Building Mass for Figure Grand Masters 45+

I'm looking to build more mass & gain definition in a lean manner to try and bring in a "new" body for the 2010 season. Does anyone have guidance and/or lessons learned for the 45+ Figure Competitors? The one thing I am told constantly is "your presentation is striking/beautiful, balance & symmetry is gorgeous, posing is clean and crisp, but I'd like to see more size/mass on you" ... or ... the first thing out of the judges mouth is "oh yes, your competitor ## w/the tiny waist that disappears I love the way you look, but I'd like to see more size all over..". While I've been told small waist is good, I've gotten to the point when I hear it I dread it and know the words that will follow... So any advice/experience/lessons learned, etc. that you might have I'm all ears...

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Permalink Reply by Darin on January 4, 2010 at 7:04pm

Heavy compound lifts like the deadlift, squat, bench press, bent over row, pullups and leg presses should be the base of your program with isolation lifts for the lateral deltoid head, lat width and outer quad sweep should do the trick. Your small waist will make your shoulders and legs appear larger but your high metabolism will make it harder to gain true mass. Are you diligent about your pre/post workout nutrition?

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Permalink Reply by Helene Smith on January 4, 2010 at 9:38pm

Hey Darin, thank you for responding. I was hestitent to post this type of question, but felt in the natural realm of athletes here I should be good to go vs. some of the other sites. I actually work legs & shoulders twice a week. Legs encompass 5 sets x 30/30/25/20/15 deep squats and the same for wide/duck squats, curls (21s & varied position), extensions (21s & varied positions), deadlifts, cable squats, cable adduction/abduction and calves finished off with cardio of 30-60 min stairmill, combo of treadmill/stairmill or run/stairmill). Cardio is currently 4-5 days a week with at least one of those sessions at the University track for an hour - 1.5 hrs of sprinting... Shoulders incorporate 3-4 sets x15-20 of DB Press, Arnolds, Compound lat raise, 3D lat raise, modified & incline lat raise, pullups/pushups, lat pull down, front raise, military press, and etc. Abs follow similar construct only 3-4 sets x 50 (hanging leg raise, roman chair, decline crunch, ball crunch, weighted ball crunch, reverse ball crunch and various oblique).

Pre & Post may be where I'm making some errors, but I attempt to eat 5-6 meals a day with pre consisting of 4-5 egg whites & 1/2 natural grapefruit (no sugar) or 1/4c dry oats w/10g glutamine/BCAAs. Post workout, 5-6 oz chicken breats, grilled/poached fish (cod, halibut, talapia, etc), w/small apple or small sweet potato. I limit the intake of protein shakes but opt for Max Muscle or Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex mixed w/water vs. milk. I'm definitely missing something here, but I'm not sure what. As can be seen I don't build muscle easily. I am carb sensitive so we've added a repartitioning agent to help as well as digestive enzymes... but.... mass is an issue... BTW, awesome back shot!