# New Guy Here - Hello!



## MuscleHacker (Jan 14, 2008)

Hi everyone,

Good to be here. My name is Mark McManus, I run a site called MuscleHack. Just found this forum when looking for a UK based bodybuilding community to participate in.

I love to workout and eat right. I am constantly learning and passing on any effective strategies to others.

One of my favorite topics is nutrition and I'm a big advocate of low-carb nutrition with a controlled carb-up period. I've seen from personal experience how anabolic this approach is and so I'm passionate about sharing it. It also happens to be the most effective way to strip off fat and preserve lean muscle IMHO.

Anyway, I'm getting carried away. Good to be here - look forward to chatting to you all.

Mark McManus


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Welcome to the board


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## MuscleHacker (Jan 14, 2008)

Cheers mate


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## cellaratt (Jul 16, 2008)

Welcome aboard it's snowing in VT


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## Nath1466867935 (Sep 4, 2007)

Yeah man, welcome aboard!!!


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

MuscleHacker said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Good to be here. My name is Mark McManus, I run a site called MuscleHack. Just found this forum when looking for a UK based bodybuilding community to participate in.
> 
> ...


Hi Mark,

Been having a look through your site. Some interesting points of view.

A few questions for you:

Why do you beleive 5 days a week to the be optimum number of days to workout?

In your example back routine deadlifts aren't included, any reason why?

Why you only feel that 8-12 reps is a suitable rep range?

How did you reach the conclusion than High Protein, Low Carb, High Fat should be followed for 5 1/2 days before embarking on a 36 hour refeed?

You don't seem to eat alot on your low carb days, 5 eggs, and 2 chicken wraps between 6.30am and 4.30pm - I'd starve on that. In fact I'd eat that before lunch... Any particular reason why you have so few kcals before your 4.30pm meal?


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## Tom84 (Dec 12, 2005)

In his own words on 4 - 6 reps ...

'My problem with that is that it's too damn hard to get good form when performing each rep with a weight that heavy i.e. If I'm curling a dumbbell so heavy that I can't get any more than 6 reps, I find my form sucks!'


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Young Gun said:


> In his own words on 4 - 6 reps ...
> 
> 'My problem with that is that it's too damn hard to get good form when performing each rep with a weight that heavy i.e. If I'm curling a dumbbell so heavy that I can't get any more than 6 reps, I find my form sucks!'


Low reps for Bi's? Thats a new one on me.


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## steveg (Nov 24, 2006)

welcome to MC


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## MuscleHacker (Jan 14, 2008)

Just got back here. Didn't realise there were as many replies.

Thanks for the welcome everyone.



> Why do you beleive 5 days a week to the be optimum number of days to workout?


I believe in training 1 - 2 body parts per workout so this works out at 5 days.


> In your example back routine deadlifts aren't included, any reason why?


I don't recommend anything to anyone that I don't do myself, that way I can keep integrity. Having said that, deadlifts are great. I don't deny that I don't place a lot of emphasis on my back.


> Why you only feel that 8-12 reps is a suitable rep range?


I don't feel it's the only suitable rep range. It is the best however for hypertrophy. It also allows good form and a fuller range of motion. I go into 8 - 12 reps for building muscle more here.


> How did you reach the conclusion than High Protein, Low Carb, High Fat should be followed for 5 1/2 days before embarking on a 36 hour refeed?


BIG question. Read this article or look up some work by Mauro Di Pasquale (Anabolic Solution for bodybuilders), Lyle McDonald (Ultimate Diet 2.0), Dan Duchaine (Underground bodyopus) and others that sing the praises of this dietary approach.


> You don't seem to eat alot on your low carb days, 5 eggs, and 2 chicken wraps between 6.30am and 4.30pm


No, in that post you're quoting I had the following between those hours

*6.30am* Breakfast - *Scrambled Eggs* (3, 4 or 5 depending on hunger) - made with cream not milk. I have this with a decaff coffee with cream, sweetened with splenda.

*10/11am* - *Low-carb wrap* filled with chicken, cheese & mayo *& a 'Go-Lower' bar.*

*1pm/2pm* - *Low-carb wrap* with tuna & cheese & *Peperami bar**.*

*4.30pm* - *Celeriac fries* or any combination of cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage *with steak or pork (2 fillets)*. I like this with *melted butter on top or ranch dressing.*

Butter, cheese, mayo, double cream - there are a LOT of calories in those. 100 grams of the mayo I use is around 720 calories 

Again, thanks for the welcome everyone.

Mark


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

I have done most diets in the 18yrs i have been competing and by far the best approach is a carb cycling method over a 7 day period with 2 medium/1 high/3 low and 1 refeed day this has also worked for the guys and girls i coach....high fat diets do work but in my opinion is not a long term solution to weight loss....


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Sorry to totally hijack your welcome thread muscle hacker.

One interesting thing I found out the other day which I wasn't aware of was this:

Low carbing and high fat places your body into ketosis where you burn fat.

Yet the metabolic pathways for converting carbs to fat are virtually non existant, the body needs fat in order to store fat.

I quite like 'keto' diets - althought to be honest I can stick to any diet fairly well - as I tend to feel fresh on a morning.

But its looking more and more as though carb cycling as Paul described, and as I have done previously (although I've had zero carb days as part of the cycle) is the best long term method for dieting IMHO.

Just need RazG to continue explaining exactly what happens now so I fully understand whats going on.


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## MuscleHacker (Jan 14, 2008)

Nice to see some people recognizing the power of carb cycling.

Everyone is unique so the key is to test. Your weekly cycle obviously works great for you PSCarb whereas I can't handle that many carbs without laying down fat. I actually just recently cut my weekly carb-up from 36 hours to 30 hours. Anyway, keep promoting the good word, you look great.

No worries Tall, Ketosis usually occurs below 30 grams of carbs per day for most people. There's no need to be in ketosis for bulking so that's why I recommend 30 grams as the starting point during a bulking phase.

As far as the metabolic pathways of carbs to fat. The mechanism works like this

*Carbs - Increased Blood Sugar - Insulin increased - Triglycerides - Adipose Tissue (body fat)*

There is an excellent, ground-breaking book on the matter by Gary Taubes called The Diet Delusion. You might want to look into it and see what others are saying. It was called 'Good Calories Bad Calories' in the US if you want to google it.

As far as needing dietary fat to gain body fat, that was the belief 10 - 15 years ago. The dogma was, you need fat to gain fat. My belief is that the body *needs* carbohydrates to gain fat. Anyway, it's a big issue. Do what you feel works best for you.

PS, there's a good podcast on the matter here. If you get some time, have a listen mate.

Cheers,

Mark


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## bodyworks (Oct 17, 2007)

it's a commonly held belief that high carb diets are bad. surprise surprise i disagree. if you wanna gain muscle, i think high high carbs are the way to go. The human body adapts amazingly well to the fuel it's given, so almost polar opposites in diet strategies can both elicit the desired effect. the least commonly challenged diet regimen is a high protein content for bodybuilders. i'd argue that this is not a necessity.


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Since we had that chat Shane, I've dropped my protein levels to < 300g per day, I average about 240g per day I think (1g / 1lb bw).

Managing my diet has certainly been easier - less shakes, more real food. Interestingly enough - less stomach bloat and less 'air croutons'


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

i would say that as long as the intensity is high and you do sufficient cardio you do not need to do very low to zero carb days as a BB....

in 2005 when i first hooked up with my coach Harrold marillier my high day was 120g and my low day was 0g in my last show my high day was 450g and my low day was 180g and believe me when i say that i used to be very carb sensative so what i am trying to say that carb cycling is the way forward but if you are willing to do the hard work on the cardio side....


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

How much cardio do you do per week Paul?


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

off season i do between 90-135 min whilst in pre-contest mode i do 450min per week.


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

7.5 hours heck - is that just walking Paul?


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

I dont think its really carbs that are the problem with fat more the effect of insulin and how sensitive you are to it.

A highly sensitive person such as a bber who competes can handle much more carbs than a normal trainer.

I read an interesting article on insulin in MD this month talking about the feedback mechanisms of Insulin and its effect on PKA and mTor.

Also interestingly I didnt know that obese people secrete an enzyme that actually inhibits fat burning which is why its so hard for them to shift weight initially and why so many of them fail to lose weight on conventioanl diets.

All interesting stuff.

Muscle Hack I hope there are some links to this site from your site seeing as how you have linked in your sig.:welcome:


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## MuscleHacker (Jan 14, 2008)

> I dont think its really carbs that are the problem with fat more the effect of insulin and how sensitive you are to it.


I agree with that. There are people who just won't put on weight no matter what they eat. I know a few of them, chocolate bars, crisps, scones, chips every day - they're skinny rakes. For the rest of us though, it's carbs that cause insulin release so I think it's best to take a controlled approach to them.



> Muscle Hack I hope there are some links to this site from your site seeing as how you have linked in your sig


Yep, I'll stick it in the blogroll.


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

Tall said:


> 7.5 hours heck - is that just walking Paul?


yes mate i react very well with medium - fast walking, the reason i do so much is because then i do not have to go so low on the food....


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

PScarb said:


> yes mate i react very well with medium - fast walking, the reason i do so much is because then i do not have to go so low on the food....


Interesting - I'll bear that in mind


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