Do we need BCAA supplementation? The debate rages on.

The following is an excerpt from Jamie Hale’s new book Knowledge and Nonsense: the science of nutrition and exercise.

I recently gave my opinion on BCAA (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) in a roundtable discussion with HST founder Bryan Haycock, Alan Aragon and natural bodybuilder Layne Norton, among others.

Click here to check it out

I'm not very wordy here, but this pretty much sums up my opinion on most dietary supplements on the market.

Note: This discussion revolves around the need for supplementing BCAA in the fed state. For fasted training you need BCAAs pre-workout to optimize your progress. I've explained why in the Leangains Guide.

What I am, the stuff I went through and what I've grown to become. Yup, this post got it all.

I apologize in advance for any incoherent ranting - I'll probably edit this post later on to improve on it.

This post will give a brief summary on my training history, for whoever gives a damn.

Some random points I'd like to make beforehand:

* I've never touched any drugs that may be considered performance enhancing, besides ephedrine/ephedra, back when that was legal and easily obtained in various supplements.

* The pics here aren't the best and poses certainly aren't ideal for comparisons. Some numbers might be a bit off as well. However, I pieced it together to the best of my ability and tried to make a brief, descriptive summary on what I was doing during each phase.

* New readers would be best served to read the this interview to get a grasp on what the hell I'm talking about with regards to intermittent fasting and all that hoopla.




Starting out: age 16-18



"You're so lean, you must have one of those ectomorph genes"

I hear that one too often these days. Well, this is me before I put my foot in the gym and started paying attention to what I ate - there's not a iota of skinny boy genes in my dna, trust me on that one. I was fat throughout most of my teens and when first stepped into a gym, I was close to 225 lbs of blubber. Ectomorph genes, my ass.

So I started pushing some weight, leaned down a bit and gained some muscle. It was clear from the start that I wasn't a prodigy when it came to lifting weights either, despite my size. I remember starting off with about 75 lbs bench presses, 135 lbs squats and about 175 lbs deads. One key thing here is that I started off with the basics, and didn't waste too much time on working chest, abs and arms like my friends did. I was also consistent, and sought to constantly improve myself and learn the nuts and bolts of the iron game. This would turn out to pay off in a few years.

I don't have any good pics from this phase, but I basically looked like a slightly leaner and more muscular version of the above picture on the beach. I looked big in clothes, fat with my shirt off, and I wasn't very pleased with my appearance either way. So I decided to go on a diet.


The modeling days: age 19-22




Fast forward a few years and this is me at about 165 lbs. At 19 I started dieting, lost weight, gathered attention from a model agency and then won a nationwide competition that sent me off to Milan. I think I was about 175 lbs when they first sent me down there, but few weeks later I dropped weight quick down to 165 lbs...and then 160 lbs at my lowest point throughout these 3 years, during which I worked full time as model in several different countries. It was a great experience, but these years were basically spent overexercising and overtraining. I was in various states of leanness, but I don't think I gained a iota of muscle during this time period of my life.


Starting over again: age 22-24




So I quit modeling and decided to come home and resume my studies. I started working out again, gained back some mass and ditched the semi-anorectic look. I'm about 182-184 lbs in the above picture.


Discovering Intermittent Fasting: age 24-now

I've outlined the reasons for embarking on the intermittent fasting regime in this interview. The short story of it all was that I was basically sick of the obsessiveness with nutrition, meal timing in particular, that seemed to follow me wherever I went. I was becoming a social pariah, and I didn't think that, for all the energy I put into it, the obsessiveness provided me with anything else than misery and anxiety whenever I missed a meal. Maybe some of you can relate to this or maybe you have a more relaxed attitude towards bodybuilding nutrition than I had back then; if so, I salute your ability to keep a relaxed attitude towards this crucial aspect of the iron game. I sure as hell couldn't. The above picture is pretty much representative of how I looked when I first started the IF regime on June 2006; about 182-184 lbs, 9-10% bf or so.


Discovering Intermittent Fasting: The Summer Cut

The below picture is the result of the cut I did that summer, using an IF regime for the first time; 175-177 lbs and 5.5% bf.




For the first time in my life I was pretty damn satisfied with the results of a diet - I actually kept all my strength, while simultaneously keeping all my strength, something I had thought was just a pipe dream when cutting to the low single digits of body fat. This spurred me on to continue the IF experiment and go on a bulk in August 2006.


Discovering Intermittent Fasting: The Autumn Bulk

Before starting the IF bulk in August, I ate at maintenance calorie intake for about two weeks in order to stabilize my metabolism from the dieting stint; body weight settled at roughly 180 lbs. I then radically increased calorie intake, but stuck to the exact same meal frequency and meal timing as before; 3 big meals, eaten any time within 8 hours during the day, followed by a fasted phase with no food intake that lasted 16 hours in duration. I stayed flexible with regards to the 16/8 meal schedule - some days the feeding phase would be shorter, some days longer. I sure as hell wasn't going back to my old obsessive behaviour about timing meals perfectly.



The above picture is the result of the bulk, which lasted approximately 3 months and added 20 lbs to my frame; I went from 180 lbs @ 6% bf to 200 lbs @ 9% bf. Some fat gain followed, but overall I was very pleased with my results.


The refinement of Intermittent Fasting: The Recomposition Protocol and the birth of Leangains

This is me as of today, liberal Christmas feasting included, and after a year of meticulous tweaking and learning from past experiences with the IF regimen.





194-196 lbs @ 5.5% bf.

2007 I've gone through various cycles of IF, where I manipulated various variables in order to achieve the result that is displayed above; I've done 3-4 week stints that were either hypocaloric, eucaloric or hypercaloric in nature, varying macronutrients and calorie status for each day respectively, in order to see what has worked best for me, applied that to my clients and see how it worked for them, and drawn conclusions based on that data.

I'm hoping to summarize all these points in my forthcoming book, which will tell you the ins and outs of how to use an intermittent fasting regime for either fat loss, lean muscle gains or both. When this book will be out is still a bit up in the air, but I've started the writing process. Lyle McDonald has expressed interest in co-writing it with me, but to be completely honest, I'm not sure where we stand on the collabo anymore - basically, we pissed each other off, which temporarily has put a halt to the project, at least in the form of the discussions between the two of us. We'll see what happens though; the book will be released regardless. I'll make sure of that.

So, that concludes my wrap up for 2007 and everything that was before. I'll probably add some more stuff too this post later on, or at least try to make it more coherent.

Anyway, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Keep checking in on my blog in the future if you're interested in some of my ideas; I've been slacking on updates lately, but I'm hoping to update on weekly, or at least bi-weekly, basis in 2008.

Some random client updates. Other people I've worked with can be found in the Testimonials section.


Client 1

Kenneth used the Leangains approach between 12th of August and 1st of November. He lost a significant amount of fat mass, yet gained a respectable amount of strength. While no bodycomposition analysis is done on this client, it's hard to tell if he gained lean body mass, although Kenneth personally feels this occurred. More information can be found at Kenneth's blog



Kenneth on the 12th of August.




Kenneth on the 1st of November.




Client 2

Brendan after 4 weeks with the Leangains approach. He dropped approximately 2% bodyfat, while simultaneously gaining a significant amount of strength.

Brendan before his Leangains trial.



Brendan after.




Client 3

A bodycomposition analysis done after 5 weeks on the Leangains approach. These numbers show that it's possible for some to actually gain muscle mass while dropping bodyfat. No pictures are available for this client yet.

22.09.07 30.10.07
________________________________________
weight 72,6kg 70,9kg (-1,7kg)
________________________________________
lean body mass 60,3kg 60,6kg (+0,3kg)
________________________________________
fat mass 12,3kg 10,3kg (-2,0kg)
________________________________________
fat% 16,9% 14,6% (-2,3%)


Client 4

Old one, been up before on this site, but these pics are pretty illustrative I think. 14 weeks between these pics. While bodyweight only changed by -1 lbs, he lowered his bodyfat drastically (14% vs 8.5%) while gaining lean body mass and strength.

Before.



After.

Less is usually more
I've added two testimonials from people I helped get their mind right with regards to weight training; Daniel Berglind and Albert Kuller (you'll find them in the Testimonials section).

Both used an IF protocol, in combination with a low volume lifting routine, centered on compound movements like the bench press, squat, chins and deadlift, coupled with assistance movements for smaller muscle groups, and both gained a significant amount of strength while maintaining a very low bodyfat (Daniel) or losing a good amount of bodyfat (Albert). Keep in mind that these are not newbies (where one would expect strength gains, even on a diet), rather experienced trainees who spent months spinning their wheels because of an inferior training routine. They made a few common mistakes that I see people doing all the time, despite many years of weight training; training volume was excessively high, and a lot of effort was put into assistance movements for small muscle groups, while skimping on the two most important success factors in weight training: progressive overloading and sufficient rest between training sessions.

During the time I managed Daniel's training routine, he put 90 lbs on his squat 5 rep max, 75 lbs on his deadlift 5 rep max and maintained his ripped conditioning. Albert lost 18 lbs of bodyfat and added more than 10% weight to all the major movement, except his chinning strength that went up a whopping 20%.

Take away lessons:

1) progressive overload is key. You probably already know that, but how are you measuring progress? In order to do this properly, do not switch routines too often and perform movements in the same order and in a structured way.

2) has your strength stagnated and are you spinning your wheels in the gym, receiving little reward for all the effort you put in? Odds are, if your nutrition is in check, that you're probably overtraining. Cut back workout frequency to 3x/week, perform no more than 3 sets per movement and always start your workout with a compound movement.

3) Unless you have a damn good reason not to, you should be squatting (either back or front squatting), deadlifting, chinning and bench pressing regularily.


Intermittent Fasting for diabetes and blood sugar management

Tyler Kell recently sent me his story on how he used intermittent fasting to achieve an overall improvement in various health indicators, blood sugar levels and mood. His feedback is particularily important, since it shows that even people with diabetes may benefit from an IF regime.

I should note that Tyler has been experimenting on his own and is using a modified protocol that differs from the protocol I use on my (non-diabetic) clients.


Tyler writes:

I’m a type 1 diabetic and have been so for a little over four years at the time of this writing. Over this time period I have experimented with a number of diets to help manage my chronic disease. With experimentation I’ve found a low to moderate carb diet with moderate fats and a good dose of protein to be the best for controlling my diabetes. Carbs in the 50-150g range provide enough energy for training, keep me out of ketosis, and seem to be the sweet spot in general. Much less and food selections are limited and boring; much more and blood sugar becomes harder to control.

Last year I encountered some posts by Martin on the topic of intermittent fasting. The idea seemed intriguing to me because it was simple, seemed effective, relatively no hassle, and had some proposed health benefits. I wondered if I could adopt an eating pattern that was similar but modify it to better suit my needs. I knew that I would not be able to eat the standard carb intakes, but I felt as though the diet could still be useful for blood glucose control, low maintenance eating, and for health reasons. Thus, I decided to give it a try.

My method differs from most because I keep my days fairly consistent in terms of meal composition and calories although I do tend to eat a bit more on training days out of habit and to improve partitioning. This approach has been easy to utilize and has resulted in the achievement of better blood sugar control than I have ever had previously. I’ve seen information that has stated that one’s fasting blood sugar makes up the majority of their A1C value. If that is true, a strong case can be made for the use of IF in diabetics wishing to achieve near normal blood sugars.

With the titration of my long-acting basal insulin to the appropriate level, I can go without eating from 8pm until 12pm the following day without experiencing either a rise or fall in my blood sugar values so long as the last meal of the day wasn’t excessive or exercise and stress levels don’t change drastically. So, essentially, I can spend 2/3 of the day at a completely normal blood sugar without doing a thing other than taking a single long-acting insulin shot. If changes do occur, they are usually easy to treat. Hypoglycemia is rather mild because of the small amount of insulin needed in the fasting period and is easily treated with some fast acting carbohydrates. Blood sugar does not creep up during the fasting period unless the meal from the previous evening was far too excessive containing too many carbs and/or fats. Large meals like this digest slowly and release glucose into the blood stream overnight, a period of time in which I cannot test and correct higher blood sugars. This can be alleviated with an extended bolus on an insulin pump or by setting the alarm clock to wake up, test blood sugar, and administer insulin if need be. However, I find it much easier to eat most of the calories between 12pm and early evening and eating more moderately at night if possible. Keeping carbs in the low to moderate range during the eating period helps to keep blood glucose excursions to a minimum. This combined with keeping blood sugars perfectly normal during the fasting phase becomes an extremely effective method for blood sugar control.

In summary, I achieve the best blood sugars by…

1) Using an eating period from 12pm to 8pm
2) Trying not to have too large of a meal in the evening containing too many carbs and/or fats that prolong digestion and cause blood glucose to rise overnight
3) Keeping carbs at a moderate level the majority of the time (50-150g/day)
4) If I choose to eat a higher carb meal, I place it after training and increase the amount of rapid acting insulin that I use (fat intake is kept minimal)

Occasionally I do vary from the moderate level of carbs and allow myself a bit more freedom. When carb intake is increased highly, especially in a short time frame, blood glucose levels are much easier to control (as can be possible) when fat intake is limited. Otherwise, once again, the fat slows the carbs down to the point where insulin action and glucose release are mismatched either resulting in hypo or hyperglycemia. I don’t think it’s ever wise to eat extremely high amounts of carbs as it’s increasingly more difficult to match with insulin the higher you go. Digestion rate, meal composition, and insulin action all are highly variable and create a recipe for disaster if the moons aren’t aligned.

I try to save these higher carb meals for the period after training if I wish to indulge. As mentioned I keep fat low(er), protein the same, and take more fast acting insulin to cover the carbs using my personal insulin to carbohydrate ratio. Personal experimentation is always key and I suggest to start lower and work your way up. An occasional high carb day gives you a chance to take a break from more mundane eating. The high carb intake is best placed after a workout when insulin sensitivity is at its peak. This promotes better partitioning and helps the insulin to work its magic.

I think that IF is a great method of eating for the diabetic if things are kept under control. I wouldn’t suggest to eat the standard amount of carbs suggested under this protocol and expect to get away with it without some major blood glucose swings. Current research shows that it’s the glucose variability (how much your blood sugar swings up and down) that matters more than your A1C value (more or less an average of blood sugars). Knowing this and applying the knowledge toward optimum blood sugar control it would be my suggestion to eat foods that cause minimal and slow increases in blood sugar over longer periods of time, therefore limiting rises and falls and keeping blood glucose more or less constant. Low to moderate carbs, moderate fat, and ample protein achieves this nicely. Give yourself a treat once and a while and have a higher carb day. It’s a nice psychological break and when planned around a training session it can have a physiological purpose as well.

Better blood sugar control definitely improves my mood so I can say that the effect of IF on my mood has been indirect and positive.

So far using IF I’ve experienced better blood sugar control and my all-time lowest A1C value. HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and other blood work are all in the extremely healthy range. Since starting this way of eating I’ve lost about 20 lbs., maintained or gained strength in all of my lifts, and have done so with relatively little effort put into what I am eating other than making the correct choices in the correct time period.

IF certainly isn’t the only way to eat and certainly isn’t for everybody. With that said, using the proper modifications based on individual experimentation it can be an amazing dietary strategy used to achieve excellent blood sugar control.

- Tyler

Linda Mannila wrote an extensive review of her experience with the Leangains approach.

Check out her blog to read it

Linda clearly outlines what she feels is the primary benefits of the diet approach; less hunger, feeling satisfied despite losing weight and simplicity.

Another client blogging here: Kenneth Johansen

Kenneth made a deal with his friend - he would have to lose 22 pounds (start weight: 208 pounds) before November-07 and Kenneth would have to lose 28.5 pounds (start weight: 237.5 pounds).

If they didn't reach that goal, they'd have to get a piercing called "Prince Albert". I'll let you find out what a Prince Albert is if you check out his blog. Let's just say it doesn't sound very pleasant if you're a guy.

Problem is, Kenneth has been losing fat and gaining muscle on the diet, which he didnt expect, and therefore has about 14 lbs to go...Needless to say, he's very happy with the results (although it looks like he might have to prepare himself for a Prince Albert).

Media Controversy

Fitness champ Seth Ronland, who is following the Leangains approach, was recently featured in a swedish article where he spoke out about his diet.

Click here to read it (article in Swedish)

In the article Seth speaks about how the diet has changed his perspective on meal frequency and an lead to an improvement of life quality overall. Both Seth and his girlfriend are following the diet.

Of course, a certified, narrow-minded dietician named Petra Lundström feels the need to comment, saying "it's a lack of judgement for Seth to recommend the diet". In her arguments, she states various false claims about metabolism, blood glucose and brain functions.

I've sent an e-mail to the journalist, requesting an official debate/discussion with Petra on the topic. This could be a lot of fun, and I'm hoping she won't back down on my offer.

You can read about her comments here (article in Swedish)



Morning workouts and IF


I've been getting a lot of questions on how to structure meals in combination with morning workouts, without deviating from the plan; being that an 8 hour feeding phase is one of the fundamentals of the diet, morning workouts would have one starting the fast quite early, which for most people may feel a bit harder than fasting throughout the morning/lunch hours. Here's what I've responded to a recent post, adressing my opinion on the subject matter:

Hi Martin, glad you found your way over here. I have been following your blog for about 2 months now and am looking forward to your upcoming website and anything else you publish. Anyway, I am interested in your take on working out in the morning and how to fit that in w/ IF. I have been doing IF and feeling great but can only work out in the morning and, so take my post workout meal at that time. Is this ok, or what do you recommend?


"...for morning workouts, I usually recommend compromising a bit. The way I set this up, is to place a certain % of total calorie intake in an 8 hr feeding window pre-and post WO, and then "taper" calories towards the evening (high protein/low carb) in order to make a transition into the fasted phase (as low carb mimicks the effects from fasting to a certain degree). Thus, the feeding phase will be slightly longer than 8 hrs on workout days, but I consider this a good compromise in order to get proper PWO nutrition. Of course, one could go about this by initiating the fast in the afternoon/evening, but many consider this a bit daunting (and anecdtoally, fasting in the morning/lunch hours seems easier)."


That's all for today.

I really need to sort this blog out, it's such a mess. Website coming soon hopefully.

I recently did an interview with Leigh Peele and I consider this a good summary of my thoughts on the subject.


Click here to read the interview

Enjoy.

26/9 Update: Congratulations to Seth Ronland for taking 2nd in the 2007 Swedish Athletic Fitness Championship in Karlstad (+180 cm). His achievement is especially impressive, considering his recovery from injury.




Seth is a strong supporter of the Leangains approach and you can read his thoughts on the subject in the testimonials section.

19/9 Update: Possibly coming soon, an exclusive interview with one of the most famous Golden Era bodybuilders (and no, I'm not saying who).

My name is Martin Berkhan, nutritional counselor, fitness magazine writer and creator of Leangains.

Leangains is a unique approach to strength training and nutrition. The diet involves intermittent fasting and strength training in order to reduce fat mass and increase muscle mass. This is performed by switching between phases of overfeeding and underfeeding, as well as carefully manipulating the macronutrient ratio of the diet. My take on intermittent fasting and strength training will be the topic of an upcoming book project with nutrion guru Lyle McDonald, author of The Ketogenic Diet and The Ultimate Diet 2.0.

Personal Consultations: nutrition and training

For personal consultations at reasonable prices, please contact me at martinberkhan@gmail.com. I take a no-bullshit-approach to diet and training: my clients get results.


Updates (July 27th to Aug 31th)


31/8 Update: Michael Novak (from the testimonials section) takes the 16/8 concept of intermittent fasting to the masses - check out the link. Michael is shown in picture number 6.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/29/mens.workout/index.html


27/8 Update: Still alive and kicking it, just been very busy lately, therefore the lack of any new updates. I've had a large influx of new clients and it's good to see trainees on various internet forums opening up to the IF approach. Seems like every board got it's own thread on the topic and it oftens spurs some wild arguing between the yay-sayers and the nay-sayers. Somewhere in between you might find some worthwhile discussion. The thread usually goes out of hand when you have the 6-meal-a-day-eat-clean-or-die-nutters on one side and the IF fundamentalists on the other side. Arguing that we should be fasting every day just because our ancestors did it (and even that is up for debate) is almost as moronic as arguing for eating every 2-3rd hour to "stoke the metabolic fire" (hint: it's a myth) or "staying anti-catabolic" (hint: a big meal may take more than 12 hrs to fully digest and will release a constant stream of amino acids during the process).

Keep checking in for the newsletter interview with me and Leigh Peele, should be up this week.

9/8 Update: Did some deadlifting today, 600 lbs x 3 (270 kg)

Note that the innermost plates are 25 kg (55 lbs), which are regular sized plates; that is, they are the same dimensions as standard size 20 kgs (45's) would be.

The other plates are rubber studded plates from Techno Gym, which are not standard size and have a much lower diameter than standard issue 20 kg plates.

Therefore: 20 kg (bar) + 2 x 25 + 6 x 20 + 8 x 10 = 270 kg / ~ 600 lbs


Note the size discrepancy between the 25 kg standard issue weights and the 20 kg Techno Gym weights.





8/8 Update: Added three testimonials that I hope shows the diversity among the people that employ my methods.

Fitness and bodybuilding pro's, to college students and pro gamers; there is an approach for everyone, regardless of training status.

You'll find these in the testimonials section further down the page.

Seth Ronland

The most prominent fitness champion in Sweden has embraced the Leangains approach.

Michael Novak

A college student and strength training enthusiast who has found intermittent fasting to be much more in tune with his natural eating pattern.

Markus Nilsson

A professional gamer, who always struggled to maintain a balance between his sedentary lifestyle and a healthy physique, finally found my approach to be the magic bullet needed to improve his body composition.

6/8 Update: Sorry folks, been very busy and haven't been able to invest as much time in this blog lately. Anyway, im just dropping by to tell you about some upcoming features. This blog will be a part of the website leangains.com, which will have a closed forum where issues pertaining to the Leangains approach and intermittent fasting will be discussed in detail. It will only be open to

1) people that I deem trustworthy not to reveal any specifics of the approach and

2) people that may provide for an interesting discussion on the issues brought up.

The forum will be open to the public after the book release.

* I will appear in a newsletter interview with nutrition professional Leigh Peele on the topic of my approach to intermittent fasting, nutrition and weight training. I'll post it here as soon as we're done.

* Fasted state workouts: feedbacks and conclusions coming soon.

* More testimonials coming soon.


30/7 Update: Added Questions and Answers section (see below).

28/7 Update: New look on the blog; better? Worse? You be the judge. Please leave me a comment.


What you will find on this blog:

* Testimonials from people I've worked with

* Information about the Leangains approach (June, archive)

* Interviews with me and book excerpts concerning the Leangains approach and Intermittent Fasting (June, archive)

* Post of the day

* My workout videos

* And more.

Keep checking in for daily updates.



Questions and Answers section


The Leangains FAQ didn't come up this week as I had planned. Too much stuff to do. On the other hand, I get a lot of questions sent to me regarding the Leangains approach and Intermittent Fasting, so im going to start posting some of the e-mails, along with my questions, in this section.



Why hasn't anyone discovered this approach before?

Q: Excuse me for being blunt, but if this diet is all that, then why haven't many people discovered it? Why do so many bodybuilding dietitians (almost unanimously) have their clients do your average 6-meals-a-day-3-hours-apart type of diet?


A: The reason for the fitness/bodybuilding community not having "discovered" the approach, I think depends on several factors.

1) being stuck in old ways of thinking with regards to nutrition and, especially, meal frequency.

Many people believe that eating several small meals a day will some how "stoke the metabolic fire" and prevent "starvation mode" etc. You know how it goes. There's also the rather absurd notion that about the body only being able to absorb 30-40 g of protein in a sitting and going longer than 3-4 hrs without eating will get you "catabolic".

These myths and absurd notions gets repeated in eternum by the bodybuilding mags and other bodybuilding gurus/clowns. Noone would dare to go against the grain when the so called "truths" about proper nutrition is so heavily ingrained into the community.

2) The empirical and scientific support for intermittent fasting, it's health benefits and effects on human physiology, has only started to emerge (relatively) recently and is still an unknown concept for the uninitiated fitness enthusiast or layperson.

3) the old approach "works" for sure (6 meals a day etc), so no reason to mess with it. However, it may not be ideal and it may certainly not be ideal for many people with regards to meal frequency.

With regards,

Martin.


Leangains and athletes

Q: I'm curious about the authors' thoughts on this diet approach for performance athletes. Is this targeted more toward those looking for body recomp?

A: Slight modifications and/or compromises needs to be done with regards to macros and meal timing, but outside of that I see no issues with it - exceptions being, perhaps athletes with very high energy requirements and/or doing more than one training session a day.

With regards,

Martin.