A selection of advanced fat loss related answers from Nick Mitchell’s competitive bodybuilding personal training clients.
1. What’s the ‘secret’ behind twice per day training, is it the release of hormones and an increase in metabolic rate?
Nick: The more often you train the greater your body’s ability to synthesise protein and turn it into new muscle tissue.
Obviously the more often you workout the greater the metabolic uptake of energy substrates and the more improved the metabolism.
Great care must be taken with twice a day training which is why it should always be carefully periodised. As you know, we plan all my personal training clients workouts down to the final “t”, with deloading, total rest periods (for CNS recovery) all scheduled in.
2. What do you think it will take for me to get sub 10% bodyfat, in terms of diet and training, no complex carbs until I get to 10%? Would I keep dropping the fat if I went past 2 weeks of no fruit/complex carbs as I’m sure at some point you need a refeed of some sort?
Nick: Why do you think you would need a refeed? What constitutes a refeed in your eyes? Old time bodybuilders got ripped without drugs and never had refeeds. It is all down to the individual, but many of my fat loss personal training clients have dropped huge amounts of body fat (upwards of 20% body fat!) with nary a refeed amongst them.
3. I’m planning on doing the same 6 weeks of training and nutrition that I’ve been doing with you again after I come off of holiday.
I was planning on something like this:
- 2 weeks intro phase – no carbs, just veggies (on 15th day have a meal of whatever I want)
- 2 weeks with berries post workout
What would you have put me on as I got leaner? A carb refeed every 5 days?
Nick: It depends upon how lean you are. I refer you to the answer above – if I had 4 weeks to get a personal training client super ripped for a photo shoot I would put them on a tonne of omega 3s, green veg and fish. Nothing more.
4. Whats your stance on CLA, what do you think of it as a supplement?
Nick: It’s OK as an anticatabolic agent, but products such as phosphatydilserine are much better.
5. Is the introduction to berries postworkout after the 2 week phase to aid with recovery and some glycogen replenishment albeit liver, and does it help with fat loss any?
Nick: Small glycogen replenishment and for taste. No, it doesn’t help with fat loss, but the small amount of carbs do help prevent BCAAs being used for energy metabolism.
