To build muscle without packing on too much fat, what’s the best way to spread out calories through the week? I’m following a two-day a week Wendler plan, so I’m hitting the gym hard twice a week and doing light conditioning (2-mile walk) and easy exercises (bodyweight/bands) 5-6 days a week.
Is it best to keep the calories steady day-to-day (eg. 15-20 cal per pound of bodyweight) or to fluctuate calories around activities?
I’d be interested to know, too, how that applies to three- or four-day routines like your Guaranteed Muscle Mass program.
Thanks!
Are you doing any cardio on your non lifting days?
Aside from the walking, not yet. Have wanted to add at least a day of sprints, but work and family haven’t allowed it.
Staying lean hasn’t been a problem for me (so far!), so I’ve used that as an excuse to let my conditioning lag.
Well then my first question is what is your main goal?
That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?
Short answer: size in order to build strength for long-term health.
Long answer: I’ve been lifting Wendler-style for 3-4 years – started after I found out I had very low T levels and that lifting heavy could help with that (turned out to be a prolactinoma, but I’d caught the lifting bug by then and haven’t quit).
My lifts are weak for someone lifting for so long (BP 0.9xBW; OHP 0.65xBW; Squat 1.45xBW; DL 1.65xBW). Add to that, I’m tall and thin. Going by Thibaudeau’s neurotyping system, I need to build muscle in order to increase the lifts (Type 2B). I’m pushing 40 and want to have a solid physical base as I get older. And it’s just fun seeing the numbers go up, which they haven’t for a while.
I know lifting more frequently would be better than just twice a week, but it really doesn’t fit the family’s schedule. Having always been lean, I’d prefer to stay there (sub 15% BF). I average about 3400 cal/day at 200lbs (40/30/30 carb, fat, prot) and follow a 16:8 fast. There are no lifting meets in my future, only the need to out-wrestle and out-run my kids for another 10-15 years and to be active after that.
I would cut out the fasting and get more meals in. Keep it to high quality whole foods of course. That’s definitely an issue that jumps out at me.
The other thing you can do is grab some dumbbells and hit some shoulders and arms at home twice a week as well to supplement your gym days. That will help as well.
Mainly it sounds like you need to eat more to be honest. If you pick up your frequency of training just a bit and up the calories I think you’ll find that things start moving.
That’s encouraging (and humbling that it’s such an easy fix). The diet’s already clean, so I’ll bump up the calories bit by bit and add some additional at-home training. Ditching the fasting might be the trickiest part since it’s an ingrained part of the routine, but I’m game to try.
For the at-home training, do you recommend any specific rep or set schemes (100-rep sets, rest pause, straight sets, etc) or is just a matter of doing something?
Also, right now I’m hitting each of the big lifts every two weeks (eg. Squat 531 plus two assistance lifts with some supplemental upper-body exercises super-setted in between). For hypertrophy, would it be better to do two full-body days (eg. DL and OHP 531 plus one main assistance lift for each) rather than splitting things up?
I’m grateful for the time you’ve given to help with all this.
Just saw your sample two-day scheme in another thread, so I’ll ask some questions there.