59 pounds in 6 months…Come on!!
I usually do not find myself reading the “Big Name” muscle mags, as they tend to repeat and regurgitate a lot of nonsense. I was, however, recently given a copy of one of these magazines by an airline employee. One of the headlines was how one of the IFBB guys gained 59 pounds of muscle in 6 months…well, my friends, I’m confused and need help here!
Okay, for this to happen, one would need to consume AND assimilate an EXCESS of 212,400 calories over the 6 months…that’s about 35,400 cal a month, about 8,850 cal a week, or about 1,264 a day. I am an exercise physiologist by trade and have a HEAVY load of human physiology and nutrition in my background. I find it unbelievable that any well trained human could assimilate and excess of 1,264 calories in one day…but, let’s look at this a little closer. There is a sample diet included!
To save space, I condensed it to this…about 262 grams of protein, 318 grams of carbs and about 57 grams of fat totaling about 3,000 total calories a day. The athlete with the claims is a mid 30’s guy weighing about 250 pounds. This guy’s BMR is going to be close to 2,500 calories a day…how is a 500 calorie difference going to pack those pounds on???
My conclusion is that he didn’t gain the weight, the magazine is further confusing the poor readers looking to them for advice and the athlete is on a goooooood dose of assistance (chemically) to have achieved his physical results. As you all can probably tell…I am a lifelong drug free bodybuilder…seriously, no drinking and no drugs of ANY kind. I can say honestly, if you eat, train and rest correctly, you can expect an average of a pound a month of quality gains until you reach your own genetic potential. Be proud of what you accomplish without the help from the Super “S” supplements. You will certainly be thankful in the end!
Cheers!
July 13, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Oh, I think I could add 59 lbs in 6 months - but it wouldn’t be pretty and it surely wouldn’t be muscle! One of the reasons I stopped reading the so called "hard core" mags is that the workouts and diets kept making this unbelievable promises. If it were that easy I would think there would be a lot more guys around with a pro caliber physique (myself included). Keep up the great work!
July 14, 2008 at 9:36 am
Thanks for the post.. just trying to draw the truth out of these guys… have a good one!