I recived the following question and it is a good one so i wanted to share it:

“Hi Ross, my names Dave. We’ve spoken a few times, though it’s been a while. You would remember me from the gym( the guy with the dreadlocks and sleeve tattoos.) Should be easy to remember; not too many people with that look at that gym. Anyway, I wanted to ask you for some nutritional advice regarding bulking. Let me get a little more specific. I have a pretty firm training background and experience. I have a personal trainer certification from ACE(American council on Exercise,) I have been training  for about 3, maybe four years at varying degrees. Though within the past 2 years, in which that time period I acquired my certification because of my love of the sport of bodybuilding. It’s not an overall life career, as I am still in College, however, I use it as a means of making extra money and sharing my love of the sport with like minded individuals. That being said, my training regimine, I feel is pretty strong, however, I don’t see an incredible amounts of gains. My muscle gets more dense, defined and has a more toned appearance, however, I am not seeing the size gains that I really want to see. I’m not necessarily looking to compete in the near future, maybe within the next couple years it will be in the cards, just not my time yet. Since I feel my training is not where I’m lacking, I’m sure of it that it is my diet that can use a complete overhaul. As it is right, I am 5′6″ at 152lbs, 9-11% bodyfat. I would like to gradually increase my overall lean tissue mass, while maintaining, or even lowering my bf. My goal as it is right now, is 185, but any increase at this point would be nice; it just seems like I’ve been this wiehgt for way too long. Like I said above, I have the knowledge and teh background of the sport, fitness and nutrition, so I know what I need to do, but sometimes it’s nice getting another person who has the same mindset’s perspective. I know I need to increase how much I consume, but I would like some ideas of how I can structure my meal pan in a way that is feasible while minimizing pitfalls and frustration. I know we spoke about this briefly at Gold’s, so I want to take this opportunity to go a little more in depth with the conversation. If we could get together and train, or even just through e-mail, whichever you prefer, any advice would be accepted. I’m done messing around. It’s time to get serious about this shit and train hard to see some long term results that will turn some heads. Thanks Ross, hope to hear from you soon.

-Dave”

My Advice to Dave:

Dreadlock Dave,

What is going on.  My first word of advice is you have to sleep more. The fact that you sent this out at 12:00 in the morning tells me you are not getting the 8-10 hours of sleep you need (unless you are able to sleep to 9 or 10 am).     I understand your  frustration of not seeing any gains, I have been there and go through it myself at least once a year.  

The key to getting bigger is calorie intake, muscle recovery and constantly changing your workout to stress your muscles to their max! (but you most likely  know this already).   You could work out like a beast in the gym but if you aren’t eating enough or not sleeping enough you won’t see any changes.  The same goes with the other two variables.   In fact you might be actually hindering your muscle development if you don’t monitor and adjust all three.

Let me say one thing, getting big and staying lean is very tough to do.    Unless you are using substances that I don’t condone.  The way it works is getting big and the leaning out.  Now I don’t mean state puff marshmallow man big but your body fat will go up to the 11% or 12% mark in your gaining stages.     

Cont……

Train Hard Lift heavy,

Ross

Hi all- It has been a while since my last post. I have a few good stories to tell over the next few days.

First let me tell you about my nightmare that came true. A little over a month ago I made my way to the gym (Gold’s Gym Conshohocken) at my normal time only to show up and find that the gym was locked, yes the gym had closed down. No letters, no notice- nothing. Just locked doors.
Now let me tell you the gym was nothing great in fact most the equipment was falling apart it had not been cleaned for months and the owners did not give a crap. What it comes down to is that I had been a member for 8 years and always paid my dues on time and on top of it all they just deducted my monthly dues a few days before they closed.

Here is an interesting clip about one of the owners:

So you are reading this you are saying suck it up and find a new gym Ross. The fact is that I had been looking to switch gyms for the last two years but the only gym that had the equipment I would like to work out with was 40 mins away (if you are reading this and have a lot of money you should start a hard-core gym around me).

Ok so you are saying to yourself what a boring story, I would have to agree but I needed to vent.

Here is the kicker, a week after the owner of Gold’s Gym Conshohocken closed the doors they reopened a new gym called The Factory in King Of Prussia. What the hell are they thinking! I have already heard horror stories about how they are running that place. The owners Kevin and John (tweedledee and tweedledum) are already showing their lack of customer service skills (this is another story for another day).

The good news is that I joined a new gym and although they don’t have some of the equipment I wanted or heavy dumbbell and everyone stare’s at me I am getting some good workouts.

Until next time lift heavy, train hard

Yesterday I had a poor showing at the gym, my body felt beat up for some reason. I think because I was mad about work. I just sort of went through the motions and left. Today was a different story, ripped up the chest good today. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my workouts. ross@truphysique.com
Chest:

Warm-up for 2 sets of light press’

Incline Press 3set @ 15, 15, (6 drop

Incline Super –set Press/ Fly 1 set

Incline Fly 3 Drop sets

Machine chest press with Straight body bar See video below: 3 sets (don’t remember reps)

Pec Deck 2 sets + one drop set

Smith machine flat bench high reps 3 sets (15,15, 20)

Then hit up some seated calves and standing calves

OK that is it for today have to go and eat… need to grow…
Lift Heavy, Train hard
Ross

Today I decided to switch it up a little and go to a gym that is a little out of the way. The equipment is about the same but the atmosphere is very different. Maybe it was because I had not worked out there before, but a ton of people were staring at me. But I am use to that by now. Today I ended up hitting up the minor muscles (I think of them as minor, some may disagree): Ads, traps, hamstrings and a few calves. This is how it went down:

Traps:
2 sets of warm-up dumbbells shrugs

Straight bar shrugs:
4 sets @15, 15, 12, 20
1 drop set from straight bar to dumbbells

Hammer strength Shrug machine
3 sets @15, 15,8

Hamstrings:

Machine Curls
4 sets @ 20, 20, 15, 10
Super set with leg extensions to switch it up a little

Machine iso-leg curl (first time I ever used this machine)
3sets @12

Standing Straight leg Dumbbell dead lifts
3 sets @ 15, 10, 10

Abs:

Decline sit-up
4 sets @20 (did not use any weight)

Rope crunchs
3 sets @20 (racked it)

Roman Chair
3 sets @20

Machine crunches
3 sets @15

Calves: (did not intend to do any calves but they had an interesting machine that I wanted to try)

Interesting Machine
4 @15

That’s it folks. All in all it was a good day in the gym. Nothing crazy happened. I think I am going to try and go back tomorrow and hit up some shoulders.
Lift heavy, train hard
Ross

Today was big bicep day in the gym and man did I hit them hard! It is always a good sign when you are driving home from the gym and have trouble holding the steering wheel. I hit the gym up early today around 1:00. This is how the workout went:

Bicep:

Single arm warm up curls: 3 sets

Standing straight bar curls:
- 3@ 15, 10 8
- 1@10 Dropped weight hit up 8 more reps



Seated V curls on slight incline

-3 @ 12, 10, 10
- 2 Drop sets

Hammer strength plate loaded preacher curls (single arm)

- 3 @10, 8, 8

Machine preacher Burn out set

Triceps:

Rope pushdowns:
- 3 @ 15

V bar pushdown
-3 @10 (heavy)

Single are cable
-3@ 20,15, 15

I normally would throw in hammer curls but my biceps were exhausted because of the fast pace that I kept today. In terms of triceps, I usually only work them lightly on arms day and will work them again when I hit up shoulders.
Lift heavy, train hard.
Ross

It was another great day in the gym today (I wish I could say that everyday). Coming off a long junk food infested labor day weekend it could have gone either way but it was a good day. It was chest day which is always one of my favorite body parts. I liked it even more because my strength is starting to return. Coming off months of a keto diet really puts a hurting on the training. But when you start eating the carbs again you get even bigger than you were before the diet. My workout:

Current weight: 238

- Incline press:
o 2 warm-up sets,
o 3 working sets @ 15, 12, 8 reps (For my heavy set of 8 I went up to 365.)
o 1 drop set.

- Incline DB flys:
o 3 sets @ 15, 15, 10 (jumped to 100 pounds)
o 2 drop sets: until exhaustion

- Pec Deck
o 4 sets 12, 12, 2- until exhaustion

- Flat smith machine
o 2 sets 12 reps
o 2 drop sets until exhaustion

The rest of the gang started to workout calves but since I hit them up on Saturday I took a pass.

As I am sitting here typing this my chest is like jello, must have been a good workout.
Lift heavy, train hard
Ross

1. Find a lifting partner. A good partner is someone that has the same intensity that you do and one that you can trust to give you a good spot.
2. Drink a protein shake before going to the gym, make sure it has a fast digesting carb in it (unless you are leaning out for a competition) and some glutamine. Going in on an empty stomach will just cause you to fatigue faster.
3. Before you go in have a routine ready in your head or on paper that you can follow. If you need a machine or weights that someone is using, ask to work in (only if you think you can keep up with their weights. I hate it when someone asks to work in while I am squatting and I have to strip 100 pounds after each set.) Or just move onto the next exercise and come back later.
4. Once you get to the gym, WARM UP. Do 5-10 minutes of cardio, and some light stretching. I have seen way too many macho men walk in, go right to the weights and pull or tear muscles because they did not warm up. (This is also a good time to check out the gym and see who is around, you might see that guy that always tries to give you advice. You may want to stay away from him.)
5. If you start to do an exercise and it feels like something is wrong, STOP!!! You don’t want to risk hurting yourself.
6. Constantly drink water while you work out. You want to stay as hydrated as possible.
7. Most of All you want to Train with intensity. Bring an ipod/ mp3 player with you if your gym plays elevator music (unless you are into that type of music).
8. Keep your work out down to about an hour and a half. It is never good to overdo it.
9. After your workout make sure that you eat a high protein meal or shake. This is one of the most important times to eat, again add glutamine, a carbohydrate (like oatmeal) and I would also throw in some natural peanut butter.
10. SLEEP, get a good nights sleep this is one of the most important steps to let your muscles heal.

We (Chris (Pump), Vince (Greenhorn), Jamie(Crackhead))  had a crazy intense workout in the gym today.  I am a few weeks off of my diet and my strength is starting to return.  And boy does it feel good to go heavy again.    I started of with a 15 minute fast walk on the treadmill.  Then hit it hard:

3 warm up one leg extensions for 20 reps

3 heavy leg extensions for 15, 20, 15 reps

Video of my 20 rep heavy set

3 sets of front squats 15, 15 8 (went a little too heavy on last set was going for 12)

1 super-set front squat to leg press

1 super-set leg press with a drop to squat

Chris hitting up adding set.

1 set adding plates leg press

 1 set of 30 rep leg press

1 set single leg press

And then finished off with leg extensions again   3 sets of 15 reps.

At this point in time I crawled out of the gym.