Low Fat, High Protein BLT

If your anything like me, a good sandwich is right up there for lunch time essentials and the BLT is king! The pre packaged ones you can get however, whilst tasty are typically high in fat, super high in sodium and pretty calorific for the size of the portion. That’s where this super easy and quick home made BLT comes in handy! You can chop and change the recipe to suit your taste preferences, add other fillings or swap some out, just be sure to count those in your own macros as the numbers displayed here are for the ingredients i used.

 

Ingredients

4 Rashers Smoked Turkey Bacon

2 Slices Granary Bread

Sundried Tomatos

Baby Spinach

Mild Salsa

 

Directions

• Grill the bacon for a couple of minutes on either side un till its browned, turkey bacon isn’t going to go really crispy like regular bacon but it will still be good!
• Toast the bread to your preference, i don’t like mine too overdone so just have it browned slightly.
• Spread 30 grams of salsa onto the bread, then rip up some spinach leaves and put those on. Then add 2 rashers of the turkey bacon, 20 grams more of salsa and some more spinach followed by the rest of the turkey bacon and then top with the other slice of bread.
• Voila, super simple and damn tasty! 

 

Nutritional Information

 

BTF.

Chocolate Banana & Peanut Butter Protein Fudge

Another super quick and easy recipe here that can help those cravings to get you through the summer still looking cut! Most people love a good bit of Fudge but will all the cream, sugar and other ingredients that are going to blow up your macros its a no go! not with this recipe however, its super simple and you will only need a few ingredients.

 

 

What You Need

50g Chocolate Whey Protein Powder

1 Medium Ripe Banana

115g Peanut Butter

15g Coco Powder

80ml Almond Milk

 

Directions

• You need to add all of the ingredients bar the Almond Milk into a food processor and blend, adding the almond milk slowly bit by bit un till you have a thick but smooth almost sludge like texture.
• Scoop into a tray, the thicker you want it use a smaller tray
• Put it into the freezer for a couple of hours un till its set solid
• When your ready to eat it, leave it to sit for a couple of minutes and warm up slightly, then cut and serve!

 

 

Nutritional Information (per piece, batch cut into 15 pieces)

Calories : 71

Fats : 4 Grams

Protein : 5.3 Grams

Carbohydrates : 3 Grams

 

Extra shout out to my other half with whom i made this, she also blogs and you can find her here

http://thefauxguide.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

Todays Leg Workout

So it’s been a little while since i posted anything about my current training split, recently i’ve been slowly reverse dieting my way out of a cut and bringing my calories back up to maintenance. I’ve been feeling and looker fuller and its translating into my workouts. That being said, today was a leg session that went fairly well, its structured in a way that i focus on heavy, strength based compound movements to begin with and the latter half of the workout focuses on Hypertrophy and Isolation accessory work.

 

Back Squats 

I warmed up with a few sets using the bar, then 60 KG to get moving and warm, i then went into my working sets.

100 KG 5 sets of 5

120 KG 5 sets of 3

140 KG 5 single reps

Goblet Squats

These are really useful for helping with your form in conventional squatting as well as mobility and taking out your posterior chain, meaning you will feel it more in your quads and hamstrings.

40 KG Dumbbell 3 Sets of 12

Leg Press

Bog standard here, every gym has one and they are a great heavy mover, drop set the last set to a weight that you can move comfortably but slow the movement right down and go to failure.

190 KG 4 Sets of 10 into 100 KG Drop Set

Leg Curl

As with before, on these isolation movements i really like to include a drop set at the end. After the final set drop the weight down again and rep out some slow and controlled reps really feeling the squeeze and slowing the eccentric portion of the exercise.

65 KG 3 Sets of 10 into 30 KG Drop Set

Leg Extension

65 KG 3 Sets of 10 into 40 KG Drop Set

Calf Raises

Its important not to neglect your calfs, i use the leg press machine to target mine hanging my heels off the bottom of the pad, pushing with the balls of your feet. I also add calf raises into my arm workouts at the end just to hit them a little more frequently as they are a tricky muscle to grow.

190 KG 4 Sets of 15 into 100 KG Drop Set

With calf raises, sometimes i’ll perform 3 one minute cluster sets in which you set a weight thats about 60%-70% of what you working sets would be, time one minute and rep out until the minute is done without rest, take a break then repeat for 3 sets.

 

And thats how my leg workout looks at the moment, the days after aren’t too much fun and stairs are the mortal enemy but it is definitely effective for me! If you give the workout a go let me know how you get on or let me know how you chose to work your legs! Happy grinding

 

BTF.

 

Protein Pancakes Recipe

There a loads of recipes out there for protein pancakes and i’ve tried a lot of them! This one though is guaranteed to get you nice thick pancakes and at a much lower carbohydrate cost than a lot of those other recipes out there! You only need a few ingredients and they are super simple, quick and easy to make.

 

Ingredients (One Serving)

Two Eggs

65 Grams Low Fat Cottage Cheese

20 Grams Oat Flour

30 Grams Sci-Mx 9 Hour Chocolate Casein Protein 

 

Directions

• Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a fork.
• To completely remove any lumps you can blitz quickly in a food processor or with a hand blender. If you don’t have access to either of these just mix for longer by hand.
• Heat a pan with a little bit of coconut oil or 1 calorie spray, just to stop them sticking
• The ingredients mentioned will make you about 4 pancakes, add the mixture into the pan one pancake at a time, you may be able to fit all 4 into one pan it depends on what you have. Cook them for a couple of minutes and then flip them.
• Once they are browned they are ready, stack them up with your choice of toppings. For mine i used some Stevia sprinkled over the top of them and 10 Grams of Peanut Butter

 

Nutritional Information (Without my Peanut Butter toppings, add yours on to these numbers)

Calories : 436

Carbohydrates : 26

Fats : 17

Protein : 45

 

5 Day Split vs 3 Day Splits

When people are approaching their workout routine for the week, picking a structure is often complicated, but making sure you get it right can be crucial as its imperative you stick with any program to get the most out of it, chopping and changing too often will hinder your progress. That being said lets take a look of the pro’s and con’s of some different splits you can run.

 

5 Day Split

Obviously if you have the time to be in the gym for 5 days in the week then thats good, its always important to incorporate rest. On a 5 day split your routine may look something like this

Monday : Chest + Abs

Tuesday : Back

Wednesday : Legs + Abs

Thursday : Rest

Friday : Shoulders

Saturday : Arms + Abs

Sunday : Rest

The pro’s of using a five day split are that you can put everything into working each muscle group and really get the volume in, you also have a good recovery period before you directly work that muscle group again which is extremely important. If you have the time to be in the gym five times a week then this sort of structure can be really effective. A lot of people ask the question is it better to hit your muscle groups once or twice a week and that all depends on the individual. Having used splits before that work all muscle groups twice every 7 or 8 days i can say from my experience that the volume tended to be lower so that i was able to get through hitting all groups twice a week. Working the muscle groups directly once a week can, as previously mentioned allow you to really go heavy with some volume and break down the muscle, then have adequate time to repair. On a 5 day split however some people have been known to burn out a little bit and not recover quite as well as someone that is always working out after a rest day. Even though your hitting specific muscle groups, there will always be a degree of overlap but recovery for each individual is different depending on factors such as nutrition, supplementation, sleep patterns and genetics.

 

3 Day Split

A 3 day split can be effective for someone that either doesn’t enjoy going to the gym as regularly or simply doesn’t have the time to be in the gym 5 or 6 times a week, a 3 day split may traditionally look like

 

Monday : Chest + Tris OR Full Body Workout

Tuesday : Rest

Wednesday : Back + Bi’s OR Full Body Workout

Thursday : Rest

Friday : Legs + Shoulders OR Full Body Workout

Weekend : Rest

 

Some people will approach programs with specific muscle splits or, particularly in the case of beginners, full body workouts that focus on heavy compound movements to build strength (Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Press, Overhead Press). A three day split can also be effective, it’s important to remember that the amount of time you spend in the gym is not always directly related to the progress you make, it’s how you spend that time and how you focus on your recovery / nutrition alongside your training. A 3 day split can be perfect for somebody that has a busy work schedule and can’t commit the time to workout out more than 3 times a week. The program you adopt depends only on you and your circumstance.

 

Things to consider when picking a split

When your trying to approach a new routine, you are the only person that can decide what will work for you and your schedule, whilst you can take inspiration and direction from a lot of routines available you need to find what works for you. If you enjoy using the gym regularly and have the time, go for a 5 day split! If your busy a lot of the time then take a 3 day split. You can make great progress on either program its just what works for you, but you always need to remember that whatever program you choose, you stick at it for at least a month to see if you make any progress, if you do then stick with it. No point changing something thats working!

 

Hopefully this will clear up any questions people have about programming that i’ve been asked lately, it all depends on what your preferences are. Beginners may benefit from hitting full body workout programs such as

 

Starting Strength

 

Where as a more advanced lifter will probably benefit from hitting individual muscle groups, with the amount of time they spend in the gym depending entirely upon their individual circumstances.

 

BTF.

Current Split, Cutting Progress & Training with DOMS

Whats up guys, just going to talk about a few topics here, covering what i’m up too training and nutrition wise at the moment as well as training with/through Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).

 

Cutting Progress

So i’m currently coming towards the final few weeks of my cut, I’ve been pretty non aggressive calorie deficit and cardio inclusion wise for about 8 weeks now and its gone fairly well. I started at about 182 lbs and around 16-17% body fat, looking like this

I kept my training exactly the same, lift as heavy as you can! from here i lowered my calories a couple hundred and didn’t do any cardio, cutting slowly is the best way to go, you want to maintain as much of your lean mass as possible. After about 4 weeks lifting the same (chest+tris, back+bi’s and legs+shoulders) and just consuming less calories i went down to around 175 lbs and 14-15% body fat.

 

From here, the body weight has started to drop a bit more slowly, the weights i’m lifting have stayed pretty much the same but this is the point at which the cut has become a little more aggressive approaching the last month, so my current split looks like this

 

Current Split

Monday : Chest + Cardio

Tuesday : Back + Cardio

Wednesday : Abs, Arms & Calves + Cardio

Thursday : Legs + Cardio

Friday : Shoulders + Cardio

Saturday : Same as Wednesday

Sunday : Rest

It looks like quite a lot but compared to a traditional split working two muscle groups a session, i’m in and out in an hour, it’s all about timing sets and utilising heavy weight for low reps with medium weights for high reps. I’m using a slightly tailored version of Craig Carpurso’s 30 day cut but using my own macro nutrient ratios instead of his diet plan, you can find the full routine here for more info on the individual days and nutrition

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/30-days-out-craig-capursos-extreme-cut-trainer.html

My Macros

So that being my current split, its important to keep protein high for recovery and to try and minimise lean mass loss (of which i’ve experienced a small amount) so my macros look like this

Calories : 2300

Protein : 200 grams

Fats : 60 grams

Carbs : 230 grams

The reason i’m using my own is because rather than carb cycling and have higher carbs before my heavy days and lower carbs before the days that i don’t push as much weight, i’d rather keep a more consistent mid amount of carbs throughout the week, i feel much better that way. I’ve been doing this for 7 days now and i’m currently at 171 lbs and 13% body fat

Another 24 or so days to go and we should be down to the 10% range at which point the plan is to just slowly reverse diet back up to maintenance, then increase every so slightly and slowly put some mass on whilst staying as lean as possible! That’s just a quick overview of how my training, nutrition and plans are looking at the moment! If you want any advice/help on workouts or nutrition just drop me an email at 

bthurstonpt@gmail.com 

Training With DOMS

When your on a schedule thats as full on as the one mentioned above, a lot of the times you head into the gym your going to be suffering a little bit with soreness from the previous workout so its important to have a few tricks or supplements available to you that can help alleviate some of these problems. I’ll just quickly outline a few practices that help me specifically and some that have been known to help (these are from personal experience/experiences of others).

 

BCAA’s and high protein intake: Branch Chain Amino Acids are going to help with your recovery, i take some with my pre workout to help fuel my muscles as well as post workout to help increase protein synthesis. Making sure you keep your protein intake high will also lower the chances of soreness, aim for at least one gram per pound of lean body mass when cutting if not more.

Omega 3’s (Fish Oils) : I use Cod Liver Oil tablets every morning when i get up, they are good for your joint mobility which is super important when your shifting heavy weight.

Proper Warm Ups : Taking 5 or 10 minutes before your workout to either jump on the bike, use a foam roller or stretch can really help improve your recovery times after workouts

Hydration and Rest : Two of the most simple, yet important means of reducing DOMS is ensuring that you stay hydrated at all times, whilst your cutting you should be doing this anyway but proper hydration is super important. Proper rest at night will also help, getting about 8 hours sleep will give your body time to be at rest, not mobile and give you the best chance of decent recover.

Epsom Salt Baths : If none of the above methods are helping you, then an epsom salt bath for about 15 minutes might be worth a go, you can pick up epsom salts from most supermarkets or boots etc. They contain high levels of magnesium and sulphate which are scientifically proven to help with the formation of brain tissue as well as joint proteins. It can be absorbed through your skin so will help to relax your body, regulate your enzyme activity and speed up recovery!

BTF.

 

 

 

 

Healthy MyProtein Brownies

Whats up guys, some of you might have seen my Instagram photo a few days ago for my low fat and carb protein brownies, obviously i’m slightly biased in saying so but they were amazing! there’s tons of variations of protein brownie recipes out there but this one genuinely tastes pretty close to the real deal and will at the very least satisfy any cravings you might have and the best part, you can eat more than one without worrying!

 

 

Ingredients 

1 Can Libby’s Pumpkin Puree

1 1/2 tbsp 100% Peanut Butter

3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

5 Medjool Dates

2 tsp’s Stevia

2 Servings MyProtein Impact Whey (i used vanilla)

1/2 Cup Egg Whites

1/2 Cup Almond Milk

40g Walnut Halves (Optional)

 

Directions

1) Add all of the ingredients apart from the walnut halves into a blender and blitz it all together un till its a nice smooth consistency with no lumps, it should be nice and thick but still runny.

2) Once it’s all blitzed together and still in the blender, add in the walnut halves and fold into the mix with a spatula or other similar utensil

3) Bake in the oven at 170 C for about 30-45 minutes depending on your oven, take them out and stick a knife into them, if it comes out almost clean then there ready, you don’t want them overdone they should still be nice and gooey!

4) Leave them to chill for half an hour to an hour and they are ready to go, they are good warmed up with some fruit but they are just as good cold! I’ve been using them as a pretty effective pre workout snack to get some quick carbs and protein in.

 

Obviously you can add whatever you want into the mix, you don’t have to use walnuts and you can add chocolate to the top, cherry’s or frosting, do it however you like it you’ll just have to re adjust the macros. Using the amount of ingredients listed above i made 2 medium sized trays and cut them up to make 12 brownies.

 

Macros Per Brownie

Calories : 108

Carbs : 9

Fat : 5

Protein : 6

 

Hope you enjoy the recipe and be sure to share any of yours with the BT Fitness Facebook page and @bradthurston on Instagram!

 

BTF

 

 

Low carb and fat pizza

With the world cup in full swing what better to enjoy whilst your watching the games than a pizza? Here’s one that tastes great and will fit into your macros easily! It will save you money, it’s easy to make and only requires a few ingredients!

 

Ingredients (makes 2 pizzas)

400 Grams Cauliflower

Reduced Fat Grated Cheese (Mozzarella/Cheddar)

Tomato Puree

Herbs to taste

Toppings of your choice

4 Egg Whites

1 Calorie Cooking Spray

 

Toppings I used

Weigh Watchers Grated Cheddar

180 gram Bernard Matthews Hickory BBQ Turkey Breast Chunks

Handful of Baby Spinach

Sliced Red Onion

Sliced Tomato

 

 

Directions

• Blend up the Cauliflower so it’s as close to a bread crumb texture you can get it.
• Stick it in the microwave for 4-5 minutes and then sieve the moisture, you can use kitchen roll to help remove any excess water (Careful it will be hot!)
• Add the dry Cauliflower to a bowl, then add the egg whites, any mixed herbs you want in the base and anything else to taste (I added some salt and pepper, mixed herbs and garlic puree)
• Mix it all together un-till the consistency is even and then spread 2 thin bases onto some foil or grease proof paper sprayed with the Cooking Spray and then place into an oven preheated to 200 Degrees / Gas Mark 6 for 12-15 Minutes

• Once the bases are golden brown get take them out and flip the foil/paper to get the base free, then spread on the tomato puree, add your toppings and put back in for another 5ish minutes or for however you like it!

Ah Voila!

 

Macros (Per Pizza made with 1/2 of listed ingredients dependent on your toppings)

Calories : 423

Protein : 57

Carbohydrates : 12

Fat : 9

 

Hope you enjoyed, post to the BTF Facebook any of your personal takes, would love to see!

 

BTF

Adapting to a new gym & current leg routine

So i’ve recently finished and left university which meant leaving my regular gym and having to find another one to train in. The gym i previously trained in was a fairly large gym with lots of new equipment from squat racks, hammer strength machines and all the plates, dumbbells and bars you could want. However i’m from a relatively small and rural area, meaning my new gym is much, much smaller and less well equipped.

 

This is where being able to not only adapt, but having a good knowledge of different ways to hit your muscle groups can come in. It can actually be beneficial in some cases, i’m forced to use different exercises completely or different variations of exercises and have had some really good sessions over the last couple of days. Going from a gym with multiple power racks to one with none is a bit different but you can still push yourself with whats available to you. Which leads me to today, which was my first leg day in the new gym and i am feeling the effects for sure, lets walk through what i did today.

 

5 Minutes stretching and warming up

 

– Squats (In the smith machine) 

For squats i started with 60KG on the bar and did a few warm up sets of 10-12 reps, just to get going and get some blood into my legs. I then went up from 60KG to 110KG in 10KG increments doing 8-12 reps. Previously my depth has always been questionable, the pro of being forced to use the smith machine though is that the bar is on a rail, you can go all the way down without the worry that you might not come back up, if theres no going up just re rack on one of the bottom rungs!

– Walking Dumbbell Lunges

Normally after conventional squats i’d head to hack squats but thats not possible in my new gym, so i swapped that out for some walking dumbbell lunges with a 20KG weight in either hand. Take ten paces down to the end of the room, turn around and come back. Rinse and repeat for 5 sets and your golden.

– Single Leg Press

In my previous gym they had a hammer strength leg press meaning you could just rack the plates up as heavy as you can go, however the machine leg press in my new gym only goes up to 190KG, the solution; single leg! I set the weight to 100KG and really focussed on the contraction, slow and controlled coming all the way down but don’t lock out at the top! aimed for 3 sets of 8-12 reps but had to drop the weight to 90KG for the 3rd set.

– Machine Hamstring Curls

Pretty bog standard, haven’t seen a gym without a seated leg curl machine. Nice and simple set a weight you can get 8-12 reps out of and come a few reps short of failure. 3 sets of 8-12 reps but on the final set, drop set and go to failure.

– Machine Leg Extensions

Same as leg curls 3 sets of 8-12, final set get a drop set in and go to failure.

– Leg Press Calf Raises

i’ve seen a lot of people do their calf raises in a squat rack on top of a step, i’ve also seen a lot of people slip off the back of said box and fall with 100KG on the back of their neck. I would never advocate doing calf raises on anything other than a leg press machine or in a smith machine where the bar is on a set path. i like to go high rep on these, 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

 

And thats the leg workout i did this evening, was really feeling it during the drive home and no doubt i’ll be walking crooked tomorrow morning! i threw in shoulder and finished with some Ab work afterwards but that’ll be for another post! Regardless of what your gym has to offer, there are always variations or exercises you can use that’ll ensure you get an effective workout done. Remember lift with your muscle not with your ego, you have to feel the contraction in the right place to get the growth!

 

BTF

A guide to If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)

For my first post, what better place to start than addressing what If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) or ‘flexible dieting’ actually is. This is one of the most widely adopted practices of achieving your goals used in current times and can yield great results. Backed by many people such as Layne Norton it has continued backing from prominent athletes and fitness personas.

 

The basic principle behind IIFYM is that every individual has their Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) from which they can find their Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) based on factors such as their activity levels, job, height, gender and age. With this information you can then adjust your calorie intake according to what your goals are. At a basic level it is simple, if you want to lose weight, your calories in need to be lower than your calories out, adversely if you want to gain weight your calories in need to be higher than your calories out, Fulfil this criteria and you absolutely will gain or lose weight.

 

The changes start once you have identified your caloric needs and have chosen your goal or target. Lets take the example of somebody that is looking to drop their body fat percentage whilst maintaining strength. Lets start by giving the individual an identity, lets say

 

Male

25

180 ibs

6ft tall

 

With that information, if their theoretical TDEE was 2600 calories, to drop body fat they would need to lower their calories to around 2400 to begin with, and if weight loss slows, perhaps reduce it further. It is important to remember however the main objectives whilst entering a caloric deficit. The main goals are

 

– Preserve Strength and Muscle

– Lose Body Fat

– Maintain your intensity in the gym

 

With those goals in mind you can begin to fill out your macro nutrient requirements within your calories. It is widely accepted that whilst on a cut, depending on your body type it is best to hit around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, meaning 180 grams of protein which amounts to 720 calories as there are 4 calories per gram of protein (180 x 4 =720).

 

Fat is something that should not be neglected, low fat levels can have a negative impact on your hormone production and health fats such as Nuts, Red Meats, Healthy Oils and some Dairy Products should be part of your diet. This individual may want to consume .4 grams of fat per pound of body weight which would amount to 72 grams of fat, however it is important to remember that unlike Protein and Carbohydrates which contain 4 calories per gram, Fat contains 9 calories per gram. This means 648 of this individuals calories would be assigned to Fats.

 

All this leaves is Carbohydrates, when cutting the Carbs are the macronutrient that should be assigned last, however are still very important to maintain similar intensity in your workouts. Once you have your Protein and Fat intakes set, the rest will be for Carbohydrates. This individual has already consumed 1,368 calories which leaves them with 1,032 calories to assign to Carbohydrates which, as there are 4 grams of Carbohydrates per calorie would amount to 258 grams of Carbohydrates, meaning this individuals macronutrient breakdown would look like this.

 

Calories : 2400

Protein : 180 grams

Fats : 72 grams

Carbohydrates : 258 grams

 

This would be a good starting point but after a couple of weeks, it may be beneficial to make small changes to maximise the efficiency, perhaps reducing some of the calories taken in by Carbohydrates to increase either the Protein or Fat intakes. Which leads us to the conclusion and what many consider to be the main draw of IIFYM, as long as you hit those numbers, you are free to consume what you like, meaning that you can have a chocolate bar or burger from time to time as long as it hits your macro nutrient requirements. Now obviously it is still important to fill your calories with foods that are micro nutrient dense such as fruits and vegetables as the macro nutrient profiles are what will effect your body composition, however your internal health is dictated by the vitamins and minerals found within ‘healthy’ foods.

 

This is a basic explanation of the idea behind IIFYM, which is the approach i currently take to my nutrition, it is important to remember that this post is meant to be informative and give an insight into what the practice of IIFYM is, and thus hopefully it has done so! Keep locked for more content

 

BTF.