some basic questions...

[zachary]

i started working out about 3 months ago and i want to build up, well i was 185 when i started at 6'2 i check a month ago and i went down to 170 since i had been working out, so i talked to the nutricianist and he said eat more..we worked out a diet so i have been eating a lot more per day than usual building weight up again, BUT still im not bulking up just seems like as much as i eat it doesnt stick!
help

and, i stick to working out 3 or 4 days a week, never miss a day, BUT sometimes i have to work out of town and am away 3-4 days a weeks, and can not work out- i heard you were suppose to rest a day then work out again, well is it really bad to work out 3 days then off 4 or vice versa?

also sets, i have heard so many things about different sets i started with 12,10,8 upping weight each time then 3 sets of 10 and now 4 sets of 8, for building muscle which is the better method?

[Sami]

Post your diet and times when you eat and workout. Building muscle without gaining fat is a slow process and you have to be patient.

[Todd]

you want to wait about 5 - 7 days between working out each muscle group again. if you have a 3 or 4 day split workout schedule set up then you could do them all in a row if you wanted to, just make sure to get at least 5 days rest in between. If you work out chest on day 1 then back on day 2 and then legs on day 3, make sure you take at least 5 days before going bask to the chest day again (day 1).

as for eating more, it is hard to eat more without eating a litle dirty. I Was doing great for a while but I am slacking now and it is showing up as some fat storage. You want to add calories, but not from fat and not too much from sugars. Good carbs. Add a bowl of oatmeal or 2 in between regular meals. That will crank up your carb intake adn still be clean.

[zachary]

Sami thanks, yeah i understand its a slow process, i mean i can tell i have toned up a LOT since i have started working out i mean i was skinny before but now i can tell im gettin tone, which is fine i mean i have not ever really worked out before so i guess i just lost the little fat i had when i started, but just wanting more muscle now.....im just impatience i guess

he mentioned protein protein protein i have started having 2 or 3 smoothies a day about 20 grams a piece then shrimp fish chicken or salad is ALL i eat now, Todd i have NEVER heard the 5-7 day thing? if you do this what kinda sets do you do, or just a LOT of different work outs for the same group?

[The Big Matt]

If you want to bulk up, try lifting heavier weight, and less reps

like 3 sets of 5 of heavy weight. Same weight all three times. You should just barely be able to get the last one of the third set, if you can easily do it, you need to up the weight.

[jw33]

are you doing legs?

[5 point 0 ford]

Are you running as well as lifting? I lost quite a bit of weight when i started running more...

[zachary]

Are you running as well as lifting? I lost quite a bit of weight when i started running more...
yes i do cardio stuff everyday bicycle, run or play hour or so of raquetball

[Sami]

yes i do cardio stuff everyday bicycle, run or play hour or so of raquetball
Lots of cardio and bulking up don't go hand in hand, unfortunately. You might want to consider bulking and cutting phases if you're serious about adding weight. If not, I would just do what you do now, having good cardiovascular stamina is important.

Protein is important but won't add muscle if you don't take in enough calories. Burning protein for energy is harder on your system than getting it from carbs and that's what it will do if you don't eat enough carbs. Too many carbs on the other hand = fat. That's why the bulking and cutting phases, on the bulk period you err on the side of too many calories to maximize muscle growth. On the cutting phase you err on the side of too little calories to lose the fat (and some muscle).

Play with your diet and count calories. 2g of protein per 1kg of body weight, ~1g per lb. If you're losing mass, add calories. If you're gaining too much mass, cut calories. In general slow change is good, a rapid weight gain and chances are you're more fat than muscle.

[Todd]

I am talking about just using a standard 4 day split workout, soarting on Monday. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday then Friday. Start again on Monday with last monday's same workout. I hope I didn't confuse you into thinking you should wait 5 - 7 days from the end of the weekly program to start the day again. If I did then I am sorry about that.

As for what sets I do and stuff, Here is what I do now:

Sunday: Chest/Tris

warmup bench
10x165
10x165

Bench Press
6x210
5x230
5x230
5x240

Incline Bench
10x115
8x165
8x185
5x185

Flies
10x50
10x50
10x50

Close Grip Bench
8x165
8x165
8x165

Skull Crushers
6x95
7x95
6x95

Monday: Legs

warmup Squats
10x115
10x115
10x165

squats
9x210
10x210
10x210

Calf Raises
20x210
20x210
20x210

Dead Lifts
8x210
5x240
6x240
4x240

Tuesday: Back/Bis

warm up Curls
8x50
8x50

EZ Bar Preacher Curl
8x50
8x50
8x50

standing EZ Bar Curls
10x65
10x65
10x65


Bent Rows
8x115
8x125
8x135

SITUPS
15X20 lb weight behind head
15x20lb weight behind head
15x20lb weight behind head

Thursday: Shoulders

warm up overhead Press
10x95
8x95

Seated Military Press
7x115
7x125
5x125

Standing Military Press
6x125
6x125
6x125

[Todd]

yes i do cardio stuff everyday bicycle, run or play hour or so of raquetball


Oh man, of you are trying to bulk up then you will have to eat enough to offset the calories burned by your cardio before you even start adding the extra eating that is necessary to build mass. Or cut back/delete the cardio.

If you are doind cardio every day that is the reason for the weight loss right there. Now that you know you can do it, quit! If you dont' change anything else but stopping the cardio then you should see some mass come on. do that until you stop gaining weight then add 250 more calories to your daily diet until weight gain levels off again and add another 250 again , etc, etc.... if you are gaining a lot of fat doing this then you need to look at your diet and adjust , or you could add some cardio to offset that at that point. If nothing else you might want to lay off the cardio on the lifting days.

I can't gain mass at all if I am doing cardio. I burn everything I eat right off. I had to completely stop cardio and eat way more than I though I would ever need to in order to see mass gains, but finally they did happen in that scenario.

[zachary]

Todd and Sami thanks for the thorough anwers
exactly what i was wanting to hear, i never thought about cardio burning the calories and having to add more in, so i will mess with my diet some more add some extra calories in with all the protein and see what that does thanks for yalls
.02! :D

[89stangGT]

i started working out about 3 months ago and i want to build up, well i was 185 when i started at 6'2 i check a month ago and i went down to 170 since i had been working out, so i talked to the nutricianist and he said eat more..we worked out a diet so i have been eating a lot more per day than usual building weight up again, BUT still im not bulking up just seems like as much as i eat it doesnt stick!
help

and, i stick to working out 3 or 4 days a week, never miss a day, BUT sometimes i have to work out of town and am away 3-4 days a weeks, and can not work out- i heard you were suppose to rest a day then work out again, well is it really bad to work out 3 days then off 4 or vice versa?

also sets, i have heard so many things about different sets i started with 12,10,8 upping weight each time then 3 sets of 10 and now 4 sets of 8, for building muscle which is the better method?

just do heavier weights with less sets if you're bulking up. for just general toning I usually do a moderate amount of weight for like 10-12 reps in maybe 4 sets.

[89stangGT]

O

I can't gain mass at all if I am doing cardio. I burn everything I eat right off. I had to completely stop cardio and eat way more than I though I would ever need to in order to see mass gains, but finally they did happen in that scenario.

Well, you're wanting to build muscle mass, right? not fat? you can still build muscle mass by working out properly, while also losing fat by doing cardio. If you stop doing cardio you're just more than likely building muscle mass as well as fat mass. That's why you sometimes see the guys working out who are huge because they have tons of muscle mass but also have the fat over it because they don't really do cardio or follow a strict diet. It really is possible to keep a thin waistline while still bulking your upper and lower body.

[The Big Matt]

the problem is he can't seem to put on weight, that means he either isn't eating enough, or he's burning too many calories, either way, that's his problem.

You can't build muscle without taking in tons of calories. Hell on a good bulking run, 5000 calories a day is recommended by most lifters trying to put on mass.

[Sami]

Stopping cardio completely is foolish. You might look to be in great shape from the outside but have very little stamina when it comes to other sports than lifting.

Mixing lifting with the right amount of cardio and getting the diet right is the way to go. It might not yield the greatest amount of mass but it will preserve your conditioning and keep the fat away.

[89stangGT]

the problem is he can't seem to put on weight, that means he either isn't eating enough, or he's burning too many calories, either way, that's his problem.

You can't build muscle without taking in tons of calories. Hell on a good bulking run, 5000 calories a day is recommended by most lifters trying to put on mass.

but there again eating tons of food (calories) is putting on FAT mass, not MUSCLE mass. hence you are getting heavier by gaining fat weight. Too help build muscle mass you need to eat more protein, not calories. Also, get more amino acids in the body since amino acids are the building bocks of protein. this can be done by taking amino fuel or any amino acid supplement and also getting more protein.
The reason he can't put on weight would be cause he's losing fat by burning it off and not building enough muscle by working out harder. Muscle weighs more than fat does. It's possible to stay the same weight some times by working out in the weight room a lot and doing cardio since at the same time one would be burning off fat (losing that weight), they're replacing that lost weight with muscle mass if they work out enough with weights.

[zachary]

there is actually an arguement going on about my body, i never thought i would see this day :D :eek:

[The Big Matt]

protein is the only real source of calories worth taking in, some complex carbs as well, but I'm talking about a clean diet consisting of 5000 calories

yes it is possible to build muscle while doing cardio as well, but most will recommend building during a building phase, and cutting during a cutting phase. It's hard to make great strength gains as well as size gains while doing heavy cardio.

[Sami]

protein is the only real source of calories worth taking in
You need them all, not just protein. Even fats are important to you. Empty calories, like white bread, those are worthless.

[The Big Matt]

You need them all, not just protein. Even fats are important to you. Empty calories, like white bread, those are worthless.

It's extremely hard to take in protein without some fat intake as well, unless it's strictly manufactured protein

[Sami]

It's extremely hard to take in protein without some fat intake as well, unless it's strictly manufactured protein
Shrimp, tuna for example are very low in fat. Tilapia and other low fat fish. Salmon, the best tasting fish IMO is on the high scale when it comes to fat.

Most of vitamins are fat soluble so no fat = no vitamins. There are other issues also if you don't take in enough of fats. I'm just saying that your statement of proteins being the only source of calories worth taking in is not something that I agree with.

[Todd]

Well, you're wanting to build muscle mass, right? not fat? you can still build muscle mass by working out properly, while also losing fat by doing cardio. If you stop doing cardio you're just more than likely building muscle mass as well as fat mass. That's why you sometimes see the guys working out who are huge because they have tons of muscle mass but also have the fat over it because they don't really do cardio or follow a strict diet. It really is possible to keep a thin waistline while still bulking your upper and lower body.


Yeah, my goal is to build up mass. I had not been eating nearly enough by a long shot. I was very active too, and along with that I was doing cardio and bulking type lifting. All that together and I didn't have enough left to build mass. I could not gain weight at all. It took me several years of hovering around the same weight to finally get to where I could gain. Making myself eat more and more. I finally stopped the cardio all together and started seeing decent gains for me. Still slow. But now I have gained some fat too since I am not doing cardio. I am not saying that I've done it all right by any means. My eating has become a lot less clean and at that point is where I started noticing more fat sticking around. BUT the weights I lift had been steadily rising and I keep pretty good measurements from time to time and I have watched what a simple change in my diet does (increased chest, arms and smaller waist measurements). I am about to get strict again and hope to loose some of the extra waist again and I plan to start some cardio again at this point to help that along - should not take long like that.

Bottom line, eat more , but it needs to be clean. And get that protein. And eating every 2 - 3 hours is awesome.