Course of Action?

[Labyrinthine]

Howdy everyone, I'm interested in recommendations for what I should do next. Although, I know it's extremely lame for my first post ever to be a question. :\

Situation:

Back in January I was 6'0" 155-160lbs, got a gym membership and ran rippetoes until the end of may. I ate clean, have not missed a workout yet, and made good progress. By the middle of May I was 170-173lbs and everything was slowing down. It wasn't your typical stallout either, every lift was hitting the wall. I figured (stupidly) that it was my diet without considering that I may be reaching the end of the beginner phase.

So, I ramped up my cals by 400 over the course of 2 weeks and kept lifting. During this time I came down with a nassstty sinus infection that I'm just now getting over. About 4 weeks after the calorie increase, I realized increasing my cals was a bad idea. I was now 176 and felt horrifically tubby. Not quite sure how I missed it, but I'm blaming bad judgement, the sickness, and the craziness of graduation.

2 weeks ago I ditched Rippetoes, moved on to the more intermediate based Madcow's 5x5 Linear Version, and corrected my diet. I haven't seen much improvement in my situation so far, I'm still jiggly. It's driving me crazy.

---

Considering the aforementioned, what should I be doing?

Should I continue with the bulk, change to a cut, or am I completely blowing this thing out of proportion?

(I can post pics if needed)

 

[SouthernLord]

Are you doing any cardio? What is your typical daily diet?

 

[Ceros]

Do some cardio on your off days...but do only up to around 30 minutes...to save some of that leanness, and if still nothing do some intense jump rope after workouts, that seems to get me real cut up when I need it. also, make sure your diet is in tune with the times of day your eating, that'll help you metabolism speed up. And possibly even consider some cutting supplements.

 

[Labyrinthine]

Cardio Twice a week at the moment. One 40 minute run on Th and then on Sat I'm climbing mountains (about 5-10 miles)

Typical Diet looks something like this:

Meal 1 (6:30 AM)
3/4 Cup Oats
1/2 Serving Cytogainer Shake in Milk

Meal 2 (11AM)
Energy Bar
Banana

Meal 3 (Pre WO) (2:30PM)
1/2 Serving Cytogainer Shake in Milk

Meal 4 (Post WO) (4:30PM)
Optimum Whey Shake in Milk

Meal 5 (5:30PM)
3/4 Cup Oats
Glass of Milk

Meal 6 (8:30PM)
Whole Wheat Bagel
1 Arbitrary Fruit

Meal 7 (10:30PM)
1 Muscle Milk Shake in Milk

Scattered throughout the day I get 1 Gallon of Skim Milk and 3/4-1Gallon of Water

Stats:

3350Cals (+-3%)
424.5g Carbs
255.5g Protein
24.g Fat

Never had run the numbers before now, and I must admit I'm a bit surprised.

---

I'm getting ridiculously sick of being soft, though. Right now the most appealing option is dropping to 2500 Cals over the next 2 weeks and running a 3x/week HIIT program, keeping lifting programming the same but in a deloaded state.

Although, I'm completely new to this, so if that's about the stupidest thing you've ever heard I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[keasbey]

wheres the meat!?!

 

[SouthernLord]

wheres the meat!?!

Do not cut, but you could really clean up your diet. You are drinking too many shakes. Cyto and MM are full of useless calories imo. They taste good, but there are better options. All that fat mixed with simple carbs will make you soft. Meal six does not contain any protein. You want lean protein with every meal. Drop the bagel and energy bar. These are empty calories. Replace all starchy carbs after 5:30 pm with green veggies and healthy fats. Your last meal of the day should be virtually carb free. I usually have a casein rich shake, or half a tube of plain cottage cheese and some fish oil.

If you are lifting M/W/F I would do cardio on T/TH/S. I prefer walking on an incline treadmill or Elliptical intervals. 30-45 minutes max to work up a good sweat. this will also help with recovery.

 

[SouthernLord]

BTW, if you want some really good recipes and great food prep tips click the banner in my sig.

 

[iggy]

southernlord pretty much gave you some great advice. i would replace most of the shakes with more tuna, turkey breast, chicken breast, and lean veggies such as asparaghas and spinach. the casein protein is a great idea and if i get hungry for a snack in between meals i usually snack on blueberries, almonds, or pork rinds. keep your carbs way lower man. go about 40protein/30fats/30carbs.

 

[Labyrinthine]

Thanks for the great advice.

I'll definitely work on cleaning up the diet. Any advice on which shakes (time of day) to keep and which (specific) shakes to replace them with?

Also, how should I work the transition? Should I gradually replace a few meals at a time or just change everything at once?

As for cardio, I do lift M/W/F so I'll work cardio T/H/S.

Again, thanks for the help.

 

[iggy]

just do cardio 30 minutes every other day. it's what joe weider recommended and he is a bodybuilding god. if you dont enjoy running like me, cycle.