Exercise Advice by Strength coach Chad Waterbury

Hey Chad, what type of eating plan do you recommend for fat loss? I’ve heard that everything from low-fat to low-carb will work. But I’m confused about what I should be doing. Please help me lose fat!

The first thing I’d ask you is: where do you primarily store fat? If your answer is “around my midsection” then I’d recommend a low carb approach. Based on the data that’s accumulating with regard to fat loss, most people who primarily store fat around their waistline are producing too much insulin. So insulin levels must be reduced.

Two of the best ways to reduce insulin output are to follow a low carb eating plan and take plenty of :: fish oils ::

Low-carb can be simply defined as eating less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. It’s important that all 50 grams be in the form of  :: green vegetables :: The reason is because green vegetables are :: alkaline ::  That’s important. You see, virtually every protein source is acid-forming, and too much acid can wreak havoc on your organ health and it can diminish your anabolic hormones. So stick to broccoli, asparagus, spinach, and the like for your low carb days.

Now, for most of my clients, I’ll have them consume low carbs for no more than five days before I introduce at least one gram of carbohydrate per pound of lean body mass. This continues for one or two days with most of carbs coming from natural starches and fruits.

:: Protein :: should start at 1.25g/pound of lean body mass on the low carb days; and 0.75g/pound of lean body mass on the higher carb days. This is just a rough estimate, though. Some people respond better to higher protein intake, while others don’t. So start with my recommended levels and adjust from there.

For those who don’t primarily store fat around their midsection, I’ll start them on an eating plan with an equal number of calories coming from carbs, protein, and fat. So if you consume 2100 calories per day, you’ll consume 700 calories from each macronutrient and each meal will be balanced, except for workout nutrition. This is an ideal place to start if you don’t need to lose much fat because natural carbs are important to boost thyroid function, mood and gastrointestinal health. But carbs can problematic – that’s why there’s no best eating plan for everyone.

Both scientific and empirical evidence is mounting to support much higher levels of fish oil than mainstream fitness magazines will tell you. I recommend at least 10 grams of fish oil per day, for starters. If fat loss is still stalled, I’ll increase that number to 24-36 grams per day, based on body weight.

So a low carb eating plan and adequate fish oil consumption are what I consider to be two of the most important keys to fat loss. Next to those two things, you should focus on eating at least six times per day.

How do I know if I’m making progress in the gym? I’ve been training in the 8-10 rep range with barbell squats to build up my thighs and I haven’t been able to increase the weight of my exercises.

The number one factor to consider is your performance. Is it increasing with each workout? Based on your question, it sounds like you’ve stagnated. It’s time for a change.

When clients hire me to train them, one of the first variables I look at is what repetition bracket they’ve been emphasizing. Since you’ve been training in the 8-10 rep range, I’d immediately switch your rep scheme to anything but 8-10 in order to provide a new stimulus to your muscles and nervous system.

Your body will adapt to a repetition scheme quickest. Yep, it’s true. For example, you could train the same movement for 2-3 months without stagnating if you constantly manipulate reps and load (but I don’t recommend such an approach). Furthermore, each workout throughout the week for the same movement or body parts should consist of different reps.

Since you want to build up your thighs, and since you’ve been training in the 8-10 rep range, here’s one way I’d approach the issue.

First, I’d have you train your thighs for three workouts per week. Second, I’d use a rep range that’s different than your body is accustomed to. Third, I’d choose a new set of movements for your thighs. It could look something like this:

Monday: front squat for 8×3
Wednesday: pistols (single leg squat) for 4×6
Friday: Romanian deadlift for 3×15

Of course, the above example is just ~ well, an example. The key points are that I avoided the 8-10 rep range and I chose new movements for your thighs. So the same theory can be applied to the upper body.

Now, it’s important to note that there are many ways to measure progress. Furthermore, there are many ways to set up your workouts to measure an increase in performance. It’s not just about adding more weight to the bar. You could increase the number of sets with each workout:

Week 1: 8×3
Week 2: 9×3
Week 3: 10×3

You could add a rep to each set:

Week 1: 8×3
Week 2: 8×4
Week 3: 8×5

You could decrease the rest periods:

Week 1: 60s rest
Week 2: 55s rest
Week 3: 50s rest

What’s cool about these progression examples is that they force you to do more work without increasing the load. Sure, adding load is great, but it’s not always possible to constantly slap more iron on the bar.

In my book, Muscle Revolution, I outline five different progression methods and I show you how to combine different forms of progressions into your weekly schedule. Which progression methods I use, and how I combine them is based on your goal. So a progression plan for fat loss with maximal strength is different than a progression plan for hypertrophy. In essence, the book shows you how to devise a plan for any goal.

My point is that in order to know if you’re progressing, you must have a plan in place that allows you to easily monitor your performance. And my book shows you how.

How important is post-workout nutrition? With all of my other supplements I simply don’t have enough money to buy one of those recovery powders.

Except for fish oil, a powder drink that consists of fast absorbing protein and carbs is hugely important. I suggest you cut back on whatever else you’re taking and focus on fish oils and a good recovery drink.

How do you know if it’s a good recovery drink? Ideally, it’ll have a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein with virtually no fat. The carbs should be in the form of d-glucose and maltodextrin; the protein should be whey. This allows for quick absorption so the muscles can soak up the carbs and protein while you’re training without overwhelming your gastrointestinal tract.

Now, post-workout nutrition is important too, but I now consider pre-workout nutrition to be even more beneficial. And scientific community is starting to agree. Research in the last few years has demonstrated that your muscles will eat up more of the protein and carbs if they’re taken before the workout instead of after. Don’t get me wrong, you should consume a fast absorbing drink after your workouts, but most people forget about the benefit of a good pre-workout drink.

The trick, though, is to not ingest your drink too early. My clients have their pre-workout drink 5-10 minutes before they start lifting. This allows for enough time to start the absorption process, but not so much time that you have an excess of insulin floating around inactive muscles. If you’d take the drink, say, an hour before your workout, the insulin, carbs, and protein wouldn’t have any place to go so they’d get stored as fat.

If you weigh less than 150 pounds, your pre-workout drink should consist of 40-50 grams of carbs with 20-25 grams of protein. If you weigh more than 150 pounds, start with 50-60 grams of carbs and 25-30 grams of protein. Importantly, the post-workout drink should be similar to the pre-workout drink. The only difference is that the post-workout drink should also contain 5 grams of micronized creatine.

Chad Waterbury is a strength and conditioning coach with Bachelor of Science degrees in Human Biology and Physical Science. He operates his company Chad Waterbury Strength & Conditioning in Santa Monica, CA where his clientele ranges from athletes and members of military special force units to non-athletes seeking exceptional performance and development. He has numerous articles published in such online journals such as Testosterone and the American Journal of Exercise. You can visit his website at chadwaterbury.com.

:: Click here :: if you are interested in a personal consultation with Chad!