Bodybuilding on a Budget

[Wunderpus]

If anyone is interested , and I'm sure a lot of us have seen them, check out animal's video series "big on a budget" . They give pros 50-100 dollars and they go in the store and buy a weeks worth of food. It's a good watch when u have a few mins
.

The other ones I believe are huge on a hundred. I'm a big Frank McGrath fan so I'll post his.

I like McGrath, too. But, I still feel like they're largely leaving out some important elements that add up in cost... Worth watching, I think it's largely the same sort of foods.

 

[AlphaLife]

Bodybuilding on a Budget


The other day I was working out with a friend. His dilemma was budgetary restrictions and his overall lack of “gains” due to his financial restrictions. I asked him, well, “what’re you eating and what supplements are you taking?” You can imagine the cookie cutter- GNC-bullshit answer I received “Well, I am eating my whey protein 3 times a day, a frozen lean cuisine; I’m taking my branched chains, creatine, multi vitamin, digestive enzymes, intra workout shake blah blah blah.” Oh, is that so?


Let’s break down what you REALLY need to grow:

- Food

- A gym

- Rest

- And, if you’re so inclined, PEDs

All of these GNC/Hi Health BULLSHIT products drive me up the wall. If you were a natural Olympic qualified athlete, sure, maybe these supplements will give you that extra 1% you need to become a champion. However, for me, you and most other people, they’re largely worthless and eclipsed by the basics. For supplements, keep that shit BASIC:

- A good whey isolate (If, you’re more fortunate than myself and tolerate whey, that is)

- Creatine Monohydrate (fuck off with the newest creatine ethylesterpolyunsaturatedgofuckyourself)

- Fiber supplement. I recommend Metamucil sugar free, but there are plenty of other options. This shit is surprisingly expensive, but worth every penny. You will feel like complete dog shit if you’re blocked up, good luck eating and training if you are.

- Multi Vitamin (Optional, but I’ll tell you what, I think it actually goes a long way. Buy gel caps, not the pressed tabs. NOW makes a great one)

Don’t believe food is expensive, and you need to get crazy to grow. All you need is a Sams Club/Costco/some other bulk food warehouse, Trader Joes and a basic grocery for random things like seasonings. You can build a god like chiseled physique off of these very cheap basics:

- 93% lean ground beef

- Whole Eggs

- White Rice

- Sweet potatoes

- Chicken breast

- Veggies of choice, I find green beans and spinach to be the cheapest bang for your buck.

- Egg Whites

- Peanut Butter

- If it’s within your budget, Protein Pasta. It’s an excellent carb source, high-ish in protein and tastes downright delicious.

Put it all together:


Wake up

6 Whole Eggs w/ 1 cup white rice

1 Shake 50 grams of whey isolate & 1 TBSP all natty PB

1/2lb lean ground beef. Spice it up! A few options are the McCormick Low Sodium Taco Seasnoning, a mixture of A1 sauce & Sugar Free Ketchup (tastes like sloppy joe), marinara sauce or just some salt and pepper.

1 Shake 50 grams of whey isolate & 1 TBSP all natty PB

1 Chicken breast, your veggies and 1 sweet potato

1 fiber supplement

1 Shake time, again. Now, this is where I would use the egg whites sometimes if you can afford them. 1 carton is 50g of CLEAN protein and is an excellent change from powdered whey. I mix mine with 1 or 2 frozen bananas (mixed frozen berries are good too, but a lot of $$$), stevia, unsweetened almond milk (use real milk if you tolerate it) and some PB or almond butter. It’s fucking delicious, and it’ll really start packing in that protein. The shit’s pasteurized, so it’s safe. Man up, pussy.

1/2 lb of ground beef again. Let’s eat it rice or the protein pasta if it was in your budget.

4-6 hard boiled eggs. Make them yourself, don’t be a doofus and buy them premade. They taste WAY better homemade. You should know how to fucking cook for yourself anyway.

1 Chicken breast, your veggies and 1 sweet potato

1 Pre bed shake. It should have some fats in it, especially if you’re in an offseason and 50g of protein. Natty PB, banana and egg whites is my go to.




All right you penny pinching cheap fucks, what’re we looking at for a week of this UNBELIEVABLY simple plan (these are estimates based off of my recent shopping trips)?

72 whole eggs: $9.50

7lbs ground beef: $28

14 cartons of egg whites: $22.5

White Rice: So cheap in bulk, call it $5 a week

Sweet Potatoes: $15

Chicken Breast: $40

Veggies: $10

I’m at $130 bucks a week. If you can’t do that, quite frankly, you should consider a new hobby. My gut instinct tells me you're paying more for all your fancy supplements and shitty anabolics than you are for your food, and you've got it all wrong, trust me.

Protein will vary a ton. Seems like $35 bucks or so a tub right now, so we’ll exclude that from the total.


For a gym, you don't need this fancy ass country club bullshit, unless you want to get a reach around by some 60 year old dude in the sauna. If you do, go for it. If not, you shouldn't be spending more than $35 a month, give or take. I've found most of the time the more you spend, the lamer the gym in terms of motivation and knowledge within the gym. You're there to work and to become a savage, not to meet your future ex wife or have some 14 y/o kid ask you about how you got so huge.

Drugs are simple. Don't get lured in by all the fancy shit like primo, anavar and GH. Those things have their places, and truly are great. However, bang for your buck stick to test, deca, tren, dbol, winstrol and drol. That's all you need, really, to become a freak. Don't use them all together you assholes, be smart with your drug stacks and have a goal in mind. Learn about drug synergies, SHBG, become a fucking expert not an experiment. NEVER, I repeat god dammit, NEVER go cheap on your PCT or ancillaries, this is PHARMA only, no UGL or research chems EVER. Don't waste your money on Chinese GH or peptides, it's just NOT going to give you the most bang for your hard earned dollar, I promise.

Wanna get stupid huge? Take test, deca and dbol. Eat the diet above. Sleep 8 hours a night and train like a fucking savage 5-6 days a week. I promise it will work.

There you go. Laid it out for you. No longer can you use the excuse of “I can’t afford it!” or “I don’t know what to eat?!” Now, stop looking for your gains like Helen Keller at a fucking Easter egg hunt and put on some mass.




Let's hear your thoughts, as I'm sick of reading/hearing about people who are "hard gainers" or just "can't do it bro." Yes, yes you fucking can.

Great stuff man. The only thing I don't agree on is creatine. Unlike you, I can tolerate milk and I don't need fiber to take a dump. But also unlike you, I cannot tolerate monohydrate. So I have to get HCL. But with all the money I save not buying Metamucil, I can handle buying creatine hcl. Great post bro. I tell kids at the gym all the time, EAT MORE.

 

[Dw725]

I like McGrath, too. But, I still feel like they're largely leaving out some important elements that add up in cost... Worth watching, I think it's largely the same sort of foods.

Yea the huge on a hundred ones are better, I mean 50$ is tight for a week, I think most guys can swing a hundred $ a week. And if you watch the hundred dollar versions on YouTube they break down the macros and calories for each meal in the description. I don't think these were meant to be something to live by but they demonstrate that there is a simole cost effective approach you can take.

 

[MindlessWork]

When I had so little money due to my mom's cancer treatments draining my budget away, I'd usually buy liver and make liver and onions along with mashed spuds...that did wonders.

For breakfast cheap cereal and a banana as well.

 

[Do3Gs]

Bodybuilding on a Budget


The other day I was working out with a friend. His dilemma was budgetary restrictions and his overall lack of “gains” due to his financial restrictions. I asked him, well, “what’re you eating and what supplements are you taking?” You can imagine the cookie cutter- GNC-bullshit answer I received “Well, I am eating my whey protein 3 times a day, a frozen lean cuisine; I’m taking my branched chains, creatine, multi vitamin, digestive enzymes, intra workout shake blah blah blah.” Oh, is that so?


Let’s break down what you REALLY need to grow:

- Food

- A gym

- Rest

- And, if you’re so inclined, PEDs

All of these GNC/Hi Health BULLSHIT products drive me up the wall. If you were a natural Olympic qualified athlete, sure, maybe these supplements will give you that extra 1% you need to become a champion. However, for me, you and most other people, they’re largely worthless and eclipsed by the basics. For supplements, keep that shit BASIC:

- A good whey isolate (If, you’re more fortunate than myself and tolerate whey, that is)

- Creatine Monohydrate (fuck off with the newest creatine ethylesterpolyunsaturatedgofuckyourself)

- Fiber supplement. I recommend Metamucil sugar free, but there are plenty of other options. This shit is surprisingly expensive, but worth every penny. You will feel like complete dog shit if you’re blocked up, good luck eating and training if you are.

- Multi Vitamin (Optional, but I’ll tell you what, I think it actually goes a long way. Buy gel caps, not the pressed tabs. NOW makes a great one)

Don’t believe food is expensive, and you need to get crazy to grow. All you need is a Sams Club/Costco/some other bulk food warehouse, Trader Joes and a basic grocery for random things like seasonings. You can build a god like chiseled physique off of these very cheap basics:

- 93% lean ground beef

- Whole Eggs

- White Rice

- Sweet potatoes

- Chicken breast

- Veggies of choice, I find green beans and spinach to be the cheapest bang for your buck.

- Egg Whites

- Peanut Butter

- If it’s within your budget, Protein Pasta. It’s an excellent carb source, high-ish in protein and tastes downright delicious.

Put it all together:


Wake up

6 Whole Eggs w/ 1 cup white rice

1 Shake 50 grams of whey isolate & 1 TBSP all natty PB

1/2lb lean ground beef. Spice it up! A few options are the McCormick Low Sodium Taco Seasnoning, a mixture of A1 sauce & Sugar Free Ketchup (tastes like sloppy joe), marinara sauce or just some salt and pepper.

1 Shake 50 grams of whey isolate & 1 TBSP all natty PB

1 Chicken breast, your veggies and 1 sweet potato

1 fiber supplement

1 Shake time, again. Now, this is where I would use the egg whites sometimes if you can afford them. 1 carton is 50g of CLEAN protein and is an excellent change from powdered whey. I mix mine with 1 or 2 frozen bananas (mixed frozen berries are good too, but a lot of $$$), stevia, unsweetened almond milk (use real milk if you tolerate it) and some PB or almond butter. It’s fucking delicious, and it’ll really start packing in that protein. The shit’s pasteurized, so it’s safe. Man up, pussy.

1/2 lb of ground beef again. Let’s eat it rice or the protein pasta if it was in your budget.

4-6 hard boiled eggs. Make them yourself, don’t be a doofus and buy them premade. They taste WAY better homemade. You should know how to fucking cook for yourself anyway.

1 Chicken breast, your veggies and 1 sweet potato

1 Pre bed shake. It should have some fats in it, especially if you’re in an offseason and 50g of protein. Natty PB, banana and egg whites is my go to.




All right you penny pinching cheap fucks, what’re we looking at for a week of this UNBELIEVABLY simple plan (these are estimates based off of my recent shopping trips)?

72 whole eggs: $9.50

7lbs ground beef: $28

14 cartons of egg whites: $22.5

White Rice: So cheap in bulk, call it $5 a week

Sweet Potatoes: $15

Chicken Breast: $40

Veggies: $10

I’m at $130 bucks a week. If you can’t do that, quite frankly, you should consider a new hobby. My gut instinct tells me you're paying more for all your fancy supplements and shitty anabolics than you are for your food, and you've got it all wrong, trust me.

Protein will vary a ton. Seems like $35 bucks or so a tub right now, so we’ll exclude that from the total.


For a gym, you don't need this fancy ass country club bullshit, unless you want to get a reach around by some 60 year old dude in the sauna. If you do, go for it. If not, you shouldn't be spending more than $35 a month, give or take. I've found most of the time the more you spend, the lamer the gym in terms of motivation and knowledge within the gym. You're there to work and to become a savage, not to meet your future ex wife or have some 14 y/o kid ask you about how you got so huge.

Drugs are simple. Don't get lured in by all the fancy shit like primo, anavar and GH. Those things have their places, and truly are great. However, bang for your buck stick to test, deca, tren, dbol, winstrol and drol. That's all you need, really, to become a freak. Don't use them all together you assholes, be smart with your drug stacks and have a goal in mind. Learn about drug synergies, SHBG, become a fucking expert not an experiment. NEVER, I repeat god dammit, NEVER go cheap on your PCT or ancillaries, this is PHARMA only, no UGL or research chems EVER. Don't waste your money on Chinese GH or peptides, it's just NOT going to give you the most bang for your hard earned dollar, I promise.

Wanna get stupid huge? Take test, deca and dbol. Eat the diet above. Sleep 8 hours a night and train like a fucking savage 5-6 days a week. I promise it will work.

There you go. Laid it out for you. No longer can you use the excuse of “I can’t afford it!” or “I don’t know what to eat?!” Now, stop looking for your gains like Helen Keller at a fucking Easter egg hunt and put on some mass.




Let's hear your thoughts, as I'm sick of reading/hearing about people who are "hard gainers" or just "can't do it bro." Yes, yes you fucking can.

Great post. Supplements are shoved down every newbie looking to get in shapes throat constantly it seems. I'll admit I fell for it for a bit. Luckily I read a lot and quickly was able to break away and now stuck to the basics that you mentioned. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Like it!
IMO the creatine isnt a must and neither is whey...if your broke
I dont take any supplements. I DONT TAKE ANY SUPPLEMENTS. Except
1) metamucil, yes it is expensive
2) vitamin c at 2000mg a day
3) whey protein. Solely for emergencies

If your truly broke you can get by with less protein IMO. You dont NEED 500g protein a day. You can get by with your BW worth. Which saves you on the most expensive part of the whole damn thing, meat.


Truly broke yours,

Trukker

 

[bdub22]

Amen. I used to be one of the dumb asses and spend all my money at gnc every month. But once i actually started eating i put on size. Now the only supplement i use is whey protein but i use it in a shake with egg whites, oatmeal, bananas etc. I always get people asking me about the supplements i take and i always tell them food is the best supplement you can buy.

 

[benchyourmom]

I hardly ever bother with any other supps besides whey protien, creature creatine, an lil dash of aas lol. Your so right @Wunderpus an @oregon .....Everyone seems to get caught up in the hype that they jus have to have all these supps in order to grow lean mass. Its such bullshit lol. All you need is whole food, the gym, an to rest properly. Some make it way more difficult than it should be lol.

It's because all the jacked up juicers are pushing supps, telling people they got the gains with protein and bcaa's and don't forget your glutamine! It's all about making that cheese!

 

[Dw725]

Protein and a high concentration fishoil is all I use anymore. I go through bouts where ill take my creatine consistently but I always end up just... Not. Idk. Just doesn't seem to stick for me like the other two.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I've been powerlifting in poverty for awhile now, it's definitely possible.

 

[Do3Gs]

Protein and a high concentration fishoil is all I use anymore. I go through bouts where ill take my creatine consistently but I always end up just... Not. Idk. Just doesn't seem to stick for me like the other two.

I think that's one that was left out and as far as most of my research should be a necessity whether you lift or not. Fish oil. I may have missed it in the OP idk. Most things point to fish oil being beneficial to health in general.

 

[Dw725]

I've been powerlifting in poverty for awhile now, it's definitely possible.

Lmfao I like what you did there , great alliteration.

 

[Oregongearhead]

I like McGrath, too. But, I still feel like they're largely leaving out some important elements that add up in cost... Worth watching, I think it's largely the same sort of foods.

First off eggs are going to win the protein per dollar game everytime , egg whites are the most biologically complete protein sources and their cheap in most places .

But red meat has that and huge amounts of natural creatine and B-complex/iron too , something eggs lack .

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Lmfao I like what you did there , great alliteration.

Haha, glad you appreciate it. One more? Strongman in squalor?

 

[Spooby]

You guys are def my favorite people in the world lol good thread man. I try to tell this guy in my gym almost weird for word what you said in the OP.... every week.... he always comes up to me with some new creatine powder or bcaa drink he's trying and gets all excited and shit lol hasn't leaned out or gained any mass either in over two years now cause he doesn't fucking eat or train enough.

My favorite thing to say "there is no magic pill"

 

[RandallNowan]

You sly bastards... Always keeping those magic pills for yourselves!!

 

[Wunderpus]

Like it!
IMO the creatine isnt a must and neither is whey...if your broke
I dont take any supplements. I DONT TAKE ANY SUPPLEMENTS. Except
1) metamucil, yes it is expensive
2) vitamin c at 2000mg a day
3) whey protein. Solely for emergencies

If your truly broke you can get by with less protein IMO. You dont NEED 500g protein a day. You can get by with your BW worth. Which saves you on the most expensive part of the whole damn thing, meat.


Truly broke yours,

Trukker

Truk, the metamucil is a must for me too brother.

For sure the whey and creatine can be cut, but this is, I believe, a fair budget conscious way of slabbing on mass. I wanted to help people have NO excuses for their lack of results. At this point, the remaining variables are their training intensity and rest.... Beyond that, this is the blueprint.

Adjust as needed/ works for you.

Maybe we should make one "Bodybuilding like a Baller!" and put together the most expensive and premium shit possible... LOL

 

[RandallNowan]

Well, Boys...I couldn't get any beef hearts today, but there's some coming Friday. He did sort me out with about 3kg of sheep hearts for about six quid, so very cheap.
I also got some chicken livers at a similar price... And elsewhere a good deal on some tuna and some sardines for around 40p per 100g... So pretty pleased there.
Also got some cheap pork sausage which are still 14% protein just to keep in the freezer so I've definitely got something.

Wish I knew more about this using "calf starter" instead of whey powder... Anyone got any experience of that?

 

[Seven]

Wish I knew more about this using "calf starter" instead of whey powder... Anyone got any experience of that?

@Throwback maybe? I think I saw him say something about it....like you don't want it!!! Lol

 

[Skull]

@weighted chinup I have zero experience with beef heart, so I can't really comment. However, I don't doubt it's a great source.

For me, the tried and true has always been 93% ground beef. It's easy to find, cheap and bulk and versatile as shit!

@insaiyan93 yep! These dummies spend their pay checks on the new "Jay Cutler Ronnie Coleman Bukkake Pre-Intra-Insulin-Oxidize 250" and not on food.

The sad thing is alot of guys look at that shit like its going to be the key to unlock the looks like Jay an Ronnie. Everytime someone in the gym comes up to me raving abou the newest supp from gnc or any other bs store like that, I cant help but to think of this picture in my head as their telling me thier story bahahaha