Looking for a Coach to be a Guinea Pig

Hey my name is Oliver and I’ve been training for 13 months and I’ve fallen in love with the fitness/lifting lifestyle hammered mobility/flexibility, proper form for all the big lifts
Squat(my favorite),OHP,Deadlift and Bench,dead hang pull ups,weighted dips,and other lower body lifts. when i train i warm up, do my lifts and get out, i tackle it with intensity and never miss a training session,my friend calls it “obsessive” but i take this seriously and take pride in having a super human work ethic.
my max lifts aren’t impressive by any perspective
bench-185
box squat 310
deadlift 365
Military press 120
at 160 5"11

this year i wan;t to break out and see some serious physique changes
i want to become precise with my diet, cooking and preparing my meals
making progress in the gym
and filling out more than a medium T shirt
if theres any Alpha T-Nation member which wants a guinea pig to help transform it would mean the world to me!
i don’t want to come off as a stupid punk who just wants to “look good naked” i wan’t to feel like i can hang with the big guys here!

Welcome to the forum. When you find the aforementioned “big guys” be sure to point them out :P.

To help spur conversation, it may benefit to provide your current workout and diet regiment. What are your goals - appearance, strength, competing? This will help people give you something that will be beneficial to you.

Also, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good naked… women usually like that, and I’m sure it’ll make looking in the mirror easier.

Hey quasi thanks for posting brother!

my goals currently are appearance! i’d like to look like i lift
i would also like to get stronger as well!

my current training routine as of this past week(Via notebook)

monday: ME Upper Body
this week Flat Bench
bar x 15
95x12
120x9
135x8
150x6
155x4
160x3
-2x max reps Incline dumbell press
40’sx8
45’sx20
50’sx15
-wide grip cable row 4x12
90x12
105x12
105x12
120x12
ss with 4x20 band pull aparts(red mini)
db lateral raise 3x15
15’sx15
20’sx15
25’sx15
pushed prowler for 75 second intervals

Tuesday-sprint/recovery work

wednesday-ME Lower Body
Trap Bar deadlift with red band under feet(using kilo bumpers) paused each rep
45x15
75x12
105x10
135x8
145x6
165x3
-Front Squat
45x12
105x12
125x8
135x5
155x5
175x5
DB Reverse Lunge off plyo box 3x12
25’sx12 each leg
30’sx12
35’sx12
-Glute Ham Raise 3x12
seated calves 3x12
ss with hammer strength tibia

Friday-Rep Upper Body
DB Bench 3x max reps
40’sx8(feeler set)
55’sx18
55’sx15
55’sx14
2 minute rests between
-fat bar lat pulldown 3x12
60x20
90x12
100x12
115x10

-DB shoulder press 4x8
-40’sx8
-45’sx8
-50’sx8
-60’sx8

curls and extensions at tail end

My diet is currently 3000 calories spread out over 4-5 meals
i eat high quality foods and an egg protein supplement
I’ll give you an example of today’s meals via myfitnesspal

Morning 7:30 am
-2 tsp Trader Joes virgin coconut oil
-4 omega 3 eggs
-1 cup cooked Trader Joes Rolled Oats
with 2tbsp sunflower seed butter and 1tbsp of cinnamon mixed with the oats

snack 10:00 am
-1 can tuna
-2 slices of ezekiel bread
1/2 avocado
1tbsp olive oil mayo

lunch 1:00
-2 chicken breast
-2 cups spinach
-1 sweet potato
1tbsp sunflower seed butter

Post workout
-1 scoop egg protein pwder mixed in 1 cup of rolled oats and 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter and cinnamon

Dinner Went out to dinner for girlfriends mom’s birthday
had an 8oz steak and mashed potato’s.

Semi-big guy reporting. You need to eat more or you are not eating as much as you say or your metabolism is really high in which case, eat more. At 160 lbs at 5’11 you are quite thin.

I would also cut down some of your volume.

Thanks for the Reply Bauber!
okay, bump my calories by 500 for the next 4 weeks and reduce my training volume.

Have your traps always been easy for you to grow? because theyre huge man

I’m going to preface my response with the following. There are a number of folks here far more qualified than me to offer you advice and input. I would highly suggest checking out the search function - KingBeef did a great post up on solid programs for a bodybuilding focus. I do not see myself as qualified/experienced enough to “train” you, so I will offer my input/assistance as I can and let one of the better folks here assist you further :D.

Based on your goals - look good (1) and gain strength (2), I imagine you want to focus on a 3-4 day split. If you can put more time in the gym, I’d recommend a 4-5 day split for you. You seem from you original post to really like working out. Many folks suffer from wanting to always go to the gym. If you want more time you can do up to 6 days (I wouldn’t go any more, that’s really a lot), but I think for hypertrophy 4-5 is best.

Day 1: Chest/Abs - Decline Bench 4x8-10, Incline Dumbell Press 3x10-12, Flat Bench Flyes 3x12-15, Cable Crunches 3x15-20, Leg Raises 3x15-20
Day 2: Back (intercharge with Day 1 to dodge “National Chest Day”) - Dumbell Rows 5x8-10, Pull-Ups 6xF, Supinated Grip Lat Pull-Down Hands Close 3x10-12, Back Extensions 3x12-15
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Arms/Shoulders/Abs - Shoulder Press 3x8-10, Lateral Raise 2x12-15, Rear Delt Flyes 2x12-15, Close-Grip Bench 3x10, Behind the Head Tricep Extensions (2 hand) 3x12, Barbell Curls 3x10-12, Preacher Curls 3x12-15, Cable Crunches 3x15-20, Leg Raises 3x15-20
Day 5: Legs - Donkey Calf Raises 5x20, Seated Calf Raises 5x20, Squats 4x10, Leg Press 4x15-20, Leg Curls 3x12, Leg Extensions 3x12
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

If you want to 5 days, you could do something like this:
Day 1: Chest/Abs - Decline Bench 4x8-10, Incline Dumbell Press 3x10-12, Flat Bench Flyes 3x12-15, Cable Crunches 3x15-20, Leg Raises 3x15-20
Day 2: Back - Dumbell Rows 5x8-10, Pull-Ups 6xF, Supinated Grip Lat Pull-Down Hands Close 3x10-12, Back Extensions 3x12-15
Day 3: Shoulders/Abs - Shoulder Press 4x8-10, Lateral Raise 3x12-15, Rear Delt Flyes 3x12-15, Cable Crunches 3x15-20, Leg Raises 3x15-20
Day 4: Arms - Close-Grip Bench 4x10, Behind the Head Tricep Extensions (2 hand) 3x12, Cable Pushdown 3x15, Barbell Curls 3x10-12, Reverse Curls 3x12-15, Spider Curls 3x20
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Legs - Donkey Calf Raises 5x20, Seated Calf Raises 5x20, Squats 4x10, Leg Press 4x15-20, Leg Curls 3x12, Leg Extensions 3x12
Day 7: Rest

If you need calf work (like I do) throw in a second calf workout after back day. Do 5x10 for both exercises instead of 5x20 on back day. If Deadlift is important to you, once a month swap out the Dumbell Rows on back day and work your way up to 1x5 for Deadlift as your first exercise.

That’s my initial first pass at a workout program. The 4 day split is “similar” to what I do. Leg day I have the same exercises, but in a different order and different volume, sets, reps for me because of what I’m trying to do to my physique. Each of the higher rep workouts should have shorter breaks between sets. The initial exercises at the beginning of each day hit your big muscle groups, these may require a 2-3 minute rest period. Each week you should be progressively loading, meaning trying to lift more weight each week, buy some 1.25lb plates if the gym doesn’t have them (and 2.5lbs if they don’t have those either, but usually do). Progress will be seen by putting time under the bar, eating right, and sleeping enough to recover, period. Stick to the program at least a few months before tweaking it, if you suffer from “flavor of the day syndrome” you’ll spin your tires. Only change things up when you stop progressing and you’ve honestly been performing on 1) diet, and 2) rest.

I’m a believer that running something like Starting Strength is a great starting point to hit your body’s ability to quickly grow. I know a number of folks disagree with this, and many have run splits since they started, so that’s why I’m not listing SS. If you wanted to run SS until you can’t make any more gains, just run that program and then once you get about 6 months in, add a 4th day for arms, just simple like Dips/Barbell Curls for 4 sets and call it even, just to put on mass. Otherwise the above is probably a good “split” program.

Also, I hope other people will provide input aside from me, I know I’m not the best to do it.

Thanks for posting your food Frenchie. Do you know the “amounts” of the food you consumed? I had 4 chicken strips for lunch, grilled at home, but I know it was 200g of chicken because I bought 600g Sunday afternoon and that’s 3 days worth of lunches.

From the looks of things you are way “under-budget” for protein intake. Try to get at least 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Some say 1-1.25 is good, others 1-1.5 is better. I’ve been personally doing about 1.25g per pound of bodyweight.

Here is an example of my current daily meal plan:
Meal 1: 2 Scoops Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Ice Cream Powder with water - straight from the US
Meal 2: 200g Grilled Chicken - 1 Orange
Meal 3: 200g Swordfish
Workout
Meal 4: 100g Breaded Chicken, 50g Rice
Meal 5: 200g Lean Steak

I eat veggies as available. They are free calories. I also take a Multi, and that’s it for lifting. If I didn’t have access to fish every day (go go Japan) I’d be taking 2-3 Fish Oil pills in a day to help with that. My point in all of this is I know what I’m eating, how much, and when. Same routine every day, eating is literally just a part of the day, not something I set aside. No cheat meals for me either because I’m cutting. You can probably get away with a cheat meal once a week or so, just don’t go overboard.

You could probably go for a macro ratio of 40/40/20 where the breakdown is Carbs/Protein/Fats. Figure out your current metabolic/caloric needs and apply a ratio to it to meet those calories. Some people believe that its just about calories, but I think if you try to eat relatively clean in your food choices you’ll be setting a good stage for when you want to lean out. I’m currently leaning out so I can’t provide great examples for bulking purposes.

Start by finding your caloric requirements based on your activity. Eat at those requirements for two weeks, see how your body reacts. If you remain the same weight, you’re probably close to your caloric needs. Then boost by 200 calories per week, see what happens. Don’t go higher than an extra 500 calories for bulking, by my guess.

Eye-balling and assuming are the biggest mess ups when it comes to diet. Its sad how small portions can be when you split it into 4-5 meals. Buy a scale if you have to, or figure out a way that works for you.

Quasi, Thanks for putting in the time to reply brother! i’m humbled :smiley:

I know exactly what you mean by program hopping haha my friend is a great guy but he can’t seem to stick with a program long enough to see any results or know what works for him.

I’ve recently read about starting Strength on an article from here, seens pretty bare bones which is pretty great for strength, reviewing some threads here i feel like i should have done something like this initially so i could have reaped the strength gains by now. but the past is the past.

that split looks great, the advice you gave was solid! working as much as i do now and training i value every minute before the alarm clock goes off lmao

ahhhh nooo :frowning: i’m purchasing a food scale tomorrow morning, i pretty much eye balled everything until last month when i started tracking calories

-by those guidelines i agree my protein is way too low,i’ll remedie that buy incorporating more quality protein sources as well as supplementation.
okay, how often do you recommend yourself weighing yourself and taking tape measurements?

yess i was confused about macros until i used the search function and read.
i’m calculating right now!

Weigh yourself once a week, same time of the day, same situation. For me, its every Saturday morning after the morning visit to drain the main vein :). Your bodyweight will fluctuate throughout the week based on water intake, bowel movements, etc etc. Don’t mind fuck yourself, once a week is plenty to track progress.

My macro ratio probably isn’t the best. Folks might recommend 45/40/15 or 50/40/10, I have no clue, as I haven’t done a “good” bulk in my career lifting… that comes once I finish my cut.

The most important thing to remember is after the “honeymoon” period of a new program, your body has adapted. The only way you will spur growth is pushing it beyond its comfort zone - lifting more reps, lifting more weight, or shorter reset periods. Rest periods are a pain in the ass to track and after a certain point adding reps becomes about endurance, go for adding weight.

If you can’t finish a weight that week, say you get 3x10 on Decline and the last set you et 6-7, do the same weight next week for the full 10, then the week after add more weight. Microload your Upper body exercises and isolated leg exercises by 2.5-5lbs. Compound leg exercises 5-10lbs. If you add 5 lbs per week to your Squat by the end of 52 weeks (1 year) that’ll be 260lbs… those will be some improved wheels! For machines that you can’t microload, try increasing the reps for a second week, then try the new weight and work on that until you get the desired rep range. That’s the one reason I hate machines, can’t micro-load.

Edit: Oh, and I would highly suggest, working “into” the program since its brand new. Start off the first week at a lighter weight than you know you can do. Your body will be sore because you’re shocking it with new combinations of exercises etc. After the first week or two, then get to your “working weight” and start your push. There is no shame in that at all.

Damn this is some great stuff Quasi!
i want to thank you again for dropping all this knowledge on me man
i think i’ll adopt your saturday morning weigh in lol
i agree! i’ve been tracking reps,sets,and rest so every week i’m beating something whether it’s more reps,more weight or less rest

AWESOME, i’m loving this community,something i don’t get from my gym which is full of “personal trainers” and kids lined up to pump up their guns. the other day i came in at 6am to do some high bar olympic squats and i see all the power racks are filled with “trainers” using them as a place to have their clients do some quarter squats (looked like a group training session) so i thought “they payed for the same membership i did, i’m entitled to anything” so i spent 30 mins doing mobility and a dynamic warmup,foam rlling and finally one opened up and i start squatting atg great form, everything feels great no buttwink and i get up to 185 and bust out a set of 20 reps(which was hell) i notice a scrawny personal trainer is watching me squat and after i rack it he walks up to me and with an attitude says “i know you’re young and not so experienced but you shouldn’t squat bellow parellel it’s dangerous” i respectfully reply “i’m doing fine, if i wanted your opinion i would have hired you”

[photo]39070[/photo]

[quote]Frenchie7 wrote:
Thanks for the Reply Bauber!
okay, bump my calories by 500 for the next 4 weeks and reduce my training volume.

Have your traps always been easy for you to grow? because theyre huge man[/quote]

Yes sir, and Quasi has given you some really good info. Keep lifting and learning brother! Glad to see you absorbing information and working hard.

Haha thanks, I have always been fairly big, but my traps never have had an issue growing.

[quote]Bauber wrote:

[quote]Frenchie7 wrote:
Thanks for the Reply Bauber!
okay, bump my calories by 500 for the next 4 weeks and reduce my training volume.

Have your traps always been easy for you to grow? because theyre huge man[/quote]

Yes sir, and Quasi has given you some really good info. Keep lifting and learning brother! Glad to see you absorbing information and working hard.

Haha thanks, I have always been fairly big, but my traps never have had an issue growing.[/quote]

I agree! it’s great to know there are dedicated guys out there willing to take it to the next level, thanks for putting in the time to reply i’ve learned so much in 1 hour lol

[quote]Bauber wrote:
Semi-big guy reporting. You need to eat more or you are not eating as much as you say or your metabolism is really high in which case, eat more. At 160 lbs at 5’11 you are quite thin.

I would also cut down some of your volume.[/quote]

“Semi-big guy”… Ooooooookay, not like you’re the biggest guy on the site or anything… :stuck_out_tongue:

Most important thing is consistency bro you’ll look like you lift with enough time training progressively

I was hoping there would be more input/ideas by this point, so a bump to get this more attention.

[quote]myself1992 wrote:
Most important thing is consistency bro you’ll look like you lift with enough time training progressively[/quote]
hey thanks for the advice!