Need a little help here...

[fitness4life]

I just started another cycle of var and I’m into my 4th week on it. Now, I've been gaining some muscle and my strength has gone up but I’m not sure if I’m eating enough. I'm goal here is to gain and then cut once I’m done my cycle. I've been averaging 1350-1500 calories, 25-40g fat, 135-155g protein, taking my multivitamin everyday and 15mg var. My current weight is 155lbs, 5'5" and I’ve gained about 2 lbs since I started. I haven't gone up in dress size and I’m looking to gain a bit more muscle. I want to make sure I’m getting full use of my var!!! I train for about 45 mins a day 5 times a week, no cardio as I have no time. I train on my lunch hour!! Any suggestions?

 

[heavy_duty]

4 weeks 2 lbs 15mg?
could be bunk gear.

 

[fitness4life]

4 weeks 2 lbs 15mg?
could be bunk gear.

No, this stuff is good, same bottle I used last time....i've also lost some fat as well. I'm going into my 4th week and I think my issue is that i'm not eating enough

 

[heavy_duty]

I'll let the regulars offer their two cents.

No, this stuff is good, same bottle I used last time....i've also lost some fat as well. I'm going into my 4th week and I think my issue is that i'm not eating enough

 

[Sassy69]

What does your diet consist of? (Macro ratios) And if this is supposed to be a bulking cycle I'd probably suggest eating more like 1.5-2x your weight. Right now you're sort of just barely eating at maintenance.

To compare - even off season my body tends to like to hang around 162-165 lb - mostly just my bodyfat ratio changes. But I generally eat around 1750-1800 cals. But I also cut on that down to 140 - so I think you need more food in general. But I'd like to know what those cals are being distributed into.

 

[fitness4life]

What does your diet consist of? (Macro ratios) And if this is supposed to be a bulking cycle I'd probably suggest eating more like 1.5-2x your weight. Right now you're sort of just barely eating at maintenance.

To compare - even off season my body tends to like to hang around 162-165 lb - mostly just my bodyfat ratio changes. But I generally eat around 1750-1800 cals. But I also cut on that down to 140 - so I think you need more food in general. But I'd like to know what those cals are being distributed into.

This was Monday

Cal 1366
Fat 19%
Carbs 34 %
Protein 47%

Morning

Coffee w. Sugar & Cream

ISO XP Whey Protein w/ frozen fruit

Sliced Ham 125g

Afternoon

Beef Stir Fry w/ Brown Rice

Salad w/mushrooms, baby carrots, yellow pepper / dressing

Cottage Cheese 1/2 cup

Totals 1366 27 124 153



Yesterday

Cal 1421
Fat 21%
Carbs 39%
Protein 40%

Morning

Coffee w. Sugar & Cream

ISO XP Whey Protein

Egg, boiled

Afternoon

Salad w/mushrooms, baby carrots, yellow pepper / dressing

Subway, Roasted Chicken Breast

Supper

Mac 'n' Beef Soup made w/ whole wheat pasta & lean ground beef

Cottage Cheese 1/2 cup

Totals 1421 32 147 138


Now yesterday, my carb intake was higher than a normal day and my protein intake was below normal. I eat throughout the day while i'm at work, so the food is spread out over the day. The morning I usually just have my shake then around 1130-12 i'll have my egg, ham etc.

After looking at this, doesn't look like much food, but at the end of the day, i'm not looking for anything.

 

[fitness4life]

Let me add one more thing...I work at a callcenter and been working 12 hour days and will be doing this for another month or so (as this place is closing), so I don't have alot of activity in my daily lifestyle other then the gym. That's why I tend to keep my food intake low

 

[Sassy69]

I understand the challenges of working around your work schedule and all that - but if your goal is to bulk and you aren't - that means u arent' eating for it. Esp w/ var. Altho to my example above - my weight doesn't change much but my body composition does - it might help to get an accurate BF reading every week so you can tell for sure. But you still arent' eating enough. And the fact that you aren't hungry is telling me your body is probably adapted to the fuel it gets --- try upping your food a bit and see how it goes. Regardless of the var, w/ an increase in cals you should be able to build up some really nice strength just w/ that. I'll point u to both Treilin & sbt's logs on this board for evidence of that.

I'm a desk jockey as well - have been for 20 yrs - 10yrs as a software engineer, 10 as a product mgr for software companies. I've spent an avg of easily 15 hrs / day in at a desk for 20 yrs. I still need to eat more if I want to build muscle mass. If you arent' eating enough to support the activity you are doing, you might even be catabolizing your muscle to support that.

I'd suggest upping your cals to around 2000 for a week and just see how you feel. I'd keep the ratios around 40/30/30 -- increase a little each day if you need to just so you don't feel stuffed -- but if your point is to bulk, then bulk. It didnt' sound like you are going to compete - but if you were, then you'll find that it really doesn't matter how comfortable u are w/ your body day to day (meaning if u are bulking & u feel stuffed & fat, tough shit - you're bulking... you'll be cutting at cuttign time and your goal is to have a certain look on stage on show day, not to feel comfortable each day up until then - because then you probably won't hit your goal of tight on show day -- the two goals conflict.)

But honestly I'd just say try it and see what happens. If you dont like your results now -its obviously due to your diet so IMO time to change the diet.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I agree with Sassy ... you sound like you are eating enough calories for a CUTTING cycle - not a bulking one.

Cutting is usually around 10xBW calories, which sounds like where you are right now. You would likely benefit from an increase to around 13-15xBW if your goal is to gain.

Als0 - training 5x a week is not really necessary. What is your split like? Rep range? Sets? Exercise choices?

 

[fitness4life]

I understand the challenges of working around your work schedule and all that - but if your goal is to bulk and you aren't - that means u arent' eating for it. Esp w/ var. Altho to my example above - my weight doesn't change much but my body composition does - it might help to get an accurate BF reading every week so you can tell for sure. But you still arent' eating enough. And the fact that you aren't hungry is telling me your body is probably adapted to the fuel it gets --- try upping your food a bit and see how it goes. Regardless of the var, w/ an increase in cals you should be able to build up some really nice strength just w/ that. I'll point u to both Treilin & sbt's logs on this board for evidence of that.

I'm a desk jockey as well - have been for 20 yrs - 10yrs as a software engineer, 10 as a product mgr for software companies. I've spent an avg of easily 15 hrs / day in at a desk for 20 yrs. I still need to eat more if I want to build muscle mass. If you arent' eating enough to support the activity you are doing, you might even be catabolizing your muscle to support that.

I'd suggest upping your cals to around 2000 for a week and just see how you feel. I'd keep the ratios around 40/30/30 -- increase a little each day if you need to just so you don't feel stuffed -- but if your point is to bulk, then bulk. It didnt' sound like you are going to compete - but if you were, then you'll find that it really doesn't matter how comfortable u are w/ your body day to day (meaning if u are bulking & u feel stuffed & fat, tough shit - you're bulking... you'll be cutting at cuttign time and your goal is to have a certain look on stage on show day, not to feel comfortable each day up until then - because then you probably won't hit your goal of tight on show day -- the two goals conflict.)

But honestly I'd just say try it and see what happens. If you dont like your results now -its obviously due to your diet so IMO time to change the diet.

Thanks, lol, I just finished telling my fiance yesterday that i'm feeling fat!! I'm sticking to my dress pants and away from my jeans until i'm done this!! Anyways, i'll give that a shot, but a little confussed. Wouldn't I need to have my protein a little higher then 30%

 

[fitness4life]

I agree with Sassy ... you sound like you are eating enough calories for a CUTTING cycle - not a bulking one.

Cutting is usually around 10xBW calories, which sounds like where you are right now. You would likely benefit from an increase to around 13-15xBW if your goal is to gain.

Als0 - training 5x a week is not really necessary. What is your split like? Rep range? Sets? Exercise choices?

I only train for about 45 mins and I do a diff body part each day. Mon - Chest, Tues - Arms, Wed - Legs, Thurs - Shoulders, & Fri - Back

I do about 3 to 4 diff exercises, 3 sets each, and my reps would depend on how heavy i'm lifting. Every now and then, I will try my max for 1 or 2 reps. I've been planning on making a log of my training but didn't get to it yet. I think i'll be getting myself a notebook after work today and i'll start a log this monday!!

Since i've been on the var, i've noticed a big diff in my shoulders, which I love!! I'm doing an 8 week cycle but i've heard u can go up to 12 weeks, what do u think??? I'd like to do 10 to 12 weeks only if it's safe for a woman.

So far, my plan is 15mg for another 2 weeks, then start coming off, 10mg for one week, then 5mg for my last week. I started off with 10mg for one week and went up to 20mg for 1 1/2 weeks but had to lower my dosage, I was seeing if I could handle that much but can't.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

You do not have to taper your dose. Once you find the optimal dose for you, then you can stay there.

It is really silly to take so much Var - there is no added benefit. Additional Var will not necessarily better your results, it might only increase the chance for sides. In all honesty, if your diet and training is tight, then 10mg is more than enough.

I think it would be a good idea to list out the exercises. That might also help us better give you advice ... sounds like your sets/reps are okay, but I am not sure because we don't know your exercise CHOICES.

Also, is there is a reason you train 1 body part per day? Not saying that is necessarily wrong, but sometimes people see better results if you combine body parts and have a few resting days between lifting sessions. Just a thought.

 

[fitness4life]

You do not have to taper your dose. Once you find the optimal dose for you, then you can stay there.

It is really silly to take so much Var - there is no added benefit. Additional Var will not necessarily better your results, it might only increase the chance for sides. In all honesty, if your diet and training is tight, then 10mg is more than enough.

I think it would be a good idea to list out the exercises. That might also help us better give you advice ... sounds like your sets/reps are okay, but I am not sure because we don't know your exercise CHOICES.

Also, is there is a reason you train 1 body part per day? Not saying that is necessarily wrong, but sometimes people see better results if you combine body parts and have a few resting days between lifting sessions. Just a thought.

I've been training like that for years, or i'll do chest bi's, on monday, legs tuesday, wed off, thurs shoulders, tri's and friday back. Here is a list of exerices I do:

Chest

Flat Bench

1 set 12 reps warm up
2 sets x 8 95 lbs
1 set x 10 75 lbs

Incline DB

2 sets x 10 35 lbs
1 set x 10 30

Incline flyes

2 X 10 25 lbs
1 X 12 20 lbs

Cable flyes

3 x 10 25 lbs

Arms (Superset)

Curls 3 x 10 40 lbs
Dips 3 x 10

seated incline DB curls
3x10 20 lbs
overhead exentions
1 x 12 35 lbs
2 x 8 50 lbs

hammer curls
3 x 10 15lbs
kickbacks
3 x 12 15 lbs

This is just a sample of what I usually do. I would love to mix it up starting monday if anyone can give me any pointers. The less time in the gym the better!!!

 

[heavy_duty]

on a scale of 1-10 how intense are your work-outs?

 

[Sassy69]

40/30/30 = 40% protein / 30% carb / 30% fat --- you need to run that at least 3 weeks to make a call on whether or not you think its working for you - but u need to gauge by do you have enough energy to do the lifting (and I mean balls to the muthfukkin wall lifting) to allow you to grow but also sleep well at night, not feel exhausted or run down.

I'm not going to comment on the "i feel fat" -- I'm a little militant about how I approach fitness and all the things we do to change our bodies - because its always a phased approach, its a constant journey and even when you think you achieved what you want, you have to determine if what you want is maitainable - I"m sure every girl would love to maintain that "on stage" look but the fact of the matter is that 7-10% bf is NOT a healthy thing to maintain and it is a given that if your goal is to look a certain way on a target show day, you have to accommodate a rebound so that your body can find a natural balance again after you pushed to this extreme that your body can absorb for a day or two - but to think you can maintain it (I'm assuming typical "normal good health") is suicide. Or if you want to maintain a very lean look then you have to spend a lot of time slowly adjusting your body down so that it is comfortable living off of x calories (not starvation) w/ a level of activity that it has adjusted to.

But if your goal is to 1) "get the most out of your var" and 2) for strength or size and the 3) cut down later --- make like you're doing a hypertrophy cycle -- it takes food to grow. If you also dont want to "feel fat", those are two diametrically opposed goals and trying to accommodate them both is a guranteed failure of your first two goals.

Getting a targeted change out of your body is a phased approach and you will achieve your goal if you are determined and patient and consistent in your program to achieve the goal - anything less and you won't achieve that goal, or you will achieve it but not to the degree that you probably had in mind -i.e. if you don't get what you want out of it, why bother at all?

 

[fitness4life]

Well, it's not that I feel fat, just feel bigger overall, but hey, that's what I want!! As for my work outs, it depends, last week i'd give them 7 to 9, but the weeks before, I wasted my time, only rate about 5 to 6. I had no energy, tired all the time. I had to start taking 8 mg Ephedrine and 50 mg caffine before my afternoon workout. I've been lifting heavier, getting a way better pump!! I've made some changes to my eating today and going to carry it out for next week and see how my energy levels are. This should get me some size now. As for sleep, not getting a whole lot of that, i'm averaging about 6 to 7 hrs if i'm lucky and I think that plays a role in my training.

 

[T-Cake]

I'm also on var and the same height/weight as you. My diet is 1550 -1700 a day because I'm cutting... so that means you need to eat more (I'm following Ulter's advice as well as the ladies on here). I find that I am making gains in the gym each week -- my weights are increasing in most evertyhing -- but I do way more cardio than you (1 hour a day, 6 days a week).

So I think the advice to eat more is a good one... and as for feeling big/fat... I'm with you! I'm not that tall but sometimes I stand next to smaller girls in the gym and just feel like an amazon, but I have to keep telling myself that my size is my muscle, NOT fat. It's hard, but I know how you feel on that.

Also, when I started on the 'var, Ulter advised me to set my macro goals to 50% protein, 25% carbs, 25% fat per day, rather than 40/30/30. Now I'm not competing in the near future, so realistically my day is 40/30/30... but that extra protein really does help with my gains AND the smaller carbs kept my water weight down, so I definitely felt less puffy/large. Maybe that will help you out too.

Hope some of this helps. You are working really hard; good for you!!!

 

[superqt4u2nv]

I've been training like that for years, or i'll do chest bi's, on monday, legs tuesday, wed off, thurs shoulders, tri's and friday back. Here is a list of exerices I do:

Chest

Flat Bench

1 set 12 reps warm up
2 sets x 8 95 lbs
1 set x 10 75 lbs

Incline DB

2 sets x 10 35 lbs
1 set x 10 30

Incline flyes

2 X 10 25 lbs
1 X 12 20 lbs

Cable flyes

3 x 10 25 lbs

Arms (Superset)

Curls 3 x 10 40 lbs
Dips 3 x 10

seated incline DB curls
3x10 20 lbs
overhead exentions
1 x 12 35 lbs
2 x 8 50 lbs

hammer curls
3 x 10 15lbs
kickbacks
3 x 12 15 lbs

This is just a sample of what I usually do. I would love to mix it up starting monday if anyone can give me any pointers. The less time in the gym the better!!!

If your trying to gain I would lower the rep range and increas the weight I typicaly work 3-8 when trying to put on mass also no more then 6 work sets per body part.

As everyone has stated you're curretly not eating enough to gain all the gear in the world wont produce results if your diet is not on track with your goals.

 

[Sassy69]

Well, it's not that I feel fat, just feel bigger overall, but hey, that's what I want!! As for my work outs, it depends, last week i'd give them 7 to 9, but the weeks before, I wasted my time, only rate about 5 to 6. I had no energy, tired all the time. I had to start taking 8 mg Ephedrine and 50 mg caffine before my afternoon workout. I've been lifting heavier, getting a way better pump!! I've made some changes to my eating today and going to carry it out for next week and see how my energy levels are. This should get me some size now. As for sleep, not getting a whole lot of that, i'm averaging about 6 to 7 hrs if i'm lucky and I think that plays a role in my training.

I didnt' want to come across like I was getting up in your shit - its just this thing that I've gone thru when I discuss w/ women who sit & complain about how they want this & that goal, but then they either won't train / eat to get to that goal or start whining about "I feel fat". Competition takes that situation to the extreme where the consequence is that you simply won't achieve your goal in your time frame and you either go on stage unprepared & fat or you don't go on stage --- its very simple. But its also a mind set about focusing on your goals. You can do amazing things w/ your body but its really all about slow, consistent & calculated changes so that your body can respond to the changes, adjust to the changes and then make those the "norm" and just give it time to get to your goal so that your body can maitain it instead of reboundign like crazy once you get there if you are looking for the quicky way.

Trust me - there is no experience that will challenge your mind, body & soul more than a physique competition - any other even extreme sport on the planet can't touch it. The hardest part is the day to day living w/ the structured program you are in and waiting to pass thru the changes your body has to make to get to the goal. And once you go thru that -- trust me - I was the whiniest bitch on the planet -- I literally cannot discuss diet or training w/ my mom any more because I called her on a daily basis just to deal w/ the whole experience, my emotions, my feelings, how I interacted w/ people, etc etc etc. I dont' tell her I'm competing anymore until AFTER the show is over.

Anyway - just making the point - esp if you are goign to put your body thru the stress of introducing an unnatural amount of male hormones, make like you're going to do use it so the whole effort isn't a waste.

 

[fitness4life]

Thanks for all your feedback. I'd like to get some help on a new routine. I have max 50 mins a day to spare for the gym, any suggestions?

 

[T-Cake]

Thanks for all your feedback. I'd like to get some help on a new routine. I have max 50 mins a day to spare for the gym, any suggestions?

Have you been reading the other ladies' threads/logs?

I find the best thing to do to get new ideas is sit, read the logs, find someone similar to you in goals, physique, or both and start writing down names of moves.

Ask questions of them - most of us are cool with clarifying moves or can tell u how long a whole routine/ lifting day set will take them.

 

[fitness4life]

Have you been reading the other ladies' threads/logs?

I find the best thing to do to get new ideas is sit, read the logs, find someone similar to you in goals, physique, or both and start writing down names of moves.

Ask questions of them - most of us are cool with clarifying moves or can tell u how long a whole routine/ lifting day set will take them.

Yeah, i've been looking however the routines I found a few months ago, can no longer find them again.