Progress has slowed down a bit…
I was doin a great a couple of months ago… I had started my bulk after my cut had ended, and my size and strength gains were goin great! I had been training high intensity and high volume, and I was eatin A LOT of good foods! My weight went from 152 to 169 from Aug 1st to Oct 20th. I had gained a bit too much fat so I decided to cut for 2 weeks. A little bit before my cut I noticed that I was starting to show some signs of over training… decreased appetite and decreasing strength in the gym… and I was really tired. I decided to stop cutting, stop my morning cardio, and go to a 5 day split instead of 6 (where I was training everything 2x per week).
I started eating more carbs and less protein… I noticed better strength and energy and I feel better in and out of the gym.
However, I after training less and with less volume I feel that my growth is slow… slower than when I trained with higher volume and at a high intensity (dropsets and supersets for EVERYTHING!).
Also, I’ve decided to live a little and eat more leniently (mostly just on the weekends). It shows on my physique, b/c I’ve gotten carried away a bit.
The good news is I think I’ve learned some things through it all…
My body responds well to high volume and high intensity… it just needs a break after about 2 months of it. Also, I don’t need to eat quite as much as I was in the beginning of this bulking phase.
I’m trying a new routine right now, the Tri-Phase workout, although I have modified it very slightly and the 3rd phase will be of my own design - most likely the routine that proved to be very good for me a couple months ago. The tri phase workout program is a 9 week program. After these next 9 weeks I think I’ll be over do for a cut… I may not even make it through without giving in to cutting. I’m very disappointed with myself, but I plan on stepping it up now and doing better.
November 29, 2007 at 5:33 pm
It’s a difficult thing to figure out what works best for your body. It’s a HUGE experiment. The best thing is, I know no matter what, you won’t give up on yourself!!
Stay healthy and happy!
Carla
November 29, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Thanks, Carla
Yeah, I won’t give up… that’s for sure… bodybuilding is for my health and to be a good steward of what God’s given me, so there’s no stopping. Although I may be giving up on "bulking" soon, hahahaha.
Thanks for the support, buddy
November 29, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Rest and recovery is as important as diet and training. Taking a few extra days to recover occasionally may actually increase your growth and strength.
November 30, 2007 at 9:23 am
Thanks, BugMan. The funny thing is I feel like I was doin better when I wasn’t resting as much! Oh well. Like I said I think the trick may be to build up to where I train really really hard and frequent for 3-4 weeks and then take some kind of rest/break (like a 4-7 days). Then start over and build back up. I could be wrong, but that’s the approach I think I’m gonna try.