I need a lifting program; can anyone help?

[shad0w4life]

Now, I think fad diets like keto, paleo, etc are pretty stupid and unscientific. Humans need carbs to perform. If you look at the diet of any athlete, it’s going to include plenty of carbs, especially timed around workouts.

Keto/Atkins/Low Carb has been around since 1972 but has been butchered to be "no carbs at all" when really it's carbs should come from whole Fruits and Veggies. Not Bread, rice, pasta etc. so great advice on pointing out all the sugar loaded simple carbs.

Most unscientific thing right now is the food guides in north america, they've promoted high carb low fat eating forever, demonizing butter & eggs while promoting stroke causing margarine. Canada they just released a new guide telling men to eat lots of soy....but Canada hates men, so it sort of makes sense.

[jedale]

I was looking at myself today and I haven't really noticed any differences in my appearance. I mean I feel better about myself because I'm going to the gym and keeping a routine. But as for my physical appearance, nahdah. Is it because I'm not cutting down on carbs to go along with it? Or is an hour, three times a week, not enough?

Are you still doing your 3x12 programming? If so that's likely the culprit, it's going to be hard to get bigger with that kind of programming.

[shad0w4life]

[MENTION=3050]shad0w4life[/MENTION] I have a good lifting program that I'm happy with. I am taking approx 1min rest between sets. My weight is at a level that I'm pushing myself and I'm almost failing on the very last rep of the very last set.

I don't necessarily want to get bigger, but some definition would be nice. I mean I'm putting all this work in, so it would be nice to see some results.

The advice I was trying to present was that you need to journal to measure progress, if you aren't lifting heavier every week then you know you need to tweak your diet & routine, your bench press should go up 2.5lbs a week. Knowing that you're making progress helps keep you focused on the goals rather that just visible examples that can be affected by things like water retention.

1 minute isn't enough rest IMO, double it up. Being able to do 2 extra reps will burn a lot more calories, quality is far better than quantity for weight lifting, doing 30 reps is good for forcing blood into a muscle but isn't going to burn the same # of calories or cause micro tears causing your body to start using excess calories to rebuild the muscle outside of the gym.

On another note
Bigger muscles are more visible through a layer of fat
if you want to do a body recomp it will take a lot longer as you're trying to stay the same weight,
if you want to cut that's also different, you would cut your calories way down, up the protein and be doing a lot of cardio + anaerobics(Sprints etc) with heavy weight.

Sounds like you're trying to recomp, this is a longer task but a lot less stressful to manage, easier to say go check out the calorie calculator for that then do a write up

[AlejandroLopez]

[MENTION=2341]LesserBlackDog[/MENTION] ok, here's a typical day food wise.

Breakie
- cold cereal with almond milk
- glass of water

Snacks during the work day
- Cup of raspberries
- One baby bell cheese

Lunch
- Roast beef sandwich or
- Ramen soup or
- An Asian noodle dish

Dinner
- Potato soup or
- Beef Tacos or
- Some kind of pasta dish

Snacks at home
- Peanuts or
- Wallnuts or
- couple slabs of cheese

Dinner might be more of a mix up depending on what the wife decides to make.

[MENTION=3050]shad0w4life[/MENTION] I have a good lifting program that I'm happy with. I am taking approx 1min rest between sets. My weight is at a level that I'm pushing myself and I'm almost failing on the very last rep of the very last set.

I don't necessarily want to get bigger, but some definition would be nice. I mean I'm putting all this work in, so it would be nice to see some results.

I've dropped 23-ish pounds following a big time cut by using the diet below along with a 5x5 and HIIT regimen(3x per week). Note that I'm also doing 16/8 fasting which really does make a huge difference.

1st meal
3 eggs, quarter cup of greek yogurt, veggies (usually a bunch of roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts), tablespoon parmesan cheese, spices

Pre-workout
Quest bar

Post-workout
1 serving steel cut oats, banana, scoop of PB, and 1/2 cup greek yogurt

Dinner
Plenty of lean protein (beef round, chicken breast or pork loin), 1/2 cup brown rice, lots of veggies

On non-workout days, I skip the protein bar and swap out the oats for more greek yogurt and PB. I also have 1 or 2 cheat meals per week. Nothing crazy here, just basic high protein, low-ish carb, and lots of veggie stuff. For cooking fats, I stick to olive oil and ghee btw. I've gotten the aesthetic results you're looking for so I hope this helps. Eyeballing what you eat daily, it seems like you might be eating a lot of sodium which leads to water retention and you're definitely not getting enough protein. Eating enough protein day in/day out can be a huge pain in the ass but it makes all the difference.

Also, I recommend you up your rest time to 90 seconds. It's much more important to do all your reps than it is to hit a failure point as far as building muscle goes.

[LesserBlackDog]

Just at first glance I’ll say it looks like your diet is anchored around a significant amount of simple/processed carbs that probably aren’t doing you a lot of favors. And I’d bet if you look at the labels on the carbs you are eating (bread, noodles, cereal, etc) you’ll probably be surprised by how much added sugar is present.

-Any cold cereal short of Grape Nuts is going to be basically processed grain (corn or wheat) + sugar
-Sandwiches and noodles, also based on processed grains (white flour)
-Pasta dishes, potatoes, taco shells - more simple carbs

Now, I think fad diets like keto, paleo, etc are pretty stupid and unscientific. Humans need carbs to perform. If you look at the diet of any athlete, it’s going to include plenty of carbs, especially timed around workouts.

BUT the majority of carbs you should be eating should come from minimally processed whole grains, plant starches, and vegetables. Instead of cereal, wheat noodles, tortillas, sandwich bread, etc, think oatmeal, yams/squash, brown rice. Instead of potato soup, make a baked potato or roasted potatoes and eat it with the skin on (where most of the fiber and nutrients are).

I’m not perfect with nutrition by any means but for me a typical day of food looks like:

Breakfast: Scoop of whey protein in water, coffee (I find that eating fewer calories in the morning and early day gives me greater flexibility later in the day when I have a natural tendency to want to overeat anyway)
Lunch: Beef and roasted butternut squash in coconut curry sauce over brown rice
Dinner: Large mixed green salad with dried fruit, nuts, chèvre, vinaigrette, plus cottage cheese, fried eggs, or grilled chicken breast
Post-workout: Whey protein in whole milk

If I have to snack, I’ll have a bit of fresh or dried fruit (I like dried plums a lot because they don’t typically have added sugar) and some nuts (I like cashews).

I make basically everything from scratch and I measure it all out with a digital food scale, both to track calories and macronutrients. I aim to get 30% of my energy from protein, 30% from fat, and 40% from carbs.

If you are relying on your wife to cook dinner, then I’d focus particularly on your breakfast, snacks, and lunches. I’d encourage you to do meal prepping for lunch - cook up something on Sunday and bring it in for lunch through the week. I’m not a great cook by any means and it’s easy enough for me to whip up a simple curry or stir fry that I can portion out into a week’s worth of lunches.

For dinner, just make sure you focus on smart portions. If you don’t already, consider making a salad to eat with/before dinner so that you don’t feel the need to eat so much of your main course. A little bit of a creamy soup or pasta with a creamy/cheesy sauce is going to have a LOT of fat and carbs. It’s not that you can’t enjoy those things once in a while (I build the occasional pizza and ice cream into my meal plans because life without them is blah), but if that’s the kind of thing you’re eating every night, it’s going to have an impact.

[calexako]

[MENTION=2341]LesserBlackDog[/MENTION] ok, here's a typical day food wise.

Breakie
- cold cereal with almond milk
- glass of water

Snacks during the work day
- Cup of raspberries
- One baby bell cheese

Lunch
- Roast beef sandwich or
- Ramen soup or
- An Asian noodle dish

Dinner
- Potato soup or
- Beef Tacos or
- Some kind of pasta dish

Snacks at home
- Peanuts or
- Wallnuts or
- couple slabs of cheese

Dinner might be more of a mix up depending on what the wife decides to make.

[MENTION=3050]shad0w4life[/MENTION] I have a good lifting program that I'm happy with. I am taking approx 1min rest between sets. My weight is at a level that I'm pushing myself and I'm almost failing on the very last rep of the very last set.

I don't necessarily want to get bigger, but some definition would be nice. I mean I'm putting all this work in, so it would be nice to see some results.

You definitely need way more protein. Also definition comes from a caloric deficit and to do that you are going to need to track your food calorie-wise and macronutrient wise.

[DocDave]

[MENTION=2341]LesserBlackDog[/MENTION] ok, here's a typical day food wise.

Breakie
- cold cereal with almond milk
- glass of water

Snacks during the work day
- Cup of raspberries
- One baby bell cheese

Lunch
- Roast beef sandwich or
- Ramen soup or
- An Asian noodle dish

Dinner
- Potato soup or
- Beef Tacos or
- Some kind of pasta dish

Snacks at home
- Peanuts or
- Wallnuts or
- couple slabs of cheese

Dinner might be more of a mix up depending on what the wife decides to make.

[MENTION=3050]shad0w4life[/MENTION] I have a good lifting program that I'm happy with. I am taking approx 1min rest between sets. My weight is at a level that I'm pushing myself and I'm almost failing on the very last rep of the very last set.

I don't necessarily want to get bigger, but some definition would be nice. I mean I'm putting all this work in, so it would be nice to see some results.

[shad0w4life]

Ok folks. Give me some ideas re: nutrition. The only thing I have done since Jan 1 is cut out sugar. And even then I'm allowing myself a cheat day so Sunday I let myself have whatever I want. But during the week no sugar.

Aside from that, I'm still eating as I would normally.

Multiple Options. However lets face it, excess carbs are bad for you so I'd cut them down and replace them with fats or protein.
If you are looking for meal replacement, MHP up your mass, carbs are oats, barley etc no Malodextrin or that other sugar crap.

Advanced/Dedicated commitment:
Carb Cycling
Intermittent Fasting(I did this and cut from 195 to 175 and looked bigger)

Simpler:
Lower carbs
Keto/ Paleo variation

Regarding:
So I've been hitting the gym pretty religiously since November 1st. I've been going three days a week, an hour at a time. Of course I'm not lifting the entire hour, there breaks in there between sets.

I was looking at myself today and I haven't really noticed any differences in my appearance. I mean I feel better about myself because I'm going to the gym and keeping a routine. But as for my physical appearance, nahdah. Is it because I'm not cutting down on carbs to go along with it? Or is an hour, three times a week, not enough?

How much are you lifting? Are you pushing yourself? Are you timing your breaks?

If you want to get bigger, you should aim to do 12-15 reps on a set and struggle at 12th, then LOWER your weight as the next set you wouldn't be able to do 12, and the repeat. Take a TIMED 2(or 3 if you prefer) minute break between sets. No more no less. If you want to flip small cars over, then you go for strength and more of the 5-8 Rep Max range

You also need to stick to a routine and have it written down and tracked. Not just winging it.

Monday should look something like

Wide Dips(if you can easily get over 12 then i'd drop this down)
BW x Max
BW x Max
BW x Max


Bench Press
150lbs x 12-15
140x12-15
130x12-15
120x12

Incline bench
135x12
120x12
110x12

Cable Flys (If you have time, this should just be more of a pump excercise)
75x12
65x12
60x12
50x12

Which should exhaust your chest, now hit the Tris since they have been worked and get that blood and nutrients in them(shoulders have too but because it's such a delicate muscle group I would give it its own day when it's less easy to make mistakes)

Close Grip Bench
110x12
100x12
90x12

French press
75x12
60x12
55x12



And that is your monday routine for the next several months, nothing else and no different order, write it down in a journal and track your progress.

If you hit 15 reps then you add 2.5-5lbs to that weight next time.

[calexako]

Lifting/muscle nutrition is all about protein. In order to see results at the gym you need to have 0.8-1 gr of protein per lb or bodyweight.

Macronutrients work this way. We have three main ones. Protein, Carbohydrates and fats. Protein and carbs have roughly 4calories per gram and Fats have 9 calories per gram. That will help you calculate how much per one you need.

The whole point is to identify your total daily energy expenditure (google tdee calculator) from there subtract your bodyweight x4 to get your protein. After that, the way you split your carbs and fats is up to you, even though I would advocate do a 60-40 to 70-30 split of the remaining calories between carbs and fat.

An example of me. I am roughly 200-202 lbs. My TDEE is roughly 2300. I subtract 200x4=800 for protein. The remaining 1500 cals i split as follows between carbs and fat:

1. roughly 1000 for carbs=> 1000/4= 250 gr of carbs
2. roughly 500 for fats => 500/9= 55gr of fats.

You can play with the carb/fat values but if you want to see results at the gym you NEED that protein.

[LesserBlackDog]

What does a typical day look like for you, food-wise?

[DocDave]

Ok folks. Give me some ideas re: nutrition. The only thing I have done since Jan 1 is cut out sugar. And even then I'm allowing myself a cheat day so Sunday I let myself have whatever I want. But during the week no sugar.

Aside from that, I'm still eating as I would normally.

[Arête]

Exactly. Long time. BF% is huge, but having a very low one might keep you from getting strong and bigger in the end.

Also DocDave, don't be too quick to hate on carbs. Most bodybuilders eat tons of carbs, and most weight lifters do as well. They fuel your workouts. You can read an ArtofManliness article about it (https://www.artofmanliness.com/artic...carbohydrates/). Brett McKay is a Starting Stength guy, and Starting Strength is pro-carbs (although not body building focused). Also, if you've never read To Be A Beast (https://www.barbellmedicine.com/584-2/) by Jordan Feigenbaum, a former Starting Strength guy and doctor, that would be a great place to start. It will also give you a macro calculator based on your goals.

It seems like the cool thing now is to be keto or whatever and hate on carbs, but I think this is just a fad. It might be great if you don't work out much. I know a lot of people will disagree about this....but, everyone disagrees about everything anyway...

Building muscle takes a LONG time. Years.

But the muscles you have will be much more evident if you reduce your BF%.

So basically, if you want to LOOK more muscular (defined)... nutrition, nutrition, nutrition.

As for lifting I HIGHLY recommend Wendler 5/3/1. My 1RMs have increased for all my major lifts after just three months of Wendler cycles. There’s a free app that helps you calculate and log your lifts.

[LesserBlackDog]

Building muscle takes a LONG time. Years.

But the muscles you have will be much more evident if you reduce your BF%.

So basically, if you want to LOOK more muscular (defined)... nutrition, nutrition, nutrition.

As for lifting I HIGHLY recommend Wendler 5/3/1. My 1RMs have increased for all my major lifts after just three months of Wendler cycles. There’s a free app that helps you calculate and log your lifts.

[DocDave]

So I've been hitting the gym pretty religiously since November 1st. I've been going three days a week, an hour at a time. Of course I'm not lifting the entire hour, there breaks in there between sets.

I was looking at myself today and I haven't really noticed any differences in my appearance. I mean I feel better about myself because I'm going to the gym and keeping a routine. But as for my physical appearance, nahdah. Is it because I'm not cutting down on carbs to go along with it? Or is an hour, three times a week, not enough?

[DocDave]

Excellent. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look in to it. Cheers.