Nutritips, Training and What Nots

Hi Jean,

I’m like 170 and want to get a little more cut. I eat about 7 meals a day consisting mostly of supplements e.g. protein bars and shakes. I have 14.5% bodyfat according to a electronical hand held device. What’s good?

CT

Thanks for the questions! First, concerning the handheld device—it is a little contraption called the Bioimpedance Analysis (BIA). It works by sending a little electric current through your body (that you cannot feel). Any fat you have will stop the current from moving through your body; any water (and tissues that contain water) will conduct the electricity. Based on the resistance you body has to the current, the machine will spit out a BF%, based on formulas already in the device. This is also how the scales that calculate body fat work their magic

These devices are highly sensitive to hydration and are not highly accurate, though they will tell you whether you are generally lean or generally over-fat; they are also pretty good for detecting trends. So if you gain a few percent body fat, the machine will detect that your body fat has gone up (though maybe not by the exact percent the machine is telling you). At 14.5% on the machine a person (man in particular) is definitely lean enough to be healthy, but could also safely loose a significant amount of fat to improve appearance if he has a desire to be leaner.

In terms of your diet, the “mostly supplements” line scares me. A diet without real food inherently lacks all the healthy chemicals in foods that we don’t know are important yet! Do you remember hearing much about lycopene (in tomatoes), DHA (health fat), or resveratrol (in red wine) 10-15 years ago? NO! Because we didn’t know how important these compounds are until recently. Manufacturers cannot add something to a supplement if it’s value has not yet been discovered.

The vast majority of physique competitors cut out bars and (maybe) shakes leading up to a contest. This is because it does not work as well as clean, healthy food for getting cut. You may look in my blog archives to find information about a healthy diet for getting leaner. In general, focus on building your meal around lean meats, non-starchy vegetable, and whole grains- you’ll get cut up in no time!

Higher reps!

Increasing your repetitions is one of the many ways to get more from your workouts. As some of your muscle fibers get tired with the first few reps, your body must continually recruit more and more fibers the more repetitions of an exercise you do. Some suggestions:

- Really work the muscle to failure, not just to the point where it’s kind of unpleasant to lift the weight again. Failure means that you CANNOT move the weight, despite you best effort!

- Super-set a smaller muscle group immediately after a large group in at the end of your workouts. For instance, sometimes I’ll do a dumbbell chest press and then move directly into kickbacks.

- If it really starts to burn too much or you have an achy joint. Stop for a few seconds and then finish five more reps.

Expect to advance and succeed. Research shows that optimism and visualization of success significantly improve athletic performance; this is something I practiced before I even realized research was done on such topics!

- Don’t settle for little weights; you are strong and can do more, even if it’s only 2.5 or 5 lbs more! Certain parts of your muscle will never be challenged if you don’t take the weight up every so often! This will mean fewer reps and more rest between sets on you heavy lifting days!

- Choose to go up in weight and actually see yourself effortlessly cranking out 10 reps– see it and then DO IT!

Attention–pay attention to the muscles that you are working! I see way too many ballistic lower back exercises disguised as bicep curls in the gym! What muscle are you working? Are you getting a full range of motion?

- Close your eyes, ignore the hottie next to you and your own reflection, and actually feel which muscle you are working!

- Most muscle damage is done on the way down (eccentric); the rep is not finished until you reach the bottom, so keep the weight controlled and focus on the movement until your weights are in the starting position again!

- How is your range of motion? For example, on bicep curls (easy target) are your arms fully extended at the beginning or is there still an angle in your arm? Do you reach a full contraction at the top; do you extend all the way down again?

Time between sets. Reducing the time between sets is another highly effective may to intensify workouts!

- Actually time how long you are taking between sets; reduce that amount of time by 30 second or a minute when you want to intensify your workout!

- Do not get into conversations when you are working out; it’s okay to be a little cold. During your workout, it’s down to business!

In essence, you can intensify your workouts by adding 1) more reps (or overall volume); 2) heavier weights; 3) and reducing time between sets. But none of these strategies will help if the exercises are not performed effectively!

If you’ve ever done a "photoshoot" at a contest or written for a publication, you were probably handed a long, wordy page or five of paper that required your stamp of approval at the end.  I’ve seen a number of photographers marvel as I actually read every word and considered how it may impact me in the future.  They acknowledged that I had a right to read it, but never actually saw anyone do it before!

  Recently, I considered writing for an un-named fitness publication and the contract/release read like this:

For valuable consideration, hereby received, I irrevocably consent to and authorize, XXXX, the use and reproduction by you, or anyone authorized by you, of any and all articles/recipes which you have this day I have sent to you by email and/or fax without restriction, and without further compensation to me. I also give my permission for XXXX to use the article(s)/recipes I have sent (or my representive has sent) to be used by XXXX.

I hereby release, discharge and save harmless XXXX, the publisher, his/her representatives, assigns, employees, or any person or corporation acting under the permission of the publisher, including any firm publishing or distributing the finished product, even though the finished product may be in any misleading, incorrect or either intentionally or otherwise and subject me to scandal, scorn, ridicule, reproach or indignity. I hereby waive any right to approve the finished article/recipe, or any copy, which might be used in conjunction with the finished product.

If I am below the age of majority, (usually 18 but sometimes 21,) in the legal jurisdiction applicable to this agreement, the agreement has been signed or approved by the parent or guardian.

_______________________________
Signature
_______________________________
Date

To me it looked as though the editor could completely manipulate anything I sent and attach my name to it!  So naturally, I stated that I wanted my lawyer to look it over and modify it before I would be willing to sign!  I am getting a doctorate in Exercise Nutrition should not take risks with my signature!  After letting the editor know my feelings on the matter, I got this email:

 ”You are just writing recipes for a magazine.  Having a lawyer is not necessary.  Now I feel I need to get my lawyer involved.  This is very uncomfy for me when we start talking lawyers just over recipes…” 

And in a subsequent email :

“It’s not a contract.  It’s just a release…” 

So whay about it?  I was only submitting recipes.  Should I just sign and return in the interest of time?  Should I stop being so picky?  Here’s what my lawyer had to say about the contract after I emailed it to her:

“This was not written by a lawyer…As you suspected, you cannot sign this. It says what you think it does. You have a professional reputation to uphold. I could probably rewrite it so that it does what I think they want, which is that you not sue them for a typo or good faith “improvement,” but it does in fact say that they can screw you over, make you look like an idiot, even on purpose, and you can’t do anything about it. And if you sign it, you have no recourse if they add 50% fat to your recipe and say that you endorsed it for a pre-game meal, for example….

I have never seen such a one sided contract. Usually, a contract will contain similar language, but does not contain words like scandal and ridicule and also contains a clause about them acting in good faith. This agreement has nothing like that. So they can deliberately screw with your career, now and in the future; they use your “edited” article and attribute it to you. I would be wary of dealing with them. If the editor would like me to provide a revised contract that is acceptable, let me know.

Wow!  A big and giant “NO” for signing!  So what is the definition of a contract? According to dictionary.com: 

There would be no point in having me sign something if it was not legally binding!  In essence, your signature after written words is a contract!  What does this mean for a lot of competitors during their photoshoots?  Depending on the terms of the contract, it often means that you have no rights to the photos whatsoever after signing.  As such, the photographer can 1) Make money on his/her own members website; 2) Sell them to other websites that you may not approve of; or 3) sell them to magazines without your knowledge or consent.

Those are some pretty tame examples, but as my lawyer pointed out, if the terms are bad enough for you, it could be as bad as photoshopping tricks that you may not be comfortable with!

Essentially, read what you sign.  Make sure its okay with you.  Getting photos done at a contest can be a nice opportunity to get professional photos taken; however, you must also consider that there could be consequences!

 The following is a related blog I wrote on myspace called the “5 Do’s of Physique Photography”

The Five Do’s of Physique Photography

      If you’ve competed at the National level in the NPC, you have probably experienced the wave of photographers that flood over to capture your image.

      The situation seems ideal– you are in the best shape of your life and someone is standing before you with a large fancy schmancy camera , so what’s wrong with that?

 Maybe nothing.  Maybe everything.  It depends on your personal values and future goals. 

1  DO request to see a portfolio of the photographers work before agreeing to a shoot.

       I cannot stress this enough.  Request a portfolio– if there is not one immediately available, the individual is not a real photographer and you should head for the hills.

       On the other hand, let’s say you are supplied with sample photos– do you like the work?  Can you envision yourself in the same poses? Are you comfortable with the type and amount of clothing the models are wearing?  If you do not like the photographer’s current portfolio images or style, respectfully decline.  You are not magical; you cannot turn a mediocre photographer into gold and you will not work well with someone who is interest in themes that do not appeal to you!

2     Do ask for a reference from a model or three that the photographer has worked with previously!

         An experienced and professional photographer should be confident to give you the contact information of a few contestants/models that he or she has worked with.

3      Do your homework

          Look up photographers that you admire or have done great photos you love.   Contact the photographer and be able to articulate what it is that you admire about his or her work; mention creative angles, poses, use of color or anything else that caught your eye

       Upon making contact be clear about what it is that you would like from the shoot, payment options and what you expect in terms of the number of “finished” images, number of prints, time for delivery of CD. 

4        DO wonder why someone is paying you (and every other competitor on stage) $100/hr for a video shoot that requires no skill on your part

     It is too good to be true, in most cases.   The vast majority of photographers at bodybuilding and figure contests are selling their video and images to muscle fetish sites; I was duped a couple of times before I caught on.  Men: your photos will be on gay muscle sites, which if fine that’s your personal goal; however, I’ve talked to a few men in denial on this point.  Also, if your goal is to market yourself so you can set up your own pay-site (which should bring you substantially more income, if done properly), doing amateur paid shoots may be great publicity for you—it may be an effective way to get your name out to the audience that would potentially join your site. 

    If you have professional goals in any field, however, remember that possible employers DO search the internet to learn more about you and your personal aspirations.  If you have many sets of photos plastered all over the internet, you may have a very difficult time getting a job as a public servant, Sunday school teacher; furthermore, you’ve pretty much blown your chances of doing any conventional modeling with a legitimate agency.

5     Do show up to a photoshoot prepared and on time!

         Have an idea of the types of poses you would like to do; bring some shots that you would like to replicate or build from. 

        Become really, really good at doing your own makeup and wardrobe.  For glamour, dress like you are going out for the first time after a nasty divorce– you want to look super hot!  Remember pairing of clothes and accessories matters!

The above suggestions are just a few highlights, but hopefully it will save you some inconvenience or regret!

Hello out there!

 I did my first DEXA (body fat scan)– the last one was in August!

 I seems that my frequent kitchen experimentation has finally caught up with me!

 In my lab we are doing studies on dieting with certain unnamed cereals; uneaten portions experience a rebirth as protein fortified treats in my lab!  I’ve also been making more specialized treats as pre-game and half-time nutrition for the athletes I work with at Baylor. 

   In any case, my body fat increased from 10.7% at the end of August to 15.1% today; this is still okay, but I need to start implementing a slow loss plan if I am to compete at the end of February in top form.  The good news is that my weight is close to where is was last year when I started dieting, but I am 2.5% leaner, and that is clear just by looking!  I have about 106-107lb of lean mass right now and about 19lbs of fat mass.  My main goals for this season are to

1.  Maintain more lean mass; last year I lost about 70% fat and 30% lean on my diet.  I would really like to improve on this.

 2.  Maintain my resting metabolism– our BMR equipment showed my daily Calorie expenditure dropping by 300-400 Calories/day– that’s like a whole cardio session!  I also did not sweat for several months (even though I live in 110 F heat!) and my resting heart rate dropped to about 42.  This all indicates that my body slowed down substantially in response to a diet that was probably too strict.  This season I am going to start with a modest slow loss/maintenance period to finish out November and then move into a cylcing diet at the beginning of December– if it seems to not be working, I’ll move to more extreme measures!

I blog much more frequently on myspace (blog.myspace.com/jeanjitomir) and my blogspot (builtnutrition.blogspot.com) blogs.  The myspace blog is rather specific to competition and also includes recipes; the blogspot is almost all high protein recipes and photos and makes no mention of bodybuilding competition per se.

As always, thanks for reading!