DJSTARER

So comes the summer, which for me, means there is NO way for me to put on weight. I work too many hours and spend too much time being active. Certainly this does not mean my diet will change much or I will stop lifting. Powerlifting and serious hard training will be going on the back burner for a couple months.

I will use this post to deeply analyze my last, and certainly most productive, 12 months of conditioning as a means to train and diet more effectively next season. I also hope this thread will educate and motivate those with similar statistics, goals and genetics highlighting what worked very well for me, and was not so effective in attaining where I am at now.

Timeline:
April of 2005- 144 lbs, 8% BF, 5’9” LBM= 138.5 lbs
June- 147 lbs, 8.5% BF
August- 158 lbs, 9 % BF
October- 167 lbs, 11% BF
January- 175 lbs, 13% BF
March- 188 lbs, 14% BF

Currently (April 1, 2006)- 192 lbs, 15% BF LBM= 163 lbs

Total Increase in LBM: 25 lbs

Part I: Summertime

For the first few months, I kept a super strict diet consisting of lean meats, classic bodybuilding starches and most fats coming from nuts and oils. I carried around a scale and measured everything (including vegetables). I was at a golf facility during the summer, and my boss was very flexible to my eating needs and habits. Of course I was tagged with the nickname “Tuna Boy,” as much of my daily protein came from canned tuna due to its convenience in the workplace. My carbohydrate intake was kept to a moderate amount during this summer period, making up about 30% of my diet. I made my leanest (slowest also) gains during these months. My philosophy during this time was to stay good looking in prep for the heavily anticipated super bulk back at school the following semester. Also, most of my good gains during the summer were made in the last month and a half, when I first incorporated squatting into my routine. I fell in love with the move, and looked forward to my leg day weekly. My lifts went up slightly during the summer period, but nothing too impressive. This period also contained my greatest gains in knowledge. My position at the golf course gave me abundant access to a computer all day, and because many times things were slow, I logged onto none other than Bodybuilding.com to do my daily reading. Whether it was surfing the forums or reading one of Derek’s many articles, or catching up on my Berardi, I was always reading and applying new information.

Part II: The semester begins.

I remember the first time back at my school gym. Everyone seemed different… or was it just me. My greatly expanded knowledge made me truly understand what I was in the gym, and made me understand how much time people were wasting lifting weight without the same knowledge.
My diet changed. It was still very strict, and I counted grams, ounces and total calories still. I increased my total caloric intake to 3700. This seemed like a ton at the time, but I got used to it. The biggest mistake I made during this time had to do with my macro split. My protein intake was too high. I made some gains, but not as efficiently as I could have. Not only this, but I was tired too often, and had a less than optimal sex drive. Although focused on making gains, it was still the golf season, and I knew I would need extra calories on the days I golfed. I did this my taking pieces of steak on the golf course to chew. I figured not only would this be a great source of kcals, but it would keep my insulin under control, leaving my body to burn more fat during my rounds (4 miles of low intensity cardio).
My training remained the same during this time as it was during the summer. I hadn’t really experimented a whole lot with new routines. I was doing a three day split with back, chest, and legs on opposite days. My reps were between 8-12…. pretty standard.

Part III: The semester transition and the SNOW COMES

Man was I getting to learn about my body. The only problem was, I had stopped growing. Rationally, I wrote down on a sheet of paper what the causes might be. I came up with: Sleep, kcals, training. I decided it might be time, due to my increased LBM, to increase my kcals. Enter Milk. I decided to add 1 glass of milk at every meal. At the time, I had stopped counting kcals simply because it became too much of a hassle. I was eating strictly, but I had become so familiar with what 500 or 700 kcals consisted of food wise, I didn’t really matter. I estimated that a glass of milk at each meal would jump me up about 500 kcals for the day. It worked. I took a week off and started with the milk. I was making awesome gains. This was when I began to gain some fat, but I didn’t care. I was getting huge, and my lifts were shooting up.
8 lbs later, I stopped growing again. What did I do? Well, I though about where I could add kcals into my diet to optimize growth… duh…. I was waking up to urinate in the middle of the night anyways… why not eat!?! So I did. I took the glass of milk right before I go to bed, mixed in some extra whey, stuck it in the frig, and replaced it with a piece of red meat before bed. When I woke up, I chugged the milk and whey, brushed my teeth, and passed back out. Not only this, but the red meat before bed was having some profound effects on my T-levels. How did I know? I was dreaming of sex and waking up with much stronger erections in the morning. I know that was personal, but I feel it is an important revelation.

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

DJSTARER

Part IV: I was Pulled Aside and asked:

“Hey bro, I couldn’t help but notice you like to pull and squat heavy… we are looking for guys your size for our team.” What team? “Powerlifting.”

I had never really considered powerlifting. I knew some of the greatest physiques have come from PLers… and I knew it would benefit my golf game… but most of all, I knew I would be close with guys similar to me (sense of community). I was correct on all counts. Taking West Side Barbell tactics under my wing proved to be a great choice. I was allowed to train with who?!?!? THE FOOTBALL TEAM?!? Yeah…. I was training aside PSU’s Football team. I have loved every minute of it. Being around all those animals (mesomorphic freaks) is great motivation. My triceps began to grow faster than they had ever done before. I was doing heavy floor presses, rack presses and neck presses. I was getting tips on my pulling, and I was not being yelled at anymore for making my own box to squat on. Am I a powerlifter? Partially. I like to lift heavy, but I also like to grow. I make sure to ad plenty of accessory work with rep ranges between 10-12 for some growth on the side. I competed in 1 USAPL event held at a local prison. I didn’t do too shabby. It was a raw event with just push/pull. I scored a total of 810 with a strong dead.

Part V: Finishing up and NOW:

I continued to powerlift, and have become very active within the team. We are planning on having a float in the homecoming parade next year, where we make a nice simple float with a bunch of girls sitting on it… the only catch… we are going to be pulling it by hand! I thought this was an amazing idea… it will be funny as hell. 12 strong mo-fos pulling a float.
My diet had become very liberal. It is tough to put my hand on what particularly makes my diet less strict, but it is. Things like white flour rolls and sticky rice. Foods with unknown ingredients have also successfully made it back into my diet, and full fat cheese is normal. All these things have helped me get enough calories in to continue growing. Eating 4800 clean kcals is tough. I tried it one day… and was way too stressed.
In the past few months, I’ve made it a point to take weeks off every 3 weeks, where I rest a lot and dry out my diet. That is, I cut down on carbs greatly and increase my protein intake. This “dry-out” gave me a realistic idea of what my BF% was doing. This has worked well for me to keep my body growing.


Main Points: These points will summarize the biggest improvements and mistakes I have made on my way to this point:
- Squating increased my growth
- I did my due research.
- Making sure I was eating enough by doing continual analyses was essential.
- My greatest and most leanest gains were made between 11% and 15% BF.
- Milk is great for adding extra kcals, but seemed to have contributed to fat gains.
- Cardio was never done to any extent. I tried it, but I couldn’t really gain.
- I drank 3 times during this entire period covered. Keeping it to a min worked.
- I smoked marijuana, and it had no noticeable effect on my gains.
- Some people are genetically gifted and aren’t worth arguing with about the importance of diet.
- Sleep patterns mirrored my gains; both strength and weight.
- Eating Carbs was just as essential for growth as Protein.
- Did I mention squatting worked?
- Eating in the middle of the night, since it didn’t interruptingmy REMS, was a great way to increase nighttime anabolism.
- Saturated fat gets a bad rap. Eating it, especially at night, increased my T-levels, and provided extremely slow digesting complete protein.
- The change in rep ranges and routine provided by powerlifting triggered amazing growth in my arms.
- Chalk worked very well for me instead of gloves. It helped me increase my grip strength.
- I find those who are knowledgeable around me, and exchanged info with them.
- I Stuck with it. Set ambitious, yet realistic, goals.
- What I put into it, I received back.
- When I hit a wall, stepping back and thinking about the situation worked best.




Don’t forget your multi

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

Noah

verry motivational

__________________
aint nothin but numero uno

Ikaika

I wish I was dedicated enough to keep tabs on myself like that. Its really amazing to look back at the year you've had though...from 144 to almost 190? Congrats man, hope you continue your success.

__________________
No supplement can make up for the lack of a strong work ethic.

dton

Great work sir, real great.

Wish I had the struggles of "putting on weight".

__________________

AYung

Very good story. You've done a lot in just 1 year!

__________________
Clean Bulking Journal
http://www.ironmass.com/showthread.php?t=9546

Max Lifts
Bench: 155 x 6
Deadlift: 315 x 6
Squat: 245 x 6

1 Rep Max Lifts
Bench: 180 - Tested
Deadlift: 365 - Tested
Squat: 285 - Estimated
TOTAL: 831 @ 156lbs

Eddie Guerrero (1967-2005, R.I.P.)
You'll always be loved and remembered.

Vegeto

"I was dreaming of sex and waking up with much stronger erections in the morning. I know that was personal, but I feel it is an important revelation."

Succes!! LOL.

Seriously though, sounds like a year well spent to me. Your discover of you making your best gains between 11% and 15% BF is interesting, I never really made a note of that before with myself. Congrats.

__________________
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......Busy Training......
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davtown

AND you didn't forget your multi! I always forget my multi

Excellent progress and impressive report... looking forward to seeing what you accomplish this year.

__________________
--Training Journal--

current/goal
D: 350/380
S: 280/300
B: 235/260

bigDman

nice year of work....

Its cool you got into powerlifting.... what are your max lifts

Acuttly reading Dont forget your multi at the end of your post has reminded me to take my multi multiple times :p(say that 10 times fast)

__________________
COME CHECK OUT MY JOURNAL

DJSTARER

Dead: 487 (Comp)
Bench: 321 (Comp)
Squat: 340 (gym)


Don't forget your multi

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

davtown

Same with me....

DJ, do you have any pictures documenting your evolution? If not, are you planning on taking pictures this year?

__________________
--Training Journal--

current/goal
D: 350/380
S: 280/300
B: 235/260

Master Of Puppets

Sheesh, what a year.

Congrats.

MOP

__________________

DJSTARER

I have some really old before pics, but when i was fat. I can take current pics, that shouldn't be much of an issue. I just have to find a cam.

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

Jakl

Wow man I am impressed. Very inspiring. I know what it is like to be that 144# guy. I have not seen the gains you have documented but then I have not put in the same effort you have. You clearly earned your results.

DJSTARER

Thanks Jakl.

Keep at it man. A really good way to gain weight is to simply eat more. That part isn't all that tough. As my training partner Raf once said: When I am putting on mass, I always ask myself "Could I be Eating RIGHT NOW?"



Just to let everyone know, I'll be posting some pics tonight. My first online pics in a long time... hope they come out good.



don't forget your multi

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

DJSTARER

Alright. Here is the link to my pic thread. I know my bi's are small... I havn'e done a curl since september. My cut will concentrate on my shoulders and bi's. I'm not a curl kind of guy... the closest I come is bent rowing.

Enjoy

http://ironmass.com/forums/showthrea...916#post134916

__________________
My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition