Gee-Spot

Is there a way you can put on good lean muscle with out doing calorie overloads and then cutting.

FOr example, if I was to stick to weight training splits 3 x a week, one cardio day. And then for my diet just stuck to a good stable routine.

i.e Healthy breakfast, mid morning fruit, Healthy sandwhich for lunch, afternoon fruit/snack, Good healthy dinner like a roast or chicken and pasta salad etc. evening snack like fruit again. You get the picture I am rambling

Obviously this will mean avoiding chocolate, junk food, mayinaise and too manyu potatoes and white bread etc.


If I train hard and stick to this kind of diet is it still possible for me to put on a decent amount of lean muscle over time and still increase my size and weith.

LEWIS

not with that diet mate , how is a rost healthy.

try using a balanced diet of 6 meals a day include a protein shake in morning and after training, go for 50% carbs, 40% protein 10% fats (good ones not saturated)

however it will not be easy mate

Gee-Spot

Yeah sorry, I forgot to include that I take 3 protein shakes a day as well. Apologies.

Gee-Spot

I just find it hard to belive that the only way to put on good muscle mass is to eat everything in sight for a few months then eat hardly anything for a few months.

So if I just stuck to a flat non changing diet then all my weight training would be a wate. Thats tough to believe.

For example what about sprinters, they have massive frames and physiques. Big Biceps and massive chest and thighs. I can t seem them changing there diet all the time cos it would drastically affect their times on the 100M.

I am obviously not disagreeing with you guys on here as you all seems like experts in this field, however I am fairly new to this and need things explained to me like a kid.

How long do you bulk for then how long do you cut for. Do you get bothered if like me your are stating to get a bit of a gut or love handles in the bulking stage.

How do you live a normal life with a family if you are never eating potatoes, bread, pasta etc.

I am very confused, help

Keyser Soze

IMO, the best way to figure out if you need to bulk or cut is to tape-measure your waist at the widest circumference. Do NOT use your trouser measurement!!
A good rule of thumb, if you're over 34", cut. On or under, bulk. Personally I'm shooting for 34", but it'd be nice to see my abs, just for prides sake, before I get too old to ever see them.
When you first start training your body will probably put on muscle fast, unless you're what they call a "hard-gainer", and then speed of the gains will taper off dramatically. During this initial time your calorific and protein requirements will be quite high, so it might not hurt to "eat everything you can", so long as you favour high-protein, low cal/carb foods when given a choice.

It'd be better if you posted up some measurements, your dietary plans (if any) and your training schedule to get more closely-tailored advice.
Train hard,

Keyser.

invisiblekid

You can eat bread, pasta and potatoes. Ideally though they would be wholemeal/granary bread, sweet potatoes and wholemeal pasta.

Its about moderation and dedication. Saying "I'll eat this oven pizza cos I dont want sweet potatoe and chicken" is the same as saying "today I will sit in front of the TV instead of training". Its Ok every once in a while, but you'll not get anywhere if you live your life like that.

Just look at the dedication and commitment the likes of TinyTom, PScarb, NinePack and many others have. To get to the top you have to be strict and treat yourself now and again. It depends how much you want it.

To answer your question - the ideal way is to add lean mass without bulking and cutting. This is possible and the way most people now live. Bulking and cutting in the traditional sense has gone imo. Cutting is only used to trim up if you have gone a little too far or when dieting for a show.

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Gee-Spot

Ok Great, so if i train hard but have a sensible diet then I can still put on lean muscle over time.

You have all been helpful.

I will in due course put my full training program on here for you. Heres my weights to start. (from memory so forgive any odd mistakes)

Split 1

Chest and Tri

All are 3 sets of 12 normally fail on last set at about 8ish

Bench Press
Incline dumbell Press
Dips 3 x as many as I can do till failure
Dumbell fly
Tricep rope
Pec deck machine dropset

Split 2

Back And Biceps

Seated Row
Wide Grip Pull Ups
Reverse Fly
Lat Pulldowns
Standing Bar curls 21s
seated dumbell curls

Split 3

Legs And Shoulders

Seated Dumbell shoulder press
Leg Press
Upwards row
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Lat raises
Front raises

I do each of these once per week, but never on a set day because its hard to know where and when I am working so I go when I can. On the very odd occassion I go round twice. There is normallyh one cardio day in there which is a light jog and a swim.

SportDr

You need to overeat to add muscle, its a simple logical fact. What you eat, when you eat it and how you train will define how much of that calorie overload will become muscle, fat or fuel.

To attain this balance you have to be meticulous with your record keeping and experienced with taking accurate body measurements, BF% etc.

If you are experienced enough and know your own body well enough, you will succeed.

If you don't however, you could be giving yourself a hard time, destined for some dissapointment, if you try to both cutting and gaining together.

The reason people bulk and cut is because it works and because it is soooo much easier.

SD

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lukey

Im surprised that Tom has butted in on this one, he is an avid believer that bulking and cutting is not the way to go but to just achieve lean gains throughout the year as yo yo dieting isnt good.

Tinytom

LOL just read this Lukey

Its correct I dont believe in 'bulking up' (ie getting fat) in order to gain muscle. This goes against everything about how muscle is built.

For instance when you look at how nutrients are deposited via Insulin it doesnt make sense to get fat because the more fat you have the more receptors you have for insulin within your fat. This obviously leads to a greater degree of fat gain in the long term and possibly more nutrients being diverted away from muscles in favour of fat receptors.

I have wrote long posts on this before so I wont go into it again but I have tried both methods of gaining muscle and I definately prefer the lean gaining approach.

I think all to often people measure their gains by the scales and not the mirror. I see a lot of posts on here about how people have gained a stone in a few weeks on a gear cycle and sometimes I think

'Come on you dont seriously believe thats all muscle do you?'

Gaining is good but if I gained over 4-5lbs on one course I would be worried that most of that was fat/water. Muscle just isnt built that fast and people like to gain wieght so they look good in a jumper/gym vest.

Personally I like to gain a few pounds of lean muscle so I look a stone heavier rather than gaining a stone and looking fat.

When I last competed in October 2005 I was 79kg. This year (18 months later) I will be onstage at 87kg approx. Thats an 8kg gain in muscle ( i know its muscle cos I'm shredded lol ) However I look at least twice that in weight. One thing to note is that I fluctuated between 87-92kg through the whole of the year but got leaner as the year went on.

I didnt change my diet I just ate clean carbs and protein in the week and had some cheats on the weekend. Oh I did run a few gear courses as well lol.:smoke:

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