Throughout this year I have been steadily gaining, climbing from about 175 to my current 200. This is the most I have ever weighed, so it is new territory for my body.
I have stalled at 200lbs for the past two weeks. Now I’ve definitely stayed at a weight for a few weeks before, only to jump again the following week; however, what concerns me this time is for the first time my appetite is dropping. Whenever I force feed the extra calories in, it just seems to translate into more time on the john.
At this point, I’m wondering if it might not be such a bad thing to hang out at 200 for a little bit (especially since I have added 25 lbs already in 8 months), and try to establish a new “set point.” After all, in my last two weeks of training I have PRed essentially every session on most every lift, so progress in the strength department is steady.
So the feed back I’m looking for is where to go from here. Should I hold this weight until strength gains slow down, then attack gaining again with a jump in calories, or should I push the weight up right now? What should I do about this drop in appetite? My best thought is to take in some more liquid calories by adding a few protein shakes. My diet is primarily whole foods atm.
For the most part my plan is to get up to something like 230 over the next 12 months and then hold that weight for a year before I even think about cutting down again. Fitness modeling is actually in the back of my head for a few years down the road, and, yes, I know I need to put on ALOT of mass.
Your staling could be partially psychological and partially physical. The physchological part being that you’ve attached so much emphasis to “200” which isn’t your fault (most ppl like round numbers). The physical part being you’d have to increase your food intake to gain more weight.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Your staling could be partially psychological and partially physical. The physchological part being that you’ve attached so much emphasis to “200” which isn’t your fault (most ppl like round numbers). The physical part being you’d have to increase your food intake to gain more weight.[/quote]
Yes, I see the psychological aspect. I am hung up on the nice roundness of 200. Perhaps I’ll start weighing myself in kg, so it’s just another number.
As far as the drop in appetite, do you think that could have psychological roots as well? Do you think adding liquid calories is a good choice?
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
You’re also reaching a point where you have to put more thought into what you’re doing training wise. You can’t just touch a weight and gain anymore.[/quote]
QFT. The good news, though, is that I’m having more fun training now than I ever have before. I feel like that in and of itself will enable me to eventually find the right path for my goals.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
You’re also reaching a point where you have to put more thought into what you’re doing training wise. You can’t just touch a weight and gain anymore.[/quote]
QFT. The good news, though, is that I’m having more fun training now than I ever have before. I feel like that in and of itself will enable me to eventually find the right path for my goals. [/quote]
Indeed. It’s all about passion and being willing to learn.
Eh, id have to say if you wanted some quality feedback about this, it’d be best to put up a 175 and a 200lb pic. Force feeding can be just as negative as it could positive in different scenarios.
Add the protein shakes a.s.a.p
Add a shot of either extra virgin olive or coconut oil?
Are you drinking a galon of water a day?
Any creatine or water retaining supplements in your diet?
Don’t worry about gaining weight right now, work on perfecting your 200 pounds, let ur body adapt to the new weight load.
Then the next thing you know you will be sitting at 210-215.
Edit: what kind of program you running? Same for the last 8 months? Maybe its time to add some volume or something different.
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Eh, id have to say if you wanted some quality feedback about this, it’d be best to put up a 175 and a 200lb pic. Force feeding can be just as negative as it could positive in different scenarios.[/quote]
Akuma looking like a beast in your avi
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Your staling could be partially psychological and partially physical. The physchological part being that you’ve attached so much emphasis to “200” which isn’t your fault (most ppl like round numbers). The physical part being you’d have to increase your food intake to gain more weight.[/quote]
As far as the drop in appetite, do you think that could have psychological roots as well? Do you think adding liquid calories is a good choice?[/quote]
Are you less active now overall? Getting good sleep?
I’m not going to really have anything to add here… I am curious though how tall you are I checked your hub its not listed.
X2 on pics and not just because I’m kind of a perv
Also hella x2 on the protein shakes. Obvi I’m not now nore have I ever fought to add size like you guys do BUT the puppies I know at the gym this is the first thing I check with them… getting in the protein and yes shakes most logical way. Esp. Whey protein which is fast digested within 30 min PWO.
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Eh, id have to say if you wanted some quality feedback about this, it’d be best to put up a 175 and a 200lb pic. Force feeding can be just as negative as it could positive in different scenarios.[/quote]
Akuma looking like a beast in your avi[/quote]
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Eh, id have to say if you wanted some quality feedback about this, it’d be best to put up a 175 and a 200lb pic. Force feeding can be just as negative as it could positive in different scenarios.[/quote]
My avi is actually the most recent pic I have at 200. I do not have any from the start of the year. I had knee surgery over christmas and was not happy with my physique at the time. Though there are some pics in my hub from last summer when I got down to 170. There’s also a very recent back shot at 200.
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Eh, id have to say if you wanted some quality feedback about this, it’d be best to put up a 175 and a 200lb pic. Force feeding can be just as negative as it could positive in different scenarios.[/quote]
My avi is actually the most recent pic I have at 200. I do not have any from the start of the year. I had knee surgery over christmas and was not happy with my physique at the time. Though there are some pics in my hub from last summer when I got down to 170. There’s also a very recent back shot at 200. [/quote]
Viewed your hub pics. it seems to me the answer is Diet, diet and Intensity. You’re going to need to eat more. Forcefeeding is a term i hear many toss around, but when their diet is actually analyzed, its barely 2x my breakfast.
Intensity- You have to put that need for growth on your body, otherwise it wont. if it doesnt see a need to build/maintain calorically inefficient muscle, then it wont. You have to have more in terms of nutrition than you actually need, and you have to put that ridiculous stress on muscle fibers.
[quote]Mike T. wrote:
Add the protein shakes a.s.a.p
Add a shot of either extra virgin olive or coconut oil?[/quote]
That’s what I was thinking. I do try to get one in atm, but I will surely up this to 2. I will typically make them with a bit of coconut milk in them.
[quote]
Are you drinking a galon of water a day?
Any creatine or water retaining supplements in your diet?[/quote]
Oh yea, if I don’t I wake up with headaches actually. I need alot more water. I am very sensitive to low hydration so it’s really easy to tell when I haven’t kept up. I have 5g of creatine/day.
I am running 5/3/1 split up over 6 days actually. So:
Push (5/3/1 OHP)
Legs (5/3/1 Box Squat)
Pull
Push (5/3/1 Bench)
Leg (5/3/1 Deadlift)
Pull
I have only been running this for about 6 weeks, gaining about 4 lbs in the first 4 with all lifts climbing steadily. As far as volume, push days are 19-21 total sets, leg days 11, pull days 17. Before this I spent the first part of the year doing a 4 day upper/lower split. This is the most volume I have done.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
I think the step for you would be simply to define a goal for yourself, so that none of your training is just going through the motions.[/quote]
I definitely have long term strength and weight goals highlighted in my training log. I am going to continue gaining until I hit the following:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Your staling could be partially psychological and partially physical. The physchological part being that you’ve attached so much emphasis to “200” which isn’t your fault (most ppl like round numbers). The physical part being you’d have to increase your food intake to gain more weight.[/quote]
As far as the drop in appetite, do you think that could have psychological roots as well? Do you think adding liquid calories is a good choice?[/quote]
Are you less active now overall? Getting good sleep?[/quote]
Well, training wise I have bumped up both frequency and volume, so outside of the gym, I am pretty beat and doing much less overall.
I just invested in a $600 mattress, so sleep has never been better! This past week I have been getting 8-9 hours of deep sleep.
Just had a thought, 6 weeks ago I simultaneously increased both frequency and volume of my training. Probably did not thoroughly account for how many more calories I need, considering that’s an extra 2 periworkout windows/week.
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Eh, id have to say if you wanted some quality feedback about this, it’d be best to put up a 175 and a 200lb pic. Force feeding can be just as negative as it could positive in different scenarios.[/quote]
My avi is actually the most recent pic I have at 200. I do not have any from the start of the year. I had knee surgery over christmas and was not happy with my physique at the time. Though there are some pics in my hub from last summer when I got down to 170. There’s also a very recent back shot at 200. [/quote]
Viewed your hub pics. it seems to me the answer is Diet, diet and Intensity. You’re going to need to eat more. Forcefeeding is a term i hear many toss around, but when their diet is actually analyzed, its barely 2x my breakfast.
Intensity- You have to put that need for growth on your body, otherwise it wont. if it doesnt see a need to build/maintain calorically inefficient muscle, then it wont. You have to have more in terms of nutrition than you actually need, and you have to put that ridiculous stress on muscle fibers.
[/quote]
Thanks for the insight. I’ve taken it all to heart.
I only used the term forcefeeding, because that is what it feels like with a decrease in appetite. I will add a protein shake a day for starters and see if that gets me a bump in the right direction. Those typically run 400-700 cals for me.
So basically train in such a way that my body NEEDS to be up at 205-210 right now, just to survive?