Fitness Exposé

Bodybuilding Secrets Exposed

You are here: Home / Archives for Reviews

Favorite Bodybuilding Podcasts

By Leave a Comment

favorite-podcasts

Bodybuilding is one of my favorite topics (obviously) and with the introduction of podcasts it is easier than ever to get your hands on bodybuilding information. I am going to simply list out my favorite bodybuilding podcasts. Feel free to look these up or follow the links I've provided. If you enjoy bodybuilding you will enjoy each of these podcasts.

If you want to get a lot of information about bodybuilding add these podcasts to your phone and start listening on a regular basis. I find these shows to be extremely informative. They also keep me abreast of the latest trends in bodybuilding.

Related Posts:

Saturday Sharing: Thoughts on IIFYM

By 1 Comment

iifym

Bodybuilding as a sport requires some intense dedication to eating the right things. You hear the words “eat clean” so often when you participate in this sport. I have also heard many jokes about the phrase “eat clean” and it really got me thinking. In fact, the entire nutrition issue has been at the front of my thinking the past couple of months. You might wonder why that is.

Nutrition in Bodybuilding

I had been taught that in order to get into great shape I had to “eat clean” (definition: lean protein, vegetables and a small amount of starchy carbohydrates) the vast majority of the time. I was allowed one “cheat meal” every week. As I got closer to a show that “cheat meal” was taken away. In addition, the carbohydrates were also taken away. The amount of cardio I had to do went up and up. I became a very grouchy man after being deprived of carbohydrates and doing a couple hours a day of cardio.

As I began to plan for my next time on stage, February 8, 2014, I wondered if there was a better way. What I found amazed me.

Metabolic Damage Videos

I initially came upon IIFYM.COM via some Metabolic Damage videos put out by Dr. Layne Norton. In his series on Metabolic Damage Layne speaks about the damage bodybuilding competitors do to their metabolism. He also gives a prescription for fixing the problem (reverse dieting). Listening to all three videos really got me to thinking. What Layne was saying made sense to me and fit with what I had experienced.

Enter IIFYM

IIFYM stands for “if it fits your macros” and it makes the case that hitting your macronutrient ratios is the most important factor in getting and staying lean. I began to think about this and realized that it actually makes a lot of sense. It also gives you some flexibility to eat at a party while doing contest preparation. Life itself becomes so much easier as a result. There are not so many dietary restrictions placed on you.

IIFYM is not a license to eat whatever you want whenever you want. It still tells you to eat good foods, but makes it clear that you do not need to suffer while doing it. This approach teaches you to count macros. Because you have a little more flexibility you wind up with less of an urge to cheat on your diet. Just focus on the macros and the rest will follow.

My Thoughts

As the title of the article says, now I want to give you my thoughts on this approach. First, I believe it works and I am planning to use it during my own contest preparation. However, I do not believe it makes anything easier. You still have to keep track of what you eat and how much you eat. Thus, if you were hoping that you could stop tracking what you eat, forget that notion immediately. However, I believe the ability to pick what your carbohydrate source is as long as you hit your macros is a major boon for most people. Yes, there will be those who enjoy “suffering” and will stick to the old tried and true approach, but there are so many others who are using the IIFYM approach and getting shredded that I thought I would give it a try myself.

Keep checking with this site for more on my progress. Ask any questions you may have. I will do my best to answer them.

Related Posts:

Let’s look into metabolic damage

By Leave a Comment

Dr. Layne Norton (@biolayne) has recorded 3 videos about metabolic damage. They have caused a major uproar in the industry. Today I want to review the contents of the metabolic damage video, not for entertainment purposes, but to help Layne spreads the word. I normally embed the video much lower in the article, but today I want to be sure you've seen the video. If not, please take the time to listen to the video before you continue reading this article.

BioLayne Video Log 9 – Metabolic Damage

[pro-player type='video']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk[/pro-player]

Layne Speaks for Himself

The points Layne makes in this video pretty much speak for themselves. He presents them clearly and concisely. I want to just address the issues that really hit me as someone who has gone through a contest preparation cycle twice.

Metabolic Damage Defined

Layne discusses how he is a big believer in science, but based upon the nearly 1,000 people he has worked with he knows certain things to be true yet doesn't have the scientific evidence to back it up yet. Metabolic damage is one of those things. Layne sees this problem as one of the biggest issues for long-term body fat loss.

Metabolic damage is defined as the point where your metabolism is so repressed that you lose the ability to drop body fat without starvation. Layne then gives the example of a mythical bikini or figure competitor who has a coach. This coach has put them on what is essentially a starvation diet — 900 calories a day and 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day and yet they do not lose weight. This is because they have destroyed their metabolic capacity.

Always Preparing for a Contest

A typical scenario is there is a bounce back after a show. The competitor gains weight and fat. They have already caused a problem for their metabolism. They then want to compete in another show and have to start dieting down again. The problem is that their body won't let go of the body fat.

By always preparing for the next contest you never give your body a chance to bring the metabolism back to its maximum capacity. That's the purpose of the off-season. Layne gives an example of a guy at 15% body fat and needs to lose 25 to 30 pounds for the stage. If one guy is maintaining their weight at 250 grams of carbs per day or the person maintaining their weight on 500 grams of carbs per day, which one is able to get stage lean easier? It is obviously the one with the 500 grams of carbs per day.

How do you fix this?

Layne has some good recommendations for fixing the metabolic damage that has already been done. The first thing he tells you is to stop competing.

He takes you at your baseline of calories and macronutrients and then slowly adds carbs at a rate of 5 grams per week. As your carb intake increases your body weight (for some reason) does not increase. The body somehow just absorbs the small change in carbs. He continues to build this until he gets you to the point where you gain some weight. He then keeps you at this level because you are now at a good set point.

Layne gave an example of a client of his who he used this approach on. She started at 800 calories a day and 2 hours of cardio per day. After 18 months she was maintaining her weight on 325 grams of carbs per day, a woman who weighs close to 110 pounds. She improved her metabolic capacity so much that getting lean was easy for her.

He also recommends that you should be doing 3 to 4 HIIT cardio sessions a week and to avoid doing a ton of LISS cardio. He says that LISS cardio has been shown to damage the metabolism.

Think It Over

This video really made me think. I have always wondered if we were possibly making trouble for ourselves by dieting the way we do. I saw this potential in action in my own progress.

When I first started taking weight off I utilized a place (seems they are no longer in business) called PhysiqueTransformation.com. They had a very detailed system. You were required to log everything you eat. They would grade you. The goal was to get as close to the macronutrient ratios they set as possible. If you got it spot on you got an A+. This got me thinking about the importance of the macronutrients. Clearly their system was focused on them. Another thing their system did was recommend calorie increases or decreases over time. After the first 2 weeks of logging food the system would begin to recommend a plan of action. Ironically, for me, it kept raising my calories yet the weight kept coming off.

My second experience was when I plateaued on my weight loss. I had lost 40 pounds and was stuck. Chris Albert of Metroflex Gym Long Beach took me under his wing. The first thing he did was increase my calories for 2 weeks and make me eat a lot of food. I began to lose weight almost immediately. It was pretty crazy.

I am glad that I have not fallen for the extremely low carb dieting plans that are out there. I have always been suspicious of them and now I seem to be vindicated by what Layne says in this video. What are your thoughts?

Related Posts:

Mighty Cast: A Podcast Review

By Leave a Comment

mighty_cast_logo

Today I am reviewing The Mighty Cast, a podcast featuring Chris Young, Nicholas Ritchey and Physio X.  Specifically I am reviewing Episode 65 Push It Real Good, a question of intensity.

The Hosts

I found it difficult to listen to the hosts because their “chemistry” seemed rather forced. In addition the chatter between them was annoying at the start of the podcast itself.

The Content

They started out the discussion by defining intensity as a percentage of the max effort. Of course, because it is an English podcast the weights are discussed in kilograms. They define high intensity as anything greater than 90% workload. I have an issue with this definition of intensity because to me intensity can be taking a set to failure. You don't have to do 90% of your max in order to call it an intense workout. The definition seems far too specific to me.

While these guys seem basically knowledgeable about lifting, they have their own biases. Like the definition of intensity itself, they seem to want to put things into a nice formula each time and that just doesn't work. If forumulas got you better muscles everyone would have them. What angered me was they spoke about “instinctive training” and made a lot of fun of it. They even went so far as to make a joke that “instinctive training” involves sitting on your couch drinking beer. As you all should know from reading my blog I believe in instinctive training and have defined it in a much different manner.

I personally prefer the approach of someone like Layne Norton. He is not afraid to call bullshit when necessary and he has a scientific approach.

My Recommendation

I would say that if you want to learn from a different perspective this is a podcast to put into rotation, but I would not put it i the “must listen to” category at all.  Listen when you have time and skip it when you don't. It isn't that great.

Related Posts:

Heavy Muscle Radio: A Podcast Review

By 1 Comment

heavymuscleradio

Heavy Muscle Radio is hosted by Dave Palumbo and Chris Aceto. If you know bodybuilding then you know these names. You also know that you can't go wrong with these guys. Both of them are respected experts. Chris Aceto has consulted with Jay Cutler, 4 time Mr. Olympia champion. These guys are no slouches and neither is their radio show. It airs every Monday night.

The episode I am reviewing was right after the New York Pro. It was nothing short of amazing. These guys made history in this episode. It was the first show they did on video and the first one that was done live. To commemorate the occasion they took calls live as well. What amazes me is that these guys tell it like it is. They know bodybuilding and that fact becomes quite clear as you listen to/watch their show. 

Dave Palumbo has a great voice and an amazing personality. He keeps you very interested. Chris Aceto just knows his stuff and you hang on to his every word. There are so many great bodybuilding podcasts these days. The amazing thing is that some big names are working together to present great bodybuilding information.

If you like to be entertained, this is the show for you. They try to make it funny and interesting and in my opinion they succeed. I did not lose interest at all during the show. The content stuck with me and that usually means I was extremely interested.

Dave Palumbo discussed how the results of the New York Pro has created some excitement because a new guy wins it. According to Dave, he dominated the show, being coming in as big as Ronnie Coleman. 

This show is something you should add to your list of shows you listen to. You will learn a lot and you will be entertained at the same time. 


.

Related Posts:

New eBook!