{"id":177418,"date":"2019-10-07T11:37:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T18:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=177418"},"modified":"2019-10-07T11:39:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T18:39:37","slug":"what-is-the-ideal-body-composition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/07\/what-is-the-ideal-body-composition\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Ideal Body Composition?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indefinite (slow, steady) growth is pure joy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is the ideal human body composition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Ideally high muscle mass<\/li><li>Ideally lowest body fat percentage<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why? High muscle mass makes you look bigger, more massive, more impressive, and also increases your testosterone and other beneficial and empowering hormones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why low body fat percentage? Having less adipose tissue makes your muscles look more impressive (the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ripped\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153chiseled\u00e2\u20ac\u009d look), you can see more definition in the muscles, and also having less adipose tissue makes your face look leaner and sharper, and also having less adipose tissue (body fat equally distributes throughout your body) is also more beneficial for your health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Increase Your Muscle Mass and Decrease Your Body Fat<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So how do we increase our muscle mass while lowering our body fat percentage? Simple ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Intermittent fasting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simple instructions: don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eat breakfast or lunch, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153break your fast\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at dinner. Dinner can be as early as 4pm, perhaps late as 10pm. The general idea is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>While there is still light outside, or while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still doing work during the day, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you eat, your body has an insulin response which makes you sleepy. Also by reducing your feeding window (and eating less frequently), your body is able to spark the autophagy \u00e2\u20ac\u0153human cell vacuum cleaner\u00e2\u20ac\u009d effect, which essentially can fight pre-cancerous cells, and also you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sharper and more focused throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. No carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there is a moral evil to alcohol or anything \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the reason I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t drink (besides getting headaches and not really liking how it makes me feel) is that it increases your body fat adipose tissue. So if your goal is to maximize hour body fat adipose loss, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t drink alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also same goes with carbohydrates (both complex and simple carbs). Both spike your insulin higher than eating fatty meats and eggs, and&nbsp;<strong>the more often you spike your blood insulin, the worse.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Lifting weights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Powerlifting or weight lifting, or any activities which stress your muscles are good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I feel that powerlifting is optimal, as it requires the minimal time commitment while maximizing your muscular strength growth. Also powerlifting is more fun than doing pointless reps (bodybuilding style). The basic goal in powerlifting is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>What is the maximum weight you can lift once?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Insanely simple, yet extremely effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My favorite exercises:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Deadlift<\/li><li>Squat<\/li><li>Dumbbell press<\/li><li>Chin-ups (bodyweight and weighted)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Great amounts of sleep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re wealthy, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the upside? Not the money \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the ability to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sleep in\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as much as you want, whether it be 9, 10, 11, or even 12 hours. I feel one of the supreme goods in life is to be able to sleep when you want, and being able to wake up when you want. For me,&nbsp;<strong>having control over my own time, schedule, and life is 1000x more valuable than all the riches in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therefore if you want to optimize your muscle growth and fat loss, sleep great amounts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simple tip:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Wake up without an alarm clock.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t watch TV, movies, or any moving videos before you sleep.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At night, read books, relax, and if you cannot sleep maybe take 5mg of melatonin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Optimizing your sleep seems to be 100x more important than optimizing your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153productivity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Ketogenic diet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experimented with all diets, but it seems that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ketogenic diet\u00e2\u20ac\u009d seems optimal. Eat no carbs, starch, sugars, and only eat bitter herbs and meats\/eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153perfect\u00e2\u20ac\u009d body composition?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of my heroes is the Rock. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incredible \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in his late 40s he is actually more muscular than he was than he was when he was professional wrestling. Sure Dwayne Johnson has great genetics, but he also puts in great effort and industry in working out and eating much. My aspiration isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to look like the Rock\u00e2\u20ac\u201d my aspiration is to constantly push my bodily strength and physique to new levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Certainly there is no perfect body composition or physique. There are no ultimate measures of perfection\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is all relative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My simple idea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The more perfect physique is having a little more muscle mass (while maintaining low body fat percentage) than you had in the past.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What I consider pure joy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example my ideal is indefinite, slow, and steady growth (for my entire life).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>If I can indefinitely increase my muscular mass by 1 pound every month for the rest of my life, this would be pure joy for me. Also if I can indefinitely increase my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one rep max\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in my lifts indefinitely, this would be pure joy for me.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which makes me wonder:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Perhaps pure joy and happiness is witnessing your infinite growth, and witnessing your own personal growth grow indefinitely!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Never stop growing stronger! ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indefinite (slow, steady) growth is pure joy:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":177374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/0E15275C-DFB9-4D54-BA62-2C9C99BF78CC.jpeg?fit=853%2C1280&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177418"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177420,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177418\/revisions\/177420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}