Note: Not all posts will be this long. This is just the intro post, so it's lengthy. Posts after this are probably going to be a few lines or less.



So here we go again. I started my first bulk (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=35686) early October of last year. It's a little over a year now and I'm bulking again. I actually started almost a month ago; this post is just late. Actually I'm not the journaling type (and this probably won't be updated often, fyi) and didn't do this last time, so, yeah.

Anyways. Background information for the first bulk is in the link above, and general specs are in my sig. But what happened after that? Well I continued bulking for about a month and a half more and got up to somewhere around 170. At the end of May school got out and I moved back home. I tried to keep bulking but things got a little out of hand. I felt I was eating too much food and I didn't have access to a gym anymore anyways. So the bulk ended after about 7½ months, which is quite a long time I think.

I didn't do anything at all for a month, lifting or exercise wise, although I did continue to eat mostly properly. At the end of June (a month later) I finally signed up for a gym and started lifting again (wow was I sore after the first session). I decided to cut because I felt I had gained way more fat than I wanted. I counted the bulk a success and was happy to have gained weight, don't get me wrong. But I gained too much of it in my overzealousness and packed on too much fat. It had to go. So for about 3 months, I cut. I went from around 170, to around 158. There was no cardio (will do that next time). I lost most of the belly that I hated looking at in the morning, so it was something of a success. But I'll say more on the cut when I go to start my next one, now is not the time.

So what's different this time around? Well I'm trying to keep it real slow. I want to gain 1 pound or less per week. I was gaining about a pound and a half during my first bulk and it seems to have been too much, between routine issues and weak diet issues (that diet is spelled out in the bulk link above). So far after 4 weeks I've gained 5½ pounds, which is 1½ pounds too much by my current bulk guidelines. I don't mind doing a slow bulk this time around. The first time around I had the skinny-guy-wanting-to-get-big fever, so I was always aiming to see noticable scale gain each week. Well now that I know that gaining weight is real and not just a fantasy, I don't have a problem taking it slow this time.

Another difference is my knee issue (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=38043). Until earlier this month, I hadn't done any quad exercises since about February or March. Between good old fashioned time off (for the quads anyways), and An0maly1982's excellent advice (Hi, and thanks!), my knees are doing much better. I followed her advice and my knees are much better now. What I have also found really helps is doing quad stretches before my quad exercise. It's the same stretch I did when I wasn't doing quads lifts at all. It's the standard standing up straight and holding your foot to your ass stretch. I hold the stretch for 20 seconds on one leg, then switch to the other. I do it three times total for each leg and I have found that it works wonders for how they feel during my leg press exercise. I'm not doing squats again yet, because I still have some issues. In the meantime I have found the leg press to still be an excellent exercise, especially since form can be much more strictly, or easily, controlled. But yeah, I want to do squats again someday.

The last big difference is my diet. It's way better this time around. You can read my first diet in my bulk results post linked above. This time I'm doing oatmeal (quaker oats), 96% lean beef, boneless and skinless chicken breasts, brown rice, almonds, natural peanut butter, Udo's 3-6-9 omega fat oil blend, and protein shakes (using milk). Waaay cleaner than the Kashi GoLean, Sandwiches and spaghetti I was doing the first time around. I've got some things I want to tweak about my diet, but I'm pretty happy with it as is, compared to the first one.

So to sum up:

2nd bulk.
Slower bulk. Aiming for one pound or less per week
Knee is doing much better, can do quad exercises again
Much cleaner diet
Will not be updated daily. But at least weekly, for public weight tracking purposes
Other than that, a few random posts here and there
Not all entries as long as first one. Probably just a few lines.

And for my first post, just a couple of notes.

Grippers. I'm thinking of getting some Captains of Crush grippers. Why not have a better grip? It seems massively helpful, very useful, and highly functional.
After just 5½ pounds, some of my smaller shirts are already starting to get a little tight. Tight shirts always feel pretty cool, psychologically.
I'm going to target my weight updates for Saturday. My cheat meal is on Saturday, so I figure that by Saturday morning I'll be as normal in weight as possible, since weight measurements for a few days after the cheat are artificially inflated, it seems.

You started a journal! Woo-hoo! I'll be looking forward to reading about your progress.

I'm so happy to hear that your knees are doing better. I know how much this was troubling you, so that's fantastic news. :)

ETA: Pictures!!! :D

I'd read somewhere, could have been Waterbury stuff, that you don't necessarily have to increase weight in order to get proper stimulus and growth going again. You can change the set/rep scheme and/or rest time.

So that's what I tried today. For the previous three weeks I've been doing 4 sets, 6 reps, with about 70 seconds rest between sets. Well this week I did the same exercises at the same weights, but instead I did 3 sets and 8 reps. Man did I feel a difference after each exercise was done. I was really skeptical about it at first. I mean come on, just do two more reps, but one less set? It doesn't sound like much of a difference at all. But wow, in practice it really was.

I LOVE that really tight/pumped feeling that I get throughout my whole arm when I do bicep/tricep supersets. It feels awesome. I got that today and I haven't done direct armwork in over a month, including today. Although part of the reason may be that I started doing these (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBWideGripSeatedRow.html) for my back workouts, which I'll continue doing for the next three weeks. I really like them. Deadlifts and BB Bent over rows were starting to feel a little stale, although I'm sure they would have benefitted from the new set/rep scheme. It's time to give them a break, and I'll return to them in a few weeks.

So between the new set/rep setup and the new back exercise, today was a pretty good day.


You started a journal!

I did! :D Been thinking about it for months.

ETA: Pictures!!! :D

You first. :whistle:;)

But seriously, yeah, I'd planned to take some this Saturday. You'll have to remind me, lest I forget. I don't think there's going to be much of a difference at the moment though, since I'm around the same weight I was when I did my "after" pictures in April.

Food



Everyday I'm in the game, I come across some new and interesting information. It really amazes me how complicated the body is and how massively important the diet is to body composition. Although it does make sense when you think about it, the body is built from the food you eat. It's not made out of thin air and magic. So it also makes sense that how you eat and what you eat are critically important. Way more so than your actual lifting routine.

So I feel a very heavy diet change coming on. It's all natural of course, but it seems to be in need of some serious rearranging, plus an addition or two here and there.

I'll be checking in tomorrow morning to see if you've posted pictures ;).

I switched to an upper/lower split today. God how I missed doing an upper/lower split. I like the philosophy of total body workouts, but I don't feel like I get enough work done. And traditional splits feel like there's too little work done as well, but for a different reason.

Upper/lower split seems to be an excellent balance for me. I love the great pump I get doing them and I love how I feel afterwards. I'm exhausted in all the right places and in all the right amounts; it feels awesome. I feel like I'm actually getting something done and giving my body a decent reconstruction task for when I'm sleeping, eating and otherwise recovering.

I'm feeling really good about it and I'm optimistic that I'm going to make some great progress in the coming weeks.

Having a cold sucks. My appetite is shot (but I'm eating anyways) and I hate having to constantly blow my damn nose, not to mention how much fluid I'm losing by doing so. Runny noses are one of my very top most hated things ever. If I found a genie lamp, aside from wishing to win the next big lottery and removing STDs from existence, runny noses would definitely be on the wish list. I HATE THEM VERY VERY MUCH.

I'm still ok to work out, but, the cold really isn't helping things.

Wow. I knew it had been awhile, but I didn't think it'd been this long.

Well, not much new or interesting over the last month; I'm just keeping on. Weight is up to a bit over 167 now.

The weights I'm lifting now are similar to what they were at the end of my last bulk, where I was close to the weight I am now. At first I thought I had stagnated or plateaued, but then tonight I realized that the volume I'm doing now is considerably more than it was before. For example, I had been doing 3x5 for my lifts. The 4th and 5th reps on that last set were very hard. I do not think I would have been able to do a 4th set, and definitely not more reps during the first 3 sets. Now, however, I'm doing those same weights but I'm doing them 3x8 and 4x6. 15 vs 24 but same weight. A 60% increase - big difference. If I went back and did the 3x5 scheme now, I'd definitely be doing a respectable amount more than I was before. So, I am happy now. I'll continue as planned.

I also noticed that my bulks are far cleaner than my cuts. Part of this is the skinny guy mentality of me wanting to be bigger, and wanting to do it right and not mess up. Part of it though, is lack of desires and cravings to deviate. Maybe it's the diet, since I'm full and satiated all the time. i.e. no room for extras. I guess the stuff I feel so strongly compelled to sneak during my cuts (a dark chocolate hershey's or snickers here and there; a bottle of snapple iced tea all the time) must be these "carb cravings" people are always talking about. I didn't think I was getting them at the time, but comparing my bulk to my cut, I suppose that must be it.

So things are well. By this time next month I hope to be at that "end of first bulk" figure in my sig. :D I'll then be heavier than I ever have before. This makes me --> :jumping: and :claphigh:. In a totally unmanly way. When no one is looking.

167.4 this morning. I was 159.2 on October 30th. 8.2 pounds in 11 weeks. Pants are still decently loose on the waist, so fat gain must be going pretty slow. So far, so good.

Also making good progress in the gym. Happiness all around.

167.4 this morning. I was 159.2 on October 30th. 8.2 pounds in 11 weeks. Pants are still decently loose on the waist, so fat gain must be going pretty slow. So far, so good.

Also making good progress in the gym. Happiness all around.

:jumping: :claplow:

NO KNEE PAIN DURING MY QUAD EXERCISES AT THE GYM TONIGHT. THIS IS ME RIGHT NOW ---->:jumping::jumping::jumping::jumping:


I'm not counting it healed yet because you never know, maybe it was just a "good day" for the knee. Although it hasn't been pain free during lifts like this in over a year. I was also being very, very exacting about my foot placement, knee motion, and rep form tonight. So maybe it was a combination of the two. I've also only been doing legs once per week for the time being, despite being on an upper/lower split (which would dictate twice per week), because I want to give the knees as much rest and time to heal as possible while also still getting some leg work done. Furthermore, I'm only doing leg press for quads, and doing 4 x 10, since leg press seems to put the least amount of strain on my knees (don't get me wrong though, I'd love to squat again and I look forward to it in the future). Lastly, I am still doing those leg and knee exercise things that An0maly1982 led me to (who seems to have disappeared again. Come back! :p).

Anyways, hopefully this is a good sign. We'll see what happens next week.

This week's weight: 168.0. Perfect increase rate from last week.

My triceps are still sore from Thursday's upper body workout, where I did skull crushers. I haven't done direct tricep work in a very long time, probably around 8 months, since I've been going only on whatever workout they get from the compound movements I do. That used to be enough, since after bench press and military press in the past (during a full body routine), my triceps would already be pretty weak and I couldn't lift nearly what I was able to with fresh triceps.

Well I'm glad I decided to do them again (I also started doing direct bicep stuff a couple of weeks ago, 3 x 8 standing ez bar curls). I have no idea if their strength has increased since I have never done skull crushers before. I used to work them by doing that two-handed tricep extension behind my head using a weight plate (our dumbbells at the school gym sucked, but the weight plates (http://www.ironcompany.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1336) were very comfy for doing this). I have no idea how the two exercises compare in terms of weight lifting ability, but I was doing a 35 pound plate with the standing deal, and a 40 pound ez curl bar setup with the skull crushers on thursday. These are the preset sort of ez bars, where the endcaps are basically welded to the bar, or whatever (well that's what it looks like). It only goes in increments of 10, so I can't do 45 unless I hunt down the loadable ez curl bar and figure out exactly how much it weighs (no one seems to know for sure). So if the 40 goes as well on Monday as it did the other day, I might just do the 50 on Thursday. I honestly didn't think I'd be moving numbers like that for skull crushers.

Long story short: bullk going well. Lifting numbers up :bb:, scale numbers up :eat:.

Long story short: bullk going well. Lifting numbers up :bb:, scale numbers up :eat:.

Good, great, and fantastic. Keep up the good work, ecto.:eat::bb::flex:

Good, great, and fantastic. Keep up the good work, ecto.:eat::bb::flex:

Thanks a lot. :) I don't forsee myself ever stopping, so the good work is just going to keep coming.

You do continue to be an inspiration and benchmark for me, so don't leave us plz. :p

I'm actually working on the "gain 20 pounds" thing, just on a relatively long time scale. It's taken me more or less three months to gain 10 pounds on my current bulk, which I'm keeping at a slow pace on purpose (trying to minimize fat gain, unlike last time). So at my current rate, it's going to be another three months before I hit the 20 pound mark, making six months total. But yeah, I'm working on it.

What I'm finding especially cool right now is that I'm significantly stronger right now than I was back in May, and I'm at about the same body weight. So I seem to have picked up some strength along the way. Same weight, but stronger! It feels really awesome. I love doing an upper/lower split. It feels like I get so much more accomplished than during a full body routine (which I do still like the philosophy of).

Weekly Saturday weigh-in: 169. Exactly 1 pound up from last week. It was actually bouncing between 169.0 and 169.2, which I'd normally be inclined to call 169.1, but I'm just going to call it 169 for now.

So far, so good. :)

And today's weight means: I'M GOING TO BE 170 SOON. WOOT. Go me.

My best friend sounds like he's getting more and more serious about getting healthy with each passing today. His revelation came by way of a company soccer game he played (invited his sister along to play, she's really big into soccer, both in and out of school). He felt so horribly out of shape and out of breath after only a few minutes in game that the experience has been nagging away at his mind for weeks. He's not fat or anything, he's just out of shape. So he's looking to get fit and get healthy now. When he's done fitness in the past, he's only ever been a cardio guy. But today on AIM while he was at work he was talking about lifting weights and asked for advice on a routine. I was absolutely jumping for joy inside :jumping:; looks like I'm finally rubbing off on him! So I set him up with one and he's at the gym right now, hopefully pounding it out. I sent him a big ass email about diet and nutrition and how important it is, so we'll see what happens. :D

Congrats on your bulking progress! :tu: Looks like things are moving along smoothly.

My best friend sounds like he's getting more and more serious about getting healthy with each passing today. His revelation came by way of a company soccer game he played (invited his sister along to play, she's really big into soccer, both in and out of school). He felt so horribly out of shape and out of breath after only a few minutes in game that the experience has been nagging away at his mind for weeks. He's not fat or anything, he's just out of shape. So he's looking to get fit and get healthy now. When he's done fitness in the past, he's only ever been a cardio guy. But today on AIM while he was at work he was talking about lifting weights and asked for advice on a routine. I was absolutely jumping for joy inside :jumping:; looks like I'm finally rubbing off on him! So I set him up with one and he's at the gym right now, hopefully pounding it out. I sent him a big ass email about diet and nutrition and how important it is, so we'll see what happens. :D

That's great. Maybe this experience was a wake-up call for him. :nod: But don't be disappointed if it doesn't take. If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked for and have given advice regarding diet and training and that advice was subsequently ignored, I wouldn't be writing this from my dorm room but from a villa on the Bahamas.

Congrats on your bulking progress! :tu: Looks like things are moving along smoothly.



That's great. Maybe this experience was a wake-up call for him. :nod: But don't be disappointed if it doesn't take. If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked for and have given advice regarding diet and training and that advice was subsequently ignored, I wouldn't be writing this from my dorm room but from a villa on the Bahamas.

Well my hopes aren't up all that much. He's talked about working out a lot in the past. Working out for him though always meant hitting the cardio stuff, it's never been weight lifting. He goes to the gym a few times every now and again, but hasn't ever really been consistent. This is, however, the first time he's mentioned weight lifting, so I'm just a tad bit more hopeful than the previous times. He does have a real pain in the ass job though, which takes up a lot of his time and always puts him in a mood to do nothing but sit around, so we'll see what happens this time.

This is so funny. I had a lifting dream last night. I was throwing 100lb dumbbells around like they were only 2lbs; it was so effortless. Curl, shoulder press, anything. I was so happy. I went and told a former roommate of mine, who has been lifting since high school (though he's 5 years younger than me) and he was impressed at my progress. :lol:


But...but....then I woke up. :cry:

Still, funny as hell. Anyone else ever have a lifting dream?

169.8 this morning.

Workouts were good this week. My friend also did his workout Wednesday like he said, and said he was going back yesterday too.

Also, I saw a guy at the gym on Thursday who seemed to be about Carguy's age and build (actually looked a lot like him :p), climb up and do 10 pullups. You know, the hard pullups, the ones with your palms facing away from you. They weren't assisted either, as it wasn't a machine, but one of those jungle-gym looking deals. I watched him do all 10, because it was such an amazing sight to see.

Also, I saw a guy at the gym on Thursday who seemed to be about Carguy's age and build (actually looked a lot like him :p), climb up and do 10 pullups. You know, the hard pullups, the ones with your palms facing away from you. They weren't assisted either, as it wasn't a machine, but one of those jungle-gym looking deals. I watched him do all 10, because it was such an amazing sight to see.

Boy, I wish I could do that. :nod: I'm working on it. Today I did 8 unassisted chinups, which is a lot for me. Pullups are still harder and it will take me longer to conquer them.

Keep up your good work.:tu:

(actually looked a lot like him :p)

Must have been one handsome dude.:whistle:

I was 167.8 on Saturday. I did miss several meals over the week, but not enough for a significant portion of it to have been fat or muscle. It's probably mostly fluid. My appetite started slipping at some point in the week and guess what? I'm all-out sick today. The reduced appetite must have been an early symptom.

Before, being sick used to just annoy me. Epspecialy stuffed, runny noses, which I passionately hate - even more than I hate rain. Now that I'm lifting and getting in good shape and so forth, it flat out pisses me off. Especially during a bulk. And especially since I didn't lift last week because I was so busy. I had a lot going on, which was unavoidable stuff, so I figured it was a good time to take a week off anyways. Now that I'm sick however, I'm not going to be able to hit the gym this week either (personally I find it rude, or unethical or some other such thing. If I had a home gym, I'd lift).

So, a second week off it is, apparently. When I do start up again, I've decided to change my plan for the next two cycles (1 cycle = 3-4 weeks) in two ways. Currently, I'm doing an U/L split, each half twice per week. I'm going to change it to full body. Also, I'm doing 3x8 sets and 4x6 sets right now. I'm going to change that to either 3x12 or 4x12. I've been doing low to medium rep sets for a long time now, so it's time for a change on that front.

In diet news, I finally ordered some Nitrean. As I'm a little strapped at the moment, I only got the 2.2lb tub. The stuff I'm using now is EAS 100% Whey. It's just about gone, so when it goes I'll start using the Nitrean. I was reading up last night and the night before about casein and protein blends and their respective benefits and effects, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not all that thrilled about the price, but I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up. My current stuff is $40 for a 5 pound tub. I can get it locally and there's no tax (counts as food, apparently). 4.6lbs Nitrean however is $48 up front, plus $7 for shipping. So that's 15 bucks more for half a pound less. Since I've heard so many great things about it, I'm just going to suck it up and eat the cost. If I get the results I'm hoping for, I guess it'll be worth it.

Looking forward to next Monday; hopefully I'll be over whatever I've got since I'm eager to try the new plan and new protein.

I started doing a high rep workout today for the first time in a long time. I very quickly remembered why I don't like them. They make me want to run home, :cry:, hide under my bed, and never lift weights ever again. And that's only part-way through the first exercise. By the time I get halfway through the 3rd set (out of 4), I want to drop the weights right on that rep and run away and hide. I do not like high reps, Sam I am. But if this is what I need to do to get some decent hypertrophy going, then so be it. If this doesn't jumpstart my growth, I am afraid of what will.

Finallly got my Nitrean today. Exactly 1 full week after I ordered it. Ground shipping only, plus being on the west coast while the company is on the east coast, doesn't work out very nicely. I'm going to have to keep some serious tabs on how much I've gone through so that I can order far enough in advance to get more before the current batch runs out. I am looking forward to how the blend of different digestion rate proteins affects my growth and progress.

And how cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute! There was even a little handwritten note on the invoice inside the box saying thanks.

Man, high reps kill me dead. I think I need to use even less weight than I am now. Either way, I'm looking forward to this cycle being done so I can go back to a 3x5 setup, which I haven't done in a long time, for some straight up strength.

Also so Carguy's stunt double again tonight. This time he was doing front squats at 205lbs. using only 2 fingers on each hand to hold the bar.

As for real Carguy, keep at it man, you can do it. :)

Started reading Starting Strength last night. It's doing wonders for my squat form. I've been doing some practice squats as I've been reading it and I'm getting better at it. I've gotten to the point where the form I'm using doesn't hurt my knee (the pain of which has shifted from my right to my left). It's amazing how in depth he goes into the explanations of every single little aspect of proper form. Lots of pictures and diagrams too. Looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Mark Rippetoe is officially my hero. At least when it comes to the fitness world. I just read something in the deadlift section of Starting Strength that I've long suspected since screwing up my knee. He says that the deadlift can be used as a leg exercise if squatting is too difficult or painful due to a knee or hip injury. It is obviously not as effective as a squat, but you can get at least some leg work done.

<3

I wanted to go back to low reps this week (strength) because I love doing it so much, but I don't think I'm going to be able to, for a few reasons. Well let me rephrase that, I COULD, but it's probably not a good idea. Biggest among those reasons is I ran out of Nitrean and wasn't able to order any more until last night! I had the little jug, for testing purposes, so it ran out quickly. Since it takes a week to get to me, I probably shouldn't go back to working on strength since I don't have a blended protein until more Nitrean gets here; especially to keep me held over while I sleep (casein). So this means I'll probably continue my high rep workouts this week.

On a different note, Let it be known that I hate deadlifting with non-circular plates. They have edges; they are not round. It sucks. There's no round plates anywhere in the gym either, they're all edged. What sucks about deadlifting with 12-sided stop signs is that it's a real pain in the ass getting the bar back on the ground in proper position. Bars rotate - it's just the way it is. So one plate might still be aligned with a flat side parallel to the ground, but the other plate might have a vertex pointed at the ground, meaning the bar comes to rest at an angle in relation to you. Sometimes both of them come down on a vertex. (The plates in my gym are these (http://www.ironcompany.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=228)). You really don't notice the issue of round vs. edged until you're doing a lift where the plates need to be on the ground for each rep.

What sucks even more is that it's not like metal plates experience any worthwhile wear and tear. So the gym has no incentive to get new plates, let alone round ones. When I have my own home gym someday, you can bet your ass the plates are going to be round!

169.4. (76.84kg)

It looks like I finally gained back the weight I lost when I was sick a few weeks back. I hate getting sick. Especially nowadays because having such a fast metabolism and being lean by default means I alway lose several pounds despite my best efforts (hard to keep eating up when you have no appetite and have to force it down). I'm up to about the weight I was when I got sick. My pants seem like they're a tad looser than than they were before though. Several explanations I'm sure, but I like it either way.

It also looks like I've hit the calories:weight wall that I did during my last bulk, since I've had to increase my calories a bit during the last week. I added a banana and the other half of the serving of peanut butter I have with breakfast (but later in the day). We'll see how this fairs next Saturday when I weigh in again.

I should be getting the nitrean that I ordered this past monday soon. Probably this coming monday. Last time I ordered one 2 pound jug, to try it out. This time I ordered two of the normal sized jugs (4.6lbs), one chocolate and one strawberry. I like having a blended protein like this, as I think the slower digesting proteins are especially good for someone like me who no doubt cannibalizes more muscle than other people overnight when the last meal runs out. It just makes me feel happier having it around.

I'm not going to swear by it or anything, but on a whim I tried one of those online bodyfat calulators earlier this week. It came out to 12.8%. It asks for your waist and hips, plus forearm and wrist. The waist and hips I can understand, because the waist seems to carry a lot more fat than the hips. Compare John's waist and hip stats over the past 5 years and you can see how the ratio changes wildly with body fat levels. What I'm curious about though is how the forearm:wrist part works. The forearm can get really big with muscle, but the wrist is pretty constant, so I'm wondering how it works in the bodyfat calculation.

I know, you people are like "blah blah blah, where's the pics?" :p Well I hadn't planned on it until about 175, since right now I'm only 6 pounds bigger than the last pictures you saw (which, as it turns out, are my "after" pictures). So I don't think there'll be much of a difference. When I get to the mid 170s however, that'll be a good 11-13 pounds more than before, so we'll see.

Looks like you're making good progress :tu:. When I get sick I gain a few pounds because I firmly believe that the best medication for sore throats and stuffy noses is chocolate chip ice cream. :o

Looks like you're making good progress :tu:. When I get sick I gain a few pounds because I firmly believe that the best medication for sore throats and stuffy noses is chocolate chip ice cream. :o

See, when I get sick my appetite usually goes to shit. Since I've been eating right and working out, I've noticed that the first sign that I may be getting sick is when my appetite starts to drop off and I can't get all my meals down. Sure enough, a few days later the runny nose and such starts.

I think I get what you're saying though. Although I do stay eating clean, I'd find it much easier and more satisfying to have a can of spaghettios or a few slices of cheese or something :p. Which is exactly what I'd do in the past.

Edit: Page 2! Woo hoo! By my standards anyways, I have threads set to 30 posts per page.

Yay, strength training.

I had to go to the gym a couple of hours earlier than I usually do because I wanted to be back by 8:30pm to see my friend on TV, an event I've waited months to see! So this landed me right at peak rush hour. On the upside there was a lot of gorgeous scenery and lifting companionship, but on the downside, DAMN there was a lot of people. All five squat racks were taken - two of them by guys doing curls. This annoys me to no end because we have a very large arm section at my gym. There are plenty of places to set a bar at hand level. There are mirrors. There are loadable full size barbells. So I don't get what the deal was. Whatever. So I waited it out and got my deadlifts in. Theoretically I could do these elsewhere, but the reality is that there is no room. It's a large gym with a lot of equipment, but it's also too close together to do deads anywhere but the squat racks.

Anyways, the bench press stations were full too. Two of them by people doing some sort of step up thing. No weights, just stepping up like the bench was a stair. Again, other places to do this.

Despite these hiccups, I still got my workout done in a decent length of time, so it was alright in the end. I'm back to doing 3x5, which I really love. I haven't done these in a long time. The last three weeks has been 3-4 x 10-12 and the past lots of months before that I was doing 4x6 and 3x8. So it's really nice to be back to 3x5, since it's also my favorite. Not only can I move the most weight with this scheme (ego! :p), but I make the best progress with it too. Plus I don't feel nearly as drained as when I do high reps with light weight.

Despite how long it's been since I did 3x5, I lifted more weight than I ever have with it for my working sets:

Deadlifts:
last time - 185, bit of a struggle, pretty intense.
this time - 195, felt like I could do at least 10 more.Bench:
last time - 135, same feeling as last deadlift.
this time - 145 - not a struggle and felt like I could maybe do 10 more.Press (standing, overhead, ez-curl bar):
last time - 60lbs, pretty hard
this time - 70lbs, a little hard, but not as much as the previous 60lbsSo the 3x8 and 4x6 schemes over the past several months must have obviously increased my strength (duh, my lifts during then went up. plus this is supposed to increase strength anyways), and I really didn't lose any over the last few weeks with high reps.

Looking forward to how the next month plays out with this. Maybe I can get that fabled second plate on the bar for my deadlifts in the next couple of months :D.

Yay, strength training.

DAMN there was a lot of people. All five squat racks were taken - two of them by guys doing curls. This annoys me to no end because we have a very large arm section at my gym. There are plenty of places to set a bar at hand level. There are mirrors. There are loadable full size barbells. So I don't get what the deal was.

In the past when I went to one of those "Social Gyms" and something like this happened I would just ask something bordering on the rude side of things. You could try to ask if they might consider moving so that you can use the rack for what it is meant for. Asking works and if the guy does not want to comply with your request he is probably a dickhead any ways. But ask. The answer will 100% of the time be 'NO'; unless you ask.

After doing barbell rows and leg press tonight*, I tried some dips and pull/chin ups. To my surprise, I was able to do 3x7 for dips and it was the first time I've ever done them. Pull-ups were another story however. I was able to do a whole.....one! :lol: I think I learned a few things about form for that, so I might be able to do a bit more on Monday. For chin-ups I was able to do 1x3 and 1x2. Again, I learned some things about form when I got home, so I can probably do better next time. I'm not really sure this gym is equipped for chin-ups though.


* I might trying a few squats sometime soon, though it'll be with very light weight. Probably just the bar a few times, and if that goes ok, maybe 10-20lbs per side. I really don't want to screw up this knee thing.

In the past when I went to one of those "Social Gyms" and something like this happened I would just ask something bordering on the rude side of things. You could try to ask if they might consider moving so that you can use the rack for what it is meant for. Asking works and if the guy does not want to comply with your request he is probably a dickhead any ways. But ask. The answer will 100% of the time be 'NO'; unless you ask.

Well there are 5 squat racks there, so in the end it's really no big deal to just wait. When I was in school though, the school's gym only had 1 squat rack, so it was really bad when people did that. Luckily though, there was room to do deadlifts elsewhere.

Well there are 5 squat racks there, so in the end it's really no big deal to just wait. When I was in school though, the school's gym only had 1 squat rack, so it was really bad when people did that. Luckily though, there was room to do deadlifts elsewhere.

My gym only has 1 squat rack. Luckily (for me, not for them) only very few people do squats at my gym.

Deadlifts... :dreamy:

My gym only has 1 squat rack. Luckily (for me, not for them) only very few people do squats at my gym.

Deadlifts... :dreamy:

Yeah, but what about curls and bench presses in the squat rack? :p Having only one squat rack sucks. :(

Speaking of girls doing squats, when I was at the gym on Monday during the busy hours, two of the squat racks were being used by girls doing squats. One of them had 65lbs on the bar (30kg), but she was pretty slight, couldn't have been more than 100lbs (45kg). The other one had around 185lbs on the bar I think (84kg), but this was a pretty big girl. Not fat big mind you, just proportionately bigger than most girls out there (about as tall as me, and probably weighed more). There was a third person doing squats and it was this big black dude doing 405lbs (184kg). He was really cut too. It was nice seeing the racks being used for what they're supposed to be used for.

(see, I converted all of those to kg for you). :D

170.2. (77.20kg)

YAY. I don't have to type the 6 anymore. At least not for the tens digit! Also assuming my current rate of gain holds, which it should. As per my sig, I'm heading into uncharted territory now! You know though, this may have been higher. During my middle of the night trip to the bathroom last night, it wasn't just a leak this time. It was, um, more, you know. I can't really control the time of day this particular bathroom trip happens, which is somewhat unfortunate, because it has significant implications for weight. After I go, it's usually anywhere from ½ a pound to a full 1 pound that's lost. Today I went in the middle of the night, whereas last week I went a few hours after waking. So to be properly comparable, we really should add ½ a pound to this week's weight, or take it off of last week's weight (169.4lbs, 76.84kg). In that case, you can see I gained more than just 0.8 pounds. Anyways, we'll just go with these official weights each week and try not to think about these other factors.

GOD I love strength training. High weights, low reps. Yesterday's workout, which is the same as Monday's (I'm doing A/B), definitely wasn't as easy as Monday. I was still able to do all the sets and reps for each exercise, at the same weight levels as on Monday, and none of them were to failure, but still, it felt harder. I guess that's the difference between being full rested as far as low reps/high weights go and having just done them 4 days ago. Starting Strength has definitely helped me out a lot when it comes to these lifts and I think I may be able to add a bit of weight on Wednesday when I do this workout again (A). Looking forward to it.

While resting after one of my deadlift sets yesterday, I tried a few squats with an empty bar, seeing as how the squat rack next to me just happened to have an oh so conveniently place bar for my height. The bar is only 45lbs (20kg), which is basically nothing at all, but not having any pain in my knees during the lift was a BIG step. Because last year at this time when I did my last squats until now, there was knee pain regardless of weight, hell, even with NO bar, just bodyweight. Still, an empty bar is a different story than a bar loaded up with weight. We'll see what I'm feeling like come Monday.

Oh, I suppose I should add my 'Gym sight of the day' for yesterday. There was this guy at the other end of the squat rack area when I was doing my deadlifts. He was doing deadlifts and clean-n-presses (275lbs (124kg) for deadlifts and 155lbs (70kg) for the clean-n-press). He was alternating between the two. Not supersetting though, he was fully resting between sets. So that was cool to see. Oh yeah, there was another sight to see too. There was this guy who was doing this thing where you start of laying on the ground, holding a weight up in the air with one hand, and while continuing to hold it in the air the whole time, you work your way to a standing position, then work back down to laying down. I've heard of these before, but I forget what they're called. First time I've seen someone doing them in a long time.

Congrats on hitting 170! Well done!

There was this guy who was doing this thing where you start of laying on the ground, holding a weight up in the air with one hand, and while continuing to hold it in the air the whole time, you work your way to a standing position, then work back down to laying down. I've heard of these before, but I forget what they're called. First time I've seen someone doing them in a long time.

Turkish getups.

I see you've started converting everything to metric ;).

Congrats on hitting 170! Well done!

Thanks. :) Next step, 175!

I see you've started converting everything to metric ;).

I have :D. I figure there's so many metric users here that I might as well. Plus I personally hate seeing a bunch of metric and having to go to a site and covert them, so hey, I may as well do other users like me a favor and offer both right out of the box, right? I also figure it'll help me get used to using and thinking in metric, for weight at least, if I'm always converting my own measurements.

lbs/kgs.

Today
Deadlifts: 200 / 90. Up by 5 / 2¼ from last time.
Flat BB Bench: 150 / 68. Up by 5 / 2¼ from last time.Deadlifts. 2½ more pounds on each side and it'll be an even 35lb plate next to the 45. Just 10 more on each side after that and it'll be the magical 2nd full plate on the bar. It's technically 102kg, but it's the visual equivalent of 100kg (assuming, if I'm right, your bars and plates are 20kg over in euroland).

Bench, just a neat numerical milestone.

For the overhead press, I really need to find out how much the different ez bars at my gym weigh. They aren't branded, and I tried looking online to generally see how much they weigh and I was getting figures all over the place. 12 to 25 and everything in between. Anyway, once I figure that out I'll be able to increment the weight by 5 pounds on each side (2¼kg). The bars that have the plates welded to them only go in 10lb increments (almost 5kg). For exercises that don't move a lot of weight, relatively, this is bad. Curls, skullcrushes, overhead presses, etc. Anyways, I did 70lbs (32kg) on the overhead press today like I did last time. I felt like I could have done a bit more, but I'm going to have to get the loadable bars and figure out how much they weight so that I can get a 5lb overall increment. Although alternatively, I suppose, I could just use a full size barbell since I already know how much those weigh.

if there is a scale around you should take the bar on there with ya to weigh it. i've had to do this before.

if there is a scale around you should take the bar on there with ya to weigh it. i've had to do this before.

I've been wanting to do this for quite a while now. The problem is that there apparently isn't a scale in the main workout area (i.e. downstairs). It's probably upstairs (this is a two story gym), no doubt in the locker room. I've been meaning to ask, but as it's not all that important, I haven't. If it is indeed upstairs, taking an empty ez-curl bar upstairs and into the locker room is going to be pretty strange. :p

It's technically 102kg, but it's the visual equivalent of 100kg (assuming, if I'm right, your bars and plates are 20kg over in euroland).

The official Oly bars are but the ones at my gym are modified and have plastic on the end so they only weigh 11kg. The plates are 20kg.

The official Oly bars are but the ones at my gym are modified and have plastic on the end so they only weigh 11kg. The plates are 20kg.

Ok. So it's still the same visually :p (a bar and 2 plates for each side). To match up the weights however, I guess one would have to add 5kg to each side.


Which bar do you have for your home gym?

Which bar do you have for your home gym?

It's a regular 10 kg bar.

I want to go back to the gym and do more deadlifts :(. I don't want to wait until monday :cry:.

171.4lbs, 77.7kg. (up 1.2lbs, 0.5kg)


I had some kind of internal-ish injury show up on Thursday that I didn't know was there until I went to go lay down to go to sleep that night. I don't remember hurting myself either. It was the kind of pain that was only there in certain positions. Namely, laying pefectly flat on my back, or trying to breathe while laying down in said flat position. There were a few other positions which were mostly stretching upwards or twisting my upper body to the left. One way I found to make the pain go away, for some reason, was to have my chest out and shoulders back, in the sort of flexed position that Rippetoe says to use to hold the bar and keep your form when doing squats. So when I did that, the pain would be 90% gone.

It worked for leg presses. It wasn't possible to hold and maintain for dips, nor pull-ups, the latter of which was very painful because of the aforementioned stretching-up position when at the bottom of the pull. There was no pain at all for the barbell bent-over rows, which had nothing to do with the chest out, shoulders back position, since it was just one of those positions that didn't hurt to hold or breathe in.

Needless to say, the first half of my workout went alright, but the second half sucked. I was only able to half ass do dips and couldn't really do pull-ups worth a damn. Since I've woken up today it seems to be gone, but we'll see what happens at the end of the day when I go to lay down to go to sleep.

Also, no interesting gym sights to report today. At least none that haven't been mentioned previously.

In unrelated news, I had the strangest and most random Beavis & Butthead dream last night.

Oh. My. God. Happy Ecto is happy. I had a great workout today. I felt much better than on Friday, plus it was a better workout than the one I did on Wednesday to boot. I felt very worked out when I left the gym.

Deadlifts were +5lbs (2¼kg) from last week. This means that it was an even 45 plate + 35 plate on each side, for 205lbs (93kg) total. On top of that, I did more reps too. Last week was 5, 5, 5, at 200lbs (90kg). This week it was 5, 5, 6, 6, at 205lbs (93kg). So two more reps on two of the sets, but with one extra set as well. I actually broke a sweat doing deadlifts today and I've never really been much of a sweater at the gym in the past. It looks like 225lbs (102kg), which is 2 full plates on each side, may be happening sooner rather than later.

I also tried doing overhead presses with a barbell today instead of the ez-curl bar, like I said I might. I'm glad I did because it felt like a totally different experience. Different in a good way. I felt like I worked more muscles in the shoulder area by doing it with a barbell instead of an ez-curl bar, especially all along the rear of the top of my back. It felt really awesome. I also did +5lbs (2¼kg) from last week for a total of 75lbs (34kg) this week vs. 70lbs (32kg) last week. The feeling that I had after doing these though is absolutely what's going to make me do these with a barbell from now on.

Workout was alright today. Did the same weight for deadlifts today as I did on Monday, but for 4x6, rather than 5, 5, 6, 6. I'm actually not sure how I want to do deadlifts right now. 3x5 just doesn't seem like enough anymore, so I was thinking 5x5. On the other hand, Rippetoe only has one set of deadlifts in the Starting Strength program. My program right now is mostly the same as SS, except that I can't do squats. Anyways, I'll figure something out.

Overhead presses with the barbell felt a bit easier today than on Monday (though not easy, mind you). Bench felt a little off today.

I did one arm dumbbell triceps extensions on Wednesday because dips just didn't really feel like enough. I'm glad I did because it felt awesome. Looking forward to how I progress with them, especially since I think they're lagging behind my biceps, both in terms of size and strength.

Weight has been good this week, so tomorrow's official weigh in should turn out a pretty good number.

I saw this girl with tattoos down her right arm at the gym tonight, and I just couldn't help but be reminded of the discussion on tattoos going on in the off topic section right now.

173.4lbs, 78.6kg.

A full 2lbs and almost 1kg up from last week. I have no idea why that is. My diet has been the same. No unschedule cheats, no extra food...I don't know. The potatoes in this week's bag were bigger than usual, but nothing that would account for 100% more weight gained than usual.

Workouts were pretty intense this week, but I don't see how that would account for that much extra weight gained. X amount of calories over maintenance is x amount of calories over maintenance, you know? Unless maybe my body saw fit to use more and waste less (i.e. be more efficient) due to the better, more intense workouts this week. Other than that, I've got no idea.

Anyways, I'm not sure what to make of it and I'm really not convinced there wasn't a significant amount of fat there. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I'll see how this next week goes and we'll see what happens at next Saturday's weigh-in.

It's been a long time since I drew up my current diet. Since it's changed a bit here and there over the past few months and since I was curious, I decided to refigure the spreadsheet.

No wonder I had to add a banana and another ½ serving of peanut butter - the potatoes are smaller. I eat a lot of potatoes and the slightly smaller potatoes I've been having to get the past couple of months are having a daily cumulative effect. At each meal it's not that big of a deal, but for each meal throughout the day it adds up. So my calories actually dipped by a couple of hundred calories or so, stalling my weight gain.

So with the refiguring, I see that it's back up to what it should be. I'm still gaining on 2800 calories and the breakdown comes out to about 36% protein, 45% carbohydrates, and 19% fat. It's actually an improvement from the original plan, although I didn't intend it that way. Fat was about 5% higher and protein was about 5% lower.

Honestly though, I just loving playing around in excel and plugging in formulas for everything. :p

Unassisted dips were up to 3x10 today. Unassisted pull-ups were up to 3, 2, 2. I r make progress kthx.

Unassisted dips were up to 3x10 today. Unassisted pull-ups were up to 3, 2, 2. I r make progress kthx.

:dreamy:

:dreamy:

:)......;)

Great job on the dips and pull ups. I'm working on those too.:tu:

Great job on the dips and pull ups. I'm working on those too.:tu:

Thanks. :) Remember these commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AGiq9j_Ak) from about 15 years ago? I'm looking at that avatar of yours, and the arms, and the whole 9 yards and I'm singing the little tune from that commercial.

Like Mike,
If I could be like Mike.
I wanna be like Mike.

:D

Maybe adding these dips and pull-ups will help me achieve that. :nod:

When I was in college, a guy down the hall (who was quite small, by the way) said that I didn't look like a Mike because that was such a tough name and I didn't look tough. Oh well, he's probably fat and old now. :lol:

When I was in college, a guy down the hall (who was quite small, by the way) said that I didn't look like a Mike because that was such a tough name and I didn't look tough. Oh well, he's probably fat and old now. :lol:

:lol: Well if you were to ever meet that guy again, you could be like "Ok, how about now?" :D

Sorry in advance for those of you with little screens and/or low resolutions. :p

I hadn't planned on taking any pictures until whenever I ended my bulk because there didn't really seem to be enough of a difference to warrant it. As I was going out of the bathroom today, however, I was surprised by what I saw in the mirror (just got back from the gym, so had my shirt off). So I decided to take pictures and compare.

I took some front ones and was pretty underwhelmed. I just couldn't get the look in the pictures right. You have to see it in person - I look way better :p. What really got me happy though was the back shot. I compared it to two others and it looks like there's a decent difference.
The first one is about a month before the end of my first bulk. It seems to have the best definition, but there's a distinct lack of that valley down the middle.
The second one is about 5 pounds into my second bulk after my first "cut" (no cardio :(, just ate below maintenance). It's just plain pitiful. At least it has that valley though. (I am absolutely doing cardio next time).
The third one, from today, is still during my second bulk, but about 10 pounds later. It has the valley down the middle and some alright definition. Traps and shoulders are pretty good compared to the other two, especially the first.Yay deadlifts? :D

1.
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1020/back040407ne7.jpg

2.
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8103/back120107ly1.jpg

3.
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8348/back040208pz0.jpg

Nice work! Your back's looking much wider and your delts have also grown. :)

wow, nice job. i can tell that your back has widened considerably.

You look much more substantial, a force to be reckoned with.:nod:

Great job so far.

Thanks guys. :) I can't put my finger on why it looks bigger, from the second one to the third one, but it does. The distance and conditions are about the same. Maybe it's the slightly more definition. No individual part looks big, so maybe it's the cumulative effect of the bit of extra weight added to all the constituent parts. The upper back seems to be a lot wider. What gets me every time I look at the latest picture is the trap area and just underneath it. :D

Anyways, I think my arms are too small. :( They are up to about 13½ though, but, blargh.

I came across a new term today. ILS: Imaginary Lat Syndrome. :lol: When googling around a bit I found this (http://www.zazzle.com/got_ils_imaginary_lat_syndrome_shirt-235857078327875177). It's a good thing I'm flat ass broke right now because I'm otherwise tempted to get it. Some of the other shirts on there are neat too. "Don't be a girly man...go heavy or go home."

Unassisted pull-ups were up to 3, 2, 2.

4/3/3 today, although I'm going to have to * those. The last rep for each set was so close that I'm really not sure if they can be counted as a rep or not. Either way, they should most definitely be full reps next time.

I never thought I'd progress so fast on these, but I'm happy that I am. A couple of weeks ago it was about 1, ½, ½, but now it's 4, 3, 3. Yay. :claphigh:

174.4lbs, 79.1kg.

Every week that goes by, I feel bigger. It takes me about two weeks to go through my clothes before I have to do laundry, so that means it can be anywhere from two weeks to almost a month before any 1 particular shirt gets worn. Since this means it's also anywhere from 2 to 4 lbs (0.9 - 1.8kg), some of the smaller shirts get noticably tighter and tighter everytime they're worn.

I've meant to get pictures of it for awhile now, so I'm going to try and do that next time. It's awesome because some of them feel like they're hanging on for dear life now and I don't think they'll be wearable too much passed 180. It looks really cool :D.

When I say "smaller" shirts, I'm talking about my medium sized ones. For a lot of years I bought large shirts. Now this wasn't because of an image thing mind you, it was because that's what was comfortable. I wasn't trying to hide my lack of size or any such thing, that actually never crossed my mind. I just didn't want shirts plastered to me like the pants I used to wear were before I was old enough to get a job and buy my own. However, a few years ago I started buying smaller shirts that would be more fitting to my size. I was always seeing guys whose shirts fit them so well and it looked really cool. So I wanted shirts that fit my shape too (hard to do with no meat though, as it turns out). Well, now those are the shirts that are getting really, really tight.

On the one hand it's really cool because yay, I get to be busting out of my shirt because I'm big(ger)! On the other hand it's sad because one of those shirts just so happens to be one of my absolute favorite ones and I might eventually not be able to wear it. :(

Amazed Ecto is amazed. The 96% beef I get comes in these rectangular plastic or whatever containers. Each one is about 1.3lbs of meat. They usually come out to $6.60-$6.70 each. I buy them in pairs so that comes out to close to $13.50 for 2.5lbs of 96% lean beef, which lasts 5 days. Expensive.

Well, the other day I went by a store that's pretty rare around in my region. I don't ever go there for myself, but my parents send me there periodically for stuff that goes on sale. I have a habit of looking in the meat sections of stores I go to just to see what the prices are like.

I was amazed by what I saw in this store. Floored. I had to look at the package for almost a minute to make sure of what I was seeing. I was looking at 2lbs of the exact same brand of 96% lean beef, but it was $6.89. It's the same stuff by the same brand, except it comes out to about $3.45/lb instead of $4.99/lb in the 1.3lb version.

So for the same $13.50 (give or take a quarter), I can get 4lbs instead of 2.5lbs. That's 60% more meat for the same price. 8 days of meat instead of 5 days. Same brand and everything. Only difference is the way it's packaged. A 2lb. roll versus a 1.3lb styrofoam rectangle. I normally don't give a rat's ass about what's on sale at which store, or which store has the same product as another one but for $0.20 cheaper, but, holy shit.

The best part? When it goes on sale it's $5 for the 2lb roll. This is basically "buy 1, get 1 free" of the other stuff, which never happens.

I know, I'm post whoring these last 24 hours. I have one more post yet to make today though: I'm doing laundry right now, so the aforementioned shirt pictures are forthcoming. :D

Ok, here we go. I'm just going to link these this time since they're a tad big to put here.

Shirt 1 - This is one of my favorite shirts. The band named on the shirt is my favorite band, so this is a special shirt for me. It's awesome (I have another, different shirt for them too. though it's L and is still roomy). I'd say this is my 2nd tightest shirt on me at the moment.

front angle (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3313/shirt1anglenh7.jpg)
back (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9778/shirt1backkj3.jpg)


Shirt 2 - I'd say this is my tightest shirt right now. I almost have to squeeze myself into this shirt now and it's particularly tight in the arms, despite how small my arms actually are (still). It's also my one of my smallest shirts. When I stretch with my arms above or behind my head it comes up to above my belly button. :p

front angle (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/8232/shirt2angleme6.jpg)
back (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3340/shirt2backco9.jpg)


Shirt 3 - Another of my favorite shirts. I love the way this one looks the best. All three of these shirts are tight in the neck and upper part of the torso, but this one also fits my shape in the lower part of the torso better. It's not tight or anything in that area, it just doesn't hang straight downwards like the other two do. I love this shirt. It's so plain, yet so nice.

front angle (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9443/shirt3angledr6.jpg)
back (http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3633/shirt3backyp3.jpg)


The thing to remember here is that none of these shirts was even remotely tight in any area when I first bought them. They were all pretty roomy. So for them to have gotten so tight is clear indicator that I've made progress. Aside from the scale and tape measurements, these three shirts also serve as progress indicators for me. They start to feel noticably tighter in the high 160s area. We'll have to wait to find out at which point they become unwearable.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I decided to do one set of pull-ups at the beginning of each workout. So I started doing that today and I did 5 reps. Although it was more like 3 full reps and about 90% of a 4th and 5th. Again, it was so close that I'm not even sure what to call them.

Doing pull-ups feels really cool for some reason. I love doing them, which is something I never thought I'd feel. I think it felt especially cool today because a couple of people were staring at me as I was busting out those 5 pull-ups. :D

I think I'm going to take a much needed week off from lifting next week. I'm starting to feel like I need it. As I've been quoted as saying :p, I love working out and really hate when I miss workouts, but since this is planned, it'll be alright.

I think I'm going to take a much needed week off from lifting next week. I'm starting to feel like I need it. As I've been quoted as saying :p, I love working out and really hate when I miss workouts, but since this is planned, it'll be alright.

Now who would quote you as saying something as stupid as that?

Good job on the pull-ups! :tu:

I discovered kryptonite in my kitchen just now: Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. It must have been from one of my mom's friends who was over today. It's a good thing I'm not on a cut. I had two, although I could easily eat a whole package of them.


Now who would quote you as saying something as stupid as that?

:(......:blank:......:cry:

Good job on the pull-ups! :tu:

Thanks. :) I've found I love doing pull-ups. It feels awesome. I hope I can progress to 10 sooner rather than later. I saw something in passing a few weeks ago around here where someone was asking about how people seem to progress so quickly to 5-6 reps for pull-ups. I dread having to search for it because it's a pretty vague memory of the keywords that would bring it up.

:(......:blank:......:cry:

Don't cry. I still love you. :D

(Since I was the one who quoted you I was really ragging on myself, not you.)

Don't cry. I still love you. :D

:).....:love:.....:dreamy:

(Since I was the one who quoted you I was really ragging on myself, not you.)

Alas, my fame by way of a sig quote was short live. R.I.P. my 15 minutes.

Alllllmost a 5th pull-up today. Rest of the workout was fine. Actually, a little better than Monday.

It's vacation time, workout wise. I really do need the week off, but I am going to miss working out ;).

It's also time to change the workout up. So I've got a whole new plan for that as well. I've been going heavy for too long, so the first week back is going to be light.

Sounds like you're bulking quite well :tu:
Great looking delts, it's always easy to get a nice visual size increase just from delts, but I hear ya on arm size. I wish I could transfer my delt muscle to my biceps.

Sounds like you're bulking quite well :tu:
Great looking delts, it's always easy to get a nice visual size increase just from delts, but I hear ya on arm size. I wish I could transfer my delt muscle to my biceps.

Thanks. :)

For the arms, being tall doesn't help either :(. They have grown since I started, from 11in to 13½in, but they still look so flat and thin! I had a roommate for my two years in grad school (Aug. 05 - May 07) who was 19-20 at the time who had been lifting since some point in high school (so for a few years at least). He was 5'7", 180lbs, and meso (big beefy chinese guy!) and his arms are between 15 and 16 inches. Despite that we aren't that far apart in weight anymore, all of his measurements are quite a bit bigger since he's 4 inches shorter. He's really thick and meaty looking with "only" 180lbs.

Damn being tall(ish)! :p

175.4lbs, 79.6kg

Sometimes I think I mis-estimate how much fat I've been gaining. Sometimes I feel, and look, like my midsection has gotten far too fat. I think to myself "How is it the rest of me looks pretty lean, but I look like I've got a little Buddha belly going on?"

Well I paid some more attention to it yesterday and I've come to think that maybe it's just the day's accumulated food through various parts of the digestive tract. My midsection is relatively flat in the morning, happily enough. It grows throughout the day with each meal and then the next morning, it's flat and normal again.

This observation and revelation makes me happy and brings me to peace. I had previously been thinking "how could I be getting so damned big on just 1lb a week," (with about 20-23% fat in daily calories). Now I'm thinking that hey, maybe it's just 4-5 meals worth of a bulking person's digestive tract at work.

I could be wrong in this, of course, but I'm happy as long as I'm thinking about it this way :p. Anyone else noticed a similar sort of thing? What's the deal?

Are you measuring your waist in the morning before meals?
I know you can gain muscle mass in the back and that might make your measurements go up, but it would seem like fat gain would accumulate and expand outward at a faster clip, and that might be a way to differentiate.

Since you're bulking and eating a good quantity of food it will fill your digestive organs :nod:

Are you measuring your waist in the morning before meals?
I know you can gain muscle mass in the back and that might make your measurements go up, but it would seem like fat gain would accumulate and expand outward at a faster clip, and that might be a way to differentiate.

Since you're bulking and eating a good quantity of food it will fill your digestive organs :nod:

I actually don't take regular measurements. Other than my arm, but that's because it's so quick and convenient :p. I go by how my clothes fit. I did take a tape measurement this morning after I weighed myself, so I'll take another tonight after my last meal (if I remember) and see how they compare.

The extra meat on the back idea does make sense. But then I look at John, however, (and other people) and I see how at 160lbs and at 190lbs, he had the same size waist, about 31," but a lot more meat everywhere else. I think, "Damn."

So whenever I get done with this bulk I've got some work to do when it's time to cut. I'm hoping the ecto comes out in force and makes it a quick ride. :p I do still think a decent portion of it is, as mentioned, 2800 calories worth of food filling up my innards. :nod:

Happy Birthday Ecto!! :claphigh:

So I did remember remeasure my waist. At the end of the day, full of food and water, the measure is ¾ of an inch more than first thing in the morning. That's actually a pretty big difference. Damn food!

Happy Birthday Ecto!! :claphigh:

Thanks. Old man on the hill now. I'm only 3 years away from 30! :(

I have a pair of jeans I use as gauge too :D Non stretchy jeans or pants are good for that.

Indeed, it's interesting how people's bodies can change and be so different. Maybe it's due to a few factors - training and genetics, that some people in this case since we're talking about it, develop an incredible solid trunk with a pronounced six pack, obliques, and mountain ridge of a lower back. My friend's boyfriend was like this after he started working for her uncle's moving company.

Hope you have a nice B day :)

Happy Birthday, Ecto.......I hope you gain 5 pounds. :lol:

(That's something one ecto can say to another and not have it come out mean).

BTW, if you have a Kohl's store near you, their store brand (Urban Up) of T-shirts look great on. I've got one in every color. I like to cut off the sleeves and use them for lifting shirts but leave them as-is for casual wear. I actually buy them in size Small but they're plenty long and they make your lats, delts and biceps look huge.

I have a pair of jeans I use as gauge too :D Non stretchy jeans or pants are good for that.

Indeed, it's interesting how people's bodies can change and be so different. Maybe it's due to a few factors - training and genetics, that some people in this case since we're talking about it, develop an incredible solid trunk with a pronounced six pack, obliques, and mountain ridge of a lower back. My friend's boyfriend was like this after he started working for her uncle's moving company.

Hope you have a nice B day :)

Thanks :)

Yeah I think pants that don't stretch in some way are a good indicator. If I get to a point where my pants start to get too tight, well, I guess it's time for a cut. :lol: Since no matter how big you get (as a guy anyways), at low body fat levels the waist seems to be able to stay at a pretty constant size. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of lean mass going on there as far as bulking goes. Fat Central, more or less.

Happy Birthday, Ecto.......I hope you gain 5 pounds. :lol:

(That's something one ecto can say to another and not have it come out mean).

BTW, if you have a Kohl's store near you, their store brand (Urban Up) of T-shirts look great on. I've got one in every color. I like to cut off the sleeves and use them for lifting shirts but leave them as-is for casual wear. I actually buy them in size Small but they're plenty long and they make your lats, delts and biceps look huge.

Thanks. I'll gain that 5 pounds! It sure does come off better when said from one former skinny person to another, doesn't it? :D If my current rate continues, it should be sometime in the later half of next month. Although it sure would be nice if the universe let me gain 5 pounds of pure lean mass overnight, as a birthday gift :D.

Really now? We do have Kohl's here, so I'm going to have to check that out. I always like a good shirt. I've noticed that while my shirts generally fit nicer now, a problem area seems to be how it bunches up underneath the arms (you can see in the previous pics I posted). So I guess that's something I'm going to have to watch out for now. I really could use shirts that fit my arms better. Gotta make my tiny arms look better than they are! (13½ :().

I actually am thinking about getting some different shirts to lift in, since I'm not liking how my current shirts fit nowadays. Right now I'm using the shirts that my school's fitness center gives you when you sign up each semester. They were fine at first, but at my size they're getting a bit in the way. :p They're too long and a bit too heavy. They're also still a bit too loose. I want something tighter and more compact, something that won't be in the way when I'm lifting. My current normal-everyday-wear shirts would work good in theory, but they aren't for lifting! I was thinking of just plain white t-shirts, of the thicker variety than the thin undershirt kind.

Happy birthday, sweet dmb shirt, and great progress on the pullups!

Happy birthday, sweet dmb shirt, and great progress on the pullups!

Thanks :)

DMB! :D So much fun live, seen them 5 times. Three times at Shoreline and twice at SBC Park.

I'm going to be itchy this week because I have nowhere around home to do pullups (taking this week off from lifting). :(

Thanks :)

DMB! :D So much fun live, seen them 5 times. Three times at Shoreline and twice at SBC Park.

I'm going to be itchy this week because I have nowhere around home to do pullups (taking this week off from lifting). :(

Pushups and dips are easy to do around the house. Enjoy your week off.

Pushups and dips are easy to do around the house. Enjoy your week off.

Enjoying the week quite a bit. I'm doing some research into how to restructure my diet around the idea of nutrient timing and I think I'm coming along nicely. I'm currently trying to get some dextrose questions answered in regards to my PWO shake (which is currently two scoops Nitrean with 16oz milk, plus a banana on the side).

I've completely redesigned my workout from scratch and and have totally restructured my diet. Next week should be an interesting week.

Yeah, pushups and dips aren't much of a problem, but as far as my week off is concerned, I'm really only interested in pullups, since they're the hardest. I've had fun doing them at the gym and was making great progress, so I'm not sure what my first day back is going to be like after a week off.

I was just looking into dextrose last night. I ran out of it 6 months ago and never got more. I was thinking of starting it again but then thought about waxy maize. Have you checked into the benefits of it? Sounds interesting.

I was just looking into dextrose last night. I ran out of it 6 months ago and never got more. I was thinking of starting it again but then thought about waxy maize. Have you checked into the benefits of it? Sounds interesting.

Nope, I haven't. That's something I'll have to look into.

171.8lbs, 78kg.

Damn water weight. I'll get it back in the next week or two probably. Anyways, during my week off I spent a lot of time rethinking my diet and reading up on some things. Since I hold diet to be so important, I really should have done this a long time ago. But oh well, can't dwell on the past now can we? So I've redone my diet around the idea of nutrient timing - the idea that the body has different dietary needs during different parts of the day and in response to different activities. I'm really happy with the new diet and I'm optimistic about it, so we'll see how it goes during my first couple of weeks back.

I'm also going to keep track of some of my measurements on a weekly basis to go along with my weight - namely my waist. If my scale weight isn't moving all that much, but my measurements are going in favorable directions, then I won't be too worried about it.

Nope, I haven't. That's something I'll have to look into.

I've been considering it, but for now I'm sticking with oats PWO. They seem to work fine.

So I've redone my diet around the idea of nutrient timing - the idea that the body has different dietary needs during different parts of the day and in response to different activities. I'm really happy with the new diet and I'm optimistic about it, so we'll see how it goes during my first couple of weeks back.

I've done nutrient timing since I started my transformation in Feb. '07. It works incredibly well for me. I find Dr. Berardi's advice when it comes to nutrition spot on (I tried the AD, as you know, and that wasn't really my thing). Right now I'm reading up on his concept of G-Flux (http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/g-flux.htm) and trying to apply it.

I see the concept of nutrient timing recommended so much on JSF that I'm surprised that there are still people who don't do it :lol:.

I see the concept of nutrient timing recommended so much on JSF that I'm surprised that there are still people who don't do it :lol:.


Really? I haven't done it before because I hadn't heard of it. I had generally heard of p+c meals and p+f meals, but I had also heard several people say seperating carbs and fat was bs. But then I then recently saw the term 'nutrient timing' mentioned somewhere and decided to look it up. Then I saw it a bit later in Foley's sticky. So for several days I was reading up on it and finding the actual science and reasoning behind it and how you go about doing it. It then got me to wondering why when people say the standard "eat clean, eat 5-6 small meals per day, 2-3 hours apart" advice, why they aren't mentioning "nutrient timing" too! I've been wondering "omg, why aren't people screaming this from the mountaintops?"

I like it already though. I feel less fat and pudgy and bloated in the later parts of the day. :D I don't feel like I'm eating such a huge amount of food anymore - it feels like quite a bit less, even though it's the same amount, just rearranged. Also, curiously, when drawing up the diet in my spreadsheet it seems like less food. I find myself thinking "Um, damn, that's it? I can fit more here if I need to, and it can be of this macro." Before, I kept wondering to myself how I was going to get more of this or that, and where I was going to put it. Man, this stuff is crazy.

I'm really excited to see how it plays out over the next few weeks and months.

(reading that article you linked now).

Really? I haven't done it before because I hadn't heard of it. I had generally heard of p+c meals and p+f meals, but I had also heard several people say seperating carbs and fat was bs. But then I then recently saw the term 'nutrient timing' mentioned somewhere and decided to look it up. Then I saw it a bit later in Foley's sticky. So for several days I was reading up on it and finding the actual science and reasoning behind it and how you go about doing it. It then got me to wondering why when people say the standard "eat clean, eat 5-6 small meals per day, 2-3 hours apart" advice, why they aren't mentioning "nutrient timing" too! I've been wondering "omg, why aren't people screaming this from the mountaintops?"

Maybe people don't mention it because a) they either take it for granted (I know I do, sometimes) or b) it's something that you only need to worry about a bit later on. Most people when they start out will just benefit from cleaning up their diets (eating whole foods, cutting out soda, limiting junk to a minimum) without worrying too much about the timing of their macros.

Edit: If you look at the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs (http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm), though, which are often recommended to beginners around here, nutrient timing is implied.

I'm reading up on the G-Flux stuff you linked. Fascinating. It actually sounds like quite a bit of fun. Maintaining your same energy balance, be it surplus or deficit, but being able to do a whole lot more, while eating a whole lot more (ack) and becoming even more awesome.

Woot. Finally back to working out. I was waiting for my damn Nitrean to get here and it finally did last night at around 6:30.

I'm keeping it light for my first week's worth of sessions. Today was back day and it went well. Light weights and high reps (sorta. 10.) makes for low rest times - 1 minute. It was so nice and went so quickly that I might just add one more exercise to it.

171.8lbs, 78kg

Weight and waist are still the same as last week. It's no big deal now, plus I did get a late start this week.

My upper middle back is really sore right now. I did my arms and shoulders yesterday and, curiously, my arms are fine today. That middle part of my upper back however, that area between the shoulder blades, is pretty sore. I would have expected this from my back workout on Wednesday, rather than from arms and shoulders yesterday. Oh well, just a point of curiosity is all.

We'll see what happens to my weight and waist over the next week.

I'm not sure what to make of today's workout. On the one hand, I wasn't really feeling as energetic and ready-to-go as my last few workouts and my grip was totally shot for some unknown reason, which really limited my pullups. On the other hand, I added 10 pounds to my deadlift (I'm doing light weights/high reps, so this isn't a record or anything), did 2 more reps for each set of my seated cable rows, and maintained reps/sets for my one arm dumbbell rows.

So it was half and half, I guess. I've got no idea why my hands were so dead though. I could barely hold myself up on the pullup bar, although I did manage to do 2 sets, one of 4 and one of 3 while last week was 4/3/3. Hands still felt fried though.

I've got some thoughts on my new nutrition and workout setups, but I'll save that for Saturday. I may even have a question or two on the nutrition aspect, so I really hope some of you nutrition gurus read this :p. I know Christy does (/poke), and it's clearly evident that she knows a thing or two about this type of eating plan, so I think I'm safe either way. :whistle:

171.8lbs, 78kg



:tucool: You weigh more than you did at the end of your first bulk! That's got to be a good feeling. I've never been able to top my first bulk high, even though I tried.

:tucool: You weigh more than you did at the end of your first bulk! That's got to be a good feeling. I've never been able to top my first bulk high, even though I tried.

Oh it is :). I've actually been up to 175 on this bulk. But sometime between my last day before the week off, and the first Saturday after the week off, I lost about 3 pounds (so a two week period). I'm assuming it's mostly water weight. I did miss a meal on most of the days during the week off (mainly because I don't know how to approach extended time off from lifting during a bulk...), but it wasn't nearly enough to actually be in a real deficit to lose any real weight.

I started a new workout routine and new meal plan, so I'm curious to see what this week's weight will be. I'm also monitoring my waist size right now and I really don't like where it is. If I can get it to stop growing, then I'll keep bulking. If it doesn't stop though, it's time to cut and reapproach everything.

I've got some thoughts on my new nutrition and workout setups, but I'll save that for Saturday. I may even have a question or two on the nutrition aspect, so I really hope some of you nutrition gurus read this :p. I know Christy does (/poke), and it's clearly evident that she knows a thing or two about this type of eating plan, so I think I'm safe either way. :whistle:

I don't know how much help I can be but that doesn't mean I won't offer my advice anyway :p.

Oh it is :). I've actually been up to 175 on this bulk. But sometime between my last day before the week off, and the first Saturday after the week off, I lost about 3 pounds (so a two week period). I'm assuming it's mostly water weight. I did miss a meal on most of the days during the week off (mainly because I don't know how to approach extended time off from lifting during a bulk...), but it wasn't nearly enough to actually be in a real deficit to lose any real weight.

I realize that for somebody wanting to gain size and muscle it's frustrating to see the scale go down, but damn. I wish I could just miss a meal and take some time off from the gym and see the numbers go down. Isn't it funny how the grass is always greener on the other side? :lol:

I don't know how much help I can be but that doesn't mean I won't offer my advice anyway :p.

You'll do fine. ;)

I realize that for somebody wanting to gain size and muscle it's frustrating to see the scale go down, but damn. I wish I could just miss a meal and take some time off from the gym and see the numbers go down. Isn't it funny how the grass is always greener on the other side? :lol:


Yeah, that grass is always greener elsewhere :p. That's how we ectos roll though. Miss a meal and WHAM, 5 pounds gone. Right Carguy?

My 'grass is green' bits are those people that after a year of lifting have 16 inch arms, 200lbs, 8% bf; or the guys who after a year are moving 300-400lbs in their heavier lifts when they started out just doing the bar and maybe some 25s.

I'm trying to be appreciative of my strengths though, which is supposedly going to be easier fat loss than others. I say 'supposedly' because I haven't actually been able to utilize it yet since I haven't done a proper cut so far.

That's how we ectos roll though. Miss a meal and WHAM, 5 pounds gone. Right Carguy?


You've got that right. I went on a weeks vacation and pretty much ate and drank what I wanted and came back 5 pounds lighter. If we could start a cruise line that could guarantee this we'd be millionaires.:lol:

I love antagonistic supersets. My arms feel so huge afterwards. :flex:

Lots of thoughts tomorrow afternoon, after weighing in, regarding my new diet setup and workout routine. Well, mostly about diet because I know there's going to be some things that need to be worked out after I see how my weight and waist have changed since last Saturday.

170.4lbs, 77.3kg

I was expecting this. As you'll see in the diet spreadsheets I have attached, it's no doubt due to the missing 600 calories on non-workout days. In my old diet, on non-workout days I would have half of my PWO shake with one meal, and the other half with another meal. This was so that I would still get the right amount of calories each day to keep gaining weight. In the new diet however, I wasn't sure it was such a good idea, especially since I'm trying to work the nutrient timing angle. So we'll have to work this bit out.

Now, on to the diets. First, I hope you guys have Excel :p. I've got two excel spreadsheets in the attached zip. One is the old diet, one is the new diet. Pay no attention to the numbers off to the side, that's just me having fun with Excel's neat formula stuff :D.

Old diet: You'll see that all macros are pretty much balanced throughout the day and at each meal. This diet is probably 8 to 9 months old, so it's long before I started reading up about nutrient timing. This spreadsheet shows a workout day. For non-workout days, just split the PWO shake into half with meal 2 and the other half with meal 3. A half shake for me is 8 oz. milk and 1 scoop protein powder. So a full shake is just double these numbers.

New diet: Ok, this is me attempting to implement what I've read about nutrient timing. I workout after my second meal, so my carbohydrates are centered around breakfast, plus meals 2 and 3 (pre and post workout). The other two are protein and fat meals and as you can see, I added some veggies! Also note that being poor at the moment, there's not as much real meat as their could be. What you see is the best I can do at the moment. Ideally, the shake in meal 2 would be chicken. I still prefer to have shakes for my first and last meals, but meal 2 would be chicken if I was able to. This spreadsheet shows a workout day, for non-workout days simply omit the PWO part. Also something to note here, a PWO shake is 1 scoop of protein powder here instead of 2 like in the old diet. Still 16oz milk.

So, I think I need to do something about those non-workout days. The 600 missing calories each off day means that I'm missing a total of 2,400 calories each week compared to my old diet. As you can see, I am losing weight (0.6lbs fat, 0.8lbs lean compared to last week). This is not ideal, since I am trying to bulk at the moment.

This is where you experts in this type of diet come in, who are more familiar and experience with how it works and what to do. Personally I'd be inclined to just split the shake into two halves, one with meal 3 and one with meal 4, but that may not be the best approach (I have no idea). I'm trying to be careful here because I want to keep my waist from expanding any more than it already has (although it's down 1/8 in. from last week). Remember my limited budget. What you see is what I have to work with. Adding a bit more of something I'm already eating is easier than adding a new food altogether.

Now some thoughts on the new diet. In the old one, I felt fat and bloated near the end of the day. In the new one, I don't feel this anymore. I guess it was due to having a significant carb source and carb amount at every meal, which was no doubt unnecessary (as evidenced by the fat gain). I'm interested to see how this plays out in the long term once I get it working in bulk mode.

On an semi-related note: oatmeal is weird. In both diets I found that if I eat my other carb source during or after my oatmeal, I feel really queasy. If I eat the other carb source before the oatmeal however, everything is fine (banana in old diet, potato in new one). I have no idea why this is the case but through much trial and error in months past, this has been a consistent observation.

That was a very long post just to say that basically you're missing calories on your non-workout days because you don't have that many carbs in your diet anymore. :D Correct?

An easy way to increase calories without using carbs is increasing fats. You've got some nuts and PB in there but that's it. Just drizzle some oil on your veggies, for example - and if at all possible increase those veggies. 1 cup of green beans is not enough IMO. Avocado would be a good source of fat and nutrients. It's easy to add a lot of calories with fats because they are so calorically dense.

That was a very long post just to say that basically you're missing calories on your non-workout days because you don't have that many carbs in your diet anymore. :D Correct?

It's more that I was discussing the differences between the two diets; the changes I made to go from one to the other.

The amount of carbs on workout days is actually the same as before 311g vs 313g. It's just that now on off days I don't take my PWO shake like I did before, where I split it between two meals. It is mostly carbs, but it's the sugary kind from bananas and milk. I wasn't sure one way or the other of the effect of having a large hit like that of those kinds of carbs on an off day, where there's no exercise.

An easy way to increase calories without using carbs is increasing fats. You've got some nuts and PB in there but that's it. Just drizzle some oil on your veggies, for example - and if at all possible increase those veggies. 1 cup of green beans is not enough IMO. Avocado would be a good source of fat and nutrients. It's easy to add a lot of calories with fats because they are so calorically dense.

I don't mind carbs at all. I'm not sensitive to them or afraid of them or anything. I was actually expecting the extra calories on off days to come from them.

I would do oil but I do not currently have the funds to do so. I was using Udo's Choice 3-6-9 omega oil blend, which was good for about 14g per serving. I'm hesitant to add even more fat, as 20% seems like it's pushing it as it is. I am keenly aware that fats are good and necessary, and that not enough of them is a bad thing, but I'm not sure I'm at the "I'm getting too little of them" stage. I'm deathly afraid of putting on more fat than I already have. The 40lbs I gained, with 25 lean and 15 fat is, to me, epic fail (going from 29.5 in. waist to 33.5 in.). I know there has to be a way to get a much lower lean:fat ratio than that when bulking.

I guess the only way to find out is add more fat and see what happens to my waist and overall body fat level. I suppose I could add more fat to the non-workout days and see what happens. I've also been considering adding broccoli. Realize that adding new stuff is rather hard at the moment, financially.

What I'm trying to do is understand diet and the body's needs at different times as much as possible. For example, is more fat and less carbs on non-exercise days the better solution when it comes to how the body uses energy, and digests and stores nutrients from each meal, or is it the other way around, or is it something else? You know what I mean?

It's ironic that when I do get the means to do my diet more ideally, it's going to be when I have a job and thus have to figure out less ideal meals that can be eaten/drunk in a few minutes because I'll be stuck in an unaccomodating 8 hour work day. :(

Have you read Berardi's The Science of Nutrient Timing I (http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/nutr_timing_1.htm) & II (http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/nutr_timing_2.htm)? I think most of what you need to know is in there.

The body does store dietary fats as fat more easily than carbs or protein, but the mechanism through which it does so is insulin, which is primarily released through the ingestion of carbs. The idea behind low carb diets is that you control your insulin and thereby control how your body stores fat. And you can train your body to use fat for energy instead of carbs (that's the idea behind the AD).

So simply increasing your fat intake isn't going to make you store more fat. It's more complicated than that.

Those are the exact articles I read a couple of weeks back, before and during my week off. I actually bookmarked them a couple of weeks back when I read them, as well as two other articles on pre/during/post workout nutrition that he wrote. I was actually going to email you about them just now. The quote I had in mind is this one:

Although this might be a bit of an oversimplification of a very complex topic, in some ways the thermodynamic approach of measuring calories in vs. calories out may simply maintain the body shape status quo. If you’ve got the right genetics, the calorie in vs. calorie out approach will probably be all you need to look good nekid at any body size (bigger or smaller). But, if not, simply counting calories will probably just make you a bigger or smaller version of your former self (and if you’re unhappy with that shape, you wont necessarily like it at a bigger or smaller size).On my first bulk there was definitely a change. But on my first cut, and now on my second bulk, I've done exactly what he just said - I've become a smaller and now bigger version of my previous self. Too much lean loss on the cut and too much fat gain on the bulk means that I am visually and compositionally the same as before, just smaller in the one case and bigger in the next case. The goal is to actually change the composition, instead of just maintaining a status quo. If I had been doing things right, I should have been able to minimize fat gain in the one instance and minimize lean loss in the other instance. As per the articles, he says this is done through diet.

This is a new goal I've added to my current goals, trying to make my diet as best it can possibly be in order to minimize the fat gain and lean loss numbers. As he says, I was on a calorie in vs calorie out approach. Although my calories were clean and healthy for the most part, the composition, structure and timing of those calories was totally and completely off. No rhyme or reason to them. So right now I'm trying to work out what goes where and when it goes there, in terms of macros.

I would suggest that you look into the Anabolic Diet, but the problem there is that it's going to likely be more expensive than eating the way you are now. However, it would be really good for adding mass while keeping fat gains to a minimum.

How much does canola oil and olive oil cost in California? :confused: You don't have to buy Udo's.

I personally don't fret about it too much. I try to get most of my carbs in the morning and around my workout (which is after breakfast) and the rest of the day I eat green veggies, protein and fat. Even if I have a lot of carbs (which has been the case lately), as long as they are not processed and low GI, I don't notice any fat gains. I don't make it more complicated than it has to be.

I would suggest that you look into the Anabolic Diet, but the problem there is that it's going to likely be more expensive than eating the way you are now. However, it would be really good for adding mass while keeping fat gains to a minimum.

Looks like I just got another :read: assignment! I'll look into it.

How much does canola oil and olive oil cost in California? :confused: You don't have to buy Udo's.

That I don't know. I'll have to check those prices next time I'm at the store. I was doing Udo's because it's specifically a blend of omega fats and I've seen it recommended in several places, one of them being Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.

http://stronglifts.com/anabolic-diet/

I think I'm going to skip tomorrow's chest workout. Sometime during the middle of last week I seem to have acquired an injury of some kind to my chest. It's right smack in the middle, on/under/whatever the beastbone. I have no idea how I got it and I have no idea what to make of it. I did a few pushups a little while ago just to test and there really wasn't any pain, but it is there when I do other things. Better safe than sorry though.

I've been reading up on the Anabolic Diet as Christy recommended and the more I read it the more psyched I get about it. I'm going to try this out. The only thing stopping me from starting it tomorrow is lack of funds. I've already drawn up the diet plan for the weekdays and I can tell it's going to be markedly more expensive than my current diet. Carbs are cheap, but proteins and fats are expensive :(.

If all goes how I'm desperately hoping it to in the next few weeks, then I'll be working soon and so be able to get this diet started. I'll be...going caveman. Bunch of meat and fat baby.

I'm curious about how the natural leanness and fat burning properties of my ectomorph build will play into a fat-based diet. I hope it's a positive interaction. Maybe I'm already primed for fat burning to a certain extent? I don't know, we'll see.

Damnit. I was going to let this journal stay dead for another few weeks or so, but, I can't help it:

I have DOMS in my back! :spaz::spaz::spaz:

I haven't had any real DOMS in a long time, and I haven't had it this good(?) since the first few workouts I ever did back when I started. I'm not really feeling anything in my lower back, which is where I usually feel it due to the deadlifts. Nope, this DOMS is in my upper back, no doubt because of the rowing. I didn't even do that much work yesterday either:


Deadlifts - 5x6, 185lbs, 84kg
BB Bent-over Rows - 4x6, 115lbs, 52kg
One Arm DB Rows, 3x6, 45lbs, 20kg


I also did 3 pullups. I could have done more, but I had planned on doing one set between each exercise and at the beginning and end of my workout, so I wanted to not go to failure on them. I forgot to do them at the beginning, but I did do them after deadlifts. I tried to do them after the BB rows, but between the deadlifts and the rows my grip was just shot to hell and I couldn't hold myself up on the grips. I think next week I'll just do all the sets together, at the beginning of the workout when everything is fresh.

Anyways, I'm working my way down on reps and up in weight. For the past month, the first three weeks were 3x10, then last week was 3x8, and now for this week and the next three I'll be doing at least 3x6; though probably more sets depending on how I feel. After that, I'm aiming for a few weeks of 5x3; again, probably more sets depending on how awesome I feel. After that, I'm thinking of either working my way back up the set ladder, or just going right back up to 3x10. I'm leaning towards the latter as a sort of deload thing. I'm also changing my exercises when I change my set and rep scheme, to keep things fresh.

I have some interesting observations on how things are going with my weight and composition in light of some diet changes I've made (hi Christy :wave:), but I'm going to give that another few weeks or so before saying anything, just to be sure it's an actual trend and not idiot error.

so are ya doing the AD now?? good work on the lifts. seems your little ecto self is gettin stronger!

so are ya doing the AD now?? good work on the lifts. seems your little ecto self is gettin stronger!

Not yet. It's going to be expensive and I don't have the funding for it yet. I'm going to wait until I start working, because then it won't be a problem. I have added more fat into my diet though. Previously, I was at p/c/f of 35/45/20, but now it's more like 30/40/30 on workout days and 30/30/40 on off days.

I am reeeeeeeeeeeally looking forward to the AD though. :spaz: I've already got the diet all planned out.

sweet... the macros your at now should give you great progress. upping the fat will get you used to the eating style and give you good gains too. the AD is fun.... great for grilling season too!! anyways good luck man!! :D

sweet... the macros your at now should give you great progress. upping the fat will get you used to the eating style

Aside from more fat being a good idea anyways, increasing fat and lowering carbs in order to get more used to the eating style of the AD before going on it was exactly my motivation. :D

... and give you good gains too.

I've noticed this already! I changed to a nutrient timing type of diet about a month ago. I added more fat about two weeks ago, and then more again at the beginning of this week, which brings me to the current breakdown I just posted. I've noticed good gains both in body composition and in the gym. It's amazing how much a small change in diet can have such a big impact.

the AD is fun.... great for grilling season too!! anyways good luck man!! :D

Thanks :). I'm really looking forward to the next few months.

Hey man, are you heading into uncharted waters now that your weight is at the level it was at the end of your last bulk? No more skinny guys here.:lol::eat::flex:

Hey man, are you heading into uncharted waters now that your weight is at the level it was at the end of your last bulk? No more skinny guys here.:lol::eat::flex:

I sure am :). Especially with the way my composition and strength are being affected by my new diet setup.

Lots of :eat::eat::eat: and a bit of :bb: is turning out to be :flex: quite nicely. Actually, on two seperate occasions recently I caught a girl blantantly checking me out (one girl each time, but seperate girls/occasions). I was thinking "omg, this is f'ing awesome." One of them works at a local Safeway. I love Safeway because for some reason they've always got hot girls working there.

I should have thought of this tight white t-shirts thing sooner :confused:. I'm actually getting more than just brief/passing looks from girls now :D.

Anyhow, just a few things to note:

-- Doing 5x3s now. Working sets for some things are: deadlift 215 (220 next time), one arm DB rows 75lbs, flat DB bench 55lbs (each side. going for 60lbs next time), bb incline bench 120 (125 next time), dips for 3 sets of 12, seated db overhead press 30lbs each side, bb military press 85lbs (going for 90lbs next time. almost up to 95lbs! which is a 25lb plate each side :spaz:). I'm particularly happy with how the military press is coming along. I'm really close to 95lbs, which means no more piddly little 10lb and 5lb plates on the bar.

-- Got my mom exercising and eating right last week. There was a certain life event that I was waiting for to happen before starting her up, which finally happened.

-- As mentioned above, I'm getting looks from females. I'm being stared at. I'm being checked out. This is fucking awesome. Yeah, I know this has been happening to a lot of you girls since about middle school so you're probably sick of it, but this is a new experience for me, so let me enjoy it!

It appears to be the tight white t-shirts I'm wearing. I originally got them for my work clothes, which turned out to be unnecessary (too hot), so I've been using them to workout in and just for whenever. I should have thought of this sooner.

-- I was hoping for more of a drop before posting this, but since I've started working (finally), it's been a little tough to keep at it. Anyways, the drop starting at April 26th coincides with me starting my nutrient timing diet setup earlier that week. I was/am eating mostly the same stuff and in the same amounts, just rearanged differently and with a bit more fat.

It's absolutely phenomenal what sort of impact just restructing the diet around nutrient timing can have. I am blown away. I didn't even start doing cardio until early June, so all that fat loss up to then was purely the changed diet.