Is Milk Really the Way to Go for Me?

Nutrition
1

6’3 215
Guesses here
Bench: 210
Squat: 165 x 5
Deadlift: 165 x5
Im basically VERY Brand new to working out more seriously

I was thinking in the shower today that maybe drinking 2.5L (about 65% of a gallon) of milk isn’t really my best option. Im about 6’3 214.5, i guess you could describe me as skinny fat. In the first week of the diet + SS i gained about 3lbs, but I feel like im getting a gut. My lifts are all improving though, so im happy about that. Its not so much the gut that bothers me as it is the cost…

Milk in Canada is pretty expensive, 4L is over $6.5 for 2% (I know not cheapest grocery store but only realistic option), so its going to run me about $28 a week! I figure there must be a better supplement out there than that which can match the calories without that sluggish feeling milk is giving me. Any suggestions?

ANyways attached is a picture, i can def grab booby and stomach fat (oh and i have a bit of gyno)

2

Well, I’m 16 and I drink 2L of milk and my mom doesn’t complain, she just makes me come to the grocery store every time she goes to pick up the 12 Litres of milk which lasts a week (So 18 dollars a week for me, still not too bad)

I treat milk as a partial snack however, so, I would be eating a lot more without it…

and why are your deadlifts and squat so low? Was it your first time doing those lifts? Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.

3

[quote]CCJDilla wrote:

Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.[/quote]

Bullshit.

If someone isn’t comfortable pulling from the floor they should focus on form to get piece of mind they aren’t going to fuck themselves up before pushing too hard. It seems like a better idea for someone to go too lite the first few weeks being conservative, then go too heavy, hurt themselves and never deadlift again.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone starts at 200lbs on a deadlift. You can’t just say that shit to people. That is how they hurt themselves.

4

As far as deadlifts go, do weight you can do. You can fuck yourself up good. Hell I’d use just the bar and look sideways into the mirror to watch yourself. But do not look anywhere but straight ahead once you start using weight.

I’d bet 5 gallons of milk you don’t weigh 215.

5

Im not lying there would be no point, im putting it all out there. I would’t tell you about my sub-par lifts then make up my weight. Hopped on scale this morning 214.5…

Aside from my lifts, which will get there and are steadily improving, any suggestions as to the diet questions?

6

I’d just keep drinking the milk. You’re carrying some extra body fat, so what? If you go and lean out I think you’ll regret that when you find out how skinny you really are. I’d just keep drinking the milk and eatting lots, if you feel like you’re gaining too much fat then cut back a little, if you quit gaining then add a little. Listen to your body. As you get stronger you’ll slowly carry more and more muscle mass so then in the future when you decide to lean out it’ll be far more rewarding.

As deadlifts go, like a couple of the other guys have been saying; watch your form. No one likes a back injury. When I first started doing deadlifts I had a personal trainer critique my form, then later on I met a guy who used to be a champion powerlifter and he gave me alot of helpful pointers. Before I even start to deadlift I always lift with just the bar for as many reps as it takes to make sure my form is spot on and to me its worth it. Protect your back, learn to pull heavy.

7

[quote]countingbeans wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:

Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.

Bullshit.

If someone isn’t comfortable pulling from the floor they should focus on form to get piece of mind they aren’t going to fuck themselves up before pushing too hard. It seems like a better idea for someone to go too lite the first few weeks being conservative, then go too heavy, hurt themselves and never deadlift again.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone starts at 200lbs on a deadlift. You can’t just say that shit to people. That is how they hurt themselves.[/quote]

I agree but I would add that you should get over 200 pretty damn fast

8

As for cheaper I guess theres always powdered milk but I myself have never used it so I couldnt say if the nutritional info is even comparable, or how it tastes.

9

[quote]BMellow wrote:
Im not lying there would be no point, im putting it all out there. I would’t tell you about my sub-par lifts then make up my weight. Hopped on scale this morning 214.5…

Aside from my lifts, which will get there and are steadily improving, any suggestions as to the diet questions?[/quote]

You are defiantly not fat by any means, and certainly do not have a gut at all.

You are starting where a lot of people do. Don’t stress your fat or your numbers. Just work on making them move up. Get progressively stronger. Get comfortable with form ASAP then really start challenging yourself, and don’t for one fucking second EVER be ashamed to admit 185 or 205 is a challenge for you. You are just starting, make progress and enjoy the PR’s when them come. Its the best fucking feeling in the world. Don’t be afraid to fail. Just pick yourself up and try again. The harder you work, the more progress you will make, milk or no milk.

Focus on getting progressively stronger. While eating a high protein, calorie surplus. If you don’t want to drink milk, fuck it. Don’t drink milk. Just eat more ground beef, steak, whole eggs, whey, cottage cheese is the bomb, etc… Milk is not going to make or break your progress, you just have to make up the calories elsewhere.

10

[quote]countingbeans wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:

Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.

Bullshit.

If someone isn’t comfortable pulling from the floor they should focus on form to get piece of mind they aren’t going to fuck themselves up before pushing too hard. It seems like a better idea for someone to go too lite the first few weeks being conservative, then go too heavy, hurt themselves and never deadlift again.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone starts at 200lbs on a deadlift. You can’t just say that shit to people. That is how they hurt themselves.[/quote]

Well, even though, I never implicitly said that, you are right, because I generalized the population of people… When I say first few sessions, I would assume that span to be from around a half a month to a month (unless he’s crazy and wants to do deadlifts as often as arms and chest), which I doubt… but still, I never mentioned the span

In essence your right, I simply assumed that he would train it routinely in a way I would typically train it…

11

How is anyone giving nutritional advice without knowing anything about this guys diet.

Drinking 2L of milk a day, as the only information provided, doesn’t mean shit.

OP what are you eating on a daily basis?

Track your weight gain. When you stop gaining weight eat more. If you get sloppy eat less. If you get sloppy without adding much muscle, either make improvements to your diet or accept the fact that you don’t have “huge guy” genes and it will take some extra fat mass to allow for muscle growth.

12

[quote]CCJDilla wrote:
countingbeans wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:

Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.

Bullshit.

If someone isn’t comfortable pulling from the floor they should focus on form to get piece of mind they aren’t going to fuck themselves up before pushing too hard. It seems like a better idea for someone to go too lite the first few weeks being conservative, then go too heavy, hurt themselves and never deadlift again.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone starts at 200lbs on a deadlift. You can’t just say that shit to people. That is how they hurt themselves.

Well, even though, I never implicitly said that, you are right, because I generalized the population of people… When I say first few sessions, I would assume that span to be from around a half a month to a month (unless he’s crazy and wants to do deadlifts as often as arms and chest), which I doubt… but still, I never mentioned the span

In essence your right, I simply assumed that he would train it routinely in a way I would typically train it…

[/quote]

Why is it crazy to deadlift as often as doing chest/arm training?

13

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:
countingbeans wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:

Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.

Bullshit.

If someone isn’t comfortable pulling from the floor they should focus on form to get piece of mind they aren’t going to fuck themselves up before pushing too hard. It seems like a better idea for someone to go too lite the first few weeks being conservative, then go too heavy, hurt themselves and never deadlift again.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone starts at 200lbs on a deadlift. You can’t just say that shit to people. That is how they hurt themselves.

Well, even though, I never implicitly said that, you are right, because I generalized the population of people… When I say first few sessions, I would assume that span to be from around a half a month to a month (unless he’s crazy and wants to do deadlifts as often as arms and chest), which I doubt… but still, I never mentioned the span

In essence your right, I simply assumed that he would train it routinely in a way I would typically train it…

Why is it crazy to deadlift as often as doing chest/arm training? [/quote]

Because people are lazy?

14

Any guesses as to my body fat %?

Im guessing 17% range…

15

Well, I’m 6’3", I look fatter than you, and an impedence scale clocked me at 20%. So maybe that’s about right. But don’t sweat the details right now.

As for diet how about just going with the simple bodybuilder goal of eating 1g protein per pound of weight. If you don’t normally eat 215g protein, it will freak you the hell out. GOMAD might look like a good option.

And keep working on your squats and deads. Normally deads are higher than squats are higher than bench.

16

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:
countingbeans wrote:
CCJDilla wrote:

Even beginners (and I mean first few sessions) should get above 200 for deadlifts, with the correct form of course.

Bullshit.

If someone isn’t comfortable pulling from the floor they should focus on form to get piece of mind they aren’t going to fuck themselves up before pushing too hard. It seems like a better idea for someone to go too lite the first few weeks being conservative, then go too heavy, hurt themselves and never deadlift again.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone starts at 200lbs on a deadlift. You can’t just say that shit to people. That is how they hurt themselves.

Well, even though, I never implicitly said that, you are right, because I generalized the population of people… When I say first few sessions, I would assume that span to be from around a half a month to a month (unless he’s crazy and wants to do deadlifts as often as arms and chest), which I doubt… but still, I never mentioned the span

In essence your right, I simply assumed that he would train it routinely in a way I would typically train it…

Why is it crazy to deadlift as often as doing chest/arm training? [/quote]

Exactly. Unless the guy is doing chest/arm training like every other small fucker I know (daily), he’d be fine deadlifting multiple times a week. I train with deadlifts AT LEAST as often as chest and arm training. I deadlifted 4x/week when I first started weightlifting as a part of my total-body training and I flew up in deadlifting weight.

It wouldn’t do much now because I’d be shot CNS-wise (the stronger you are, the longer you need to recover), but I could do it back then for a while, and I’m sure the OP could do it, too (again, only for a while). It builds good motor learning and muscle memory, and let’s not forget the fuck-ton of muscle mass he’ll pack on. Coincidentally, I also seldom did arm training in the beginning.

OP, worrying about milk is just a small aspect of the bigger picture. You take care of the basics of nutrition and lifting, then you build off those things and refine accordingly. I followed this method and it led me to not drinking milk though I’m not saying that you should.

I first took care of the basics, which, at the start, were “I need 1.5g/lb bodyweight using healthy protein sources. Does milk help me reach this goal? If yes, proceed to use milk,” and it was a “yes” at first.

Then this eventually evolved into something more complicated, involving sodium, the insulin index, lactose, bloating, water retention effects, and all other kinds of things that made me decide against milk and replace it with something even more tuned to my needs. Basically, you need to not hammer out the details until you get a foundation plan.

And honestly, if milk helps you reach your macronutrient goals, then fine. It really is a good muscle-builder. But if you want to enter a bodybuilding contest, IMO, you better kiss it goodbye.