After 4 long months of cutting and body recomp, I am starting an epic bulk. My calorie intake will be 3500-3700 calories a day. I am doing Strong Lifts 5x5 with hopes of gaining size and strength. My goal is to get to 225. Current weight is 200. Not really worrried about abs right now
My diet is as follows
Preworkout
Oatmeal
Postworkout
4 eggs
Lunch
Turkey cheese sandwich
Greek yogurt
Bananna
Snack 1
Pop tart
2 clemintine
Snack 2
Cup cottage cheese
Cheese its
Dinner
Chick breast
Brocc
Pasta
Late night snack
Protein Shake with 4% milk
Peanut butter
Hey man, what led you to pick Stronglifts as a program for putting on size? I ask, because Iāve not known it to be terribly effective for that purpose. It tends to be effective at getting the lifts up quickly, but with minimal assistance work, lower volume, and little in the way of rep range variation, there are not a lot of opportunities for hypertrophy.
Appreciate the heads up on that. I picked that routine because im rather weak (bench below 175 squat below 225) and feel like i could improve in those areas. I guess maybe i read into some hype. Might change the routine if thatās the case
Let me clarify instead of just throwing a program at you - I just donāt know any really strong people who started with Stronglifts. Itās all over the internet and people seem to think itās the only place to start but provided you can actually perform the major compound movements I think stronglifts is boring as hell. I DO know a shit ton of people who used 5/3/1 BBB and various other modifications to get big and strong at the same time.
Side note: do not make your āhuge bulkā a dirty one. Eat lots of clean food and keep either fats or carbs relatively low - doesnāt matter which, but donāt have them both high.
If you want to get better at moving more weight on those movements, then the routine can work for that, but it seemed like your goal was more hypertrophy based, in which case Iād shy away from something so specialized and limited. Lots of great routines on this very website, but in general something that has you doing a larger variety of movements with different rep ranges will help.
I really am drawn to a routine that i can put some mass and strength on. I did starting strength years ago when i first started lifting and i grew like a beast. Went from 175 to 215 and increased my squat over 100lbs. I would like to feel like a beast again lol. From my research 5/3/1 bbb seemed like a good choice. Should i reconsider?
Doing an āepic bulkā is going to put your 4 months of cutting to waste. At 225 youāll be very soft.
I would seriously consider just focusing on getting stronger with a program like 5/3/1 and letting your body recompose itself. If it was me I would actually be getting leaner than you are now before thinking about gaining size.
Iām going to rephrase my question, as it does not seem as if you understood it the first time.
You said you want to put some āmass and strengthā on. Thatās essentially what every single weightlifting program in existence is designed to do. The balance between mass vs strength, meaning which one is more of the focus, is the only thing that really changes from program to program.
So, hereās my revised question: profisher has decided that his goals are mass and strength. He has determined that both goals are essentially of equal importance to him. Profisher reads about a dozen different programs. How does profisher decide which programs are the most effective, and least effective. What aspects of a program does profisher look for? Does profisher look for a particular type of progression model? Does he favor certain movements over others? Does he prefer certain rep ranges for most movements? Is there gym equipment profisher does not have access to that would prevent him from running certain programs but not others? How much time does profisher have most weeks to lift weights?
Lol thanks for the simplification. Honestly, Im looking for a routine that is based on compound lifts with rep ranges 5x5 with full body workouts. I do not have time to go to the gym 5 days a week for a bro split, and to be honest they bore me. I like the look of a 5 3 1 bbb because it allows for high volume assistance work which i do like to add in a routine for chest and back. I enjoy rep schemes and workouts geared for weight increases.
So in summary
5x5 good
5 day bro split bad
Compound lifts good
Strength increase good
itās a good question. generally speaking, youāre going to look at the total volume of a program, how much emphasis is put on compound movements vs isolation, days per week, and the goals that the coach who wrote the program is focusing on.
You also have to take into account your own mentality. Are you a person whoās going to log every weight and every rep in every session? Can you get to the gym 5x a week or only 3? Do you need a program that takes less than an hour to complete?
A lot goes into it, and a more advanced lifter can take more complicated variables into account. A beginner needs to focus on whether a program meets just a few basic criteria:
is it a proven program for your goals? Ubiquitous programs like 5/3/1 are a known quantity. We all know the program works because of how many success stories there are to go along with it.
Do you have the proper equipment and time to run the program properly? Beginners should NOT make their own substitutions for lifts. If a program requires things like bands and chains, and you donāt have those, pick another program, donāt try to think your way around it. A beginner will fail if he tries this.
Will you be able to stick to the program? If youāre VERY new to lifting, you wonāt know this ahead of time, and youāll have to try things and see what works for you. If youāve got a year or more of experience, and youāve followed a couple programs, then youāre more likely to be able to look at a program and say āyea, thatās something Iād enjoy running.ā
A program that keeps you coming back, that you can run exactly as written, and that was developed by a coach who trains people who want to meet the same goals you do is a good place to start.
This is actually turning into a great debate.
Sorry for hijacking your log Profisher
I think for OP stronglifts isnāt that bad.
You get a lot of practice on the big compounds, thereās decent amount of volume and a quick increase in weights.
When stalling modify a bit to a double progression style program in the 4-6 rep range or 6-8 rep range.
When bored or really stalled shift to another.
There are literally a shit ton of programs out there, a quick search on this very site provides a ton.
I really like 531 myself but donāt see it superior to SL.
Yes you do a lot more assistance if you do the 50 - 100 reps of each of the three categories.
And that might do the get swole trick better than SL.
But put in the work on something proven and something you like is way better than the best program in the world if you donāt follow it or donāt put the same amount of energy in it.
With that said listen to @T3hPwnisher, @flipcollar and even check out their logs, they are really experienced and know what they are talking about. Pwn is though really pushing limits with his workouts.
Eat clean, eat right, gain slow.
In for your log man.
Its cool, I do think stronglifts looked good, but i was afraid stronglifts would not keep up my diet. I really like the idea 50-100 reps assistance with 5 3 1. As someone mentioned before that i may look soft at 225 and i would waste my cut, could happen, but my last cut and recomp i just did was due to getting fat from not lifting for a few years. I think if i bulked while adding muscle, i wouldnt have fat gains that i couldnt cut in another 4 months. We shall see. Im aiming for 2lbs a month.
