Wee G

I'm going to lay this out for you so you can follow it all through and repeat the exercise when it's neccesary ie as soon as your bodyweight gains have slowed / stopped.

So you currently have 155lbs muscle, 183lbs total weight.

183 x 17 = low end calories = 3111 kcals

183 x 22 = high end calories = 4026 kcals.

So, assuming a high activity level (ie athletic lifestyle!) you will run between 3111 and 4026 calories per day to gain weight. Given that your bodyfat has come down to 15% (still not very low) I would suggest that you start with the lower end of these kcal guidelines.

155lbs of LBM (lean body mass ie muscle!)

Protein needs will be around 1.5g / lb LBM.

155 x 1.5 = 230g protein / day.

Protein has 4 kcals per gram, so 230g will be 920 calories.

Your total calories are 3100, so now substract your protein calories from that.

3100 - 920 = 2180 calories left over.

That's 2180 calories of carbohydrates and fats per day. How you split them depends on your insulin sensitivity and bodyfat levels. Again, given that your bf was a little high to begin with, you are probably a bit insulin sensitive. Therefore we want a reasonably high % of fat in the diet, along with low GI carbohydrates and very low sugar / high GI / II carbs. I suggest splitting your kcal nneeds right down the middle - 50% from fats, 50% from carbs.

2180 / 2 = 1090 calories from carbs and 1090 calories from fats.

Carbs have 4 kcals per gram so 1090 / 4 = 272grams carbs.

Fats have 9 kcals per gram so 1090 / 9 = 120grams fats.

This works out at the following ratios of pro : carb : fat calories

29 : 35 : 35

So pretty close to isocaloric (meaning 1/3 of energy needs from each macronutrient).

Now, lets divide your intake across 6 meals.

40g protein, 45grams carbs and 20g fats per meal.

In truth your intake should not be identical at each meal, more carbs should be consumed pre-training, and more calories in general in the a.m., less at night. However, this gives you a starting point.

Finally, if you are naturally chubby, you should add in a little Low intensity CV each day - a 20-30 minutes brisk cycle or jog will suffice, more if you are sat on your butt most of the day. This will help with insulin sensitivity and nutrient partitioning - this just means that you will make it more likely that your body uses kcals for building muscles, and less likely it uses them for laying down bodyfat. If you find yourself gaining fat too quickly on this kcal intak and activity level, drop 20g of fat and 40g carbs from the diet, keeping protein the same. If gains in bodyweight are non-existant, add 40g carbs, preferably post training in high GI form ie maltodextrin.

Regards,

Wee G.

Tall

Good post.

However given he may be insulin sensitive is it a good idea to spike his insulin with High GI carbs?

What he doesn't want to do is saturate his muscles ability to refuel the depleated glycogen stores and then leave a load of High GI carbs knocking around resulting in the production of more adipose?

I've no idea what amount of High GI carbs is wasted after the insulin spike, personally I'd use oats and have a steady uptake.

Wee G

"If gains in bodyweight are non-existant, add 40g carbs, preferably post training in high GI form ie maltodextrin."

40g added carbs, in PW, IF he doesn't gain ANY bodyweight is not going to make a 180lb male fat. Might be enough to tip the balance in to positive nitrogen balance / elevated PS though, which is the whole point - if you were at "tipping point" calorie wise, would you rather add 160kcals at random through the day? Or in a targeted insulin spike to elevate PS after training, with a resultant drop later and an associated increase in appetite?

Cheers,

G.

tommi

G thanks a lot for your advice, i will implement it asap and keep the results posted.

i have been reading some of the posts that the other fellas have written and the knowledge shared on this site is great. Its nice to have people with more experiece who are willing to share what they have picked up over time, as it can be a bit awkward to ask some of the lads in the gym.

Thanks again for the advice.

tommi

i forgot to ask before, what is a good bodyfat % to be aiming for?

Wee G

Whilst looking to gain weight just try to keep it static ie same % it is now would be OK. If later when you are somewhat bigger you decide to get leaner and see whats lies beneath (!) then 10-12% will give a good "beach" physique ie lean but not cut. Sub 10% looks more like a BBer and anything below 6% will have members of the public being sick on thier shoes. Attached pic is 10-12%, just to give you an idea of what that looks like, and avatar is over 15%

Attached Images

BackMarch2006small.jpg (16.5 KB, 24 views)

tommi

thanks again. Wee G