Explaining Carb Cycling

Carb cycling is a very effective fat loss nutritional strategy which I feel carries multiple benefits and is definitely one of the more intelligent ways to fuel the body for positive body recomposition. There are multiple ways to carb cycle and it will come down to what you as an individual needs ultimately, however the main reasons behind carb cycling and why it's so effective remains much the same. 

Before I go any further let me explain briefly what carb cycling is. It's a specific dietary formation which you follow across the week where your carb intake will differ on specific days. Some days will be "low" other days will be "moderate" and some "high." In terms of what is low, moderate or high to you will be completely relative to your weight, body fat levels, activity levels and carb tolerance. 

Here are some  the key reasons why carb cycling works for you.

Shifting The Fat

I'm a big advocator of eating the right foods and using natural food sources for their health benefits. Calories are always relevant, especially when we're trying to lose fat BUT wholesome foods will always be better for us. Nutrition is more than just calories. 

I've witnessed first hand on many occasions individuals struggling to lose fat because it is VERY stubborn, even when their calorie intake is a deficit, once they reach a certain point. 

Why does this happen? 

The endocrine system which is our hormone network can be a very powerful thing in relation to changing your body composition, sometimes helping you and sometimes making it almost impossible to lose fat. 

This is why a lot of my emails on nutrition are about looking at the bigger picture and aiming to optimise your hormonal response from the foods you eat. This is where nutrition becomes more than just calories. 

In relation to your hormones oestrogen has to be one of the most common problems among men when it comes to stubborn body fat. If your oestrogen levels are not balanced correctly you'll find the following areas can be VERY stubborn in relation to fat loss:

Cutting calories

When you cut calories from your diet in order to reduce body fat and improve condition you want to minimize the negative effect this will have on your energy, mental focus, strength and of course muscle mass. 

It isn't as simple as "eating less" because if you get it wrong you'll sacrifice a lot of muscle, lose a lot of strength and end up feeling like s***. 

There are things which you need to do in order to maximize fat loss while retaining muscle tissue and performance at the same time. 

Here are 3 things that you should help you out:

1. Carbs

Removing SOME carbs from your diet is going to be inevitable for most when creating a calorie deficit BUT you need to keep your carbs as high as possible as your calorie intake reduces. Carbs are protein sparing, therefore, they are muscle sparing, they help keep you looking full and they also contribute towards performance in the gym. You often see people get lean but lose all of their fullness and size as well as their strength when they cut carbs excessively to lose fat.

Hormones

The endocrine system is one of the most powerful things you can learn to drive forward in order to maximize muscle growth. It is responsible for producing more than 20 major hormones and releasing them into the body. 

It can either become your best friend or worst enemy, depending how you treat it when it comes to getting the results you want. 

Here's an example of what I mean:

Testosterone, growth hormone and insulin are all VERY big contributors to positive changes in body composition.

How To Refeed by Neil Hill

For some it might be too soon to talk about refeeding having just had Christmas and New Years, but it's a very relevant topic which I want to discuss with you today. 

Refeeding is often misunderstood and other times mis-used. 

What is a refeed? 

It's a deliberately planned high calorie day, where often extra calories come from carbohydrates to "spike" your thyroid output which will as a result speed up your metabolism. 

When should I use a refeed? 

This will depend on multiple things including your calorie intake, your body fat levels, your gender, your pre-disposition to holding/burning fat and timescales in relation to your goal. 

Arguably, the leaner you are the more frequently you should refeed. This is because refeeds by nature will induce an aggressive insulin response, therefore you need to have the insulin sensitivity to cope with it - if you're lean the chances are you will. Also, as your leptin levels drop they make fat loss more difficult. They are more likely to drastically drop if you're lean and in a calorie deficit. This points towards the fact that the leaner you are, the more important it is to have a refeed more often. 

However, even if you are building muscle in a calorie surplus sometimes there is a case for a refeed for a different reason. Those again who are lean, will find this helps create a larger calorie surplus and adds additional fuel for big workouts i.e. leg day.

The Issues With Keto Diets

Ketogenic diets have been around for a long time and have been "branded" under other names, but ultimately the aim of them is to create a state of ketosis whereby your body becomes very effective at running on a high fat diet. 

Some high fat diets aren't actually a "ketogenic" diet because they aren't set-up to induce ketosis, but they can still work when used properly.

There are times when I myself will prescribe this sort of diet to one of my online clients if I feel its the right fit. I don't want you to think I am against or anti high fat/low carb diets. I'm not if its the right choice for the individual at that precise moment. 

However, I do find that there are many potential issues with this sort of diet particularly when looking at the common misconceptions which I've seen repeat themselves with clients.

Training Knowledge with Neil Hill

Should I train every muscle group more than once a week?

When people ask me this I have to tell them that without realizing they are training most muscle groups more than once a week. Your arms for instance are working on chest day, back day and shoulder day - that's WITHOUT any direct work on them! Shoulders work on chest day and back day as well as shoulder day. Again, THREE days of work for them! So when people tell you to train a muscle group more than once a week just think about this.

Now if there is an obvious lagging muscle group then potentially introducing additional supplementary work 4-5 days after your primary workout for that group might help. I'd look at using a 15-20 rep range, slow negatives in order to induce enough stimulation and blood blow without hammering the muscle, CNS or connective tissues involved.

Q&A with Neil Hill

He answered some questions that people emailed him about. Take a look this and hopefully, this will help you get to the next level. Here's five common questions people asked him.

Intermittent fasting, what do I think of it . . .?

Intermittent fasting in my opinion has become "trendy" over the last few years like most diet protocols and now seems to be losing its momentum slightly. The reality is, cramming in your calories for the day across 1-2 meals a day seems crazy to me - your blood sugar levels, insulin response and general energy/hunger levels will be all over the frigging place. Not to mention the fact your body has to try and digest and assimilate all of the nutrients in one hit. I'm NOT a fan!

Insulin Response From Food

I touched upon the fact that sometimes you want a more aggressive insulin response from your meals and other times you do not.

Based upon what you want from that particular meal you choose the right food sources and overall meal composition (fats, carbs, protein, fiber etc . . .)

I'm going to explain ways you can influence this with your meal choices, both ways.

Managing insulin response from a meal:

If you want to reduce the insulin response of a meal then you want to make sure you are ticking the right boxes with food choice AND the overall meal composition especially!

Carb Cycle For Faster Fat Loss

Carb cycling is generically speaking a great way to plan a diet for multiple reasons, however like with everything there's good and bad applications of the protocol.

In my experience carb cycling is a very effective way to continually facilitate progression from a nutritional perspective because you can manipulate certain responses from the body by deliberately rotating your carbohydrate intake.

I won't go into the actual amount of carbohydrates you have per day because that's a very individualized topic, however I can explain broadly speaking how carb cycling works and why I feel it can be a very effective dieting tool to -

Try This For Building Muscle

The first thing you need to realize about building muscle and the CNS is that muscle fibers are recruited when you train via the CNS.

This should instantly leave a clue as to why it is so important.

If your CNS isn't firing then how can you possibly benefit from maximal muscle recruitment in the gym?

You can't.

Have you ever gone to the gym and felt like the muscle just isn't firing? Perhaps your strength is just s***!? Or you are shaking between sets.

This is often down to excessive CNS fatigue.

Training hard WILL tax and fatigue your CNS. That's part and parcel of your journey.

But you need to know how to help your CNS recover as well otherwise you'll struggle to really progress.

Your Diet Plan

When I create a diet plan for any one of my clients I have a specific process I go through to analyze what they have been doing up until now and what has and hasn't worked for them. The past leaves clues so it makes sense to try and use these to your advantage. 

There are SO many variables to consider when you are creating a diet plan, some of which I have included below to help you dissect your diet and discover what is and isn't working for you.

Learn to ISOLATE The Muscle Properly

The term "isolation" is given to certain exercises which generally use joint for movement, opposed to two or more which are called "compound" exercises.

However, in reality to build muscle you ALWAYS need to be isolating the target muscle. I touched on this yesterday in my email, where I discussed a tactic to isolate the deltoids whilst doing side lateral raises.

What You Didn't Know About Fats and Carbs

The truth is BOTH are very good, have their own merits and can both be useful. The KEY thing is to understand the processes of each macronutrient and the synergy between them both in order to get the most from each of them. 

Below I'm going to list few facts for you to gain a better understanding of fats and carbohydrates.

Calorie Control

Calorie control is a key fundamental to fat loss, you're never going to get away from that. 

However, there are ways in which you can do things which make fat loss easier, more comfortable and efficient during the entire process. I see a lot of people making their fat loss journey harder than it needs to be and ultimately failing as a result.

Learn To Time Nutrients Properly

There's a LOT of things to cover in relation to correct nutrient timing and why it can have an impact upon the body. I'm telling you now it is in your interest to understand nutrient timing, as well as overall diet composition. 

I'll keep this as direct as I can. 

1 - Blood Sugar Management 

Every meal will have a unique "glycemic load" which basically explains how it will effect the blood sugar levels within your body. How aggressively they go up, how aggressively they go down and ultimately how your hormones behave. This will effect things like energy levels in the very short term, medium term and long term.

First Lesson In Nutrition

Today I'm going to address a BIG topic in my opinion which I listed yesterday as a KEY fundamental nutritional component of any diet strategy. It's this - getting fat NEVER makes sense, even when "bulking" to build mass.

Yes, when you are on a lean mass program potentially your body fat may go up depending on your starting position however you should never let be an excuse to get FAT. For a male, I would say 12-15% is as "fat" as you want to get even on a lean mass phase. 

There's a scientific and physiological reason why getting fat is f***ing stupid if you really want to build muscle. So stop with the "I'm fat because I'm bulking" BS excuses!!

Overview of Y3T

Y3T works over a 3 week cycle, here's how it is broken down - 

Week 1 - 6-10 reps per set, usually 12-16 working sets per body part

The point of week 1 is to induce myofibrillar hypertrophy (did you know there are two forms of muscular hypertrophy?), stimulate high threshold motor units and target fast twitch muscle fibers.

The Best Fat We Can Eat! by Neil Hill

Eating the right amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat is obviously going to be an important factor in determining how well and how far you are able to transform your physique. However, it's more complex than that.

The source of each macronutrient is also very important.

In fact, I'm going to discuss why Omega 3s are one of my favorite food sources.

Omega 3s are a "poly-unsaturated" fatty acid and there are 3 variants -

EPA

DHA

ALA

The two I'm particularly interested in are the first two, EPA and DHA which are generally found in oily fish.

There are several reasons why these Omega 3s are of particular interest to us, including testosterone boosting properties, improved cardiac health and suggested anti-inflammatory properties. But the key one for me is this. . .

Improved insulin sensitivity!!

By now you should know that this is a big proponent of improving and maintaining insulin sensitivity in aid to build muscle quicker and drop body fat more easily.

Here's how Omega 3s contribute towards this.

Food we eat must reach the mitochondria which is at the center of the cell in order to be processed. The mitochondria, which is an "organelle" acts as a "digestive system" of the cell by generating energy from nutrients.

The cell is surrounded by a cell membrane and the nutrients must permeate through this, to reach the mitochondria. Your diet will, to a degree dictate how easily nutrients can get through the cell membrane.

Omega 3s help make the cell membrane more permeable as where a diet too rich in saturated fat will do the opposite. So the quality and source of fat becomes very relevant, opposed to just hitting a "fat" number for the day.

The easier nutrients can get into the cell, the easier the body can utilize the nutrients.

On that note, supplement with a high quality fish oil and consume oily fish 1-2 a day where possible.