Really quick questions....

M

mciarlo1287

New Member
Ok, I am in the middle of 10s in my third cycle and I have a question.

My first cycle I gained about 7 pounds of muscle, and my second probably only about one pound. I haven't checked my weight recently, but is it normal to see this kind of variation? I read people gaining 3/4" on their arms in half a cycle etc while I've gained .25" combined in my 2 previous cycles. Right now I'm eating clean and about 2900 calories on my on days and 2500 on off days, plus 2 days a week of HIIT. I'm 5'7" and 155lbs. Any suggestions as to why I don't see the kinds of gains others do?

Oh, and should you vary your excersises on HST every cycle or does SD take care of this? I know Haycock mentions only about 1 or 2 excersises per muscle group, so I'm not sure what excersises would be best to switch to if it IS necessary.

Thanks for all the help!
 
Make sure you refigure how many calories you need every time you gain weight. Your calorie requirements will go up.

Are you not gaining any weight at all? If not, then you definitely need more calories. The rule I use is that if I'm not gaining any weight, then I need to reevaluate my diet. If I am gaining weight, but it's mostly fat, then I need to reevaluate my training. If I'm gaining weight and it's mostly muscle - well then I'm doing good.

I do not believe you need to change exercises. Although you may want to, simply to try new things out. For instance, if you are currently benching for your chest, you may want to try dips next cycle, or something along those lines.
However, if you are happy with your current routine, you don't need to change it. The increase in progressive increase in weight and SD will take care of things for you.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Make sure you refigure how many calories you need every time you gain weight. Your calorie requirements will go up.
Click to expand...

I think that's it. With some steady weight gain in muscle, I would think your maintenance calories would be goin up a good bit. you can just see it, eating 2900/2500 calories for the first cycle was above maintenance since u'd gained about 7 lbs(hopely mostly muscle) then u ate the same 2900 calories for the next cycle only 1 lb gain so that means 2900/2500 is getting close to your maintenance calories. So just up whichever you'd like and you should be seeing decent gains again.
 
"plus 2 days a week of HIIT"

I'd drop the HIIT... or increase total calories as mentioned above.

Take it easy
 
The HIIT will help with nutrient partitioning. I wouldn't do it until the 10's, and make sure you treat it as a workout session. Pre- and post-workout nutrition, and eat plenty to sustain growth.
 
You can keep the HIIT, you just have to increase your calories even more to account for it.

Bump up your daily calorie intake by 500 calories and see if you start to gain. If you don't gain 1-2 pounds in a weeks time, bump it up by another 500.
 
Does SD have a better impact if you decondition for 14 days? I usually do nine, but I just can't see myself SD'ing for 2 weeks. If you do HIIT 3 days a week for 2 weeks without working out, won't you lose mass?
 
You may lose some mass, just make sure your caloric intake is at or above maintenance, but you'll gain it all back on the 15's and first week of 10's. From what I've read in past posts, most people report better gains with longer SD's. I did a 17 day SD, and my gains are pretty good so far.

-Colby
 
Be sure to supplement with quality creatine. As Bryan shows in some studies, creatine truly is a muscle builder, and since even the good stuff is incredibly cheap, there's little logic in not taking it.
 
I have been working out since October without creatine. Is it realyyl that inexpensive and beneficial? If so, where can I get it?
 
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