It sounds like he should be on a version of “Massive Eating” with a alot of the “see food” diet thrown in.
Or just do like on the simpsons where homer wanted to gain weight. Dr Nick Riviera suggested that he rub the food on paper. If you can see thru the papaer after rubbing the fatty food on it, eat it.
If a guy is 9-11% bodyfat at 150 and wants to gain size, don’t even worry about your bodyfat % until you are over 200 lbs. Besides even if you hit 200lbs and end up at 15-20% you will have gained some fat but also you will have gained 15-25lbs of lean body mass and can diet the fat off.
I am sorry. I thank you for the advice. It’s not that i do not want to listen to you or anything.
It’s hard to not count calories anymore. I’ve been doing it for almost 2 years now. I hope i still can gain with the massive eating program.
Maybe it’s true that i blame my genetics too often. But most of you guys here are different. You guys can train 4 to 5 times a week. I feel overtrained too much when doing 4 to 5 times a week now.
For example: last week i benched 110 and today i benched 111.5 and it felt pretty heavy.
There are those hardgainers forum and they train 2x a week and they grow too. I really love to train more than 2x a week but i am afraid to do lots of exercises that overlapped each other and the result : OVERTRAINING.
Maybe i still do not belong here as most of you guys are Big and Strong.
However, Mr. Berardi, please do not be mad! I am really sorry. -
Ron, it sounds like you need to do two things - 1) find a good BASIC workout program, no frills, nothing fancy, just go into the gym and work, and 2) go on a seefood diet (you see it, you eat it). You’re just sweating the details, and that will always get in the way of progress. Stop counting calories for now and just EAT. Lots of carbs, lots of protein. Don’t even worry about supplements right now. Just eat FOOD. You may want to show everyone your routine, that could also be part of the problem.
I started reading this thread, and became increasing pissed off every time I had to read a new “Ron” post. Ron, just face it man: you are a wuss. I swear to God, stop bitching, start eating everything in sight. Eat a ton of protein, sleep right, hell, go do some research on maximizing your recovery ability, for crying out loud. If you don’t train enough, you’re not going to grow. If you don’t eat enough, you’re not going to grow. Ok, now I can relax. (A-friggen-men to JB’s post on this thread.)
Thank’s for all the advice. Maybe i am as stubborn as stone. I have nobody here to support me. All my friends do not workout. I am surrounded by lazy guys. I also workout at home.
The problem is probably my routine. I do not know. I am never sure myself. For sure the 5 days/week that i followed last year lead me to overtraining.
This is what i currently followed (2 times/week) and now i want to do 3 times per week as Mr. Berardi suggested:
The 2 day/week goes like this:
1>. Monday: Squat–> Bench press–> Back (lat pulldown, narrow pulldown, row (bowflex; this is probably the problem. I do have a door gym but i can’t do chin ups. I am not sure if the pulldown in bowflex is good enough to make me grow)–> calves → abs
2>. Thursday: deadlift–> shrug–> overhead press–>close grip bp → curl
Mostly are done with 1 warm set at 60% of the workset. The workset is at 100% (1 set) and the last set is at 75% of the workset.
I am thinking of changing this to 3 times a week:
Monday: Chest (Flat bench press at 60%/100%/75% then 75%(incline) → overhead press (60%/100%/75%) → Close grip bp (100%/100%/75%)
Friday: Back and biceps (for biceps probably: preacher and standing barbell curl). I am not sure about back… I do not know which to do.
I am really afraid to do all the "3 sets" exercise for the same reason: overtraining. Can you guys give me some inputs?
Whoaa… Somebody suggested me to go at 200 lbs. At 5’6, wouldn’t i look like a fat pig at 200 lbs???
Awww… I just started my Androsol today… what should i do?
Train 4X weekly w/ only 8 sets per workout and add 500 cals 2 ur total, I am assuming you’re eating enough protein and would recommend you get the extra cals all from green leafy veggies, which is a lot of veggies. I hope you’re taking advantage of the anabolic power of salmon, beef, and eggs daily.
Ron, I’m a client of JMBs, and I gotta tell ya, this guy knows what he’s talking about. I was also afraid of overtraining when I started working with him. In fact, if I even READ about a 4-day split, I’d feel tired. And I told him I didn’t want to do 4 sets of each exercise because of overtraining, and he said to me, “Instead of just being afraid, why don’t you just try it while we work on your recovery? And then we can see what happens.”
Now, Ron, I do research for a living, so I realized then and there that JMB was telling me what I tell my students: feelings aren’t facts, and beliefs aren’t data. So, I just stopped being afraid, and did what he recommended. And you know what? In 12 weeks, I never got burned out.
Ron, listen to the man, do what he says, stop being afraid, shove some food into your mouth, and get your ass into the gym.
Dude, I’ve never heard of a university not having some sort of a training/strength coach. I go to a SMALL COMMUNITY college, and the B-ball team has a strength coach…
DrLambchop, what’s it like to get trained by JM Berardi himself? Do you train as often as he does (as outlined in his latest article)? Why made you decide to go to him and what were your goals? One more question if you don’t mind… what are costs like? Don’t feel obligated to answer any of this, but if you do, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d be appreciative. There’re plenty of JMB fans about.
As for Ron, he sounds a lot like I did not so long ago. After recurring baseball injuries that eventually caused me to change colleges after I couldn't continue to throw for the school I'd been recruited to, I decided to lose as much fat as possible. Only in the last half year have I begun to eat as much as I should for fear of not having a ripped six-pack year-round. Ridiculous, but I took the focus I used to have for the game and transferred it to dieting. I became senselessly fearful of calories and this got in my way at every turn. I have generally poor recovery abilities (due largely to a medical condition that's clearing up, and so my recovery is showing improvement), but did make the best gains of my life on a 2x/week program while eating low-carb (related to the medical issue)... but I made these gains because of my total food intake, not because I had some magical routine or macronutrient intake. Also, getting out of the must-train-to-failure-every-set-every-time mindset helped me out a lot recovery-wise.
These are just some things to think about, Ron. You've gotten advice from Mr. Berardi and you're not going to try it out? Are you out of your mind? I think it's time to suck it up -- you've tried your own method and it's failed you, why not try the method of an expert? I'd jump through my own asshole if JMB send me a personal e-mail with training suggestions; you won't even take 'em for a spin? Ask yourself, why not. You're afraid to lose another month? You haven't made real gains and can't even do a pullup and you're afraid you *might* lose a month? If I were in your position and I were afraid to lose a month while I couldn't even do a pullup, I'd check my pants to be sure my testicles were still there. Hey, it's not like you're getting a routine suggestion from Flex Mag, you're getting it from someone whose résumé should make you wanna run to the gym, tear the squat rack out of the ground and overhead press it. Think about what you're turning away before you do. And don't think you're the only one out there struggling. When I came in to play college ball, I pretty much fit your description -- at about 5'10" 160lbs, I was only able to bench about 115 for 10, and could only do a few pullups. Imagine what it was like for me to step out onto the field and be able to throw darts with great control, only to have to go back to the weightroom with the guys and get heckled because more than a couple could curl more than I could bench. Embarrassing? Yeah, more than just a little. I'm not exactly a monster now; I weigh about the same, but have a low bodyfat and am way stronger than I was as a freshman. If someone like JMB gave me advice, I'd listen. I'd listen even though I've tried pretty much every routine out there and only found a few that really offered me much benefit. I know my body well, but I'd still listen. I do research during the summers on diet and nutrition, but I'd still listen. Why? Because I'M NOT AN EXPERT! And neither are you. So what do you think you should do?
Ron, you’re only working out 2 times a week? Damn, no wonder… Start working out at least 3 times a week. Use either a leg/pull/push split, or a total body workout split. Stick to basic compound exercises, 3-4 sets for each exercise, 8-12 reps per set. Increase volume a little every week if it doesn’t feel like enough, or switch to 4 days a week if need be. Stop worrying so much about overtraining… get some decent sleep and eat like a pig, especially right after you work out. And please stop with the excuses… So what if everyone else you know is a lazy slob? That should be that much more motivation for you to work out and NOT be that way.
Dystopiate, I’m not sure I’m a “typical” JMB client, although he is too nice to say so. I’m not a very experienced traineee (he describes me as in my infant stage of development). I’m pushing 40, and while my stated goal is to be in the best shape of my life, I think my unspoken goal is to run from the Angel of Death!
As for the experience of working with John, I have to say that it’s fascinating and very rewarding. There’s a reason people on this forum view him as almost guru-like, and it’s because he knows so damn much. I will tell you that he doesn’t suffer fools (but that’s no news to anyone who reads this forum!) and that’s true even if you’re a paying client. There are many times I’ve driven John crazy with my questions–I’m an academic and prone to asking “why” questions too damn much. So, he kicks my ass (via email) when he thinks he has to. But he is also encouraging and supportive when he needs to be. Anyway, I’m forever indebted to him because he has made such a huge difference to how I see my training, and–ultimately–how I see myself. I feel very lucky.
John B: Can you prove that no one gets big training 2x per week? If you go to Cyberpump and check out Pure Power or Herk’s log you will see some real big people who train exactly 2x per week. I train 2-3 times per week and I am quite satisfied with my gains.
First off, not all the people in the hardgainer forum train just twice a week. Cheryl Zovich, a moderator of the forum for example has suggested to bodybuilders to train 5 times a week and do cardio. Also, your body will get used to training more and will adapt. Overtraining does not happen over a day or a week. An untrained body is likely to feel ‘overtrained’ with one workout a week, but eventually they adapt, just as you can adapt to a 4 or 5 day a week routine. Also, if you are actually counting calories, then you should be gaining weight easily. When you realize that you can’t gain on a certain caloric intake, add 500 calories. Counting kcals will do you no good if you don’t use the information productively.
Ron, I used to train HIT and I wouldn’t do more than 4 sets more than once a week. Let me tell you, training to failure is not all it’s cracked up to be. A better plan is to aim for a total workload. You could start aiming for sets of 2 in your exercises. Then, the next week you could try for sets of three. Maybe another week you get to sets of 4. Each week, you are lifting more total weight in a session. A week after that, you could go back to 2 sets, but this time, add more weight to the bar and continue. I have found that trying to add weight to the bar every workout is a mistake. I have found it better to get my body accustomed to training poundages and force more out of the given poundages in relatively the same time. After that, I’m concerned with eating enough protein. In fact, I always aim to get in at least 250 to 350 grams a day at 205 lbs. For yourself, trying for 200-300 grams wouldn’t be impossible. After that, it’s the amount of calories that you need to get beyond baseline; I’m sure you know this by now. Anyway, that’s just my thought on the whole thing. If you train 4 or 5 times a week to failure and never alter the workload, then yes, you’ll burn out and overtrain, but if you try the strategy that I mentioned above, it’s definitely a good start.