quit their diets after one cheat day without realizing this simple fact.
hey andy is leangains safe for teenagers ?
No studies have been done on IF for teenagers. However the other principles are all solid.
Hi – I’ve just started Leangains and have a quick question. I train in the mornings, so I’m fasting from 8.30pm to 12:30am. I train around 7am in the morning, so took Martin’s advice and purchased Xtend BCAA. I was aiming to take his 30g on each training day, untill I read this; http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=144443421&page=1
I realise they are talking about taking it on rest days (I only take on training days) but this honestly scared the sh*t out of me.
Could you please comment/advise?
Tim.
To quote the thread monkey. “30g of BCAAs? You want to overdose and die?”
I didn’t read any further. This is what as scared you? BCAAs are simply broken down protein. -They were mocking the guy that asked.
When reading things on the internet you’re going to have to learn to exercise your critical thinking skills because it’s filled with shit. The science of what BCAAs are aside, your decision to ignore the fact that tens of thousands of people use the fasted training BCAA protocol and haven’t dropped dead yet is simply baffling.
Hi Andy,
If I need to switch to evening workouts (6pm), and fast throughout the day, will I need something more than BCAA before working out? If I do break the fast with a more substantial pre-workout meal, I have two questions:
1. What is best to eat, carbs or protein?
2. What is the purpose of this meal? (e.g. to provide enough energy to work out)
Thanks,
Jack
Will be better for you to have one pre-workout meal then, then a PWO meal, and another final meal probably. Have a look here for timing and examples.
Hi Andy,
I used to workout a lot and then I got some fat on my stomach when I stopped. I now look like the skinny-muscle-fat guy with the fat really only on the stomach.
I do work a 8-5 job and I usually go workout at 5pm. Since I just started, my meals are at 12 and 8pm. I do take a protein shake when I wake up, but I was wondering if that is wrong.
I have a buddy on this and he lifts when he fasting.
So I am confused about when to workout, if it is ok to take a protein shake when waking up, and if I am doing this correctly
A protein shake has calories. Calories will break the fast and thus is not ideal.
Training completely fasted is not optimal either hence the suggestion to take 10g of BCAAs 10 minutes before training. -One scoop of whey protein (~25g) 45 minutes before training is another, but less theoretically effective, option. More information can be found here.
Hey Andy, just wanted to stop by and say that over the last couple of weeks I have seen an impressive impact on my physique, making steady gains on that stubborn body fat. I’m still a little soft just below the belly button but man these abs are showing well! My strength and mass are going up, and I’ve found that on the occasions where I’ll do some really intense lifting or some crazy CrossFit workout that my numbers and times are still steadily improving. I’m really glad that my performance hasn’t suffered for the sake of my physique as that was one thing that horrified me to consider.
I was curious though, on days where you’re tasked to perform in a different way than our normal 3x/week lifting (i.e. CrossFit events, martial arts seminars, adventure races, Tough Mudders) where the exercise/training is intense and all day and where your physical performance must be peak for the sake of competition, do you temporarily forgo the IF life to fuel yourself properly to perform? While my numbers have improved, those were in short, sprint-like anaerobic exercises. When I’ve got 3 days of morning-to-evening tasking on my body, do I fuel myself differently and then just get back on the wagon after? Is the readjustment phase lengthy, or is this time period damaging to my results?
Thanks again for everything!
Sure, feel free to put in some carefully timed carbs. Endurance will likely be unaffected for anything under 1.5hrs of effort however. Even fasted.
Is there a way to do this with no or low carbs? I have tried your guide several times and every time I do it the training days just turn into binge eating sessions. I have since done the http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/ program and have eliminated the problem, but I still want to lose bodyfat. What would you say about having a sweet potato or extra fruit on training days and raising the fat allitle? Constantly shifting from no carbs to no fats doesn’t work for me.
Thanks
-Sean
No that’s called a Ketogenic diet. Check out Lyle McDonald’s work on that.
Andy!
Thank you SO much for doing what you’ve done here. I have been reading, researching, and eye-ing over Martin Berkhan’s Leangains for weeks now, just jumping at the bit to start it. However, I just did not understand how to partition my Macros. It’s simple, now, when you think about it. But your guides, articles, and links were just… everything I was looking for and needed to know. If Leangains is the best blog I have ever stumbled across, then rippedbody.jp is EASILY a close second. You helped me set up my diet and eating window and I’m finally ready to start. Thanks for what you did here. I hope you and your clients continue to thrive.
As for me, I cut calories these last few months to drop from 200 to 180lbs. Got ab definition, but still didn’t have the build / shape I wanted. So, as of two days ago, I have started the IF training protocol. Leangains to give Martin his due credit. Couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks. I’m excited to see the results.
Nathan thanks for taking the time to write and tell me. It’s really great to hear, makes the effort worthwhile.
Hey, great site, great info, really admire the time and dedication you’ve put into it.But i have a question regarding the fasting/feeding phase..Is it ok to put my feeding window from morning ’till late afternoon and fast through the evening and night ? Example : 9:00 am – 5:00 pm feeding phase / 5:00 pm – 9:00 am – fasting ?
Sure this is not a problem physiologically, however it may be difficult socially depending on circumstances.
Nah, not for me :} I don’t have any trouble at all concerning social aspect..I just wanted to know if the diet would work that way.You answered my question, so thank you :]
Reblogged this on Legogubbe’s Blog and commented:
this
This really works. and can eat like a pig
Hi Andy,
I found your site on a dutch fitness forum and I like it! So I want to start with the diet but I’ve got a few questions..
My “feeding window” is between 12 and 8 pm.
1. On a trainingday I’m eating on 12 pm, 4 pm (only some fruit) and at 7:30 pm (post work out). is it oke to eat direct after the training or 30 min later?
2. Do I need to eat at the same times on a restday as on a trainingday? Or is it oke to change the “feeding window” to 10 am till 6 pm?
Thank you for youre respons.
Best regards,
Rik
1. Either is fine.
2. No keep to the same times for hormone regulation Rik.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am for such great information and an open-minded way of exercising. Your time and generosity with this presentation is VERY much appreciated. I need a little advice, though, if you would be so kind. Hopefully someone else has a similar issue and will find your answer helpful. I couldn’t find my question anywhere else, though I tried!
I fast from 1am – 5pm. I have a somewhat involuntary workout schedule, as I practice martial arts several hours a night 2-5 times a week, at the whim of my instructor. These arts are krav maga, kung fu san soo, and Eskrima/Kali/Arnis, some small kickboxing as well. We are scheduled Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm-10pm (gym close). That is fine considering I don’t lift those evenings per this protocol, but I do get some good cardio and some bodyweight strength training. I can usually break my fast prior to training on these evenings.
However, much of the time I must also practice MWF before or after I weight train. That means that some of these evenings I can’t break my fast until 10 or 11pm! If I weight train first, I suppose I can sneak in a post-workout recovery type of drink prior to my martial arts training, but often the timing is not up to me. On those evenings where I weight train after martial arts I only get 2-3 hours to feast and often am training in a very depleted state.
I guess my question is: Is this an acceptable routine, or am I damaging my efforts with this schedule? Is LeanGains even right for me? If I were to use a post-workout drink to break my fast (solid food may be too difficult if I have to jump straight into martial arts training) on those evenings I must weight train and combat train, what would you recommend? Any general advise or protips you can offer to guide me?
I’m an avid reader and loyal to this system, but I’m having trouble making it work! Thank you again for reading!
It’s not optimal to train weights, and then do a two hour martial arts class. I did this for a couple of years, and the results were shit. However at that time I didn’t know anything about nutrition. Your best bet would be to throw down some calorie dense but easily digestible carbs between the two. A gel pack or a sports drink. -Again, it’s not optimal but doesn’t mean LG isn’t for you.
Appreciate the response. I know it isn’t optimal, but at least on the weight training nights the martial arts practice is more form and freestyle, not so much cardio or strength training. Those are more of our refining nights with a core group of students. It’s just the time burden that becomes an issue.
My go-to intra- or post-workout drink in this case would be Gaspari’s Size-On, it has a lot of carbs, whey hydrosylate, creatine and other replenishing additives. To this I would add another 10g of BCAAs (the other 10g being prior to my weight training). Awesome Andy, thanks again for the response. I’ll keep in touch with how this schedule works out for my gains.
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Hi Andy,
Great Site for IF!
Quick question: I am running my numbers, i have an accurate bf% of 14% at 157 pounds. So I used the LBM TDEE calculation method and did 1.5 as activity multiplier to be “safe”.
That gives me 2539 calories as TDEE, so for a cut down to 8-9% before i slow bulk am i understanding this correctly?
1. 20% reduction of TDEE then an ADDITIONAL +10% T-day and -35% R-day calculation for my macros, or is it TDEE then +10% T-day and -35% R-day, because number wise-that makes much more sense, i would be negative carb on rest day with first example.
2. Would you recommend the cut approach or recomp for a month then switch to cut? I have been “cutting” for 17 weeks from 179-157 pounds with weight training on a 4 day split and 4 cardio sessions a week. (cutting out the cardio now!)
3.Thank you!!
Dub thanks for the comment but I don’t comment on macros and I’m not running a calculation for you mate.
1. If the 20% reduction you’re referring to is regarding my guideline that says that using my simplified rules leads to a 20% overestimation in macros then yes you’re going to want to take that off. So use a 1.3 multiplier. -See the macros guide for more.
2. Diet break then back to the cut as it’s been so long.
3. No worries.
hi Martin, 2 years ago i was FAT with 82kg, then i got skinny fat and after a year of fooling in the gym i just got a little bit of muscles, now im 15 with 68kg. I was dieting with mark methods and in a month i lost 2kg and got stronger, but in the other i stagnated in weight and strenght… 172cm, 68kg, 1350/2300 rest/working days. What can be happening? my weight change too much in the morning, get lower, than higher again, all the weeks…
Artur, Martin is over on http://www.leangains.com.
sorry, i just changed the names, the question was to you and pretended to be martin instead of mark… sorry
Mark? Try again Artur.
Hi Andy, what’s your thoughts on IF potentially causing diabetes or similar type symptoms? I think I no the answer but serious. Cheers as always.
Causing diabetes? No, absolutely not.
Thats what I thought too. Cheers Andy
Hi Andy, 2 years ago i was FAT with 82kg, then i got skinny fat and after a year of fooling in the gym i just got a little bit of muscles, now im 15 with 68kg. I was dieting with Martin methods and in a month i lost 2kg and got stronger, but in the other i stagnated in weight and strenght… 172cm, 68kg, 1350/2300 rest/working days. What can be happening? my weight change too much in the morning, get lower, than higher again, all the weeks…
Good now?
Your weight will fluctuate with carb intake Fred.
lol FRED! Thats effin funny Andy
That’s true bro but sometimes you hear so much stuff that you don’t know what to believe. THE biggest step for me personally was trying something i never did before. 16 Hours fasting and working out less and hard. It works and you get so much back from it. The key is patient and consistency. I dropped 1% bodyfat in One week (now on 11%) and besides off that i see big diffrence in the mirror. My advice for everyone is do what works for you and believe what makes senses for you.
Hahah first of all i am NOBODY’s rat or rabbit and i think you were joking there right
Second I know that Andy does his best and it was unfair against him to giving him a feeling that he don’t answer comments/questions etc.
Third thanks man I am studying those other pages.
Of course I was joking man. It’s all positive energy here (Y) Trust me, when you search for something, you’ll find it. When your training for something, you’ll reach it.
Hey,,
First of all, I want to thank you and Martin Berkhan for sharing what ya’ll know, really. Your saving so many frustration for people and I know it is challenging to go against to rules of fitness-guru’s but you did it! And I did it too. First i read about intermittent fasting on a forum and I really liked the results. Then I read the book eat-stop-eat and I understood the logic of it. I ate about 4 to 5 meals before. I trained 5 times a week. I did some cardio after my workouts and sometimes on my off days. I had results yes. But were they stunning? NO! I’m now in day 5 of intermittent fasting and my upper abs and the form is really coming, yup that quick! I did bench press and gave my fullest on wednesday and today is friday and that means SQUATDAY. I’m really looking out for it. Ofcourse as everyone I do have some questions and I’ll be happy if you could answer them. I tried to contact you via the comment bellow but it looked like everytime i added a comment is was gone? weird right.. So I try it this way. Also Im from holland and not that good at writing in english
Hope you understand. Well bro here are the questions.
Training:
-I follow the pyramid reverse protocol (deadlift day, bench day, squat day train HARD)
and don’t do any cardio. I dont have an really active life actually (most of the times working with a computer) what is my activity level? I don’t think moderation.
-I dont have a band to put weights on by chinups. Im also not that good at chin ups. Is there any subtitute excercise that i can do to make it as effective. I mean I will start doing them but if I could manage the repst that are on the pyrimad protocol and I have to add weights, cant i just change that excercise or is it smart to buy a belt?
-My english is not that superior. Can you send me the steps to calculate my macros with explaining what the steps are and a suggestion. I really want to hear what you would do and i know you couldnt just give me numbers. Some opinions dont hurt right
Feeding:
-I follow the pyramid reverse protocol (deadlift day, bench day, squat day)
and don’t do any cardio. I dont have an active life actually (most of the times working with a computer) what is my activation level.
-You say count your macros not the calories. Im a little bit confused about that. Because let say on a workoutday i consumed my macros correctly and i consumed 2000 calories, but on a surplus i had to be on 3000 calories with the same macros? What then?
-Can I do one day a week an hour of cardio (fasted before feeding) to speed up the cutting progress (on a heartbeat of around 130)?
-Does diet coke/ red bull light (anything that has no calories) hinder my progress (with aspartam)?
-We have raisin bread in holland and its a bit sugary (not the best choice) will it hinder my progress if I consume them PWO and count them in my macros ?
-How much of my food should be whole foods and healthy and how much can be (un)healty foods like cereal, sugarbread pure chocolate?
-How do you suggest me to eat on a cut? Eat clean and whole foods and enjoy the reward foods after it or??
-I take CLA, L-carnitine and a multivitamin in my first meal and fishoil on my last meal. I also use creatine on my first meal when resting and after my workout on workoutdays. Any tips?
These are my stats. I didn’t really use a calculator for my macros but i DO see results this way.
But i am also affraid off losing my muscle. Can you help me?
1.88 m
87 kilograms
12% bodyfat
Rest day
285 protein
50 carbs
100 fat
Workout days
285 protein
150 carbs
50 fat
The reason why mine carbs are that low is because the site of sameffect.com I dont know if your familliar with it but he did intermittent fasting to. He says that you shouldn’t play with carbs in a cut because if you eat it this way(low) you would get ripped quick without trial and error. 50 cabrs on off days sounds right but im concerned about the amount off carbs on workout days. I really dont have any clue if I should UP them or not. Im a little bit confused about it.
The reason why i am confused about carbs is also because in the past I didn’t ate dairy(skimmed milk, cottage cheese or quark because of the lactose) and I didn’t ate wholewheat Bread/tortilla or pasta(gluten). Reason why? The fitness industry did me believe that you can’t consume these if you want to be ripped.
Heck! I’m not even intolerant to it and dont had any side effects now i consume them and I get leaner.
my BIGGEST concern is my macros and how it works along with calories.
Man.. if you could help me with this you really give me the idea that i’m doing well.
I have previously answered your two questions earlier today here, and now you come back to me with this essay that:
1. Ignores my comment that I don’t help people in the comments with their macros, and
2. Clearly shows that you haven’t bothered to read any of the articles that I have written here, let alone the FAQ.
And you haven’t even had the courtesy to write your name.
Why do I feel like you’ve walked your dog up my driveway to my front door, let it do a big steaming shit, and now standing there grinning, waiting for me to come to the door and approve? Please don’t comment here again.
Wow.. Didn’t expect that to be true. I am really sorry that i came out like that to you and now you think that off me i feel really bad. The truth is that i read ALL your articles, maybe twice. I am really new to commenting on websites and stuff. I really looked at your comments to Find mine and i couldnt. Maybe i was wrong there and i did had to search better. I am sorry for that. I made à twitter account so i Can follow you, i made your site my favorite and it really bothers me Now you got that kind off impression off me from The bottom off my heart i mean that. Its okay i guess if i cant comment no more. But i Will checkingYour website daily because you helped me Bigtime. Once more, Im sorry About The misunderstood. And oh yeah the real name is Can
As a religious subscriber on this site…Awww that’s cute…LOL! Give him another chance Andy
Maybe he could be your next lab rat? haha. In all seriousness, Can go on the consultations page if you need a million and 1 questions answering from Andy and he will eventually get back to you. Andy does his best to answer every question but you need to search elsewhere too…lifedestiny lean gains and many other IF sites are great sources too. Put all these sites including Andy’s together and your complete mentally…all to do then is put it in practice (Y)
Apology accepted, no worries Can. I can see that you are sincere. When I read your other comment I thought you were taking liberties and being disrespectful. All forgotten.
Thanks bro. Appreciate it. We stay in touch about my progress
andy:
have you personally experienced a period in your training (or had a client mention) that they are hungrier on rest days? I’m not sure why, but i’m not able to eat nearly as many calories on training days as i am on rest days. does this issue self-correct, or do I need to force the +/-% calories?
You’re hungrier on rest days because you’re eating less. Unless you mean during the fast, in which case you’re going to want to try this first. And yes, if you calculated correctly then eat all your food. A good option can be this, but if you’re still within the first two weeks then your stomach is simply adjusting.
thank you for the quick response. to clarify a little bit, i believe my calculated macros are relatively accurate (without access to a DEXA). what was happening was, my PWO meal was on point, but I couldn’t get hungry enough to have as a big of a dinner as i should, i.e. not getting enough calories on training days. to this point, your post on feeling to full has come in handy.
however, while fasting is no problem, as soon as my feeding window opens on rest days, i’m hungrier and can put back more food than training days, i.e. possibly getting too many calories on rest days. to be safe for now, i keep the protein intake on point, keeping carbs and fat on their required macros. i was thinking this was my body’s way of telling me i’m not getting eating enough calories in on training days, in which case, i hope is a problem that self-corrects. I just don’t want to be destroying any progress on a cut.
Hey andy how’s it going. if I want to add a cardio day or two doing a run or intervals for my own pleasure. would I need to adjust my caloric intake? I would only add cardio on rest days and stick to the 8 hour feeding window still.
For someone that’s shredded, then yes. But be careful of adding intervals in.
Is it a good % for the training days: 45% CH, 35%Pr, 25%Fat? (Being the PostWorkOut meal high CH, Pr and low fat how the guide shows.)
Thanks Andy
I don’t usually work in percentages like that so can’t say.
Hi Andy, everytime I have a high complex carb PWO meal I feel very sleepy afterwards for at least a couple of hours. Due you find the same or a way around this as its a pain when I am at work. This meal for me is at 1pm. Cheers.
I get the same problem Andy. PWO meal is usually 300g chicken breast with 100g oats, 200ml skimmed milk and 20g honey.
Yes this is your body’s natural response.
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Hey Andy!
First I want to say thank you for this great site, and all the information you are sharing with us!
Your guide already helped me losing quite some weight (going on a cut, with actually -40%/-20%), but right now I get the feel I somehow stagnated (after 3 months of doing IF).
So I re-read most of the stuff here, and I got the idea that maybe this is due to that hormon reactions you outlined a bit.
So just the short question, do you think it would be beneficial to switch to something like body recomposition (something like -20%/+20%, though I would more go like -30%/+/-0%, since my main goal is still (a lot of) fat loss) to counter those reactions, or should I just continue like I did before, and see what will happen?
Hope I am not asking too much from you, and thanks anyway!
Really depends Dominik. Is it a stall because you’ve been dieting too long, or is it a stall because the calories aren’t low enough? Google “Diet Break Lyle McDonald” and have a read.
Hey Andy,
3rd week in and I’ve gained a pound this week, although my belly measurement has come down by 1cm. Is this likely to be a water retention issue? Other body measurements are fairly similar to last week.
I did have a massive alcohol binge on Saturday last week (probably around 30 units consumed in the day), which won’t have helped my fat loss…
Thanks,
Richard
Water retention issue? No. Might be some water, might be some muscle growth, might be you need a shit. Could be your period too!
The point is, don’t worry about it.
Ha, yes thanks Andy. I will try to stop stressing the minor details in future.
Hi Andy, What body fat % do you have to be at to start IF/ Leangains?
Cheers,
Orinn
Any.
Thanks Andy and great site.
Andy, I train fasted at 6.30am and dont have my first PWO meal until 1pm with 10g BCAA before training and twice again until 1pm. Do you feel in your opinion this is just as good a protocol for LG results as apposed to say training at 1pm and having my main PWO straight after. I have to train early in the morning due to work. That said I have never felt stronger. I appreciate your thoughts.
Completely fine.
I just want to start off and say I love this site. It has so much info. I am 4 days into my IF and love it. I’m trying to IF lean bulk/gain with a bit of body recomp as on rest days I go abit under maintenance. What I wanted to ask was on training days I am supposed to eat 3000kcals as the IFcalc website stated to me on a body recomp/lean mass…after my fasted workout I consumer around…1500 cals and am stuffed. As i’ve read here and other places and on lean gains…at least 65% to 90% should come after this workout! Thing is though, I could add some fats like udos essential or olive oil to sneak in kcal’s but I’m sure the main ethos is to carb overload after this workout day? What do you suggest are clean bulky foods I can eat after a workout and even on rest days? Preferably calorie dense! I’m finding it hard to even eat unto 2500 on rest days…maybe its mental/psychological…any thoughts? Thanks dude.
Variety over the same old thing can help. I go for non-sugary cereal blended along with some low-fat milk and perhaps a scoop of protein when I feel stuffed. -Bear in mind two things though:
1. I’m on a slow-bulk and can only be bothered to cook 2 meals a day so they are truly huge meals.
2. You have been doing this 4 days, the meals are probably much bigger and your stomach is probably not used to it yet. Usual adjustment time is around 2 weeks.
Hey bro, thanks for the info, most helpful started my IF yesterday 8 pm, wondered if you can mail me a inv/code to fitocrazy? Thanks
May i have a fitocracy invite please sir?
Done.
I’ve been a fan of Marks for a while and just found you which just reinforces the path I’m currently on so thank you & Mark (both of them LG & SS) Lowest weight 150 @ 5’11″ avg was 155 while running marathons. Foot stress fracture put me back under the + IF so my weight wouldn’t return to pre-running levels (195). I’m really interested in joining Fitocracy. Do you have any invites left? Thank you for your time & efforts here!
Best Regards,
Jason
Yup done.
Thanks!
Hi Andy,
Sorry for the book
Do those carb cals seem right?
Please refer to this at the end of the macros article:
Hi Andy
After doing a brief calculations my BMR=1223
So for “cut” it brings me to a high of 1345 cal and low of 795? How would you reccomend eating at those low levels?
Thanks
Vanessa
Please read: 1. The warning about using a multiplier, 2. The reason for the application of the simplified rules and thus the underestimation factor in looking at “calories”. 3. The simplified rules themselves for how to interpret it.
HI Andy!
I just found out today that we are going to have the option at work to do a 4 day work week. The kicker is that we have to start at 6AM in order for that to happen. I’m currently doing my workouts at 5AM (when my gym opens). If I switch to the 4 day work week, that would no longer be feasible. Is it possible to do 2 of my workouts in the morning, as I currently do, on my off days, and one in the evening after work mid-week, or do you need to keep the workout timing consistent throughout? This would not effect my feeding window (noon- 8:00). Only workout times. Thanks in advance, bro!
Ty
Workout timing doesn’t have to be the same for all workouts. Feel free to adjust as fits your schedule best.
Hi Andy,
what’s your email…I want to have a lengthy chat, and don’t wanna get caught on this non work related website while actually at work. I would sincerely appreciate your time, and should you decide to email me, I promise to be interesting
A lengthy chat in the e-mail? Can’t think of anything I’d prefer do less to be honest. I spend far too much time in my e-mail. Only use it for clients and when my 69 year old dad get’s stuck with something simple to do with the computer. If you want to chat to people about this stuff then Reddit is a good place. If you have a question then feel free here.
Why do you give women a 10 hr block and men only get 8? And can I get an invite to fitocracy? Thank you!
Compliance reasons based on a recommendation from Martin after his experience working with 100s of women.
Invite sent.
Hi Laura, you can sign in to fitocracy using your twitter account too. As far as the fasting for 10 hours vs. 8, I am pretty sure I read on leangains that woment tend to get crankier/bitchier the longer they go. I have not found that to be an issue and easily maintain the 8 hour feeding window 99% of the time, as well as a 24 hour fast a week as long as life allows.
Cheers, and good luck with your experience!
Hi Andy
Do you have any links to videos of a typical workout. From warmup to cool down? I want to start exercising using your principles, but without seeing a sample, me going to a gym and trying to understand by just reading what a workout should look like is frustrating me. I don’t want to have anxiety to lift anymore and take the easy road and do cardio, im a beginner. If I had an idea of what to do or follow from watching a sample workout video session, I could create my own strategy and plan and I believe I can succeed.
Thanks for any info you can provide.
You don’t need a long boring video of me doing a workout Colin. You need to watch a youtube video or three in the links page, and then imagine what a 2-3 minute rest between sets looks like.
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Hi Andy.
I have been trying to squat but my knees kill me. Same with lunges… It’s the “oh my god my joints are about to explode” kind of pain.
Any tips for strengthening knees?
I’ve been falling back into leg presses and machines when I can’t do anymore (after 7-8).
I still feel solid core strengthening via the legpress though.
Jon go see a sports-specialist Physio mate. (That’s what we in the Queens country call a physical therapist
)
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Andy,
First, let me say that I am extremely excited about Intermittent Fasting! I dislike eating 6x a day and I have never liked breakfast much, so hearing about this way of eating was great news for me. I do have a question about it though.
I have read all your posts and comments and I seem to be the only one with this problem. Most people talk about being hungry, I am having trouble being too full. When eating 2 meals based on my macros I feel like I am eating way too much. Is this something that takes getting used to? Should I cut back and only eat till I am full, or should I push through to make sure I eat all my macros for the day, even if I am over stuffed?
you should maybe eat smaller portions with the same rate of meals you eat per day. No one wants to feel bloated after a meal. Even eating tons of greens/ruffage can back yuh up a bit. Have you thought of juicing? Maybe one meal with a supplementing of juicing to replace that next meal may make you feel less uncomfortable. Either drinking your greens or your reds will be giving you even more supplimentation than just eating a salad or having spinach on a plate. By practice, though, you should only eat until you’re satisfied. And that’s different from person to person. You should never feel like you’re going to overflow and back up to your esophagus after we eat. That can cause problems all on it’s own.
BUt i’m rambling. Eat until you’re satisfied, not over-full.
Eat multi chain carbs like sweet potatoes, yams, taro…. One roasted sweet potato is the supercharge your body loves… not so much on the white potatoes, white rice..
Try other grains like Farro, wheat berries, egyptian rice, bulgar wheat.
and also, things no one really talks about… drinking hot/warm beverages after a meal is great for the stomach after and during a meal. It breaks up any fat, and eases digestion… and helps aid in emptying the bowels… which is what you need in keeping your interior healthy.
Thanks for the info. I adjusted some foods and now things are going great. Thank you. Do you have the code to fitocracy?
Sure, done.
If you stick to the 1-9 routine, what about a coffee in the morning to help me get up? Still a no-go? Do you have any suggestions for the fasting while on the Paleo lifestyle?
Coffee is totally fine mate. Have you seen Martin’s Twitter feed? Half of everything he links to seems to be about coffee
We joke with him about him being a coffee company stooge.
OK great. I´ll give it a try to get rid of that lovehandles just before summer arrives… thanks man.
Andy,
I apologize if I missed something on your site but I’ve looked through for hours and never found anything about your IF ratio…+20/-20? I noticed you said you started with a cut, but what exactly was that? I’m just started IF today and I’m on -30/-10 1492/1918. I’m in my mid 20′s, 170lbs, 5’11” ~16%BF. I really want to lose BF even if it means losing strength. Should I stick with -30/-10 or go with -20/+20?
Thank You
I didn’t calculate my macros like that at all, I just used experience. Don’t forget the guides out there are just to make it simpler for people. Real life doesn’t always work out that way.
Hello! I am a pro MMA fighter living in Yokohama Japan. As you may know my job requires me to train everyday almost. Anyway I had surgery 2 months ago and I gained weight 35 pounds. I used to be bigger than what I weigh now I dieted down and I lost 60 lbs. Anyway I need to do it again last time I was running everyday but now I can’t afford to kill my knees anymore I have to care for myself now I’m getting old lol. Anyway I currently weigh 165 lbs. I need to be walking around at 145 or lower. I’d like to fight at135 so. And the fact that I’m 5 foot 6 and all hips. My wife said I will never be able to be ripped I’ve gotten down to 135 I was pretty ripped but not like any of the guys above. My question is I have to train a bunch so how should I use this program?
That question simply doesn’t have a single, simple answer Steve. I see you’ve filled out a consultation form so I’ll answer you then.
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Andy,
Is there any difference to the programme during menstruation?
Kind Regards,
None.
Hi Simering, not only is there not a difference, but I enjoy these couple bonus “perks” – Sorry boys, cover your ears – lighter flow, way less cramping, used to bloat SOOO terribly and water weight up by ten pounds, now the bloat is not noticeable and weight might fluctuate a pound if any thing. I also eat very low carb the mojority of the time, and combined with leangains, food cravings for diet killers are none. Have been able to follow my current nutrition plan srict (whatever strict is, I could do this forever) since mid December when I discovered Leangains.
How about after diet?
I mean, let’s say I get on board with this, I achive my goals, get ripped etc.
What happens next? just keep living like this? how about cheat meals? do I need to cross junk food from my life for the rest of my days?
Cheers
The vast majority of people just continue because it’s so easy to do. When you finish the “diet” part the macros will be looser making it easier to eat junk food. -You can eat junk food if it fits your macros.
1. Is there a stabilisation period? 2. do you just up all macros after you hit your goals? ? 3. isn’t there a risk of blowing up like a ballon on a very short period?
4. Do you see yourself eating like this your whole life? 5. do you think going back to a “normal” way of life (three to four meals a day, no fasting period) makes you put the lost fat on?
6. Can one eat foods such as white bread etc with simple sugars after this hitting one’s goals?
Thanks for the quick reply btw.
Cheers
1. Yes.
2. There’s two ways, sudden and gradual, generally I prefer to take the gradual route to avoid… 3.
4. Yes, it’s very easy.
5. Certainly not if you eat at maintenance.
6. Those things are not forbidden on the diet anyway.
Andy,
Once again, thank you for your time and for these answers which fill me with hope.
How long have you been doing this?
I am currently trying to lose 12 pounds with a low carb / high fat diet and heavy weight lifting 4 times a week. If I fail to achieve my goals, I think I’ll ask for your help. I have read the consultations page, but can’t seem to find any quotes. Should I send you an email to inquire about this?
Take care
Yes please, but there is a wait. But I encourage you to try and give it a go yourself. It’s really, genuinely enjoyable.
Message sent
Andy,
Quick question i work from 9 to 5 PM and i usually train right after i leave work is it fine to train while fasting? Id probably be fasting around 17 hours if i should say my last meal was 11 PM what would a guy in my case do i didnt quiet understand the protocols Mark had mentioned got a bit confusing..
any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Tarek
Yes, many people train fasted. Take 10g of BCAAs before your workout. Do what fits your schedule best. Don’t be scared to shorten your “feeding window” if necessary.
hi Andy,
Thanks for your quick reply !
I start my fast 11 PM the night before and fast until I finish work at 5 pm train until 6 while still fasted is that fine? sorry just trying to be clear cause from the protocol below I was confused.
what do you have to say about this protocol that Martin wrote?
Two pre-workout meals
This is the usual protocol for people with normal working hours.
Sample setup
12-1 PM or around lunch/noon: Meal one. Approximately 20-25% of daily total calorie intake.
4-5 PM: Pre-workout meal. Roughly equal to the first meal.
8-9 PM: Post-workout meal (largest meal).
You can shorten your feeding window and do the training fasted, or you could do a pre-workout meal set-up as with the plan on the Leangains site. It depends largely on which you prefer, I don’t think there will be much practical difference. Remember to wait for 1.5-2 hours after eating before training though if the former option.
Andy, great site and information man!
I have a question though.. CAN I DO LEANGAINS? I remember reading somewhere that leangains should be done when one is around 12% bodyfat. I used to weight train and eat good, but haven’t for years due to back injury and general laziness. Back is better now. However, I’m 250 lbs, and about 25 – 28% bodyfat.
(male, 33 years old)
I want to lose as much fat as possible in 4 months time. I’m talking weight loss of 2+ lbs per week. My work schedule is crap though, as I work nights and eating then wouldn’t really work – so I’m looking at waking up at 12 noon, and can eat/train between then and 6pm. I could maybe fit in a SMALL meal between 7pm to 9pm – I’ll be at work and time will fluctuate between getting a break right at 7 when I get there, to maybe being at 9pm or maybe 9:30pm. (so could train fasted when waking at noon and not eat till 2 or 3pm to “break” the fast)
CAN I DO LEANGAINS being that I’m that “heavy” / high bodyfat, and my “reverse” fasting/eating times? (going to bed “hungry” is not a problem for me) Please let me know if you think it will work for me, and if 2+ lbs a week wouldn’t be a problem – accounting for SUPER strict adherence to diet. Also – I’d like to do cardio on non weight days to help facilitate this, unless it super messes everything up or something?
If that’s a yes, I’m definitely looking at hiring you man! Let me know!
– Anthony
If you’re struggling to get it figured out then use another, simpler method. If you have a weekly deficit you will lose weight. Complicating things further than that for now I feel will just lead to procrastination.
Andy, the “another, simpler method” I used in the past was anything BUT simple – you know, eating 6 times a day spread out every 2-3 hours. It DID give me 2+ lbs of fat loss per week – but it was very low calories and long cardio (along with lifting obviously).
I guess my main question was really, being that I’m 250 lbs, and about 25 – 28% bodyfat, CAN I utilize the Intermittent Fasting method? Or, being this out of shape, will my hormones (insulin resistance, leptin, cortisol, etc) just make it not work at this point? In addition to that, will my “reverse” feeding/fasting times mess with it, and or doing cardio on non lifting days mess with it?
Sorry let me clear that up,
1. You can eat 3 meals a day and that will work fine.
2. The leangains will still work but you’ll want to allow for your extra body fat in the BMR calculation if you decide to do it yourself. Also putting more protein in there isn’t a bad idea in substitution for some carbs.
3. We want to eat as much as we can in the post-workout period. -What you suggested is not backwards.
4. You can pretty much ignore the cardio when you make your macro plan as it’s effect will be minimal compared with what you put in your mouth.
Hope that helped Anthony.
Hey Andy,
Have you any advice for what to do, or what to check if I feel like I’m stalling seven weeks in? In fact, not stalling, but my weight seems to be rising. Im sticking ridigly to my macros, and the only thing I can think of thats outside the macros is drinking red wine at the weekends, but not enough to justify putting on an extra kilo per week…
I’ve read Martins articles on stalling & water retention, is a consecutive two week stall (and weight increase) normal length of time?
Cheers,
Mark
Two weeks isn’t uncommon. Track measurements, strength and body weight.
Cheers Andy.
If it continues again next week, should I send you my tracking sheet a week earlier than due for you to re-assess, or just keep going until the next 4 week mark?
Thanks
Mark
4 week mark please.
Hi,
I’m finding this really interesting and will start IF for fight weight cutting soon, however you mention you should be sore every day after training which sounds strange. I have just come off 2-3 months of Stronglifts 5×5 and was sore for the first few days, as I always find when changing exercises, but a 600-cal dextrose and whey pwo shake meant this didn’t happen again after the first week and I wasn’t lifting light weight. Is the constantly DOMS something just applicable to IF due to lack of nutrition and recovery? Many Thanks
Over training.
Stress.
Lack of sleep.
Poorly planned nutrition.
Could be any number of things. Soreness when you change exercises is perfectly normal and should be expected, as should soreness if you do max lifts.
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Have read through all the diet pages and have not seen anything pertaining to my question.
I train early morning, work all day and eat when I get home. Is there any detriment to consuming my largest meal 12-14hrs after working out? With my schedule it would be tough to eat a large meal in the middle of the day.
I’ve cut about 30lbs using Eat Stop Eat and want to try LG for the last 10 or so.
Very informational site! and thanks for any input
Yes it won’t be a problem so long as you take BCAAs. Martin has his specific recommendation for timing of these in his Leangains guide. For longer fasting periods between a same-day workout and meal I don’t see the need to increase the amount of BCAAs, however that would put an awful lot of food in a short space of time for the average person and so usually I recommend a longer feeding window.
Hey Andy this site is huge help so thanks heaps for everything. Just one thing when calculating the BMR and adding the exercise to it, is it for your current bodyweight or your goal bodyweight?
Current. Unless you’re obese (over 30%bf) in which case you’ll be better off with a BMR formula like the Katch-McArdle. Yes, I know you can’t be arsed to google it so here you go. Link to the explanation and the formula. BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)
I must be feeling nice today.
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great work andy. i really appreciate all your shares, very detailed and easy to understand. regards from Indonesia. good luck with your work.
Thanks Rudy, most welcome.
I am glad I found this site. I already knew about Lean Gains and Martin Berkhan. I’ve actually been doing it a while… but this site really laid out the plan much better for me to understand. There’s a lot of insight here. Thanks for your help!
Most welcome Loren. Make sure you thank Martin too mate.
I feel exactly the same! Many thanks for creating this site!
Andy, so i am trying to do “do it your self method’ so nicely outlined by you, but I feel like i am stucked and cannot workaround it. I am 6.1 and my weight fluctuates from 176 to 180. (carbs, no carbs, water, etc) I used your formula and I calculated my BMR to be 1847 with out any activity level multiplications. For first two months, I was eating: (mostly chicken, rice, potatos ,egs and nuts)
working out day = carbs 300g*4+ protein 140*4+ fat 40*9=2120
not working out = carbs 60*4+ protein 200*4+ fat 60*9 = 1580
so after i looked at above i figured that it only gave me a deficit of =
2120 – 1847 = 273 above BMR * 3 = +819
1847 – 1580 = 267 below BMR * 4 = -1068
difference = 249 a week
That surprised me and I figured that this is why I was staying the same.
Strange is that during that time my lifts were going up, so I assume deficit was not that low, although in your Toms example he is setup in a very similar way, and although he is cutting his total week deficit is not that big!!!
So, I made changes to above and lowered carbs to 200-250 and lowered the rest days to around 1300 calories. To make it more fun I started to play basketball for 1H one time a week and I introduced walking for 45min twice a week during the fasted state.
6 weeks passed and my body weight fluctuates exactly the same as before.(176-180)
WTF? Why my modifications did not do anything? It does not make any sense?
Should I go lower? Maybe go low on rest days to 800 and continue high on training days? I feel like my body is outsmarting me and I completely don’t get it.
Can you point me into the right direction?
thx
Bart, I’ve said loud and clear in the How to Calculate your Macros post that I’m not doing such things for non-clients.
Understood. Just quick question for you. After training lean gains style for 3 months I recently developed some soreness in the testicles. I think this could be related to heavy lifts, so I will take a week off training. What is your recommendation for a diet during the rest? Still fasting? Should I do some slow walking to keep the body moving? thx
Sore testicles? No idea what’s causing this mate. Don’t think it’ll be training related though. See a doctor. If you do decide to take time off for whatever reason the keep your fasting window.
Actually it could be training related. I have seen post on the web with people having that sensation after heavy lifting. I will simply rest one week.
When on rest do you recommend to eat like on low days?
Assuming your on a cut, I think your rest day should be closer to 1200. Plug your stats into this spreadsheet and you’ll see what I mean:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am054ZWv-_BcdFRLbktxcGZjdXhmdVBPRlA1SDk3RkE&hl=en_US#gid=0
thx Steve, will give a try.
As you can see above I am already at 1300, so now I can only try to go lower on rest days and see how it goes. I will continue to eat more on training days.
thx for your input.
in regards to training at home, what would a dumbell big 3 workout look like? would it be useful to do suitcase deadlifts, squats, bench/military press, and chins/pullups (with bands or suspension gear) keeping form strict to reduce asymmetry? or is it too difficult to go heavy enough using dumbs? (i am a beginner due to recovery from an auto-immune condition but i read a lot on functional bio-mechanics over the years)
also for the body recomp macros (+20/-20) that means 3 days a week we are overeatinga & 4 days undereating. how does that effect recovery from doms/inflammation? due to my condition i do have a more difficult time than most in recovery (i haven’t yet been able to do 3 training days a week due to this sad fact)
so is it possible to do only 1 or 2 days training a week & how does that effect macros over time?
thanks for the clarity on your site
Darius while I appreciate your comment, given your condition I can’t advise you. You need to see a physician that specializes in these things.
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Hi Andy,
My bf percentage is still really high (30-35%). Is this the best plan to follow to start with or is this only aimed at taking someone from lean to ripped?
Steve.
Check out “Jayson’s Story” and “The man that lost 270lbs” http://rippedbody.jp/category/client-stories/
Thanks for that Andy. The gym I use is running a ‘biggest loser’ style competition with a years free membership for the winner so I’m just trying to give myself the best chance.
andy, a few questions.
1) should the excersize time be inside or outside the 8 hour feeding window?
2) how many repetitions should an excersize include, especially if i’m more inclined towards muscle volume? 6,8,10,12?
3) Is it ok if my gym program lasts 2 hours instead of 1? So many excersizes need doing!
1. Either or. See Martin’s Leangains Guide for details.
2. See the training articles on the site. The rep patterns I have written there will work well.
3. Less is more. Ignore this advice to your own peril. I’m serious. Read this article, “Fuckarounditis“.
Cheers for the questions and good luck!
1) so you’re saying that less excersizes that work on many muscles at a time is more effective than many excersizes which target one muscle at a time, especially considering that i’m not new to weight training (eg biceps, then triceps, then shoulders) and i’m not referring to those set motion machine things but those good dumbell excersizes
2) Ive been reading some guides about using 1.2, 1.5 or even 2 times your body weight. if i weigh 175 pounds already, isnt that a lot? I was under the impression that the reason trainers shy away from such heavy weight excersizes is to avoid any form of damage to your spine or bones. don’t they have a point there? how much weight should i use?
3) can you outline your advice for strengthening the abdominals with training as I didn’t quite understand?
thanks for your time!!
1. Yes. Your body is a unit. Train it that way.
2. Those numbers are what a person might hope to achieve after a few years of training if they are dedicated. Lift the weight you can lift with good form.
3. Squat.
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Should I even go for a cut on LG if I only weigh 145 @ 5’8 with a bodyfat% of 18%?
Either body-recomp, or somewhere between a cut and that. My reasoning is simple:
Fat loss is quicker than muscle gain. Muscle gain is harder to measure, and fat loss will give you quicker results which will be a confidence booster. Use that new confidence with the method to adjust calories/macros upward slightly once you see that it’s working to give you muscle growth. -Learn to take pleasure in poundage increases in the big barbell movements in the gym, knowing that it means your body is changing.
Tell me what you don’t understand and maybe I can explain it more clearly for you Lance.
It was my fault. It was late at night and I didn’t fully read your other articles. I kind of grasp it now but I have a few specific questions.
1. When calculating my BMR do I really want to use my weight as of now? Cause there’s some body fat in me that I want to die!! Should I consider lowering it closer to my goal weight?
2. What exactly do you consider to be a lean meat and a fatty meat. And what’s the best way to cook it? Same for high carbs/low carbs.
3. So lets say my feeding window is 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. but I wake up at 8 a.m. What do I do for those 5 hours?!?!
4. Any tips for a college kid who’s cafeteria serves nothing but garbage?
Thanks Andy!
Lance, apologies I missed this comment until now.
1. Use your current weight. If you’re obese then don’t use a multiplier at all.
2. Lean: Chicken (Breast is leanest), White Fish, High quality/low fat ground beef with all the fat drained. A few others. Fatty: It really depends on the cut of the meat. Bacon, Steaks…Grilling and Baking and keeping the oil minimal if frying on a training day works well.
3. Go about your life.
4. Don’t eat at the cafeteria.
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Andy, according to Eat stop eat the best window for the purpose of fat lost and health benefits is between 18-24H of the fast. Lean gains is based on much shorter fast where it ends just before the window of opportunity starts. Is this a big lost compared to full 24H fast?
Secondly i have read (Rusty blog) that if you want to get lean and have difficulties while you are on deficit it is recommended to drink a protein shake just after you wake up, and then still train fasted after few hours since you had that drink?
1. Think of it less as a sudden switch to fat burning but more of a gradual shift from glycogen to fat oxidation as time elapses. What I have written here is a simplification, but it’ll explain the point further. http://rippedbody.jp/when-not-to-do-cardio/
2. That’s the same as drinking a BCAA drink and training fasted. The main difference being the time lag needed for the whey protein to hit the blood stream (about an hour) vs the BCAAs which are quicker (10mins or so).
Yes, but those are fat burning benefits. Would i still get all the health benefits from fasting if I do it shorter?
Great, cause I take BCaa , so no need to break the fast with protein, thx,
Just to clarify, according to Martin the best benefits are within 12-16 window, where Brad Pilon says it it within 18-24 window.
Not sure if there is research on it being shorter.
As time increases during the fast, the amount of fat being burned increases. Neither are wrong, Martin is just verging on the side of caution, as he feels that after the 16 hour point the risk of muscle catabolism in lean individuals outweighs the benefits of the fat-burn.
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Hey dude, sweet site. Just had a quick question.. If the lifting that I do doesn’t deplete much muscle glycogen (heavy weight, high sets, low reps) for strength, should that change my macro aims on workout/rest days for leangains? I compete in the decathlon in Track and Field, so I’m very focused on mass specific strength and need to cut for an upcoming season. My legs are already slightly too large so I don’t feel like I should do any glycogen depleting/sarcoplasmic hypertrophy training. Any thoughts? Thanks
Connor interestingly the set-up I have described is for use with the style of training that you are currently doing. Let me know how you get on. How long till your competition? I have ultimate respect for decathletes, you guys don’t receive the media attention/praise you deserve.
Thank my man, it’s a pretty tough event to train for because everything has to be explosive and most of the training advice online etc is focused more towards huge bodybuilders. But I have a competition indoor in february and outdoor in may. Any thoughts on CNS recovery as I’m lifting 3 days a week and should be sprinting 4 days a week too?
Slow and steady is going to be the way to go I think. Start with just a moderate cut and then see how you feel. If you feel fine then decrease a little. Performance, not looks must be your goal. Don’t try and do both.
ey Andy, A few questions…
1. Do you recommend a particular program for a true ectomorph who has a challenge building any sizable muscle mass?
2. HAve you found that a true ectomorph can struggle with the IF way of dieting and they just need to focus on eating, eating and more eating?
3. Being a tall, lanky dude, I have VERY LONG legs… I have found that I do much better in terms of progress with Leg Presses rather than Squats. Do you recommend this for people with really long legs/short torso?
4. Ive been training for a while with the Deadlifts, Leg Presses and some arm isolation exercises (no bench, ill explain why…) and find that i dont put as much muscle mass on my arms and shoulders… they seem to be the areas on my body that dont grow as much. My natural body structure also makes my pec muscles poke out quite noticeably… to the point where I stopped doing chest workouts because it was just looking plain stupid… people would ask if I needed a bra ;o) So is there a way I can replace the Bench Press which an excercise/s that still hit my arms and shoulders to make them grow without hitting my chest too much? I have not done any chest work for 6+ months and people always comment that I have a big chest… so you can just imagine how abnormal it would look if I started working the chest out… i think it also looks big because my arms are small.
Thanks mate.
ello Oz.
1. Buy yourself “Beyond Brawn” for Christmas or do starting strength and eat well.
2. Not really. Perhaps you are underestimating how much you are actually eating, or have a stomach worm.
3. Due to different body dimensions there are people that are more suited to squatting than deadlifting and so will always be relatively better at one or the other. However not being built to be good at something does not mean you shouldn’t do it, it just means you won’t be a champion. I think you are making excuses to not do what its a painful and difficult exercise for everyone. Read this by Rippetoe, “How I learned to stop leg pressing and use my ass.”
4. Yes absolutely, do The Press.
Does it matter if I eat carbs and protein after training all together , or I can consume lets say 200g of carbs after training and later get protein and later more carbs?
Consume them all together for lower insulin spikes, increased satiety and slower digestion.
Hey Andy!
I am eating lots of fatty food + 50g butter + 100g fatty cheese DAILY.
I am 90kg.
23 years old.
Lifting TWICE per week. doing the Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program.
Been lifting since august 2011.
Question: Will I be safe in the long term eating all that saturated fat and cholesterol rich butter and cheese? Your answer will provide piece of mind to me and is critical to my training.
Thank you so much in advance
Fat, while vilified, is not the enemy. A quick google search will bring up lots of information on that.
However that being said, you’re probably consuming 100g of fat a day, which is 900kCal, which if you are doing LG is a bad idea. On any other diet even, it leaves you little room for any carbs. So I’m guessing you’re on a Ketogenic Diet. (If not, google it.)
Saturated fat is more difficult to mobilize and burn off. Though above 10% this is irrelevant. And there is no way to alter the fat that is already stored in the stubborn areas.
See Lyle McDonald’s “The Ketogenic Diet” and “The Stubborn Fat Solution” for much more detailed information if you are interested. Or his site, bodyrecomposition.com
Thank you but I didn’t understand one part: what is “LG” exactly?
Leangains, sorry about that.
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I take the greens plus vitamins. Can I take it the first thing in the morning or it is better to take it later with the food? I am not sure it taking vitamins that have 3g of carbs is ok while in fasted state?
Better to take them with meals Bart. This is for absorption as well as possible fasting mechanism issues.
thx, will do
Would the same apply to Krills Oil?
Instruction says to take it in the morning, but If I am fasting everyday, should i take it later with my Vitamins?
The point is to not break the fast. So
Take the oil with meals.
thank you
Few questions:
Would you say there’s any benefits to using the sauna after your workout as far as metabolism or recovery goes? or would you say it’s just for relaxation? Sometimes i’ll come back to the gym to use the sauna after my first meal because not only it’s relaxing, but i felt like it digests the food better. I hear you only lose water weight which you gain? right back up but would you say you burn a little fat too? What’s your take on this and the most effective way to use the sauna?
I take sizeonas a supplement which has creatine in it. What’s your take on sizeon as an alternative to creatine? Should i cycle it on and off?
I take all my vitamins within my first meal which consist of . 3 1000 mg fish oil pills. 3 1000 mg . 1000 mg glucosomine. 2000 mg vitamin d. 1000 mg vitamin c and a day supply of juice festiv vegatable and fruit pills on top of a multivitamin. I know all these supplements aren’t necessary but i take em anyways just in case i’m deficient in one of these areas. Is it okay to take all that at once or would you suggest i spread out the fish oil and flaxseed oil pills through out the day?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you
1. The Sauna.
Sitting in a sauna will not make you burn calories. It will make you sweat for sure, but as you said this is just replaced afterwards. It is lost heat which causes the body to burn calories (i.e. being cold, the practical application to sit in an ice bath.) to maintain your body temperature so that you don’t die. Think of a a cup of tea in a cold room, it will go cold pretty quick. Think of those coffee warming pots, to keep it warm you need to add heat, energy is expended. The reverse, sweating, is just a cooling mechanism, no calories are burned. I highly recommend Ray Cronise’s blog. Also check out his talk at TEDMed on youtube. Fascinating stuff.
I do not know if this has effects on digestion, I have not heard of this. If you feel more relaxed after, then please continue. It’s good for the skin.
2/3. No idea about sizeon, creatine gives me headaches. I only take fish oil, Vitamin D and a multivitamin. I believe you can take all those at once and it makes no difference. I read Lyle McDonald say that calcium should be split though.
Is bcaa really that important? What if the protein powered after the workout includes some bcaa?
My protein serving includes 5.3 grams of muscle boosting Branched Chain Amino Acids and i take it after the workout and before the sleep, so total 10g? Is this sufficient or I must take it before the workout? I am trying to stay away from any pills? Before i tried for 1 month to use bcaa when i was working fasted and i could not feel any difference?
This article by Martin has all the information you need.
I was just wondering, if I am not aching the next day is there something wrong with my training? I push quite hard so I’m not sure.
Pain is not the aim of the game, progressive increases in strength are. If you lifted more under the same circumstances then you did fine. There will come a point though that increasing the weight will cause a beautiful soreness you will come to love.
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Hi Andy and thank you for a great post but I have questions
Maybe more than me have the same so I post them here aswell(asked at twitter also)
1: LBM is that current LBM or target when counting macros?
2: Shall I change the TDEE value on resting / training days ( I got a massive high on carbs on re-days with same TDEE)
3: The Protein counting is that Current weight * 2,5 or LBM * 2,5
1. Current LBM as true lean mass gains will be small and gradual and not affect things.
2. Keep it the same and use the +/- percentages to adjust.
3. LBM.
http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/23/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/#comment-703
Good luck Dennis.
Hi Andy, long time lurker but first poster.
Been on a diet pretty much since February this year. Started out at a bulky 84kg and im currently @ 67kg. Still some more kilograms to cut before i reach my goal.
Up till now, I have been on a -30% / -10% deficit for the last two months (netting around 1600 for rest days and 2000 training days).
Would you advice staying on this cycle until I’m done or should I benefit from a wider calorie range? Im thinking in terms of -40% / +10%.
If your results have been good then stick to it. If you think you can do better then change to the latter.
Calculating a BMR and TDEE and then calculating your +/- macro targets is one thing. Actually eating those exact ratios is another.
People forget this important fact and though things look great on paper, they are actually not doing that in the kitchen.
Theoretically, the latter is better, but you need to have a look at the raw data you’ve been tracking with (body measurements, weight, strength etc.) and then be objective when making your decision.
i cant seem to find this info anywhere but do you count fiber towards your total carbs for the day? i use the IF marco calculator from reddit.com but i cant seem to fit my carbs in without counting the grams in fiber.
Thanks for the question. Count all carbs in any form. It makes no difference to the energy equation. Hope it helps.
awesome. thanks so much for answering, if its the carbs then i will kill them! LOL. i never took the carbs into account because i look at all the “good food” people here are eating and i see the occasional breads, bannanas, wraps/tortillas, potatoes, pancakes, ect and i take in not one single grain, bread, tortilla, high carb fruits, ect. i live for the food i eat, its so clean, easter clean!!!! so i assumed on weekends if i take in 150grams of carbs from berries and fresh orange juice how can that possible hurt me. i guess it does. ill keep the carbs under 50 on weekends
Let me know how it goes.
i came across your site because i read jenn’s “fitness safari”. ill keep my dilema simple for you. i have come along way in the weight loss world. i am only 5’6 and my highest weight was 200lbs. i was very over weight. by eating paleo (100%) and a regular workout routine i have dropped 60lbs. the last body fat test i took came in at 8.9% body fat, i am very lean. i discoverd “leangains” back in june and starting fasting daily for 16/8. i do this daily. i started fasting to get down the last amount of fat i possible could. i do not follow his workouts exactly and its hard for me to figure out all the macro ratios, ect, ect. my goal is to get my core ripped. i cant seem to get that ripped look. my abs are visable but after looking at your clients they were in the same position as me before they got ripped. what can you help me with?
i should have posted my meals and workout. i eat totally natural, totally 100% no garbage at all. i am very, very strict with my diet. my eating window is between 12-6pm. i actullay fast for 17hrs and eat 7hrs. on workout days my calories are around 1700 (125P/60F/90C). on rest days my calories are around 1500 (115P/60F/50C). monday arms/chest/back/shoulders/deads & 20min cardio, tuesday 20min cardio only, wednesday abs/chin ups 20min cardio, thursday 20min cardio only & friday arms/chest/back/shoulders/squats 20min cardio. saturday and sunday are complete rest days and i usually take in around 150 carbs because i cheat a little. thats my routine daily and i just cant get that ripped look. i do use BCAA on workout days
I see the problems here:
1. Your macro calorie split for the T&R-Days is not wide enough.
2. You have too many workout days, cut back to 3 and cycle calories.
3. “saturday and sunday are complete rest days and i usually take in around 150 carbs because i cheat a little” This is probably what is screwing you over. You need to have these two days low carb because they are rest days. If you want to ‘cheat’ then munch something sweet after a workout in the week, (I eat an entire box of choco flakes regularly) and save the fattier things for the weekend R-Days.
Jason thanks for the comment. If you’re after that last bit of body fat then you definitely need to be on point with your macros. I noticed that you have sent me an e-mail too so I will give you details of the consultation packages & how they may help, there.
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great stuff thanks Andy. its only really the weekend (friday) where i find it hard to avoid the sweet stuff. on a friday would it be ok to make all the carbs sweet and have them all in my post workout meal if it all adds up? Also, would it ever make sense to eat all friday and saturdays macros on friday and then completely fast on saturday, or would this be detrimental?
Not detrimental, but generally quite difficult to do as this would be a LOT of food. Also you would ‘need’ to be sipping on BCAA’s all day on the Saturday as you’ll still need to supply aminos to your muscles. Best not to do this I think.
If you want to suck on sugar cubes, in terms of fat-loss it’s all the same. Micro-nutritionally it’s not the best thing but if eating sweet things on a Friday keeps you on track then do it.
Andy,
I was just wondering if you or anybody else knew of anything suitable as a fat free dessert or sweet/pudding for training days. Alternatively, something relatively carb free for rest days would be just as good. I have already found frozen yoghurt which is great as well as angel delight which only has 3g of fat per serving – any other suggestions would be great as my sweet tooth is my biggest weakness!
Thankyou,
Liam
Hi Liam, personally I really love throwing a whole box of chocolate flakes in a blender with a couple of scoops of chocolate protein powder and some skimmed milk. That fixes my sweet tooth and is killer after a workout. It’s crap in terms of micro-mnutrients and satiety but perfect for an occasional sweet tooth fix. Have a look here for a picture: http://wp.me/p1H4CG-dJ.
As for the rest-day, try this site, http://www.proteinpow.com/ I really enjoyed the banana ice-cream. Also check out the Leangains group on Facebook. There’s meal posts galore on the wall there.
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Two questions:
I only have time to workout first thing in the morning. Does that mean no eating after my workout until my fast period is over?
As I work late nights some mornings are a pain. Does coffee or tea in the morning count against your fast period?
Hi Joe!
1. Yes, sorry buddy, it’s not too bad though. If the gap is longer than a couple of hours, it’s worth buying a BCAA powder perhaps. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/xtend.html This is one of the only supplements I recommend, and only for fasted/early morning fasted training.
2. Not at all, because they do not contain calories. Even a splash of milk is fine too.
Hi there-
I have the same situation- I go to crossfit from 7-8a.m. 3-4 mornings a week and was originally doing ESE 1-2x a week but I felt like it was hampering my strength gains- I quit doing that the last month and I feel like I’ve jumped by leaps and bounds this month in strength and feeling strong- I am thinking of doing Leangains for now instead and ESE later when I’m ready to be more stagnant (I just started crossfit 3 months ago).
I was wondering if you know a product like the one you mentioned (the Xtend), or know what I should search for myself, that I can have pre or post a.m. workout that doesn’t contain some of the additives the Xtend has (I have an autoimmune condition and can’t have any of these ingredients: Citric Acid, Sucralose, Artificial Flavors, Soy Lecithin (As An Emulsifier), Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K), FD&C Blue Lake #1, FD&C Yellow #5.)
I’m sensitive to most of these added ingredients unfortunately and would be a more natural/organic type product- I just wasn’t sure what I should be looking for since there are so many products on the market. Thanks for any suggestions!
Andriana
Adrianna I appreciate your comment and I am happy to hear of your recent successes, unfortunately I can’t help you. I’m not into supplements. They are an afterthought at best, and as such I don’t know about all the different types and their respective ingredients available. Presuming you’ve already done a gouge search and come up with nothing your best bet is to go to bodybuilding.com, click on BCAA and then search through the ingredient labels one by one.
Hey Andy, Im just popping this in here so I get a notification when the guide to calculating your Macros is up.
Thanks so much for all the work you put in, love the simple, and easy to read & understand format which is brilliant for novices like myself.
Mark
Added you to the mailing list for when posts are added to the site. You need to confirm. Currently that article is priority number 2.
Hi Andy,
Quite a peculiar predicament. I weight train 3 days a week and play soccer 2-3 days, so I’m pretty active. When can a non lifting day be considered strenuous enough to warrant the same nutritional levels as a lifting day because the soccer training and/or games tend to last at least 1 and half hours and are quite intense.
cheers in advance
phil
Good question Phil.
The key thing on the diet is to cycle calories under and over on training and rest days to create a weekly deficit (cut), surplus (bulk, or break-even (gradual body-recomp.). If you increase the number of training-days (in terms of diet) then you need to reduce the number of calories consumed on your rest-days accordingly.
However, as a general rule, unless it is weight training or HIIT hill sprints of something like that, you can pretty much ignore the soccer and go ahead with the plan as usual. If you look at this cyclist client of mine (3 days weights, 4 days cycling training) http://flic.kr/p/arqCSu this is what he achieved in 24 days.
So just to make this clear, unless you’re diet is already ‘bang-on’ in terms of calories, (meaning you’re an athlete on the very edge of his energy needs, lean and where everything they eat counts) or you are extremely good at calculating a baseline because you’ve had experience before, then you don’t need to adjust for the calorie expenditure of the football when planning, as it’s much less than you think anyway. Choose some macro numbers, stick to them for a few weeks, track progress and adjust accordingly.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, this was good advice for me as well!
Martin, great to hear is helped you too, makes writing these detailed answers in the comments worthwhile.
First of all,
Thank you for your dedication and authenticity in the manner you give advice and have set up the site.
Similar type of question, except as it applies to skiing and potential use of baca…
If I go skiing for several hours before breaking fast…
Should I just make a 20-30g ish bcca drink and drink while skiing?
If this is technically my rest day…but I end up on the slopes for 7ish hours…should I eat like a T day or an R day?
Does it matter if I ski consecutive/multiple R days in a row?
I really appreciate you and what you are doing,
Jason
Hi Jason, I don’t bother as I don’t feel that it’s a “workout” that taxes me enough* compared with some squatting. If you’re not very strong then it may well be so, but then arguably such a person is not in the position to need to worry about it anyway. (*This is all up for debate of course. I won’t deny that a day on the sloped beats the legs up pretty bad.) I’d save your money though.
if you’re on the slopes for 7 hours then you have no hope of guessing calorie expenditure. Luckily your body has a good way of telling you what you need. Prioritise protein if possible and eat to your hunger and you’ll be fine. It’s just for a week after all.
Could you explain more deeply, why I need to eat more fat on rest days?
Fat is important for hormonal reasons. We keep fat lower on training days so that it doesn’t get stored, so we need to make up for this on the rest days.
This also allows for a greater variety of food and don’t suffer from cravings for fattier food. This way you can make almost any food fit on either day as long as it’s in the right quantities.
Cheers Max.
Hey Andy, i am kinda confused about how much p/c/f should i eat on training/off days. im trying to gain a bit more mass until December so by January i can start cutting. i know about protein that 1-1.5g per lbs is a good start, but i dont know how much carb/fat i should i consume on a training/off days? i am at 158-160lbs and base metabolic rate is about 2660cal, i consume 2700 on rest and 3000cal on a training day.
That’s a perfectly reasonable question with a not so simple answer. It really depends on a LOT of things. I can’t just sit here and throw out numbers at you, it requires careful calculations and consideration and wouldn’t be professional to do so. I will have a guide to calculating your macros up on the site soon (meaning a couple of days). If you put your e-mail address in the “Subscribe” box at the bottom of the page you’ll know as soon as this is posted.
Here what I can tell you though. At a glance:
1. Those calorie numbers are too close.
2. The protein should be a per lean-mass figure.
3. Unless you are ripped, and I mean striking abs, then I recommend you cut first, then slow-bulk, as the advantages this way are enormous. -Remember, this is the Leangains IF system, not a regular bodybuilding bulk and cut cycle.
Hope this helps.
wow, this helps alot! yeah, im not that ripped, but ill just end this bulk and do IF/LG cut on Jan. what split would you recommend me? -20/0? -40/+20?
If your on a bulk or slow bulk, is it advisable to be in a surplus everyday (i.e +5/+20)?
As for the cutting calorie split, the latter sounds better than the former, however it really depends as I said before.
For the ‘slow-bulk’, you’re going to want to have a deficit still on your rest day so that you can burn off the fat you laid down on the training day, so that you can keep your abs (to an extent). -This is the magic of calorie cycling.
i might do the -40/+20 split on jan with a ~.76lbs loss per week or maybe a -32/+9 split with the same weight loss.
thanks alot for the help, hope i can do this perfectly.
Hey Andy,
Quick question. If my workouts contained 6 movements throughout my week, would I be able to get to that muscular/ripped goal that every guy tries to achieve?
For example, Mon: Deadlifts & Weighted Chin ups. Wed: Bench Press & Dips. Fri: Squat & Military Press. (Having the right amount of reps,sets, right eating habits, and dedication as well)
Could this get me, or anyone, into having that max amount of muscle physic while having 4%-6% body fat? (The “No BS Formula” Martin was talking about)
If it is, awesome. If it isn’t, do you think you can recommend anything else for me?
Hope you could answer this for me. It’d mean a lot.
-Ben
Ben, absolutely, 100% yes. Using this you will pile on muscle. To get ripped, as in ‘shredded’ it is the diet that will need to be dialed in. You don’t need to do high-rep training for that at all. I didn’t, my BB friends don’t (some of them are still stuck in their ways, but then again, they love being in the gym), and Martin doesn’t.
I believe Martin said he throws in some tricep-extensions and calf raises to the mix. However the practical difference they have to an overall physique will pale in comparison to the big compound exercises.
Awesome. I very much appreciate the speedy response. Don’t say this to anyone, but you’re the man
Thanks Andy. Hope it’ll be okay if I get stumped and come to you for help again!
-Ben
Of course buddy.
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First of all I’d just like to thank Andy for introducing me to the system which I am enjoying a lot. It beats the 6 meals a day approach hands down and it only takes you a few days to realize that the metabolism issue is definitely a myth. Hunger never gets out of control, even the brief periods of physical hunger have been enjoyable if anything, because its purely physical and easily resistible which makes you feel good. Each meal is enjoyable and has left me satisfied without constantly worrying about food. I love not having the feeling of resentment when thinking about a constantly imminent shitty small unsatisfying meal! I’d take a little bit of brief physical hunger over that feeling all day. It feels like this system is part of our DNA which it is if you think about our evolutionary history. Imagine a starving caveman finally capturing his kill then deciding to split it up into 6 just to think about his metabolism!
My questions are:
1. If a night out with curry and beers where I go over my macros happens what is the best thing to do over the next few days?
2. I’m still pretty awful at pull ups and i’m struggling to do enough of them even at body weight. Should I practice them a bit more often, or will I improve enough once a week?
3. Is it OK that I play sport on non training days? It quite cardio based but doesn’t seem to affect my training?
4. Is it possible to think about targets in time frames? I.e. reaching a certain bf% by a certain time?
5. Thanks again to Andy and I hope everyone else’s plan is going well,
Liam.
P.S. Andy – I presumed it would be best to send you the first update on my stats at the end of next week because I arrived half way through the week, is that OK? (6)
Hey Liam, glad you’re finding it enjoyable too. There’s comments like that all over the site.
1. Just continue as normal. One night out is not going to screw you up in the long-term. (If you were a weight-division athlete or bodybuilder with something coming up it would be different.)
2. Try band assisted chin-ups, taught by a hottie, you will get strong soon enough. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFtE27GzTTk)
Have you chosen the right routine though, are you advanced? Read the training guide article and make your own objective decision: http://wp.me/p1H4CG-g4 You could throw chin-ups onto the end of ‘The Big 3 Routine’
3. Absolutely no problem. Do not adjust your meals for this either.
4. Yes, but bf% is not a good option, widely available measurement methods are riddled with inaccuracies. A much better option would be to have a target of “x cm off the belly in x weeks” or “Seeing a visible ‘ab’ muscle in x weeks while tense” or if on a bulk (which I know you are not) “having a xkg increase in the squat in x weeks”.
5/6. Welcome mate. Yes, please send it at the end of next week.
Thanks for posting some good questions.
Hi Andy. As you know I’m a vegetarian and am eating tofu, chickpeas etc to meet my protein goals (along with eggs and protein shakes). I have been counting the carbs in these foods and putting it towards my macro goal. Do you think that’s the right way to go about it?
Usually I would say no, as it keeps things simpler. However as you are a vegetarian you will be eating these things in much larger quantities in order to hit your protein number, so the carbs will need to be counted.
Count once and write it down then you don’t have to do it again. Thanks Natalie.
Hi Andy,
I had emailed you this same question last week, and I haven’t been counting those carbs that are in my protein sources, so I’ll count them now. I don’t use beans (except soybeans) as a protein source simply because they do have a lot of carbs but I do use seitan, tempeh, greek yogurt, and tofu which all have varying amounts up to 15 carbs per 6oz serving. I am a little concerned about my fiber intake then without the fruit on rest days but I’ll just eat more cruciferous vegetables.