If you are visiting this page, you may have been directed here from one of our other sites. We have a firm and continuing commitment to the privacy of personal information provided by those visiting and interacting with any website controlled by High Intensity Business and have created this policy to apply across our various websites and apps.
We hold the privacy of your personal information in the highest regard and this privacy notice provides you with details of how we collect and process your personal data through your use of our sites to enable you to make informed decisions about your personal information.
By providing us with your data, you warrant to us that you are over 13 years of age
When we talk about ‘us’ ‘we’ or ‘our’, we mean High Intensity Business or Corporate Warrior Ltd, 11 Ingleby Road, Ilford, Essex, UK, IG1 4RX and we are the operator of the website from which you accessed this privacy policy and any other websites or apps controlled by High Intensity Business (collectively ‘website’). We are the data controller and we are responsible for your personal data.
When we talk about ‘you’, we mean you as a participant or user of this website or services of this website.
‘Personal information’ is information that directly identifies you, such as your name and email address, or data that could be used, on its own or in combination with other data, to identify you.
It is very important that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Please let us know if at any time your personal information changes by issuing a ticket at support [email protected]
1. Staying Anonymous
You can browse our online services anonymously. However, if you request information, sign up for our communications or podcast or purchase any of our products or services, you will need to identify yourself and at that point we will collect your personal information. If you do not give personal information to us, it will affect our ability to provide you with requested information or to deliver our products or services.
2. Collecting personal information
At all times we aim to only collect the minimum information we need for the services we are providing and to only use the information for the purpose it has been provided. For example, if you sign up to our newsletter, we will collect and use your email address to send our newsletter. As you would expect, the more involved you are with us, the more information about you we will collect.
There are some unusual terms in new legislation that affect how we tell you about the way we manage your personal information. One is letting you know the ‘lawful ground’ for what we do. This just means we are letting you know that there is a provision in the legislation that says it is alright for us to collect or use your information for a purpose that is considered a ‘legitimate interest’ of our business.
The main way we collect information about you is when you give it to us and this can happen in a variety of ways. We may process the following categories of personal information about you:
- Communication data: which includes any communication that you send to us. This might be when you join our mailing list or when you contact us through the contact form on our website, through email, text, social media messaging, social media posting or any other communication that you send us. Communication data may also include geographical data if you enable this within our app so that we can send you communications relevant to your geographical location. We process this data for the purposes of communicating with you, for record keeping and for the establishment, pursuance or defence of legal claims. Our lawful ground for this processing is our legitimate interest in replying to communications sent to us, keeping appropriate records and to establish, pursue or defend legal claims.
- Customer Data: which includes data you give to us when you purchase goods and/or services from us including any of our business training programs or events. This will include basic information about you and the information we require for billing purposes such as your name, title, billing address, delivery address email address, phone number, contact details, purchase details and your card details (last digits only). We use third party services for processing payments such as PayPal, EWay and Stripe and we do not receive or store your full card payment information. We process this data to supply the goods and/or services you have expressed an interest in or purchased and to keep records of such transactions. Our lawful ground for this processing is the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps at your request to enter into that contract and our legitimate business interest of keeping records for accounting purposes.
- User Data: which includes data about how you use our website and any online services together with any data that you post for publication on our website or through other online services. We process this data to operate our website and ensure relevant content is provided to you, to ensure the security of our website, to maintain back-ups of our website and/or databases and to enable publication and administration of our website, other online services and business. Our lawful ground for this processing is our legitimate interest in properly administering our website and our business.
- Technical Data: which includes data about your use of our website and online services such as your IP address, your login data, details about your browser, length of visit to pages on our website, page views and navigation paths, details about the number of times you use our website, time zone settings and other technology on the devices you use to access our website. The source of this data is from our analytics tracking system. We process this data to analyse your use of our website and other online services, to administer and protect our business and website, to deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you and to understand the effectiveness of our advertising. Our lawful ground for this processing is our legitimate interest in properly administering our website and our business and to grow our business and to decide our marketing strategy.
- Marketing Data: which includes data about your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences. We process this data to enable you to partake in our online services, to deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of this advertising. We may use surveys or contests to request information and you are not required to enter or use these services. Our lawful ground for this processing is our legitimate interest in studying how customers use our products/services, developing our products, growing our business and to decide our marketing strategy.
- We may use Customer Data, User Data, Technical Data and Marketing Data to deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you (including Facebook adverts, YouTube advertising or other display advertisements) and to measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve you. We may use pixels for retargeting to do this. Our lawful ground for this processing is legitimate interest in growing our business. We may also use such data to send other marketing communications to you. Our lawful ground for this processing is either consent or legitimate interests (namely to grow our business).
3. Collecting information from third parties
As discussed above, we collect personal information about you when you give it to us and when it is collected by our website however we may also collect personal information that is given to us or available to us by a third party (for example, information that is on a publicly maintained record or that you have made available on a public platform).
We may automatically collect certain data from you as you use our website by using cookies and similar technologies.
We may receive data from third parties such as analytics providers like Google, advertising networks such as Facebook, information providers such as Google, providers of technical, payment and delivery services, such as data brokers or aggregators. These third parties may be within the EU or outside of the EU.
This information forms part of the personal information described in this policy. We will not intentionally collect personal information that is unintentionally disclosed.
4. Collecting sensitive information
We do not intend to collect sensitive information about you and request you never disclose information about your health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs or sexual orientation on our website or any blog or social media account associated with our website or business. If you include your photograph in our online forum please be aware that other forum users may make assumptions about your racial or ethnic background.
5. Children’s privacy
Our services are not designed to be used by minors under the age of 13 and we do not intend to collect information about such minors. We will make reasonable endeavours to delete any details of users under the age of 13 years where a parent or guardian has notified us that any such details have been obtained. By providing us with your data, you warrant to us you are over the age of 13. If you are over 13 but under 18 you may be able to use our services however only with permission and guidance from your parents or guardian and we request that their personal information be used not yours.
6. Testimonials
If you provide us with a testimonial, you give us your consent for the use of your name, likeness and the date of service delivery to be displayed on our website or in our other marketing material, together with the content of the testimonial that you provide. We may edit your testimonial but will only do so where possible without changing the meaning of what you have said. We may store and/or use your testimonial for a period of up to 7 years from the date it is given. We process this information based on your consent which you may withdraw.
7. Marketing Communications
Our lawful ground of processing your personal data to send you marketing communications is either your consent or our legitimate interests (namely to grow our business). Sometimes we may recommend sharing your information with a third party for their marketing purposes. Before we share your personal data with any third party for their own marketing purposes we will get your express consent.
You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you or by emailing us.
If you opt out of receiving marketing communications, this opt-out does not apply to personal data provided for other transactions such as purchases.
8. Social Networking Services and links to other websites
You can connect with us via our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
We may provide links to other websites or use social networking services to communicate with the public about our work. When you communicate with us using these services we may collect your personal information. The social networking service will also handle your personal information for its own purposes and have their own privacy policies. You should become familiar with the privacy policies of any service you use.
9. How we use Cookies and other identifiers
We use a range of tools provided by third parties including our website host, third party service providers and search engine browsers to collect or view access and traffic information for statistical, reporting and maintenance purposes. Third party providers have their own privacy policies. We also may also use tracking pixels, cookies and session tools to improve your experience when accessing our online services.
The data collected by cookies does not usually identify you but may be combined with other information to identify you. If we identify you using information from cookies, we may use that information to track how you use our online services and send you information more specific to your needs, or to invite you to purchase our services.
The kind of information that can be collected includes:
- device specific information such as mobile network information
- server logs including your IP address, the times you use our services and system activity
- location information including IP address, GPS, and Wi-Fi access points
- local storage availability
We use the information to help to track your use of our online services to improve your user experience and the quality of our services.
10. Use and disclosure of personal information
In summary, as a legitimate business interest, the personal information we collect about you is used:
- to verify your identity
- to enable you to use our services
- to process orders, registrations and enquiries
- to provide you with information about events, products and services that may interest you
- to provide you with personalised service or special opportunities
- to allow you to participate in interactive features of our online services
- to run competitions, prize draws, and promotions (if any)
- to facilitate our internal business operations
- to improve our products or services and in planning new products or services
- to conducting market research surveys
- to monitor compliance with our Terms and Conditions.
With your consent or at your request we may:
- share your contact information with third party organisations who offer products or services that may be of interest to you (if you agree to receive such information)
We never sell, lend or lease your identifiable personal information.
We may also disclose your information to:
- Other companies in our group who provide services to us.
- Third party suppliers we engage to provide services which involve processing data on our behalf, for example IT and system administration services. In this case, we will require them to use that information only for the purpose of providing the services we have requested, and in compliance with the provisions of this privacy policy.
- Payment third parties if there is a dispute over a payment. For example if PayPal contacts us regarding a dispute over a payment, we will provide PayPal with user activity information such as IP address and activity linked to the IP address, billing details on our system etc to allow the payment dispute to be resolved.
- Professional advisers including accountants, lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers.
- Government bodies that require us to report processing activities.
- Third parties where we are required to in accordance with the law and reserve the right to fully co-operate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requiring or requesting us to disclose the identity or other usage details of any user of our online services, or in accordance with a properly executed court order, or as otherwise required to do so by law.
11. Security and overseas recipients
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure to industry standards however no system can be 100% secure and, provided we have acted in accordance with this policy, we are not responsible for loss you may suffer should your personal information be unlawfully accessed. Using the Internet to collect and process personal data necessarily involves the transmission of data on an international basis.
Not all countries have the same level of privacy protection as the country within which you reside. You acknowledge and agree to our processing of personal data across international borders in this way. We will do our best to ensure your data is protected to a similar standard as set out in this policy by using third party providers with similar privacy protections.
We will also take reasonable steps to protect all personal information within our direct control from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, unlawful or accidental destruction, modification or disclosure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we use respected hosting services, firewall and other electronic security procedures and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect from you.
We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach if we are legally required to.
12. Opt-out/ unsubscribe
If we provide you with the opportunity to receive information about products or services from other carefully selected organisations (our business partners) about the products or services they offer, and you elect to do so, you can change your preferences at any time using the unsubscribe function within their emails.
Similarly, our marketing emails/newsletters will also have an unsubscribe option if you would like to opt-out. You can also update your subscription settings if you are a subscriber.
If you continue to receive communications you have unsubscribed from, please contact us by issuing a ticket at support [email protected] and we will remedy the problem.
13. Data retention
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
When deciding what the correct time is to keep the data for we look at its amount, nature and sensitivity, potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure, the processing purposes, if these can be achieved by other means and legal requirements.
For tax purposes the law requires us to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for five years after they stop being customers.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
14. Third Party Links
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, applications and advertisements. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements or content. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.
15. Updates
We regularly review and may update our privacy policy from time to time. The updated provisions will apply from the date they are posted on our website, so we recommend that you re-visit this privacy policy when you use our online services.
16. Accessing and correcting your personal information – Your legal rights
Under data protection laws you have rights in relation to your personal data that include the right to request access, correction, erasure, restriction, transfer, to object to processing, to portability of data and (where the lawful ground of processing is consent) to withdraw consent (note: some of these rights only attach to individuals located within the EU).
You can see more about these rights at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us by issuing a ticket at support [email protected]
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive or refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response. For record keeping purposes, we will record and store all information exchanged during an exercise of your rights under this clause. These records will be stored securely and separate from our main active business systems.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you.
If you request to have your information erased (also known as the right to be forgotten), we will, if appropriate, delete your personal information from our active business operating system. Your personal information will however continue to be stored within our backup(s) as we are unable to delete specific items from our backup. It will be deleted at the next scheduled backup deletion. We will keep a log of your request to be forgotten so that, should our backup be used to restore our operating system while your personal information is still stored, your personal information will again be removed from our active system upon restoration.
If you are not happy with any aspect of how we collect and use your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office in your country. For instance, in the UK contact the Information Commissioner Office at www.ico.org.uk. We would be grateful if you would contact us first if you do have a complaint so that we can try to resolve it for you.
Sage advice from the good doctor. It’s hard to go wrong with Dr. McGuff’s counsel here, especially for the hardgainers who tend to have delusions of grandeur at times with regards to their physical potential (like me, with 6.25″ wrists, lol). Also, I get the “are you a runner” thing all of the time, Lol. Continue the grind!
Thanks Thomas. I also have similar size wrists. I’ll never forget I was in a meeting, and this women was asking about my blog and podcast and she said, “what are you a marathon runner or something?” It drove me mad!
That’s because she had never seen one…in swimming trunks…LOL
I had someone ask if my running was what made me gain upper body muscle mass….
“We are conducting self experiments on the one person in the world that’s easiest to fool and that’s ourselves” This is the most important thing that’s been said on any episode of this podcast.
True that sir!
Very true indeed !
I certainly agree that bulking up that results in fat gain is not worth it. But IMHO, you definitely have a good 5 pounds of muscle you can pack on your frame within 1 year. Start with a simple 250 calories over maintenance. I would make that 250 just protein.
Start working out once every 3 days (that’s 10 workouts over 30 days), so it’s a little over 2 per week. 7-8 exercises per workout.
See where that goes, if after 8 weeks you’ve seen no lean gains, increase calories another 250. If you’ve gained 1 pound of muscle, then keep at it.
You should do it now, your hormone levels are still high, make use of them.
I’m certain you have 5 pounds of muscle that is within reach within 1-2 years. If you were 40, I would not be as optimistic.
Thank you Ricky. I appreciate your support. Not sure I agree though and I’ve decided to continue what I was doing before the “bulk”. And according to my caliper readings, my lean mass was trending up anyway!
Great podcast
@51:58 “appropriately lean”
Have not been able to find credible references to healthy / appropriate body fat % for older males.
Seems that in the standard tables everyone over 50 is lumped together in some ultra wide range
Don’t know of references either but remember Doug saying that it’s 8-11% for males.
Athletes usually are in the range of 8-16 % for males depending on the particular sport & 15-20 % for average males and 25-30 % for females .
From knowledge to wisdom. Comes with aging/experience if……….one knows what to look for and what ones life is all about.
Good luck in deciding .
FANTASTIC interview – Doug, listening to this gave me the same feeling I had when I first read BBS: you nailed it sir. Not only spot on, but very eloquently communicated too. I have never heard anyone put it quite like this before, but you had me nodding all the way through.. What really struck me was how easily distracted we are by short-term inconsequential details – we need to keep pulling ourselves back to the big picture and thinking about everything in the context of the long-term – ie YEARS as opposed to weeks..I am now much more aware of trying to minimise any joint/ ligament damage – got to keep in the game for the long term.. Also, I loved the way you focussed on year-round ‘leannes’: this seems to be a poor-cousin to ‘bulking’ in most body building circles, yet I agree with you that it is probably the most important thing to achieve. In terms of optimum health, I would venture that a lean physique with some good muscle on top is as much as we need. And yes, most people would call us ‘too thin’ but I am used to that now. But as we all know, this sh*t is addicitve: once we start down this path, we end up wanting more and more. Being able to appreciate when we have ‘enough’ is key – but as Doug says still continuing to enjoy the process and take the gains as they come – but not to crave/ depend on them – see them as an added ‘free bonus’ that will be given to us from time to time!
Thank you Rob.
Oh and one more comment to the ‘are carbs needed to bulk?’ question (which seems a bit irrelevant now after Doug has kicked us all into touch..)
According to Dr Keith Baar, the answer is no. See the link below to his STEMtalk podcast, but in summary the reason why people believe carbs are beneficial around resistance training is because they raise insulin, which is a growth factor-related switch for the nutrient sensor M-TOR, which has been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis. However, Dr Baar’s research shows that it’s effect is identical to that of mechanical exercise itself, so the carbs are not relevant in this circumstance. Amino acids on the other hand, especially leucine and the other Essential Aminos, increase M-TOR and muscle protein synthesis in a complementary way though, so they are definitley beneficial. Carbs therefore only needed if one needs to replenish glycogen stores within hours. Not something that too many of us HIT-ites will be doing I guess.. Personally, I’d advise adjusting your calories with protein instead, since there is no downside to higher protein %s. Unless you ask Dr Valter Longo of course, but I can’t help feeling he is following his own agenda on this one, the consensus of research seems to indicate that high protein is the way to go..
https://www.ihmc.us/stemtalk/episode-62/
Yeah, but why use your protein for energy? What’s a good reason not to eat carbohydrates in your diet?
Sorry, I didn’t mean that you should necessarily use protein for energy (not that it would matter if you did though, since the body can synthesise the exact amount of glucose it requires for energy from protein via ‘gluconeogenesis’ which has been shown to be very precise demand-driven process as opposed to a simple supply-driven process. Only exception being where you are engaging in power sports and need to generate force/energy quickly – gluconeogenesis is a slower process than burning exogenous glucose.) Many people (me included) have very low carb/ ketogenic style diets and for example I powered through my HIT routine yesterday (hitting some PBs) at the back of a 20 hour fast, having consumed only whey + collagen 40 minutes beforehand, ie no carbs at all. I did consume some carbs (fruit) in my post workout meal though when breaking the fast (and had taken a couple of teaspoons of coconut oil during the fast to avoid hunger).
I feel the best way to approach this is the ‘Leangains’ protocol, ie to firstly aim to get around 2g – 4g protein per kilo of bodyweight, then to back-fill the remainder of your calorie requirement (if you are trying to lose fat that is, maybe specific calorie goals not so relevant once you have reached a stable level of body fat) with wholefood sources of carbs or fat to suit your personal preference. Maybe more carbs/ less fat on workout days (to replete glycogen stores) and vice-versa on non-workout days, but again really just personal preference – I’m pretty much low-carb most days now.
Got it. Yeah, some just prefer a lower carb/keto diet because of the way it makes them feel (not to mention people who do it for medical reasons) and/or to control hunger. That’s totally respectable (for whatever reason, many HIT folks (but not just) bought into the carb-insulin-obesity hypothesis hook line and sinker (me too) which was interesting since they prided themselves on being evidence based and skeptical). I do like paleo as a framework for a a healthy diet. It still provides a lot of wiggle room for variation.
Oh and as regards your second question – absolutely nothing wrong with ‘wholefood’ carbs (ie fruits, whole starchy veggies) in the context of a high protein diet and within the context of your calorie goals. For me, low-carb is purely down to personal preference – I feel more clear-headed and energetic with when minimising carbs. Also, it has been noted that those following a higher-carb approach to leaning down may well experience more food cravings/ hunger etc and find the whole process of leaning down much more challenging than a low-carb approach. But as ever, it depends on the individual response!
I agree.
Nicely put. I eat white potatoes in the evening because they are more nutrient dense than white rice, and just taste really good :D. And I can still get and stay lean with 2-300g carbs a day. Calorie balance right? 😉
300 gr carbs?? How many meals? In combi with protein intake? How much fat? Do you calculate this stuff? Is THAT how to deal with nutrition?
Anyway as long as it works, but you too grow older!!
Indeed !
Exactly !
“Carbs spare protein in ways that fat can’t”
I recommend watching this
Great link Shameer, thanks for posting that – I follow Chris Masterjohn’s podcasts but I hadn’t seen this video. In the last 3 minutes he talks about the fact that whilst carbs spare protein more than fat – taking in sufficient (ie higher) protein is an alternative strategy.
Great video and this is something that many people don’t realize and yet another reason why carbs are important .
Thank you Rob. Really appreciate you taking the time to write this. I haven’t seen too much of Longo’s work but it seems that a lot of it is based on epidemiology, and most of us know the limitations of those studies: self-reporting, health user bias, confounders, overstating absolute risk, etc. Unless the relative risk is in the hundreds of % it’s relatively meaningless and can only generate a hypothesis. Moreover, Dr Ben Bickman describes how in the context of a low-carb diet, high protein does not elevate insulin much due to the secretion of glucagon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3fO5aTD6JU&vl=en) so I think the cancer fears are a little unfounded and taken out of context. And lastly, Longo has a fair amount of skin in the fasting game with all his products.
Cancer, digestive problems or not is really not clear! But the high protein diet is a load on the Wallet for sure and in the context of the interview, realising that the realistic muscle gains are marginal after a certain point, the weight of this particular nutrient should be diminishing in the overall equation IMO.
Exactly ! In my observation & experience swallowing all those protein shakes didn’t do jack to increase my muscle mass . LMAO !
You probably very well know that enlite, but for the rest…Mike Mentzer addressed the subject of protein in one’s diet, even more specific the Heavy Duty diet in greatest detail and explained a lot of things…some 40 years ago. Same goes for carb inatake etc. It is strange how people forget and is strange how people decide whom to listen to. Surely Mike was not your typical HIT guru, who does only the talk…
I agree that Mr Mentzer doesn’t get enough credit for his vast contributions to the field of exercise & nutrition .
I know that you likewise do not buy the popular 1,6/kg formula, but am curious if you have your own. Mine seems to be, that a gram per kg of lean mass is plentiful. For leaning out as well. So instead of aiming for protein intake based on desired bodyweight, better to aim at desired lean mass weight, with the account of desired fat percentage. Of course in this case also people could go unrealistically crazy and in the end the good old RDA seems to be the most universal approach. What’s your take on these matters?
I agree with your assessment . Approximately half your body weight in grams is more than sufficient in terms of protein intake and probably even less than that would be okay .
I’m going to try a (DIY) Prolon in the next month or two, will let you know how I get on. I figure if it’s not costing me anything and I can throw the towel in if I want then it “can’t hurt”. I’ve plenty of experience with VLC dieting/fasting and have not experienced any noticeable LBM loss. I’m also aware that I’m neither a mouse nor a dot on a curve!
Wow – that Ben Bikman video from Low Carb Breck 2018 is incredible. You already know that I am a keen advocate of Berkhan’s ‘Leangains’ approach (at least as far as body composition is concerned anyway) – but even in his Leangains book, Berkhan never got into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the mechanisms enough (at least not for me anyway) and this video really explains the underlying mechanisms beautifully.
A couple of standout points for me though that I hadn’t given enough consideration to before:
– Taking pure fat during a fast (eg coconut oil) will increase glucagon without boosting insulin, therefore augmenting the beneficial effects of fasting (autophagy etc). I feel justified in taking my teaspoons of coconut oil to get rid of my hunger during intermittent fasting now! But yes, I am sure that if you over-did it with several tablespoons of the stuff, then the caloric effects would have a negative impact on fasting – due to the entirely separate mechanisms associated with calorie sensing.
– If Bikman’s research is to be believed, then if you are fasted or low carb, adding pure protein to that will have an anabolic effect on muscle tissue (since they have no glucagon receptors) but will at the same time have a net catabolic effect on body fat and the liver, due to the large effect of glucagon in a fasted state. If you then add in resistance training on top of that to provide the stimulus, then you have created a very good metabolic environment in my opinion..
– Bikman also seems to be saying that for a generally low-carb individual, adding not only protein but also carbs provides an anabolic effect in muscle tissue. So, I can now see why Berkhan advises to eat higher carb/ lower fat in the post-workout recovery period. It all kind of makes sense now..
Keep posting anything else you uncover like this Lawrence, I find the whole process of gluconeogenesis/ insulin vs glucagon really interesting..
One other observation: whilst Berkhan is at pains to say in his Leangains book that his high protein/ moderate fat/ moderate carb Leangains diet is definitely NOT ketogenic, Dr Bikman appears to be saying here that by following this same approach, ie by boosting your % of protein, you are actually increasing ketogenesis… Maybe this is what underpins the similar high-protein philosophy of the ‘keto-gains’ website… Very interesting..
Awesome! This one is really one of the best on the blog. Congratulations Lawrence. That should have provided you with a relief after all the bombardment you’ve received from us all, after publishing the”Should I bulk up” episode :))) Very very nice indeed.
Just for the record and as a Tribute to a man who got mentioned in the conversation – Mike Mentzer… The two “phenomenons”, that Doug talks about, namely the delayed growth spurts after even several months of “training and no gaining” and the unpleasant cycle of bulking, cutting and eventually leaving with less muscle mass than from the start, are both well described in Mike Mentzer’s books.
Thank you Kamen. I strongly believe that this is healthy listening for everyone in this game. I hope that it will get shared far and wide! And yes it did provide me with some relief, and I’ve since had some great conversations with people that have really helped me to appreciate my accomplishment and get back to eating for healthspan and enjoying the training process.
Awesome!
Very true !
Doug raised an interesting point about the average leaness of WWII recruits. One confounding factor in those years may be the widespread use of tobacco. Otherwise as usual Doug is spot on. Its a process, not a destination.
I suspect that average height was also shorter than the current generation
True that!
Valid point!
Great podcast. I’ve tried slow bulking and bulking and the results are the same. I get fat. Volume or low volume. That’s the general response I get from people on the web when I ask about their routine “You’ve got to eat more”. Eating a lot is not a problem. I can do it. But the result is always the same, I gain fat and almost no muscle to show for it.
I did a slowish bulk for a while but decided to lean down and I’m getting ALL of the remarks you guys are talking about in the podcast. Especially the one’s Doug mentioned at the end.
I’m 5’7.5 and I weigh 149, waist is sitting at 30in.
Now that I’m leaner I’ll try and eat at around maintenance instead. Get enough calories but not so much that I’m gaining weight. If I get hungry I’ll eat more.
Thank you Eric. Appreciate the comment. This is very helpful.
The funniest and perhaps most sincere part was in the beginning….we are all saying we do it for the health benefits … etc… that is crap…
What a cool guy!
I actually DID start it for the health benefits. My health was pretty bad. I took care of that but after a while of lifting and eating right I kind of started wondering why the heck I didn’t look like I worked out! I come for the health benefits, I stayed for the muscles…even if they don’t come.
Wise 😉
Hahahah when I listen back my laughter doesn’t sound legit but I promise you all I was in hysterics, especially when Doug mentioned about being called a runner when he’s in his best shape. I’ve had that ALOT!
I agree with almost everything Dr. McGuff said.
Don’t do it! Lawrence.
The average weight of American WW2 soldiers was somewhat surprising.
Not much new information though!
Dr. McGuff is wrong on the scheduling of anabolic steroids.
They fall into schedule 3 …not Schedule 1!
https://www.dea.gov/drug-scheduling
I feel cheated that Dr. McGuff did not comment on Dr. Winett’s cardiovascular training.
“But when I switched my cardiovascular training to short distances and sprinting, I’m really got quite good. Indeed, casting modesty to the winds, I’m spectacular doing sprints. I could have been an excellent 200-meter or 400-meter runner. I never would have discovered that if I had not tried a very different style of training with very different goals.”
An ethical healthcare provider has no other choice but to administer therapy in a way that reasonable persons can benefit. That is a huge can of worms!
Marc
Thanks for the advice Marc. You’ll be pleased to know that I stopped the experiment short. I actually did another caliper test this morning, and based on caliper readings my body fat has jumped to over 13%! From 8-9%. Take with a pinch of salt since using calipers but I always use the same tool for consistency.
Regarding your note about cardiovascular training, this was not focused on during this episode. I might schedule another ep with Doug in the future on this topic specifically.
I use an Omron body composition analyzer. To be honest I think a waist hip ratio would be a poor man solution. It is hard to fool the eye.
A tape measure is also a good inexpensive
A
Dr Shawn Baker world records on the Concept 2 rower was inspirational. Clarence Bass also likes the C2 rower as does Dr Winett.
Dr McGuff has lots of explaining for his flawed Global Metabolic Conditioning hypothesis. His hypothesis on cardiac conditioning is not shared by the majority of experts either
CONSENSUS doesn’t make for truth .
neither does your ramblings
Ramblings ?! I made a perfectly logical & sensible statement but to someone such as yourself it would seem like ramblings .
“I made a perfectly logical & sensible statement”
Where?
You seem to put faith in every word certain people write.
The facts are:
Resistance training is a poor CV conditional method.
Global metabolic conditioning is obviously a false hypothesis since the above is certainly true.
The weight of the evidence is clear that resistance training is also inferior to CV training as regards cardiac function.
Lung function is best trained by CV methods also.
Resistance training is good for strength and muscle hypertrophy.
I fully do not expect you to agree with the above, so go hide with your cultish RT therapy groups.
First of all i don’t put faith in anything anyone says . Second of all logic/reason dictates my views and conclusions i make on whatever subject matter . Third of all you come across as an arrogant & pompous fool who doesn’t understand that CARDIO/AEROBICS are terms not an exercise modality !
I ask for facts or logic.
What is given?
Name calling!
“Arrogant & pompous fool”
Name calling is an effort to distract because the person has no logic or facts to refute an opponent
I’m responding to you in kind Marc . You make comments to me such as ” go hide with my cultish RT therapy groups ” and such insults ! It seems to me that this blog and most who post here are HIT oriented trainers and i enjoy coming here and chopping it up with everyone , except you . Why you may ask ? Because you insult & degrade not just me but others as well . You’re constantly hitting everyone over the head with you’re ” CARDIO/AEROBICS ” arguments/facts/figures but as i said this blog is or at least in a very significant part HIT oriented . I disagree with some who post here but i’ve always done so with tact/respect and refrain from calling people idiots/stupid/cultish . You’re very rude disrespectful and abrasive Marc and i for one am tired of it ! Everyone who doesn’t agree with you’re stance on CARDIO is ignorant /uninformed/uneducated/stupid/cultish and such . You fail to grasp simple logical truths about the human body such as , you’re heart and lungs can’t tell the difference between a hard set of leg presses or a sprint . How one chooses to exercise is their business but please refrain from trying to tell me that a treadmill , stationary bike , stair stepper is going to do something magical to my heart & lungs that very intense strength training will not !
I read your emotional rant with laughter. You drew 1st blood. Your custodial stance toward posters who share divergent views as being unwelcome is sad. Divergent views and healthy debate make everyone better. Having differering views is not rude or disrespectful. I have asked you to stick to facts and logic yet you continue with other tactics. Blame yourself. I care not how you exercise, but I will challenge anyone that “very intense strength training” is all one needs for their heart and lungs. Prove it!
Once again you put your ignorance on display for all to see . The manner in which you address people is the problem not your views . Your admonishment ” prove it ” is absurd as i can’t prove anything to you nor am i interested in doing so . What’s hilarious is that you’ve never ” proven ” a thing . If you were grounded in logic as you claim then you would understand simple logical truths which you don’t otherwise there would be no need to constantly argue about CARDIO . I don’t get emotional about strangers on a blog .
Who appointed you as the official guardian/policeman on this blog ?! I think i’ll call you CARDIOMAN ! If anyone dares to question/challenge traditional concepts of cardio CARDIOMAN will always be there ! LMAO !
Ok guys please play nice. This is turning the comments toxic. Spirited debate is fine but this is just turning into immaturity.
Sorry Lawrence i’m certainly not here to cause problems at all but Marc is very rude & disrespectful not just to me but others as well . I enjoy chopping it up on your blog with everyone but Marc needs to be put in check . Perhaps it’s better i just ignore him from now on .
Yes, if the discussion devolves into personal attacks, I will have no choice but to ban certain members. Typically, there is really productive discussion on this blog. And that’s exactly the kind of thing I want to cultivate. So yes, please refrain from any personal beef.
I have no personal beefs with anyone here as i don’t know anyone personally however Marc as you’ve pointed out yourself previously , has crossed the line with me more than once . Perhaps you should address him and let him know that you will not tolerate his snide remarks & insults .
Thanks Enlite. I have addressed it with Marc, and will be reviewing comments (there’s a lot), to decide on future action.
Thanks Enlite.
Lung function is just so vague of an area…
True !
“Vague”
Please review lung function tests
I have a spirometer of which I collect lung function data
One loses 40% of lung capacity by age 50
No one lift weights to improve lung function successfully
Yes Mark, I said it’s vague, because of few facts, like the normal functions of the lungs actually requres avery small percentage of their “capacity”, so the connection capacity – function is vague. I have a swimming background from a kid till teenage. I believe that swimming is something that people do for lungs right? In all honesty there are people, recordsmen, worldwide known too, from my country, my home town, marathon distance swimmers, who passed at old age due to lungs problems. Not one person too! Could be biased, but as I see it it is very hard to draw straight line between improved lungs capacity-health etc.
Exactly ! I’m afraid that Marc isn’t the type that can be reasoned with though and your attempts will fall on deaf ears .
Fear comes from uncertainty
Knowledge is power
Truth is an event and only through experience can the veracity of a truth be verified .
Perhaps a review of:
Framingham Heart Study with Dr William B Kannel and Helen Hubert.
2000 Dr Holger Schunemann
a critical medical review will eliminate any vagueness
The “breath of life”
True that!
Did it ever occur to you that all the so called experts your referring to may in fact be wrong ?
I think you should pack on as much muscle as your genetics will allow. Here’s Simeon Panda, a top-level bodybuilder. He’s not in competition form in this tweet but he’s anything but fat & looks great.
https://twitter.com/SimeonPanda/status/1045038069286498305
If he’s natural then he’s one of the biggest genetic freaks that has ever lived. Hardly speaking to the message of this episode.
And that’s a very big if ! LMAO !
Thanks Shameer, but as per Andrew’s comment, Simeon is a genetic freak. I think I’ll stick with what I was doing before this silly bulking! 😉
Good episode, with some very good advice. I’ll offer a few comments, based on my own experience and reading:
I love to strength train, I enjoy food, and I gain weight easily. As a result, I have occasionally done accidental or unintentional bulks. There have been stretches where I was lifting heavy and seeing my weight go up, because I was eating to appetite and not trying hard enough to control my weight. During some of those stretches, I did get stronger, felt more robust, and appeared to be gaining some muscle as well as fat. But inevitably, I’ve had to cut the fat for health reasons. And inevitably, by the time I got back to a more appropriate degree of leaness, I didn’t end up with any net gain in muscle or strength. I can’t say that I felt like I was worse off than before, just there was no net gain from a bulk and cut cycle.
Why is bulking popular? Aside from the fact that it is enjoyable to eat, I think there are two factors:
1). I believe that within some limited range (8% to 20% body fat) being fatter does make it easier for some people to carry more muscle. But it doesn’t take much to get to the point of diminishing returns. And typically, those gains in muscle cannot be preserved when cutting. At least that was my experience. I think this is also evident in the experience of body builders who are leaning out for a contest. I think it is pretty common, when trying to get very lean (<8% body fat) for those guys to see considerable losses of strength and muscle mass. Absent great genetics and drugs, it is almost impossible to be big and lean.
2). Add to the above the existence of misleading anecdotes: I think you can find some genetically gifted folks who are undermuscled because they don’t strength train, or they are hyperactive, or they do a lot of cardio or other endurance based sports, or they are underfed from trying to be really lean. Put those people on a lifting program and a calorie surplus, they will blow up like an inflatable Schwartzenegger doll. They become the “proof” that you can eat big and get jacked. But what works for the genetically gifted isn’t really very instructive for the rest of us.
Doug’s suggestion to find your optimal body fat percentage, and then just be patient and consistent is excellent. I’m not sure I believe that everyone will add 1.5 lbs/years with that regime. That probably shows a lot of individual variation.
Doug’s comments about how the training cycle changes with experienced trainees lines up nicely with conventional thinking in the barbell world. A beginner is considered someone who can add weight to the bar after every training session. When those beginner gains are exhausted, you are supposed to think about making progress on a weekly to monthly basis. (This is for folks doing 3-4 sessions per week).
Regarding Richard Winnett’s article: my take away was that he felt he had an upper limit of about 140 lbs of lean body weight, and the only thing that had really caused his weight to vary was the amount of body fat that he carried. I don’t get the impression that he would offer himself up as an example of someone who gained 1.5 lbs lean body mass per year for an extended time.
I agree 100% with Doug that we have very misleading perceptions of what normal weight human beings should look like, for the reasons he cites. The data I’ve seen suggests that recruits into the Union Army (US Civil War) averaged about 5’8” and 143 lbs. (British recruits in WW1 were perhaps a little shorter and lighter than this, more like 5’7” and 130 lbs) By WWII the average size of US soliders hadn’t changed much, still about 5’8” and the 140’s. After WW2, average heights and weights started to increase, probably a combination of better food availability, consumption of more meat and dairy, better medical care, less exposure to infectious diseases, etc.
Thank you Greg. Great comment. Worthy of a blog post all by it’s self! I agree completely. I remember Skyler Tanner once talking about a rare individual who preferably partitioned excess substrate into muscle tissue. There is a huge amount of individual variability, and I believe that eating a daily calculated calorie surplus is, for most of us, pushing with a rope. Interesting research on recruits! Puts results in perspective!
Great episode ????
Personally the bodybuilder physique has never appealed to me. Your physique should be the gold standard to most people I believe Lawrence.
Just look at most middleweight boxers they aren’t huge but they look great. Unfortunately most people aspire to look like Anthony Joshua instead which results in them getting fat and/or using steroids.
Brad Pitts physique in fight club is seen as amazing by most people and I believe he was only 150 pounds and 6ft in it. Also think most women prefer this kind of physique.
Steroids and performance enhancing drugs are so widely used now that it has set the bar unrealistically high for most natural trainers.
I agree completely Matt. Thank you for your kind words. I feel embarrassed about getting so distracted.
Wow, listened to that one THREE times! I feel just as excited as I did after initially reading Body by Science. Doug’s comments on psychologically owning what it means to be average are so helpful to those of us who are more average. Maybe we should start a 7 inch wrist club!
I think there’s some profound truths here and the ideas apply to any long term endeavor: understand the long term rate of progress, stick to it, repeat, enjoy, and let go of the angst.
Well said Matt. I have also listened to it 3 or 4 times. I wouldn’t qualify for that club. My wrists are 6.4 inches LOL.
Another fantastic interview Lawrence! Definitely one you need to listen to a couple of times to be able to absorb everything.
Thank you sir. Likewise, I have listened back like 5 times now.
Just finished listening to the podcast and i must say one of the best i’ve listened to ! The most profound point to me was the fact that our concept of what big/muscular actually is has been totally perverted by performance enhancing drugs & the bodybuilding/fitness field .
Absolutely! And the fact that the use of such substances (all sorts of them) is so widespread, beyond belief, is a big part of the reason for existing flawed training programs design and training and diet approach in general. It’s simply unnatural and unreal.
Very true !
Lawrence:
My Deep Thoughts:
Once puberty has run it course and hard exercise has been performed for several years muscle gain is “about a pound a year” for the average Joe past the age of 20. Fat is easy to gain, but this ain’t Sumo. If you want to look bigger (temporarily), do the pictures post workout after carb loading for a day, get a tan (10 minutes at a tanning booth should cover it), and shave the body hair, and spray water on the skin right before the photo 🙂 By the time you are 40 you might be at 165. This is a great accomplishment, and only compare yourself to…yourself. I have been up and down the get big game and you are lucky to be able to stay lean. Of topic, I am working on my HitUni MPT, how are you coming along on yours?
Thanks Brian. I appreciate the photo tips :D. I’ve become much more content in myself since having this conversation with Doug. I should be very pleased with my achievements as should many of us. But I am now more motivated than ever to play it smart over a life time.
My HITuni MPT is about 70% done, but because I don’t do any formal personal training, I have prioritised my membership service (helping new and existing HIT businesses grow (https://highintensitybusiness.com/membership-sales) and the podcast. However, I will complete my PT course, probably this year, in line with kicking off my own HIT business, and using that experience to fuel the membership, as currently I’m the curator for the HIT Business experts like Luke Carlson and his team at Discover Strength. How are you getting on with your course?
I am about 80% complete on it. I can’t go full time in the business right now, but hope to get going part time by 2/1/19. I think that a combinations of the Hit AIO, body-weight, and free weights in a 400 square foot home studio might be the way for me. Quonset Huts are not that expensive 🙂
Nice work. That sounds great. I think it’s smart to transition over like that to be honest. Not everyone wants to be a personal trainer either, and I think it pays to “taste” it first. I never want to be a full-time PT. Ideally, I’d do it as a part-time gig alongside running the membership and podcast.