Beast Fitness Reverse Dieting Protocol

INTRODUCTION

This is the follow up article to my previously written “Beast Fitness Drastic Mini-Cutting Protocol.” At this point, you’ve completed your drastic mini-cut, lost significant levels of body fat, and are maintaining if not increasing lean body mass and strength levels. The goal now is to capitalize on your current fat burning hormones, take advantage of the more anabolic hormones, and allow the Long-Term Delayed Fat Loss Effect to take place. We are ultimately looking to accomplish a few things with this reverse diet:

1. Resensitize insulin levels

2. Increase maximal hormone utilization

3. Increase overall nutrient partitioning

4. Stimulate appetite levels

5. Decrease overall inflammation

6. Increase fatty acid metabolism

7. Increase mitochondrial efficiency

8. Increase activation of mTORc1

GOALS

• Increase musculature

• Increase strength levels

• Continue to lose fat initially, transitioning into maintaining a lower body fat percentage

TIMEFRAME

8-15 week duration

PREFACE

The main intent of this reverse dieting protocol is to allow you to build muscle mass and gain strength while staying at lower body fat levels. Keeping your body fat within a lower range is going to provide your body with the optimal environment that is conducive to building muscle in the most efficient manner possible.

LIMITATIONS

This protocol is merely a template and guideline for you to use to structure your own modified reverse dieting protocol. As with my previous drastic mini-cutting article, there are so many individual and genetic variables to take into consideration. This is however geared towards giving you a general ballpark of how fast/slow to increase based upon where you are at. Knowing when to add, when to hold, and when to pull back is key but cannot be done through the means of this article. This article is meant to provide you a very general framework to build off of and adapt to your own personal needs. As you can also note, the time spent in a surplus is dramatically increased from the time spent in a deficit. This specific protocol also does not take into account previous cardiovascular work as that is one of the biggest differences among individuals. This is purely from a nutritional aspect.

This protocol will only work if you have a properly periodized training, nutrition, and supplemental protocol in place.

THE PROTOCOL

Week 1: Add 10% of total carbohydrate intake + Add 5% of total fat intake

Week 2: Add 10% of total carbohydrate intake + Add 5% of total fat intake

Assess. Your muscle tissue should be filling out nicely, you should be able to get pumps very easily, and in general you’ll have better vascularity.

Week 3: Add 8% of total carbohydrate intake

Week 4: Add 8% of total carbohydrate intake

Week 5: Add 8% of total carbohydrate intake

Assess. You should still be roughly the same body fat if not leaner than when you first started reversing. Now your performance should dramatically increase and your physique should look better than when you ended your drastic mini-cut.

Week 6: Add 10% of total protein intake

Week 7: Add 10% of total protein intake

Assess. Increasing your protein intake should allow you to not only increase total calories, but remain as lean as week 5 along with newly added muscle tissue.

Week 8: Depending on which macronutrient you respond better to, either add 10% of total carbohydrate intake OR 5% of total fat intake

Week 9: Depending on which macronutrient you respond better to, either add 10% of total carbohydrate intake OR 5% of total fat intake

Week 10+: At this point your calories should be dramatically increased and you should be hitting PRs in the gym daily. From here on out, increasing calories will vary so drastically between people that I cannot even give general recommendations beyond this point. Although I advise everyone to have a prep coach who has the knowledge and experience, you can learn to be unbiased and adjust from this point forward.

SIGNS THAT YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

If you are:

1. Losing insulin sensitivity (if its harder to get a pump that is usually a good sign)

2. Gaining too much body fat (increasing too fast)

3. Not gaining enough overall size (increasing too slow)

CONCLUSION

Use this protocol, adjust it to your personal needs, and benefit from staying in a leaner state year round while allowing you to build muscle more efficiently, be healthier, and feel better. The goal with this is to find the perfect balance between adding in additional calories and making progress.

For online coaching and personal training or diet and contest prep help, please contact me via email at alex@theprepcoach.com and be sure to mention Modern Athletic Health as your referral!

References

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