Hardgainer's Clean Bulking Log

[peter01]

I feel ya on the eating problem though. It almost feels like you have an eating disorder. I'm right about the same exact weight, and in order to pack on weight I have to eat 3200-3400 calories per day. And thats only good til about 165lbs or so then I have to charge up again close to 4000 calories. To be 180lbs at my weight means 4800-5000 calories per day..geeze.

Eating disorder! lol

Yeah people at work think I have an obsession with food. I probably do by now. I have a couple of 15 minute breaks aside from my lunch. I gorge a full meal in each of those 15 minutes. The other day a lady was watching me eat. She had this look on her face like she had never seen anything like it. Pure shock. I would have slowed down but I only had a few more minutes to finish it off.

5000 cals huh? damn

[peter01]

Didn't have time to update today. Weighed in this morning at 161 lbs. One lb gain this week. Very happy as my original goal was 1 lb per week to mitigate fat gain.

Full update:

Weight - 161
Gain - 1lbs

Summary - Cals remained at 4,000 each day (including the weekend). Workouts stayed the same. Slowly getting stronger on lifts across the board and feel more energy throughout the workout. Legs are getting stronger, which is great.

Observations - I kept diet and exercise consistent throughout the week to see why I only seem to gain on the weekends. Only change, diet-wise, was that I did not have at least a full gallon of water on Saturday. The only thing I can think of is that sleep quality is better on the weekends. I get a full 8 hrs vs 5-6 hrs on the weekdays.

Plan is to maintain caloric level at 4,000. Will leave macros as is for now. Must try to improve sleep...

[Boson3]

So one day after I start my log some douchebag rear ends me on my way to work. Miss two meals and about a 1/4 gallon of water. I'll have to play catch up the rest of the day.

Damn unlucky man... I've had that happen too when my bike chains broke and I walked 5 miles to work.

[peter01]

Damn unlucky man... I've had that happen too when my bike chains broke and I walked 5 miles to work.

It was actually a huge pain in the ass. Fortunately, I've been so busy with everything else that I haven't made a big stink about it. They fixed my truck....the wrong way. Truck ran like **** and when I took it back they didn't want to claim responsibility. Said something like it couldn't have been the accident. I wanted to choke slam those mothers. Ended up taking it to the dealer on my own dime and that's when they pointed out all the Chinese aftermarket crap they used. Then they acknowledged the issue, but refused to replace all the parts with factory parts. Only wanted to replace the problem parts. They ended up using factory parts, but I have no way of knowing to what extent. Already have the truck back and it runs good as new...at least for now. I keep my cars for 10+ years. I know something will pop up a couple years from now.

Regarding the bike....try doing that on a cruiser. Went out for a ride by myself a few years ago. Bike stopped running about 15 miles into it. Thought it was a bad battery. Had to leave my bike somewhere in order to go home and get my tools. So had to push it 5 miles or so until I got to a shopping center with decent traffic. Pushing a 750 lb bike for 5 miles is a bitch!!! And remember, I'm a small guy, no 200 pounder here.

Was dealing with that the whole day and well into the night. Turned out it was just out of gas (no fuel gauge). Sold it not too long ago. Spent more time and money keeping it running than enjoying it...

[peter01]

Must try to improve sleep...

Update:

I've been playing with my daily routine a bit over the last few months in order to squeeze some more sleep time each night. I've let my beard grow, have breakfast on the way to work, cooking my meals in bulk, etc etc...

But this week I decided to make a more drastic change. I've never been a morning person so have always lifted in the evenings after work. The few times that I've tried the morning bit, it has only lasted a few weeks. But this time I'm 100% committed.

Today was Day 1. Leg day. Great day to start. (not really). Woke up at 5am, had some oatmeal, raisins, and coffee. Expected to hit the weights light, but decided to make it worthwhile. So I made it a regular workout. I actually pulled a bit more on my deads, which was nice.

Goal is to be in bed and asleep by 10:30 the latest. This would equate to 6.5 hrs of sleep on workout days but a full 8.0 hrs on rest days. Right now I only get 6 hrs of sleep each night.

I will definitely need a sleep supp since wifey does not go to sleep at that time and makes a hell of a lot of noise. Used a sleeping pill last night, but don't want to rely on those long term.

I'll be perusing the forums for reputable sleep supps. In the meantime, I welcome any suggestions.

[peter01]

Did a quick weigh in today seeing that we are heading into the weekend.

Scale read 159.5

1.5 lb loss.

I weighed myself 3 times. Not sure what's going on. Definitely feel the workouts are hard. Macros are being met. Only variables are that I've put in some long hours this week at work and I had one workout in the AM before work.

Hopefully it's a blip. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit disappointed. If it stays the same by Sunday, calories will be increased.

[peter01]

Since i lost weight i went ahead and increased cals to 4200 yesterday.

Weighed in this morning at 159.0

Loss of 0.5 lbs

Had another AM workout yesterday, so it seems like that boosts my metabolism for the rest of the day. I'm also crapping a whole lot more than i was the first month and a half of my bulk. Not sure why the sudden change.

Plan for the week:
- continue AM workouts
- increase cals to 4200 on rest days
- increase cals to 4400 on lift days

Current macros are about 50% carbs 30% pro 20% fats

It will be a struggle for me getting all that in before 9:30pm. I just ordered a sleep supp that will work better on an empty stomach.

[peter01]

Correction.

Current macros are about 50% carbs 20% pro 30% fats.

[fueledpassion]

Strength training might be your answer.

[peter01]

Fueled - my workouts have always been based on increasing weights / reps. When I plateau, I change things up a bit (exercises, rep tempo, rep range, etc). So I'm not just doing the same routine day in and day out. Having said that, I am willing to give a more structured program a try. I am looking into Wendler's 5-3-1 program since it is easier to follow and I can easily transition to it.

I know strength and size go hand in hand, but my question is should I follow a strength program, when my main goal is hypertrophy? I've noticed better results when I keep my reps between 6 and 10.

[fueledpassion]

Fueled - my workouts have always been based on increasing weights / reps. When I plateau, I change things up a bit (exercises, rep tempo, rep range, etc). So I'm not just doing the same routine day in and day out. Having said that, I am willing to give a more structured program a try. I am looking into Wendler's 5-3-1 program since it is easier to follow and I can easily transition to it.

I know strength and size go hand in hand, but my question is should I follow a strength program, when my main goal is hypertrophy? I've noticed better results when I keep my reps between 6 and 10.

Ok, just a suggestion. I have had to recently move to a 5 rep or less routine. This is mainly because I have trained in the 6-12 rep range for well over 3 years now with only making changes to exercises, pace of workout (rest period), order of exercises and sets. Volume, while varied, always stayed on the higher side and always worked up to 75-80% of my 1RM. Needless to say, my muscles needed to experience something fresh.

Pure powerlifting style is what I'm trying now. Actually, its kinda both powerlifting and bodybuilding. It's Powerbuilding to be exact. My main workout is a core movement like squats in which I perform 7 sets of 2 reps then I move to leg press or something of that nature and pump out 5 sets in the 6-10 rep range.

Previously, I had always had more reps than I did sets. Now I've flipped it, which is now more sets than reps. The difference? Before, I was squatting between 225 - 275lbs, and getting a hardcore cardio session (burning a ton of calories). Now, I'm training in the 275 - 350lbs range for squats and in a fairly calm manner. I like it for a change of pace. It really is a lot easier for me to lift big and take my time rather than blowing through a workout at 75% throttle.

So you could say I went from a circuit track to a drag strip. Balls-to-the-wall, 10 seconds at a time...

[peter01]

Unfortunately, i've been forced to take a short break. My mom has been in the hospital since last week. I was able to squeeze a workout in on Saturday but not sure if it was even worth it since i have not had a decent nights rest and its been hard to follow my meal plans. I'm not tracking macros so not sure whether i'm at maintenance. On a positive note, the hospital food is pretty damn good!! Or maybe my cooking has no taste

I lost a bit of motivation at first. TBH, even before the hospital stay. Guess i needed a break from eating so much of the same foods. But i'm feeling anxious to pick it up where i left off.

So hopefully my mom will get better soon and be discharged. When she does, I'll start 5-3-1 and throw in some cardio once a week.

[GeraldNY181]

shoot for more quantity- "clean" gains are myth perpetuated by supplement compnaies, unless you want to devote 9 months or more to gaining 10lbs of "muscle" only... just focus on getting bigger, then let your metabolism due the work of cleaning you up.

[peter01]

shoot for more quantity- "clean" gains are myth perpetuated by supplement compnaies, unless you want to devote 9 months or more to gaining 10lbs of "muscle" only... just focus on getting bigger, then let your metabolism due the work of cleaning you up.

Not sure what you mean. Are you saying go all out on the cals? If so, i'm not sure how much higher i can go using healthy foods. I've been thinking about having a cheat meal on workout days to make it easier.

I have never cut so my concern is adding too much fat too fast and then screwing up my gains when its time to lose the fat.

Correction - my only experience with cutting was when my wife was trying to lose her pregnancy weight. Did the south beach diet. Worked fairly well.

[peter01]

Mom was just discharged last night from the hospital. Today is the bday party for my youngest so the wifey will have me working all day.

I was thinking of starting up again tomorrow, but by the end of the day, i'll probably be completely beat up.