Muscle Build Experiment Kick-Off

At long last it’s time to kick off my Summer muscle-build experiment.  Over the past couple of weeks I have finalized my workout and diet plan for the next month.  (I plan to go for at least one month, with a possible max of two months.)

I have put together the following plan from various articles that I’ve found across the internets.  This article from Tim Ferriss has the best summation of all of the information that I’ve found so far, so they are the main guidelines that I will follow.

Diet

What to eat:

Firstly, I need to eat large amounts of protein (beef, pork, chicken, eggs).  We’re talking lots of protein.  This is my main food group for the next month.

For carb energy and additional nutrients, I will eat legumes and assorted vegetables.  Lentils, beans, peas, spinach, asparagus, etc. etc.

What not to eat

Bread, rice, other “white” carbs.  No breaded, battered, or deep-fried foods.  I’ll avoid most dairy, and cut out any “liquid calories”.  (i.e., no soda, juices, other sweet drinks.  Unsweetened drinks are A-OK).

Dieter’s day off: Every Saturday all bets are off, and I can eat whatever I want.  I can also indulge in some white carbs and/or dairy immediately after working out.

Exercise

Overview

The key concept for building muscle is simple: intensity. I will only go to the gym twice per week.  I will only go for about a half hour every time.  The idea is that the workouts should be so intense that any more than this would kill me.

With every exercise I’m aiming for “one set to failure” – I should be so close to my max that I can only do 3-6 reps before complete muscle exhaustion. At max I will do two sets of an exercise, but I will aim for one. I will also employ a slow cadence to every exercise to eliminate momentum and maximize resistance. (Tim Ferriss recommends 5/5 – five seconds up, five seconds down).

Specific Exercises

I will focus on multi-joint exercises, and make a point to work out my entire body each time I go to the gym.  Leg Press, Trap Bar Deadlift, enhanced-weight dips and pullups, Squats, Yates Bent row, overhead press, etc.  In the past I was isolating specific muscle groups too much and not focusing enough on multi-joint exercises like these.

Logging

I will record every detail of my workouts, including time spent in the gym, exercises done, reps done, amount of weight, etc.  This way I will be able to track my exact progress.

Current Measurements

Michael over at Clark’s Tuxedos on University Ave here in Provo was kind enough to take my measurements for the project.  Right now, they are as follows (in inches):

Neck – 15

Bicep – 13

Chest – 36.5

Abs – 30

Thigh – 20

Shoulder (entire circumference) – 42

Currently I weigh 190 pounds.

And there you have it.  I’m psyched to see what I can accomplish.  I’ll publish a couple updates along the way, and if you have any ideas or suggestions for me, please let me know!

Oh, and lest I forget, here’s the official “before” pictures:

(Yes, I really am that white.  Lay off, all right??  I swear, Winter in Utah just got over like a week ago…)