By Brandon Cook

January 25th through January 31st

Progress Picture:

Brandon @ 162.4 lbs and 13% body fat

Week 9 of My Transformation Journey:

Okay, so after one month on the Hypertrophy phase…. I’ve gained 1.2lbs and maintained the 3.9lbs of fat that I gained during December. Obviously, something needs fixed! Time to do some scientific analysis…. you think? Afterall my goal is to GAIN muscle.

I can tell you that I have been getting stronger and increasing the weights I lift from week to week. So, in those regards things are going well. I plan to keep strength on the rise for this (progressive overload) is one of the vital keys  to muscle gain. I’ve never seen a skinny guy bench pressing 300lbs, squatting 400lbs, or dead lifting 500lbs.

Currently I’m floor pressing 120lbs (60lb dumbbells) for 8 reps, squatting 220lbs for 8 reps, and rack pull dead lifts for 220lbs for 8 reps. We definitely have got some work to do to get these numbers up. However, for a guy who recently healed his shoulder and had previous back issues, I’m pretty happy to be lifting these weights and seeing the numbers on an upward trend.

In all my years of “off and on” again lifting I never did acquire much strength. I will bust my ass to get the numbers up to respectable levels.

That being said, let’s take a look at the four pillars and see where I may need to make some adjustments.

Pillar #1: Proper Mindset- I have been continuously working on improving my mindset for years now and will continue to do so. I practice daily meditation, affirmations, visualization, read books and listen to audio books, watch educational and informative DVD’s and  the list goes on. Although I will admit, that I still have some work to do in this area I do not believe it is the missing link in my muscle building progress. I will continue as I have been in this area.

Pillar #2: Optimal Training- Over the past decade my training programs have gone from completely absurd pro bodybuilder regimens to 3 short, intense full body workouts a week. Very similar to Jason Ferruggia’s programming found in Muscle Gain Secrets. In fact, my own research and goals have led me to highly agree with this approach to training.  I’m not taking anything away from the other methods and programs though. I’ve learned so much valuable information from each style and training program I’ve studied. And I would never feature a program on this website if I didn’t think it was a solid program and had highly valuable and usable information. I do believe in incorporating aspects of other training philosophies to change things up.

It’s just that I specifically desire to have functional, athletic muscle and strength (not just aesthetics) and I disagree with some of the approaches and exercise selections that certain coaches recommend. I want to be as strong as I look, plus I am also interested in getting back into martial arts at some point. So it would be great if there was a high carry over there. Jason’s been in the training game for a while and I trust his programming methods. I don’t believe this pillar is specifically the issue either, as long as, I continue to put my heart into the training and keep gettting stronger. Thanks to all of the coaches featured on this website, my training has been steadily improving. Although, I’m sure there is still room for more improvement… there always is!

Pillar #3: Quality Nutrition- This is a VITAL aspect of the program and I believe the culprit for my lack of progress is to be found in this pillar. Personally, I think there are a couple aspects of this pillar that need addressed. First and foremost is my caloric intake. Since my weight has barely fluctuated this month, I can only conclude  that I’m not eating enough calories to spark new gains in lean muscle tissue. To solve this issue I plan to increase my calories on training days. By doing it this way and instead of increasing calories across the board, I think I’ll be able to limit the fat and increase the muscle gains.

Secondly, I need to start drinking more water. I’ve noticed that I haven’t been as diligent with my water intake lately. Muscles are mostly water and strength gains drastically decrease when one is dehydrated. I will be creating a nutrition checklist to help me improve in this pillar.

Finally, I’ve been fighting it (a.k.a. rationalizing) for a while, but the more I study health and nutrition the more I keep coming back to the idea of following a plant-based diet and eliminating meat, dairy and other animal products from my diet. Although, before I can pull the trigger on this I need to do more reseach. A book that I keep hearing more and more about is “The China Study” by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. I’ll have to buy this book and figure out how to make the switch, if I do decide to do so.

Pillar #4: Rest and Recovery- It’s not enough just to train hard and eat right. You must also recover from the onslaught of your intense workouts. If you don’t you’re body will be unable to synthesize new muscle tissue and you’ll be more susceptible to injuries. I have made some drastic improvements in this area by incorporating the use of foam rollers and tennis balls to improve tissue quality and self-myofascial release. I also see a chiropractor/A.R.T specialist once a month. I stretch, do Tai Chi, meditation, hot tub, corrective exercises and mobility exercises to aid recovery and improve flexibility and mobility in the muscles and joints.

Even so, this pillar could also use a little work. Mainly in the sleep department. I do my best to go to bed on time, but my best hasn’t been good enough lately. I typically average about 6-7 hours of sleep. Some nights 8-9, more likely on the weekends. So, this isn’t too bad. I just need to be more diligent and do my best to get 8 hours of quality sleep.

Summary and Conclusion- Well this has been helpful and I realize that I have some work to do on my nutrition if I want to see some improvements in February. If I can get some extra sleep that should help out as well. Be sure to use this trouble-shooting method in diagnosing your own training related issues to improve your results.  

Body Composition:

To determine my weight and body fat percentage I weigh myself four times at various intervals throughout the day on my weigh in day. I take the average of these and that becomes the numbers you see below. 

This isn’t entirely necessary, but I’m trying to account for flucuations that occur in my bodyweight throughout the day. A simpler method would be to just weigh yourself on the same day and same time each week…. but that’s not as much fun!

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Weigh in Results:

Beginning Bodyweight: 157.3lbs
Beginning Body Fat: 11.0%
Beginning Lean Mass: 140.1lbs
Beginning Fat Mass: 17.2lbs

Current Bodyweight: 162.4lbs
Current Body Fat: 13%
Current Lean Mass:  141.3lbs
Current Fat Mass: 21.1lbs

Total Bodyweight Change: Gained 5.1lbs
Total Body Fat Change: Gained 2%
Total Lean Mass Change: Gained 1.2lbs
Total Fat Mass Change: Gained 3.9lbs 

Summary:
Overall I have gained 1.2lbs of muscle and gained 3.9lbs of fat
(0.3 : 1 Ratio of Muscle:Fat).
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I will also be using the following charts to track my progress visually. The first chart represents my body compositional changes from week to week. My scale calulates muscle mass, bone mass, water percentage, and fat percentage. I’m not sure how accurate these results are so this represents my best guestimate based on the scales output.

This first chart uses this data to graph the changes  in my body composition over the next 26 weeks. If all goes as planned you should notice the red sections (muscle mass) growing larger and the overall columns (total bodyweight) growing larger. If the yellow sections (fat mass) are growing too large… then we’ve got a problem!

This second chart simply shows my current body composition as a pie chart. Red (muscle) = 19%, Green (bone) = 5%, Blue (water) = 63%, and Yellow (fat) = 13%. 

Maximum Muscular Bodyweight:

According to The Weight Trainer: Maximum Muscular Bodyweight and Measurements Calculator: 

My estimated maximum muscular bodyweight at ~10% bodyfat is:
197.1 lbs

This calculator gives you an estimate of the maximum muscular bodyweight and measurements that a drug-free trainee of a similar skeletal structure is likely to attain. It is based on equations Casey Butt developed through over 6 years of research and analysis of data from drug-free champions both past and present.  The article presenting the equations utilized by this calculator can be found here: Your Maximum Muscular Bodyweight and Measurements.

I’m using this calculator as a general guideline in determining my ideal body weight and measurements for what I can accomplish naturally. I’m not letting these calculations impose limits on what I can accomplish. The only limits are the ones we impose upon ourselves. Remember, limits were meant to be broken! I just think its a cool calculator.  

Measurements:

As another means of tracking my progress I will be measuring my neck, chest, arms, forearms, waist, hips, thighs, and calves. My wrist and ankle measurements should stay pretty much the same.

I used The Weight Trainer calculator to determine my goal measurements and rounded up or down a little based on my own desires, but only buy a 1/4 inch or so.

More specifically I just made the goal for my neck, arm, and calves measurements to be the same. This is typical of the Classic Physique goals talked about by Steve Reeves and other bodybuilding legends.

As you can see the biggest differences are apparently my chest, arms, and thighs, but everything will need to come up. Well except my waist, which should be slimmer.  The ideal concept is to have wide shoulders tapering down to a thin waist to develop the classic V taper.

Of course these are more bodybuilding type goals and objectives and not necessarily a requirement for athletes or those who are more performance oriented. Personally, I desire form and function… so I’m aiming for the best of both worlds! 

See you next week,

Brandon

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About the Author:

Brandon Cook is creator of The Awakened Warrior Blog, and co-creator of HardgainerMuscleBuilding.com, a website specifically designed to teach hardgainers how to build muscle fast using the laws and scientific principles of body transformation.

HargainerMuscleBuilding.com features a free email class covering the basic principles of training naturally, eating a nutritious, muscle-building diet, and understanding the truth about supplements. The website is filled with free articles, videos, and the programs you need to create your ideal body.
Please visit us at http://hardgainermusclebuilding.com

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