Quote: (11-10-2014 10:37 AM)Phoenix Wrote:
Thanks frenchie, that sounds awesome
As an example of an 'average eating day', I'll have a lunch (basically a very late breakfast) of bacon, sausage, egg, beans, toast. Then later I'll have a pizza, and finish the day with a bulking shake. There may be a snack or two of chocolate bars thrown in. If I ever have breakfast, its always coffee + something sugary like a donut.
My lifting routine I use is:
Push-pull split (one day push, next day pull) of:
Deadlift - 3 x ~5 reps at failure
Lat pulldown - 3 x ~8 reps at failure
Row - 3 x ~8 reps at failure
/
Squat - 3 x ~6 reps
Bench press - 3 x ~5 reps
Shoulder press - 3 x ~ 6 reps at failure
Those routines will leave me completely drained at the end.
Your eating schedule etc will probably be a great help.
Excellent that helps quite a bit. Are you doing an A/B day swap? You're probably over training if you're doing squats and deadlifts that often during a week. Initially, I saw difficulty in putting on quality mass. Increasing my volume didn't help at all. Looking back on everything, the problem I had was the lack of a strength foundation.
I'm assuming you recently started lifting.
Here is what helped me build a nice strength foundation. I adapted this routine from another website. I have a close friend who I helped introduce to the gym using this routine and she lost a lot of weight and got significantly stronger. My legs, shoulders, and back exploded with this starting routine and my friend lost 5 lbs of fat over the course of six weeks (with me pushing her hard to lift heavy). Use a 5x5 on all of the lifts.
Day 1:
Pull ups (start with assisted and work towards weighted)
Bent over row
Deadlifts
Day 2:
Clean and press
Stand Up Row
Military Press
Day 3:
Moveable cheat day. I like to do some sprints on a treadmill. Basically 8.6 mph for a solid mile.
Day 4:
Deadlifts
Squats
Day 5:
Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Dips (start with assisted and work towards weighted)
Dumb bell pull over
I personally like to do chest day last. My performance after a weekend of doing x,y,z was impeding my performance. I'm a bit better with diet and not drinking now, but this set up should help you get into the motion of things.
If you plateau with the bench and incline bench swap out from a straight bar to dumb bells. I normally half the straight bar weight and minus ten.
Take a rest week after 7-8 weeks of lifting. You will know when you need to rest because you will hit hard plateaus and your form will begin sucking. Make sure to foam roll before you lift, stretch out your hamstrings and calf muscles as well.
Focus entirely on pushing more weight. Don't worry about volume (yet)
Meal wise this is what I do daily:
Meal 1:
Turkey sausage
Bacon
1 Fried egg
Half a cup of McCains Instant Irish oatmeal
Meal 2:
Greek yoghurt
Banana
In season fruit (over the summer I ate strawberries, blueberries,etc. Fall i've been eating grapes)
Assorted unsalted nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts,) and/or a PBJ (with a lot of peanut butter)
Meal 3: This is normally dinner so make sure to include a protein source with a lot of saturated fat. If the recipe calls for half a stick of butter, double it. Use indiscriminate amounts of olive oil as well. I really enjoy eating and cook a variety of different meals with chicken, steak, lamb, pork, etc. Bulking will suck hard core so cook food that you enjoy eating.
Meal 4 (drink before bed):
A casein protein shake (this is what I use :
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/ca...7Aod4jcAHQ)
2+ tablespoons of peanut butter
Frozen berries
1 tablespoon of psyllium husk (fiber to help you poo trust me this is the most important)
Fill it with whole milk.
For meals 1,2, and 4 drink whole milk as your liquid of choice. Get chocolate and/or strawberry syrup to make your beverage a treat.
This is my bulking diet. For cutting, I simply replace whole milk with almond milk. For maintenance I use 1% or 2% and cut down on the amount of saturated fat in meal 3. Make sure to eat a breakfast before you go to the gym.
Your body will be different and respond to this plan differently so do your best to accommodate what works for you. I was unable to put on weight initially because I wasn't moving enough weight on this routine. Start out lifting heavy with my 5x5 routine above and your appetite will follow. Leg day in particular will make you really hungry if you push yourself on the weights.
Do this consistently for about a year, maybe less. You will see your body transform and your strength increase. Eventually even after a rest week you will be unable to add on more weight. This is the time to modify the work out to include more chest exercises, volume changes, and the like.
Hope this helps.