Emma-Leigh

Right. Good plan.

I would not take a week off yet... 6 weeks is too soon.

What about 2 full body workout days + 2 or 3 cardio days? You could also do a 3 day split with light 'speed' work type stuff. Doing speed doubles or triples using 60-70% your 1 rep maximum.

And 2000 cals would be too low - you want to give your body a bit of relief - so during that time I would sit at ~2200-2300 cals (~230g protein, 230g carbs, 50g fats).

Do you mean during your bulk?

Well, keeping things simple usually works most of the time... And on off days your intake should be lower simply because you will not be having a PWO shake. Also - if your cardio is only of moderate intensity then you don't technically need a PWO shake for that (just make sure you have a good solid meal ~60 mins before and within an hour after) so that will mean your intake will alter to a certain degree on these days too...

You could, over the next two weeks at maintainence, sit at the above intake I suggested but keep that slight variability in it (lower on off/cardio days and higher for your weights days) and see how your body responds to these levels (do weight 2 x a week) then alter your macro's accordingly.

eg:
M - weights (higher intake - say 2400 cals, 270g carb)
T - cardio (moderate intake - say, 2250 cals, 230g carb)
W - off (lower intake - say, 2100 cals, 190g carb)
T - weights
F - cardio
S - cardio
S - off
M - weights
T - cardio
W - off
T - weights
F - cardio
S - off
S - off
START NEW ROUTINE



But if you wanted to get really fancy and do something really cyclic you could consider doing something like UD2 mass... It would be hard, but it is lots of fun and the results should be good...

BulkMeUp

HIIT on Ellipitical
wu - 4min
low 45sec @ ~40rpm/high 15sec @ 118-126 rpm - 8min
cd - 3min

5min break

wu 2 min
low 45sec @ ~40rpm/high 15sec @ 118-126 rpm - 5min
cd - 2min

Did my 'old style' HIIT. Surprisingly could do a higher rpm than i previously could. However i would take this with a grain of salt as i doubt all the machines are tuned equally.

First session was good, but i still wasnt satisfied. So took a 5 min break and did another 5 mins. On the last high os this set, i really gave it all i got and hit an rpm of 128-130 so that could be considered a PR.

BulkMeUp

SLDL's - wu 90x8, 8 - 200x5, 6, 6
Stationary Lunges - 90x10,12,15/12
Standing aclf raises - 155 x10, 115x12, 95x20, 20
Flat Bench - wu 40x10,10 - 90x8,6,5
DB Incline - 35x12,12,9
Pushdowns - 75x7,65x10,55x13

This was a combo of last weks missed P lowerback and rr chest routine. I adjusted the volume to compensate. However i wasnt feeling too energised for this routine so it wasnt satisfactory that it took 90mins.

BulkMeUp

I'll do that for the next two weeks. Similar to what i did last week (Mr.10%)? That would make this cycle a total of 7 weeks.

Ok, i have a diet for 2700 (incl ~500cals pwo) which we discussed earlier. I shall use it in the meantime. I shall work out a new diet with the macros you posted above during this time.

I'll alter the cardio and skip the pwo shake. So, (2700*2 + 2200*5) /7 = 2343 for the next two weeks.

I'll use that. with some changes to the days to compensate for the wo i did yesterday.
oh no. Am not looking to make things difficult. The only reason i would go for if it would be of greater benifit. I guess i shall do the standard diet for the bulk with a mod intensity cardio and skip the pwo shake for cardio days. I'll leave the complicated diet stuff for later if things stall.

Emma-Leigh

Hey Adrian,

Just quickly (using my sisters computer to check e-mails before I hit the gym)...
I would not use SLDLs as your primary move - but something very similar to that routine would be good... Something like:
DL
DB Flat Bench
A row (eg: T bar, Bent over BB, seated)
DB Overhead Press
WG Lat pulldown
Leg Press

Then for the other routine something like:
Squats
High Incline Bench
WG Chins/Lat pulls
WG dips
Some form of row
Romanian DLs

Average of 2300 to 2500 would be good for you... I think you tend to hover slightly low for what you should be eating... So don't worry about things too much. The two weeks should be giving you a mental break and a physical break. So if you want to eat more - eat more.

Well - UD2 mass is meant to give excellent results (good gains, less fat gains).... As will another rotation type program as well (as long as it is non-stupid)... As will keeping things more linear (once again, as long as it is not stupid)..

So do what you feel comfortable with - and experiment if you want to experiment!

BulkMeUp

Ok, i was also thinking of mixing the rep range as well as keeping the shoulder work to a min as they get worked with the chest and back anyway:

All sets 6-8 reps, aiming for the lower end.
Regular DLs (4sets)
DB Flat Bench (4sets)
Bent over BB rows(4sets)
DB Overhead Press (2sets)
WG Lat pulldown(2sets)
Leg Press(4sets)

Then for the other routine something like:
All sets 8-10 reps, aiming for the higher end.
Squats (3sets)
High Incline Bench (3sets)
CG Lat pulls (3sets)
WG dips (3sets)
WG Seated rows (3sets)
Romanian DLs (3sets)

Guilty as charged, i guess.

ok

for some reason seems this book is out of print. cant find it on amazon.ca or other major online bookstores. Will look for it in store or as a last resort will get the pdf version.

I have come up with this diet, which i shall continue until i get come up with another cyclical diet later:

Item - Cals - carb - fat - pro
Meal#1
50g Oats 192 31.2 3.25 8.12
45g whey 170 6.04 2.44 30
1Apple 81 21 0 0
TOTAL 443 58.24 5.69 38.12

Meal#2
100g cooked brown rice 111 23 1 3
110g cooked chicken breast 181 0 4.4 34
1 tsp olive oil (contained in food) 45 0 5 0
1 cup veggies 40 10 0 0
TOTAL 377 33 10.4 37

Meal#3
1 can tuna 146 0 2 30
2 slices Sunflower seed Rye bread 212 40 2.3 7.7
2caps fish oil 20 0 2.3 0
1cup lettuce 10 2 0 1
85g cottage cheese 106 4.76 1.28 10.2
TOTAL 494 46.76 7.88 48.9

Meal#4
50g Oats 192 31.2 3.25 8.12
2caps fish oil 20 0 2.3 0
40g Egg-Whey Protein 141 5 2 33.75
1 cup veggies 40 10 0 0
TOTAL 393 46.2 7.55 41.87

Meal#5
100g Sweet potato 86 20 0 2
1cup brocolli 50 10 0 6
1 can tuna 146 0 2 30
85g cottage cheese 106 4.76 1.28 10.2
2caps fish oil 20 0 2.3 0
TOTAL 408 34.76 5.58 48.2

Meal#6
15g walnuts 92 2 9 2
250g Cottage Cheese 112 12.2 5.2 30
TOTAL 204 14.2 14.2 32

MEALS TOTAL 2319 233.16 51.3 246.09

PWO
50g Oats 153 24.8 2.56 6.4
1 banana (~7") 105 27 0 1
45g whey 170 6.04 2.44 30
TOTAL 428 57.84 5 37.4

Number of shakes per week 2 (for the next 2 weeks, upped to 4 after that)

Cals per day INCL PWO shake 2441.29 249.69 52.73 256.78
Percent Split 100.00% 39.94% 18.98% 41.08%

1.89 Carbs per LBM
0.40 Fat per LBM
1.94 Total Protein per LBM
(1.63 Complete Protein per LBM)

BulkMeUp

Dl's - wu 990x8, 110x8 - 180x8, 6,7,6
Leg Press - 360x8, 8, 8, 8



Was not very energised/focussed for this wo even before i left the office for the gym. Dont feel rested in the morning these days as well as not too enthuastic about the gym. Cals are 2400-2500, but i think i need let loose a bit on the diet and satisfy myself. On the positive side, i noticed that the high protein diet (posted above) gives me a lot less bloat. Though eating a whole can of tuna twice a day is not really easy Pizza scheduled for saturday and possibly other cheat treats as well

So i did DL's. But had to wait for alomst 10mins for the Leg press machine. One was busy with a couple of guys and the other with this chick who does slow endless reps and sets. In addition, this time there was some guy chatting her up in between the sets, so she took even longer.

I thought i used to do SLDL's. But P-Funk calrified that the Deadlift form i was using was actually RDL so i guess i was doing RDL's instead of SLDL's all this while.

Met Lewie and Corey at the gym and got them signed up. But by the time that was done, i was an hour behind schedule and it was 3 hours since my last meal. Besides i forgot to carry the banana for my pwo shake. Anyways, they forgot their shoes and couldnt wo in flip-flops so they left, with a whole bunch of bags (like a couple of bag ladys), with all the shopping they had done on their very first day

So i decided to do legs (forgot to do calves and really wasnt in any mood by the end of Leg Presses for any more) and will do upper body today.

BulkMeUp

Flat DB press - wu 35x8, 40x8 - 55x8,8,8,5
CG Seated rows - 100 x8, 130x8,8,8,8
DB overhead Press - 35x8, 8
WG Lat pulldown - 150x6, 135x8, 8

Not a bad wo. Not too great either. Was doing well on flat DB but didnt make it to RR on the last set. Got to max RR on seated rows Overheads, kept it to 2 sets only. Didnt want to overwork the shoulders. But maybe next time i shall do a 3rd set. WG Lat pulldowns, by tht time i got to these, seems i lost some steam. Barely made it to RR for the first set. Second seemed too diff with 150, s dropped a plate to 135 and got to max RR. RI was 1.5-2mins. SO that was good. Total time of wo was 45mins. not bad at all.

Emma-Leigh

Hey Adrian!!

How are things going? It sounds like you are running out of steam.. Make sure you ease up on the diet over these two weeks - you have to let yourself mentally relax. Stressing over every last ounce of food will be doing you more harm than if you were to just eat a little more!


Have you worked out what you are going to do in terms of training? Looked into anything interesting?

Any more thoughts on diet?

In terms of your diet for the next few weeks... Start to slowly increase it so you get closer to 2600 on workout days and then drop it back to 2300 ish for non-workout days. 2400 is still a little low for 'recovery'.

And you saw Tom!! How was he?

Hope all is going well...

BulkMeUp

2-Jul-2005 153 13.0% 133.1 19.9
7-Jul-2005 153.5 13.0% 133.5 20.0
16-Jul-2005 152.8 13.0% 132.9 19.9
23-Jul-2005 151.4 13.0% 131.7 19.7
30-Jul-2005 152.7 13.5% 132.1 20.6
6-Aug-2005 153.4 13.0% 133.5 19.9


So I recoved a bit with ~2400 cals this week. But I'm back to where i was at the beginning of July.

BulkMeUp

Hi Emma

Yep i have been doing a little cheat here and there. A doughnut here, a muffin there, some chips and dip, a piece of chocolate.... Gonna have a whole DELISSIO pizza spread over 3 meals today... etc etc

I havent found anything particularly intresting. But i shall began reviewing things more closely in the comming week. If not i shall go back to the previous chest/tris, lowerback/hams... 4x split and change some of the exercises.

Strangely i noticed that i was a bit hungrier between meals during this week when i was doing ~2400 cals compared to last week when i was doing 1925 cals I guess my appetite is getting better. Also on days that i might have some extra carbs, i get bloated, but on others i am just fine with this new higher protein diet. Oh well, will have to see how things go.

Ok. I'll increase the pre and pwo shakes accordingly.

Yep, i met them at the gym last wednesday and got them signed up. They were all excited and bubbly and chatty. Quite obvious to all that they were from out of town. Everyone asked them where they were from as they knew they were not big grumpy big city people

I am meeting them this afternoon for a wo with Tom.... er.. Lewie. I gotta stop calling him Tom. When i spoke to him yesterday, he said that he had already spent $700 on shopping and it isnt even a whole week that they have been here.

All is ok. I just dont feel too motivated for the gym presently. Feels like i am just sorta going there 'because i have to'. Not a good frame of mind to have

Hope you get the computer you want from the insurance company.

BulkMeUp

Ellipitical
5 min warm up @ 40-45rpm/level 1
30 min @65-70 rpm/level 3
3min cool down @40-45rpm/level1

Nice cardio session. Sweated a lot by the end of it. But not out of breath or anything.

Tom_B

YUM!

ROFL were so fruity! I think the worse was when the guy was laughing over my driver's license picture or when you told us they had to re-take ourpictures and were looked at each other and went OMG and started trying to fix our hair!
Did that guy know we were gonna jip him $100? I couldn't figure that out
P.S. I'm SOOOO sorry that took like an hour to do! I felt really bad .. I knew it was gonna be getting into your pre workout food and I know you like getting in and out of the gym as soon as possible I'm really sorry..

I love your gym! it's so much more ... gym like than mine , if that makes sense. It's just really confusing and I have no idea where things are and theres all these weird machine I've never even seen before. And it's PACKED! I went the other day at 10am and it wasn't too bad.
I'm surprised you or Jaim haven't accidently called me Tom yet
We'll give ya a call around 1ish and set thing up then , movie dosen't start until like 7:30pm so if you wanna take us down that road (forgot it's name lol) today that'd be great!

actually .. it was more. I went to the bank And I only have $393 left!! I've only been here for a couple of days! I wessled more money from my parents though


I think everyone has there little moments like that , but after a little I'm sure you'll be back into the swing of things

BulkMeUp

Dont worry about that. I dont mind changing my routine to work out with you. Besides i am not on any fixed routine right now. Will be starting a new one shortly.

Yes. i hate it when it is packed. I have to sometimes wiat for equpi. But ~5-7 is peak time. Otherwise it is not too bad.

Hope you have enough money for food You guys havent even been here a week!

BulkMeUp

Squats - wu 90x8, 10 - 160x9,10,8
DB High Inclines - 50x8,4,45x6,5
WG seated rows - wu 90x8 - 120x10,10,10
CG pulldowns - 150x10,10,10
WG dips - 0
Romanian DL's - 160 x8,10,10

Not too bad a wo. But dosent look like weights are going up. Reduced weight on squats, but didnt really make it to max RR. Skipped the dips. Dont have too much motivation nowadays.

For this week. I shall spilt the full body into upper and lower 2x. Fullbody on a weekday takes too much time as i am there at the busiest time of the day. Also will try and go to bed a bit earlier than usual as many days as poss this week. Hopefully that should recharge me for the new routine i am dreaming up.

Cals 2500-2600 for this week.
2.14 Carbs per LBM
0.43 Fat per LBM
2.02 Total Protein per LBM
(1.69 Complete Protein per LBM)

BulkMeUp

No wo. There was a problem in the office and i had to work late to get it fixed. Got home at 9:30pm Anyway, hopefully will be able to wo today, if the problem is resolved.

However i didnt waste my time. While i was waiting in the office, i came across this Total-Body Training. It sounds intresting. But seems like a complicated version of p/rr/s. It will take some effort to put the routine together. Not sure if this routine is presently a is a good choice or if i am getting caught up in the hype. I'll finish reading the thread today and decide if i should go for it. If not i'll probably go back to my 4x split.
--------------
OK so i read the entire thread. I copied some of the most important posts for review.

Seems doable. BUT the routine strongly suggests to execute antagonist training for all six exercises for every alternate week. There have been sevsral in that thread saying that this is not doable on a busy gym. I feel that problem as well. I could change up the routine a bit to make that happen, but may not happen for all. Also it is suggested to make changes to the exercises after 2 weeks and exercises are to be picked from a list of exercises. So need to think this through further.
-----------------
Ahhh .. forget it. I think i dhall go back to my 4x split. When i get really bored of it, i shall come back to this one.

dont fix whats not broke!

BulkMeUp

Regular DL's - wu 90x10,110x8 - 180x8,8,8,8
Flat Bench - wu 35x8, 40x6 - 60x8, 7, 6, + 60x4
WG seated Lat Pulls - wu 80 x8 - 140x8,130x8,7,8
DB Overhead Press - 40x8,6,5
WG pulldowns - 135x8, 8, 8
Leg Press - 430x8,7,8,8

RI = 2-2.5 mins on all sets.

Regular DL's - reached max RR for these. Could have done a higher weight, but decided againse it. This is sort of an active rest week.

Flat bench - Wasnt sure if i did all 3 sets, so i did an extra one and missed RR. But not bad as weight was up 10lbs from previous FB wo.

WG seated pulls - Tried 140lbs as last time, but couldnt do it with good form. So went down by 10lbs andgot to RR

DB overhead & WG pulldowns- these were good too.

Leg press - upped the weight by 70lbs and got into RR. These have become my fav leg exercise.
------------------
There is one more full body wo scheduled for this week. Then i should be beginning my new wo. I think i shall take the next few days off iso cardio and do the wo on the weekend with 80% weights of the previous wo at max RR (10reps). For and active rest type of wo.
------------------
Am still intrigued with the full body wo posted in the previous post. I shall try and see what i can come up with. If not, its back to the 4x split. If so, i plan to do a more intense wo with a smaller total duration and strict RI (60-90 mins). Either way i want a shorter duration intense wo.
-------------------
worked out diet cals for next week onwards.
Cals = 2923.29 (up by 10% from this weeks ~2600 cals)
Carbs = 333.07
Fats = 62.52
Total protein = 272.76
(complete protein = 224.14)

2.52 Carbs per lb of LBM
0.47 Fat from all sources per lb of LBM
2.06 Total Protein per lb of LBM
(1.69 Complete Protein per lb of LBM)

Fats seem to be on the lower side. Considering upping them.

Tom_B

Hmm I think I remember you saying that you were surprised at this higher protein diet cause your having less bloat right??
Well it could just could be becuase your fats are lower ... I've found after manipulating carbs , proteins and fats to see what bloats me most , fats are my main problem. So the lower the fats in my diet , I get less stomach issues if any and I can eat a heaps worth of more calories.

Could be the same thing for you??

BulkMeUp

yep. But at that time i was doing ~2400 cals. I guess all that i was eating was being used by my system. But now that i have gotten upto ~2600, i found come bloat/gas is back. Though not too bad. I'll have to monitor that.

As far as i know fats shouldnt cause any bloat/gas. The culprits are protein, fibre (too much of it), nuts, certain veggies and lentils/beans (esp if undercooked). Also certain food combos cause a bloat. Fats are generally not a cause of it.