advice required to help make my weight gain lean!

[gonnagethuge]

Okay guys, I’m looking for any help or suggestions. I’ve been training for a few years and managed to put on a significant amount of lbm however although I’ve added a fair bit on I’m only about 140lbs 10-12%bf. My diet is clean and I am on a calorie surplus and seeing some weight gains however I get to this current point where my weight gain only seems to take the form of fat gain. I see weight increases however the tape-measure backs up my suspicions that most of my gain comes from fat with most significant increases occurring in the bits I don’t want.

Any suggestions as to how I can rectify this and put on more muscle than fat. I’ve always had cardio at a minimum… about 2 sessions per week just now. Would increasing this help in any way? I’m already pushed to get it in which also leads me to another factor –‘Stress’ could it be stress that plays a big part in this?

[Nephets]

Can you do any fasted cardio in the morning?

[Hukebuck]

have you tried the diet 405 help me create on my log? thats a good start... also last year when my main goal was just to put weight on (128lbs 6.3%bf) i was told kill the cardio. also i killed cardio this time to. if all your seeing is fat weight results your not eating clean enough. take a look at mine and then post you a diet with the meals quantity and macros and the the gurus tear it apart for you. youll get on track

[gbrice75]

I don't necessarily think more/changed up cardio is the answer for you. You're eating at a caloric surplus in an effort to gain muscle, but are gaining fat. Doing more cardio... OR eating less... will reduce the surplus to some extent. If you were gaining muscle and fat, then I'd say go for it. However, you're claiming muscle gains have slowed or stopped, but fat gains continue. I would look into your macro ratios, what you're eating when (yes, I'm still a firm believer in meal timing impacting body composition and this is a great example), i.e. big carb meals at night, etc. Finally, you may need to take a look at your routine. How often do you switch it up? What has worked for you in the past won't necessarily continue to work forever.

Hope this helps.

[Hukebuck]

^^^give this man your macros^^^ he will guide you grasshopper. lol

[gonnagethuge]

Nephets - I've never tried fasted cardio mainly for the reason that i dont fancy it before work. I always do post workout. I probably could though if it were to make that much of a difference?

Huck - My diet is exceptionally clean and has been for years. Current diet is:

Meal 1.

egg whites
Cottage cheese
Oats
Protein blend

41p/56c/8f total 465

Meal 2.

protein blend
Oats

35/49/7.5 total 410

Meal 3.

Chicken breast
Brown rice
Brocolli

38/55/6 total 426

Meal 4.

Protein blend
Oats

35/49/7.5 total 410

Meal 5.

chicken (or other lean protein)
brown rice
Brocolli

40/56/6.5 total 438

Meal 6.

cottage cheese
Natural peanut butter
Caseon protein

34/8/5.5 total 219

Total split is approx 37/47/16

workout days i add an iso/oats shake in post workout.

GB - it's been said before that i should maybe alter my macros to have more protein and less carbs although ive also had the counter arguement that i'll grow bigger with carbs. Do tou think i should switch it up in favour of protein? in terms of meal timing, i played with this previously and never noticed any ompact when things were going well. For example i switched between eating low carbs last 2 meals and carbs in every meal and never boticed any change to my growth. Maybr worth considering now that things arent going as well though.

Also workouts get switched up quite often, perhaps too often. I use standard 3x8-10s as well as a lot of superset, dropset, rest-pause techniques. I generally go high intensity low volume for the most part. Any recommendations would be helpful.

[gonnagethuge]

Bumpin!

[gonnagethuge]

Any guru's able to help me out please?

[--->>405<<---]

[QUOTE
GB - it's been said before that i should maybe alter my macros to have more protein and less carbs although ive also had the counter arguement that i'll grow bigger with carbs. Do tou think i should switch it up in favour of protein? in terms of meal timing, i played with this previously and never noticed any ompact when things were going well. For example i switched between eating low carbs last 2 meals and carbs in every meal and never boticed any change to my growth. Maybr worth considering now that things arent going as well though.

[/QUOTE]

im not going to answer for GB but i will tell u what he told me one time.. protein and carbs work in the body like this: think of building a house.. protein is the materials and carbs are the workers.. obviously u need both.. the ratio of each varies with the individual.. but as far as protein goes.. ur body is only gonna use so much of it.. a good gauge to go by is 2g per lb LBM.. any more than that IMO is unnecessary esp when going natty.. i think i may have told u this before.. u at 140lbs and 10%bf gives u 126lbs LBM.. at 2g per lb LBM ud be @252g protein.. i weigh 185 @10% and only eat 300g...

[--->>405<<---]

with ur tdee @2500cals u may wanna try:

3000cals
250g pro
350g carbs
67g fat

[gbrice75]

GB - it's been said before that i should maybe alter my macros to have more protein and less carbs although ive also had the counter arguement that i'll grow bigger with carbs. Do tou think i should switch it up in favour of protein? in terms of meal timing, i played with this previously and never noticed any ompact when things were going well. For example i switched between eating low carbs last 2 meals and carbs in every meal and never boticed any change to my growth. Maybr worth considering now that things arent going as well though.

Also workouts get switched up quite often, perhaps too often. I use standard 3x8-10s as well as a lot of superset, dropset, rest-pause techniques. I generally go high intensity low volume for the most part. Any recommendations would be helpful.

With my diets, protein remains constant. There's no need to change it. You use what you use, and once you have an idea of that figure, you don't need to touch it again unless you a) grow a lot. b) shrink a lot. c) start a cycle (and even then you don't HAVE to up protein). If you are giving your body enough protein to do what it needs to do, then the buildling blocks to add muscle tissue are there. That's where the other factors come into play. Are the buildling blocks being used as efficiently as possible - i.e. to repair muscle tissue and add to it? This is where carbs and fats come in to play. Also, is the stimulus there for muscle to grow? You have to give your body a reason to grow. Just going to the gym and 'lifting weights' isn't enough (not saying this is what you're doing) - if it were, everybody in the gym would have the body they want. There's a reason that there are people who have been going to the gym for 20 years and still look like they're in their 1st year of training. That's most guys in the gym actually.

Rest - ties in to effiency. Without sufficient rest, your body isn't able to repair and grow at an optimal level. Unfortunately for me, due to scheduling conflicts, this is one of the major problems with my own growth and subsequent frustrations. I have the diet, training, etc. down but cannot find enough time in a 24 hour period to get proper sleep!!!

Maybe it's time to shock your body and switch to high volume for 4-6 weeks. Look into GVT. Change your rep range. Do 15-20 reps. Do 4-6 reps. You say it changes quite often but what you've described above sounds like you're consistently doing 3x8-10, so where's the change other than the advanced techniques?

im not going to answer for GB but i will tell u what he told me one time.. protein and carbs work in the body like this: think of building a house.. protein is the materials and carbs are the workers.. obviously u need both.. the ratio of each varies with the individual.. but as far as protein goes.. ur body is only gonna use so much of it.. a good gauge to go by is 2g per lb LBM.. any more than that IMO is unnecessary esp when going natty.. i think i may have told u this before.. u at 140lbs and 10%bf gives u 126lbs LBM.. at 2g per lb LBM ud be @252g protein.. i weigh 185 @10% and only eat 300g...

^^ this. You can eat 1000g of protein/day, equivalent to having pallets of materials at a construction site. But if you don't have sufficient workers (fat and more importantly, carbs) to use those materials, the building process will be slow. Conversely, you can eat 500g carbs/day but if you're not eating enough protein, the 'materials' simply aren't there to complete the house.

I usually go with 1.5g/lb of LBM. I'm currently 191lbs around 12% and eat 275g. More isn't better when it comes to nutrients, the body simply doesn't work that way. What isn't used will be discarded or stored as body fat.

[gonnagethuge]

Hey 405 and GB, thanks for all the info.

405, i'm a bit confused about your tdee of 2500? Ive got mines pegged at just over 1900 using katch mcardle and i know through trial and that it's close to maintenance.

Also my total calories averaged out over the week is currently at around 2450. My protein equates to 235g therefore i'm not far of 2g per lb of lbm. Do you suggest raising this to exactly 2g per lb and sticking at that and only manipulating carbs and fat from now on? I'm not sure about the 3000 cals you stated...that'd have my waist massive lol, i'm already expanding on 2450cals. Also would the lack of carbs/workers analogy apply to me given that i'm at the 2g/lb protein and yet my overall calorie intake is still causing weight/fat gain?

I've never actually tried German volume GB. It way be worth it for a mix up. Do you have any links to some simple starter routines i could look at? Also by 3x8 i didnt really mean its what i usually do, was just really meaning that i do standard workouts sometimes like the majority. I sometimes train in 3-6 reps for example but never 15 or perhaps higher like you mentioned. Perhaps something to look into. Any routine basic routine advice or link would be great.

[--->>405<<---]

1. U must be using the 1.2 multiplier.. I used 1.55.. 1.2 gets u @1925cals, 1.55 gets @2490.. BeAr in mind this is only an estimate to get u started. Trial and error will eventually get u closer to reality than any formula..

2. I shouldve clarified earlier: 2g pro per lb LBM is the max u need to use (esp natty).. U dont have to be that high but IMO if u were higher it would be overkill.. In most cases..

3. Ur diet looks pretty good as far as ur food choices.. U may need to play with ur split.. If ur gaining more fat than muscle with a diet that clean maybe ur body doesnt do well with such an abundance of carbs.. Also ur body may not be the best at partitioning the nutrients.. If u are 10-12% and have been bulking id have a hard time seeing u having issues with fat.. U could reduce carbs down to 40% and up ur protein to 40%.. this would aLso affect ur fat.. Have u run 40/40/20 before? Maybe if so u could try 45/40/15 pro/carbs/fat.. Or even 45/35/20..

4. Could it also be ur eating at too much of a surplus?? Maybe..

5. U getting ur bf% chekd or just taking tape measurements? If not i suggest doing it..

[gonnagethuge]

40/40/20 was the model but i ended up a little bit off. Are you simply just suggesting a bit of a seutch up in the carb fat ratios given that my protein intake isnt far off 40% at present.

I haven't tried 45% protein no however if i did so tjis would take me over and abive the 2g/lb limit that you guys have outlined given that i'm almost 2g/lb at present.

It may well be that my surplus (about 500cals) is too high.

I haven't been measuring with calipers no. This is mainly due to readingon various sites/threads that it is very difficult to do this with any accuracy and would really need the same experienced person doin the test every time. I dont really have this option.

[gonnagethuge]

So the best route for me to take here would be to slighlty reduce cals or increase cardio and maybe increase fats/reduce carbs and keep protein the same?

[MajorPectorial]

With my diets, protein remains constant. There's no need to change it. You use what you use, and once you have an idea of that figure, you don't need to touch it again unless you a) grow a lot. b) shrink a lot. c) start a cycle (and even then you don't HAVE to up protein). If you are giving your body enough protein to do what it needs to do, then the buildling blocks to add muscle tissue are there. That's where the other factors come into play. Are the buildling blocks being used as efficiently as possible - i.e. to repair muscle tissue and add to it? This is where carbs and fats come in to play. Also, is the stimulus there for muscle to grow? You have to give your body a reason to grow. Just going to the gym and 'lifting weights' isn't enough (not saying this is what you're doing) - if it were, everybody in the gym would have the body they want. There's a reason that there are people who have been going to the gym for 20 years and still look like they're in their 1st year of training. That's most guys in the gym actually.

Rest - ties in to effiency. Without sufficient rest, your body isn't able to repair and grow at an optimal level. Unfortunately for me, due to scheduling conflicts, this is one of the major problems with my own growth and subsequent frustrations. I have the diet, training, etc. down but cannot find enough time in a 24 hour period to get proper sleep!!!

Maybe it's time to shock your body and switch to high volume for 4-6 weeks. Look into GVT. Change your rep range. Do 15-20 reps. Do 4-6 reps. You say it changes quite often but what you've described above sounds like you're consistently doing 3x8-10, so where's the change other than the advanced techniques?

^^ this. You can eat 1000g of protein/day, equivalent to having pallets of materials at a construction site. But if you don't have sufficient workers (fat and more importantly, carbs) to use those materials, the building process will be slow. Conversely, you can eat 500g carbs/day but if you're not eating enough protein, the 'materials' simply aren't there to complete the house.

I usually go with 1.5g/lb of LBM. I'm currently 191lbs around 12% and eat 275g. More isn't better when it comes to nutrients, the body simply doesn't work that way. What isn't used will be discarded or stored as body fat.

Loving the style change. I rotate my workouts monthly from one full body. One month focus areas. I now feel like I'm working the he'll out of each muscle group. Also trying different excercises. Look at you body see how it moves feel how it works. No diet is perfect for everyone all the time. You will have to self monitor. It's hard but I'm now putting on 10 pounds every 4 weeks n I'm on pretty much no get diet felt natural fats. But my protein is phenomenally high. And I pretty much only eat super veg but I eat a he'll of a lot of it. 6 meals a day atleast. Depending on WHEN u work out should prioritize when n how much proteins/ carbs/ fats n any essentials u might be missing( not looked at diet).

This is just what I do. But I'm only just getting back into it after ten years out I'm piling ten pounds a month. Tail off my carbs from start to end of day. But I workout between 6-8 for 1/half-2hour workouts. I go by pictures n weigh once a month only. Twelve weekly body fat tests keep a check on my water.fat.lean ratio from now on.

[gonnagethuge]

Loving the style change. I rotate my workouts monthly from one full body. One month focus areas. I now feel like I'm working the he'll out of each muscle group. Also trying different excercises. Look at you body see how it moves feel how it works. No diet is perfect for everyone all the time. You will have to self monitor. It's hard but I'm now putting on 10 pounds every 4 weeks n I'm on pretty much no get diet felt natural fats. But my protein is phenomenally high. And I pretty much only eat super veg but I eat a he'll of a lot of it. 6 meals a day atleast. Depending on WHEN u work out should prioritize when n how much proteins/ carbs/ fats n any essentials u might be missing( not looked at diet).

This is just what I do. But I'm only just getting back into it after ten years out I'm piling ten pounds a month. Tail off my carbs from start to end of day. But I workout between 6-8 for 1/half-2hour workouts. I go by pictures n weigh once a month only. Twelve weekly body fat tests keep a check on my water.fat.lean ratio from now on.

okay thanks guys.

I'm going to keep the diet as it is as there doesn't seem to be anything that anyone can see wron with it. I'm pretty much on the protein limit that you guys suggest so no need to increase my protein intake.

All i will do is add in or extend additional cardio and look for a change of routine. Currently looking into doggcrapp style routine.

[MajorPectorial]

Just make sure u keep changing ur routine. Water runnings good. Not done it for years but keep it interesting: -)