Thread by @_AshleyRichmond

I've spent the last decade researching and experimenting with the most effective system for building muscle + losing fat.

Don't waste the next 10 years trying to figure this out.

I'll show you how to build your dream body in the next 3 minutes.

Here's the step-by-step guide:

//MORNING//

30g of protein:

Starting the day with 30g of protein is a great way to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS).

The current research suggests that it is leucine, an amino acid, rather than total protein, that stimulates MPS.

But we need to consume about 3g of leucine for this to happen.

This means we need to consume at least 30g of protein in one sitting, as protein is between 5–10% leucine.

So what does 30 g of protein look like?

- 5 eggs
- ¾ a block of tofu
- 120 g chicken breast
- 120 g of ground beef
- 7 slices of thick bacon
- 1 large cup of cottage cheese
- 1 cup of Greek yogurt with 28 g of almonds

Creatine:

Creatine is the most studied supplement in the world.

Take 5g of it per day, split into two doses.

It’s been shown to have benefits for nearly every aspect of our health, with the relevant benefit being on our muscles:

- Paired with resistance training, it increases strength and lean mass (muscle)
- Increases the water content of your muscle cells, making them bigger
- May also increase IGF-1 - an important hormone involved in muscle growth
- May prevent muscle breakdown when we exercise

Coffee:

Coffee is a powerful fat loss tool.

Drinking coffee has consistently been shown to help us burn fat through a few different mechanisms:

- Fat mobilization - drinking coffee helps fat move out of storage and into the mitochondria where you can use it as a fuel source

- Fat oxidation - drinking coffee stimulates the metabolism and increases metabolic rate to oxidize (burn) fat

- Increased adrenaline - caffeine stimulates the release of adrenaline, and adrenaline leads to fat oxidation

- Increased exercise performance - caffeine has been shown to decrease perceived effort and time-to-exhaustion during a workout, and thus improve performance in the gym.

This means we'll be burning more calories than if we hadn't had coffee beforehand.

Drink coffee daily.

Fasted walking:

During fasted cardio, your body has minimal stores of available energy (glycogen) from the foods you eat.

Your body needs to tap into energy stores in the body (stored fat).

You will burn up to 20% more fat than you would have if you had eaten beforehand.

Fasted cardio is a powerful fat loss strategy on its own, but combined with caffeine, it becomes even more potent.

As mentioned above, caffeine helps to mobilize fatty acids during your cardio, leading to even more fat burning.

So for maximal benefits:

Coffee + fasted cardio

//DAYTIME//

Avoid sitting for more than 1 hour:

Have a goal to take at least 8000 steps each day.

Low-level movement taps into something called NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

This is all the calories you’re burning outside of a formal exercise session.

“Those low-level movements, they trigger epinephrine release from these neurons, and they stimulate the mobilization of fat. And then that fat is oxidized at higher rates.” — @hubermanlab

@hubermanlab Avoid snacks:

If you’re looking to lose weight, you’ve probably heard you should have frequent, small meals, because it’s “good for the metabolism”.

But the current literature suggests we should avoid snacks if we want to reduce our body fat.

@hubermanlab Frequent snacking leads to greater fat gain due to the body remaining in fat-making mode from the constant influx of food.

So, you want to avoid eating between meals.

This allows your fat-making processes to switch off and your body to start burning stored fat.

@hubermanlab According to @SatchinPanda, fat-storing only turns off after 2 hours without food.

So we want to aim for 3–4 hour blocks of time during the day where we're not consuming any calories.

This includes drinks with calories, such as sweetened tea/coffee, or a dash of milk or cream.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda Post-prandial walks:

Walking after a meal is a great way to control blood sugar, which will in turn support your fat-loss journey.

Studies have shown that taking a 15–20 minute walk after a meal leads to lower blood sugar levels than if someone went for a walk before a meal.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda Regular spikes in blood sugar will encourage your body to hold onto fat and will impact your ability to burn fat.

By walking after a meal, you prevent these big spikes.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda “Frequent feeding also keeps your blood sugar levels elevated and shifts your metabolism into sugar-burning mode, which does not allow your body to tap into its stored fats for fuel.” — @bengreenfield

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Work out — HIIT + resistance training:

Resistance training is a powerful tool for fat loss and works through a few different mechanisms.

Lifting weights increases metabolic efficiency and muscle mass.

The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn on a daily basis.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Lifting weights also increases excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which means you keep burning calories even after you’re done exercising.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Weight training also switches on a fat-burning mode, increasing the amount of energy we burn, through a specific molecular pathway.

A recent study showed that when we load our muscles they send a message via little vesicles to our fat cells, triggering them to start burning fat.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is another great tool for fat loss.

It involves exercising at a high intensity for a short period of time, followed by a period of rest.

This can be anywhere from a 3:1 to a 1:3 work:rest ratio.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield For example, 30s of hard exercise, followed by 60s of rest (for a 1:2 ratio), repeated 6–10 times.

HIIT burns more calories (both during and after the session) than steady-state cardio, meaning you burn more calories overall.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield //NIGHT//

Casein protein:

Whey protein is great post-workout because it leads to a spike in muscle protein synthesis.

Before bed, casein protein is ideal because it's slower releasing.

This means you’ll have a steady supply of protein through the night for muscle growth.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Another benefit comes from the thermic effect of food (TEF).

All foods take calories in order to be digested and metabolized.

Protein has the highest TEF of the macros.

This means you’ll burn more calories just by choosing to eat protein over carbohydrates or fat.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Optimize sleep:

There's no shortage of research showing that a lack of sleep can lead to fat gain and hinder our ability to increase our muscle mass.

So if we want to ensure our body is burning fat, we need to make sure we’re getting enough good quality sleep.

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Here are some of the top ways to improve your sleep quality:

- Bright morning light exposure
- Avoid bright lights after sunset
- Avoid exercise 4 hours before bed
- Avoid caffeine 10 hours before bed
- Avoid food 90+ minutes before bed
- Keep a consistent sleep/wake schedule

@hubermanlab @SatchinPanda @bengreenfield Summary:

MORNING
- 30g protein
- Creatine
- Coffee
- Fasted walk

DAY
- Avoid sitting for over 1 hour
- Avoid snacks
- Post-prandial walks
- HIIT + resistance training

NIGHT
- Casein protein
- Optimize sleep

If you found this thread valuable:

1. Follow me for more threads on leveraging your daily habits → @_AshleyRichmond

2. Retweet the first tweet so others can benefit from it.

https://twitter.com/_AshleyRichmond/status/1530110595088932865

If you'd like this thread in ebook format, get it for free here:

momentumhabits.ck.page/ed3b5d2ca0