Um, how long should a bulking 'session' go for? Should you mix in some max strength training every couple of months (do you HAVE to)? Thanks
You wot? If you are doing the right exercises, you should be getting both size and strength, no need to focus on 2 different things. Bulking: When you want to put muscle on (even if its for 10 yrs), then you shed the fat and show off your massive guns on the beach.
Well i find 40kg in 3 months highly unbelievable, thats all, just like the guy in your gym shoulder pressing 100kg each arm, maybe its all the caffene your drinking? And as for bulking, there is no set time, just your personal goals, obviously the more you bulk, the bigger and stronger you get, but with these said, _most_ people bulk during autmn/winter/and some of spring, and then cut in time for summer.
Cutting your calories by 500/day has dramatic results over time. I heard of a US government study done by the Army in which they cut the calories of a group of very healthy soldiers by 500 calories/day. All of these soldiers were very fit, and weighed around 170 lbs each, and they were all still responsible for their normal duties. The study followed them over a period of months (four months I think?) and at the end they had all lost a lot of weight, around 40-50 lbs. The lightest soldier weighted about 120 lbs, and the heaviest around 130 lbs. Those are dramatic results. When I read your routine, I agree with some of the previous criticism. It is light on protein, and light on calories in general. If you want to bulk up you will have to lift. If you lift you are tearing apart your muscles and rebuilding them out of protein, so you need to have this protein available for your body to use. The talk about eating cottage cheese before bed is probably due to the idea that you will be asleep for 6-9 hours, and that is a long time for your body to go without protein. People who are in a serious phase of training will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to eat eggs or drink a shake so that their bodies will continue to build muscle. (As an aside, they also cut carbs way down to really look cut- sometimes haing no more carbs a day than you would have in a few glasses of juice. I don't know too much about this, but I don't believe it is sustainable for extended periods) I disagree with IRONMAN- I need to lift at the gym, but for me it is a mental thing. When I get into the gym I lift, do my workout, and just generally focus on my body. At home, work, or when out on the town, I think about other things. But in the gym I workout, and having that mental seperation has been a big factor to my personal success at lifting. Also, a gym membership offers you much greater variety, and sometimes comes with things you probably don't have at home- sauna, steamroom, massage, etc. Furthermore, it is a social environment, and you can talk to other lifters about technique, preferences, etc.- this would be great for a beginner. Again, it depends on your goals. Everyone here says my routine is a bodybuilder's routine, and they are probably right. So, if you want to get stronger and have bigger muscles, follow a routine that focuses on that goal. What do you want?
This I have to disagree with I'm afraid. The large majority of commercial gym-goers know very little about training, usually because the staff also know diddly-squat and will feel free to come and criticise your workout at any time because their crappy certification says it is wrong. If there are good coaches and very good lifters there then yes it is a fantastic environment to be in. However, these places are hard to find, many are populated by metrosexual (nothing wrong with that though!) idiots pumping their biceps in the power rack, supersetting with quarter squats and 2 man bench press/deadlift combinations. Many a beginner has been misled and brainwashed by the uneducated know-it-all trainers/trainees at commercial gyms.
Yeah, it is hit or miss. I've had good luck personally. Usually I get better advice from other people who lift, not the trainers. A good trainer who is knowledgeable about lifting is a trainer because he/she loved lifting. You will have the best luck with people like that.
There too big at the moment anyway, I need something to make them smaller, they cant fit in my pants!
OK, well I have followed this thread (and this is my cherry poppin' post on this forum) and I have the following questions: first, let me say that I'm a mild hypoglycemic. I eat and eat and eat and nothing. I've had the fasting blood sugar tests and all and all the professionals can say is to wait for my metabolism to slow down (I'm 20 now, 135lbs [xxkg... whatever, I'm American]). I'm not hyper or jittery per se, but actually pretty lazy. I can't seem to get enough sleep, no matter how much or how little (I've tried a sleep schedule and that seems to help, but seing as how I'm a firefighter/emt and work 24hr shifts, often getting little-to-no sleep, it is impossible to follow all the time). I was a test subject (along with many others my age, nothing special) where i took all sorts of tests (stress tests, BMI, reflexes, blood tests, etc.) for the local medical college. I said that to say this... for a week i wore a small activity belt and logged everything I ate for the experiment. Size, brand, type (even if I put ice in my water, or strait up-- everything had to be recorded); this was called in every night. Well, I'm not very active (unless working out in some manner) was the verdict on the activity belt. More interestingly, I averaged 5400(!) cal a day. All relatively healthy, so dont bother asking, I'm pretty concious about what I eat (read: no fast food, etc). So this hypoglycemia I have to deal with affects everything about my daily life. It's not hard for my blood sugar to get low (I don't have to test... I can just tell) and me get headaches, bad moods, sluggish, and in extreme instances, dizzy (It's not bad enough [yet, good thing] that I fall out or have seizures-- I would only get dizzy/nausious if i don't eat then do MA pretty hard for example). The best way I can describe it is reverse-diabetes.... I make plenty of insulin, perhapse too much, so my sugar levels get low easily. OK, well if you have read this far, and have an idea of what I'm talking about, thanks; 1.) What is the best foods to eat and when.... FOR BULKING WHILE HIIT CARDIO (as main source of cardio)? I already know about high and low glycemic carbs... and protein for stablizing, blah blah blah. Just want to know is someone can break it down better for someone trying to get in better shape. Most of the nuitritional advice I can find seems to be for just maintaining weight and most also makes no mention of what workouts to do in relation to eating/sleeping, etc. In case you ask, let me tell you already I eat plenty of veg/fruit and as much protein as I can from whole food... but I can't seem to get enough carbs. Also, I don't smoke or drink anything with caffeine. No alcohol (too young anyways) or carbonated bev's. I keep salt low and generally refined sugars... but I eat my share of high carb sweets (mainly for a quick fix, even tho I know I shouldn't). 2.) What would be good supplements to take? More importantly, when (in relation to working out, eating, and sleeping). As of right now, I only take a time-release multi-vit formulated for men, which I have broken down into half a serving in the morning, and the other at night.... so I dont **** out as much as possible. I know take protein, no doubt; BUT, I keep hearing two sides to when to take whey-- some say before, some say after weight training... also, I don't know when to take it when doing cardio (I assume before to keep from breaking down muscle). I cramp easily if I eat too heavy or work out too soon after eating, but if I wait too long get obviosly low sugar (which doesn't make my weight training worth a crap and I get horribly sluggish and can't concentrate during MA-- making the workout pretty much useless). I would like to take creatine as well, but I'm not sure as to when to take it (most of the ones I take have A LOT of sugar [needed for absorption I guess] and that could seriously affect me if not timed right) in relation to my protein (both before, after, split up?.... 5 mins before? an hour?) I don't want to waste anything if I gonna take it. The problem is, there seems to be too many variables, so I can't just try out all the possibilities in a decent timeframe to see what works and what doesnt-- that's why I seek this advice. Oh, yeah... I also take a glutamine/glucosamine on hard workout days (usually before bed) so I'm not as sore the next day. I would like to take this supplement too, but I'm just not made out of money. I plan on splitting my protein between whey (morning and workouts) and Casein/Soy mix (with milk, in between meals and before bed). 3.) What kind of workouts? Should I keep my HIIT low? Should I do endurance more or less? Again, I have to figure out when to do this in relation to eating. Should I workout in the morning, afternoon, or before bed? (both for cardio and weight training). Remember, I'm trying my best to get larger, in a healthful manner... while trying to juggle my blood sugar. Due to the nature of my job (unless I'm on call) I can workout at any time at work and again at anytime on my off-days (which take up 2/3 of the month)... so don't say it depends on my schedule. However, not to contradict myself, I'm in the process of changing over to a standard 8-5, 5day a week, desk job. So I guess give suggestions for that kind of schedule. I'm obviously not an endo/mesomorph, so my goals are not too look like a body-builder. Actually, I want a happy medium between bruce and arnold. Think sizewise of right between brad pitt in fight club and van damme in kickboxer. Yes, vain. But to me, and for my frame, seems the best functionally for my MA (which are KBing with elements of muay thai & JKD... and then Jitsu with influences from kali & BoJuKa). I'm contemplating a BFL shedule of once-a-day workouts splitting between cardio and weights. Of course, I don't expect all these questions answered, as that is not nec. any of your jobs; but, any help would...... well, help. Plus everyone in this thread seems to like giving advice.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=E79D0A3F95492C2D80FDD54A5B5FB1C2.hydra?id=629609 That should address your eating issues! Enjoy reading. Massive eating could be pretty good for you. Your other questions: Take whey whenever you like, probably a couple of times a day since you're such a hard gainer - always take it after a workout. In the 2 hours after a workout, eat everything in sight. Creatine - take 3-5g a day, don't bother with loading and all that crap. Try taurine as well for before workouts, that's also really cheap. Try not to get caught up in the small details and just EAT! Up the volume and intensity in your training, drop some of the cardio sessions. Try ZMA half an hour to an hour before bedtime on an empty stomach, then take in your last meal right before you sleep. This could help, there are other things that you can do about sleeping but that's a whole other topic. YOU NEED SLEEP. Hope that covers things well enough
