# GAINING MUSCLE THE PROPER WAY!



## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

Hey.. Been getting ALOT of posts and private mails about how my diet is at the moment since my last post of my transformation in June.. I promised that i would upload my diet and training plan to give a rough idea of what it looks like, Any questions about it just ask, See what you think!, These are my macro's at the moment until March-April time!

Diet is extremely clean, 90% of all my carb sources are wholegrain, I don't believe "Bulking" and becoming fat to gain muscle and making it hard for yourself while ripping down. Why not stay leanish while bulking up..? Bulking is just an excuse for bodybuilders to eat junk and get away with it in my opinion 

MY CURRENT STATS

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Bodyweight - 190lb

Height - 6foot 2inch

Body Fat - 10-11% ??

MACROS

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1.35g - Protein Per Body lb

1.75g - Carbs per Body lb

190lb x 1.35g = 257g Protein

190lb x 1.75g = 333g Carbs

50-75g Fats

If i feel i need more carbs i will add an extra 50g in there! depending on what i look like, Trial and error is key!

DIET

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I don't have all these meals in the same order everyday!

Sometimes i might prefer meal 2 first thing insted..

There is more Protein/carbs in this diet than i need slightly,

just incase i mess up with measurements etc!

Meal 1:-

* 100g Oats

* 2 Scoops Whey Protein

= 60g CARB, 52g PRO, 11g Fat

Meal 2:-

* 2 Wholemeal Bagels

* 1 Whole Egg, 5 Whites

= 75g CARB, 44g PRO, 10g Fat

Meal 3:-

* 100g Wholegrain Pasta

* 1 Tin of tuna

* Mixed Vegetables

* 1 tbsp Peanut butter

= 62G CARB, 43G PRO, 9g FAT

Meal 4:-

* 100g Oats

* 2 Scoops Whey Protein

= 60g CARB, 52g PRO, 11g Fat

Meal 5:-

* 150g Chicken Beast

* 100g wholegrain pasta

* Mixed Vegetables

* Handful of almonds

= 62g CARB, 48g PRO, 11g Fat

Meal 6:-

* 150g Fish (tilapia or whatever)

* Brocoll

* 1 tbsp Peanut butter

* 4 Rice cakes

= 32g CARB, 35g PRO, 9g Fat

ALTERNATIVE MEALS

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Different meals i might have listed below, also have brown rice with meals

instead of pasta if i can be bothered cooking it!

Bedtime meal:-

* 1 Scoop Casein

* 5 Egg whites

* Crushed almonds

* tea-spoon peanut butter

(mixed together and microwaved! makes kind of a cake kinda thing)

(Copied from Rob Riches, Link to video below)






= 5g CARB, 40-45G PRO, 12g Fat

Random Meal:-

* 150-200g Sirlion Steak

* 1 Large Sweet potato

* Mixed Salad

= 40g CARB, 45-50g PRO, 10g Fat

Extra Protein Shake Meal:-

(Days when im really rushing)

* 100g Oats

* 2 Scoops Whey Protein

= 60g CARB, 52g PRO, 11g Fat

WATER & SUPPLEMENTATION

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I suggest 1-2 Gallon of water per day, Atleast 1.5 for me!

Supplementation is not essention so if you cant afford it don't bother!

Although i do think Whey protein is a must, and i don't really class it as a supplement.

My supplements:-

* Creatine

* Multi-Vitamin

* Fish Oil - (flaxseed i use)

When it comes to march when i cut where this diet will be totally different i will throw in some CLA

I drink quite alot of Green Tea, i use the Green Tea with Lemon. Which obviously has its benefits when burning fat

TRAINING ROUTINE & CARDIO

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I wont go into what i do and how many sets and reps i do, i train to failure on every set aiming for 8-10 reps, and usually drop setting.

I change all workouts quite often, changing reps and exercises most weeks unless i want to aim to get stronger at a certain exercise E.g Squats, Bench, Dead lifts - I stick to these Compound exercises!

MONDAY: Chest, Abs

TUESDAY: Biceps, Triceps

WEDNESDAY: Legs, Calves

THURSDAY: Shoulders, Rear Delts, Abs

FRIDAY: Back, biceps (different to Tuesday)

SATURDAY: 1 hour Cardio (Burn 600 Calories)

SUNDAY: 1 hour cardio (Burn 600 Calories)

Thats my workout plan.. I do sometimes have one of the cardio days in the middle of the week instead

it all depends on the days im working, i work flexy hours, so i work different shifts every week, which is sometimes good!

I train wrists inbetween workouts and just train them whenever i feel like it or whenever they arnt hurting.

Same for calves & Abs i will fit in extra workouts depending if they are hurting or not!

LIST OF FOODS TO WRITE DOWN

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This is a list of other foods i will use in my diet!

PROTEINS

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Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

Tuna

Fish (salmon, seabass, halibut)

Shrimp

Extra Lean Ground Beef or Ground Round

Venison

Egg Whites or Eggs

Ribeye Steaks or Roast

Top Round Steaks or Roast (aka Stew Meat, London Broil, Stir Fry)

Top Sirloin (aka Sirloin Top Butt)

Beef Tenderloin (aka Filet, Filet Mignon)

Top Loin (NY Strip Steak)

Flank Steak (Sir Fry, Fajita)

Eye of Round (Cube Meat, Stew Meat, Bottom Round , 96% LeandGround Round)

Ground turkey, Turkey Breast Slices or cutlets (fresh meat, not deli cuts)

COMPLEX CARBS

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Oats

Sweet Potatoes

Yams

Beans (pinto, black, kidney)

Brown Rice / mulit gain rice

Rice (white, jasmine, basmati, Arborio, wild)

Potatoes (red, baking, new)

FIBROUS CARBS

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Green Leafy Lettuce (Green Leaf, Red, Leaf, Romaine)

Broccoli

Asparagus

String Beans

Spinach

Bell Peppers

Brussels Sprouts

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Celery

Cucumber

Eggplant

Green or Red Pepper

Green beans

Onions

Pumpkin

Garlic

Tomatoes

Zucchini

FRUIT

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bananas, apples, grapefruit, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lemons or limes

HEALTHY FATS

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Natural Style Peanut Butter

Olive Oil

Fresh Nuts (peanuts, almonds etc)

Flaxseed Oil

Fish oil

Udos Oil

DAIRY AND EGGS

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Low-fat cottage cheese

Eggs

Low or Non-Fat Milk

Bottled Water

CONDIMENTS & SPICES

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Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce

Reduced Sodium Teriyaki Sauce

Balsamic Vinegar

Salsa

Hot Peppers and Hot Sauce

Chili powder

Mrs. Dash

Steak Sauce

Sugar Free Maple Syrup

Chili Paste

Mustard

Extracts (vanilla, almond, etc )

Low Sodium beef or chicken broth

Plain or reduced sodium tomatoes sauce, puree, paste)

8


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## Rick89 (Feb 27, 2009)

deffo mate wouldnt wont to gain muscle the wrong way mg:

nice diet mate


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## Dirk McQuickly (Dec 29, 2010)

nice post.thanks for taking the time.


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## BROKEN777 (Aug 3, 2011)

Great post dude!.

chris.


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## jjcooper (Sep 1, 2010)

nice post mate!

Good diet too, look well for it!


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## steviethe spark (Oct 17, 2010)

Lookin in good shape mate ,are u natty or aas?


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## lewsuth (Apr 5, 2011)

Cheers for the diet info mate. Which gym you at? Noticed your from Sheff, i'm currently training at Oasis in Kimberworth!


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## Riddar (Dec 20, 2011)

Looking good and you know your stuff, :thumb:


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## PaulB (Jun 6, 2010)

good post, Id be interested in seeing your routine though, you look in excellent condition.


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## Geonix (Apr 4, 2011)

I'd hope to be you're weight and still lean by December next year


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## chambers9k (May 2, 2011)

Nice, sorry if I missed it but what's your kcals per day?


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## Riddar (Dec 20, 2011)

chambers9k said:


> Nice, sorry if I missed it but what's your kcals per day?


Yeah, I would be interested in this also.


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## mrh (Jul 9, 2011)

Shredded! This was a great read, my diets very similar just less carbs

love to see results like this in another few months


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

steviethe spark - Yes i am natural bro, natty ftw! always

lewsuth - Oh yeah i know that gym mate, awesome gym.. I'm from Bolton on dearne so train at my local gym and also DVC sports gym which they have just recently refurbished, its unreal now!

chambers9k - Tbh mate i don't wurrie too much about counting calories.. Aslong as i'm getting the right protein, carbs, fats that i need, if im still looking shredded after 340g carbs i will up it to 400g just to see how i respond to it.

As for training routine i will post that some other time, really cba to type it out now, its pretty straight forward, always train to failure, drop sets, changing exercises about, always sticking to squats, deadlifts, benching usually. My chest i think is my best feature, typical chest workout will be:

FLAT BENCH

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Start with 40kg for 15 reps just to warm really quickly..

1) 10-12 Reps - 80kg

2) 8-10 Reps - 90kg

3) 6-8 Reps - 100kg

LAST SET ill put maybe 105-110kg and do as many as possible

Although some days i might be feeling really cocky and start by doing push ups to warm, bang 100kg straight on doing 10-12 reps and stacking up as high as 120-130kg, depends what i feel like. I prefer to preform a better set with squeezing at every rep, and if i fail and don't end up doing as many reps as i want i drop the weight and go again straight away or jump into press ups to failure.

Then move to incline, doing pretty similar to what i've just described.

Then flat/incline flys

Then cable cross to squeeze them muscles that bit extra if i feel i need to. Works for me everyone is different, but this is one of many ways i would train my chest!


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## dr gonzo (Oct 8, 2011)

Gud post mate :thumbup1:


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

Thanks lads!.. I make sure i hit my macro's 7 days a week, i've only been training 2-3 years, Not sure how long to say when people ask me as everybody hasn't a clue what there doing when they first start training, not been training properly and dieting proper for that long at all tbh.. 2012 is gunna be my best year, Taking training to a whole new level. Maybe look into some natty competitions towards the end of the year too


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## Yorkie Dave (Oct 11, 2011)

Great Post. Makes me realise how [email protected] my diet is. No wonder I see a fat fecker when I look in the mirror.


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

Yorkie Dave said:


> Great Post. Makes me realise how [email protected] my diet is. No wonder I see a fat fecker when I look in the mirror.


Thanks man, and you know what you gotta do then


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## reza85 (Jan 11, 2009)

would you say that training 7 days a week is to much ?

Is it not over training ?


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## sutmae (Sep 29, 2011)

Good post mate thanks for taking the time. It's obviously working well for you and you know your stuff cos the results speak for themselves.

Diet is something i want to work hard on and seeing your lists shows it doesn't have to be boring either.

Gonna use this as my diet plan and then tweak macros to suit me if needed but i'll have to drop the fish! Don't do fish. I can handle tuna and prawns but that's it!!


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## dr gonzo (Oct 8, 2011)

reza85 said:


> would you say that training 7 days a week is to much ?
> 
> Is it not over training ?


 This is true


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## steviethe spark (Oct 17, 2010)

Some good results there mate and natty as well .Keep up the good work.


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## Scorpion Nutrition (Aug 7, 2011)

Good post mate. It looks like you are on top of it and have good knowledge of what you are doing. Good luck.


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## Ts23 (Jan 14, 2011)

why GAINING MUSCLE THE PROPER WAY! is this you slating us aas users again ?


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## Mitch. (Jul 26, 2011)

Ts23 said:


> why GAINING MUSCLE THE PROPER WAY! is this you slating us aas users again ?


Wasn't this the case on the last thread and someone found out he had used clen? Or different guy/thread..?


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## aad123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Just looked through your diet and its given me some good meal ideas.

Are your macro values based on your lean body mass or total weight ?

If I assume they are on LBM then I would be looking at

155 x 1.35 = 209g protein

155 x 1.75 = 271g carbs

Fat at aprox 75g

This is only 2596 cals per day.

If I take it on total body weight then I would be looking at 2935 cals. Which is roughly what I am consuming, although my carb and fat values are different.

I do take your point on the no carb meals and I was thinking of having the tuna salad on two wholemeal tortillas, thats an extra 30g of carbs and 185 cals. I will also add a scoop of powdered oats into my 3.30 shake which will up the carbs. I will give this a try in the new year and track my weight and bodyfat.

I will sit down and work out my new meal plan over the rest of the holidays. I am one of the lucky people who can eat the same foods every day so once I work out my diet I will stick to day in day out.


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## aad123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Sorry Dude, this was ment to be a reply to my bulking diet thread you posted in. oops


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## Mr White (Feb 8, 2009)

Looking good in the avi, perhaps you should lower your carbs and up fats in your off days.


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

Ts23 said:


> why GAINING MUSCLE THE PROPER WAY! is this you slating us aas users again ?


Again?.. i don't have any problems with people that take steroids why would i? I choose to be natural and people that choose to take steroids that's up to them, obviously they have different goals to what i have, half of my mates are on roids, wouldnt "slate" people for that :S..

If you read the post correctly you might understand it better, as i mentioned at the top where i didn't believe in "bulking" up and getting fat during it, gaining muscle the proper way is really just a phrase to how i personally think it should be done  , but no bro people that take steroids still put the same effort, dieting, training, prepping into bodybuilding as people that are natty, just obviously they have bigger goals! Sorry if it looked that way to you

And for 7 days training per week its not really over training, i'm hitting each muscle group separately on different days and short workouts still allowing 5-7 days recovery, then the weekends is just cardio, unless i fit cardio in the week somewhere and train the weekend, I've not had no problems training this way and works for me  .. The workout plan was just a rough guide, like sometimes if i fit in cardio in a morning on a empty stomach ill skip the hour cardio on sunday and have rest day


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

sutmae said:


> Good post mate thanks for taking the time. It's obviously working well for you and you know your stuff cos the results speak for themselves.
> 
> Diet is something i want to work hard on and seeing your lists shows it doesn't have to be boring either.
> 
> Gonna use this as my diet plan and then tweak macros to suit me if needed but i'll have to drop the fish! Don't do fish. I can handle tuna and prawns but that's it!!


Cheers mate, and no probs! its good to hear you like it enough to do it yourself  .. And yeah i hate fish too tbh haha i just cover it in hot pepper sauce! Still tastes like sh1t !


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## tprice (Aug 28, 2011)

good post!

when you quote your macros, for example the 100g and 2 scoops of whey, do you count the protein from the oats, cause 100g has 11g of protein, or do you just class that as extra protein, and only count protein from fish, meat, eggs and whey.

with my diet i only count it from direct sources such as meat, eggs, fish and whey - if i happen to eat 100g oats then the 11g of protien is just a bonus!

hope that makes sense - im just curious, cause if you count em, i may do the same just to see out of interest how much im actually gettin, cause atm i get 350++ before i add the extras!


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## mark22 (Jul 13, 2011)

I use myfitnesspal to add up my macros. It's really handy to log stuff on and there's an app for your phone when you're away. It also can show you a graph of what you are over the last month, very handy to see what works etc. As for protein if you log on there it will count the protein in your oats as part of your daily protein number.


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## tprice (Aug 28, 2011)

is it quite reliable then?

it doenst just generalise most foods, as obviosuly you can buy diff brands and flavours etc which all determine the calories blah blah blah.

thanks for the heads up though im deffo gonna check it out, and see if its close to the figures iv got, i just weigh it out and go by what the back of the packet says most times!


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## mark22 (Jul 13, 2011)

It has all the different brands and you can enter anything that's missing. I save my regular meals so it only takes seconds every day.


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

tprice said:


> good post!
> 
> when you quote your macros, for example the 100g and 2 scoops of whey, do you count the protein from the oats, cause 100g has 11g of protein, or do you just class that as extra protein, and only count protein from fish, meat, eggs and whey.
> 
> ...


Yeah i do count the protein from the oats mate, its a big advantage when eating high carbs to get some of your protein from carbs as it saves eating sh1t loads of meats lol, as when i start to reduce my carbs in march you have to add in more chicken etc. Then ends up getting all your protein from meats, which is tedious. So to me getting protein from carbs feels good as i have less meats/protein sources to eat!


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

mark22 said:


> I use myfitnesspal to add up my macros. It's really handy to log stuff on and there's an app for your phone when you're away. It also can show you a graph of what you are over the last month, very handy to see what works etc. As for protein if you log on there it will count the protein in your oats as part of your daily protein number.[/quote=]
> 
> Yeah this is quite good, its basically just a diary, i don't have the time and patients to do it every day though.. and tbh.. i near enough eat the same thing every day and i make sure i get it in my body no matter what, so don't need to write it down


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

Thanks to everyone who private mailed me saying they will use my diet this year, let me know ya progress!


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## Sharpiedj (Oct 24, 2011)

Good post bud


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## Cowley (Aug 24, 2010)

Thanks, I'm currently doing abit of carb cycling to drop some body fat from christmas, but will be back to this shortly then going to slowly drop carbs as it gets towards summer!


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