Hi
@Andy_Warlow, this is gonna be long, as I want to refer back to this in future, and I have included female references, as I realised an unintentional bias towards male only references; I also thought ladies may want to take advice from people who understand their considerations.
Your rationale in my view is perfect for wanting to build muscle to improve insulin resistance; I did not realise this was what I was striving for as well, as initially I looked at it the wrong way in so far as lowering blood glucose via a bigger surface area for non-insulin uptake of blood sugar via the GLUT4 receptors.
The method I use is not to bulk in the traditional way. I do not touch protein shakes, starchy carbs, testosterone, pre or post meal anything. The marginal gains the "bro science" could potentially achieve is realistically for those at the competition end of the scale. I would ask why put fat on just to cut down. I have assumed that aesthetically a male gymnast is the type of look that would be required as opposed to a body building monster.
Practically I eat Keto Carnivore to fuel my work. In the last 2 weeks I have gone back to OMAD as I feel best on this protocol - I experiment, and would encourage testing between 2 and 1 meal. An example meal from 21st May 2020 is at the end. What is vital is to ensure you send the right signal to your muscles to encourage muscle protein synthesis. I would recommend Fat burn zone cardio or functional movement exercise (walking, martial arts, ball sports)...but going close to failure on the resistance side i.e. sending the "signal" (when you are fit enough) to grow. This can be done with calisthenics, but is mentally hard to push to failure (see Ted Naimen videos).
I opt for traditional weights. I would suggest researching a proper body building and power lifting program with progressive overload. Form over weight, is vital, as is pre-hab conditioning (almost all of the strength athletes wish they had done more with mobility).
Typical Training For Me:
- Something everyday (being sensible however and respecting recovery)
- Not too long after waking 50 push-ups in row
- 7 to 10 miles a day of non-intensive walking (used to do intense, lost too much muscle mass)
- This is halved and fasted or after a breakfast if 2 meals a day
- Second walk after final meal
- Either:
- X3 Bar sets (multiple exercises). Seriously good portable gym or
- Power lifting sets at home or the gym
- Power lifting - go for it session (burn 600 - 1000 cals)
My lean muscle mass is now 72kg out of a total weight of 90 kg (I have cut down to 80 kg, which was not a good look for me, gaunt and my wife said no back***e. I currently have 15% body fat and have been in the 9's with lots of training, looking to settle around 12%. I will now be cutting to get down to around 86 kg. This is by the dropping to OMAD and increasing intensity of the exercise by around 5%, and swapping some walking for the static bike (this dumps weight off me like nothing else), sleeping better. I could decrease the food, but that doesn't appeal to me.
These are the guys / sites I would recommend for lean bulking:
https://ketogains.com (Luis Villasenor knows everthing)
https://ketosavage.com/
https://leangains.com/
Danny Vega:
Jon Andersen:
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon:
Others:
As above Dr Shawn Baker
Mark Bell
Nsima Inyang
Stan Efferding
Dr Ted Naimen
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
Strong.Sistas
William Shewfelt (Power Ranger)
Rob Wolf
Professor Don Layman
Megsquats
Caitlin Weeks
KetogenicGirl
Maria Emmerich
Health Coach Kait
Leah Polaski
Mark Sissons
Brian Sanders (Peak Human Podcast)
Mike Mutzel
Thomas De Lauer
Stu Philips PHD
Inspiration I use:
Strength Wars (YouTube)
Eddie Hall
Stoltman Brothers
CrossFit Games / male and female athletes
Strong Man in general
My Fuel:
This was my 5 course 1 meal on Thursday in one sitting:
1. Keto chicken nuggets
a. Salad
b. Butternut Squash Fries
2. Bacon (super air fried ans seasoned)
3. Steak
4. Dessert:
a. Macadamia nuts
b. Almond nuts
c. Pecan nuts
d. Walnuts
e. Brazil nuts
f. Keto lemon drizzle cake
g. Cinanmon biscuit
h. Almond biscuit
i. Greek Yogurt
j. 4 Berries
k. 2 x Coconut / Almond / Blueberry muffins
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All Keto / Healthy Fat:
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Next morning
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