The Quest to Become a Lean Mean Hairy Machine- Myths Exposed, Guidelines Provided

I grew up fairly “chubby”. I wasn’t obese, but had more than enough of a spare tire to be self conscious of growing up.

I played football however (I was actually a linemen), so it was “okay” and easy to rationalize away. Eventually though, I was no longer able to play football- I dislocated my left kneecap 5 times in a row.

Once this happened, reality set in- being overweight was not a good thing.

I tried a lot of different things in the field of exercise and nutrition- never any supplements however. I had mixed results, but eventually I found what “works”, works well, and works for everyone.

While my health has always been first and foremost (post football days) when it comes to exercise for me, I’ve never made much direct effort in the field of lowering my body fat- it’s always been something that has been a side effect of proper nutrition (and exercise to a lesser extent, more in a moment).

Or IOW, being “healthy” includes being lean- regardless of genetics. As I’ve often heard said from some of my favorite authors, it is our birthright.

Not everyone can be Arnold, but everyone can be lean by any standard. Perhaps not extraordinarily lean, but far more “cut” than most people believe is within their potential.

In light of the knowledge I am now aware of, I have decided to focus on lowering my body fat while maintaining or further increasing my strength- something conventional wisdom deems impossible (or improbable for anyone lacking superior genetics), but I find quite feasible under the application of legitimate science, discipline, and reason.

Let’s briefly dig into the myth’s of fat loss, exercise, and detail exactly how I plan to lower my already (somewhat) low body fat without losing muscle.

Current Specs and Genetic Considerations

My body fat currently is around 10%. It’s measured as low as 8.8% but I’m not so sure I believe that to be accurate. All measurements were taken via a 3 site skin fold test at the University of Central Florida.

I weigh about 180 pounds, give or take ~2 pounds. My height is just under 5 feet 10 inches. From what I can tell, the leanest part of my body (that where the least fat is stored) is from the hip down- not including my cheeks . Perhaps not coincidentally, my legs are also my “strong point”.

I’m careful to train every muscle in my body and leave nothing neglected- even the muscles of my feet, although I wish I had access to a neck machine- but my legs always seem to progress faster than the rest of my body (almost so much as to be out of proportion).

As my friend Nilatak has said, my legs are “like tree trunks”.

The area where most of my fat seems to be stored is my mid section/abdominal area. Quite common for the typical white male like myself.

As for genetic considerations, I’m really, really hairy. Damn near my entire body is covered in thick and long, dark hair. I think- opinion lacking much research in this case but it makes sense based on what I do know to be true- that I do not have the ability to be very “vascular”, that is to have a lot of veins showing prominently.

Even at an extremely low level of body fat, I think many people would look considerably more “ripped” than I would (at the same body fat % and assuming we both were shaved, which I refuse to do) due to the fact that my body is- seemingly- very set on keeping WARM and not dissipating heat with veins closer to the surface of my skin.

This may play a role in lowering my body fat level as well, but not a severely limiting one IMO.

On the plus side, being this hairy indicates a (at least) somewhat high level of testosterone. As I age and enter into my “mid” twenties, this could play a very beneficial role in building muscle- and as a side effect staying lean by default.

Going further, I have never met a lean family member. Ever. No one in my immediate family has ever been naturally lean, nor have any of the dozens of extended family members I have met, on either side of my family tree.

Which doesn’t mean I can’t enter into and maintain single digit body fat, it’s just something to consider while shifting my focus to achieving this goal.

Myths

Each one of these myths warrants an entire post in itself- some of which have already been made by Drew Baye on Baye.com- however I will summarize each myth as I currently understand it.

1. You can exercise a lot, eat junk food, and be merry

That’s the uglier version of the myth many gym addicts buy into- including myself at one point in time. The assumption being that you can exercise for a long duration many times per week (possibly even multiple times per day) and then eat “whatever you want” and not gain weight or suffer other side effects of eating trash.

The reality is that you can NOT do this. You may be lean as a result of your genetics so this appears to work, but in fact people that eat junk food- we’ll also include foods such as grain, soy, dairy, and excessive amounts of alcohol in there- and are lean have that result in spite of their efforts.

Over training in an attempt to burn calories through exercise is only counter productive- both in terms of weight loss, overall health, and strength gains.

Which leads us to our next myth…

2. Intentionally burning calories through physical activity is an effective way to burn fat

In my humble opinion, the biggest crime the mainstream fitness industry has ever committed is pushing and ingraining the fallacy of steady state, low intensity, aerobic activity as a means to effectively and efficiently improve cardiovascular health and “stay fit”.

It is an absolutely absurd notion that not only needs to be completely undone, but rallied against. In fact, I think there would be protests against such a widespread and damaging farce of an activity if people were simply aware of how ridiculous it really is.

As a side effect, people are lead to believe that burning calories through exercise is a good thing they should strive for- even if they are “guilty”calories from consuming something they “shouldn’t” have like a large soft drink, fast food, and so on.

The truth of the matter is that burning calories through physical activity is fine- unavoidable as a human being. But the notion that this is an effective way to burn fat is flat out wrong.

Our bodies are very efficient. As Doug Mcguff said in Body by Science, fat is one of the primary reasons we are still here as a species. 1 single pound of fat provides enough energy to run an ultra marathon (over 30 miles) for most people.

Think about that for a second the next time you’re considering running a measly 5 miles in an attempt to lose weight. You would have to run that 6 or 7 times over to burn ONE POUND OF FAT.

As a nice side effect, low intensity exercise also increases your appetite, easily consuming more than you burned off during your run (or whatever activity you performed in an attempt to burn calories).

Low intensity exercise also- as an added plus right?- tears muscle without stimulating it to grow. Over time- as it did my case- this can lead to significant muscle loss.

Muscle, pound for pound burns anywhere from 17-100 calories per day, in comparison to fat tissues ~2.

I know 17-100 is quite an interesting range, but it is outside the scope of this post for me to discuss (I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about it anyway as it seems fairly complex). For further understanding check out this article.

Considering the fact that significant muscle wasting can occur over the course of running an ultra marathon (or an equivalent output in physical activity), it immediately becomes apparent that this type of exercise can rapidly lower your resting metabolism- to the point where you can gradually store more fat than you originally started with due to the fact that you will be burning less calories doing nothing- with more muscle- than you then do while constantly trying to burn calories- with progressively less muscle mass and lean tissue.

And here we have stumbled upon a major reason western society has now labeled obesity an “epidemic”- our primary cure only makes the problem worse. More more more results in just that- more body fat, more wear and tear, and more trauma related injuries.

Leading us to our next myth…

3. Exercise is more important than nutrition for losing weight

Notice I said nutrition, not “diet”. Nutrition was used instead of diet because I believe in the pursuit of health, long term changes in dietary habits are the only thing that actually works. If you decide to make a “temporary change” in an attempt to lose some fat, you will fail miserably in the long run.

How could a temporary change ever produce a long term result? It can’t, so it doesn’t.

Now, this is not to be confused with trying something new and experimenting with foreign ideas- I’m all for that. But trying to cut out a certain food or food group for a short period of time with little intention of sticking to that decision is an exercise in futility at best. If you find research that indicates a certain food is horrible for you- even if that food is widely accepted as “healthy”- and you agree with the research, stick to the decision going in (for the purpose of nutrition).

I don’t believe it’s necessary to NEVER EAT a particular food or food group, it just has to be the vast majority of the time if you actually care about your health to a great degree.

Now, with that said, new research is always surfacing so keep an open mind if at all possible, but some things don’t change (like the past). Take this into consideration next time someone brags about all the whole grain they ate- meanwhile knowing that for 99% of human existence no one ate any significant amount of grain. It was a non existent part of our ancient “food pyramid” (or hill in caveman times I suppose).

Back on point, exercise is critical for losing weight- or more specifically burning fat. Proper exercise burns a substantial amount of calories in the brief time that it is performed- and the entire rest of the day as well while your aerobic system is cranking on auto pilot.

But, that is not the primary purpose of exercise- nor is it even the primary benefit.

The main benefits, IMO, of proper exercise in relation to fat loss are…

A. Strength gains (and the corresponding increases in muscle mass and lean tissue resulting in a constantly running, 24/7, amped metabolism)

B. Increased insulin sensitivity

There is a laundry list of other benefits as well (ranging from physical to psychological), but these 2 in particular take the cake IMO. For further reading on insulin sensitivity I recommend reading Body by Science or an article found here by the author of BBS (discussed towards the bottom).

All that said, “nutrition is paramount to weight loss in relation to exercise” (paraphrased from a recent comment by Kenny right here on the blog).

Without eating properly, you are short circuiting the benefits from exercise, and delaying or completely preventing significant and rapid fat loss.

But what is proper nutrition?

It’s difficult to summarize and entire field of research into a few sentences, but in relation to becoming lean (from any starting point), it involves the dramatic reduction in carbohydrate intake (and therefore a reduction elevated fat storing insulin levels) and allowing the majority of your calories to come from healthy fat and some protein.

Dietary fat has such a heavy negative stigma to it, but I assure you it will only assist you on your journey to a leaner you.

Some great sources…

Coconut oil (a personal favorite)

Avocado

Olives (and olive oil)

Red Palm Kernel Oil

whole real nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, NOT peanuts/cashews)

whole free range eggs (excellent source)

red meat

fatty fish

free range poultry

grass fed butter (this one is okay and by no means necessary, the rest are far better)

Some horrible sources…

All “vegetable” oils

“whole” grain

beans

dairy (the fat itself isn’t too bad but everything else is)

soy

fast food

heavily cooked (hydrogenated) oils

canola oil

peanut oil

I believe eating a “little” less can also be a great aid in fat loss, but take it too far and it can result in a loss of muscle mass (and a slowed metabolism).

Furthermore, I don’t find it necessary (if you’re a male and have at least an average genetic potential, motivation to exercise intensely, and recover ability) and am hence putting it to the test.

I believe if you eat the right foods that include a lot of fat- a macro nutrient your body understands very well and hardly has the ability to over eat- that you will lose weight almost automatically assuming you are exercising properly and only eating to the point of being nearly full and NOT stuffed- a mistake I made far too often.

4. “Cardio” is necessary for fat loss

I think it’s obvious what my stance is on this idea at this point, but to further clarify in case anyone missed out, “cardio” doesn’t exist the way most people currently understand it. It is completely unnecessary and only counter productive to achieving any level (and lasting level) of body fat, despite what you’ve been lead to believe, what various celebrities push, the latest ad on TV, what the personal trainer said at the gym, what most people will viciously defend to the death, and what your friends have done.

Calories burnt through recreational activity are great (yet not necessary), but attempting to intentionally burn calories via a form of exercise that lowers your resting metabolism is just out right wrong.

Live an active lifestyle- go to the beach, play a sport, walk around campus instead of taking your car 150 feet to another parking lot- and any minimal benefit in the way of calories burnt or increased blood flow as it relates to recovery between workouts will be had.

5. Fat will make you fat (or damage your cardiovascular system)

This is another notion that should be apparent at this point as a fallacy, but bears repeating- fat will not make you fat. I believe 99% of the people reading this lack the ability- even if they tried- to actually become “overweight” by eating healthy, whole, natural fats.

You can’t do it- you’ll vomit long before you consume enough fat to actually store a significant amount of body fat.

What does make you fat are unnatural carbohydrates- particularly starchy foods such as grains/beans/potatoes- that spike insulin levels through the roof (and massive quantities of these refined carbohydrates). Insulin is not only used to store fat, but it trumps all other hormones that play major roles in muscle development and fat loss.

Insulin also plays a leading role in inflammatory damage, in every part of the body. Wanna know why people die of heart attacks every day? Look no further than their doctor who foolishly recommends they eat less saturated fat, cholesterol, and the demonized red meat- and instead eat “whole grains”, low fat cow milk, and other non sense that doesn’t belong in your diet in the first place (let alone when your life is on the line from inflammatory damage).

The reality is that fat from the right sources- including saturated fat and it’s evil nephew cholesterol- produce net gains in heart and overall cardiovascular health. Not only do these foods often contain anti-inflammatory acids (omega 3 anyone?), but they actually improve cholesterol levels by helping increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels more than they raise the LDL (bad) levels.

Dietary cholesterol also plays an important role in hormone production- so don’t count it out if you’re looking to maintain a high level of testosterone. See this article for more information on cholesterol and the misconceptions surrounding it.

6. You must eat massive quantities of protein to maintain muscle while losing weight

While eating a little more protein is beneficial for strength gains and as a direct result, fat loss, eating tons of the stuff through supplement form is counter productive, unnecessary, and quite unhealthy.

Protein powders can easily cause a lot of stress- and potentially serious problems- to many internal organs, namely the liver.

Excessive amounts of unwanted and unneeded protein shoveled down your mouth are not used for the building of new muscle, but can be converted to more sugar- of which most people already eat excessive amounts of.

If you want to focus on eating more protein, do it with whole natural foods (and for the love of god don’t remove the yolk from an egg and make bastardized “egg white omelets”).

Whole eggs in particular are the most “complete” source of protein readily available, and contain other beneficial fatty acids that aid in muscular hypertrophy.

And speaking of complete proteins, don’t count nuts out of the equation. Nuts are vastly under appreciated for their nutritional content (incomplete protein, boo hoo) IMO. If you really are determined to eat more protein, quit worrying about which supplements to buy, and just EAT the stuff (including real nuts!).

7. Eating many times a day is significantly better in terms of fat loss than eating only a few times per day

This is something I agree with, if you are already eating and exercising properly (briefly, intensely, infrequently, and safely).

I think many people who buy into “eating more frequently to lose weight” hype end up consuming more of the wrong foods- whole grains, legumes, low fat milk and so on- and actually GAIN weight due to this. It should be known that eating more frequently lacks concrete scientific evidence to support that it is a significant help under the right circumstances and foods.

I believe it can help, it’s just not going to make the difference- especially when you’re in the mid teens or higher in terms of body fat %.

I believe it is infinitely more important to chew your- whole, natural, thermodynamically (?) expensive to digest food- well, slowly, and as relaxed as possible (something I openly admit to not being the best at, when I like food and I’m hungry, I’m quite the monster).

Also, a friend recently texted me in reference to another topic on this blog. He mentioned the stress levels induced in (perhaps unnecessarily) defending a position. In relation to eating numerous times per day in an attempt to “ramp your metabolism”, my guess is that many people release a lot of stress related chemicals due to the anxiety surrounding attempting to eat 6-8 times per day, thinking that if they don’t they are missing out on some life changing all important habit.

“Food” for thought.

It’s also important to only eat when your hungry, or when you know you won’t have access to food when you will be hungry.

Waking up and rushing to eat some food under the belief that your body is in some ravenous, flesh eating, muscle destroying state of rapid decay- when you’re not even hungry- is just plain stupid.

Finally, eating before a workout in an attempt to improve performance is unnecessary for most people IMO. Personally, I work out so intensely that if I eat anything within 5-6 hours of working out, I’ll throw it up right on the spot.

I understand that some people actually feel nauseous if they don’t eat before working out, but if you don’t, I don’t recommend eating before exercising. There is just as much properly performed research to show that it’s best to workout on an empty stomach as it is with some food in you.

Again, properly performed exercise should be intense enough to make most people vomit if you eat anywhere near your exercise session. This simple fact alone should be testament enough that it’s not necessary (and possibly provides no legitimate benefit) to eat prior exercising.

Also consider the fact that we evolved as a “hunter-gather” species- up until about 10,000 years ago. Last I checked our ancestors were constantly hungry- starvation being a very real day to day threat unlike those of us on computers and in air conditioning today. Considering the fact that food is an after effect of hunting- you know, after capturing, killing, and often cooking an animal- I don’t think we had a lot to eat before these hunts…

Could be wrong, but makes sense.

Furthermore, consider the fact that our stomachs need blood to digest food- blood that could be used for muscular contractions instead. Why tie some of it up if it could be used elsewhere- during a squat or a leg press for example (which involved the largest muscles of the body).

And lastly, don’t RUSH to go eat after working out. Some research shows there are benefits to waiting up to an hour to eat after exercise. I personally just don’t worry about it and eat as soon as it’s convenient for me- which may be 20 minutes or 60 minutes, it varies.

If anything, your body goes through enough of a hormonal event during exercise, and it does not need to be compounded with more mental anxiety (and the hormones released from that) by speeding to a nearby restaurant or consuming some synthetic concoction also known as a “protein shake”.

Induce the stimulus to grow from exercise, and then allow it to happen. Stop TRYING so hard to make your body grow, and let it grow (or shed fat) all on it’s own.

8. Supplements of any kind are helpful or even necessary for profound weight loss

False. Being lean is our birthright and is something everyone is capable of upon entering this world. Create the right environment and allow it to happen. In no way shape or form are supplements or drugs of any kind- including “natural” versions”- necessary for fat loss (or reaching your genetic potential for muscular hypertrophy for that matter).

Can they help temporarily? Possibly- but with heavier consequences than they warrant. Also, in the pursuit of health, what good is a temporary change? Unless you are competing against someone else in some type of physique contest, I see no reason to ever make a temporary change through the use of pills/supplements/powders etc.

Be determined to make lasting changes in your lifestyle and reap the rewards.

9. High volume exercise will result in “toned” muscles and will help me lose weight

A lot of people look at group exercise classes, running, and programs like P90X, and believe they somehow produce a different “type” of muscle- toned muscle in this instance.

Not unlike seeing someone perform (as has happened to me many times) high intensity training- which mandates carefully controlled and usually slow repetitions- and assuming they will build “bulky and slow muscles”.

Both of these notions are complete fallacies and downright impossible. You are born with a set fiber profile in your musculature, it is unchangeable no matter what is done. You can make your muscles grow in size (width), and that’s it.

You can not make them longer through stretching. You can not make them “toned”, or “bulky”- both of these concepts have to do with overall levels of body fat (and how your’s is genetically distributed).

The best, and only (positive) thing you can do, is make them grow. That’s it, period.

As for specific doses of “volume”, as far as I’m concerned one set to “utter failure” is all that’s required for growth. This is backed by hordes of literature- including Body by Science and it’s corresponding citations. Reps should range anywhere from 3 slow repetitions to 10 slightly faster reps. Some people however do static holds or extremely slow reps and have outstanding results- far superior to my own (genetics aside).

10. If I “bulk up” my muscles will turn into fat as soon as I take a break from exercising

This is so ridiculous I don’t understand how it has withstood the test of time, but never the less I have heard people mention this trash before. Muscle and fat are 2 different tissues. Muscle will NEVER magically turn into fat if you take a break from exercising (which, you probably should for optimal results).

Muscle is the most metabolically active and protective tissue in your body. As previously mentioned it burns exponentially more calories than fat per day- unprovoked and all on it’s own. Muscle will keep you lean, not somehow turn into added jelly rolls.

Furthermore, some people may benefit from not exercising for a time and allow their body added recovery time from work outs- especially those that have been exercising intensely for a prolonged period of time (knock on wood).

My plan

I could go on and on about the stupidity that is thrown around in the mainstream fitness and health industry surrounding fat loss, but these are the 10 that I felt compelled to write about. I believe after reading this post most people will be far better equipped to spot BS in “weight loss tips and tricks”, which is one of your most powerful allies in reducing body fat.

With that said, let’s briefly dive into further details about what I plan to do specifically to go from an already lean state, to an even leaner- but maintainable- level.

A. Drastically reduce my carbohydrate intake

Before I sold my car, I used to eat this meal nearly every day of the week at Jason’s Deli

I love it. It’s delicious and inexpensive.It consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, some seeds, coconut oil, sliced avocado, olive oil, raw honey, and so on.

However, I no longer have the ability to travel there on a near daily basis. And while the meal is relatively low on the glycemic index, it is still packed with carbohydrates.

As far as I’m concerned, carbohydrates are a non essential part of the diet. Does this mean I will eat “zero carb”? Hardly.

Dietary carbohydrates may not be necessary to survive- and they were the rarest macro nutrient throughout our evolution- but they were still present. Ancient man did not look (while starving) at an apple, carrot, nuts, or some (raw) honey and throw it away for some ridiculous carb counting reason- he ate it almost without question.

In light of this, I will continue to eat some fruits (mostly berries), vegetables, nuts, and (less) raw honey.

The only time I will eat a significant amount of carbs is when I go to Jason’s Deli and do the usual pig out on the salad bar- or down one of these =). This is at most once or twice a week- usually after a workout where I drain a few (hundred) grams of carbohydrate from my muscle and organs.

Which leads me to my next point of interest…

B. Increase my intake of fat and protein

This is sort of a given considering I’m nearly eliminating an entire macro nutrient, but it’s worth mentioning.

I have been a high fat eater for months- including saturated, mono unsaturated, and to a lesser extent polyunsaturated fats.

But now it’s time to up the ante and attempt a long term change.

My primary food is now free range whole eggs. I’m eating anywhere from 6-13 a day. They are usually fried in coconut oil- the best oil available to cook with.

I attempt to leave the yolk as raw as possible- and sometimes I succeed. There are benefits to eating raw yolks (the white must be thoroughly cooked however), and safety concerns are unwarranted. Less than 1 in 10,000 eggs are contaminated with harmful bacteria. The benefits outweigh the minimal risk.

I may begin to soft boil them again as well if I get bored with frying them, but at the moment they taste great (and have so for months).

I have tried frying in grass fed butter, but the taste was not up to par with coconut oil. Coconut oil is also known to speed up the metabolism- essentially burning off part of it’s own calorie content.

I may experiment with palm kernel oil in the future as well, but thus far it has been hard to find locally.

Additionally, I am trying to incorporate more free range meat into my diet- and things are looking good so far thanks to a few friends who know where to find it locally- but thus far I’ve only been eating wild fish, grass fed beef, or occasionally some poultry, once or twice per week.

Red meat (grass fed) in particular is something I want to consume more of, but time will tell.

Finally…

C. Work out less

Uninformed people hear about working out once a week and scoff “absurd…nonsense!”. And then they hear working out that infrequently usually lasts for 10-15 minutes. At that point, most people are either speechless, or have more questions than a toddler that just drank a gallon of red bull.

I believe most people fail to realize that working out that intensely demands a short duration, and relatively infrequent performance. Some people can workout twice a week- or even three with superior genetics- but most people benefit from just once a week.

Personally, I have felt that a once a week session was optimal for me. I’m young, and I don’t think anyone could say my workouts aren’t brutally intense. I’ve tried working out more frequently- once every 4 of 5 days- and maintained strength, but not improved.

I believe it’s time to bite the bullet and experiment with significantly longer recovery intervals of at least 9 or 10 days.

What I knew but seemingly forgot for so long- during the past 6 months of training- is that not only does your body need time to recover to it’s previous level of strength, but it needs time to adapt to the stimulus provided- intense exercise in this case.

Super compensation as I believe it’s called.

I now feel ignoring this simple fact may have delayed faster progress.

Additionally, as strength increases, recovery ability only follows suit so far. I have packed on nearly 10 pounds of lean tissue over the past few months (mostly in my legs), and my recovery ability likely did not improve at an equal rate.

Combine this with the fact that over time workouts become more intense as you learn better discipline with grimacing, breathing, form, and so on- and you have a steadily more taxing workout, but the same (or even less in my case) recovery interval.

I also ride a bike everywhere now and am worried that it will begin to drain my recovery ability on top of my weekly session of dodge ball.

My next workout will be after 9 days of recovery. After that I will wait 10 or 11 days and track progress. I may “correct course” and attempt splitting my routine into alternating once every 5 day workouts (upper and lower body)- still leaving 10 days of recovery for each muscle- but that is a secondary option.

Most of what I’ve read strongly suggests full body workouts for best results.

My workout will consist of about 7 exercises using Nautilus machines and free weights. You can always track my workouts on the Body by Science blog under “Wow for Week X” posts if so inclined.

And that about sums it up.

Eating less has thus far happened by default from drastically reducing my carbohydrate intake- I now find it difficult to eat more than 2,000 calories per day (previously consuming on average 2500-3000 calories per day), and I’ve been known to pack in 4-5,000 calories in one meal if it consists of grains/beans and so on. And no, that’s no a typo. I usually have a voracious appetite, but eating this many eggs a day seems to satisfy me quite well.

It’s time to defy the norm and do what most people deem impossible- become lean while increasing strength.

I hope this post has proved helpful for others looking for this type of information. Please feel free to comment and post questions, or share it with friends via Facebook/Twitter/Stumble Upon and so on.

It’s appreciated

-Dream