About 3 week ago, I decided to dive headfirst into a serious bulking program (something I haven’t done since I was about 24).
It would entail massive amounts of quality calories, the right mix of supplements, and a training program that pushed my body to the limit 3 out of every 4 days.
You think you have what it takes to do it too?
Keep reading and I will tell you how I went from 199 lbs to 213 lbs in exactly 14 days, with minimal fat gain and big jumps in strength.
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What the hell is the GOMAD Diet, and how does it work?
It’s winter time, aka bulking season. Time to add some serious muscle to your frame and add some weight to the bar.
When guys are looking to gain weight, most shoot for an excess of calories…but eating every 3 hours at 700-1000 calories per meal can be soul-crushing. Think about how much steak, chicken, eggs, oats, potatoes and rice that would equal per meal.
Seems impossible…unless you have a perfect liquid you can drink.
Enter GOMAD. An old-school trick of skinny bros and hard-gainers.
GOMAD stands for a “gallon of milk a day” and it is exactly that. Pick up a gallon of whole milk and drink it within the next 24 hours. Simple.
Better yet, if you can find whole, “raw” grass-fed milk, meaning unpasteurized, I would shoot for that instead (which is what I’ve been drinking for the last 2 weeks).
The reason is because raw milk isn’t processed and still has active enzymes and healthy bacteria that cannot be found in regular milk you buy at the grocery store because of pasturization.
Going GOMAD works so well because milk is such a calorie-dense food that includes high amounts of protein, carbs, and fats.
Drink this on top of what you are eating and you will gain weight fast, and your strength will jump through the roof.
How Should I Eat on the GOMAD Diet?
Don’t think that drinking a gallon of milk each day is a replacement for food. It just allows you to get more calories in because you’ll be drinking more than half your daily calories from milk.
When it came to adding food to my muscle building bulk, I did a little math and came up with a simple solution:
1 gallon of whole milk + 10 calories per pound of body weight.
The breakdown of calories from food looks like this:
80% carbs, 20% protein
(Keep fat low, as you’ll already be getting more than enough fat from the milk.)
For example:
At the start of the GOMAD Diet, I weighed in at 199, so I rounded up to 200.
200 lbs. x 10 calories/lb. of body weight = 2000 additional calories from food.
2000 x .80 = 1600 calories from carbs
2000 x .20 = 400 calories from protein
If both protein and carbs have 4 calories/gram, we can calculate how many grams of protein and carbs we need in addition to the milk.
1600 calories / 4 calories per gram = 400 g of carbs
800 calories / 4 calories per gram = 100 g of protein
I eat 5 meals per day, so this means:
400g / 5 meals = 80g carbs/meal
100g / 5 meals = 20g protein/meal
Simple right?
So, here’s how you can break it down for yourself:
[Your Body Weight] x 10 calories/lb of body weight = [Your Total Additional Calories] from food.
[Your Total Additional Calories] x .80 = calories from carbs
[Your Total Additional Calories] x .20 = calories from protein
Calories from carbs / 4 calories per gram = [Total g of carbs per day]
Calories from protein / 4 calories per gram = [Total g of protein per day]
Now just divide the total grams of carbs and protein by how many meals you plan on eating each day.
[Total g of carbs per day] / [Your number of meals] = g carbs/meal
[Total g of carbs per day] / [Your number of meals] = g protein/meal
Simple right?
Just do a little math and plug in some numbers and you’ll know exactly how much food to eat in addition to the gallon of milk you’re drinking.
As far as food goes, focus on quality, calorie-dense food.
Shop on the outside of the supermarket and focus on getting your carbs from white potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, and oats.
For protein, think lean red meat, chicken, turkey, and pork.
For best results, limit the guesswork and limit your options to things you can cook in mass quantities. Meal prep is key to gaining quality mass because if the food is not prepped before hand, most guys will look for what is easily attainable which usually means ordering out.
The plan here is to gain muscle, and as lean as you can. Eating junk will make you fat.
My staples are basmati rice and ground turkey. Chicken can be dry, and potatoes can be rough to eat in bulk.
Keep it simple, eat right, train hard, and the results will follow.
How Should I train on the GOMAD Diet?
You can really use any training split, but for best results you should train like a bodybuilder.
Think about it, a bodybuilder’s main goal is to add quality muscle…so why would you do cross training or cardio? It just doesn’t match the overall goal.
Stick to simple, old school movements, and leave the flashy stuff for the ‘buns and guns’ class at the local YMCA.
Your goal is to gain some mass, so you’re going to have to train like it and attack weights with intensity. Don’t just go through the motions, go through the pain barrier.
There’s a level of discomfort when training heavy or with high reps (both methods stimulate muscle growth, by the way).
It’s up to you to push through and get those extra reps when the exercise starts to get tough.
If you’re looking for a simple training split, here’s one that’s always worked well for me (and keeps injuries to a minimum…important for old guys like me):
2 body parts/day
3 days on, 1 day off
3 exercises per muscle group
Every 3-day “Micro-Cycle”, switch up the sets and reps.
For example:
3-Day Micro-Cycle 1: 5 Sets, 5-7 Reps
Day Off
3-Day Micro-Cycle 2: 4 Sets, 8-12 Reps
Day Off
3-Day Micro Cycle 3: 3 Sets 15-20 Reps
Day Off
[Repeat]
Day 1: Legs/Shoulders
1A) Bar Squats
1B) Bar Overhead Press
2A) Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
2B) Dumbbell Upright Row
3A) Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
3B) Side Lateral Raises
Day 2: Chest/Biceps
1A) Bar Bench Press
1B) Bar Bicep Curls
2A) Incline Flies
2B) Dumbbell Curls
3A) Dips (weighted if necessary)
3B) Chin Ups (weighted if necessary)
Day 3: Back/Triceps
1A) Bar Deadlift
1B) Bar Close Grip Bench Press
2A) Dumbbell Rows
2B) Dumbbell Kickbacks
3A) Pull Ups (weighted if necessary)
3B) Dips (weighted if necessary)
**Add abs, forearms, neck, and calves as needed.
What About Supplements?
After you get your nutrition and training dialed in, you can always add supplements into the mix to help you recover faster and increase strength.
By no means do supplements work magic on your lifts or body composition, but if everything else is in line (meaning you’re sleeping enough, recovering from your workouts, getting enough quality calories, and training with intensity), they can give you a little bit of an edge.
But, keep in mind all supplements are not created equal.
My top 3 supplements for guys looking to gain weight are:
Protein – Part of my protein intake involves 1 scoop of protein in milk 2x per day. Once in the morning and once post workout. If you decide to do the same, check out this protein it will cut down on your protein intake from food.
Creatine Monohydrate – When you’re shooting for creatine, opt for Creapure brand. It’s made in Germany, and is the best form out there. Most creatine monohydrate products come from China and are nothing but shitty versions of what should be a good product. The Chinese versions of creatine usually have higher contents of metals which causes stomach discomfort. If you’re looking for Creapure, you can get it here
Pre-Workout – Pre workout should NOT make you feel tweaked out on caffeine. Many companies use high amounts of stimulants (some legal, some illegal) in their products. They do this to make the consumer “feel” like it’s working. I don’t know about you, I don’t want to just feel hopped up on stimulants, I my lifts to go up and to feel focused to push through my next set. If you’re looking for a solid pre workout, check this out tectanic red on Amazon.com
What Can I Expect?
Over the last several week’s I’ve noticed a few things. Some good, some bad. Here’s the details…
Pros:
- Great workout pumps.
- Increase in all measurements (even forearms, calves, and neck.)
- Higher intensity during workouts.
- Increased strength on heavy days and high volume days (judged by squats, bench press, and deadlifts).
- Much greater muscle density.
Cons:
- Major stomach discomfort for the first 10 days (after day 10, it seemed to subside quite a bit).
- Body started aching a bit more after Day 12 or so, but could be due to the increase training volume.
- Eating extra calories. After drinking about 3000 calories from milk, it’s not exactly the easiest thing to eat an additional 2. Milk isn’t like drinking water.
- Consistently drinking a gallon of milk each and every day. It DOES get old.
- Weird looks from people. Carrying around a gallon of milk each day does make people look at you funny…but, if you just remember that they won’t ever come close to the glorious gains your about to get, it makes it easier to nod and smile.
Final Thoughts.
The GOMAD Diet is probably the best bulking diet I’ve ever done…and I’ve done quite a few through the years. Dirty bulking, clean bulking, high carb, high fat, protein cycling, etc.
GOMAD simply works and works FAST.
You just have to outlast the stomach discomfort, and the weird looks you’ll when you’re chugging milk from a gallon jug at a red light.
The gains are solid, and hopefully there to stay, but time will tell.
You want REAL gains? GOMAD or Go Home.
Be sure to comment down below with your questions, or your personal GOMAD experience.
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