Leangains and IF done right - 7 month cut/bulk

[patrickgear]

I've been on leangains for about 2 months. So far very pleased with the results but I want to try and dial in my macros.

I was wondering what meals you eat in the 8 hour window that aren't PW? What meals do you eat on your off days? And what type of macros (carbs, protein) are your non-PWO meals and off day meals?

Thanks!

It's honestly pretty simple. It might sound confusing because there's so much damn information on the website, but all you need to do is focus on the 16 hour fast.

If you maintain that 16 hour fast, all you can basically do is eat within those 8 hours. Now use your basic meal timing knowledge to create your schedule.

We all know the PWO meal is the most important on lifting days, so eat as you normally would after your workout. If you decide to train fasted, take your BCAA's or at least have a protein shake beforehand. A lot of the times, my breakfast is my PWO meal, so I just eat my ass off.

If you want to have your first meal at a normal lunch time (around 12pm), then just make sure your last meal is somewhere around 8pm the night before.

[defixon]

I've been on leangains for about 2 months. So far very pleased with the results but I want to try and dial in my macros.

I was wondering what meals you eat in the 8 hour window that aren't PW? What meals do you eat on your off days? And what type of macros (carbs, protein) are your non-PWO meals and off day meals?

Thanks!

Honestly, nothing out of the ordinary. I lower my carbs on non-lift days and that's about it. A typical day will be something like this.

4PM: 7eggs, some ham, Cottage cheese, and a packet or two of oatmeal
8PM(Post workout): 50 Gram Protein shake (mix agave nectar in it for a low GI sugar), some chicken/fish/steak, rice/couscous/Quinoa (sh*t is a superfood), and a random veggy.
12AM: cottage cheese, fruit, tuna mixed into veggies (and whatever else to snack on).

[STPinPA]

I used Martin Berkhan's Leangains (www.leangains.com) method in order to slowly bulk up while virtually adding no fat to my body.

These two pictures are from July 2010 - Jan 2011. I was only in a caloric surplus from Sept-end of December. The rest of the time I was still in a deficit with intent to lose more bodyfat.

Same mirror, same lighting (pretty much).

July '10



Jan '11

How many calories for your surplus?

And for your deficit? Nice transformation.

[WheyMore2Gain]

where does milk fit into this?

[ezkzak]

I'd like the info on your workout routine too if you don't mind.

[defixon]

I'd like the info on your workout routine too if you don't mind.

Its on page 2.

Heres my schedule:

Monday: Upper Body
Tuesday: Abs and Cardio
Wednesday : Upper body
Thursday: Lower body (I hit them hard, and usually refeed on this day)
Friday: Abs and cardio
Saturday; Upper body
Sunday: Cardio

I don't follow this to a T, since I just do my upper body pretty much every other day.. but that's typically my week goes.

[MrBates]

Looking great (no homo). Clean bulking is the way to go!

[Guizmo0]

How many calories for your surplus?

And for your deficit? Nice transformation.

Id like to know the answer to this question aswell. If you want to, could you give details on the macronutritions %? Like

Working out day: 3000kcals and for each meal, protain 35%/carbs 55%/fats 10%

meal 1 - 750 kcals
meal 2 - 1250 kcals
meal 3 - 1000 kcals

Non working out day: 2000 kcals

meal 1
meal 2
meal 3

And also, how much protain per lb do you prefer when cutting/bulking on working out days/non working out days? Thanks in advance.

In any case, great transformation.

[coals]

Been IF'ing for almost exactly one year now (one year in 6 days).

Absolutely freaking love it. In fact I've modified it a bit for 18-20 hour fasts since its more natural. Will easily live this way forever. Strong progress. You're entire upper body blew up, especially those beast arms.


Leg pics?

Also no homo but x3, become a model , make bank. infinite poon.

Send your progress pics to berkhan, i can give you his email if you want. He may put you up on his website ( then show to potential bosses = get hired as model)

[matt_kw]

Coals- would you mind sending me Martin's email? Want to get in contact with him with a few questions... You can PM me if you don't want to post it publicly. Thanks man. Congrats on your achievements, too, man -- looking awesome!

Been IF'ing for almost exactly one year now (one year in 6 days).

Absolutely freaking love it. In fact I've modified it a bit for 18-20 hour fasts since its more natural. Will easily live this way forever. Strong progress. You're entire upper body blew up, especially those beast arms.


Leg pics?

Also no homo but x3, become a model , make bank. infinite poon.

Send your progress pics to berkhan, i can give you his email if you want. He may put you up on his website ( then show to potential bosses = get hired as model)

[runningback666]

Great progress! keep it up man! hard work will always pay off in the end, very well done!

[strunz]

u took roids right? dont most people on this site? :/

[Neo_seraph]

I do an upper body/lower body split. I hit my full upper body about 3 times a week or so, and i hit my lower body (legs) once a week. For my upper body I focus on the main compound lifts with some isolation exercises as well. Example:

Chest:
Incline DB Press
Decline Press
Incline flies

Back:
Various grip pull-ups/Chins
deadlifts
Bent over rows

Shoulders:
Shoulder press/Military press
side delt raises with cable
shrugs

Triceps:
Dips
Skullcrushers supersetted with close grip bench
Tricep pushdowns

Biceps:
Various grip curls
Hammer curls
Chin ups

I do all these in one day, but in keep in mind I only do about 2-3 sets per exercise. The whole workout takes me a little over an hour. And I switch up some exercises here n there as well as the order.

For legs I just do the normal ****:

ATG squats
Leg press
Leg extensions
Seated calf raises
standing calf raises

Ok great, i think i'll try it this way!

How'd you go about cramming all the macros into 3 meals? like does it really matter how much carbs or protein, etc is in one meal? I can do it no problem, just curious

[hankst]

Coals- would you mind sending me Martin's email? Want to get in contact with him with a few questions... You can PM me if you don't want to post it publicly. Thanks man. Congrats on your achievements, too, man -- looking awesome!

Everything you need to know is on www.leangains.com, and I'm pretty sure he won't personally build you a diet unless you're taking him as a consultant for hard cash. Even then, I think he doesn't take any new clients atm.

(but it's a pretty simple approach anyway, and you can piece together everything yourself, and if any questions arise: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=3587831 we're glad to help you out)

[defixon]

Been IF'ing for almost exactly one year now (one year in 6 days).

Absolutely freaking love it. In fact I've modified it a bit for 18-20 hour fasts since its more natural. Will easily live this way forever. Strong progress. You're entire upper body blew up, especially those beast arms.


Leg pics?

Also no homo but x3, become a model , make bank. infinite poon.

Send your progress pics to berkhan, i can give you his email if you want. He may put you up on his website ( then show to potential bosses = get hired as model)

I feel the same way man! I could never see myself going back to a "regular" diet. I'll get some leg pics for ya guys, they're nothing special but I do work them pretty hard.

Shoot me a PM with his email, I'll send him the results once I'm done with my cut since he's all about being shredded . I'm going to get some professional photos done after my cut as well, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for the advice bud!

Great progress! keep it up man! hard work will always pay off in the end, very well done!

For sure! Thanks, brah!

u took roids right? dont most people on this site? :/

notsureifsrs. natural, of course.

[defixon]

Id like to know the answer to this question aswell. If you want to, could you give details on the macronutritions %? Like

Working out day: 3000kcals and for each meal, protain 35%/carbs 55%/fats 10%

meal 1 - 750 kcals
meal 2 - 1250 kcals
meal 3 - 1000 kcals

Non working out day: 2000 kcals

meal 1
meal 2
meal 3

And also, how much protain per lb do you prefer when cutting/bulking on working out days/non working out days? Thanks in advance.

In any case, great transformation.

I'm really not one to count calories, that's kind of why I switched to LeanGains. I don't really want to obsess over my diet and macro's. I personally do not think it's important for progress, just have an estimate and that's usually good enough. When bulking or eating a surplus on lift days, I just pack food down...I would be very surprised if I wasn't in a surplus..so I don't really worry about it.

When in a cut, I eat the same exact foods I would eat in a bulk, but I just lower my carbs a good amount. I assume if I drop around 200 grams of carbs (going from 350 to 150grams) a day in my diet, that's like 4000 calories in a week...and so far these basic guesstimates have worked just fine.

The day I start plateauing on my stregnth and/or fat loss is the day I will start counting calories and macros.

[strunz]

no i was serious. natty then thats great. at first i thought everyone was natty.. then discovered how many people take roids and now never sure. grats on the gains the real way

[MMAKidChris]

Martin already knows about your cut. He tweeted about you twitter lol

[eva5001]

Great job man! Lookin bigger and leaner! You look great!

[Guizmo0]

I'm really not one to count calories, that's kind of why I switched to LeanGains. I don't really want to obsess over my diet and macro's. I personally do not think it's important for progress, just have an estimate and that's usually good enough. When bulking or eating a surplus on lift days, I just pack food down...I would be very surprised if I wasn't in a surplus..so I don't really worry about it.

When in a cut, I eat the same exact foods I would eat in a bulk, but I just lower my carbs a good amount. I assume if I drop around 200 grams of carbs (going from 350 to 150grams) a day in my diet, that's like 4000 calories in a week...and so far these basic guesstimates have worked just fine.

The day I start plateauing on my stregnth and/or fat loss is the day I will start counting calories and macros.

Thanks man, that helps alot . Peace

[defixon]

Martin already knows about your cut. He tweeted about you twitter lol

That's awesome...just checked it out. Thanks!

[poltaction]

Nice looking physique brah

Definatly looked pumped in the second one though?

[MMAKidChris]

Honestly, nothing out of the ordinary. I lower my carbs on non-lift days and that's about it. A typical day will be something like this.

4PM: 7eggs, some ham, Cottage cheese, and a packet or two of oatmeal
8PM(Post workout): 50 Gram Protein shake (mix agave nectar in it for a low GI sugar), some chicken/fish/steak, rice/couscous/Quinoa (sh*t is a superfood), and a random veggy.
12AM: cottage cheese, fruit, tuna mixed into veggies (and whatever else to snack on).

So what do you use as your carb sources during your cut?

Quinoa
Fruits
Oatmeal

And you stay around 150g of carbs?

[NovakDjokovic]

Wow, now that is amazing. Great job.

[Chuck2600]

Fuark, Ideal physique imo. What are your measurements(chest, arms, thighs) and weight btw?

[apace]

Did you use any supplements ?

[Jearly76]

solid job man. that's some nice progress while staying lean.

[ko300zx]

P.s. Do not ever quit bodybuilding, you will regret it so much. If I had stuck with it from 2006 until now, who knows where I would be. I try not to think about it because I can't change my decisions, but I have definitely learned from it. When feeling unmotivated, just look into the future and picture yourself with an incredible physique. Time moves fast, and you'll be exceeding your goals before you know it!

Yeah, I did something a little similar and I try not to harp on it, but sometimes I get frustrated thinking about how much farther along I could be.

Great progress though. Keep it up.

[CyaNite]

great physique man awesome results. i was most impressed with your forearms to be honest you do anything special with them.

[Ironbrah]

in for later