For the Body Builders/Weight Lifters out there.....

[jkm2500 0]

I started lifting weights about 6 months ago. I have been hard after it in my off time. My question is to the established people out there. Do you use supplements? What do you use? And what are some tips to help with gaining a little more mass/strength. Right now I am pushing 200lbs (at 5'10"), my goal is 210-220. I am on a 3 day training schedule, and usually hitting 2 major groups a day (i.e, chest in the morning, legs in afternoon). Any help and hints would be greatly appreciated.

Josh

The primary purpose of the Armed Forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise.

[prepheckt 0]

Question....what's your diet like?

"Dancing Argentine Tango is like doing calculus with your feet."
-9 toes

[rehmwa 2]

Did you do a search? AggieD is the man from the sound of it to talk to.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[jkm2500 0]

Right now Diet is good old fashioned Army food. Eggs/bacon for breakfast. MRE for lunch. Decent meal for dinner. MRE for another late evening meal. I am also using PROM3 protien blend 2 shakes a day. I just ordered up some more protien shakes, but I was wondering what every body else uses.

The primary purpose of the Armed Forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise.

[rehmwa 2]

In the Navy we drank the shakes every day. Lifted 6 days a week (back-bi's, chest-tri's, legs-shoulders-rotator cuff - 3 workouts twice a week so each muscle group got hit twice a week - never do cuffs the day before chest-tris). Cardio and abs every day. I put on about 30 pounds in the first few months (140 to 170 - just a little guy at 5-9) and all my problems (popping shoulders, etc) went away. Looked a hell of lot better too. Still do maintenance, but nothing like that anymore.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[sammer 0]

The only supplement I ever really got sold on was creatine. It seemed to help me increase the intensity of my work outs and also helps with a faster recovery time. If you do give the creatine a try, make sure to up your water intake (probably not a bad idea regardless).

Another thing you may want to try is varying your routine a little. If you've been at it pretty hard for 6 months, you might try a five day routine. I use a variant of the one shown here:

http://www.oo-rah.com/store/pt/pt1011.asp

There's a lot of good stuff on that site. One last thing: Do lots of squats. My favorite exercise and, I believe, the most important if you are looking to build mass.

Good luck,

Sammer

[TattooedMoFo 0]

Quote

I started lifting weights about 6 months ago. I have been hard after it in my off time. My question is to the established people out there. Do you use supplements? What do you use? And what are some tips to help with gaining a little more mass/strength. Right now I am pushing 200lbs (at 5'10"), my goal is 210-220. I am on a 3 day training schedule, and usually hitting 2 major groups a day (i.e, chest in the morning, legs in afternoon). Any help and hints would be greatly appreciated.

Josh

I would change your traing program for a start, a go onto a 4 day split, training only once a day.
As for diet, 6-8 meals a day (roughly every 3 hours) need to be consuming about 3500 - 4500 calories a day, protein should be roughly 1- 1/2 grams per kilogram or 2.2 LBS of body weight. Protein intake should be staggered throughout the day, as the body can only absorb about 30grams of protein at any one time, rest is usually wasted .

This could go on for hours, but not knowing you body type, age, strenths , weakenesses etc etc, this is the standard guideline for weight gain.
For a source of the best body building info,
www.bodybuilding.com , make sure you check out the section Popular Message boards, world of information there, you can't go wrong.
Welcome to the get big world.

[Kramer 0]

I have been able to put on about ten pounds of muscle in the last six months or so without the assitance of any supplements.

My advice, just eat a lot, and eat a lot of protein. In the long run "supplements" probably do more harm than good anyway.

-Kramer

The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

Right now Diet is good old fashioned Army food

HA HA! I can totaly relate. Been there done that many times. It sounds like you're doing OK with the protein and shakes. I would also recommend creatine, it works. However, DO drink plenty of water. I had guys on my team who started getting leg cramps when we were rucking or going on long runs. Once they up'd their water intake the cramps went away. You will also get a pump quicker than normal, at least I do. Another thing is if you do take it, try to take it with white grape juice it supposedly helps your body assimilate it better. Also try changing up your workout and even take an "easy" day.

Oh yeah: a good multi-vitamin is a plus also.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[TattooedMoFo 0]

Also make sure you get a good nights sleep 8hrs is good.
Didn't mention supplements as this varies person to person. I've used Creating as a cycle 1 month on 2 months off. General vitamin supplements are a good idea, and i have also had good results using Glutamine, works in conjunction of protein breakdown and absorption into the body.

[ChileRelleno 0]

Ask AggieDave, I bet he could help'ya with this.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[Casurf1978 0]

Tattoo has all the right advice, especially on eating all the time and also eating right. You can eat all day but if you eat crap all youre gonna gain is fat. Get your workout down, diet down, and REST. Then move onto suppliments. Check out that site too, nice place with lots of info. You also need to rest, if you dont give your body enough time to recoup youre going to end up overtrained and burnt out.

[beavdog 0]

I used creatine when I was trying to gain weight (ironically, now i want to get rid of some...), i gained 15 lbs of solid muscle in 1 month. I was lifting for a couple of hours a day, eating about 5 times a day, and working outside building houses. The water intake is crucial, you will get cramps and pull muscles easier if you are not drinking enough.

also...i have heard the same about grape juice, so that is how i took it

Here's to the Breezes that blows through the Trezzez.....

[Icarus021 0]

Check out this site and looke at his supplement and diet section. http://www.johnstonefitness.com

3-2-1-cya
Don't take life too serious, you will never get out alive!

[PrivatePyle 0]

What's your work out like? Have you tried pyramids?

I gained 30lbs of muscle using a routine similar to this:

Bench (5 sets)
10 reps low weight
8 reps med
3 reps high
8 reps med
10 reps low weight
(failing or getting close to failure on the last sets)

..and 4 sets of 8 of varying chest and tri exercises (working with enough weight to fail on the last sets).
[using a similiar routine on my Back/Bi/Shoulder days]

When I plateau'd I would switch to much lighter workouts for a couple weeks then go back.

Curious to hear what other peoples routines are like building muscle mass as well as definition.

-Pvt Pyle

[steve1 5]

There's a lot of opinions on this and mine may be contrary to yours. Most folks who are trying to build mass use heavy basic exercises like bench, squats, dead lift etc. You don't need a lot of isolation exercises that isolate one muscle group at a time. For example for building your chest, shoulders, and tri-cepts do benchs and maybe seated military press. You can work all three at once with these basic lifts. There's no need to isolate these muscles with an advanced bodybuilding routine which will probably lead to overtraining. When going heavy, I'd say don't do less than five reps or risk injury. There's nothing wrong with finishing with up to twelve reps on a lighter weight. But don't do more than 15. I've read articles about fast and slow twitch muscles, but most people go fairly heavy to build mass. I know some body builders who even powerlift in an effort to build mass. Probably the worst thing you can do is read too many muscle magazines and then try a program that professionals use. You'll end up overtraining and your gains will come slowly. I'd say an hour work out four times a week might be plenty. It's better to undertrain than overtrain. I know the pros work out twice a day six days a week for several hours a day, but most people would burn out on that real fast.

As far as supplements you can spend a pile of money on these. If you eat right, the extra will be flushed out of your system. The thing is that most people don't eat right. Your body can only assimilate so much protein so don't go overboard on this. To tell you the truth I've never noticed any dramatic gains using protein powders, vitamins, or other supplements. I'd say you'd be better off spending your money on quality food with a minimal amount of supplements. If you are dieting to lose weight, that is another story and supplements are vital then. If I were you I'd say try to eat a quality diet that is low in fat, moderate levels of protein (but more protein than the average person eats because you are trying to build muscle) and enough quality carbohydrates to provide energy. It might be good to take a multi-vitamin, some B-complex, a little vitamin C. If you are worried about not getting enough protein in your diet maybe buy some protein powder. Sleep is vital. I need at least 8 or 9 hours after a hard workout. Don't pig out too much or you'll end up with a lot of extra fat to lose.

If your workout gets stale and you stop making gains it might not hurt to take a week off. Changing your workout around once in a while might jump-start your gains again. It's not unusual to plateau out after a few months of training. Don't keep adding more and more exercises, sets, and lengthening your workout times. This may work in other sports, but will lead to overtraining after a while in weight training.

So anyhow this is my opinion on all this. Or my two-cents worth. I quit reading muscle magazines and books years ago, but I imagine things haven't changed all that much. (And I know there is a lot of conflicting opinion on the best way to do all this)....Steve1

[AggieDave 6]

Build your workout with the basics, bench, squat, deadlift. Lift heavy, but not past your ability into "blow your shoulder/back/knees out land."

I'd say change your 3 day multi workout into a 4 or 5 day routine with only one major group hit a day.

For instance, here's my basic breakdown:
Day 1: Chest, tris
Day 2: Back, bi's,
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: death of arms day: (Shoulders, bi/tri supersets, forearms).


Nutrition is the biggest thing to fix, supplements are just that, supplements, if the foundation isn't there then it will do NOTHING for you.

I'm trying to get myself back on the diet I was on a couple years ago. I was eating atleast 350g of Protien a day and atleast 500g of Carbs (complex) a day, over the course of 6 meals and 2 protein shakes. I also used Phosphogen (EAS' creatine). That was the best shape I've been in EVER, I was lean and huge. After a layoff, I'm starting to get big again, but my diet sucks, so the spare tire/beer gut is still there in force.


Here's a basic idea of my workouts, although they vary some, since I do use some instinct training.

Chest/Tri:

Flat bench
Incline
Cable cross overs

Seated cambered bar extensions
cable pressdowns
close grip bench
one arm revers pull downs

Back/Bi

Lat pulls
Bent over rows
Deadlifts
seated rows
shrugs

Standing barbell curls
preacher curls
incline dumbell curls/hammer curls
cable curls (flat bar)

Legs:

Extensions
Squats
Leg press
Curls
seated calf raises

Arm death day:

Seated dumbell press (sometimes "arnold press")
front raises
side raises
rear raises (leaning on an inclined bench)

(now the supersets)

Seated dumbell press (a variation of cambared bar presses, with a dumbell, two hands, going over head)
Standing barbell curls

Rope cable pressdowns
preacher curls

1 arm extensions
standing dumbell curls (dropset down to 10lbs for each set)

1 arm cable pressdown
1 arm cable curls

forearms

behind the back curls
curls with forearms supported on a flat bench


Each day takes me about an hour to do, since I tend to workout at a faster pace, don't talk much if at all in the gym and get down to going at it hardcore.

Each day is a kick in the nuts, but is so worth it. If that workout doesn't kick your ass and push you farther then you thought you could go, then something is wrong. Oh, be prepaired to puke on any of those days. Back day and leg day is the worst, since I like to go heavy on deadlifts and squats.



If you notice, the last excersize of each group is a "pump" excersize, on those I tend to do 3 sets of 15. On everything else I stick to 3-4 sets (depends on the excersize) and 6-10 reps. Somedays I'll take the "big" lifts to lower reps then that and do some serious weight, but not real often (since that's an easy way to get hurt).

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[TattooedMoFo 0]

Quote

I used creatine when I was trying to gain weight (ironically, now i want to get rid of some...), i gained 15 lbs of solid muscle in 1 month. I was lifting for a couple of hours a day, eating about 5 times a day, and working outside building houses. The water intake is crucial, you will get cramps and pull muscles easier if you are not drinking enough.

also...i have heard the same about grape juice, so that is how i took it

Sorry but at a struggle someone would gain 15lbs of solid muscle in a year, there is no way in hell some would gain 15lbs in a month. (15lbs would not even be possible on steriods) Almost all of you gains there would have been water or fat, especially when useing Creatine, it forces the body to hold so much water.

[LouDiamond 1]

One thing to keep in mind with this situation. As was mentioned, eating right and adequate rest is vital. However, since most have never been there, they can't relate. Being that he is deployed the ability to get enough rest is not always easy to do nor is eating right. He is eating MREs and they are far from being the best thing to eat but they do provide needed calories for a person in a combat situation. Not knowing his situation, he might not have access to a lot of the things the average person takes for granted. I know I pretty much carried everything I had on my back with little room for anything else. I also know of people who had sit down toliets, electricity, running water, ice cream, Sat TV ,internet access and a PX to shop in.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING