rankinc

I have just started a calorie and carb cycle to drop the weight. My BMR is calculated to 2780cals per day with no exercise due to an injury. For my High days I have 2502 cals (10% off desired cals) and on my low days I have 1946 (30% off desired cals), my eating plan for the week is currently:

Low Days (50p%ro, 25%carb, 25%fat)
Sun, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

High Days (45%Carb, 30%Pro, 25%fat)
Saturday & Wednesday

My main problem is that on the high days I am finding it hard to eat 243grams of protein, if I changed the ratios to 45pro & 30carb would this make a massive change to weight loss process as I am dropping my protein to 218grams whilst increasing my carb intake to 145grams.

Any info would be very appreciated.

toxictoffee

here is my article on it


RO-CHO by TT

What is RO-CHO? It’s basically me being lazy and not bothering to write ‘Rotational Carbohydrates’. The theory of Rotational carbohydrates is another term for the more commonly known dietary approach of carb cycling or carbohydrate (CHO) cycling to be precise. I just love shortening names and writing in acronyms. RO-CHO was born off the back of researching cyclical diets and implementing them in a practical manner. The protocol outlined below is not revolutionary by any means, its simply jigged in relation to specific training and foods found in the UK rather than telling you to have 2 oz of grits for freshman and 3 Oreos for jocks. I think you know where I’m going don’t you? Most carb cycling information is based on foods typically consumed in the US. Here is the Brit version and a clean one at that even if I the author is a little foul mouthed from time to time. So before I get a bashing off our friends over the pond I will hop back onto the straight and narrow and throw some science your way (punctuated by layman’s terms of course)

What is carb cycling and why do we use it?

Carb cycling is basic enough to explain. The daily intake of CHO is varied from day to day in a cyclical manner to give high, low and no CHO days instead of having a static daily intake over the week.
If you were to say “I eat 300g of CHO every day” that would be a static intake. With RO-CHO you may well eat 300g one day, in fact two days, 150g for 3 days and near no carbs on the remaining 2 days of the calendar week. This gives us the structure of high, low and no CHO days. Cycling carbs is beneficial for those dieting down offering both anabolic and catabolic environments. This is not a license to cut and bulk in one per se but simply means the body is more efficient at burning fat for periods whilst other periods its more efficient aiding repair, recovery and dare I say it growth which leads to strength and hypertrophy (depending on training goals), whilst maintaining a negative energy balance. Low glycogen stores are one of the limiting factors to performance, muscle growth and recovery

Disclaimer - Please at this point don’t reach for your existing diet and tear it up in a vain attempt to become Mr. huge and ripped in one. CHO cycling, in this context, is the same as any other hypocaloric diet. You cannot cheat the laws of thermodynamics and have to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Put out more than you put in. This of course doesn’t allow for optimum muscle building and any ‘gains’ are to be seen as a bonus during the dieting down phase. Gains are more likely though than a chronically low intake of CHO as of course carbs are essential for building as much mass as possible. They are known as protein sparing nutrients; they aid protein synthesis and provide adequate energy for anaerobic weight training. Carbohydrates elicit and insulin response. By nature insulin is anabolic and the synergistic effect of CHO and protein will result in better synthesis rates. Insulin is of course an anabolic hormone whilst glucagon is a catabolic hormone. This will become clearer in the ‘micro cycles’ created on RO-CHO. Days of higher insulin levels accompanied by days when glucagons is the protagonist.
RO-CHO part 2 (when I get round to it or when the latest series of Richard and Judy is over) will be adding LBM (lean body mass) whilst on a cyclical carb diet
For now though lets concentrate on cutting as summer is coming and the beach needs you

*science on/listener off* time

The body is a very clever machine and will try and second guess its owner in an effort to maintain homeostasis in relation to its environment. RO-CHO will out fox the body by pulling it away from a ‘low calorie and carbohydrate environment’ and will avoid re setting its point of homeostasis to a lower metabolic output by having a rotational calorie and carbohydrate intake over the week. It’s important to ensure the body knows it’s going to be fed, not exposed to starvation and in response it will allow for fatty acid metabolism as it doesn’t see hard times ahead. This is where the high CHO days kick in. Again this differs from the cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) as the calorie intake is substantially increased by implementing a high fat intake on the low carb days. This is not the scenario with RO-CHO. Fats are included but they are not significantly increased to avoid metabolic slowdown. The cyclical nature of the higher calorie and CHO days will eliminate the issue of metabolic slowdown and ensure the body starvation is not on the horizon

If CHO are eliminated from the diet and low calories are maintained on a flat weekly rate, Leptin, (a recently discovered hormone) levels will stay low. ) Leptin was discovered as recently as 1994 in fact by a guy called Jeffrey Friedman for those sad bastards who love winning pub quizzes when they should be training, sleeping or eating.
Leptin is a regulatory hormone and when levels are low will drag your metabolic rate down, increase catabolic activity and slow thyroid output. This is basically your body saying “I am going into hibernation” in response to a hypocaloric diet where is sees famine ahead.
This is a re adjustment period and as a result weight loss (muscle), performance, energy, libido and many other key players take a nose dive. See Leptin as a balancing hormone and a ‘friend to take you away from starvation’ (sigh at the over dramatic bull ****)

Carbs are key to muscle building and are responsible for increased protein synthesis over protein only meals as numerous studies have shown. Take CHO out of the diet and anabolism is significantly hindered as a result. Rarely is significant lean tissue built in an environment devoid of insulin. The issues stated previously are common with the habitual dieter using diets low on CHO and calories and in the main those who do not alter their calorie and carbohydrate intake for the week. Carbs are the new fat. Dietary fat was public enemy number one in the 80s and carbs have taken over the baton for the 21st century
SKD (standard ketogenic diets) therefore are not suitable for the active trainer looking to hold onto LBM (lean body mass) whilst stripping fat. This diet is devoid of CHO on muscle glycogen levels are permenantly low, insulin levels are low and as a result anabolism is minimal in anyone but the deconditioned trainer

SKD = Sedentary Kids Diet
RO-CHO = I can’t think of an acronym but just make it something to do with lots of muscle, not a lot of fat, enjoyment and training. Anyone who can email me a good acronym can have a prize. Fcuk knows what but I shall find something

Ok back on track, class returns after lunch break

The high carb days on RO-CHO will kick Leptin levels back up and stop the body ‘hibernating’ before again forcing the body to ‘endure’ days of low to no CHO which are of course noted for increased fat oxidation due to decreased insulin levels and increased catecholamines. So some days are similar to SKD but alters to suit training requirements on other days and will rarely induce as state of ketosis. The periods of anabolism and catabolism again are in action (catabolism referring to the break down of fatty acids over muscle) giving us micro cycles where in effect the body is cutting and bulking at different times of the week

RO - CHO leaves our inactive days low on carbs (mainly from fibrous veg if they do occur) and our training days medium to higher to enable efficient work outs (as we know resistance training in the main prefers CHO over fat) and glycogen levels will be loaded ready to train as a result of the high carb days yet your overall weekly intake is hypocaloric thus meaning we are in a deficit and losing body fat.

Before I babble some more, it’s important to note this is not by nature a ketogenic diet. It differs significantly from a CKD (cyclic ketogenic diet) and is also not incredibly high in fat. Whilst periods of the week will be spent with low muscle and liver glycogen depletion will rarely occur and the body will not be forced into ketosis. This is why we don’t have two ‘no carb’ days back to back. Sub 30g of CHO for 2 days may take some people into ketosis after glycogen depleting training on previous days. This is not the aim of RO-CHO and whilst mild ketosis may occur at points on the diet, it’s certainly not something to aspire to.

Protein and fat intake stay generally constant through the week and the dieter is urged to work out their intake from a very basic method. It’s against my nature to suggest the use of the Harris Benedict method of calorie intake based on weight, height and even lean body mass, but for simplicity I am going to outline a rough protocol for your intake of fat and protein. The intake for protein will be a baseline of 1.5g per lb of bodyweight. This may go up to 1.75g for many people in the framework of this diet alone and does somewhat exclude the chronically obese. Then again anyone with a massively high body fat does nee to get technical beyond a calorie deficit when trying to shed weight. RO-CHO is for the more seasoned trainer and dieter who is looking to pull the stubborn body fat off and get into single digits, often in an attempt to achieve competition shape. As a 'one size fits' all ratio take 1.5g to be your static daily protein intake regardless of CHO or fat consumption. This happens day in day out. Do not lose sight of this

So, there we have it protein intake for a 200lb guy would be baseline 300g (on the 1.5g per lb method) every day regardless of CHO intake. That isn’t rocket science is it?

One point I cannot stress enough is that although bodyweight gives a rough idea of requirements you must ensure WEE (weekly energy expenditure) is higher than calorie intake for the week. This again goes back to the laws of thermodynamics. Do not solely base you grams on the figures above if you know it goes beyond your maintenance calories. If you are putting in more than your putting out you will not cut. Your body composition may get better but you will not strip existing body fat in an efficient manner.

For ease of use I am going to suggest most people consume around 40-50g of fat ED (every day) this level can alter slightly for the heavier trainer as not to create such a big deficit on low CHO days but in the main fat is kept low and generally of a high quality. Dietary fats from animal and dairy products are fine but in the main essential and healthy fats from the poly and monounsaturated families will make up the bulk of your intake. Fats are not created equally; they are productive for health and will offer many benefits such as hormonal function and increased insulin sensitivity. Simply chugging down lard and saturated fat all day can stay with Dr Atkins. More and more research on omega fats show their role not only for optimum health but for bodybuilders and weight trainers too.

Fish oil, flax oil, mixed seeds and nuts, olive oil and avocados are prime examples of the foods you should be consuming on RO-CHO to get your fat intake around that 40-50g ED mark. This intake should be spread across the 6 proposed meals and generally be of an equal serving. A small amount of saturated fat is though good for testosterone production so don’t go throwing the cow out just yet.

By now your probably bored ****less and wondering when you get to trash the cookie jar or hit the ice cream parlor for 6. Sorry boys and girls that isn't going to happen. With the CKD and supercompensation, the initial phases of the re feed allow for ****ty carbs and sugars, RO-CHO doesn’t though. All the ‘usual suspects’ staple BBing foods make the back bone for the diet and the quality will reflect in the results. Crap carbs = crap results

The main carb rich foods to be employed are oats, wholegrain and wholemeal breads, pasta and rice. Sweet potatoes, yams and all the usual quality starchy carbs. The intake of nutrient rich fibrous veg is a given regardless of the day. Low CHO days rely on the intake for satiety and functioning. Spices and calorie sp**** flavoring or dressing can be used on all days.

At this point the reader will be quickly scanning through the ‘science’ to find out just how much of his stodgy CHO infested food they can eat in the high days and how many high days there are in a week. Fair point as I have not allowed the ice cream and cookies.

Should I tell you or be a bastard and babble on for another few paragraphs on the role of nutrients in the calorie deficit diet?
Ah fcuk it, that’s not fair. Here are the rules for all the carb monsters. High days equal 2 a week, so two treat days which is better than one and they are accompanied by 3 low days and 2 no CHO days. Before you sink back in your chair at the thought of 2 no CHO days I shall point out that the two high days allow for around 1.5g to 1.75g per lb of bodyweight for carbs in that specific day. These high days will be your big body part training days and the protocol for intake, training and supplementation will be outlined below. When starting the diet start on the lower end of the CHO intake and monitor results recording changes in energy levels and performance.
The low CHO days will be given a carb limit of around 0.75-1g per lb of bodyweight whilst the no CHO days are simply that. Make no effort to consume carbs rich food and simply source any carbs from fibrous veg and the very small amounts that occur in products such as whey protein.
These figures are to be monitored and adjusted in relation to body fat reduction, weight loss, changes in stats and energy levels.

You want a summary of all those numbers now don’t you?

Here goes

Protein = 1.5g per lb of bodyweight every day regardless of CHO intake
Fat = 40-50g rough intake as a static daily figure, day in day out
Carbs = 1.5-1.75g per lb on high days, around 0.75-1g per lb on low days and no CHO on no CHO days (if you hadn’t guessed that)

So for our 200lb man, what does this look like?

High CHO days
Protein = 300g and 1200 calories (4 calories per gram)
Carbs = 300g and 1200 calories (4 calories per gram)
Fat = 50g and 450 calories (9 calories per gram)

Total intake = 2850

Low CHO days
Protein = 300g and 1200 calories
Carbs = 150g and 600 calories
Fat = 50g and 450 calories

Total intake = 2250

No CHO days
Protein = 300g and 1200 calories
Carbs = N/A
Fat = 50g and 450 calories

Total intake = 1650 (a little more for additional CHO from fibrous veg, whey etc)


These numbers, and we know how much bodybuilders and dieter love numbers, are then put into the following days. 2 high, 3 low and 2 no CHO days in the week, structured in a cyclical manner and not blocked together

As a TWI (total weekly intake) that equates to 15750 calories which in turn breaks down to an average of 2250 calories ED (every day)

Assuming the 200lb gent has a maintenance of 3000 calories ED this then put us in a negative figure of 750 calories for the day, 5250 calories for a week and in terms of weight loss 1.5lbs

So average Joe at 200lb has an intake of around 11 x his body weight. Cutting figures are generally based around 10-12 whilst maintenance comes at around 14-15. For ease of use, these fit in nicely with the suggestions made. As much as I hate ratios based on bodyweight alone, why the heck not add one to make things that little bit simpler for you.

Fantastic!
Yes, in theory it is…….. but this is the part where science takes a backseat and logic prevails. Do not simply take these figures as gospel as the 200lb builder who works 10 hours a day does not have the same requirements and output as the sedentary office worker. Use your brain, bend the rules where needs be. I know I get the **** taken out of me for saying it but

“Eat, monitor and adjust accordingly”

The notion of RO-CHO almost rewards the binge/abstinence model of going a few days of being good and then having a splurge on you favorite stodgy carb meals. Strange but very effective (so effective maybe its better keeping it away from the mainstream jaffa cake eating, Cadburys roses munching masses) it would be the Atkins all over again but this time with all out binges to suit. As stated before the law of thermodynamics cannot be cheated. You simply have to be in a negative energy balance to succeed try and bend the rules and you generally fail.

Anyway….moving on from my amateur government health warning. In short RO-CHO could enable those with weaker will powers to diet down a little easier than a fixed or low calorie diet.

Ok, you are now asking how to put these days together and where training falls I feel. In short I have about 10 different protocols I could put in place in terms of splits, full bodies, HIIT (high intensity interval training) and SS (steady state) cardio.

Some examples are outlined below:

Here goes

Monday –high carbs
Tuesday – low carbs
Wednesday – no carbs
Thursday – high carbs
Friday – low carbs
Saturday – no carbs
Sunday – low carbs

The plan above of course can be changed to allow for weekend high CHO days. I’m not a complete bastard in that sense and you can play with the scheme for hours. What I have documented above is simply one protocol, one school of thought. Just remember what I said before! No double no CHO days back to back. On a side note. If you are going to play around with the plan, don’t create a shoddy mutation of the original model.

Shall I add training in now?

Yes, why on earth not

Monday – high carbs – chest and shoulders
Tuesday – low carbs – back and traps
Wednesday – no carbs
Thursday – high carbs – leg work
Friday – low carbs – direct arm work
Saturday – no carbs
Sunday low carbs

There we have it, a 4 day split which again can be altered to suit and corresponds to the high low and no CHO days.

Want cardio now too?

Monday – high carbs – chest and shoulders
Tuesday – low carbs – back and traps
Wednesday – no carbs – CARDIO (SS steady state)
Thursday – high carbs – leg work
Friday – low carbs – direct arm work
Saturday – no carbs – CARDIO
Sunday – low carbs – CARDIO and or HIIT (with HIIT use pre and PWO CHO)

3 cardio sessions a week baseline, on empty before breakfast, for 45 minutes at a very steady pace. This will then be followed by a protein rich meal. Additional SS cardio can be tagged onto the end of weight training sessions (ideally on the low days) and also in the morning before weight training (high days preferential here). Implement this to suit energy levels and fluctuations in weight and body fat levels. So cardio vascular work is not restricted although appreciate your work load in relation to calorie consumption and general output

Ok, let’s go back to the weight training. I know what you are thinking! Why low carbs on back day when potentially I have to do deadlifts, chins and heavy rowing?
Simple enough, there are only a certain amount of high CHO days we can have to keep in a negative energy balance and the previous days feed along with targeting the CHO on the low days allows for adequate training intensity and recovery. Some people actually train better the day after a high CHO day due to glycogen levels being higher and not depleted even after the strenuous training day previously. Does this mean you can play about with the arms and legs protocol on the diet above?
I think the point I am making throughout this article is that there are so many ways to play with the whole CHO cycling that as long as you stay within the rules you can have a bit of fun and tinker to suit.

My basic rules:
Has to be hypocaloric
Has to have at least 1 high CHO day
No double ‘No CHO days’ back to back
Same with ‘high CHO days’
Fibrous veg is used period
Not all calories are created equally, fat is not fat and protein is not ‘just’ protein

Remember, this is a cutting phase so the scenario of ‘keep muscle’ over a 'build silly amounts of new lean tissue' phase. Bulking is down the line. Still train like you want to gain muscle but appreciate the issues associated with being in a negative energy balance. Pre and PWO CHO should suffice in terms of energy and protein synthesis/recovery on these low days.


Can I train differently?

Of course, how about this?

Monday – high carbs – Full body weights
Tuesday – low carbs – HIIT
Wednesday – no carbs - CARDIO
Thursday – high carbs – Full Body weights
Friday – low carbs – HIIT
Saturday – no carbs – CARDIO
Sunday – low carbs – CARDIO and or HIIT

What about?

Monday – high carbs – Upper strength weight training
Tuesday – low carbs – lower hypertrophy work
Wednesday – no carbs - CARDIO
Thursday – high carbs – Lower power/strength work
Friday – low carbs – Upper hypertrophy specific work
Saturday – no carbs – CARDIO
Sunday – low carbs – CARDIO and or HIIT

But you want hi carbs Saturday as you have family commitments?

Monday – no carbs – CARDIO
Tuesday – low - CARDIO
Wednesday – high carbs – Upper Strength training
Thursday – low carbs – Lower Volume/hypertrophy training
Friday – no carbs - CARDIO
Saturday – high carbs – Lower Strength training
Sunday – low carbs – Upper Volume/hypertrophy training

But you want the day off from training and gorge on carb stodgy ****ty foods with the Mrs.? No, sorry that doesn’t work here, maybe look at a CKD where you can use that method. I have bent the rules and spoon fed you enough as it is

High carb days in this framework correspond to hard training days

My personal favourite approach?

High
Low
No
High
Low
No
High
Low
No

On a non calendar day basis so in effect it’s a constant cycle and I like to do a revolving split to suit that. Again a little beyond the scope of the article as that is person specific and a little away from the cookie cutter nature of this piece. So for me Monday could be a high day one week and not the following week and so on. See I don’t have nagging kids who don’t want a grumpy bastard ‘carb less’ dad on the weekends so I get to play with things a little. That’s another point I wish to get across. Never let dieting rule your life. Very few are preparing for contests. All others should not make significant sacrifices simply to achieve low body fat. Family, work and study always come first

Ok, enough soppy stuff, back to macronutrient ratios and so on

How do I structure my carbs on the days?

Again, there are many ways to skin a cat but I will start with the no CHO days as they are a piece of ****. (Well they are to construct anyway, not as easy to execute for many people)
Simple, no carbs, next

Low CHO days whilst training. My suggestion would be on an intake of 150g would be 3 of your 6 meals containing 50g of CHO. These are breakfast pre and PWO. Some may even them out to ‘keep blood sugar’ stable but to be honest I would use them for breakfast after cardio, pre and PWO and leave it at that.

6 meals make for the whole diet, no more, no less and this will include PWO too if the day happens to be one of the weight training days listed above. The CHO intake on the high days will be generally limited to 4 meals in the main although some may opt to spread them out over the six. The fundamental aspects are adequate pre and PWO nutrition, quality food sources and the correct amount of grams to support anabolism.
Whilst cutting is not a time to focus on hypertrophy, hyperplasia or excessive strength games the trainer must appreciate the intensity of their training cannot significantly suffer as a result of being hypocaloric.

Now! What does a sample day look like in terms of food intake?

This part is very specific to the person but below I have detailed a sample plan for the no carb day. As I always state in my writing, this is merely a sample, it is not a one size fits all approach and is not the definitive weapon of choice. Do not rush out and buy all the ingredients and use this as a cookie cutter diet. I can’t be ****d with the emails off the back off such ventures. This whole piece is simply a sample plan for you to deem the basics from. It’s not tailored to you my friend.


06:00
40 minutes of steady state cardio at ‘level 1’

07:00
Whole eggs, egg whites and whey protein

10:00
Tuna salad accompanied by fish oil caps

13:00
Chicken salad meal

16:00
Whey protein shake with flax oil

19:00
Lean red meat, fibrous veg serving and olives

22:00
Small serving of oily fish and low fat cottage cheese

“Bland!” you shout
Ok, a little but as I say, taste is subjective. Consumption of these foods for me is the norm and the psychology behind RO-CHO (almost a binge/abstinence nature of the diet) usually sees people through these days as they know the high CHO days are on the horizon. Suffer and reward, pain and pleasure, rough with the smooth. Use any cliché you wish, just ease yourself through these day by employing all the little tricks to increase satiety and decrease hunger and cravings. Remember too the nature of this day will be sedentary in terms of the weight training so the requirement for carbs is lessened slightly.

Please note that I haven’t included portion size, macro splits or anything other such info on the sample plan above. I have though armed you with those tools previously and you will therefore be able to work that out off your own back given a calculator and one of the following links

www.calorieking.com
www.caloriesperhour.com
www.fitday.com
www.caloriedastabase.com

I shall state it again, this is not a ketogenic diet and the meals stated above do have fat in them but their contribution has to fit in with the guidelines stated above. If you do wish to alter your choice of fat intake, you can, but remember the advantages of n3, n6 and quality monounsaturated fats over saturated and damaged fats to overall health, performance and recovery.

Is this diet suitable for a builder, butcher, baker or a candle stick maker? (If they still exist any more and are not all redundant as a result of cheap labour in the 3rd world)

Well…… those who are physically active have a strong shout for it being suboptimal in terms of their lifestyle, performance and muscle retention. I tend to agree in the main and a mixed macro diet may suit these guys a little better with higher, stable daily CHO level, higher intake and allowing them to create an energy flux (high calorie intake to support high calorie output). In short, eat lots, put out lots of calories. You can still cycle carbs but maybe in a different framework or with different ratios.
I believe though this argument is beyond the scope of the article here and the debates as to which is ‘the’ number one diet for stripping fat, holding LBM will rage on.

I am simply putting forward a school of thought on body fat reduction deemed from numerous sources, studies and personal experience. I will advocate all manner of diets ranging from CKD to mixed macros often even VLCD depending on the person, their current state and their goals. So, in short this protocol is by no means definitive, simply one other approach.
The key aspect of losing body fat is to be hypocaloric whether it be by cycling, targeting or simply lower portions size, the key is playing by the laws of thermodynamics. Keep this thought in mind. If you don’t have to get technical, don’t. If you are on a building site all day eat to suit and rely on your activity as your calorie deficit.

Back to the diet. Do you want a sample of a high CHO day?

Sure you do but to be blunt and to the point it is similar to that of the no CHO day but with carbs in. No silly OTT servings of double chocolate this or sticky toffee that. As stated before, there are many ways to allot the carb grams across the day but this maybe a good shot for you, just remember, keep it fluent, keep it relatively clean.

07:00
Large bowl or oats or muesli
Fried egg whites

10:00
Protein shake with flax and small serving of palitanose or weetabix

13:00
Tuna salad accompanied by fish oil caps and small amount of fruit

16:00
Chicken salad meal to include large pasta or rice serving

17:00
Training with water throughout

18:00
PWO shake to include high carbs and protein

19:00
Lean red meat, sweet potatoes and fibrous veg selection

22:00
Small serving of oily fish and low fat cottage cheese

This again is a sample plan and may disappoint those looking forward to their cheap crappy sugary calories or those seeking exact calorie intakes. Whilst there is some room in the plan this is not binge re feeding, it’s simply a higher CHO day and the quality of all three macronutrient groups remains high for a reason. Variety though is essential and meal rotation is encouraged through the week to aid both nutrient spectrum and sustainability whilst dieting down.

There are, like the no CHO day, no numbers and figures on the plan above. That is for you to work out from the ratios given above but ensure you are ion a negative energy balance. It maybe worth monitoring calorie intake daily for a couple of weeks before RO-CHO to check your maintenance intake and ensure you are under this through the diet (obviously factoring in to some extent the number of low intensity cardio sessions)

Do you have carbs PWO on the low carb day?
In the framework of the plan here, yes. Our 200lb man will be aiming to consume up to 200g of CHO in the day and this will fall in the breakfast meal, pre and then PWO. All other meals will be high protein, low fat and either have fibrous veg of salad to accompany them.
Below is a sample of low CHO days. This doesn’t differ significantly to the high CHO days but obvious calories and macronutrient ratios switch to suit the nature of the day

06:00
Optional low level SS cardio

07:00
Large bowl or oats or muesli
Fried egg whites

10:00
Protein shake with flax

13:00
Tuna salad accompanied by fish oil caps and small amount of fruit

16:00
Chicken salad meal to include large pasta or rice serving

17:00
Training with water throughout

18:00
PWO shake to include high carbs and protein

19:00
Lean red meat, fibrous veg selection and olives

22:00
Small serving of oily fish and low fat cottage cheese

As a rough guide if one were targeting carbs in this fashion, 50g for breakfast, 50g pre and 50g PWO would be a suitable split to accompany protein in each meal. Fat will be spread across the day evenly with the exception of PWO where fat is excluded

By now we are starting to build up a sample weekly plan for the RO-CHO diet and its training plan to suit. Please don’t be tempted to pick this up and decide it’s a cookie cutter type of plan and follow it as printed above. The whole point of specific dietary protocols is the effectiveness of macronutrient intake and timing. Many people have the ability to ask some very basic questions 8 weeks into a ketogenic diet like “when can I eat pizza?” or “am I in ketosis?”
Well strike me down, but how on earth did you plan to structure a ketogenic diet when you haven’t even worked out the fcuking basics?
Get these things right and they are ace, try and re invent the wheel with a square or simply not doing your homework equals a diet often hypercaloric, catabolic and simply ineffective for body recomposition.
Moral of the story? If you don’t know, don’t muddle in the dark, either educate yourself or stick to the main road. There are plenty of diets easy to follow and equally good for stripping fat. Many have enjoyed success on V2 cutting which takes a more static intake and places CHO around periods of activity.

Acceptable foods on the RO-CHO diet

As stated before, your staple items will be lean, clean and micronutrient rich

Carbohydrates

PWO only
WMS
Dextrose
Maltodextrin
Palitanose


Staple
Oats
Muesli
Basmati Wholegrain Rice
Whole meal Pasta
Sweet potatoes
Yams
Wholegrain breads
New boiled potatoes

(All fibrous veg, as used daily regardless of high, low or no CHO structure)
Feel free to add to this list and it is certainly not exhaustive

Proteins
Lean red cuts of meat
Chicken breast, skinless and boneless (n o jokes about low carb diets and boneless please)
Tuna (drained from brine or olive oil)
Eggs, whole and whites
Protein powders (whey, blends, egg white)
Lean pork
Bacon back
Low fat cottage cheese
Quark
Fish (also covered in fats)
Turkey


Fats
Fish oils
Oily Fish
Flaxseeds (ground/milled)
Flax oil
3/6/9 oil
Mixed nuts (ideally lower sodium nuts)
Mixed seeds
Olives
Olive Oil
Avocados
Nut oils
Seed oils
(Naturally occurring animal and dairy fats in small quantities)

Fibrous veg to accompany meals
Spinach
Onions
Broccoli
Celery
Cabbage
Sprouts
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Lettuce
Cucumber


Should I split carbs and fat in my meals?

I could sit here and argue both methods, you make your own mind up. I honestly think 8g of fat in all meals is fine regardless of CHO intake as the quality of both is high. On an in take of 40-50g of quality fat a day I would suggest simply spreading it out. This rule does not apply to PWO where the shake should be devoid of fat, exogenous fibre and fructose.

Cue PWO debate 9 million 4 hundred and twenty seven thousand….ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz
Whilst you are doing that, I will crack on with more pressing issues

Appetite on low CHO days

In numerous articles and online posts I have written, I bang on about the difference between physiological and psychological hunger. There are ways to obviate both and the inclusion of fibrous veg will ensure a higher level of satiety along with an increase in water intake and adequate dietary fat. The benefits of protein include its ability to satiate the dieter so low calorie days are not quite as hard as you may feel. Many get through the ‘harder days’ by looking forward to the high CHO days. These measure will aid the physiological hunger whilst calorie sp**** ‘treats’ allow for physiological hunger to be satisfied. Sugar free jelly and diet soda drinks are prime examples, but to be honest if you have the inability to go a day without carbs, maybe this diet is not for you. There are plenty of hypocaloric diets to suit.

Beverages
On low CHO days calorie rich drinks are not allowed. This means coke, juices, milk, milky/sugary coffee and similar are not advocates. Diet soda, water and green tea are preferred. Black coffee is suitable too…..lucky old you
On the higher CHO days factor in any additional calories from beverages in you budget as laid out above but do not blow your CHO quota on drinking Coke or Fanta all day (no Mountain Dew suggested either)

Alcohol
In short, no. that’s my take, this is my diet but this is your shout. I personally believe in a calorie deficit all your calories should have worth. I am yet to see where alcohol would fit into this school of thought.
Excessive consumption beyond the odd measure or pint can result in lowered test levels, lowered protein synthesis, increased estrogen, and dehydration, metabolic slow down catabolism and blocking nutrient absorption. Fancy a pint? No, good. Let’s crack on. “Beer is for the off season”….” Beer is for the off season”…. “Beer is for the off season”…. “Beer is for the off season”….
Well done sir, your getting the hang of it, so let’s move on.

What happens if I am not losing weight?
First protocol is to increase the cardio sessions from 3 upwards. Cardio sessions in the fasted state are all 45 minutes on empty at between 55-65% of MHR (max heart rate) for those solely looking to cut fat, maintain lean tissue

Still not losing?
Re count calories and ensure you are on the low end of the CHO intake for the high and low days and that you are excluding CHO on the no CHO days
Count all beverages and tot up total calorie intake and refer back to the guidelines

Losing too much weight too quickly?
After a stabilisation period in the first 2 weeks your weight should be reducing at a fairly even pace. If this decrease is too much and you feel you are dropping LBM up the CHO figures to the higher end of the suggested ratios for each day. Look to push CHO out to 2g per lb on high days and 1g on low days. The next step is to check your cardio protocol is suitable. But for most 1.5lb a week is a good weight to lose without major catabolism (within the framework of the RO-CHO diet)

These instances are rare and easy to obviate in the main. Use you head, not just a calculator.

Supplements you must use on RO-CHO?
None

Supplements I suggest you research and decide if they are right to add to RO-CHO?
Ok, now the wording of the question is different I am happy to throw me 2p in on the subject.
Before we proceed I would like to point out that I do not classify oils, PWO sugars and protein powders as supplements per se. these items are staple food choices in my book

Green tea
Creatine
ECA/sida cordofolia
Caffeine

There we go. A massive list of 4 supplements. How should you use them? That’s for you to tell me after the reading you do and when you have completed a little research. No supplements are required on RO-CHO and those listed above are not suitable for everybody. The use of a multivitamin can be employed but the diet is micronutrient dense as it is.

Here it is then RO-CHO explained. By posting this I am not looking for discussion on carb cycling the role of ketosis or any similar debate. I am simply putting forward one (well a few) school of thought on carb cycling.

Aftershock

I really enjoyed that mate it was a cracking read and very humorous

Jimmy

i read that one a while back

been looking for it everywhere!!!

didnt know you wrote it toxic

cheers

Rowlf

writing thats not too heavily laden wityh science to understand - thank you! (don't mean that as a crit of others by the way, just found that easy to digest)

toxictoffee

cheers guys

yes i wrote it in a bout of insomnia ovr a 7 hour period and then had one of my slaves proof read it

the ketogenic version is up and coming

ketosis for klowns it shall be labled

shall i post the hard learner article somewhere here? that should answer a few questions

Pscarb

TT excellant article i am sure i have seen it on the net being passed off as someone elses work if i caome across it again i will let you know...

toxictoffee

cheers mate...surely people can tell my sarcastic style by now:gun:

too many cut and paste monkeys on the net now

here is another people can rip off....they have all appeared in my MT journal BTW for those who wish to read


Before I continue I would just like to point out, this article I aimed at the able bodied trainer free of ailments and medical defects. It is also by no means definitive and the traits outlined will not be universal amongst all gym trainers who fail to add weight and lean tissue. Many of the points outlined however will be applicable to those who fail to add mass and all the points mentioned are merely subjective as opposed to being gospel. The observations have come as a result of being a personal trainer, a keen weight trainer and member of many online bodybuilding communities.
If you are mildly offended at some of the statements made in the article, I apologise in advance but motivation is often needed to progress and I have made the assumption that you are interested in long term muscle gains as you are actually sitting down and reading the article. If not, the next few thousand words are going to be of little relevance to you.
Happy reading


A ‘hard gainer’ in the bodybuilding world is the guy who spends years in the gym gaining very little in terms of mass or lean tissue. It’s a very disheartening predicament for the avid trainer and leads to a high attrition rate amongst recreational bodybuilders. ‘Dropping out’ or ‘flunking’ as my American friends call it, can be obviated by simple measures and patience on the part of the trainer. If you have the motivation you will succeed, it may take longer than some of your training buddies or peers but the gains will come. For the true hard gainer patience must be employed along with an open mind and optimum ‘extra gym’ activities in order for them to gain weight and lean body mass (muscle).
Knowledge and application are paramount for the hard gainer to progress.
Whilst I have sympathy for the true hard gainer, the tag has become a convenient one used by those with limited knowledge, patience or application to a structured, progressive regime. “I am a hard gainer” has been suggested to me by just about every trainer in a vain attempt to justify years of time wasting in the gym and suboptimal nutritional plans. I have labelled this type of trainer, the ‘hard learner’ although he will label himself the hard gainer in the majority of cases. This is the guy who simply seems to either not understand what is required to gain muscle, not willing to put the work in or simply believes he deserves to be big because he purchased a protein shake, gym membership and a weights belt.
This article is dedicated to the hard learner and will help you, as the reader, decide whether your short comings are a result of nature or alternatively, being one of nurture. Whilst not all traits may be applicable, if you find yourself relating to at least some of them you can feel free to bracket yourself with the eternally mediocre hard learners that grace commercial gyms around the world.
Documented below is a protocol to really assess if you are a hard gainer or a simply hard learner. A hard learner in the context of this piece could be defined as the gent who pays little attention to his diet and who believes supplements are as good as food. The hard learner is often the guy who trains like he is at the gym for a social event and the one who believes bodybuilding is a part time jolly he can pick up when he fancies and as a result deserves to look like a Mr Olympia. He will avoid the compound movements, train for the ‘burn’ or ‘pump’ and gravitate towards the bicep curl machine at any given opportunity. If you are this gent, you will generally be the hard learner as opposed to the hard gainer. More will be revealed as you read on, so let’s get cracking.


You are not a hard gainer if you have been training for less than a year. If you have labelled yourself a hard gainer and you have been training 6 months, this article is not for you, be patient and don’t devalue the years of hard work some have put in. You put in the years, you too will grow. Continue training and enjoy the lifestyle bodybuilding brings.
From experience, although ‘newbie’ gains are impressive, anyone who labels themselves a hard gainer after a year is merely not looking to put a long stint in. In one year a ‘virgin trainer’ would expect to gain up to 20lbs of lean muscle. Gains slow down after this as any weight training stimulus will create hypertrophy in the new trainer. The new trainer can bounce from machine to machine without structure and add muscle and strength in the initial stages of training. To make the assessment that they are a hard gainer because they have not maintained the same pattern of weight gain from months 3-12 as they did in months 1 and 2 is simply misunderstanding the notion of protein synthesis rate. You cannot build 5lbs of muscle each month for ever. Moral of the story? Train for 2-3 years and if your weight is stagnant for considerable amounts of time maybe you have a claim, just maybe.
In short if you are sitting here after 6 months of training and not as big as you want to be, either eat more, get a better training split or be patient.

The hard gainer will employ the following exercises and have used them with varying rep ranges and set structures. The bench press, the deadlift, the squats, the chin up, the weighted dip, the military press, the lunge, and all other compounds using a barbell and dumbbells. If you are sitting here asking ‘what is this guy on about?’ - Then I believe you fall into the bracket of a hard learner. The hard gainer has learnt all compounds and run them for extended periods of time with maximal effort and logical structure, maxed out, hit a plateau and then changed routine to ensure progression. The hard learner is likely to have never executed a compound and never realized what structured training is.

The hard learner has not worked out his calorie requirements and multiplied his daily maintenance levels by at least 2 for a new intake figure. That’s right, double. For the guy that needs 2500 calories a day to stay small, eat 5000 for 9 months whilst lifting compounds and you will add weight. If at this point you do not add some form of weight you can call yourself a hard gainer. For this gent the emphasis is now on 2.5 to 3 times your previous daily requirements. If you are saying to yourself “I couldn’t eat that” - either look at calorie dense foods and liquid calories or stay small and buy yourself a t shirt “hard learner”! Wear it with pride, sit on the seated chest press machine with protein shake in hand moaning for the next 3 years before you quit. The law of thermodynamics cannot be cheated for 99% of the population. Unless you have some crazy thyroid problem you are merely underestimating what is required to add mass to your frame. Eat big, get big, eat small, stay small. It isn’t rocket science, its simple science. Muscle is built in the kitchen, as much, if not more than the gym. The quicker you appreciate this, the quicker you grow.

You are the hard learner you like your six pack so much that you don’t want it to fade during the necessary bulking phase. You believe once a layer of subcutaneous fat appears its there forever. You my friend are not a hard gainer. You are what I term ‘the eternal pretty boy’. There are ten a penny in gyms everywhere. Mr. ‘wanna get huge’ but dare not lose the six packs because the teenage girls won’t think they look like a boy band member anymore. If you are this gent either alter mindset or stay small. Adding substantial mass will lead to gains in body fat beyond the initial honeymoon period of training. These fat gains will be minimal if you keep your diet clean and plan your nutritional strategy as opposed to relying on luck or poor preparation to get you through.
This is where periodisation comes into play, read up on it, learn all about it and acquaint yourself with the notion of cycles. Add mass, cut, add mass, cut. The ‘ideal’ of staying ripped and growing is fine for genetic freaks, those looking to get from 10 to 10 ½ stone and steroid users. For those with the lofty ambitions of being 5 11” and 15 stone from their current 10 stone, your abs are going on holiday for a while, get used to it, do what you have to do to survive this micro trauma but move on. Mr. Eternal ‘love my abs’ is not a hard gainer merely a hard learner and is often stuck in a rut. Eat like you want to grow or eat like you want to stay skinny. Don’t think employing the latter is going to yield the former. 6 packs are evident again after the cutting phase, but at this point they are accompanied by 16” arms a 45” inch chest and similar such measurements as opposed to 12” guns and legs similar to that of a 9 year old boy.
The hard learner believes cutting and bulking are possible at the same time indefinitely, hence why they are often neither big nor cut but small and soft. This misconception has come as their first stone of weight gain from 10 to 11 stone came with no fat gains. Do not expect this to be the case when going from 11 to 15 stone unless you have a 10 year plan. Adding muscle mass needs a calorie surplus, cutting body fat needs a calorie deficit. I believe it was ‘diet guru’ Tom Venuto who likened this pursuit to ‘chasing two rabbits and catching neither’

Ask yourself, have you employed progressive overload? The hard gainer strategically adds a mere percentage onto all of his lifts week in week out and documents his progress religiously. He is not growing at a rapid rate but is patient and aware he is adding lean tissue, albeit at a slow rate. The hard learner on the other hand simply picks up the weight he fancies and applies no methodology and ‘likes the feel’. The choice of weight often comes down to whichever one is free or whichever looks the biggest. Note down what you do, push it to its limits, plateau, either break the plateau or change your routine. Staying stagnant in the gym is often mirrored in the aesthetic end result. Lift with form, employ compound movements and ensure progression. If you are benching what you were 6 months ago and not really thought about it, you are the hard learner, not the hard gainer.

Hard gainers appreciate the role of sleep when it comes to promoting maximum anabolism. A hard learner on the other hand will often tell you of his amazing lifts at 02:30 hours in the local nightclub week in week out. The exaggerated story will be accompanied by a sweet smell of Alco pops or the sour smell of his 10th pint. The hard learner for at least the few hours in his life create a false environment where his achievements become magnified and often confirmed by non trainers who appreciate at 11 stone he is bigger than his 10 stone mates. This period for the hard learner is the only chance they get to become a bodybuilder of note. The gym environment unfortunately, doesn’t afford them this luxury as they merely blend into the deconditioned trainers and those there for the jolly. They do not rank with the true ‘big guys’ who have got there due to serious application and knowledge and the hard learner will receive minimal respect from these trainers. I am not for one moment suggesting a hard gainer or any bodybuilder for that matter should adopt the lifestyle of a hermit, but an appreciation of rest is required. 8-10 hours sleep a night should be aimed for if you struggle to add weight. For those wishing to delve a bit beyond the scope of this article there is some interesting reading on the endocrine system, growth and sleep. This maybe your chance to lose your hard learner tags, just maybe? If not, see you same time, same place next week to hear how many one arm press ups you did in Ibiza last year.

You are the hard learner if when I say to you “what is the best food/drink to build muscle?” your response revolves around a heavily marketed protein shake. Protein shakes alone don’t make you big. Please don’t come to me and say you have been drinking protein shakes for 2 years and haven’t gained size. Hard learners fail to appreciate that supplements are merely that. They supplement a solid diet that leads to gains regardless of how slow this progression maybe. If your diet is littered with infrequent, ill thought out meals and merely punctuated with protein powders, you are a hard learner, not a hard gainer. Eat real food, un processed carbohydrates, proteins and fats in a calorie excess and you will grow. Believing that there is some magic fuel in a powdered drink is a fallacy. If I handed you a tub saying chicken powder you would not take it. A protein shake is simply a form of protein not a magic bean.

You are not a hard gainer if you claim ‘creatine’ didn’t work for you, nor did glutamine, NOS, pump this and growth that. What did you expect they would do? Did you believe you would be Arnie after your tub run out? The noticeable gains from supplements are minimal and whilst they have their worth, too much emphasis is placed on them by the hard learner.

You are a hard leaner if you blame your genetics for your shortcomings. ‘I can’t gain, I have poor genes, I have a fast metabolism, etc etc etc’ It is enough to send you to sleep and is synonymous with so many trainers who have been in the gym less than a year, those who fail to eat correctly or simply don’t train with passion or logic. At least 90% of people do not have bad genes, you simply have a bad attitude or a lack of knowledge. Either way your ‘blame game’ attitude must change or you will remain in the dirge of being mediocre. The genetic limitations of most people are well beyond their current physical state. If they have not trained for a substantial period of time and employed the adequate diet, training and rest protocols needed then they need to look beyond their genes for the excuse. The hard gainer is one to appreciate constructive criticism and looks to learn, the hard learner is quick to defend his short comings. The hard gainer sees his physique as work in progress as opposed to believing he has a right to be Mr. Olympia because he is in the gym tonight instead of at the bar with the lads.

Hard learners love to put the impressive gains of others down to the use or abuse of anabolic steroids. The hard learner quickly makes gestures mimicking syringes in response to impressive physiques. Again this seems to be a defense mechanism to justify in their own minds as to why they remain small despite years of training. Many motion towards the forearm as if they are injecting into a vein. Yet again this confirms they have little appreciation of the topic yet love to wax lyrical with flawed arguments and media misconceptions to back up their flimsy arguments. The reason the guy is in shape is because he has applied himself in terms of knowledge and work load and been patient. Whether he is natural or not should be of no concern to the hard learner. The issue to be addressed is your own physique rather than that of others. If your defense to the points raised here now revolve around ‘his genetics’ I suggest a new pursuit away from the iron game is your best bet. Nobody is born big and ripped, this is a pursuit where potential accounts for little when application is not evident.

On the flipside many hard learners decide they are a good candidate for anabolic steroids after minimal amounts of training and even less time spent devising a suitable nutritional strategy. There is also the more seasoned hard learner who claims they quote ‘need’ them to get over a ‘plateau’. Ask him what he eats and the response will be similar to that of a teen girl or ageing relative as he stands there at 11 stone, as he was a year ago, 2 years ago and even 3. If after 3 years of solid training, hard eating and living the life the hard gainer on the other hand decides to research AAS, very few people in the bodybuilding circles would argue with his choice (assuming they are pro steroid) and possibly offer their advice and support. If you honestly believe steroids are for you when you have been training for less than a year you are merely impatient and perhaps not in it for the long run. If you believe injecting, or orally administering, anabolic steroids will suddenly make you big whilst ingesting 1400 calories a day you will be wasting your money and jeopardizing your health for very little in the way on strength or LBM (lean body mass)
Hard learners often refer to anabolics as ‘steds’ and ‘roids’ rather than the less crude terms used by seasoned bodybuilders. PCT to a steroid using hard learner is yet another alien concept and the notion of them understanding the chemical compounds they are running is purely laughable. Get your hormones from beef and not from the lab.

The hard learner, when forced, is one who presents a diet devoid of fat, based purely on protein and of poor structure. They believe all calories are created equally, numbers are the key and food choice is secondary. Hard learners believe chicken in the diet revolves around McChicken Nuggets from McDonalds. Mention the word succulent breast and they often giggle like pre pubescent boys in a school playground. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to establish a diet you will gain on. A simple weekend spent reading up on bodybuilding nutrition will separate the hard learner from the hard gainer. A hard gainer has a mixed macronutrient diet, one full of essential aminos and fats, one high in micronutrients and adequate CHO (Carbohydrates) to support growth regardless of how hard he finds it to add weight. This diet will be in a calorie surplus and will be well structured and adhered to for the majority of the time. Haphazard diets and minimal application results in poor gains and is evident in many hard learners’ plans, and subsequently their lacking physique. They will make reference to at least 2 supplements they use which promote ‘massive anabolism’ and hard learners often harp on about the exclusion of the ‘much maligned dietary fat from their food intake, yet seem content to sip on countless sugar laden Alco pops 3 nights a week.
This whole notion is similar to a parachutist buying a snazzy helmet and goggles and not bothering with a parachute.

Hard learners often subscribe to a cardio schedule similar to that of an elite endurance athlete, believing as long as they are in the gym they will get big. Gaining weight and muscular size needs a calorie surplus as stated before. Whilst cardiovascular training aids health and well being and excessive amount not only hinder gains, it can be both catabolic and switch fibre types away from explosive muscle gaining ones. If you are trying to be Mr. ‘do it all in one’, you are a hard learner. If you drop your cardio to 3 gentle 30 minute efforts a week when fuelled , and you are not gaining then you can itch towards the hard gainer bracket. If you are doing long cardio sessions in a vain attempt to stay lean, you remain small. If you are the gent who hammers out 20 minute near sprints before his weights, you too are a hard learner. Many a hard learner loves to hit the rower as soon as he enters the gym, building up to what looks like the last 200mtrs of an Olympic event only to have to stop after 1 minute and 42 seconds. Training is not about your ego, if you want to do cardio that is fine but realise what to do and why you are doing it. Treadmills don’t build muscle when on level 20, nor do they impress the opposite sex from experience. If you need to strip body fat employ a cutting diet and cardio schedule and cut for a sustained period until you are happy with body fat levels. If you need size, eat for size and do minimal hard cardio. The two, as stated before do not overlap for seasoned trainers.

The hard learner is the gent who purchased a Mr. Olympia’s work out DVD and has convinced himself the way to 20” arms is by concentration curls because that’s what Mr. Olympia does. If you honestly believe that Mr. Olympia didn’t employ the compound movements in the initial phase of training (those outlined above) you are merely kidding yourself. The hard leaner also thinks that Mr. Olympia’s abs always look like that even through adding incredible amounts of mass in the off season period. Little do they realise they look in competition shape for a fraction of the year and spend most of the off season carrying substantially more body fat. The hard learner is quick to purchases the shake Mr. Olympia is drinking in the DVD and seems not to appreciate these guys are genetic freaks often using large doses of gear and have trained for years Nor does the hard learner realize Mr. Olympia is merely marketing the product and will not base his diet around any such supplements. The hard leaner quickly becomes disillusioned with his shake when the results fail to appear in 2 weeks. “Time for a new shake?” no, time for a wake up call or a new hobby. Bodybuilding is not a hobby unless you want to be little more than average. P.S he didn’t get his abs from an ab cradle either. It may come as a surprise but those nasty exercises such as deadlifts and squats do that in the initial stages.
Very few people will ever be able to ever look like Mr. Olympia, genetics will simply not allow for this. This though is not an excuse not to look your best and that best is far beyond where you are now, never lose sight of that.

The hard gainer, not hard learner is the man who no longer buys the latest glossy magazine in a vain attempt to actually work out how to add 3” to your biceps in 6 weeks. The hard gainer has gone to a true source of bodybuilding information and played by the rules, employed tried and trusted work out plans and cycled them in a methodical manner.
You, though are a hard learner if you have, over the period of the last year purchased 3 or more ‘fitness’ magazines based on claims made on the front cover believing them to be true. Referring to them more than once confirms your status as one who truly thinks bodybuilding is a life full of short cuts, magic pills and miracle work outs. If it were, everybody would look good. As they don’t, we can happily dismiss these claims as a fallacy. These magazines are simply trying to reinvent the wheel coming up with shapes such as squares, rectangles and hexagons and take your money! Whilst some more reputable magazines have quality writers and articles, it is your job to decipher what is ‘bull****’ and what is quality information. Seasoned hard gainers are able to do this by distinguishing between noted trainers and gimmick merchants. If you are unsure, join an online bodybuilding community and ask your questions to impartial members who are looking to help rather than selling issues of magazines.

The hard learner is often heard saying “what do you fancy training tonight lads?” followed by a session that doesn’t end until Johnny big biceps has done 100 reps for the girls. This somewhat lackadaisical approach seems to contradict the over zealous nature of the reps the hard learner insists on banging out during the session. The work ethic seems to be apparent in this scenario, just the end result a little misguided.
More is definitely better. More reading, more rest, more food and more structure, not more reps. I return to the point of planning your sessions and executing them on the days you have allotted and with the exercises you have been prescribed.

The hard gainer can tell you all calories are not created equally, the hard gainer can tell you that not everything is about macronutrients. The hard gainer has his bottle of water at training sessions, has his PWO shake at hand and does look focused whilst in the gym. The hard gainer has done his homework. He knows what EFAs are and that again they are not created equally compared to the much maligned dietary saturated fats.
The hard gainer eats broccoli, spinach and olives washed down with water, the hard learner eases his conscience by washing down his multivitamin pill with diet coke, not ‘full fat coke’ because after all fat makes you fat and Mr. Hard Learner doesn’t want to get fat. God forbid his abs disappear in his journey to 15 stone ripped. It all happens in one go, doesn’t it?
Sit down and ask yourself, have you really applied yourself away from the gym? Have you honestly structured your diet to be wholesome, natural and suitable for you? Is it in an energy surplus? Eating more than your mates is not an indication of whether you are supplying adequate nutrients to grow. Drinking one extra protein shake doesn’t qualify you for this. Is your diet merely held together with supplements that are heavily marketed yet you don’t know what they do? Do you think protein and creatine are interchangeable and you will only buy one or the other depending on how much you have left after purchasing a weights belt for bicep curls and a ‘muscle vest’?

Ask yourself if you are in this for the long run or is this a jolly to you? I don’t look down on those who don’t take things seriously but those who expect to reap the rewards of the dedicated trainer without the dedicated effort, in my opinion merely devalue the hard work and sacrifices made.
For the hard learner, I believe knowledge is easier to learn than mindset. There are a multitude of facilities with quality information and unbiased views on training, nutrition and all other aspects associated with bodybuilding. Simply applying yourself will allow you to make gains, regardless of how slow they may be, they will be evident IF you apply yourself. This is where hard learners and hard gainers differ. Learn the word application and refer back to it time and time again. Become a ‘doer’ and not a ‘talker’. Talkers talk a good race but doers end up winning the race.

Goal seems to be of minimal importance to the hard learner and his ‘goals’ will often revolve around the month of January, their biceps, six pack or the holiday they are going on this year, which just happens to be in 3 weeks. A hard gainer has short, medium and long term goals that are measurable, attainable, realistic and progressive. A hard learner believes goals are confined to the Sunday league football he plays, which by the way is the crux of his leg training.
If you believe you’re a hard gainer refer back to your goals and see if you have made progression. A hard gainer will add lean tissue albeit at a slower pace. The goals laid down in previous training cycles will spur the hard gainer on and confirm progress is being made. Hard learners’ goals are generally unrealistic and revolve around very short periods of time with quite lofty ambitions. These combined with a limited amount of knowledge are pointless bordering on detrimental. When the ‘goals’ of a hard leaner are not realised they will revert back to the cyclical questions they ask seasoned trainers 12 months previously.

What is your best bench press for 8 reps or your deadlift for 5? How many chins can you do unassisted? A hard gainer will jump in with a response or say “I can do X kg for X reps on my bench” the hard learner simply doesn’t have an appreciation; he can though remember the last time he stacked the bicep curl machine when Johnny big guns couldn’t. The hard gainer often has surprising strength for his size. This seems less apparent in the hard learner due to incorrect training. Whilst strength and size are not directly linear they will though separate those who have trained and those haven’t.

The hard learners’ questions rarely evolve regardless of when they are asked. The same primary questions crop up time and time again in months 9, 10 11 and twelve and they are generally relate to the same topic. Whilst there maybe minimal change in the hard gainers appearance for physiological reasons, his questions constantly progress and have specific structure, they are rarely basic and often challenge the norm. The hard learner receives the same answer time and time again but for whatever reason never seems to put the plan into action or think he knows better. The hard gainer on the other hand makes an informed choice based on the advice given often seeking alternative sources and opinions.

The hard learner is quick to point out specific weaknesses in his physique and ask for a remedy for them. ‘How can I get my forearms bigger?’ is often a favorite. The hard gainer appreciates his whole physique needs work and employs suitable methods to combat this. This goes back to the original points made in the plan. We will call Mr. Hard Gainer the compound man and Mr. Hard Learner the isolation man. It is a reoccurring trend unfortunately. Hard learners often make reference to ‘toning’ their muscles, their inner and upper chest and lower abs. They look to increase ‘da peak in da bicept’ as a famous trainer once said. Where did the ‘t’ come from?
The hard gainer can spell the word consistent forwards, backwards and upside down. He realises it’s a day in, day out, week in week out pursuit for him to add mass. Consistency to the hard learner is whether he has accidentally put too much powder in his ‘muscle shake’ or whether he chooses full fat milk over water.

The hard learner blames his 15” quads on a football injury he picked up age 9, a hard gainer can have 15” quads but will have smashed them to pieces barbell squatting, deadlifting and lunging. As a result the hard learner will avoid the squat rack at all costs, never show his legs and make reference to his dreadful injury picked up during a primary school football match. If you really can’t squat then that’s fine but it’s amazing to find the percentage of those who can’t squat compare to those who can’t do the chest press or bicep curl machine. I’m sure a fantastic study could be conducted. Unfortunately I don’t have the time or the inclination. In bodybuilding there is a term “shut up and squat” the hard gainer does, the hard learner looks for every possible excuse not to. Some studies actually show squatting increase overall body mass through specific GH release, this could be a nice bit of research for those who ‘can’t train legs’

Hard gainers play by the rules, yet hard learners love making the rules even though they are uneducated consequently end results are ill thought out practices. Examples of this can be seen in the execution of the exercises, the rep range, the time spent in the gym, in fact just about every possible aspect of bodybuilding. The hard learner loves to re invent the wheel often producing something similar to a square or rectangle. He often forces this onto his equally ill informed training partners as high fives are exchanged on the completion of 100 tricep kick backs. Needless to say as a result he gets nowhere. Hard learners often wait until January before joining a gym or make bold statements on the first of January. A hard gainer sees the gym as a year round pursuit and doesn’t simply focus on holiday periods and new years resolutions as their form of motivation. Rain doesn’t stop the hard gainer making it to the gym, the hard gainers routine whilst in the gym doesn’t change in response to whether the weekly female aerobics class is on. A hard gainer trains for himself, not an audience.
Hard learners training sessions are often dictated by social events and the gym is an ‘either or’ toss up between the pub, the playstation or the drive through take away restaurant.

If I start talking about HIIT, HIT, volume training, strip sets, drops sets, pyramids, pre fatigue do you know what I am talking about? Do you know who Bill Starr, Mike Mentzer or Charles Poliquin are? Even if you are unfamiliar with all, some form of appreciation of tried and tested training must be evident in your response. If I say 4 x 4 do you think of a monster truck or do you think of a rep range? I talk about Rippetoe and you think injury? Do you think GVT is a medical defect?
The hard learner believes a 4 day split is a temporary break from his girlfriend as a result of the ‘roid rage’ he got from his creatine shake. A hard gainer on the other hand will fully appreciate the real definition as he will full body routines and probably employed most logical plans over the previous 2-3 years. Hard learners also seem to have an ability to determine the worth of a well established training plan after 2-3 weeks. “I gained nothing on that” before switching back to a pitiful mismatch of isolations and what looks like the bastard child of something they saw on Rocky and The Terminator.
The year has 52 weeks. 48 of these will be spent training. That allows for 4 quality, 12 week plans, that can be as diverse as the hard gainer wants. As long as he runs them and gives them his all I will be more than happy to listen to his critique of them. Deciding volume training doesn’t work after 2 weeks is a reoccurring trait in the hard learner for example.

It could be strongly argued that the factor which separates the hard learner from the hard gainers is the notion of nature versus nurture .Hard learners love blaming their gym for their lack of gains instead of simply canceling their membership and moving to one with adequate facilities. The hard learner loves to use phrases like “the squat rack is always busy” or “our dumbbells only go up to 18kg”
If you really want to develop, change gyms or train at home.

A hard learner will rarely reduce the weight stack after his training buddy has been on the piece of equipment before him. Note the word equipment as opposed to barbell or dumbbell. This is generally due to his ego or lack of knowledge on progression or the documenting of previous weights lifted. He will often increase the weight too regardless of the impact it has on his rep range and technique in a vain attempt to increase his ‘cred’