When Dave Tate’s response to a question is “Ummm... Are you fucking serious?” you know you’re in for a wild ride.
The question in question is:
“I’m bulking and my goal weight is 400. I’m currently 262 up from 244. Would you recommend gaining 20 to 30 at a time and stay at that weight for a few months to let my body get acclimated to it? Or just steadily bulk?”
Dave is flabbergasted when he hears elitefts Digital Media Editor Josh read off the question, prompting Janis Finkelman to say, “Dave’s really at a loss.”
He manages to brush the shock off and starts to answer, though it’s under the assumption whoever wrote the question is probably fucking with him. (Probably.)
The advice Dave gives is to hit the 275s, do a few meets, and see what happens. If you’re going to move up weight classes, do a meet in that weight class. It’s a good way to test your strength as a marker and figured out where your best leverages are.
Not to mention this scenario falls under the “what goes up, must come down” rule, meaning that your weight will eventually fall back to where it used to be.
“I’m not a big fan of training logs, but I am a big fan of stuff like this. If you’re moving up, take really good notes, man, because your deadlift is going to change as your belly gets bigger, your leverages are going to change, and you’re going to forget that shit when you’re at 275 and all of a sudden, you’re 320 because you’re going to have a 320 torso, not a 275...”
Right now, the person who asked this question might not notice a big difference between 244 and 262, but as he goes up, he’s going to forget what it feels like to squat 244. That’s why writing stuff down helps.
elitefts Athlete Joe Sullivan adds that he’ll definitely want to make steady gains for health-related reasons. Also, keep in mind that it will get harder to put on more weight at a certain point. It’s not as easy at it sounds, either.
“Your body can only handle so much for so long.”
Your body will eventually resist, too, and it’s not pretty when it does that. Looking back, Dave would’ve done a micro-diet for four weeks and get the rebound off of that to get off the sticking point; but when you’re preparing for a meet, that isn’t going to be an option.
“It’s harder to gain weight than it is to lose weight.”
