Muscle Bulking Advice~ Guide

[Soy]

Are you 'too skinny'?
Read on!

Just thought i'd just give some advice and offer free help to those who need it. I have very bad genetics so gaining from 122 pounds to 168 pounds (with only gaining 1.3% body fat) has been a great achievement in my life. I've been at the gym now for about 19 months. In this guide I will tell you what to eat and how to train. Your diet is just as important (if not more important) than your training so having a healthy diet is vital.
Please note that I am not an expert, and can only give advice from experts and past experience with muscle gain.

Okay this guide is all about MUSCLE GAIN we are going to go through the theory, and what major muscle groups and excersises you can do to build more muscle.

Right first things first we need to understand what we are actually doing at the gym (I will explain briefly, if you want more information just ask). When we lift weights our muscle fibres tear and then need protein and energy to repair them. As they repair your muscles will GROWand will become more accustomed to the weight you lift (eg, they will change in size because your bodys demanding more muscle to lift the specified weight). We will need to give our specific muscle groups about 4-7 days of rest. (eg, Monday I workout Biceps, then on Saturday I workout biceps again, giving my muscles time to recover). If we want to gain large ammounts of muscle mass then we must lift HEAVY WEIGHTSand LOW REPS (eg, your best 3-7 reps on that weight) Try and aim for about 12 sets with DIFFERENET excersises on each muscle group you are hoping to gain muscle in

Right we have basically gone through the jist of the theory (if you need any more information let me know) now we need to go through the right foods that we need in our diet.

Our diet accumulates to about 60% on our physique. Eating too much or too little food can lead to muscle loss or fat gain. And we don't want neither. Now some people reading this will have a very high motabolism and will deem themselves as too thin. So what we need in our diet is plenty of LEAN PROTEIN (eg, fish, meats and milk) COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES(eg, wholemeal bread, brown rice and pasta) THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES! (eg, chocolate, sweets and sugar). Also a mixture of healthy FATS in your diet is vital for muscle gain. (eg, Nuts, milk, oils, olives and healthy cheeses). Also do not neglect your fruits and vegetables. When your bulking people have found great results by eating 4-6 small meals a day, keep that in mind. RENEMBER! EAT PLENTY, MAKE SURE YOUR FULL AND STICK TRUE TO YOUR DIET

Now we come to the excerises. Now there are plenty of different excersises out there on youtube which prove very rewarding, but when we want to BUILDmuscle then we need to lift heavy weights and low repetitions, try and aim for about 12 sets on each muscle group (varies on some) that you train, have a decent recovery time per set and make sure you correct the technique and try not to use any other muscle group than the one your targetting and it should be a slow and controlled movement. If you want to TONE then you will need to lift light weights and high repetitions, but that's not what this thread is about. When were looking to bulk we need to excersise about 3 times a week minimum, don't forget! That's pretty much it but make sure you REST!it's actually not lifting weights that makes us bulk but what we eat. If your muscles haven't got the sufficient protein in your diet then you can't keep up with your body's needs hence you will not gain muscle. If you would like any good bulking excersises then please don't hesitate to post. I'm sure that I can send you a youtube link or another experienced member of the forum can assist you.

Like I said, I am not qualified whatsoever, I just happen to be informative on this subject. Below are some common questions which might assist you;
(Lift slow to grow! )


Some of the most common questions that get thrown around are;

"How much protein should I include in my diet?"
Well, the truth is that it all depends on you as a person. It depends on how much excersise you do, how often your lifting and how much stress your putting on your body. I am on about 50-70g of lean protein a day I DO NOT TAKE SUPPLEMENTS and i train about five times a week. Renember it's always better to eat more protein than to eat less, but make sure your drinking plently of fluids (1.5 litres a day).

"When's the best time to take protein?"
Alot of arguments occur when this question is asked so its open to interprentation, but anyway in my opinion I find that taken carbohydrates and energy foods 30 minutes before the workout and then taking protein and energy about 20 minutes after the workout works best.

"Will weight lifting stunt my growth"
Again this is very argumentitive, I say Yes if your doing the excersise with incorrect technique or you are lifting to heavy a weight. This is because you can seriosly damage your joints and growth plates, and can develop arthritus at an early age. But if your doing the excersises correctly then you will have no need to worry I would reccommend starting bulking at about minimum fourteen.

"Do protein shakes work?"
Yet again this is also very argumentitive, my opinion is YES they can work but i HIGHLY DON'T RECCOMMEND YOU USING THEM, one is because they cost alot of money and two not enough information has gone into them, they can be very bad for your kidneys if using them in overdoses. Also they come with around 500 calories and sometimes with alot of simple carbs. This is what we don't want so i would reccommend drinking milk instead. Anyway your body wont absorb all that protein from those proccessed chemicals anyway, stick to being natural and be proud :rolleyes: Afterall meat is better because it's already broken down into amino acids and stays in the body longer so more gets absorbed.

That's all, i am more than happy to answer your questions (most of this was for my GCSE PE coursework) Renember as iv'e stated three times: I am not qualified but experienced.

Thanks

[Dan.ox]

Pretty informative man, im too skinny and can't seem to bulk up so this helped!

[Captain]

Good guide Do you have a training regime for each week?

[Soy]

Good guide Do you have a training regime for each week?

Yeah and about 90% of the time I stick to it :rolleyes:

Currently I'm trying to gain muscle without gaining much fat, proving to be very hard but In the last three months alone by simply changing my diet I've improved my bench by 10k and my arms are about a half inch bigger.

[Captain]

whats your training regime? I have a crap diet, I can't resist a McDonalds or Burger King

[Excellent2]

This guide seems great for beginners wanting to grow a bit of muscle. You should also be resting for 7-8 hours a night to give your body time to grow. Keep your cardio down to 3-4 times a week as you don't want to be straining your muscles every single day. Make sure your weight isn't hurting when you lift it and a straight back is always key.

I personally lift and hold the weight rather than repping as I find it fatigues my muscles much much more than reps. Reps are more for tone and definition but if you want to bulk up I recommend lift and hold as it's not isolating 1 muscle group but bringing in a bunch to help keep the weight up. If you choose this, lift and hold the weight for 60 seconds (1 minute) to ensure you get the proper workout.

Goodluck guys!

[Captain]

You can hold the weight instead of doing reps ?

I didn't know that. I'll give it a try. Doesn't it use less muscles than doing reps?

[Soy]

This guide seems great for beginners wanting to grow a bit of muscle. You should also be resting for 7-8 hours a night to give your body time to grow. Keep your cardio down to 3-4 times a week as you don't want to be straining your muscles every single day. Make sure your weight isn't hurting when you lift it and a straight back is always key.

I personally lift and hold the weight rather than repping as I find it fatigues my muscles much much more than reps. Reps are more for tone and definition but if you want to bulk up I recommend lift and hold as it's not isolating 1 muscle group but bringing in a bunch to help keep the weight up. If you choose this, lift and hold the weight for 60 seconds (1 minute) to ensure you get the proper workout.

Goodluck guys!

Thanks for adding that

Yeah I've been doing an excersise which I basically hold the weight when I'm doing barbell curls and controll the weight as much as possible and aim for about five reps on a heavy weight have found it good for gaining muscle!

whats your training regime? I have a crap diet, I can't resist a McDonalds or Burger King

Used to be the same for me about a year ago,
Basically you put crap like that into your body and you'l get crap out, most of it will just pass through your system anyway and your body will only absorb the bad things like the high saturated fat etc.

Your diet is as/more important than your training.
This video explains everything perfectly;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVx-V...eature=channel

[Excellent2]

No no, lifting and holding the weight works all of the surrounding muscles.

[Ajthedragon]

Good guide.