Thread: Bulking routine needed!

Originally Posted by mofo

i know about what to eat nutrionally thats not a problem, i eat all the egg yolks, drink 5 litres of water a day etc
i eat a shit ton of food and i forgot to say i only work saturdays and sundays and do no cardio so my calorie expense is fine, and as i said before i uped my calories gained half a stone put on no noticeable muscle but got a larger gut so that tells me i need a change in style of training

im asking for some help and advice on a training routine, thanks for helping me with the diet issue but i know thats not the probelm overwise some of that half a stone i put on would of been muscle not all fat

so can u please point me in a direction of a training routine thats been proven to work!

I will once again assure you that the issue is diet. We get so many people on here who claim their diets are great, then post them and they're terrible.

Anyway, if you insist on training there are pretty much endless lists of program "proven" to work. There's a saying that anything will work, nothing works forever. Just about anything you do in the gym shy of overtraining/injurt will give you gains if you eat for it. Nevertheless, some popular programs.

Starting Strength, Bill Starr's 5x5, 5/3/1, Westside Barbell, 20-rep Squat, Baby Got Back, P90X -- lol, just kidding, don't even think about that crap.

Or, you could do a very simple 3-day compounds-only push/pull split. For example:

Session A: Lower Push/Upper Pull

(1.) Back Squats
(2.) Pullups
(3.) DB Bulgarian Split Squats
(4.) BB Bent-Over Rows
*calves
*tricep isolation (no more than 3 sets)

Session B: Lower Pull/Upper Push

(1.) Deadlifts
(2.) Bench Press
(3.) Power Cleans
(4.) BB Military Press
*abs (no more than 3 weighted sets)
*bicep isolation (no more than 3 sets)

Alternate sessions as A, B, A -- B, A, B, etc

Adopt a periodization scheme: Selecting the proper rep ranges for your program

I again encourage you to post your diet for us. Of the hundreds of people who post for training advice, the problem is almost always determined to be their diets.

Yup its diet. A few posts back you mentioned you are concerned that you are gaining fat while bulking. Thats normal. You will gain fat while you are bulking. You need to take all the advice given. If you are not gaining weight, you are not eating enough. If you are at 4,000 calories per day and not gaining, then add another 250 to 500 calories per day. And you need to stick to that routine even the days you do not workout. Which means yes even the days you go to work, you need to get that calorie intake. You wont gain if you dont eat. Bottom line.

4000 calories someites a tad less
300 grams of protein
450 grams of carbs
150 of fat

shake with eggs and oatmeal
brown pasta with smoked makeral filltes
pre shake
post shake with a sugary fruit
salmon or tuna with sweet tates/ brown rice and vegetables
steak with white tates and vegetables
almonds and walnuts with tiger prawns/ smoked salmon
cottage cheese and peanut butter

that was my diet, well i did increase it by 400 calories each day for over a month and yh i put on weight, FAT! lol gut got bigger but muscles didnt

yhhh i really want to try a 3 day split. The split you posted kinda reminds me of 5x5, infact out o fall the programs i have looked at it seems to give the best results according to forum posts, but some say they changed it slightly by not squatting on a wednesday, others who did it saay they burned out so im a little confused on that part?

should i include the squat three days a week it seems like way to much to me but apparently its vital? so need some help there!

Those macros don't add up to 4000 calories...

Just do 5x5. Here's the best version IMO: Bill Starr - Glenn Pendlay 5x5 - Periodized Version, Dual Factor Theory

Do 5x5 to the letter and up your calories by 200-300 and see where it takes you.

is that not meant to be the advanced version, i have read up madcows intermediate version would work beter for someone like me

[QUOTE=Phineas;2086807]Unless you plan on "supplementing" with the magical muscle drugs, you should just forget the dream of gaining loads of muscle without fat gains. The burden of natural muscle building is that you're going to gain fat. It sucks, but it's how it goes. The sooner you accept that, and adjust your diet accordingly, the sooner you'll start seeing muscle gains again.

You can bulk on a fairly aggressive surplus, with minimal fat gain, though. The catch is you have to keep a very close eye on your diet, and if you can handle it eat the same things every day, or close to. Consistency in diet helps you see what works and what doesn't. Even the slightest adjustments like an extra tablespoon of flax oil versus olive oil can make a difference in the long run.

Don't forget about burning calories from exercise and daily activities, which will bring down your net surplus for muscle building. My maintenance is about 3,000-3,200. I bulk at about 3,700 to 4,200 depending on the day. That's a lot of calories right? Well, when you factor in calories burned from my training, cardio, and general day to day walking and whatnot I end up with a smaller number. Even if I net 300 calories it will take about 12 days to gain 1 lb of fat. Also, the better the calories you take in the more efficient your body will use those calories to contribute to muscle building and energy production.

Everyone says it's all about calories. While you do need a surplus, people too often neglect to address calorie quality. A good muscle building diet isn't 3 cans of tuna, 4 protein shakes, and some pizza and mr.noodles. You need to be very diligant if you want your body to build muscle. Your body doesn't want muscle; it's metabolically expensive and thus counterproductive to your survival. This is why you have to provide the absolute best dietary resources to put your body in the ideal anabolic state to facilitate tissue growth.

Some general formulae for:

Protein: 1-1.5g per pound of lean body mass (LBM) -- keep this number consistent, always...when bulking you have more leeway with the extra calories from fat and carbs, but when cutting things change...if you bulk on the lower end of this formula then move up to the higher end when cutting...I always use the higher end (1.5g per lb)

Fat: 0.5-0.75g per pound LBM -- this is a suggested minimum. Increase if you like. Just note that fat doesn't cause fat gain. Excess calories cause fat gains, regardless of the calories' nutrient origins.

Carbs: There are so many formulae for bulking carbs. I'd say something like 1.5-3g per pound LBM, but really it doesn't matter.

A general rule of thumb I follow: figure out your protein, then your fat. Once you have those numbers at your assumed ideal, fill in the rest with carbs. Carbs are expendable -- protein and fats (trans excluded) are not.

-don't avoid saturated, as it's necessary for testosterone production

-eat the egg yolks: they contain not only half the egg's protein but the majority of the vitamins/minerals; also, don't worry about the cholesterol -- dietary cholesterol has no proven link to blood cholesterol (that would be trans and to a lesser degree saturated fat, but most of all if you're genetically predisposed to suffer heart conditions)

-good "clean" fat sources: eggs, olive oil, flax seed oil, seeds, nuts, avocado, mayo, most fish, natural peanut butter

-good "complex" carb sources (i.e. slow burning): whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bagels, whole wheat bread/wraps, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats (avoid pre-packaged flavoured oatmeal, as it's loaded with sucrose), rice, quinoa, fibrous green vegetables

-good protein sources: eggs (100% bioavailability: your body absorbs all of the protein), whey isolates, chicken, fish (salmon, tuna (yellowfin has virtually no mercury -- albacore does), tilapia, etc), beef (ground beef is considerably cheaper than most steak cuts), pork, turkey, milk, cottage cheese.

-digital food scales are a wise investment for weighing/portioning your food

-your body prefers whole foods (non-processed); avoid bars, cereals, shakes, etc, when possible

-general rule of thumb: no more than 1/5 daily protein from supplements

-the smaller meals through the day theory was debunked a while back; arrange your meals not by advice from mainstream bodybuilding sites but by comfort. I eat 5 meals a day, not because I think it's necessary to progress, but because I feel more comfortable feeding steadily throughout the day

-again, don't worry about mainstream egg myths like "only twice a week". I've been eating 4 a day in the 2 years I've been bodybuilding/powerlifting. In that time, my weight has increased from 140-145lbs at 10% bf to 192-195 lbs at 10% BF. My waist has remained a 32. I can deadlift 300 lbs, yet also run a half marathon in a respectable time. I'm even considering up'ing to 6 eggs a day. Don't buy into egg myths. Eggs are too useful to people like us.

-drink plenty of water (I drink about 8L a day...up to 12 in the summer)

-consider the calories/nutrients from often overlooked sources like condoments...1 cup of a typical pasta sauce will have 150 calories and up to 25g sugar...while it may taste good, there usually is little to no healthy fats, quality protein, etc....no the most useful food source...nothing wrong with eating foods that aren't the most efficient, but consider portion control...limit yourself to 1/2 cup sauce (80 cals, 1.5g fat, 11g sugar, 2g protein = not very useful) to a 170g (600 cals, 120g carbs, 24 protein = very productive) serving of whole wheat spaghetti. Ensure the pros far outweigh the cons and you're fine. I call this the calories to useful nutrients ratio. I make salmon sandwiches and wraps pretty much every day. It's common to use tartar sauce as a condoment in fish sandwiches. Instead, I use avocado, which is not only lower in calories by weight but also provides much more nutrient-dense, productive calories. No fluff.[/QUOTE

Wish i had 1 eh them disorders

LOL funnily enough i want to the exact same routine as you asked an elite member of this forum to help me out with a 5x5 program

Monday – Heavy Day
Squat – 5 sets of 5
flat bench – 5 sets of 5
Overhand Grip Barbell Row – 5 sets of 5
Good Mornings – 2 sets of 10
Cable Crunch – 4 sets of 12-25

Wednesday – Light Day
Deadlift – 4 sets of 5
standing military press – 4 sets of 5
Stiff Leg Deadlift 4 sets of 5
Walking Planks – 3 sets of failure

Friday – Medium
Squat – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, 1 set of 8
Flat Bench – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, 1 set of 8
Underhand Grip Barbell Row – 4 sets of 5, 1 triple, 1 set of 8 for rows
12 inch Close Grip Bench Press – 3 sets of 5-8
Barbell Biceps Curl – 1-2 sets of 5-8

its you lucky day

haha yh guess i am lucky, looks good but u have summed up my point with the squatting issue stiff leged deadlifts seems to be a replacement? still not sure what to do, any suggestions people?

I think you are fine squatting 3 times per week. You'll get used to it and you'll grow a ton from it.

Keep in mind that on Wednesday you're going to be doing light squats that you can do easily. On Monday or Friday you're only going to be doing 1 set of 5 heavy reps.