Beebee Bulk Up – 1 Year On

It’s been a while since I’ve commented on my health regime, but I haven’t given up, not at all. It’s hard to believe that it’s over a year now since I started this, time has really flown by.

The nice thing is that it feels like I’ve built it into my life, it’s not a chore or addiction, but something that I enjoy doing. I also hope it is investing in my health, for later on in life.

So the statistics. Well when I started in April last year I was fluctuating between 11st2 (156lbs / 70.7kg) and 11st4 (158lbs / 71.7kg)

Now, as of today I’m 13 stone 1 pound! (183lbs / 83kg) So that’s getting on for 2 stone increase in a little over one year. All in all I’m really chuffed with my progress, and it’s hard to believe that I’ve come this far, and in a relatively short time frame too. The gym instructor has complemented my work ethic and speed of progress and that’s also quite morale boosting.

I have also had some interesting revelations about general body weight and the perception of self during this journey. I can now sort of see where people develop eating disorders from, because when I look down at my body, I don’t really see much difference. When I look in the mirror it’s a little easier to see the changes, and of course pictures compared from a year ago to now, do show the difference starkly. But I imagine that if I was going the other way, trying to lose weight, it could be just as mentally hard to perceive a change.

This must have something to do with perspective and the vantage point of our eyes as they peer down to our toes, there is definitely something psychological going on though. I do think that regardless of whether you want your weight to go up and down, the key to maintaining a healthy rational perspective on self image is to keep regular documented evidence with statistics and pictures. I’m sure this helps prevents the mind and eyes from tricking you into thinking that nothing is changing.

I also still maintain that it is harder to bulk up than lose weight. Something which is made even worse by what is seemingly the whole population wanting to lose weight, not gain it. Therefore all the information, literature and help is geared for going that direction on the scales. People in general tend to be unsupportive when you engage in conversation with a goal for weight gain. The attitude seems to be “don’t be ridiculous…you’ll find it easy to put weight on in middle age”. This is commonly patronising, frustrating and insensitive…so lets cut skinny people some slack and be supportive.

So this leads me to talk a little about the things that have worked for me, and helped me get this far.

These are in no way definitive, just things that are currently working for me. They are probably best for someone trying to gain weight/mass/muscle and is struggling. If you’re trying to lose fat and tone up then my diet tips are not going to be all that relevant! Oh and I’m not referring to cardio in this list either, that’s separate issue.

1. Diet. This has to be stressed first and last and at all points in between. If you are really skinny and struggling to get bigger, the simple truth is that no matter how much you moan that you “eat all the time” it’s most likely not true. You have to shovel the correct things into your mouth consistently and continuously.

This is essentially the number 1 key to putting on mass/muscle. Pounding the weights whilst not eating the correct calories will only tone up and define, not increase size. I was guilty of this “I eat all the time” excuse. Well since I’ve started this seriously back in April 2009, I’ve realised that I was simply deluding myself.

2. Do it Hard. The thing I was guilty of when trying to do weights at home, was that I never pushed myself to the limit. I would think that I was, but the truth was I was wimping out a few reps or sets earlier than actual failure. Or I was not using heavy enough weights to really make a difference. Having a trainer stand over you, pushing you on to failure with heavier weights, really made me see just how difficult it is to do it on your own at home. Finding that breaking point, whilst doing the exercises correctly and safely really makes having a trainer once in a whle worth it. After the first lot of programme sessions with the trainer I just wanted to crawl into the corner and die! My body had never been worked so hard.

Aim to never leave gym without really feeling you’ve pushed yourself. If you don’t ache, sweat, pant and hurt…then you’re not breaking down the muscle to grow back back stronger and larger. However, with that being said….

3. Keep it up. If you’re struggling with tiredness just go anyway, and do what you can. The momentum you keep up mentally of just getting there outweighs what might be a flimsy workout. It means that when you’re physically feeling back to normal then you will still be in the correct mindset. Of course this doesn’t apply to sickness or illness, more like when you’ve got a lot on your plate and are stressed/tired.

4. Don’t overdo muscle groups. Never work the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. Give the muscles chance to rebuild.

So where do I go from here? Back in April 09 when i started I never really thought I would reach 12 stone in a year, let alone 13. So my initial stated goals were somewhat on the low end of what my actual ambition was. I am going to (eating as cleanly as possible) bulk until I hit 14 stone (196 lbs / 89kg). At that point I will start serious cardio in my attempt to get body fat down to 8 or 9%. I’m not holding myself to any strict deadlines or anything, but I have it in mind to be roughly halfway there by September.

So hope this was interesting or of use to anyone that is just starting out where I was a year ago.

David

Beebee’s Bulk Up ’09 – 5 months in

Hey,