Nutrition

[GratefulCitizen]

CCRN, PM sent.

[bost1751]

First look at facts and your workout. Muscle is heavier than fat so you will more than likely gain some weight in the beginning. Your diet is equally as important as your weight routine. To complicate it all to some degree, cardio requires a differant type of diet than wieght training. You can combine the two and still reach your goals. Your lift gooals, bench 300, squat 300 and press 200, are very attainable. How you get there and the length of time you get will depend your style of training.

From what I have gathered you want to gain strength, improve your running and not gain any weight. Sounds simple. The reality is if you follow what is considered a weight training diet you will lose the carbs for your cardio training.

A suggestion is to move to a cut/ripped routine with the weights, a high intensity program. It will smoke you at first but it cuts fat and carbs. You will achieve your goals as far as weight goes and you should lose weight maintain or improve your running and continue to follow a reasonably normal diet.

A ripped program requires high reps, 15-20, with no more than 60 seconds rest between sets. It is a good change to shock your muscles to promote growth for a while also. You can incorporate a high intensity portion into your weight training or a complete high intensity program.

I'll be glad to send you more information and references if you would like it. Just let me know. I lifted heavy for my entire SF career and am lifting again in my second life now.

[ccrn]

Originally Posted by bost1751

I'll be glad to send you more information... Just let me know. I lifted heavy for my entire SF career and am lifting again in my second life now.

Id be very interested in what you have to say. Thanks very much.

You are spot on with the conflict between running type diets and weight lifting and therein lies my problem (lack of knowledge). Im still a novice with all of this considering Ive been running about three years and lifting about one and a half. As fars as learning goes I have the rest of my life to do that regarding these subects but considering Id like to peak sometime this June or July I dont have a lot of time to experiment.

Endurance is an issue too ie pushups, situps, and pullups so I do all that as well-

[bost1751]

There has been a lot of useful provided in previous posts. Diet is important for health, genetics are there and you can't change them. Start reseaching, reading about anatomy, muscles etc. The more processed a food source, the less nutrients you will consume from it.

Look into good cross training programs. With all of this said, you are the one that knows what your body responds to best. It will take some time to determine that, but the day will come. Keep in mind there is an ideal world and reality. EX: eat five meals a day. That's great. Now a guy in the infantry, living the the barracks and eating in the mess hall may not have that opportunity available to him.

I will send you a few ideas on training with weights so hopefully you can avoid some of the pitfalls I made over the years. The routines will be high intensity. Provided you you attempt this, stay with it for a minimum of a month, preferably 6 weeks then change to the next one. One thing for sure, you should always end your weight training session with a 20-35 minute cardio exercise.

The suggested programs I'll forward to you will have more lifts per muscles group than you should do, pick 2 or 3 and stay with them. Otherwise you will drag your wieght traing out far to long and end up over training. Be patient, rome was not built in a day.

I am not trying to sound like a know it all. I have some good ideas. You determine what is right for you. Hopefully the info I PM you will help you accomplish your goals. Dedication and determine along with training smart are the force that will get you there.

Set reasonable goals and above all be patient. Rome wa

[S3Project]

Now, this is coming from a novice lifter (albeit one with a nascent passion for heavy things...), but consider:

It seems to me that HIT (which is primarily a hypertrophy, not strength, program) would be less conducive to achieving your goals (a favorable strength/weight ratio) than a genuine strength program, as outlined by Mark Rippetoe in Starting Strength and Practical Programming. Note he really only uses functional, compound lifts - squats, deadlift, press, bench, cleans. Pulls and chins make for viable assistance work.

Rippetoe's program is not about getting "ripped" or looking pretty, per say - although athletes routinely gain 40-60 pounds if they drink a gallon of milk a day - but it is about focused athletic strength training. I, personally, have been on his strength program for three months and consider it to be my best training decision thus far.

If you're interested, purchase Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training and Practical Programming for Strength Training from http://www.aasgaardco.com/

He also runs a great Q&A forum at Strengthmill. Maybe run your question by him?

Regards,

Derek

[ccrn]

Yeah Im not sure yet that he is actually speaking of HIT. Im familiar with that but Ive never tried it.

Ive read about rippetoe but decided its not enough for me. I do like his emphasis on compound movements and overall strength. Ive searched for more advanced programs of his to see if that would be a better fit but Im not going to buy his book sight unseen.

His book isnt at my local bookstores or I could have checked one out.

Thanks for the suggestions though-

[S3Project]

Originally Posted by ccrn

Yeah Im not sure yet that he is actually speaking of HIT. Im familiar with that but Ive never tried it.

Ive read about rippetoe but decided its not enough for me. I do like his emphasis on compound movements and overall strength. Ive searched for more advanced programs of his to see if that would be a better fit but Im not going to buy his book sight unseen.

His book isnt at my local bookstores or I could have checked one out.

Thanks for the suggestions though-

If you want some information regarding intermediate-level programs, send me a PM. Have you considered the Texas Method? It's an intermediate-level program, and your lifts probably put you in that area.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=1720181

Has a brief synopsis...

There's also Westside...

You probably won't find Rip's work in bookstores. He's not a mass-produced "fad-of-the-moment" type of guy, and thus probably doesn't have mainstream appeal that booksellers are looking for. But his stuff is more than worth the purchase...plus he's a very cool guy.

Regards,
Derek

[HQ6]

You might think about replacing the nuts/peanut butter which are high in calorie with a Lean Body shake which has 40 grams of protein to 260 calories and 0 sugar. It is also lactose free for those of us with the joy of lactose intolerance.

ETA there is also Myoplex Lite which is comparable in protein to calorie, but it tastes nasty IMO

[ClemsonTiger]

For strength, I would do a standard Westside split. It doesn't get any easier than this and it's hard to match the results. If you do this, take into account that a lot of accessory work will hurt you by overloading the CNS. Also, follow the percentage guidelines. I used Westside for a long time to get into powerlifting, and went from scrawny and weak to scrawny and decently strong (1100 total) while not gaining too much weight. If you have any specific questions about setting up the template feel free to PM me.

[jbour13]

Originally Posted by ccrn

Lima Charlie. Like you I dont use supplements either. I did use protein in the one hour window after a run or workout but I stopped doing that too.

As far as daily diet...

If I work days I rypically eat as follows:
Breakfast
2 fried eggs
1 toast (60cal)
3 Turky Bacon
6 oz OJ

Lunch (Over 2 breaks)
1 turkey sandwich (60 cal bread)
1 PB sandwich (60 cal bread)
1 fruit (apple, banana, orange etc)
Vitamin Water (50cal)
2 serving peanuts(170 x 2)
H20

Supper
Meat serving
Veggie
Salad
H20

Run, Lift.

That usually works out to around 1900-2100 calories.

When I work nights its about the same only I come home and eat the same breakfast, go to sleep, wake up and run then lift, eat the same type supper, and take the same lunch to work with me. I work 4-5 12 hour shifts a week.

If its an off day I keep the calories lower than that usually.

I dont eat rice, potatoes, cereals, or sodas.

Typically I run 20 miles per week right now (winter), and lift 5 days-
Thanks again

I see that your calorie intake isn't the main blame here. Timing will have good results at maintaining the muscle you've built and giving you the energy necessary to keep up the intensity. I would break down your meals and add 1 additional to cut down on the amount of calories you get in one setting.

Razor hit it on the head about heavy lifting. Compound movements and higher repititions with light weigts in weight lifting will build lean muscular tissue. Low repitition, basic movements and heavy weight is good for bulking up. Genetically find your balance. I for one am prone to bulking up, I have to continually monitor my gains and refocus and change my workouts to stay lean.

I had a nutritionist ask me a question at one point in my early career:

"Who needs more protein intake, a marathon runner or body builder?"

Most would be suprised that distance runners need more protein since they are continually breaking down muscular tissue.

I'm 5'8" and at 21 years old stationed in Hawaii during the peacetime Army (oh the boring days) I hit my peak weight at 206lbs and couldn't run a 15:00 mile for $hit. My daily calorie intake was around 4500 calories. 1 year later I upped my intensity with higher reps and longer runs while cutting my calories to 2500 and was a lean 165lbs and running 11:40 2 mile times and able to ruck 12 miles in 2:15.

So far Razor, bost1751, S3Project and HQ6 have given good advice. See a nutritionist and be realistic in your goals. Know what you want and hit it hard. You'll do fine if you have the discipline