PWMDMD

Some recent photos...weight 260lbs.

You can do strength training without adding lots of size. One of the many 5x5 programs would be good - I've done Strong Lifts (comprehensive website - just google) and even the guy who started it is not huge and buff. These programs are designed to increase muscle strength and not focused on muscle size. Lots of things go into increasing strength - CNS recruitment, metabolic capacity of muscle cells, number of muscle cells vs size of individual muscle cells. Now sure, if you lift heavy enough you will see an increase in muscle size but you can do a lot of strength training before you see noticeable muscle hypertrophy. In my mind strength training is a no brainer for us. We lose a lot of leans mass and strength during our weight loss and a lot of the compensatory physiologic changes working against our long-term success are a result of lean mass loss (ex. adaptive thermogenesis, loss of functional strength) and the best thing we can do is preserve lean mass and rebuilt lean mass.

I’m always curious about diet for those of you who are lifting heavy? On heavy lifting days my appetite is pretty ravenous and these are the days I’ll push 2500 calories. On lighter days and rest days I’m closer to 2000 calories. My main focus is getting over 200g of protein and my carbs are relatively low around 100g although I can hit 150g a couple times per week. I just don’t know if this is optimal? I seem to be still gaining strength week after week so I assume my calorie and protein intake is sufficient. I’ve put on 5lbs in the last 6 weeks which appears to be muscle - waist size is the same and my chest and quads are clearly bigger. Bro science says I should be at 4000 calories if I want to put on mass. Bro science also says it should be impossible for a 6’5” 260lbs guy to put on mass and strength at an average of 2200 calories per day but here I am. Curious what everyone else is doing - especially some of the bigger guys my size?

HW - 345lbs Current Weight - 260lbs Height 6'5" Age 40 Started off with the Strong Lifts 5x5 and moved over to Madcow 5x5 relatively early as I needed the increased recovery time on my calorie deficit. Currently eating 2000-2500 calories per day with a minimum of 200g of protein and usually around 100g of CHO. Not sure what my 1RMs are but here are my current working set 1x5 weights. Bench 250lbs Squats 270lbs Deadlifts 365lbs Overhead press 150lbs Barbell rows 200lbs I'm on week 6 of Madcow and so have 6 weeks left. Hoping to end with bench 270lbs, squats 315lbs and DL 405lbs. Not sure how much more I have left for OHP (I'd be happy to hit 160lbs) as it doesn't seem to want to move much...same for BB row and be happy to hit 220lbs. Also started chinups (currently can do 3x3 with strict form and then move on to some band assisted) and weighted dips (adding 20lbs I can do 4x10).

40yo 6’5” and currently at 255lbs after gastric sleeve in Sept 2018. Started at 345lbs. Weight plateaued about 6 weeks ago but working hard at the gym and feeling good. Looking for advice on training but also fun to read everyone’s stories. Currently eating 2000 “clean” calories per day and lifting heavy 3 days per week.

Thanks Albus, I’ve decided to move onto Madcow 5x5. I initially wasn’t going to switch until I was at much heavier weights for DL and squat but the advantage of the program is it’s designed to allow more recovery and it ramps up weight slower. While my goal weights will take significantly more time to reach I figure with my calorie deficit it’s a slower and safer way to proceed. After taking the week off I felt much better at the gym this week. My Sunday workout was my first Madcow which automatically deloads in the beginning. It seemed significantly less taxing ramping up weight for the first three sets and only having to lift heavy for two sets vs all five sets. We’ll see how this goes....

Pre-workout is usually just a banana in a protein shake

Awesome job! I’m interested in your workout routine and diet/calories/macros. It definitely looks like you’ve added lean mass while losing weight.

Thank you! Yeah...just hard trying to figure out what is reasonable as a caloric intake. Most of the people in the hospital program are still eating 600-900 calories per day and so when I say 2000 no one knows what to say. It's nice to see others out there working hard and eating more calories.

Thank you! I will checkout these profiles when I get a chance! I use Myfitness Pal everyday but have not spent much time on their forums.

Gradycat, absolutely...thank you for the encouragement! belikewater, I’ve been super lucky. I’ve never had any pain, vomiting or even nausea post-op. I tried something deep fried about a month ago (just a bite) and while that did not “agree” I have no real food intolerances. On my protein is Optimum Nutrition and I do a post-workout drink. Other than that it’s a multi, vit D3, B7, B12 and calcium. My diet is “real” food - meats, fish, veggies, fruit and minimal processed white crap. Post-op I did a Jim Stoppani Short Cut Size routine which was good to get me back in the gym because it varied weight and reps. I flew through that and felt good. At the time protein was at 120g per day and I was at about 1200 calories per day at the start and 1500 calories by the end. I realized how much strength I lost and decided to do Strong Lifts 5x5 - great for strength and only 3x per week. I’m also putting some HIIT in there too with a sled push and stair climb sprints. With this 5x5 you basically lift every other day and you alternate an A workout (squat, overhead press, deadlift) and a B workout (Squat, bench, barbell rows) - but you squat and add weight every workout - also doing weighted dips and chin-ups. Worried about recovery I moved up to 2000 calories per day and 200g of protein per day when I started this and was doing fine until the last week and half. I have had no problem progressing with weight but just really feeling fatigued afterwards and the next day. Now the fatigue is starting to creep into the next workout day too. Like I said no problem moving the weight during the lifts and no excessive DOMS - matter of fact sometimes none - just feeling worn out and spread thin all the time now. I’ve never needed “deload weeks” or “rest weeks” but I’m going to take a rest week this week. I’ll do some light cardio to keep active but I’m going to take the next week off and see how I feel. I’ve also got some mild, albeit nagging, joint pains here and there so this week should help. I’m also going to cut to 1500 calories per day since I’m not going to be working as hard. At 200g of protein I have definitely added size and strength....maybe not as much as if I were in a real calorie excess but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. This is more than 2.5x more than my program recommends post-op but like I said I’m not a typical post-op patient.