Fist Cycle, a bit cynical

A

Arbie

New Member
I'm doing my first HST cycle. Here's my plan:

A
Squats
Weighted Dips
Cable Seated Rows
OH DB Presses
Wide Grip Pull ups
Cable woodchop

B
Deads
Incline DB Bench Press
Cable Seated Rows
OH DB Presses
Mixed Grip Chins
Cable Lunge/Crunches

I'd welcome any comments.

I'm a bit cynical only because I really struggle to gain mass. I'm 6'-5, 180 lbs and 46 years old. I eat a "no white" diet (no processed sugar, no processed flour, no potatoes, no rice, no pasta) because I like that way it makes me feel. But I simply can't get enough food into my mouth to gain weight.

So I'm going to try a cycle and try forcing food down my gullet and see what happens. Advice welcome.
 
You struggle to gain mass because you don't eat enough, as you already have acknowledged. HST isn't going to put mass on you without food there to back it up, so there's no reason to be cynical. You can only blame yourself.

Stop eating like a sparrow and you should finally start to gain weight. At 6'5 and only 180 lbs, you should have a lot of growth potential, assuming you can get over this dietary hurdle you've placed for yourself.
 
You don't have to really really stuff yourself to hit caloric overload - nuts, shakes, flax oil, bananas, whole milk, seeds, pasta and even McDonald's.
Yeah, some lifters get down with the clown.
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Thanks for the advice. I just finished a cycle using a different but somewhat similar approach (New Rules of Lifting). I was eating pretty well, but gained no weight. Here's my new strategy for the day I lift:

Pre lift: 300 cal protein shake
Post lift: 300 cal protein shake
Lunch 800 cals
mid afternoon: 300 cals
Dinner: 1000 cals
evening: 300 cal protein shake

That gets me to 3000 cals. I usually snack a bit on nuts and dried fruit during the day. That gets me another 200 cals. If I want to gain a pound or two a week I figure I need to be north of 3000 cals a day.

I try to minimize fat. But fats are great dense sources of calories. Should I think about up-ing my fat intake?
 
Food is what allows us to grow. Training will only determine where this growth will take place; Muscle or fat. Eat more, get the scale going up, worry about the rest later. When the goal is to grow, it's absurd to discriminate against foods that should make us grow. So, eat that rice, wheat, bread, potatoes, pasta and pizza. So you like the way your diet makes you feel. Well then, how do you feel about not gaining any weight when that's clearly your goal?

Here's a trick, don't eat foods that suppress appetite. Eat only foods that enhances appetite. I discovered that trick while looking for a cheap alternative to Kikkoman soy sauce. It so happens that all the alternatives I've found were so awful tasting that it suppressed my appetite and I frequently quit eating in the middle of a meal. Not very conducive to growth, as you can imagine. Also, don't drink while you eat. Drink only after your meal if you must. Water uses up stomach space that can otherwise be used for food. Incidentally, drinking water while eating is a good way to cut the amount of calories you eat when you want to cut fat.

Check your current weight, multiply this by about 16 to 20 (get second opinion on this, I'm not sure about that myself) and this should give you an idea of how many calories you need to grow. Conversely, when you want to cut, multiply your current weight by 12 to 10 (again, get second opinion on this). There are other ways to determine how many calories to eat for growth or cut, read the forums for more information about this.

-edit-
I was writing my post as you were writing your reply above. Well, as you noted, you weren't gaining with 3200 cals per day. This should tell you that you must eat more than that to gain. With the simple method, multiply your weight by 20 (= 3600 cals) and it should be good for now.
-edit-
 
Yes, more fat intake is good. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to your post workout shake for some healthy fat. Also, put more scoops of protein in the post workout shake.
 
I find drinking the extra calories is the easiest route to gaining weight. I can quite happily consume 4-6 pints of milk a day (semi-skim) if need be. Each extra pint adds around 245 cals to your daily total so two extra pints added to your maintenance diet each day should see you gaining about 1lb a week.
 
Another bang for buck meat eating tip- find a chinese buffet in your area and separate the meats from the veggies when filling your plate - used in tandem with Martins suggestion to refrain from drinking while eating should enable you to wolf down quite an impressive amount of muscle building meat for somewhere in the ballpark 6 bucks or so - if you can bring your game appetite you will get more than your moneys worth . I try to hit one 4-5 times a week as soon after workout as possible.
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<div>
(Arbie @ Oct. 17 2007,21:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Colby, believe me, my wife has no sympathy for me.</div>
LOL. Olive Oil is your best friend. Also, I accidentally ordered some Twin Labs Whey Protein Mass Gainer.

3/5 of a scoop gives you 360 calories and 20g of protein.

I am going to try and return the stuff from where I bought it at: vitacost.com

It cost $31 (US) for 10 lbs worth of powder.
 
According to Berardi's nutrient requirement calculator, which includes moderate level of activity (weights), level of activity for cardio (if you do - if not then drop 65 Kcals from the total) and thermic effect of food (moderate to heavy protein 1 - 1.5 g p/Lb body weight)...you need 3901 to grow, if you don't do cardio then 3836 Kcals.

Quite a bit more than you have set your self up for.

Look at 650 Kcal p/meal more or less...you will definitelly grow.
 
Another rule of thumb is 4-500+ cals a day over your maintenance.
It takes nearly two weeks for most to adjust to the extra eating. You're just feeling the rejection of extra cals.
 
You definitely need to eat more -- look at what Fausto and the others say. I am about your age (47), 6' tall and after a cut and a long break due to injury, about the same weight. For me to put on the typically recommended 1 lb/week takes something like 3700 kcals/day. Now, that often includes some serious cardio, but you get the point -- you likely have to go quite a bit &quot;north of 3000&quot; to pack on the mass.
 
Then after you get used to that , going the other way is even worse!
I've been stuck in semibulk mode for a couple years now...
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You can always take the easy route and drink an 850-1200 calorie gainer shake once per day.. It's not the best way to get your cals in but if all else fails and you simply can't get them with a regular healthy diet.. it works.. and IMO.. much better than processed fast food..
 
YEAH all these guys have given GREAT advice!

heyhey it's smoundzou from discussbodybuilding.com! wassuuuuuuup!
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what do you recommend in a 'weightgainer' shake? (like a 1000 cal shake:?) i may have to do that considering i'm pretty much forced to eat 3 meals a day (which btw for me is VERY hard to eat above maintenance calories on 3 meals), so yes!

and also, what does olive oil and whey taste like mixed together??
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i must try that one day...
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Olive oil and whey tastes pretty bad at first, but you get used to it.

I'm not smoundzou, but what I do for a &quot;gainer&quot; shake is throw 4-6 scoops of whey in a blender, along with two cups of whatever milk you prefer - I use whole milk or 2% usually, but fat free works too - then I add in 1/4 cup of olive oil. If you want, you can put in some sugar or dextrose if you want more carbs, I don't usually. Sometimes I put in ice cream too, if I really need the calories.
Anyway, blend that up and it should come to 120-150 grams of protein, depending on how much whey you use and what kind, and the milk. With the olive oil, it boosts it up to at least 1000 calories.

When I am bulking, I take one of those about a half hour after my workout, unless I am eating a meal right after my workout, in which case I take it before bed. It makes it very easy to get enough calories for the day.

An alternative method is to take the same shake, blend it up with some ice cubes mixed it, toss this in a thermos and take it with you to work. Drink from it throughout the day. That helps a lot if you have a job where you can't eat or don't have time to eat enough.
 
The oil sort of adds a bit of unwanted taste, but it's better than flax oil, tastewise.
1000 calorie shakes can make you fat overnight. Be careful using anything that tastes that good and has that many calories.
&quot;Musclemilk&quot; is another one, with 8g of saturated fat/serving.

You can carry raisins, nuts, trailmix around and munch.
You can put whey in a shaker and add water wherever you are.
Beef jerky keeps well and beats gum any day.
Cottage cheese at night takes all night to digest, keeping catabolism at bay - add a little fruit or something for taste. (it's paste by itself) (even a small amount of cheesecake or banana pudding...and the whole bucket will taste like a treat!)
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