[Freak]

Do not set a bodyweight goal without setting a body fat goal too. Preferably get the 7 site test and take a few measurements for each site. Take the average so your measurements are more accurate. If you do not set a bodyfat goal you focus too much on the number and gain fat in order to reach your goal.

Make a definitive goal and also state when you want to achieve it. This goal should be realistic to build your confidence and as you proceed your goals can become more of a stretch and they will push you instead of depress you.

Start by tracking everything you eat/drink for an 5-7 days. Take the average of your total calories, grams of protein, carbs, and fat. This is your baseline and is very important.

From here increase your calories by 500/day. This is your target caloric intake.

You want 1g/lb of bodyweight. No more, no less.

You want simple carbs when you first wake up and after your workout. The rest of the day you want complex carbohydrates.

Your total caloric breakdown should be 50-60% carbs, 20-30% fat, and 1/lb of bodyweight for protein.

You want 7-8 meals/day. This greatly increases absorption and decreases glycemic load which helps manage insulin levels. Cook your meals in advance and it would be very helpful if you can afford it to purchase a rice cooker. Stick to fresh/frozen foods when possible. (try to avoid canned products).

Fat should come primarily from unsaturated sources.

Buy a few (1) gallon jugs of water. You want to consume 1 gallon/day. This may seem like a lot but its not.

Good foods are:

Protein: round steak, salmon, tuna, chicken breast, turkey, milk, and whey protein.

Carbs: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yams, whole grain pasta brown rice, fruits.

Simple carbs: usually filled with sugar (either natural or added).

Monosaccharides: mono: meaning one and saccharide: meaning sugar.

Glucose
Fructose
Galactose

Remember them in that order

Disaccharides: di meaning two sugars
Glucose is always one of the sugars in the pair (see below)

Maltose – Glucose and Glucose
Sucrose – Glucose and Fructose
Lactose – Glucose and Galactose

*remember them in that order

As long as you remember monosaccharides as GFG – glucose, fructose galactose

And Disaccharides as : MSL: maltose, sucrose, and lactose and remember that one of the two sugars is glucose you can always put it together to know what each disaccharide is composed of.

So if you are trying to think of the two sugars in sucrose you know that one of the sugars has to be glucose. From there the other one is fructose. – they are both second in the list.

Complex carbs: have very little or no sugar and are high in fiber.

Complex carbs consist of: glycogen, starch, and fiber.

2/3 of the glycogen in the body is stored in the muscles with the other 1/3 being stored in the liver.

About 300-400g can be stored in the muscles.

Fat: Olive oil, unsalted almonds, flax seed oil.

Vegetables can and should be sprinkled throughout your diet. I like broccoli and asparagus best.

Calories per gram:

Protein: 4
Carbs: 4
Fat: 9
Alcohol: 7

You should avoid alcohol as it reduces protein synthesis and dehydrates you.

For the next 4-5 years forget steroids even exist.
As far as supplements:

Don't buy Muscletech. A good supplement stack is:

Creatine Monohydrate, whey protein, fish oil, bcaa's and a general multi-vitamin.

Get your body fat determined and take measurements of your body. Also take monthly pictures in a variety of poses. This is one thing many of us forgot to do and greatly regret.

Get some of your favorite quotes and keep them around your room. Check out some of our pics/vids and use them for motivation. If you are having problems don't quit or get depressed you can come to the dungeon for support.

[robbyybt]

WOW what an amazing article lol Now weve got freaks bulking article and laynes cutting article everyone should be sorted from now on

[under construction]

great summary!!

[Freak]

If there is anything that anyone would like explained in more depth I will edit it so hopefully it answer all questions.

[mr_bhana]

Simple and easy to understand even for newbs! Highlights all relevant points for a good bulk!

[Half Second]

lol finally stickied it, now it will never be read after next week! haha only kidding, this is some of the most solid advice that Freak keeps posting on this board. People better read this sticky and take it to heart before posting anymore "How do I put on muscle??" threads.

[F-111]

Oooh a new sticky!....oh wait ive read it b4 *sigh*

Great info tho, to the point and easy to understand. Should hopefully weed out every 3rd post in the training/nutrition section being so damn similar!

[MikeNYY420]

Hits the nail on the head perfect. I know one thing that would help me I'm sure some of the other guys if there is any easy way for us to tell the difference between simple and complex carbs if you could put that in there. Great info as always Freak!

[Freak]

There you go Mike bulking primer is updated with the info requested. Hope that helps!

[MikeNYY420]

Ah I understand now, thanks Freak, damn I've learned a lot just today about nutrition already and I haven't even gone to sleep and woke up yet haha.

[KM]

Brent used exactly what he posted on the sugars for me when he was teaching me. Took me, eh, days to understand it lol but I finally did. Thanks dude!

[L!on]

is there any difference for hard gainers?

[Freak]

Nope, "hard gainers" just aren't eating enough. Do exactly as it states and keep track of what you eat for a few days and then increase calories by 500.

[KM]

I eat 5k cals and gain hardly any weight, that's most definitely enough. For some it just happens real slow. No difference though.

[robbyybt]

got a Q freak, youve said about 300-400g of carbs is the most that can be stored in the muscle. Does this mean that during exercise (heavy cardio) that is all it will use or will some of the glycogen in the liver get changed into atp aswell and used? Its just because what ive read online about soccer diets and most of them are saying to be taking in roughly 650-750g of carbs a day for someone my size (Which I dont do because that seems really extreme to me).

[Freak]

Yes it will and for soccer you will need more calories than the average person and might want to try 65% of total calories as carbs and see how that goes.

[robbyybt]

Really, I had wrote it all out a while back but thought it was too much. Ill give it a go this weekend and see how it works

[ishnish]

Originally Posted by Freak

Do not set a bodyweight goal without setting a body fat goal too. Preferably get the 7 site test and take a few measurements for each site. Take the average so your measurements are more accurate. If you do not set a bodyfat goal you focus too much on the number and gain fat in order to reach your goal.

Make a definitive goal and also state when you want to achieve it. This goal should be realistic to build your confidence and as you proceed your goals can become more of a stretch and they will push you instead of depress you.

Start by tracking everything you eat/drink for an 5-7 days. Take the average of your total calories, grams of protein, carbs, and fat. This is your baseline and is very important.

From here increase your calories by 500/day. This is your target caloric intake.

You want 1g/lb of bodyweight. No more, no less.

You want simple carbs when you first wake up and after your workout. The rest of the day you want complex carbohydrates.

Your total caloric breakdown should be 50-60% carbs, 20-30% fat, and 1/lb of bodyweight for protein.

You want 7-8 meals/day. This greatly increases absorption and decreases glycemic load which helps manage insulin levels. Cook your meals in advance and it would be very helpful if you can afford it to purchase a rice cooker. Stick to fresh/frozen foods when possible. (try to avoid canned products).

Fat should come primarily from unsaturated sources.

Buy a few (1) gallon jugs of water. You want to consume 1 gallon/day. This may seem like a lot but its not.

Good foods are:

Protein: round steak, salmon, tuna, chicken breast, turkey, milk, and whey protein.

Carbs: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yams, whole grain pasta brown rice, fruits.

Simple carbs: usually filled with sugar (either natural or added).

Monosaccharides: mono: meaning one and saccharide: meaning sugar.

Glucose
Fructose
Galactose

Remember them in that order

Disaccharides: di meaning two sugars
Glucose is always one of the sugars in the pair (see below)

Maltose – Glucose and Glucose
Sucrose – Glucose and Fructose
Lactose – Glucose and Galactose

*remember them in that order

As long as you remember monosaccharides as GFG – glucose, fructose galactose

And Disaccharides as : MSL: maltose, sucrose, and lactose and remember that one of the two sugars is glucose you can always put it together to know what each disaccharide is composed of.

So if you are trying to think of the two sugars in sucrose you know that one of the sugars has to be glucose. From there the other one is fructose. – they are both second in the list.

Complex carbs: have very little or no sugar and are high in fiber.

Complex carbs consist of: glycogen, starch, and fiber.

2/3 of the glycogen in the body is stored in the muscles with the other 1/3 being stored in the liver.

About 300-400g can be stored in the muscles.

Fat: Olive oil, unsalted almonds, flax seed oil.

Vegetables can and should be sprinkled throughout your diet. I like broccoli and asparagus best.

Calories per gram:

Protein: 4
Carbs: 4
Fat: 9
Alcohol: 7

You should avoid alcohol as it reduces protein synthesis and dehydrates you.

For the next 4-5 years forget steroids even exist.
As far as supplements:

Don't buy Muscletech. A good supplement stack is:

Creatine Monohydrate, whey protein, fish oil, bcaa's and a general multi-vitamin.

Get your body fat determined and take measurements of your body. Also take monthly pictures in a variety of poses. This is one thing many of us forgot to do and greatly regret.

Get some of your favorite quotes and keep them around your room. Check out some of our pics/vids and use them for motivation. If you are having problems don't quit or get depressed you can come to the dungeon for support.

a question bout that freak, i alwayz wantedto know if its a good idea take simple carbz when you 1st wake up, and now that ive read this, may i know why to take them in the morning instead of complex carbs? is it because of catabolism? and also should you take simple carbs in the morning and after you work out on a cut also?

[Freak]

It's because these are very catabolic times. Yes, same with a cut. Please let me know if you have more questions or if I can clear something up.

[ishnish]

aright man thanx but then why is it that almost everyone i see on here has complex carbs for breakfast?

[Freak]

Personally I have something like oatmeal and put some fresh/frozen fruit on top. I have both.

[ishnish]

mmmmmmm soundz good lol, well thnx 4 da info mi brutha

[Unbeatable]

hmm more great info i need to understand .... thanks

[DEnd44]

nice post, thanks....new to the site, chrispghmuscle sent me over..worthwhile read and should help..

[bmxron1]

how do i break this down?
example:
oatmeal pack= 120 calories - 24g carbs - 4g protein
tuna = 150 calories - 0g carbs - 32.5g protein
total = 270 calories - 24g carbs - 36.5g protein

how do i figure out these percentages?

Your total caloric breakdown should be 50-60% carbs, 20-30% fat, and 1/lb of bodyweight for protein.

[bmxron1]

i got the info

[Freak]

You don't want oatmeal packs man get oatmeal from the container.

[Zomb131]

This is for growth? 1g/lbs protein? i'd say MIN of 2g/lbs. As for carbs they vary from person to person.

[bmxron1]

yea for growth. im 145 and wanna get around 165lbs. im trying to make a daily diet plan but its way harder than i thought. im having a hard time not going over in protein and bringing up the calories.
should i figure the macro's out for 165lbs and not the 145 im at?

[nissangtr409]

Originally Posted by Freak

Do not set a bodyweight goal without setting a body fat goal too. Preferably get the 7 site test and take a few measurements for each site. Take the average so your measurements are more accurate. If you do not set a bodyfat goal you focus too much on the number and gain fat in order to reach your goal.

Make a definitive goal and also state when you want to achieve it. This goal should be realistic to build your confidence and as you proceed your goals can become more of a stretch and they will push you instead of depress you.

Start by tracking everything you eat/drink for an 5-7 days. Take the average of your total calories, grams of protein, carbs, and fat. This is your baseline and is very important.

From here increase your calories by 500/day. This is your target caloric intake.

You want 1g/lb of bodyweight. No more, no less.

You want simple carbs when you first wake up and after your workout. The rest of the day you want complex carbohydrates.

Your total caloric breakdown should be 50-60% carbs, 20-30% fat, and 1/lb of bodyweight for protein.

You want 7-8 meals/day. This greatly increases absorption and decreases glycemic load which helps manage insulin levels. Cook your meals in advance and it would be very helpful if you can afford it to purchase a rice cooker. Stick to fresh/frozen foods when possible. (try to avoid canned products).

Fat should come primarily from unsaturated sources.

Buy a few (1) gallon jugs of water. You want to consume 1 gallon/day. This may seem like a lot but its not.

Good foods are:

Protein: round steak, salmon, tuna, chicken breast, turkey, milk, and whey protein.

Carbs: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yams, whole grain pasta brown rice, fruits.

Simple carbs: usually filled with sugar (either natural or added).

Monosaccharides: mono: meaning one and saccharide: meaning sugar.

Glucose
Fructose
Galactose

Remember them in that order

Disaccharides: di meaning two sugars
Glucose is always one of the sugars in the pair (see below)

Maltose – Glucose and Glucose
Sucrose – Glucose and Fructose
Lactose – Glucose and Galactose

*remember them in that order

As long as you remember monosaccharides as GFG – glucose, fructose galactose

And Disaccharides as : MSL: maltose, sucrose, and lactose and remember that one of the two sugars is glucose you can always put it together to know what each disaccharide is composed of.

So if you are trying to think of the two sugars in sucrose you know that one of the sugars has to be glucose. From there the other one is fructose. – they are both second in the list.

Complex carbs: have very little or no sugar and are high in fiber.

Complex carbs consist of: glycogen, starch, and fiber.

2/3 of the glycogen in the body is stored in the muscles with the other 1/3 being stored in the liver.

About 300-400g can be stored in the muscles.

Fat: Olive oil, unsalted almonds, flax seed oil.

Vegetables can and should be sprinkled throughout your diet. I like broccoli and asparagus best.

Calories per gram:

Protein: 4
Carbs: 4
Fat: 9
Alcohol: 7

You should avoid alcohol as it reduces protein synthesis and dehydrates you.

For the next 4-5 years forget steroids even exist.
As far as supplements:

Don't buy Muscletech. A good supplement stack is:

Creatine Monohydrate, whey protein, fish oil, bcaa's and a general multi-vitamin.

Get your body fat determined and take measurements of your body. Also take monthly pictures in a variety of poses. This is one thing many of us forgot to do and greatly regret.

Get some of your favorite quotes and keep them around your room. Check out some of our pics/vids and use them for motivation. If you are having problems don't quit or get depressed you can come to the dungeon for support.

dont buy muscletech? why not?