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christopher.barakat

😴The Free Key to Build More Muscle & Lose More

😴The Free Key to Build More Muscle & Lose More Fat💪🔥🔑
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There is a decent amount of data highlighting the importance of sleep on body composition. For ex., Wang & colleagues (2018) demonstrated that subjects who were sleep restricted while in a calorie deficit were losing a significant amount of their body weight from lean tissue(~85%), whereas the subjects who weren’t sleep restricted lost significantly more fat & preserved more lean mass. This 2018 study & a lot of the previous sleep research on body compos was NOT in conjunction w/ resistance training(pic 2).
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Just last month, a study by Jabekk & colleagues finally investigated the impact of sleep education hygiene on body comp when combined with resistance training.
They had two groups:
ExS: this group was provided with sleep advice + supervised exercise
Ex: supervised exercise only
These untrained subjects did 2 full-body sessions in the lab, 2x/week. .
Some of the sleep advice consisted of the following:
Keep it cool, dark, & quite in the room you sleep
Aim to sleep/wake at the same time of day, everyday, including weekends
Aim to sleep ~8hrs
2hrs before bed: lower lights, minimize technological usage, use blue-light blockers/adjust settings
No caffeine 6 hrs before bed
When you wake in the AM, expose yourself to as much natural light as possible
All things we’ve heard before right … but how many of us actually put this into practice?
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Nonetheless, they found that the ExS group lost significantly more fat & gained more muscle. .
“There is no doubt that our sleep/wake cycle affects our physiology in a tissue specific manner. For ex., myocyte circadian locomotor output cycle kaput protein (CLOCK) genes regulate muscle specific circadian rhythm & almost all physiologic, metabolic & endocrine processes, are influenced by the circadian clock. Thus, the processes regulating body composition, both fat tissue & muscle tissue are influenced by our sleep & sleep/wake cycle.” Jabekk et al.
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We cited this RCT in our most recent review paper in a section focusing on “Non-Training/Nutrition Related Factors That May Influence #Recomposition” in which we briefly cover #sleep, stress, & metabolism. #StayTuned

Bodybuilding is like a never ending puzzle 🧩 an

Bodybuilding is like a never ending puzzle 🧩 and I’m still putting the pieces together!
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Haven’t done a physique update/ shared my current BB endeavors in quite a while. I think it’s been multifactorial, but to be totally honest, between quarantine and not having a goal in site, bodybuilding wasn’t a priority to me and motivation/discipline in that realm dipped. I think it’s very important to learn from past mistakes, but also just as important to not dwell on the past. “Don’t let yesterday mess up today and ruin your tomorrow.” I think that’s key for both the good and the bad. When things are going great, don’t get too high. When things are going bad, don’t get too low. .
Anyway, I’m grateful the gyms are open here in FL and I’m just wrapping up my second micro cycle of my new training program that I’m absolutely loving. .
It’s pretty interesting to see and feel some changes in my physique as I mature. Even though this isn’t the best I’ve looked at this weight, it’s not too far off, and I’m pretty excited and confident about the changes/ progress I’m going to make in the upcoming months. .
The thing I love about bodybuilding is you get out what you put in, and the crucial component time plays. .
This coming September will mark a decade since I learned that competitive natural bodybuilding was even a thing. And Sept 2021 will mark a decade from my first competition; let’s see what I can build by then 💪
#TheJourneyContinues
#NaturalBodybuilding
#CompetitiveBreed
#SchoolOfGainz

Woke up to amazing news that our latest review pap

Woke up to amazing news that our latest review paper has been accepted for publication in the Strength & Conditioning Journal! To our best knowledge, this is the first paper that discusses if trained individuals can build muscle and lost fat concomitantly #BodyRecomposition 💪🔥
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A huge thank you to my mentor @dr.desouzaeo and my colleagues @jeremyrpearson @doctorgfit @billcampbellphd for their collaborative efforts and help throughout this process 🙏 (this was my favorite manuscript to work on to date!) I’d also like to thank Dr. John McCarthy as he reached out to Edu and suggested we aim to contribute to the Special Topics Issue in Bodybuilding & Physique for SCJ. To give a quick back story, at the 2019 NSCA, Jeremy and I attended every discussion and presentation related to bodybuilding and got to connect with so many brilliant researchers and practitioners that share a love and passion for bodybuilding science. .
I’m hoping this is published before print and if it is, I’ll be sure to keep you all updated. .
Nonetheless, very excited for you all to get your eyes on this one as soon as it’s hot off the press! 👀👨🏻‍💻📖 #StayTuned
#Bodybuilding #Physique #SCJ #Science #SchoolOfGainz #CompetitiveBreed

A minor set-back breeds a major get back!😤💪

A minor set-back breeds a major get back!😤💪
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So many of us are primed to Recomp right now. .
A lot of us didn’t have gym access for months (and still might not have gym access) and unfortunately you may have lost some muscle (size & strength) and gained some fat. .
Although that’s the last thing any of us wanted, your body can recomp pretty darn quickly.
With gyms opening back up, a lot of us are getting back to our normal, progressive training schedules rather than doing whatever we can to hold on to our gains with limited equipment. .
To help everyone at all experience levels, I just put all my training & nutrition programs 20% off, now through Sunday!
There are three training programs (101, elite, & extreme) for novice, intermediates & advanced lifters, respectively; and a comprehensive nutrition guidebook that’ll teach you everything you need to know to optimize your performance, recovery, and body composition. .
For anyone who wants something fully customized, my team and I offer personalized training plans & meals plans (overseen by our Registered Dietician) which you can apply RECOMP20 to as well!
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For me personally, I just dexa’d at 12% body fat at 169lbs (which is horrible for me 😅😫) I typically walk around at 175lbs at 10% so I know I’m going to Recomp relatively easily to that point. What’s going to take a lot of work is lean gaining to 185. Ive been there years back but it was a softer physique than I’d like.
To achieve something you haven’t before you have to believe you can do it, and work harder than you have in the past. .
We’re already halfway through 2020 and a lot of us had a shitty start, let’s finish strong(er)! #SchoolOfGainz
#Training #Nutrition #Recomp
#Bodybuilding

Muscle Fullness - Water, Glycogen, Phosphocreatine

Muscle Fullness - Water, Glycogen, Phosphocreatine
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This past week on vacation, I didn’t resistance train or eat how I typically do, & per usual, I ended up losing weight. I only lost ~3lbs of scale weight & I was expecting it to partly come from fat loss, but was also expecting it to consist of losing ‘water weight’. .
DXA Results:- ~2.7lbs of Fat Mass & LBM was essentially unchanged during this 1 week away from training. .
Although DXA is an awesome tool for body comp, it doesn’t measure total body water. My mentor @dr.desouzaeo is adding a bioelectrical impedance analyzer to our lab's arsenal so we can better assess body composition changes and combine BIA w/ DXA. .
Also, when I stop training (even if it’s just for a week), I feel much flatter & appear less full.
I would hypothesise this is due to less intracellular water as skeletal muscle glycogen and phosphocreatine stores have decreased due to a) not training + eating fewer carbohydrates and b) not supplementing with Cr like I typically do. .
It’s difficult to precisely quantity changes to skeletal muscle due to its composition and the various assessments required to measure all components (i.e ~75% water, ~15-25% protein, ~2-3% glycogen & ~5% intramuscular triglycerides)
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This got me thinking about more questions related to body composition & variables that affect muscle fullness.
We understand that creatine supplementation is effective at maximizing Phosphocreatine (PCr) stores & that Cr supplementation increases total body water (intracellular (i.e. muscle fullness) & extracellular) but doesn’t change fluid distribution (i.e. ratio between) - this data out of Dr. Volek’s lab was highlighted earlier this morning by my friend & colleague @doctorgfit .
However, do we know how long it would take those PCr levels to return to baseline after seceding supplementation and how it would vary when someone continues to train compared to stopping training all together?
To what degree and at what rate can intracellular water be manipulated through nutritional intake & training stimuli, or lack thereof?
Further exploring these variables may be beneficial for competitive bodybuilders peaking processes.

This was a perfect way to wrap up this vacation, h

This was a perfect way to wrap up this vacation, hiking up this mountain and practicing yoga with free range cattle all around us 😅🐄 🧘🏻‍♂️⛰🌅 thank you Heidi from @ashevillewellnesstours for your guidance 🙏🤗
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Had a great trip and am looking forward to getting back to FL and back to training, work, the norm. .
Feeling rejuvenated mentally and looking forward to upcoming projects, goals and the next chapter.
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Until next time ✌🏼❤️ #BearWallowMountain
#Yoga #Bliss

The best view comes after the hardest climbs ⛰🧗‍♂️ Life is filled with peaks and valleys and I’m learning to find beauty in both.
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This past week my wife and I took some time away, got to unplug and explore some places we’ve never been before.
Throughout the trip we’ve done more hiking than ever before.
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Each hike is basically like a super small snapshot of our life journeys.
We’re all faced with challenges throughout our lives and have tremendous power based on how we approach situations, and control our controllables. Some challenges are going to require you to dig deep, push hard and stay the course for a long ass time. Others, may be relatively painless to get through.
Regardless of the challenge, being persistent and consistently taking steps forward will eventually get you through and once you get there, you can look back and appreciate the struggle and say it’s worth it. .
2020 has been a hard year for many of us in many different ways (some which we have shared together, and others which are uniquely our own). Nonetheless, based off previous experiences and just how Mother Nature works, the storms don’t last forever and there is typically some beautiful sunshine on the other side. .
If you’re going through hard times right now, keep your head up and keep taking steps forward. .
It’s been nice to get away for a week and explore new areas. On a side note, I planned on training at least 3x this week but found out all gyms in NC are still closed 😫😅🤷🏻‍♂️ looks like hiking will be it for this week. .
Super excited for the next chapter and grateful AF for all the good and bad to date.
#life #peaksandvalleys #greatsmokeymountains #clingmansdome #andrewsbald #yonahmountain #atlantabotanicalgardens #minnehahafalls #hemlockfalls #nc #ga

#blackouttuesday we’re going to need to support

#blackouttuesday we’re going to need to support each other and have each other’s backs, now and moving forward, more than ever. History ♾❤️

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