Hey gainit,
You may remember me from my previous thread I posted a little over a year ago.
Well I'm back with an update and some tips for you guys that I wish I would've known about before I started this bulk/cut (I will explain later). The first part of this post will be just going over my first bulk which will not include a meal plan, a workout routine, or any lifting numbers (I'll post those for my current bulk in the second part of the thread).
I'm sure there have been similar threads posted before and you're probably wondering why it took me a year to gain around 2lbs, but I actually went through a total body transformation (in my opinion, anyway) as you can see here
Information:
Male/23/6'1''
After my previous thread, I just kind of slumped off on my gaining and just sort of idled at around ~178lbs and ate whatever I wanted to, so I gained a bit of fat. I realized that I wasn't where I wanted to be with my body and decided to do something about it. I started just eating everything. At this point I was dead set on getting as big as possible without worrying about calories or macros (terrible idea, don't ever do that).
From November 2013 to March 1 2014, I gained almost 30lbs, bring me to a whopping 207lbs.
Here's a front pic of me at 200lb+, wasn't too sure of my exact weight.
I thought I was massive (in the good way, I didn't once think I was getting too fat). I felt great. I wasn't following a meal plan, I wasn't following a workout routine. I wasn't training for strength (I should have been, but I didn't know any better at the time).
Then the realization hit my that I gained way too much weight. I had almost a 40" waist. I couldn't really see my dick when I looked down. I remember doing seated cable rows and my gut just falling into my lap. The realization that I needed to stop cultivating mass and start harvesting came to me whenever I was just stuffing my fat face with a bag of reese's cups.
I weighed myself a final time and I clocked in at 207lbs.
Starting March 1st, 2014, I decided to cut with Dave Palumbo's Keto diet.
This is when I started actually watching what I was eating, but I wasn't 100% on point with the diet. I wasn't weighing the food (I didn't have a food scale) and I was just following the recommended food for the different weight groups. I still wasn't counting any calories.
With this diet, I dropped around 17lbs within the first month (a mixture of water weight, not enough calories + cardio). The reason I was doing cardio initially is because I dislocated my shoulder on the hack squat machine, so I wasn't able to lift. I didn't want to stay out of the gym so I did LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) cardio on the stationary bike for 30 minutes every morning. I honestly felt like I lost some muscle mass during this period due to not tracking macros and calories possible, but that's probably me being paranoid because I ended up EXTREMELY small once my cut was over.
I mainly focused on staying in a calorie deficit and not relying on cardio during my cut, so I rarely did any cardio. Here are a few progress photos of my 3 month cut (I apologize for the smaller pictures. I will update once I find the originals):
March 21st - 184.8lbs:
April 20th - 171.6lbs:
May 24th (around the end of my cut) - ~163lbs:
I maintained this weight for the summer with a mixture of carb cycling and intermittent fasting. I'll answer any questions you have about the first part of this thread if you have any, but right now I'll be going into my current bulk (including my diet, routines, and lifting numbers).
So here is my base that I started at August @ ~160lbs:
I started my bulk with the idea of lean gaining, where I would only gain 1/2 a pound a week. I would have high fat/low carbs days on my rest days, and then high carbs/low fat on my workout days. I calculated my macros with the handy website 1percentedge.
Here are my rest/workout day meal plans:
With the above diet, I decided to seriously start strength training for the first time in my lifting career. My routine included two workouts that I would rotate back in forth.
"A" workout:
Squat: 3 sets x 5 reps
Bench: 3 x 5
Chin Ups: 20 reps
Bent Over Barbell Rows: 3 x 5
Barbell Curl: 3 x 8
Rear Delt Fly: 3 x 8
"B" workout:
Front squat 3 x 5
Military Press 3 x 5
Deadlifts 1 x 5
Dips: 20 reps
Close Grip Bench Press: 3 x 8
My weekly gym days went as followed:
Sunday: Rest Day
Monday: A workout
Tuesday: B workout
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: A workout
Friday: B workout
Saturday: Rest Day
Here are the supplements I was on
Beast Creature Creatine Monohydrate - 5g every day
GNC Multivitamin Pack - Something I've had lying around the house, I won't go out and buy them again after I run out.
Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey Protein Extreme Milk Chocolate - 2 scoops a day
C4/White Flood - Pre workouts
Hemavol/White Pump/Nitrix 2.0 - N.O. boosters (I'm all about vascularity)
My beginning body measurements from the beginning of my bulk until today:
| Body Part | August 4th, 2014 | Feb 26th, 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Body Weight | 160.8lb | 180.8lb |
| Neck | 15.25" | 16" |
| Shoulders | 48" | 50.5" |
| Chest | 41" | 44.25" |
| Bicep (cold) | 13.25" | 14.25" |
| Bicep Flexed | 14.5" | 15.5" |
| Waist | 29.5" | 31.5" |
| Navel | 30.5" | 32.5" |
| Hips | 32.5" | 33 |
| Butt | 35.25" | 38" |
| Quad | 20.8" | 24" |
| Calf | 14" | 14.5" |
As you can see, I gained 20lbs since August (6 months total). You'll also notice that the weight gain is a bit more than .5lbs a week. The reason behind this is that I wasn't seeing the results I wanted, so I upped my calories (in November) to where I would gain 1lb a week. I did this using the If It Fits Your Macros calculator. From here, I found my calories needed for a 1lb gain a week (~3000-3100 calories), as well as my macros. I set the protein to 1.5g per lb of body weight, that way if I didn't quite reach my protein for a certain day, I know that I've taken in more than enough the previous days.
At this point I started following Layne Norton's PHAT routine again I started weighing myself once a week (Monday mornings when I wake up and after I use the bathroom). and doing body measurements every month (at the same time that I would weigh myself).
My diet usually includes:
(pre workout meal) 1 cup oatmeal, 50g protein granola. 1 scoop protein shake
(post workout meal)1 cup greek yogurt with 2 scoops protein powder
(lunch) 6oz of chicken (weighed before cooking), 1 cup brown rice with 1 cup steamed broccoli.
(dinner) 6oz of chicken (weighed before cooking), 1 cup brown rice with 1 cup steamed broccoli
(dinner 2) 4 omega 3 eggs, 28g shredded cheddar cheese, 2 slices whole wheat bread with 32g peanut butter
(shake before bed) 165g Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex Gainer - Double Chocolate with 2 cups of whole milk
I always mix it up some, like if I want a burger for lunch, I'll measure out the weight and put it into myfitnesspal. If I do decide to mix it up, I usually calculate the rest of my meals for the day at that time, trying to come as close as possible to my macros to make sure I don't overeat. I'm currently taking in 3090 calories a day, ~350g carbs, ~250g protein, and ~70g fat.
Here are a few of my progress photos over the last few months (I seemed to have misplaced my papers that had my measurements on them, I will update once I find them):
Here are my strength gains:
| Lift | August | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Bench | 200lb | 245lb |
| Squat | 300lb | 335lb |
| Deadlift | 375lb | 430lb |
| Front Squat | 175lb | 215lb |
| Military Press | 125lb | 150lb |
My bench + squat + deadlift put me over 1000lbs and I'm incredibly happy about that, since that has been a goal of mine ever since I started lifting 3 years ago. My bench has always been my weakest lift and you can tell my how underdeveloped my chest it to the rest of my body, but I'm happy to be making progress.
Here I am currently, at 180.8lbs (measured on Monday).
Here is a picture of my back (apologies for the blurriness)
Here is a .gif of my quads (one of my main focuses while I continue my gaining)
and I've noticed a huge increase in my vascularity as well
Since I am pretty happy where my strength is at, I have decided to switch to a 5 day mass gaining workout. I made the switch a little under two weeks ago, so I can't comment on how effective the routine is, but I am definitely enjoying it. I will be mainly focusing on my chest and leg development, since I feel they are still underdeveloped. I will also be working on my arm width, since I feel they are too narrow from the front view, but a good size from my side profile.
To help focus on my quad/glute/hamstring and calf development, I will be squatting barefoot (in socks), with both of heels resting on 10lb plates to make sure I go deep enough with my squats, and deadlifting in socks as well. I will be focusing on my bicep width by doing wide grip barbell curls, hammer curls, and chin ups.
Now, here are a few tips that I wish I knew about whenever I first began lifting.
Invest in a good electronic food scale. This is the one I use
Invest in a George Foreman Grill The one I own
Invest in a rice steamer. Mine
Get yourself a big set of tupperware. Bulk cook all of your food on one day. I usually do my cooking on Sundays. I weigh out my chicken (raw, not cooked), and throw them on the grill with a little seasoning (I like to use Lemon Pepper or Kickin' Chicken seasonings that you can find at walmart). Steam your rice (brown rice usually takes longer than white rice) and then towards the end of your rice being cooked, throw in a bad of steamed broccoli in your microwave. You can portion out your chicken, rice, and broccoli into separate tupperware containers and throw them in the refrigerator. Whenever it's time to eat, pour a little water into your container and then microwave it! IF you feel like the chicken is too dry towards the end of the week, you can also portion out your chicken into individual ziploc bags (add your seasonings as well) and freeze them. Always leave one in the fridge, so if you take one out for the day, replace it so it's thawed for the next day!
Drink around a gallon or more a day. I notice that the more hydrated I am, the better I feel and the more energy I have. During the summer time, I usually up my water intake to 2 gallons a day. I go to walmart and buy the $1 gallons of water and carry that around with me. I throw in two scoops of BCAA's into my water and that pretty much guarantees that I'll drink over a gallon, since it tastes so good.
Here's a MAJOR tip that I wish I would've known about:
- Actually count your calories while you're gaining. Don't just eat whatever, see that the scale is increasing in numbers, and assume you're good. Find your recommended calories and macros (in the iifym calculator I posted above) and use a food tracker such as myfitnesspal to make sure you're hitting your macros and staying around your calories. This'll prevent you from gaining waaaay too much fat and that will in turn make your cuts longer.
I plan on gaining another 5lbs by April, where I will probably cut again for summer. I say probably because as of right now, I am torn between cutting and continuing my gaining. I feel like I am lean enough now that a cut wouldn't be beneficial, but I'm not sure. Do you guys have any opinions?
I will go ahead and post a list of music that I listen to in the gym, since that seemed to have been a pretty big hit with my last thread.
- M|O|O|N - Hydrogen
- Modest Mouse - White Lies, Yellow Teeth
- Royal Blood - Ten Tonne Skeleton
- The Palmer Squares - Namesake
- Vinne Paz - Battle Hymn
- Gesaffelstein - Pursuit
- Chali 2na - Comin' Thru
- Run The Jewels - Blockbuster Night Part 1
- Rob Sonic - Not For Nothing
- Madchild - Monster
- Outkast - Bombs over Baghdad
- Timbaland - Carryout
- Kendrick Lamar - Backseat Freestyle
- Scattle - Serrated
- Aesop Rock - Dark Heart News
- ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Will You Smile Again for Me
- Das Racist - Power
- Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For
- Jurassic 5 - Turn it Out
- Big L - Put It On
I apologize for how long this post is. I also apologize if it's unorganized. I found myself typing and then remembering something, so I would just stick in in there. If you're confused, let me know so I can help clear up any misunderstandings.
If you've managed to make it this far, then congrats. I am sure that I'm missing a ton of information, so if you have any questions or have suggestions for what I should add to this post, please let me know. I want to answer any questions that will help you succeed, since that is what I wanted whenever I first started out.
Submitted February 27, 2015 at 09:00AM by spudole http://ift.tt/18sEDAp gainit
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