Bodybuilding Forums

Hi to all,
Just need a bit of diet advice. Have been doing MANS for nearly 4 weeks, I have breakfast at 7am always pure protein, eggs, cheese etc. + cup of coffee, then train about 8am every morning, I am not getting the same sort of lifting results i used to get.

Will the energy return eventually or because i train early do i need some simple carbs to give me a kick ??

Any suggestions ??

Regards
Tallguy

What are the differences in lifting you are experiencing?
You may need to curtail your workout until 8:30 or 9am or just eat 1/2 hour earlier and let those eggs and cheese properly digest. They take awhile.
If not then if working out later on in the day worked for you then go back to that.

tallguy wrote:I am not getting the same sort of lifting results i used to get.

QUESTION: You're not getting the same sort of lifting results that you used to get IN THE MORNING? Or, during some other time of day? Or before you ate before working out?

I'll start by saying that I workout every morning on a completely empty stomach. I probably could lift more if I did so in the middle of the day, but if I switched to the middle of the day, in time, I would hit an energy plateau... get my point? As long as you're consistent, progressive overload should be in effect even if you're lifting less in the morning than say the afternoon or evening.

About 20 minutes before I lift I drink an energy packet which is non-sweetened, no carb (or less than 1/2 hidden carb) and it has taurine, caffeine, niacin, etc and I add 5 grams creatine and 10 grams L-Glutamine. This wakes me up and gives me false energy. Right after my workout I down Zero Carb Isopure with 5 grams creatine and 10 grams L-Glutamine.

Within the hour, I consume a quick absorbing food protein, typically eggs or salmon.

Anyway, although I'm lifting less weight than my previous daytime workouts, I'm progressively overloading and eventually could conceive of meeting and/or exceeding my daytime weights.

The nice thing about morning workouts is that your body further depletes glycogen stores and recruits those fats... plus with MANS I'm in the gym 35-50 minutes which is short but intense. Plus, I eat (or strive to) 50% of my carbs at night with a strawberry/isopure shake.

This has done wonders for my sleep... I pass out like a baby. I'm on week 2 of a THT cycle and I have gone from high 14% fat to 13.8% keeping my weight 1-2 pounds up/down. Ok, I'm rambling... I'd love to hear the answers to those questions though.

Firstly thanks for the replies.

andrewpmast wrote:QUESTION: You're not getting the same sort of lifting results that you used to get IN THE MORNING? Or, during some other time of day? Or before you ate before working out?

I've been working out in the morning for the past 6 months, looking back at my workout logs i was moving heavier weights on my previous diet. Oats for my brekkie. I just feel less strong and when i am gone, i'm gone - the 1 more rep i used to get out previously would probably cause me an injury at the moment !!!!

andrewpmast wrote:The nice thing about morning workouts is that your body further depletes glycogen stores and recruits those fats... plus with MANS I'm in the gym 35-50 minutes which is short but intense. Plus, I eat (or strive to) 50% of my carbs at night with a strawberry/isopure shake.

This has done wonders for my sleep... I pass out like a baby.

I guess one other problem that is going to contribute is my restless nights sleep, every night since i started the mans diet. Think i'll 'save' some carbs for later and see if these get me a better nights sleep. A sugar free Red Bull a good nights sleep on an empty stomach maybe the answer ?!?!?!

Thanks guys.

Ok, so you're in a situation that I think even well fed people hit... which is that plateau that goes beyond progressive overload. That's a tough nut to crack since I don't know how to deal with that either. In fact, there's just some days when I can't do near as many reps of a certain lift that I did the week before. But that happened to me on other diets too. So, I just chalk it off and move on... I think a break helps too. 2 weeks might be enough.

Yea man, sleep deprivation kills me, usually the day AFTER the day I was under-slept, not the next morning. I can honestly say that I have sleep problems myself but ever since I started eating the bulk of my carbs at night, I have fallen asleep while watching TV and I hardly remember hitting the pillow.... Also, I sleep 7.5-8.0 hours a night... I know some people get like 5-6 hours... that's not enough. Hell, 8 hours is really the low end of those ideal numbers.

This is from the Anabolic Diet Ebook:

" Wouldn’t it be better to save the carbs for the night? That’s what many bodybuilders do on
the Anabolic Diet. They’ll keep the carbs minimum during the day and find their energy levels
much increased as a result. Then they’ll come home at night and have the bulk of their carbs
with dinner. The carbs at dinner will find them unwinding in the evening hours, relaxing and
sleeping like a baby at night. "

Andrew, thanks for the info.

I am in bed by 10pm and awake about 2ish restless till 5 and then sleep well till 6.30am !!!!

So it's time to make cuts in my early carbs to save for my carb fest later on !!! I love the way we all talk about saving carbs and using some here and there yet we are talking about such miniscule amounts of total daily carbs, 2 slices of bread and it's all over !!!!!

tallguy wrote:Andrew, thanks for the info.

I am in bed by 10pm and awake about 2ish restless till 5 and then sleep well till 6.30am !!!!

So it's time to make cuts in my early carbs to save for my carb fest later on !!! I love the way we all talk about saving carbs and using some here and there yet we are talking about such miniscule amounts of total daily carbs, 2 slices of bread and it's all over !!!!!

Yea, I feel the same, so funny how a little carbs on a carb deprived body can do you in!

you can try chamomile tea by the way... it knocks me out and if I feel anxious, it settles me down.