Want to ask someone your age questions? Want to ask a pro questions? How about both

[DieHards77]

Hello everyone, first let me introduce myself. My names Jason loewy, im a 20 year old student at Binghamton University in upstate NY. I used to be a big time football player devouting all of my time and efforts towards high school football but through various injuries those dreams of mine ended and my bodybuilding dreams began.
I competed for the first time as a 17 year old and won the teen class but more importantly learned what I needed to do and how to improve myself for the future. This past may I began my second contest prep and long story short I ended the competition season with a novice class win, 2 open class wins, an overal win and won my IFPA Pro Card. The dream outcome.

With that being said taken into the account of my age in which I accomplished a goal that so many people strive for until their 30's I feel I am in a great position to give back to the sport and community that has given me so much. Im here to help answer any questions that any of you guys might have because ive been in all of your shoes before. BB.com is a huge site and its sometimes hard to find truly helpful information for people our age.

I also in the near future will compile all the FAQ's and things of that nature in an easy to ready side project for everyone to view and contribute too as well but that is still under construction

Hopefully I can help out and clear up some of bodybuildings more frequent concerns/myths/questions that I know I had when I was first really getting into lifting and had no one to turn to for answers

[MBosta]

I got a question for ya. I'm starting a new workout in a month and a couple have my lifts have stalled (currently on a cut). When starting my new program, how much should I de-load by? (% wise of 1 rep max) and what should my weight progression be every week to avoid stalling again?

Lifts:
Bench - 170 x 4 (stalled)
Squat - 215 x 5
Deads - 245 x 5
Rows - 135 x 5
Military - 105 x 4 (stalled)

[DieHards77]

I got a question for ya. I'm starting a new workout in a month and a couple have my lifts have stalled (currently on a cut). When starting my new program, how much should I de-load by? (% wise of 1 rep max) and what should my weight progression be every week to avoid stalling again?

Lifts:
Bench - 170 x 4 (stalled)
Squat - 215 x 5
Deads - 245 x 5
Rows - 135 x 5
Military - 105 x 4 (stalled)

I generally like to gain ~1lb/week when bulking.

If your in need of a de-load week simply do about 60% of your normal weights but the same reps as you would normally do so your not straining yourself to much but still getting a little work in.

If your weights have stalled sometimes what I do is change up my approach. I usually like to lift heavy and low rep on compound lifts like bench and military (your stalled lifts)
If i dont see any progress throughout a couple sessions Ill go to a lower weight 10 rep approach at a faster pace(less rest time) for a little while and make improvements through that scheme.
Then ill switch back to heavy and low rep and I usually see a good amount of progress.

[eyellsac]

I just started a hypertrophy routine, it seems to be a good routine. What do you think of them

[.Arete.]

Whats your opinion of:

-Upper/lower split vs 3/4/5 Day Splits

- Whats the most effective way for you to cut personally?(just a small summary)

[MBosta]

I generally like to gain ~1lb/week when bulking.

If your in need of a de-load week simply do about 60% of your normal weights but the same reps as you would normally do so your not straining yourself to much but still getting a little work in.

If your weights have stalled sometimes what I do is change up my approach. I usually like to lift heavy and low rep on compound lifts like bench and military (your stalled lifts)
If i dont see any progress throughout a couple sessions Ill go to a lower weight 10 rep approach at a faster pace(less rest time) for a little while and make improvements through that scheme.
Then ill switch back to heavy and low rep and I usually see a good amount of progress.

Thx repped.

[DieHards77]

I just started a hypertrophy routine, it seems to be a good routine. What do you think of them

Hypertrophy routines are great but so are power type routines. Each have there benefits thats why I believe in a proper mix between hypertrophy focused training and power training. IMO heavy-low rep training builds new muscle and hypertrophy type training shapes it. A good combination of both throughout your routine is ideal

Whats your opinion of:

-Upper/lower split vs 3/4/5 Day Splits

- Whats the most effective way for you to cut personally?(just a small summary)

I dont generaly like upper/lower splits because I feel on upper days your trying to do to much and not doing enough per muscle group. to fully get the benefits of each muscle theres' many different angles you can hit your muscles to work them in different ways. Its hard to maximize your efforts per muscle group if doing only an upper/lower split.
I work on a 5 day split right now that looks like this
day1:chest/arms
day2:back/traps/delts
day3: off
day4:arms/chest
day5:legs
day6:delts/back
day7: off
repeat

[eyellsac]

Hypertrophy routines are great but so are power type routines. Each have there benefits thats why I believe in a proper mix between hypertrophy focused training and power training. IMO heavy-low rep training builds new muscle and hypertrophy type training shapes it. A good combination of both throughout your routine is ideal

I start the cycle with lighter weights and higher reps then after a few weeks I go heavy with low reps.

Do you think this is a good combo?


thanks, repped

[Ste668]

First off, I think it's amazing that you managed to turn a negative situation, such a being able to compete in a sport due to injury, in to a positive one in the sense that you found yourself a new sport. I congratulate you for that.

I was just wondering, what's the best advice you can give me about nutrition? I feel as though I have my workouts pretty much on point but my diet is letting me down.

Thanks.

[Widge]

what do you consider the best overall upper back excersise for width/thickness? i mean lats, not lower back.

[nick1990]

First off, I think it's amazing that you managed to turn a negative situation, such a being able to compete in a sport due to injury, in to a positive one in the sense that you found yourself a new sport. I congratulate you for that.

I was just wondering, what's the best advice you can give me about nutrition? I feel as though I have my workouts pretty much on point but my diet is letting me down.

Thanks.

i feel this is the biggest aspect of lifting we all want to figure out.

Im not saying the lifting part is easy, but if your diet is on point, you could see the results much more.

Both bulking and cutting info if you dont mind.

[Widge]

i feel this is the biggest aspect of lifting we all want to figure out.

Im not saying the lifting part is easy, but if your diet is on point, you could see the results much more.

Both bulking and cutting info if you dont mind.

agreed, its so confusing aswell, can never know your 100% doing it right or not. active life of a teen can also never be sure your eating enough or to much etcetc

[Serb-Muscle]

1. Is soreness an indicator of growth?
2. How can i improve my biceps, they are lacking compared to my triceps.

[MadeUnderground]

agreed, its so confusing aswell, can never know your 100% doing it right or not. active life of a teen can also never be sure your eating enough or to much etcetc

Yeah like, it seems that every time I cut, I want to eat too much, and every time I bulk, I never hit my target. It's so ****ing annoying.

I'm just not hungry when I'm bulking even on huge taxing work out days.

I guess this week has just been sorta maintenanceish.

1. Is soreness an indicator of growth?
2. How can i improve my biceps, they are lacking compared to my triceps.

I can tell you the first one is no. But I'm sure he can explain to you the Science behind it.

[Serb-Muscle]

Yeah like, it seems that every time I cut, I want to eat too much, and every time I bulk, I never hit my target. It's so ****ing annoying.

I'm just not hungry when I'm bulking even on huge taxing work out days.

I guess this week has just been sorta maintenanceish.



I can tell you the first one is no. But I'm sure he can explain to you the Science behind it.

AJ Sims told me it was an indicator, but if your not getting sore dont worry about it.

[Philip81193]

AJ Sims told me it was an indicator, but if your not getting sore dont worry about it.

It has an indirect relationship with muscle growth.
Soreness is largely related to high volume training. High volume training can also denote hypertrophy training (depending on the situation). Soreness also indicates that you trained the muscles that you intended to train. They can't be sore if you don't use them!

Sorry for jumping in there. I've been curious about the subject myself, so I did a bit of research. ^ Those are my findings.

[DieHards77]

I start the cycle with lighter weights and higher reps then after a few weeks I go heavy with low reps.

Do you think this is a good combo?


thanks, repped

Yea that should be perfect, maybe something like 3 weeks hypertrophy specific then 3 weeks power and repeat, something along those lines. I just feel to many young lifters lift 10 rep range and thats that. Both heavy lifting and hypertrophy have there benfits and a place in ones routine

First off, I think it's amazing that you managed to turn a negative situation, such a being able to compete in a sport due to injury, in to a positive one in the sense that you found yourself a new sport. I congratulate you for that.

I was just wondering, what's the best advice you can give me about nutrition? I feel as though I have my workouts pretty much on point but my diet is letting me down.

Thanks.

Thanks a lot man, not to get to far into my story because this thread is all about you guys asking the question, if you wanna hear my lame ass story thats what my log is for haha but i overcame 2 season ending injuries in 11th grade (broke my leg), 12th grade (broke my wrist).

What questions do you have about nutrition? lol thats a little too general because i could go on FOREVER about nutrition

what do you consider the best overall upper back excersise for width/thickness? i mean lats, not lower back.

IMO the best exercise for width is weighted pullups, ive seen HUGE improvements since i incorporated these into my routine and one of the better exercises for thickness is bent over barbell rows

i feel this is the biggest aspect of lifting we all want to figure out.

Im not saying the lifting part is easy, but if your diet is on point, you could see the results much more.

Both bulking and cutting info if you dont mind.

I will say it every time I am asked, my diet is FAR more important than anything I do inside of the gym. Diet is what separates the people that go to the gym and the bodybuilders.
My diet right now is around 400-450g carbs / 240g protein / 70g fat from healthy choices (chicken - lean meats - ham - cottage cheese - whole wheat bread/pasta - brown rice - baked chips - vegetables - almonds - peanut butter - etc)
Bulking I have 1-2max cheat meals a week if the situation arises.

Those are just my general guidlines, ask any specific question you might have its just hard to be general about something so extensive as nutrition

agreed, its so confusing aswell, can never know your 100% doing it right or not. active life of a teen can also never be sure your eating enough or to much etcetc

Looking back I contribute my broken bones in football to not eating enough. I have a super fast metabolism and I would never eat enough in season so I would lose weight and get to low of a body fat to be playing running back on a varsity football team. As an active teen you should be eating most likely a lot more than you think of clean sources in order to at least stay maintenance.
Once again if you want to run by anything you might have questions with in your diet feel free itll be a lot easier to help with specific questions

1. Is soreness an indicator of growth?
2. How can i improve my biceps, they are lacking compared to my triceps.

1. No soreness is not an indicator of growth. Some people get more sore than others it doesnt mean they got more out of there workout than someone else. I barely got sore the final year of my last bulk because my body was used to lifting that way
2. 2 exercises ive seen great results from is heavy barbell curls and 1 arm db preacher curls. Best way to improve your biceps is along with having an arms day throw in biceps on another day as well so you hit them twice a week. I do that on my chest day i throw in biceps as well

Yeah like, it seems that every time I cut, I want to eat too much, and every time I bulk, I never hit my target. It's so ****ing annoying.

I'm just not hungry when I'm bulking even on huge taxing work out days.

I guess this week has just been sorta maintenanceish.



I can tell you the first one is no. But I'm sure he can explain to you the Science behind it.

Just have to be decipline and determined my man. Dieting youo have to realize food is simply fuel towards your goals and bulking you just need to pound the food. Try to include more protein powders in your diet or MRP's since digesting a liquid is a lot less filling of your stomach and itll make the calories easier to get down.

[MHurricane]

Frank McGrath trains at my gym (LA Fitness, Brampton - Ontario), are you mad?

On a serious note, what is your peak bf% in the off-season?

[Lanny14]

Do you believe you can add LBM while cutting? How would you go about doing so

[DieHards77]

Frank McGrath trains at my gym (LA Fitness, Brampton - Ontario), are you mad?

On a serious note, what is your peak bf% in the off-season?

Hah thats awesome, probably motivating training the same place as an IFBB pro. I live within a 30 minute drive from Bev Francis' powerhouse gym where pro's shoot dvd's while they train, are you mad? lol


I get heavy durring last off season as I think all natural bodybuilders need to do atleast once in there life in order to have substantial muscle when they get in contest shape. Heaviest I got last off season was 224 at around probably 16% bf and this season I hope to get to 235 with around the same bf% if not less

[DieHards77]

Do you believe you can add LBM while cutting? How would you go about doing so

no i dont believe so at all. Calories in vs calories out and you cant add anything to your body while your calories out surpass your calories in. You might be able to see a slight increase in LBM within the first week or two of cutting but thats because your probably still eating around maintenance level

[MHurricane]

I have the same gynecomastia problem like you. It feels like there is a rock under your nipple, huh? It's only one nipple for me as well... (no homo)

[TitanFB11]

i got a ? for ya.

whats your opinion on a rotation diet approach to bulk while droping bf at the same time?

for ex: 4 days cutting at 500-600 under maintenance with a little less than 1g carbs per lb

2 days bulking at 5-600cals over maintenance with 2-2.5 g of carbs per lb

and 1 day about 8-100cals over maintenace and 3g of carbs per lb.

with lifting on the days you are over and doing liss/hiit on the days your under.

[benzz]

which supps do you use?

[jimmybody]

. are you prepared for lots of question?
. How big are your arms?
. How many inches is your waist?
. and besides the 5x5 routine for benching is there another routine where i can bump it up a notch cause ive been doing it for 8 and a half months and started at 100. i feel like im a bit behind.

[eyellsac]

Yea that should be perfect, maybe something like 3 weeks hypertrophy specific then 3 weeks power and repeat, something along those lines. I just feel to many young lifters lift 10 rep range and thats that. Both heavy lifting and hypertrophy have there benfits and a place in ones routine

4 weeks medium reps & weight then 4 weeks HEAVY with low reps is what I re-planned out.
Thanks alot for your help =]

[N4th4n]

I have no questions at this point in time. Just saying hi and congratulations on your pro card.

[DieHards77]

I have the same gynecomastia problem like you. It feels like there is a rock under your nipple, huh? It's only one nipple for me as well... (no homo)

Please dont say no homo, no reason for it lol pet peeve of mine this is bodybuilding you dont need to say no homo

Unfortunately theres nothing non-surgical you can really do to fix it at this point most likely, if its a concern for you id go see a dr like I did. Mine used to be a lot worse but i got a little work done on it this past summer

i got a ? for ya.

whats your opinion on a rotation diet approach to bulk while droping bf at the same time?

for ex: 4 days cutting at 500-600 under maintenance with a little less than 1g carbs per lb

2 days bulking at 5-600cals over maintenance with 2-2.5 g of carbs per lb

and 1 day about 8-100cals over maintenace and 3g of carbs per lb.

with lifting on the days you are over and doing liss/hiit on the days your under.

What is your reason for wanting to drop bf? at your height and weight you should just go on a regular slow controlled bulk imo. Doing the routine you specified is just hurting the results you would get from a cut and hurting the results you would get from a bulk so most likely doing that you would just end up exactly how youo are right now in the end

which supps do you use?

Right now I use
USP Labs: Prime, Anabolic Pump, P-slin, Powerfull
Scivation: Sesamin, Xtend, Whey
Primaforce: Elastamine, Beta Alanine, Creatine Monohydrate

An uneccessarily high importance is placed on Supplements for people our age. Do they work? Hell yes but they are there to supplement proper diet and nutrition. Just eat big, lift big and get big

. are you prepared for lots of question?
. How big are your arms? I was going to measure them righ tnow because i havent in FOREVER but i mustve left my tapemeasure at home. Last time i measured them was almost 2 years ago and they were 17.5 so Id hope atleast 18 ill measure when i go home from school for thanksgiving break
. How many inches is your waist? Offseason 32"-34", contest prep <30"
. and besides the 5x5 routine for benching is there another routine where i can bump it up a notch cause ive been doing it for 8 and a half months and started at 100. i feel like im a bit behind. Choose a weight that you can get 5/6 times and do it for all 3 sets and continue using that weight until you get it for 3 sets of 6 then up the weight 5-10lbs and repeat. May not provide rapid results but you will get consistant results that in the long run will add up

Hahah let a rip im here to answer them

4 weeks medium reps & weight then 4 weeks HEAVY with low reps is what I re-planned out.
Thanks alot for your help =]

that sounds perfect and follow that up with a deload week then if you were happy with the results, repeat

[isupply]

Is it alright if i eat a breakfast around 1,000 calories. i workout in the morning before school and this is my pre-workout meal. i was wondering if it was too much or not

[SummerSheep]

What has been your max bench / squat / deadlift been in your lifetime? (Or estimated if you don't max)

Above you posted a routine that you do:

day1:chest/arms
day2:back/traps/delts
day3: off
day4:arms/chest
day5:legs
day6:delts/back
day7: off
repeat

I took a decent amount of interest to this routine. Is it worth giving it a shot for someone who has been training for around a year? Or is this routine more specially tailored to an advanced bodybuilder like yourself? How much volume do you usually incorporate while on this routine?