hey everyone,
just recently found this site and its so informative.
ive been going through the threads, and trying to gather the info i need.
history: i was 215 pounds with unknown (high) bf%, in a little under a year dropped down to 139 with 10% BF, very lean, i did it through restriction of calories and working out. the problem im now having is trouble putting on actual muscle onto my frame.
i just started eating 1.5grams of protein for the weight i want to be(170) and 2 grams of carbs for every pound of weight i want to be, i automatically burn 3000 calories a day w/o excercise and lifting, i just cut back my cardio from 5-6 days a week to 2-3 days,i eat lots of raw tuna from the can, and chicken breast, as well as whole oats.
BTW-my diet is very strict and healthy.
usually:
Breakfast
eggwhites(1 cup) +1 reg egg
1 cup whole oats
1 banana
multivitamin
mid morn snack-i can raw tuna, mustard, one piece 100% whole wheat bread,
before workout-protein shake and protein bar
after workout-protein shake,protein bar and banana
dinner-baked fish or cicken, brown rice, broccoli
late night-lite n fit yogurt(low sugar-fat free)
I know i have to bulk now after removing all that weight, but by eating the right foods. do i have the right concept down? is two protein bars a day(even on non-lifting days) too much?
any incite is greatly appreciated.
thank you.
Well, based on your numbers and food assumptions, you are eating at least 500 cal/day BELOW maintenance. Before exercise. That is no way to gain weight.
So, you have the right concept, but the execution is off. Being precise is good when you first start, but don’t let the numbers distract you from the goal.
You want to be 170. Are you gaining weight? If so, check again in two weeks. If not, add more food. Cut the cardio, add more heavy weights, add much more food.
Don’t be afraid of the cheat meal either. Have some pizza and a burger. If you are 140, you can stand some fat gain. Add about 2-3 more of your regular meals a day. Real eggs, beef, chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, lots of veggies, milk, cheese. Food.
Dude, losing weight is the hard part. Gaining is easy. IF you lift enough, and IF you eat enough, you will gain. If not, you will not. But don’t expect to put on weight at 2500 cal/day and cardio 3 days a week. Won’t happen.
folly-thank you that makes alot of sense. i guess the problem im having is i have been so used to restricting calories, i dont know how to take excess in! i figured on these numbers for the “upgrade”. 185 grams protein, 200 grams carbs,35 grams fat-10 saturated as well as poly and mono.
with about 3500 calories a day.
heres my problem, how do i achieve that calaoric intake without increasing my other stuff???
i also push myself really hard when im lifting but never get big numbers, ie i moved from 70 pound bench bress, to 110 pound bench press. should i be adding weight every week in order to get bigger? i want to stay lean but have a fuller look. I am not looking to be a monster with a belly to boot.
[quote]Intothisfire wrote:
folly-thank you that makes alot of sense. i guess the problem im having is i have been so used to restricting calories, i dont know how to take excess in! i figured on these numbers for the “upgrade”. 185 grams protein, 200 grams carbs,35 grams fat-10 saturated as well as poly and mono.
with about 3500 calories a day.
heres my problem, how do i achieve that calaoric intake without increasing my other stuff???
i also push myself really hard when im lifting but never get big numbers, ie i moved from 70 pound bench bress, to 110 pound bench press. should i be adding weight every week in order to get bigger? i want to stay lean but have a fuller look. I am not looking to be a monster with a belly to boot.[/quote]
Right or wrong, this is what I did, because I had the same problem you’re having with diet:
Read through all the articles you can on here about dieting, what to eat and what not to eat. Make sure you have a pen and paper handy to make a list of the “good” foods. Make sure to include samples of all your major nutrients, including your good fats.
Go to www.fitday.com. This site is intended to be a diet journal, and I’m sure it’s probably a pretty good one, but I used it to plan my diet. Basically what I did was enter each of the suggested items from the articles (not including suppliments, which you shouldn’t really worry about right now anyway) into a single day’s diet journal, then played with the amounts until I found the balance of macro-nutrients that wanted and the caloric intake that I needed to be at.
The last piece of the puzzle is to figure out how to take that list of ingredients and make it into a list of 5-6 meals.
As for your gains in the gym… I would say to lift as big as you can without injuring yourself. Your body will react to increased calorie intake. You might gain a bit of fat eating more, but then you’re left with the awesome challenge of a cutting phase later on!
thank you for the good advice.
for the first question i am 5’9’’
i actually have been using fitday to track everything, i just cant seem to get my calories up where they need to be… for instance today i atr 1702 calories, 50 grams of fat,154 carbs, and 168 grams of protein, i need to be p over 3000 cals a day just to put on weight!
help me
[quote]Intothisfire wrote:
thank you for the good advice.
for the first question i am 5’9’’
i actually have been using fitday to track everything, i just cant seem to get my calories up where they need to be… for instance today i atr 1702 calories, 50 grams of fat,154 carbs, and 168 grams of protein, i need to be p over 3000 cals a day just to put on weight!
help me :([/quote]
I did the same thing once, after I lost a lot of weight. It’s all in my profile. I will tell you that if you want to start gaining, you need to put down the food database and step away from the spreadsheet.
If you are 140, and you want to be 170, let’s start simple. 170x20=3400 calories/day. This is where you need to start. How do you do that? First, eat when you first get up, let’s say 6am.
6am - 3 eggs, 1c egg whites, 2 slices bacon (turkey bacon if you prefer), 1cup oats, and some fruit of your choice.
Then you need to eat every three hours after that.
6oz meat, 1cup veggies, 1tbsp olive oil on the veggies, 1 cup cooked brown rice or 1 sweet potato or 2 slices whole grain bread.
Eat that meal 4 times a day. Add 2 protein shakes and your workout drinks and you have a good day. For a snack have some celery and 2 tbsp peanut butter.
This is a good start. When you get to this intake level, you should start to see the changes in the mirror and on the scales. If not, add more food, and subtract more cardio.
You can’t be afraid of the food. I know you’re going to look at this and say that you can’t eat that much, and that’s ok. Try adding a little bit each day, or add one meal a day. Cook meat, rice and sweet potatoes in bulk on the weekend and pack it into baggies you keep in the freezer. Then you just grab what you need.
Take your meals to work/school with you, or shakes if you can’t eat at your desk. Eat on your breaks. But you have to keep eating. It seems like a lot, but if you push yourself in the gym, and continuously work to increase your calories, your body will adapt to the new levels and grow.
Always have walnuts or peanuts or a shake with you so if you get hungry you can snack. At your weight, you shouldn’t ever be hungry. If you get hungry for the first month, you aren’t eating enough.
Start slow, and work up to it. Add a meal each day, or an extra snack. Don’t worry about the details, just eat.
And always be willing to ask questions, search and read. Look up “Scrawny to Brawny” by John Berardi here in the articles.
[quote]Intothisfire wrote:
i also push myself really hard when im lifting but never get big numbers, ie i moved from 70 pound bench bress, to 110 pound bench press. should i be adding weight every week in order to get bigger? i want to stay lean but have a fuller look. I am not looking to be a monster with a belly to boot.[/quote]
I had to respond to this as well. You aren’t going to magically turn into a GH gut mass monster. Not going to happen. This is one of the most common misconceptions.
You have a screwed up body image right now, and you need to not worry about pinching an inch. I know it is difficult. You need to increase your calories until you start to put on weight.
As for the lifting, you should lift as much as you can for 4 sets of 8. If you can get 4x8, then up the weight. Do this for the bench, squat, military press, bent over row, pullups/pulldowns and deadlift. If you want to toss in some curls and pushdowns, feel free.
[quote]Intothisfire wrote:
folly-thank you that makes alot of sense. i guess the problem im having is i have been so used to restricting calories, i dont know how to take excess in!
[/quote]
I know the feeling, you spend so long watching everything you eat and in return for being good you lose weight. Now all of a sudden you want to do the opposite but you’re brain is still conditioned to the “diet, lose, feel good” cycle.
One thing that might help is to use something other than bodyweight to track your progress for a while. I’d recommend tracking the three big lifts. Just try to increase the weight a little bit each week. Eat more, lift more, simple as that. The growing will be a side effect.
first, I think your math is off a bit.
protein and carbs each have 4 calories per gram. Fat has 9. That puts you at
(185 * 4) + (200 * 4) + (35 * 9) = 1855
not 3500.
My little sister weighs like 115 lbs and eats more than that. If you’re having trouble getting in all the calories you need, here’s two tips.
Think about the size and weight of the food as compared to the number of calories it contains.
Lots of stuff you’re probably used to eating for dieting is probably not very dense, i.e. you can eat a lot of it to physically fill you up, but there’s not much food value in it.
The second tip is to up your calories gradually.
If you’re used to eating less than 2000 kCal a day and you all of a sudden up it to 3500 or more, you’re probably going to throw up on yourself and give up.
Try bumping it up 500 kCal for a week. Next week, another 500. And so on until you get to 3500. Once you reach that, do like Folly said earlier, check your weight in 2 weeks, if you’re gaining, good, keep it up, if not, add another 500 kCal for a couple weeks and check again.
Glad to hear you’re pushing yourself really hard, that’s hugely important. But there’s another part of it.
What kind of program are you on? What lifts are you doing? Are you pushing yourself really really hard on the bench and curl program so often found in gyms today? Or are you squatting and deadlifting and rowing and etc… like a good boy?
Btw, if you want to gain weight, working legs is a great way to do it, glutes and hams are, I believe, the two largest muscle groups in the body.
As far as adding weight, yes, that’s how muscles grow. You tax the muscle by using it to move a weight that’s uncomfortable for it. In return, you damage the muscle a little bit (not like pulls and strains, but microscopic tears in the muscle fibers).
After your workout, your body has to repair those tears. So it breaks down the damaged tissue, and builds new muscle, more than you had before, that way you can lift that amount of weight easier next time. It’s simple adaptation.
Now, if you go to the gym every week and lift the same weight, your body is going to adapt to that weight pretty quickly. Eventually, it won’t even be a strain on your muscles to move it. Voila, you stop growing.
So, yes, add a little bit of weight each week if you can. Sometimes it won’t work, whatever, try it again next workout. Other times it’ll feel easier than it should, great, keep it up. Either way just keep trying and make sure you’re always progressing.
Anyway, good luck, eat, lift, sleep, all you need to know really. Sorry for the long rambling post, hope I didn’t repeat anything already said, I just sorta skimmed the thread.
jay-thank you!
you have made alot of sense.
my workout has been:
monday(all in sets of 3X10-12reps)
bench press,decline fly presses, cable crossovers, cable pulldown(tris),dips(tris),lateral pulldown, skullcrushers,20 minute ab workout
wednesday-backs and biceps,abs
friday-legs,shoulder/delts,abs
sat-cardio
sun-cardio
im trying to find a routine that makes sense for me, i have been searching the routines but having trouble finding one that “clicks” with me.
do i really only need to do 7 different excerises the whole week, like one i know was cleans,squats,benches,etc…
i want to try to keep some of these abs ive gained,
any routines to suggest?
i would like to add a few things…
i would like to do a split, but if thats not the right way to go thats fine. i just like working out, so the more im at the gym the better i feel.
also, i am going to start takin NO XPLODE before my workouts, for the added reps and pumps itll give me, good idea or bad>?
thanks!
as far as routines go, check the beginners thread, it should be a sticky at the top of the beginners forum. Read it, then read it again, then read all the articles it links to. There are several good routines in there for beginner, I believe big boy basics is popular.
As far as splits vs. full body workouts go, I think it really comes down to a matter of preference, and what works for you. I’ve done both, usually prefer an upper/lower split, but when I include oly lifts in my program it gets confusing.
Again, look for a program you like that’s not too advanced and stick with it. If it doesn’t click, that’s normal, you’re taxing your body in ways it’s not used to. Give it some time, work through the 8 or 12 weeks of the program and see what you get out of it.
Lifting isn’t something you can pick up, get a result in a few days or weeks, and then put away until you feel you need it again. You’ve got plenty of time (judging from your posts I’m guessing you’re fairly young?).
Buckle down and commit to doing something for the next month or two. If it works, awesome, look for the logical progression from there. If not, try to determine why? Did you follow it to the letter or make some substitutions for exercises you didn’t know or like? Did you listen to the program’s periodization and progression or just sorta wing it? If you did follow it pretty closely, look at other aspects of your life, diet, sleep, etc…? If it still seems like the program was the failing point, try to figure out what about it didn’t work for you and find a program that seems like it will be more to your taste and/or needs.
Not exactly sure what you mean by “is it really necessary to do 7 different exercises all week…” You should be using exercises that work the major muscle groups. Squats, deadlifts, benchpress are the classic “big three” but there are plenty of others (dips, pullups, rows, and military presses are also staples). Work on the basics, learn how to do them, and how to do them well, then start adding weight, it’s pretty simple.
Don’t worry about your abs. Visible abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. If your bodyfat is low enough, you’ll have a six pack, if it’s not, you won’t. Simple as that. If you’re 5’ 9" at 135 lbs, your six pack is the least of your worries. Eat and lift heavy. If you find yourself losing some of that six pack definition, but your lifts are skyrocketing and you’re putting on size and weight, fuck em. Figure out some goals, maybe a new max in each of the big lifts, and a bodyweight, and do what you need to do to get there. After that, re-assess your situation. Maybe you’ve put on 20 lbs and upped all your lifts and want to keep going, maybe you’ll decide that you’d like to cut a little fat before trying to bulk up again, either way is fine, but wait until you’re there to decide.
Lastly, I’ve never tried NO Explode so I can’t really give you an opinion on it from personal experience but if you search T-Nation a bit for it you’ll find there aren’t too many high opinions of it.
There was an article about it a few months ago, I think it was one of Dave Barr’s, basically explained how it’s supposed to work and why it doesn’t actually do that. Search for it, and read it, then decide for yourself. My supplement recommendations would be the following, in order:
Food
More Food
EVEN MORE FOOD (are you getting the picture yet?)
Protein supplement (note that word, supplement, it means “an addition” i.e. in addition to regular food, not in place of it. They’re useful, but not magic powders)
Fish Oil
Creatine (not the fizzy or flavored kind, just good old micronized creatine)
Those and a multi vitamin are all I really use and all you really need, especially at a beginners level.
Again, don’t worry so much about every little detail, just eat, lift, eat, sleep, and eat some more. It’ll come, just decide that you’re making the commitment to do this and stick with it and you’ll get there.
thank you for the wonderful advice.
im actually 25 years old but relatively new to lifting. I was overweight from age 6 to age 23 so you get the picture. the last year has been lean lifting(endurance) for losing weight, ie high reps moderate weight.
I do like the 5X5 routine it seems to be basic enough and people swear by it.
I just went to the gym and started that one.
the worst part about bulking is how much i have to eat!
im eating even when im not hungry because its been two hours lol.
but i am getting the eating idea down, when i got home from the gym i actually saw my abs popping out a little more than usual, and i do understand about the abs, hard to get away from that train of thought, when u have had a huge gut for most of your life. but i know how to cut, so if i think my midsection is getting a little hefty but the rest of me is growing ill probably cut a little then go back to bulking, i know its a build upon process and got all the time in the world!
