T Nation

Bulking, injury, and caloric intake

Bodybuilding
#1

Hey all you T-people!

Am needing some advice. Am getting ready to head back home for the summer, and will continue my ART therapy there (I am a college student, btw). Anyway, as someone that really cares about nutrition and physique (as I think we all do around here on the T-forums), I was needing some advice. After the long layoff due to my injury, i have lost some mass, and am interested in gaining some of it back. I’m not interested in an all out bulk per se, but perhaps a slow bulk of perhaps .3 to .5 lbs per week. To give an idea, i’m 5’10", about 150 lbs. I’m about 11-12% bf currently. Anyway, here is my dillema. My doc told me i should focus on high rep/low weight for the summer to make sure i’m healed properly. So, herein lies the dillema. With limitations to my set/rep scheme, would it still be advisable to go on a really slow bulk to add some mass (I am still working the muscle to failure or near failure on the high rep scheme). Also, could you help me figure approximately how many cals I should be getting if I decided to slow bulk. Right now, about 1800-1900 maintains my weight given my activity level, which will increase slightly since school is out and i’ll be on my feet more.

Any advice from any PT or licensed Dr’s or practitioners would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all of your help. Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. God Bless!

#2

Ransomed, if I remember correctly, you tore your pec? Does that mean you can squat or DL? Can you do bent-over rows? How about a military press?

If you can do back and legs, you can still get a heckuva workout under the belt.

My recomendation is that you eat for HEALTH and for BODY COMP – BOTH!

That means get in quality protein from different sources. Eat primarily colored, green veggie carbs, avoiding starchy carb (oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice) except for PWO.

Eat at maintenance calories. When you stop gaining any weight, increase calories per day by 250 calories and hold it there until a week goes by where you, once again, don’t gain any weight.

That’s the slow, controlled approach to bulking.

I’d like to see you get in a few servings of fruit per day.

Supplementally, I’d recommend the Wobenzyme if you’re not taking it already. Add a little extra bromelain, which is anti-inflammatory and helps with protein turnover. MSM is good also, and it’s pretty cheap.

I hope that’s what you’re looking for. If you have any other questions or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to ask.

#3

Well, i can’t really do full out squats, because it puts too much pull pressure on the injured area. However, i still try to do 1 leg leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, hip/thigh extensions, and such. Also, what kind of volume/set scheme should i be looking at? Specifically, how many chest sets should I be trying to perform, and how high on the rep range should I go?

#4

bump