How do I ....ahem... get bigger? page 6

[johnny767]

So lots to digest; thanks.

Positives;

I am a total silver fox. Erm,…. that’s it really.

Not so positives;

I am skinny fat. This is an improvement on when I was fat fat (see picture in first post dated January 2012), but a step back from when I was skinny skinny (14 years old).

I have the muscle definition of a jelly fish.

I am ten years older than guys who now take it easy in the gym for fear of injury.


Okay, game on; watch this space!

[eKatherine]

I don't think you are skinny fat. Your photos show good muscle definition, just not great, because there's that layer of padding over them. Losing 5 pounds of fat will make a huge difference in your physical appearance whether or not you increase your muscle size.

[Gorbag]

I am not sure whether you can expect to gain much lean muscle tissue in your age as a “natural”, but before even considering bulking you better lower your fat, so continue with the work in progress and get down at last to 12 % of bodyfat before recomp or bulk…

[Zach]

I also second the mention of swiching to bodyweight work only if you are worried about injuries. Check out the book Convict Conditioning 1 and 2. You can certainly get fantastic results with nothing more then a pullup bar and your own bodyweight.

[johnny767]

Thanks for the comments and advice guys.

I had a really good session at the gym today; and was motivated by many of the comments made here. I was pleased with my leg press but might be sore tomorrow.

I really going to put the effort (gym and diet) in over the next two months and see what happens

[johnny767]

I’m still a little confused. Since my last update, I have tried to concentrate more on calories and less on the amount of carbs. There appears to be no improvement since the February picture below

FEBRUARY 2013



I have been travelling a lot with work; and both carbs and calories go up when I do.

Having read some recent new threads, I wonder if my high protein intake might be making things worse. In the last two months I have averaged 320 grams of protein a day – which is 3.6 grams per kg of bodyweight. In a recent post, Mark says : “A 2011 paper on optimal protein intakes for athletes concluded that 1.8 g protein/kg bodyweight (or 0.8 g protein/lb bodyweight) maximizes muscle protein synthesis”. Someone also posted something about high protein levels having a similar effect as carbs with respect to insulin release?
In the last two months, I have averaged: 2937 calories, 320 grams of protein, and 75 grams of carbs

This was taken this morning; 16 months on from the one eneath:

APRIL 2013



JANUARY 2012

[YogaBare]

I see a big change - you lost the (small) moobs and the muffin top. You look great!

[eKatherine]

I see a big change, too.

[Fynn]

It may not be just the food intake. I had some issues with putting on muscle do to getting older. So I tries a volume program.
Week 1 85% max lift
8 sets of 8-10 reps of chest bi's, tri's, back,shoulders, legs. two days of cardio
Week 2 85% max lift
10 sets of 8-10 reps of chest bi's, tri's, back,shoulders, legs. two days of cardio
Week 3 85% max lift
12 sets of 8-10 reps of chest bi's, tri's, back,shoulders, legs. two days of cardio

Now increase the weight a bit on all exercises.
In Six months I have added one inch to my arms and 3/4 inch to my chest.

Also have been keeping carbs ultra low at 4% with Sundays and a refuel day of eating 65% carbs for daily intake. Monday is a blast at the gym. Do not want to leave and go to work.

Good luck

[dilberryhoundog]

Mix it up man. Move your calorie deficit from a daily one to a weekly/fortnightly one, vary it up. Vary your carbs, proteins, fats, throw in some fasts and feasts, vary how many meals you eat in a day and when you eat them. Some days you'll eat under TDEE, somedays over, just make it so that by the end of a week/fortnight you have AVERAGED a little under your TDEE for the time period.

The idea behind this is:

Firstly, it is very similar to how grok ate, alot of people on this way of eating try to emulate what grok ate (primal foods) wich is fine, but they forgo emulating HOW he ate his food, instead opting to apply primal foods to a CW eating regimen (specific percentages, same daily calorie deficits, incessant recording and cross referencing, etc etc).

Secondly, it aligns with the principles you are applying to your fitness. In post #43 you outlined how your diet is very much the same every day. Yet under your "workouts" heading you definitely outlined a varied fitness regimen. You changed how heavy the weights are and how many times you lifted them in a particular workout. You changed whether you lifted a particular day or didn't (by resting) and you even changed the type of exercise (lifting or cardio) you did on a day to day basis. The underlying principle behind this is, that you have to give your physical body different challenges every time to force it to continue to "adapt" to those challenges.
If we applied your eating strategy to your workouts it would go something like this: Do 2 lots of 10 pushups (one morning set, one afternoon set) every day, same the next day and the day after that. What would happen? Well you would quickly adapt and any gains you make would quickly diminish. So to me it is clear that this has happened to your diet/metabolism, it gets the same challenge every day and very quickly has adapted with no further gains to be made. If you start giving your body a different daily dietary challenge as well as a rest or two and you might start seeing some results, just keep in mind your weekly/fortnightly calorie deficit. hope that helps. Check out my success story (linked in my sig) where I also explore the same concept.