Q&A: Strength vs. Hypertrophy Training, Best Diet Guidelines, CNS Burnout, and More…

13:35 – When should one implement strength vs. hypertrophy? With a goal of just getting “toned” and not shredded what would be the best option to focus on? Or would it be best to implement both into a split as in 1 upper strength, 1 lower body strength and then 1 upper hypertrophy and 1 lower hypertrophy?

23:27 – What percentage of carbs should come from green veggies vs grains or other sources?

29:33 – I was finally able to do a pull up on my own, in fact I could do 3! Recently I’ve felt like I can barely do anymore, even though I’m still practicing them weekly and even eating more. Could I be going backwards in progress?

32:00 – Wake up starving in the middle of the night. Track that food for yesterday or tomorrow? I’m a night shift nurse so on days off my body is weird. I’m currently eating about 2100 calories per day.

35:10 – How soon after a refeed should you see weight drop back down?

36:51 – What is the central nervous system and how is it affected by your training, recovery, and nutrition? How can you tell if your CNS is in need of recovery/repair?

42:03 – In a cut, I keep my protein high and lift consistently.  So when trying to put on more muscle, do I change my style of strength training or keep it the same and just go with the extra energy and add weight to the bar?

45:12 –  I was wondering though if I carb cycle during a cut (I like doing 5 low carb days and 2 high carb days, usually adding 50 g carbs on high carb days) would you suggest also taking a refeed day every couple weeks during the cut where calories would be closer to maintenance? If so, should I cut out my high carbs days that week? Thanks

49:39 – I’m a recovering cardio bunny. I used to swim and run. I trained for a marathon and was one of the lucky ones that gained weight while training. Since my marathon I’ve had two kids and now have a fat loss goal that I would like to eventually lead to build muscle. I’m learning a lot about strength training and have learned that cardio can really mess with your metabolism and isn’t the best for fat loss goals. My husband wants me to train with him for a run/swim race and I’m wondering if I can train for that with a balance of strength training and not mess with my metabolism. My current training is 4-5 days a week of circuit training and strength. My only current cardio is walking 10-13k steps a day. I’ve been in a cut for 12 weeks. I’m planning to go up to maintenance during the holidays and then cutting again in January for 10-12 weeks before a slow reverse up to maintenance. The race is this summer and it’s nothing crazy, 1.2 mile swim and 6 mile run. If I do the race, I’d like to start training in January or February since I haven’t done cardio in a while and I’d probably set some time goals. What are your thoughts on adding cardio into training during a fat loss phase?

55:04 – Race day/week nutrition and training… do you change it up? I’m currently reversing and wondering if I should add extra calories that week. (I’m in the army and it’s actually not a race, it’s my PT test – push ups, sit ups, 2 mile run)