Nothing like a bit of gaining after a cut
Maybe try not to bulk up with this type of food. If you are hungry just add more eggs
I think that’s where i have been going wrong, i plan my meals but don’t seem to pan enough healthy carbs or fats etc. and then i end up hungry, needing carbs and eating loads of bread which doesn’t make me anything other than fatter.
I’ve started my 6 week gaining cycle without a nutritional plan this morning. I had 5 eggs and 1 pint of skimmed milk for breakfast so far but need to get a plan together (when i’m not on teams).
Think i’ll try and do something like this:
Post workout Shake with oats (missed this today though)
Mid morning snack - eggs and milk (is there enough carbs in here?)
Lunch - Chicken and rice
Afternoon stack -
Dinner - Meat and potatoes/ rice or pasta (family meal)
Supper - maybe a pint of milk
The above definitely needs work.
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I would usually start with how many calories and how much protein I needed. Work out the calories for the protein and then fill in the rest with fats and carbs.
I split mine food into 5 meals a day because that allows me to get the protein in and space the meals quite evenly.
Breakfast at 6:30am
Lunch 1 at 10:30
Lunch 2 at 14:00
Train early evening
Dinner straight after training. Around 8:00 pm - I dont use a post training shake but only because dinner is there ready to eat.
Pre dinner meal at 10:00pm
I am a big fan of meal prepping all my lunches. That way I have complete control of 4 out of 5 of my meals. The only variable is dinner which is what ever the family is eating. I can adjust this meal as required. If I need more protein then add cheese or milk, if I want less carbs then just don’t dish them up. You get the idea.
Going to tag @QuadQueen @Andrewgen_Receptors @TrainForPain because they are usually pretty good at this stuff.
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Could you swap this to Greek yogurt mixed with protein powder. Either all casein or whey casein mix. This will be much higher protein.
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29th January 2024 Week 1 Project Colossus - Pull
So i decided to run Project Colossus, i’ll modify it to add an arm day and not run the pump days. That’s because i need the arm focus right now. This will be a 6 week gaining phase.
-
Cable Row
84kg x 11
70kg x 5 -
Rack Pulls - changed to hypers, no rack free and i wasn’t prepared for this today lol
hypers
x 10
5kg x 10
10kg x 9
20kg x 7 -
Rack chins
x 12
x 13 -
Meadows Row
20kg x 12
25kg x 8 -
Pull down palms facing
70kg
x 10
x 10 -
Decline sit sups
x 15
x 12 -
BB Curls
25kg x 12
30kg x 8 -
Hammer curls
14kg DBs
x 20
x 10 (then did 6 more reps with 12kg DBs)
Good session but hadn’t pre-read the routine so i was a bit faffy today. Most sets on this routine are to failure and i went too light on several of the exercises today but i’ll learn in the future.
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So I’m becoming a big fan of keeping fats and proteins the same day-in day-out. When bulking - add only clean carbs. When cutting, reduce them.
Vertical Diet does it this way but their fat recommendations are too high for my liking.
Literally keeping all you food sources the same but adding or reducing carbs (probably rice or potatoes) pending goals.
It keeps things simple and reduces variables so you always know what you need to improve on. Too much weight gain? Less rice. Too little? More rice.
Justin Harris boiled his list down to basically Beef, Rice and Pineapple. Pineapple being pre/intra workout.
You don’t want your extra calories coming from fat unless you want to store it as fat.
Still though, the best diet is the one you can most easily comply with. This tends to apply more when cutting than bulking, but still.
Just watch the excess fats. Too many people say “I’m bulking” yet they mean “I’m eating like an asshole”.
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I agree with @simo74, and start with your overall calorie goal and fill in the protein first. Then take what’s left and distribute it - preferably put the bulk of your carbs in and around your workouts and then some at dinner to help with sleep. Sprinkle healthy fats in to fill in the gaps.
If you’re struggling to get healthy carbs in - prep a bunch ahead of time, just like you would with proteins. Bake several sweet potatoes and potatoes, make overnight oats, if you’re doing rice, make larger batches of that too. Keep these in the fridge and heat them. Refrigerating them after cooking also increases the resistant starch - so you get that added gut health benefit too.
Make a plan for the week - write out all your meals and snacks and make sure you have what you need to make them happen. @Andrewgen_Receptors suggestion to keep things relatively the same day to day is a good one too - establish a routine and you can mix things up from week to week so you don’t get burnt out.
If it would be helpful, keep a food log here and I can help you with suggestions and trouble shooting. Just let me know how I can help!
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I greatly appreciate the tag and will mostly echo the smart people above!
I find 10-15g fat per meal is a bit of a sweet spot for fixing hunger for me.
This meal in particular is a hypoglycemic bomb that would have me eating everything in sight in about 20 minutes. Can you add a couple eggs or something?
I’ll just kinda throw my thoughts in by meal:
Do you do anything pre-/ intra-? No worries if not, but whey and the fiber in the oats would make me feel bloated. This meal would probably be whey and pineapple for me - bonus is I think you and I can stand to benefit from the same blood pressure precautions if I remember right.
Depends how much milk you have; it tends to be full of sugar. I’d likely move my oats here, making this one eggs, whites and oats.
As above, nothing wrong with this meal, but I’d probably add an egg or two so you aren’t starving.
Whey? Kind of depends what we’re short on at this point and whether it’s annoying to have this many meals.
Sweet!
I personally would just drop this one, depending how late you’re going to bed. I don’t like the fat and sugar sitting on me before sleepy time and I think it makes me sleep worse.
Overall, for you, I’d do something like:
200g protein, split over 4+ meals
65g fat, split over 4+ meals
Up to 300g carbs (if you need that much to gain), peri-workout; I somewhat treat my dinner as a pre-workout meal, since I train when I wake
That’s only 2600 calories, so you might need more, but that’s around where I tend to start. I also prefer carbs to fats both for gaining or losing.
4 Likes
30th January 2024 Week 1 Project Colossus - Push
-
DB decline Press
32kg DBs x 12
36kg Dbs x 8 Drop set 26kg DBs x 5 -
BB incline Press
60kg
x 10
x 6 -
Machine Press - Cluster set (20 seconds rest)
35kg each side
x 8 x 4 x 3 x 2 -
DB Shoulder press
20kg DBs
x 8
x 6 -
Machine Fly plus 15sec hold on last rep
54kg
x 10
x 10 -
Reverse Fly
40kg
x 25
x 20 -
Lat raise drop set
12kg DBs x 10
10kg Dbs x 8
8kg Dbs x 6
6kg Dbs x 8 -
Tricep dip station thing
60kg x 12
80kg x 12 -
Laying skul crushers
12kg Dbs x 16
14kg Dbs x 9
Quite a few exercises i’d not done in a while so i didn’t get my reps/ weight correct for the programme. I’ll learn though.
Also oi’ll respond to the nutrition stuff later when i’ve got more time. I’ve started a food log to help me see what i’m actually eating.
4 Likes
1st February 2024 Week 1 Project Colossus - Legs
-
Seated Ham curls
75kg x 8 plus 10 partials and a 22 second hold -
HS Squat Machine
160kg
x 8 x 8 -
Leg Press
145kg x 10 (way too light)
165kg x 10 -
Calf raises on leg press
115kg
x 10 plus 10 partials and a 10 second hold
x 10 plus 10 partials and a 10 second hold -
DB RDL
38kg DBs
x 10 x 8
Didn’t go balls out as i’m playing rugby on Sunday so didn’t want to obliterate my legs!
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2nd February 2024 Week 1 Project Colossus - Arms
Bicep and Tricep exercises supersetted. 50 seconds rest between sets.
-
Pinwheel Curls
20kg DBs
x 8 x 8 x 8 x 6 -
Cable pushdowns
11 on weight
x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15 -
Incline curls
12kg DBs
x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 -
Laying skull Crushers
14kg DBs
x 12 x 11 x 10 x 8 -
Cable Curls - rest pause until i hit 17 reps
10 on weight rack
x 17 x 17 x 17 x 17 -
Seated French Press
14kg DBs
x 8 x 8 x 8 x 7
Had a massive pump this morning, felt great but i’ve had a bit of a cold this week and the rest of the family are all ill. Guessing i’ll be ill just in time to play rugby on Sunday for a charity game.
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5th February 2024 Week 2 Project Colossus - Pull
-
Seated Cable Row
91kg x 7
77kg x 5 -
Rack Pulls - changed to hypers, no rack free (again)
hypers
0 x 10
5kg x 10
10kg x 10
20kg x 7 -
Rack chins
x 12
x 12 -
Meadows Row
25kg x 12
30kg x 7 -
Pullover Machine
35kg Each side
x 12
x 12 -
V Ups
x 11
x 10
x 10 -
Preacher Hammer curls
10kg x 15
12kg x 12 -
Single Arm cable curl - 2 second hold on each rep
5 on rack x 12
4 on rack x 15
Played 70 minutes of rugby yesterday and felt pretty beat up this morning but still smashed the gym. Need to eat lots to recover today as my nutrition yesterday was really sparse and poor.
Wrist held out well but it took a knock and was really painful (but it soon died off). I might not play again this season though so it gets a full recovery.
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6th February 2024 Week 2 Project Colossus - Push
-
Decline DB Press plus drop set
36kg dbs x 8
36kg dbs x 8, 30kg dbs x 5, 24kg dbs x 4 -
Incline BB press
70kg x 5
60kg x 6 -
HS chest Press
40kg each side
X 6
X 6 -
Dips - body weight only
X 8
X 8 -
Lat raises
14kg dbs
X 8
X 8 -
Rear delt fly
40kg x 28
33kg x 21 -
Single arm tricep pushdown
7 on rack
X 12
X 10 -
Floor tricep extensions with a pause
12kg dbs
X 12
X 10
Love the push sessions, felt massive with a great pump!!
3 Likes
8th February 2024 Week 2 Project Colossus - Legs
-
Seat ham Curls
82kg x 8 plus 10 partials and a 20 second hold - This was a terrible stretch!!! -
Squat Machine
170kg x 8
170kg x 8 -
Hack Squat
60kg x 10
60kg x 10 x 6 x 5 (cluster set 20 seconds rest) -
Cable Pull Through - Didn’t really feel these at all. Need to have another go on these
54kg x 10
68kg x 10 -
Seat leg Press of death set
165kg x 10, then 135kg then 105kg then 75kg (all to failure) -
Calves - missed, will do tomorrow
I actually really enjoyed this leg session. It was hard but i worked hard and enjoyed it.
3 Likes
9th February 2024 Week 2 Project Colossus - Arms
Was not up for it this morning. Daughter was up a lot in the night as she wasn’t well so had really poor sleep, got to the gym slightly later and just didn’t feel it this morning.
-
Tricep rope pushdowns
8 on weight rack
x 15 x15 x 14 x 10 -
DBs Bicep curls palms up
14kg DBs
x 10 x 10 x 10 x 9 -
Laying skull crushers
18kg DBs x 8 x 8
16kg Dbs x 8 x 8 -
Incline hammer curls
14kg DBs x 10 x 10 x 8
12kg DBs x 10 -
Seated French Press
14kg DBs
x 12 x 12 x 10 x 10 -
Single Arm cable curls
18kg
x 12 x 12 x 10 x 10 -
Calves (from yesterday)
135kg
x 10 reps, 10 partials and a 10 second hold
x 7 reps, 6 partials and a 10 second hold
Looking forward to the weekend to relax, felt really run down this week with loads on at work, all the building work going on at home and my daughter being poorly.
Also found out my dads got cancer (again), just something else to worry about.
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Solid work. Sorry to hear about your dad. Never easy to go through.
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Never rains, it pours.
Hope your dad kicks cancers arse
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Yep but you fkn did it anyway. Good on ya.
Sorry to hear about your old man. Mine is starting radio therapy this month. Let’s hope they both kick it in the arse.
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Cancer sucks!! I will keep your dad and your family in my prayers, and @simo74 - yours will be in there too. 
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12th February 2024 Week 3 Project Colossus - Pull
-
Seated cable row
91kg x 8 & 77kg x 5 drop set -
Hypers
10kg
x 10
x 10 -
Straight arm pushdown
60kg
x 10
x 10 -
meadows Row
25kg x 12
30kg x 8 -
Rack Chins
x 10
x 8 -
V Ups
x 12
x 10
x 10
x 7 -
BB Curls - 3 second lowers (i hate these with a passion)
15kg
x 15
x 15
x 13 -
Hammer Curls - One Drop set
18kg DBs x 8, 16kg DBs x 6, 14kg DBs x 6, 12kg DBs x 6
3 Likes