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By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems |
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I recently sat down with our
resident supplement guru Dave Barr. We talked about protein,
supplements, carbs, insulin, leucine, and what he's got in
store for us for next week's teleconference.
Read on Dave's forgotten more
about nutrition than most people will ever know, and you can
take his advice straight to the bank…
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CS: Dave thanks for the interview! First,
I know you're joining us for a teleconference on October 8th- what's
the most important question I could ask you?
DB: The
question you could ask me is: "What's the most important piece
of information you can gather for someone who's interested in changing
their body or performance?"
That piece of information is whether
the person is happy with the current progress.
People I talk to from the site are
not, which can actually be a good thing. It means that they're not
complacent and they expect more. At the same time we need to look
at why results aren't coming as quickly or easily as they'd like.
Then we work to get them where they want to be.
Remember: you work too hard to settle
for mediocrity.
CS: If you could take only 3 supplements,
what would they be and why?
DB: This
is a great follow up question to my article entitled: "3
Supplements You Should Be Using".
#1 would be fish oil. Always. Always.
Always.
The sheer number of physiological
effects this nutrient subtype can have on our body is nothing short
of amazing. The more I learn, the more I want to run to my fridge
and start guzzling my lemon flavored oil.
The problem is that people don't use
enough to experience the most dramatic effects.
#2? Creatine. I just like the cell
swelling from an aesthetic standpoint, and the performance enhancing
effects are well documented. There are also health benefits, as
well as the enhanced ability to perform high-level thinking (although
I've occasionally been accused of not needing this benefit). It
may be too simple to say that "it makes you smarter",
but it's not completely inaccurate.
#3 is tough. I've been learning a
lot about both acid-base balance and the nervous system, which is
where Greens products and carnitine come into play respectively.
I'll go with the Green because it's
next to impossible for people (read: ME) to get enough fruits and
vegetables. This isn't just for health, but fat loss and muscle
growth/recovery as well.
As an athlete I'd cycle in carnitine
for short intense training periods and competition.
Lastly, I'd like to point out that
whey protein was not a consideration on this list because I consider
it more of a nutritional staple than a supplement.
CS: Carbs- good or evil?
DB: For
most people they're patently evil. We just don't need them in the
quantities that they're being used, and our physiques (not to mention
our health) are suffering as a result. It pains me to say that because
there's nothing I love more than carb-laden sweets, but in this
industry I don't think the word "moderation" can be thrown
around enough!
CS: Can you expand
on that?
DB: Look,
fat loss is all about insulin control, and the predominant mediator
of this is carbs. Control the carbs and you're going to lose weight.
And I can't comment on this topic
without bringing up the archaic notion that we need to load carbs
after training. People have been doing this for more than a decade,
but is it helping our physiques and performance? Come on.
I'd like to add the caveat that carbs
are great for people with very high training volumes, and skinny
people looking to improve muscle mass and strength, but this is
a small subset compared to the rest.
CS: Protein- good or...sorry, I mean,
how much?
DB: MORE.
Protein is the best "bang for
your buck" calorie source for pretty much anyone. It can help
with both muscle building and weight loss. Guys in lab coats like
to point out that protein can also be stored as fat, but they need
to wake up to the reality that compared to carbs and fats, that
idea is a joke. People aren't getting fat off of protein.
Whey protein itself is particularly
beneficial, so I like to see people consuming the standard 1g/lb
to start (with whey supplementation). Once this becomes easy and
people want to ramp up their results, this should be increased to
1.5g/lb. This comes at the expense of some carbs, but mostly it's
the addition of Calories in the form of protein. It's called protein
stepping or protein ramping, and I'll explain how to do it during
the Training Summit.
For those on low-carb diets, 2-3g/lb
is not unheard of, but bear in mind that all of this is within the
context of the persons lifestyle. In others words, we need to find
a compromise between 100% dystopian ideal and what's realistically
possible for you.
CS: At a recent nutrition conference in
Vegas, all the scientist-geeks were talking about Leucine- to the
point of saying "don't even worry how much protein you eat,
worry about how much Leucine you ingest." Anything to that?
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DB:
Hey I'm a science geek! But I just remembered that you're
a martial arts expert so I'll back off and answer the question.
I agree that leucine supplementation
is incredible and I'm looking forward to sharing a new protocol
with people next week! The problem with such a blanket statement
however, is that it ignores two KEY points:
1) The main problem for people
not gaining muscle/strength isn't a lack of "muscle building"
stimulus; it's calories! And where should that extra caloric
energy come from? Protein!
2) As discussed above, protein
is the best source of calories for people on fat loss diets
as well. Although leucine can preserve, or even build, muscle
during this process, ignoring the importance of protein would
lead to catastrophic failure.
CS: Any closing thoughts?
DB:
I'd like to reiterate that if people are happy with their
current results and progress then that's great! But if you're
on this website, you're not simply content. You want more,
and well you should -you deserve it. Raise your expectations
and then let's figure out how you can do it.
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About The Author
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His colleagues call him an iconoclast,
a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The
Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches
miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled
in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’
methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious
results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing
demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY
Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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