Guys, I think we’re missing the point here. The point is to get information:
AcciperQ:
[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
front double bi…could flare my lats again for some reason. I’m just sore. [/quote]
I’m no expert at posing, but your left shoulder is’nt showing up well in that pic.
Otherwise 19 pounds of lbm in 6 months is awesome!
Now I have to burn my eyes…
Sorry about the ass picture. It’s kind of my calling card here on the forums…
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
Guys, I think we’re missing the point here. The point is to get information:
AcciperQ:
Great question. I’d do more pullups. I did them once per week, but I really saw some great results with them. Also I added in more volume towards the end of the bulk, I wish I had done that here. I started out doing maybe 8 sets per workout, and by the end was doing about 14. I should’ve done that many from the start.
It went good, if I had more time I would’ve ramped up calories slower. I tended to go up by like 700 every week. I wanted to be done by March 1st though and hit 230, so when starting on September 1st I had to jump right in. The gains for me when bulking always come suddenly, especially in strength. For literally the first month-6 weeks I only notice the smallest of strength increases. Then one week I’ll go to the gym and suddenly I can deadlift 40 lbs. more than the previous week and my bench press shoots up 20 lbs.
[quote]
4. Any other thoughts?[/quote]
Peanut butter is dirt cheap and dense as anything. Use it! Oh, and if you’re using milk…spread it out throughout the day…I tried drinking close to a half gallon over the last couple hours I was awake at the beginning of the bulk. Not good times.
Thanks!
and people call me gross
I guess I would phrase my question this way (and more directly):
You put on a lot of lean mass, which is great, but you also put on a lot of fat in the process. One school of thought is that some bodies just need to go through that process to put on the lean mass, while another says that putting on so much fat is entirely related to a failure to ‘bulk’ efficiently. Can you speak to this? Was there a point during the bulk at which you felt like you might pull back a little without losing your progressive gains?
Not trying to derail, but @3Commandments,
I’ve felt this way during my current bulk, and this mindset can hinder progress greatly. At some point, everyone who is big has been “soft” or “fat” or whatever you wanna call it. I’m currently recomping a bit after 6 months of force feeding and gaining. I’m still taking in a ton of cals (about 3,000 a day - which isn’t really too many actually) but I’m doing the IF thing/pulse feast. But yes, you need to put on a winter coat if you want the summer abs. Bottom line.
I should note that I hope my question didn’t come across as too pointed–I outlined those two general schools of thought, and I wasn’t meaning to suggest that one or the other had more merit–I was just asking, in the experience of the OP, which post-bulk he thinks is the more likely to be the case. He obviously opted for the former, but perhaps he came out of the bulk feeling that the latter has something to be said for it–or perhaps not. I was just writing to ask what conclusion he had drawn with regard to this for his own body.
Right on. I know you’re asking Accipter, not me, but here’s my thoughts anyway!: Everybody is different. First off, the whole game changes if you’re planning on competing or just looking good for the beach or whatever. And, if you’re natural it’s way different than assisted. I’m sure you know all that already. As far as putting on mass then cutting, you said it - there are two different schools of thought. Neither is better, just different.
Some people need to put on more fat than others to get LBM. As evidence, look at guys like MadTitan or KingBeef who can put on a ton of muscle with little to no fat gain. Then there are guys like the rest of us who don’t live in the clouds. For us, we need to pick a goal and stick to it. That means that most of the time you should be focused on putting on muscle, which is a lot slower and harder than cutting BF. I think that the one exception may be the IF with leucine type drinks.
This is all relatively new, but according to a lot of people doing it, you can lose BF, stay at a similar weight, and make strength gains. Unless you’re heavily “assisted” this has never been possible before for us nattys. SO, my advice would be to go for whatever your goal is, and jump into it 100%, learning along the way what works for you. I learned that I actaully react pretty well to carbs. If I listened to everything that Shugart and his boys said, I would never know what happens to me when I eat over 100g carbs, you see? Anyway, Accipter is a cool dude, so I’m sure he’ll help you out with anything you ask. And he’s got no shame, as evidenced by the tookus shots.
I appreciate your post. I’m focused on gaining lean mass right now, with a somewhat secret goal of competing in a BB competition in 2.5 years or so. I did the first 20 lbs or so low carb, but I’m about to begin ramping up the carbs and see what happens. I’m not writing here as much for my own edification (though that is a factor) so much as to add to the general T-Nation data pool.
I should note though that I asked those questions of Accipter because I think that the RMP forum’s most useful function is as a medium for self-reflection and gathering of data about bulking/cutting/etc. Sure, it’s great that folks can come post photos and get advice and/or congratulations, but as far as generating data is concerned, probably the most effective use of the forum would be for people to post progress shots and then discuss successes/regrets/mistakes/etc during the path that they trod.
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
I guess I would phrase my question this way (and more directly):
You put on a lot of lean mass, which is great, but you also put on a lot of fat in the process. One school of thought is that some bodies just need to go through that process to put on the lean mass, while another says that putting on so much fat is entirely related to a failure to ‘bulk’ efficiently. Can you speak to this? Was there a point during the bulk at which you felt like you might pull back a little without losing your progressive gains?[/quote]
Honestly I wanted to hit 230. I didn’t care how I did it. I got to 231. I’ve never done a single rep of a single set of a single exercise really worrying about how it made me look in the long run. I lift for strength, and if I end up more aesthetically pleasing, then that’s just a bonus. So when it comes to bulking I don’t worry about how much fat I put on. I do it to gain LBM. Part of this probably comes from the fact that I find cuts to be quite easy. If fat stuck to my bones like glue I might have a different attitude. I honestly never felt like pulling back. I actually toyed with trying for 240 so I could get a few more pounds of LBM out of the bulk, but by the end of it I was honestly sick of eating 5000 calories per day minimum.
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
I should note though that I asked those questions of Accipter because I think that the RMP forum’s most useful function is as a medium for self-reflection and gathering of data about bulking/cutting/etc. Sure, it’s great that folks can come post photos and get advice and/or congratulations, but as far as generating data is concerned, probably the most effective use of the forum would be for people to post progress shots and then discuss successes/regrets/mistakes/etc during the path that they trod. [/quote]
That’s actually a great point. Your posts in this thread have been some of the best I’ve seen in RMP
[quote]hlss09 wrote:
Anyway, Accipter is a cool dude, so I’m sure he’ll help you out with anything you ask. And he’s got no shame, as evidenced by the tookus shots. [/quote]
Thanks…and yeah, I have absolutely NO shame. My gf said something along the lines of: “Oh no…you’re not posting MORE ass-shots to that weight lifting website are you? I’m mortified”.
Be sure to post pics every 2 weeks or so. I am interested to see the transformation you go through. Let’s see how much of that 18lbs you can keep as you lean out. Good luck!
Bump! Progress report?
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
Bump! Progress report?[/quote]
Bump x2
Hope you’re pushin some serious numbers to be that gross looking
Artem Part 2?
Not being snarky here either…I really don’t know if you gained all that much LBM…but I would love to be proven wrong…
[quote]graudani wrote:
Hope you’re pushin some serious numbers to be that gross looking[/quote]
Okay, how strong are you? Are you hyuuuuuggeee? If not, then you should probably do like the rest of us beginners and stfu about people’s progress.
And even if you are an experienced lifter with something to show for it, is there a reason to be a dick in a thread where a guy’s trying to reach a goal?
In sum, gg graudani.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Artem Part 2?
Not being snarky here either…I really don’t know if you gained all that much LBM…but I would love to be proven wrong…[/quote]
I started at 187 @ 10.5%. Some math reveals that I went from 167 lbs. of LBM to about 188, for a 21 lbs. gain. I’m happy with the results.
sorry for no progress pics yet, I keep forgetting and I’m wicked busy during the week with school/work/internship/gym. I’m going to try this week. I hit 223.75 Friday. Probably more now after refeeding Saturday.
I’m at 2888 cals per day, with 146F/113 Net Carbs / 258 Protein right now on my regular workout days. Conditioning days I’m at 2999 cals, 185F/58 Net Carbs / 252 Protein.
Those are actually the last steps in my cut, I’ll be hanging out at those numbers for the next few weeks. If progress stalls I’ll cut out another 30 carbs from conditioning days, and some fat from regular workout days.
[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Artem Part 2?
Not being snarky here either…I really don’t know if you gained all that much LBM…but I would love to be proven wrong…[/quote]
I started at 187 @ 10.5%. Some math reveals that I went from 167 lbs. of LBM to about 188, for a 21 lbs. gain. I’m happy with the results. [/quote]
I’m impressed by your math skillz, less impressed by your methods…All bodyfat measurement methods are flawed and are especially useless for measuring progress…the results are all over the place…pictures (and lift numbers) are a far better indicator…but like I said, I’m ready to be proven wrong…
Here is the article on bodyfat measurements if you’re interested:
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=250