SB Labs

Winter 10 Week Lean Bulk Mass Building Program Grow with the Snow

You’ve got me curious about the other two. I avoid barbell bench like the plague since I jacked up my shoulders when I was lifting heavy years ago.
 
All right here are my three reasons for not including flat bench. You can agree or disagree and that is ok. Its just how I roll.
  1. Increased risk of shoulder injuries. And if you use a smith machine you are asking for trouble.
  2. Most men have under developed upper chest muscles. Although flat bench works more of the entire chest and incline more for upper, incline still fires the lower chest and mid chest muscle fibers. We are going to focus on the uppers.
  3. Many men have over developed front deltoids in relationship to side and rear. Flat bench targets the front deltoids more than incline.
10 weeks is a short period of time to focus on lagging body parts but excluding flat bench allows for some catch up to be made in other areas.

There you have it.

@Fitraver and @MBTJR1980 made some great points.

@Major @Bigmurph @Coalhogg @LeonitasCas @Darian
 
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As far a muscle fiber activation is concerned the guillotine press is probably one of the best in that regard but it didn’t serve the purpose of this program and requires some special consideration when selecting load and shoulder alignment.
 
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The Diet

We will be using carb cycling for this program. Carb cycling has several advantages over a traditional macro diet and many have found it to be very effective in limiting body fat production while gaining lean muscle mass.

On our low carb days the goal is to burn more body fat. Lowering our carbohydrate intake increases insulin sensitivity, which is associated with better body composition.

High carb days cause our body to burn more calories. They also increase leptin, the hormone that keeps us from being hungry. These two effects prevent the low-carb days from stalling our metabolism.

Our Macros
Protein-
Allows us to build and maintain lean muscle, which in turn helps burn more fat. Protein also helps us feel full for longer, giving us long lasting energy.

Carbs- Carbs come in two forms- simple and complex. Simple Carbs are the not-so healthy carbs and include sugar, cookies, candy, and most processed foods. Complex carbs on the other hand, are our healthy carbs. Foods like vegetables, fruit, sweet potatoes, rice, beans, oats, etc. fall into this category.

We will be focusing on consuming complex carbs. High quality complex carbs help keep your energy levels and metabolism high.

Fats- Healthy fats play an important role in allowing our body to fire on all cylinders. It is important to include healthy fats such as avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut oil, grass fed butter and yogurt into our meals.

Carbohydrate Sources
Sweet potatoes, Rice, Oats, Cream of wheat, Grits, Squash, Apples, Peas, Rice cakes, Quinoa and Berries

Simple Carbs
The only time we will utilize simple carbs is immediately after training. Preferably in the forum of glucose or dextrose. 35-50g of simple carbs combined with 25-30g of whey isolate.

Junk Food Carbohydrates
For the 10 week program we will avoid all junk food and/or processed carbohydrates. These packaged foods are high in sugar, low in nutrients and are counter productive to the purpose of the program.

Total Daily Calories
We do not want to lose sight that we are bulking which will require a calorie surplus. We also have to remember that we are looking for lean gains with no, or very little, body fat accumulation. If our daily total calories are too low we will not see the muscle increases or strength increases we are wanting. If they are too high we will begin to store fat since our body is not capable to utilize the excess calories.

Total Daily Calorie Surplus- 300-500 calories.

Diet Planner Template

Everyones Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) varies based on age, height, weight, BF% and activity level. All the formula numbers used are as an example.

The higher your TDEE the higher your calories per pound of body weight. If you find the calories per pound or macro breakdown is not providing you with the results you desire make SMALL changes every 10-14 days. Males have an advantage over our female counterparts as we generally react quicker to diet changes but going too far too fast can have a negative impact on results.

Calorie Formula - 17 calories per pound 200 x 17 = 3400

TDEE Calculator- https://tdeecalculator.net

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)- 2876 calories

3400 calories is our Day 2 baseline.

Day 1 - Protein 400g=1600 cals, Fat 85g=800 cals, Carbs 150g=600 calories, TOTAL - 3000 calories
Day 2 - Protein 350g, Fats 85g, Carbs 300g, TOTAL - 3400 calories
Day 3 - Protein 250g, Fats 85g, Carbs 450g, TOTAL - 3600 calories

3 day average daily calories- 3333 calories
3 day average daily surplus- 457 calories
3 day average carb intake- 300g

Take note of the carb progression. Day 2 again is the base line. Day 1 is -50% of the baseline and Day 3 is +50% of the baseline.

NEXT- The Supplements

@members
 
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This seems like a lean mean bulk blasting machine of a program! Definitely would love to jump in on this, unfortunately life has my time tied up real bad trying to keep yall stocked up and happy! I will be following this post and hope to see alot of UGM mebers weighing in on this! We may even throw in some prizes for the top members with the most consecutive detailed posts on there progress or any other facts you would like to share with the community! @SemperFi and the other mods have put aLot of thought and work into this for us so a big shout out and thanks to them for there effort on making UGM great and secure for all of us. Hope to see yall jump in on this bulk! Carb cycling worked great for me summer of 2017 👌 i was so asthetic then haha! Im more into the bulk now. I maintain more of a fuller figure with around %12 bf.
 
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@Darel Shoulder issues. Smith machines lock your shoulder is a single plain of movement increasing injury risk. Without knowing it our body makes small adjustments to mitigate injury during movement. A smith machine prevents these natural adjustments because movement is locked in the plain of our hand position on the bar, our back position on the bench and the position of the bar on the slide. The bar will not move forward or back nor side to side like it will without its use. Does that make sense to you?

We might not see any issues at lower weight but as we increase load the risk of injury increases.

As a shoulder injury sufferer I do not advise the use of a smith machine.

Barbell and dumbbell presses purportedly provide more muscle fiber activation, particularly in the mid deltoid region, than the use of a smith machine.
 
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I have been using DB workouts more and more rather than using a barbell over time.
Especially after I was able to get my 200lb adjustable DB’s.
My barbell has stayed in my landmine more and more over time.
I do pull it out and change it up though.
 
How old are you? Things can change with time and as you begin thinking about longevity you may find that adjustments need to be made to prevent further injury.

I don’t hate the smith machine. I simply see the injury potential and avoid it.
 
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This Plan looks great. I’m definitely going to give it a try. I too am trying to live the Keto lifestyle though and am wondering how we may still be able to best utilize this workout plan, but on a different diet. I’m not 100 % opposed to doing the diet, but am really trying to get as ripped as possible and Keto simply works. Any thoughts on this guys?
 
Every one ive seen who preaches the keto diet and is a body builder is seriously ripped.
They all also seem comfortable at the weight there at and the diet there eating.
Usually guys that ripped are dying to eat a cheat meal but know if they do they might put on some micro portion of a pound and ruin their look LOL
I have been talking with guys on keto and seen there pictures and all are eating happily and looking super lean.
Just my take on the research ive done so far about the diet.

Im not sure if this helps but its what ive been seeing so far

Good luck and good gains brother
 
It’s all relative to the gains you want I imagine. I have seen a few guys as well that are fully Keto and ripped, but not necessarily like huge. I know it can be done, but it seems to all be about your macros and portion sizes (cals). I think where I’ve always lagged is the portions. I’m not a big guy by nature, only 5’9 190 lbs, so eating a ton all the time isn’t real easy. When I have it really made the difference though. Guess I’m just curious about how Carb Cycling is different and what effects it will have versus Keto. I have also tossed in Intermittent fasting with Keto and they work well together for cutting fast, but you have to be careful with your proteins so you don’t lose muscle.
 
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