Is "dialling in your diet" basically overrated?

Wardo1974

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I commented in another thread that I began working out in the gym in August after a 4-year complete absence because of family responsibilities of new children.

In that time, I go to the gym 4 days a week for about 30-40 minutes. The workouts are short because I always do supersets - I work in 4-5 exercises in that time with two different push-pull type movements being worked at the same time.

Knowing also that I can't gain without eating properly, I decided to drink two protein shakes a day - morning and night - with the same composition each time for each shake: 500 mls of 2% milk, a full heaping cup of uncooked oatmeal, one scoop of cheapo protein powder, and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. About 1,000-1,200 calories, 60 grams of protein, 70 grams nice carbs in each one.

The rest of my diet stayed basically the same. I work in an office, so my lunches are a sandwich, a few cookies, and banana. Suppers, because of kids, are usually quick and easy. Simple meat and potatoes, Hamburger Helper, spaghetti, stuff like that. No attention paid to low fat skinless chicken breasts and cans of tuna and all that.

No special fish oils, vitamins, flashy bottles of supplements. No booze of any kind (no special reason here, I just don't drink).

Anyway, in two months, I've gone from 181 to 201 pounds. Most of it is muscle - all muscle groups have dramatically increased in size. Bench press went from a shaky 200 pounds for one rep to a set of three of 300 today. Waistline decreased by maybe a half inch.

All this to say, I am beginning to question micromanaging a diet. Are my results just because I'm making gains after a long layoff, or do people overthink this? I feel I've made some excellent gains basically from drinking a couple cheapo protein shakes a day. How much more could I have expected in 2 months with a perfect diet?
 
Grayson

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I commented in another thread that I began working out in the gym in August after a 4-year complete absence because of family responsibilities of new children.

In that time, I go to the gym 4 days a week for about 30-40 minutes. The workouts are short because I always do supersets - I work in 4-5 exercises in that time with two different push-pull type movements being worked at the same time.

Knowing also that I can't gain without eating properly, I decided to drink two protein shakes a day - morning and night - with the same composition each time for each shake: 500 mls of 2% milk, a full heaping cup of uncooked oatmeal, one scoop of cheapo protein powder, and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. About 1,000-1,200 calories, 60 grams of protein, 70 grams nice carbs in each one.

The rest of my diet stayed basically the same. I work in an office, so my lunches are a sandwich, a few cookies, and banana. Suppers, because of kids, are usually quick and easy. Simple meat and potatoes, Hamburger Helper, spaghetti, stuff like that. No attention paid to low fat skinless chicken breasts and cans of tuna and all that.

No special fish oils, vitamins, flashy bottles of supplements. No booze of any kind (no special reason here, I just don't drink).

Anyway, in two months, I've gone from 181 to 201 pounds. Most of it is muscle - all muscle groups have dramatically increased in size. Bench press went from a shaky 200 pounds for one rep to a set of three of 300 today. Waistline decreased by maybe a half inch.

All this to say, I am beginning to question micromanaging a diet. Are my results just because I'm making gains after a long layoff, or do people overthink this? I feel I've made some excellent gains basically from drinking a couple cheapo protein shakes a day. How much more could I have expected in 2 months with a perfect diet?
Sorry to say, but this is a classic example of muscle memory.

Look up strategic de-conditioning as well.

Good job on getting back into the gym ;)
 

Wardo1974

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Huh, just did some reading. I thought "muscle memory" meant learning a task and never forgetting, like riding a bike.

Turns out there's a lot of support for the idea that trained muscles can recover their previous size quickly. Another poster expressed it thusly:

When we lift weights and we tear the muscle right? These cells are myofibrils and are not like ordinary cells. When they grow they thicken and become longer, and more importantly they create new nuclei (they are multinucleated). These extra nuclei are to cater for the extra area of the cell of course. The actual size of the muscle is made up of these little proteins. When you are catabolic and wasting away like that the body will basically eat these proteins and so you are left with shrunken muscles. HOWEVER, this is the theory that I understand and makes most sense: The same number of nuclei exist in each of these myofibril cells even though the cells are smaller. The theory is that then protein synthesis and subsequent regrowth can occur at a vastly accelerated rate compared.

Makes sense to me. I've been shocked and pleased with my incredible strength increases, but maybe all it is are my muscle fibers merely growing back to the size they were always capable of once I had already trained them years earlier. Too bad, I was feeling pretty superhuman.
 
jaces

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Huh, just did some reading. I thought "muscle memory" meant learning a task and never forgetting, like riding a bike.

Turns out there's a lot of support for the idea that trained muscles can recover their previous size quickly. Another poster expressed it thusly:

When we lift weights and we tear the muscle right? These cells are myofibrils and are not like ordinary cells. When they grow they thicken and become longer, and more importantly they create new nuclei (they are multinucleated). These extra nuclei are to cater for the extra area of the cell of course. The actual size of the muscle is made up of these little proteins. When you are catabolic and wasting away like that the body will basically eat these proteins and so you are left with shrunken muscles. HOWEVER, this is the theory that I understand and makes most sense: The same number of nuclei exist in each of these myofibril cells even though the cells are smaller. The theory is that then protein synthesis and subsequent regrowth can occur at a vastly accelerated rate compared.

Makes sense to me. I've been shocked and pleased with my incredible strength increases, but maybe all it is are my muscle fibers merely growing back to the size they were always capable of once I had already trained them years earlier. Too bad, I was feeling pretty superhuman.
Yes and no , the idea is the muscle fascia is stretched , thus growth can ocur quicker than bfore , almst like using a condom for a second time its easier to get it on haha bt wouldnt recomend it
 
HIT4ME

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I think there are a few factors here. Yes, I think many people over-think and over-manage their diet. It is easy to major in minor details.

On the other hand, you have had phenomenal gains, and this is exactly what The Engineer pointed out. You are decondition, and previously trained. In a way you are experiencing "newbie" gains, but at a possible advantage of already having built the roadway to where you are going. I worked out a lot as a teenager, and then took over a decade off, and when I got back into it I got back up to my previous weights relatively quickly. But everything after that has been harder.

The other thing is - you seem to be in a kind of "bulking" mode and your diet may not be too, too bad for this. You often hear of steroid users going on bulks and eating cheeseburgers, etc. They put on a lot of fat, but they get big faster too. Calories are king in gaining strength, protein is king in gaining lean muscle, IMO.

I think diet will become more important, and so will training, after the initial gains level off....but that is the benefit of all the hard work you put in before....you are seeing it even now. And the hard work you put in now will be paying off for years to come maybe. So great job and keep at it.
 

Wardo1974

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Thanks for the support guys, I do appreciate it. It's been very tough committing to a gym return after all this time. Going forward I hope I can keep it up. With kids, it's tough. I'd love to add another 10-15 and maintain it. It is probably too much to hope that those gains would come as fast as the last ones have.
 
jaces

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Thanks for the support guys, I do appreciate it. It's been very tough committing to a gym return after all this time. Going forward I hope I can keep it up. With kids, it's tough. I'd love to add another 10-15 and maintain it. It is probably too much to hope that those gains would come as fast as the last ones have.
Just be constant bro and good luck with your family :)
 
highlander31

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I think this is a much more complex matter than a dialed diet for results. Everyone is going to vary and you seem like you are one of the lucky ones who has great results with exactly what you are doing without thinking. Others cant even come close to results without meal preps and weighing foods/counting calories. I know I need to do things that way to see any results, whether its bulking or cutting (I get fat super easily and lean difficultly). There are a ton of physiological factors that go into it.
 
Spaniard

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You have to understand that the specificity in any diet regimen is going to tailored to the individuals specific goals and or what they hope to accomplish during training and diet cycles. With your specific diet, yes you will have quick gains in strength because the calories are there for the associated strength gains. At the same time, like the others have stated you are also working with muscle memory.

Now, when you are wanting to begin to shed bodyfat is when adhering to a strict diet regimen is warranted. Of course during times of bulking you can eat a little more dirty and your strength will go up but when you're wanting to unwrap your abs is when you have to pay closer attention to what you are eating.
 

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