Natural Bodybuilding and Metabolic Flexibility with Flex Velasco

From vegan to keto-ish, Flex Velasco is no stranger to experimenting with nutritional protocols to optimize his health and overall well-being.  Flex and I competed on the same stage back in 2017, and it has been a pleasure to watch his journey on a natural bodybuilding path.  

What we chatted about during this episode:

• Natural bodybuilding and Flex’s quest to find a plan that was easy and sustainable (2:53)
• Consuming enough protein as a vegan and maintaining lean muscle mass (5:22)
• Bro dieting and lean protein (6:49)
• Flex’s reasoning for veering towards a more ketogenic approach (8:00)
• The importance of consuming enough dietary fat when following a ketogenic protocol (11:54)
• Hormonal balance and the science behind ketogenic bodybuilding (14:14)
• Working together instead of fueling the negativity in the health and wellness space (17:33)
• The improvements Flex has seen with metabolic flexibility and how he hopes to share the knowledge he’s gained with his clients (21:30)
• What natural bodybuilding means for him and why he chose that path (23:48)
• The dangers of using steroids (25:39)
• Hormone imbalance and exogenous hormones (26:36)
• Misinformation and the dangers it can cause (30:51)
• The benefits of focusing on quality, wholesome, single-ingredient foods and resistance training (32:50)
• Now to make the sport of bodybuilding more sustainable (33:44)
• Disordered eating and the catalysts for that (35:33)
• If It Fits Your Macros and the potential problems with that protocol (41:29)
• Viewing health holistically as opposed to just aesthetically (43:16)
• Monetizing dietary protocols, making them sexy, and why it hinders more than helps consumers (45:24)
• Testing blood sugar and understanding blood work (49:21)
• The mental clarity the comes with following a sustainable nutritional protocol that’s optimized for your body (51:31)
• Extended fasting (52:39)
• The detrimental effects of eating several times throughout the day (1:01:08)

Where to follow Flex: 

• Instagram
• Mana Made 

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