It starts tomorrow

[MikeYikes122]

Thanksgiving has passed, and my workload for my job has hit a quiet point that will last for about two months. I no longer have any reason to eat junk food, skip meals or drink excessively. So now is the perfect time for me to get serious about working out and get to the point where I feel strong again. Let me know what you think of the following.

I'm currently 5'10, 147 pounds.

We'll start with diet:

I'm going to eat 4-6 times a day with three big meals and two or three snacks throughout the day. This should be easy, as I work from home and follow absolutely no schedule except for the one I set for myself. The snack will be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread. My meals will consist entirely of fish, chicken, tuna, eggs and occasionally a steak. My goal is to get about 290 grams of protein a day from those foods, including a Whey protein shake that I will drink after workouts and early in the morning. Breakfast will be the only meal that deviates. I'm going to eat shredded wheat or healthy cereal, along with maybe some bacon. I'm also going to have a protein shake with breakfast.

To go along with my big meals, I'm going to eat rice or a salad with a ton of vegetables and regular ranch dressing. If my fat intake is too high, I might switch to fat-free dressing. I'm going to try to keep my fat intake in between 120g and 150g.

As far as carbs go, I'm going to try to keep them in the range of 40g, and I'm not going to eat pasta or anything like that. Absolutely no junk food. The junk food is going to be the hardest, but I'm going to ignore any impulse I have for it.

I'm also kind of a caffeine addict, and I hit points where I have to have some. I'm going to limit myself to two diet sodas a day and not drink coffee at all anymore. The two sodas should tide me over.

As far as drinking goes, I'm only going to drink once or twice a week. And when I go out, I'm going to lay off the beer and just drink diet soda mixed with hard alcohol. I also am not going to drink as much on those nights because I've learned recently I'm a lot better with girls when I'm not drunk. Kind of bizarre, I know.

Routine:

My max bench press is currently 185. I want to get that number a lot higher.

Monday:
Warmup: 25 push-ups
Incline Press: two sets of five reps each
Bench Press: Two sets, 10 reps of 150
Shoulder Press: Two sets, 10 reps of 70 pounds
Tricep extensions: Two sets, 15 reps

Wednesday:
Warmup: ??
Deadlifts: Two sets, five reps
Row machine: Two sets, eight reps
Bicep curls: Two sets, 10 reps
Forearm exercise (I haven't picked one out yet): Two sets, 12 reps

Friday:
Warmup: ??
Squat: Two sets, five reps
Leg press: One set, 15 reps
Hamstring raise: Two sets, eight reps
Calf raise: Two sets, 10 reps.
Another leg exercise maybe?

I'm not going to do any cardio, with the though process being I really need to just put on lean mass right now. I also have an insane metabolism. I ate literally three Thanksgiving dinners and barely gained a pound. I might jog once a week on Sundays, but that is it.

My main goal is to get stronger and feel good about myself, but I'd like to see some physical difference as well. I have a trip to Orlando planned in January, and it would be kind of cool to be have some muscles to show off in the warm weather.

I'm open to any ideas/suggestions. I have some before pictures, but I'm going to hold off on posting those until after a month.

I figure, by starting a thread like this I'll have an even bigger incentive to stick to the plan.

 

[MikeYikes122]

Also, what day should I do abs?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Dude, you're not even eating 3k calories.

You're going to have to eat a whole lot more. If you want to go the high fat route we're talking in the range of at least 4k calories to gain. Possibly bring the protein up to 350, and fats around 250-260g.

With a higher carb approach you don't have to eat so much but there will be fat gain with the muscle (which can be controlled with carb timing and the cardio you're not doing - I would always do cardio even if it's just 2-3 sessions a week).

Either method works - the one you choose will be dependent on your metabolism. Eating high fat is fun but people underestimate just how much you have to eat.

As for abs, you can do them any day you want including offdays.

On Fridays I would add in a posterior core exercise and do freeweight rows or chins on back day. Also why incline press and then flat bench press? I'd do a supplementary press such as dips, db presses, floor presses instead.

 

[Fuglydude]

Mike, are you trying to bulk up? If so, like WBA said, you're eating a bit too clean IMO. Calories are the biggest thing w/ bulking, coupled with adequate protein intake. Your protein intake is outstanding by the way.

With the diet you have planned, it seems you're trying to do a lean bulk, due to its high protein/fat content. Again, IMO, 40 g of carbs is not gonna get it done. Yes it will help keep you lean, but if you're trying to add muscle to your body, add more carbs, preferably unprocessed whole grain carbs/brown rice but you know that.

As far as calories for bulking: the formula I use is to take your bodyweight in lbs, multiply by 20, and add 600-700 on top. So for you (assuming you're 150) I'd go 150 x 20 + 700 = 3700 calories. Like WBA said, over 4k will do the job quite well too, especially if you can take in 350 g protein!

Good luck!

 

[Warboss Alex]

With the diet you have planned, it seems you're trying to do a lean bulk, due to its high protein/fat content. Again, IMO, 40 g of carbs is not gonna get it done. Yes it will help keep you lean, but if you're trying to add muscle to your body, add more carbs, preferably unprocessed whole grain carbs/brown rice but you know that.

40g carbs/day with a refeed day and some pwo carbs will get it done just fine, although at a slower rate than with carbs (however you will stay leaner).

but if your metabolism can tolerate carbs, have carbs.

this is where trial and error and knowing your body comes into play.

 

[Fuglydude]

40g carbs/day with a refeed day and some pwo carbs will get it done just fine, although at a slower rate than with carbs (however you will stay leaner).

but if your metabolism can tolerate carbs, have carbs.

this is where trial and error and knowing your body comes into play.

Very true...boils down to carb tolerance. I just know I couldn't handle it. My body can handle A LOT of carbs, as long as they're from natural sources like fruit, etc. Fats however, are different.

I definitely agree with how everyone has different metabolisms, and its all about finding what one can tolerate and what one needs to acheive goals, etc.

 

[MikeYikes122]

So basically you guys are telling me to add more carbs and add an additional chest exercise on Mondays?

If that is the case, I will add in a few sets of dips and eat more pasta/those types of things.

 

[Warboss Alex]

No, I would not necessarily recommend adding carbs. It's simply a case of trying certain macros and see what happens. Either go high carb or high fat, don't try to do both at once.

And I mean swapping the flat bench press for something like dips or close grip presses etc..

 

[MikeYikes122]

You mentioned cardio, WBA, im kind of scared sh!tless of cardio because I've ruined routines like this before by running too much. My metabolism is insane and a lot of times if I feed it just a little bit it goes nuts.

I'm considering light jogging twice a week on off days. What do you think?

 

[EFFORT]

You mentioned cardio, WBA, im kind of scared sh!tless of cardio because I've ruined routines like this before by running too much. My metabolism is insane and a lot of times if I feed it just a little bit it goes nuts.

I'm considering light jogging twice a week on off days. What do you think?

use the elliptical for cardio (20min) or WALK on the treadmill for 45min-1hr, no running or jogging