Critique my Bulking Diet

[SamMalone]

I'm trying to bulk after not working out for a year. Started in November and stopped drinking alcohol. Went from 148 to 162 on this and increase each exercise by 5 lbs every week:

Day 1
Deadlift
Squat
Pull Ups or Rows
Barbell Curls

Day 2
Bench Press w/resisting string
Dips
Barbell Flys
Shoulder Press

No cardio and just started doing some neck exercises. Eat 2000+ calories a day.

 

[EFFORT]

wheres the diet?

 

[Quagmire911]

Cardio is a must.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

i rather hear you say 3500+ calories or more

 

[Beffing]

okay well, looks decent but you need to eat more calories... try this weight gainer shake twice a day each in addition to a meal, not in replacement.

-2 scoops protein powder (using optimum nutrition 100 whey)
- 1 cup oats
-24 oz milk ( whole for more fat)
- 1tbs flaxseed oil.

each shake has about 95 grams of protein and 1100 calories each, so consuming an additional 2000 cals a day with these shakes should put some more weight on. Also, try and work the legs in on the second day of lifting, like with front squats or something

 

[SamMalone]

I've been doing shakes with water. Completely forgot to use milk. Thanks guys.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

you don't have to use milk...infact, i'd advise against it unless you have a really great metabolism. Could make you fat.

post diet if you want more in-depth help

 

[SamMalone]

Should I work out four times a week, doing each day twice a week, or is that too much? I'm not sure how quick these muscles recover.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

3-4 times a week is optimal......5 if you have really great genetics for recovering. Generally i work out 3 times a week, its sufficent for me, i do mon wed friday...give your self at least 2 days to rest, it helps with workouts so you don't feel as sore as if you worked out every day

 

[Throttle]

use milk if and only if you are fully lactose tolerant. as long as you account for it in your calories, it won't make you fat.

 

[speakeasy]

But maybe 2000 calories a day would be fine for some people who have slow metabolism? Everyone says 2k cals a day is what people need to get by, but I know I can easily get by on WAY less than that without losing any weight. I think for some people their natural balance may be 1500 a day, and for them 2000 a day may be enough to put on bulk.

 

[diablo]

... stopped drinking alcohol... Eat 2000+ calories a day.

As best I can tell, that's the only "diet" you've given anyone to critique. Unless you consider your workout your diet - in which case you're in a bit of trouble...

Day 1
Deadlift
Squat
Pull Ups or Rows
Barbell Curls

Day 2
Bench Press w/resisting string
Dips
Barbell Flys
Shoulder Press

As for critiquing your workout, I just wonder one thing - where did it come from?! The exercises are good, but there's just not enough of them in there to be really maximizing the most you can get out of your muscle groups. Here's my 4 day split:

Monday:
flat-bench dumbbell press (4 reps of 6)
incline barbell press (4 of 6)
cable crossover (4 of 8)
dip (4 of 12)
lying tricep extension (4 of 6)
pressdown (4 of 6)
cable kickback (4 of 8)
cable crunch (4 of 8)
lower-ab machine (4 of 12)
weighted crunches on incline bench (4 sets till failure)

Wednesday:
front pulldown (4 of 6)
seated cable row (4 of 6)
one-arm dumbbell row (4 of 8)
straight-arm pulldown (4 of 8)
standing barbell curl (4 of 6)
preacher curl (4 of 6)
hammer curl (4 of 8)
standing calf raise (4 of 8)
seated calf raise (4 of 8)

Friday:
overhead dumbbell press (4 of 6)
bent over lateral raise (4 of 8)
front barbell raise (4 of 8)
seated dumbbell lateral raise (4 of 8)
barbell shrug (4 of 6)
hanging knee raise (4 of 8)
decline crunch (4 of 8)

Sunday:
squat (4 of 6)
leg press (4 of 6)
leg extension (4 of 8)
romanian deadlift (4 of 6)
lying leg curl (3 of 6)
standing calf raise (4 of 8)
seated calf raise (4 of 8)

Now I'm not saying that this setup is right for you - obviously if you aren't going to go balls to the wall and use as much weight as you can handle then you're not going to see any gains... but the important thing is to focus on various muscle groups on any given day. My mondays are chest, triceps, and abs... Wednesday's are for back, biceps, and calves. Friday is shoulders, traps, and abs if you hadn't figured it out... and Sundays are legs and calves again.

Everyone says 2k cals a day is what people need to get by...

Everyone says this because the government put that the "Recommended Daily Intake" is 2000. Of course it will vary depending on the person, their activity level, and their metabolism.

When you're bulking, look to start your baseline at 15x your weight in calories. If you are a 180 lb guy, try eating at around 2700 cals a day. If you're still not noticing a difference, gradually increase it to 16x, 17x, 18x, and so forth until you develop gains such as you want to see.

I know that there's a stigma associated with gaining fat while you're bulking - just accept the fact that it's going to happen. However, how much fat you gain is going to be highly dependent on what types of food you're eating. If you eat processed crap from cans, fast food drive thru, sweets and non-diet soft drinks, all because you're "trying to eat lots of cals to bulk" then yes - you'll gain more fat than if you're doing a semi-clean bulk... which would use staples such as lean meats (bison comes to mind, as does chicken breast..) dairy items such as low-fat milk, not to mention eggs and other assorted nutritionally complete foods.

Cardio is a must.

When bulking, cardio is a good idea in moderation (one or two 30 minute jogging sessions a week or something along those lines) if only to keep your cardiovascular system in prime shape. However, the last thing you want is to run 5 miles a day, go kayaking for an hour or two every day, or anything along those lines. Your muscles will literally be eaten up.

 

[EFFORT]

Monday:
flat-bench dumbbell press (4 reps of 6)
incline barbell press (4 of 6)
cable crossover (4 of 8)
dip (4 of 12)
lying tricep extension (4 of 6)
pressdown (4 of 6)
cable kickback (4 of 8)
cable crunch (4 of 8)
lower-ab machine (4 of 12)
weighted crunches on incline bench (4 sets till failure)

Wednesday:
front pulldown (4 of 6)
seated cable row (4 of 6)
one-arm dumbbell row (4 of 8)
straight-arm pulldown (4 of 8)
standing barbell curl (4 of 6)
preacher curl (4 of 6)
hammer curl (4 of 8)
standing calf raise (4 of 8)
seated calf raise (4 of 8)

Friday:
overhead dumbbell press (4 of 6)
bent over lateral raise (4 of 8)
front barbell raise (4 of 8)
seated dumbbell lateral raise (4 of 8)
barbell shrug (4 of 6)
hanging knee raise (4 of 8)
decline crunch (4 of 8)

Sunday:
squat (4 of 6)
leg press (4 of 6)
leg extension (4 of 8)
romanian deadlift (4 of 6)
lying leg curl (3 of 6)
standing calf raise (4 of 8)
seated calf raise (4 of 8)

 

[MikeYikes122]

^^^^ I agree with Effort. Diablo, that routine you posted is filled with way too many exercises. I haven't been at this for a long time, but it's my experience that if you do too much like that you don't see much gain. Plus, you'll feel like **** on Sunday and will have to eat tons of carbs to keep yourself from feeling tired all the time during the week.

Though, I think you give great advice in the diet section. You list good food groups. The only advice I have for the OP is to make sure you are eating good carbs - whole meal and whole grain stuff. I know personally to have a good workout I have to eat a decent amount of whole grains carbohydrates a few hours before and directly after a workout.

As far as cardio, I don't do any except for some basketball on Sunday nights. Occasionally, I will play five-on-five with some of the high school kids at my gym, but it's mostly just shooting around. I have such a good metabolism that if I jog even twice a week I won't gain any weight at all. I used to run marathons and stuff, so my metabolism is nuts. Though, the flipside of that is that I can eat tons because my digestive system works so well. I think cardio depends upon the person, and it's all about trial and error.

 

[diablo]

Diablo, that routine you posted is filled with way too many exercises. I haven't been at this for a long time, but it's my experience that if you do too much like that you don't see much gain. Plus, you'll feel like **** on Sunday and will have to eat tons of carbs to keep yourself from feeling tired all the time during the week.

Like I said before, it's not for everyone. If you don't have the motivation or time, then steer clear. I used an entirely different routine when my goal was to cut... after 5 months, when I reached my target bodyfat and was happy with the way I looked, I started to bulk up - which is when I came across this routine. So far, my strength has gone through the roof, and although I've only been doing this routing for about a month now I'm starting to see results. It's especially important when working out to not expect to see results right away.

As for the splits containing "way too many exercises", most have 7 different stations each workout - it usually takes me an hour to an hour and a half to finish my workout. Also considering that they're breaking up completely different muscle groups so that you're training only one per week, I really don't understand how you wouldn't expect to see gains... gains are a result of weight lifted, food eaten, and rest taken. Assuming you don't overtrain - and by focusing on each muscle group only once a week that is going to be pretty hard to do - then you're going to see gains. Period. There are almost no valid reasons that if you're working with dedication, eating a good meal plan, and getting rest that you won't see massive gains.

Oh, just to post the source of the workout (it was from an earlier month's issue of Muscle & Fitness but I found a test version on the 'net):

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0801/is_11_68/ai_n21053688


One last item... food for thought, if you will. If it's true that "too many exercises will make you not see any gains", Arnold Schwarzenegger should probably be about 175 lbs, given that his workouts looked like this:

http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_60/69c_fitness_tip.html

(the short version: MWF contains 23 different exercises with 5-6 sets of 6-10 reps each, T/TH contains 18 different exercises with the same number of reps). Now that is a workout. And look at the results.

 

[EFFORT]

Like I said before, it's not for everyone. If you don't have the motivation or time, then steer clear.

thats true but motivation, dedication, etc all those things are pre requirements for being successful

I used an entirely different routine when my goal was to cut... after 5 months, when I reached my target bodyfat and was happy with the way I looked, I started to bulk up - which is when I came across this routine. So far, my strength has gone through the roof, and although I've only been doing this routing for about a month now I'm starting to see results.

if your able to grow off that routine (not talking about pumps) then you'd take off on a bodybuilding style routine, the kind that MM would recommend(MM probablywouldn't even approve of the routine your doing now though i could be wrong)

It's especially important when working out to not expect to see results right away.

thats true

As for the splits containing "way too many exercises", most have 7 different stations each workout - it usually takes me an hour to an hour and a half to finish my workout. Also considering that they're breaking up completely different muscle groups so that you're training only one per week, I really don't understand how you wouldn't expect to see gains

theres overlap, lots of pointless exercises, and overtraining is always a factor, maybe not right at the start but 6-10weeks later could be an issue

... gains are a result of weight lifted, food eaten, and rest taken. Assuming you don't overtrain - and by focusing on each muscle group only once a week that is going to be pretty hard to do - then you're going to see gains. Period. There are almost no valid reasons that if you're working with dedication, eating a good meal plan, and getting rest that you won't see massive gains.

All i'm saying is thats a pretty sloppy looking routine, if you have the genetics to gain off that, then you'd respond even better to a real bodybuilding style routine

Oh, just to post the source of the workout (it was from an earlier month's issue of Muscle & Fitness but I found a test version on the 'net):

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0801/is_11_68/ai_n21053688

the last place to get routines from

One last item... food for thought, if you will. If it's true that "too many exercises will make you not see any gains", Arnold Schwarzenegger should probably be about 175 lbs, given that his workouts looked like this:

http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_60/69c_fitness_tip.html

(the short version: MWF contains 23 different exercises with 5-6 sets of 6-10 reps each, T/TH contains 18 different exercises with the same number of reps). Now that is a workout. And look at the results.

come on diablo are you really going to argue that? you've been here for awhile and i'm assuming you've looked in H&F alittle bit? You know that arnold is a genetic freak and was also on steriods.......

bold

 

[Crazy Asian]

As best I can tell, that's the only "diet" you've given anyone to critique. Unless you consider your workout your diet - in which case you're in a bit of trouble...


As for critiquing your workout, I just wonder one thing - where did it come from?! The exercises are good, but there's just not enough of them in there to be really maximizing the most you can get out of your muscle groups. Here's my 4 day split:

Monday:
flat-bench dumbbell press (4 reps of 6)
incline barbell press (4 of 6)
cable crossover (4 of 8)
dip (4 of 12)
lying tricep extension (4 of 6)
pressdown (4 of 6)
cable kickback (4 of 8)
cable crunch (4 of 8)
lower-ab machine (4 of 12)
weighted crunches on incline bench (4 sets till failure)

Wednesday:
front pulldown (4 of 6)
seated cable row (4 of 6)
one-arm dumbbell row (4 of 8)
straight-arm pulldown (4 of 8)
standing barbell curl (4 of 6)
preacher curl (4 of 6)
hammer curl (4 of 8)
standing calf raise (4 of 8)
seated calf raise (4 of 8)

Friday:
overhead dumbbell press (4 of 6)
bent over lateral raise (4 of 8)
front barbell raise (4 of 8)
seated dumbbell lateral raise (4 of 8)
barbell shrug (4 of 6)
hanging knee raise (4 of 8)
decline crunch (4 of 8)

Sunday:
squat (4 of 6)
leg press (4 of 6)
leg extension (4 of 8)
romanian deadlift (4 of 6)
lying leg curl (3 of 6)
standing calf raise (4 of 8)
seated calf raise (4 of 8)

Now I'm not saying that this setup is right for you - obviously if you aren't going to go balls to the wall and use as much weight as you can handle then you're not going to see any gains... but the important thing is to focus on various muscle groups on any given day. My mondays are chest, triceps, and abs... Wednesday's are for back, biceps, and calves. Friday is shoulders, traps, and abs if you hadn't figured it out... and Sundays are legs and calves again.



Everyone says this because the government put that the "Recommended Daily Intake" is 2000. Of course it will vary depending on the person, their activity level, and their metabolism.

When you're bulking, look to start your baseline at 15x your weight in calories. If you are a 180 lb guy, try eating at around 2700 cals a day. If you're still not noticing a difference, gradually increase it to 16x, 17x, 18x, and so forth until you develop gains such as you want to see.

I know that there's a stigma associated with gaining fat while you're bulking - just accept the fact that it's going to happen. However, how much fat you gain is going to be highly dependent on what types of food you're eating. If you eat processed crap from cans, fast food drive thru, sweets and non-diet soft drinks, all because you're "trying to eat lots of cals to bulk" then yes - you'll gain more fat than if you're doing a semi-clean bulk... which would use staples such as lean meats (bison comes to mind, as does chicken breast..) dairy items such as low-fat milk, not to mention eggs and other assorted nutritionally complete foods.

When bulking, cardio is a good idea in moderation (one or two 30 minute jogging sessions a week or something along those lines) if only to keep your cardiovascular system in prime shape. However, the last thing you want is to run 5 miles a day, go kayaking for an hour or two every day, or anything along those lines. Your muscles will literally be eaten up.

30 min?
that would be around 4 miles?

 

[Mad Manic]

...

Naaah don't like the routine either, he doesn't use a varied rep scheme and there are a lot of crap exercises in there. He also doesnt train forearms.

Something like ...

Chest, Tris

Bench
Inc DB Press
Chest Dips
Skulls
Pushdowns

Back, Bis

Row
WG Chins
Seated Row
CG Pull Ups
EZ Curls

Delts, Forearms, Calves

Military Press
Lateral Raises
BO Rear Raises
Wrist Curls
Calf Raises

Arms

CG Bench
BB Curl
Tri Dips
DB Curls
DB Ext

Quads, Hams, Abs

Squats
SLDL
Leg Press
Leg Curls
Weighted Crunches

 

[diablo]

if your able to grow off that routine (not talking about pumps) then you'd take off on a bodybuilding style routine, the kind that MM would recommend(MM probablywouldn't even approve of the routine your doing now though i could be wrong)

Very likely - I've thought about changing it up but didn't want to leave something after sticking with it for only a month or so - guess I don't like viewing myself as giving up on anything just because I don't see results. So far I haven't noticed much in terms of size gains, just strength - though that could very well be due to my suddenly going from too few cals a day (when cutting) to an overabundance of them (which is where I've been for since starting the new program) and my body finally having enough energy to lift serious weight. I figured that losing all of the fat I had hanging around my midsection took almost half a year; getting noticeably bigger should probably take close to that too.

All i'm saying is thats a pretty sloppy looking routine, if you have the genetics to gain off that, then you'd respond even better to a real bodybuilding style routine

Looks like I may need to start looking at revamping it before I burn out, then.

come on diablo are you really going to argue that?

Well, no. It just sounded nice.

 

[EFFORT]

Very likely - I've thought about changing it up but didn't want to leave something after sticking with it for only a month or so - guess I don't like viewing myself as giving up on anything just because I don't see results.

yeah i can relate to that too not many of us like giving up on something. But in this case its worth letting that one go, just look at it as making an upgrade instead of giving up.

So far I haven't noticed much in terms of size gains, just strength - though that could very well be due to my suddenly going from too few cals a day (when cutting) to an overabundance of them (which is where I've been for since starting the new program) and my body finally having enough energy to lift serious weight. I figured that losing all of the fat I had hanging around my midsection took almost half a year; getting noticeably bigger should probably take close to that too.

could also be due to overtraining



Looks like I may need to start looking at revamping it before I burn out, then.

i think that would be a good idea


Well, no. It just sounded nice.

:rockon:

bold