I am currently bulking. I am using 600mg test entb and 300 mg deca per week. I am eating 4500 calories in the following ratio: 30% protein (300 grams), 40% carbs (450 grams), and 30% fat (150 grams). I have plateaued for some time. I am hitting progressive overload (more reps each workout then more weight when i hit 10 reps). All sets to failure. Triple drop sets and rest pauses on last set of each exercise. 16 sets for chest, back, legs and 12-16 sets for biceps, triceps, shoulders each respectively. Training each body part every 5 days. Needing to increase calories would it be wiser to increase my fat intake to make boosting calories easier or is more carbs necessary for further gains?
MESO-Rx
Anabolic Steroids
Differences of macro ratios on gains?
- Thread starter RaveHead
- Start date
You can increase either fats or carbs but I typically prefer carbs, especially if performance is important.
Traditional progressive overload won't work indefinitely either. You'll need to use more techniques like higher intensity less reps, active recovery days, modulate volume and intensity, etc
Traditional progressive overload won't work indefinitely either. You'll need to use more techniques like higher intensity less reps, active recovery days, modulate volume and intensity, etc
Ok. I do alternate between these various techniques: 4-rep protocol -- 4x4 + 4x8-12 + 4x12-15; german volume training -- 10x10; decreasing rest time between sets from week to week -- 10 sets starting at 2 minute rests decreasing by 15 seconds in following workouts until reaching 10x10 with 15 second rests in between (extremely challenging) similar to fst7 but worse 
, drop sets, rest pause, and slow tempo and negative training.
My next option is to increase to 20 sets per body part but it's hard to find the time for all that unless supersetting/giantsetting. I have asthma so going past supersets is very tough for me.
, drop sets, rest pause, and slow tempo and negative training.My next option is to increase to 20 sets per body part but it's hard to find the time for all that unless supersetting/giantsetting. I have asthma so going past supersets is very tough for me.
None of those techniques are specifically aimed at increasing strength though. I'm not saying they're bad or you shouldn't do them but if it's strength that you're after there are a few big changes you can make to help immediately and then you can tailor your future training also. If it's size that you're after then I'm misunderstanding your post.
No one's bad. I'm just not understanding your goals? Can you just list them out? To me it sounds like strength is your goal but I could be way off and I don't want to give recommendations based on my wrong interpretation of your goals lol
Yeah now it's size and strength as the goal. I spent a good year training mostly for size in the 8-12 rep range so my strength did not increase a great amount of course. Now i start my workouts with heavy weight then move on to moderate weight. 5x5 for strength then move on to 10x10 for size.
Do you have any aspirations of competing in strength related sports such as powerlifting or is this just for you?
5X5 has worked great for strength and size for me. When I am not running a 5X5 program It's usually some variation of TUT. My sweet spot for TUT is 8 reps. When I start hitting 10 reps, it's time to add a little. My size has increased on a notable level with the two programs. Every so often I'll toss in FST-7 to mix it up.
Powerlifters don't always train with their 1RM unless you're doing something like Westside where you work up to a 1RM or 2-3RM every max effort day or like Bulgarian training where you work towards a daily max. Most of the time we work with percentages of our 1RM.
For example, dynamic effort work is usually 50-70% of your 1RM. Deads and squats you'd do like 8-15sets of doubles and work explosively while bench would be 6-12sets of triples maybe.
Hypertrophy work is generally around 50-70% of your 1RM give or take but you'd do much more volume than for dynamic effort work.
Strength work is generally done 70-90% range, high intensity, but lower volume. Something like 6sets x 3 reps at 80-85% of your 1RM. Or 5x5 @ 70%, a bunch of heavy doubles at 85-90%. Maybe even heavy singles at 90-95% of your 1 RM.
As you can see, most good powerlifting or strength templates will be very structured. My advice to you is to read up on Prilepin's table and learn to apply it to your training. Implement it within a DUP style training in which you can work size and strength concurrently and I think that may help you reach your goal of strength and size.
I've seen amputees at 50+ competing in powerlifting, I've seen young teenagers competing, I've seen middle aged soccer moms competing, I've seen men from all ages and backgrounds competing. My point is if you have an interest in it go for it. Don't make excuses as to why you cannot bc truthfully there are none. It's an experience that's fun as hell, the other lifters are very friendly and supoortive, and it's a chance to test yourself and your limits like you cannot do alone in the gym. The choice is yours but simply put, I do not regret any of it and have plans to continue competing for years to come. I feel anyone who is serious about their lifting would feel the same even if strength wasn't an ultimate goal
Good stuff, fellas. I definitely am goal and result oriented. When i am on fire for something, nothing stops me. I am driven. I just thought maybe such a late start and not having any athletic background from youth to build on would limit me in comparison to the majority of other athletes out there. But again, if it's possible then it is mine. I was just watching a seminar that Jay Cutler gave. One experience he shared was from his high school days. He was heavy into training then. A babe invited him to the prom. At first he accepted. But after realizing that that night out would interfere with his training the next day he declined. Extreme example of a fundamental principle. "If it doesn't help me reach my goal then I don't have time for it." That's driven.
naturalkon
New Member
Honestly dude. Take a week or two off. Then hit it hard again.
Reason i ask is this. To what extent do you say gear changes your recovery capacity? I know it decreases the amount of time needed between workouts to recover. Would you also say it increases the volume capacity per workout? Where once i did 12 sets per body part on gear i would do 20 sets per body part? What is your experience in terms of how much volume per workout is optimal?
I'm on gear. Usually I would run a cruise dose of test, something pretty minimal, for the off season and normal training. For peaking, meet prep, and the actual meet I'd run a blast. So gear doesn't help me much in the off season where most of the work is being done. During peaking yes it helps recovery but even wih gear, a peaking cycle will test your mental and physical limits regularly. It's not easy and if you feel good during one chances are you're not peaking hard enough.
Gear def allows you to train more frequently or get the same results as someone natty while training less frequently. You can handle more volume and intensity.
How much volume is optimal per workout depends on each lifter individually and also how they train. I'm running sheiko now which is very volume heavy and the lifts are trained very frequently. To offset this the intensity is lower.
