So these tables are differences, current #ers - starting #er? If so, then you both have gained some weight, but it comes more from fat than muscle. Your ratio of muscle to fat looks better than Roch’s.
Do you know what kind of calorie surplus you have been running?
can’t speak for Roch, but I’ve been eating lots… more than him… not counting…
I browsed a few web sites that talk about bulking in a bodybuilding context. The consensus view seems to be that some fat gain is inevitable when bulking. One site put a number on it: well trained individuals can typically expect to gain 2 lbs fat per 1 lb muscle gained. Novices might do better, as low at 1:1, just because they have the prospect of novice muscle gains.
So I don’t think you are too far off that ratio.
above is part 1 of Roch challenge #10… had video challenges again
below is Roch part 2
below is Roch part 3
below is part 1 of my challenge #10
my part 2
Missed reporting yesterday but measures taken and will update asap. Yesterday overwhelming not conducive to recovery. Big snowstorm combined with ending lockdown so training clients in person again
… up at 4 am to clear driveway and back to cleaning machines etc so sleep deprived and realized I took my last 2 readings in semi dehydrated state. Doing challenge 11 shortly
Isn’t it funny how life constantly gets in the way of workouts , recuperation, eating right and so forth! It makes analyzing why you are or aren’t getting good results very difficult.
Scott
Hi Ricky
You and Roch are now progressing well through the program. Can I ask a couple of things.
How often are you increasing weights used and what criteria are you using to substantiate weight increases. This is part of the program I struggle with. I’m still finding weights and exercises which I can use for for this before I go in full bore.
An analogy to mike Mentzers light switch theory whereby a muscle fibre response is either on or off, we’ve now progressed to a dimmer switch which is harder to quantify.
What are your and Roch’s gut feel about the program. Are you happy with the measurable physical changes so far (I know you said you’d be posting key circumferences at the end of the study).
Do you think the specific recommended supplements have made any difference to your results and if so do these differences justify the cost.
Again, thanks for informing us with such a well documented workout log. It’s great to get feedback from “real world” trainees.
All the best
Gazz
Be careful adding weight too quickly…i did that and noticed a little over training sneaking in, therefore backed off on the weights a little and am focusing more on quality of the rep and the expediency from exercise to exercise…sorry for responding to this as I am not Ricky
It is too soon to answer most of your questions. I will summarize after all done with some observations rather than conclusions as there are many variables so very hard to pinpoint cause and effect.
This morning’s reading a little discouraging but slept well last night so hopefully turning around. Will post later as I have client coming in. I will also post weight increases.
so my 5 day averages (last 5 days averaged out, vs average of first 2 days + 3 days preceding, don’t look too bad… but this morning is bad… ) I’m assuming this is largely water fluctuation… mirror does show I’m getting fatter… waiting for gains week and assuming things will kick in… note last two days lots of manual labour…
Summar
Rick
Roch
Someone asked about weight increases. Below is the most recent weight used vs weight used in Challenge #1. I’ve only included those six exercises, but other weight increases are similar. Criteria is that it starts to feel easy… interestingly despite the numbers above, and even though increasing minimal in weight, while adding exercises and decreasing rest periods, workouts are not feeling a lot harder… #10 got us winded pretty good, certainly the most yet, but feel strong on the individual movements…
Hammer Rows 118 to 118
Decline press 115 to 118
Super Incline 45 to 47
Leg Press 250 to 255.5
Leg Extension 102.5 to 111.5
Biceps 26 to 23.5
During the mid week workout where there is no preliminary 30 sec negative, have increased more… example 287.5 on leg press and 128 on rows and 128 on decline press…with no negative at beginning, these weights feel manageable… in fact, if you count reps while watching videos you will see Roch and I exceeding 10 reps on several because we both feel stronger.
Being the excel geek that I obviously am, below is a comparison of the difference (5 days averages at beginning and end again) with the 35 day period BEFORE starting this program… this only applies to me as I was not measuring Roch before this. (top two lines are me)
== Scott ==
Can you explain the symptoms that led you to conclude you were over training? Feeling less pump , energy , more lethargic ??
Scott
Monday’s was fine because of not working out since friday…Wednesday’s and Fridays the weight would feel heavier than it did on Monday…the energy and the pump was there, sleeping good, so it was just the weight felt heavier especially since I am also trying not to go to failure either, which is a big change too…therefore, I reduced the weight so I can control the rep and reach 10 reps without coming close to failure
Ricky the water variable is a hard question to answer. My thoughts are that we/you are not entering a bodybuilding contest where everything had to be perfect that one day. If you’ve gained actual muscle vrs just holding more water at the end of your experiment the muscle should be there for several days or longer so you could test it again if need be in the event your water readings were inaccurate that day?
Scott
I have found that if I drink a gallon of water a day and watch my sodium intake, then I don’t hold as much water and my weight drops a pound or two during the week…now, when the weekend comes around and I am out of routine and my water intake is not as much as it should be or if I consume more sodium than usual…then Monday morning my weight goes up a couple pounds
Muscles contain cells, which by nature, contain a considerable amount of water. If your muscles get bigger by adding more contractile tissue, then they contain more cells, and therefore more water. Your muscles also contain extracellular fluids, like blood, and the amount of those can be affected by level of hydration. Your muscles also store a certain amount of glycogen, which typically is bound with 3 molecules of water for every molecule of glycogen, and that is affected by diet and activity level.
How much water is found in each place (cells, extracellular fluids, glycogen) depends on a lot of things, including level of hydration, amount of electrolytes consumed, and amount of glycogen being stored (which in turn depends on diet and activity level). In order to function properly, conditions in the cells and muscles need to remain in a pretty narrow range, so fluids and electrolytes frequently move around to maintain acceptable conditions for function. Bodybuilders try to manipulate these movements of water by glycogen manipulation, and dehydration to achieve a certain look, while trying to maintain as much muscle tissue as possible.
Dehydration/rehydration and glycogen depletion/carb loading can move a lot of water around in short time frames. That is how athletes in weight classed sports can drop a lot of pounds just prior to a competition to make weight. But those are just temporary fluctuations and don’t reflect underlying changes in the amount of muscle tissue. However, those kind of water movements will affect skeletal muscle measurements made by bioimpedence or dexa scans.
Once your experiment is done, I’d discontinue the supplements (which affect hydration), resume your normal routine (diet and fluid consumption) for a day or two, and then compare those numbers to the ones you consider your baseline or starting point. Contractile tissue doesn’t appear or disappear that quickly.