http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/236rest.jsp helps you break thru sticking points BUT must be used sparingly and ONLY for ADVANCED trainees! like ME :-/
you may be growing now and not tracking your calories, but maybe you eat a surplus every day anyway and don't realize it. so yeah, you'll gain weight if you're lifting. BUT, the question is, are you eating optimally for your potential? you could probably gain weight faster if you knew your optimal calories. if you're using steriods, though, my calculations probably don't apply to you... your needs are probably higher. anyway, here is why i disagree with you on this (why i think calories are super important).... if it takes a car x gallons of gas to go y distance on a flat surface, if it doesn't have enough gas, it's not going to make it there. you don't get something from nothing. if you need 3000 calories to maintain your weight in a day, you lift weights and only eat 2400 calories, how on earth are you going to gain weight? how is something going to come from nothing? you should be eating over 3000 calories in this example. a smart person looking to get optimum results can pretty accurately calculate his caloric needs each day. THIS IS WHAT I DO!
thanks for the link, looks like scientific studies on protein requirements, i'll read it! i agree with you entirely on sufficient calories and slightly elevated protein in diet, but beyond that diet plays little role (and with exception of a few OTHER basic dietary manipulations but these effects are subtle). But still proper stimulus is needed. eat perfectly all you want but w/o the stimulus your going nowhere. however, i could eat a crappy diet but still make gains (albeit not efficient or optimal) with the training. the PROPER STIMULUS is the hard part, the diet is the easy part (particularly as you become more advanced and begin to reach your genetic potential or limit) STIMULUS RULES! :-/
how many grams of FAT? and how many total calories? (you may have stated this already but i'm too lazy to look) :-/ ps take a good look at that REST/PAUSE SYS. that will ROCK YOUR WORLD!
i didn't give you exact numbers, but yeah, i already told you what i do....remember i said i eat whatever i want? i do have a complex way of calculating my calories every day, but excel does it for me. say it comes out i need 3600 calories today. since i know i want 150 grams of protein and i make sure i get it, that's 600 calories right there (4x150). so then subtract 600 from 3600 and 3000 are left. of that 3000, i will eat anything i want. if i go over 3000 calories, i will count that towards tomorrow's calories. if i go a little under 3000, tomorrow i will eat that much more. i drink all the beer i want!!! you just need to know what you need and account for it! p.s. yes, read that protein link. it is scientific studies on protein--the only way to go, imo!!! I'M OUTTA HERE FOR TONIGHT.......SEEYA...
Baseball injuries, HITraining, protein requirements, creatine...this is great! I'm a tall lanky bastard not very akin to putting on mass, but high-intensity worked wonders for me. At my peak I was doing, and don't laugh 'cause my recovery rate is absolute garbage: 1: (1 Set Each) -Deadlift [45 - yeah the bar, 235] -Pulldowns [90, 210] -Calf Raise [150, 525] 2: (1 Set Each) -Leg Press (interspersed w/ squats or ext's & curls) [125, 500] -Bench Press/Dips (Alt. Mo.) [135, 185] / [0.75, 14] -Weighted Crunches [0, 90] When I started I was doing 1 & 2 every week, but by about the time I stopped I was only doing 1 & 2 every month. I was doing light to moderate aerobic's depending on the season, eating a shitload of tuna, Met-Rx, eggs, yada yada, and adding resistance every workout. In brackets are roughly the weights in lbs. I started and ended with, pathetic, I know. Don't be a fay: Perfect form to failure.
Rubbish. Well, obviously it depends on how you define "crappy diet", but I guarantee that if you're too calorie deficient, you're growing nowhere.
How's that working for you? Tell you what, if you ever hit a plateau doing that, try not taking each set to failure. I know everyone thinks that going to failure is essential blah, blah. Funny really. I bet 99% of the people parroting this advice never actually done any research to determine it; just blindly accepted it. Fact is, you do not have to go to failure. You don't have to "feel the burn". Go on an 8-12 week program of stopping short of failure, exercising the same muscles more often -- you can, because they're not as damaged -- and take 5 minute rests between sets, low reps, HEAVY weight and watch your strength increase. Doesn't necessarily do a whole lot for size, but it's another common myth that strength depends on the cross-sectional size of the muscle fiber. It only does, all else being equal, which is fine for the classroom, but in the real world all else is hardly ever equal. So yes, you can certainly gain strength without gaining size. Then, when you go back to your old "burn" routine, you'll be lifting heavier weights, and thus your chances of gaining muscle mass are much improved.