Program/Goals Feedback Please

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

You guys are the experts so you should have some great advice as usual.

I’m 5"10 162lbs (gained 9 lbs over the past month). 16% BF

My goal is to build mass for aesthetic and health reasons. Would bulking to 180 and 12% BF be a reasonable outcome?

Diet:
After reading some fantastic articles I’m eating 6-7 meals a day a typical day is this:

Meal 1: ~1.5 cups high protein/fibre Cereal w/ Skim Milk and 1 100ml probiotic yogurt

Meal 2: Meal Replacement Bar with 2-3 pieces of fruit and an All Bran bar

Meal 3: Large salad with Tuna or Chicken

Meal 4: Sandwich with Meat or Chicken Breast with 1 vegetable

Meal 5: Meat with 2 vegetables

Meal 6: Protein Shake

(3 litres of water; 1 large coffee; 1 can of diet coke; 250ml of 2% milk are liquids)

The weekends are cheat days where I’ll have dessert or a hamburger for at one or two meals but otherwise mostly lean/healthy stuff. This helps me gain weight since during the week I’m pretty static.

Thoughts?

Workout:
EDIT(elaborating workout)

Monday
5sets, 5 reps,

Squats
Bench
Row
support: curls, tricep ext.

Wednesday
4sets 5 reps

Squats
Incline
Cleans
support: 3x10weighted situps, 1x10leg raises, 2x10 weighted hypers, 2x20 calf raises

Friday
4 sets 5 reps, 1 set 3 reps, 1 set 8 reps

Bench
Squats
deadlifts
support: 3x10 crunches

Thoughts?

How long will it take me to notice a big difference? Its been a month, I was building weight until I read starting strength and realized I need to work on my form - not going higher in weights for the next couple weeks until I’ve got some good form.

2

What’s your logic in planning on going from 162lb at 16% bodyfat, and “bulking” up 18lb while dropping 4% bodyfat? Whatever it is, that diet isn’t going to get you there.

What’s your work-out routine look like?

3

What diet will get me there?

Gaining I’m hoping to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat so the difference in muscle mass shows

4

What I’m asking is what knowledge do you have as the basis for assuming that dieting to bulk up will reap a lower bodyfat. It’s not impossible, not at all. But you’re talking about putting on 24.5lb of muscle mass, while dropping 4% of fat. That’s going to take a considerable amount of time, and lots of hard work.

5

I have no knowledge. Eating 6-7 mostly clean meals because of the little I’ve read that’s what is says to do.

24.5lb of muscle mass does sound like a lot. I should reevaluate my goal for something more obtainable in the short term and then work to that for the longer term.

Would 10 lb of muscle mass be doable in 6 months?

6

[quote]Tryin2BRipd wrote:
I have no knowledge. Eating 6-7 mostly clean meals because of the little I’ve read that’s what is says to do.

24.5lb of muscle mass does sound like a lot. I should reevaluate my goal for something more obtainable in the short term and then work to that for the longer term.

Would 10 lb of muscle mass be doable in 6 months?

[/quote]

Any goal like X lbs of muscle and Y lbs of fat etc is essentially nonsense

You can’t even measure bodyfat% that accurate.

Try to stay on a good solid diet and focus on your lifts.

As long as your lifts going up (while maintaining proper form !), everything is ok.

You should stop wondering about whether you will gain 2.6 or 2.75lbs per month or whatever, it will only distract from the important things, which is lifting weight, eating and getting enough rest.

If you only worry about how to add 100lbs to your Deadlift and how to consume enough calories in 24hrs, everything else will just come with it, muscle mass, change in body composition etc

EDIT: And you should really review the ‘diet’ described in your first post. Meat with a few vegetables is not a meal. A “protein shake” is not a meal, its a protein shake.

Count total calories (way too low) and also too low on healthy fats

Read everything by Dr. John Berardi / Lonnie Lowery / Dave Barr etc on the subject of diet & nutrition

7

While I would also agree that you should read all of that material, “should” and “will” are words that are worlds apart. Petrichor is right, though. As a beginner, you should not focus so much on numbers as you should on your overall progress. If at the end of a few months you can look in the mirror and see progress, that speaks louder than numbers. Once you’ve been playing the lifting/nutrition game for a while, and you feel you know your body a lot better, then you can focus on adjusting things by the numbers.

Lift heavy, watch what you eat (increase your protein, avoid sugar+starch combinations), and stick to a plan; any plan so long as you’re determined.