00:00hey folks Dr Mike here for Renaissance
00:02periodization I have a question for you
00:03should you bulk no wait wait should you
00:06maintain Bo should you cut that sounds
00:09fun how do you know when to do the
00:12various diet phases to couple them with
00:14your training for best longterm muscle
00:16gain and fat loss results will wait no
00:19more the answers are coming now here we
00:23go before we tell you if and when and
00:28how you should be bulking or maintaining
00:30let's take a look at all three of the
00:32phases and explore a little bit of kind
00:35of what you're getting in each phase
00:37like if you're telling someone who's
00:38never been to a restaurant before hey do
00:40you want burritos or pizza or Chinese
00:42food they're going to be like what are
00:44all those things and you'll have to
00:46explain them so that they can make the
00:47right choice same idea with these phases
00:50first the muscle gain phase the goal is
00:53to put on muscle which automatically
00:55means that if you don't want to put on
00:57muscle that's probably not the phase for
00:58you at this time in your life life the
01:01costs are that in almost every case a
01:03muscle gain phase will cost some
01:05temporary marginal addition of body fat
01:09and will result in a higher level of
01:11training fatigue because going hard in
01:14the gym absolutely beats you up and a
01:16muscle gain phase is best done when
01:17you're going hard in the
01:19gym the requirements before you
01:24start is that you have a good body image
01:29and loow training fatigue let's take
01:31those one at a time good body image is
01:34because when you are going to be doing a
01:37muscle gain phase some added body fat is
01:39going to be in the equation for at least
01:40a few weeks after the phase until you
01:42can diet it off if your body image isn't
01:45amazing or the best it's been in a while
01:48and you're like hey let me do this phase
01:49where I get fatter that might not hit
01:52exactly as well as you had planned but
01:54if you have really good body image
01:55you're like fuck it I can gain a little
01:56bit of weight I don't give a fuck then
01:58you're at least in that respect ready to
02:00do another muscle gain phase and low
02:03training fatigue means your joints feel
02:05good your the rest of your body feels
02:07good you're excited to train your
02:08muscles can get a good pump really
02:10easily you're not in this position where
02:12you're like man I want to gain muscle
02:14but like I don't feel like training that
02:16hard I'm beat up and tired you don't
02:18want to start a muscle game things like
02:19that so those are prerequisite
02:21conditions in most cases for even
02:23thinking of starting a muscle gain phase
02:25and the recommended duration of a muscle
02:27gain phase is for most better outcomes
02:31is somewhere between 12 and 20 weeks in
02:33length which means if you do not have 12
02:35to 20 weeks in length to dedicate to a
02:37muscle gain phase you can still do one
02:39but maybe it wouldn't be your best
02:40choice next the maintenance phase the
02:44goal in the maintenance phase is to
02:46recover from diet fatigue and recover
02:49from training fatigue now maintenance
02:51phase here we mean a dedicated phase
02:53that maintains your body weight but
02:55checklists a couple of actual goals if
02:58you're just training and you're not
02:59dieting to gain or lose and you're just
03:00enjoying life that is actually called
03:02the balance phase it's not really a
03:04phase it's just the balance lifestyle So
03:06that's its own thing we won't talk about
03:08you're might be in that phase most
03:09people are by default in a state of
03:11balance so a maintenance phase the goal
03:13is to recover diet fatigue that you
03:15accumulated in another phase or recover
03:17from training fatigue that you
03:18accumulate in another phase so that you
03:19can get ready to do another more
03:21productive phase such as cutting or
03:24bulking fat loss or muscle gain those
03:26are the meat and potatoes phases that
03:27actually drive change the maintenance
03:29phases is like a cool off phase it's
03:31like if you're a really crazy dedicated
03:33career person that's what the weekend is
03:35you don't do the weekend because it's
03:37some kind of want to go to a county fair
03:39or go to the park you hate that shit you
03:41want to be at your job making crazy
03:42productive things for the rest of us but
03:44you know that weekends are important to
03:45let you cool off relax so you can be
03:47ready on Monday to hit work hard again
03:49same idea for maintenance phases that's
03:51what they are to muscle gain and fat
03:52loss phases the cost of a maintenance
03:55phase is that you don't really see very
03:58impressive changes in your body body one
04:00week goes by two weeks three weeks four
04:02weeks five weeks in a maintenance phase
04:03and you kind of just look the same and
04:05that's a cost because some of us really
04:07get addicted in a good way many times to
04:10like make shit looking different week to
04:12week in the mirror I'm either Fuller
04:14rounder when I'm a muscle gain phase or
04:15leaner and sharper and more cut on a fat
04:18loss phase on a maintenance phase you
04:19just can't expect to see really cool
04:21results because the fatigue and all that
04:22stuff that's decreasing is all under the
04:24hood it's not super visible the
04:26requirement before starting not a
04:28requirement but kind of the reason you
04:31would do a phase and then Essence a
04:33requirement it's like if um you want to
04:38get your oil changed in your car the
04:40requirement is that some amount of time
04:42has passed before your last one now you
04:44can always just come in the next week
04:46after an oil change you're like hey Bob
04:48mechanic here to get my oil changed
04:49again he's going to be like is this one
04:51of those serial kill movies where you
04:52fucking come in too often and then time
04:53number three you stabed me in the eye
04:55why the fuck are you here your oil is
04:57totally fine you can always come in
04:59early but why you know what what was
05:01Scott the video guy you know cars how
05:02often do oil changes
05:05happen every 3 to 5,000 miles BMW to oh
05:11the BMWs can go longer I'm just got the
05:13video guy I'm richy fucking rich and a
05:16Trader to our Great American Nation hash
05:18Byam I'm kidding everybody in any case
05:22sure you can do a maintenance phase for
05:23a few unconvincing reasons but if you
05:26don't have high training fatigue or high
05:30diet fatigue you can probably just do a
05:33muscle gain phase or a fat loss phase so
05:36maintenance phase because it is to
05:37reduce fatigue is its primary purpose
05:40then having some kind of day diet
05:41fatigue or some training fatigue is
05:43probably a requirement to make the most
05:45sense out of doing the phase and the
05:47recommended duration for a maintenance
05:49phase is at the smallest time scale
05:51usually two weeks you can drop a lot of
05:53training fatigue in two weeks but if you
05:56have a crazy amount of diet fatigue
05:57especially after a psychotically insane
05:59fat loss phase they got you really
06:00really lean you can maintain for up to
06:0312 weeks and still see benefits in
06:06precipitously declining diet fatigue
06:09that entire time so 2 to 12 weeks is the
06:11duration there's of course a lot of
06:12individualization within that lastly but
06:16leastly the fat loss phase the goal of a
06:19fat loss phase is twofold it is to lose
06:23fat for sure but also to retain muscle
06:25you don't want to lose fat and muscle at
06:27least not a lot of muscle because then
06:28people at work think you're sick
06:30and say like shit like hey my
06:32condolences you're like what the fuck my
06:34condolences to my body fat they're like
06:36no to your muscle gains bro you're like
06:37fuck they got me so you want to maintain
06:40as much muscle as possible while losing
06:42fat those are the goals of the fat loss
06:43phase the costs of the fat loss phase is
06:47that your diet fatigue will go up you're
06:50going to get cranky tired hungry
06:52Sleepless all that crap and your
06:54training fatigue will for sure go up
06:56you're going to be a little bit of a
06:58broken off Mr Potato Head one arm
07:00hanging off after a really good Diet
07:02phase uh it's just pay the cost to to be
07:05the boss kind of stuff in order to start
07:09a fat loss phase generally the
07:11requirements or best position you should
07:13be in is that you have low diet fatigue
07:17this is huge if you start your next fat
07:20loss phase and you are already trying to
07:22chew your fingers off the bone because
07:24you're starving where you think that's
07:26going after three weeks you're going to
07:28fall off the wagon and as you fall off
07:30the wagon you're going to fall into a
07:32container of Taco Bell tacos hard
07:36shell and you're going to eat all of
07:38them 800 tacos later you'll have to get
07:41your stomach pumped it's a terrible
07:43thing you should in almost every case
07:46only start a fat loss diet if you can
07:49truly tell yourself I am at peace with
07:51my diet I don't want a ton of cheap food
07:54snacks are fun but I can do without them
07:55for a while and I'm totally okay to plug
07:58in and for the next six 8 12 or whatever
08:00weeks it is I can stick to a rigid diet
08:02and be okay so low diet fatigue is a
08:05huge check mark to be able to put in
08:08your little diet passport I don't know
08:11so that you can do best with that next
08:13phase and if you can't check it you need
08:15to maintain for longer or do a muscle
08:16gain phase or do something else you
08:18should also have low training fatigue
08:21training is Pretty Tough during a fat
08:23loss phase but here's the big kicker
08:26once you have a certain level of high
08:27fatigue those low calories don't let you
08:29drop it very much so even if your
08:31fatigue during a fat loss phase in the
08:34middle is a little high it's just going
08:36to get higher and higher because how the
08:38fuck are you going to heal from that
08:39when you can't eat enough food to even
08:41maintain your body weight so low
08:42training fatigue prepares you it gives
08:44you that good clear Runway of hard
08:46training so that your airplane of diet
08:49fing fuck that an alergy and fuck that
08:51up lastly in the best case scenario to
08:55set yourself up for the best success
08:57probability you you want a
09:03timetable of largely uninterrupted
09:06ability to eat the food you need to eat
09:09and train as hard as you need to train
09:11without a ton of weddings and travel and
09:15work events and all this other crazy
09:17stuff that gets in the way of your life
09:19that prevents you from being on point
09:21with your plan the best fat loss phases
09:23are ones in which you live kind of like
09:27Vegeta and Trunks did in the hyperbolic
09:29Time Chamber you're in there there's
09:30nowhere else to go there's only food
09:32sleep and training now that's not our
09:35usual lifestyle but the closest you can
09:37get to that the better you sure shit
09:38don't want like oh yeah I've got a trip
09:40to Mexico it's two and a half weeks long
09:42in the middle of my fat loss pH I'll
09:43just diet through that if you ever been
09:45in Mexico that food is so good holy shit
09:47you're never going to die through that
09:49realistic and how long of a phase you
09:52need well anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks is
09:54a typical duration there are mini cuts
09:56and other Advanced things we can talk
09:57about but generally good solid fat F
09:59loss phase is 8 to 12 weeks in length
10:02eight weeks to do some really good fat
10:03loss anything shorter doesn't really
10:05lose a ton of fat anything over 12 weeks
10:08is more like competitive bodybuilder
10:10type stuff a lot of people get such high
10:12diet fatigue by the end of the 12 weeks
10:13that anything more is just risking
10:15falling off the wagon for no net gains
10:18taking all of that together the two
10:23questions that can answer the main
10:25question of what phase should you do now
10:29is first which phases goal appeals the
10:33most to you right now do you want to put
10:36on muscle right now do you want to lose
10:38fat right now don't fucking say both yes
10:40of course it's both of course we all
10:42want to get infinitely jacked and
10:44negative body fat percent but which one
10:46right now is the one you want to tackle
10:50secondly do you meet all of the
10:52conditions of the phase which you want
10:55tackle and if you don't meet the
10:57conditions of that phase which phase can
10:59you do that will allow you to meet the
11:01conditions of that phase you wanted to
11:03do originally beforehand it's like
11:05you're driving to a friend's birthday
11:06party and you're like what am I missing
11:08fuck a birthday present what's going to
11:10help me solve that I'm gonna go to well
11:14let's see what is our friend I'm gonna
11:15go to Home Depot and get him a shovel
11:18because he always talks about how he
11:19hates his wife and he's gonna kill that
11:21quote stupid bitch someday and how is he
11:24going to bury her he's going to need a
11:26shovel so I'm going to get him a shovel
11:27and the Home Depot trip will
11:29potentiate my trip to the birthday party
11:31and I show up to the birthday party this
11:33is for your wife and he's like thanks
11:35man I love you I hate that bitch and
11:37you're like okay I hope we're all joking
11:40by the way this whole time Mr friend
11:42because your wife's quite lovely but if
11:44she was to disappear I mean I don't know
11:47where she went in any case which phase's
11:50goal appeals to you right now and do you
11:52meet all the conditions for the phase
11:53let's do a few examples one for each
11:57example what do you get when PhD sport
12:01scientists collaborate with Pro
12:04bodybuilders the most effective muscle
12:06growth training app ever
12:14now you've been lifting hard for a year
12:19straight you have no diet or training
12:21fatigue to speak of you are fresh as a
12:24pickle and you figure you really want to
12:28get like fucking lean lean for the first
12:30time ever all you do is go to the fat
12:34loss phase and you look again at all the
12:36requirements and all of the
12:39different categories and you see if it
12:42lines up gold loose fat sounds like what
12:44I want retain muscle great costs diet
12:47fatigue no wor no worries I'm willing to
12:49pay that training fatigue no worries I'm
12:51willing to pay that requirements before
12:52starting low diet fatigue check low
12:55training fatigue check largely
12:57uninterrupted time to grind without
12:58major distractions o okay yep I do have
13:01a wedding in October but I'll call them
13:04and tell them to move it for me into
13:05December excellent and I have 8 to 12
13:08weeks Amazing then it's a fat loss phase
13:11answer number two you've been dieting
13:15for a while now and you really just want
13:19to get huge it's muscle gain time but
13:22you're really fatigued in training as
13:24well your joints are kind of eh your
13:26muscles are kind of H so we looks like
13:31we can't do any more fat loss we don't
13:33even want to do that we'd ideally like
13:35to do a muscle gain phase but we need to
13:39fatigue which phase reduces training
13:41fatigue it's a no-brainer it's the
13:43maintenance phase and if you go to the
13:45maintenance phase you check all the
13:46goals costs requirements recommended
13:48durations and you're like check Chuck
13:49check I can do all that then the
13:51maintenance phase is the
13:52answer lastly number three you say
13:55you're stoked to get bigger and you're
13:58one 100% comfortable with a bit of extra
14:00fat gain for a few months no diet
14:02fatigue to speak of no training fatigue
14:05to speak of well shit you are absolutely
14:07queued up to do a muscle gain phase and
14:09that last thing of how comfortable are
14:11you with a bit of fat gain that's a
14:13thing that for a lot of guys is super
14:15easy super tractable but for a lot of
14:17ladies it requires some thinking some
14:20inner peace and ladies remember if you
14:22gain like half a pound per week after 10
14:27weeks of muscle gain dieting and getting
14:29bigger muscles you're only up worst case
14:32if you gain zero muscle at all which
14:34won't happen 5 lounds of fat the thing
14:36is 5 pounds of fat if you weigh 130 and
14:39all of a sudden uh 10 weeks later you
14:41weigh 135 it's highly unlikely that
14:43people at the gym or people at work like
14:45damn Debbie did you fucking eat Debbie
14:48the cupcake lady ho holy shit it's such
14:51a tiny amount 5 PBS is like period blo
14:55that's that's that is it awesome no dear
14:58br feel Tighter and you feel kind of
15:00icky sure you want to wear more
15:02turtlenecks and sweaters fine but you
15:05can get through it and at the end just a
15:07couple weeks after you can do a little
15:09mini fat loss phase get all of the
15:12weight off all of the fat off and be
15:14left with Rippling huge enormous strided
15:17concrete dense rebar muscle you can
15:21finally come up to that fucking hot ass
15:24Antonio Banderas look like motherfucker
15:26at work and be like hey Hector and he's
15:30like see and you're like watch this
15:33motherfucker and he's like I you this
15:35meal let's go right now to Albano where
15:38I will love your body up and down over
15:43over ideally you say yes at that point
15:47ah sure your boss walks in you're like
15:48get out of here Frank I'm trying to fuck
15:51in any case ladies enjoy gentlemen
15:53hopefully you're Hector I'll see you
