Now On Stage: Ken Karnack
Diet Guru Of The Week
Name: Ken Karnack
Date of birth: 08/15/1968
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Career: Personal trainer and gym owner
Sports background: Martial arts, bodybuilding, baseball
What do you like best about being a diet coach? I love getting people in shape, it is a passion that I have done for a while now. Watching someone go from good shape to really great shape is a an amazing thing to watch.
Competition history:
1991 PA state 6th place
2010 Rocky Mountain Classic
What Cardio Type Would You Recommend for Fat Loss and or Pre Contest, High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T) or Low Intensity Steady State (L.I.S.S.)?
I would recommend a combo of both. It also depends on the conditioning of the athlete as well as leg size. Some athletes especially the men over 40 tend to lose the quad size from to much cardio. I like cardio to some extent, but it can get boring. I find that a 1 day of HIIT per week combined with LISS works well. We build up time as we get closer to game time..
How do you diet your clients? Using the carb cycling approach, keto?
Some I will use keto all the way with carb up days and crap carb up days as progress moves along. I find that the deeper in the diet you go in keto, the higher the carb up days.. Mostly high GI carbs... an then taper off after..
Others will get a lower carb diet with some rotations in their MACROS depending on progress. I am learning more and more daily that everyone has their own look and progresses at different rates, so the protocols can’t always be cookie cutter or the same approach.
What is your protocol for filing out days prior to stepping onstage?
I like to keep my athletes a little on the flat side instead of real full. Looking real full sometimes means your to fat, and being flat means most times, your looking dry, conditioning wins out...
What is the most challenging aspect of dieting clients?
I think the most challenging part of what we do is to evaluate what the client needs most. Do they need more time to diet, carbs to fill out, or less to get leaner, less cardio or more, etc. Everyone responds differently, so getting it right from the start is the biggest challenge.
What supplements do you reccommend the most to your clients?
BCAA, glutamine, vitamin C to reduce inflammation, M
CT or coconut oil for energy, Lipolyze (fat burn), Somalyze (sleep), multi vitamin, and Humapro.
What is the oddest question you have ever been asked by a client?
A bikini competitor just recently asked me if I could work on her posing, I said, NO, my ass doesn’t move like that.
Do you also provide training programs to clients? If so, how do you determine the best program for each individual?
YES! I do a very extensive intake form to determine what the client is doing now for workouts, cardio, and foods then I will make a proper protocol, calorie range and nutrients needed to progress. We also do pictures weekly if needed to find the right time to get someone ready for a show, nothing is worse in bodybuilding or figure that an athlete that is on stage and looks 3-4 weeks out.
What formula do you use to determine how many macro nutrients to give each client?
It depends on what they are currently doing for tracking of nutrients. Some will have a dedicated journal that make life real easy to adjust, or I will establish a BMR base line and see how their body reacts to the foods. From there we can adjust any nutrients up or down depending on progress.
Do you have clients manipulate water prior to getting onstage? If so how?
I do. Some will need a herbal diuretic to get rid of that last bit of water and some will not. The last week we will not drop water out until the last day. Normally Thursday we will drop the water in half, then Friday in half again depending on how they look and if needed we will get a small dose of dandelion root to squeeze out that last drop. I also recommend potassium. It goes up and sodium goes down the last week.. This has been working well for us. If you do it just right, the need for diuretic is not normally needed.
What is the best way for potential clients to reach you?
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.personaltrainersacramento.com/contest-prep-coach
Twitter: www.twitter.com/osfitness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kkarnack
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