[eliosgator]

Fmoncas,
I want to congratulate you for the great job you're doing. You are experimenting on your body and making everybody here learn from you. The number of people visiting your site is more than anyone else on the dungeon. I am dieting now, and I am learning a lot from your diet and posts. Couple of my friends here in Florida say the same about you.

As for the options you listed above, I agree with thefreak, cardio is essential during dieting, it's one of these things that is hard to replace. So go for option 1.

Good luck for your diet, and I am waiting to see the great sculpture you are gonna get.

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by eliosgator

Fmoncas,
I want to congratulate you for the great job you're doing. You are experimenting on your body and making everybody here learn from you. The number of people visiting your site is more than anyone else on the dungeon. I am dieting now, and I am learning a lot from your diet and posts. Couple of my friends here in Florida say the same about you.

As for the options you listed above, I agree with thefreak, cardio is essential during dieting, it's one of these things that is hard to replace. So go for option 1.

Good luck for your diet, and I am waiting to see the great sculpture you are gonna get.

Hey Elie!! Whats up my friend...................Thank you man for those words.....i really appreciate them!!........... i am also glad that you are learning form this thread.....my knowledge is limited and I am still learning something new every day too!! ..............................

Elie is my buddy from Florida he has done a great job with his body.......he’s been bulking up and now he is ready cut up and show up his new muscle mass...............i am sure you will look fantastic when you get ripped!!!!! Say hello to your friends in Florida!!

Take care,

Francisco

[fmoncas]

Ok guys................Last night I was trying to analyze why I lost muscle last week!!!! I know for sure that is because I remove a lot of calories from one week to the other but I wanted to know the exact amount that provoked this effect. So I went back to my old diet and I found out that in week 10 (the week before I remove calories from milk) I consumed 18,250 calories. Then on week 11... I consumed 15,745 calories.......Now it is easy to see why I lost the muscle. Just from food consumption I created a deficit of 2500 calories!!!!!!!!!! Plus the High intensity cardio that I did that week!!!!!!!!! I don’t even want to think about it !!!! ...................

Now for this week I am eating carbs every other day........(1 high -1 low) this is approximately 17,120 calories. So I am increasing my calories in 1,375.!!!! Hopefully this will help me to re-gain my muscle and lose some fat. There is no way I could know what is going to happen ....I am just hopping that the extra calories are enough. On the other hand because I still have a difference of 1,130 calories between week 10 and this one (week 12) I am not going to be doing HIIT. I will do instead low intensity cardio 4 sessions in the week.

I will check my weight on Thursday and adjust my plan for this week if its necessary (increase cardio or stop at 3 sessions)

This week will look like this:

Monday: high-carb day + chest, side delts & tris + 30 min low intensity cardio

Tuesday: Low-Carb day + Back, rear delt & bis + 30 min low intensity cardio

Wednesday: High-carb day + calves + 30 min low intensity cardio

Thursday: Low-carb day + legs + (check body weight) + cardio if needed!!!!!!

Friday: High carb day + Chest, side delts, tris + cardio if needed!!!!

Saturday: Low-carb day + Complete rest + take measurements (BF and weight)

Sunday: High carb day + back, rear delt , bis...........no cardio


Ok that’s all for now....i will keep my fingers crossed!!!!! jejjeje

Have a nice day

[Freak]

Nice investigation! Such small changes can have a very profound impact.

[fmoncas]

these are some pictures from last year when i got lean for my honey moon...... i was holding lots of water because all the partying jejejejj for a week i lived on margaritas...pina coladas...tequilas etc.....you name it.........i had a lot of fun....well you just get married once (some of us)

In the pictures i was 185 lbs.....this time i am hoping to end up much bigger....we´ll see

[Freak]

Wow you were a huge 185 that's for damn sure!

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by thefreak350

Wow you were a huge 185 that's for damn sure!

Thanks!! bro.....but believe me in clothes I looked very small!!!! That’s the worst part of been lean because basically you are always wearing clothes (covering your muscles) except in the gym. One day I hope to gain enough muscle to look ok in clothes (not like if you don’t workout)......Today for example I am looking smaller already and I still have like 10 more lbs to loose. This time I am going to go down to 190 but I want to look leaner and more vascular than before.......i will do the best I can!!

[fmoncas]

Ok guys......... it is time for a change in my workouts....for the next 8 weeks I will start doing a new workout routine (starting Monday). I am hopping to get a good response from my body. (Keep loosing fat and retain my muscle mass) . I will change to a high frequency upper–lower split (heavy and lactate inducing lifting combined). I have been working out each muscle group every 5 days approximately and now I want to do it every 3 days. This type of training has some advantages and disadvantages however for my objectives it is what I need:

Let me explain how I believe this will help me to achieve my goals:

First goal: Retain Muscle Mass

1.Heavy lifting will give my body a good reason to keep my muscle.

2.More strength ( the high frequency will help me to get a very significant motor learning due to the regular movement pattern)

3.Compound movements will allow me to train all major muscle groups (no need to use so many exercises)

4.High frequency promotes hypertrophy (just check the calf development of ballet dancers or the leg development of speed skaters etc)

Note: I am not trying to add details ...so I don’t need many insulation or fancy exercises for my muscle groups. My main focus is to keep what I have (muscle mass)

Second goal: Loose fat

1.Whole body and compound movements are energy costly and increases your metabolism for hours after your workout.

2.More growth hormone stimulates the release of fatty acids. ( I will explain below)

In summary my workout will consist in:

Type: High frequency (Each muscle group every 3 days)
Split: Upper – Lower split
2 heavy days (one heavy upper body and one heavy lower)
2 light days ( I will do what coach Thibaudeau called lactate inducing lifting) According to him there is a direct relation between the amount of lactate produced and growth hormone release. So this day I will reduce rest between my sets to 30 seconds and I will keep my reps in the 15-20 range.

Ok guys this is for now..........as soon as I finish my workout I will post it.

Have a nice day

[Freak]

Sounds good, will be interesting to see the results.

[fmoncas]

here it is my workout for the next 8 weeks:

Monday: Heavy lifting ( upper body)
Tuesday: Heavy lifting (Lower Body)
Wednesday: Rest - cardio if needed
Thursday: Lactate Inducing lifting (Upper Body)
Friday: Lactate inducing Lifting (Lower Body)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Start cycle again

I am doing the heavy days first because at the beginning of the week i feel stronger. usually by the end of the week i am very tired from work.

Check the attachment for the details.......Also your comments are always welcome

have a nice weekend

[cmart315]

Looking good Fmoncas! The amount of detail you have put into your diet and training amazes me, and teaches me since diet is where I seem to struggle more then others. It is very inspiring. I enjoy coming here and reading your updates. So keep it up! I do have a quick question for you though if you don't mind, just out of curiosity, what did your bulking diet look like(pro. fat. carbs and cals.?) I seem to be struggling to find that perfect number due to not wanting to gain to much fat, but still wanting to gain some weight with my higher metabolism. Your cutting diet looks on point! Keep at it, you're looking great.

[fmoncas]

[QUOTE=cmart315;353243]Looking good Fmoncas! The amount of detail you have put into your diet and training amazes me, and teaches me since diet is where I seem to struggle more then others. It is very inspiring. I enjoy coming here and reading your updates. So keep it up! I do have a quick question for you though if you don't mind, just out of curiosity, what did your bulking diet look like(pro. fat. carbs and cals.?) I seem to be struggling to find that perfect number due to not wanting to gain to much fat, but still wanting to gain some weight with my higher metabolism. Your cutting diet looks on point! Keep at it, you're looking great.[/QUOTE

Hello there Cmart315!!!! i am glad that you like my thread. your comments are very appreciated and always welcome because i enjoy talking about this subject. Also the fact that you and other people are reading helps me a lot and keeps me motivated.

Concerning to your question i used a few different diets when i was bulking up.... some of them worked better that the others...For example when i started my bulking cycle i was eating 7 times per day but i was eating too many carbs also i was eating bread, and other simple carbs...... To make the story short i started to gain to much fat......after i realize this i changed to a high-protein, moderate-hight carbs (just complex carbs) low fat diet....and it worked great......i gained in that period more muscle than fat.

From my experiences and all the mistakes i did (when i was bulking) i can tell you this:

1. Go for high protein (whole foods are much better than shakes)

2. Moderate or high carbs (just complex carbs) You said you have fast metabolism so you probably need a lot of carbs to fuel you body. But remember you need to try... what amount works for you.

3.Low fat diet (just healthy fats, Extra virgin olive oil, fish oil, peanut butter, fish oil, avocado etc)

4. Do not only rely just on the scale ( check your body fat to measure your progress) What is important is you lean mass.

Now i believe that the only difference between a bulking and a cutting diets should be the quantity of carbs consumed. The more strict and clean the diet the better will be the muscle-fat gain ratio.

I will pull out from my computer my bulking diet and i will post it for you. Review it and adjust it according to your needs....i hope this helps you to achieve your goals

have a nice weekend

Francisco

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by cmart315

Looking good Fmoncas! The amount of detail you have put into your diet and training amazes me, and teaches me since diet is where I seem to struggle more then others. It is very inspiring. I enjoy coming here and reading your updates. So keep it up! I do have a quick question for you though if you don't mind, just out of curiosity, what did your bulking diet look like(pro. fat. carbs and cals.?) I seem to be struggling to find that perfect number due to not wanting to gain to much fat, but still wanting to gain some weight with my higher metabolism. Your cutting diet looks on point! Keep at it, you're looking great.

Cmart315...This diet gave me the best result so far... at the end of the spread sheet you will find the ratios that i used. Remember to zoom in the image!!

hope this helps

[cmart315]

Thanks Fmoncas! That will definitely help me out. I also have been going with a lot of breads lately but have been second guessing this decision so your suggestion to avoid them has persuaded me to avoid it as much as I can.

One other thing I noticed and was curious about (hope you don't mind me with all the questions with this being your training log) was you don't do the whole eggs or red meat thing. Any specific reasoning for that? Just curious. Thanks!

[eliosgator]

Fmoncas, nice program for the coming 8 weeks, good luck!!! In my first 3 weeks of dieting I was working out 3-days a week, and doing cardio after my workouts. I have been losing 1 to 1.5 pounds per week. In my 4th week I started working out 5-days a week, working each muscle twice per week. What do you think chico, that should help burning fat better?

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by cmart315

Thanks Fmoncas! That will definitely help me out. I also have been going with a lot of breads lately but have been second guessing this decision so your suggestion to avoid them has persuaded me to avoid it as much as I can.

One other thing I noticed and was curious about (hope you don't mind me with all the questions with this being your training log) was you don't do the whole eggs or red meat thing. Any specific reasoning for that? Just curious. Thanks!

Yes Cmart315....Bread in my opinion is a pretty bad carb...especially white bread..(Arnold used to call it the white dead or something like that jaajaja) Bread is basically sugar...it has the same glycemic index as sugar “100”)....just check the definition: “The Glycemic Index is a scale that ranks carbohydrate-rich foods by how much they raise blood glucose levels compared to glucose or white bread” ......So Stop eating bread my friend!!!!!

Concerning to the other question the reason I don’t eat whole eggs is because the yolk contains all the fat and cholesterol. It is ok in my opinion to have 2 whole eggs a day but I rather eat something with lots of protein and healthy fats or something like that. Sometimes for my breakfast I eat 2 whole eggs and 4-5 whites however because for my schedule right know it is easier to eat oatmeal with a protein shake and some fruit (Faster). On the other hand I love red meat.....and when I am bulking I eat it a few times per week....usually during the weekends (the reason I did not included in my diet is because chicken is cheaper....just to save a few bucks jjeje)

Finally....i am glad to help and share the little that I know...so dont hesitate to ask.....

Regards,

Francisco

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by eliosgator

Fmoncas, nice program for the coming 8 weeks, good luck!!! In my first 3 weeks of dieting I was working out 3-days a week, and doing cardio after my workouts. I have been losing 1 to 1.5 pounds per week. In my 4th week I started working out 5-days a week, working each muscle twice per week. What do you think chico, that should help burning fat better?

Yes Elie.....increasing your workouts will help you to burn more calories and for instance more fat....on the other hand be careful with your cardio....when you increase your workouts don’t increase your cardio too...because you can create a huge demand (calories) that your body wont be able to supply so you can loose muscle. I will advice you to try first with 1-2 cardio sessions per week and check your results.....then increase accordinly. You don’t want to burn unnecessary calories.....Remember that cardio is just a tool and you need to use it wisely for your needs.

Take care my friend......

Francisco

[fmoncas]

Another week updates ..................................Week 12 (201.5 lbs)

Last week I made some changes because I wanted to regain the muscle that I lost during week 11......First I increased my carb intake to every other day (1 high -1 low) and it seems to work well.......i was able to retain all my muscle mass and at the same time I lost more than 1 lbs of fat......this is a great success for me!!! I did not recover the muscle that I lost but the strategy with the carbs worked well... I think that now that I am leaner my body is able to handle carbs better. .........For the next weeks I will keep the same cycle.

Finally.... I just want to comment that I did cardio as I needed. I basically did 2 session first (Monday and Tuesday) then I checked my weight on Thursday and I realized that I needed to loose a little more weight so I did another session on Friday......Before I was forcing my self to comply with my scheduled sessions but I think that it is much better to listen to your body and check the scale to check if you need more cardio or not. Cardio it is a powerful tool but it is just that!!!! It can work on your favor or against you!!!!

Check the attachment for the details

See you next time

Francisco

[Freak]

This week was a lot better muscle loss to fat loss ratio!! For body fat how low are you going to go? Also, what program do you use to make your records so nice?

Have a good day!

thefreak

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by thefreak350

This week was a lot better muscle loss to fat loss ratio!! For body fat how low are you going to go? Also, what program do you use to make your records so nice?

Have a good day!

thefreak

Hello the freak..........it was a very good week!!!!...on the other hand i am planing to get down to 5% (real Bf) this means that my calipers need to read 2%. This is my goal for this cutting cycle. After that i am going to bulk up again to try to improve and gain a few more pounds of muscle mass.

i am using Microsoft Exel to do my spread sheets.

Take care bro

Francisco

[Freak]

LOL ok must just be the font.

[fmoncas]

Guys I have been sick for 2 days now.......i got flu or something like that ..Nothing really serious but I missed the gym yesterday!!!! I have been eating and keeping my diet but it is harder to do it under these conditions. I wake up feeling better today and I will try to make it to the gym this afternoon. Hopefully this won’t affect me too much.

[Freak]

Get well soon Francisco!

[fmoncas]

Hello guys............i am feeling better today ....i guess that all the eating,.... proteins, aminos, vegetables and vitamin C every few hours helped me a lot to get better faster. I finally made it to the gym yesterday and I managed to do a decent workout for my legs.......On the other hand.. I did not do cardio on Monday or Tuesday (while I was sick) so I checked my weight yesterday before my workout and I was 201.5 lbs. For that reason I need to pick up the pace and increase my cardio for today and tomorrow.

Regarding to the new workout that I started this week....it feels different; I am used to workout and always have a huge the pump..... however on Monday (heavy upper body) and Wednesday (heavy lower body) it was difficult to get that pump because of the lower reps and fewer sets per body part. Probably is going to take me a week or two to get used to that type of training. .....Also I can not judge the value of a workout just for the pump....the body just doesn’t work like that. The good news is that after 1.5 days I felt ready to workout the same body-part again...... I am using heavy weights (So my body is getting the stimuli) but I am recovering faster because I am using less volume per day so I can workout more often (which is good).

Just to give you an example (incline Bench press)

Before: 2 workouts in 7 days: (Monday and Friday)

Each workout consisted of 5 sets and the total volume was approximately 7770 lbs for that exercise times 2 = 15540 lbs / week

Now: 3 workouts in 7 days (Monday, Thursday and Sunday)

Each workout consisted of 5 sets.....total volume almost the same... times 3 = 26,600 lbs per week.

This is just a simple example but the idea is to decrease the volume per day and increase it per week...............So my body can recover faster and receive more stimuli per week.

Today I will start the second half of the workout (lactate inducing) this time I am sure I will get my pump .....i will let you know how it goes!!!!

Take care,

Francisco

[Freak]

I would not try to speed up to get back on track. Just extend your total cut a few extra days.

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by thefreak350

I would not try to speed up to get back on track. Just extend your total cut a few extra days.

You are right my friend.....i will take it easy with the cardio.......At Times like this (under pressure to meet my week goals)... it is really important to have an objective and impartial set of eyes looking at you.....thank you thefreak!!!!!!

[fmoncas]

Yesterday I tried the lactate inducing training for the first time.......and it’s like running as fast as you can and lifting weights at the same time!!!! Pure HIT Training......at the end of my workout I felt like throwing up. Ajajaj I got a huge pump all over the upper body!!!

On the other hand I have to say that you must be in good physical condition to perform a workout like this!! I performed 21 sets (15-20 reps per set) every 30 seconds and I finished my workout in 25-30 minutes (that’s a lot of work per unit of time) This was very challenging but I felt very good when I was done!!! I believe that you need to challenge your self constantly and force your body to work harder......so your body can make the specific adjustments and improvements. With time this workout will be easier for me.

So far I can say that I like this workout rutine.........however I need to wait a couple of weeks to see how is going to change my body composition.

Take care guys

If you have any comments about this workout please let me know

Francisco

[Freak]

I just hope you didn't burn too many calories and lose too much muscle.

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by thefreak350

I just hope you didn't burn too many calories and lose too much muscle.

Yes thefreak I thought about that too....but the only way to really know is to try .......For me is a win – win situation because the knowledge is priceless.....however I am crossing my fingers my friend !!!! I will check my weight today and I’ll see if I need to slow down a little bit........

Your comments are always appreciated

[fmoncas]

This is a little update..............Just to mention a few thoughts

Yesterday I decided no to go to the gym...my legs were sore and I just worked out my upper body on Thursday however the main reasons was because I checked my weight and I weighted 199.5 lbs. Going to the gym would have caused more muscle to be broken down...So I ate and went to sleep..... On Wednesday I was 201.5 and yesterday 199.5 ....that’s 2 lbs in two days!!!! I definitely looked leaner on the mirror but my goal was to loose just 1 lb this week........... Looking at the numbers from the past few weeks when I loose less weight I loose more fat than muscle so my goal was to loose just 1 lb to make sure all was fat............ At this point I don’t know if this was caused because I was sick for 2 days at the beginning of the week or because I did the new training on Thursday (Lactate inducing training). The new training is similar to what bodybuilders do the last week (pre-contest) to deplete glycogen stores.....and I want to be optimistic>>> so maybe that’s what happened to me??? In order to really know I will be carbing up today to see if my body weight increase. If this is the case it will mean that I just depleted my glycogen stores with the workout on Thursday....however I think that 1 day is not enough to deplete glycogen stores however everybody is different..............i will have the results on Monday

On the other hand I have learned a lot from the previous weeks....Specially to listen to my body....for example when I workout and I feel very hungry the next day I immediately know that something is wrong. By the time you are hungry you are probably already loosing muscle........you body triggers the alarm but its not going to wait to see if you listen to him and provide the nutrients he requires.....he will go ahead and try to break down muscle to get the aminos that he needs. In the future I hope to understand more about the language of the body but the only way too do this is to try new things and see what's his response (positive or negative) .........................This time I may loose some muscle but next time I will be ready to communicate better with my own body to achieve what I want!!

Alright guys see you on Monday with the results.............Remember,,,if somebody doesn’t agree with my thinking please let me know so we can comment on the subject

Have a nice weekend

Francisco