Anyone trying to add muscle

retriev00
retriev00 Posts: 227 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've kind of become stagnent in my workouts.

What kind of workouts? & calorie surpluses have you used that have been successful in adding strength & mass with adding minimal fat?

Thanks

Replies

  • missikay1970
    missikay1970 Posts: 588 Member
    i am - i just posted about this below. hoping for responses! :smile:
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Just to be clear, are you talking about adding muscle mass or just getting stronger? Assuming you're talking about muscle mass, it really comes down to calorie consumption. Let's just assume your weight lifting programming is solid and look at diet. There's not much more that I can say other than what's in this older article. This guy totally knows his **** when it comes to nutrition.

    http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/massive_eating_part_1

    This will make calculating your calorie needs easier:

    http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/july262002/na_masscalculator.htm

    Here's John's website: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
    I am starting tomorrow. Here, is my current plan:
    IF: Fast 16 hrs min/day (8 hour eating window)

    Diet:
    Workout day: 3500 calories, 180g protein, 40g fat, rest carbs/more protein
    Rest day: 2000 calories, 180g protein, 100g carbs, rest fat/more protein
    (Currently at 5'8", ~135 lbs, ~6-7% body fat, ~45% skeletal muscle, target gain is ~1.5 lbs/month to 145)

    Current benchmark lifts:
    Lift: 1RM (Target 1RM)
    Bench Press: 175 (215)
    Squat: 220 (280)
    Deadlift: 315 (350)
    Press: 115 (130)

    Workout:
    Reverse pyramid, 2-3 warm-up sets (~50%/70%/85% working weights), 3 working sets 8/10/12 reps:
    Sunday:
    Bench Press
    Deadlift
    Curl

    Tuesday:
    Military Press
    Chin-up
    Triceps Dip

    Thursday:
    Squat
    Dip
    Barbell Row

    For dips/chins I use a weight vest to allow for progressive loading.

    If time permits, will do 1-2 days of fasted cardio/week, supplementing alpha-yohimbine, caffeine, and L-tyrosine to ward off the dreaded abdominal fat.

    Hope that is helpful.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    I am starting tomorrow. Here, is my current plan:
    IF: Fast 16 hrs min/day (8 hour eating window)

    Diet:
    Workout day: 3500 calories, 180g protein, 40g fat, rest carbs/more protein
    Rest day: 2000 calories, 180g protein, 100g carbs, rest fat/more protein
    (Currently at 5'8", ~135 lbs, ~6-7% body fat, ~45% skeletal muscle, target gain is ~1.5 lbs/month to 145)

    Current benchmark lifts:
    Lift: 1RM (Target 1RM)
    Bench Press: 175 (215)
    Squat: 220 (280)
    Deadlift: 315 (350)
    Press: 115 (130)

    Workout:
    Reverse pyramid, 2-3 warm-up sets (~50%/70%/85% working weights), 3 working sets 8/10/12 reps:
    Sunday:
    Bench Press
    Deadlift
    Curl

    Tuesday:
    Military Press
    Chin-up
    Triceps Dip

    Thursday:
    Squat
    Dip
    Barbell Row

    For dips/chins I use a weight vest to allow for progressive loading.

    If time permits, will do 1-2 days of fasted cardio/week, supplementing alpha-yohimbine, caffeine, and L-tyrosine to ward off the dreaded abdominal fat.

    Hope that is helpful.

    You what I found interesting recently was an article written on bodybuilding lifting and working towards mass gains, I believe John Meadows wrote it. Anyway. he basically put the main compound lifts at the end of the workout so those muscles were pretty well taxed at that point and got them more engaged in the lift. A workout might look something like,

    a1. Dips
    b1. Dumbell Flys
    c1. Incline Dumbell Bench Press
    d1. Flat Barbell Bench Press

    It's not the sort of training I'm interested in so I won't try it, but it sounds reasonable and have been wondering if anybody ever tried that when going through a mass phase.
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
    You what I found interesting recently was an article written on bodybuilding lifting and working towards mass gains, I believe John Meadows wrote it. Anyway. he basically put the main compound lifts at the end of the workout so those muscles were pretty well taxed at that point and got them more engaged in the lift. A workout might look something like,

    a1. Dips
    b1. Dumbell Flys
    c1. Incline Dumbell Bench Press
    d1. Flat Barbell Bench Press

    It's not the sort of training I'm interested in so I won't try it, but it sounds reasonable and have been wondering if anybody ever tried that when going through a mass phase.
    Yeah, it sounds reasonable... that is kinda how I do it. During the cut phase, I do 2 movements, starting with the one involving the least muscle mass. For bulking, I add a third movement, which throws that order off, but I am also usually pretty damn exhausted by then anyway, would definitely not want to try doing squats or deadlifts last due to fatigue... they are tough on the lower back. I am definitely not an expert in programming though :)
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    You what I found interesting recently was an article written on bodybuilding lifting and working towards mass gains, I believe John Meadows wrote it. Anyway. he basically put the main compound lifts at the end of the workout so those muscles were pretty well taxed at that point and got them more engaged in the lift. A workout might look something like,

    a1. Dips
    b1. Dumbell Flys
    c1. Incline Dumbell Bench Press
    d1. Flat Barbell Bench Press

    It's not the sort of training I'm interested in so I won't try it, but it sounds reasonable and have been wondering if anybody ever tried that when going through a mass phase.
    Yeah, it sounds reasonable... that is kinda how I do it. During the cut phase, I do 2 movements, starting with the one involving the least muscle mass. For bulking, I add a third movement, which throws that order off, but I am also usually pretty damn exhausted by then anyway, would definitely not want to try doing squats or deadlifts last due to fatigue... they are tough on the lower back. I am definitely not an expert in programming though :)

    I'd say that you'd definitely need a weight belt for any Squats at that point. I don't see much point in deadlifting though. It would be cool to try at some point but I'm luvin' me some Westside right now. :)
  • gerard54
    gerard54 Posts: 1,107 Member
    lift heavy weights = to muscle...
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    lift heavy weights = to muscle...

    Little more complicated than that...
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Cliffs:

    10 to 20% calorie surplus (above TDEE)
    Minimum of 1g/lb lean mass in protein.
    minimum of .35g/lb bodyweight in fat
    Remainder of calories in carbs (but again, aboves are minimum values).
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    Cliffs:

    10 to 20% calorie surplus (above TDEE)
    Minimum of 1g/lb lean mass in protein.
    minimum of .35g/lb bodyweight in fat
    Remainder of calories in carbs (but again, aboves are minimum values).
    That's working well for me so far!
  • lickmybaconcakes
    lickmybaconcakes Posts: 1,063 Member
    Here is what I do: calories surplus of 300 calories (of 3500)

    40% protein, 30%carbs, 30% fat.

    go heavy in workouts of 8-12 reps little or no rest in between sets.

    mainly compound movements.
  • shodanho
    shodanho Posts: 2
    Everything I've ever read from reputable (science) sources say men 17-25 years old are in their peak testosterone producing years ( the main requirement for producing muscle ) and its down hill from there. Additionally, at that age putting on 2 to 3 pounds of muscle (without adding body fat) is near perfection. 3 pounds may not sound like a lot but if you added 3 lbs per year from 17 -25 that would be 24 lbs of pure muscle.... thats fantastic.

    So if you not 17-25, you can expect less. It is very difficult at any age to gain muscle and not gain fat, or conversely lose fat and not lose muscle. Sadly, that's why so many guys turn to the "juice".
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
    Excellent information guys...I've got nothing to add, consider this my bump.

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