74 MUSCLE & FITNESS JUNE 2017
GOAL NO.1 THE TAPEREDTORSO
●“YOUCANDOALLthe gym
work in the world,” says strength
andconditioningcoachZachEven-
Esh, “but if your body’s covered by
a layer of fat, nobody will know.”
Whichiswhygettingyourselfon
astrict,cleandiet–withtheright
balanceofproteins,fatsandcarbs
–isthekeytotransformingyour
flabbytorsointoaperfectlycut,
tapered midsection.
Buthowdoyoudoit?“Thefirst
orderofbusinessistogetyour
mathsinorder,andthatmeans
calculatingwhatyouroverall
calorieintakeneedstobe,”says
sports nutritionist and strength
coachC.J.Murphy.
Soifpurefatlossisyourgoal,you
need to be ingesting roughly eight
to 12 calories per 500g of your body
weight per training day, depending
onhowactiveyouareandhow
muchfatyouneedtoshed.Ifyou’re
alreadyfairlyleanandyoujust
wantsharpermusculardefinition,
you’reallowed12to15caloriesper
500g of body weight. (Though, start
onthelowendandseehowitgoes.)
Soifyou’rea100-kiloguylooking
to get lean, you’re looking at
roughly a 2000-calorie-a-day diet.
AndMurphyrecommendsa
simple high-protein carb-cycling
program, with which you eat more
carbohydratesonyourstrength-
trainingdaysandlessondays
off,creatingacaloricdeficitthat
torches fat.
So let’s start with strength-
training days. First, you’ll need
lots of lean protein.
“Thatincludesanythingthat
swims, runs or flies,” says Murphy.
Meaning: steak, chicken, fish,
turkeyandbeefmince.Eggsand
proteinpowderaregood,too.As
aruleofthumb,Murphycalculates
meatsat7gramsofproteinper
30 grams. “Different foods have
differentvalues,yes,butifyou’re
eatingawidevarietyofmeatsyou’ll
stillbeintheballpark.”Alltold,
that means roughly 1g of protein
per500gofbodyweight(at
4caloriespergram).
Then there are carbs: sweet
and white potatoes, white rice
andfruitareallgoodcarbsto
poweryourworkouts.Thosecarbs
should make up 35-45 percent of
your daily calories, calculated at
4caloriespergram.
The remainder of your calories
each day can be made up of
vegetablesandhealthyfats,likenuts,
nutbutters,oliveoilandavocado.
(Calculate fats at 9 calories per gram.)
On non-strength-training days,When eating to get lean, it’s best to confine
yourcarbintaketopre-andpost-workoutortheevening.you should cut carbs up to
50 percent and increase fat to
20-30 percent of total calories
to help fill you up, reduce hunger
pangs, and increase your
likelihood of sticking to it.
And remember: timing
is important, too.
“Earn your carbs,” says Murphy,
who suggests ingesting carbs
directly pre- and post-workout.
Also, save the bulk of your off-
day carbs for the evening, which
prevents you from bingeing at night
and gives you a little more energy
(in the form of stored glycogen) to
carry into the next morning.
“Carb cycling isn’t the only way
to put on lean muscle mass, but it’s
the simplest,” Murphy says. “It’s
easy, and it’s hard to screw up.”BUILD THE PERFECT BODY