Q&A – Eating For Your DNA, Fasting For Females, Hybrid Training, & More…

6:55 – I have been strength training for 3-4 years, currently competing in amateur powerlifting. (I’m a female). I have dieted down about 15-17 pounds for my competition. (Have kept strength, had some new PR-s on the diet). After the competition I will have a 3 month period where I would like to improve muscle mass, as well as improve my strength for the nationals. What approach do you advise me to take? I have thought like having one week rest after competition and then will have high volume phase 4-6 weeks, where I slowly raise calories and focus on the hypertrophy. Later I would do some hybrid mix, on the focus in strength. I need to keep my weight same, as I want to fit in to the same category as I am competing now. What do you suggest on calorie intake and programming? Would this approach work? (Hybrid has previously worked really well, but I would like to know whether it is a good method or not.)

26:35 – I started a low calories phase about two weeks ago in an attempt to lose some weight. For reference, only trying to lose the last 5lbs and eating around 1550 calories a day which is about a 300 calorie deficit for me. Don’t feel hungry. Getting at least 1g protein/pound. Drinking at least 2 liters of water daily. Working out. Not drinking caffeine late. So all my sleep hygiene stuff is on point. But sleep has gone to shit. Can’t get more than 4 hours since the calorie deficit started 2 weeks ago. Do you see this often with clients? Any tips to improve?

34:10 – Thoughts on IF for female clients older than 60 years old?

39:20 – I had a restrictive eating disorder for about 2 years, and got out of it for about a year ago. Lifting helped me a lot, but nutrition is still difficult for me. I am eating about 200 calories per day, lifting 7 times a week (2 days are mostly mobility and recruitment pattern training). One day cardio. About 20,000 steps a day due to an active job. Do you have any recommendations on my macros and calories? Would I get better results if I ate more. 70kgs, 185cm tall, 22 year old male.

45:40 – If I’m about to begin working a job where my sleep for about 3 nights out of the week will consist mostly of a few hours of intermittent sleep should I heavily adjust training volume to account for suboptimal recovery? Do you think strength and hypertrophy gains are still possible given the limited recovery assuming nutrition is dialed in?

49:05 – Is intermittent fasting another diet tool for calorie restriction or is there some magic in the fasting window? If calories in vs calories out dictates weight loss or gain then it shouldn’t matter if I fast for 16 hours if I go and eat 500 calories above my surplus in the feed window right?

50:47 – Is 20-25 sets per muscle group per week the sweet spot for hypertrophy and strength gains in an intermediate to advanced lifter?

54:20 – there any true science to eating for your DNA? What are your thoughts? Client of mine saw that there are those DNA tests that are supposed to tell you what to avoid and what to eat.. Part of your genetic makeup, and asked if they are true or BS.

58:45 – A nutritionist told me that protein interrupts the body’s natural sleep cycle, so you’d want higher protein in the morning and lower protein in the evening and that carbs give fuel for the sleep cycle to work so you’d want a high carb meal in the evening… thoughts?