[quote]dt79 wrote:
Unless you wish to become a mass monster, which would be a different discussion involving a lot of other factors, just use common sense when gaining.
[/quote]
What if one wants to become a mass monster?[/quote]
Potential bro-science alert:
Well, from the people I know who have become actual mass monsters, one would need to force his weight up at some point regardless of muscle to bodyfat ratio gained. The rational is the body has to accept new extreme bodyweight set points as normal before it’s willing to put on and hold on to more muscle.
Of course, people with the genetics AND willingness to actually become mass monsters naturally are very rare, so such a theory, although commonly agreed by the few I know, may be up for contention.
Edit.
In addition, to maximise muscle gain at an earlier training stage, a substantial caloric excess must be present to take advantage of the times when muscle is ready to grow. Reason being, muscle does not grow in fixed amounts at regular intervals due to multiple variables such as hormonal fluctuations. Note this is not forcing muscle growth with more calories, nor does it imply one should be fine with gaining 10lbs of fat with 5lbs of lbm lol.
Makes sense to me. I know a fair number of guys who took this approach, actually it was pretty common to read advice like this in general a few years ago. The “bulk while never losing a 6-pack” trend is a relatively recent phenomenon.
It seems the former approach was taken by this fellow, who claims to be natural:
[quote]craze9 wrote:
Makes sense to me. I know a fair number of guys who took this approach, actually it was pretty common to read advice like this in general a few years ago. The “bulk while never losing a 6-pack” trend is a relatively recent phenomenon.
It seems the former approach was taken by this fellow, who claims to be natural:
Yeah. What must be taken into consideration here are genetics and age. In the strength department, he’s one of a handful in the world to deadlift 900lbs and he was 16 when he embarked on his epic bulk.
Some guys took it too far by letting the fat pile on without consideration for ongoing gains in LBM and strength. That’s probably what shifted the scale towards “lean bulking” but what should have really happened was more people using common sense when gauging progress.
-Consistent for 2+ years
-Gained 60lbs
-Increased all your lifts
-Successfully adapted/personalized a "proven"routine
-Understand how to use set and rep ranges
-Understand hot to apply assistance lifts
-Understand nutrition
[quote]craze9 wrote:
Makes sense to me. I know a fair number of guys who took this approach, actually it was pretty common to read advice like this in general a few years ago. The “bulk while never losing a 6-pack” trend is a relatively recent phenomenon.
It seems the former approach was taken by this fellow, who claims to be natural:
Yeah. What must be taken into consideration here are genetics and age. In the strength department, he’s one of a handful in the world to deadlift 900lbs and he was 16 when he embarked on his epic bulk.
Some guys took it too far by letting the fat pile on without consideration for ongoing gains in LBM and strength. That’s probably what shifted the scale towards “lean bulking” but what should have really happened was more people using common sense when gauging progress. [/quote]
George Leeman is pretty badass. I did the 20 rep squat program because of him.
[quote]FlatsFarmer wrote:
-Consistent for 2+ years
-Gained 60lbs
-Increased all your lifts
-Successfully adapted/personalized a "proven"routine
-Understand how to use set and rep ranges
-Understand hot to apply assistance lifts
-Understand nutrition
Great job! You are no longer a beginner!
Welcome to the Varsity![/quote]
Thanks man! Appreciate it!
[quote]dt79 wrote:
Yeah. What must be taken into consideration here are genetics and age. In the strength department, he’s one of a handful in the world to deadlift 900lbs and he was 16 when he embarked on his epic bulk.
Some guys took it too far by letting the fat pile on without consideration for ongoing gains in LBM and strength. That’s probably what shifted the scale towards “lean bulking” but what should have really happened was more people using common sense when gauging progress. [/quote]
Yeah, I think a lot of guys (including me) were basically not paying attention to diet / nutrition at all… bulking just meant “caloric excess”. Very different from counting calories, cycling carbs, and aiming for 1 lb / week of BW gain. Yes you will still start to get fat if the latter process goes on long enough, but you aren’t going to suddenly wake up and realize you’re obese overnight. I’m at the point right now where I’m starting to notice the fat gain, and will be leaning down for summer for vanity reasons, but if all I cared about was getting bigger I could keep my “bulk” going for another 6 months or longer without getting THAT fat.
I’m 7 months into a 5x5 type program and I’ve hit a bunch of snags, but I keep persisting.
I’ve been doing 5x5 barbell bench and I’m seeing very little development in my chest. I’m wondering if you did additional chest work, since your’s seems to be progressing nicely. Are you doing dumbbell presses too? Pushups?
I’m 7 months into a 5x5 type program and I’ve hit a bunch of snags, but I keep persisting.
I’ve been doing 5x5 barbell bench and I’m seeing very little development in my chest. I’m wondering if you did additional chest work, since your’s seems to be progressing nicely. Are you doing dumbbell presses too? Pushups?[/quote]
Thanks!
And I’ve switched between pushups and dips, and recently I’ve done a lot of dumbbell presses. Bench by itself isn’t that good at building size in your chest.
It seems the former approach was taken by this fellow, who claims to be natural:
[/quote]
Pretty sure George Leeman doesn’t claim to be natural. He has (had?) videos discussing drug use and who should or should not use.
And he bulked up to 400lbs and is deadlifting over 800.
Sorry to be that guy, but I’m not posting this to discuss steroids or shoot down Leeman. It’s about common sense and being realistic with your goals/means. Especially since this is the beginner’s forum and there may be people who don’t know anything about lifting and nutrition reading this.
It’s been a few months since a progress update so I figured I’d share a few things.
I’ve actually lost a few pounds and am down to about 200 even. Although what’s weird is I’ve started to get a few stretch marks on my bicep and near my armpit, never had those on my upper body before so I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not. But that being said I finally hit a 3 plate squat for 5 reps past week, and I’ve also been really killing the deadlift lately and got 365 for a single last week as well.
I started having some shoulder issues from benching and overhead pressing, so I switched to behind the head presses and dips and I’ve seen no pain since. My bench is still about 255-265, I have a 6’6 wingspan so my bench has always been my weakest lift compared to my weight.
Also, I have about 2 or 3 months before I leave for basic training. I’ve been running a p/p/l variation for nearly 2 years now and I’d like to switch it up a lot before I leave just as a change of pace. My main idea has been an Upper/lower split like this:
Upper day (low reps, high weight)
Lower day (high reps, moderate weight)
off
Upper day (high reps, moderate weight)
Lower day (low reps, high weight)
