Well, I don't care about tone right now, I'm just bulking, and at a good rate.

I consume 4-5Kcal, 250g+ protein, 1-2gallons of water per day... ofc I'm gonna have a gut, but gains are all I care about, I've been skinny as shit all my life and this is the only way I've been able to swole.

155/160lb -> 200lb 6'1 in 3 months, and only getting bigger.

well as a nutrition nut myself, i can tell you right now you are consuming way too much protein.

a rule of thumb is 1lb to 1 gram of protein, you piss out the rest you dont use, so it really doesnt benefit you to consume so much on a daily basis. also you can put on clean weight, solid muscle with very minimal fat if you just eat the right things, there is no need for you to choke down 5k calories a day, a bulk can be done clean, just got to have more dedication and patience.

just my 2 cents

at 5'10 myself, i weigh 160 and i only have maybe 8% bf, and i guarantee i look a lot bigger than you despite the 3 inch height difference. i bulked cleanly, its a lot better in the long run doing it that way. you can see my physique in my pics.

edit: and the "gains" you put on are most likely fat and water weight more so than muscle at this point. you can only put on about 12-15lbs of lean muscle a year.

and i hope to god you dont take creatine.

This post was edited by Sopranos on Jun 2 2013 10:08pm

I had a personal trainer for a month, certified/gigantic ex-military. I started chubby/skinnyfat, and have actually toned (believe it or not) with a diet like this lol. I don't eat fats, and very little sugars.

A lot of my calories come from pastas/chicken. 5k is probably an overstatement, I probably avg 3.8k-4.3k if I really narrow it down.

I know bulk can be done clean, I just choose not to. I'm interested in strength, not aesthetics.

Once big enough, I may choose to go for aesthetics over strength, but until then I'm just gonna keep getting as big as possible.

I had major back surgery (2 x discs replaced, 6 x titanium rods, 4 x titanium bolts in L4-L5, L5-S) ~1 year ago, had 3 x physical therapists, 1 x personal trainer, and am where I am now through sheer willpower lol. I've pushed through a lot of back pain to get to where I am, and it's helped soooo much to rebuild my back.

Now that I'm back on track to being healthy again, my main goal is to build as much strength as I can before becoming an RN (30th on waitlist) so that I never have to worry about hurting my back ever again.




edit--

The "gains" I've made are directed toward the amount of weights I put up, not my weight. Idgaf about my weight.

Yes, you may look better (though I've got the babyface going for me), but I don't care lol, I'm engaged and don't need to have 5% bf to attract the ladies because I already snagged a good one.

I'm purely in it for strength gains... (and I've made pretty drastic ones over the past few months)

This post was edited by Mitchymo on Jun 2 2013 10:12pm

tell me about back pain, i have a compressed L5 disc, no dead lifts for me anymore

Lol right? I'm easing my way into DL/Squat/Leg press... I suspend myself horizontally face-down and hold onto a 25-45lb weight while raising/lowering my upper half. It's really helped quite a bit.

Get into a solid stretch routine, and take it easy when it comes to direct pressure on your lower back.

30mins of stretching/day and your compressed disc can be fixed in under a few months... Don't make it any worse by overlifting, you DON'T want surgery.

i wouldnt do surgery, way too risky in the long run if not done 100% properly.

at least i can leg press, cant squat, but i can do a full leg workout so i dont have chicken legs lol.

Haha right, my leg press is pretty decent (i think?) around 300-340lb, but it puts tons of pressure on my back and leaves me in pain for a week+ :/.

I do calves/hams every time I'm in the gym though, they recover very quickly. Quads I can only target with leg-raises, but it still helps.

First thing my trainer told me is to never make the mistake of ignoring leg day haha.

I do take creatine though, and I do understand that I don't need the water weight, but I have felt slight gains. (I think you and I have a different definition of gains x_x, I use it to define gains in the amount of weight I can lift... you use it to define mass gains?)

i use gains interchangeably, but creatine is such a useless product, purely water retention, any "gains" you make weight increase wise is purely a placebo effect, "herp im on creatine? derp all weight increases from now on are attributed to it herpderp"

all i take is a mass gainer, 1660 calories, 66 grams on protein, once a day, and casein protein at night for metabolic stability. its all you really need. pre/post workouts are all rip offs.

Mass gainers are just as gimmicky lol just tons of carbs to fill in calories alongside tons of protein which could be attained in a more clean fashion through a whey isolate :/.

Creatine is the only legal supplement to have actual effects in increased reps/sets/endurance... Physiologically creatine is actually useful to have loaded in your system as it'll become useful in those last couple of reps where you can barely push any harder. It definitely does fluff your weight up with water retention, which is why you need to drink so much water when using it, but saying that it's a placebo is just wrong.

Casein is a smart move for sure though. I usually end up waking up around 3-4am having to piss (drink lots of water XD) and either drink some milk or eat some cottage cheese before heading back into bed.

Pre-workouts are just tons of caffeine and sugars lol, can pretty much make your own pre-workouts and get similar effects... Caffeine is definitely useful though, in whatever source you may choose to get it from, definitely worthwhile to at least drink a couple cups of black coffee beforehand haha.

Off to bed though, you should think about hittin up H&F, there are some pretty big guys in there.

This post was edited by Mitchymo on Jun 2 2013 10:29pm

i frequent there a lot actually

night bud