Sticking with HST during LeanGains IF?

pepperr

New Member
There's been a limited number of threads here about IF, unfortunately.

I'm in my first week of 5's using traditional mass gaining methods with some additional knowledge from Lyle.

I know high intensity and low volume is recommended while using Martin's approach to IF; my confusion lies in the concept of turning it into a mass gaining process instead. I'm aware people have done it before successfully but I can't get a hold of them. How should I be lifting if I want hypertrophy? I want to gain mass(not sure what the difference is between recomping and mass gaining) while doing this. I was lucky to find a post here that confirms still using the Progressive Mechanical Load principle. I feel doing 15's won't help me in doing this and I'm not sure if I should make a split. I like going 3x/week for <70mins; however, I'm not sure if this is conducive to the greatest mass gains in conjunction with this approach. I'm new to lifting and HST was my first step in proper lifting. How long will it take me to plateau if I only did "5's" until I was satisfied with my size?

What do you think?

I'm looking to gain slow weight. 2lbs LBM/mo. with minimal body fat. I'm eating Maintenance(2900 thereabouts) + 20% on training days and maintenance on off days.

I don't know how some guys do it but they keep that fat off. Reason I'm doing this instead of traditional is because my work slacks are getting tight.
 
Not really going to get alot of help with that kind of attitude. This website is dedicated to HST so it would be polite to include a link explaining "Lean Gains IF" rather then telling us to Google it. Help us help you.
 
Sorry, I had a bad day and apologize for being irritable; I shouldn't have let it Pervade into that post.

http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

Forgot to edit it after your PM, totentanz. I'm sticking with my HST routine(ABA BAB) which is really just the compounds except I do add in 3 sets of tri-dips and 2 of BB curls. Additionally I have 2 sets of medial deltoid db presses and rear delt rows each. I started at my 5RM's and plan to stay at a particular weight for a whole week and add 5lbs each week. I found some moves to be too easy(tricep dips, incline bench, dips) but will just progress with time; I ended up increasing weight for those slightly bubjust read lyles sticky here and will NOT go to failure. All in all 8 exercises - how does this sound? I'm going 80%+ intensity.

What I should have also added after your PM is that I have a question about partitioning: I want to increase LBM. How should I partition calories on off days and training days? So far I've kept it at MAIN on rest days and MAIN + 20% on training days. To be honest though I don't reall know how to measure calories without busting out the food scale again, which is something I do not want to start again. I hated counting calories and still do with a passion. I cut down white rice and treats on rest days(is white rice metabolized as a complex carb?)

Also, should I SD in a few weeks since I was doing HST before for the hormonal benefits? How often should I SD while on IF?
 
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8 exercises should be fine. If you find yourself getting tired, just drop the fluffers, but I don't see 8 exercises getting to be too much. Hard to say though since you will be doing workouts in a fasted or nearly fasted state.

If you are wanting to increase LBM, then you want to only be taking in calories when protein synthesis is up. Recall that it starts to rise after training, peaks at 24 hours and drops off at 36. However, in trained individuals, it is probably less. Keeping this in mind, you want to arrange your feedings so that they only occur when protein synthesis is raised. So you would want to eat over maintenance probably on the day after training. In fact, protein synthesis is probably going to be higher on the day after training than it will be if you are eating after training.

I would not SD until you find you cannot add weight to the bar any longer.
 
8 exercises should be fine. If you find yourself getting tired, just drop the fluffers, but I don't see 8 exercises getting to be too much. Hard to say though since you will be doing workouts in a fasted or nearly fasted state.

If you are wanting to increase LBM, then you want to only be taking in calories when protein synthesis is up. Recall that it starts to rise after training, peaks at 24 hours and drops off at 36. However, in trained individuals, it is probably less. Keeping this in mind, you want to arrange your feedings so that they only occur when protein synthesis is raised. So you would want to eat over maintenance probably on the day after training. In fact, protein synthesis is probably going to be higher on the day after training than it will be if you are eating after training.

I would not SD until you find you cannot add weight to the bar any longer.

Actually, I'm going to be training having eaten one pre-session meal. Eat at 2 and train at 3pm.

Totentanz, if that's the case, how come for the standard protocol (body recomp?) Martin advocates eating Maintenance + 20% on training days and Maintenance -20% on off days if one is not looking to change caloric intake relative to what said trainee is eating before starting LG. Can be found here on page 10 and the subsequent pages. He says that body recomp is a common goal; I will assume he means most common.

If he says we will be cycling days of hypertrophy and days of fat loss, would it be safe to infer that he believes the largest meals should be eaten on training days because he believes the peak is after strength training? I know he is an educated man and has read the same studies you have but maybe he has other reasons? I recall you saying that you've done it somewhere on this board, is this the approach you used? I'd also like to ask again the question of counting calories: is it necessary?

Does my idea of adding 5lbs weekly seem sound?

Thanks, Totentanz.
 
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5lbs weekly is absurd. Even if you were on gear you'd still likely gain a large % of fat. Aiming for 1lb per week would be much more tangible for optimal results.
 
5lbs weekly is absurd. Even if you were on gear you'd still likely gain a large % of fat. Aiming for 1lb per week would be much more tangible for optimal results.

Sorry, Wobbles, I was referring to 5lbs added on the bar where I can(Only place i can't is DB Press and R-delt rows).
 
I don't really think calorie cycling is needed. Contrary to popular belief the window for opportunity is a lot larger then previously thought (around 24hrs is an acceptable time frame). Therefore as long as you get your total macros in by the end of the day then your fine as nutrient timing isn't that important and only useful in convenience (aka its hard to eat 3500 calories in one sitting) and not body composition.

So rather then hopping from maintenance to 20% extra, depending on which day it is. I'd say lets just find a medium where your body fat isn't increasing excessively and your gaining appropriate LBM. For example i'm currently eating an extra 15% of my maintenance every single day and taking my measurements monthly to make appropriate changes.

I believe everything you need to know about calculating calories is posted here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
 
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