In follow up to the last post, regarding undergoing a physical transformation, the goal is to gain weight (no, this won’t be a burger binge ya’ll, health is still the number one priority here).
I’ve never been a fan of “gaining mass”. Never interested. Actually, it makes me angry. For those who are into “bodybuilding”, this is not geared to you. You train with that purpose in mind. For me it revolves around the Fitness Industries manipulation and mis-education of the general public as to what it means to be fit and healthy, using the bodybuilding paradigm. It is a misrepresentation that is so hyper-focused on outward appearance, that other aspects such as health, vitality, mobility, energy, function (all of which a strong, graceful physique spring forth from) are left in the shadows to collect dust. Yes, I’ll admit, we’re slowly shifting to incorporate them, but it’s still mired in the muck that leads people to fail at achieving the goals they’re being led to believe are attainable in the way it’s being marketed.
With that in mind, I’ve stayed clear and always been much more focused on enhancing function and attributes (speed, endurance, strength, power) for greater performance in my chosen physical activities. And the methods to gaining mass, in conventional training terms, never aligned with those goals.
That has seen me maintain a weight of approximately (literally within a couple pounds) 170 lbs for the last decade. The only exceptions were a couple times when I got sick and dropped some weight and a period of 6 
months where I put myself through the training regime of the U.S. Navy S.E.A.L.s ( minus the screaming instructors) and as a consequence hit 183 lbs (heaviest I’ve ever been). A training regime, however, that’s not so optimal for health and longevity.
Although we choose to make the change, the process, at least initially, is not always attractive or desirable. And really, neither is the “standard” we are constantly being hounded into believing should be our destination. Therefore, I’ve chosen a goal that has negative associations for me. One that has a process which I’ve found, for the last 15 years, to be undesirable and unattractive.
It is also a goal that is really hard for me physically. I’m a lean dude, and for all the eating and training that I do, very difficult to put on that weight. And I recognize for those who go through the process, that a hard part of a physical transformation, IS the physical transformation itself (everything else that comes along with it aside).
Alright, a tough goal with negative connection to it. Now, the food. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a 6-8 meals a day kind of guy. Became habit, as well as part of the common training wisdom, especially if training hard (not to mention if you’re trying to gain muscle mass). As we’d mentioned in the last post, physical transformation usually also requires a change in eating patterns. A change which usually flies in the face of how we’ve eaten for years. So I’m going to make that change. I’ll be changing my eating patterns from 6-8 meals a day to eating only 3 meals a day.
I have the goal, the change in type of physical activity (to encourage muscle gain) and the change in eating patterns (also for gain, but in a completely counter-intuitive manner) . I will not be performing “bodybuilding” routines as we know it. I will still be training purely through Circular Strength Training , continuing to develop quality of movement and athleticism through a system that promotes health-first fitness and pain-free longevity. And there is no ridiculous “in 10 weeks” time limit, as transformation is a lifelong process with constantly new layers being revealed along the way. But I’ll say we’ll see where I get in the next year and check in from time to time with an update.
Finally the numbers. Thought I’d forgotten? The more specific you can get with your goals the better. “Gain muscle mass” is too generic. So I’ll set a number to strive for. Because 183 lbs is the heaviest I’ve ever been, I wanted to go for something higher. This needs to be challenging right? So my aim is to gain 20 lbs of muscle which would put me at 190 lbs.
Only, I did my official weigh in on Oct. 29 and came out at……160.5 lbs! I’d been fighting a stomach flu for two weeks prior and apparently it took a little more out of me then I thought. I’m still sticking to the end goal of 190
lbs, which means I now need to gain 30 lbs. With that:
October 29, 2009
Before:
Weight – 160.5 lbs
BodyFat % – 11%
Anyone want to join me in a transformation?
Dare to Evolve,
Shane.
I couldn’t agree more with the points you make in the first part of the post but I’m thoroughly confused by the last part. Just how do you hope to gain that kind of mass through circular strength training?
I understand, and I concur, with your health, movement, and longevity first mantra but physical training is task specific and if the training doesn’t fit the task it just ain’t gonna work.
At some point if you want to gain mass you have to make room in your philosophy for progressive resistance of some kind. It doesn’t have to be bodybuilding mentaility bodypart split with isolations but the body does not grow energy expensive tissue unless you give it a very good reason.
Eric, thanks for reading and for your thoughts. I most certainly agree that in order for the growth of muscle tissue to occur, there needs to be the appropriate stress introduced in the training. I fully plan to give it a very good reason:).
In stating that I would stick with CST to do so, I wanted to ensure I was clear that I was facing weight gain and not a bodybuilder training approach to attaining said weight gain, as I’d earlier illustrated the connection between the two for me. Plenty of progressive resistance in Circular Strength Training:).
Of course, this will be a process of exploration and discovery, as I haven’t really trained for “muscle mass” before. At least not on purpose. So we’ll see what happens and what learning comes out of it.
Thanks again for sharing.
s.
Well, first of all, I wish you the best of luck and I never want to make comments to people to sound discouraging..only constructive. I get you are saying “weight gain” and I did see that you used that terminology but you are still saying “mass gain”. So I’m not sure our terms are from the same dictionary! We may just confuse each other.
Let me say that “bodybuilding” is either a sport or at least a competitive event depending on you views but beyond that most people referr to “mass” to mean LEAN MASS regardless if it is produced as a result of a bodybuilding mentality or any other. Weight gain is must ANY weight gain and not necessarily the same. Gaining weight in and of itself is easy!
I understand that you may have different ways of defining the terms, the above is just how I define them. In any case I’m not exactly clear on what you’re goals are but you seem to have a handle on what you want and I may just not understand!
If you have been hovering at about the same weight (lean) for years you have advantages and disadvantageous. One disadvantage is, as you say, it’s hard to put on mass. One advantage is that your body is less likely to deposit, for instance a lot of belly fat..you can look for a more even distribution. And even if it does you’ll probably have an easy time shedding it (I am NOT saying one should put on large amounts of fat and “bulk”).
I’ll have to take your word for CST having plenty of room for progressive resistance.
The best to you and your goals. Have fun and good luck.
Haha, no that’s cool. I’m open to whatever constructive feedback may come (even if it were to come across as contrary) and I appreciate your sharing yours (which wasn’t contrary in the least). .And yes, we’re both speaking about the same thing, the gaining of lean muscle mass.
Thanks Again,
s.
In the coming year I will be turning 60. I started running as a form of fitness in 1971 at the age of 21. So this makes almost 40 years of training. I mostly like playing sport because of the joy of it. People ask me why I run or at least they used to back when it wasn’t as popular and I always think to myself that if you have to ask, you will never do it. I just say this because in a sport like body building, body building isn’t the focus. At least this is my opinion. If it were the focus, people would never stick to it for long periods. What keeps you training for decades is joy. It is nice to talk about technical-scientific issues, but if you don’t find the joy, you won’t last long enough to get to the goals. I think people just learn that they really like the gym and that they really like going after a goal. It is being out on the road or on the tennis court or the soccer pitch or in a gym that the body loves.
Very poignant Richard! This would be exactly the kind of reason why I think the bodybuilding paradigm that became the convention for general fitness didn’t and doesn’t work. It did something for those who LOVE IT! And only those who love it are really willing to take the risks that such training can eventually have on your overall health.
But I would venture, that for the majority…..having energy, feeling strong, looking great, being pain free and living a higher quality of life right to the end of our days, this is what’s seen as important. And herein lies being able to find the joy. Because if what you do provides those things, then you experience the joy of having it, of living it.
Thanks for the great insights!
s.
Hit reply too early:).
Herein lies the joy for me: the whole point behind this transformation goal is not the goal of gaining muscle mass (that is merely the vehicle), but the process of transformation itself. This is where I get excited, where my passion gets sparked. And knowing that through the discoveries I will gain more tools, more keys to assisting others in unlocking that joy for themselves.
This will keep me going for a looong time in working towards a goal I never felt inspired to attempt, because it previously held none of the aforementioned joy in the process.
s.
um, did you just ask me if I want to get fat with you? but what about the burger binges? and the ice cream at 3am? non of that either? r ju crazy? well, i think I will pass on the getting fat thing, I have already experienced that twice with the last two prgenancies and that was enough fat joyness until nature pulls a quick one on me again- and honey, 30 pounds aint nothing, try 48 pounds in 9 months! I know Iknow, this post was about muscle mass. Maybe in another life time 🙂
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