SECOND EDITION THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMID NUTRITION Eric Helms, PhD, CSCS Andrea Valdez, MS Andy Morgan, BS Purchased by The AWESOME Daniel Alvarez, [email protected] #12838108 This book is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of the guidelines herein is at the sole choice and risk of the reader. Copyright: © 2018 by Eric Helms. All rights reserved. This book or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or recorded in any form without permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information contact: [email protected] Purchased by The AWESOME Daniel Alvarez, [email protected] #12838108 CONTENTS FOREWORD BY JOE KLEMCZEWSKI, PHD ....................................8 PREFACE ............................................................................................ 12 WHAT’S NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION ...................................... 17 What’s Changed .........................................................................................18 What’s Added .............................................................................................18 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 22 MINDSET AND MATERIALS ............................................................ 26 To Track or Not to Track? ........................................................................26 Accuracy, Flexibility, and Consistency .................................................28 The Trouble With “All or Nothing” Thinking ......................................30 Rigid Meal Plans ......................................................................................................30 “Magic” Macros ........................................................................................................ 32 The “Good Food vs. Bad Food” Approach ................................................... 32 Tools For Tracking ....................................................................................35 How to Track Food .................................................................................................36 How to Track Body Weight ................................................................................. 37 LEVEL 1 — ENERGY BALANCE .................................................... 42 How to Find Maintenance Calories .......................................................44 Finding Maintenance By Tracking Weight & Food Intake Over Two Weeks - My Preferred Method ������������������������������������������������������44 Estimating Maintenance by Calculation ......................................................... 47 Is Tracking Your Caloric Intake as a First Step Even Necessary? ..49 Should I Gain or Should I Cut? ...............................................................50 Deciding Appropriate Rates of Weight Loss......................................54 About Cardio Use for Fat Loss ..........................................................................55 Deciding Appropriate Rates of Weight Gain .....................................59 Metabolic Magic? ......................................................................................63 Practical Differences Between Weight Loss and Weight Gain ......66 Energy Availability ....................................................................................68 LEVEL 2 — MACRONUTRIENTS AND FIBER ..............................74 How to Prescribe Macronutrient Guidelines ....................................... 75 Setting Macros for a Fat Loss Phase .................................................... 77 Purchased by The AWESOME Daniel Alvarez, [email protected] #12838108 Setting Protein Intake ........................................................................................... 78 Setting Carbohydrate & Fat Intake .................................................................. 82 Minimum Recommended Carbohydrate and Fat Intake ��������������������������84 Setting Macros for a Gaining Phase .....................................................84 Example Gaining Calculations ............................................................... 87 Example Cutting Calculations ................................................................89 Who Should Use These Recommendations? .......................................91 But How Do I Know if a Higher-fat, Lower-carb or Ketogenic Diet Is Right for Me? .............................................................92 Fiber .............................................................................................................................96 LEVEL 3 — MICRONUTRIENTS AND WATER ........................... 104 Identifying Our “Micros” ...................................................................... 105 Minerals ..................................................................................................................... 105 Vitamins .................................................................................................................... 106 Implementing The “Inclusive” vs. “Exclusive” Mindset .................. 107 Deficiency Considerations When Dieting .................................................... 108 Deficiency Considerations When In a Gaining Phase ............................. 109 Simple Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Recommendations ������������ 110 Fluid Intake ................................................................................................ 112 LEVEL 4 — NUTRIENT TIMING AND FREQUENCY ...................117 Diet Periodization (Diet Breaks) .......................................................... 118 Who Should Use a Diet Break? .........................................................................119 How Do You Implement a Diet Break? ......................................................... 120 What Might Happen During These Diet Breaks? ����������������������������������������121 Single-Day Refeeds .................................................................................122 Who Should Use Single-Day Refeeds? ..........................................................123 So How Do You Implement a Single-Day Refeed? �����������������������������������124 What if You Are in a Gaining Phase? ..............................................................124 Multi-day Refeeds and Carb Cycling ...................................................125 Who Should Use Multi-day Refeeds? ...........................................................126 So How Do You Implement Multi-day Refeeds? ����������������������������������������126 Are There Other Ways to Implement Refeeds? .........................................126 What About Having Higher Calorie Intakes on Training Days and Lower Intakes on ‘Off’ Days? ....................................................................127 Meal Frequency ....................................................................................... 128 Peri-Workout Nutrition ........................................................................... 131 Purchased by The AWESOME Daniel Alvarez, [email protected] #12838108 Post-Workout Carbs .............................................................................................132 Pre-Workout Carbs ...............................................................................................133 Peri-Workout Protein ........................................................................................... 134 Considerations When Cutting ...........................................................................135 Considerations When Gaining ..........................................................................136 Considerations for Extremely Active Athletes ...........................................136 LEVEL 5 — SUPPLEMENTATION .................................................142 Protecting Yourself and Ensuring Quality ......................................... 143 Laboratory Analysis ............................................................................................. 144 Proprietary Blends ............................................................................................... 145 Protein Powder Scams ........................................................................................ 146 Supplement Validity and Effectiveness ............................................. 147 Be Cautious with New Supplements ............................................................. 149 Supplement List ....................................................................................... 151 The A List — Supplements with an Evidence Basis .........................152 Multivitamins ...........................................................................................................152 Essential Fatty Acids — (EPA & DHA) ...........................................................153 Vitamin D3 ............................................................................................................... 154 Creatine Monohydrate .........................................................................................155 Caffeine .....................................................................................................................157 The B List — Conditionally Effective or Mixed Evidence Supplements .............................................................. 159 Beta-Alanine ............................................................................................................159