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Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: Physical Performance, The 4-Hour Body - 4HB, The 4-Hour Chef 4HC
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Georges St. Pierre, better known to fight fans worldwide as GSP, is currently the UFC Welterweight Champion. His publicly stated goal is to retire as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and, at a record of 23-2, ESPN currently ranks him as the #3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I think hell get there. His intellectand consistencyis what separates him from the brawlers. He has a scientific approach to winning. This isnt limited to training. He considers nutrition a critical part of his fight prep, just as important as being in the cage. In this respect, 2009 marked an inflection point. That year, after successfully defending his Welterweight title in his second fight against BJ Penn, GSP hired Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition to help him gain lean muscle tissue
and improve his recovery abilities. Berardi, in charge of the nutrient science, recommended that GSP hire Jennifer Nickel and Rosario Ross Gurreri, two chefs in the Montreal area who worked at Cavalli and Bice restaurants, for his meal preparation. In the next 8 weeks, GSP gained approximately 12 pounds of lean muscle and bulked up to 195 pounds. His upgraded speed and power helped him to dominate every subsequent opponent, posting a 5-0 record since 2009. This post will walk you through how GSP ate during his 2009 transformation While he no longer has a private chef for everyday meals, GSP still consults with Berardi and still flies Jen and Ross to his hotel the week before a big fight to cook for him and his entourage. First, well look at GSPs meal plan.Second, well look at how your design your own version using Dr. Berardis guidelines.
3 Meals Provided by Ross and Jennifer - 1 lower carb anytime meal to be eaten whenever you like: 650 calories 60g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat- 1 lower carb anytime meal to be eaten whenever you like: 650 calories 60g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat1 high-carb post-exercise meal to be eaten immediately after training (a recipe that can be eaten cold): 700 calories 60g protein, 100g carbs, 10g fat Youll find two sample recipes at the end of this post.
2 Daily Super Shakes GSP made sure to drink shakes every day, to get sufficient protein between meals. Here is his plan:
1 super shake at a time, between meals, mixed with almond milk or water. This was used to wash down 4 fish oil capsules - 1 scoop milk-based protein powder- 1 scoop greens supplement- 1 cup frozen mixed berries (use mixed to avoid developing food intolerances from eating too much of a single variety) 282 calories 18g protein, 25g carbs, 12g fat Berardis suggested products: Muscle Milk protein powder from CytoSport, greens+ from Genuine Health, Flameout fish oil capsules from Biotest. Workout Nutrition GSP added protein bars in addition to his two daily shakes. Here is his daily feeding schedule. Before training: protein bar . Recommended Brand: Finibar from Biotest: 125 calories 7g protein, 20g carbs, 4g fat During training: 1 workout drink. Recommended brand: Surge Workout Fuel from Biotest: 85 calories 8g protein, 21g carbs, 0 fat Immediately after training: 1 workout drink. Recommended Brand: Surge Recovery from Biotest: 330 calories 25g protein, 44g carbs, 1g fat. Followed by a post-workout meal 1 hour later. Optional: 1 Additional Meal If youre hungry, eat 1 additional meal per day. It can be whatever you like, as long as its lower in carbs and higher in protein and fat. Given GSPs leanness, he was given more latitude, as Berardi explains: The rule was to eat everything on the menu and then, if he wanted anything else, he could have it. Some days that meant Subway, other days McDonalds. It didnt matter. As long as he got his required food in each day, he could eat whatever discretionary calories he wanted. He ended up reporting that he had a few extra meals a week. But he was pretty satisfied from his normal menu, so he didnt need to use too many discretionary calories. Approximate Total Baseline Intake: 3104 calories 256g protein (30%), 315 carbs (40%), 99g fat (30%)
What guidelines should someone use if trying to replicate the above? When determining a clients macronutrient split, at Precision Nutrition we use body-type specific guidelines. In essence, we plan someones nutrition according to their somatotype, as follows: Ectomorphs around 25% p (protein), 55%c (carbs), 20%f (fat) Mesomorphs around 30%p, 40%c, 30%f Endomorphs around 35%p, 25%c, 40%f Definitions: Ectomorph Thin build, challenging to put on weight (muscle or fat); Example: long-distance runner. Mesomorph Muscular build, can lose or gain muscle easily (fat gain minimal); Example: sprinter or gymnast. Endomorph Large build, easy to put on weight (both good and bad); Example: shotputter or football lineman. Since GSP is a clear mesomorph, thats why his split looked like it did. As far as calories, for most people wanting to gain weight, wed multiply body weight in pounds x 20-22 to determine the total. This would have put GSP at 3400 to 3700kcal to start with. However, he was chronically underfed leading up to us working together, so jumping all the way up to 20 or 22 would have probably led to fat gain. So we chose a multiplier of 18 to start with. This ended up being perfect for him, based on the outcomes described above. How much did GSP weigh when consuming the above? We started this plan about 2 months before a training camp when he weighed around 183 lbs. In the 2 months leading up to camp, the plan took him to about 195 lbs. At that point his weight stabilized, which was perfect going into camp. We didnt want him much heavier because it then might be too hard to cut to 170. In the next 3 months, the diet stayed the same, but the high volume of camp helped him come down to about 188 the week before the fight. That made the cut to 170 pretty easy. We did the cut from 188 to 170 in 5 days (from M-F). Then in 24 hours (from F-Sa), he rehydrated to about 188 lbs for the fight.
be devoid of any sulfur-type smell or brownish, greenish tinges. Above all, according to Jen, try to incorporate more fresh herbs, spices and vinegars into your shopping list. Its amazing how much flavor (not to mention health benefits) you can get from these ingredients without having to add calories. Shortcuts Prepare certain things in bulk so that you have them for the week, something like braised lima beans or lentils, which can be used later in many recipes. If you store them in their own cooking liquid in an airtight container in the fridge, they have a surprisingly long shelf-life. This is an important step for having access to nutritious carbohydrates, especially if you dont have time to cook them throughout the week. The same beans and legumes can be used for so many different recipes, so thats a huge time saver.
chanterelle or matsutake, brushed not rinsed- 1 teaspoon cider or red wine vinegar- Fresh herbs like basil, parsley and/or tarragon, roughly chopped Sides: - 1 egg or 3 quail eggs- 5 spears steamed asparagus or broccoli ### For full meal plans of competitive bodybuilders aiming for sub-6% bodyfat, see The Last Mile chapter of 4HB.