Posts: 493
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2014
Reputation:
5
The downside of putting on muscle mass
08-29-2014, 05:46 PM
Good problem to have. Always helps with a lifter's inherent dismorphia. I've been unhappy with my gains until my Large t-shirts started to feel a little tight. I then logically knew that I was bigger despite what I saw in the mirror.
Maybe time for a bit of cut? Clean up your diet a bit push some HIIT. You'll be a little less big but the Tyler Durden look is in!
Posts: 5,025
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2011
Reputation:
27
The downside of putting on muscle mass
08-29-2014, 06:31 PM
I had to start wearing boxer briefs whenever I walked a lot to avoid chaffing of the legs. Wish they a boxer brief style swimsuit, since the chaffing especially bad after being on the beach for awhile in a swim suit.
Posts: 3,995
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2011
Reputation:
76
The downside of putting on muscle mass
08-29-2014, 10:54 PM
I think a lot of lifters get too carried away with eating too much. No matter how much muscle you put on you're never going to look good with your shirt off when you're at 20% body fat like most guys are. Even with a shirt on going from 20% to 15% will cause a bigger improvement in how you look then you'd think.
For the last couple months I've been doing a "slow bulk" diet, I don't really count my macro's. On my lifting days I eat at what I know from experience is caloric surplus for me, including about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. On my rest days I eat what I know from experience is roughly my caloric maintenance and about 0.9 grams of protein per lb, but I do a vigorous 40 minutes on an exercise bike first thing in the morning before eating. At the end of each week I have both gained muscle and lost fat despite having been lifting for over a year. This routine takes minimum willpower to maintain, and doesn't leave you being fat for half the year like a traditional bulk/cut cycle does.