Hello everyone, I am new to the forums. I wanted to start off by asking a question but I need to give a quick background. Up until last year I was only doing weight training. I would lift to get big 3-4 times a week with heavy weights. I got up to a 310 pound bench max. Although my lifting was going successfully I found myself unhappy with my body, as I felt I was storing too much fat. So I went on a rigorous weight loss program. I fell from 205 pounds (i'm 5'9") down to my current weight of 148. I'm not sure what my current body fat percentage is but I know it is pretty low as my abdominals are clearly visible. I am now trying to run only 3 times a week instead of the 6-7 times a week (about 8 miles each time). I want to get my bench back up to double my body weight and maintain a fat percentage below 10%. I eat roughly 2000 calories a day (sometimes more but never more than 3000). I found that for the first couple weeks I was doing well taking whey protein supplements, I have watched my bench go up a good 20-30 pounds but now I seem to be plateauing and I am not where I want to be..I find that if I up my calorie intake this may resolve that problem but I am afraid to do this because I worked so hard to get my body fat down to where it is currently. What should I do?
What should I do?
- Thread starter firehorse
- Start date
If you find out, write it down and sell the book
Seriously though, gaining muscle without excess fat storage is supposed to be possible, you just need to stick close to your maintenence level of calories but with a small surplus to allow for growth
because of the tremendous amount of work I have done to get down to this level..
Some build slowly over years by staying just above maintenence and some bulk and then cut for shows/jobs
I saw a documentary following a bodybuilder throughout the year and he would bulk out of season and cut dramatically a few weeks before a show
Both ways can work if you do them right, try and find out what your body responds to best
I also wonder, many huge guys at my gym are as i say 'huge' ! but still have a very low body fat %.
Then again, my gym is quite known for having 'roid heads' in it. I know many of them take steroids, but im sure not all of them.
Iv got a mate who i see the odd time at the gym, he's been training around 3 years and he's huge with low bf% also.
Now he's moving onto the roids, i dont no why he needs to, he's got a brilliant physique, if i was him id just keep up the hard work.
good luck with whatever happens
My workouts look something like this:
bench press 5-6 sets starting with 185 pounds until fail, then 205 pounds until fail, another set of 205 until fail, another set of 185 pounds until fail, and a set or two of burnouts with lighter weight.
5-6 sets of curls alternating between light and heavy weights
3-4 sets of dips until fail
300 sit ups broken into 100 rep sets
and a set or two or wrist curls with a bench bar
the next day I will run on the treadmill at 9.6 mph for 35-50 minutes (depending on whether I have the day off from work or not) I do this 7 days a week alternating between the two.
bench press 5-6 sets starting with 185 pounds until fail, then 205 pounds until fail, another set of 205 until fail, another set of 185 pounds until fail, and a set or two of burnouts with lighter weight.
5-6 sets of curls alternating between light and heavy weights
3-4 sets of dips until fail
300 sit ups broken into 100 rep sets
and a set or two or wrist curls with a bench bar
the next day I will run on the treadmill at 9.6 mph for 35-50 minutes (depending on whether I have the day off from work or not) I do this 7 days a week alternating between the two.
a typical days diet looks like this:
breakfast - two cups of fiber one cereal with a banana and a tablespoon of honey and two hard boiled eggs
Lunch - a turkey and (reduced fat) salami and cheese sandwhich, an apple, an orange, a peanut butter granola bar and some carrots
dinner - progresso soup (these are great being high in protein and lower in fat and calories) and some lean cuisine (the same is true of these)...or if I have the night off (I work graveyard) I will make cooked chicken and salad, salmon, or some other kind of lean meat and vegatables.
On lifting days I also add in 60 grams of whey protein powder and water..
oh and I am 22 years old and unfortunately due to my long shifts I am limited to about 6 hours of sleep a day..
breakfast - two cups of fiber one cereal with a banana and a tablespoon of honey and two hard boiled eggs
Lunch - a turkey and (reduced fat) salami and cheese sandwhich, an apple, an orange, a peanut butter granola bar and some carrots
dinner - progresso soup (these are great being high in protein and lower in fat and calories) and some lean cuisine (the same is true of these)...or if I have the night off (I work graveyard) I will make cooked chicken and salad, salmon, or some other kind of lean meat and vegatables.
On lifting days I also add in 60 grams of whey protein powder and water..
oh and I am 22 years old and unfortunately due to my long shifts I am limited to about 6 hours of sleep a day..
I do hit the other muscle groups but I didn't want to give you a huge long list...Those are my main focus..I also do incline presses and lat pull downs, the legs are solely trained with the running I do..but yeah the first list is my main focus (biceps, triceps, abs and chest are what I really want looking mean)..
then you have a lot to learn..my son......
I would add squats and deadlifts at the very least to your workouts.
in high school I was doing a squat max for my weight training class test and someone left the pad unvelcrowed(sp?) and it came off and the bar rolled down my back and screwed up a disk in my lower back...doctor said never to squat again..I like squats so no excuses I just can't do them..too hard on my back..but as I said I will take your advice and add some lower body workouts..