LoganKost

now obviously this isn't the "set" way to warm-up, but i've been following this advice with some great results. could just be the time in between sets, or the actual weight increments. But, regardless, I'm sure you can find it useful and adapt it to your needs. i've reached some personal bests just by warming up properly, but then again, my warm-up routine has always sucked until recently. http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3404

thanks for the responses! The measurement was done with calipers, next week I am doing a bod-pod, so that will be interesting to see. I posted before and afters recently so you can check them out if you'd like to get an idea of my build.

But yeah, I have always been VERY skinny almost my entire life. I think TVA strength and posture have a lot to do with it. I do have a visible four pack, it's the lower muscles that aren't showing. I have failed to focus a lot on my core muscles (I am learning to squat and deadlift, but form is difficult for me to assess without a trainer, so I hope to get one soon just for the major compound lifts). I realized that when I have good posture my stomach is flat, so that is most likely a huge aspect. It seems to be just a posture/core muscle situation.

Also, because I've been eating around 4200 calories a day it could be that I am experiencing consistent bloating. They are more visible in the morning which leads me to think that.

Hey everyone, I have a quick question. I searched the forum but it would only let me go to one page of the search results for some reason. I also read the "bloated belly" topic as well. My question is this: What is the general amount of body fat one should be at to see visible abs? My BF is at 9%, and I can see my top 4 abs when flexing well, but when relaxed It seems as if my stomach bulges out like a beer belly. I am 6'1 at 155 right now. I was wondering if I may just carry all my fat there? i'm not sure how to explain it. It's not a roll of fat or something, more of just how my stomach seems to be shaped.

My thought is that i may not have developed my abs to the point where they would show when relaxed (obviously), but it's weird regardless. Any input would help!

thanks

Changing Hands book store here in Tempe always has a selection of self-published books. They would most likely be willing to carry it, but I can't say for sure.

here's the website

http://changinghands.com/

Yeah I can see that if he hits it real hard. I feel like you could do two medium days that far apart. But maybe i overtrain. It's one of the things I'm trying to get a grasp on.

Nice post Chewy! Probably the best advice you could give, and the advice I've been following!

The past three months I've been working out I've been consuming 4000 calories daily, sometimes it drops to 3500. however, I don't always think that such a huge amount of food will be necessary for everyone. It's definitely possible to pull a slow bulk just by eating a bit more than maintenance. I know it takes longer, but it does work. I had a question for you also.

did you try and figure out your maintenance calorie amount, or did you just eat, eat eat, regardless of how much you may actually need? I'm 155lbs, 6'1, and any time I calculate my maintence cals it's around 5000. That seems like so much. i know I can put that down in a day, I've been close. I work construction which is pretty hard work, then I also lift 4 times a week, so it could make sense. But would you think that adding in the job would make me NEED to eat that many calories to gain?

Thanks for your opinion, you're a great inspiration. It's so awesome that you've kept a log and keep helping others, really.

why would that be over training?

YES! That is what I'm talking about. You have made awesome progress. You look way stronger now, not to mention much larger. Great job with your consistency. you started out pretty much where I did, so I'm glad to have some inspiration.

I've always wondered this too. The debate about hitting different parts of muscles is confusing. I do flat DB press, incline DP press and dips, just to make sure. But I've never been sure if it's necessary.

Thanks a lot guys! I appreciate it.

My routine has varied a lot since I started a few months ago. I pretty much split it up into back, chest, and legs. And I usually give each group 4 days to recover. I have been doing that for the past three weeks or so, and I think that's where I've seen the best visual gains. I'll tend to do a lot of drop sets, and just push myself as hard as I can each workout. It's pretty high intensity high volume, because at this point, almost everything would be considered a relatively heavy weight for me as far as increases go.

however, I'm going to start doing only two-three day recovery, because I've seen the best strength gains in that department. I couldn't flat press 55 dumbbells two days ago, but today I busted out two sets of 3. I just like to vary it. i also eat at least 3500-4000 calories, usually in the 4000 range and it's definitely been the deciding factor above everything else.

I think most people who lose the results from creatine probably weren't eating enough after taking it. If you gain muscle on it, just eat like mad when your down with the cycle.

I re-posted this because my computer was showing posts from the bodybuilding specific forum and I thought I posted in the wrong spot.

I couldn't figure out how to reduce the size of the pictures, so i just provided the links instead. Let me know what all you guys/girls think!

taken 03/03/10

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/20tsabr/5

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/dxg2zq/5

taken 04/04/10

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/105d2iw/5

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/1zmi5vp/5

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/34s1jba/5

I didn't get a good shot of my legs this time other than a bad calf shot at that, so i'll only post that.

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/1zmpbbs/5

taken 05/04/10

http://i43.tinypic.com/b9hb83.jpg

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/bi5k09/5

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/xgfjtj/5

http://sv.tinypic.com/r/54abfs/5

http://i41.tinypic.com/243hjxu.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/25fj8s9.jpg

nice progress medman! keep up your log! how much would you say you eat a day?

Then just constantly eat all day. I'm an ecto, 6'1 and around 150 give or take a pound or two. I've been eating around 3500-4000 calories a day with at least 200 grams protein a day and I have yet to gain any significant weight. It seems like I need to eat even more, but at that point...it gets difficult to consume 5000 calories in a day. I've yet to do that. i tried today, couldn't reach it. I'll probably end up a little bit more than 4000.

I'd think one just needs to constantly be over-feeding to gain a lot of mass, regardless of training day or not. Your muscles are still using the food you give them to grown even on days you aren't training. Then again, what is "over-feeding". Just keep a high caloric diet. Also, the idea of trying to gain for two weeks then going all the way down to a 2000 cal diet doesn't make much sense to me, either. What's the point? Seems like this guy just had some good results following a plan he made up then decided to spread his anecdotal advice as proof. Not that that isn't most of these types of articles, it just doesn't make sense to follow someone elses diet requirements and plans 100% when you have a totally different body, metabolism and so on. And if you were to follow it, the only difference this guy is claiming is timing diet with "hormonal" changes to increase gains. which again, would need to be figured out for you personally. so i'd try it, see how it feels, probably won't be great, then try and "time" it better.

Yeah, I am curios to where we can find what locations you'll be visiting as well.

This video is awesome. I read the entire book the day I got it (plan on going back of course), and I loved it. you're an awesome dude Robert, keep up everything you do.

this log is the best. good job on everything dude. What's your reasoning for being anti-dl btw? keep it up!

Hey everyone, I'm going to Mexico from the 15th to the 19th, and I am looking for ideas of foods I can bring. My only ideas as of yet are pastas because they are so easy to make, a bunch of pita bread, qunioa, pb & j materials, oatmeal...I am looking for food that is easy to bring over/quick to make. If you have any ideas I'd really appreciate hearing! Thanks guys,

-Logan

if you're really going to be using the blender enough to WANT a vitamix, then get the vitamix. Otherwise, cheaper models are almost guaranteed to break after a lot of heavy use then you're forced to purchase another, and another, etc. It's worth it for the money, especially as an investment, but only if the use warrants the purchase.

Hey, thanks for the reply! I do have a brace I was given when it first happened that I wore consistently for as long as i was told to. I did do some of the rehab excercises, but it was mostly just movement of my knee in general with some specific stretch type things. I could have easily not done enough rehab (it was all on your-own with a sheet of paper I was given). I've pretty much thought that's what the reason is, so that's why I'm having difficulty figuring out what to do now. Thanks for the response, i haven't had any problems with it recently even though i've been working out more.

i'd eat more bananas. When I was raw for pretty much exactly two months I put on weight, but I was eating a lot of foods constantly throughout the day. I would have anywhere from 10-15 bananas. They are a quick source of calories, plus they taste amazing.

I've been vegan for two years and had my b12, iron etc tested this week and my results were all fine. I don't take a vegan multivitamin every day, but probably once a week at least. some weeks I completely forget. I'm not sure it's necessary to ingest b-12 only supplement that often.

hey everyone,

Around a year and a half ago I dislocated my right knee while wrestling. Ever since I have experience a tightening in my knee after I use it a lot. IE After running through deep snow for my first time (for a few hours) this weekend it felt tight. Not necessarily painful, though. Anyways, I'm worried about doing squats and other excersices that use my right leg fearing it will happen again. Any advice on a routine to ease it into training would be extremely helpful.

I'm positive it still hurts occasionally only because of the lack of training I have done with it, but it will only get worse if I don't do anything about it.

If anyone has some advice it'd be great, thanks!

thanks for the replies. I have read about enzymes some, and I'm iffy about the supplements real benefits. There is evidence to suggest that our body is being strained by the amount of enzymes it has to produce in order to digest food, and the idea is that we should be getting these enzymes from the foods we eat (raw foods) making it easier for our body to digest (doesn't have to make it's own). But i haven't found enough supporting evidence to subscribe to this.

@Marcina

I do eat small snacks constantly throughout the day. That's something that I feel may be inhibiting my ability to eat large amounts of food, actually. if I'm really hungry after not eating I can put down a ton of calories, but If I'm snacking throughout the day i can't eat meals at all, just small 100-300 calorie snacks. It seems like enough throughout the day but when I go back and and make a calorie guess it seems too little. I'm going to try eating real meals, three times a day, then have snacks in between those, just limit myself.

EDIT: Also, I've considered digestive problems, but i don't really have any reason to believe this. Or I'm not aware of what a problem would be considered.