Hey NFR, have you ever tried a keto diet? I've just started it this week and I feel good so far. In case you haven't heard of it it's almost zero carbs with your usual protein amount and the rest in efas and other fats. I've read up a bit about it and since eating at a mild deficit wasn't getting the results I wanted I'm now going to give this a run over summer. As long as my energy levels stay as high as they are supposed to and I feel good then I think it should be good.

Have you tried fitday.com? Very user friendly way for people at all levels to track their diet. (p.s. no I don't have a business interest in the site )

 

MUSCLE MILK tastes all so yummy. Not really, but taste better then all the other supps I used to try. Disolves fast also.

 

I am king of KETO diets. I was on one last year.....

I am 6'0" and weighed 2 years ago about 238lbs. 7 months on a good and CAREFUL keto diet, and gym time, I was 154lbs with about 17%body fat. (Was waaaaaaay higher when I started)

Then work piled up, met a girl......got back to about 220 or so....

Then I bulked up to about 240, then cut down to 200 dead. BMI at about 20%. 20 more lbs and Ill be where I want to be. My ideal is 200lbs of muscle with less than 10% BMI.

I know more about the keto diet than anyone Ive ever met(dont take literally).... I did it so many times, with so many variations, that I got it down to a science now.

 

What I love about it is that it's nice and simple. I've been on it since Monday and although I haven't tested with Ketostix I've been monitoring my intake on fitday and doing very well. I've been going since monday and it has been a mix between planned and unplanned meals so I haven't regulated my intake yet but I'm getting <30g carbs/day and feeling great like I said. Tonight I'm going to enter my daily goals into fitday so I can do a better job of managing my calories while keeping my protein levels within the target 1-1.5 range.

p.s I'm glad I love almonds because I was expecting to have to eat a bunch of junk to get enough fat intake but almonds dont make you feel guilty at all

 

I'm a bit in disagreement here.

Back and biceps - you're working similar groups in one day. Isn't that counterproductive? Same goes for chest/triceps.

You can't really get a full focus on the second muscle group, since you tired it (through indirect exercise) in the first group of exercises.

I do it somewhat differently.

1: Chest, shoulders, abs
2: Back, triceps
3: Biceps, legs

Notice, back and shoulders are separated. Chest and triceps are separated. Back and biceps are also separated. Abs aren't too big of a deal so I throw them in up front.

I also work out five times a week (Monday to Friday - weekends off). I am just under 6' and now 185 lbs - I started at 177 lbs.

I worked out similar to your layout early last year and had decent gains. I did it this new way and am ahead by about 20-25% on all weights.

For instance, my bench press is up 70 lbs in eight weeks. Last year, it took me 13 weeks to get the same results.

Different strokes for different folks. Just throwing out what has worked for me.

 

I use Designer Whey protein drink. Good stuff, good stats.

Also it sounds silly but take your vitamins. And NO, don't use crap like One a Day. Most vitamins (C for example) are water soluable (sp?) and will flush out of your body in a couple of hours. Find a vitamin that is made to be taken thoughout the day, instead of just once. The vitamins I currently take are made to be taken 3 times a day.

Creatine will help with muscle mass and recovery, but if you over do it, or if your body already has a lot of creatine, you can really screw up your kidneys.

Drink tons and tons of water. Not soda, coffee. Drink WATER.

Also don't make the same mistake my friend made by taking too many supplements. The duffus was taking like 5 different supplements/protein drinks/powders and it really screwed him up.

Oh, and don't under estatemate Flax seed oil. It doesn't help with body building, but it helps other stuff.

 

the reason for lifting similar/related body parts on the same day is that it puts more emphasis on the muscles.

By lifting these body parts on the same day it allows your muscles to get more recovery time as opposed to lifting chest and back one day and then triceps the next day, when your triceps already had a secondary workout the previous day.

just my .02

 

i currently weight 180lbs and im 6'2"..i def need more mass..i look like a basketball player with a slim build yet cut..

well...here is my workout:

Mon - chest & bi's
Tues - legs
Wed - off
Thurs - back & tri's
Fri - stomach, light chest, misc

im normally in the gym for like 2hrs...i dont know hwo you guys are only in the gym for 1hr....there is no way for me especially with my workout partner and the crowd

right now i bench like 155 on the normal with like 12-15 reps...at max bench 205 with like 2 reps...squats i can max at 275 and hit like 8 reps

i usually i dont increase the weight that im lifting and keep...i figured i keep the same weight and hit more reps until my body feels comfy than i increase later...


i do like this workout where all parts are seperate and one area doesnt mess with another

1: Chest, shoulders, abs
2: Back, triceps
3: Biceps, legs



i

 

Ah, but you tire the second group out with indirect exercise before you actually start to focus on that particular group (ie, you tire out your triceps while doing the bench press). It's not that you tire them completely (necessarily), but you weaken them to the point that when you DO focus on them, you can't really lift full weight, which hinders growth.

It's like doing high-rep workouts when you do it that way. It's not the way to get (as) big, that's for sure.

I have heard the argument about "same groups on the same day" and I don't subscribe to it. As mentioned, by not doing that, I'm 20-25% ahead of my previous workout routine in terms of time and weight.

Recovery time is critical but my triceps are just fine with 24 hours rest after a "minor" workout through a chest regimen of exercises...

 

There has been a lot of debate about whether you should "finish off" your tris after chest and bi's after back but there's no real answer. The best way to work out whats good for you is to try it and listen to your body. I never liked doing the secondary muscle personally.


Jonboy, do you realise that benching works your Chest-shoulders-tris and shoulders work your shoulders-tris so by doing chest-shoulders you're in fact increasing the level of fatigue in the two main muscles that you use in your second group? As I said earlier this works for a lot of people but it's not a very sound argument against "finishing" muscles off.

I used to do a program where I did 1-2 body parts per night being

Legs (hams-quads) + Arms
Chest + bis + abs
off
back + tris
Shoulders + legs (high rep work + calves)

What I found was that I made the basic beginner gains and then plateaued because I was over-working the muscles. Many people see that the big guys are doing isolated workouts and think that if it works for the pros it can work for them but what they forget to factor in is the amount of gear they're on and how that allows them to punish the muscle with 16+ sets.

I've now switched to a upper/lower split 4 days a week and it's been going really well. Despite cutting I've managed to increase many of my lifts by focusing on the important movements. So I'm working upper Monday then again thursday and lower tues + friday.

Really the most important thing for any trainer is to eat plenty of good whole, natural foods and get lots and lots of quality sleep. I see so many guys that train consistently and often with great effort yet they never look any different. These are the guys that focus all of their effort into that 1hour workout and forget about the 23 hour preparation and recovery. Don't fall into that trap.