5...3...1...time to bulk!

[BGoodman88]

Hi!

I've been visiting these forums for quite some time now, especially the nutrition section. So, decided to start a log. (in the nutrition section because I like food a lot more than I like training )

About me: Belgian, male, 24 years old. I graduated and obtained my masters in applied economics last year, but decided to pursue another master in business engineering in combination with a (part time) job. After some time I found myself so occupied with the job, learning more than in college, that I wondered why I was even pursuing another degree. So now I'm working fulltime while helping to set up a consultancy company in which I should start working in october (complications have, off course, arisen).

First time I trained was, I think, 8 years ago. Of course those first years of training were often interrupted by months without even touching a weight, wrong training methods, bro-science making everything more difficult than it really is,... This leaves me now at 174lbs (most of you are Americans, so I'll try to use imperial system) at 5ft11 and +-12% body fat. I'm quite happy with the way I look (I'll try to post pics asap) but given the years I've been training it's simple not good enough. Same for strength: 250lbs bench press, 350lbs deadlift and 320lbs squat.

A while ago I read this:
"To add to that, I mean look at some peoples logs in this section. 90% of people are fukcing wasting money and MAINTAINING sub 150lb physiques. Their weight increases by 10lbs in 1/2 a year in total. No initial sudden gain, just a steady 10lbs. Guess what, all that is simply extra food in the GI, water and glycogen. Nothing wrong with a drastic 5-7lb bump in weight over the course of ~2 weeks.

I actually want to vent at how fukcing retarded some people are by not increasing calories. They get scared of a 2lb fluctuation, and say they've gained enough for the month, while next morning they will wake up 2lbs lighter.

Think about it, do you want to maintain a physique? I'd rather go 2 steps forward and 1 step back (bulk, bulk, mini cut) rather than 1/2 a step and then jerk off to the same weight for 3 months, then another little bump.

However I'm obviously not advocating a fulk, and gaining like 6lbs a month, I'l just saying, you should see the scale go up, and you should go through water fluctuations quite frequently. I look watery at a certain point of the week, and dry the next, and same goes with weight.

Let me finish off with this. The guys who are extremely conservative with calories are the ones who will look the same in 5 years. Good luck to them LOL. And this is coming from someone who does modelling and staying lean year round is a priority." (log of Cumulonimbus)

I knew immediately that this has been my problem for all these year: consistency, and making decent progress. So that's why I decided to bulk. The goal is to get to +-190lbs, if needed I'll do a mini cut and then try to reach 200lbs.

Training As the title suggests I'll follow the 531 program by Wendler with the 'Boring but Big' assists (I'll explain more when I log if needed). I reckon it's a great program for making progress (size and strength-wise) over a longer period of time (exactly what I need). I think about sticking with this program for 1 year.

Food When cutting I lost 1lbs a week by eating 2500kcal, so I reckon I'll need 3300-3500kcal for a clean(isn) bulk. Macros (IIFYM): 150gr protein, 80gr fat, the rest whatever I want (mostly carbs). I'm mostly like whole foods (meat, veggies, fruits, omelets, oatmeal, bacon,...) but things like ice cream, pancakes, chocolate are never far away, so I'll incorporate them in my diet sometimes.

Alright, sorry for the long post! Looking forward to logging!

[Vasyok]

In!
Sounds interesting, brah. I'm sure many of us share similar "problems". Especially those, who used to be fat and are therefore afraid of gaining weight "too fast".

[BGoodman88]

This week I'm still measuring 1RMs for the main lifts. I use Wendlers method, which is to estimate your 1RM, multiply with 0.8, perform as much reps as possible with this weight and then use the following formula: (weight x reps x 0.033) + weight. He recommends using only 90% of your calculated 1RM to start the program with.

Last night I did this for squats:

set 1: 247.5lbs x 7 (which means that my 1RM is +-310lbs and I start the program with 275lbs)
set 2: 247.5 x 5 (should've lowered the weight actually, as this training isn't yet part of the program)
set 3: 220 x 5

assist: Deadlift

5 sets of 10 reps each with 155lbs (program recommends 50% of 1RM), this was hard, especially to maintain good form

Abs:

Planks: 3 sets of 1 minute using 22lbs extra weight
Side planks: 1 set of 1 minute, 1 set of 30 seconds

In an hour I'll be doing same for bench press.

(btw, trying to upload pics of food but I guess I need more posts)

[BGoodman88]

In!
Sounds interesting, brah. I'm sure many of us share similar "problems". Especially those, who used to be fat and are therefore afraid of gaining weight "too fast".

Thanks!

Absolutely, and I'm sure that when my pants are starting to feel a bit tight around the waist, I'll feel like cutting again. I hope logging and willpower can help me get through these periods.

[BGoodman88]

Back from training, which was mostly intended to measure 1RM for bench press and thus starting weight for the program.

Bench Press:

set 1: 203.5lbs x 8, meaning that 1RM should be 257.4lbs, adjust with 90% this is +-230lbs
set 2: 198lbs x 5
set 3: 198lbs x 5

Military Press:

5 x 10 x 77lbs (weight was low, really not used to this volume!)

One arm dumbell row:

5 x 10 x 57lbs (same story)

After that one set of barbell curl, trice pushdown and face pulls. Those are optional and not really important, so I won't be logging them. Maybe I'll try doing them in a superset.


Food for today:

kcal: 2800kcal (with an extra 200kcal included)
protein: 180gr
fat: 70gr
carbs: 326gr

Right now preparing chicken marinated with cilantro and lemon juice/zest with broccoli and potatoes (sounds like a bromeal, I know), and later some popcorn.

I'm increasing kcals in steps. Next week I'm planning to eat 3000-3200kcal and keep doing this for 2 weeks. After that we'll see how much I need to bulk.

[TJWLDN]

I'm in on this too. Very similar to me, just started cycle 2 of 5-3-1. Clean bulking at around 3k calories.
Good luck mate I'll be following.

[BGoodman88]

I'm in on this too. Very similar to me, just started cycle 2 of 5-3-1. Clean bulking at around 3k calories.
Good luck mate I'll be following.

Good to have you, and good luck to you too!

[BGoodman88]

No training today, didn't really mind because I had a busy day at work and legs are still sore from monday. Hope they feel better by tomorrow (deadliest day with 5x10 squats...).

So just the food (less than 50 post so still no pics, sorry guys):

Had eggs & bacon with maple syrup and banana for breakfast, lamb-burger with guacamole and cilantro on baguette for lunch and steak with cauliflower and a sweet potato for dinner (I tried making some kind of maple-syrup/rosemary reduction sauce for the sweet potato, not bad!). Later today some quark with apple.

kcal: 2760 (including 200 extra cookie-calories)
protein: 174gr
carbs: 234gr
fat: 103gr

[BGoodman88]

Deadlift-1RM-measurement training:

Deadlift:

7 x 266lbs (1RM = 330lbs, adjusted 1RM = 297lbs)
5 x 242lbs
5 x 242lbs

Squat:

5 x 10 x 143lbs

Decline crunch:

3 x 10 x 11lbs

Standing cable wood chop:

2 x 10 x some weight on a machine...

Complexes as conditioning exercise (recommended by Wendler):

Deadlift
Stiff legged deadlift
Bent over row
Cleans
Front squat
Military press
Back squat
Goodmornings

Starting with 6 reps for each consecutive exercise (without putting the barbell down), take 90 sec rest, same thing but with 5 reps and so on until 1 rep per exercise. Did this with 60lbs.

Food:

Breakfast: Pumpkin oats with egg, sugar, banana, bacon slices and maple syrup (I can't stop thinking about the bowl, I think I'm in love with it)
Lunch: Lunchmeeting for work, had some kind of lasagne with ricotta and roasted bell peppers. Pretty good.
Dinner: Stuffed mushrooms and eggplant with some other veggies and cilantro (basically whatever I had left in the fridge)
Other: Quark with cookie crisp and honey pops cereal and an apple

Kcal: 2751
protein: 160gr
carbs: 330gr
fat: 88gr

[BGoodman88]

Overhead press 1RM measurement training:

Overhead press:

9 x 121 lbs (1RM = 156 lbs, adjusted 1RM = 140 lbs)
5 x 110 lbs
5 x 110 lbs

Bench press:

5 x 10 x 121lbs (might increase the weight a bit next week)

Chin up:

10 x bodyweight (174lbs)
7 x bw
5 x bw
4 x bw
3 x bw

Unless I progress fast on this, might substitute them with lat pulldowns until I can do 5 sets of 10.

Some extra assists: barbell curl, french press and face pulls, one set of each.


Food:

Breakfast: Pumpkin oats with egg, sugar, banana, maple syrup and ricotta (made it really creamy)
Lunch: Quark with apple and cookie crisp and honey pop cereal
Dinner: Mom's spaghetti!
Other: M&Ms

Went a bit over kcals but whatever, no going to decline my moms spaghetti because of that

[BGoodman88]

Weekend, and had my cousin over from the US (whom I haven't seen in over 10 years), so wasn't really tracking macros. No training as well, except for a bike ride with my cousin because of the nice weather (other Western Europeans will understand me when I say this is extraordinary).

Weight progress:
Weighed myself this morning and, although I ate quite a lot and felt a bit bloated, I lost some weight during the week (about a pound). Currently my weight is 173 lbs. I'll increase kcal starting from tomorrow, from 2800 to 3200, which should result in weight gain. Normally I'll eat 3200 kcal for 2 weeks, and adjust after that to ensure proper weight gain.

Food:
Spare ribs, spanish omelet, some typical stuff

So tomorrow I officially start with my bulk and 531 training. Adjusted 1RMs (90% of actual 1RM, recommended by Wendler) are 275lbs for squat, 233lbs for bench press, 293lbs for deadlift and 143lbs for military press.

Tomorrow: squat (3x5)

Have a nice weekend guys (or what's left of it)

[PicklesPA]

get some pics up and ill sub man
seems interesting, good luck

[BGoodman88]

get some pics up and ill sub man
seems interesting, good luck

Thanks!

Pics are coming, but need 50 posts first.

[PicklesPA]

Thanks!

Pics are coming, but need 50 posts first.

ahhh duly noted!

[BGoodman88]

Busy and long day at the office yesterday, so had to go to the gym late and didn't have a lot of time to cook food. Rushed a bit through training and I felt that the long day interfered a bit with training.

Squat 3x5 training

Squat

5x188lbs (*)
5x198lbs (*)
5x237lbs (85%)

*In all my rush I didn't use the right percentages of 1 RM on the first 2 sets and did the exercise with too little weight. Last set was ok so I guess it's not a big deal, just have to pay a little bit more attention next time.

The conventional 531 program lets you max out on the last set, but with the Boring but Big assists it is recommended to stick to 5 reps (or certainly don't max out). Also didn't have much left in the tank after 5 reps...

Deadlift

5x10x154lbs

Felt good. The weight is low (about 50% of 1 RM) but I'm trying to focus on good form and explosiveness.

Planks

3 sets of 1 minute each with 22lbs added

Side planks

2 sets of 45 seconds (each side)


Food

First day of bulk and eating 3200kcal. Didn't really get the chance to enjoy the amount of kcal because of lack of time to cook.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk, banana, some seeds, peanut butter and maple syrup
Lunch: Eggs with tomato, parmesan cheese, chorizo and red and green pesto
Dinner: pasta with ricotta and basil and eggs, tomato and onion
Extra:Popcorn, banana, cereal (honey pops and cookie crisp)

Kcal: 3100
protein: 155gr
carbs: 373gr
fats: 110gr

[BGoodman88]

No training yesterday, had a friend over and we went out for a drink.

Food:

Breakfast: Cooked oats with milk, eggs, peanut butter, honey, maple syrup and some seeds.
Lunch: Salad with carrot, corn, chicken,... and a smoothie (with berries and stuff)
Dinner: Chicken with mushrooms and onions in tomato sauce and potatoes
Extra: 2 cokes, a small tapa with squid and bread, glas of red chilean wine, australian ice cream with speculoos (biscoff in the US I think) and another one, forgot the name, with some honey pop loop cereal added.

Kcal: 3231
protein:191gr
carbs: 366gr
fat: 111gr

[BGoodman88]

Bench press 3x5 training

Again long day at the office and late meeting so had to rush a bit in the gym (and an added bonus of 2 retards occupying the only bench press for 20 minutes while discussing the enormous advantages of whey and simple sugars after training), but training went ok.

Bench press:

5 x 176lbs
5 x 187lbs
7 x 198lbs (stayed clear from failure, but should have stopped at 6 maybe)

Military press:

5 x 10 x 77lbs

One arm dumbell rows:

5 x 10 x 57lbs (might increase this next week)

1 set of barbell curls, french press and face pulls, 10 reps each.

Food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk, apple, some seeds, cinnamon and maple syrup and a piece of chocolate (Lindt; 85%)
Lunch: Omelet with mushrooms, parmesan, truffle oil, pesto (red and green) and basil
Dinner: Pork chop with coffee rub (first time I tried this, awesome), broccoli and potatoes
Extra: 3 kinds of cereal, popcorn and a mango (+200gr of carbs before bed, I was happy)

Kcal: 3114
protein: 190gr
carbs: 377gr
fat: 94gr

[BGoodman88]

Deadlift 5x3 training

Deadlift:

5 x 220lbs
5 x 237lbs
6 x 248lbs

Squat:

5 x 10 x 143

Decline weighted crunches:

10 x 22lbs
10 x 11lbs
10 x 11lbs

Standing cable woodshop:

2 x 10 x ... (7 on a machine)

After training complexes, same as last week. Anybody else doing complexes and having a nice routine?


Food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk, apple, some seeds, maple syrup and a piece of chocolate (Lindt, 85%)
Lunch: Quark with strawberries
Dinner: Seawolf with asparagus
Other: Cereal before training and Ben and Jerrys Half Baked before bed

Kcal: 3129
protein: 177gr
carbs: 397gr
fat: 93gr

[BGoodman88]

Overhead press 3x5 training

Military press:

5 x 110lbs
5 x 116lbs
8 x 121lbs

Bench press:

5 x 10 x 121lbs (will probably increase for the first few sets. Having the opportunity to focus on explosiveness is nice though)

Chin ups:

10 x BW (174lbs)
8 x BW
5 x BW
5 x BW
4 x BW

(+3 reps compared to last week)

Additional exercises: Barbell curl, french press and face pulls (1 set, 10 reps)


Food

Breakfast: Pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup and piece of chocolate
Lunch: Greek yoghurt with apple, seeds and blueberries
Dinner: 4 large fajitas and glass of South African red wine
Extra: Some pastry

Kcal: Went over my goal of 3200kcal because of the fajitas. I'm guessing total intak was about 4200kcal.

[BGoodman88]

No training so just a short update.

Food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk, seeds and a mango
Lunch: Ciabatta bread with mozzarella, tomato, serrano ham, truffle oil and basil
Dinner: barbecue

kcal:... not tracked, but I think between 3000 and 3500 (was low in kcals before bbq). I ate the population of a small petting zoo at the bbq, so protein and fat minimums should be OK as well.

Also: found a store with American products in Belgium and bought Reese's Puffs, Cinnabun cereal, peanut butter cups, S'mores pop tarts, bagels, jello and some other stuff. Nom nom nom!

[BGoodman88]

Again no training yesterday, just food and weight progress.

Food

Breakfast: Made pancakes for father's day (with bacon, maple syrup, blueberries and bagel)
Lunch: Bread with mozzarella, serrano ham, tomato and basil and some couscous with veggies
Dinner: Sushi

Kcal: Again no accurate measurement, and probably went above my allowance (the table next to us, 4 persons, had the same sushi dish as I had, so apparently I had a dish for 4 people...also finished faster than them )


Weight progress:

I always try to weigh myself on 2 consecutive days every week, for the moment that's saturday and sunday. Last week the average of those days was 173.5lbs, now it was 174.8lbs. An increase of 1.3lbs, which, I reckon, can be largely explained by large meals the evenings before. In fact, when I weighed myself at the gym on friday, I was 2/3 of a pound lighter than the week before.

I thought about increasing kcals because I expected to be at least 2lbs heavier simply because of extra water retention etc, but seeing I went over allowance the last 3 days I think I'll just stick with the plan and stay eating 3200kcals the coming week. After this week I'll adjust if necessary.

Edit: still no pics, I know. My phone's memory is completely full, can't even take 1 pic. I'll try to take care of it and post pics during the weekend.

[BGoodman88]

Squat 3x3 training

Squat:

3 x 220lbs
3 x 237lbs
3 x 248lbs

Squat will probably be the hardest lift to keep progressing on, already the 3 last reps felt hard. I'll have to work hard on this!

Deadlift:

5 x 10 x 160lbs

Planks:

3 x 1min x 33lbs

Side planks:

1 x 1min
1 x 45sec

Trying to find a way increase weight on the assists per wave/mesocycle. Goal is long term progression, so I shouldn't increase every training because I'll run into a wall.

Complexes:

Same as last week, but instead of 6-5-4-3-2-1 I did 6-5-4-3-3-2. Again, trying to find a way to increase weight for long term progression.

Food

Breakfast: Eggs with asparagus and parmesan and a piece of chocolate.
Lunch: Bagel with eggs and an apple
Dinner: Steak with broccoli and leftover couscous with veggies
Extra: Cereal with poptart and milk before training and an oatmeal-milk-jello-cereal-S'mores poptart-maple syrup-bowl before bed. I had poptarts before, but just the chocolate ones I think, which weren't so special. This one was awesome (although I'm not sure whether they're worth 200kcal)

[BGoodman88]

Goodmorning!

Bench press 3x3 training

Bench press:

3 x 187lbs
3 x 198lbs
4 x 209lbs

Military press

5 x 10 x 77lbs (final reps are still hard, hope to increase weight next week)

One arm dumbell row:

5 x 10 x 62lbs (increased since last week, might increase again)

Other:

Barbell curl, french press and face pulls (1 x 10), all slightly increased.


Food

Breakfast: Bagel with peanut butter, bacon and maple syrup and 2 eggs + piece of chocolate
Lunch: Leftover couscous with veggies, some nuts and an apple
Dinner: Chicken in garlic-basil tomato sauce with carrots and, again, leftover couscous (mom made a giant bowl and gave it with me)
Other: 2 small sandwiches during meeting with cheese/ham and veggies, cereal (Honey loops, cinnabun) and a pop tart

Kcal: 3239
protein: 182gr
carbs: 379gr
fat: 110gr

[BGoodman88]

No training yesterday, just food

Food

Breakfast: Bagel with eggs and bacon
Lunch: Sandwiches during lunch meeting, one with ham and veggies, one with cheese and veggies
Dinner: Chicken with red pesto, potatoes and veggies (carrots and leek)
Other: Appel and an awesome bowl with oatmeal, cereal (cinnabon and honey loops), 2 S'mores pop tarts, mini peanut butter cups and maple syrup

Kcal: 3210
protein: 154gr
carbs: 419gr
fat: 102gr

Meal of the day:

[BGoodman88]

Deadlift 3x3 training

Deadlift:

3 x 237lbs
3 x 248lbs
5 x 264lbs

Squat:

5 x 10 x 150lbs

Declined weighted crunch:

2 x 10 x 22lbs
1 x 10 x 11lbs

Standing cable woodchop:

2 x 10 x "8" (on machine)

Complexes:

Same as monday.


Food

Breakfast: Vanilla oatmeal (vanilla jell-o and vanilla sugar) with pomegranate, nuts and flaxseed (was worth the amount of work, really good!)
Lunch: Eggs with leftover veggies (carrots and leek)
Dinner: Steak with eggplant, mushrooms, onion, garlic, bell pepper
Other: B&J chunky monkey and apple pie (the small cups) with cereal, cereal and poptart before training

Kcal: 3308
protein: 165gr
carbs: 402gr
fat: 115gr

[BGoodman88]

Overhead press 3x3 training

Military press:

3 x 116lbs
3 x 121lbs
6 x 127lbs (might increase the weight next mesocycle more than the plan suggests, not sure)

Bench press:

5 x 10 x 127lbs (still pretty easy)

Chin ups:

10 x BW (176lbs)
8 x BW
5 x BW
5 x BW
4 x BW

Same reps as last week, but was a about 2lbs heavier.

Other exercises: Barbell curl, french press and face pulls, all 1x10.


Food

Breakfast: Omelet with bacon, chorizo, leftover veggies, red and green pesto
Lunch: Not much time, 2 of the last poptart (going to miss them!) and an apple
Dinner: Small pizza
Other: Quark with seeds and cereal before training, some chips in the evening

Kcal: 3432 (I added 1000kcal for the pizza and the chips, so not included in macros)
protein: 150gr
carbs: 213gr
fat: 109gr

Pics coming up! (later today or tomorrow)

[BGoodman88]

No training yesterday.

Food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with strawberries and maple syrup
Lunch: Smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives on ciabatta bread
Dinner: Irish steak with salad (spinach, small tomatoes and onion with oil and lime juice)
Other: Cereal, Haagen Dazs with salted caramel

Weight progression

Average of this weekend was 173.25lbs (last week was 174.8, week before 173.5). Granted, I didn't eat a big meal in the evening like last week, but still lost quite some weight. As expected, I'll increase kcal to 3500. Possibly I'll have to increase it next week as well (wouldn't mind extra kcal!)

Pictures








Pictures made me realize that body fat% isn't as low as I expected it to be (probably something like 15%). Maybe I'll need a minicut in september/october already.


Next week is 5x3x1 training, curious to see how squats will be going. I'm also going to Germany next week and 3 days to Londen the week after for work. Won't be easy to keep up with training, some I'll probably have to deload in 2 trainings in stead of 4.

[BGoodman88]

Goodmorning! Last day's eats:

Breakfast: Bacon, eggs and a bagel with peanut butter and maple syrup
Lunch: Steamed cod and broccoli with potatoes
Dinner: Smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives on ciabatta bread
Other: Oatmeal, cereal

Kcal: 3193
protein: 177gr
carbs: 382gr
fat: 106gr

Starting today: 3500kcals. I expect this to be my regular bulking intake. However, next 2 weeks will be very hectic, so if I feel that my activity is considerably higher than normal, might increase calories with 200-300 for the next weeks.

[BGoodman88]

Squat 5x3x1 training

Squat:

5 x 209lbs
3 x 237lbs
3 x 264lbs

Deadlift:

5 x 10 x 165lbs

Weighed planks:

3 x 1min x 33lbs

Side planks:

2 x 45sec


Food

Breakfast: Eggs and bacon
Lunch: 2 bagels with peanut butter and honey
Dinner: Steamed salmon and white asparagus with chorizo and potatoes
Other: Cereal, vanilla-oatmeal with mixed berries, apple

Kcal: 3533
protein: 199gr
carbs: 377gr
fat: 137gr

[BGoodman88]

Hadn't had a chance to post something yesterday, so quick update on 2 previous days

Bench press 5x3x1

Bench press:

5 x 176lbs
3 x 198lbs
3 x 220lbs

Military press:

5 x 10 x 77lbs

One arm dumbell row:

5 x 10 x 62lbs

Other:

Barbell curl (81lbs), french press (70lbs) and face pulls ("9"), all 1 set of 10 reps.



Deadlift 5x3x1 training

Deadlift:

5 x 220lbs
3 x 248lbs
2 x 281lbs

Squat:

5 x 10 x 149lbs

Weighed decline crunch:

2 x 10 x 22lbs
1 x 10 x 11lbs

Standing cable woodchops:

2 x 10 x "8"


Food

Lots of small appetizers, sandwiches,... at conferences for work, so I had to estimate macro. I don't think I strayed away a lot from 3500kcal and macros should be fine.