That’s obviously a boon when you’re cutting but a barricade when you’re lean bulking.
We should also talk about whole versus refined grains. You’ve probably heard that highly processed carbs like white bread, white rice, and white pasta should be avoided by all people under all circumstances because they make you fat and unhealthy.
This is nonsense, of course, but some foods do increase the likelihood of overeating more than others. Highly processed grains are one of these foods, mainly due to appetite stimulation, which is why it’s a good idea for the average overweight, sedentary person to limit their intake of these foods.4
You’re not that person, though. Not only could you benefit from some appetite stimulation, but because you exercise regularly, your body has a much greater demand for energy and carbs. You should also be lean if you’re trying to gain weight, which further helps your body burn and utilize the food you eat (instead of storing it).5
A large percentage of your daily calories should also be coming from wholesome foods, which means your diet as a whole will be nutritious despite the inclusion of foods that are less nourishing.
All this is why refined grains can be particularly useful for you: they’re less filling than whole grains, which means they can help you comfortably eat more food every day.6
Eat More Calorie-Dense Foods
As you now know, food choices are a very important part of making your appetite work for and not against you when you’re trying to gain weight.
Eat too many filling, low-calorie foods, and you’ll struggle to hit your daily targets. Eat a lot of calorie-dense foods, though, and you might find it relatively easy.
Some of my favorite calorie-dense lean bulking foods include bread, pancakes, pasta, rice, oatmeal (steel-cut oatmeal is particularly calorie dense), granola, cereal, and muesli.
Another good tip is to add sauces and condiments to meals when possible.
For example, if you’re going to eat yogurt, add two tablespoons of honey or maple syrup to increase the calorie content of the meal by about 130 calories. (Throw in half a cup of granola, and there’s another 300 calories.)
Drink Calories
Drinking calories is another example of advice that’s bad for the average person but beneficial for the guy having trouble gaining weight. I don’t recommend you drink your calories indiscriminately, though.
As you know, sugars—both those added to and naturally occurring in foods—aren’t as harmful as some people would have you believe, but eating too much of them is. This is why the World Health Organization recommends that we eat no more than 50 grams of free sugar per day and, ideally, 25 grams or less per day.7
Free sugar is defined as “sugars added to foods plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices.” This excludes sugars naturally present in fruits, vegetables, and dairy, which are processed differently by the body than free sugar.
To put this in perspective, a can of Coke contains 39 grams of (free) sugar, a cup of orange juice contains (on average) 21 grams, and a tablespoon of honey contains 17 grams.
We do need to keep in mind, however, that the World Health Organization’s recommendation is for the average overweight person who moves very little and thus has little need for sugars. You’re probably not that person (or soon won’t be!), which means you have more wiggle room with your sugar intake.
Nevertheless, using body composition or activity levels as a license to eat very large amounts of sugar every day is a mistake. When lean bulking, I personally try to keep my total free-sugar intake below 50 grams per day.
You can keep your free sugar intake under control low by eating lots of grains and starches like rice, wheat, oats, and potatoes, and watching your intake of high–free-sugar foods like energy drinks, sugary cereals, fruit juice, soda, and candy.
So, when it comes to drinking calories, the key takeaway is twofold:
Avoid beverages with added sugar.Stick with milk, unsweetened rice milk, unsweetened almond milk, or coconut water. You can also use these liquids to make delicious protein smoothies.
Don’t try to drink a large amount of your daily calories.Think of caloric beverages as dietary supplements, not staples.
Most people find that simply adding two to three cups of skim or rice milk to their daily meal plan is enough to get things moving in the right direction again.
Make Food That Tastes Good
If you’re a foul bachelor frog in the kitchen (such a great meme), you’re going to make a lot of bland or even worse food that’s a chore to eat.
And when you realize you’re going to have to slog through plates of animal fodder every day for many months, motivation (understandably) wanes.
This is why I learned to cook (well, learned to find and follow good recipes is more accurate). That way, I can keep my calories fresh and appetizing and prevent the “food fatigue” that blunts your appetite.
I share many of my favorite recipes in my cookbook The Shredded Chef (www.shreddedchefbook.com).
•••
Breaking through weight gain plateaus is like most things in health and fitness.
There aren’t any shortcuts or “hacks”—just diligent application of the fundamentals with some commonsensical tweaks and calibrations.
And remember that the goal isn’t to just “gain weight” but to gain muscle with minimal fat, so resist the urge to eat everything in sight when the scale isn’t budging.
Take the more patient, methodical approach outlined in this chapter, and you’ll be better for it in the long run.
Key Takeaways
The most common error made by self-proclaimed “hardgainers” is eating too little.
If you hit a rut where you haven’t gained weight in at least three weeks while lean bulking, the solution is very simple:you just need to eat more.
If you get to a point where you simply can’t stomach eating any more carbs, start increasing your protein intake instead.
An easy way to increase food intake is to eat a larger number of smaller meals every day.
Eat too many filling, low-calorie foods, and you’ll struggle to hit your daily targets. Eat a lot of calorie-dense foods, though, and you might find it relatively easy.
When lean bulking, I personally try to keep my total free-sugar intake below 50 grams per day.
Avoid beverages with added sugar and don’t try to drink a large amount of your daily calories.
Rolls BJ, Drewnowski A, Ledikwe JH. Changing the Energy Density of the Diet as a Strategy for Weight Management. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(5):98-103. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2005.02.033.
Rolls BJ, Bell EA, Waugh BA. Increasing the volume of a food by incorporating air affects satiety in men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72(2):361-368. doi:10.1093/ajcn/72.2.361.
Brunstrom JM, Brown S, Hinton EC, Rogers PJ, Fay SH. ‘Expected satiety’ changes hunger and fullness in the inter-meal interval. Appetite. 2011;56(2):310-315. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.01.002.
Abete I, Astrup A, Martínez JA, Thorsdottir I, Zulet MA. Obesity and the metabolic syndrome: role of different dietary macronutrient distribution patterns and specific nutritional components on weight loss and maintenance. Nutr Rev. 2010;68(4):214-231. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2010.00280.x; Brand-Miller J, McMillan-Price J, Steinbeck K, Caterson I. Carbohydrates--the good, the bad and the whole grain. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008;17 Suppl 1:16-19; Barclay AW, Petocz P, McMillan-Price J, et al. Glycemic index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk—a meta-analysis of observational studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(3):627-637. doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.3.627.
Dyck DJ, Heigenhauser GJF, Bruce CR. The role of adipokines as regulators of skeletal muscle fatty acid metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Acta Physiol. 2006;186(1):5-16. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.2005.01502.x.
Holt SH, Brand-Miller JC, Stitt PA. The Effects of Equal-energy Portions of Different Breads on Blood Glucose Levels, Feelings of Fullness and Subsequent Food Intake. J Am Diet Assoc. 2001;101(7):767-773. doi:10.1016/S0002-8223(01)00192-4.
World Health Organization. Guideline. Sugars Intake for Adults and Children. World Health Organization Website. http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guidelines/sugars_intake/en/. 2015. Accessed September 13, 2018.
Part 8
The Beginning
34
The Bigger Leaner Stronger Quickstart Guide
Any airplane is off track much of the time but just keeps coming back to the flight plan.
—STEPHEN R. COVEY
This is it—the moment you’ve been waiting for.
You’ve read, digested, and absorbed hundreds of pages of diet, exercise, and supplementation principles, strategies, and tactics.
As a result, you’ve probably gained a whole new perspective on diet, exercise, and fitness and hopefully feel more prepared than ever to transform your body.
And that means you’re ready to start my Bigger Leaner Stronger program.
To make things as smooth as possible for you, I’m going to give you a comprehensive checklist that’ll take you by the hand and get you up to speed fast.
This quickstart guide is broken down into eight major steps:
Buy your supplies.
Join or set up a gym.
Take your first measurements and pictures.
Create your first meal plan.
Create your workout schedule.
Prepare for your first week.
Do your first week.
Get ready for your next week (and beyond!).
Each of these steps has several substeps, including optional ones, which aren’t necessary for following the program but are recommended for reasons you’ve learned about in this book.
Once you’ve done those eight things, you’ll officially be on your way, so let’s get to it!
1. Buy Your Supplies
You don’t need much in the way of gear and gadgets to follow Bigger Leaner Stronger, but you do need a few items, and you should consider picking up a few others as well.
You can find links to my specific product recommendations in the free bonus material that comes with this book (www.biggerleanerstronger.com/bonus).
Buy a digital food scale and learn to use its basic functions, like switching between units and taring, because you need to be precise with your food intake.
OPTIONAL: Buy plastic containers to store your meals. Any kind will do, but they should be BPA-free and microwave safe and have see-through lids and compartments. You can also get small containers for snacks, glass ones instead of plastic, and mason jars for salads (that’s right, entire salads, Google it!).
Buy a measuring tape and, if you don’t have one, a digital bathroom scale.
OPTIONAL: Buy the supplements you’re going to use (if any).
OPTIONAL: Buy a pair of workout gloves if you want to protect your hands.
OPTIONAL: Buy a pair of squat shoes for better squatting and deadlifting.
OPTIONAL: Buy a pair of lasso straps for better pulling.
OPTIONAL: Buy a pair of shin guards or a few pairs of knee-high socks for bloodless (literally) deadlifting.
OPTIONAL: Buy equipment for your home gym.
2. Join or Set Up a Gym
Many people are turned off by gyms, and understandably so.
Between the chorus of sweaty, smelly guys grunting, groaning, and gawking; the gaggles of wannabe Instagram celebrities busily snapping selfies; and the pack of stony-faced bodybuilders laying claim to every machine in the joint, there are plenty of reasons to feel about as comfortable in a gym as you would going for a swim in the Ohio River.
I want you to be able to tune all that out, though, and to see the gym through another lens—one I describe in my book The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation (www.workoutmotivationbook.com):
The gym is a lot more than a place to move, grunt, and sweat.
It’s a microcosm where we can make contact with the deeper parts of ourselves—our convictions, fears, habits, and anxieties. It’s an arena where we can confront these opponents head-on and prove we have what it takes to vanquish them.
It’s a setting where we can test the stories we tell ourselves. It calls on us to demonstrate how we respond to the greater struggles of life—adversity, pain, insecurity, stress, weakness, and disadvantage—and, in some ways, who we really are. In this way, the gym is a training and testing ground for the body, mind, and soul.
The conflicts we learn to endure in the gym empower us in our daily lives as well. The concentration, discipline, and resilience carry over. The way to do anything is, at bottom, the way to do everything.
The gym is also a source of learning because it calls on us to constantly attempt new things. It’s a forum where questions are at least as important as answers, and it cultivates what scientists call a “growth mindset” by teaching us that our abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—a worldview that’s essential for great accomplishment.
The gym is practical, too, not idealistic. It’s a laboratory open to all ideas and methodologies, and it gives clear, unqualified feedback on them: either they work or they don’t.
In short, the gym can be so much more than merely a place to work out. It can be a refuge from the chaos around us, a world of our own that we create to satisfy dreams and desires.
So, if you’re on the fence about joining a gym, don’t let yourself be talked or intimidated out of it. Take heart in the fact that you now know more than, well, probably everyone there, and before long, don’t be surprised if people start coming to you for advice.
Assuming I’ve sold you on taking the plunge, the most important things to consider when picking a gym are:
Does it have the equipment you’ll need to do your workouts?Just about any gym that’s well stocked with free weights and machines will do.
So long as it has a few bench presses and squat racks, a full set of dumbbells, and several basic machines—and allows deadlifting (important point!)—you’re golden.
Is it close enough that you won’t have any trouble going consistently?I’ve found that if going to the gym requires more than about 40 minutes of total driving, compliance tends to suffer.
So, if you can, find a gym that’s close to your home or office.
Does it fit your budget?As with most things, you get what you pay for. Don’t spend more on a gym than you can afford, but it’s a good idea to invest a little money in going to one that’s clean and has nice equipment, friendly staff, and other perks like showers, towels, cardio machines (if you want to do your cardio there), etc.
Most entry-level gym memberships will cost you anywhere from $10 to $50 per month, depending on where you live. Higher-tier gym memberships will cost anywhere from $100 to $300 per month.
For entry-level gyms, your best bets are going to be Gold’s Gym, 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, and Anytime Fitness. For premium gyms, Equinox and Life Time Fitness are great choices.
Your other option is a home gym, and this comes with pros and cons in terms of cost effectiveness, convenience, and privacy.
On the pro side:
You can’t beat the convenience of working out in your own home, and this may make it easier to stick to the program.
You can train whenever you want and don’t need to work around holiday hours or other schedule irregularities.
You never have to wait for someone to finish using equipment.
You can blare your favorite music, decorate the walls however you like, and more or less turn it into your own little fitness playground.
You save the time and money you’d have to spend com
muting to and paying for a gym.
And on the con side:
You’re going to pay a couple thousand dollars for nice and new equipment, which doesn’t include shipping or installation fees.That’s two years (give or take) of membership dues at a higher-end gym that costs $100 per month, like Equinox or Life Time Fitness.
You’re going to be fairly limited in the exercises you can do, and if you want to do cardio on a machine, you’ll need to buy that too.
You may enjoy your workouts less since you’ll likely be alone while you train.
You have to maintain, repair, and replace your equipment.
You may get distracted by chores, kids, pets, your spouse or partner, etc.
Personally, I like to train at a commercial gym. It’s slightly less convenient, but it allows me to do many different exercises, it helps me focus entirely on my training, I like meeting new people there, and I don’t have to worry about waking up the kiddos when deadlifting.
That said, I do have a set of adjustable dumbbells and an exercise bike at home for whenever I want to sneak in some cardio and curls.
If you’re going to be working out at home, then you need at least a few pieces of equipment. Here are the main ones:
Power RackA power rack, also called a squat rack, is a sturdy metal frame usually about eight feet tall, four feet wide, and three to six feet long with adjustable hooks to hold a barbell and safety bars to allow for safe solo weightlifting.
Many power racks also have pegs to hold weight plates.
This is what you’ll use for the squat, bench press, pull-up, and chin-up.
BarbellMany of the exercises in the program are going to require a barbell, so it’s worth investing in a good one.
Bigger Leaner Stronger Page 52
