New to this forum,i came to look for an advice regarding my fitness journey.Long story short started about 6-7 months ago doing the mentzer\yates high intensity training and im seeing good results.Now sitting at little above 5’11 and 135lbs 8/9%bf,from 122 previous.Age is 28.i want to bulk up until 155-160 at same bf percentage and many gym peers told me gains wont come easy as im not young anymore.How possible is my goal to achieve in the next year or two,and any other advice regading program and nutrition are welcomed.
At 28 years of age, you are absolutely still young, and prime to grow.
Is there a reason you need to remain at 8% bodyfat while you grow? Allowing yourself into a higher/healthier bodyfat range will most likely make the muscle building process that much easier. As gaining only 13lbs in 7 months of dedicated training starting at 122lbs is glacially slow, and quite possibly hamstrining your results.
Thank you for the your answer,and no there is not any particular reason for being that lean,its maybe because of eating very clean and counting calories i aim to be 200-300kcal above maint,thats what i read when i started out this fitness journey.I also saw a lot of failed bulks,like overeating and then wasting time cutting for a longer periods,but maybe i am wrong who knows.
I know,few weeks ago i felt the pain when i entered into shop to buy jeans,and i couldn’t find smaller sizes.That was very uncomfortable situation for me.
Hmm,valid point.When you are new you read a lot of new stuff and dont know which is true.I will start increasing the kcal to 500-600surplus of maint.And why do i feel bloated and puffy after carb dominant meal?Im talking about carbs from wheat,pasta,rice,potatoes..?
Im talking about carbs from wheat,pasta,rice,potatoes..?
You listed 4 different things there, two of which (wheat and pasta) are notorious for causing such issues, whereas rice and potatoes typically don’t.
I’m not a carb eater myself, but if I was, I’d use something like Stan Efferding’s Vertical Diet to guide my consumption. He makes white rice the primary carb source, while Vectoring in a potato a day to allow for potassium, and shys away from grains to prevent digestive issues.
Great info,thanks on the advice im looking forward to sharing my bulk in couple of months,as far as training goes i stick to basics and I progress good on all lifts.Suplemenys wise taking whey,multi,minerals and i think i will start with a creatine.
I’ll start with a caveat, I completely agree with the advice above to gain and go harder than you currently are on the gaining. That is the way I would do it (and have done it, going from 155lbs at 6’2 to 210lbs at my heaviest).
That said your goal is 160lbs within 1-2 years and you’ve gained 1.85lbs per month so far, averaged, you keep going at your current rate you’ll hit that goal in just under 14 months.
That aside, what does your training look like? You mentioned HIT but more details would be interesting. Assuming since you are doing HIT and you’ve avoided fat gain, your primary focus is aesthetic?
And addressing this:
That’s absolute bollocks, at 28 you shouldn’t have any issues, after a certain point you stop getting newbie gains and things are slower but that isn’t really age related and particularly not at 28.
One other thing, I’d suggest throwing up some pictures, always helpful for those advising, maybe even start a journal, helpful to get a constant low level of feedback, I’ve been at this decades and still get loads of helpful advice from having a journal here - recently people pointed out that I was clearly hitting my head against a brick wall with the program I was on (took me a couple of weeks to see they were right but I got there) and even yesterday I got some really helpful deadlift advice. 100% advocate a journal, it’s been invaluable for me.
First of all,thank you for the shared knowledge and infos.About the HIT training my routine is currently like this
Day 1:Chest and back
Chest —> peck deck machine 2x warmups sets and one all in,beyond failure superset it with incline bb press.Weight used as of yesterday for peck deck its 210lbs for 9 reps,incline bb 110x10 reps(on the working set)
Back —>Lat pulldowns 2x warmups 1 working set 165lbsx8 very good form(could go heavier but form suffers).Then i go to hammer support rows similar to low cable rows same sets and method,weights used for working set 115per arm for 6 reps(form its okay,could be better).And i finish back with pullovers(cable)90 lbs for 10 reps.
Day2 Legs:
Legs i start with leg extensions and move to leg press(will switch to hack squat from next workout).Sets same like previous but reps higher for legs 12-15.Then i do hamstring curls,and finish with calves(seated and standing).
Day3 Shoulders,Arms
Lateral raises,2x warmups 1 all in with 30lbs per hand for 16reps(decent form).Moving to rear delts i do reverse peck deck or cable.Arms start with weighted chin ups 45lbs for 5 working set and then move to preacher curls.For triceps weighted dips 90lbs for 4 reps and move to pulldowns.
This is my routine currently and i plan to switch the hammer rows for bench supported rows and leg press for hacksquat.And yes my goal is primarily aesthetics like you said.Deadlift and squat i know they are great but they bother my lower back a lot.Any criticism on the routine is welcomed as i im looking forward to learn new things for experienced lifters.I will start log most likely tomorrow and upload pictures in the upcoming days.
Note:Maybe weights lifted will be suspicious for some pencil neck like me but i have trained calisthenics previously for 1 year and played basketball for 5 years.
Thanks, I’ve done Dogg Crapp but that’s the extent of my HIT knowledge, but it’s useful for others to see and feed back into, I’ll tag @davemccright as someone who’s got experience of a lot of different Bodybuilding methodologies and I know @Andrewgen_Receptors does as well, I think they’ve both done HIT in the past but neither are currently.
How’s your appetite? I think the eating is bigger than the training here.
For both chest and quads, you’re only doing one “serious” movement, and you’re pre-exhausting it with an isolation superset. I don’t think you’re maxing your ROI here, which you need to with this low of volume.
Do you have any videos of you squatting or deadlifting? It’s likely a form issue with the lower back, and these are big “bang for your buck” moves. Is it possible your lower back is deconditioned and you’re feeling a pump/ soreness rather than injury?
You mention seeing good results. Are your weights still increasing week to week? If so, you really don’t need to change anything. If not, I’d personally consider a block of higher volume (which will likely also drive your appetite north) and then return to the higher intensity. Cycling our training variables can often pay off; that doesn’t make it a “must,” just something to consider.
My gym doesn’t allow recording for some reason,i was told that.About squats and DL its the herniated disc from 8 yrs ago i think that bothers me.Tbh on dl only when i put heavier loads,close to 85% of 1RM i felt some pain.Squats they simply cause pain for me.For chest yes its only one big movement but the weighted dips are destroying my chest,after them i am sore for 3 days and visible my chest has improved a lot and still improving.On all lifts i am able to improve from training to training except on the incline bench press and lateral raises,and lately the peck deck machine.My weakest point is the legs,more specifically quads,and thats why i want to switch to hacksquat to get some form of squat and even include split squats.
I aim for 2500kcal,with 40/30/30 split,40 being protein.
The phrase “I aim for” leads me to believe that this isn’t regularly achieved. Otherwise, it would be “I eat/consume”. Am I understanding this correctly?