warning: wall of text below
////Intro////
Where should I start this? I suppose by introducing myself. My name’s Thomas and I’m a 21 year old med student from Belgium. I live together with my girlfriend in an apartment in the beautiful city of Ghent ( Pretty sure no one has heard of it here ). I suppose that’s enough of nontraining related introduction so on to why I make this topic.
I’ve read a ton of information, ranging from scientific literature to articles, books and forums. Yet the more I learn, the less I seem to know. So I wondered, who knows best in the end? The ones who’ve done it, and there are an abundancy of those around here. So that is why I’m writing this, so when I look back in 10 years time I remember making this topic and it being a turning point.
Like most people I have training-add, this is another reason why I’m making this. Through the help in this thread I’ll work on my nutrition, training and general attitude.
Training ‘history’
After getting fat over the last few years I decided to do something about it. I went from 180 to 160 in about 8 weeks by just eating healthy. This dropped further to about 150 ( mind you this is all without any training, just nutrition). I still didn’t look lean since I had nigh on no muscle to my frame.
I first picked up weights around late-september last year, I wasn’t weak, I was pathetic.
To give you an idea of starting strength (let’s say 2 weeks in): 66lbs bench/20kg lat pulldown etc. After dicking around for a month or 2 I got myself a nutrition program and basic program( typical magazine program ). From then till now I’ve been trying a ton of different programs with varying success.
Current ‘stats’ (values from last week):
158lbs/9%BF
Bench: 3x145lbs
Deadl: 3x200lbs
Squat: 3x200lbs
After reading around I figured out that it’s important to have one goal, and just one. I was always trying to combine size and strength but decided that the one thing I’m after first and foremost is SIZE
//// Nutrition ////
I’ve been eating relatively clean, but not enough.
My current diet:
Morning: cottage cheese + oatmeal
10am snack: whey + banana
lunch: Bread + Sliced chicken breast + spoon of oil
4pm snack: cottage cheese + fruit + almonds
dinner: depends on the day but I make sure to have 150g meat, good fist sized portion of carbs and around a 100g of vege’s
Latenight snack: cottage cheese + almonds + oatmeal
Totals in macro nutrients: protein 223,2 carbs 320,4 fats 88,1 kcal 2967,3
I seem to lose weight quickly and still get fairly hungry at times on the abovementioned diet.
//Training//
As I said, I’ve decided on my goal: size. I feel my recent choice of programs have not reflected this. Started WS4SB last week and liked it, but I feel it gravitates more towards strength.
I really have a hard time sticking to program so this is another reason to make this topic. If 20 guys who’ve done what I want to do tell me to do X, I’m pretty sure I’ll do X; I’m not that stupid.
One of the most confusing things is that most articles, in one way or another seem to promote pretty high frequency training ( as body parts 2-3/week ). I’ve stuck to those programs most of the time since the idea (science?) behind it seems solid.
Yet most people who are actually big seem to have gained their mass through doing a bodypart 1 time per week.
//limitations//
No real medical conditions.
My main limitations are gym related:
-I can train monday to friday, saturday and sunday I go see my parents on most weekends.
-I train in a commercial gym for now ( can’t switch till the end of october ), where the only place to squat is in a smith machine and people look odd at you when you deadlift. Yea, that kind of gym.
-Did I mention there’s no real squat rack? yeah…
-minimum of 5lbs plates so minimal increment is 10lbs
If you made it this far, I thank you, I really do. Please help someone who’s very passionate about this and should go study some obscure diseases instead of typing this.
English is not my first language so I hope I’ve made myself understandable.
//
I will update my starting post below with the information I gather from this topic in the hopes it can help people in a similar position to mine.
//UPDATE1
-Will have to up my kcal intake. I’ll try adding about 300 first and see how that goes.
-For now, people seemed to agree that using split training seems to be the best way for mass. Not fullbody.
