About a month ago I had just gotten back from about three weeks of traveling and came down with a hardcore fever and I was sick for 4 - 5 days.
I was already extremely off-track with my workout routine from traveling so much and that in combination with being sick just finished me off.
I normally maintain a weight of around 175lbs - 177lbs. When I finally recovered and was able to actually stand up, I weighed in at 164lbs.
Looking in the mirror 10 pounds underweight when your body fat is already extremely low can be very discouraging.
Then you get to the gym and all the weights you tossed around for an easy 12 reps felt like they weighed a million pounds.
So where do you even begin when you are at this point? It’s almost like you’re a beginner again and of course I wanted to regain my lost size, but keep the body fat at minimum in the process. #LeanGains
Now obviously I didn’t lose 10 pounds of muscle. It was a combination of being dehydrated, nutrient depleted and of course a little bit of muscle loss as well.
I wanted to recover and get back on track without wasting any time.
A few months back Erica and I received our @MuscleGenes reports. We both took all the information and applied it to our workouts and saw definite improvements in terms of gains. The reports cover everything from diet and exercise to recovery and supplementation.
One of the most important things that I learned is that my body is below average when it comes to recovery. What this means is that if I were to go “balls to the wall” right away, I would need more rest days to recover from being so sore from my workouts. Keeping that in mind my goal was to do my same weekly program, but cut all my weights in half for the first week just to get back into the swing of things and not be so sore that I couldn’t train the following day.
I would also like to add that because I am below average for recovery, I only train each muscle group once per week. A program like a three day split wouldn’t work for me because my body wouldn’t be fully recovered in time to train each body part twice a week. When it came to choosing my weights, I already knew my strength was considerably lower than normal. I also knew from my MuscleGenes report that my body responds better to building muscle and strength with higher volume workouts. For example, most people think to build strength you HAVE to do a program like 5x5 or 5x3x1 with long rest periods between sets.
For me it would be pointless to implement those training methods. My report determined that I have mostly slow twitch muscle fiber, so to get the most out of my training my workouts need lots of sets / reps / supersets / burn sets etc. and shorter rest periods. I was also recommended to add two days a week of 25 minutes of HIIT cardio to help me keep my fat gains at a minimal while in a calorie surplus.
MEAL PLAN! Since getting my results back I have been able to really dial in my meal plan. I learned that my insulin efficiency is below average so I need to make sure that I avoided excess sugar and starchy carbs and if I was going to eat them they should be eaten at breakfast and after my workouts.
Right now my meal plan consists of about 280grams of protein, 150grams of carbs and 100-110 grams of fat with one reefed day a week of 250grams of carbs (usually on my leg day). I also noticed that I maintain a much leaner build if I consume the majority of my carbs before I hit the gym which is usually around 3 – 4 pm.
Testosterone response goes hand in hand with your meal plan and ability to build muscle as well. To be honest, I never really took to heart the importance of saturated fats in my diet until I learned from my MuscleGenes report that my testosterone response to resistance training was low. Also, remember that cholesterol is the key ingredient to produce testosterone. My report suggested that I have up to 20 grams a day of saturated fat. I accomplish this with about 2 tsp of coconut oil a day added to my diet. I just eat it out of the jar and wash it down with water! YUM!! Haha
Now guys this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how much information you can learn about your body from getting your MuscleGenes report. But I wanted to make a point that it really did help me get back on track as fast as possible. As of today I am back to 175lbs and I feel lean and “thick” again and my strength has returned as well.
If you are interested in getting your MuscleGenes report done, I will post a link below.
They are always discovering and learning more about how different genes / genotypes will impact your results when it comes to training.
It’s cutting edge stuff Nation and if you want to take all the guesswork out of your training, MuscleGenes can take your results to the next level!