Are you progressing using this plan?

For most it would not be an ideal plan for either hypertrophy or strength.

This would be more like a de-load week on a hypertrophy program.

I am. The caveat is that I've only been weight training again for about 2.5 months, and only doing this program for about a month. So I know that part of these gains are just me ramping up after the long hiatus. And i know that the growth in my arms/chest/back are mostly water right now.

But 4-5 weeks ago I could barely do 3 reps on the smith bench press @135-lbs, and last week I did 135-lbs/12 times, 155/10, 175/8, 195/5, 215/4.

Similar results in back/arms. And i feel pretty good.


I think what works is that I'm trying to practice perfect form for each rep (something I wasn't super disciplined about before), and I'm using weights that I can control but that are usually heavier than what I was doing in the past. And I'm bumping weight nearly every week, trying to ensure that the last 5-6 reps are nearly impossible. That intensity at the end of each 2nd set of each exercise is what i think has been making the difference so far.



Should've added: Pretty sure that in the past I was over-training; doing 18+ sets per body part, sometimes twice a week. Never saw great physical gains doing that. I'd get pretty strong, but wouldn't see much volume. This program keeps the sets and reps down to a minimum, making it harder to overtrain, which might be a significant part of why things seem to be working well to this point.

So i have a question: it's been a long time since I've used protein powder supplements, and i forgot how much I'm supposed to be taking. I currently weigh 175, but would eventually want to weigh about 165, though the exact final weight isn't that important to me. less than now is what I'm shooting for.

Do I eat approx. 1 gram of protein for every pound i weigh now, or for what I want to weigh? For a month now I've been eating 160-170 grams of protein/day.

Are we not supposed to talk about protein supplements?

1 gram per lb of body weight whatever weight you are should suffice. Anything more is basically wasted anyway.

You are trying to lose weight without losing muscle. Protein is how you help do that.

Okay, that's kind of what I figured, but I just couldn't remember, lol. i just went '160 today, 170 tomorrow, repeat,' lol.

Kind of interesting that in the US you will hear 1g per lb of bodyweight. Go to Canada, the UK, or pretty much anywhere they use Metric they will say 1g per kilogram.

A kg is about 2.2 lbs. So that would basically be .5g per lb.

Everyones body is going to have its own chemistry so it will vary from person to person.

As long as you are at minimum the .5g/lb you are at a good point but you will need to adjust higher until you hit your sweet spot.

This is also something that will be a slightly dynamic number depending on your workout cycle.

Make sure you drink lots of water especially the higher protein you go. Your kidneys will thank you.

Also make sure you get your fats in as well. Your joints will appreciate it.

Bud, thanks for clearing that up. Makes a ton of sense. Also will save a ton of $$$. I'll cut my protein intake in half and see how I do for a couple months. Appreciate you.

If you start to hit a wall or any drops in muscle mass start to increase protein. Eventually you will get to the spot where you are at your optimum intake and not just shitting out wasted $.

You are better to over do it than under do it.

.5g per lb is more of a maintenance dosage IMO. If you are trying to build muscle you want more.

Keep in mind your body isn't going to absorb all the protein you intake each meal or snack you kind of need to over load a bit to account for lost protein as your body only processes so much in a sitting.

That's also very helpful, thx. I think I'm going to try about 25% over the maintenance amount (about 100g) for a month or so and see what happens.

1 key thing is that if you are having to use more than a few scoops a day to get your protein up then 99% likely you are not consuming enough real food as well.

I'm really hoping this works. Even if I have to go to 125g or whatever, I'd only be drinking 1 protein shake a day, and I'd much rather eat actual food protein in normal quantities than drink multiple shakes/day.

Thanks for the help.

Which is horseshit since your body apparently has no trouble processing excess calories.. dickhead body..

It's not the amount of calories. It is the type of calorie. It is just less work for your body to convert carbs to fat vs convert protein to fat.