Gym And Supplement Discussion

[-FIGJAM-]

im not 6'1, i am closer to 5'11.

my training is pretty solid, have spewed a couple times and most nights i wish i wasnt training. Lifting heavier and heavier all the time.

I am currently dead lifting over 100kg, the only lifts that have slowed down are upper body and that was due to a shoulder injury.

My biggest issue is eating enough food. Whilst I have improved from last year it still isnt near perfect but I am getting better and better. I need to up the calories again by another 200-500 per day before I see any more gains. Not making excuses but when you have a job like mine, you dont ever get to eat every 2-3 hours, so I eat what I can when I can and as much as I can.

I am on a pretty dirty bulk which I have also managed to keep the fat down, my body fat % last I checked was 8.2% with a hint of abbs coming through.

Everyone has told me that I have gotten bigger since last they have seen me which makes me happy.

All i wanted was to give you a honest opinion of the product that I took. Not to turn this into a debate about what I should or shouldnt be doing when you dont really know what I am currently doing. My log also hasnt been updated for some time.

Just some food for thought.

[TM7GTR]

What's been said above is true. I don't care how skinny you are or how hard you say it is to gain weight... if you eat like a monster your body WILL adapt, and therefore increase in size. Not trying to have a go at you figjam, but you can't be eating enough/the same amount consistently/you must smoke or drink a lot (haven't read your build thread so just assuming) if you aren't putting on some serious mass.

The only reason I think you SHOULD count your calories is so you can see what you should be eating daily/how much in order to reach say 4500-5000 calories if you really wanna increase your body mass. Do this for a couple weeks, then you won't have to because you should be in some sort of routine hopefully by then.

If you have an iphone, download an app called MyFitnessPal. It takes 5 seconds to enter the food you just ate, then it calculates the macros for you.

How many sets and reps are you doing for your exercises?

What tempo do you incorporate in your lifts?

How long are your rest intervals?

Edited May 3, 2012 by TM7GTR

[-FIGJAM-]

I am not arguing with you guys. Im the first to say my calorie intake isnt large enough and I am not making excuses for the fact. I am sure if I ate 3200 calories a day I'd gain quick, but being a small guy who has always ate like a sparrow this isnt a simple thing to do, but as said above I am getting there. I am in no rush.

Believe it or not, im not dumb, I do know for the most part why I am not the Hulk now, I am not looking for a magic fix or anything along those lines. If I improved in the following areas Id improve dramatically, its just a matter of getting into the right habbits:

- increase calories to at least 2500+

- more protein, which for all your information I have done (added another 2 protein shakes every day, eggs in the morning) also eat chicken whenever possible.

- consume more water (I'd be lucky to get 8 cups a day)

- get 8 hours of sleep a day minimum

- stop playing oztag twice a week

[NickR33]

relax, give it time... keep lifting and eating you'll make progress... maybe not as fast as you'd hoped but you'll get there

sometimes you make progress, while sometimes you hit plateaus... sometimes you even get slack and go backwards... but if your in it for the long term you WILL come out on top eventually

try not to use the scales too much, once a week or fortnight is plenty... train hard but train smart too... no point going so hard that you get an injury and have to have time off

no point obsessing over it to the point where training isn't fun anymore... don't over complicate it, you'll just drive yourself nuts

ps. put peanut butter on everything! lol

[TM7GTR]

lol at the peanut butter quote ^ , I'm guilty of doing that

On another note, wtf is with every saying "I need to increase my protein even more" blah blah blah.

How much protein are some of you even consuming? You don't really need shit-tons of it, and if you have too much you'll start storing it as fat anyway.

Protein doesn't make you big, consuming loads of carbohydrates does

[-FIGJAM-]

The best bit of advice I have got from here is to drink full cream milk. I am now putting a ltr a day away and had improvements all most straight away. Instead of sitting 68-70kg I am not sitting more 70 to 71kg.

As said I am getting there and taking my time. If I get to 75kg this year I will be stoked as thats what I have tried to hit since I started working out back in 2007.

[-FIGJAM-]

I am aiming for near 200grams a day of protein. As per the advice of just about everything I have read and heard. I think the saying is 2g of protein for every pound of weight??

[TM7GTR]

2g per kilo of weight is the figure you should aim for.

Don't increase your intake as you said though, because put it this way....

You find it hard to consume those extra calories you need, but yet instead of trying to eat another meal of chicken, you should be eating another meal of complex carbs instead.

Extra protein won't help you, it's extra carbs that will, so instead of wasting that space you have to fit more food in, make it worth it.

[TM7GTR]

Just wondering btw, does anyone here eat quinoa???

It's nature's freaking super food and i've just started munching through it by the ton.

It's light, so you can eat plenty of it with ease, and it packs a nutritional profile of:

Fat - 4g

Carbs - 39g (5g of dietary fibre too!)

Protein - 8g (regarded as one of the most complete protein sources around, yet it's a grain)

This is per 185g serving.

It doesn't taste like much either, so mix it in with veggies and chicken and it's amazing. I'm in love with this stuff haha

Read here for more info ---> http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10352/2 <---

[NickR33]

also (I know I've said this before but bare with me) focus on the big muscles... if you work hard to grow your back and thighs/glutes the rest of you will come along for the ride... lots of heavy rowing, pull ups and cleans... squat, deadlift etc... sounds like your already doing all this but the number of guys I see who are all press movements/arms and then throw in some dumbbell rows and think that's enough for the back... your pull movements should outnumber your press movements

at the risk of sounding like a broken record, learn to clean and press... nothing like lifting some heavy shit off the floor above your head for making you bigger and stronger... the added benefit is you will become more powerful too, sprint faster, jump higher all that manly shit

[Trozzle]

all that manly shit

QFT.

[Dani Boi]

Jack3d been banned in America and i think soon here as well.

[Trozzle]

Heard this evening that allegedly the ban has been passed on here. Must be the 1,3 dimeth causing the ban, or maybe the ludicrous amounts of caffeine. hahahaha

[macdog]

Just wondering btw, does anyone here eat quinoa???

It's nature's freaking super food and i've just started munching through it by the ton.

It's light, so you can eat plenty of it with ease, and it packs a nutritional profile of:

Fat - 4g

Carbs - 39g (5g of dietary fibre too!)

Protein - 8g (regarded as one of the most complete protein sources around, yet it's a grain)

This is per 185g serving.

It doesn't taste like much either, so mix it in with veggies and chicken and it's amazing. I'm in love with this stuff haha

Read here for more info ---> http://nutritiondata...d-pasta/10352/2 <---

super food mate!!! been eating it for a while. bit of yoghurt and some fruit... is great...

Does anyone here take Proto Whey?

pros/cons?

was taking optimum nutrion 100% whey... think I want to try something different.

[TTT]

FIGJAM - you sound like you've got it covered and know what you need to do etc so no more on that, but it was you who brought up the fact that you had been taking some creatine mix product for 2 weeks with none of the benefits the packet said you would get etc.

So... if you realise that the problem with you not getting bigger/faster/stronger as fast as you would like is the fact that you don't eat enough food or consistantly, then why are you trying creatine and falling for the marketing bullshit on it?

If you car is low on fuel and surges around corners, do you then add a Brock Polarizer and post that it didn't fix the problem?

ADD MORE FUEL BROSEPH..

What is your job?

I bet there is a way to eat more or eat better to get the calories in.

I had mates that used to carry an esky everywhere they went.

they had crazy jobs, but were still able to eat and train and actually compete in body building successfully.

always a way.

just a matter of what is more imprtant to you.

[-FIGJAM-]

I'm not winging about how long its taking to get bigger. If we go back a little further I said I brought this stuff and it claims all these benefits. I was skeptical from the start.

I am a design and salesmen for a shopfitting job. My role is to visit each client and come up with their briefs. Regular meetings lasting over 3-4hours are a killer. Also with that job comes a lot of beer drinking to get in the crowed that is required. One plus is if I take clients to lunch I look for places with a good fish or chicken menu.

As said, I know the issues and trying to fix em. But back on topic.

I drink the Prostar protein from Ultimate Nutrition Mac and I find the taste to be sensational.

[Birds]

1. Lift heavy until it hurts just to drive home.

2. Eat meat and pasta until you're crapping twice a day.

3. Sleep until standing is more comfortable.

It's not that complicated, you don't need Excel spreadsheets/piecharts of your diet, a team of scientists monitoring your sleep or a $3000 set of scales to keep track of your weight.

[-FIGJAM-]

so I should fire my scientist and cancel my scales layby?

On another note, at the Fitness Expo I was talking to some dude from some company about LG Sciences Trifecta Stack. Meant to be some good gear. Its not a steroid, but I think its closer to what the yanks call a Designer Steroid.

Read some reviews on BodyBuilding.com people claim to put on 4-10lbs of lean mass in a month, some people getting even better returns. Might be something that you boys with big calorie intakes per day might be interested in looking into. I certainly would, but with my poor diet I believe it would be a waste.

[TTT]

1. Lift heavy until it hurts just to drive home.

2. Eat meat and pasta until you're crapping twice a day.

3. Sleep until standing is more comfortable.

It's not that complicated, you don't need Excel spreadsheets/piecharts of your diet, a team of scientists monitoring your sleep or a $3000 set of scales to keep track of your weight.

Exactly

Edited May 4, 2012 by TTT

[Birds]

And what's this obsession with watching the scales for muscle gains? A weight difference ≠ your muscle gains, your muscle gains = a weight difference. Until I see some fat percentages thrown in there with the scale readings, they might as well be fat gains and probably are. Unless you're getitng your BF% checked regularly and accurately, your best tools for measuring muscle gains are the mirror and how much heavier you are lifting.

Here's a rule of thumb...if you gained weight and you're lifting the same, you gained fat.