Powering up at Enterprise
Jayson sought Enterprise with the goal of improving his body composition. Like many, the lockdown situation across 2020 also impacted his ability to train consistently and make strides towards optimal health and performance. The demands of multiple jobs and general life also informed Jayson’s decision to make his health a greater priority and commit to 3 training sessions a week at Enterprise.
Jayson had a history of strength training, but he did not have a systematic program or the correct nutrition plan to achieve the results he wanted. As such, suitable nutrition principles were employed to achieve fat loss without undermining performance, recovery and day-to-day quality of life.
Here are Jayson’s results at a glance:
- Week 1 – 115.0kg
- Week 16 – 99.5kg (lost 15.5kg)
Training
- Phase 1 – GPP 4×10-12
- Phase 2 – 6×6, 8×8
- Phase 3 – Modified tri-sets
- Phase 4 – Quad sets
Jayson began with a GPP (general physical preparedness) phase to develop foundational strength, stability, mobility and address certain deficits. This included addressing a sensitive knee (which improved with general hip strengthening), ankle mobility and gradually increasing his strength with deep knee flexion, with exercises such as split squats.
From here, we completed a 6×6+8×8. As a stronger individual, Jayson benefitted from heavier lifts in the A series and volume work in the B series, which also allowed him to memorise new movements through repeated exposure.
The third phase involved modified tri-sets to increase total time under tension and work density using a spectrum of repetition ranges to drive lactate accumulation and ultimately fat loss (alongside his nutrition plan). The fourth phase involved giant sets to push Jayson to his limits.
Jayson enjoyed every phase of training and trained with 100% effort, taking sets close – and occasionally to – muscular failure to stimulate a strong growth response.
Diet
We started on a -20% net weekly deficit, alternating between training day and non-training day nutrition to accommodate for variations in activity level, energy and recovery demands. Throughout the 16 weeks of fat loss, we aimed to keep food as high as needed to 1) drive performance and recomposition (just look at his back!), 2) satisfy the right rate of weekly fat loss, but no more, and 3) experience fat loss without steep drops in calories, which was a psychological triumph for Jayson due to a history of unsustainable fat loss attempts in the past. Protein was consistently at around 2g/kg body weight to support lean muscle mass and fats were also maintained around 0.8g/kg body weight throughout. We spread this across 5 meals, as the research indicates that protein distribution indeed matters, as we are able to remain in positive protein balance throughout the day from more frequent protein serves (to an extent). This also supported Jayson’s appetite.
Carbohydrate was the main fuel substrate that was manipulated throughout Jayson’s 16 weeks. The exception to this was during refeeds (used as needed), where fats were lowered slightly to make room for more carbohydrates.
Ultimately, the key to Jayson’s success was developing a routine with his meal preparation, such that he was not reliant on finite willpower to achieve daily success. We also gathered data around steps, sleep, stress, performance, etc., to inform our approach.
In regards to supplementation, Jayson was using the Tri-Magnesium Night Powder, Trighanda by Designs For Health. It was important to consider Jayson’s allostatic load across training, work and life stress and thus provide specific lifestyle, nutrition and supplemental strategies to resolve this.
