Todd Bivens' Velocity Diet Log


Todd Bivens I am 58. My V-Diet kit hasn’t even shipped yet.

Weight 245
Chest. 48”
Waist AN 45”
Waist N 46”
Waist BN 47”
Left Bicept 17”
Right Bicept 17.5”
Thighs both 25.5”

I have been doing best damn workout p1 and p2 alternately for about 2 years. No real diet plan. Should i continue with that as my weight routine?

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BTW no relation to Steve

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It seems reasonable to me, as it’s low volume. Are you not bored to tears with it after two years?

Good luck!

I like the daily workout and I like the 30 minute timeframe. If there’s something better or more effective I would definitely be willing to try it.

I know Coach T has plans three and four completed already. Maybe he’d be willing to shoot those to me in a PDF. I am buying y’all supplements

TFP
I wake up at 4 AM. I am retired and I do volunteer work at our local Homeless Shelter 11 AM to 6 PM. I’m wanting to do both the weight lifting And the cardio between 4 AM and 10 AM. I know fasted cardio is the most effective. How should I incorporate my four proteins pulses and potentially using surge workout fuel pre-an intra workout what time should I do cardio what time should I do my weightlifting? I am planning to continue the best damn workout plan so it is absolutely low-volume so I’m thinking only one scoop of surge should be sufficient.

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First, that’s awesome! Thank you.

I’m tagging in @Chris_Shugart because I’ve never done the Velocity Diet, so I want a check. I’ve done many strict diets, though, so here’s what I’d do:

  • Definitely just one scoop of Surge Workout Fuel. I really think you’ll be shocked how well this stuff works (not to be too commercial), so one should be plenty for the plan you’re on. It also carries a caloric load, so you want to trade like for like - trade out that scoop of Metabolic Drive and be as close to calorically neutral as possible (even a little low, really, since you’re putting in carbs and taking out protein).

  • I think you have three reasonable options (which I’ll list below) on cardio if we assume little to no benefit to fasted cardio. I think this is a fair assumption, especially in your case, for a few reasons. First, the literature and common sense support little difference in fed vs. fasted cardio. Cardio really burns very few calories during the session, but there’s a lot of going on with our hearts and lungs that will benefit us all day - it doesn’t make sense that having some food in our bloodstream would make a difference. Next, practicality always trumps perfection: basically the “best” time is what we’ll actually do consistently. Finally, for you, specifically, you’re pretty much always in a fasted state while you’re on this diet - no worries. In my own personal opinion, I think there may be some physiological benefit to fasted cardio, and I certainly feel better on an empty stomach, but it still doesn’t trump convenience. I do think there’s a way to compromise on a high-frequency plan, though, which I’ll mention below.

So, our options:

  1. Two sessions: fasted cardio at 4am, pulse at 5:30am, Surge Workout Fuel and training at 9am to get you on your way to the shelter by 11am. This is my least favorite because I think it wastes a lot of your time (which may or may not be important to you). I think in terms of focus and simplicity, this one is there - you’re either training or fueling and never the two shall interfere. In terms of getting annoyed, this is max level there as well.

  2. One session, cardio after: So here you would get up, have a pulse at 4am, train and Surge Workout Fuel at 7:30am, and get another pulse at 11am as you’re beginning your day at the shelter. You do all your cardio after your training session. The literature supports this, although typically without the intraworkout carbs - the idea is your session depleted your glycogen so you are still “fasted” when doing the cardio. We probably won’t be in our situation, but, as noted above, I don’t think it matters much - you still won’t be full and lethargic, which is what I think is really the concern. I like this one because I think you’ll actually be happy to do everything every day, it’s convenient with your schedule, and you don’t have to think about getting multiple pulses in while you’re at the shelter (should be just one, then dinner after). You’re also welcome to wake up and go straight to the gym with Surge Workout Fuel in either this option or the next (that’s what I do), but I don’t see any reason to do that with your schedule.

  3. One session, cardio bookends: here we do exactly like the above, but we split our cardio and do half before our training and half after. This is my personal favorite, because I freaking hate doing my cardio. The reason not to do this is because of the risk of interfering with your training session. Counterargument: Brian Alsruhe (check him out on YouTube if you want your expectations shattered). Seriously, though, 15 minutes on the treadmill is not going to ruin your weight session, we aren’t worried about depleting glycogen because of our Surge Workout Fuel, and we aren’t necessarily trying to maximize any one capacity (if we only cared about a 1000lbs. bench press, this may not be our plan, for instance). The reasons I really like this are that I hate cardio, as mentioned above, it reduces the “hurdle” to getting into the gym (starting is easy, because I just have to plod away on a bike or something), it serves as a warm-up, so it cuts that frustration out, it forces me to “earn” the part I like (the weights), and I’m way less likely to skip half my cardio at the end than I am if I had the full thing to go.

So, all told, if I were in your shoes:

  • 4am: wake-up and pulse 1
  • 7:30am: train and Surge Workout Fuel (this is pulse 2)
  • 11am: pulse 3, begin at the shelter (for convenience, you’re fine to push this to noon if it doesn’t interfere with your work here)
  • 3pm: pulse 4
  • 6:30pm: healthy solid meal at home

Hope that helps!

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@Chris_Shugart Thanks, I really appreciate your insight I am going to do option three which I also think works best for me. The only question I have is yes I’m 245 pounds but obviously a high percentage of body fat what is the minimum protein requirement to lose the fat while maintaining and hopefully building muscle? That will help me Taylor my solid meal.

Just a heads-up, I’m not Chris; I was just calling him to check my thoughts.

Anyway, the protein question is hotly debated. I lean on the lower end of the recommendations. Pretty universally, in literature, we see the optimal amount of protein is .8 - 1.2g per lbs. of bodyweight. Every study I’m aware of sees diminishing returns once we get over .75-.8. Landing in the middle of that is our common rule of thumb of 1g per lbs. of bodyweight.

There are some thoughts that you need more protein in a deficit, based on carbs being “protein-sparing”. I don’t think there’s any logic to that, and think it really comes down to protein being allegedly more satiating and some misguided thought that we won’t lose any lean body mass if we consume a ton of protein.

Anecdotally, but never studied (to my knowledge), many coaches acknowledge that heavier and higher body fat individuals skew the protein requirements - i.e. adipose doesn’t carry the same relative requirement as muscle tissue.

Further, we recognize absolute minimums for carbohydrate (~100g) and dietary fat (~40g) requirements for hormone optimization or before other systems have to kick in to compensate (ketosis, etc.).

All that said, it is increasingly becoming my personal opinion that there is at least as much of an absolute threshold on protein consumption than relative. In fact, I’d say we need to set our absolute minimums for each macronutrient, then fill in the rest with calories as is practical.

For protein, I believe the absolute threshold to be around 150g bodyweight-independent. If we go with the lower end of the relative scale (.8g per lbs.), you’d be at 196g per lbs. I think you’re fine with either. The benefit of shooting for the higher end is “insurance” and it eliminates “worse” food choices - if you fill your calories with lean protein, you’re not filling them with sugar.

All that said, my personal opinion is you have a perfectly acceptable range between 150 - 200g protein per day. There is no negative consequence to going over, but some potential risk to going under, so it makes sense to target the higher end.

Sorry for a really long answer to a short question, but this is becoming my new windmill at which to tilt.

That really gives me the answer I’m looking for. Three pulses of the workout fuel is 132G that is 8 oz of lean meat, pountry or fish for my WSM. Very easy to build a plan. As soon as my V-Diet kit arrives i will kick it in high gear and post my progress. Appreciate your coaching so far TFP. Just an FYI I might already be using some existing ingredients at my house turmeric pills fish oil pills whey isolate and micellar casein. Just to get started and to get a base but I’ve purchased the kit and as soon as it arrives I’ll switch over.

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Sounds great! And to be clear, I’m not an employee: any of my plugs are my legit personal opinions.
Please keep us posted!


hey TFP Just in case you were thinking this poor guy has been on best workout plan for natural lifters for two years and he still looks like that? This is what I look like in 2018 so I really have made good progress lost over 100 pounds

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I figured coach Tibbs was probably hiding his face in shame when he heard about my story so hopefully this will pump them up a little

Incredible progress man! Congratulations! You should be extraordinarily proud

First, congrats on the 100-pound weight loss… AND keeping it off! That’s rare air, for sure.

I’m a big fan of Thibaudeau’s Best Damn Workout for Natural Lifters plan. If you like it too and you’ve seen good results (you have!) then stick with it. There are other options of course, but that’s a solid plan that fits well with the V-Diet given its controlled-volume approach. Another general option if you ever want to switch things up: do a full-body plan 3 days per week with lots of walking on off days.

Speaking of which… you mention cardio. What type? We strongly recommend brisk walks for the V-Diet, or something similar like a moderate bike ride. Too much traditional cardio could interfere with the plan.

I agree that one scoop of Surge Workout Fuel is sufficient for you.

Lots of good advice and options from @TrainForPain.

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TFP suggested and I agreed on continuing the best damn workout plan for natural lifters. I have been doing my weightlifting first thing in the morning after consuming plasma for well over a year and now surge workout fuel the last couple of weeks. So basically fasted with just the pre-workout drink. Today I had the breakfast pulse first followed three hours later by the surge workout fuel and found it to be much more effective. I had much more energy and it felt like a much better workout due to being fed a few hours prior. I just like the daily workouts and the 30 minute time commitment. I will be doing the brisk walks at 4 mph for my cardio It would be nice if Coach Thibaudeau could make plan 3 and plan 4 available as I am a little bored switching between the two options but i have seen great results with it. I have tried several modifications on exercises while trying to stay strict to the basic principles of low volume and high intensity. It would just be nice to have a professionally tailored plan. I will post my daily log later after i finish dinner.

2022-7-26 daily log

04:00 Breakfast pulse
Protein, fish oil, curcumin

07:15 surge workout fuel
07:30 15 mins treadmill 4mph, 1 inclins
07:45 30 min push workout
Leg ext
Machine bench press
Rope tricep pushdowns
Side lateral raise
Pec dec flys
08:15 15 mins treadmill 4 mph, 1 incline

12:00 lunch pulse
Protein shake, fish oil

15:00 mid day pulse
Protein shake
Fish oil

18:30 HSM
8oz Salmon
1 cup cooked rice
Roasted brussels sprouts

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2022-7-27 daily log

04:00 Breakfast pulse
Protein, fish oil, curcumin

07:15 surge workout fuel
07:30 15 mins treadmill 4mph, 1 inclins
07:45 30 min puii workout
Rope pull Throughs
Straight arm pull downs
Rope face pulls
Cable curls
Rope hammer curls
08:15 15 mins treadmill 4 mph, 1 incline

12:00 lunch pulse
Protein shake, fish oil

15:00 mid day pulse
Protein shake
Fish oil

18:30 HSM
8oz Boneless skinless chicken breast
1 medium baked potato
Roasted Broccoli

Very hungry in the afternoon. The healthy solid meal did fill me up for the rest of the evening. I felt strong during my workout I like having the meal several hours before lifting weights

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Nice!

That’s an incredibly low fat meal at the end there. If you start feeling awful in a few days, that will be our first place to look. If you feel great, we won’t touch it.

I agree yesterday‘s macros were 102 g of carbs 202 g of protein and 39 g of fat.

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