@ Professor X. Correct me if I’m mistaken but you’re training seems to be focused on bodybuilding. When/how did you decide this would be your style of training rather than a more strength oriented or other styles? I’m just curious
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
@ Professor X. Correct me if I’m mistaken but you’re training seems to be focused on bodybuilding. When/how did you decide this would be your style of training rather than a more strength oriented or other styles? I’m just curious [/quote]
My original goal was just to get as big and strong as my cousin. He weighed about 185lbs in college. I hit that and then thought it wasn’t that big after all. So I ate my ass off in college and lifted until I got over 200lbs. Then I dieted a little because I got fat. Then the girls said I looked good but don’t get any bigger. But I did. Then they said the same thing again…and again.
I train for strength and size. I may go lighter now (especially with biceps training and even some back work), but that is in an effort to really feel that muscle working and get more growth (pump and strength work).
I have trained for martial arts, boxing, and even done a couple of really minor local powerlifting meets.
My body and my life made the decision. Before I went back to school I swear my focus was on really getting into competing. Other goals and opportunities came up.
Life will do the same to you too. What defines you is what you fight to hold onto.
don’t let go, even if that thread gets over 20 pages.
when did you decide to buy your gun? was that before or after the Indigogate scandal?
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
@pualie, I’m assuming thats you in your avatar. Pretty impressive size man [/quote]
Yes that is me. Thank you.
Thanks x. Idk your 1RMs but you’ve clearly done a hell of a job on the size, I don’t think anyone could argue that.
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Also any guidelines for macros? I’ve been doing about 200g protein, 140g fat, and 500g cars every day. I do eat like 300 calories less on non training days. [/quote]
I think this fat intake is too high and a recipe for disaster if you keep at it long enough, especially if you want to minimize fat gain. Fats are making up about 30% of your daily cal intake right now, while protein is only at 20%. Why not flip the two? 250 P, 100 F, 500 C…easy to remember too.
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Also any guidelines for macros? I’ve been doing about 200g protein, 140g fat, and 500g cars every day. I do eat like 300 calories less on non training days. [/quote]
I think this fat intake is too high and a recipe for disaster if you keep at it long enough, especially if you want to minimize fat gain. Fats are making up about 30% of your daily cal intake right now, while protein is only at 20%. Why not flip the two? 250 P, 100 F, 500 C…easy to remember too. [/quote]
You can’t tell how someone will respond to a diet by numbers alone.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Also any guidelines for macros? I’ve been doing about 200g protein, 140g fat, and 500g cars every day. I do eat like 300 calories less on non training days. [/quote]
I think this fat intake is too high and a recipe for disaster if you keep at it long enough, especially if you want to minimize fat gain. Fats are making up about 30% of your daily cal intake right now, while protein is only at 20%. Why not flip the two? 250 P, 100 F, 500 C…easy to remember too. [/quote]
You can’t tell how someone will respond to a diet by numbers alone.[/quote]
First off, thanks for the compliment a page ago or so.
Secondly, I do mostly agree that the food intake surplus + heavier weights is important for growing, especially early on. I can’t properly articulate (at this time) some of the reasons why I think there needs to be some good balance but yes, it really seems like most need some kind of phase of this in their career. Where I think the underrated aspect of this comes in, however, is being able to adjust, monitor and switch things up moving forward after this initial phase.
Also, in response to the ^ above post, I agree with PX. I have spent phases with higher carbs, lower carbs, carb rotation and all sorts of bullshit. In the end, two “higher” days of carbs (which for some is a moderate/low day) with primarily fats + carbs the rest of the week has kept me leaner but still with ample energy to grow and get things accomplished. I can never understate enough (in my opinion) the importance and variance of individual needs and why it’s necessary to figure out what is the optimal way for one particular person to grow. Everyone is different.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Also any guidelines for macros? I’ve been doing about 200g protein, 140g fat, and 500g cars every day. I do eat like 300 calories less on non training days. [/quote]
I think this fat intake is too high and a recipe for disaster if you keep at it long enough, especially if you want to minimize fat gain. Fats are making up about 30% of your daily cal intake right now, while protein is only at 20%. Why not flip the two? 250 P, 100 F, 500 C…easy to remember too. [/quote]
You can’t tell how someone will respond to a diet by numbers alone.[/quote]
Exactly. You have to experiment, so I made a friendly suggestion.
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
don’t let go, even if that thread gets over 20 pages.
when did you decide to buy your gun? was that before or after the Indigogate scandal?[/quote]
LOL
Don’t look now, everyone, but this has actually turned into a pretty productive thread.
I would have to agree. It’s been very helpful. I’ve got another question though. Should my goal still be to gain 1lb a week? Or should it be less? Also if its less how do I go about that. I mean 1lb a week is pretty easy to do and account for. when people say 1/4lb a week how the hell do you adjust calories for that?
OP, these are questions that honestly no one is going to be able to give you a very satisfying answer on.
You’re going to have to make a decision and see what happens. People don’t screw things up by making mistakes. They screw things up by repeating mistakes. People at, e.g., Stu’s level know their bodies well enough that they can probably micro-target gains in a way that you and I simply cannot yet. So just experiment.
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
I would have to agree. It’s been very helpful. I’ve got another question though. Should my goal still be to gain 1lb a week? Or should it be less? Also if its less how do I go about that. I mean 1lb a week is pretty easy to do and account for. when people say 1/4lb a week how the hell do you adjust calories for that? [/quote]
Mathematically speaking, there are 3500 calories/pound, so if you’re eating 500 cals over maintenance currently to gain 1 pound/week, eat only 250 cals over maintenance to gain only 1/2 pound/week.
That being said, the numbers will probably never be exact given too many variables, so best just to stay consistent on a daily basis and make adjustments every so often as necessary.
id recommend placing your daily carbs around your workout, (most of them pre/during)… this “gives them purpose” as John Meadow would say.
it will also keep you insulin-sensitive so you are more inclined to put on lean mass as opposed to fat.
your primary focus should NOT be strength Imo… people who focus on strength get injured… and while they do put on a decent amount of mass, the injuries they rack up tend to plague them for very long periods of time if not for the rest of their lives.
train like a bodybuilder (focus on contracting your muscle, stretching your muscle, and then lastly worry about the amount of weight you are moving) and eat strategically for the most success coupled with the rarest ocurrence of injury.
[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:
id recommend placing your daily carbs around your workout, (most of them pre/during)… this “gives them purpose” as John Meadow would say.
it will also keep you insulin-sensitive so you are more inclined to put on lean mass as opposed to fat.
your primary focus should NOT be strength Imo… people who focus on strength get injured… and while they do put on a decent amount of mass, the injuries they rack up tend to plague them for very long periods of time if not for the rest of their lives.
train like a bodybuilder (focus on contracting your muscle, stretching your muscle, and then lastly worry about the amount of weight you are moving) and eat strategically for the most success coupled with the rarest ocurrence of injury. [/quote]
Dude, you’re giving him advice that really should be given to intermediate/advanced lifters. I think Meadows’s stuff is great and provides a lot of really useful stuff for people who have a good base of strength. But there are seriously so many logs and stuff of people who are abandoning their programs to do JM’s stuff when they seriously have no business doing so. For example, I saw a log the other day where someone said “Well, getting strong on 5/3/1 hasn’t been working for me, so I think I’ll just go all out with some Mountain Dog Training!!” That is so stupid to me: if the person doesn’t know his body well enough to make basic strength progress, how in the hell can he ever hope to really get out of the MD training what he’s supposed to? MD training is not just about being hard–it’s about having the body awareness to know what the heck you’re actually doing. It’s trying to sprint before one can walk.
Again, I think JM’s stuff is absolutely great, and I use a number of his techniques currently. But I’m seriously glad I didn’t find it two years ago and decide to do it, because I wouldn’t have been able to get out of it what I should. Of course, all the while I’d probably think I was doing it perfectly.
I’d be interested to hear some advanced people’s take on that thought, but it just seems crazy to me.
OP, one thing I would say is that I would be very careful about bulking when you cannot do much lower body work. I have no idea why you could only do leg extensions for leg-targeted work at this point, but you should really focus on healing that as a priority over gaining weight.
I’m not saying that you have to do any one particular exercise like squats, but there needs to be some kind of leg work in there that’s not deadlifts and leg extensions. Can you leg press?
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:
id recommend placing your daily carbs around your workout, (most of them pre/during)… this “gives them purpose” as John Meadow would say.
it will also keep you insulin-sensitive so you are more inclined to put on lean mass as opposed to fat.
your primary focus should NOT be strength Imo… people who focus on strength get injured… and while they do put on a decent amount of mass, the injuries they rack up tend to plague them for very long periods of time if not for the rest of their lives.
train like a bodybuilder (focus on contracting your muscle, stretching your muscle, and then lastly worry about the amount of weight you are moving) and eat strategically for the most success coupled with the rarest ocurrence of injury. [/quote]
Dude, you’re giving him advice that really should be given to intermediate/advanced lifters. I think Meadows’s stuff is great and provides a lot of really useful stuff for people who have a good base of strength. But there are seriously so many logs and stuff of people who are abandoning their programs to do JM’s stuff when they seriously have no business doing so. For example, I saw a log the other day where someone said “Well, getting strong on 5/3/1 hasn’t been working for me, so I think I’ll just go all out with some Mountain Dog Training!!” That is so stupid to me: if the person doesn’t know his body well enough to make basic strength progress, how in the hell can he ever hope to really get out of the MD training what he’s supposed to? MD training is not just about being hard–it’s about having the body awareness to know what the heck you’re actually doing. It’s trying to sprint before one can walk.
Again, I think JM’s stuff is absolutely great, and I use a number of his techniques currently. But I’m seriously glad I didn’t find it two years ago and decide to do it, because I wouldn’t have been able to get out of it what I should. Of course, all the while I’d probably think I was doing it perfectly.
I’d be interested to hear some advanced people’s take on that thought, but it just seems crazy to me.
OP, one thing I would say is that I would be very careful about bulking when you cannot do much lower body work. I have no idea why you could only do leg extensions for leg-targeted work at this point, but you should really focus on healing that as a priority over gaining weight.
I’m not saying that you have to do any one particular exercise like squats, but there needs to be some kind of leg work in there that’s not deadlifts and leg extensions. Can you leg press?[/quote]
i didnt reference Mountain Dog training once…
…weird
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Should my goal still be to gain 1lb a week? Or should it be less? Also if its less how do I go about that. I mean 1lb a week is pretty easy to do and account for. when people say 1/4lb a week how the hell do you adjust calories for that? [/quote]
IMO…your goal should not be to ‘push’ your scale weight up. Your goal should be to maintain your current weight and get as strong as you can within a given rep range. If your bodyweight drops act to gain the weight back but don’t act specifically to force it up.
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
OP, these are questions that honestly no one is going to be able to give you a very satisfying answer on.
You’re going to have to make a decision and see what happens. People don’t screw things up by making mistakes. They screw things up by repeating mistakes. People at, e.g., Stu’s level know their bodies well enough that they can probably micro-target gains in a way that you and I simply cannot yet. So just experiment.
[/quote]
Quite possibly the most insightful thing I’ve read on TNation…ever.
[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:
i didnt reference Mountain Dog training once…
…weird[/quote]
You described many of the principles underlying it and referenced JM’s views on diet.
I stand by what I said earlier: focusing on the muscular contraction and such is a more advanced way to train than someone with a year and a half worth of training–much less someone with such a limited background in leg training–should be worried about at this point. The OP should be focused on getting healthy, re-learning to seriously approach leg training, and learning his body to a greater degree.