I have also gained another pound this week, but dropped 1% in body fat.  The lean body mass just keeps increasing.  I am extremely excited to see these type of results from my current program. 

Vince uses periodization judiciously in this program.  At one point he uses something called undulating periodization where he moves back and forth between set, rep and rest schemes all in the same week.  The current plan has me doing 3 weeks of 3 sets and 15 reps, then 3 weeks of 4 sets of 10 reps, then 3 weeks of 5 sets of 5 reps.  All of that is followed by 3 weeks of undulating periodization.  Vince has you pay careful attention to which section works the best for your individual body because after the 3 weeks of undulating periodization, you have 3 weeks where you repeat the scheme that worked best for you.

I would like to continue my discussion on hormones by discussing the Anabolic State and how you can get there through the way you eat.

Yesterday I mentioned insulin and what it does.  Insulin is a hormone constantly released into the body, but increases in response to sugar inthe blood.  Part of the job of insulin is to shuttle sugars into your the muscle, liver and fat cells.  Insulin also increases protein synthesis and increases the transport of amino acids into the muscles.  Insulin can reduce the breakdown of muscle.  All these things go a long way towards increasing lean body mass.

By decreasing the amount of sugar available to your body you force it to turn to fat for energy.  You do this by increasing the amount of fibrous carbs you take in during the day.  Fibrous carbs do not cause an insulin spike, only starchy carbs and sugar do this. 

The way to get yourself into the Anabolic State is to first wake up in a fasted state (obviously).  You then take your pre-workout meal (usually just a protein shake).  You then do an intense lifting workout.  You next eat/drink a high glycemic meal containing protein.  Gradually decrease your carb intake as the day wears on.  If you do this well, your body will go into the Anabolic State.  You will be burning fat for energy rather than carbs.  This is obviously beneficial for someone trying to drop fat.

All of this is why the post workout meal is so important.  This is your chance to take your body from a catabolic state into an anabolic state.  Your post workout meal should contain whey protein, glutamine, BCAA, and high glycemic carbs.  This will kill off the catabolic state and introduce the anabolic state.  The whey protein is fast digesting and is a foundation of your meal.  The glutamine is an important amino acide and can be turned into glucose for energy.  BCAAs are leaucine, isoleucine and valine.  These stimulate protein synthesis, thereby giving a greater benefit to the inclusion of whey protein in this meal.  You should include a high glycemic carb like dextrose. 

If you want to reach your dream body you have to start by visualizing yourself with that body right now.  If you make the mistake of visualizing what you will look like in the future you may never get there.  It may always be in the future for you.  The key is to visualize yourself there now.

After you decide upon the steps you need to follow to get that visualization to be drawn to you, get to work doing it.  Draw that dream body to yourself.  Make sure that all your actions are framed around that visualization.  Remember that if you decide to eat the wrong thing, that future person is being hurt.  If you choose to skip a workout, that future person is in jeapordy.  Your job is to protect that person you visualize yourself to be.