Get strong, Sean
I hope this website exists as a helpful source for people who want to get stronger and bigger. Lately, I’ve been getting more questions in my inbox about how to get 70’s Big, so I’ll just use these inquiries as a learning tool. If I can’t answer the question, I’ll find a reliable source who can. If you have a question, e-mail me.
The first question is from Sean, a 19 year old college freshman. He’s 6’2″, 210 pounds.
Hi Justin,
I’m trying to get 70’s big. My current daily meals look like this:
Breakfast – 6 eggs, 1/2 a package of sausage = > 1000 calories.
Lunch – Cheeseburgers from Wendy’s = > 1500 calories.
Dinner – Peanut butter and banana sandwiches = > 1500 calories.
+ GOMAD = > 2500 calories
Total = > 6500 calories.
I know that this diet will not get me 70’s big, but it’s enough for now. I’m still making linear gains on SS. I plan to add a 4th meal to my diet when I begin to plateau on the lifts.
My question is, do you have any recommendations for calorie/protein dense meals that require little preparation? Preferably something I can make a sandwich out of and take with me to school/work? I’m asking because I’d like to get out of the habit of eating Wendy’s every day. I’ve tried tuna sandwiches, but tuna doesn’t really have enough calories for me to call it a meal. Any insight is appreciated.
All of my friends think I’m insane for eating like this.
Thanks,
-Sean
In another e-mail, Sean let me know where his lifts were at:
Squat 270x5x3
Deadlift 315×5
Press 95x5x3
Bench 135x5x3
Power Clean 145x3x5
Sean is at a decent bodyweight, and with consistent training his lifts will catch up with it. He’s doing a good job of eating so far, and 6,000 calories is probably enough since his lifts are relatively low. My friend Cliff had to amp his caloric intake up to around 8,000 calories to make the push from 210 to 220, but his lifts were a bit heavier (thus they produce more stress on the body).
In any case, Sean is asking about protein and calorie dense foods that are quick to prepare. He wants to stop purchasing his lunch since he’s in college, so we’ll stick to inexpensive homemade ideas.
The easiest and cheapest thing to do when trying to get 70’s Big is to grill a bunch of meat for the whole week. I like to do it on Sundays, because then the rest of the week’s meals are taken care of. Go to a decent super market and look for their meat specials. One time I found about three pounds of boneless rib meat for five dollars — I barbecued the hell out of it on an open wood fire, and it was glorious.
At the same super market they sell 8 hamburger patties for about eight dollars. This is only a dollar per burger, which is going to be what you spend at a fast food restaurant for a smaller, crappier piece of meat that doesn’t taste as good. I used to routinely eat a burger topped with cheese and barbecue sauce for breakfast when I was training people.
Almost 8 pounds of cheap steak, barbecued chicken, and hamburgers
Grilling meat is preferable, but you can always marinade chicken in something like Italian dressing and cook it on the stove. Find the meats with the lowest price for their quantity and try and figure out how you can marinate and cook them to make them tasty. Hopefully this gives Sean some ideas. The lesson here is start your week prepared. If you wait until you are out of food to find food, then you are doing a shitty job of preparing. Get strong, Sean.
———-
Andy Baker owns a gym called Kingwood Strength and Conditioning in Kingwood, Texas (near Houston). Andy competes in powerlifting (specifically in NASA) in the 220 and 242 pound weight classes. He sent in a video of some light pressing after he benched with bands. Apologies were given for his lack of a mustache and non-striped socks.
Andy also has a pretty good knowledge of advanced level lifting and wrote a book called “Common Sense In Strength Training”. You can also read his training blog to see what advanced type stuff he tries on himself.
Good answers and advice
and Andy Baker is a strong fucker!
Good work Andy, you look like a big thick bugger haha.
As far as diet goes here are some of my recommendations (I”m also in Uni down in Australia):
Eggs. Hard boil 12 or 24 of them at the start of the week. Should cost about 5-6$ and you”ve got snacks you can take wherever.
Almonds / Cashews. They”re fairly cheap around here and pack plenty of calories in.
At the local farmer”s market where I live they have natural peanut butter that you can make yourself for $2.29. I”m eating about 5 or 6lbs a week at this point. Probably not a lot for some of you guys, but I weight less than 180 and I”m 5”7″.
When you”re looking for cheap, forget about chicken breasts. Dark meat is usually about half the price, and is more calorie dense thanks to the fat.
Kinda hard to make sandwiches out of though. Unless you eat the bones.
Costco/Sams comes into play here too. If your parents have a membership, you can get a card too for free. Cheap milk, eggs, meat, trail mix, etc.
I”ve been playing with ideas for eating cheaply for a while. One piece of advice, get a thermos. Fill it with milk or better yet a 1,000 kCal protein milkshake. Have it as a snack.
As far as meat, bulk is your friend. My criteria for cheap meat is under $3/lb. Five-pound packs of chicken breasts, 8-pound pork shoulders, and 5-pound packs of ground beef all meet this criteria. Cook on the weekend, then all you have to do during the week is heat up the food and make sandwiches and shakes.
I rock a 1 liter thermos of milk daily at work. The looks I get when people ask what”s in it are great. I also keep a loaf of bread and jars of PB and Nutella in my file drawer in my cubicle.
Andy is strong as fuck and a really cool guy. He has always helped me whenever I had any questions. Andy also has a programming template available that is very good.
You mention that you are in school, that could be a big bonus for you depending on what school you go to. Many big schools, particularly Ag schools like the one I live near have big food science departments that sell meat from the animals raised on campus at really good prices. Check your school”s web page for more info. The school I live near, UC Davis, has the “Meat Lab” where I can get things like Rib Eyes dry aged for 30 days at less than $10 bucks a pound and cheap cuts like Brisket or Tri-tip for under $3. The meat is all really good organic stuff too.
I like the advertisement that was playing as Andy approached the bar: “…all the way up to our Texas-sized 300 gallon.” It sets a proper tone for getting 70”s Big.
The short guys that complain about not wanting to be over 200 need to look at Andy. He is a strong beast, weighs 220 to 240, and he is NOT a fat shit like alot of guys think they will be if over 200. Keep eating boys.
The Costco here sells a 10 pound bag of chicken breasts and average breast size is 6oz. for right around $20. That”s really affordable in my opinion.
If you dont have a costco card check out the supermarket ads. The Safeway near me has some crazy deals sometimes, up to half off on steaks. Large packs of chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs are usually what I get if there isnt any good deals since they are almost always cheap.
I would also recomend a slowcooker for cooking large portions of meat. Its a great way to make stew as well. Lots of great recipes are out there if you google it.
One thing I”ve learned from my wife is that buying a whole chicken or turkey is a great way to stretch your money. Have a chicken dinner the night you cook it and then pull the leftover meat and use it for enchiladas, quesadillas, etc. Or make a turkey dinner and then make turkey pot pie with the leftovers. I picked up a whole turkey on sale for $.99/lb. a couple weeks ago.
My local supermarket has Buy one get one free during the middle of the week! The butcher says that they try to motivate buyer during the week as they don”t sell much mid-week! I like London Broil BOGO! Marinate it in terryaki and beer,grill it up! Awesome!
I had been training crossfit for about 8 months and was eating the paleo diet…i am 6”1 and was 185 when i started GOMAD 2 weeks ago along with stuffing my face every chance i get all with the hopes of getting to 215lbs and increasing my strength…i started with the basic starting strength workout using their approach to start 50-60lbs lighter than your 5rm so that you are hitting your old 5rm during weeks 4-6…the workout felt way too easy and was wondering if this is normal…also wondering if after i get to 215 and stop the overeating phase if all my strength will disappear
Hey Justin, what would you reccomend a vegetarian by religion to eat to get 70s big? Im eating a lot of peanut butter right now and drinking a lot of milk. Eating lots of nuts also. If you could post other calorie dense foods, i would really appreciate it. Thank you.
John, that last part of your post is a concern of mine as well. Hopefully that gets covered at some point in the food portion of this site.
Stumbled upon this site today via CFFB. 70”s Big is an absolute great concept. After a few months of mixing it up on CF main page, I”m relieved to finally have found something that matches up with my goals. Plan to begin SS on Monday and look forward to hammering down viking warrior-like proportions of deliciously prepared deceased animals. Keep up the good work fellas!
John, if you go up five pounds a day on the squat (regardless if it feels light right now), you will still put on 120 pounds on your work set.
Bill Starr once said:
“Patience + Persistence = Strength”
Don’t mess this up.
Under-eating is never a logical concern for someone who is trying to gain muscular bodyweight.
Chaos, I would recommend that vegetarians be eaten by non-vegetarians.
Justin that was super rude…but i still laughed.
Chaos there is a possibility you could supplement with massive amounts of protein in other ways like some nuts and (god forbid) protein powder….
Chaos, what kind of veg are you? Vegan? Ovo? Lacto?
The bulking/maintaining issue will be addressed in the next Food update.
What”s wrong with protein powder?
Nothing, Chris. I”m a big fan of whey powder. But vegans can”t take it because it”s a dairy product derivative.
Whey is awesome. It”s derived from cow”s milk and is basically straight protein minus the lactose and milkfat. It”s a complete protein in that it contains the sweet and clean essential BCAA”s we love so much.
Casein is overrated IMO. It contains the main allergen in milk. It doesn”t digest well (they call it slow-release)and increases blood cholesterol in some cases. Besides, if you”re eating constantly like you should be, you don”t need to worry about timed release protein anyway!
Soy is basically powdered estrogen. If you want to take soy, you might as well start taking birth control pills and watching movies with Jennifer Anniston.
I love whey too. I think I may have misunderstood KMoody”s post, I thought he was implying that it wasn”t any good but maybe not.
Maybe so. Some people think powders and supps are the debbil. I don”t care to convince them otherwise.
As an extract, whey provides a very quick infusion of BCAAs to muscles (there is no lactate or milkfat molecules to slow digestion), which is why it”s so effective PWO. It”s great for bulking, but it”s also great for maintaining once you reach your mass goals because it makes it easier to adjust your macronutrient ratios.
Think of whole milk as your shotgun and whey + olive oil/avocado as your sniper rifle.
I think Moody was implying that meat is preferable to protein powder. If he wasn’t then I can make sure he gets slapped again.
What about creatine? I think in the DO/DON”T posts, someone put creatine on their don”t list. I was always under the impression that creatine was one of the very few supplements on the market that is actually worth using (along with whey). Page 83 of PPfST says that it”s “quite effective.”
Gant:
I cant have any meat. But i can still have milk. Lots of it. whey is fine too. cant have eggs or fish either.
but i can have them indirectly like in bread and stuff. Strange hindu religious belif system…
Some very handy food tips above. Thanks all. By the way, vegetarians taste great and they are less filling.
Mix 4 cans of tuna with 2 cups of sour cream and 2 avocados – add salt and pepper to taste along with some chili powder if you like and you”ve got yourself about 2k calories.
Eat it with some thick-ass bread and you can get another 400 calories from that meal…or as I call it, a light lunch.
Another tip:
Pick-up some of those rotisserie chickens from Wal-Mart…cheap and delicious, they make a good snack if you de-bone them and eat with sour cream, guac and corn tortillias.
Flour, sun-dried tomato, & spinach tortillas work as well if you”ve got a case of the ghey.
Finally, enough with the chicken breasts. Buy boneless chicken thighs…more calorie dense and about 1/2 the cost.
Cook them by coating in olive oil and then adding some white pepper, kosher salt, and smoked paprika.
Finish with a dusting of brown sugar, cut into halves and eat with buttered potato bread that you toasted on the grill.