My current diet / training regime

I think I need to do a post on this as I am literally being asked several times daily my exact intake and training. Right now, as it's offseason (gains season) I have a macro minimum that I aim to reach each day, and most days I surpass this because I love food. I have managed to gain some weight recently so I think listening to my body has payed off. 


FOOD 

My macros are currently around 70g fat/180-200g carbs/230g protein. I tend to eat a little more than this each day and my calories fit in the range of 2400-2600. 

My meals vary in sizes, breakfast is quite light as I don't like to carb up before I train. Why? It leaves me feeling lousy and sluggish. It may not do this for some, but I like my carbs post workout to get that insulin response and kickstart protein synthesis. Every meal, apart from breakfast contain a good portion of carbs in the form of sweet potato/rice/fruit and lots of veggies! I eat 8 meals a day, the smallest being 2 rice cakes and peanut butter (many would call this a snack but I like to call it meal 3 okay) I get my fats from avocado, coconut oil, nuts and of course peanut butter usually evenly spread throughout the day. Sample meal: 200g sweet potato, 100g chicken breast, 1/2 an avocado, veggies. I'll eat this kinda meal 3x a day, as well as breakfast (protein pancakes), post workout oats, 2x smaller meals - (rice cakes & peanut butter/fruit and nuts) plus a night snack - often pictured on my ig - total 0%, whey, a protein bar (occasionally) peanut butter,oats, nuts and of course cinnamon. 

On rest days, I pretty much eat the same. Apart from, I take away the post workout oats and swap it for a lower carb meal of chicken and veg, plus I remove oats from my nightsnack. I approximately lower carbs by 60g and increase fats to compensate. Protein remains high. 

TRAINING

I currently train 5 times a week, I have not been sticking to a plan recently. Mainly going with how I feel. However, I tend to do upper pull/push sessions, as well as a back and shoulders session, and 2 legs sessions/week. I vary the intensity and volume, for instance one of my leg sessions is mainly concerned with intensity (lifting heavy) the other is still moderately heavy but has a higher volume (more exercises/reps/sets) this way I'm recruiting both types of muscle fibers. On the heavier days I tend towards BIG movements such as squats and deadlifts, on the volume days I tend to isolate the muscles more in smaller exercises such as glute kickbacks or hamstring curls. 

For upper body the same applies, I mix up volume and intensity. But, the more I learn about the building muscle the more importance I see in upping weights gradually. When the muscle grows, you must provide the same amount of stimulus to maintain or more to grow ..either through higher intensity (higher weights) or higher volume. Now, if you were constantly to increase the volume..where does it end? You'd be spending longer and longer at the gym just to maintain your current physique. While there is a place for volume training and I do incorporate it, I do think it's good to work on the intensity of your training, as it's simply more optimal. So my training is becoming increasingly geared towards getting stronger, which is also exciting to see how far you can push yourself. 

When I train for intensity, I try and hit the muscle hard, using minimal amount of volume. I get out of the gym within an hour but I get CRAZY doms the next day. I've noticed a big difference in my training since incorporating this. 

CARDIO 


In terms of cardio, I do perhaps 15 minutes LISS 4x a week. By LISS I mean an incline walk. I have found this to be optimal for me, as my legs are slow gainers (as with the rest of me)..I really can't afford to be doing high intensity cardio. This type of cardio will only increase blood flow to the muscle for better repair. I find high intensity puts too much strain on my legs also, and when you need your legs to repair from heavy leg sessions it's just not gonna work. I will say though, and I've said it a lot. The way cardio effects muscle gains is different for everyone, and it just so happens I can't do a lot of it. 



REST DAYS

So, from up there you can tell I take 2 rest days a week. Over-training for me in the past has been a huge problem in terms of gaining muscle. Over-training doesn't just occur by the muscles, its the CNS, if your CNS isn't getting enough rest you can't expect to gain muscle optimally. A lot of people ask me what I do on rest days, if I have active rest or whatever. I don't have an active rest day, I take the complete day off the gym, I eat and rest. 

I hope this clears a few things up, this is simply what I do as it works for me.