Not over training. Just under eating.

[Makavelli]

Rule #1 in nutritional physiology: The body can only use so many nutrients at once. Anything consumed beyond that will be stored as fat. Remember that before you go pounding down food thinking your forcing your body to grow.

 

[Lifterforlife]

Rule #1 in nutritional physiology: The body can only use so many nutrients at once. Anything consumed beyond that will be stored as fat. Remember that before you go pounding down food thinking your forcing your body to grow.

I don't think that is a quite true statement. Hell, if that was the case, most of us would gain 20 lbs. at Thanksgiving alone!

If all nutrients are stored in some manner, you could never overeat. The body can actually handle large volumes of food in short time periods quite well.

 

[fortunatesun]

Short time periods being the operative phrase. Judging by observation, I'd say things work best when you have a range of intakes. Carb cycling for diet is, of course, well known. I think the same thing applies if you want to get big- not just carbs, but proteins and fats as well. Also if you vary the sources of these. I used to be a very dogmatic eater until actual experience made me realize that much like shocking your muscle for actual growth, the same can be done with your nutritional uptake. I realize you can't correlate involuntary/voluntary systems, but I've noticed worthwhile improvement. I don't know if the same holds true for everyone, but it works for me and makes eating more fun.

 

[javaguru]

I train muscle groups, except legs which I'm gifted, twice a week and got the best results.

 

[vin01]

I also do 2x a week and get the best results. I do back/bis/legs, chest/tris,rest,back/bis,chest/tris/legs, rest, rest - with the best results I have ever had.

 

[Lifterforlife]

Total agreement with the 2x a week protocol for the natural bodybuilder.

 

[DZLS]

The problem I have seen with folks who become "voulume junkies" is they can never stop doing this.

Trying to progress into a more "sensible" routine for instance becomes all but impossible to them, they start to feel like they are not doing enough.

Be careful of the need to be carried out of the gym every time you work out. It is addictive, and a hard habit to break.

i totally agree with this... i was never a volume junkie, but my volume was quite a bit higher than what i am doing on the 5x5... I STILL leave the gym feeling like i should be doind something extra...

it's training your mind as much as training your body, if not more...