Q&A with Trainer - Erik Ledin

[Erik]

Originally Posted by fitdzin

I noticed you often feel the protein levels that girls are taking in in the off-season is too high. I'm 5"8 135 lbs and have been doing about 200 g a day with about 200 carbs and 75 fat. I'm building. Is this too much in your expert opinion?

Thanks,

April

Figure even if you were 100% muscle, which you're of course not, that's 1.5g/lb of bodyweight. So assume relative to your LBM it's even higher than that.

Protein requirements are modulated by both calories and other protein sparing nutrients, like carbohydrates. So, basically, protein requirements decrease when calories and carbohydrates increase, because less protein is now oxidized for energy.

Really, at this point your protein intake becomes a more expensive and inefficient form of carbohydrate. The only thing that makes protein unique is its nitrogen component. Once that's cleaved you're left with a carbon skeleton that is either going to be used for energy or stored ... like a carbohydrate.

It just winds up being a waste to be honest and it's not doing you any additional favours that a more moderate intake would do for you in the offseason.

The one confounding factor might be steroid usage since steroids will increase net protein accretion; basically you'll get more out of your high protein intake with the use of drugs, than without.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by fitdzin

ZERO cardio!! lol

How refreshing.

[fitdzin]

Originally Posted by Erik

Figure even if you were 100% muscle, which you're of course not, that's 1.5g/lb of bodyweight. So assume relative to your LBM it's even higher than that.

Protein requirements are modulated by both calories and other protein sparing nutrients, like carbohydrates. So, basically, protein requirements decrease when calories and carbohydrates increase, because less protein is now oxidized for energy.

Really, at this point your protein intake becomes a more expensive and inefficient form of carbohydrate. The only thing that makes protein unique is its nitrogen component. Once that's cleaved you're left with a carbon skeleton that is either going to be used for energy or stored ... like a carbohydrate.

It just winds up being a waste to be honest and it's not doing you any additional favours that a more moderate intake would do for you in the offseason.

The one confounding factor might be steroid usage since steroids will increase net protein accretion; basically you'll get more out of your high protein intake with the use of drugs, than without.

Gotcha. So, I guess my fear that replacing about 65 grams of protein with 65more grams of carbs is stupid.....as long as the calories are the same, since the excess protein gets utilized the same anyway? going up over 200 grams of carbs seems wild to me- its taken me a long time to get to that level even after being a low carber for SO many years. The low carb just wasn't working for me, I could never build so I switched.

[tammyp]

whats your take on fruit off season? i have been told to only have it pre and pwo..but as long as it fits in my macros and alotted cals, i assumed it was fine. can the fruit sugar really sabbatoge you on a clean off season plan?

[hamsta112052]

Originally Posted by tammyp

whats your take on fruit off season? i have been told to only have it pre and pwo..but as long as it fits in my macros and alotted cals, i assumed it was fine. can the fruit sugar really sabbatoge you on a clean off season plan?

I was wondering the same thing- I love fruit and and that's what I like to snack on at night while the hubster is eating his CHOCOLATE! Pre workout is oatmeal, post workout is rice cakes or cream of wheat, so is nightime fruit( like my faves, grapes, cherries, or watermelon) a prob?

[Erik]

Originally Posted by tammyp

whats your take on fruit off season? i have been told to only have it pre and pwo..but as long as it fits in my macros and alotted cals, i assumed it was fine. can the fruit sugar really sabbatoge you on a clean off season plan?

Absolutely, 100%, perfectly fine.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by fitdzin

Gotcha. So, I guess my fear that replacing about 65 grams of protein with 65more grams of carbs is stupid.....as long as the calories are the same, since the excess protein gets utilized the same anyway?

Could do it partly from carbs and partly from fat; that's an option too.

going up over 200 grams of carbs seems wild to me- its taken me a long time to get to that level even after being a low carber for SO many years. The low carb just wasn't working for me, I could never build so I switched.

Low carb and muscle building just doesn't seem to pan out for most. Glad you decided to up the carbs. Too much carb paranoia out there as it is. LOL

[Sohee]

Hello Eric,

My trainer just sent me my updated plan yesterday and he only gave me 15 minutes of cardio a week. Is this a scam?


Thanks Eric!

[tasha5951]

Originally Posted by Sohee

Hello Eric,

My trainer just sent me my updated plan yesterday and he only gave me 15 minutes of cardio a week. Is this a scam?


Thanks Eric!

Is your trainer's name Eric?

j/k

[hamsta112052]

Originally Posted by Sohee

Hello Eric,

My trainer just sent me my updated plan yesterday and he only gave me 15 minutes of cardio a week. Is this a scam?


Thanks Eric!

At least you get your 15 minutes of fame! I get a big fat ZERO!!! My trainer told me all the spinning I was doing was counterproductive to what we're trying to do- build those weeny little muscles of mine!

[Sohee]

Originally Posted by tasha5951

Is your trainer's name Eric?

j/k

No, his name is not Eric....

Originally Posted by hamsta112052

At least you get your 15 minutes of fame! I get a big fat ZERO!!! My trainer told me all the spinning I was doing was counterproductive to what we're trying to do- build those weeny little muscles of mine!

Well consider this: I did zero cardio for all of July! I haven't gone that long with no cardio for nine years!!! And you know what? I have never looked better

[tasha5951]

Sorry Erik, just realized I spelled your name with a "c" in my last post. My bad!

[hamsta112052]

Originally Posted by Sohee

No, his name is not Eric....



Well consider this: I did zero cardio for all of July! I haven't gone that long with no cardio for nine years!!! And you know what? I have never looked better

No argument there- I've been off cardio for maybe 4 weeks, and I see a difference- just feels kind of funny to go to the gym and not do cardio- weird! I'd rather save my energy for pushing around the iron

[tammyp]

i just came off my first pro show with 0 zero cardio for 16 wks. a week out i did 15 mins for 3 days ...other than walking my dog, that was it. made a believer outta me that cardio is wayy over rated.

[Blondell]

Originally Posted by tammyp

i just came off my first pro show with 0 zero cardio for 16 wks. a week out i did 15 mins for 3 days ...other than walking my dog, that was it. made a believer outta me that cardio is wayy over rated.

Awe.Some.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Sohee

Hello Eric,

My trainer just sent me my updated plan yesterday and he only gave me 15 minutes of cardio a week. Is this a scam?


Thanks Eric!

[jmc]

I competed in 2 shows this year and my contest weight was 118-120 and my bf was 11%. i am currently trying to build more muscle. so my ? is, and this may sound stupid, but since i am trying to put on more muscle my contest weight should be slightly higher next year right? i recently got my bf% checked and i am 15.7% at 136lbs, am i too much over weight? i know numbers arent as important as looks but i dont want to put too much weight and fat on and then have to diet hard and loose to much muscle next year!!!! thanks for your help i have no idea what to do!

[Erik]

Originally Posted by jmc

I competed in 2 shows this year and my contest weight was 118-120 and my bf was 11%. i am currently trying to build more muscle. so my ? is, and this may sound stupid, but since i am trying to put on more muscle my contest weight should be slightly higher next year right?

Assuming a similar competitive bodyfat percentage and you were in fact successful with adding some muscle, then yes, you should be a little heavier.

i recently got my bf% checked and i am 15.7% at 136lbs, am i too much over weight?

First things first; remember that body fat tests are an approximate and they all come with some assumed error variance. But just for the sake of argument, let's pretend it's 100% accurate.

118-120 at 11% is 105 to 106.8 lbs of LBM. (about 13 lbs of body fat). 136 at 15.7% is 114.6 lbs of LBM (21.4 lbs of body fat).

I'd guess one of those two numbers (body fat percentage) is not correct as I doubt you've added nearly 10 lbs of muscle already (you said you've competed twice this year, so this isn't even a 12-month building period). But that's besides the point right now as we're assuming they're accurate for the sake of the question.

So, nearly 10 lbs of muscle and an additional 8 lbs of fat. Nearly a 1:1 ratio which while it may not sound great, is actually great.

So you have 8 or so extra pounds of fat on your body relative to contest condition. Not bad at all. What's that? 6 to 8 weeks contest diet? LOL Especially given your numbers suggest nearly 10 lbs of muscle - which is a ton by the way (and would dramatically transform pretty much anyone - hence my speculation at the numbers).

Long way of saying (again, assuming accurate numbers), no you're not too heavy.

If the 114.6 lbs of LBM is accurate, and you competed at 11% again, you'd be 128-129 lbs on stage.

[jmc]

Originally Posted by Erik

Assuming a similar competitive bodyfat percentage and you were in fact successful with adding some muscle, then yes, you should be a little heavier.

GOOD THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

First things first; remember that body fat tests are an approximate and they all come with some assumed error variance. But just for the sake of argument, let's pretend it's 100% accurate.

118-120 at 11% is 105 to 106.8 lbs of LBM. (about 13 lbs of body fat). 136 at 15.7% is 114.6 lbs of LBM (21.4 lbs of body fat).

I'd guess one of those two numbers (body fat percentage) is not correct as I doubt you've added nearly 10 lbs of muscle already (you said you've competed twice this year, so this isn't even a 12-month building period). But that's besides the point right now as we're assuming they're accurate for the sake of the question.
Yes i know that adding 10lbs of muscle in a couple of months is impossible so the numbers are probably slightly inaccurate!
So, nearly 10 lbs of muscle and an additional 8 lbs of fat. Nearly a 1:1 ratio which while it may not sound great, is actually great.

So you have 8 or so extra pounds of fat on your body relative to contest condition. Not bad at all. What's that? 6 to 8 weeks contest diet? LOL Especially given your numbers suggest nearly 10 lbs of muscle - which is a ton by the way (and would dramatically transform pretty much anyone - hence my speculation at the numbers).
6-8 week diet that would be AWESOME!!! but yea i understand the specualtion of the numbers!

Long way of saying (again, assuming accurate numbers), no you're not too heavy.

If the 114.6 lbs of LBM is accurate, and you competed at 11% again, you'd be 128-129 lbs on stage.

Im guessing thats a pretty ok weight to be at as long as i look good!!! right now you can still see the outline of my abs and a decent amount of muscle everywhere else!
thanks for all of your help!!!