Meal
Food
Amount
Calories
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Breakfast
Egg white
150 grams
78
16
1
0
Whole wheat bread
45 grams
113
6
19
2
Jam
20 grams
56
0
14
0
Butter
10 grams
72
0
0
8
Peach (canned in light syrup)
120 grams
65
1
17
0
Total
384
23
51
10
Workout
Postworkout Shake
Plain nonfat Greek yogurt
240 grams
142
24
9
1
Unsweetened rice milk
240 grams
113
1
22
2
Blueberry
200 grams
114
1
29
1
Banana
272 grams
242
3
62
1
Total
611
29
122
5
Lunch
Roasted turkey breast
180 grams
229
49
0
4
Reduced-fat mayonnaise
15 grams
36
0
1
3
Mustard
10 grams
6
0
1
0
Whole wheat pita bread
64 grams
168
6
36
1
Reduced-fat provolone cheese
28 grams
77
7
1
5
Total
516
62
39
13
Snack
Apple
182 grams
95
0
25
0
Oatmeal
80 grams
303
11
54
5
Total
398
11
79
5
Dinner
Sirloin, trimmed of visible fat
200 grams
308
42
0
14
Olive oil
10 grams
88
0
0
10
Brown rice
165 grams
597
12
126
4
70 to 85% dark chocolate
20 grams
120
2
9
9
Total
1,113
56
135
37
Daily Total
3,022
181
426
70
Daily Target
3,060
191
421
68
Want even more lean bulking meal plans like these? Go to www.biggerleanerstronger.com/leanbulking.
•••
You now have all the dietary knowledge and tools you need to start my Bigger Leaner Stronger program and build the body of your dreams.
Next up is training, so keep reading!
Key Takeaways
If you’re currently unhappy with your body fat percentage and just want to get lean before worrying about gaining significant amounts of muscle definition, you want to cut first.
Similarly, if you’re very overweight, you also want to cut first.
If you’re thin and want to focus most on gaining muscle size and strength, you want to lean bulk first.
If you’re in the middle—if your body fat is in a normal range and you like the idea of having abs but also want more muscle definition—whether you should cut or lean bulk first is dictated by your body fat percentage.
If you’re 15 percent body fat or higher, I recommend you start by cutting down to 10 percent.
If your body fat percentage is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent, you should choose to c
ut or lean bulk based on what’s most appealing and motivating to you.
Your cut phases should end when you’re around 8 to 10 percent body fat (unless you have a special reason to get leaner, don’t bother because it’s not sustainable for most people), and your lean bulk phases should end when you’re around 15 to 17 percent body fat (go any further and you’ll regret it once it comes time to cut).
When cutting, you should generally go for as long as it takes to get to at least 10 percent body fat (unless you want to end sooner for whatever reason), and when lean bulking, for as long as it takes to get to 15 to 17 percent body fat (again, unless you want to end sooner).
You simply repeat the process of lean bulking to add muscle and cutting to remove fat until you’re thrilled with what you see at 8 to 10 percent body fat.
Generally speaking, foods that are “good” for weight loss are relatively low in calories but high in volume and fiber.
When cutting, scheduling periods of planned and controlled increased calorie intake can help you lose fat faster and better maintain your muscle mass and metabolic rate.
A diet break gives your body a chance to enjoy an increase in energy intake and your mind a chance to relax and stop stressing about food.
You’ll gain weight during your diet breaks mostly due to the increased carbohydrate intake, but this doesn’t mean you’re gaining fat.
Increasing water intake is an effective way to increase fullness, which helps you fight off hunger and stick to your diet.
Start with a baseline water intake of about 0.75 to 1 gallon per day, and add 1 to 1.5 liters per hour of exercise, plus a bit more for additional sweating.
A large amount of fat loss occurs while you sleep.
Sleep needs vary from individual to individual, but most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep per night to avoid the negative effects of inadequate rest.
Caloric beverages don’t trigger satiety like food, which makes it easier to overeat.
Many people think meal planning is mostly for cutting and tend to wing it when lean bulking. This often leads to undereating, which hinders muscle growth, or overeating, which accelerates fat gain.
If you have to eat a large number of calories every day to gain weight and struggle to do this with whole foods alone, don’t be afraid to drink some of your calories.
Try to do no more than a couple of hours of cardio per week when lean bulking, and stick with walking if you’re struggling to make muscle and strength gains.
Wang X, Hu Z, Hu J, Du J, Mitch WE. Insulin Resistance Accelerates Muscle Protein Degradation: Activation of the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway by Defects in Muscle Cell Signaling. Endocrinology. 2006;147(9):4160-4168. doi:10.1210/en.2006-0251; Zhang J, Hupfeld CJ, Taylor SS, Olefsky JM, Tsien RY. Insulin disrupts β-adrenergic signalling to protein kinase A in adipocytes. Nature. 2005;437(7058):569-573. doi:10.1038/nature04140; Shanik MH, Xu Y, Skrha J, Dankner R, Zick Y, Roth J. Insulin Resistance and Hyperinsulinemia: Is hyperinsulinemia the cart or the horse? Diabetes Care. 2008;31(Supplement 2):S262-S268. doi:10.2337/dc08-s264.
Burton-Freeman B. Dietary Fiber and Energy Regulation. J Nutr. 2000;130(2):272S-275S. doi:10.1093/jn/130.2.272S; Wooley SC. Physiologic versus cognitive factors in short term food regulation in the obese and nonobese. Psychosom Med. 34(1):62-68.
Byrne NM, Sainsbury A, King NA, Hills AP, Wood RE. Intermittent energy restriction improves weight loss efficiency in obese men: the MATADOR study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2018;42(2):129-138. doi:10.1038/ijo.2017.206.
Muckelbauer R, Sarganas G, Grüneis A, Müller-Nordhorn J. Association between water consumption and body weight outcomes: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;98(2):282-299. doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.055061.
Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Comber DL, et al. Water Consumption Increases Weight Loss During a Hypocaloric Diet Intervention in Middle-aged and Older Adults. Obesity. 2010;18(2):300-307. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.235.
Boschmann M, Steiniger J, Hille U, et al. Water-Induced Thermogenesis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003;88(12):6015-6019. doi:10.1210/jc.2003-030780; Boschmann M, Steiniger J, Franke G, Birkenfeld AL, Luft FC, Jordan J. Water Drinking Induces Thermogenesis through Osmosensitive Mechanisms. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007;92(8):3334-3337. doi:10.1210/jc.2006-1438; Brown CM, Dulloo AG, Montani J-P. Water-Induced Thermogenesis Reconsidered: The Effects of Osmolality and Water Temperature on Energy Expenditure after Drinking. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91(9):3598-3602. doi:10.1210/jc.2006-0407.
Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. The National Academy of Sciences Website. http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2004/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-Water-Potassium-Sodium-Chloride-and-Sulfate.aspx. February 11, 2004. Accessed August 26, 2018.
Convertino VA, Armstrong LE, Coyle EF, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996;28(1):i-vii.
Araki T, Matsushita K, Umeno K, Tsujino A, Toda Y. Effect of physical training on exercise-induced sweating in women. J Appl Physiol. 1981;51(6):1526-1532. doi:10.1152/jappl.1981.51.6.1526.
Van Cauter E, Plat L. Physiology of growth hormone secretion during sleep. J Pediatr. 1996;128(5 Pt 2):S32-7.
Nedeltcheva A V., Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Insufficient Sleep Undermines Dietary Efforts to Reduce Adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153(7):435. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-153-7-201010050-00006.
Yi S, Nakagawa T, Yamamoto S, et al. Short sleep duration in association with CT-scanned abdominal fat areas: the Hitachi Health Study. Int J Obes. 2013;37(1):129-134. doi:10.1038/ijo.2012.17.
Jitomir J, Willoughby DS. Cassia Cinnamon for the Attenuation of Glucose Intolerance and Insulin Resistance Resulting from Sleep Loss. J Med Food. 2009;12(3):467-472. doi:10.1089/jmf.2008.0128; Zhang J, Hupfeld CJ, Taylor SS, Olefsky JM, Tsien RY. Insulin disrupts β-adrenergic signalling to protein kinase A in adipocytes. Nature. 2005;437(7058):569-573. doi:10.1038/nature04140.
National Sleep Foundation. How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? National Sleep Foundation Website. https://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need. Accessed August 26, 2018.
Mattes RD, Campbell WW. Effects of Food Form and Timing of Ingestion on Appetite and Energy Intake in Lean Young Adults and in Young Adults with Obesity. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109(3):430-437. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2008.11.031.
Flood-Obbagy JE, Rolls BJ. The effect of fruit in different forms on energy intake and satiety at a meal. Appetite. 2009;52(2):416-422. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2008.12.001.
29
The Bigger Leaner Stronger Training Plan
We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals.
—QUARRY WORKER’S CREED
In chapter 21, you learned the following training formula:
2–3 | 4–6 | 9–15 | 2–4 | 3–5 | 1–2 | 8–10
And in this chapter, I’m going to give you an effective training plan patterned on it that will help you lose fat, gain muscle, and get strong.
You could use everything you’ve learned so far to create your own training plan, of course, but I recommend you follow mine for at least three months before going off on your own.
Workout programming can be difficult because there are several layers that must work together—training phase, training routine, and workout—and a number of interdependent factors to consider, including goals, intensity, frequency, volume, recovery, and others.
It’s also very helpful to have a bit of weightlifting experience under your belt before creating training plans so you know firsthand what is and isn’t likely to work in actual practice.
If you like my programming and would rather continue w
ith it versus going solo, you’ll find an entire year’s worth of Bigger Leaner Stronger workouts in the free bonus material that comes with this book (www.biggerleanerstronger.com/bonus).
You can also get all my workouts in my book The Year One Challenge for Men (www.biggerleanerstronger.com/challenge).
So, let’s start our review of Bigger Leaner Stronger training with the first of the three layers I just mentioned: the training phase.
The Bigger Leaner Stronger Training Phase
A training phase is a block of training designed to accomplish a specific goal, like increased power, strength, muscle growth, endurance, or recovery.
A training phase generally lasts a number of weeks or even months.
In Bigger Leaner Stronger, our primary goal is muscle and strength gain, so there’s only one type of phase. It lasts nine weeks and consists of two parts:
Hard trainingEach phase begins with eight weeks of hard training designed to maximize muscle and strength gain.
Deloading or restingEach phase ends with one week of deloading or resting to facilitate recovery from the previous eight weeks of hard training.
Each year, then, separates roughly into six training phases.
Depending on your goals, progress, and other factors, your training routines can change or not as you move from one training phase to another. For instance, bodybuilders tend to change their routines more often and more significantly than strength athletes.
In Bigger Leaner Stronger, your training routines are going to change slightly from phase to phase to expose your muscles to new and different types of movement patterns to more fully develop them.
For example, horizontal and vertical pulling movements train your back muscles slightly differently, and you can alternate between emphasizing one and the other in different training phases to good effect.
As you’ll see in my workout routines for you, every one will include at least three sets of heavy squatting, deadlifting, and bench pressing per week, and these exercises will always come first in your workouts.
Bigger Leaner Stronger Page 46
