Diet and Training Critique

[thegodfather]

Refocusing on some things. I had previously been doing Ironman HIT training, which cycled training body parts 2x/week with very low volume but high intensity, each set to failure. I made good gains on that routine but it took a toll on my body and I developed a number of injury's, which then caused me to take about 2 1/2 months off from the gym because of tendinitis in my wrist, elbow, and shoulder area. Thus I lost about 15lbs during this off time. So now that I've been training again for about a month, I thought it would be a good time to re-evaluate everything and refocus. I have gone back to training each muscle group only ONCE per week.

Stats:
Age: 23
Height: 5'9
Weight: 180 @ 12-13% (Caliper)
Frame: Ecto
Goal: Bulking, would like to hit 200lbs by August 2010.


Meal 1 – 8:00AM Breakfast

2 scoops CytoGainer

4 egg whites

½ cup oats

643 kcals / 45p / 67c/ 6f

Meal 2 – 10:30AM


2 whole eggs

6 egg whites

1 cup oats

595kcals / 43p / 68c/ 17f

Meal 3 – 1:00PM Lunch

1 whole chicken breast

1 cup brown rice

1tbsp Udo’s Choice FlaxOil

694 kcals / 48p / 77c / 20f

Meal 4 – 3:30PM (Pre-Workout)

4 scoops CytoGainer

870 kcals / 54p / 79c / 6f

Meal 5 – Post Workout

1 whole chicken breast

2 regular baked potatos OR 1 large yam/sweet potato

539 kcals / 49p / 79c / 3f

Meal 6 – 8:30PM

1 pack of Tuna

2 slices whole wheat bread

1tbsp Dijon mustard for flavor

200grams Asparagus

1tbsp Udo’s Choice FlaxOil

504kcals / 48p / 49c / 12f

Meal 7 – 11:00PM Bedtime

2tbsp Udo’s Choice Flaxoil

200grams Lean beef

200grams Broccoli

20gr brown rice

464 kcals / 50p / 29c / 15f

TOTALS:

4,309 KCALS / 337g Protein / 447g Carbs / 77g Fats





Workout Program:
Workout A (Chest/Tris)-(Monday)

Flat Bench(BB) – 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Incline Bench(DB) - 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Cable Flyes- 10reps/10reps/10reps/10reps
Close Grip Bench- 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Skull Crushers-10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Cable Pushdowns- 10reps/10reps/10reps/10reps

Workout B (LEGS) –(Tuesday)

Squats- 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts- 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Standing Calve Raises(Rest/Pause)- 10reps/10reps/10reps/10reps

Workout C (Back/Bis) – (Thursday)

Reverse Grip Bent Over Rows- 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Lat Pulldowns- 12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Seated Cable Rows- 10reps/10reps/10reps/10reps
Standing Bicep Curls- 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Reverse Curls(EzBar)- 10-12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Hammer Curls- 10reps/10reps/10reps/10reps

Workout D (Shoulders/Traps) – (Friday)

Shoulder Press(DB)- 12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Upright Barbell Rows(BB)- 12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)
Side Laterals(DB)- 10reps/10reps/10reps/10reps
Shrugs(BB)- 12reps/8-10reps/6-8reps/2-4reps(failure)

AM Cardio on empty stomach MWF. Brisk walk, 135-140bpm's, 20-30minutes.

Supplements: Vitamin C, Flaxseed Oil, Fish oils.

[FireGuy]

That's a whole lot of calories you have there TGF. With the abundance of carbs and fats you could definately drop your protein down to at least 250 with no adverse effects. Your food choices look pretty food to me as well. Even though you state you are an ectomorph you might have to incorporate some cardio into this schedule to keep unwanted fat off of you. I would use 14% as my BF limit, maybe 16% if you dont mind looking kinda sloppy.

Your workout doesnt look bad either although think about this. You are doing 36 total sets for arms and shoulders combined a week and 12 total sets for legs and calves per week. Spending 3x the effort on muscles that have maybe 1/3 the total mass of your legs isnt a good priority. Or this equals 64 sets for your upper body and 12 for your lower body per week.

How about some hamstring curls, some lunges, some hacks, some presses, some seated calf raises??? Not saying add them all but I think you need to balance things out more. You dont want to have to stand waist deep in the swimming pool to look good.

[thegodfather]

That's a whole lot of calories you have there TGF. With the abundance of carbs and fats you could definately drop your protein down to at least 250 with no adverse effects. Your food choices look pretty food to me as well. Even though you state you are an ectomorph you might have to incorporate some cardio into this schedule to keep unwanted fat off of you. I would use 14% as my BF limit, maybe 16% if you dont mind looking kinda sloppy.

Your workout doesnt look bad either although think about this. You are doing 36 total sets for arms and shoulders combined a week and 12 total sets for legs and calves per week. Spending 3x the effort on muscles that have maybe 1/3 the total mass of your legs isnt a good priority. Or this equals 64 sets for your upper body and 12 for your lower body per week.

How about some hamstring curls, some lunges, some hacks, some presses, some seated calf raises??? Not saying add them all but I think you need to balance things out more. You dont want to have to stand waist deep in the swimming pool to look good.

Fireguy, thank you for the reply. Thank you for pointing out the issue about how much time I'm spending on legs, I hadn't even realized. But to be honest my quads&glutes have always been my strongest body part by far. Everyone calls me "bubble butt" because of it. So really it does not take much at all for my lower body to explode. I will consider adding 4 sets of leg extensions and 4 sets of hamstring curls. Yes the kcals are high, probably because I put the diet together (with Phates help) when I was about 195lbs before I took my 2 1/2 month break. I definitely agree with incorporating cardio, and not just for fat purposes but for overall cardiovascular health as well. Thank you for your suggestions.

Also one more thing FireGuy....A friend of mine who is a strength and conditioning coach suggest I only goto failure on ONE exercise per body part, he thinks that going to failure that many times is excessive...What is your opinion?

[MuscleScience]

I agree with completely with fireguy.

I think you need to add more leg exercises in there and maybe drop some reps for chest and shoulders. The chest and shoulders are both relatively small muscle groups. I also agree with your strength coach friend. Going to failure can be risky so the less often you do it the less chance of injury. BTW I am certified as a strength coach...LOL

[peachfuzz]

your calories are overestimated. your preworkout (which i would just make a repeat of lunch or swap with your post workout meal) is around 590 calories. the macros are right but the calories are off. also on back/bi day i personally would add another back exercise in place of a bi exercise. other then that looks good to me. im sure you will make adjustments as you go.

[thegodfather]

your calories are overestimated. your preworkout (which i would just make a repeat of lunch or swap with your post workout meal) is around 590 calories. the macros are right but the calories are off. also on back/bi day i personally would add another back exercise in place of a bi exercise. other then that looks good to me. im sure you will make adjustments as you go.

I think you aren't considering that the CytoGainer is in 2 cups of whole milk, which accounts for the extra kcals. The only reason I'm hesitant to add another back exercise is I am working with a nagging injury and the more I work back the more painful it becomes, as of now I just push through it. I think I will def do the swap between me Pre and Post workout meal...