Universal Nutrition Forum

ck wrote:

Hi Cill, i remember from readin your diet posts that your trying to add lean muscle mass at the mo.... how's it goin, is the weight up much?

Not necessarly a criticism but whats the story with the high reps if your going for adding muscle?
(i haven't read the whole thread, only last page)

Is a high rep range not (traditionally) the best way to achieve hypertrophy??

Discounting methods such as HIT, DC and all those that use rest pause, negs etc

ck wrote:

Hi Cill, i remember from readin your diet posts that your trying to add lean muscle mass at the mo.... how's it goin, is the weight up much?

Not necessarly a criticism but whats the story with the high reps if your going for adding muscle?
(i haven't read the whole thread, only last page)

Hey ck the bulk is goin good my weight is floating around 150-152 lbs up from 145lbs so hopefully it'll keep goin

With regards to rep range I usually try to keep going during a set until i cant move the weight anymore. Ikeep it higher on small excercises like flyes outta fear of injury to my rotator cuff or just for a pump

Also half the time I underestimate how many reps I can get when going heavy. Like a couple of weeks ago I was goin for 1 rep max deadlift of 120kg but ended up doin 4 and could have done a couple more(but didnt wanna risk it with a weight I hadn't tried b4). Same thing happened with snatch grip deads yesterday. Never done them b4 was only expecting to get bout 5 reps, but ended up gettin 10.

Generally I tend to use low reps with rest pauses but occasionally I just end up goin higher by accident. I dont tend to go over 10-12 reps but iv read that this is the best range for hypertrophy so I try to get to that range. If I only get 8 reps I'll use rest pauses to get to that range( eg 1set 8 reps rest 10s 2 more rest 10s 1 more = 11 reps) I could be wrong tho that might just be something I read in a magazine

I suppose its all a matter of what you find works best.

I have used loads of different routines to cut and grow and i defo think the number one thing is to keep the weight heavy!!

To grow use max weight poss with good form for min 4, max 8 reps. Total rest between sets, so from 1 to 3 mins (till you feel 100% fresh again)
And don't overtrain 3-4 exercises with 2-3 working sets is loads.

To cut max weight poss with absolute perfect form, reps generally between 6-10 (higher reps for legs) and squeeze the almighty fuck outta every rep. Rest from 15-45sec. And pretty much always 4 exercises with 3-4sets in each.

There just my methods, whatever anyone thinks

well I'm 5 days into the ckd/anabolic diet(same diets,just diff sources of fat) and I'm honestly loving it.I felt like utter shite for the first couple of days but now I feel great. I dont get mad energy highs and lows like I do normally energy is steady and constant and I'm leaning out even by eating shitloads of cheese,bacon,80% lean mince and other fatty crap that I would never normally eat(as well as all the healthy foods i usually eat, its what I'm supposed to eat I'm not cheating

) . Eating no carbs is tough enough but I'm just waiting for the refeed day I can't wait!!! Apparently I'll be able 2 eat 1000g carbs on my refeed day

I upped calories a bit more than what I said in the body opus thread as it says you should eat roughly maintenance for a while first so I'm keepin protein the same at 1g pplbm but cals are at 17ppbw for a while so the rest is made up of fat

Also I'm loving how cheap this diet is like today I got 2 x 800g packs of 80% lean beef for a fiver!! Eggs and bacon are cheap as chips aswell so I'm thinking I might stick with this kinda diet long term if results are good for bulking and cutting. I mean I get to eat the meats I love and I get a 2 day carb up at the weekend(I'm starting with 1 day first tho) so I'm not missing any food

Good stuff man. I'm sure you know, but bacon is a really poor protein source and just be careful that you don't over do it on the saturated fat front.

I'm not familiar with this diet but on your refeed day will you be eating fats as well?

Ye I no bacon sucks and I'm a bit sceptical bout the diet but I wanna do it properly. It says as much of my fat intake as possible should be from saturates...this sounds pretty dodgy to me(heart wise) so although most of my fats are saturates(maybe 60%) I'm still takin my fish oils,eatin nuts and oils, and other good fats like eggs at least twice a day.

On my refeed day I'm supposed to cut fats by 55%, keep protein steady(from ckd) and ram 16g carbs per kg of lbm for the first 24 hours in2 me. the reason for keeping fats in according to the diet is because ur body will still be usin fat for energy during ur first few meals.

well I did my first proper back and shoulder day in the gym today since starting no carbs, I was expecting to be weak as a kitten without carbs but I set a couple of personal records

Started off with bent over rows, no change on these still 100kg for 9/10 reps

Then went on2 single arm dbell rows, last week bulkin did 45kg dbell for 10 reps, this week on no carb cut did 50kg dbell for 11 reps(i was pretty proud of myself

, i wish i went heavier, i didnt no id be capable of doin more. I'm gonna keep trying 2 up the weight)

Then on shoulders I got myself back up to the 27.5kg dbells which I havent been able 2 do for a while

Overall it was a beefy day and I'm gonna sleep happy

set another pr 2day.

Deadlifts 120kg x 9 reps. Most iv ever done so happy with that, specially since I'm cutting

another pb again 2day on bbell shrugs

150kg x 12 reps

Again nuthin spectacular but a pb is a pb

another couple of pb's today. No huge jumps just steady progress

Deadlifts 125kg x 8(I'm gettin very close to a double bodyweight deadlift

)

Single arm Dbell rows 52.5kg x 8 reps

I no its a pretty stupid question but is it possible I'm gaining muscle on this cut?? My strength has been steadily increasing on a good few movements which has never happened b4. Usually when I cut strength goes down the pipes.

any double bodyweight lift is impressive [excluding legpress]

why shouldn't you be gaining if your comitted 100%

cuz my calories and carbs are restricted. iv never gained strength on a cut before

i think i have an explanation tho. the past few weeks iv been having huge cheat meals after depleting, which is something iv never done before.

they arent hindering fat loss in any way yet so i think ill continue havin them till they become a problem.

next week hopefully ill hit the double bodyweight dead for reps. i could have done it for a couple of reps on wednesday but im moving up in small increments to prevent injury.

well today was officially the first shit workout iv had since starting the cut. My whole day got fuked around I didn't get to the gym at the time I wanted cuz I had to pick up my little bro and sis from school and babysit em until my ma got home,In the gym i Just felt like ass, had no drive and basically just wanted to go home and sleep.it sounds stupid but little things like changing my timing really fukin piss me off big time and put me in a shitter of a mood

That being said I tried to man up and just fukin do it and...

I hit my double bodyweight deadlift today for 4 reps. Im happy i finally hit it but at the same time I'm pissed cuz I felt I could have got more but the fukin bar kept snagging on my pants and pulling em down(which just added to my already shitty mood)

Single arm Dbell rows were still 52.5kg but they felt much more comfortable so I guess thats an increase

Unless I'm feeling totally up for it next time I'm just gonna keep it at that weight for more reps

Seriously impressive man, sounds slick. Get some photos up to see your so far results

thanks man. Photos of what? Me lifting the weight or how I'm lookin?