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.