How tight is your offseason eating/diet?...

[AVBG]

Do you guys hold up year round?

Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?

How dirty does the offseason get? Do you binge?

Do you not eat as often? If so why?

Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?

[GENESIS]

This last year it got a little sloppy.

6? no. more like 4 or 5. i do maintain the 30g of protein with each meal though.

this is probably the reason why i couldnt have so many meals. i would be eating things like burritos, lou malnatis personal pizzas, Jr bacon cheeseburgers. so i would be fuller throughout the day.

no. in fact i think the inverse is true.

[bgben3]

Do you guys hold up year round?

Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?

How dirty does the offseason get? Do you bing?

Do you not eat as often? If so why?

Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?

In the off season, my diet is like this. M-F I follow a clean bodybuilding diet like i was prepping for a competition except i take in about triple the carbs and good fats so I can have my strength in the gym and put on as much muscle as possible. Starting Fri night all that stops cause I usually go out to dinner. Sat and Sunday I pretty much eat everything that I want, but I still make sure to get my protein in each day. I find that this keeps me lean through out the year but still allows me to put on muscle and I get to enjoy all those good tasty foods on the weekends.

[DAVIDHARDY]

Do you guys hold up year round?

Not exactly, but it's pretty damn clean when I can be on a set schedule

Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?

More like 8 meals a day with about 40-45 protein and 50-60 carbs for the first 7 meals.

How dirty does the offseason get? Do you bing?

I have at least 2 cheats a week. On my off days. Tuesday and Saturday, but sometimes its 2 cheat meals a day. If I'm doing a lot of running around, it means that I'm eating out if I get tired of drinking shakes.

Do you not eat as often? If so why?

I actually eat more often. Gotta grow baby!

Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?

Of course not! You have to train and eat smarter and more consistent without the extra assistance of exogenous hormones and various chemicals.




Great set of questions, AVBG!

[inkedleo88]

Do you guys hold up year round?

It depends on what I am training for. I spent the last 4 months training for crossfit and losing weight. But I'm getting back on track

Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?

I eat 5 meals with 40g or more. Also 2 complex carbs and 2 veggies are part of the 5.

How dirty does the offseason get? Do you binge?

Last night I ate a pizza after my other meals were done. Gotta love leg days

Do you not eat as often? If so why?

Sometimes it gets tough on the weekends to eat the meals. I used to live at 200lbs. So eating to stay heavy gets exhausting.

Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?

Hell no. I feel like I have to feed my muscles exatly what they need and often. I was a nationally ranked track athlete and very lean at 6'4 and 200lbs. In just 2 years, I put on 20 good lbs. with hard work and lots of eating.

[NATURAL-1987]

Do you guys hold up year round?
Yes, I follow a to the cup,tbl spoon and oz diet all year around except right after a show all I do is make sure I eat enough protein until my weight starts to go up to quick. Then complete structure begins.
Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?
Actually eat more meals and more protein.
How dirty does the offseason get? Do you bing?
Off season diet has 2 plan cheat meals/week, wednesday and saturday. Eventually this goes down to saturday only once off-season weight is as high as I will let it go.
Do you not eat as often? If so why?
I still eat 7-8 meals/day depending on what my diet looks like.Actually thinking of changing it up to 10 this time to really get metabolism flying.
Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?
People seriously think this? They shouldnt be in the sport if they think like this.
Being natty means you have to make sure your diet,training,supplementing,and so on are all 110% as spot on as can be because we dont have any "extra" resources to help us.

[AVBG]

Some fuggin great replies.. learning heaps about the posters..

[Jason Newman]

off season is the same as diet for me 6 meals, tried the 4 meal thing got lil sloppy didnt liek it,

CAN GUYS POST UP SOME OFFSEASON PICS, i am very curious about what is considered good muscle gaining condition, im always lost on that one, i can never tell if i just dont have enough size yet, or its jsut too fat....

[Jason Newman]

*sorry couldn't see pics - JN learn to re-size man* edit AV

[Jason Newman]

sorry bro, tinypic was giving me shit
can u resize on here directly
?

[AVBG]

sorry bro, tinypic was giving me shit
can u resize on here directly
?

no, I had to save them then repost (something I don't want to get into the habit of doing, lol)

[Jason Newman]

lol sorry these are upright at least
http://i41.tinypic.com/a9qzcz.jpghttp://i43.tinypic.com/2s17q1d.jpg

[Jason Newman]

so whats ur thots, too fat for gainin? am i dillusional? i duno if i should add cardio or not
i love the lean look but still need to add mass

[AVBG]

so whats ur thots, too fat for gainin? am i dillusional? i duno if i should add cardio or not
i love the lean look but still need to add mass

I think you should spend time with your spell check, lol.

Your condition is particularly good for off season, I would manipulate carbs particularly after workouts.

Don't settle for getting fat when looking for mass.. eat your meals with protein regularly.

Delusional, no I don't think so (if you're looking for a pro card anytime soon - yes).

You will only fuck up and stray from your goals if you don't do the basics consistently.

[Jason Newman]

manipulate carbs meaning no carbs after trainign or just carbs around workout times?

[AVBG]

manipulate carbs meaning no carbs after trainign or just carbs around workout times?

I don't think the no carb thing before training can apply to everyone... Mix that shit up, but make sure you don't turn into a permabulker.

[Jason Newman]

not even bro, im making SLOW gains, and miss my ripped 7% i had, but i am not maing gains now, so have no clue where to go, i know i dont look good or grow on ow carb thats for sure
currently i eat 6 meals 60g carbs at each with 40g protein, minimal fats, none added

[AVBG]

not even bro, im making SLOW gains, and miss my ripped 7% i had, but i am not maing gains now, so have no clue where to go, i know i dont look good or grow on ow carb thats for sure
currently i eat 6 meals 60g carbs at each with 40g protein, minimal fats, none added

You're in good condition, If I were you I wouldn't sweat on being 7% anytime soon.

You just need to be patient or shoot some test into your ass. your call.

[Jason Newman]

lol well i agree there, but at the moment not in a rush to get to heavier massivly anyway the food bill is rediculous, and i dont want to compete ust want to be bigger for my own mind

[DAVIDHARDY]

I've recently stalled out at 215, so I'm gonna give it a few more weeks. If I'm still stagnant, then I'm gonna diet for 4 weeks to get out of this rut.

[Sandpig]

AV, I don't compete, so there is no off season.
I eat pretty clean all year round. Not matter what I do though, I always get my six meals and required protein.

[Shoe]

I stay pretty lean all year around. I get fat easy and was always fat growing up, so I find it best to stay lean. Plus I believe I put on more size when I am lean in the off season.

[rex]

I only do 4 meals a day (a better approach for me). I am not really into sweets or fast food
probably to my benefit considering I gain weight easily and only need about a 250 kcal surplus to see significant weight gain.

[NATURAL-1987]

I stay pretty lean all year around. I get fat easy and was always fat growing up, so I find it best to stay lean. Plus I believe I put on more size when I am lean in the off season.
Please explain why you belive this to be. Do you think its because you dont have to diet down as drastically and lose muscle contest dieting? This statement really caught my eye and I am always trying to learn in this sport.

[Steve56]

the biggest mistake is not doing cardio in the offseason...thats what turns some of us into fat asses...keep the cardio in 3-4 days a week...keep carbs early in the day and around workout and then the rest of the meals are pro/fat/veggies...carb cutoffs later in the day work great

[thesamewords]

I increase my meals bro, but I try to avoid sugar year round. I love it too much to bring it back....

[thesamewords]

Do you guys hold up year round?

Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?

How dirty does the offseason get? Do you binge?

Do you not eat as often? If so why?

Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?
Eat your six meals a day? 30-40g pro each meal?
No way bro. I just eat more totally, I increase my meals to about 8 and I dont wake up a 3 am to eat any more.

How dirty does the offseason get? Do you binge?
I like fried foods more than sweets so I have to watch out for things dipped in gravy like chicken fried steak!!!

Do you not eat as often? If so why?
I eat even more. I remember for two weeks straight I was eating once an hour!!

Do you feel that being a natty gives you an excuse to take a hiatus from the lifestyle?
Hell no. There is no hiatus.We either add or subtract from our lives but it all math baby!Simply put... Being natty is bodybuilding.

[IL WNBF Pro]

I stay pretty lean all year around. I get fat easy and was always fat growing up, so I find it best to stay lean. Plus I believe I put on more size when I am lean in the off season.
Please explain why you belive this to be. Do you think its because you dont have to diet down as drastically and lose muscle contest dieting? This statement really caught my eye and I am always trying to learn in this sport.

I never really stayed too lean off season....then, at my first pro show I was talking to Brian Whitacre and he was saying that he stays fairly lean off season. He says that he has been able to come in leaner and leaner because of this.

I also personally think that some peoples perspective of how much "muscle" they will gain when they are natural is a little bit skewed. I would like for someone to prove that you cant gain the same muscle with only 10lbs of fat gain versus 20 or 30lbs of fat gain.

[Nitro Fueled Barbie/Mel Marx]

I think it's sensible to eat clean year round....even for guys trying to grow.....there are those that eat a higher amount of clean macro nutrients and grow slowly while maintaining their bf, and then there are those that eat like shit all the time and put on lbs of bf and when it comes time to cut, they realize that all they gained was bf and not muscle.....
I think eating dirty cheats in moderation wont kill anyone, but the clean eating year round is what helps your on season....JMO

[Shoe]

I stay pretty lean all year around. I get fat easy and was always fat growing up, so I find it best to stay lean. Plus I believe I put on more size when I am lean in the off season.
Please explain why you belive this to be. Do you think its because you dont have to diet down as drastically and lose muscle contest dieting? This statement really caught my eye and I am always trying to learn in this sport.
I believe it is many factors. One would be not having to diet down as hard. I also get sluggish when I get too "fat" and do not have the same energy levels. Plus I get motivated when I could see the muscles.

[Jaredmus]

Eat moslty clean but things like whole wheat bagels and whole grain cereals like Kashi cerals shredded mini wheats or granolla cereal are all part of the diet eat each once to twice a day, still loads of chicken and turkey, but much more healthy fats. Don't really measure things.
Main offseason food is oats+natty pb+protein powder mixed thats a nice gainer.
I just eat more carbs and dont count at all
whole grain pasta, bread, cereals, it all goes.
Then twice a week I BINGE, and i do it well ice cream and nutty bars and reeses anything i want. Imagine how you eat the day after a show is like thats sorta what my binges are like.
As corny as it sounds you have to eat big to be big,
And one of my good friends who is a natty bb, pretty much eats what he wants drinks what he wants and dials in like nasty so i mean you have to know your body, and also enjoy yourself from time to time, I Love bodybuilding more then anyone i know but in the offseason thats time to live your life a little more

[IL WNBF Pro]

Eat moslty clean but things like whole wheat bagels and whole grain cereals like Kashi cerals shredded mini wheats or granolla cereal are all part of the diet eat each once to twice a day, still loads of chicken and turkey, but much more healthy fats. Don't really measure things.
Main offseason food is oats+natty pb+protein powder mixed thats a nice gainer.
I just eat more carbs and dont count at all
whole grain pasta, bread, cereals, it all goes.
Then twice a week I BINGE, and i do it well ice cream and nutty bars and reeses anything i want. Imagine how you eat the day after a show is like thats sorta what my binges are like.
As corny as it sounds you have to eat big to be big,
And one of my good friends who is a natty bb, pretty much eats what he wants drinks what he wants and dials in like nasty so i mean you have to know your body, and also enjoy yourself from time to time, I Love bodybuilding more then anyone i know but in the offseason thats time to live your life a little more

Again, I disagree with the whole overeating thing. I have done it in the past and when I come into a show, its been 1 - 2lbs heavier. Is that worth a 20lb fat gain over what would be gained with controlled eating?

As far as your buddy is concerned...Layne says it best....some people excel DESPITE what they do.

[MusclesMarinara]

Again, I disagree with the whole overeating thing. I have done it in the past and when I come into a show, its been 1 - 2lbs heavier. Is that worth a 20lb fat gain over what would be gained with controlled eating?

As far as your buddy is concerned...Layne says it best....some people excel DESPITE what they do.

I tried to eat a lot and get bigger... I did but i put on too much fat and made this last contest prep (my first, too) extra hard. Never again will i "bulk".