I’ve tried a few protocols in my day. I prefer (for the results being good quality) to add cals straight across the board. Trying to stuff my caloric surplus into the weekend load IF I kept the weekdays pretty “maintenance” cals was always a risky proposition. Olive oil and protein powder are so easy to add and they never bloat or cause my fingers to resemble bratwurst.
I groove on adding olive oil and protein shakes to add to my weekday intake and then adding more clean CHO on the weekends. I don’t care if you’re 2% bf, DONT try to mass up on Little Debbie’s and Fruit Loops!
I also advocate some training over the weekend. Anything will do, but I’ll usually shift my workout scheme to allow for some high volume work. It’s all about keeping a good eye on how YOU respond. Even some active recovery work, raquetball, or soccer for sissies like IC, will help out. You have a limited capactiy to hold glycogen in the muscle, so you can overdo it by trying to do 2,000 cals per weekday and then 10,000 Sat and Sun each. You will burn CHO and fat simultaneously for at least the first 24 hours of the load, so it’s not a cut and dry caluculation on what your lean bodyweight is and then figuring how much glycogen you can hold. Like all things bodybuilding, it looks good on paper, but you need more. Like I once heard, “a plan is just something to deviate from”.
That being said, some people’s systems can jack the throttle so hard and fast that they don’t add fat with these huge loads. Eat up, frat boy. It’ll change in 10 years.
Anyway, before I get too windy, you’ve got to try a few options out:
A standard increase of about 200 cals per day (both phases) while checking your bodyfat fluctuation with some calipers is effective. As I’ve said before, I don’t care if they cost $10 or $150, we are watching where you are going as a trend. Also, realistically, despite nobody ever telling you, it’s tough to always nail a good suprailiac or umbilicus measurement that are both good and consistent. A pair of jeans, while rather low-tech, are just as viable to watch that you are creeping up on the scale but not putting on too much of the lovin’ stuff.
A second option is to determine what your weekly intake is currently. Say 2000 cals per day. So 14,000 weekly. Well let’s bump that about 10% to 15,500 or so ( I said about you smartmouths!). Now, keep daily intake at 2000 per day (or even down a bit if you gain fat easily), and make Sat and Sun 2700-2800 each. Then adjust as necessary.
A third option is to stair step your intake. Doc metions this one. IF I need 21,000 cals per week to grow (3000 per day) then I can randomly fluctuate from day to day as long as your weekly sum equates to 21,000. Again, after two weeks you should assess and decide if you are on track here. Bump up again, or hold for awhile.
A fourth option is the highly touted, NASA inspired, top governmental secret of tossing a coin. Determine what is maintenance intake and call that “tails”, then multiply this by 1.25 and call this your “heads” day. Wake up, flip that coin, and go with it. Feel free to use your secret spy coin.
Fluctuational patterns work for more experienced people best, or for those with ADHD, besides it’s just so much fun!
But, remember what I always say. Find what is maintaing your current weight and bf%. Then, ONLY add 200 cals to your daily amount. Stick with this for about 2-4 weeks. If all is well with respect to your calipers/jeans-o-meter, then bump your intake by another 200 and wait again.
I know this seems to be a bit of a pain, but I’m telling you straight, I don’t care for formulas. They are guesswork in the end. Everybody can keep track of what their intake totals are for a week. That is what keeps you where you are at. Now, the whole “secret” is some common sense and observation. By adding only 200 cals to your daily intake and then seeing how you do, you can eventually find your “sweet spot”. That intake that allows you to gain maximally BUT is just under where you gain too much fat.
If you start at a weight of about a buck fifty and take in 2000 cals then you’ll do it like so:
Week 1: determine what your daily intake is. YES, you big baby you need to actually do the math and write it down. NO, Mr. Anal Retentive you don’t have to use decimals.
Weeks 2,3,4: (Assuming you found 2000 as your intake above) add 200 cals to your daily intake. Weekdays and weekends both. So, 2,200 cals per day, every day.
Assess after week 3 or 4. Did the scale creep up some? Do your britches still fit properly (do this a few days AFTER the load and do it the same day every time to minimize fluid fluctuations possibly freaking you out)
If you say “yes” I’m up a few pounds, and “yes”, I’m still fine around the waist, then proceed again:
Week 5,6,7: add 200 to the previous intake. So, 2,400 cals.
Assess after week 7:
And on, and on. UNITIL that fateful day when yes indeed the scales they are acreepin’ but your woman says you look fat in those jeans! No, just kiddin, tubby. Just until you start to get too snug to button your blues. Then just back up maybe 100 cals per day and assess in another 2 weeks. If you are still creeping slowly AND you’re still buttoned up, then you’ve found your sweet spot.
Congratulations. You’ve now learned two things: just how much you can tolertate to take in to gain mass without fattening up too much, and a system that is simple and effective.
Its really giving you concrete numbers to go about your eating in a rational/systematic way. Nobody can do this for your. No formula is going to nail it on the head. Experience has shown that to gain, most need at least 12x bw to get started. And you may need 24x bw to finally top out. But you’ve got to start somewhere, so I gave it to you.
You go do. When it’s done, you’ll know more than about 6 billion other peoples (<–props to Thib) on Earth. Even Charles Poliquin can’t shake a palm leaf at you, do a tribal dance and look for hidden meaning in the secret ideograms that MUST be present in dog droppings to divine this information. YOU and you alone can do this, and when you do, you’ve got all you’ll ever need to control your physique.
Dude, you’re your own Guru! 
best,
DH
quote]scottiscool wrote:
If possible I’d like to get some insight on people that have used the AD for mass gains. What have people seen best results with, say averaging 5k calories a day all week, or 3500 weekdays and jack up the calories on weekends? Any other thoughts, especially from DH and Il cazzo or any other big boys out there are certainely welcome.
I’ve been on the diet for a good period of time but when I’m at school budget is low and therefore I’m on a permanent mantinence diet. Going home in a little less than one month and plan on using the summer time for some serious size gains. [/quote]
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