OK, so I read the nutritional beginners pages. Apparently I am meant to be consuming 6000 calories a day! This is a completely baffling concept, as I weight 67kg (147 pounds) and am 5’10". Do you think I broke my calculations? Or do you occasionally/normally have subjects like this? Because I seem to see on the forums that most people are consuming between 3.4k and 4.5k calories.
I do what I would consider intensive sprinting training four times a week, what MET value should I give e.g. 2x(250m, 200, 150, 100), plus jumping drills like leaping and one legged power squats, over a period of an hour and a bit? Because I’m thinking I readjust it a little? Obviously there is variation, that is just one of my many running training session types.
Also, is training too many days a week on different things bad for body building? example of my week:
Monday - weights gym(1 hour), sprinting training
Tues - weights gym(1h)
Wed - sprinting
Thur - weights gym(1h), sprinting
Fri - nothing
Sat - sprinting and breakdancing/gymnastics (about 3 hours of this)
Sun - breakdancing (1h)
Also, is it better to do weights training in the morning, midday or afternoon?
Thanks
Edit: I am 17 years old, only fitness training before I looked into body building (aka this site, but yes I am serious about doing this)
67-6.7=60.3kg
60x22+500=1820cal
1.6 (daily modifier) makes my RMR is 2912cal
+thermic 0.1 = 291.2cal
Now my excercise:
MET 15 for running (I presume I dont train as hard as an olympic athlete) makes 15 x 1.5hours x 67 = 1507.5cal
MET 6 for lifting makes 6 x 1 hours x 67 = 402cal
so: 2912 +291.2 +1507 +402 totals at 5112.7 calories a day.
But for weekends I do longer hours of athletics:
MET 8 (less intense though) makes 8 x 2 x 67 = 1072
and Break/gymnastics I gave 8 x 3 x 67 = 1608
therefore the total is 5592 cals
This is an average of 5352.35 calories a day… Does this sound better?
My goal is (I shall send a few photos in my next post, I need to change PCs) to:
To look like a god among men (as is the usual, I expect)By this I mean that I would like to have a more propotionately sized body
Be larger to match my opponents in sports
3.Improve my upperbody mass so that I have greater potential for strength and for breakdancing power moves
And, also, my other questions stated above still stand
Thanks
Edit: pictures (sorry for the myspace style photo angle, it just happened to come out that way)
As you can see I’m not starting off too badly as far as fat composition.
Dont joke - my boxers are cool. But no, the point is my legs are incredibly small, and I need mass to accompany power for athletics throws, and also thick thighs are sexy when accompanying an upper body of awsomeness.
Please ignore the excess hair. - Btw I’m NOT looking for criticism on my body size, I’m just giving an idea of myself for those who will help answer my questions, and help me navigate the articles (I’m a really slow reader so I dont want to be told “read the whole site before I tell you anything !”).
These pictures really do nothing to tell me how many calories you should be eating. My advice would probably be the same whatever you looked like. I would say you should start at 4000 calories and adjust accordingly based on progress. It’s not a race. Add 250 every week if progress is stagnant until you’re gaining at a solid rate. It’s not a race. Within a few weeks, you’ll be exactly where you need to be for good gains.
OK thanks rsg if I use the Harris-Benedict formula my BMR is 1718, which makes the total 4185 cal per day lol.
Which lets me come around to your comment jsbrook, its about the same as what you say, so I’ll do just that.
Well thanks for your help, I might have just confused myself more without you.
My questions still stand though, because I am in school, would it be better to train in the morning or lunchtime or afternoon?
Also, am I better off changing my tuesday weights sesh to wed on the same day as my sprints?
Ya don’t over think it, plus (and this is a big plus) you are already very low body fat, if you happen to eat too much you’ll gain a little fat and learn you ate too much. You really won’t just wake up fat as long as you watch your body.
So eat big and keep an eye on it. No gains eat more, good gains keep it the same, too much fat, cut it back a little.
As previously said you’re clearly over thinking this. You’re skinny, you definitely need to eat more than you do if you want to add muscle mass. Just try to eat a bit more, if you still don’t see any muscle or fat gains, a bit more, etc till you find an amount that works good for you.
In one spot you say: “2x(250m, 200, 150, 100), plus jumping drills like leaping and one legged power squats, over a period of an hour and a bit”
In another you say “MET 15 for running (I presume I dont train as hard as an olympic athlete) makes 15 x 1.5hours x 67 = 1507.5cal”
You may hit MET 15 while actually sprinting but your only doing it for a relatively short time, not 1.5 hours. You’re resting considerably throughout. Anyone doing MET 15 for 1.5 hrs is probably training for a marathon and will likely win.
Ok, there is no set time that is best to train. At least not for beginners/intermediates. Elite athletes, maybe yes. But not for about a decade for you :). Just train when you can. You might consider jostling around your schedule if there’s a particularly hard training session that week, or if you’re always feeling drained for a particular session. Other than that, don’t sweat it.
If you’re doing as much sprint work and gymnastic work and b-boying as you put down in your schedule, then hell yes 4000 cals is a MINIMUM. Follow the advice and gradually ramp it up each week until you are gaining about a .75-1.25 lbs a week. Just remember to weigh yourself in the same conditions every week (morning, pre-breakfast, post-toilet). And don’t weigh daily, there’s too much fluctuation due to water or stress, etc. Intake of over 5000 calories would not surprise me at all, although it may not be required.
remember that the iron game is not a sprint race, it’s a marathon. Actually it’s probably more like a pentathalon or a triathelon–you need to be educated about different ways of doing things and be well-rounded. You should be in this for the long haul, and therefore as long as you are progressing, don’t overthink things.
Also, remember that from now on you’ve made a declaration about yourself here. You don’t “workout” anymore, you only “train”. Other people workout–they’re the ones not making any progress and complaining. You train. Ok?
Pick a few specific goals for the next several months, and then pick some longer term goals. The goals you have now are good, but longer term and hard to quantify (track your progress). Try to make a few specific goals that you can track numerically. Post them here.
[quote]forevernade wrote:
OK thanks rsg if I use the Harris-Benedict formula my BMR is 1718, which makes the total 4185 cal per day lol.
Which lets me come around to your comment jsbrook, its about the same as what you say, so I’ll do just that.
Well thanks for your help, I might have just confused myself more without you.
My questions still stand though, because I am in school, would it be better to train in the morning or lunchtime or afternoon?
Also, am I better off changing my tuesday weights sesh to wed on the same day as my sprints?[/quote]
find a way to track your calories in a journal. It’s a pain in the butt, but believe me you gotta know where you stand so you know when and how to make changes to your diet. Don’t sweat the details, just get lots of good whole HEALTHY food. Lots of good fats and everything. Don’t worry about the specifics except to track your calories (ie-no specific diet plan).
Then have a once a week cheat day where you eat everything you can get your hands on–pizza, ice cream, boxes of oreos, don’t care. If you want it, eat it. Hell it doesn’t matter if you split up your cheat meals throughout the week or anything, AS LONG as you eat clean 90% of the time or so. Since you’re tracking your calories it shouldn’t be too hard to figure 90%.
As far as changing Tues weights to Wed with sprints, only bother with that if you start feeling really run down and need another day of rest. Otherwise don’t sweat it at all. If you start feeling really run down/unmotivated, I’d first move Tues weights to Wed w/sprints. If that doesn’t fix the problem after a week or two I’d stop one of your 4 sprint workouts.
If that doesn’t fix the problem after a week or two, I’d simply take a break from the gym and intense training for a week and reboot as normal.
Thanks heaps for the help!
I have a few more questions though :D. I am having trouble digesting my food in time for my next meal. I have organised my diet to about 3700 calories to start off with, but, for example, when I eat my 3 chicken sandwiches and 3 eggs for lunch, it isnt digested in time for my 4 o’clock running session, and as a result I am more inclined to feel like spewing it all back up again. Are there any methods I should be using to digest my food quicker?
Do I need to drink more water? or is there another kind of food that makes your stomach go crazy and digest it quickly? I want to be able to eat my full 4k calories, but I cant :(.
Also, is it bad to be having my heavy meals after 5pm?
Thanks
[quote]forevernade wrote:
Thanks heaps for the help!
I have a few more questions though :D. I am having trouble digesting my food in time for my next meal. I have organised my diet to about 3700 calories to start off with, but, for example, when I eat my 3 chicken sandwiches and 3 eggs for lunch, it isnt digested in time for my 4 o’clock running session, and as a result I am more inclined to feel like spewing it all back up again. Are there any methods I should be using to digest my food quicker? Do I need to drink more water? or is there another kind of food that makes your stomach go crazy and digest it quickly? I want to be able to eat my full 4k calories, but I cant :(.
Also, is it bad to be having my heavy meals after 5pm?
Thanks[/quote]
I’m not sure how much you have been eating before, but if you’re not doing it, I would advice that you make the transaction between your previous low calorie diet to your now high(er) calorie diet slowly. If you have been eating little before and suddenly try to eat way more it’s gonna be hard, so making the transaction a slow one is perhaps a good idea. Drinking a lot of water is always a good idea.
I don’t see any problems in having heavy meals after 5pm.
Ditto Tmmmey. I went through this feeling myself. I ate and felt full, and then had to eat again. It’s a chore sometimes. After a while though, your body adjusts and starts to crave the food. At times it gets to the point where at about 1.5 hours after my last meal my stomach is already grumbling for another. Like clockwork. Getting there is a matter of gradual increases, and sticking to a schedule…
People ask me how many times I eat, and they are amazed at how much I eat. And then they laugh when I tell them that I schedule my food and I eat whether I’m hungry or not. But that’s true, and that’s what is necessary often times.
Also, ‘heavy’ meals after 5pm are perfectly fine. What matters is not ‘heavy’ or ‘light’, what matters is healthy or not and do you have enough calories?
That said, if you’re having trouble digesting your food in time for your training, have a lighter meal before training, and make post training larger.
In addition, you can try alternating solid and liquid meals. Liquid being protein shake with milk or protein smoothies or whatever. I don’t like to advise this sometimes, because it can be an excuse for living off protein shakes… which is NOT the way to be healthy or grow optimally (we’ve all had to do it at some point because of stress etc, but it ain’t the best way to go if you can avoid it). But if you use it to gradually get yourself used to all the calories, you can then start adding solid food at each liquid meal, until you get mostly solid meals all the way around.
Finally, you can eat smaller meals more often. Instead of eating 5 800 calorie meals, you could eat 8 500 calorie meals. That tends to clear the stomach faster, and you don’t feel so prone to spewing in training. This is also a great thing for controlling insulin response and trying to keep levels relatively even. I mean, 500 calories is just 2 cups of whole milk and two scoops of whey. OR 6 eggs and some berries. Heck, 4 eggs is almost 300 calories, so you just make up the difference with some healthy fats or fruits.
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lol.