The most effective and unconventional ways to create deficit of calories.
Before I start, I believe it is more than important to make clear: the methods on the list bellow are only for highly keto adapted individuals. By any means I do not encourage anyone who is a beginner or do not have enough experience with the nutritional state of ketosis use them.
Many people do not understand it, but creating a deficit of calories boils down to one single thing: burning or expending more than you consume.
Also called hypocaloric balance people get scared, it won’t allow them consume the portions and foods they are used to.
This may often lead to a frustration or discouragement, but in most cases those feelings are caused by nothing but misunderstanding of the final goal.
Since the most commonly used by the so called “gurus” method is the calorie restriction (either by replacing certain foods with lower calorie products or reducing the total daily food intake), people believe this is the only way. Surprisingly it is not!
There are other a lot more effective ways as long as you have the mentioned level of adaptation and as long as you are not scared to do things differently than the others. In the paragraphs bellow I am sharing with you my favorites.
1. Twice a day training split.
Even though it totally contradicts to the most of the of today’s era conventional wisdom, this will allow you create to caloric deficit like nothing else.
How to schedule it ?
There are two options:
A) Train, train, eat.
B) Train, eat, train.
No matter of your choice it will always lead you to success.
But just incase you want to go deeper with the utilization of your own fat stores as energy I would recommend you to go with option A (both sessions during the fasted state). Nothing can force your body mobilize the stubborn fat as this one.
As long as for your caloric intake all you have to do is keep eating the same maintenance of delicious calories from fats and proteins. Once you do it you are all set.
After a while you might notice you do better on a bit extra protein. This is completely normal. Since you exercise twice a day, your body will start synthesize proteins on a whole different level, so do not be afraid to up your protein a notch. Even if the adjustment increases the total amount of daily calories, it will not interfere your cutting journey nor the fat burning processes. The opposite will happen. Just do not go overboard on the protein.
When designing the new split be creative, but also wise. In order to take full advantage of the twice a day training, prioritize your weaker areas and watch your physiques transforms.
Keep at least 6 to 8 hour interval between the two sessions.
A simple split would look like this:
Monday / Thursday:
Am Lower back (thickness) + Pm Upper back (width).
Tuesday / Friday:
Am Quads + Pm Hamstrings & Calves.
Wednesday / Saturday:
Am Arms + Pm Shoulder & Chest.
Sunday:
Rest, cardio or a dedicated to your weaker areas light or feeder workout.
You can also train abs once a day in form of warm up, before one of the sessions.
This is just a simple split similar to the one I commonly use. It is not necessary for you to use the same, but you might get inspired by the fact it is based on upper and lower body workouts. On the days when you train 1st the 2nd always rests. This is a good rule of thumb to follow when it comes to avoidance of overtraining.
I started doing it back in the end of 2014 and this entirely changed my understanding for bodybuilding and fitness. Hands down it was one of the best decisions I made not only for my physique, but for my overall well being. It not only helped me attain the goal I had back then, but dramatically improved my day to day conditioning with virtually no food restriction nor cardio. On top of everything my muscles began to grow faster. I became harder, leaner, fuller and more muscular than ever.
This method is similar to the one used by the legendary Serge Nubret pre contest. Even though most of us know about his red meat and rice consisting one meal per day, his training tactics appear to be very exotic and uncommon to what we now see as industry standard.
Nubret openly shares he’s never been a proponent of the restrictions nor diets in general.
2. Incorporating a 48 hour fast.
Yes, I just said it. Skip a whole day of eating.
How to do it ?
Enjoy the maintenance of awesome and tasty calories 6 days per week. Pick one day and do not consume anything with calories on it. During the 48 fast keep your whole schedule, routines and training exactly the same.
Make sure to keep yourself properly hydrated and feel free to enjoy some awesome black coffee or tea (black or green) during the fast.
By using this method you will create what is called weekly deficit of calories. Since your body is already adapted to the deep state of ketosis, you will not experience any difficulties practicing it once a week. Creating a deficit of calories appears to be a stressor for the bodies and brains of many. But when a fat burning individual applies 48 hour fast his or her body handles things a lot differently.
The longer fast will not put you in the “starvation mode” as the supplement companies and the fitness industry wants to make you believe. The opposite will happen. It will simply trigger rapid fat loss.
Fasting increases testosterone utilization and this goes hand to hand with the muscle sparing effects of the ketone bodies. It will also help your body use all of the available nutrients in your bloodstream like nothing else, so you will more likely build some new tissue.
Even though it contradicts to the conventional wisdom many scientific studies have shown that despite the ratio of macronutrients any calorie ingestion causes degrease of the testosterone levels in the male body.
Longer fasts also trigger a process called autophagy. It puts your body in a state where it recycles the trash cells and removes harmful agents. It inhibits muscle breakdown and helps you look younger. The longer, the fast is the more elevated levels of fat burning become.
Fasting for bodybuilding.
Pre contest this tactic has been used by the incredible Mohammed Makkawy. While on a zero carb diet (only meats and fishes) close to a show he’s been fasting for a whole week prior to the show.
During those periods amino acids and desiccated liver tablets were the only things he has consumed.
I am giving you this just as an example. By any means I do not encourage you to go without food for a whole week regardless of the levels of your adaptation.
Makkawy’s methods were too extreme and they’ve been used for show purposes only. So, please keep that in mind.
3. 48 hour fast with buttered coffee.
This is the light version of previous method. So, just incase you do not feel confident nor secure enough to start incorporating plain 48 hour fasts during the course of your week, you might find this more appealing.
How to do it ?
Skip the whole day of eating, but have only one buttered coffee during the fasted period (preferably later in the day). This will not produce the exact same results, but will help you create the desired weekly deficit of calories. Since they are extremely fast acting I do not encourage you to use MCTS. Just stick with the good old grass fed butter and watch the fat strips of your body.
If you are not a fan of the buttered coffee, you can simply consume little bit of butter instead of your meal.
Aren’t those tactics dangerous ?
No, they are not. When in ketosis human bodies respond very well to the prolonged fasts. In this situation the overall deficit of calories also appears as less taxing to your brain.
So, should you use them?
Yes, as long as you want and you are 100% sure your body has the ability to effortlessly tap to its own fat stores for fuel.
Yes, if you are bored of what industry gurus preach and you are ready to see things from different perspective.
Yes, if you want to train more and you search for a good reason to start.
No, if you are not already keto adapted or for some reason you do not want.
No, if you prefer to stick to what is written in the magazines.
No, if the ideas such as skipping a day of eating or hitting the gym twice do not sound appealing to you.
Conclusion and psychological stand point.
The truth is this: Idea of consuming less calories every day for extended period of time can dramatically alter the mood of many people.
By using the conventional methods and following a low calorie diets you set yourself up for restriction and potential feels of guilt and deprivation 7 days per week. A lot of people underestimate it, but this is the actual detail which prevents them from moving towards their goals and reaching success.
I am pretty sure most of us often hear the phrase “Nothing works unless you do”, but in order to make something work, you have to stick with it. If somehow you are not willing to stick to something, then it doesn’t work for you and this is all that matters.
Please do yourself a favor and do not allow someone to tell you there is only one way to do things. Just because a pro bodybuilder or a model from a magazine cover tells you their way is the only one does not mean it truly is. There are plenty others as long as you are willing to think out of the box.
Let’s not also forget that most of today’s so called fitness celebrities shoot Insulin, IGF1 and human growth hormone. During the era of people like Nubret and Makkawy those were not invented.
Twice a day splits and intermittent fasting were some of the tools they used to get in shape back then.
It probably sounds weird, but to many of us practices such as the twice a day splits or fasting for 48 hours seem to be a lot more appealing than the daily restriction of calories. I guess it boils down to personal preferences.
I hope that makes sense.
Yours truly:
Peteonthebeat
