Old Man Skinny’s Journal

I’ve been a pretty faithful fan of iSatori supplements over the last 6 or 7 years.  I’ve tried almost all of their supps, and regularly use several in my daily stack.  I post on their forum page regularly, so I guess they have noticed my “pleasant disposition”

I’m officially a “company rep.” for iSatori here on BB.com now.  No big perks, but it’s an easy thing to support people in using supps that I believe in.

So spread the word that I’m around if any of you or your lifting buddies have questions about iSatori’s products.

I’ve tried the bulk/cut cycle twice now and it just isn’t my thing.  Sure, I enjoyed the more relaxed eating during the 2 or 3 months of bulking.  I’m not a guy who eats "bad" stuff anyway, but I did enjoy the carbs that I could include in my bulking plan.  Yes, the muscle mass increased and I enjoyed feeling stronger, but I DID NOT like the extra layer of fat I saw around my middle at 13%!

Cutting wasn’t bad, but I did get a little depressed thinking about all the things I couldn’t eat, and it was HARD WORK planning carb-less meals and going out for runs every afternoon just to get rid of the body fat.  And all to no avail.  Both times I ended up right back where I’d started as far as muscle mass.

Now I admit that there were "tricks" I just may not have known about that could have saved the lost muscle, but I followed my trainer’s dietary and workout advice to the letter.  If he, a previous Mr. America, couldn’t help me keep the muscle, then maybe I’d better try something that is tailored more to my goals, lifestyle, and specific body.  And I’m sure you’d include my AGE as a factor .

So here’s the plan.

objective:  Gradually gain muscle while maintaining a lean physique.  This will at least keep me feeling positive about myself, keep my clothes fitting right, while staying fit and healthy and enjoying good, clean food–all the pluses of the bodybuilding lifestyle.
Monitoring:  Body weight and Tanita Scale body fat measurement every morning.  Sure, Tanita scales are not the truest indication, but it will at least be a quick and easy way to monitor some kind of change.  It isn’t ideal, but it will fit my needs.
Workouts: 4-day cycle–1) Chest, delts, upper arms; 2) Back, rear delts, traps, forearms; 3) legs, upper arms, rotator cuff; 4) Cardio and abs.  The workouts will use a multitude of different exercises, hand positions, high/low rep. variations, and set designs (drop, super, to fatigue) etc. to target the muscles from every possible direction.  Sunday will always be a rest day, no matter where it falls in the 4-day cycle.

Nutrition:  40/45/15 Protein/carb/fat daily nutrient ratio, getting most of the carbs earlier in the day around the workout.  The goal will be to eat as much as I can without tipping the body fat over 8%.

Supplementation:  BCAAs and Glutamine before and after workouts.  ISA-Test and Morph before workouts.  3-XL after workouts.  3g fish oil 3 times a day.  Multi-vitamin.
Intervention:  When the daily weigh-in is in the high 7% body fat range, that day will be a no- or low-carb day and include a cardio workout in the afternoon.  This intervention will continue until the body fat is back to the low 7% range.

I’m open to suggestions.

My goal is to add muscle mass over the next 5 months for a competition in April.  What should be my strategy?  I’m thinking all of the following apply.  Correct me or make suggestions where you think I’m wrong:

NUTRITION
Eat enough to feed the growth–but not so much that it spills over into body fat.
Eat protein, Protein, PROTEIN.  55-60% of calories
Keep the good fats at 15-20% of calories.  Plenty of fish oil, flax seed, fish, nuts, olive oil, etc.

CARDIO
At least 3 times per week for 30 min. to keep up the metabolic rate.
Add extra cardio if I see the body fat raising.

WEIGHT WORKOUTS
Hit the large muscles twice a week–once heavy (in the 4-6 rep range) and once lighter (in the 10-12 rep range)
Focus on compound lifts
Up my weight days from 3 to 4 or 5 days per week

MISC
Plenty of sleep
Plenty of water
Posing practice once a week
Supps–glutamine, BCAAs, 3XL, H+Blocker, ISA-Test

Chime in with your suggestions.  This old man is an "old dog" ready to learn "new tricks."