Am I Being Realistic?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
41

[quote]John Q. Adequate wrote:
Let’s see if I’m interpreting your words correctly.

  1. Eat more quality food, increasing my calories in increments
  2. Train harder with an accent on lower body and heavy, explosive training
  3. Add sprinting
  4. Accept some bodyfat as unavoidable.

Yes?[/quote]

Yes. I admire your desire to ask for help and look for advice from very knowledgeable/experienced people but you’re making this too complicated.

Again, in a nutshell-Bust your ass in the gym hitting all your muscles hard. Sprint. Allow for adequate recover. This also means sleep enough and eat a lot of healthy food. Use common sense when choosing what to eat. Look at yourself John, you can eat more than you think and not gain fat! Re-read that last sentence. Good luck.

42

It is NOT possible, in my view. Of course you can add ten more lbs of muscle at your stage of development. I’d like to see you do it!

However, a winter is 3 months. You can only gain 1/4 to 1/2 of DRY muscle per week and that is if you are doing everything perfectly or near perfectly, which is hard to do considering we have other things in our lives, don’t have a six figure contract, and don’t have shit to do besides, eat, shit, train, and sleep.

So, the maximum amount of muscle you can gain in 12 weeks is 4 to 6 pounds, which is damn good over that short time frame! It probably won’t happen if you try to remain as sleek as your avatar shows. Why anyone is afraid of looking like a bad ass, somewhat smooth, “fullhouse” is beyond me. Maybe that’s just my taste.

I am in opposition as to what Keinen states. The very temporary GH and T release does almost nothing for overall growth.

In the offseason, most bodybuilders don’t move faster than a walk for cardio. Nearly none of them sprint or do intervals. There is nothing wrong with cardio in the offseason though. I do it and so does everyone else.

The big lifts, like squats and deadlifts are important, but I think people really get carried away with bodybuilding simply being all about putting up big numbers in the big lifts. This is true with lagging muscle groups in particular.

Why “accent” legs over other bodyparts?

One day, the misguided people on here - like I was once - will see the light and see how simple and fun bodybuilding can be. That is when they follow some simple steps that everyone else is taking:

  1. Pick a split that brings up your weak points.
  2. Train each muscle every 5 to 7 days.
  3. 1 to 2 big exercises per bodypart, 1 to 2 isolation exercises per bodypart.
  4. Train 4 to 5 times per week.

Is anyone really doing anything differently, that is big and successful? No!

I am in agreement with PX in that many people on here are asking questions while the fact remains that people are really going to have to do the leg work, get in the gym, make some mistakes, judge the feedback your body and mind gives you, and adjust along the way. Think of it like war and life. You make an initial plan - a template - and make adjustments along the way.

I am not being a judgemental dick here. I am not an expert or a coach. But there are so many darn articles in magazines and on this site that I don’t know why some people don’t know the answers to some of the most basic questions.

Example: What about the juice?

Do you mean to tell me that if we, people on a message board, said “yeah, juice works (DUH)!)!”, that you would just go ahead and do it.

Here is my groundbreaking … revolutionary … innovative … scientific … set-the-strength-training-world-on-fire routine for an example (too bad I cannot think of some stupid name for it):

Day 1: Chest and biceps
Pre-exhaust here on pecs
Flat dumbbell flies
Flat dumbbell bench press
Incline dumbbell flies
Incline Hammer strength presses

Preacher curls
Incline hammer curls
Machine curls

Day 2: Legs
Donkey calf raises
Seated calf raises
Front squats
Sumo deadlifts
GHRs
Lunges
Leg curls
Leg extensions

Day 3: off

Day 4: Shoulders, traps, tris
Overhead seated press
Lateral raises
Machine lateral raises
DB shrugs
Close grip bench
Skullcrushers
Machine tricep extensions

Day 5: off

Day 6: Back and rear delts and abs
Lat pulldowns (used to do pullups when I was lighter)
Dumbbell rows
Machine pullovers
Cable rows
Rear delt raises
Decline situps
Leg raises

Day 7: Off

Cardio done four times per week on 3.5 incline and 4 to 7 speed.

Does this look complicated … at all?

43

[quote]John Q. Adequate wrote:

I eat the same every day, except that I add more carbs when I start to feel sluggish and weak (once a week to be sure).

Meal one is muesli and milk, maybe 150 grams plus 200 ml of skim milk.

Meal 2 is an hour and a half later, 4 raw eggs, drank.

Meal 3 is a can of tuna (170 grams nett) in water plus 40 grams of almonds or 100 grams of pasta.

Meal 4 is either 300 grams of beef, or 200 grams of chicken, plus some sort of vegetable, be it white rice, or cooked potato, or a mix of chopped carrot, paprika, peas. Those vegetables amount to maybe 200 grams total.

Meal 5 is post workout, 2 fruit yoghurts (400 grams) plus 2 bananas.

Meal six, if I have the discipline, is either 80 grams of sardines plus 50 grams of cottage cheese, or 50 grams of ham and cheese, or similar. If I’m starving, I just might eat some pizza or ice cream. This sort of cheating typically happens once or twice a week. I don’t (can’t) go to bed and not eat. Sleeping won’t happen.

I don’t calculate my calorie nor protein intake. I go by memory and feel.[/quote]

I’m not calculating this but I don’t think you’re getting enough protein. Especially post work out. Get some Surge, or throw in a scoop of whey with your yogurt and bananas.

Also for a healthy meal with lots of calories, start downing salads. I recommend this because I also don’t see much fat in your diet, which as we all know is 9 calories a gram. Make a big ass salad. Throw a big slab of meat over the greens. Dowse it in olive oil and some walnuts for a big calorie (and healthy fat) boost. Top it with black olives, tomatoes, eggs, trail mix, dried fruit, whatever. A good salad will put you damn close to 1,000 calories.

Get more protein in the morning. I can’t see there being nearly enough in some cereal with milk. Some of us wouldn’t classify that as a “clean” meal. So if you want to gain some weight and keep the fat on the down side, reevaluate how clean your diet really is. IE Cereal and milk for breakfast. You could replace that with a good blender meal of a few scoops of protein, and a bunch of blueberries and strawberries, plus a few oranges on the side.

I hope this helps man, I just think that if you want to keep your abs while adding some size that you need to reevaluate how clean your diet really is.

More protein, more fruit, more veggies, more fats.

.

44

[quote]RSGZ wrote:
What is it with the fascination of not gaining a little fat when trying to add muscle?

You could add 10lbs over a 4 month period, but on a “clean bulk” (read:not enough food) you’d probably barely get over your caloric maintenance, which means you are basically slowing down your potential progress a hell of a lot.

Also I’m not sure if Primo/Winny/Anavar are good muscle adding compounds, but if you would seriously put yourself and a restricted bulk while taking AAS then you need to re-assess you logic.

What is your definition of “looking like shit”? I mean, do you lose your abs and think, “oh my god I’ve gained too much fat!!!1!!”?[/quote]

It’s a good thing then that I have never had visible abs.

45

I feel that for most people with normal metabolisms, the current thinking behind bulking is nothing more then an excuse to binge, gorge and get unhealthy. If you bulk and can’t see your abs it’s because you are fat, plain and simple. Abs are the barometer of looking fit. Now im not saying your abs have to stay ripped year round. You can let them become blurry over the course of bulking. No big deal. But don’t let them become lost completely. Old school BB’s always had visible abs, as any real athlete should.

And even for strength athletes, Mariusz Pudzinowski is arguably one of the strongest men alive and his ripped physique and sheer cardio capacity give him the edge all the time, even against slightly stronger competitiors.

So what im saying is, unless youre blessed with a physique that naturally wants to revert to being ripped at the first drop in calories, stay reasonably lean with at least a 4 pack of visible abs.

46

[quote]
When you train, increase your strength as much as possible and by all means squat and perform dead lifts. Do a variety of rep ranges and compound movements. Always stimulate your muscles but don’t annihilate them. Keep CNS fatigue at bay.

Good Luck. [/quote]

Thanks! I’m keeping this.

47

[quote]DouglasJ16 wrote:
Again, in a nutshell-Bust your ass in the gym hitting all your muscles hard. Sprint. Allow for adequate recover. This also means sleep enough and eat a lot of healthy food. Use common sense when choosing what to eat.
Good luck.[/quote]

Thank you. I’m keeping this as well.

48

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
It is NOT possible, in my view. Of course you can add ten more lbs of muscle at your stage of development. I’d like to see you do it!

However, a winter is 3 months. You can only gain 1/4 to 1/2 of DRY muscle per week and that is if you are doing everything perfectly or near perfectly, which is hard to do considering we have other things in our lives, don’t have a six figure contract, and don’t have shit to do besides, eat, shit, train, and sleep. [/quote]

Which I don’t, so we’re not talking 100 percent possible effort.

I guess some bodyfat is OK. Like, if I gained 10 pounds of muscle and 5 pounds of fat.

Yeah, I guess it does sound far fetched.

So I will sprint. 2-3 sessions a week for a half an hour to start with.

Which is why I’m giving the compound movements first dibs in my workout.

I’d like to do everything twice a week. The calves by themselves, before sprinting sessions.

If after 3 months of this new program I don’t make any gains, I’m hitting it.

No. I’ll have to say that this seems very heavy in volume. Thanks for all the tips!

49

[quote]Chip Duglass wrote:
John Q. Adequate wrote:

I eat the same every day, except that I add more carbs when I start to feel sluggish and weak (once a week to be sure).

Meal one is muesli and milk, maybe 150 grams plus 200 ml of skim milk.

Meal 2 is an hour and a half later, 4 raw eggs, drank.

Meal 3 is a can of tuna (170 grams nett) in water plus 40 grams of almonds or 100 grams of pasta.

Meal 4 is either 300 grams of beef, or 200 grams of chicken, plus some sort of vegetable, be it white rice, or cooked potato, or a mix of chopped carrot, paprika, peas. Those vegetables amount to maybe 200 grams total.

Meal 5 is post workout, 2 fruit yoghurts (400 grams) plus 2 bananas.

Meal six, if I have the discipline, is either 80 grams of sardines plus 50 grams of cottage cheese, or 50 grams of ham and cheese, or similar. If I’m starving, I just might eat some pizza or ice cream.

This sort of cheating typically happens once or twice a week. I don’t (can’t) go to bed and not eat. Sleeping won’t happen.

I don’t calculate my calorie nor protein intake. I go by memory and feel.

I’m not calculating this but I don’t think you’re getting enough protein. Especially post work out. Get some Surge, or throw in a scoop of whey with your yogurt and bananas.

Also for a healthy meal with lots of calories, start downing salads. I recommend this because I also don’t see much fat in your diet, which as we all know is 9 calories a gram.

Make a big ass salad. Throw a big slab of meat over the greens. Dowse it in olive oil and some walnuts for a big calorie (and healthy fat) boost. Top it with black olives, tomatoes, eggs, trail mix, dried fruit, whatever. A good salad will put you damn close to 1,000 calories.

Get more protein in the morning. I can’t see there being nearly enough in some cereal with milk. Some of us wouldn’t classify that as a “clean” meal. So if you want to gain some weight and keep the fat on the down side, reevaluate how clean your diet really is.

IE Cereal and milk for breakfast. You could replace that with a good blender meal of a few scoops of protein, and a bunch of blueberries and strawberries, plus a few oranges on the side.

I hope this helps man, I just think that if you want to keep your abs while adding some size that you need to reevaluate how clean your diet really is.

More protein, more fruit, more veggies, more fats.

.[/quote]

I’m keeping all of this!

50

Is this thread even realistic anymore?

I’ve seen reference to “gaining 10 lbs of muscle” at least 20 times in 2 pages.

I’m damn near 39 years of age, and I’ve already gained 8 lbs of muscle over the last 4 weeks on Stephan Korte’s 3x3 Program. I’ve got 4 weeks to go and can reasonably assume I will gain AT LEAST 4 more pounds.

I saw your RMP thread. Your legs are like toothpicks. Stop training your beach muscles all the time and stick to Squats, Deads, Bench Press, and Military Press.

Eat, rest, repeat.

51

[quote]Polish Rifle wrote:
Is this thread even realistic anymore?

I’ve seen reference to “gaining 10 lbs of muscle” at least 20 times in 2 pages.

I’m damn near 39 years of age, and I’ve already gained 8 lbs of muscle over the last 4 weeks on Stephan Korte’s 3x3 Program. I’ve got 4 weeks to go and can reasonably assume I will gain AT LEAST 4 more pounds.

I saw your RMP thread. Your legs are like toothpicks. Stop training your beach muscles all the time and stick to Squats, Deads, Bench Press, and Military Press.

Eat, rest, repeat.[/quote]

Shit man… My legs aren’t like toothpicks, they’re more like stilts or stork’s legs. :wink:

Why don’t you share this 3x3 program and your expiriences?

52

Okay - Stilts it is!

I’ve trained a traditional 4-day split for the past 7 years. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed an interest in Powerlifting and strength in general. This program has been my introduction.

Check out this link and head to the upper right-hand side of the page under “Stephan Korte.” This is a Powerlifting Routine but I GUARANTEE it will add slabs of muscles to your legs and back.

If you try it, you will feel like shit for the 1st 2 weeks. Your joints will be sore, you’ll be ready for bed around 8:30 every night, and your appetite will increase accordingly. No other program has ever pushed my system as hard as this one.

http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/index.htm

53

I used to have hawt abz, then I got strong.

Just my .02, but it seems to me you can either look okay long term, or sacrifice immediate gratification to look much better long term.

Like X said, if you want to be bigger and strong, eat and lift that way.

You said that on your last bulk you ate everything in sight, that could have been your problem. I’ve know a lot of people that use bulking as an excuse to eat crap, ice cream, fast food, and oreos. I find that most failed bulks occur when people cross over into the excuse realm when eating.

54

To begin with, I not sure what you mean when by ‘‘10 lbs of muscle’’.
It’s rather easy to put on 10 lbs of body weight.
It’s possible to put on ten pounds of body weight just in subcutaneous and sarcoplasmic water volume in hours depending on what your previous conditions are.

I think the question you’re trying to ask(there really should be a sticky about this) is:
is it possible for me, in 4 months, to put on 10 lbs of new non-adipose bodyweight after(or having currently) sustained temporary maximums of sarcoplasmic and/or subcutaneous hydration?

With adequate training, rest, and sufficient nutrition including a large caloric excess, it is certainly achievable in 18 weeks time.

The question of whether it’s possible to consequently gain only a few lbs of adiposity, and exactly how few, is going to be dependant on your individual insulin sensitivities(adipose and skeletal muscle) and other limiting systemic(hormonal) characteristics.
Obviously, outside of protracted laboratory testing, the only way you’ll be able to evaluate your own hormone profile as it affects bulking, is through…well, bulking.

Good luck.

55

[quote]Polish Rifle wrote:
Okay - Stilts it is!

I’ve trained a traditional 4-day split for the past 7 years. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed an interest in Powerlifting and strength in general. This program has been my introduction.

Check out this link and head to the upper right-hand side of the page under “Stephan Korte.” This is a Powerlifting Routine but I GUARANTEE it will add slabs of muscles to your legs and back.

If you try it, you will feel like shit for the 1st 2 weeks. Your joints will be sore, you’ll be ready for bed around 8:30 every night, and your appetite will increase accordingly. No other program has ever pushed my system as hard as this one.

http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/index.htm

[/quote]

Shit… I am SO doing that! Add in 2-3 rest days where I sprint and work on my calves, and that’s the program. Simple! Genius!

56

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
I used to have hawt abz, then I got strong.

Just my .02, but it seems to me you can either look okay long term, or sacrifice immediate gratification to look much better long term.

Like X said, if you want to be bigger and strong, eat and lift that way.

You said that on your last bulk you ate everything in sight, that could have been your problem. I’ve know a lot of people that use bulking as an excuse to eat crap, ice cream, fast food, and oreos. I find that most failed bulks occur when people cross over into the excuse realm when eating.[/quote]

Well, I might have been guilty of doing that in the past. I was like “shit man, it’s all calories”. So more clean food this time around. It takes all the fun out of bulking.

57

No way… Just pour on tons more meat~ what do you mean takes the fun out!! I see nothing wrong with having 24-36 eggs a day. I just need ketchup and eggs ~ I love these food fantasies.

58

[quote]John Q. Adequate wrote:

http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/index.htm

Shit… I am SO doing that! Add in 2-3 rest days where I sprint and work on my calves, and that’s the program. Simple! Genius!

[/quote]

Just make sure you follow it to the letter. It can get boring and you will probably feel like you want to do ancillary movements.

That won’t be necessary…

59

Yeah, that worries me, too. That after 2-3 months my biceps will dissapear or something. After all, they won’t get any stimulation with this workout. But what the hell.

60

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
I used to have hawt abz, then I got strong.

[/quote]

If I had a wall of quotes this would go on it