Continued growth...

[john917v]

Hi all. I have been, eating well (and enough), staying consistent w/ the wo's, and training hard. I want to make sure I am doing well. I noticed I was getting leaner and bigger. But, I am not seeing as much in terms of gains. I have actually been gaining fat. I need to up my cardio-I've been slacking on that. I've been told to mix it up so that the muscles receive new stimulation. I go up in weight each week, 5-10 lbs per upper body exercises, and 10-20 lbs for leg exercises. And I train 2x a week, on a 5x5 routine that involves deadlifts, benchpress, military press, leg press, chinups, and rows, such as bent-over, deadlifts, legpress, and benchpress is done on both days, and rows, chinups, and MP are split up between days. How should I mix it up, and what else can I be doing? BTW, I've read the stickies, several times, good stuff TIA, John

[Andrew.cook]

Well, as unpopular as this may be, a calorie isn't a calorie. Not all fats or proteins or carbs are equal, so it could be what you are eating... that and if you plan on putting on muscle, you almost certainly have to plan on putting on a little cushion.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the question is. Are you normal? Yeah, probably. Your program is solid and time tested, you are obviously eating enough (though quality might be a concern of mine, not knowing what you eat) and you are gaining weight, some of which is surely muscle mass. However I understand that it isn't all muscle.

[iron_worker]

Originally Posted by john917v

...I noticed I was getting leaner and bigger...



..I have actually been gaining fat...

So what exactly is the problem here? That seems quite contradictive to me.



IronWorker

[TALO]

I agree with AC in that all calories are not the same. Can you give us an example of what you are eating ?

[john917v]

Whoops, you're right, IW. I had gained some notable muscle mass, as well as some fat. Here is my food for one day-it totals 3000 cals.

Meal 1-
1 cup of oats
8 oz skim milk
1 scoops protein powder
1 banana

In-between snack-
1/2 cup of grapes
scoop of protein

#2-
3 boiled eggs
35% of a cup of ground beef, the cheapest kind, about 80% meat
1/2 of an avocado
2/10 of a cup of brown rice
1/2 cup of grapes
a scoop of protein

#3
other 1/2 of avocado
2/10 cup of brown rice
1/4 cup of brisket
scoop of protein
peach

#4
slice of white bread
.25 cup of brisket
scoop of protein
8 oz of milk

#5
cup of chicken breast
baked potato


#6
plain, unsweetened cup of yogurt
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 cup roast beef


My main question is that I'm not seeing the gains I once was. I work out 2x a week. Should I do 3x a week? And, how should I mix things up to restimulate my muscles?

[john917v]

Whoops, you're right, IW. I had gained some notable muscle mass, as well as some fat. Here is my food for one day-it totals 3000 cals.

Meal 1-
1 cup of oats
8 oz skim milk
1 scoops protein powder
1 banana

In-between snack-
1/2 cup of grapes
scoop of protein

#2-
3 boiled eggs
35% of a cup of ground beef, the cheapest kind, about 80% meat
1/2 of an avocado
2/10 of a cup of brown rice
1/2 cup of grapes
a scoop of protein

#3
other 1/2 of avocado
2/10 cup of brown rice
1/4 cup of brisket
scoop of protein
peach

#4
slice of white bread
.25 cup of brisket
scoop of protein
8 oz of milk

#5
cup of chicken breast
baked potato


#6
plain, unsweetened cup of yogurt
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 cup roast beef


My main question is that I'm not seeing the gains I once was. I work out 2x a week. Should I do 3x a week? And, how should I mix things up to restimulate my muscles?

[Ross86]

Have you had a reset yet? (with your weights) Or a deload?

[Andrew.cook]

I always laugh when people post what they eat in a day. Given a good day my diet may look like I'm an ultra clean eating bodybuilder in pre-comp prep, but given other days I may look like a fat jack-hole that has no idea how to eat (I like Pizza... and when I eat pizza I'm not a fan of self restraint )

When you say you are not seeing the same gains, in what regards?

[john917v]

No. I've never done a reset. I'm not sure how to. Is that where you do 3x3, instead of 5x5? I saw it in the sticky by 5x5 dft thread by DH. In terms of gains, I meant musculature.

[Andrew.cook]

Well, aside from the fact that you are subject to the laws of diminishing gains from the minute you pick up your first weight... if you weigh X, and eat calories to support Y (eating over maintenance), after you weigh Y (or even as you are approaching it) doesn't it make sense that you would need to start eating cals to support weight Z?

So Y-X gets you the amount of cals available for growth, but as X increases that number gets smaller and smaller. So while it was significant enough to build bricks with before, now it might be making legos. Keep it up long enough and it might be making grains of salt.

Takes a long time to build a mountain from grains of salt...