Muscle Fitness Muscle & Fitness UK - April 2018 | Page 64

MALE
MUSCLE
High Fat diet, and very effective
(assuming the overall calorie deficit)
for fat loss. Moving away from the
long-standing fear of dietary fat can
be tricky, but eating higher fats in
place of carbs can have amazing effects
on the body. To me this refers to foods which have
not been highly processed, refined
or had additives applied (in honesty
even the fresh food and vegetables
in supermarkets have some level of
chemical enhancement, but that’s
another topic!)
Food Quality / Clean Eating:
Food Quality is a subjective term.
What you think is high quality food
may be different to mine. We also hear
the term ‘clean eating’ or ‘clean foods’; Micronutrients:
Fresh foods like vegetables have a
nutrient profile that is far greater than
many processed snack foods. Vitamins
and minerals play an essential part
in how our bodies function. We
should NEVER underestimate the
importance of this nutrient profile.
Hormones:
There are endless hormones that
effect our metabolic function such as
Insulin, Leptin, Ghrelin, Glucagon
and the list goes on. The sooner
you understand the importance of
INSULIN, the sooner you can get your
much-deserved shreds.
Insulin is a storage hormone.
Healthy humans will produce this
from the pancreas in the response to
the rise in blood sugar following the
digestion of food. Carbs and sugars
more so, will cause a sharper rise in
blood sugar, and thus a great insulin
spike. This means 2 things: Firstly,
you are more likely to store any
available dietary nutrients. If
glycogen stores inside muscle cells
are full then this can ‘spill over’ into
fat cells. Secondly, the see-saw of
blood sugar following the insulin
surge can leave you craving for more
carbs and affect your sense of satiety
and alertness.
Why is there is no
‘one size fits all’ guide?
The industry and its experts love to
argue about whether fat loss is as
simple as restricting calories and/
or doing a load more exercise. In
reality, it can be an arduous process
with many physical variables – not
to mention the psychological and
emotional factors that are usually the
first thing to halt progress.
How we approach the 3 key
elements to the plan (Resistance
Training, Cardio and Nutrition)
should vary depending on a few key
variables.
Before planning, ask yourself
these 3 questions:
1: What kind of SOMATOTYPE
(body-type) are you?
People generally fall into the genetic
category of Ectomorph, Endomorph
or Mesomorph. I’ll assume you have
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MUSCLE & FITNESS / APRIL 2018