a_welch503 WORKOUT JOURNAL

[Firehawk]

I don't know from experience, but it definitely doesn't sound like it would take very much to lose your ab definition considering that your body stores fat in the midsection first and foremost.

Let me try to put this in as clear of a way as I know how.

For us, we are going to store fat way easier than alot of these guys on this board. That's how we are. We have too many fat cells dude. So, for us, it's going to be very very very very tough to keep fat % low while bulking, alot harder than it would be for people with raging metabolisms. I'm not saying it's impossible, just extremely difficult. I think you serve a better purpose with enjoying your bulking diet to an extent of course, and then when you have added more fat than you can stand, then start to cut again.
In fact, ill go as far as to say that for us, watching our diet and being too strict while bulking can HINDER our muscle development.

My buddy is just like us. He's been fighting with his bodyfat for awhile now. He's gotten as low as 12.5% but he's a meso/endo type of build, meaning he can store fat very easily, and put muscle on easily as well. So, for him to just maintain a bodyfat at 12% or less is going to be extremely difficult for him. He's about 230@15% bf or so at 5'10, which is a very nice build.

[abarlament]

I tend to agree with Hawk in some cases. You will put on muscle MUCH FASTER doing a huge bulk, and of course, fat will come too. Now, you said you are good at dieting, after you'ved gained 15 or 20 lbs, start dieting, lose those 7 or 8 lbs of fat or whatever you gained, and you are left with about 7 lbs of muscle. Now the other choice is the one I already described, a low carb or cycled diet for bulking. This leads to slower muscle gain, but less fat gain.

Again, this is a bulk, don't be so anal about your abs disappearing, it's gonna happen. You have to suck it up for a while if you want to add any appreciable amount of muscle.

[.V.]

Yeah, I guess you guys are right. It just sucks to lose them. A lot of work went into making them. I guess after a serious bulk, then burn the fat off - maybe there can be some more abdominal muscle to fill up some of the leftover space from when I was 300lb. I'll need to go get some bigger jeans if this is going to happen. I'll buy some 34's and when they are tight, time to cut again.

Probably going to go to the beach in august. I'll hopefully get bigger until late june, early july, then cut until the end of august and see what happens doing it that way.

Hey ablarament, suck it up, or suck it in?

[Firehawk]

Abarlament is the same way with regard to putting on fat, so I think he understands what I'm saying lol.

[abarlament]

The jeans idea is what a lot of people use. Prevents them from having to spend mucho $$ on a new wardrobe. Also, if you are going to want to be cut up for summer, you might want to go with the leaner/slower bulk, or just postpone bulking until the winter months like normal people! What's the rush?

[.V.]

Well, most of the summer it doesn't matter. I'm never seen without a shirt. I've been cutting for 1.5 years now. Now it is time to make some strong stuff. Then, after august, september (the hottest months - when I would rather be cut) - I can do a regular winter time bulk. Either way it doesn't matter. I don't know if I can build enough muscle to fill up the leftover skin from when I was so big for so long. I'm going to try though. The strength gains are a little slow for me for now too. I'm tired of only adding a little bit each month. I want to start adding some each week for a while.

[.V.]

03-25-2005

Arms
BB Curls..............130x3x4
Skull Crushers........110x3x4
DB Curls...............50x3x4
Cable Pressdown.......100x3x6

Cardio
Cardioglide............16 min
Walk..................5 miles

Diet
M1.....2 whole eggs, 1 can chicken, 1/2c oatmeal, 2tbsp mayo, coffee
M2.....PWO shake, 80g dextrose
M3.....1 can tuna, 1 tbsp mayo
M4.....PWO shake, 80g dextrose
M5.....6 chicken wing pieces, salad, fat free dressing

There will be no M6 today - it is too late and I'm too stuffed.

Water - 6 liters so far today. 1 cup diet mtn dew with dinner.

Totals: P-142g, F-88g, C-193g, Cal-2132

Comments
Arm day was good today. I was so happy with my skull crushers today. I didn't think I would ever get any weight on these. Now to get some reps. I was going to calculate BF% today, but can't find the measuring tape.

Cardio was ok. I my legs were too sore from yesterday to do any running today, so I just walked fast. 5 miles in 1 hr/10 minutes.

I think I'm going to work on cutting the fat back a little more tomorrow. I'm shooting for 40g. Gosh this is odd, eat fat to cut and cut the fat to bulk, let the calories take care of themselves to cut, count them to bulk -- I'm confused. Now I need to find out how many carbs I need in a day. I think 150g protein is about right for me for now. If I need more, I'll add it.

[gcs118]

You're almost working with 135 lb curls man. Impressive!

[Xhale]

Great workout Welch

[.V.]

03-26-2005

Shoulders
Rear Shrugs..........250x3x6
Front Shrugs.........250x3x6
Mil Press............110x3x4
Upright Row..........130x3x4
DB Mil Press..........45x3x6

Cardio
Cardioglide...........16 min
Walk.................6 miles

Diet
M1.....4 egg whites, chicken breast, oatmeal
M2.....PWO shake, 80g Dextrose
M3.....Chicken breast, salad, fat free dressing
M4.....PWO shake, 80g Dextrose
M5.....Chicken breast, broccoli, tomato slices

Water - 7 liters and a gatorade after walking

Totals: P-183g, F-30.5, C-241, Cal-1970.5

Comments
Moved shrugs to first instead of last. Picked up 15 pounds and got 3x6. It did cost me a little on the upright row - I had planned on increasing reps today and was only able to repeat last time's reps. I was afraid the MP would suffer, but I did improve on BB and DB MP - only a little, but still an improvement. That last rep on DB MP was pretty hard to get, it took about 45 seconds to push it up - but no failure like last time.

I think I've got the diet figured out - I'll see how this works out for a week or so, then make any changes needed after that.

On cardio, I only walked today, but it was road miles instead of my usual trip on the path at the lake - too much traffic - into the ditch, back out of the ditch, on the road, off the road. It kind of sucked.

[abarlament]

Is 1970cal even maintnence for you? Are you gaining weight?

[.V.]

I don't know if it is quite enough or not. I can add more calories if I need them. I got some whey protien tonight to add some cleaner calories with. I guess I need to go ahead and take the extra protein even on days I don't lift so that I don't lose anything for the next day. I won't be taking the extra dextrose though. I'm thinking about starting creatine too - but having never suplimented before I'm not sure if I want to do it or not. I'm thinking 5g after lifting and another 5g after cardio. Since I don't want to add too much fat, I'm going to go up on the calories gradually. I may use up the rest of my shakes with the fat in them for meal replacements until they are gone - for those times I'm in a hurry, or just have one at bedtime. I think I'll have one now - that will be an extra 170 calories. Tomorrow is a no workout day - we are pretty busy at work lately so I'll most likely be at one of the hospitals at some point during the day. I'll weigh then.

[Lift2Live]

Hey Andy. I was very wary of creatine for a looong time. When I finally went for it, man! My weights really did shoot up. It was amazing to me at least how much stronger I was. I'd give it a try for a good month and if you then don't like it, ditch it. Just keep tweaking things and you'll get to where you want to be. You know it doesn't happen overnight so, just keep up the small steps. You know what you want and the info to do it. Stay steadfast buddy!

[Xhale]

Doesnt Creatine just bind up water?

I have a friend who did it for a while and made pretty good gains but as soon as he stopped taking it he lost his gains pretty fast.

[.V.]

A physician lifter explained to me how it works. It does bring water into the muscle - along with the water comes the nutrients - protein, glucose for recovery, things like that. He said it really does work - not to expect steroid like "miracle grow" results, but that it does help with the muscle recovery and growth. I'm just concerned because in the body, it converts to creatinine - on of the things that they check when they look at your liver lab work. Creatinine levels too high, or too low are apparently a bad thing. I've read that up to 10g/day can be taken safely - I only weigh about 185 though - I don't want to overdo it. I also only have one liver, and don't want to damage it. I rarely even take a tylenol. I stick to ibuprofen if I hurt since I have two kidneys. I'm probably going to give it a try but, like anything else, I want to put enough consideration into it to make sure I make the right choice.