Can we get a Topcat nutrition/core thread?

Hi Topcat
I'm just wondering what your lifting routine is. Are you on some sort of 3 or 4 day split. Also would you I mind outlining a typical day of eating for you?
I'm looking to lose weight and tone up.

Hi 3rd time that question requires a long and complicated answer. Not so much what I do but why I do it, what is the logic and science behind it. It requires a book which I am slowly putting together.

I can tell you to do this or that but your first thought will be………….hmmm………..that doesn’t sound right. But you see I’m not in the business of promoting protein powders and crap that does not work. So with that being said how do you convince so many that have had their beliefs shaped by very astute marketers that they are wrong and I am right. Only with results and very long explanations which would be impossible here.

I can tell you this when it comes to lifting, most are simply wasting their time because they don’t put in the effort required to illicit a hormonal response from the body. The way I like to explain this to most that ask me would be like this. Imagine curling your finger with a very small weight until you couldn’t do it any longer, now how much stress do you think that puts on your hormonal system…………answer very little even though you trained to failure. Now let’s bump it up to curling that weight with your wrist, once again very little stress on the hormonal system. Bump it up to the arm………..okay a little better but not much. In order to illicit a hormonal response one needs to get as much of the body working at the same time as possible. An example would be sprints the whole body is required when moving itself at a high rate of speed and the endocrine system responds appropriately. If you are not eliciting a hormonal response then you are just the UPS driver moving boxes or the guy digging a hole, working hard but not making much progress.

I remember once doing some high rep squats with my brother at the gym. My brother was going all out nearing about rep 25 when all you heard was a giant snap, he let the bar down slowly got up and said I think I broke my arm……………..lol………………yes we can laugh about it now but at the time it wasn’t so funny. He was complaining weeks previously of a minor ache in the upper arm where the humerus is located. Obviously he had a hairline fracture that he did not know about and so consequently it wasn’t given enough time to heal. The stress of the high rep squats to his body created so much rotational torque in his arm that the bone just snapped. That is all out effort and why certain exercises although one would believe they only work specific parts they do in fact work the whole body.

Long story short, we drove over to the hospital, they inserted a rod and a week later he was back in the gym doing leg presses……………….lol…………….

Okay he is a simple strategy you can use now. If you can extend the time from the moment you go to sleep until the moment you eat the next day your body is more apt to use the calories better. More of a partitioning effect happens especially when one combines this with exercise. Also very beneficial for the endocrine system. Just start slowly maybe increasing that time 30-60 minutes a day or whatever you find comfortable.

Topcat I agree with you. I found when I was doing high intensity cardio like hill sprints and plyometric jump training I lost weight very quickly.
I enjoy walking but the real cardio is doing interval training. High bursts of activity for a short time. Recently I was reading an article and they were interviewing Jason Statham who said its much better to do 40 minutes of high intensity, hard exercise than 90 minutes of low intensity.
I'm also looking into fasting. Upon waking I like to wait 4 or 5 hrs before I eat my first meal. Fasted exercise is definitely superior for weight loss.
Hope to read your book one day.

Most of the nutrition related research which one constantly sees in the media is driven by companies that are in the business of selling products. Most of what is thought of as sound dietary advice directed towards the masses is driven by the very large food conglomerates. These are two very important points for most to keep in mind. They also to varying degrees own the information systems currently in place that help shape the beliefs. Owning or being able influence the information systems is more important in the marketing process than the product itself. Does it work…………..one only needs to look towards the sales numbers.

If I had to pick one macro nutrient that matters the most it would not be carbs or protein but fat. Anyway I would stick with extending that time before you eat. My personal philosophy is to master one thing than just keep building off of that. Most that try to make too many drastic changes fail so it usually makes it a poor approach.

People that believe they need some protein powder replacement drink are victims of very good marketing. If they understood the history and the cast of characters that got us to where we are today then maybe they would be second guessing that decision and not be so resolute. Look at all those that believe they should eat cereal for breakfast, where on earth did that come from? Guys like Kellogg, Post, Gramham and companies like General Mills, it’s been drilled into the heads of most starting at a very young age. One only needs to watch the cartoon network to see how these guys operate. Get them when their young and chances are you have customer for life. No wonder most can’t seem to make the change over to healthier foods. Then when they try you got the protein powder guy to fill in the slot. Sure 30 grams of protein every 3 hours……………..wonder who came up with that formula.

Hey Topcat. Always enjoy your insights on this topic. Would you be willing to elaborate on why you advocate fasting in the morning? I.e. what is the purpose and what duration is optimal. If not, could you suggest some resources for those interested to educate themselves on this.

Hi Diesel, well I believe that one can do tons of reading and research but in the end it really does come down to results. I have been reading and applying for close to 40 years now so of course I have taken many, many roads that have led to nowhere.

I would say this, that working out in the morning is best when testosterone levels are highest. Eating or drinking nutrition just after working out blunts growth hormone levels which would be the opposite of what I’m trying to do which would be to achieve an extremely low level of bodyfat where I want growth hormone highest. Of course supplement manufacturers will tell you something different, I mean really that’s their job. Your body has plenty of fuel available and hopefully you are using bodyfat to help you recover and not some sugar drink or powdered protein. It is almost impossible to burn bodyfat after a workout if you are raising insulin levels.

If you eat to late in the day meaning right before bed then you risk screwing up the leptin cycle and developing leptin resistance which will leave you feeling hungry and looking fatter. So this does leave a small window of time during the daytime hours when you probably should be eating. Does this make logical sense…………….probably just not to the supplement sellers.

The problem with reading and recommending material is that sometimes I might just agree with a few points in a book which for me makes it worth reading but that doesn’t mean I agree with the whole book. As far as fasting in the morning I like some of Ori Hofmekler work “The Warrior Diet” and “Unlock Your Muscle Gene” and for some information on leptin I like “Mastering Leptin” Byron Richards

The only other point I would add would be the only known way to extend life span is through caloric restriction and if you read some of the research you will also find that fasting or intermittent fasting can have the same effect for exactly the same reasons.

I also believe as one gets older they should be as lean as possible in order to have a higher quality of life. I believe that being able to perform physically in the later years of your life sometimes trumps having more and more money. Money is good but not if you don’t have optimal health.

Diesel, you might find the following helpful, I did:

http://www.amazon.com/Juice-Fasting-...yerowitz+steve


Also:

www.sproutman.com

I have had plenty of detours over the last 35+ years when it comes to nutrition along with health and performance. One of those detours was juicing. I owned a Norwalk Press, a commercial citrus juicer and a wheatgrass juicer. In my opinion it is the wrong road and logically makes zero sense as the human body was not meant to take in nutrition in this manner nor any other animal for that matter. But of course I needed to learn that through experience.

It is a very poor approach if you are looking to achieve optimal health and performance.

If you want to add a food to your diet that is truly anti catabolic while being highly anabolic then I would suggest raw pastured butter. Raw butter……….straight from the cow, churned and into the container it goes. For most this would seem to be so odd but what they don’t understand is that nobody makes money from raw pastured butter at least not anything above a reasonable amount of profit. So instead you get protein powder which has a long shelf life and can generate huge amounts of profit as it can be mass marketed. You got a choice an isolate which removes the fat and drastically raises your insulin levels while having very little nutritional value as all the fat has been removed or the concentrate that still has the fat but has been heated high enough to oxidize the valuable fatty acids including cholesterol making it more a burden to the body then a healing agent. Not to mention all the estrogens and antibiotics contained in the original milk of both types.

Raw butter is like the highly skilled fue doctor that the majority of the population never hears about and protein powder is like the robotic system that gets all the press. It’s exactly like that just like many other products that are mass marketed, chemotherapy, SSRI’s, radiation, angioplasty, etc. Mass marketing is purely about profit not about what is best for you…………………learn from people that care about what they are doing and eat butter.