Very low calories but enough protein?

[Railbob1776]

My mistake. At 6' you still need to get to at least 220.

Curious Robert, how do you go about determining what bodyweight someone should be if they want to maximize strength while not compromising health? I'm 48 and 6ft tall, does that change your recommendation? What about waist size?

[mathgainer]

My mistake. At 6' you still need to get to at least 220.

Hi again, I've found some weights I recorded week commencing 29th of April: 74.1kg on Wednesday, 74.7kg on Sunday.

I weighed myself last night and this morning: 78.4kg and 77.6kg. That's an average increase of around 8lb in 1 month.

I know it sounds small but my fat has remained minimal (as always) and my abs are still razor sharp (not that I care about this).

Beginning of May is roughly when I began the 4000 calories per day, so it is clearly working as I was on 74-75kg for at least a few months before that.

[Robert Santana]

How much weight should I be gaining per week to maximize my linear progression as much as possible? My goal is to gain as much strength and size as humanly possible.

Admittedly I have not been tracking regularly as I said I would, but if I have a number to aim for I will definitely start doing this.

I am now 170lb and my squat and other lifts are steadily increasing each week (I have started using 0.5kg plates for OH and bench press - are those small enough?)

I am consuming 4000 calories per day including 1L of milk but I plan on increasing to 4L again slowly. Protein has been around 175-200g+ per day.

I read an article by Mark Rippetoe recently where he said that 5-6000 calories per day (including GOMAD) and 300g of protein might be needed. I know that this isn't merely an exaggeration but how necessary is it to consume this much? Maybe it is related to how fast my weight increases, so if I am not hitting the appropriate number I keep increasing calories?

There is no hard set way to do this. A quick, dirty, and fairly reliable way is to just look at the extremes then dial it down to where you think you would fall. A competitive powerlifter who is on drugs and competing at the highest level is going to weigh 275 or 308 if he wants to get as strong as he possibly can, most of the time. You rarely see 6' guys shattering records at 220. That being said you aren't competing on the world stage so 275 or 308 is a bit much at this time. So you dial that down. It's safe to say that most guys your height aren't going to fair well under 90 kg. 100 kg seems to be a good middle ground where you can get things done. Then you titrate up and down as tolerated.

Curious Robert, how do you go about determining what bodyweight someone should be if they want to maximize strength while not compromising health? I'm 48 and 6ft tall, does that change your recommendation? What about waist size?

Depends on how strong you want to get. Getting as strong as possible will compromise health to an extent. How much depends on how far you take it. Being 48 you still need to be heavier than what health agencies would tell you but maybe you don't need to be pushing up to the upper 200s. This idea of being lean and lifting a ton of weight only materializes in guys who were once heavier and got down or guys with very high vertical jumps and efficient muscle fibers. Everyone else in between is unlikely to achieve this result.

[Jason Donaldson]

How much weight should I be gaining per week to maximize my linear progression as much as possible? My goal is to gain as much strength and size as humanly possible.

Think about it: If this is really what you're aiming for, then the answer is to take in as many calories as humanly possible, including the 300g of protein per day.

There are entailments to this, of course...

[Maybach]

Rob summed it up on a podcast pretty well: if you have the genetics to be both very lean and very strong, it will happen by accident. If it's not happening to you by accident, it probably won't ever happen for you.

[mathgainer]

There is no hard set way to do this. A quick, dirty, and fairly reliable way is to just look at the extremes then dial it down to where you think you would fall. A competitive powerlifter who is on drugs and competing at the highest level is going to weigh 275 or 308 if he wants to get as strong as he possibly can, most of the time. You rarely see 6' guys shattering records at 220. That being said you aren't competing on the world stage so 275 or 308 is a bit much at this time. So you dial that down. It's safe to say that most guys your height aren't going to fair well under 90 kg. 100 kg seems to be a good middle ground where you can get things done. Then you titrate up and down as tolerated.

In the blue book Mark Rippetoe says that skinny guys should have gained 40lb by the time they are squatting 245-265lb. I am at 240lb and have only gained 7-8lb in bodyweight. My squat has increased 80lb.

It feels like I am going to stall any time soon because the workouts are getting harder and harder.

Where should I go from here? I have a feeling that I need to start consuming 6000 calories/day and restart the whole NLP. I am trying to avoid this because 4000 already feels like a lot and I don't mind progressing at a slower rate.

I took a 4 day break between workouts recently and was able to add 5lb easily. However I don't want to take 4 day breaks.

I am worried that if I approach this any other way (e.g. switching to intermediate programming on squat) it will become skewed more towards strength gains rather than size gains? In other words I won't gain as much size in proportion to strength as if I simply ate more and did the LP word for word, if that makes sense? If so then I am prepared to start eating 6000 calories/day. Size is my priority and I will do anything to get bigger.

If it can be done at a slower rate then I don't mind that as well, as long as the eventual size gains are the same.

Think about it: If this is really what you're aiming for, then the answer is to take in as many calories as humanly possible, including the 300g of protein per day.

There are entailments to this, of course...

Please see my reply above, any advice would be appreciated.

[mathgainer]

To clarify one of my questions above. Let's say we have two twins, A and B.

Twin A consumes 6000 calories per day from the start and is able to reach 300lb+ on squat using linear progression, before moving onto intermediate programming.

Twin B consumes 4000 calories day day and their bodyweight doesn't increase enough so they repeatedly stall at 250lb squat before moving onto intermediate programming.

They obviously start with exactly the same body weight, leg size etc.

Let's say person A reaches 350lb by the end of their linear progression. Person B will reach this in their intermediate programming.

Will A and B's legs be the same size when they both reach 350lb?

What are the pros and cons of both situations?

[Robert Santana]

I am worried that if I approach this any other way (e.g. switching to intermediate programming on squat) it will become skewed more towards strength gains rather than size gains? In other words I won't gain as much size in proportion to strength as if I simply ate more and did the LP word for word, if that makes sense? If so then I am prepared to start eating 6000 calories/day. Size is my priority and I will do anything to get bigger.

No this doesn't make sense and is bullshit spawned from bodybuilding and academia. There are "small" guys (who still look like they train btw) who lift very heavy weights. However, there are rarely big, muscular, men who are lifting laughable weights. You have the raw materials you have and you'll grow as much as your body will grow. There is the old phrase: Individual results vary but a stronger muscle will almost certainly grow larger. So if your goal is LP forever you are setting yourself up for failure. That being said you may benefit from additional weight gain so give it a shot. Why not try 5000 calories instead of 6000?

[Robert Santana]

To clarify one of my questions above. Let's say we have two twins, A and B.

Twin A consumes 6000 calories per day from the start and is able to reach 300lb+ on squat using linear progression, before moving onto intermediate programming.

Twin B consumes 4000 calories day day and their bodyweight doesn't increase enough so they repeatedly stall at 250lb squat before moving onto intermediate programming.

They obviously start with exactly the same body weight, leg size etc.

Let's say person A reaches 350lb by the end of their linear progression. Person B will reach this in their intermediate programming.

Will A and B's legs be the same size when they both reach 350lb?

What are the pros and cons of both situations?

Read my previous response. Individual results vary. So the answer is NO. The only way to know which person you are is to push the limits and see what you learn about your own body. There no pros or cons here other than one guy was born with a better deck of cards. Biology does not have a sense of humor.

[mathgainer]

No this doesn't make sense and is bullshit spawned from bodybuilding and academia. There are "small" guys (who still look like they train btw) who lift very heavy weights. However, there are rarely big, muscular, men who are lifting laughable weights. You have the raw materials you have and you'll grow as much as your body will grow. There is the old phrase: Individual results vary but a stronger muscle will almost certainly grow larger. So if your goal is LP forever you are setting yourself up for failure. That being said you may benefit from additional weight gain so give it a shot. Why not try 5000 calories instead of 6000?

Read my previous response. Individual results vary. So the answer is NO. The only way to know which person you are is to push the limits and see what you learn about your own body. There no pros or cons here other than one guy was born with a better deck of cards. Biology does not have a sense of humor.

Thanks for your reply. When my squat stalls should I make Wednesday a light squat day? Are there any other changes I need to make?