Life changes even the best of plans... I'm doing Gains, Lean Gains

and isn't that the truth. In June, I had decided for myself that I wanted to go down to Bantam-weight, to get a feeling for my body at 61,2kg (135lbs.). Little did I know. I am not entirely sure how I ended up doing what I did, but at some point I noticed that I was actually working out harder than ever and my muscles were sore as hell more often than they were not. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of sore muscles to some extend, but I also know that to actually build muscle, you have to eat more than your normal calorie intake, because your body needs energy to build and protein from which to build new muscle fibres. So, hanging around at a caloric deficit of 500kcal/day seemed like a terrible waste of workouts. 

The actual math is something like this: To actually build muscle mass you need a positive energy balance of at least 500-1000kcal a day. You also need to get about 1,2-2g protein per kilogram of body mass. For me at about 65kg that would be 78-130g of protein a day. Fuck a duck with a Christmas tree. You know how much more I have to eat to get to these figures? Especially with no sugar involved? Thank heavens, there's peanut butter, nuts and other healthy stuff high in calories. 

You also have to get a good amount of carbs, because they fuel your workouts and keep you powered. Also, recovery is easier and faster when your body is able to refill its glycogen stores (that's basically the tank that keeps the energy your muscles are burning while working) relatively fast. So, you should try to eat within 30 minutes after your workout. 

So, gains, yes? We are going to do gains, body? The treacherous thing with gains, however, is that I have a tendency to underestimate my caloric intake and I always want to be on the safe side: did I really eat enough to turn this pain into muscle? Or even worse: justify eating loads with "yeah, I'm doing gains right now"

I have tried a system last summer that actually worked pretty well for me: Lean Gains.

My biceps after a month of gains

Lean Gains is basically another form of intermittent fasting; meaning you don't fast for a longer amount of time, but for short bouts at a time. The most popular form of intermittent fasting these days may be the 5:2 diet (I tried that, too, for a while, but that's a whole chapter of its own), but lean gains don't quite work like 5:2. With 5:2 you eat 5 days of the week normally and on the two remaining days, you eat less than 600kcal (men) or 500kcal (women), with the fast days not being on consecutive days. 

Lean gains, however, make you eat enough food to build muscle, but - as the name already says - promise to keep you lean. You have to calculate your daily caloric intake via a formula based on your basic metabolic rate, your level of activity and whether it's a rest day or not. See the infographic at the bottom for more info. After that you need to know, when to eat. You got 8 hours a day within which you eat those calories. The rest of the day, that would be 16 hours on Planet Earth, you fast. You take BCAA supplements, but you don't eat. For me the schedule looked as follows: 

5:30 get up, drink a cup of tea (because I don't do black coffee)

6:30 go to work

10:00 breakfast break, biiiiig breakfast

13:00 lunch

15:00 dinner (because most of my workouts begin around 17-19 o'clock and I can't move on a full stomach)

17/18 (just before workout) small energy boosting snack

18-10 FAST

You'd think this is hard, but actually it isn't. Because of work, my mind is mostly kept off eating in the mornings anyways and 10am is the first chance I get to have a break and thus breakfast. The only clear disadvantage is, that you're feeling full for those 8 hours you are allowed to eat, but also you crave food like it's not even funny anymore. Once you get to eat, your metabolism starts revving up and it goes full speed baby. 

This does work. I did not gain any significant weight during my gain phase and I've been eating A LOT. I have gained water weight, though, because I usually don't eat that much carbs.

Still, there are some Downsides to this method:

1. Keep in mind that you are meddling with your metabolism. If something feels off, don't continue with this until you know it's safe (consult a doctor, personal trainer, dietitian, etc.).

2. Food cravings, baby. And those ain't funny.

3. Food babies and inability to move because you just ate 6 hours straight and well... now it's time to train. I look like I weigh twice my weight most of the time because during the hours I do eat, I carry a heavy food baby with me. And sometimes, when I don't time my eating right or had something more difficult to digest, it actually does get in the way of effective work outs.

4. Hunger. Like, you're going from one extreme - the foodbaby - to the other, namely hunger. Your body in a fasted state wants food and it makes itself known. Those pangs are short and go by rather quickly, but if you have a tendency to get hangry (like I do), those can be very inconvenient. 

Upsides:

1. Lean gains. Need I say more?

2. feeling really satiated without the guilt. 

3. something you really did not want to know: incredibly regular bowel movements.

I found this on the interwebs when I was looking for info on this issue and I found it very helpful:

My upcoming week in workouts

So, I was talking about planning ahead when it comes to workouts to fit them into your schedule and also to give yourself something to do during rest days. This is what I have planned for the upcoming week:

Monday: Body Jam and Body Pump as a combo if my ear is still hurting. If my ear is okay I'm going with Body Jam and Grappling/10th Planet Jiu Jitsu training. 

Tuesday: MMA stand up training and Body Balance. 

Wednesday: I got an invitation by my stand up coach to come to the Muay Thai sparring session. It depends on my feeling that day. If I don't feel sharp enough, I'll be going to Body Combat and Grit Strength.

Thursday: getting a massage in the morning. Then maybe Body Combat in the evening, if my muscles are forgiving.

Friday: Grappling. Maybe Body Combat before.

Saturday: forced rest, because I'm working all day.

Sunday: Body Balance, CX, Grit Strength. Maybe Combat. 

What do You do on a rest day?

Mostly, when I know I have to have a rest day, I really don't know what to do with myself and I find myself at the gym. Again. I know, I should not do it, but it happens all the time. So, what can you do on a rest day to make it a success?

This is me, basically.

1) A rest day does not mean that you only sit around, watching tv, doing nothing. You can go to the gym. You just shouldn't do the weight-lifting, cardio -thing. I had my rest day today and I went to the gym. To go to a Body Balance class. Body Balance, as a mix of Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates, is a pretty great option on a rest day. I mostly half-ass the Pilates core workout on rest days, but otherwise it is great. The Tai Chi warm up gets your body to softly open up, it helps cramped up muscles to release tension, but it does not force them to work. The sun salutation track does the same thing, but it also starts adding in some dynamic stretches, which feel pretty great after training your body into a stiff, cramped up ball of pain. At least that's why I love it. The Warrior poses in the next track do engage your leg and core muscles and you can get a pretty intense workout if you go low enough and really challenge yourself, but on a rest day you can engage your muscle just as much as you need to to get your upper body relaxed. Also, at the same time as you are using your lower body's muscles, your stretching them, so in the end it does not challenge you in the same way squats do. And, what can I say, but the balance and stretching tracks are just perfect on a day like this. And the Savasana at the end lets you deeply relax all of your muscles and calm your mind.

Other options for "working out" on a rest day include Yoga and stretching. Maybe a walk around town or the woods, but nothing where you effectively get out of breath. Also, with Yoga, I am not talking about Yoga strength classes or Hot Yoga that effect your circulatory system, but rather about Yoga stretches and relaxation techniques.

2) Eat well. Because it is on your rest days that your body gets to replenish its energy reserves and re-build cracked up muscle fibers. Your body needs nutrition to repair these microscopical tears in your muscle fibres that help you get stronger and buffer.

My dinner today. Lots of protein. I had a load of carbs for lunch in the form of cereal, so dinner was a low-carb affair.

3) Meet friends. This is one thing I happen to neglect most of the time. If my friends don't go to the gym with me or ring me up, I mostly don't see them on training days. So, on rest days I make the best of the amount of spare time I have, and meet my friends.

4) Do stuff you don't have the time or energy to do on gym days. Like I went through all my closets and cupboards to discard and chuck a load of stuff I don't need. I also prepared my meals for the rest of the week so I don't have to think about cooking when I come from the gym in the evening. Plus, I cleaned the whole kitchen because I felt like it.

5) Get a massage. You're not supposed to do any great strength training efforts after that anyway and it helps get metabolic waste out of your system.

6) Take photos of your achievements. See how far you've come. Set new goals if necessary, do planning for your workouts. I planned my whole workout week today.

I'm pretty stoked that my biceps is starting to grow. 

So, basically, do all kinds of stuff that keep you busy and feel good. Eat. Have fun. Sleep in. Do whatever helps you to bounce back better after your rest day.

this just in...

Don't be that person. Please don't.
As seen on the street. So I guess this would be called "street style";

Working out in the heat

Now, while it's great that we finally got great summer weather, the rising temperatures may be a problem for some. Especially as the quicksilver in Central Europe climbs up to almost 40°C, you might not be willing or feeling able to work out. 

Scientists in an University of Oregon study have found out that working out in the heat might help you achieve better results (they made a study with bikers driving in 110°F (approx. 42°C) heat over a 14 day period and found out that their performance improved more than the performance of a control group training in a room at 55°F. The bikers needed some time to acclimate, but after that they really got it on. 

Bikram yoga is another example of making use of heat during a workout. Your muscles give in easier to stretches making it is easier to get into poses that are hard to get into at normal room temperature. 

There are, however, a few things you should remember when working out in the heat:

1. Drink enough, but not too much.

This one is almost self-explanatory. Drink enough to stay hydrated to fend off dizziness, cramps etc., don't drink too much as this might lead to a loss of sodium within your body. Check the colour of your urine to see if you drank enough or too much, it should be a light colour, not clear but not strongly yellow either. 

2. Give your body time to acclimate and take breaks when necessary.

I had to learn this the hard way. My body really doesn't like the heat and even after getting used to it, it still doesn't react the same way it does in 15-20°C weather, which is my optimum. I get dizzy a lot and quickly, my chest starts to restrict. Take breaks if something feels off. Don't push through it if you're not sure what's going on. Normally it takes your body a few days to acclimate. Take baby steps. Start with a walk, not a run. See how you feel and if it's okay, then start running. 

3. Don't work out when the heat is at its worst. Keep to the shadows if possible (and remember sunscreen).

Self-explanatory, isn't it? You don't need a heat stroke. You really don't. 

I love morning workouts in the summer because it's already light out and at 5 am there's few people crossing your pass and you got the whole town to yourself. Or the beach. 

Me at the beach at 5:30 in the morning. I have this habit of running and ending my run there with a swim. It's cool.

4. Wear the right clothes.

Light-weight, breathing clothes, maybe special heat gear, maybe breathable cotton help your body's cooling system. And it feels nice to feel a light breeze on your skin now, doesn't it? 

5. Maybe go for a nice swim?

It doesn't always have to be running or jogging or weight lifting. Try some alternatives like going for a swim or doing a nice yoga, Tai Chi or Pilates workout that does not raise your heart rate as hard as e.g. a run. 

6. Always listen to your body!

This is imperative. Because your body knows when it has had enough. Your body gives you signs when it is time to stop. Tune in to your body and you'll know what's the deal and if you can go for another five minutes. 

7. Enjoy.

Don't forget to enjoy the heat, too. There's all this great, great stuff like ice cream, the feeling of the sun in your face or your skin in general, the light, the mood. It's summer, take it easy. 

Sore muscles, happy pain?

When I woke up this morning, it took me a moment to get up, because I was so sore. I took a short inventory and my upper body was really beaten up, but my lower body was still a little sore, too. Especially my gluteus medius, part of my bum. 

My schedule this week was Sh'Bam on Monday evening, Spinning and CX Tuesday morning as well as striking practice and Body Balance Tuesday evening. Wednesday I went to a Body Pump class in the morning and - finally - grappling training in the evening. So, I deserved the soreness, but still. I like being sore up to a certain point. If it exceeds that point, I get whiny. And today was a whiny day. Everything hurt, and since I do physical work, I really felt it most of the time. 

Which brings me to the point of this post. There are all these motivational fitspo pictures saying that "pain is weakness leaving the body" or "no pain, no gain", but should you really go for that burn every time? 

Sure, being sore gives most people a feeling of accomplishment. It is a way of proving to yourself that you put in the work. You can tell your friends about your sore legs, post about them on social media. All of that. Oh, and it is totally worth it, posting about accomplishments on facebook, twitter or the social media outlet of your choice. Studies showed that it actually helped keep up motivation in people who set themselves the goal of getting fitter. 

This just as an aside. That burn you feel while working out is lactate acid that accumulates in the muscle and the pain you feel when you're sore are microruptures in your muscle tissues and when they heal, they grow back stronger (if you give your body the right nutrients to grow). So, to gain muscle, does it have to hurt? No, it doesn't. But it's a walk on a tightrope, because you have to hit the zone where you challenge your muscles enough to encourage growth, but you can't come on to strong. At the same time, you shouldn't go to hard, but you have to go hard enough to challenge your body. And that's probably why most people like being sore. It's almost instant feedback that the workout did come through. And that's okay. However, keep in mind that being sore means that - in a way - you're injured. And as it goes with all injuries, you have to give your body time to heal. Take a rest day. You deserved it. 

In that spirit, I had a great rest day today. I walked a lot ("Walk it off") and had good food to give my body the material to bounce back stronger. 

So, enjoy your soreness and your rest day!