Macros: Overview
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Protein: The building blocks of lean muscle. An adequate protein intake helps build lean mass, boosts your metabolism & reduces hunger.
Fat: Not to be feared, especially by females! An adequate fat intake regulates hormone levels while providing energy to fuel training. Fiber: Often overlooked; hugely important! An adequate intake reduces cholesterol, boosts metabolism & keeps you fuller, longer. Carbs: Not hugely important for strength training, as you may have been told. Carbs provide additional energy, which can aid in building lean mass, & many high-fiber foods are considered carb sources (i.e. vegetables & fruits). Calorie Cycling: Eat more on days you train to aid performance & recovery while eating less on days you rest to encourage fat loss. |
Protein & fiber requirements will be your priority during these 14 days. Research has shown that for strength training individuals (which you all will be!), 1.8 g/kg of bodyweight is the optimal level of intake. Any intake in excess of this value for people in the "average" body fat range provides no further benefit. In fact, excess protein is prone to be converted to carbohydrate, and therefore excess energy, by your body. This process is known as "gluconeogenesis," the creation of carbs from non-carb sources. Your body is a very intuative machine & will find a way to utilize everything you give it in some form or fashion, but this is not desirable if you're trying to keep your energy intake in check in the first place.
For people in the higher range of body fat percentage, 1.8 g/kg may end up being a very high number that can be very hard to stick to in practice. This is why I am prescribing an intake based on your lean body mass instead of your total body mass. 2.3 g/kg of lean bodyweight will give a slightly lower number that will aid adherence & still provide similar benefit.
Basing these targets on bodyweight or lean bodyweight scales the target value to your unique phisiology, which is the entire premise of my coaching style.
Fiber targets are dictated by gender, with males requiring a bit more per day than females. This also relates back to your phisiology; females are generally smaller than males on average, and therefore require less of each specific nutrient. Fiber is no exception. While it doesn't provide energy/calories (those terms are interchangeable) to your diet, fiber is vital for digestive function & provides a ton of health benefits, such as the ones listed above and much more.
The remainder of your calories will be split up between fat & carbs. Since the ratio between the two doesn't matter much when an energy deficit is in place (as we have here), males can afford to split that remainder equally. The story changes a bit when taking gender into account. One of the many gender differences that go unaccounted for is the fact that females have a "glycogen sparing metabolism." In short, females utilize less carbs as fuel throughout the day as well as in response to training than men do. Accordingly, females need less carbohydrate from their diet, since they simply aren't utilizing as much on a day-to-day basis in relation to males. It's prudent for females to favor fat as their prefered source of energy, which is why the remaining calories for females on training days is broken down to 60% fat & 40% carbs.
On rest days, we're going to want to take in far less total calories since you won't be doing the same level of activity when you're not in the gym. This allows us to push a greater proportion of energy to the days you train, when you can "put those calories to good use." Your protein target will remain the same, but you will be best served to minimize the additional amount of energy from your diet. As such, males in the lower category can simply multiply their protein total by .5 to find their carb total, and multiply their protein total by .25 to find their fat total. A slight alteration to this math will also allow us to respect the gender difference explained above: females in the lower category should multiply their protein total by .3 to find both their carb & fat totals, in order to slightly favor fat.
For both genders in the higher body fat category (Males 25% & Over and Females 33% & Over), I've prescribed effective minimums for your carb & fat totals on rest days at 30 grams a piece. This will assure that you're eating more on days you train.
In sum, the ideal ratios aren't as simple as "get your protein & carbs in and minimze fat," as many trainers will probably tell you. It takes keen consideration of your starting body composition & gender to form truly optimal recommendations.
For people in the higher range of body fat percentage, 1.8 g/kg may end up being a very high number that can be very hard to stick to in practice. This is why I am prescribing an intake based on your lean body mass instead of your total body mass. 2.3 g/kg of lean bodyweight will give a slightly lower number that will aid adherence & still provide similar benefit.
Basing these targets on bodyweight or lean bodyweight scales the target value to your unique phisiology, which is the entire premise of my coaching style.
Fiber targets are dictated by gender, with males requiring a bit more per day than females. This also relates back to your phisiology; females are generally smaller than males on average, and therefore require less of each specific nutrient. Fiber is no exception. While it doesn't provide energy/calories (those terms are interchangeable) to your diet, fiber is vital for digestive function & provides a ton of health benefits, such as the ones listed above and much more.
The remainder of your calories will be split up between fat & carbs. Since the ratio between the two doesn't matter much when an energy deficit is in place (as we have here), males can afford to split that remainder equally. The story changes a bit when taking gender into account. One of the many gender differences that go unaccounted for is the fact that females have a "glycogen sparing metabolism." In short, females utilize less carbs as fuel throughout the day as well as in response to training than men do. Accordingly, females need less carbohydrate from their diet, since they simply aren't utilizing as much on a day-to-day basis in relation to males. It's prudent for females to favor fat as their prefered source of energy, which is why the remaining calories for females on training days is broken down to 60% fat & 40% carbs.
On rest days, we're going to want to take in far less total calories since you won't be doing the same level of activity when you're not in the gym. This allows us to push a greater proportion of energy to the days you train, when you can "put those calories to good use." Your protein target will remain the same, but you will be best served to minimize the additional amount of energy from your diet. As such, males in the lower category can simply multiply their protein total by .5 to find their carb total, and multiply their protein total by .25 to find their fat total. A slight alteration to this math will also allow us to respect the gender difference explained above: females in the lower category should multiply their protein total by .3 to find both their carb & fat totals, in order to slightly favor fat.
For both genders in the higher body fat category (Males 25% & Over and Females 33% & Over), I've prescribed effective minimums for your carb & fat totals on rest days at 30 grams a piece. This will assure that you're eating more on days you train.
In sum, the ideal ratios aren't as simple as "get your protein & carbs in and minimze fat," as many trainers will probably tell you. It takes keen consideration of your starting body composition & gender to form truly optimal recommendations.
Training Day Guidelines
Off Day Guidelines
Example: 180 g Protein, 90 g Carbs, 45 g Fat
