Karim's muscle gain carnivore adventure

(Karim Wassef) #1

I decided to share my carnivore adventure here as the next stage of my development…

I’ve almost completed my fasting stage composed of multiple phases from extended (19 days continuous) to cyclic (5 days fast/week) to adaptive (fasting/feasting depending on GKI).

Now I’m going to focus on building lean mass without increasing fat. My method of choice is heavy training, Leucine supplementation, OMAD and carnivore+ way of eating.

The plan is to start Saturday night April 27th and go for 55 days without fasting.

I’m not 100% strict carnivore, but I’ll share more on that in a bit.

First - a little retro view - I started at 255lbs, dropped to 165lbs and have been slowly building back up to 185lbs or so. I use DEXA and RMR to determine my fat composition and metabolic rate. Current body fat is ~ 22.4% (hoping to get better by building mass vs. just losing fat).

Here’s the journey so far:

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hard

Here’s my general macro plan - I highlighted the non-strict carni content

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My lean mass is 140lbs so this is protein at 1.3g / lb of lean mass or 1 g / lb of total mass.

I usually do 0.7g / lb of lean mass so this is a big jump but I’m planning on pushing my lifting too.

Karim's Extended Fast Tracker - come along for the ride
(Little Miss Scare-All) #2

1st! I wonder if keto will regrow your head??

But seriously, nice transformation, Karim!!!

(Karim Wassef) #3

LOL

I’m very private and I don’t wear pretty glasses. :joy:

Thanks! I’m hoping my carnivore adventure will be as much fun as my fasting adventure was.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #4

I’m sure it’ll be great and chock full of graphs in no time. I wish you the best, homie!

(Justin ) #5

Good work man. I am only two months today into Keto and am down 23lbs with very little exercise other than walking. My goal weight is another 8 pounds away and then going to implement maintenance and start with some strength building. I do manual work so I do have muscle but I want to do full body and some specific training. What have you been doing in the gym when you started?

(Karim Wassef) #6

Really boils down to three exercises and then change it up so the body doesn’t adapt:

Benchpress, Squats, Deadlifts.

Those are my core - then if I stop seeing results, I’ll start changing up angles, or doing more isolation for a couple of weeks… maybe focus on core. But I always return to those 3.

(Justin ) #7

Cool, how often do you workout and for how long?

(Karim Wassef) #8

I usually work out during lunch since I OMAD. I work out for 30-45 mins most workdays and then just cardio on the weekend or just rest.

Even though they’re just 3 exercises, I alternate heavy weight - low reps … then medium weight - medium reps … then low weight - high reps… so when I go for light weight, the workouts just take longer.

Also, I focus on time under tension (TUT)… so slow eccentrics

(Justin ) #9

Thanks for the info!

(Adrian ) #10

Why do OMAD if you want to increase lean muscle? Wouldn’t it be best to have 2-3 meals a day to spread out your protein intake for maximal anabolism?:woozy_face:

(Karim Wassef) #11

I want to add lean muscle without adding fat. I gain very easily.

I also believe in cyclic hormones… AMPK with OMAD and pushing GH and testosterone during the early part of the day, then mToR & mini-insulin with high protein and Leucine later in the day.

Also, the rebuilding mostly happens while sleeping, so as long as I go to bed in the right hormonal and amino acid state, I should be able to gain.

It’s my n=1 experiment and I’ll post my multi-day glucose, ketones, and GKI as well as the DEXA to see if the gain is muscle or fat.

(mole person) #12

I’m very interested in your experience. You’re doing virtually the same thing I am (OMAD, carnivore-adjacent, one gram of protein/lb of lbm, body by science weekly workouts). The main difference is that I’m so lazy about measurements and you’re ultra detailed.

I honestly don’t even now how to track my macros anymore. The meats I buy are just not in any databases because I get my butchers to give me way fattier cuts than they put out for the more lean consuming regular public. It kinda sucks because I do want to know, but mostly I’m just guessing a lot.

(Chris) #13

I feel you here. Once you get to the point where you can see abs it gets easier to gain without getting too much fat. Metabolic health yo.

(Karim Wassef) #14

We all guess… I think guessing is better than not guessing. :smile:

I just guess a lot and try to look for patterns.

(Karim Wassef) #15

for those who want to know more about the preceding phase… here’s my extended fasting thread:

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/karims-extended-fast-tracker-come-along-for-the-ride/78183/1000000

(Empress of the Unexpected) #16

What about the theory that your muscles need a rest day to repair?

(Karim Wassef) #17

I alternate so I don’t work the same muscles each day … if I’m sore, I don’t work it again.

So I will do deadlifts one day, then squats the next, then bench press after that, then do a core day, then isolation… then I rest on the weekend or do light cardio and play with the family…

and then I mix it up by weeks

so week 1 - heavy weight low rep, week 2 - med weight med rep, week 3 - low weight high rep … and repeat.

(Karim Wassef) #18

I have to say - I love this quote

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(Empress of the Unexpected) #19

You and me both. Been eating nothing but meat (and a few onions) lately. Really need to build muscle now. I don’t think my losing any more weight it going to make a difference - just need muscle. I’ve got it in my arms, just need lower body.

(Karim Wassef) #20

Squats are the best lower body exercise… even air squats then ramp it up slowly.