Trying to get bigger.

180#, Perhaps my most
defined body composition

Wednesday I squatted 3 sets of 5 reps of 240#’s which is a within recent memory PR for me.  Once the weight gets above 225, I find it really starts to affect my hip muscles.  When I bounce out of the squat, sometimes I wonder if I hear something… click. Like I feel something quickly go out of place, and then go back in to place.  I don’t think I’ve ever really noticed before because I’ve been so focused on the weight, but this could be the symptoms of that last part of the tear still hanging around.  …Other than this possible clicking I have not made my hip click for months.  With everyday stuff, walking around, sitting, climbing stairs, getting into the bathtub, I make sure I externally rotate my hip so that it will not click/aggravate the labrum tear.  It seems that the healing process has continued, but I can tell something isn’t right still.  My psoas and hip adductors are tight and sometimes painful.  When there is hip flexion there is pressure in the hip.  All these things led me to believe if I tried flexion with internal rotation, it would result in a click. I haven't tried this theory because I don’t want to test it out, all it will do at this point is irritate the labrum, and that’s the last thing  I want to do.

A recent breakfast

For the past two months or so I made the commitment to try to gain weight so that I can get stronger/more muscular.  I see these athletes on TV who are my height (6'2") but have a good 40 pound advantage over what I weighed when I made the decision (180#).  And these guys aren't like offensive lineman, they're like the quarterback.

So I've decided I needed to gain weight.  I was pretty damn happy with my physique at 180, I could actually see my ab muscles!  But I guess now that I had accomplished getting abs (somewhat) I wanted to see if I could get more muscle.  Never have been one to be satisfied with the way things are, always want it to be better.

I think as opposed to going through a "bulk phase" where I'd balloon like a pufferfish and then have to go through a cutting phase I would rather just do a slow and steady approach.  I think it would be better for me to do a slow and steady gain, trying not to put on any fat, just muscle.  I am still maintaining the intermittent fasting, but I am now trying to take in 200-250g of protein a day, so I am feeling super full when I'm eating, but I get to eat some pretty massive meals, which is tons of fun. However, if I'm not careful I will become a fatass.  With thanksgiving there has been an abundance of pie, and as of today I'm in Indianapolis for a wedding and it's going to be an epic meal.  It took me about a month to gain 10 pounds, from 180 to 190.  Since thanksgiving I shot up pretty quickly to 197.  I don't really have a goal weight.  As a matter of fact, right now I don't have any real goal (I don't think "getting more muscular" qualifies as a real goal).  I'm just taking it one big meal at a time, one set of squatting at a time.