One of many recurring questions I get concern the safety of working out in the morning. Speaking for myself, I love to lift weights in the morning. However, I’ve always recommended that you wait at least one hour before you do any kind of lifting, bending, or twisting after waking up.
While we sleep, our spinal discs fill with fluid, and this fluid will magnify whatever stress we put on our spine. Luckily for us that love to train early, the discs lose about 90 percent of its accumulated fluids within the first hour of rising. Therefore, if you wait at least one hour before training, you should be perfectly safe.

So, why not enjoy your mornings quietly with a pre-workout protein shake while doing some good blog reading?

Last week I visited my brother and helped him with some demolition work. Pulling things down and crushing mortar is fun, picking up all the debris afterwards and drive it to the nearest refuse dump isn’t. Anyway, my planned re-fill day actually turned into 2.5 days of less strict eating. Unfortunately I got more carbs that I planned. Working outdoors while the hours fly by isn’t exactly the best setting for following a nutritional plan. Neither is spending quality time with your family. Nonetheless, it was good fun and I’m not preparing for a contest so it doesn’t bother me the least.
What do bother me is that I spent a lot of energy on non productive exercise this week. First we worked our ass off on Friday and Saturday at my brother’s house (which was productive since it is heavy and hard work). But on my way home that evening I missed a bus and instead of waiting an hour I walked home with a backpack of 40lbs, which took roughly an hour. And when I walk, I walk like a frikkin’ sport walking athlete, otherwise I would be bored to death. The day after, believe it or not, I was in the same situation again. This time it was only 30 min to the next bus, but stupid as I was I said “f**k this” and I walked home once again. And a few days later I got persuaded into a “small stroll” with a friend that turned into a really long walk through the larger part of Västerås (it took close to two hours).
So, what did all this cardio do? Well, it seems like I lost 0.8lbs of lean body mass during these last nine days and my fat loss actually slowed down. Well, that’s what happens when you do too much cardio on too few calories.

The results after 22 days and a total of six weeks (42 days), July 29:

Age: 32
Height: 5′8″ (172 cm)
Morning body weight: 166.8lbs (75.8kg), down another 2.6lbs (1.2kg) from last week and a total of 17.2lbs (7.8kg).
Body fat percentage: 7.96%, down from 8.9% last week and 14.8% at the start.
Fat weight: 13.3lbs (6.03kg), down another 1.8lbs (0.83kg) from last week and a total of 13.9lbs (6.3kg).
Lean body weight: 153.5lbs (69.77), down 0.8lbs (0.37kg) from last week.
Waist measurement: 33.54” (85.2cm), down another 0.36” (0.8cm) from last week and a total of 3.26” (8.2cm)

So, what will I do during the next week? Well, first of all I will not do any pointless cardio no matter what situation I may end up in, that’s for sure. If someone wants to stroll around in the city, I’ll tag along in a cab. Second, and this I already did this morning, was to do a tiny carb-load during and after my lower body workout. I added 120 grams of carbs in two servings during and immediately after the training session. Other than that, the upcoming week will continue as previously outlined. New pictures will be taken next Saturday.
Until then, have a great week!

I work with a lot of athletes, ranging from soccer players to track and field athletes, MMA fighters, bodybuilders and swimmers, just to mention a few. These athletes all have one thing in common; they all want to improve their performance, whether it is strength, power, stamina, speed, agility or any other athletic attribute you can think of.

So, if a basket ball player comes to me and wants to improve his vertical jump, what is the first thing I do? Do I design a workout routine built around exercises with a high degree of dynamic characteristics and similar movement patterns of the vertical jump (like squats), and send him on his way? No, that is the last step of many.
Actually, the first thing I look at is his body fat percentage and after that I do the classic static, passive and dynamic evaluations to discover imbalances and limiting factors (for example tight flexors and weak extensors).

The reason for checking his body fat is simply that fat is a nonfunctional tissue – that is, it doesn’t contribute to any of the athletic attributes mentioned above. Body fat is simply an excess baggage that your muscles must carry around, which in turn will hamper your performance in any event or situation. So, if our basket ball player has a body fat percentage above 8% I will provide him with a nutritional program. I prefer to have all athletes below 10% body fat (at least). About 5-6% is ideal. When your body fat decreases your strength to body weight ratio increases (aka relative strength), and so does your performance.

Once the diet is in order and eventual imbalances or other limiting factors have been corrected; then we move on to the exercise program. However, by losing some flab from the start, he will improve his performance and increase his vertical jump – and that even before he has begun any specific training.

And yes, big boy! This holds true for bodybuilders as well. Bulking up and looking like a pig during the off-season is not the way. Getting fat will impede your endurance and as a result making your workouts less productive, and it will make your pre-contest diet unnecessary long and hard and probably result in some muscle loss. But worst of all, it will wreck havoc upon your health in the long run.

 
This fat loss journey is from 2006. The more recent OLB II can be found here and OLB 2008: Shredded here.

On June 17, 2006, I began yet another journey to shed some unwanted pounds. It was time for the fat bastard to get lean.

But before I throw in my stats, pictures and the diets I’ve used during these weeks and the results I’ve achieved, I’ll start out with some background info on myself.

It’s been a few years since I wrote about my training on the Internet, at least to the international public. Since a lot have happened, I’ll try to give you a short sum up of the last couple of years.
In 2003 I worked as Editor in Chief and designer/layout man for a sports and bodybuilding/fitness magazine. I also helped with starting up two gyms, supporting a supplement distributor, arranging a fitness festival and the Bodybuilding and Fitness Nationals. It was a crazy year – and I worked close to 500 hours overtime with periods of five weeks without a day off.

I early 2004 I paid the price and my body collapsed. I was burnt out and I catched tonsillitis followed by a double sided pneumonia. The latter lasted for six weeks and leaved me with even more scar tissue in my already damaged lungs (I suffered from severe asthma and allergies as a child and was near death on several occasions.)
I spent the larger part of 2004 to rehabilitate. During the first weeks in the summer I couldn’t even walk a flight of stairs without getting winded and cramping from lack of oxygen – and my head and vision was literally spinning.

In late 2005 I could finally weight train at almost full capacity again. I was doing upper and lower body splits since I couldn’t handle full body workouts. Still, the lower body workouts were a bitch with cramping and shortness of breath. At that time I managed to climb back to about 194 lbs (88kg) with 12% body fat. This is what I looked like at the start of 2006:

In February 2006 I started a new business (presented on this website) and also teamed up with Fredrik Carlsson and his Team reFORM (Sweden’s largest competition team for bodybuilders and fitness athletes). I moved from Eskilstuna to Västerås and opened a new office in the same building as reFORM Supplement Store. It was a couple of hectic months and in March disaster struck again.
I woke up with some kind of nettle rash, a sore throat, a light fever, heavy water retention and itching eyes and lips. After three visits to different doctors and several tests later, they still couldn’t figure it out and it was “labeled” as some kind of viral infection. My vision blurred and I couldn’t read for weeks. This is what it looked like after a week on antihistamines (May 20th):

I could hardly move at all for about eight weeks, and we all know what that can do to a body. Yep, that’s right Bubba; acute muscle loss and some fat gain. It’s the worst combination of them all.
It actually took close to 13 weeks before I could start exercise lightly again. That was in late May. After a few weeks of playing around in the gym I’ve had enough. It was time to get lean and into shape again. I needed to prioritize my health over re-gaining all my muscle, which at that high body fat percentage only would be a strain on my body due to more tissue to oxygenate. My goal is sub 6% body fat, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t been there since early 2000 (when I was about 6.5% BF).

This is how bad I looked on June 17:

My stats as of June 17:

Age: 32 years young
Height: 5′8″ (172 cm)
Morning body weight: 184lbs (83.4kg)
Body fat percentage: 14.8%
Fat weight: 27.2lbs (12.3kg)
Lean body weight: 156.8lbs (71.1kg)
Waist measurement: 36.8” (93.4cm)

During the first three weeks I rotated my carbs with a small carb load every third day.

A regular day looked like this:

278g protein (57E% and 1140 kcal)
87.5g fat (39E% and 770 kcal)
17.4g carbs (4E% and 71 kcal)
Total: 1981 kcal

This was divided into four regular meals and four separate supplement feedings between meals of BCAA (5 grams) and Creatine (3 grams).

Load days looked like this:

301g protein (44E% and 1234 kcal)
97.1g fat (30E% and 854 kcal)
177.4g carbs (26E% and 727 kcal)
2815 kcal

The extra carbs were added to my breakfast (before training) and directly after my training session as a post work-out shake.

I did this diet for about three weeks as a “gentle break in” to get my fat metabolism going and to bring me down close to 10-11% BF.

Training regimen:
Since my lungs are in bad shape I’m currently doing a classic “pull and push” 3-split. When I get better, I’ll go back to a upper- and lower body split. And no, I don’t waste time on isolation exercises or machines.
I will train 4-5 days a week. I will not do any direct cardio work. That’s right! NO FRIKKIN’ ENDLESS CARDIO!
Cardio doesn’t really burn that many calories to begin with. And worst of all, cardio have no EPOC (afterburning due to raised metabolism) to speak of. Weight training can lead to a 4 to 7 percent increase in the metabolic rate over a 24-hour period. Cardio will, well, do nada, my friend. And since my plan don’t include steroids, cardio would only chew my muscle mass away (and thus lowering my metabolic rate.)

The results after almost three weeks (20 days), July 7:

Height: 5′8″ (172 cm)
Morning body weight: 174.2lbs (79.2kg), a loss of 9.8lbs (4.2kg)
Body fat percentage: 11.2% (from 14.8%)
Fat weight: 19.5lbs (8.9kg), a loss of 7.7lbs (3.4kg)
Lean body weight: 154.7lbs (70.3kg), a loss of 2.1lbs (0.8kg)
Waist measurement: 34.8” (88.5cm), a loss of 2” (4.9cm)

Since my first measurement at the beginning of the diet measured me at a normal glycogen-filled state, and this measurement three weeks later measured me at a depleted state, the lean body mass measurement is a bit off. The loss is mostly due to glycogen and intracellular fluids.

This is what I looked like after three weeks:

At this point, since I was about 11% BF and it tends to get harder to keep the fat melting off once you go below 10% and approaching 6%, I changed the diet.
This time I tossed the carb rotation and threw in a re-fill day once every other week (my usual regimen). I also lowered my calorie intake and changed the macronutrient breakdown.

Since my basal (resting) metabolism is about 1690 kcal (derived from Harris J. & Benedict F. biometric study of basal metabolism in man), I will stay above that figure during the entire diet. In order to calculate a good target calorie intake I use my own formula of; 25 x Lean Body Weight in Kilograms (that’s roughly 11.4 x Lean Body Weight in lbs.). For me at this point, that is about 1759 kcal.
Remember, this is extreme dieting; it’s not for the beginner.

This is how the breakdown looked like:
Protein: 150g (35E%)
Carbs: 43g (10E%)
Fat: 110g (55E%)
Total: 1759 kcal

Since almost all of the carbs comes from veggies, a large part of it is fiber and thus lowering the total calorie intake a bit further.
The fat intake was split into roughly 40% saturated fats (to keep my testosterone flying), 30% polyunsaturated- and 30% monounsaturated fats.
I still divide my daily food into four meals. More than that is unnecessary in order to keep the body going, even though I prefer six meals. Also, on a low calorie plan like this, each meal would be too small anyway.
I also continued with my BCAA and creatine mix for four servings a day. That is a must at this low calorie and protein intake.
My re-fill day (every 14th day) is limited to about 4000 kcal from mostly clean foods (some sugars are allowed since I’m totally depleted).

Supplements I use:
Multivitamin/mineral formula: one in the morning and one in the evening.
Omega-3 capsules: 2 with every meal for a total of 8 a day (8 grams).
BCAA (5 grams) and Creatine (3 grams): four servings a day between meals. On workout days, 1 serving at the beginning of the training session and one in the middle (after about 30-35 min).
Ergogin (Ginko Biloba och Rhodiola Rosea): one dose in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Zink and Magnesium with B-6 and B12, before bed.

That’s it! No ephedrine, caffeine or any other kind of worthless “fatburner”.

The results after 13 days and a total of almost five weeks (33 days), July 20th:

Height: 5′8″ (172 cm)
Morning body weight: 169.4lbs (77kg), down another 4.8lbs (2.2kg) and a total of 14.6lbs (6.4kg).
Body fat percentage: 8.9%, down from 11.2% and 14.8% at the start.
Fat weight: 15.1lbs (6.86kg), down another 4.4lbs (2kg) and a total of 12.6lbs (5.5kg).
Lean body weight: 154.3lbs (70.14kg), down 0.4lbs (0.18kg).
Waist measurement: 33.9” (86cm), down another 0.9” (2.5cm) and a total of 2.9” (7.4cm)

Pretty good results if I may say so myself. No cardio except for 1 or 2 short brisk walks a week for 15 min directly after a workout. It all comes down to nutrition and weight training. Losing 4.4lbs and going from 11.2% BF to 8.9% BF in 13 days is pretty good. And if my clients complain about low carb days, I’ll smack them in the head with loaf of bread. I’m doing fine at only 30 to 40 grams a day. It’s easy if you keep the fats pretty high.

So, this is what I looked like after close to five weeks (33 days), July 20:

And here’s a little comparison (click it to open):

To get the body fat percentage we use Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L Fat Caliper equations with 7 sites. This is not entirely accurate. But one thing is most certain. I still have a lot more fat to loose!
I’ll continue to update once a week on Saturdays. New photos will be taken every other week.

BCCA are back in the media again. Here in Sweden, BCAA never really catched on in the first place. I remember when I got introduced to some of the advantages of BCAA use back in the late nineties. The man who spurred my interest was Alex Chimenti, a good friend in the supplement industry. He’s a real expert on amino acids and he always has a lot to say about them. Alex is originally from Italy where the supplement industry is a lot bigger and different than it is here in northern Scandinavia. BCAA’s has been widely used in south and east Europe for decades, and it does have a lot of merit if used correctly.
As a trainer and nutrition consultant I’ve used BCAA’s, often together with creatine, on hundreds of athletes in a lot of different sports for about seven years now. From my experience there are three major scenarios where you really benefit from BCAA use. Let’s break them down and see how you should supplement for the best possible effect.

Scenario 1: During low calorie diets and rapid fat loss.
5-10g BCAA and 3g creatine taken 3-5 times a day.

Note: Make sure that one dose is taken at the beginning of the training session (or during if the session exceeds 60 minutes) and one at the end. Space the other servings evenly between meals (you should take them between meals on your days off from training as well).

Hint: Dosage depends on lean body mass. If you’re a woman below 150lbs you should go with the minimum recommendation. If you’re a guy with +200lbs of lean body mass, you should go with the highest recommendation. If you’re in between, guess what? Right on Einstein, go with a middle figure.

Scenario 2: During intense training periods.
This is true if: You’re an athlete that finds it difficult to maintain body weight during intense training periods or during the intense parts of your competitive season (a lot of traveling, peaking, stress etc.).

5-10g BCAA and 2g creatine taken 3-5 times a day.

Note: If you train twice a day, take the servings during and directly after the training sessions. To enhance glucose recovery/uptake you can add 10-25g of glutamine to each of these servings (serving size depending on lbm). This will help you recover better between workouts.

Scenario 3: High altitude training (to prevent muscle loss).
5-10g BCAA taken during training and with you post-workout recovery drink.

Additional: During low calorie and low carb diets the combination of BCAA and creatine helps a lot against mental tiredness and it prevents muscle loss (if you keep your cardio low; 2-3 HIIT sessions for 20 min each is enough). It will also prevent some of the muscle flatness and loss of pump you experience on low calorie and low carb diets.

This is a rant. If you’re easily offended please re-direct your browser to www.cuteoverload.com

Over the last couple of years I’ve got an increasingly number of clients who turned to me out of despair. These athletes originally turned to, what they assumed as knowledgeable people, for help with diets, training and contest preparations. But soon they discovered that they didn’t get the results they hoped for and as the competition approached they were way behind their schedule. So who are these people they turned to for help? They’re Internet gurus and book smarts and their playground is the Internet forums.

To tell you the truth, I’ve never been impressed with book smarts, and I’m certainly not impressed by today’s Internet gurus citing studies and science reports on Internet discussion boards. You’d be amazed to find out how few real athletes these so called experts have helped, let alone trained. Some of them do have some heavy theoretical knowledge in some areas, but they all obviously lack the practical side of training and coaching people and thus the most important key of all – experience. When you only have knowledge in some areas you easily get caught up in minor details that really don’t matter. And when you lack field experience, you don’t see all the variables and how they fit together; you don’t see the whole picture. I know, I’ve been there myself.
And no Bubba, that somebody has been training for years and has the body to show for it does not count in my book. We’re all different and thus there are hundreds of parameters influencing nutritional- and training program design. The fact that someone have packed on a bit of muscle and burnt some fat does not automatically translate into the ability to evaluate and create individualized programs for others that will accomplish the same (or better) results.

I’ve helped people to get results since 1995, first as a hobby and later on as a business. Nowadays I design programs and train people for a living. I’ve always respected practitioners and unless you have to get results to make a living, I’m actually not that interested in what you have to say. This may sound arrogant, but I only have so many hours a day to keep educating myself. I rather spend this time corresponding with other coaches that produce results. And sure, I do read some studies and reports, but most of the time it’s only to validate what we have been doing for years and to help us understand what’s really is going on in a scientific matter.

If I had to rank the steps I take when I design programs after making an assessment of a new client, it would look like this:

1. My own knowledge and experience.
2. The knowledge and experience of my colleagues.
3. Consulting books, journals and established research.

If you’re a trainer and in the same boat as me, I bet you agree with me on the statements above. If you’re an athlete this might give you a few things to ponder. Choose your help wisely.