So, here I am asking for iron advice from you guys. I've never been able to gain weight. Ever. Back when I was throwing shot, I was 195, 199, tops, and eating like a pig and lifting a lot. That was 10 years ago.
Now, I'm pushing 30, and it seems there's some muscle maturity issues, because I seem to be able to gain some weight now. This is a good thing. I competed at 187 this year, but quite frankly it's getting harder and harder to cut and keep the weight off. Two years ago I competed at 179 at many tournaments. That sounds like a TERRIBLE idea now!!!!
Anyhoo, I'm going to go in the opposite direction. My plan is to put on about 10-12 lbs of quality muscle, then drop around 5 or 6 lbs to make weight at the 188-201 level. This is an improvement over the roughly 15 pounds that I dropped to give myself cushion (they weigh in mat side at the major BJJ tournaments, so you can't rely on "cutting" techniques, you have to build in cushion so you can eat and drink or you'll be weak and dehydrated.)
Right now, I'm doing a two on one off lifting schedule.
Day one
Clean and Press
T-Bar Rows
Towel Pull-ups
Day two
Squat
Bench Press
All exercises are 3x10 for the moment, except the pull-ups which are 3x4 (I've NEVER been good at pull ups), but they will be better soon!
My goal is increased mass. I probably won't gain much more fat than I have now, just because I don't do that (just the way I am), and I'm active.
My thought process was simple: I wanted compound movements, but also wanted a schedule that I could handle while training BJJ heavily to allow for recovery.
I would do power cleans instead of T-Bar rows, but my left shoulder does not externally rotate the way it used to and this puts stress on my elbow like you wouldn't believe. And I have a lower back that is.....less than optimal, or heavy deadlifting would be in the mix without a doubt.
I toyed with the idea of trying to do all of this on the same day and going 3 x per week, but if you've never done 3 x 10 floor clean....well, let's just say I don't think squats on the same day is a good idea.
Thoughts? Comments?
Yes, I'm eating like a horse and doing the protein thing