Critique needed.

[heregothere]

Background
--------------------
I am 22 years old, 5'11", 145 pounds, 10% body fat, mesomorph body type, pretty active. 3 years ago I was 170 lbs, 20% bf. I started running and following a clean diet and molded myself into pretty good shape.

Now I want to start adding lean mass. I don't want to pack on fat (and I have all the time in the world since I'm already pretty happy with how I look). Over the past 2 months I've started doing a 4 day (push/pull) split. I have seen really good strength gains, but I haven't gotten much bigger. I think my lifting regimen is pretty much in check because my workout partner is a gym rat and he supervises me .

So, these are my questions: do you think I should start taking any supplements (creatine, test, etc)? Would you make any changes to my diet? Am I getting enough calories (my BMR is about 2300 according to various internet calculators) if all I want to do is add lean mass? Should I cycle my calories/carbs? ...and anything else you could think of would be greatly appreciated. Please be honest and don't hold back, I want your truthful assessments.


Typical diet
--------------------
2600 calories per day. Very disciplined eating habits - I think of food as fuel rather than it being an emotional thing. It's hard because my friends like to go out and eat shit for food or party while I'm just content with making my own food at home. I try to avoid simple carbs and sugars and too much animal fat. I have the occasional glass of red wine or beer. On a typical day, I drink coffee in the morning, a Diet Coke in the afternoon, and tea at night (too much caffeine?). When I was running, my intake was probably 70% carbs / 15% protein / 15% fat. I have slowly upped my protein to about 180 grams per day (don't even ask about gastro-intestinal issues, yo), so my macronutrient intake is around 40c / 30p / 30f.


Meal 1, 8AM (Carb-rich first meal)
----------
Multivitamins
1/2c Steel-cut Oatmeal
1 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
1 Piece Fruit (usually apples, bananas or mangos)
2 Fried Eggs (in Pam, not oil)
2 tbsp Ground Flax Seeds
[ 550 cals / 19g protein ]

*WORKOUT*

Meal 2, 11:30AM (Post-workout shake)
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- 2 scoops protein powder
- 1 c milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 frozen banana
[ 500 / 43g ]

Meal 3, 1:30PM
----------
sugar free whole wheat bread
lean lunch meat (roast beef/turkey/chicken/ham)
reduced fat cheese
1c steamed broccoli
[ 450 / 41g ]

Meal 4, 3:30-5PM (Usually snacks because I'm in class)
----------
- Powerbar Sugarfree Protein bar
- Almonds
[ 380 / 22g ]

Meal 5, 7PM
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Whole wheat pasta
Chicken breast
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Veggies
[ 510 / 48g ]

Meal 6, 11PM (About an hour before I hit the sack)
----------
Lowfat Cottage Cheese
1 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
[ 200 / 12g ]


Thanks again, you guys rule!

 

[AngerOut]

Overall your diet looks real good. Very clean. Here are some suggestions. First, because its so solid, make only small changes to see how your body reacts. Weigh yourself often. Meal one: try adding more eggs, esp wts and maybe cut the pb till later. Also, mix up the protien, a big steak or some tuna will keep you from burning out on chicken. If after a few weeks you start to plataue, add 5 mg of creatine in your post w/o shake. Let that take affect for a few weeks and make any changes from there.

 

[sparklylegwarmers]

i'm no expert... but i'd up the cals more than just 300 cals over your approximate BMR. my BMR is around 1400 and my active caloric rate is around 2000 but i eat 2300 or so cals/day when i'm bulking. if your ratios are 40-30-30 your protein should be way higher than 180g (i would think) - try for more like 218g at least because that's 1.5g per lb of your bodyweight. i like to use fitday.com to check if my ratios are in order.

creatine is a GREAT idea.

i hope you're drinking at least 1.5 gallons of water a day.

isn't maple syrup sugar?

ok.. i just plunked your stats into an online calculator. your active caloric rate is 2600 but your bmr is 1700 or so. sooo.... to gain, you probably want to be eating over 2600 per day... can you aim toward 2900-3000?

 

[heregothere]

I think I'm going to up to about 2800-2900 and go for about 200g of protein a day.

Maple is a simple sugar - trying to go for the insulin spike so the protein gets shuttled straight to the muscles. As soon as I run out of my big jar of it, I'm going to switch to dextrose or maltodextrin.

I think I'm going to start creatine after I've been on the higher cal diet for a while. Can you recommend a brand of creatine? What about test? I've done a little research on it and seems to be like it could make my gains just explode. I'm not in a rush and want to go the healthy route so I'm ambivalent.

Thanks for your recs guys.

 

[AngerOut]

Stay away from Test. You have only been training for 3 years. Learn all you can about Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) and make as much gains naturally first.
As far as the "best " creatine...you are going to get MANY opinions on that one. Personally, I like Beverly International. $19 for 300 grams and B/E is a very reputable company.
www.bodybuildingworld.com
AngerOut

 

[sparklylegwarmers]

i meant to post again... there is no way you are a mesomorph with your height and weight. you are probably ecto - in which case you might need to eat even more cals... like 3500.

if i were to buy creatine, i'd buy kaizen monohydrate because it's a german brand (germany is stricter about their supplement standards). this is the cheapest price i've found online: http://www.fitnetusa.com/creatine_mono.html

the 1000g container would last you 10.5 weeks.

i think 200g of protein is still too low. you probably won't see gains until you hit 1.5g imo.

i'm a 123lb female and i eat 2300-2500 cals a day at 40-30-30. i take in over 200g normally.

 

[atherjen]

sparkly! very good advice hun!


heregothere, you defintly need to eat MORE! and by that I mean lots of nutritious wholesome foods, lots of protein, 1.5g/lb of bodyweight, if you want to limit fat gain try to keep carb sources relativly clean(ie dont rely on pasta and breads, even whole wheat) go for old oats, sweet potatoes, yams, legumes, brown rice, bran, etc. and of course make sure your getting in veggies for nutrients and fiber!!(I see that you get a good amount now, keep that up)

you post workout shakes needs a lil change too. no fruit post workout, although it is a simple sugar, fructose replinishs liver glycogen first rather than your muscles. milk will slow the absorption rate, from the fats and casein-type of protein. Preferably dextrose and/or malodextrin to spike your insulin, as I see that you were aiming for with the maple syrup. and again, as Im sure you know, whey protein post workout.. as its the fastest absorbing. Throw in some pure creatine monohydrate, and as well I might suggest ALA to aid in shuttling nutrients to the muscles. vitamin C and E are great for recovery too.

in relation to the gastro-intestinal issues with the increased protein, try some ginger root caps or papaya enzymes prior to your meal(jsut before eating). they both are great aids in the digestion of protein.

 

[Fyre]

I think I'm going to up to about 2800-2900 and go for about 200g of protein a day.

Maple is a simple sugar - trying to go for the insulin spike so the protein gets shuttled straight to the muscles. As soon as I run out of my big jar of it, I'm going to switch to dextrose or maltodextrin.

I think I'm going to start creatine after I've been on the higher cal diet for a while. Can you recommend a brand of creatine? What about test? I've done a little research on it and seems to be like it could make my gains just explode. I'm not in a rush and want to go the healthy route so I'm ambivalent.

Thanks for your recs guys.

Sportlab's Plasmavol is an awesome product. When I use creatine that's the one I use. You can purchase it at http://www.directconnectnutrition.com/
The peach is my favorite but the Iced Tea is awesome too!

 

[atherjen]

Sportlab's Plasmavol is an awesome product. When I use creatine that's the one I use. You can purchase it at http://www.directconnectnutrition.com/
The peach is my favorite but the Iced Tea is awesome too!

you know Im with you on this one girl! best premixed creatine/carb combo that Ive come by, and very afforadable.
the iced tea is my fav. peach is very good as Fyre said, even the grape! Mmmm

 

[heregothere]

awesome. thanks guys (and gals).