First: we get LESS efficient at utilizing protein as we age. More protien is required for same result.
Second: 4 months! WTF! This is a long game, think years, not months…
Third: don’t switch programs, give it 1/2 a year or 3. you had extremely uneven strength to start, your gains are on your weakest points! Most would LOVE that!
Fourth: you mention 3 different goals… look good naked, get huge, get strong… regardless build a base strength first then re-evaluate goals… Give SS a good year before you question it. SO much has to change and your not young anymore.
Fifth: if you want to lean out, skip the shakes… Massive quick carbs = insulin surge = fat (Unless your seriously carb depleted) try FOOD! lean steak, chicken breast, cottage cheese, tuna… Figure out your calories target and get 1-1.5 grams protein per pound of desired lean body mass…
Sixth: electric impedance body comp measurements are toys… get calipers, or professionally measured. too many things alter the readings of the electrical thingy’s… hydration, skin condition, sweat, oils, even body position…
If your goal is aesthetics why are you doing Starting Strength?
Your diet isn’t that awesome man, your lacking protein and I don’t think I saw any good fats in there. Why don’t you get that in order, then find a program better suited for aesthetics and not strength.
[quote]skiracer wrote:
My cardio is OK but not great -…inline skating 2-3 times per week.[/quote]
did everyone else miss this part?
OP you need to lift for more than 4 months to get a built physique. Try 4 years of consistent eating and lifting and you’ll probably be good.
Eating 150g’s of protein a day is awful for someone of your size (hell, thats pretty bad for any size) You need to eat like a man and lift like a man to look like a man.
The only thing you didn’t measure was your legs? Which also happens to be the area where you gained the most strength? I’m guessing that is part of your disappointment. I know you said they look about the same, but unless you go on a successful diet, it’s not going to look like you got a brand new pair of legs over a 4 month period. I’m guessing that you put on a little size there. Starting Strength is magical for squats, but not much else.
Do yourself a favor, and stop telling yourself your diet is “clean” when you are sitting at 25+% body fat and not at all happy with your appearance. Acknowledging this alone could be a kick in the ass you need.
I think you’d be much happier if you dieted first. 26% is pretty fat and detrimental to the kind of psychic gain you need to actually get the positive reinforcement ball rolling. I’d switch to 5/3/1 with a BBing focus for the assistance work, do the associated conditioning(hill sprints, jumping rope etc.), eat much more protein(300g+), less carbs and come back after a few months. It will have a much better impact on your physique than starting strength ever could.
[quote]skiracer wrote:
My goal is to 1) get big. My secondary goal is to get strong. Big to me means take my arms from 16 to 18 inches and my chest from 48 to 52 inches. [/quote]
OK. Bottom line is you’re 34. You’re a little chubby. I didn’t catch how tall you are.
I’ve been there.
Here’s my last couple years of logs (starting May 2008). I’d say I’ve logged, oh, lets say 3/4 or so of my workouts for the past couple years starting in my mid 30’s with the goal of “getting big/strong”-- and knowing I don’t have time to waste or fuck around.
You get to see all my triumphs and all my mistakes.
My biggest mistake was “cario-ing off 70 lbs” before I started hitting heavy weights. Don’t do that.
Part III: “Sex, Squats, and Rock n Roll (and Bacon)” – current
I’m certainly not the poster child for bodybuilding or powerlifting, but I’ve found my sweet spot somewhere in between and it seems to be working (warts and all).
The 5 things (minimum) you MUST do are:
Consistency in the gym (5-7 days/wk or more)
ATTACK the weights with EVERYTHING you have everytime you can
Eat for strength and growth (use your best judgement)
Sleep
Monitor and adjust diet/routine for progress
You have time and age (and therefore diminishing hormones) against you. 2 strikes. There is no room for large errors. If you can’t do those 5 things (minimum) for a few years (minimum) your fail probability is HIGH.
I advise reading the BB stickies, read everyones log in “Over 35”, and listen to:
The BIG/STRONG/EXPERIENCED dudes (Mauradermeat, Prof X, MODOK, etc)
The BIG/STRONG/EXPERIENCED/OLDER dudes (MaurauderMeat, Colin Wilson, PeteS, Bunny, and the other freaks in O35)
Why?
Group 1 is most like what your GOAL seems to be
Group 2 because they are more age/hormonally/etc LIKE you.
The truth is this will be harder than 20 years ago. I know-- I’m living it. But that’s key: YOU HAVE TO LIVE IT, or frankly, you don’t have a chance. That’s not meant to cut you down, that’s meant to lay down the reality of ‘getting big’ in your mid/late 30’s when you don’t already have 15 years of consistency under your belt.
Make the decision. Do it. No excuses once you commit.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
OK. Bottom line is you’re 34. You’re a little chubby.[/quote]
“a little chubby”??? 26% is in the “obese” category for men under 40
… but the rest of your post is great :)[/quote]
Semantics. This is a photo of me at 24% before any serious training. I’m sorry, but I was not “obese,” I was in fact, “a little chubby.”
[photo]29472[/photo]
Thanks. Everything you’re saying is dead on. I can’t believe the difference between now and when I was 24. It’s literally night and day. I used to be able to literally see gains in the mirror workout to workout and drop fat almost just by willing it to happen. No longer true. I’m doing the points you suggested except for the already stated of need more protein, need to get good sleep EVERY night - but do I really need to go 5-7 days in the gym? Almost every article on here seems to be suggesting the less-is-more approach, but I’m starting to think that’s really for strength, not size.
I’m pretty damn impressed you were able to cardio off 70 lbs even if you lost muscle in the process. I find I really don’t respond so well to cardio only - my body just feels beaten up. Doing squats for a few months has made me able to jog etc without feeling like I’m abusing myself.
Gregron - thanks for that inline-skating pic. It has to be the gayest pic I’ve ever seen on skates. If I ever thought I looked like that I think I’d call up my ex-wife just to finish off the little manhood I had left. Horrible.
[quote]skiracer wrote:
I’m doing the points you suggested except for the already stated of need more protein, need to get good sleep EVERY night - but do I really need to go 5-7 days in the gym? Almost every article on here seems to be suggesting the less-is-more approach, but I’m starting to think that’s really for strength, not size.
[/quote]
I don’t know if you need to go 5-7 days a week-- only YOU know if you need to go 5-7 days a week.
I don’t do full body workouts at this time. If you genericly divide it up into simplest parts (in no particular order and this isn’t my split), it’s like:
Legs
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Arms
You want bigger arms? You probably need an arm day. You can certainly train arms with something else but if it’s priority, you’re looking at 4-5 days.
Now if you did the above split, and the day after your “arms day” your legs felt great, why wouldnt you go train them again?
I schedule every day for training and “life” determines my days off. I don’t have time to limit myself “Oh, today is Friday, but I can only train legs on Sunday”. Ridiculous.
I’ve been getting my arms 3x/wk minimum, rear delts 2x minimum, and even been trying to split out hams/glutes on different days. There’s always something to do.
That’s just me, though.
You have to figure out what’s right for you.
Don’t let “articles” hold you back. Just get out there and do it. You’ll know what’s right if you listen to your body.
[quote]skiracer wrote:
I’m doing the points you suggested except for the already stated of need more protein, need to get good sleep EVERY night - but do I really need to go 5-7 days in the gym? Almost every article on here seems to be suggesting the less-is-more approach, but I’m starting to think that’s really for strength, not size.
[/quote]
I don’t know if you need to go 5-7 days a week-- only YOU know if you need to go 5-7 days a week.
I don’t do full body workouts at this time. If you genericly divide it up into simplest parts (in no particular order and this isn’t my split), it’s like:
Legs
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Arms
You want bigger arms? You probably need an arm day. You can certainly train arms with something else but if it’s priority, you’re looking at 4-5 days.
Now if you did the above split, and the day after your “arms day” your legs felt great, why wouldnt you go train them again?
I schedule every day for training and “life” determines my days off. I don’t have time to limit myself “Oh, today is Friday, but I can only train legs on Sunday”. Ridiculous.
I’ve been getting my arms 3x/wk minimum, rear delts 2x minimum, and even been trying to split out hams/glutes on different days. There’s always something to do.
That’s just me, though.
You have to figure out what’s right for you.
Don’t let “articles” hold you back. Just get out there and do it. You’ll know what’s right if you listen to your body.[/quote]
SteelyD has some DAMN FINE results…
That alone speaks volumes!
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
I don’t know if you need to go 5-7 days a week-- only YOU know if you need to go 5-7 days a week.
I don’t do full body workouts at this time. If you genericly divide it up into simplest parts (in no particular order and this isn’t my split), it’s like:
Legs
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Arms
You want bigger arms? You probably need an arm day. You can certainly train arms with something else but if it’s priority, you’re looking at 4-5 days.
Now if you did the above split, and the day after your “arms day” your legs felt great, why wouldnt you go train them again?
I schedule every day for training and “life” determines my days off. I don’t have time to limit myself “Oh, today is Friday, but I can only train legs on Sunday”. Ridiculous.
I’ve been getting my arms 3x/wk minimum, rear delts 2x minimum, and even been trying to split out hams/glutes on different days. There’s always something to do.
That’s just me, though.
You have to figure out what’s right for you.
Don’t let “articles” hold you back. Just get out there and do it. You’ll know what’s right if you listen to your body.[/quote]
This is probably the best training program i’ve ever seen.
I remember seeing Mr. Popular bitching about Starting Strength on another post and I’m wondering if maybe he’s on to something.
[/quote]
If you want to get big, why in the world aren’t you just doing a bodybuilding program?
And no, you absolutely do not have to be at some arbitrary level of “strength” before you are “allowed” to start putting on size. That is unbelievably stupid and I wish people would stop propagating that BS.
As a matter of fact, I’m positive you would make better strength gains overall on a typical bodybuilding split right now than on starting strength. Would your squat go up 100lbs in 4 months? Probably not. But it will still go up along with everything else, because you will be training everything instead of putting all your energy into one exercise at the expense of all other muscles.
I remember seeing Mr. Popular bitching about Starting Strength on another post and I’m wondering if maybe he’s on to something.
[/quote]
If you want to get big, why in the world aren’t you just doing a bodybuilding program?
And no, you absolutely do not have to be at some arbitrary level of “strength” before you are “allowed” to start putting on size. That is unbelievably stupid and I wish people would stop propagating that BS.
As a matter of fact, I’m positive you would make better strength gains overall on a typical bodybuilding split right now than on starting strength. Would your squat go up 100lbs in 4 months? Probably not. But it will still go up along with everything else, because you will be training everything instead of putting all your energy into one exercise at the expense of all other muscles.[/quote]
I’m starting to get that. Squats really do make you feel light on your feet, strong in general and are a great LEG exercise, but there’s this idea I’ve seen on TNation and other sites that squats are the magic bullet to getting your upper body big too. It’s not happening.
Deadlifting seems to have a greater upper body effect, but my deadlift has been somewhat neglected all summer on SS because of the focus on squatting for a PR 3 times per week and only going for one deadlift set x5 3 times every 2 weeks. Why is this myth of squats-will-make-you-huge so accepted? Are a lot of other people finding that getting their squat up makes their arms/back/chest bigger?
I get the hormonal release concept in theory, but squatting is no needle-of-T-in-the-ass substitute. Mr. Popular’s point seems pretty obvious to me in hindsight, but I can’t find one article on this site that doesn’t flatly contradict what he’s saying.
I don’t think I’m alone here - I think 90% of the guys on this site never want to compete in bb, powerlifting or O-lifting. They want to get as big as possible, look good naked, and develop some real strength along with it.
Why is this myth of squats-will-make-you-huge so accepted? Are a lot of other people finding that getting their squat up makes their arms/back/chest bigger?
…
I get the hormonal release concept in theory, but squatting is no needle-of-T-in-the-ass substitute.
…
Mr. Popular’s point seems pretty obvious to me in hindsight, but I can’t find one article on this site that doesn’t flatly contradict what he’s saying.
[/quote]
Squats don’t give you big triceps, but they do contribute to your ‘overall’ growth as well as your legs, glutes, etc. How you do them matters, too. There’s nothing wrong with squatting in a “BB routine”.
Seriously, sounds like your worst enemy is yourself getting caught up on what has been written versus what YOU need to do/learn by DOING in the gym.
