Over the last month I have been everywhere and the hardest thing about traveling is that it completely throws your schedule out the window as far as training. But luckily for me I have still been able to keep a level head and progress with my gains.

Keep in mind that as a Natural Athlete it will take time to build lean muscle and depending on how long you have been lifting, gains will slow down a bit. In fact, you will see the majority of your muscle gains in the first two years.

Muscle gains don't slow down because you are doing something wrong. It's because yor body does have a natural limit.

For me, with proper training training and eating I can expect to see about 5lbs of lean muscle gain a year. That is why "bulking" is such BS in my opinion. It's an ego inflation method. Don't feel like you need to gain 40lbs just to lose 35lbs of it when you "cut". Makes no sense. But we can chat more about that later.

Now back to my training.

I have had to get very creative due to my lifting schedule being so spuratic.

A typical week for me has been something like this:

Monday

• Intense 5 x 5 deadlift followed by an intense circuit consisting of 4 - 5 rounds of 4 - 5 exercises followed by 20-25 minutes of cardio

Tuesday

• Chest / Triceps / Traps / Abs
  • To maximize time I am supersetting exercises for my traps between all my sets on chest. The same with Triceps and Abs
  • I always start off with a heavy 5x5 bench press

Wednesday

• 20 - 30 minutes of skill work to continue to build upper body strength. Lately I have been focusing on practicing muscle-ups and human flags followed by an intense circuit consisting of 4 - 5 rounds of 4 - 5 exercises followed by 20-25 minutes of cardio

Thursday

• Quads / Glutes / Calves / Biceps / abs
  • To maximize time I superset calves between all my quad and glute exercises and do the same for biceps and abs
  • I always start off with a heavy 5x5 Squat

Friday

• Hamstrings / Back / Traps
  • I take my time and hit my hamstrings on their own, however I don't take long rest periods. For back and traps, I superset the exercises to utilize time

Saturday

• Shoulders / abs / Cardio
  • Once again to save time I superset the shoulders and abs exercises. However, I start off with a heavy 5x5 of overhead presses uninterrupted then go into the supersetting

Sunday is a rest day or a light jog

Now depending on the week if I am traveling I try to move the days around so I perform the circuits when traveling. This is because they can be done anywhere and if limited on time it makes it much more convenient.

MEAL PLAN

I am still hitting the same macros (280-300 protein, 150-180 carbs, 90-100 fat) but I am making sure I am getting more veggies. Lately asparagus and broccoli have been my best friends. Asparagus is a natural diuretic which helps with keeping that lean look.

I also have been getting the majority of my calories in before 5pm and stick to just eating protein until about 8pm. I have found that if I eat too much carbs before bed my body tends to store more body fat. There is no need to eat food that you are not going to need for energy while you sleep.

How are your results coming along Nation? Stuck in a rut? Need some help? Let me know and I will do my best to make some suggestions.

Have a great week!

But Scott! Chris Jones aka CJ, managed to add 3lbs of pure muscle while bulking. Of course he had to add 40lbs and then lose 37lbs to find that out and you could say that he spent a lot of time cutting which he could have spent bulking but anyway...any statements? :D

Hey Scott!

My biggest problem has been my consistency. When I'm on, it's great, and when I'm off, it's terrible. I'll keep a good diet and consistent workout schedule for about a month or two and then my schedule gets overloaded again and all of a sudden everything falls apart. This has been going on for me for about 2 years now. I know there are no shortcuts to getting a great physique - it takes hard work and dedication and CONSISTENCY. These are things I know and understand, but for some reason can't get them to stick. It's clear I'm not determined enough to make it happen. I feel that if I could somehow catch a glimpse of what I could look like with a better physique, it would keep me more than motivated to keep working to get it. I look in the mirror and get down a lot because I feel like I'll never get there. Is there anything you can recommend that might give me that "jump start" I'm looking for? I'm not asking you for shortcuts because I know there aren't any, but more so, is there anything you would offer in terms of advice for staying consistent? Thanks for any insight you could shed on this!

Colton

Hey Scott,

Looking awesome!

So as you know I have been trying to get lean which for the most part I am there! I have been eating ain a caloric deficit to achieve this and  now I want to start adding muscle by eating in a surplus, but I don't want to get fat! I was considering a lean bulk but the carbs look so high when I work my macros out and I really want to try and stay lean while still build muscle, Looking at your Macros your protein is very high while your carbs and fats are quite low.

My questions are:

• are you in a caloric surplus of your bmr
• do you have a specific ratio for protiens, carbs and fats.
• do your macros stay the same on a rest day?

Kind Regards

Nils

You stated the problem and the answer in your question. You just do it.

If I offer one piece of advice it's to look inside and really understand why you want to do or look the way you want. Find your intrinsic motivation and you'll never have an excuse that will override your nutrition or training. A lot of what you're talking about is an indicator that you're not mentally commited to the process yet, and again the only way to remedy that is to experience the gains for yourself.

90 days is a typical scheme used by most terrible infomercial programs to sell you on their effectiveness because after three months of doing ANYTHING consistently you'll begin seeing real tangible results. So what I want you to do is to sit down and look at your goals, look at your programming or lack thereof and look at your nutrition plan. Now take them seriously. Respect yourself, respect your health and respect the fact that you deserve to achieve these things enough to construct and seriously assault this goal head on for 90 days. Three months out of your life is not a monumental task and it will allow you to see the beginnings of the gains, the lifestyle and the person that you want to be.

Sit down today, not tomorrow, not this weekend, today. Find a calandar or excel or whatever you need and create your training and nutrition plan for the next three months. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be something. It can be something as simple as Monday is chest day, Tuesday is Leg day etc. As long as you have a framework that you will adhere to. You are going to do something for three months that you are not doing right now. If you miss a day or two due to unforseen circumstances, who cares. Stick to the plan as rigidly as you can, not because I'm telling you to, but because it is seriously what you want - assuming it is.

Do it.

Ratio's are a very inefficient way to approach macronutrient breakdowns man. The general rule of thumb is for bodybuilding and strength training purposes to consume 1.5 - 2g of protein per kilogram of lean bodyweight that you are / want to be. The same concept is used for fat (typically 1-2g per kilogram of body weight that you are / want to be). From there, your carbohydrates will fill in the deficit between the calories that the two prior macronutrient counts give you and the total daily energy expenditure of your desired weight.

If you're looking to gain weight, you want to slowly integrate this meal plan. You don't go from what you are doing now to that new number over night - you want to slowely prime your metabolism to properly handle the new load.

In summary:

- Determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) of the weight that you want to attain.
- From that weight, determine your protein requirements (1.5-2g/kg).

- From that weight also determine your fat requirements (1-2g/kg).

- Take the remaining calorie difference between what you have calculated from the PRO and Fat requirements and divide that number by 4 (4kcal per gram of CHO), that is your carbohydrate number.

- Slowly integrate.

I'm sure other people have other methods they prefer, hope that helps.

Hi 30na,

start new thread, write down your current routine and if possible what everything you work in last 5 year, and also post your macros.

Then we'll take care for you ;)

BR, Gregor

Hahaha, I thought you had to gain loads of fat to gain loads of muscle?

Thanks man, but those macros calculations still work out the same as before with carbs very high and nothing like Scott's macro split! He has much more protien than 1-2g per kg of weight, which is why I'm confused :-/

My results are better than ever because I found my motivation and got iron-clad consistent with my program. One hitch though, I was talking to someone about my routine and they got me all paranoid about my muscle imbalances so I went and overworked one muscle group and got super sore the next couple of days from it. So very long stretching & massages in my future for that mistake, sorry hamstrings. Ugh, when is the part where I stop taking bad advice & accidentally hurting myself? This reminds me of the time it was recommended to me to eat 1200 calories and I actually tried to do it, apocalyptic. That's an impressive workout schedule for traveling. 5lbs of lean muscle per year? That's fantastic, great perspective on the pacing of muscle growth for natural athletes.

It's because this macro split method specifically uses each macronutrient for it's biological primary purpose (for example, protein for muscle growth and repair, fat for hormonal balance and caloric density and carbohydrates for the primary fuel source). Scott's split / methodology (also completely valid) uses protein on more of a sliding scale and keeps carbohydrates lower to minimize held body water and take advantage of the increased thermic effect of protein breakdown (an additional caloric requirement to utilize protein, especially outside of its primary purpose of growth and repair).

They are techniques designed at maximizing the hyper-lean look, again completely valid, but for the average person unnecessary and a bit overkill for the goal at hand. Body water from carbohydrates is something that can be minimized in a matter of days should the need arise and at the end of the day - a caloric deficit will elicit weight loss and a caloric surplus will elicit weight gain.

So effectively what I'm saying is that for Scott's purposes (as a continuous fitness model) it's prudent to be on a meal plan that forces the body to work harder metabolically for it's growth / maintenance / energy utilization in order to reap the benefits of a slightly higher metabolic rate and lower body water. Given time and consistency your body will adapt and be perfectly lean on either method, it's just a metabolically less costly method to use each macronutrient for its primary purpose and better for long term program adherence.

Hope that cleared it up a bit.

Right on man! I'm sooo keen to make lean gains rather than just bulk. Have been making some progress in terms of weight gain, I'm just hoping it's muscle! :D

I just had a few questions from what you said you have been doing...

What do you find is the best way to cook your asparagus?

What do you do for cardio?

Also, I normally have kumara/sweet potato with my dinner, and yoghurt before bed. Obivously these have carbs, and I was just wondering do you think I could eat something better to maximise lean gains? What sort of food do you eat once you start sticking to just protein?

Gotta keep progressing with those lean gains!

HTH!

hahaha, yeah @whisper I just posted my statement today ;)

You can do it Colton!

Maybe you just need to visualize more and write down your goals. Maybe hang up a photo somewhere of someone who has the physique you would like to achieve so you see it everyday.

Understand that we ALL have busy lives and lots of stuff going on. I am constantly traveling and trying to find ways to keep up with my workouts. I say this just to help you see that you are not alone! You can do it man. I believe in you! #HTH

Thanks @nilsfearons!

We can get you lean man! I am currently over 250-500 ov my BMR for my lean gains.

I go over my entire diet and show you how to work your numbers for lean gains with this video. Have you checked it out yet?