Beastly Bulking - 1st Ever Bulk - w/Pics and Measurements

[MannequinMan]

Okay, I have been into workout out for about 6 months. First three months were very scarce workouts and crap nutrition. Next two moths I thought I knew something about nutrition but underate grossly and overtrained resulting in me getting sick and not being able to workout for 10 days. Just recently I went on slightly under maintenance cals to lose some fat but ended up cheating too often for that to be effective. In those first 5-6 months I went from 153lbs (the fat skinny kid type, cubby stomach skinny limbs) to where I am now. Now I have decided to bulk until at least Janurary 2006 so when I actually do cut down I will look good.

Now that I have finished school I will be able to give this 100%. I have also eliminated other distractions. So I should be able to devote myself with no cheating to this new plan.

I have my diet written out that I will follow and have my workouts designed as well. Will be working out 3 days a week and doing cardio 3 days a week (on days I don't lift). Because I am doing cardio also I am going to keep calorie intake the same everyday throughout the week except my off day where I will just replace pre and post workout carbs with a fruit or vegetable.

GOALS:
1. Gain 1 to 1.5lb per week (minimal fat gain)
2. Cheat no more than twice per month, will try not to cheat at all.
3. Maintain or decrease body fat percent while bulking.
4. Drink minimum 1 gallon water (in addition to shakes)
5. Sleep at least 8 hours per night, would prefer 8.5 to 9 hours.
6. Increase weight or reps EVERY workout.
7. Get a caliper before end of June.
8. Get better at posing.

NUTRITION:
I will be eating this daily (this does not count fruits and vegetables)
Calories - 3050
Carbs - 332g
Protein - 285g
Fat - 65g

SUPPLEMENTS:
Nothing special, just Designer Whey, Flaxseed Oil, and Centrum (multivitamin). Might switch to ON 100% Whey, haven't decided yet becuase I just opened a 5lb Designer Whey.

WORKOUT:
I will be doing them Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Workout A Monday, Workout B Wednesday, Workout A Friday, etc. Sunday is off day. I will do this for 13 weeks or until I plateau, which ever comes first. Reason for dumbbells is my left chest is smaller than my right, as seen in pictures below.

Workout A
Dumbbell Bench 4x6-8
Squats 4x6-8
Dips 4x6-8
Pullups 4x6-8
Bent over BB Rows 4x6-8
Standing BB Press 4x6-8 <--- (Is this the one that goes behind the neck?)

Workout B
Dumbbell Incline Bench 4x6-8
Deadlifts 4x6-8
Disp 4x6-8
Pullups 4x6-8
Bent over BB Rows 4x6-8
Military Press 4x6-8

Cardio
I am not entriely decided on what to do for cardio. Until I make a final decision I am going to do HIIT for no more than 20 minutes on eliptical machine. I might switch to outside running if I can. My HIIT looks like this.

Jump rope for 2 minutes
Go on eliptical
minute 1-4: Moderate warmup pace
minute 5: 50 sec slow jog 10 sec fast as possible
minute 6: 48 sec slow jog 12 sec fast as possible
minute 7: 46 sec slow jog 14 sec fast as possible
minute 8: 44 sec slow jog 16 sec fast as possible
minute 9: 42 sec slow jog 18 sec fast as possible
minute 10: 54 sec slow jog 16 sec fast as possible
minute 11: 46 sec slow jog 14 sec fast as possible
minute 12: 48 sec slow jog 12 sec fast as possible
minute 13: 50 sec slow jog 10 sec fast as possible
minute 14-17: very slow cool down

Right now this is the most I can handle. I will work on adding a minute about every week until I reach 23 minutes total.

MEASUREMENTS:
Measurements will be updated weekly and pictures will be updated monthly. If you think I should take pictures more frequently I will, just let me know.

Age: 17 (on June 19)
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 141lbs
Body Fat: 12% (estimated, plan on getting caliper before months end)

Cold (not flexed)

Chest:36.75"
Waist:32"
Arms:11"
Forearms:10.25"
Calves:13"
Thighs:19"

OTHER NOTES
I might go on vacation for 1-2 weeks this month which would kind of piss me off. On the bright side I think I will have access to some kind of weights and will eat as clean as possible, but I don't know what kind of food I will have access to. If I notice fat gains I will lower carb intake slightly.
PLEASE POST ANY COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS. DON'T HESITATE TO BE UP FRONT WITH ME, I LIKE BEING TOLD THE HARSH TRUTH.

My Contact Info:
AIM - MannequinMan87
Email - MannequinMan@bodybuilders.com

Here are the pics, I will have a couple more tomorrow.

[waitlifter82]

First off, good luck to you. You look to have a solid plan.

Secondly, you're no were near 17%bf. You're around 9-11 range at most.

Do your self a favor and DO NOT go to failure on most/all of your lifts. You're working each muscle group 3x a week. I would look into HST to get some ideas to improve your workout.

I have never seen anyone do standing bb militarys behind their neck.

No bicep work??

[MannequinMan]

None directly. Pullups, rows, and militaries work biceps too, don't they?

I never start a rep I can't finish, I stop 1 or 2 reps before failure. I probably would go to failure but ever since I dropped weight on my foot I hate looking like an ass and dropping weights and crap. I have looked at HST briefly, I will read more about itvery soon.

[anandv]

All the best for ur mission

but are u sure abt this measurement?--

Arms:10.6"

[MannequinMan]

Took measurements and recorded them above.

Woke up kind of late today so I probably won't be able to eat all the food I wanted but I will eat as much as I can. Plan on going to sleep by 11 tonight. Will post workout results and what I ate before I go to bed.

[Rich Wallace]

Good luck to you!

[MannequinMan]

Monday, June 13, 2005

Brief Summary
Workout Length: ~90 minutes
Nutrition: 2490 Calories, 324g Carbs, 190g Protein, 48g Fat
Sleep: 10 hours
Water: 1 gallon + 3 cups

WORKOUT
Flat DB Bench
40x8
40x8
40x7
40x5
Squats
195x8
195x8
195x7
195x6
Dips
BWx8
BWx6
BWx4
BWx3
Pullups
BW-50x8
BW-50x7
BW-50x5
BW-60x7
BB Rows
85x6
80x7
80x7
80x6
Standing BB Press
55x8
55x8
55x6
55x6
Ab work
Weighted Crunches 40x20 --- 40x12
Lying Leg Raises 10x12 --- 0x20
Obliques 20x14ea --- 20x12ea

Notes:
Workout was okay. Nothing really that good... I am going to use this workout as a base to improve on. I have to judge better what weight I will be able to get out at least 6 reps. As you can see a lot of times I would only get out 5 for on like the third set but I noticed that was usually after I got seven reps out. I guess when I get to seven depending on how hard it is to get out that rep I will lower the weight for the next set.
The guy next to me when I was doing BB rows asked me why I took some weight off, so I told him it was too heavy and I wasn't going to be able to have proper form (obvious, no?) But then again he was doing curls in the squat rack...

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 1230
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 2 @ 1425 (pre workout)
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 scoop whey
1 serving almonds

Meal 3 @ 1605 (post workout)
-------------------
2 scoops whey
1.5 cups brown rice

Meal 4 @ 1745
-------------------
1.5 cup cottage cheese
1 serving whole wheat pasta

Meal 5 @ 2020
-------------------
2 servings whole wheat pasta
~8oz chicken thighs

Meal 6 @ 2235
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Because I woke up late I wasn't able to eat everything I had planned. Also my parents still won't go to the damn store so I was stuck with chicken thighs (I didn't calculate them into my calories and macronutrients). I ate them grilled with nothing on it so I hope it wasn't too bad. I am going to run to the store in the morning myself and pick up some chicken breasts. Probably had too many carbs today which in turn threw off my fat and protein intake. I really hope to do better tomorrow but I have two appointments, one at 11 and the other at 1.

Final Thoughts
Not an entirely bad day. Not the start I was hoping for but I am determined to get my schedule down before the end of this week. Really hope I don't have to go on that vacation because it will ruin everything for me but we'll see what happens. Will be going to sleep at 11 tonight so I can wake up at a decent time tomorrow for cardio and going to store for my chicken. Going to try and cook everything before my appointments and stick it in a cooler for the day. Was contemplating seperating abs from workout and doing them on cardio days but I don't think I will. Only reason I was considering it was because it prolongs my workout at least 10 minutes.
Anyway, going to shower then have my pre bed food, then gonna get some quality sleep.

[MannequinMan]

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Brief Summary
Cardio Length: 19 minutes
Nutrition: 3080 Calories, 331g Carbs, 290g Protein, 68g Fat
Sleep: 9.25 hours
Water: 1 gallon + 4 cups

CARDIO
Jump rope for 2 minutes
Go on eliptical
minute 1-4: Moderate warmup pace
minute 5: 50 sec slow jog 10 sec fast as possible
minute 6: 48 sec slow jog 12 sec fast as possible
minute 7: 46 sec slow jog 14 sec fast as possible
minute 8: 44 sec slow jog 16 sec fast as possible
minute 9: 42 sec slow jog 18 sec fast as possible
minute 10: 54 sec slow jog 16 sec fast as possible
minute 11: 46 sec slow jog 14 sec fast as possible
minute 12: 48 sec slow jog 12 sec fast as possible
minute 13: 50 sec slow jog 10 sec fast as possible
minute 14-17: very slow cool down

Did a bunch of stretching right after, trying to improve my flexibility.

Notes:
HIIT kicks my ass =] Felt like I was going to die on the 18 second sprint. Felt really good though, amazing how much I was sweating after less than 20 minutes of cardio.

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0905 (pre cardio)
-------------------
1 scoop whey

Meal 2 @ 1010 (post cardio)
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites
some watermelon

Meal 3 @ 1310
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna

Meal 4 @ 1535
-------------------
1 serving almonds
1 serving whole wheat pasta
2 scoops whey

Meal 5 @ 1835
-------------------
~8 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
2 servings whole wheat pasta
3/4 serving almonds

Meal 6 @ 2010
-------------------
1 scoop whey
2 slices whole wheat bread

Meal 7 @ 2120
-------------------
1/2 cup oatmeal
1.5 cups non fat cottage cheese

Meal 8 @ 2240
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Ate pretty much everything I wanted to. Got a little tight at the end of the day because of the appointments (1 of them was at the dentist and I got a cavity...).Need to pick up some vegetables. Grilled my chicken and it tasted delicious, mmmmm

Final Thoughts
Feel like I accomplished almost everything today. I am really happy about that. Eating enough food is almost like a chore but I am determined to get it in before the end of the day. Plan on going to bed at 11 again tonight. Cardio really seemed to help me with increasing my appetite. I love HIIT but I think since it's summer and I have more time I am going to switch to a low intensity cardio program for 45 minutes at most. Once schol comes around again I will switch to HIIT because I will have less time.

[MannequinMan]

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Brief Summary
Workout Length: ~90 minutes
Nutrition: 3030 Calories, 328g Carbs, 284g Protein, 65g Fat
Sleep: 9.5 hours
Water: 1 gallon + 3 cups

WORKOUT
Incline DB Bench
35x8
35x6
30x8
30x6
Deadlifts
185x8
215x8
215x7
215x6
Dips
BWx8
BWx6
BWx4
BWx2
Pullups
-50x8
-50x7
-50x5
-60x6
BB Rows
80x8
80x7
80x7
80x7
Military Press
55x8
55x8
55x6
55x6
Ab work
Weighted Crunches 40x21 --- 40x13
Lying Leg Raises 10x13 --- 10x8
Obliques 20x14ea --- 20x12ea

Notes:
Kind of disappointed with this workout. Seems my lifts went down slightly...On deadlifts I tried alternating the position of my left and right hands (switching which was overhand). When I put my left hand in the overhand position I felt like my grip was so much weaker. After that I felt like I might drop the weight. I didn't but I think if that hadn't happened I could have got more reps. I don't want to use a belt or grips because I think this will limit how my whole body grows in response to compound movements. Hope I can improve my lifts next workout.

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0945
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 2 @ 1215 (pre workouot)
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 scoop whey
1 serving almonds

Meal 3 @ 1410 (post workout)
-------------------
2 scoops whey
1.5 cups brown rice

Meal 4 @ 1510
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna

Meal 5 @ 1735
-------------------
1 serving whole wheat pasta
~8oz skinless boneless chicken breast
3/4 serving almonds

Meal 6 @ 1920
-------------------
1 serving whole wheat spaghetti (ran out of pasta, just bought some more though)
1.5 cups cottage cheese (not normal brand, was too salty)

Meal 7 @ 2105
-------------------
1 scoop whey
1 serving whole wheat pasta

Meal 8 @ 2325
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Ate everything I was supposed except some fruits and veggies =[ My stomach constantly looks a little bigger than normal because I am always full. Finally went shopping for food and will be able to eat the stuff I planned on eating.

Final Thoughts
Kind of upset with my workout today but it was weird. I felt like I did more that workout than my last one. My lifts better go up next workout. I went to the CVS across the street from my house and used that thing for old people to check heart rate and other things. Said my resting heart rate was 54 BPM and my blood pressure was 117/71. Seems about normal to me, not that those things are very accurate though.

[MannequinMan]

Kind of have a small problem.

This saturday is my birthday party and everyone is expecting me to eat stuff (including cake) and I don't want to ... I know for a fact I am going to be forced to eat the cake at least. Don't know what to do. Also I am going out Sunday for father's day to eat and I'm going to have to eat there. I figured I would order some grilled chicken or salmon or something.

What do you guys think I should do?

[Rich Wallace]

Go for the cake, it's once a year bro...and if you can, be careful going out for Daddy Day, if you have more choices at dinner than more cake, then go the high road and use your best judgement, either way, enjoy it!!

[MannequinMan]

I guess I will eat just one piece of cake and stick to my diet for the rest of the day. Maybe do a little cardio for the cake.

[MannequinMan]

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Brief Summary
Cardio: Low-Moderate Intensity 29 minutes
Nutrition: 3260 Calories, 358g Carbs, 297g Protein, 71g Fat
Sleep: 8.5 hours
Water: 1 gallon + 3 cups

CARDIO
2 minutes warmup 2.5mph @ 2.0 Incline
25 minutes 3.5mph @ 4.0 Incline
2 minutes cooldown 2.5mph @ 2.0 Incline

Stretching immediatley after.

Notes:
Was kind of boring but watched some music videos while I did it. Not sure if I did a proper warmup for it though but otherwise was okay.

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0935 (pre cardio)
-------------------
1 scoop whey
5-10g glutamine

Meal 2 @ 1030 (post cardio)
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites
some watermelon

Meal 3 @ 1215
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna
3/4 serving almonds

Meal 4 @ 1410
-------------------
1 serving almonds
1 serving whole wheat pasta
2 scoops whey
small apple

Meal 5 @ 1620
-------------------
1 scoop whey
2 slices whole wheat bread

Meal 6 @ 1815
-------------------
~8 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
1 servings whole wheat pasta
3 mini sweet peppers

Meal 7 @ 2030
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
1.5 cups non fat cottage cheese

Meal 8 @ 2240
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Ate everything I was supposed to. Found like 300g of glutamine so I figured I would use it up. Don't plan on buying anymore once I finish this. Ate a little bit of fruit and vegetable, should probably eat more.

Final Thoughts
Good cardio session. Ate everything on the menu. Everything seems to be falling into place. Hopefully I can keep this up for the entire summer =]

[MannequinMan]

Friday, June 17, 2005

Brief Summary
Workout Length: ~90 minutes
Nutrition: 3230 Calories, 368g Carbs, 293g Protein, 71g Fat
Sleep: 8.75 hours
Water: 1 gallon + 6 cups

WORKOUT
Flat DB Bench
40x8
40x8
40x8
40x8
Squats
195x8
195x8
195x8
195x8
Dips
BWx8
BWx8
BWx6
BWx4
Pullups
BW-50x8
BW-50x8
BW-50x5
BW-60x6
BB Rows
80x8
80x8
80x8
80x8
Standing BB Press
55x8
55x8
55x8
55x6
Ab work
Weighted Crunches 40x22 --- 40x14
Lying Leg Raises 10x15 --- 10x10
Obliques 20x15ea --- 20x13ea

Notes:
Workout was excellent. I probably could have upped the weight on my lifts but I think I am scared too... Next week I will up weight for sure as there is not much room to improve with the current weight. Pullups weren't as good as I expected but they were about the same as last time. Had a weird feeling in stomach at some points during workout, maybe like I would puke, but it wasn't that bad and went away.

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0920
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 2 @ 1205
-------------------
1 scoop whey
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 serving almonds

Meal 3 @ 1400
-------------------
2 scoops whey
1.5 cups brown rice

Meal 4 @ 1510
-------------------
1.5 cup cottage cheese
3/4 serving almonds
1 serving whole wheat pasta
3 grape tomatoes

Meal 5 @ 1700
-------------------
1 small can tuna
2 slices whole wheat bread

Meal 6 @ 1915
-------------------
~8 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
1 servings whole wheat pasta
3 mini sweet peppers

Meal 7 @ 2050
-------------------
1 scoop whey
1 serving whole wheat pasta

Meal 8 @ 2240
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Ate everything today. Had veggies twice so that's a good thing. Think my body is starting to adjust to the increased feeding. Burned my finger while grilling chicken but it should be fine by my next workout.

Final Thoughts
Very happy with my workout today even if I was too scared to add more weight =\ Nutrition is going good, will probably aim to eat a little bit more veggies. Tomorrow is my bday party so I am going to have to eat a piece of cake so I don't look like an ******* in front of everybody. Will try not to eat anything else and stick to my planned diet for the rest of the day.

[MannequinMan]

Weighed myself today, weight is at 144 lbs. This is up 3 lbs from last weigh in but I think this has more to do with the water. Anyway, I will keep my diet the same for this next week and then see what happens.

From now on I am going to be weighing myself every Sunday morning and the first Sunday of every month will be the day I take pictures and measurements.

[MannequinMan]

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Brief Summary
Cardio Length: Low-Moderate Intensity 30 minutes
Nutrition: 3190 Calories, 341g Carbs, 293g Protein, 75g Fat
Sleep: 9.75 hours
Water: 1 gallon

CARDIO
2.5 minutes warmup 2.7mph @ 2.0 Incline
25 minutes 3.5mph @ 4.0 Incline
2.5 minutes cooldown 2.7mph @ 2.0 Incline

Stretching immediatley after.

Notes:
Very boring, might read some stuff on HIIT agian andsee what I want to do... Otherwise cardio was good.

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0950 (pre cardio)
-------------------
1 scoop whey
5-10g glutamine

Meal 2 @ 1050 (post cardio)
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 3 @ 1120
-------------------
2 scoops whey
1 serving pasta

Meal 4 @ 1420
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna
3/4 serving almonds
3 grape tomatoes

Meal 5 @ 1730
-------------------
1 scoop whey
2 slices whole wheat bread

Meal 6 @ 1920
-------------------
~8 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
2 servings whole wheat pasta
1 serving almonds
some sweet peppers

Meal 7 @ 2120
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
2 scoops whey

Meal 8 @ 2335
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Diet was a little off today but I am very happy I was able to get away without eating cake. Didn't really want the cottage cheese so I took 2 scoops whey instead, I know 6 scoops whey in a day is a bit much but for 1 day I think it will be ok.

Final Thoughts
Had a very fun day. One of my friends got me unsalted almonds as a gift =] Really have to look into another kind of cardio but I will continue the slow go until I find something suitable. Tomorrow is off day so I might try and drop the carbs a little since I won't be doing anything and I have to go out for dinner. No getting out of it like I did with the cake today. I'll go for some grilled chicken I think and some steamed or grilled vegetables. At worst I will get cheese ravioli but I hope to have the will power not to go for that (even though it's my favorite).

[heavylifter954]

nice workouts deff go up in weight next time

my bulking log
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=499768

[MannequinMan]

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Brief Summary
OFF DAY
Nutrition: 2155 Calories, 210g Carbs, 204g Protein, 59g Fat (not including Meal 5 which was about 400 calories or the apple)
Sleep: 9.5 hours
Water: 1 gallon

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 1020
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 2 @ 1220
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna

Meal 3 @ 1415
-------------------
~8 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
1 serving whole wheat pasta
3 mini sweet peppers

Meal 4 @ 1620
-------------------
1 serving almonds
2 scoops whey
2 slices whole wheat bread

Meal 5 @ 1850
-------------------
~10oz chicken grilled
diced tomatoes and purple onion

Meal 6 @ 2045
-------------------
1/2 serving almonds
1 slice whole wheat bread
1 scoop whey

SNACK @ 2120: 1 medium macintosh apple

Meal 8 @ 2245
-------------------
8oz skim milk
1 tbsp falxseed oil


Notes:
I didn't eat as much today since I didn't lift or do cardio. I did not add meal 5 to my calorie total as I don't have any info on it. That is the meal I ate at the restaurant, it was the healthiest I could find. I would say it was 10-12 oz of white meat chicken, maybe a little bit of oil on it, with what looked like a whole tomatoe diced and some purple onions. I ate every last bite of it =]

Final Thoughts
Very relaxing day, was able to resist all the appetizers and dessert at the restaurant. I only ate the apple because I went with my sister for like a 15-20 minute bike ride. I am trying to get her into exercising as she is over weight. For me the ride was very low intensity but I ate the apple when I got hope just in case. I don't think I am going to be going out or anything until like July or something so I am going to see how long I can go without a cheat meal starting tomorrow. Should be easy since I am on a bulk.

[eLJaKo]

Just a few tips...i noticed a few days there your calorie intake was down close to 2000 calories. Thats not enough if your planning to bulk...dont be afraid to take in a few too many calories, your 3 cardio sessions a week will help to keep the fat down and judging by your photos you are very lean to begin with.

When your bulking, any days your nutrition is off it should be too many cals, not too few. If you have too many days where your cals are near 2000 you will stunt your growth big time...just to give an example, i averaged 4500 calories per day on my last bulk. i gained 22 lbs (157-179) during the 4 months but during my 2 month cut afterward i only lost 14lbs (down to 165)before reaching my previous bf% (11%)...that means 8lbs of muscle...cant be afraid to add some fat when ure bulking to make sure your body is getting EVERYTHING it needs to grow.

Something you may find with your routine is once you start lifting a little heavier you will find that training larger muscle groups every 2 days will be impossible. (chest, back) You may want to change to a push/pull split. workout a would be all your push motions (shoulders chest tris) and workout b would be pull (back lats bis traps)...legs could go on either day.

If you want some extra bicep work, try doing some pullups with an underhand grip, this will train ythe biceps a little more then the lats, perhaps alternate day to day or do 2 sets underhand and 2 sets overhand each workout?

Do you find any trouble doing squats 2 days after deadlifts? be careful with that because when doing squats you want your lower back to be very stable, could hurt yourself if your lower back cant handle your squat weight (which at 195 is a fair bit of weight)

As for your chest exercises...I can see how you want to develop your pecs evenly but you are losing out somewhat by only doing dumbell exercises. Barbell presses allow you to handle a little more weight and in theory will help you build muscle faster (maybe it doesn't work the same for everyone...just a thought)

All those things are just suggestions but as far as the diet is concerned, make sure to eat your 3000 calories as a minimum. I am 166 lbs right now and am eating 3000 cals per day at a summer maintenance level (have gained 1 lb in 7 weeks). You want to be gaining a lb or a lb and a half per week you said...it wont happen on 3000cals per day or less...

Train hard and eat eat eat!!! Goodluck!

[Slimmer]

Nice pics bro!! you have a good base to work with but I agree with what everyone else has said especially eLJaKo. Heres my input.
>militaries don't work biceps at all
>your protein intake is good but eat a little more red meat or take some fish oil sups. Your fat intake is too low!
>your overall calorie intake is too low. Don't swet the cake. I find I make the best gains with my BF% between 15-17%. With your bodytype even if you put on a little fat it will come off easy. From the pics your BF is less than 11%
>I like your workout very simple and strait forward. I would do all diferent exercises in workout B change dips,pullups,and rows for some other compound movments. Like Close grip presses. RG chins, one arm rows.
And like eLJaKo said switch to push/pull workout after 4-6 months of training.
Keep up the good work

[MannequinMan]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am going to be switching to a push/pull routine, actually just last night I was trying to decide when to switch. I was thinking of switching around beginning of August. It depends because I think I might go away for like 2 weeks.

I don't feel really sore by the time I do squats after deadlifts, probably because I am getting enough sleep. I will think of maybe switching up a few exercises but not today because I am about to go the gym right now. I will use barbell for benching though. I am just a little wary about it because I don't have a spotter.

I will see about getting red meat, I have a hard time getting what I have already because of my parents but I will try and convince them. Is there a certain cut you would suggest or should I just get lean ground beef?

Thanks for the replies guys, greatly appreciated.

[rain183xx]

good luck I'm also trying to bulk. subscribed

[MannequinMan]

Just got my food scale and accumeasure caliper in the mail =]

according to the caliper im 12.5% BF, but that is just from one spot. I will take a more accurate measurement on Sunday.

[MannequinMan]

Monday, June 20, 2005

Brief Summary
Workout Length: ~100 minutes (had to wait for some work stations...)
Nutrition: 3270 Calories, 369g Carbs, 295g Protein, 71g Fat
Sleep: 9.25 hours
Water: 1 gallon + 6 cups

WORKOUT
Incline BB Bench
95x8
95x7
95x6
95x5
Deadlifts
225x8
225x8
225x8
225x7
Dips
BWx8
BWx8
BWx6
BWx5
Pullups
BW-40x7
BW-40x5
BW-50x7
BW-50x4
BB Rows
85x6
85x5
80x8
80x7
Military Press
60x8
60x6
60x6
55x6
Ab work
Weighted Crunches 40x24 --- 40x14
Lying Leg Raises 10x14 --- 10x13
Obliques 20x14ea --- 20x13ea

Notes:
Workoout was okay today. I feel like I am a weakling in upper body strength, only 95 on incline bench... Also pullups were a bit weird today, trying to force myself to get stronger by decreasing the assistance. I was really happy with deadlifts today. I could have got 8 reps on my last set but the bar was about to fall out of my hands (need to improve grip strength). Some guy was staring at me when I was about to do them, was weird. He had a ripped upper body but was squatting 135 (I think that's why he was staring at me). Obviously my weak point is chest/bis/tris, more so tris I think. Looking forward to next workout to increase the weights.

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0925
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 2 @ 1140 (pre workouot)
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 scoop whey
1 serving almonds

Meal 3 @ 1345 (post workout)
-------------------
2 scoops whey
1.5 cups brown rice

Meal 4 @ 1505
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna
3 grape tomatoes

Meal 5 @ 1650
-------------------
1 serving whole wheat pasta
~8oz skinless boneless chicken breast
1 serving almonds
3 sweet mini peppers

Meal 6 @ 1845
-------------------
1 serving whole wheat pasta
1.5 cups fat free cottage cheese
3 grape tomatoes

Meal 7 @ 2035
-------------------
1 scoop whey
1 serving whole wheat pasta

Meal 8 @ 2315
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
I think today I had the best diet yet. Ate everything I planned, had veggies at 3 meals as well as an apple. My body seems to be getting used to eating all this food and I drank lots of water today =]

Final Thoughts
Today was a very good day. Going to switch to BB bench on wednesday so I will probably be upset with those results too, but it is necessary so I can get stronger. I feel like I am very unbalanced in upper/lower body strength. Don't know how I got this way but at least I have a strong point instead of being weak at everything.

[Slimmer]

Good workout nice job on the pull-ups, I didn't realize they were assisted.
300 grams of protein a day and you'll be putting on size in no time. As far as red meat I like them all steak, homburg, ribs, whatever I can get. You could also use peanut butter to up your fat intake, or eat a few whole eggs. You may want to cut your carbs back just a little.
I wish I could get 9-10 hrs of sleep a night. Keep up the good work.

[MannequinMan]

Yea, I have a weak upper body, I don't think I could do 1 pullup with my bodyweight. I have carbs a little high because a lot of times I have to do things during he day. Like yesterday I had to go to the bank so I rode my bike about 3-4 miles for that, then I rode it liter on for like 10 blocks to go see my friends brothers little league game. I take it easy though, try to just pedal slowly but steadily.

I am only able to get this much sleep because it is summer. I might be getting a 4 day a week job that lasts like a month so it might interfere with my sleep schedule.

I don't have any natural PB right now, only skippy.

[MannequinMan]

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Brief Summary
Cardio Length: Low-Moderate Intensity 30 minutes
Nutrition: 3090 Calories, 323g Carbs, 291g Protein, 71g Fat
Sleep: 9 hours
Water: 1.5 gallons

CARDIO
2.5 minutes warmup 2.7mph @ 2.0 Incline
25 minutes 3.5mph @ 4.0 Incline
2.5 minutes cooldown 2.7mph @ 2.0 Incline

Stretching immediatley after.

Notes:
Boring... Feel like the stretching is increasing my flexibility slightly =]

NUTRITION
Meal 1 @ 0930 (pre cardio)
-------------------
1 scoop whey
5-10g glutamine

Meal 2 @ 1025 (post cardio)
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
6 egg whites

Meal 3 @ 1235
-------------------
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small can tuna
3 grape tomatoes

Meal 4 @ 1440
-------------------
1.5 cups fat free cottage cheese
1 serving almonds
3 grape tomatoes
1 serving whole wheat pasta

Meal 5 @ 1645
-------------------
2 scoops whey
1 serving whole wheat pasta

Meal 6 @ 1840
-------------------
~8 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
1 serving whole wheat pasta
1 serving almonds
some sweet peppers

Meal 7 @ 2100
-------------------
1 cup oatmeal
1 scoop whey
some strawberries

Meal 8 @ 2245
-------------------
16oz skim milk
1 tbsp flaxseed oil

Notes:
Good diet. Ran out of peppers so had no veggies with my chicken.

Final Thoughts
Today was really boring, only had my next meal to look forward to to get me through the day. Since I was bored I walked a few blocks to the library and they had no books on bodybuilding, or at least none that I could find... Does anyone know of any good things I can read on the internet and any good books I could pick up at Barnes & Nobles next time I go?

[heavylifter954]

nice deadlifts.

[sword_]

keep it up

[bks75]

question - the number that is next to the pullups, is that the weight added to the pullups? not sure what that number represents.

btw, your log is amazing and best of luck to you.