People are always saying to gain mass you need to eat, eat, eat.
Sometimes upwards to 6000-7000 calories per day.
Me personally I find anything much over 4,500 for any period of time and I become totally disinterested in food, lethargic and bloated.
Going back 3 years I weighed 225 and was stuffing in 5000 calories daily.
Now I eat nearer 4000 calories daily and am 15lb heavier - at the same body fat.
The key difference is that I am now a good 15% stronger on all major lifts. Bench press is up around 40lb, rows 50lb and squat 60lb.
So my theory is that the key driver in muscle size is a gain in strength in most major exercises (for a decent rep range, say 6-15 reps) - and not necessarily a major bout of overeating for a number of years.
I think one needs an excess of calories, but maybe 200-300 more than necessary and not just huge food intake which ultimately puts the scale up but does it lead to more muscle in all cases if not also accompanied by an increase in strength?
Two guys - one who eats 3500 calories a day but adds 10% to all his lifts in 12 months and another guy who lifts the same week in, week out but eats 5000 calories per day. The first guy will be more muscular.
Eat when you`re hungry - keep protein high, carbs moderate and good healthy fats. Forget the scale. Beat the log book weekly and add more muscle tissue. Simple.
Oh and I upped my dose from 1300mg to 2000mg per week.
All the pros that say `I gained 15lb this off season as I ate more chicken, or I ate 7 meals instead of 6 per day` - bullshit.
Two things lead to more mass - 1. More AAS/HGH/slin etc and 2. an accompanying increase in strength caused by the increase in AAS.
Sometimes upwards to 6000-7000 calories per day.
Me personally I find anything much over 4,500 for any period of time and I become totally disinterested in food, lethargic and bloated.
Going back 3 years I weighed 225 and was stuffing in 5000 calories daily.
Now I eat nearer 4000 calories daily and am 15lb heavier - at the same body fat.
The key difference is that I am now a good 15% stronger on all major lifts. Bench press is up around 40lb, rows 50lb and squat 60lb.
So my theory is that the key driver in muscle size is a gain in strength in most major exercises (for a decent rep range, say 6-15 reps) - and not necessarily a major bout of overeating for a number of years.
I think one needs an excess of calories, but maybe 200-300 more than necessary and not just huge food intake which ultimately puts the scale up but does it lead to more muscle in all cases if not also accompanied by an increase in strength?
Two guys - one who eats 3500 calories a day but adds 10% to all his lifts in 12 months and another guy who lifts the same week in, week out but eats 5000 calories per day. The first guy will be more muscular.
Eat when you`re hungry - keep protein high, carbs moderate and good healthy fats. Forget the scale. Beat the log book weekly and add more muscle tissue. Simple.
Oh and I upped my dose from 1300mg to 2000mg per week.
All the pros that say `I gained 15lb this off season as I ate more chicken, or I ate 7 meals instead of 6 per day` - bullshit.
Two things lead to more mass - 1. More AAS/HGH/slin etc and 2. an accompanying increase in strength caused by the increase in AAS.
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