Beyond Body Opus

Beyond Body Opus Blog – Dan Duchaine’s revolutionary 1997 book was a breakthrough piece for bodybuilders. In this blog I will share my experience with this diet and show how a non-bodybuilder used it to transform his body. Rather than give advice, this blog is all about observations and experience. The one thing many people missed in Dan’s book was his insistence people make decisions for themselves and use their experiences to guide those decisions. This blog is designed to help people make those decisions.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Beyond Body Opus - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! - 23 December 2015




It’s the Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

If you’re an adherent to the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD), this holiday season has come with many additional gifts, just for you.


In previous posts, I’ve talked about strategies to navigate what I feel to be a large stumbling block to sticking with the CKD as laid out in Body Opus, which is staying on track in the face of social pressure.  This social pressure ratchets up during the holidays.  A Thanksgiving strategy is to shorten your low-carb time during the week and do the depletion workout on Thursday so you’ll be set to start recomposition with the Thanksgiving feasting.  If you don’t want to sacrifice one low-carb day, you could end the previous week’s recomposition early to get in all your low-carb days.

Santa is bringing you another gift in the stocking due to the fact that this year (2015) Christmas Day falls on a Friday, so once you get that depletion workout out of the way, you’re free to participate in the Christmas tradition of stuffing yourself with all manner of carbohydrates.  New Year’s might be a bit of a struggle depending on how much celebrating you do the night before, but you could always apply the Thanksgiving strategy to New Year’s Eve.  


The overarching point is adapting the Body Opus CKD to fit YOUR needs.  Is there a benefit to displaying the iron will and sticking to the plan no matter what?  You have to answer that question for yourself.  For me, because this was a lifestyle change, not a diet, commitment over the long haul (again, for me) means navigating a path that give me the freedom to adapt (within the parameters of Body Opus) the plan in such a way that I meet the minimum requirements of CKD while not throwing the rest of my life out of whack (“exploring the limits of slackness”).  That means adapting my life routines to accommodate Body Opus, and adjusting my approach to CKD when needed. 
Body Opus/CKD is a lifestyle choice, which means a radical lifestyle change.  I’m in it for the long haul.

Feel free to post questions.  Let me hear from you.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Beyond Body Opus - Exploring the Outer Limits of Slackness - PART 2





Beyond Body Opus - Exploring the Outer Limits of Slackness

PART 2




It’s been a while since the original blog post, and while that post talked in general terms, I want this post to focus on specifics in terms of exploring what I call the “Outer Limits of Slackness.”  As I said in the original post, my interpretation of exploring the limits of slackness as putting in the minimum amount of effort to achieve a given task.  While this sounds counterintuitive, when you look at sustaining anything over a long period of time (in this case, a cyclic ketogenic diet (CKD) for life), I’ve found that doing less leads to making that process sustainable over time.

SIDE EFFECTS
Low-carbohydrate living has many <ahem> ‘features’ that can become pitfalls that can derail your efforts to sustain it for the long run.  Imagine the sped-up voiceover common to most drug ads as I list SOME of those features:

  • ·         Sugar cravings
  • ·         Irritability
  • ·         Reduced energy (due to caloric deficit)
  • ·         Social awkwardness due to food (what you don’t eat)
  • ·         Social awkwardness due to food (what you do eat)
  • ·         Social awkwardness due to food (reading food labels)
  • ·         Social awkwardness due to food (carb up weekends)
  • ·         Social awkwardness at the gym (strength vs. cardio)
  • ·         Social awkwardness at the gym (depletion workout)
  • ·         Social awkwardness in general (explaining Body Opus)

The majority of this ‘side effects’ are get solved over time.  After several years on Body Opus/CKD, you get used to the questions/quizzical looks and uninformed comments about how/what/why and when you eat what you eat.  The reality is very few people are actually interested in how you eat, so one strategy is to play it straight, run it all down and wait for their eyes to glaze over.  You’re on a path “seldom chosen by the multitude,” so embrace the solitude and never apologize.  As far as cravings, irritability and reduced energy, the first two solve themselves over time as you get used to low carbohydrate intake.  Reduced energy can be solved on two fronts:


  1.       Leveraging the inefficiency of ketones as fuel and being looser with caloric restrictions.  Ketones yield somewhat less than 9 kcal of energy per gram due to the extra energy required to disassemble the fat cells, so you can (theoretically) be at or close to your maintenance calories and still have an intake deficit. 
  2.      Adding Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) to your diet.  MCT’s are quickly absorbed and converted to energy, so they can provide a quick boost.

The Workouts
Dan wrote Body Opus with bodybuilders in mind.  Specifically, it’s written for bodybuilders preparing for a contest.  Unless you’re preparing for a bodybuilding contest, if your goal is to sustain the CKD for an extended time, some things in Body Opus can be modified to suit your needs.
The workouts, except for the depletion workout (which I’ll address next), as described by Dan in the book can be replaced with workouts more in line with what you’re comfortable with. Additionally, while Dan talks about cardio is something you can tack on after your strength training, my approach has been to program strength and cardio into my weekly training plan.  I’ve found that when I get more deliberate (but not excessive) about cardio training, I see the results I am looking for.  When you’re in ketosis, that’s prime time for cardio training.  Strength training is equally as important, and works in consonance with cardio to get glycogen levels as low as possible before recomposition.

The Depletion Workout
The depletion workout is another opportunity for tweaking.  As I’ve said in previous posts, while Dan sets the depletion workout as being anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours, I ask the question, “Who has that kind of time?”  Yes, preparing for a bodybuilding contest justifies that kind of time, but otherwise, there are smarter strategies to prepare your body for the “carb-up,” or recomposition. 
 
The first strategy is to combine cardio with your strength training to deplete as much muscle glycogen as you can during the week.  My current plan is split equally between strength training and cardio.  If I’m training for a running event, I might program in more cardio, and have the strength training support running.  Either way, the depletion workout combines both.  

I’ve mentioned it before, and it’s worth repeating that kettlebell workouts provide the biggest bang for the buck.  First, there is a lot you can do with just one kettlebell, so investing in that provides you with myriad at-home workout options.  Second, if you use some of the timed workout protocols (Viking Warrior Conditioning, Swing Ladders, EDT), you can accomplish strength training AND cardio benefit in the same workout.  


Of the three, Viking Warrior Conditioning is the most efficient and self-contained protocol.  The basic 15:15 protocol consists of doing a set number of kettlebell snatches within 15 seconds, that’s one set.  Rest for 15 seconds, switch arms and repeat.  Once you cannot perform your set number of snatches within 15 seconds, you stop.  Of course, you can apply this to the depletion workout by setting a goal of X-number of sets.  This allows you to predict how long a workout will take.  With the 1:1 work/rest ratio, you would do 40 sets in 20 minutes, 60 sets in 30 minutes, and 80 sets in 40 minutes.  While 20 minutes is probably at the bottom limit of a good depletion workout, 60 sets is a solid effort.


Escalating Density Training (EDT) is a close second in efficiency.  Designed by Charles Staley, EDT training pairs two antagonistic (or bilateral) exercises done as a superset (e.g. pushups and pull-ups) for 15 minutes.  You’ll do the same number of reps per set for each exercise and the goal is to do as many reps in 15 minutes as you can.  Then pick another two exercises and repeat.  Two to three rounds should depleted you well inside of Dan’s recommended 90 minutes.

Coming in a close third is Swing Ladders.  It’s simple, the only exercise is the kettlebell swing.  The protocol is to start off doing 10 swings, rest for as long as it took you to do those swings (1:1 work/rest ratio), then do 20 swings, rest (1:1 work rest ratio), perform 30 swings (1:1 work/rest ratio), and finally 40 swings (1:1 work rest ratio).  That is one set, which equals 100 swings. Aim for at least three sets (300 swings).  I usually shoot for 5 sets (500 swings) for a depletion workout if I’m in a hurry.  Ideally (for me) a depletion workout with swing ladders is 1,000 swings (10 sets).  That usually takes me anywhere from 45 to 50 minutes, again, well inside Dan’s 90 minute minimum.


Recomposition – Carb-Up
In previous posts, I’ve noted the requirement for feeding every 2.5 hours after the depletion workout is probably overkill if you’re not prepping for a contest.  I would pay attention to Dan’s statements about insulin sensitivity being an ever-closing window over the recomposition stage and program the highest glycemic index foods and supplements (carbohydrate powders) earlier in recomposition, and ending with lower glycemic foods.  Recomposition is also a time to add glucose disposal agents like chromium and vanadyl sulfate to help the process along.  Those agents are also worth considering at the end of recomposition when go back to low carbohydrates.

Deciding when to end recomposition is another consideration.  Dan recommends starting it at 6:00PM on Sunday.  I tried that for a number of years and the advantage was that I could (with chromium and vanadyl sulfate) be showing small ketones by Monday morning.  Dan also talks about deciding (if you were less than rigorous with the feedings every 2.5 hours) to keep carbing up until bedtime.  I tried that the last couple of months and think it helps in terms of training. If I’m training for a running event and plan on running that Monday, the extra glycogen makes a difference on that run.  If I have a 5k on that Sunday, the extra time helps me restart recomposition to replace glycogen used on the run.  If Monday is a strength training day, I can feel the difference.  From a social perspective, waiting until bedtime opens up dinner possibilities.

This is far from an exhaustive list of tips and tricks from the “Outer Limits of Slackness,” and I’m sure there are some things you have questions about, so feel free to ask questions about areas you’d like to know more about.  Thanks for reading.