Muscle Ventures Podcasts

In this podcast (download ipod compatible, 47MB), Troy Garver and I discuss something he calls the third law of thermodynamics in dieting. It's actually a contradiction because while you may believe that cutting calories (energy intake) will lead to weight loss, it frequently just does not. That's because the body is itself a dynamic system that tries to conserve energy as you cut intake.

After I mention to him what I like about the atkins diet: hunger remains after control and after induction energy is manageable if not bountiful, Troy mentions that "satiety" is one of the key factors he looks for when helping people manage their diets. He basically looks to give people foods from the groups they like but cleaned up, meaning without processed foods, and of course, reduced in calories.

We're going to switch topics in future podcasts. We have a strong man who is going to provide a couple of exercise analyses and some upcoming interviews with Paul Wright about his gym expansion plans.

Additional Links

• This site provides an interesting perspective on calorie needs and how they change with age and activity.

In this podcast (download ipod compatible, 53MB), Troy Garver and I (Bud) discuss the role that protein plays in the diet. We start off by noting that Troy did make his goal of fitting in the XL size shirt for his wedding, now almost two weeks ago. We then come to the topic of diet.

Protein helps prevent muscle loss while dieting

I've been following a low carb diet. Working out on low carbs is hard because carbs are your primary fuel source. When your body is deprived of carbs, it first turns toward protein as a fuel source and then towards fat. Since muscles are composed of protein, the first phase of weight loss for most people actually consists of muscle loss. If you maintain a high protein intake, it can help spare your muscles at the outset because it is easier to just convert the protein vs. destroying muscle tissue to get it. Protein is also a less efficient source of fuel than carbs, so you wind up getting less bang per protein gram of fuel than you do per gram of carbs. Eventually, your body moves primarily toward fat burning.

Protein helps with post-workout recovery

Protein consumption also helps with recovery after weight training by providing the body with the building blocks for muscle regeneration. It can also help to consume carbs at this time because because the resulting insulin spike helps nutrients cross the cell wall into the muscle.

Additional Links

• Mauro di Pasquale suggests that upping your insulin levels post workout without carbs leads to higher fat burning. The way to do this is with proteins.

In this podcast (download for ipod, 40MB), Troy Garver and I discuss the importance of goals in any fitness program. The goal should be tangible and have a time frame attached. We discuss my goal of losing 15 lbs. Well, what time frame should I do that in?

Troy also notes that restrictive diets and disciplined goal regimens are hard to maintain over time.

We then discuss Troy's goal of shrinking down to fit in an XL shirt by the time of his wedding this Saturday. Many revelations ensue. It turns out that Troy is given to eating massive quantities of kids' snacks. To lose weight, he's dropped those items from his diet and started to do cardio. As a former bodybuilder who likes to focus on weight training, this is quite the sacrifice. He also has not tried on the shirt since he and his fiance chose it. The wedding day will be the moment of truth. We'll hear how that went in a couple of weeks.

For the record, Troy is one of the most physically fit appearing people I know.  His desire to shrink down is based purely on fitting into a specific shirt on his wedding day.

Additional Links

• US Government guidelines on setting weight loss goals stress the BMI which accounts for both weight and height.  The problem with BMI is that it does not account for muscle.