Draugin

Thanks all for the useful replies. I am not training specifically for powerlifting (at least for now), the target is improved physique and strength. From the next workout I'll try switching to dumbbell bench press and see how I feel -- in addition to dips which I already have in other days. I might add overhead presses.

Thanks for the reply. I just kept going with the above diet, it seems it's working well for me. Yeah, bulking is hard, and not for the gym part (in fact, I find that fun). Now I am gaining about 1 kg (2.2 lbs) per month, which I understand it's a good goal for muscle building, but it takes constant effort -- I am full, if not bloated, almost all the time. I plan to start cutting soon, but I wrote another post for that.

Question about cutting! Some stats: I am M 35, 5' 9'' (1.77 m), 154 lbs (70 kg). Since I started a clean bulk last summer, I put on 11 lbs (5 kg). I think my BFP is somewhere in the 18-22%. Hard to judge because of body structure -- I look lean and you can even spot my upper abs but then I have a slightly protruding belly (the belly is not a consequence of bulking btw, it just showed up when I entered my 30s and stuck around). At the moment my calorie intake is 2570 kcal on rest days, +200 kcal on workout days (3/week). By tracking calories and weight, this has worked well to make me gain about 1 kg (2.2 lbs) per month. My plan: My plan is to keep bulking for another month and a half, and then begin cutting in early March and try to address that waist fat (once and for all?). Tentatively, I would cut down to 1900-2000 kcal per day (+200 on workout days) mostly by reducing carbs, possibly combined with intermittent fasting, and I would throw in some cardio (ugh). This should make me lose about 3 lbs (1.3 kg) per month. My goal is to go to 12-14% BF, that is losing say 10 lbs (4.5 kg) in total, which should take a bit more than three months, ready for the summer solstice. Of course, ideally I don't want to lose muscle mass or strength in the process. I know that 3 lbs per month is probably conservative and I could be more aggressive, but this is my first time cutting or losing weight on purpose so I want to set realistic goals, and see how my body reacts. Any suggestions or advice? Things about this plan that could be improved, does it sound sensible/feasible, and anything I should be aware of?

Quick question about bench pressing. It's hard for me to find a spotter for the barbell bench press as I go to my gym early and I am often the only person doing free weights. For safety reasons, I haven't been loading the weights as much as I should have (that is, I stay far from failure, and add in a psychological risk-averse attitude), resulting in a very slow progress, or even lack of progress, on my bench press -- while other lifts have been growing steadily. Would dumbbell bench pressing be better/safer without a spotter, and equally good as an exercise? (it seems to me that getting in/out of position with heavy dumbbells can be tricky) Otherwise, what I was thinking of doing is light/medium sets with the barbell, and switch to a chest press machine for the last sets to failure. I know machines are not great, but better than nothing? Or, any other suggestion? For the record, on other days I do dips with focus on chest (I will switch to weighted dips soon).

Six months ago I changed my diet to be healthier and start bodyweight training and then powerlifting, and a couple of months ago I also started tracking my calories and macros (which I find very useful). I would like to hear if you have input on my current diet. I am male, 150 lbs, currently doing a clean bulk. I eat ~ 2550 kcal per day, + 200/250 kcal the days in which I train (3 times a week). I also eat extra in days in which I do some other extended activity (e.g., a hike). Note that I recently increased the calorie intake by 200-250 kcal per day because my weight had been stationary at ~150 lbs for a few weeks. I aim to get at least 150 g of proteins every day. Typical intake is larger, with average of ~180 g of proteins per day. I get 25-30% of my calories from fat (mostly unsaturated). The rest comes mostly from complex carbs. I eat a large breakfast (after training, in days in which I train), lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. I occasionally add in a fifth meal. Just to give you an example, my typical breakfast is Greek yogurt, beans, a banana, one or two eggs, peanut butter or walnuts, a multivitamin, plus occasionally whey powder (~800-900 kcal). Typical meals during the day consists of -- rotating between days and meals -- hard cheese, more Greek yogurt, chicken, turkey, tuna, salmon, vegetables, avocado, quinoa, white/brown rice, extravirgin olive oil, a small amount of wholewheat bread, plus I make smoothies out of carrots, berries, spinach and other good stuff. I plan to introduce sweet potatoes in my diet for the training days. Any suggestion for how to improve, issues I should be aware of, or things I might try?

That's a good point, thanks for the suggestion. I have seen it myself -- my early uniformed attempts at bulking up produced very little, despite the fact that I was in my early 20s at the time. So yeah, I'll see what I can do better in terms of nutrition.

Well, but this way, I will never know if my current policy is optimal, or if I could do even better by doing something else. On the other hand, it might not be worth exploring and wasting resources if the results are "good enough". Typical exploration/exploitation trade-off... Yeah, every other day is probably good for now. Thanks.

Hi all. Background I have started bodyweight training mid-May this year, and powerlifting (following the NF Academy training) at the end of August this year (at the venerable age of 34). During my life I have been sporadically to the gym, for bouts of a few months at a time every four years or so; but this is the first time I have been training regularly, three times a week, for more than six months now, and I am not planning on stopping. Turns out, I was doing everything wrong in the past (i.e., I was doing a lot of machines, and not eating correctly). With proper training and eating, I have been observing clear and consistent progress, both in terms of strength and body composition. I am currently trying to do a relatively clean bulk (I am mostly lean, with some annoying belly fat which I plan to get rid of when I start cutting). Workout plan At the moment, I am doing three full-body strength training sessions per week (mixing level 6 and level 7 of the NF academy). Essentially: squats, deadlifts, dips, rows, chin-ups, push presses, and bench presses. Would I get any extra gain by increasing the frequency to four sessions per week, or is it pointless for a beginner, and I should simply aim at getting rest and take a good walk? (if I go to four sessions, I would do full-body sessions Tues and Thurs; and split Sat and Sun into upper and lower body)

Thanks all for the replies (apologies for the delay; I have been travelling and relocating to another country). In the end, I have temporarily dropped "proper" IF until I am in the bulking phase, which will probably last for a few more months. I still try to keep a fixed window of fasting/eating (I do 14/10), and I still train in a semi-fasted state, so that later on, when I start cutting, I can try and switch to proper 16/8 IF. I say semi-fasted because I take a protein shake just before workout; and I dropped BCAAs - the pre-workout shake should be enough. Finally, I started counting nutrients more carefully, and in fact it's pretty easy to hit 150 g of proteins/day (~ my weight) even without supplements, with ~ 2400 calories per day.

Hi RisenPhoenix, thank you for the great & detailed response! Also, I like when people highlight the uncertainty in the provided answers -- this is far from an exact science, so "maybes" are welcome. I have read many good things about IF, so I decided to give it a try. Of course, "my mileage may vary". I am male, 34, so at least it should have no downsides. At the moment, I mostly want to reduce body fat (get rid of some belly), and possibly gain a bit (at least keep) muscle. I understand that the traditional approach is to switch between bulking and cutting, but there are claims that IF would not need that (see the famous Leangains guide). So I am essentially eating the same amount of calories I would have normally, in a 8-hour window. I started IF a week ago; I'll probably keep going for a few weeks and see what happens. As for BCAAs, it is again the Leangains strategy that suggests to take them just before workouts. (I am not taking anything else.) Yeah, it makes sense that I don't need to take them on non-workout days. This is interesting. Do you have any particular reason for not believing in the additional benefits of IF? (besides perhaps some healthy skepticism -- it does look a bit too good to be true)

Hi all, I am a relatively new to fitness - started in June - and I am toying with intermittent fasting after reading about its benefits (now it's more like 15/9; trying to get to a regular 16/8). I have also started taking BCAAs before and after training in a fasted state in the morning. Would you recommend to keep doing it? Should I only take them before training? Also, would you recommend to take BCAAs also in the mornings I do not train? As far as I understand, BCAAs have calories (even though they are listed as "0 calories", see e.g. here), so it would mess up with the fasting.