The Game Plan and Basics

So this being my first ever blog of any kind, private or public....lets see how this shakes out by getting the background info posted and explained so that all of you followers (assuming I have some) can get the gist of what I am doing, who the hell I am and why I am doing this as well as why you should follow this blog in the sea of 100,000 other blogs out there.

I am going to be blogging about my experience in starting to use what is known as The LeanGains Intermittent Fasting protocol to dieting and gaining lean muscle mass/weight. I am going to run this for 4 weeks initially and assess and objective and subjective measures to look for improvements or a lack there of compared to what I have gotten with my long held traditional approach using a 5 meals a day tactic based on the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) concept. I have used that later system for almost 3 years non stop and found decent results in strength, size, performance and overall physique improvements.

I have dedicated myself to the primary goal of competing in mens physique contests for the past year now and continue to do so at present. I have done bodybuilding before back in 2007 and earlier but the truth is that I am just not at all built for that part of the sport being a 28 year old male, 6'2'', 184 pound ectomorph with what I call "a cursed inferno like metabolism". Men's physique is far for realistic for someone like me who struggles to add allot of size but has no problem staying lean with little cardio and decent attention to eating a sound diet (hey I cheat to and love every bite of it!)

I work as an afloat fitness director for a US aircraft carrier meaning I teach several fitness classes per day 5 days a week. This alone is a large part of my high metabolism....I am very active for work alone, not even counting voluntary exercise training. I am lucky enough to work in or around gyms all day every day and have a fairly flexible work schedule that allows me to train and eat when I need to or want to.....more or less. When I go out to sea for 1-3 weeks on end with the ship things can get much harder let me say that much. Part of this blog will be to shed light on how I manage to make things work while living and eating and training on a US aircraft carrier 24/7 for almost a months time. Also keep in mind that I have a formal education and training in this feild which allows me the benefit of being my own refernce in most cases. I have an MS in exercise phys, BS in kinesiology a minor in sports nutrition and certifications from the NSCA in personal training, strength and conditioning as well as tactical strength and conditioning. So I design my own workouts and training plans all year long. I to, like many others, run things by my peers and others in the field with more experience or training then myself such as Layne Norton, Jose Antonio, Alan Aragon, Ian Lauer, Marc Lobliner and a couple others. No one knows everything and no one has all the answers, even me with my alphabet soup credentials. I am proud of my professional stature but in no way done learning from others or considering what else out there works better.......thus the very theme of this blog after all......

Let me now give a quick snap shot of what my protocol will be from today and over the next 4 weeks as I dive head first into the LeanGains Intermittent Fasting protocol (from now on titled LGIF)

All of the numbers below were calculated for my own personal needs and stats from the LeanGains.com website which factors in TDEE, lean body mass, gender, activity level, goals (gain, maintain, lose) so please use discretion when looking at my numbers versus copying what I have here for your use or others!

Diet

• 3 meals per day every day (25% of intake at meal 1 and 2 with 50% in meal 3 (post workout)
• meals are eaten at about 12, 4 and 8pm every day give or take. 
• I will consuming 4230 calories on training days, 2210 calories on cardio only days or rest days
• my macronutrient intake (carbs, fats, proteins) will be: 
• 225g protein all days
• 630g carbs workout days / 120g rest days
• 90g fats all days
• Supplements I use now:
• Cellucor cor-performance whey (multiple flavors)
• MRM brand Digest-All 
• Spectrum Essentials brand fish oils
• Sprouts brand CLA
• Now Foods brand GTF Chromium 
• Natures Bounty brand Green Tea Extract
• Scivation Xtend BCAA's

Training

• I do cardio via HIIT (high intensity interval training) once every 4 days on the spin bike using a 20/80 split which means 20 seconds all out effort with 80 seconds mild recovery. I do this for 20 minutes in addition to a mild intensity effort warm up and cool down before and after. I do this right before my 1st meal (12 noonish on my no lifting days)
• I train 6 days a week using a 3 on 1 off routine of lifting, it looks like this:
• legs day 1, chest/back day 2, shoulders/arms day 3, HIIT day
• I have used this lifting/cardio split for 10-11 weeks now and its working very well so this part I will leave alone for the next 4 weeks to make sure that any changes/adaptations/responses I get over the next 4 weeks are from the diet alone and not changes from the workout. 

Recording

I weigh in every Sunday morning around 8am right out of bed in the nude before I eat or drink a thing. I use a digital scale and always the same scale every time. I also do my body fat % using an Omron BIA handheld device. I find it is very accurate relative to a 7 site skinfold method when done at this time of day under these conditions. Any other time and I find the BIA handheld to be very inaccurate. I also use the mirror to gauge subjective changes since my major goal is of course to make my physique look better, not just shoot for set numbers on a scale or BIA. I am a harsh critic to myself to the mirror tends to wind up being the say all as for progress each week. I will try and find someone who can regularly take my pictures for me on a consistent basis at the same time and place each week as well to post pictures for you all to view but this has been easier said then done in the past so will see.

I will also (the best part) post regular pictures of some of the wonderfull meals I whip up each day and let me say......this alone will be worth following me! I will describe the pictures and list the macro content of the meals I eat. If you want a recipe please ask and you shall receive! When I eat out and I do like to eat out!....I will snap some shots of the meals I get there to and give locations/venue titles/links as often as I can.

So as of this post my beginning stats are 184.6lbs and 8.2% bodyfat. This was taken on Sunday morning this past weekend. My next check-in will be this coming Sunday. Look for updates, pictures and more news to come as I move forward with my little 4 week LGIF experiment! Its go time folks! Booya!