Muscle gaining question - help!

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Thanks aroundhky - I definitely am not really tracking sodium levels. This might be sabotaging my attempt to achieve the dry chiseled look. Actually, I did some research on how body builders achieve dry chiseled look on contest day and underwear models on photo shoot day. Essentially, it is really hard to maintain this level of physique for more then a couple days and it takes real work to get the body into that state. Sometimes we (the public) are mislead by the fitness magazine ads and the televised or internet representation of body building contests. I have read that there must be careful attention paid to cutting, carb loading and reducing workouts before the big day. I know this is probably not something that can be sustained as a daily goal given this research. I am getting strong with respect to lifting body weight and semi heavy weights for my experience level (beginner), but look kind of soft. I do not want to look soft even though my strength is there. I am still motivated with my fitness goals so will keep at this goal of sculpting the body.

[aroundhky 1,174]

When I look at what I've eaten sometimes.....I'll find a lot of hidden salt in my diet.....mozerella, sauces/spices, deli meats, beef Jerky, etc. Though I don't really want to be bloated, by biggest concern is my blood pressue, so I'll try to catch myself and cut back if I see too much salt creeping into my diet. I don't know a lot about the bodybuilding aspect and contest stuff, but just make sure you're being healthy and not harming yourself or dehydrating too much. I've heard tells of some of those dudes doing some real drastic stuff....so just be careful and stay buff my friend!

[mark! 449]

Sodium is definitely gonna be a culprit for sure. It soaks up all the Water in your system and holds on to it. I think you're drinking enough water though to help flush a lot of it out. I say, in all honesty man, you've made HUGE strides towards your goals, just give it time. Like aroundhky said, Rome certainly wasn't build in a day brother. Keep the core workouts going, keep the main compound lifts up. If your BW is staying in the same ballpark, and your bf% is going down each time, you know you're doing it right. I've been hovering around 270, but my "big 3" lifts are still going up, and my bf% is going down. I certainly wouldn't mind being 260 and looking jacked at all, so for ME, I'm on the right track. Just stay the course. You've got a great handle on things and know exactly what to do. The only thing I've noticed is you may tend to over think and over complicate things. It's best to keep things simple, keep with what's been proven.

[AngelNP 40]

Hi Mr. Fiddleman, if you PM me, I will give you our local professional MMA fighters' plans of cutting weight. I help them recover from weight cutting after weigh in's and prior to the fight. Are you doing a competition or is this for daily on-going results? You can modify the meal plan(s). Some fighters cut weight 20 lbs in 2-3 days. I know you don't want to do this because it's hard on the body and you want to have lasting results. Also, have you tried Profusion 84 or Myofusion Protein that has 39+ grams protein in one scoop (has minerals, electrolytes, and vitamins) greater all that I've compared from GNC and other popular brands. The fighters use these brands due to them not retaining Fluid (water weight). Good luck to you and let me know your end result and what your choice is!

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Hi angel - I am definitely after long lasting results and will PM you for information.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Thanks mark. Validation from you, around and all the others (apologies in advance for not naming names but you are appreciated) that are into strength training is good for me to hear.

I do tend to overthink and complicate things as that is my nature ( a thinker and very analytical). Strength training and fitness is new for me. I am learning as I go, keeping what works and tossing what does not work from a lot of different folks on VST and research online. Very simple strategy don't you think? Lol. Sometimes I throw a lot of stuff at the wall and most of it sticks, but there is also a pile of crap that did not stick. I mentally take out the garbage as often as I can to keep my set of strategies as effective as possible.

I had a really good cross fit workout yesterday:

1. bench press 3010 @ 220 pounds of 5 rep for 8 sets. For readers, 3010 means 3 seconds down, pause 0, 1 second up, pause 0. Not sure what is a good goal for bench pressing. 270 pounds for more than 1 rep? 400 for max 1 rep?

2. Deadlifts @ 310 pounds of 5 rep followed by 5 burpee for 15 sets. The burpees keep your heart elevated even though resting a good 30 seconds between the lifts. My goal is to get my 1 rep max to 500 lb.

3. Box jump @ 40 inches of 10 rep for 3 sets. This is a new personal height record. My goal is to jump 5'6" in the future. Jumping from standing position onto top of weights sitting on box really takes a lot of self confidence and visualization. You have to really believe in the successful execution of this jump because it does not look possible when standing in front of it. However, you would be surprised at what you can do once you believe and jack up the focus. This is key I think.

Not the usual cardio soaked workout at cross fit ( that will be tomorrow, Thursday), but for the first time, I felt in control of each compound lift. Really focused on form, breathing, concentration, focus and power. It is *way* easier to do the compound lifts successfully when these attributes are locked in to the execution of each lift. Thank you Mark for your comments about this several months ago.

Still taking 10 g creatine monohydrate before and after daily strength based workouts. Next week, I am probably going to Ramp down n the daily creatine as 20 g has been good for loading, but not needed for long term daily use according to every resource I read. I think I might also look into btb's suggestion of the BCAA drink (5000+ mg of BCAA) as it has way more oomph then my catalyst product I have been using for months.

Weight down from yesterday 2 pounds at 178 and bf% down a point. Dropping a bf % point overnight is a good confidence booster. I am pretty achy also. Hoping that my body will get jacked up by my 9 am body weight workout.