Olympian Bulking Diet

For all of you who think you're eating big to get big, think again.  This is a diet from the man himself, 4 time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler!

MEAL 1 8:00AM = 15 egg whites 2 yolks,4 slices Ezekiel toast,1 cup (dry) Ezekiel

MEAL 2 10:00AM = 10oz steak,2 cups of rice

MEAL 3 12:00PM = 10oz of chicken,4 cups of rice (cooked)

PRE-WORKOUT 1:00PM = Protein Shake

POST-WORKOUT 3:00PM = Protein Shake, Creatine

MEAL 4 5:00PM = 10oz of buffalo meat,2 cups of rice,BCAA drink

MEAL 5 7:00PM = 10oz of turkey,1 cup of Ezekiel cereal,2 slices of Ezekiel bread,Protein Shake

MEAL 6 10:00PM = Protein Shake,4 slices of Ezekiel bread

Calories: 4948
Fat: 95g
Sodium: 5701mg
Carbs: 839g
Dietary Fiber: 118g
Sugars: 84g
Protein 522g

Now THATS a real bulking diet.

Motivation.

Sometimes, even I lack the motivation to get off my ass and get to the gym, whenever you feel that way, come to this post, I will always be putting up new sources of motivation I find. Enjoy, and go lift something!

 

Choosing your cardio routine.

When it comes to losing fat, toning up, getting cut, whatever you want to call it, your cardiovascular exercise routine should always be a major concern.  Cardio can boost your metabolism for the rest of the day, and shred up your hard to lose fat if you follow certain simple guidelines.

We all think we can eat however we want, and then 'run' it off on the treadmill.  This is NOT necessarily true.  At certain intensities, your body will use different sources for fuel.  Low intensity over an extended period of time will use fats, carbs, and calories for energy.  Sprinting until you puke will force your body to use it's muscle for energy.  To shed that unwanted belly fat, I suggest 30-45 minutes AT LEAST every other day of moderate intensity cardio.  On a treadmill, about 4.5-6mph is perfect.  You want to keep you heart rate between 125-145 during your run. Most elliptical machines, stairmasters, etc have heart rate monitors, so if you want to switch it up because you despise running as much I do, try one of those out and find out your speed.

*Always be safe with your cardio guys, follow these obvious, but often overlooked procedures:*

• Avoid bouncing, and keep your head level.

• Keep your shoulders down and relaxed.

• Hit the ground with your heel first, and then roll to the ball of your foot, pushing off from your toes.

• Take time to warm up and cool down before and after a run.

• Don't increase your total distance more than 10% per week.

• If anything hurts, take time off until it feels better.


Keep your diet in check, keep your cardio up, and watch that belly melt away! Good Luck.


Stay tuned for a motivational post, and the importance of sleep! Thanks for reading.

The 28 method.

Plateauing with your gains? Check out this unorthodox workout I discovered a while back on the MusclePharm workout board.  During my last bulk phase, I saw noticeable gains in my chest and triceps after a few weeks on this workout.  It can be done with any muscle group. The slow up slow downs were about 5 seconds for negative and 5 seconds positive.  Each set of 28 is done without rest, each exercise is 3 sets with 2 minutes of rest in between.  Don't fret if you cant use as much weight as usual for these exercises, you're doing 28 reps!


Flat barbell bench
Three sets – Two minutes rest between sets

• 7 regular reps
• 7 slow up and down reps
• 7 reps going halfway down (from lockout)
• 7 reps going halfway up (from chest)

Incline Dumbbell Press
Three sets – Two minutes rest between sets

• 7 regular reps
• 7 slow up and down reps
• 7 reps going halfway down (from lockout)
• 7 reps going halfway up (from chest)

Chest Fly machine
Three sets – Two minutes rest between sets

• 7 regular reps
• 7 slow back and forth reps
• 7 reps going halfway back
• 7 reps going halfway up

Skull crushers
Three sets – Two minutes rest between sets

• 7 regular reps
• 7 slow up and down reps
• 7 reps going halfway down (from lockout)
• 7 reps going halfway up (from head)

Dips
Three sets – Two minutes rest between sets

• 7 regular reps
• 7 slow up and down reps
• 7 reps going halfway down (from lockout)
• 7 reps going halfway up (from bottom of movement)

Diet and Nutrition!!

Alright guys, like I've said on previous posts, diet is the most important thing! Some people say its 60% diet 40% exercise; I believe its more 80/20 to be honest. I know this from experience. I've tried cutting in the past and my diet was not in check, I'd work my ass off, run 2+ miles every day and see minimal fat loss, and I would ALWAYS gain it back. This time around has been different, with correct diet and supplementation, you can make your body look exactly how you want it.

First of all, if you have a smartphone, go download a daily tracker app. If it is available to you MyFitnessPal is the best one I've come across, it has a barcode scanner, so you can scan all the packages of what you eat, or you can do manual inputs, to track calories, fats, carbs, protein, etc.

If you cant get the app Livestrong.com has a free tracker.

However redundant this may sound, the more you eat, the more you will lose! The more you make your body work to digest foods, the quicker you can burn it off.  Eating every 3 hours to keep your metabolism working will work wonders for you.

Always, always, ALWAYS start your mornings off with 2 things: Protein, and carbohydrates.
These two foods are going to fuel your body for the rest of the day.  Your muscles are starving for protein, since they have fasted all night (8+ hours). I typically start out with a bowl of oatmeal, the pre-packaged no sugar maple and brown sugar Great Value ones are delicious and inexpensive. I pair that with 20-30g of protein either from a shake or egg whites.

My next meal (3 hours later) is 2 lightly salted rice cakes, at only 35 calories each these are a quick light snack.

Lunch usually consists of a protein and a vegetable, 6oz. grilled chicken and a small serving broccoli is a favorite. That fiber is going to help you feel full as well.

Pre workout meal usually falls around this time of the day, about an hour prior to exercise I have a protein and a lean carbohydrate, more grilled chicken or tuna with brown rice or more oats is what I prefer. You can always do a protein shake with a NATURAL peanut butter sandwich or a couple more rice cakes.

Post workout is always atleast 40g of protein (shake) and a banana to help restore lost electrolytes and a few carbs to replenish energy.

Dinner needs to be lean but filling so you don't eat late at night. 6oz. Grilled chicken, 8oz. tilapia,  broccoli or mixed veggies, and a small serving of brown rice or NO-Yolks egg white pasta is great.

NO MORE CARBS AFTER DINNER! Seriously guys, I know we all get cravings, but carbs that can't be converted into energy become stored fats, and thats what we want to avoid.  If you MUST eat something else, have another protein shake, if you have one of the lean ones I talked about in the protein section, thats ~100 calories, little to no fats or carbs.

And thats it!  See how often you can eat and still lose weight? Of course you can always adjust the diet to your schedule or liking, just try to keep it less than 2000 calories (I usually get about 1650) with around 150g of carbs, and 150g+ of protein, you will see the weight flying off.

Just keep in mind, your metabolism burns about 2000 calories off of you a day (different for everybody) and a pound of fat is 3500 calories, so if you can be at negative net calories for the day, you will lose weight without any exercise at all!

**I know some of you want this more than anything in the world, but please be healthy about it, not eating at all can be just as bad as eating McDonalds 4 times a day, if you eat under 1200 calories, your body will go into starvation mode and start eating muscle, you will be extremely fatigued and unhealthy, that is not the right way to lose this weight**

Good luck guys, if you have any questions or comments feel free to ask!

Facebook question: What is your weekly workout routine?

Well, I always like to switch things up a bit, you don't want to fall into a routine and wind up plateauing. During the last 2 months, I have been cutting, and I have a schedule that I like to follow when I can:

Monday: Chest and Triceps

Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Incline Barbell Press: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Cable Flies: 4 x 12,10,8,6

Self Weighted Dips: 4 x 16,14,12,10
Rope Pulldowns: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Skullcrushers : 4 x 12,10,8,6

Tuesday: Cardio and Abs

20 minutes on the treadmill
4-6 ab exercises, never exceeding 20 reps
30 minutes on the exercise bike

Wednesday: Legs and Shoulders

Squat: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Laying Leg Curl: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Leg Extension: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Leg Press: 4 x 14,12,10,8
Weighted Calf Raises: 4 x 12,12,10,8

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 4 x 12,10,8,6
Lat Raises: 3 x 8
Shrugs: 4 x 14,12,10,10

Thursday: Repeat Tuesday

Friday: Back and Biceps

Wide Grip Pull-Ups: 4 x 10
Seated Rows: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Lat Pulldowns: 4 x 12,12,10,8
Deadlifts: 4 x 12,10,8,6
Dumbell Curls: 4 x 12,10,8,12
Cable Curls: 3 x 10
Barbell Curls: 3 x 12,10,8

Saturday and Sunday I use for extra cardio or abs, or if one day during the week I decided to do just Chest or Back for instance, since they each contain so many working muscles, I will do tri's or bi's during the weekend.  If I feel like I have had a sufficient week of working out and my diet was absolutely clean I will use the weekend to rest, which happens maybe once a year.

*I DO NOT always follow this workout exactly! Like I said you don't want to plateau, so interchange the barbell for dumbbells, or find a different exercise you like and switch off every week*

I know alot of people say and think you should workout certain muscle groups more than once a week, but if you go as hard as possible every day, your muscles are exhausted and they need the 6 days off, and if your diet is clean and correct, they will still be fed and they will still grow. Your body can do wonders if you allow it to perform at its maximum capability.

How important is protein?

 Protein is EXTREMELY important in your diet, whether you are cutting, bulking, or just want to maintain what you have.  Most of your protein is going to come from your shakes, so you want to make sure you have a high quality protein powder.  I know Muscle Milk, Syntha-6, and Myofusion are the ones you hear the most about and see advertised on UFC and whatnot. Not to put down these companies (Cytosport, BSN, and Gaspari Nutrition) because they do make good products, but their general proteins are not very good.  If you are leaning up and trying to cut you need a meal replacement, with the lowest calories, carbs, fats, and sugars.  GNC's Amplified Wheybolic 60, Dymatize Nutrition's Iso-100 and Rivalus' Promasil are the leanest, best protein shakes for you.  In my honest opinion the Dymatize one is the best of the best, 106 calories for 24g of protein and 0 fat 0 sugar and >1g of sugar it is ultra lean.  All of these proteins also contain Hydrolyzed Isolate protein, which quickly digests and absorbs to your muscles, allowing you to utilize them the best way possible.  Other proteins like Optimum 100% Gold Standard Whey is a Whey Protein Concentrate and it digests much slower, and you actually won't be able to fully absorb all of the protein in it.  For those of you bulking, you obviously need as many calories as you can get, the better gainers have 1000+ calories and 50g+ of protein with low fat content (>5g) which is what you want, so you can feed your muscles, make them grow, without putting on fat.  A great piece of advice that I've always followed is 'consume the grams of protein in which you wish to weigh' - So if you want to weigh 185 pounds, consume about 185g of protein per day.  Obviously chicken and steaks will be your best sources of protein from foods.  Tracking the exact stats of everything you eat can be difficult, so I will post about an amazing app that helps me track as easy as possible.

Weightlifting.

Obviously, weightlifting is key when sculpting your body to the way you would like it to look.  It has taken a LOT of long hard days for me to get to where I am, and as you all know, I'm not even close to my goals yet.  Whether you are bulking or cutting, I suggest heavy weightlifting.  I know many people live by the thought "Light weight, High reps" when cutting, but it's not something I believe in.  Why? Because it never helped ME get my arms any more define, AND I lost muscle mass.  Since I've started cutting this time around, I've kept the lifting heavy - ish.  I usually do 4 sets. 12 reps for a warmup, then a 12-10-8 working set, increasing the weight every time.  The same routine whether I am doing lat pulldowns, dumbbell bench press, bicep curls, etc.  Obviously with the whole hi-rep thing, you will burn more calories, but you are not exerting your muscles to full usage.  I make sure that on that last rep on my 8 set, that its all I can do, I'm squeezing, pushing, and breathing at maximum capacity. When you're exerting yourself like that, you are burning calories and helping to maintain your muscle mass.

Supplementation.

Working at GNC has really helped me to better understand which supplements work and why.  Obviously everything works differently for everybody, and there is no magic pill out there that makes you skinny and handsome.  Personally I have a high tolerance for caffeine, so no diet pill is going to have me jittery and bouncing off the walls, or sweating bullets.  I started off this cutting cycle with a little purple pill called OxyElite Pro by USPlabs - the company made famous for creating Jack3d.  I will warn you all in advance that if you take this supplement and you have to take a drug test, you WILL test positive for methamphetamine, because it contains the ingredient 1,3 Di-methyl.  It is also 100mg of caffeine per pill, making your daily intake 300mg if you take the highest recommended dosage.  The appetite suppression in the OxyElite is outstanding, I was almost having to remind myself to eat every 3 hours - I never had cravings.  I lost 24 lbs. in a month on this product with a clean diet, and routine exercise.  I absolutely recommend it.  This passed month I have been taking D4 Thermal Shock, by one of my favorite companies - Cellucor.  The caffeine is much higher in this thermo, with a smaller dose of only one pill in the morning and one in the afternoon.  Cellucor has recently released a new, quicker acting, high energy fat burner called Super HD. I recommend either of them.  Along with those thermogenics I always take my everyday multivitamin, the Mega Men Sport, and 4 grams of CLA per day.  CLA is a groundbreaking supplement that is 100% natural, derived from Safflower Oil, and it literally eats belly fat.  Dr. Oz has been speaking very highly of this supplement since it is all natural with no stimulants.  The only side effects from it is a stomach ache if you have a sensitive stomach to pills, I don't ever experience this, but many people (mostly women) do, it is solved by just putting the pills in the fridge and letting them solidify, making it easier on the stomach.  The dosage is one to three pills before meals, I just do 2 pills (2g) before breakfast, and 2 before lunch. Don't think you can get away with any one of these products and see results, stacking everything together is going to make it work for you. If you're going to put out the money, buy it all so you can look the way you want to.  This is YOUR body, YOU have to live with it, so if you are disappointed in how you look, its on YOU to fix it.

Also, Protein is one of the most important supplements, so I am going to do an entire post just about it.

My Weight Loss So Far

This is what I have achieved thus far.  I plan to lose 6-10 more pounds of fat, while maintaining my muscle mass.  I have learned through this difficult process that diet is absolutely the most important factor of fat loss.  I don't care if you run 15 miles and lift weights all day everyday, if you eat fast, fried foods, you're going backwards.

Hey, I'm Mike.

So this blog is going to be completely dedicated to fitness.  I will attempt to answer the questions I receive about supplements, diets, workouts.  I will be as detailed as I can and share all of my knowledge thus far.  Hopefully I can help you guys achieve your fitness goal, while I continue to conquer mine.  Thanks for reading, and good luck!