Tyler McPeak
30May/120

A look into my current program

fbook 300x276 A look into my current programFor the past 4 weeks I've been hitting it hard and I'm very close to being where I want to be (body fat wise..new pics and youtube vids soon) I've been using a new approach to nutrition,workouts and supplementation. So far the results have been the best yet.  The program is designed to build strength, maximize fullness, and burn fat.  A little about my current nutrition is that I have 3 different meal plans for the week.  Once a week I've been having my cheat meals icon smile A look into my current program For one meal out of the 42 I have in a week I eat whatever I want. If you follow me on Facebook or twitter you have prob seen a couple pics. Cheat meals can be very beneficial to your diet as long as you have discipline and are able to control it. A couple of guidelines I follow is that I make sure to be done with my meal within 45-1hr. I used to not follow that in the past and it would turn into a all night event of munching... Not good. Secondly I always have it as a replacement for meal 6.  If you choose to have it early in the day your most likely going to miss meals and end up cheating again. Lastly I make it carbohydrate rich. Some of my go to cheats are pizza,homemade burgers and fries, baked ziti, Mexican and sushi.  My desert the past couple of weekends has been a red velvet cupcake on top of 2 slices of cheesecake.  Ok enough about food!  As for my workout routines they have switched up too and I'm using a periodization protocol with higher volume.  Very intense!  Cardio has been low intensity empty stomach as soon as I wake up.  Incline treadmill with the incline set on 15 the whole time.  Give it a try you won't be able to go as fast but it's challenging.  I keep my heart rate around 130-145.  I'm gearing up to resume filming for my members section and once it's launched you will have full details everyday of my diet and the new workout program I've been doing.

Up until last week my cough had still been lingering but it is now officially done!  I have not yet rescheduled my shoot for silver models in NYC because right now my priority is getting my members section launched.  Everyone keep training your ass off!

30Apr/120

Intra Workout Drink by Milos Sarcev

Here is the article that I read today that refreshed my memory about intra workout shakes.

"In this column I mentioned in several occasions importance of post workout drink that I religiously take (and highly
recommend) immediately upon finishing exercising. I also believe in specific drink
that should be taken during the workout! As a result of heavy resistance training we have
many metabolic, physiologic and hormonal changes in our body. First, there is
considerable increase in our metabolic rate. Furthermore, there is significant increase in
skeletal muscle blood flow (chance for us to supply muscles with immediate necessary
nutrients). With progressive sets we would have number of catabolic physiological
effects such as decrease in net protein balance, decreased glycogen and ATP storage,
increase in amount of circulating cortisol, tissue destruction and swelling and oxidant
stress due to release of free radicals ( immune response of our body due to damage and
inflammation that occurred). Simultaneously there are some anabolic events as well,
like increase of anabolic hormones –testosterone, growth hormone and IGF-1.
Increase is transient and really negligible, but documented and therefore worth
mentioning. What is more important –damage that occurs in muscle cause tissue
inflammation and that destruction leads to activation of so called satellite cells
(modern theory of muscle hypertrophy is based on theory that satellite cells are
responsible for repair and creation of new muscle fibers) and release of certain
growth factors. Taking in consideration what science tells us I decided to experiment
with “workout drink” that is easy to absorb and which is able to deliver exact nutrients
needed to stop catabolism and create anabolic environment for our muscles. If we would
have double the skeletal muscle blood flow during bouts of exercise and that blood is
filled with ‘building nutrients” what would happen? So before each workout I would mix
hydrolyzed whey protein with additional free form and branch chain amino acids. I would
add high glycemic carbohydrates like dextrose and maltodextrin (which I got from
Weider Nutritional Group) and so important glutamine and small amounts of creatine.
I would use Gatorade for flavor and added electrolytes and as I start my workout I would
drink 200-300mg of no flush niacin (from Weider’s Schiff line of products).

Important detail is that I would try to use a lots of fluid so mixture would be highly
(modern theory of muscle hypertrophy is based on theory that satellite cells are
responsible for repair and creation of new muscle fibers) and release of certain
growth factors. Taking in consideration what science tells us I decided to experiment
with “workout drink” that is easy to absorb and which is able to deliver exact nutrients
needed to stop catabolism and create anabolic environment for our muscles. If we would
have double the skeletal muscle blood flow during bouts of exercise and that blood is
filled with ‘building nutrients” what would happen? So before each workout I would mix
hydrolyzed whey protein with additional free form and branch chain amino acids. I would
add high glycemic carbohydrates like dextrose and maltodextrin (which I got from
Weider Nutritional Group) and so important glutamine and small amounts of creatine.
I would use Gatorade for flavor and added electrolytes and as I start my workout I would
drink 200-300mg of no flush niacin (from Weider’s Schiff line of products).
diluted. If we use little liquid –abundance of highly concentrated nutrients in this drink
could create GI disturbance due to osmotic reactions (I would use minimum of 1 liter of

liquid, 20g of hydrolyzed whey, 20grams of free form aminos and BCAA, 20grams of
glutamine peptides, 3-5 grams of creatine, 40-50 grams of dextrose and the same amount
of maltodextrin). I would make sure to finish my drink half way through my workout,
taking few sips between every set. What I’ve noticed was tremendous pump that would
just not go away. I suggested it to several serious competitive bodybuilders that train in
my gym and every single one of them got the same - incredible results.
Logic behind this is simple. Why wait and allow our body to catabolize itself if we can
prevent that by supplying all the necessary nutrients at the time when we need them the
most –during destructive intense workouts! We would provide fuel which would
maintain glucose concentrations and considerably reduce glycogen depletion. At the
same time we would increase blood flow and level of insulin, strongest anabolic hormone
responsible for storage of amino acids, glucose and creatine. Final result –enhanced
uptake of all these important nutrients by our muscles. Only difference is –instead of
waiting and letting our body replenish what was lost during post workout recuperation
period –we are promptly reacting on muscle damage expediting healing process
immediately - as damage occurs. There is no doubt in my mind that this method would
increase protein synthesis and therefore create larger structural proteins (myofibrils).
In other words – it would lead to muscular hypertrophy (growth) – exact reason why we
train in the first place.
I would encourage everyone to try this “workout drink”. Start with smaller portions of
each ingredient and than progressively increase (or manipulate) the amounts of all (or
some) according to demand of your workouts or specific goals."

26Apr/120

Back/Bicep

photo73 e1335460009979 225x300 Back/Bicep

Nashville - January 2012

After working out Monday I woke up feeling lethargic and drained on Tuesday so I had to skip out on a workout and just rest.  Yesterday I started to feel like myself again in the gym and I did one of my favorite back workouts.  It had been exactly 3 weeks since I'd done back so needless to say I'm pretty sore today.  I was pleased to at the fact that I used the same weights as I did on that Tuesday before I got sick.  Still my endurance is pretty poor but it is improving.  I really can't wait till I'm 100 percent again.  My weight is slowly coming back and I can tell that my muscles are starting to retain glycogen again.  I guess when you get sick you lose the ability to retain glycogen.  I weighed 208 this morning.  It sucks having to hear from all your clients tell you that you look skinny...but at least it's coming back lol.  Here is the workout..give it a try in your next back day it was a good one!

  1. Narrow Grip D Bar pulldowns - 3 warm ups 10-15, 4x8-10 1 drop set on last set
  2. Overhand BB Rows - 3x10
  3. Knee on bench DB Rows - 3x10
  4. Wide Grip Pulldowns - 3x12 (lighter weight paused at the bottom of each rep for a 1,2 count and contracted hard)
  5. Behind the neck curls on Pulldown cable - 3x20,15,12 and 1 drop set for 20
  6. Standing Cambered bar curls wide grip - 3x12
  7. Close Grip cambered bar preacher curls - 3x12 superset one arm standing cable high curl - 3x10
24Apr/120

Chest/Tricep

204 225x300 Chest/Tricep

took this on Saturday after my second workout back

I decided to kick my week off with hitting chest again even though I just did it on Friday.  My endurance is still very weak but it is improving each workout.  My weight is still not going anywhere but my muscles are filling back out from the workouts so I'm not feeling so skinny anymore.  I was able to go back to work yesterday and train my in person clients.  It felt great to finally be able to get out of the house and do something.

I did the pre-exhaust technique yesterday since my strength is down anyways my goal with each workout is just to pump as much blood as I can into the muscle.  I'm still finding it difficult to get strong contractions but yesterday was a lot better than this weekend.

  1. Flat DB Flys - 2 warm ups x15, 3x10-12 1 drop set on last set for 12
  2. Incline barbell press - 1x15,3x8-10 1 drop set on last set for 10
  3. Flat DB Press - 3x10
  4. Straight bar skullcrushers - 4x12
  5. Rope pressdowns - 3x12
  6. cambered bar seated overhead ext - 3x12

Despite the very low volume of this workout I woke up today and my chest and triceps are SORE.  My diet right now is all clean food but I'm having carbs with all 6 meals.  I've been adding a 7th meal as a protein shake directly before bed.  A good mass building meal that I suggest for anyone trying to put on size cleanly add into their nutrition plan is what I had for meal 6 last night. 7oz chicken,1 cup black beans,1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese...of coarse you should tone the measurements down accordingly to your body weight but all of that mixed together is pretty tasty.drago2 300x300 Chest/Tricep

18Apr/120

Finally on the mend

Each day I'm improving and feeling more and more back to normal.  Still feeling pretty weak and tired but overall I'm in a lot better place then I was just a couple days ago.  I don't know if being sick cranks up your metabolism but I'm eating a massive amount of food and the scale still isn't moving.  When I eat these meals I get hungry shortly after.  I spoke with one of my friends Trent today that had gotten pneumonia a couple years back and he said it took him 3 weeks to gain all of his weight back and he lost the same amount as me 15lb.  This weekend I plan on hitting the weights again if I'm feeling up for it.  Friday I plan on doing some Chest and back, Saturday shoulders and arms and Sunday legs.  All of these workouts will be extremely light and it's going to be more just to get some blood in the muscle and get a pump.  This might be too ambitious but right now it's sounding good to me..I guess I'll just have to see how I'm feeling day by day.  I'll be posting my workouts that I do.  Here has been a typical day of eating for me.

  1. Protein Pancakes
  2. 7oz chicken, 3 cups hash brown, 1 tbsp evoo
  3. 7oz chicken, 1 cup rice, 1 tbsp evoo
  4. 7oz chicken, 8oz sweet potato
  5. some junk food  (yesterday had 2 whoppers and 5 mini sneakers bars)
  6. 3/4 cup oats, 2 scoop protein, 2 tbsp natural peanut butter

 

17Apr/120

Health Update 2

Yesterday I had to go back to the doctor for a follow up for him to see how I am progressing.  Everyone at the office was saying  how I look so much better..the front desk girl said she thought I was dieing on Friday when I had come in.  The nurse told me that I have my color back and that I looked grey last time.  They took another X-Ray to check on my lungs and the Dr was very happy and said that it is about 60% better than it was on Friday.  So he released me and said that I would be able to lift weights this weekend!  Each day I'm feeling more normal I just can't wait to be 100% healthy again.  It's now been 2 weeks and that feels like forever.  It's crazy how quick life can change and everything can be taken away from you.  So this brings me back to some of my previous posts...Don't take advantage of being able to workout each day.  Embrace it and train like it could be the last time you train.

This will only be the third day that I'm back to eating 6 meals a day.  My weight is still at 200lb and doesn't seem to be budging yet even with some cheat meals thrown in the mix.  I'm hoping by the end of the week my weight will start coming back.  I will post up my workouts that I do this weekend.

15Apr/120

Questions – 4/15/2012

John
Tyler, first of all, hope that you get better. Pneumonia is terrible, but its definitely a good thing you take care of yourself. I have a quick question about sweet potatoes and carbs in general. First, should you eat complex carbs like sweet potato and brown rice, even on days that your not working out? Or should you just eat them before and immediately after your workouts? Secondly, how much sweet potato/brown rice is appropriate per meal? Finally, I shouldn't eat the skins on the sweet potato correct? I know you probably won't be getting around to questions for a while which is completely understandable. Thanks for you dedication Tyler, hopes and prayers are with you man. All the best.
14 April 2012

Tyler - My diet stays the same on days I don't' workout.  Your body still needs the food for recovery purposes IMO.  The amounts you have per meal really depends on a lot of different factors. my suggestion is to play around with that and see how your body responds to the different amounts. you can eat the skins if you'd like it's a great source of fiber..i choose not to eat them just because i don't like the taste.  i eat my sweet potatos cold with ground cinnamon on them..been doing that for years now. thank you for your kind words and support. keep up the hard work!

will
give yourself time to recover, can have a rebound of the bug
14 April 2012

Tyler - most definitely..that is the last thing that i want to happen right now.

Daniel
Tyler, it's been a while since we've heard from you. ...hope your doing better. Daniel
14 April 2012

Tyler - thanks Daniel...it's been a rough 2 weeks..i'm just ready to feel better again.

Eric
in the supermarket i can often choose between non gluten cookies or cookies with no sugar. they can't be non gluten and no sugar. what is the better choice for getting ripped?
8 April 2012

Tyler - the best choice is to not eat cookies at all.  if you can't give up cookies chances are you won't be able to achieve the leaness your striving for.  if you talking that these cookies are just every once in a while..say once a month then i would just eat normal cookies.

Jake
Tyler, i read that your taking glycocarb with evp pre-workout? Do you take them together? The EVP directions say to take it on an empty stomach, does it matter if you take your carbs with it?
5 April 2012

Tyler - no you can take them together.  when i was taking them i would do 1 scoop glycoject and 2 scoops evp mixed together 20 minutes before my workout.

Wil
Tyler- what does your pre-bed meal consist of?
4 April 2012

Tyler -  a protein source and greens

Jason
Hey Tyler, have you always been vascular? Other then lowering your body fat, are there are ways to get your veins to appear thicker and more apparant? Does cardio help since it promotes the increase of blood flow?
1 April 2012

Tyler - Vascularity does come from having low body fat.  Cardio will help burn the fat off so your veins will be visible. 

14Apr/120

Health Update

Sorry everyone for my lack of posting but after that last post I took a turn for the worse that following day.  I started coughing badly all day.  Coughing to the point where I would be out of breathe and it was hurting severely.  So I went to the doctor on Monday and they gave me an antibiotic,cough medicine, and an inhaler.  After the first day day passed I called the Dr back because I wasn't getting better and they told me to give the drugs 48hrs in my system and I should notice a difference.  I didn't after another couples days passing of no sleep and coughing my ass off I went to a different doctor on Friday.  They did a chest x ray and determined that I have pneumonia and they told me that they only usually see lungs like that on an elderly person.  He also said that if I wasn't as healthy and took care of myself as I do that I would be in the hospital right now.  So I ended up getting a steroid shot and a antibiotic shot.  I also had to do  a breathing treatment.  He prescribed me a stronger antibiotic and some cough syrup that has hydro co done (or however you spell that pain killer med) in it.  Last night was the first night I was able to sleep the whole way through (in 10 days) and I finally feel like I'm on the mend.  I weighed myself this morning and I was at 201lb.  I'm not worried about the weight loss I just want to feel heatlhy again.  I know that once I start back on a normal eating schedule and can workout my weight will come right back.

Member section news!  My webmaster has been working hard this week and has been sending me pictures and test sites of what my site will be and as shitty as I feel I'm pretty excited lol icon smile Health Update I can't wait to get back to my normal self and killing some workouts! everyone have a good weekend!!

7Apr/120

A New Perspective

This past Sunday was a full day off for me and after a full day off of doing nothing I'm usually feeling ready to get back after my cardio on Monday morning but I noticed I was feeling pretty weak during.  I figured maybe it was just the diet and the twice a day cardio sessions that my body was just not rested well enough.  I trained Chest later on and had an awesome weight training session.  I noticed later that afternoon/night that something was just off wasn't feeling like myself.  Again I just attested it to the workouts and diet.  Tuesday rolled around and cardio was a struggle again in the morning but I had a great back session. I started feeling pretty weird later that night and once I went to sleep I woke up a couple hours later freezing.  I was able to get back to sleep then woke up again burning up sweating at that point I knew I was getting sick.  I don't need to keep going on about this but this is the worst I've ever had the flu and I've barely been able to eat or drink anything.  Today is the first day I'm starting to feel better but I'm still battling with a fever.  At this point I'm not even sure when I'll be getting back into the gym so needless to say I'm rescheduling my shoot in NYC that was just a couple weeks away.  Being this ill has definitely put a  whole new perspective on life for me.  When your not able to do anything it made me realize how I take the simplest things for granted.  I'm ready to bounce back from this and get after it when I can!

29Mar/120

24 Days Out

march29 225x300 24 Days Out

March 29 2012

One of the most important parts of your journey to reach your physique goals is to keep a positive mindset.  When things aren't going as you planned or not happening fast enough self doubt and discouragement start to creep into your mind.  If you let those thoughts take over then it's going to start effecting your workouts and you will be more likely to say screw your nutrition plan and fall off the wagon.  You have to keep in mind that this is not an easy road by any means and if it were then EVERYONE would be doing it.  Instead of dwelling on the negatives focus on the positive and focus hard on what the big picture is to you.

With just 24 days left I'm giving it everything I have.  I had to send updated pictures to Hany today so I'll be speaking with him in the next few days to see if I need any program changes but so far I feel that I'm tightening up at a good rate.  I have not lost any strength in fact I've gotten a little stronger on a few lifts.  My weight this morning was 217lb on an empty stomach.  I'll be doing another assessment on Saturday to see if any of the numbers have changes...lets hope so.  Also I'll be getting around to doing another youtube video since my schedule didn't permit it last week.