[quote]natural59 wrote:
Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you CAN’T pack on lots of lean muscle mass without bulking. It’s just bs, and a lame excuse for poor nutritional habits and/or workout plan…!
-james[/quote]
I’m constantly hearing you respond with this, but could you possibly show a program/diet that you have used for this?
Not intended as a flame, but I just think it would help the guy out.
Honestly, I don’t think him posting a good diet or program would even be useful. Bugeisha hasn’t even bothered to count calories. I counted my calories yesterday and it literally took less than 5 minutes. I’ll repeat that again… 5 minutes.
If anyone thinks that takes a good amount of effort, that person needs to be slapped… hard. That being said, you think he’s going to put in the effort to follow a diet plan as he should? I highly doubt it.
I don’t even think he took the time to read CT’s article on bulking. Actually, I KNOW he didn’t take the time to read it. Or if he did, then he needs to pay more attention to what was said.
He says he thinks he lost fat because he sees more definition. CT talks directly about this subject in his article. Then he says he’s basically eating as much as he can. I know he wants to look good and have some ab definition, but he also wants to build mass. So he’s going to want to look ripped at some point after he’s done with his bulking.
Based on the information, him eating as much as he can right now is about as jackass a move as the guy who humps up his curls in the squat rack. Seriously, read the article. It’ll take possibly another 5 minutes of your time. Obviously, I’m just a nobody but I’m pretty damn sure CT knows what he’s talking about.
And for the record, if you weren’t keeping track of calories then you did not at any point, clean bulk. How can you possibly say you clean bulked if you have no clue how many calories you’re getting?
If you’re getting 4k calories and only need 3k each day, you’re going to find yourself becoming increasingly fat. There’s no way around it. People can go buy HOT-ROX and what not to supplement. Diet is important, and theres no supplement in the world that’ll make more of a difference than a good, properly planned and executed diet.
My last post was simply a regurgitation of a part of the knowledge I’ve picked up from reading T-Nation’s articles. What I said is what I would call basic information, which is sad, because the majority of the forum users could learn quite a bit from it.
Sorry to rant but it’s a bit annoying when I browse the forums and most of the people could answer their own questions if they took 5 minutes to look through the articles. That’s the point of the nifty search option.
There’s a ton of information on T-Nation and that’s why I love it. It’s quality information that anyone at any level can always learn from. The information is right in front of you. Use it.
Ok rant over. Sorry.
Hey everyone,
So I'm about 5 weeks away from being done with my first year of college. It's really been a great year, and I learned a lot about training along the way. Whoever told me I was nuts for trying to cut at 185lbs was fucking brilliant! Best advice I've ever taken. So thank you for that.
Within the first couple weeks/months of school, I became friends with a group of serious lifters, athletes, and bodybuilders. It has been an invaluable experience to have them to look up to and learn from. One of these dudes is a pretty accomplished teen bodybuilder, having won some NPC comp. here in Texas (his name’s Brock Ogle btw).
I realized once I got to school that trying to cut while eating cafeteria food required more discipline than I think I have/had, so I was like fuck it, let’s get big. I started eating a lot, sticking mostly with CT’s Carb Cycling Codex principles… carbs in the morning and post workout on training days, and divided up in my first 3 meal on off-days. This worked well in that I could eat a lot and didn’t gain any fat but I felt the muscle gain was too slow and I had the ability to be eating a lot more, especially as these dudes I trained with were gaining more weight and size than I felt I was. So in February/March I started getting a bit less conservative with the carbs and starting downing a ton of milk and I’m gaining weight again.
I continued with DeFranco’s WS4SBIII until about November… then did CT’s OVT for 8 weeks… then since mid January I’ve been doing Rippetoe’s Starting Strength. I don’t feel that I did the first 2 programs justice because honestly, I feel I was too much of a beginner to realllly reap the benefits of those programs. I think every beginner should do Rippetoe’s program for 3-6 months before doing anything else if for no other reason than to make squatting second nature. I know it has helped me tremendously, in addition to the handful of guys that I now train (I know, crazy.)
As for stats, I will admit I had a bit too much ego when I first posted my lifting stats and inflated a lot of my numbers. So here is the real deal:
THEN NOW
Weight: 185 lbs ~200 lbs
Bench: ~240 lbs x 1 295 lbs x 5
Squat: ~245 lbs x 3 355 lbs x 5 ATG
Dead: ~265 lbs x 3 455 lbs x 5
Row: ~120 lbs x 5 215 lbs x 5
Military Press: ~120 lbs x 5 175 lbs x 5
Powerclean: ? 225 lbs x 5
Dips: IDK BW+135lbs x 8
Chins: IDK BW+60lbs x 10
So yeah, I know I don’t post around here so no one really cares but I read a ton and I just wanted to keep this documented for the future, for me and for whoever, and to say thank you to those of you that told me I was a dumbass.
Pictures will come within a few days I hope… I haven’t gained a noticeable amount of fat either, which is good. 
Thanks for reading,
Alex
Good progress with your strength mate! 455 x 5 is rough stuff. You’ve done well. Pretty much what I did when I started–read a lot and keep my mouth shut. It pays off doesn’t it?
Do you feel you are leaner now than you were at 185? Seems to me 15 lbs in a year is slow progress for a guy who was a “new” trainee unless you’re lower in bf%. But regardless, your strength has skyrocketed so your size will follow sooner or later. keep the faith, keep the desire. Keep working hard.
Good fucking work. He says he hasn’t really gained fat. If thats true then I’d say 15lbs in 8 months of clean gains is pretty good.
Congrats bro. Your numbers look real good. Now it’s time for your body. Keep it up, you’re never really done yet.
I appreciate the comments thus far; keep ‘em comin’!
Aragorn,
I'm definitely a little bit leaner than I was at first (down maybe a bf % point or 2?). It is important to me that I don't get visibly FATTER as I gain weight. I know this is stupid to many but I'm in no hurry to reach my goals, I know this is a lifetime thing.
Also, these definitely aren’t my “noob” gains. Whenever I started from scratch I was about 150lbs at 6’0"… 150 to 170 are probably what I’d call my noob gains but 170 at 6’0" is still scrawny for most people IMHO.
Also, it’s only been about maybe 8 months I believe since I was 185.
That’s really good progress on the lifts. Very well done.