Kind of New to This, Is OVT for Me?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

First post, frequent viewer.

I could really use some advice. Just a bit of background - I’m 22 years old. I started training at the age of 16 and continued for about 2 years before. Since this is the internet, I’ll be blunt; I fell in to the wrong crowd and struggled with addiction for several years. About a year ago, I was hospitalized and expected to die.

After some time of recovery and sobriety, I rededicated myself to training. My goal right now is one day compete, though I don’t know if I want to be a bodybuilder or a powerlifter/strongman at this point. I do know that I want to put on some muscle.

Right now, I’m 5’9" 174 pounds. I don’t know my BF% - I had a decent amount of muscle, but I’m somewhat “fleshy” (not fat).

I’ve been lifting for 6 months now. During the first 4-5 months of my training I was doing a full body routine. Up to that point, I was relying on bodybuilding.com as my source for information. After this site was recommended to me by another member of my gym, I began to look for as much information as possible.

While reading the thread “Are you a Begginer II” I came across the OVT program. I was inspired by Chris’s transformation, and decided to give this a try.

It was tough for me to get the idea of, “more often, more muscle” out of my head, though I humbled myself and admitted that I don’t know more about this than the pros.

I’m about to go in to my 5th week of OVT. I have seen some gains since starting the program (bench went from 135 to 145 for 5, bb curl went from 80 to 90 pounds, and I’ve gained a small amount of muscle). While looking for more on OVT on this site, I noticed a post from Chris about how he would have done things differently if he knew then what he knows now.

I’m not at all saying that the program is not good. Like I said, I’ve made gains, though I don’t have anything to gauge this against aside from the full body routine I was doing earlier. I’ve heard from others many times that you should stick to a program and see it through. That being said, I’m wondering if OVT is the program for me? Am I at a point in my training career that I should even be doing this type of routine? Should I be doing a split, or a full body?

My diet is another area where I could really use some advice. I’ve tried to get as much information on this as possible, though I find that there are so many different approaches to this that it’s hard to know what’s best. Maybe I should provide an example (keep in mind, I’m not worried about gaining fat at this time, I’m looking to cut when I’ve got some more muscle on me).

This is what I ate yesterday (and really, what I eat most often. Things don’t vary that much):

  • 10am (Breakfast)
    • Omelette (3 eggs, cheese, salsa)
    • Grapes
    • 1 tbsp Peanut Butter
    • 3 Creatine Pills (half the daily dose recommended on the bottle)

On the way to the gym, 6 NaNo Vapor pills.

  • 1pm (Post-Workout)

    • 1 can Tuna w/ Diced Celery
    • 1 Bottle Water w/ 1 Scoop Whey Isolate
    • Peanuts
    • Carrots
    • 3 Creatine Pills (the rest of the dose)

  • 3pm (At work)

    • 1 Cranberry-Orange Muffin
    • 1 PB&J Sandwhich

  • 6pm (At work)

    • Chili (a bowl)
    • Carrots

  • 8pm

    • Cold Cuts (basically, a bag of ham/corn beef)

  • 11-12pm
    This one really varies most, though generally the meal with the most quantity.

    • Fried-Fish
    • 1/2 Red Onion

I know that this diet probably sounds fairly poor, but I don’t have a lot of money, and I have little time to prepare much else. Any suggestions would be great, though.

I really appreciate any advice you have for me. Hopefully, I’m not too late in life to get in to this professionally.

Thank you in advance.

2

No advice (just a beginner) but good to hear that you have kicked the addiction.

Very good to hear that you are on a programme and thinking about your diet.

Stick around–the big guys will be along in a mo.

3

Sorry to disapoint you, I am not one of the expected big guys that where supposed to come along and help you out. I just want to welcome you and say in the same spirit as big nurse that you should have kudos for beating the addiction and good for you that you have started to train again. Good luck btw :slight_smile:

And again the ball is in the big boys court.

4

lol for anyone looking for my “big boy” credentials, I’ll be happy to link you to the post =p but anyway…

supersets? 60 second rest periods? A1, A2, B1, B2 workouts?

seems too complicated, and needlessly so. it reminds me of DC training with how it’s set up. but hey, if you’re making gains on it then you must be doing something right. and the most important thing is that you are getting stronger and gaining weight (btw, you didn’t mention how much weight you’ve gained). aim for at least 10 lb increases per month in your working weights and at least 1-2 lb weight gain a month. if you aren’t seeing that, increase your food intake accordingly. if you are truly eating more than you did before and still aren’t seeing gains, then come back with the particulars and we can all break it down together.

I’ve never used a full body workout outside of a cutting phase, but I believe Synergy has, and if you’ve never heard of him, his thread is near the top of the BB forum. he’s huge. my takeaway from reading his thread is that although full-body workouts are relatively lower volume per body part, they allow you to hit body parts more frequently. (someone correct me if i’m wrong, please)

pick a simple/starchy carb to eat postworkout. I like white rice, maybe you prefer potatoes, white bread, or pasta. ditch the peanuts postworkout, though you can eat them or other nuts (i prefer dry roasted almonds) outside of the immediate postworkout window. i firmly believe that the immediate postworkout period should be fat- and fiber-free as much as possible to speed digestion and to cause an insulin spike. yes, i drink the “insulin is an amazing vector for protein and other nutrients” kool-aid. if it wasn’t, pros wouldn’t be using it as part of their arsenal. read in Waylander’s thread in T-Cell Alpha for a bit more of the particulars.

eat more of the cold cuts at work. the general recommendation is to consume 1-1.5 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight, so aim for that spread throughout the day.

edited for more detail