How to Get Into Starvation Mode

Starvation Mode. We’ve heard about it and now we’re going to give you a step by step guide on how to get into it.

Popular fitness media would have you believe that starvation mode is something you can fall victim to within a few hours after eating a meal.

This poster from the Minnesota Experiment Shows you what starvation mode looks like

Common recommendations include eating every 3 hours, making sure you eat enough protein, eating a mixed macro nutrient ratio, paying attention to post workout nutrition etc.

These recommendations might be applicable to people who are experiencing true starvation mode… so how do you get there?

First of all starvation mode isn’t defined by the timing between meals, or the protein content of your meals, or even the amount of calories you eat.

Starvation mode as defined by the time when your body stops being able to metabolize fat for energy and turns to lean body mass – and happens at a
specific and measurable body fat mass.

For the vast majority of normal healthy people, there is no danger of ever being in true starvation mode.

Competitive bodybuilders and highly trained military personnel are likely the only people who can and will approach body fat levels low enough to experience true starvation mode.

Men and women each have a scientifically determined critical bodyfat mass, and an interesting area of research seems to indicate that as we approach these critical body fat mass levels we also start to experience true starvation mode.

In today’s podcast, we’ll discuss what these critical body fat levels are, and what it takes to get this low.

John

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Contest Prep: What is Really Going on Behind the Scenes

Preparing for a photoshoot and more specifically a contest involves a big change to the diet, but not so much to your training. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to most people. What is surprising is how much extra ‘help’ many competitors are getting from various pharmaceutical sources.

Andreas Munzer. Known for being shredded…but it cost him his life.

In todays podcast I chat with our industry insider about what really goes into the contest prep of top level bodybuilders and fitness competitors.

We’ll discuss the major differences between getting ready for a contest/photoshoot with and without the help of pharmaceuticals. We’ll discuss what supplements come into play and how the diet will change over time.

Training is always important and maintaining intensity is a big key. Along the way you may need to cut certain exercises and make some changes to your overall training volume, but keeping intensity consistent will go a long way to preserving your muscle as you strip off the fat.

The influence of drugs in competition prep cannot be overlooked especially if you’re choosing an external model to help shape your goal. You can never be sure who is using what, so you have to temper your expectations what your willingness to do or use what others will do or use.

In other words, try not to compare yourself to others, or set someone else’s body shape/look/size/leanness as your own goal because you can’t know for certain what they’re currently doing or what they’ve done in the past that is influencing their look.

Prepping for a photoshoot takes effort and consistency in both diet and training no matter if you’re clean or a chemical warehouse, the only thing that will change is the absolute final look.

This is why you should only ever compare yourself to yourself.

This podcast will give you some insights into the range of items that can enter into a contest prep routine. We’re not endorsing that you ever try any of them, but we want you to be informed of what really goes on so you can set realistic expectations for your own physique.

The true win is when you’ve managed to beat your previous best and get into your personal best shape.

John

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Getting into “Stage” Contest Shape, Tracking Results is Key: Interview with Don Gauvreau

Prepping for a bodybuilding or fitness show is an inexact science. There are different ways to do it and different schools of thought on what is the best approach. Over the next few weeks, I will be interviewing some of the best in the business at getting people into contest shape.

Today I interview Don Gauvreau. He’s has extensive experience formulating and developing sports supplements and has recently started his own brand of supplements. You can check them out here: Pharma Freak

Donny G definitely knows what it takes to get in shape.

Besides his own competitions, Don has coached many top level bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors through their pre-contest diet/training to prepare for a show.

In this interview Don will give his advice and insights on the process of getting in shape for a show. We’ll talk about training intensity, volume, cardio, and how to make adjustments along the way.

We’ll also discuss the effect of changing diet along the way and what seems to work and what doesn’t.

At the end of the day there is no rules about what to do beyond what is working vs what isn’t working. This is the hardest thing for most people to grasp as we all want the final answer on what to do. The real answer is everyone’s body is slightly different and what works best for you may not work best for someone else.

With that said there are likely going to be some general guidelines for where to start, but after that, it’s all about recording and tracking your progress.

Tracking progress will allow you to make an objective determination of what worked and what didn’t. This is the single most important thing to solving the muscle building and fat loss riddle of your own body.

John

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Steroids. Who is Using them? More people than you think!

Testosterone. Growth Hormone. Insulin. Insulin Like Growth Factor. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG). Thyroid Hormone, Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB). Clenbuterol. Aldactone, Lasix (diuretics).

This is just a short list of the drugs that characterize the bodybuilding and fitness industry, as well as professional athletes and celebrities.

More people are using these drugs than you think

People at the very top of their professions use drugs just like the people who are at the entry level looking to get their foot in the door. From MVP baseball players like Alex Rodriguez, to 5 time olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, to iconic Hollywood celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, all have admitted using some sort of drug. (makes you wonder if anyone at the top can do it without some ‘help’)

Without a doubt, more people use them than you think. It becomes obvious on top level bodybuilders – but it’s not so obvious when a pro athlete uses something for recovery, or when a celebrity uses something to redefine their look for an upcoming role.

The legal status of these drugs does not deter any of these people from using them for their obvious performance enhancing and physique enhancing benefits.

They simply do what it takes to achieve the level of condition/performance that their given industry requires. It’s not a moral decision, it’s not a decision about integrity. It’s about staying competitive in their chosen fields.

In today’s podcast, I talk to our industry insider about the world of performance and physique enhancing drugs. We’ll get the lay of the land as it is today and discuss just how pervasive drug use is in each of these industries.

John

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Contest Blueprint: Turning Pro with Vince Delmonte Part 3 of 3

6 years after doing his first fitness competition Vince finally put it all together and got his pro card. In this third and final interview Vince talks about how he got much more serious with his contest preparation in order to obtain his pro card.

He hired a coach, laid out a plan and stuck to it. Nothing was left to chance this time including doing back to back shows (which is quite common). The condition you see Vince in here is the culmination of over 9 years of training, learning about diet, discovering what works and what doesn’t, and the experience of multiple contests.

9 Years of training and 6 years of competition experience.

The key message is to track what you’ve done, take measurements and make notes. The only way to improve is to learn from your past experiences.

Getting in contest shape is an inexact science, there are general guidelines that you start out with, but as you move through the process you’ll find things that happen to work better for you  compared to someone else. Once you discover the mix of training intensity, volume, and the dietary components that fit for your body then you’ll be off to races.

In this final interview Vince explains what has worked for him and how he got into his best shape to date, and what his plan is for the future.

John

Contest Blueprint: Learning from Mistakes with Vince Delmonte (Part 2 of 3)

After competing in his first fitness model shows in 2005 Vince took 3 years off from competing to improving his physique. During his first shows in 2005 his primary goal was getting lean, however his muscle mass suffered. This time around building and maintaining muscle was the primary focus.

His training philosophy changed and evolved from a whole body routine to a more advanced routine with more volume, shorter rest periods and element of overall conditioning built into the weight training workouts themselves. And the results speak for themselves, he definitely got bigger as you can see here.

Much bigger in 2008, but not lean enough and the judged punished him for it.

After winging it for his first contest diet he also decided to follow a structured contest diet given to him by a coach and record all of it. Keeping track of what you’re doing is a major key to improving as you can look back and see what worked and what didn’t. This is a critical step to constantly improving your physique.

The 2008 competition arrived and Vince was one of the biggest guys on stage, which was his goal, but he wasn’t lean enough and placed worse than he expected. This time around he sacrificed too much definition to be bigger and the judges punished him for it. Another tough lesson learned.

In part two of our three part series Vince describes what changes he made to both his training and diet to build more muscle, and the mistakes he made along the way that lead to his placing in the 2008 show.

We’ll also set the stage for what he learned from this experience and how it changed his view of competing and transforming his physique.

John

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