Gaining

Fitness and fatness

Alright, so, I've recent decided to go ahead and try to put on a little belly fat. I'd like to put on 10-15lbs (a time frame really isn't important to me, so it will come as it comes).

However, I'd like to do so without loosing any of my muscle mass or over all fitness (notice, I didn't say health--I have every intention of maintaining my level of health, however, if there are some small set back due to the fat gain, I can deal with that).

My plan is to, basically, maintain my level of activity and exercise. Currently, I do approximately 1000 abdominal reps a night (through 4 different exercises, and 3 sets of each--so, it's not really that hard to believe--for all of you skeptics), 150 push ups (broken into 3 sets of 50), and I do various other medium to high-weight (bench max is 275) lifting exercises 4 times a week at the gym, generally in high rep sets (15, 12, 10, 8, 6). Up to now, I run 1.5 miles three mornings a week.

So, in order to gain AND maintain this regime, I really don't plan on changing anything at all, except my caloric intake (obviously, it will be higher) and from where I'm getting those additional calories.

I'm 5'11", 170lbs, and 7% body fat (plus or minus 1%, I guess since I don't have highly accurate means of measuring this). And, I'd like to add 10-15lbs of fat. So, I'm going to increase my intake by about 400-600 calories a day (so, close to 3500-4000 calories a day), and I'm planning on getting them from, well, more or less junk food.

I was hoping to get some opinions on this plan. Whether or not it seems feasible, etc.

Thanks a ton for reading!
15 years

Fitness and fatness

jsc23 wrote:
It seems like you're overtraining to me. (and I'm assuming that you're not a professional athelete). If you've been training like this for years, then you can just ignore my post. smiley

As you probably know, after doing any repetitive motion for an extended period of time, your cortisol levels begin to increase dramatically. For some, this causes weight gain, but if your cortisol levels are high, continually, for an extended of time, receptors start to adapt to the change.

lol, as for building muscle, I'm surprised gluconeogenesis hasn't been a problem for you.

Anyway, here is a suggestion; why not switch up your diet and training schedule? Randomize it if at all possible. This will keep your body guessing, and you'll be sure to see some growth!

Good luck. smiley


Haha! Wow! All of that went over my head! But thanks for replying, anyway.

I mean, i've been doing this workout plan (more or less as is) for about... 4, going on 5 years. It's not for anything particular, other than my own mental and physical health. Aside from my nightly push ups and ab workout, I do try to keep my weight lifting regime rather... unpredictable. But, I'm not trying to really get any bigger muscle-wise. I'm quite happy at my size, and have tweaked my work out so that I'm maintaining it right now.

All I'd really like to do is put on some belly, while really maintaining my abdominal strength, i.e. I don't want to lose my abs, rather... cover them up a bit. smiley Haha. One way I was considering doing this was to either cut back or cut-out my running habit.

However, if it's not particularly plausible to do this without some how affecting my current exercise habits, then I'm certainly open to suggestions for consideration.

I was blessed with a very naturally lean body, broad shoulders, small waist. So, I'm willing to concede to simple genetic barriers, if this is impractical.
15 years

Fitness and fatness

jsc23 wrote:
It seems like you're overtraining to me. (and I'm assuming that you're not a professional athelete). If you've been training like this for years, then you can just ignore my post. smiley

As you probably know, after doing any repetitive motion for an extended period of time, your cortisol levels begin to increase dramatically. For some, this causes weight gain, but if your cortisol levels are high, continually, for an extended of time, receptors start to adapt to the change.

lol, as for building muscle, I'm surprised gluconeogenesis hasn't been a problem for you.

Anyway, here is a suggestion; why not switch up your diet and training schedule? Randomize it if at all possible. This will keep your body guessing, and you'll be sure to see some growth!

Good luck. smiley


***Further clarification. While I said 4 or 5 years, obviously, weight levels have increased since then in terms of what I'm reping, as well as the number of reps. I've certainly built up to where I am today, I did not start here. However, the schedule of working out has remained the same--nightly core, 3 or 4 gym visits for weights a week, and 3 mornings of running. That aspect has been consistent for the past 4 years.
15 years