Weight gains + questions

[BlackWater]

So I'm starting my immense weight/strength gain phase tomorrow and I need some tips.

So far:
-aiming at 3000 or more calories per day
-1g of protein per lbs of body weight
-Eating 5 times per day plus snacks so maybe 7-9 meals a day
-Not eating junk


I have a few questions though,

-When exactly are you supposed to eat carbs for energy yet minimizing fat gain?

-How far is my bf% likely to rise during 2 months that I will be doing this?

-Is there any way I can estimate my current bf%?

Thanks!

p.s. I already have a good weight lifting and cardio routine.

[MrSmall]

You don't need carbs for energy, eat carbs anything up to 4 hours past your workout.
Eat more fats, nuts, eggs, and more fruit, for your pre-workout energy. See how you'll be MORE energetic and LOSE fat. If you eat more fats, your body will not hold as much fat as it currently does.

Depends how, when, what you eat.

No. Don't think in bf%, look in the mirror. Take a before and after pic.

Lets see the routine.

[Koa]

You want to gain size, you are going to gain some fat during a bulk.

Timing of your carbs should depend on when you work out. IF you have time work out in the AM you are lucky.. Really minimize your carbs after lunch. Dinner should be lean meats and loads of salad.. Have some carbs for breakfast to supply your workout with energy, light whey shake.. So, like a bowl of cheerios and a whey shake, or just make the shake and add it to a cereal instead of milk.

Bust ass at the gym.. Don't forget to finish up with 30-40 minutes on a treadmill, something that will get your heartrate around 130, but not much more or you are just eating muscle away.. 130 is prime for burning fat, or in this case minimizing fat gain.

Have a shake ready right after you finish your workout, Whey shake with carbs, like a recovery drink, or whey with waxy maize starch and a multivitamin (I mean right after workout). If you have a whey shake, you cant really absorb any more than 20-30 grams per sitting since the stuff goes right into your system.

Half an hour to an hour later, eat a good breakfast (2nd breakfast). 5 whole eggs (omega 3 ones), some cartoned egg whites (equal of 2 eggs), a good complex carb of your choice, I fucking love rice and over easy egg yolks. Can sub some of this with a good lean steak, but eggs are pretty much the top protein.

Between breakfast and lunch, have a casein or egg protein shake, add some bran, or flax meal, a little fruit IE banana, handfull of blueberries.

Lunch.. Good lean protein source, good carb source, like a baked yam (medium sized, don't go nuts) Good salad, have some dressing olive oil and vinegar based.. No lard assy ranch or bleu cheese.

Inbetween dinner and lunch, have another shake. Mix in something like a good fruit, blueberry, banana, flax meal if you wish. I would do one flax meal per day, and one bran or other form of fibre. Have some almonds, or nuts of your choice

Dinner.. Have a fatty meat if you want, like salmon or tuna as your protein. Big fat assed salad. Same thing, avoid sat fats, but go ahead with olive oil and vinegar versions of dressing.

Time your dinner so you don't eat it past 8 pm, or around 3 hours before you sleep.. Finish off with a CASEIN shake before you go to bed. Dont forget your multivitamins.

[viru§™]

Bust ass at the gym.. Don't forget to finish up with 30-40 minutes on a treadmill, something that will get your heartrate around 130, but not much more or you are just eating muscle away.. 130 is prime for burning fat, or in this case minimizing fat gain.


The fat burning zone is bullshit. If you want to maintain muscle and lose fat do HIIT training.

[Bodysnatcher]

So I'm starting my immense weight/strength gain phase tomorrow and I need some tips.

So far:
-aiming at 3000 or more calories per day
-1g of protein per lbs of body weight
-Eating 5 times per day plus snacks so maybe 7-9 meals a day
-Not eating junk


I have a few questions though,

-When exactly are you supposed to eat carbs for energy yet minimizing fat gain?

-How far is my bf% likely to rise during 2 months that I will be doing this?

-Is there any way I can estimate my current bf%?

Thanks!

p.s. I already have a good weight lifting and cardio routine.

Are you doing full body or split workouts?

[BlackWater]

Tuesday
Horizontal push-pull
Bench & Row 4x6
Squat 5x5
Chin-ups 4x6

Thursday
Vertical Push-pull
Military press and lat pull down 4x6
Deadlift 4x6
Chin-ups 4x6

Saturday
Powerclean 5x3
Incline Bench 4x6
Wrists 3x10
Chin-ups 4x6

For cardio I do HIIT training twice a week plus running at football practice.

[Koa]

The fat burning zone is bullshit. If you want to maintain muscle and lose fat do HIIT training.

Depends on the person. Hiit training can also break you after a hard workout. If I tried doing HIIT training after heavy squats I'd probably fuck up my joints worse than they already are. Also, if you can do HIIT training after you performed a heavy lift, your not lifting hard enough.

[Bodysnatcher]

Depends on the person. Hiit training can also break you after a hard workout. If I tried doing HIIT training after heavy squats I'd probably fuck up my joints worse than they already are. Also, if you can do HIIT training after you performed a heavy lift, your not lifting hard enough.

That's right.

When I do a 24 set full body workout, I sometimes have to stagger to the changing rooms because I've pushed myself to the limit.

If I feel like I can do anything more than gentle cardio, I know I haven't worked hard enough.

[Bodysnatcher]

Tuesday
Horizontal push-pull
Bench & Row 4x6
Squat 5x5
Chin-ups 4x6

Thursday
Vertical Push-pull
Military press and lat pull down 4x6
Deadlift 4x6
Chin-ups 4x6

Saturday
Powerclean 5x3
Incline Bench 4x6
Wrists 3x10
Chin-ups 4x6

For cardio I do HIIT training twice a week plus running at football practice.

Ok, the carbs - I've read from quite a few reputable sources that eating carbs around exercise is beneficial, as is eating carbs earlier in the day rather than later. Carbs are energy and eating too many of them before sleep isn't the best idea, given that sleeping requires the least energy of all.

I will try and find the article (apologies if I can't) but I also read that if you work out your daily maintainence calories (plenty of calculators online for that) and simply add 500 calories to that number (only `clean` foods though, no junk), you can build muscle without gaining fat.

Side point: your routine is good (and you can take or leave this), this is a regime a lot of guys online I've talked to have suggested, very reputable:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Total Body training. It's based on mixing up rep ranges and set numbers within a set parameter of lifts 3-4 times a week. Some sessions your reps can go as high as 18, other times as low as 6, and plenty of variations in-between those numbers

The idea being that your body is designed to adapt to stress, and when the body adapts that limits muscle growth (muscle growth being based on putting muscles under increasing strain).

Worth trying.

[Bodysnatcher]

Here's the article about gaining muscle without gaining fat:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

There's a chart there designed to calculate the minimum amount of calories you'll need to grow without developing fat in the process.

[viru§™]

Depends on the person. Hiit training can also break you after a hard workout. If I tried doing HIIT training after heavy squats I'd probably fuck up my joints worse than they already are. Also, if you can do HIIT training after you performed a heavy lift, your not lifting hard enough.

Where did I say anything about doing HIIT after weight training?

[BlackWater]

Here's the article about gaining muscle without gaining fat:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

There's a chart there designed to calculate the minimum amount of calories you'll need to grow without developing fat in the process.

That's a really good article. I read all of that in one sitting. Thank you :good

[BlackWater]

Ok, the carbs - I've read from quite a few reputable sources that eating carbs around exercise is beneficial, as is eating carbs earlier in the day rather than later. Carbs are energy and eating too many of them before sleep isn't the best idea, given that sleeping requires the least energy of all.

I will try and find the article (apologies if I can't) but I also read that if you work out your daily maintainence calories (plenty of calculators online for that) and simply add 500 calories to that number (only `clean` foods though, no junk), you can build muscle without gaining fat.

Side point: your routine is good (and you can take or leave this), this is a regime a lot of guys online I've talked to have suggested, very reputable:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Total Body training. It's based on mixing up rep ranges and set numbers within a set parameter of lifts 3-4 times a week. Some sessions your reps can go as high as 18, other times as low as 6, and plenty of variations in-between those numbers

The idea being that your body is designed to adapt to stress, and when the body adapts that limits muscle growth (muscle growth being based on putting muscles under increasing strain).

Worth trying.

Is my routine intense enough to stimulate muscle growth?

I tried to incorporate all compound lifts without having to spend more than an hour in the gym. I'm not sure if I should add another exercise else to Saturday like front squats or something.

[Koa]

Where did I say anything about doing HIIT after weight training? My bad.. I just don't see how I could fit HIIT training like sprints in when I'm trying to gain. If I just did a pyamid set of leg presses, hack squats, squats, leg extensions, and leg curls.. (Yeah, thats my leg day, I do calves the other day) I cant sprint.. I need two solid days off, many times 3..

[Bodysnatcher]

Is my routine intense enough to stimulate muscle growth?

I tried to incorporate all compound lifts without having to spend more than an hour in the gym. I'm not sure if I should add another exercise else to Saturday like front squats or something.

Sure, it's full of compound moves.

I'd personally add an extra set on Saturday - wrist exercises are not stimulating growth directly, obviously.

In my full body workouts I do the basic compounds every session (every 48 hours): Bench (and variations), deadlift, squat, shoulder press (dumbells and barbell) plus dumbell and barbell rows. I also drop in a few isolation stuff for my biceps and triceps, but I work those muscle groups only once a week).

24 sets in total (give or take a few depending on how I feel)

No reason you can't add 3-4 sets of squats and deadlifts onto the days you currently don't do them - they are excellent at promoting growth everywhere, not just the back and legs.

Adding squats on Saturday would definitely be a good idea. I used to really notice gains when I added squats to my workout (for ages I stupidly neglected my legs).

I've also read that any more than 45 minutes lifting is counter-productive - I usually complete my 24 sets in 45 mins on the dot, with plenty of rest time in-between sets).

[BlackWater]

I'm adding squats to my saturday lift. How long do you rest between sets?