Building Muscle!

[Deleted]

Hey whats up mmo-champion's

So awhile back I was getting really into the gym, going every other day working out as hard as I could but only managed to do it for say 3-4 months without me being a lazy asshole after a small knee injury and well, now im back in the gym, pretty much starting from scratch after like a 4 month break.

So here is some quick info, im roughly 6 ft, weigh 10st 1lb (64 kilos or 145 lbs if my conversions are correct) and well as you can tell from that, not a big guy. Infact im pretty skinny.

This time around im going to do it properly and not fail like a n00b - real gains take years and this is something I completely understand.

So here comes your part - I only have a few questions which I hope you will be able to answer! Also, if you yourself have been successfully through a 'body transformation' dont hesitate to add to the thread and let me know what you yourself did or even show us!

1. Will I see a difference from working out without protein shakes, whey proteins weight gains etc from working out without them? Essentially is it worth it or is it more for the proper body building crew? Dont get me wrong, I really want to build muscle and work hard but im not looking to try and be some professional :P

2. With my current state (skinny and defo at the lower end of the strength scale) and my goals how important is my diet. I see a lot of people working out macros, how much protein intake they are getting, how many carbs and calories etc is this something I should start working on now or is it not as essential as this stage in the process?

3. I know of some people that workout every day and take the rare day off and some people that workout every other day and therefore have rest days to let the muscles rebuild (glycogen? etc). Is this something I will have to work out for myself or is there a proven method that is better?

Thats pretty much it for now, I just started noting down my weights, sets, reps and pre/post workout meals etc fyi

If there is anything you would like to add in any way please do, im really looking to bulk up and im pretty much clueless.

Regards

[Deleted]

1. Protein Shakes help, but you can get enough protein from eating the right food. But the rule is that it's better to have a little too much than a little to few so if you can afford it, it's worth buying.

2. Getting the right amount of protein, carbs and calories is the most important part of getting bigger and stronger. It was my biggest obstacle when i was trying to get bigger and i actualy had to hire a person to make a food pattern for me because i lacked the creativity to make and buy the correct food.

3. Everyone has to get their own workout schedule. Just because Arnold's workout schedule worked for him, doesn't mean it'll work for you. Dorian Yates is one of the biggest and best and he only worked out 4 days a week, sometimes 3 which is a lot less than most other bodybuilders. I prefer his workout style, basically "go hard or go home", pump it hard and fast and get the "extras" in, don't quit your current workout just becuase your mind is telling you to... even half a dumbell curl adds muscle.

I was a long distance shooter in Munster (Germany) for 4 years doing special operations. I'm 1.78m tall and that made me the shortest so i wanted to get bigger in size which threw me torwards bodybuilding. I was 63 kilo's when i started to work out with about 18% body fat, now i'm 82 kilo's with 10% body fat.

Don't worry too much about your workout schedule, like i said the absolute most important part is your diet... once you get your diet right start workout on a proper schedule. See it as trying to build a muscle car but not having the right gasoline, there's no point.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dori...ek-trainer.htm

[Aldred]

I'd pretty much agree with what Wookeh said.

1. You don't NEED whey protein or anything like that, but it's generally considered one of the better (and certainly safer) suppliments. The good thing about it is it's almost entirely protein, and yet it's quickly absorbed - which is great, combined with carbohydrates, for after a workout. You won't do yourself any harm taking it anyway, unless you go way overboard. One portion after every weight training workout is fine, or up to 1-2 times a day at the other end of the scale.

2. Yep your diet is very important, and especially so if you're naturally skinny and find it hard to put on muscle. Make sure you're eating enough that, combined with good workouts, you're putting on somewhere in the region of 0.5 to 1kg per month. Maybe closer to the 0.5kg for you if you don't put it on easily.

3. If you're fairly new to weight training I'd tend to start off with at least one day of rest between workouts - certainly at least a whole day in between before working the same muscles again. A full body workout three days per week, with at least one day in between each one, should be fine for starters. Take it easy with the weights initially too - don't try anything too heavy even though you feel like you could. Your body won't be used to it and takes time to adapt. When people work out every day it's usually because they have a split routine where they're doing, say, their back one day, legs another, chest another, shoulders and arms another, or whatever. So that way they can work out every day and still get enough rest for each muscle group. You don't need to do that to get stronger though, especially at your stage.

In summary: Eat a broadly healthy diet that's the right mix of food groups and is enough to slowly increase your weight as above. Include protein shakes if you want, they'll help a bit. Put together a workout that's mostly compound exercises and covers all the main muscle groups. Start off fairly easy with it and do that maybe three times a week. Don't work a muscle that's still sore from the previous workout. Those are my tips anyway, but take advice from as many sources as you can and figure things out from there. Ideally good books and people who sound like they know their stuff on youtube. You'll get good at spotting the idiots on there after a while!

Oh and you should probably ask a mod to move this to the Sports & Fitness forum rather than here btw.

[Radux]

Moved to Sports and Fitness Forum.

[Lockstatus]

Calculate your bulking macros here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981 and hit em all. Eating more and hitting your macros along with lifting hard = gains.

Whey protein is not a magic supplement that will determine how you look. It's a cheap and convenient way to hit your daily protein intake, nothing more, nothing less.

Your stats (6ft, 145lbs) indicate you're a beginner (not a personal attack, just stating facts) so you get to capitalize on the coveted "newbie gains". Stick to the 3x a week fullbody routines that focus on the big compounds for at least 6 months and build a proper strength base. Starting Strength by Mark Ripptoes or Allpro's Routine are (to an extent) your only two choices because they are that good.

Also don't worry about gaining fat, it's gonna happen on a bulk. Much easier to cut fat off than it is to create muscle out of nothing.

[Deleted]

Hey, thanks for the responses!

I am indeed a beginner, really as I said starting from scratch. I have been doing full body workouts and plan on doing them for well, I dont know. Is there a certain time or something that I should start looking at segmenting my week into different muscle groups each day etc or is this something I will likely work out for myself?

Thanks for all the information on protein and macros, I knew it was important but guess was reluctant to get a proper understanding and putting it into action due to it being more work.

Now I just need to put all this into action and im ready to go!

[Skarssen]

Hey whats up mmo-champion's

So awhile back I was getting really into the gym, going every other day working out as hard as I could but only managed to do it for say 3-4 months without me being a lazy asshole after a small knee injury and well, now im back in the gym, pretty much starting from scratch after like a 4 month break.

So here is some quick info, im roughly 6 ft, weigh 10st 1lb (64 kilos or 145 lbs if my conversions are correct) and well as you can tell from that, not a big guy. Infact im pretty skinny.

This time around im going to do it properly and not fail like a n00b - real gains take years and this is something I completely understand.

So here comes your part - I only have a few questions which I hope you will be able to answer! Also, if you yourself have been successfully through a 'body transformation' dont hesitate to add to the thread and let me know what you yourself did or even show us!

1. Will I see a difference from working out without protein shakes, whey proteins weight gains etc from working out without them? Essentially is it worth it or is it more for the proper body building crew? Dont get me wrong, I really want to build muscle and work hard but im not looking to try and be some professional :P

2. With my current state (skinny and defo at the lower end of the strength scale) and my goals how important is my diet. I see a lot of people working out macros, how much protein intake they are getting, how many carbs and calories etc is this something I should start working on now or is it not as essential as this stage in the process?

3. I know of some people that workout every day and take the rare day off and some people that workout every other day and therefore have rest days to let the muscles rebuild (glycogen? etc). Is this something I will have to work out for myself or is there a proven method that is better?

Thats pretty much it for now, I just started noting down my weights, sets, reps and pre/post workout meals etc fyi

If there is anything you would like to add in any way please do, im really looking to bulk up and im pretty much clueless.

Regards

1) Protein/meal replacement powders are meant as a substitute/addition to real food, not a replacement for it. They generally come with added minerals and vitamins that you will need in relatively high amounts, and the protein quality in most is very good. However, you still need to take in a lot of meats, fruits, and vegetables. Depending on your metabolism you may be able to intake more or less starchy carbs, but lean meat, fruit and veggies are the staples of your diet. If you don't already, get a membership to Sams Club or Costco or some type of bulk warehouse club like that. Load up on lean ground beef, chicken, eggs, oatmeal, fruit, salad stuff, etc.

2) If you are a naturally lean guy your first priority is to just really increase your intake of QUALITY food. At the beginner stage you don't need to get into diet logs or anything like that. Just eat a meal every 3 hours of so and focus on meat, veggies, etc. with enough carbohydrates to keep you going. If you are predisposed to put on adipose you will need to watch your sugar/starch consumption and incrementally increase your total calorie intake.

3) Workout schedule really depends on what type of training load you are using. This is not a question that can be answered in a paragraph. At your stage avoid bodybuilding magazines like the plague. They are notorious for pushing terrible workouts that will lead to quick stagnation and little gains. Your best bet would be to find an olympic weightlifter or competitive powerlifter and learn how to cycle your training weights. Bodybuilders tend to just go all out every single workout for months at a time, and while that can be effective for a short while you will burn out and gains will dry up. http://www.westside-barbell.com/ is fantastic resource, though it is very advanced and may be overwhelming for a beginner. It is a powerlifting resource, not bodybuilding, but their cycling techiques and philosophy are easily adaptable to people more concerned with hypertrophy. Also, check out the "5 x 5 routine" http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/tra...5-program.html. That is a classic, simple system that works really well for beginners. Focus on squats, deadlifts, clean and jerk, overhead press, pull up, etc. Read up on the writings by Bill Starr, Mark Rippletoe, Brooks Kubik, Kirk Karwoski, and Ed Coan. I really can't stress enough though, DO NOT go and pick up a FLEX or Muscle and Fitness magazine and find some crap routine to follow.

The above is just the raw basics, but I am a physiologist with a focus on muscle cellular and molecular physiology. I have multiple journal publications on the subject, so I like to think I am quite qualified to answer any more detailed questions you may have in a PM.

---------- Post added 2012-06-29 at 12:25 PM ----------

Hey, thanks for the responses!

I am indeed a beginner, really as I said starting from scratch. I have been doing full body workouts and plan on doing them for well, I dont know. Is there a certain time or something that I should start looking at segmenting my week into different muscle groups each day etc or is this something I will likely work out for myself?

Thanks for all the information on protein and macros, I knew it was important but guess was reluctant to get a proper understanding and putting it into action due to it being more work.

Now I just need to put all this into action and im ready to go!

Don't worry about splitting your workouts up into "bodyparts" yet. Think of it more as you are going to work on a specific compound lift on a specific day. Say, day 1 you could work on squats, with a few other compound leg exercises. Day 3 you could focus on deadlifts or barbell rows and cleans. Day 5 could be overhead presses, bench press, dips, etc. The most important thing that you could ever do at this point is to learn a weight progression scheme and stick to it. I posted a few links above that should get you started.