Dave's VIF Mass Building Routine

Link to the routine: Dave's Volume, Intensity & Frequency Mass Building Routine 

Recently, I started a new routine; The Power Muscle Burn or PMB, so I figured it best to write up my previous one while it's still fresh in my mind.

So straight to it - it's a mass building routine - how much weight did I put on?

20/08/2010        67.6kg

06/09/2010        68.1kg

11/09/2010        69.7kg

04/10/2010        69.1kg

07/10/2010        69.9kg

11/10/2010        70.7kg

15/10/2010        73.3kg

18/10/2010        72.5kg

24/10/2010        73.5kg

02/11/2010        74kg

07/10/2010        74.5kg

And now I'm hovering around the 75kg-75.5kg mark. That's an overall weight gain of 6.9kg, 15.2lbs or 1st1lbs in just 10 weeks (excluding 2 weeks where I was away in September). Very solid gains indeed. 

And for fun if we compare that to when I was at my lightest - 58kg - I have put on 17kg, 37.5lbs or nearly 2½ stone of solid muscle.

Measurements
But what about your measurements, George? Well I'm glad you asked. I've put 1" on either arm when relaxed, 1.5" on either bicep when tensed. And 0.5-0.75" on either tricep, also when tensed. I have also added just over 1" to my chest and over 1.5" to my quads. Overall, very pleased, though the expensive pair of jeans I bought recently are now preeeetttyy snug round the thighs.

Strength
And my strength? Here is a graph of the 'Big 3' (bench, squat & deadlift) and leg press over 8 weeks - I've yet to add weeks 9 & 10 but they all increase at an equally steady rate. All weights recorded are NOT my 1 Rep Max's (which are significantly higher) but weights I can lift for at least 3 sets of 6 repetitions.

All increasing. But numbers aside I'm feeling a lot stronger. Since that graph and the start of the new routine I have now bumped my squat up to 85kg for 4 sets of 5 repetitions and am well on my way to the 100kg milestone. My bench press is now over 60kg, Stiff Legged Deadlift is over 80kg and my leg press is over 250lbs/113kg. I also feel a lot more energetic, have a lot more confidence in myself both in the gym and outside of it, and am often complimented about 'filling out'. 

Fat Gain

Of course, as with most bulking routines there has been a degree of fat gain but keeping a fairly clean diet I have managed to keep those gains as minimal as possible. My bodyfat percentage has only gone up from 10% to around 13% or so, but I have subsequently lost ab definition. A 3-4 week 'cut' with some HIIT (high intensity interval training) and a calorie defecit will shed that, however, given my recent travel developments, I am tempted to continue my bulk for a few more weeks to gain more mass and then cut ready for the beaches in a couple of months.

Nutrition

For those interested in the nutritional side of things, I was aiming for 3497 calories a day, consisting of 150g of protein, 462g of carbohydrates and 116g of good fats, spread over 4-5 meals a day. Though typically I only ever manage around 3000-3200 calories a day before being too stuffed to eat anything else! 

I discovered how many calories I needed per day by working out my Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR (how many calories your body needs when not doing anything) and adding a calorie surplus to calculate my Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE. The typical recommendation is to add 500 calories to your BMR. But everyone is different, so exercise caution here and add 10%. If you find that your not gaining 0.5 to 1lbs of body weight each week, then you can bump it up to 15%.

From those numbers you can then calculate your macronutrient or PCF (protein/carb/fat) ratio.

I rarely drink and I have cut most junk food out of my diet. I'll have the occassional biscuit or two but for those who knew me before, this is a vast improvement - I was a biscuit fiend. Not to mention chocolate... mmm chocolate. 

Supplements
I did a cycle of a Weight Gainer (which is pretty much equal parts protein and carbohydrates) and after that settled into standard Whey Protein - taken pre work-out, post work-out and in the evening before bed. I also took L-Glutamine for while to aid recovery and keep my immune system up but substituted that for a standard daily Multivitamin and Zinc if I felt under the weather. Recently I have also added BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) and Creatine Monohydrate to my supplement cycle to aid muscle growth and recovery.

Summary
This routine busted me through a plateau at the 66kg mark and put on a further 9kg on top of that. The workout changes every four weeks which keeps you interested and motivated but my favourite phase was certainly the first four weeks or 'volume' phase - the arm day was brutal! I loved it. 

The hardest part, as with any routine - bulking or cutting - was the nutrition. Getting my desired level of calories per day without eating bad or dirty foods was certainly a challenge. And I'm sure if I had managed a couple of hundred more calories per day I would've seen even better gains. However, I'm super pleased with how far I've come in just 10 weeks. I have recommended this routine to others and will certainly do so in the future. I don't doubt that I will probably come back to it myself at some point, too.

I'll update this log with pictures asap and do a few more comparisons for you.

Thanks,

G

You vs Them, You vs No, You vs Cant, You vs Excuses.

"Whether or not you win this thing, you've got to decide how you're going to walk out of here when it's all said and done. 'Cos the game is going to go on. And there's only one rule you're going to need to know about - there are no second chances. There is only this moment and the next moment. Every one of those moments is a test that you get to take one time and only one time.

So if you see an opening; tear into it. If you get a shot at victory make damn sure you take it. Seize that moment. That moment is a crossroads where everything you want will collide with everything standing in your way. You've got momentum at your back. Fear and doubt are thundering like a freight train straight at you. And all you got - the only difference between making history and being history - the only thing, the ONLY thing, you can count on at any given moment is you.

It's you vs them. It's you vs no. It's you vs can't. It's you vs next year, last year, statistics, excuses. It's you vs history. It's you vs the odds. It's you vs second place.

Clock is ticking - let's see what you got."

Workout Log - Back Progress

Just a quick log to show the progress of my back. Sadly I don't have any pictures from before when I was super underweight; I had no idea of the importance of a strong back then so didn't think to take any.

The first image is from just a few weeks ago (5-6?), so it's nice to see how far I've come in such a short amount of time. Second image taken today. Nice wallpaper, huh?

Certainly added a general 'thickness' and my lats have come along nicely too. I'm needing a bit more work on the mid/lower sections, but more definition will be visible after my cut/fat loss routine which I'll be starting in a couple of weeks.

And although not fully tensed in image one, you can see there's a good level of arm progression and overall arm thickness. That, combined with the lat development, I'll be packing quite the punch at this rate.

My back workout consists of mostly compound moves such as Pull Ups, Stiff Legged Deadlifts, Barbell Rows, Seated Cable Rows, Upright Rows, Lat Pull Downs and various presses.

To give you an idea of how I've progressed on this current routine, we'll use the Stiff Legged Deadlift  (AKA the Romanian Deadlift) as an example. It targets the hamstrings, glutes & lower back. For those who don't know what it is, it is as follows:

Stiff Legged Deadlift

Week 1: 40kg | 88lbs

Week 2: 50kg | 110lbs

Week 3: 60kg | 132lbs

Week 4: 60kg | 132lbs

Week 5: 65kg | 143lbs

Week 6: 67.5kg | 148lbs

Week 7: 70kg | 154lbs

Week 8: 72.5kg ! 159lbs

Week 9: 75kg | 165lbs | 11s7lbs

Although this specific variation of the deadlift targets largely the lower back, deadlifts (and all the variations thereof) are considered one of the 3 staple exercises for muscle building.

I have also seen the amount of pull ups I can do go through the roof.

I am confident that I am not only building muscle but injury proofing my back.

Oh and to finish, a nice 'hero' pose haha.

The Truth Behind What Motivates Me.

So I've been asked recently why I do it. When I'm sat there with serious DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), struggling to make it up and down the stairs or lift my arms - I'm asked why I put myself through it. When checking the nutritional information of everything I eat and drink - I'm asked why I bother, aren't I just being a little pedantic? When I'm drinking a protein shake with Creatine & BCAA's and all but gagging; when I'm stepping out for a run in the pouring rain and cold; when my hands are callused and hard - people are always asking me why I do it. 

So why do I do it?

1. I do it because of them. 

They sit there with their junk food and their television and their carbonated drinks and their internet. They go out on their binges and they sleep all day. They bathe in their own feebleness and fragility. They mock me for my weight gloves, my shakes, my vests and my supplements. But they just want to bring me down to their own level of uninspired weakness. They tell me it's not worth it. They try and pull me off my chosen path to a better me and when they fail they label me with vanity and arrogance. They live unaware that is infact me mocking them as I progress further and further away from them as I grow stronger, bigger, faster and more powerful than they could even comprehend my body would be capable of. 

2. I do it because of who I used to be.

I was once one of them. I was a slave to what I saw as my limits. I succumbed to the binges and the junk at the sake of my health, confidence and pride. When I finally saw the light, I went into working out blindly without knowledge and as a result I ended up at an unhealthy weight feeling sick all the time. My confidence all but disappeared entirely and I settled for what I was; weak. But one day something hit me, and that same thing sticks with me even now. It drives me. It is my fuel. It is renewable and is most certainly sustainable. And that, readers, is the fear of weakness. It is a raging fire burning inside of me which says I will never be weak again. It is a testament to the man I am now and the man I will be in the years to come. It serves as a reminder to everyone that I am no longer to be fucked with and I will no longer take your shit, and a warning to all those people who I would once have questioned fucking with that they will most certainly be fucked with now. It says that I will not back down and I will never surrender. It says that I will fight til the bitter end defending what I love and it says I WILL WIN.

Every last rep I push out whilst my body is screaming at me to stop is a big "fuck you" to everyone who pounded on me, who held me back, who left me behind, who failed me and who stood in my way. Including myself.

3. I do it for so much more.

I do it for the progression. I do it to see my charts go through the roof. For my before and after picture comparisons to be baffling. For the compliments that never grow old. For the shock and awe on the faces of people I've not seen for a while. For the sex appeal. For the 'this is what you could've had'. For the strength. For the power. For the confidence. For how safe I feel in my skin. For how alive I feel when finishing a session. For the making of new friends. For the achievement. For the realization of dreams; lifting something and looking like I could have only dreamt just weeks ago. For me. For you. For her. And for so much more.

And some of you might take all of this as arrogance - believe me, you're not alone. Arrogant is a word I hear all too often. But I don't see it as arrogance. It isn't arrogance to enjoy the fruit of your labours or to reap what you've sewn. I have worked fucking hard to be where I am now. I have poured blood, sweat and tears into the fire and out of it I have forged a new and better me. I have had my ups and I have most certainly had my downs. I have failed a thousand times and will fail a thousand more. But I get back up and I keep pushing because I know that I will get there in the end. I will see people fail, give up and fall by the wayside but I will keep on going where they could not. I will set a goal and hammer and hammer and hammer away until I smash it and then I'll set another.

I walk like a king. Perhaps not as one, but in the knowledge that I one day will be.

2 Year Weight

Click to enlarge

This is my weight over the period of around 2.5 years. It began with me at my heaviest in my Freshers year - holding onto a lot of 'freshers flab' from all the boozing. 

You can clearly see where I began running a lot and started losing weight, and where it continued to come off until I was at an unhealthy weight. 

You can then see where I start bulking. Notice how the line isn't as steep as the weight loss angle - this is because packing on muscle is much harder than losing fat.

You can even see where my weight dipped again during my time in Bristol in September when working Freshers Week haha. 

And now (although most recent weights aren't in this image), I'm pleased to say I'm at the heaviest I have ever been and it's all muscle.

Onwards and upwards from here.

I will finish this routine up in 5 weeks. I will then be a on 2-3 week 'cut' where I'll burn away all the inevitable fat build up you make whilst bulking and get nice and lean (just in time for Winter, eh?). Then I'll see how I'm looking and no doubt start a new bulk over the cold winter.

Next goal is the 75kg mark which I should hit within a couple of weeks. And then we're looking to the 80kg. 

I'm putting on roughly 0.8kg a week. 5 more weeks * 0.8kg = 4kg. So hopefully I can be about 77kg before I finish this routine. I'll then cut down to about 75kg probably. And then have just 5 weeks left til Christmas! Holy hell, is that it?! 

By the new year I'll be 80kg and ready to hit the beachers. In January. Let's hope I'm in Australia!

Weight Comparison

Here's a comparison between Pre-Skinny and Post-Skinny, both roughly around the 10st 5lbs mark. (Maybe a bit heavier now). 

The first picture was taken in Magaluf in 2008, just after I lost the 'Freshers Fat'. The latter taken a week or so ago. 

I even tried to recreate the pose! Haha. Finally filling out a little bit! Woop.

Workout Progress - Front Edition Pt.1

So yeah. Here's a quick front comparison. I will get proper pics soon in the same posture etc for an accurate comparison. But this is just to show the overall progress I've made.


It's odd. I still consider myself quite skinny. But when I look at that picture there, it's actually quite gross and I'm sure you'll agree! I look deathly thin. Much better now!
Still a long way to go. Just starting 4-6 weeks of some serious gaining with a few more supplements than I normally take - just to bust through my current plateau. After that (or when I run out of supps - not wasting 'em, they're fecking expensive) I'll resume back to just the protein. 

All along trying not to gain any fat so am trying to eat right. I'm a changed man now compared to what I was just a months ago with regard to snacking. I would pig out on biscuits, chocolate, crisps, ice creams every day - convincing myself that cos I was working out it was okay. But now I've cut it out dramatically. Was hard at first but cravings soon went away. I still allow myself a cheat day every week where I can eat what I want. What's the point in working so hard if you can never reward yourself or have stuff you like? 

So then after this bulk up, will be off the carbs (or lowering them anyway) and trying to cut my body fat percentage right down. Then we might be getting somewhere! 

All in time for me to go travelling and completely fuck the diet and the working out and lose all the gains I've made! haha. Least I'll be smoking hot for the beaches for a little while though! Besides, I'm sure they have gyms. If not, bodyweight circuits it is.

 

Workout Progress - Right Arm Edition

Click image to enlarge to get up close and personal!

The far left shows my right side view in around Oct/Nov of 2009, at the height of the problems mentioned in previous posts. I was unhealthily skinny and looking back I wonder how my girlfriend managed to still find me attractive!  Either way I found the drive and now a few months later (the other 3 shots taken in July 2010) you can see I've pretty much doubled in size and muscle mass.

Very pleased with the gains. I enjoyed doing the comparison as on a daily basis you don't see them gains. To me, my arms still look fairly small but when compared to back then can't help but feel the hard work has been paying off.

There's still a way to go yet. I'm looking for a bit more mass, especially in the arms and chest. Also need to level out my arms as my left is a bit smaller still. Then just got to get on a strict diet - no junk, just a few complex carbs and try and cut that last bit of fat I've got to get the physique I'm looking for.

Other views to follow probably! 

Running & Fitness

As mentioned in the previous posts, I was a keen runner over the summer of 2008 and got into pretty good shape. What I DIDN'T mention is the problems incurred after that.

At my heaviest in University I was 11st 6lbs (Feb 08). Around September 08 after the summer of running, the time I went to Magaluf, I weighed in at 10st 5lbs. A good weight for someone of my body type. However, for some reason I started to feel sick everytime I ate. I would be blindingly hungry and take a bite of something and immediately feel sick. And not just a little nauseous; I would honestly feel like it was a struggle to hold my food down. But I carried on running. And obviously, through lack of appetite and feeling sick, I wasn't consuming enough calories to continue with an active lifestyle and the weight started to fall off. I realised this and stopped running, yet I continued to lose weight. I was tested for H.Pylori (stomach ulcers), Diabetes, Coeliacs and a whole host of other things, all of which came back negative & normal. Ultimately, the good Doctor told me he had concerns that I was depressed and that a combination of anxiety and depression could be the cause of my troubles. I would agree in hindsight - I was under a lot of stress with university and so on, and I also house an irrational fear of being sick (emetophobia - more on that another day maybe!) which didn't help!

However he didn't want to put me on anti-depressants until I had kicked the nausea (as anti-depressants are known to cause nausea themselves!). So he gave me a perscription for some tablets to be taken to ease the sick feeling... but I didn't take them. May sound crazy but in a way I wanted to master my own body. I knew it was stupid that I was feeling sick, I just couldn't seem to shift it.

At my lowest I dropped to an exceptionally unhealthy 9st 3lbs - well, that's the lowest I have recorded, no doubt I fell below that at some point. And that was around June '09. I gained and lost weight intermittently here but was still very skinny and scrawny. As I see myself everyday, I couldn't really see it, but I was frequently told by people I'd not seen for a while that I had lost a lot of weight or that I looked unwell. Looking back at pictures from the time you can really see it, especially when compared with now.

Around Sep/Oct, I started to think enough is enough. Motivation? Well. I've always sheltered a desire to be a god-like specimen of a man who's irresistible to every woman (I think every man does whereas some act on it and others don't!). And, regardless of doing Martial Arts for years, I felt like a 'victim' and weak and vulnerable. I wanted to look strong and powerful as well as BE strong and BE powerful. Ultimately, I wanted to look good and feel good about myself and boost my confidence a bit - when will I finally be happy with it, who knows?

I just started eating more. Simple as that. I ate more food and just manned up and dealt with the sick feeling afterwards and eventually it started to subside and I started feeling hungry ALOT. I also started to get myself into a routine of actually getting up early (even if not working) and eating breakfast. Before, for years and years, I've hardly been able to touch breakfast without feeling queezy cos it's so early, and now I can't go without it! I'm starving when I wake up!

My biggest boost of inspiration came around January. I started thinking about a career in the Marines. The minimum weight they accept is 60kg, yet advise on being 65kg when you start training as everyone loses weight. I started training as if I was going to apply to be a Marine, even if I chose not to be. I also broke up with my girlfriend, and although we were still great friends, I now had more time and a lot of emotional baggage to channel into getting in shape.

I signed up for the local gym along with all the other New Years Resolutioners and have seen many of them fall by the wayside!

I succumbed to supplements and got hold of some Whey Protein to boost my protein intake.

I got some L-Glutamine to keep my immune system up whilst my body works hard - but only after getting ill about 3 times in 2 months. Damn sweaty, germ-filled people at the gym!

I made a point of drinking alot of water. 

I read up on everything! It took over my life for a little while whilst I planned training routines, looked at different exercises, read websites and magazines all about the ins and outs of 'bulking up'. I've even kept a food diary keeping track of my protein intake from 23/01/2010 until now, 14/05/2010 and beyond.

I entered myself in some runs such as a 6 Mile run for Sport Relief and a 10k Military course involving chest-deep water pools, crawling under nets and so on.

I got myself some proper running shoes. Weight gloves. An armband for my iPod. A barbell for my workouts at home. I even got a towel specially for the gym.

I was in it to win it!

The Results

Date:        Weight in Stone & Lbs
06/02/2008    11.6
05/05/2008    11.2
11/06/2008    11.6
08/07/2008    10.13
03/09/2008    10.5
17/09/2008    10.3
23/10/2008    10
30/10/2008    10
19/02/2009    9.6
16/06/2009    9.3
06/08/2009    9.5
23/08/2009    9.5
05/10/2009    9.8
22/10/2009    9.7
31/10/2009    9.8
23/11/2009    9.10
07/12/2009    9.13
29/12/2009    9.13
21/01/2009    9.11
21/02/2010    10.1
21/03/2010    10.4
31/03/2010    10.5
06/05/2010    10.5

And there I hit a 'plateau' as it's known in the industry. And I'm working through that now. Will keep you posted! But as you can see I'm now back at a pretty ideal weight for my height and I have a good BMI and a good fat percentage.

For the Marines you have to run 1.5miles on a 2% incline in less than 12minutes and 30seconds followed by a further 1.5 miles 'return' in less than 10m 30s as a best effort run. Here are my return run times:

13th Jan: 10.13
15th Jan: 9.25
17th Jan: 9.05
24th Jan: 9.02
28th Jan: 8.20
15th Feb: 8.10

I took a break from the Marines training as I was working on the 10km runs and therefore more endurance than speed. I came back and tried it in April expecting the worst and I got:

23rd April: 6.50

A personal best! And almost 4 minutes quicker than the accepted time.

So, let it be a lesson to you - you can do whatever you put your mind too. Putting on weight is SO much harder than losing it. You have to appreciate that it doesn't happen over night, but you have to persist and take it one step at a time. To quote "Always I will take another step - and if that is to no avail, I will take another. And yet another. For in truth, one step at a time is not difficult. I know that small attempts repeated will complete any undertaking. I will persist until I succeed."

Bristol 10k

Just back from the Bristol 10k (6.2m). Turned into a good morning out after a very early start and a morning of feeling very lethargic and not up for it! Was freezing so I wore trousers which I later came to regret as I warmed up!

I came in at around 56 minutes by my watch. We had a timing chip attached to our shoes which activates when you pass the start line and deactivates and records your time as you cross the finish line - so I'll have an accurate time at some point this evening or tomorrow! 

Didn't beat my personal best (currently 52 mins) but pleased with the result for my first time on that particular route. The last road 10k I took part in at an 'official' function such as this was the Sport Relief 10k which I came in at 1h 8mins so have shaved a good few minutes off.

Was also busting my gut for a leak the whole way round and eventually at around the 8k mark, as if it God heard me praying for one, a single unoccupied portaloo with no queues appeared! So was a minute or two in there! 

Lots of freebies after. Well, I say free.. It's probably just goods that my £22 entry fee was spent on! A medal, a t-shirt, sweatband, pen, cereal bar, sports drinks, water, foil blanket, bag and a couple of other bits and bobs. Good haul if you ask me! 


Spending the rest of the day rehydrating and recovering and then it's time to really focus on the bulking up, which means a reduction in the amount of cardio for now as I need to pile on the calories and not burn them off! Sad really, I do enjoy my regular runs - but it's all for the greater good. 


There were hundreds of photographers about, so once I have some official pics I'll post them up... if I don't look like too much of an ass! 


Peace!