Aggressive Bulking

[joos23]

For general meals I use NOW Foods Super Enzymes. I will be trying Renewlife digestmore soon to see how they compare.

High Carb meals a good GDA. I am using Musclerage's Slin-RX at the moment. They are very good.

High Fat meals Ox Bile by NutriCology.

For large dairy meals I add CountryLife Dairy-Zyme Caps.

You know of anything similar to slin-rx that is sold in the US?

 

[Fit2Serve]

CG,
have you increased stage weight from say 40 yr old to 50 yr old?
i ask bc i am 40 and want to kno if gains are possible after 40 yr old.
-F2S

 

[TheOtherOne55]

CG,
I'm somewhat in the same boat as you really pushing hardddd in a mini bulk right now and like someone mentioned, digestive enzymes are a muuuust. In the morning I feel (and look) great. Flat stomach, waking up between 270-275 and feel light. But my god, by mid day where im eating every 2 hours, i feel like shit. Constantly full, bloated, etc. Enzymes have definitely helped though.
I basically go a whole food meal then 2 hours later a shake and repeat throughout the day.

but you look good dude, i wouldnt worry.

 

[danieltx]

CG,
I'm somewhat in the same boat as you really pushing hardddd in a mini bulk right now and like someone mentioned, digestive enzymes are a muuuust. In the morning I feel (and look) great. Flat stomach, waking up between 270-275 and feel light. But my god, by mid day where im eating every 2 hours, i feel like shit. Constantly full, bloated, etc. Enzymes have definitely helped though.
I basically go a whole food meal then 2 hours later a shake and repeat throughout the day.

but you look good dude, i wouldnt worry.

In addition to digestive enzymes, supplementing with fiber is a must when pushing so much food - which I'm doing right now as well. Keeps everything moving through you and will help reduce bloat.

 

[joos23]

CG,
I'm somewhat in the same boat as you really pushing hardddd in a mini bulk right now and like someone mentioned, digestive enzymes are a muuuust. In the morning I feel (and look) great. Flat stomach, waking up between 270-275 and feel light. But my god, by mid day where im eating every 2 hours, i feel like shit. Constantly full, bloated, etc. Enzymes have definitely helped though.
I basically go a whole food meal then 2 hours later a shake and repeat throughout the day.

but you look good dude, i wouldnt worry.

How many carbs you pushing? Not sure if you are pushing alot or not, but if you are trying replacing some of them with healthy fats. It helped me alot. I'm not near a full looking on low carb days, but a simple refeed is all I need.
I do feel bloated myself, but it's from the test. I love prop for that reason, but beach weather is over

 

[joos23]

In addition to digestive enzymes, supplementing with fiber is a must when pushing so much food - which I'm doing right now as well. Keeps everything moving through you and will help reduce bloat.

How much fiber do you suggest?

 

[concreteguy]

CG,
have you increased stage weight from say 40 yr old to 50 yr old?
i ask bc i am 40 and want to kno if gains are possible after 40 yr old.
-F2S

Ya, don't kid yourself. You can definitely make "new" muscle over fifty. I'm 58 and now have bigger traps than ever before. And like I said, I'm doing rack deads with 5 plates now. I have never done that before in my life. My problem with age is my joints are arthritic as hell and effecting my range of motion in my rotor cuffs. I just got shots in my left shoulder and I'm going to PT so I can get my left arm up high enough to do a front double Bi again.


With me the silver bullet is insulin. Timing insulin/hgh/in a nutrient rich environment with anabolics will make anything with cells grow...….lol But at this time JP says no to any kind of insulin ?

 

[maldorf]

CG,
have you increased stage weight from say 40 yr old to 50 yr old?
i ask bc i am 40 and want to kno if gains are possible after 40 yr old.
-F2S

I think that mostly depends on how developed you are presently. If you have been lifting hard and have grown a lot from your baseline as a teen then I would have to say probably no. If you are someone that either took a break/didn't work out consistently or got a late start then sure. I think once you are mid 40s it is more of a battle to just maintain what you have if you have already peaked out at a younger age.

At college we had a research project going on with elderly men. I cannot remember the ages but most looked to be in their late 60s to mid 70s. They were basically untrained in weights and made tremendous progress in size and strength. The research was only studying legs. We took muscle biopsies before and during the study and looked at the muscle type and how many there were relative as a percentage. Things changed to favor fast twitch and their diameter grew too. Strength really grew a lot as well as lean bodyweight. Keep in mind though, those were relatively untrained men.

 

[concreteguy]

CG,
I'm somewhat in the same boat as you really pushing hardddd in a mini bulk right now and like someone mentioned, digestive enzymes are a muuuust. In the morning I feel (and look) great. Flat stomach, waking up between 270-275 and feel light. But my god, by mid day where im eating every 2 hours, i feel like shit. Constantly full, bloated, etc. Enzymes have definitely helped though.
I basically go a whole food meal then 2 hours later a shake and repeat throughout the day.

but you look good dude, i wouldnt worry.

IMO, I would drink less with my meals and move water intake to way after the meal. I would also try replacing meals (when your really distended) to a shake.

2 scoops whey
1 cup dry oatmeal
20grams honey
20grams nut butter
water with ice cubes and blend

. Make sure after eating or drinking a shake you get up and walk a little bit. This will help you evacuate any gas from eating that adds to being bloated. Include yogurt in your daily diet. I would also add Metamucil twice a day. This will be huge in evacuating eaten food. I got that from Shelby when I was working with him. Believe me I know all about being distended and in pain. If it gets really bad I would start blending my meals. I can say this with my hand on a bible. I have blended chicken breast in water and drank it. YES it's fucking gross. It all comes down to how bad do ya want it. Did the guy standing to your left or right on stage drink and get ALLLLL his meals in???? You can always drop into my log at AnaSci with and ideas you may have.

 

[danieltx]

How much fiber do you suggest?

40 grams / day is a general guideline for men. Take a fiber supplement twice a day and you can get half that, try to get the rest from your diet.

 

[Jim Rhatt]

Chicken Shake

https://youtu.be/XcFXmeIK5U0

Check out Blaine Sumner prepping and downing his chicken avocado/spinach/eggwhite shake...and a milk/yam/nutbutter shake...simultaneously...oh miii

 

[warlock]

https://youtu.be/XcFXmeIK5U0

Check out Blaine Sumner prepping and downing his chicken avocado/spinach/eggwhite shake...and a milk/yam/nutbutter shake...simultaneously...oh miii

Not sure about the chicken shake, but the milk/yam/nut butter shake should actually taste pretty good.

 

[pickapeck]

ll

 

[11sh11]

Getting fat a sloppy just to see the scale move is going to be counter-productive to muscle gain. Clean foods in slightly larger portions... yes, some fat and soft look will happen.
But Ive seen your pics for a while now. The bf you're carrying isnt excessive, id say youre doing it correctly to make some muscle gains. HOWEVER, even at your most shredded, your stomach pushes out. So naturally its looking even more distemded now. Id consider using a waist trainer, incorporating more ab/core work, and would also consider switching your carb sources. Could be a big benefit to leave out grains for a while

 

[bg091593]

I'm more concerned with progression in the gym than I am with scale weight. If the scales moving and I'm getting stronger, then there are two pretty good indicators I'm building muscle.

You said you're hitting PRs with rack deads and your traps have never been bigger. No coincidence there.

Love what you're doing CG.

 

[Massive G]

Insulin gave me a nice belly and I tried it on and off for many years ...all types...awhile back I tried it and just go sluggish...bad feeling.

I am closer to 50 than 40 and waaaaay too old to bulk as I can't put all those calories to use since I can't train optimally with free weights like deads squats rows benches presses curls etc.

After training almost 30 years no way can I bulk or make massive gains....loved my days back in the day of 300 plus but these days closer to 260 and dropping.

Training is mostly dumbbells and machines and 4 sec tempo.

More power to those that can bulk...I forgotten how fun it was...eating 8 -10 meals a day and training so far past exhaustion I would slam a light powo meal in the gym at cool down and take a 15 minute nap in the cycling/aerobic room.

I can post diet if interested.

Pros got it made hyper genetics hyper metabolism hyper cycles...still not easy but must be great to see yourself make daily changes in front of the mirror - morphing - I can see where it could be quite addicting.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

How many carbs you pushing? Not sure if you are pushing alot or not, but if you are trying replacing some of them with healthy fats. It helped me alot. I'm not near a full looking on low carb days, but a simple refeed is all I need.
I do feel bloated myself, but it's from the test. I love prop for that reason, but beach weather is over

Right now I'm at:

385 protein
435 carbs
95 fats

I only count my macros from their main source though. So when i'm eating 1.5oz of mixed nuts, I'm only counting the 24g of fat, not the protein and carbs in it. This usually means i'm about 200-500 cals up depending on what i'm eating thorough the day.

As far as fats, i've skewed my macros much higher as far as carbs go. But i tend to get fatter quicker. I also stack mostly alllll of my carbs around my workouts, very much how Jordan Peters and Dr. Scott do it.

Its super interesting how BBer of all different sizes can grow on all diff calories.
These numbers above is what I was running last week. I'll probably have to bump them up a bit this week, maybe add 25-50g more carbs around my workouts.

I'm more concerned with progression in the gym than I am with scale weight. If the scales moving and I'm getting stronger, then there are two pretty good indicators I'm building muscle.

You said you're hitting PRs with rack deads and your traps have never been bigger. No coincidence there.

Love what you're doing CG.

I completely get what you are saying. I love me some progressive overload. But as someone who PLed for years, the idea of "if I'm getting stronger, i'm building muscle" is flawed.
I stayed in the same weight class and my bench jumped 60 or so lbs during my best runs. It just shows you that your CNS is another beast in itself and can be trained and stimulated WITHOUT finding the need to grow tissue. Even now, when trying to grow tissue, I still put a RP or 2 loading sets in at the beginning of my workouts (to log and beat sessions later). Strength progression is important. But i also benched, squatted and deadlifted more weight way back when...and i probably have 20lbs more muscle packed on my body now.

 

[warlock]

Right now I'm at:

385 protein
435 carbs
95 fats

I only count my macros from their main source though. So when i'm eating 1.5oz of mixed nuts, I'm only counting the 24g of fat, not the protein and carbs in it. This usually means i'm about 200-500 cals up depending on what i'm eating thorough the day.

As far as fats, i've skewed my macros much higher as far as carbs go. But i tend to get fatter quicker. I also stack mostly alllll of my carbs around my workouts, very much how Jordan Peters and Dr. Scott do it.

Its super interesting how BBer of all different sizes can grow on all diff calories.
These numbers above is what I was running last week. I'll probably have to bump them up a bit this week, maybe add 25-50g more carbs around my workouts.



I completely get what you are saying. I love me some progressive overload. But as someone who PLed for years, the idea of "if I'm getting stronger, i'm building muscle" is flawed.
I stayed in the same weight class and my bench jumped 60 or so lbs during my best runs. It just shows you that your CNS is another beast in itself and can be trained and stimulated WITHOUT finding the need to grow tissue. Even now, when trying to grow tissue, I still put a RP or 2 loading sets in at the beginning of my workouts (to log and beat sessions later). Strength progression is important. But i also benched, squatted and deadlifted more weight way back when...and i probably have 20lbs more muscle packed on my body now.

Good post. Question, how do you distribute the 435g of carbs? Pre-, intra and post-workout? What sources do you use? Do your macros change on non-training days?

 

[Elvia1023]

Getting fat a sloppy just to see the scale move is going to be counter-productive to muscle gain. Clean foods in slightly larger portions... yes, some fat and soft look will happen.
But Ive seen your pics for a while now. The bf you're carrying isnt excessive, id say youre doing it correctly to make some muscle gains. HOWEVER, even at your most shredded, your stomach pushes out. So naturally its looking even more distemded now. Id consider using a waist trainer, incorporating more ab/core work, and would also consider switching your carb sources. Could be a big benefit to leave out grains for a while

Great advice.

 

[11111]

Insulin gave me a nice belly and I tried it on and off for many years ...all types...awhile back I tried it and just go sluggish...bad feeling.

I am closer to 50 than 40 and waaaaay too old to bulk as I can't put all those calories to use since I can't train optimally with free weights like deads squats rows benches presses curls etc.

After training almost 30 years no way can I bulk or make massive gains....loved my days back in the day of 300 plus but these days closer to 260 and dropping.

Training is mostly dumbbells and machines and 4 sec tempo.

More power to those that can bulk...I forgotten how fun it was...eating 8 -10 meals a day and training so far past exhaustion I would slam a light powo meal in the gym at cool down and take a 15 minute nap in the cycling/aerobic room.

I can post diet if interested.

Pros got it made hyper genetics hyper metabolism hyper cycles...still not easy but must be great to see yourself make daily changes in front of the mirror - morphing - I can see where it could be quite addicting.

would love to see the diet you used