gaining weight and training

illeagles_mcc

hi lads.
i've been training mma the last few months. i train 3 days a week at mma which involves a circuit, drills and then some sparring/grappling. mondays wednesdays saturdays.

on tuesday, thursday friday i have been weight training, to gain weight as im 6'4' but just over 12 and a half stone. sunday is rest day. i have tried the starting strenght programme, then switched to 5x5 and then a 20 squat routine.
5x5 was the only one i really noticed a difference from.

my diet is pretty much just cereal (plain wholegrain oats or muesli), eggs, chicken, pasta, tuna, steak, (nearly all meals with veg) and peanutbutter sandwiches. drink lots of milk too. pretty much no junk food at all and i eat 5 or 6 times a day.
im training approx 6mths now and didnt drink alcohol at all for the first 3 and drink very little even now. maybe 3 guinness every other weekend.

would i be better off weight training the same days i have mma? i dont want to be wrecked at training if i lift weights first and vice versa.
is the cardio/bodyweight exercises from mma just burning off any gains from lifting weights?


i havent really noticed a massive difference overall (half stone approx. in 6mths bar a two week break at xmas)
and am beginning to wonder am i just (pardon the phrase) p*ssing against the wind?
i should also state at this stage that i am not taking any supplements as im eating so much already. would they make that much of a difference?

sorry for the rant!
any help greatly appreciated!

Colm_OReilly

Simple Answer: You're not eating enough.

Outline exactly what you're eating, and also what you started lifting/currently lifting.

corkcomp

pretty much what Colm said! if you gained half a stone in six months, its slow progress but its its all / mostly muscle gain then its a step in the right direction. you need to eat more - lots of oats and whole grains, lots of meat and fish and plenty fruit and veg also

illeagles_mcc

cheers lads,
my days eatin currently goes somethin like this.
breakfast: muesli/plain oats with whole milk. 4 egg ommlette with peppers, tomato, cottage cheese
snack: peanut butter and banana sandwich (wholegrain bread), glass of milk
lunch: 1 tin tuna, peppers, tomatoes, brown pasta
dinner: 2 chicken fillets (or a fillet steak once a week) brown pasta, tomato, spinach, pepper. pint of milk.
snack: bowl of cereal or peanut butter sandwich before bed.
spoon each of cottage cheese and olive oil on lunch and dinner.

type of veg varies dependin on what i have

i think thats a fair amount, tho i cud maybe squeeze in a bit more... suppose thats where lads use protein/creatine etc?

havnt been trainin for a week now. at the end of the 20 squat routine(did 4weeks of it) was squattin 50kg for 1 set 20 reps (started off at 30kg)
and benchin 80kg at 3x5 (started at 50kg)
startin back again tomorrow.
think il try 5x5 again for a bit

J-Fit

illeagles_mcc wrote: »

would i be better off weight training the same days i have mma?

If you want. What this means is that you get all your work done on one day before resting for a whole day so some good can definatley come of it. Quite a few US hockey and baseball teams train right after a game for this reason as they have heavy playing schedules though you might want to reduce the actual training volume.

illeagles_mcc wrote: »

i dont want to be wrecked at training if i lift weights first and vice versa

If you drop the volume and stick to the basics, you shouldn't be.

illeagles_mcc wrote: »

is the cardio/bodyweight exercises from mma just burning off any gains from lifting weights?

Cardio possibly, bodyweight should compliment it though. But it does depend on the rep range. A lot of MMA guys I see have a skewed preference for cardio and could do with more of a balance between it and strength training. 100 rep Hindu squats and things like that (which are admittedly pretty good but won't dramatically increase strength or muscle size.

illeagles_mcc wrote: »

i havent really noticed a massive difference overall (half stone approx. in 6mths bar a two week break at xmas)
and am beginning to wonder am i just (pardon the phrase) p*ssing against the wind?

The guys said it above.

illeagles_mcc wrote: »

i should also state at this stage that i am not taking any supplements as im eating so much already. would they make that much of a difference?

They might but you need to have your diet in order first. Given the fact that you have a fair grasp of what's required and your are still not eating enough, I would say that a protein supplement would be of benefit to you.

legend365

Reading your post i was thinking, that is me!

Near enough same stats, same meals, same progress!

People always say eat more but thats bull****. You eat more but you eat so clean your gonna have some trouble eating 8 peano sandwichs a day along with everything else.

Think you might need to throw in a few snickers or something. 300kcals a pop. :P

I dont see how you can eat enough clean cals in a day.

J-Fit

legend365 wrote: »

Reading your post i was thinking, that is me!

Near enough same stats, same meals, same progress!

People always say eat more but thats bull****. You eat more but you eat so clean your gonna have some trouble eating 8 peano sandwichs a day along with everything else.

Think you might need to throw in a few snickers or something. 300kcals a pop. :P

I dont see how you can eat enough clean cals in a day.

That's pretty bad advice you've given there. There are plenty of high calorie clean foods and incidentally peanut butter is one of them. Olive oil, potatoes, avocados, eggs even gainer shakes if the sugar content is low.

Hypertrophy

ON Serious mass.....can make that nearly 2,000 calories per serving if you use full fat milk, banana and peanut butter.