For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

[TarHeelMan]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I'm the same way... I have no problem whatsoever eating the same thing day after day. My wife thinks I'm crazy for that. Usually in the morning I'll have 2-3 scrambled eggs with some cheese and a half of a low-carb pita and sausage, for lunch I'll have tuna or chicken salad in a low-carb pita, and in the evening I'll have a ground beef, egg and cheese concoction. When I get home from the gym, usually around 11:30 or midnight, I'll have my strawberry protein shake (Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard Whey) mixed with Hood's Calorie Countdown chocolate milk. It's only on the weekends that I deviate and allow myself some junk. But its effects are negated by supplementing with Insulow.

[DC]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Damn Stewaat. You trynna look like Hulk Hogan or somethin man?

I am going for the Bruce Lee look

[eDotd]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I thought you were trying to get shoulders like Rondo

[gta95]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Here's a little reading:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/keto.htm

Honestly I'm a weird person who can eat the same thing over and over...here's my cutting diet right now:

Breakfast:
5 scrambled eggs, 1 slice cheese

Lunch:
1lb 80% lean ground beef browned and some of the fat is drained. I put in 1/2 bag of spinach leaves and throw on two slices of cheese. I season the ground beef as well.

Dinner:
1 salmon fillet
5 scrambled eggs, 1 slice cheese

Drinks:
WATER!
When I workout I drink Xtend (BCAAs)

Snacks:
Lindt 85% very dark chocolate with some Jiff peanut butter
~2 squares + 1 tbsp of PB = 190-200 cals *Probably have this twice a day (After lunch/dinner)
*TRULY helps with fiber intake because the lack of whole grains might limit a certain daily function. This has helped DRAMATICALLY and it keeps me from eating junk food. Perfect balance!

I might start adding one scoop of protein to my diet after I lift.

Works for me and I don't get tired of eggs or ground beef. Salmon is another story...

Sounds good to me. I ****ing love Salmon and beef!

[eDotd]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Wait, so you eat 10 eggs in one day stewaat? That seems like a lot.

[stewaat]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Damn Stewaat. You trynna look like Hulk Hogan or somethin man?

I am going for the Bruce Lee look

Bruce Lee look is nice. I just like the in shape 6-3 athlete look. Works for me. I'm about 210 lbs right now so I'm not "big" or anything nor do I want to be. I like to play sports and lifting is just to stay in shape.

Sounds good to me. I ****ing love Salmon and beef!

It works man. It really does. I think I need a cheat meal tonight though because today is Day #10 of this diet. I'm starting to need carbs though.

Wait, so you eat 10 eggs in one day stewaat? That seems like a lot.

It's not. Eggs are a perfect food IMHO. They have protein and fat for energy and keep you full. The whole cholesterol conspiracy is a joke.

[gta95]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Bruce Lee look is nice. I just like the in shape 6-3 athlete look. Works for me. I'm about 210 lbs right now so I'm not "big" or anything nor do I want to be. I like to play sports and lifting is just to stay in shape.



It works man. It really does. I think I need a cheat meal tonight though because today is Day #10 of this diet. I'm starting to need carbs though.



It's not. Eggs are a perfect food IMHO. They have protein and fat for energy and keep you full. The whole cholesterol conspiracy is a joke.

How different is your cutting diet to your bulking diet? My goal is to put on about 30-35 LBs between about December 6th and August 20th-ish. I'm going to be lifting 4-5 times a week and conditioning maybe once or twice at the most per week (mostly short sprints and plyometric work). Just trying to map out my diet and lift schedule for that time for maximum results

As for supplements I'm looking at:

Animal Pak
Xtend (or something with high BCAAs)
White Flood
Whey Protein Shakes

[eDotd]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

What are some good recovery drinks? As of now, I usually just drink water and try to have a have a high protein snack after any workout I do.

[larrygiterdone]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

How different is your cutting diet to your bulking diet? My goal is to put on about 30-35 LBs between about December 6th and August 20th-ish. I'm going to be lifting 4-5 times a week and conditioning maybe once or twice at the most per week (mostly short sprints and plyometric work). Just trying to map out my diet and lift schedule for that time for maximum results

As for supplements I'm looking at:

Animal Pak
Xtend (or something with high BCAAs)
White Flood
Whey Protein Shakes

Xtend will definitely help with bulking in a certain area

[stewaat]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

How different is your cutting diet to your bulking diet? My goal is to put on about 30-35 LBs between about December 6th and August 20th-ish. I'm going to be lifting 4-5 times a week and conditioning maybe once or twice at the most per week (mostly short sprints and plyometric work). Just trying to map out my diet and lift schedule for that time for maximum results

As for supplements I'm looking at:

Animal Pak
Xtend (or something with high BCAAs)
White Flood
Whey Protein Shakes

My bulking diet would be what I'm doing plus another meal that would be 700-1000 cals. The ground beef meal would work in my situation.

I'm assuming you have a hard time gaining weight if you want to put on such large amounts of muscle.

BTW have you ever had Casein protein? I love that stuff and it's 100x better than whey to me in terms of taste and filling you up. Downside = more expensive. BUT, if you have whey after workout and casein before bed you'd be straight.

What are some good recovery drinks? As of now, I usually just drink water and try to have a have a high protein snack after any workout I do.

One rule after working out: don't eat fat. After workouts is the best time to get some juice/simple carbs into your system. Don't overdo it though. Whey protein is usually what people want because it is absorbed quickly. It's not that expensive and if you threw it in your water and downed it quick you'd live. it wouldn't taste amazing or anything, but it would be a quick shot of protein.

Xtend will definitely help with bulking in a certain area

[stewaat]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I had some Ben & Jerry's tonight with some mini pizzas. I had to cheat a little for sanity.

Tomorrow I'm going to kill myself with squats though, so the carbs/junk will be used up! I'm proud of myself for only cheating for one meal, not an entire day. I added about 3,000 cals with the junk tonight which definitely won't kill me. I like to think of it as a metabolism booster!

[DC]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I thought you were trying to get shoulders like Rondo

Yea that too

[TarHeelMan]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I had some Ben & Jerry's tonight with some mini pizzas. I had to cheat a little for sanity.

Tomorrow I'm going to kill myself with squats though, so the carbs/junk will be used up! I'm proud of myself for only cheating for one meal, not an entire day. I added about 3,000 cals with the junk tonight which definitely won't kill me. I like to think of it as a metabolism booster!

You're doing the Anabolic Diet, right? Don't you cheat somewhat on the weekends? That's what keeps me sane on the diet. I don't binge, but I will allow myself junk. Plus I usually go to the gym on the weekend before it closes at 7:00, to get in some extra cardio.

[ehh]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

What are some good recovery drinks? As of now, I usually just drink water and try to have a have a high protein snack after any workout I do.

A scoop of whey, a scoop of powdered Gatorade mix and about 24oz of water. Mix it together and there ya go. Roughly 125 cals with plenty of protein, basically no fat and the extra water helps dilute that sugar in the Gatorade powder. That is the PWO drink of choice on the Men's Health board.

I've drank that before and after everything I do (basketball, lift, swim, etc) for about three years and I love it. Works great, tastes great. It is also very cheap, much better than buying a $2-3 can/bottled drink all the time.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

What's up guys? I was hoping to get your input on a few things as I've been reading through this thread and it seems as if you guys know what your talking about and have been giving some pretty good advice.

First things first-I'm 27, about 5'10 and 175 pounds. The most I've ever weighed was about 190 and that was when I was playing baseball my senior year of college and was trying to get strong. Up until about 6 months ago, I hadn't been very active. But our company moved to a brand new building with a gym and since then I've been working out as much as I can find time for.

In the past 6 months, I've tried to be as consistant as possible about going to the gym at work. Usually I can get in 3-4 days a week. Occasionnaly it's 5 and sometimes it's only once. In this time, I've noticed some improvements in my physique. I'm not nearly as flabby as I once was and I see more definition in my muscle. But in the past month or so, it seems like the physical improvement has slowed.

1st) I'm hoping to get some advice on improving my workouts.
2nd) I'd appreciate some feedback on my diet.

1st) Because of a somewhat unpredictable work schedule, I can't always find time to go to the gym, but as I said, usually I can go 3-4 days a week.

At our gym we have the following equipment:
Cardio-treadmills, bikes, stair stepper, elyptical machines
Weights-dumbells, bench press machine (can be adjusted for flat, incline and decline), bicep/tricep machine, fly machine, legg press machine, leg curl/extension machine, a multi use pulley machine which supports, lat pulls, tri press, curls, seated rows and finally there is one decline bench and an adjustable bench that can be used flat, incline or at 90 degrees. I also have a decent amount of empty floor space.

On a typical 4 day week my workout is as follows:
Day 1) Run about 10 minutes (7:30 minute mile pace) to warm up, then I do chest, abs and legs, rotating between each group.
So a typical workout would look like this:
Incline Press on Machine
Abs
Leg Press
Flat Bench Press with Dumbells
Abs
Leg Curls
Chest Fly's
Abs
Leg Extensions
Incline Press with Dumbells (if I have it in me)
Abs
Leg Lunges

Day 2)Run 2 Mils at 7:30 pace (15 minutes) then do bi's and shoulders
Dumbell Hammer Curls
Shoulder Press
Curls on Bi/Tri Machine
Deltiod Raises
Curls on Pulley Machine
Front Dumbell Raises
Concentraion/Preacher/Cross Body Curls
Lateral Dumbell Raises

Day 3)Run 2 Miles at 7:30 pace (15 minutes) then back and tri's.
Lat Pulls
Tri press/extensions
Seated Rows
Tri Press Machine
One Armed Rows
Seated Tricep extensions
Shrugs

Day4) Off

Day5) Repeat Day 1


2nd) As far as eating goes here is a basic look:

Breakfast (7:00): Usually cereal on weekdays with eggs or waffles or pancakes on weekends (family breakfast type stuff) with bacon or sausage

Snack #1(10:00): Usually a piece of fruit (usually a banana or an apple) or a breakfast bar.

Snack #1A (11:00): On workout days, I have a protein shake or days I do not workout I do skip this snack

Lunch (12:15): Usually leftovers and if not a sandwich (Turkey or PB&J) and a yogurt

Snack #2 (3:00): usually another piece of fruit-grapes, strawberries, apples, oranges

Dinner (6:30): We make taco's and spaghetti both about once per week. We use ground turkey and for spaghetti we use wheat pasta. With Taco's, we'll eat some mexican rice and with spaghetti I eat one piece of garlic bread. We also eat either grilled or baked chicken (marinated or seasoned) with mixed veggies, beef fajta's with rice, grilled hamburgers, chile with turkey meat. Usually on the weekends I eat chicken and steak with potato's and veggies.

Dessert/Snack: This is all over the place and kind of depends on what we have in the house. Sometimes it's chocolate chip cookies, other times its a fruit smoothie or apples and peanut butter or fruit. I try not to eat something sweet more than a few times a week.

As far as drinks go, I drink water all day long. I may have 1 soda per day, if we buy it, but on average maybe 5 soda's every 7 days and I'll drink beer on weekends.

My Goal) I'm pretty happy with my weight. I think 170-175 is about right for me. Basically, I want to get rid of some of the flab in my stomach area and increase my muscle everywhere else. I'm not trying to win any bodybuilder contests, just want that kind of slim and muscular look.

I'd appreciate any help/advice you guys have on maybe how to be more efficient with my diet and workouts or any other advice you have from what I've told you.

I hate running, but it seems to burn more calories than the stationary bike, but if the other is perferred, that is fine with me.

Thanks!