Hi All,

I started on my bulking phase a month ago using MAX-OT principles and have noticed some gains. I'm currently 5'8'' 160 lbs, around 10.5 % bodyfat according to measurements done by personal trainer at gym. He suggests at least 4000 calories a day. I'm having a hard time eating just 3000. What does everybody eat? Any good supplements. I bought some N-Large 2, but that's only 600 calories a serving. I eat pretty clean, so is it ok to eat more fatty foods that has higher calories?

Thanks

I'm 6'2" - when I try clean bulking that high it's very tough to eat enough. But I also gain way too much fat. Would that I had John Stone's genetics.

I had to rely on 2 hefty protein shakes a day, nuts, peanut butter, and red meat to get close to those kind of calories.

While my mouth would love to eat a 12oz ribeye every night, my budget and digestion don't agree.

Interested to see other responses.

ck

I'm 6'2" - when I try clean bulking that high it's very tough to eat enough. But I also gain way too much fat. Would that I had John Stone's genetics.

I had to rely on 2 hefty protein shakes a day, nuts, peanut butter, and red meat to get close to those kind of calories.

While my mouth would love to eat a 12oz ribeye every night, my budget and digestion don't agree.

Interested to see other responses.

ck

Well, you might try chuck eye, or strips for a cheaper cut. But you are right, red meat is good for bulk. It gets a bad press, but who can trust the press.

Scientifically I cannot say what it is, or why or how, but with everyone I've talked to who are bulking, they tell me that they noticed a big difference when they started eating more red meat.

Scientifically I cannot say what it is, or why or how, but with everyone I've talked to who are bulking, they tell me that they noticed a big difference when they started eating more red meat.

Red meat got us out of the trees. You can quote me.

Although of course nowadays we don't go sprinting after red meat with big pointy sticks...

I can imagine our ancestors got a lot of cardio :)

Our ancestors ate our ancestors. Consumption of pituitary glands, bone marrow, a different environment before the ice age (one with much higher oxygen content) allowed them to grow to be very strong, very big and live a very long time. "Cave" men (and women) of old were probably smarter than we are, and were certainly stronger.

Scientifically I cannot say what it is, or why or how, but with everyone I've talked to who are bulking, they tell me that they noticed a big difference when they started eating more red meat.

Red meat contains high levels of creatine, or so I'm told. That may be a part of it...

Squats, red meat and for those who are old school....MILK.

Just like being progressive with your training, add a little food to your plate each week.

are you sure you need 4000calories a day, you should gain 1lb a week, anymore you are probly gaining too much fat
n-large is good for creating fat, not muscle, also wasting money

is it okay to eat stake every once in a while if you are on a cutting diet?

is it okay to eat stake every once in a while if you are on a cutting diet?

Sure wood has lots of fibre, chewing it might be a bit hazardous to your health... *gets his coat*

Steak isn't inherently bad for any cutting diet. Red meat is said to have more cholesterol, but in moderation it should be ok.

thanks.

just noticed i spelled "steak" wrong.

obviously a "stake" would be a bad thing to eat at any time no matter what diet you have or dont have. lol

For 5'8" tall, 160 lbs, and 10.5% body fat, 4000 cals/day is way too high. You will put on a good deal of fat w/ that. I would try for more like 3200 at first, and up it to 3500 if you aren't gaining weight. Make sure to do those big compound lifts. Go heavy, go hard!

3000-3200 is about what I bulk well at (6', 150lb) without gaining too much fat. I ate more Yams and had to start eating more pasta and bread. Also I still felt full all the time, eating every 2-2 1/2 hours. I would really struggle with 4000 clean calories, The most I ever managed was 3700 and I worked out twice that day, so had 2 300-400 kcal PWO shakes. On a non-worout day I think 3300 was my limit. That was all solid food, all clean, with lots of veggies. It hurt.

Eating Clean...adding mass is 50% eating right and 50% lifting. Who would have thought that eating would be the hardest part.

red meat has a lot of body building potentials in it but it also has a lot of bad stuff. For instance high colesterol...high in fats...that sort of thing. But like the one person said before, there is some creatine in red meat, along with protein, along with some, but limited benificial fats. I remember seeing the movie "Pumping Iron" and all of the huge body builders would just order plates of ground meat and steaks.

Chicken and fish on the other hand are very lean and very high in protein and healthy alternatives to red meat but if you ate red meat every time after you lifted i have a feeling you would gain more muscle (also add more fat) than you would with leaner meats. Its kind of like if you look at the type of animals you are eating...red meat-giant cows, white meat-little chickens. Do you understand the direction im going with this?

Anyways, my advice would be to have red meat as a deifinate in your diet while bulking but make sure that you are drinking a lot of water and getting lots of fibers from greens so that your heart isnt bombarded with all of the cholesterol. Please do cardio too. The heart is the most important muscle in your body and if you damage it you wont be doing anything athletic. Wile cutting on the other hand i would go with the leaner meats. It will help with losing the fat you put on from bulking (which everyone does).

Hi All,

I started on my bulking phase a month ago using MAX-OT principles and have noticed some gains. I'm currently 5'8'' 160 lbs, around 10.5 % bodyfat according to measurements done by personal trainer at gym. He suggests at least 4000 calories a day. I'm having a hard time eating just 3000. What does everybody eat? Any good supplements. I bought some N-Large 2, but that's only 600 calories a serving. I eat pretty clean, so is it ok to eat more fatty foods that has higher calories?

Thanks

It takes some time, but if you push your eating, you can eat 4000 calories a day without feeling like you're going to puke. Last spring I was training for a cross-country bike trip and my trainer calculated that I needed to eat about 4600 calories per day! I'm only 6'0" 145 lbs and was eating MAYBE 2000 calories. I was able to reach my eating goals with only one shake per day (and that was only about 350 cals).

How I did it:


Eat often. Get used to eating 6-7 times per day, at least. Eat 6-7 times per day with 3000 calories, then add a little bit to every meal to make it 3500 calories, and then to 4000.
Maximize your calories by eating foods high in good calories, i.e. whole grain breads with 20+g of carbs per slice, etc.
Push yourself just beyond the "full" point. Your body will adjust and eventually you won't feel full if you don't get 3500+ cal/day.


The hardest thing for me was finding the time to prepare and eat that much food.

Good Luck
--redrun