Dieting causes metabolism to gradually decline, in proportion to the restrictiveness of the diet and other factors including exercise. This we all know. But, how is it the other way around? Im talking about UPregulation of metabolism- if I would start eating 1000 cals over maintenance, I wouldnìt gain 2lbs/week forever, as I wouldnìt lose 2lbs/week if I would underconsume 1000 cals.
When does the body become “immune” to the ecxess calories when overfeeding in comparison to underfeeding? Personal experiences, ideas etc?
A recent example: I just finished a 2-week MAG 10 cycle during which I ate 4900 calories a day, which by my estimation was 1200-1300 over maintenance. In the first week I gained 13 pounds; in the second I gained 3. I’d say my metabolism adjusted pretty damn quickly.
I had the same experience as Zev. 10lbs the first week, 2lbs the second.
Seems like the both of you has similar metabolism=) Pretty interesting though.
No, you would gain 2lbs per week until those extra calories were what your body needed (because of the new weight) to maintain. So if you drop the cals again you will lose the new weight-muscle or fat. It would take a bit pf time to “upregulate the metabolism”-the fat gain would not be worth it from a dieters stand point. 2 steps back, .5 steps forward.
Don’t you have to keep increasing your calories when you’re weight increases if you want to gain more weight?
The hyper-calorie school of though was very poplar in the early 90’s. The chief propontents calimed that you could not over training if you ate enough food. Parrillo was his name. Tried it and got fat! He still has a website and writes a column for Muscle Mag. Some of his ideas were good and some not so good.
As for adjusting your “set-point” you must constantly monitor where you are at. Having the equipment to do so (caliber, scale, etc…) is a good start.
Best of Luck
zev - same experience here. 20lbs the first week of mag10 2lbs the week after that. i should have uped my calories for week two, but didn’t know any better. i will next time though. metabolism can upregulate pretty damn quick. kevo
I’m not being snotty here so don’t take me the wrong way. I may be wrong but two seperate issues are being talked about. up regulation of your metabolism(how many calories you burn per day at rest AT THE SAME WEIGHT) and people gaining substanial amounts of weight in a week and saying the reason they their gains slowed down the second week is exclusivly from up regulation of metabolism. You would have to consume enough galories the second week to stay at the same percentage of calories over your resting metabolism given the weight increase to even begin to make that argument. Granted you probably still would not gain antother 10 to 20 the second week but you were consuming far less calories over your maintence level than the first week. Maybe you could make the argument of increasing calories to accomodate your new weight plus a little extra to make up for up regulation of metabolism? thoughts??
20 lbs the first week of mag10? Although I have not used this compound myself, 20 lbs would have you consume about 8000-9000 cals over maintenance/day if the “laws” of metabolism was to be followed( 3500 cals for every lbs gained)… This clearly shows there is some question regarding the nature of weight gain, how many cals you need to form new mass, be it fat, muscle or both. I have personally found it being possible to gain LBM when eating( what is considered) under maintenance cals AND doing cardio…without any anabolic enhancement.
yep, 20lbs in one week. i went from 179 to 199 in 7days. i wouldn’t have believed it either if i had not experienced it for myself. most of the weight gain was in my quads, hams and glutes (although the rest of my physique benefitted as well). i had not worked my legs for the previous two years, so they were ripe for growth. but either way i was getting “holy shit dude! what are you on?” comments from everybody. a buddy of mine who works at the gym started a roid cycle about that same time and i damn near gained more lasting lbm than he did. go figure. kevo