My routine,

lmtduffy

I’m male, almost 18 weigh about 65kg and I’m about 6foot approximately,
I alternate between lifting weights and running every 2 days,
when I lift weights this is what I do,

30 sit ups with weight

40 inclined bench presses with dumbbells,
40 fly’s on a bench with dumbbells,

30 sit ups with weights,

40 benchpresses,
40 of those extensions where you hold a barbell at your waist then raise it out in front of you till its over your head, cant remember what there called,

30 sit ups with weights,

40 barbell curls standing,
40 dumbbell rows standing,

30 sit ups with weights,

40 triceps extension with barbell standing,
40 one armed curls with dumbbells preacher style,

30 sit ups with weights,

when I run I generally go a little under 3 miles,
and a quick swim as well generally,

I also tend to work out late at night or early morning,
I keep a low calorie high protein diet,
but I don’t think I eat enough,
generally about 4 meals a day,
but sometimes it can be as low as two,
I would like to build up more muscle so I am trying to eat more,
so any advice on what exercise I do or my diet,
I would like to build up muscle but also stay agile,
I aim to join the army that’s why I go running but I also plan to take up some martial arts so I would like to build muscle,
What should I or shouldn’t I be doing
thanks,

Vinnie K

Im no expert and im not really long enough around to be giving advise, but i would think you really have to get your diet sorted, your never gonna bulk up if your only eating 4 or less meals a day. Look through the last few days treads, there was one about bulking up. Read the stickies at the top of the forum page, some great info in there for you.
Vinnie.

Laslo

4 meals a day is okay as long as you're eating at the right time and getting the right amount (and quality) of nutrients into you. 6 smaller meals a day would be better but not all of us have the time for that.

davyjose

You do 40 reps per set? That's waaay to high for building muscle. It's excellent for endurance training, but I daresay you're looking for size. you want to take it down to 8-10 reps (effectively doing the same amount of reps but taking breaks between). This means you should be able to use higher weight, ergo giving your muscles a higher workload.

Disregard if I've picked you up wrong, and you are doing this already.

Hanley

You don't need to eat 6 times a day to bulk up. That's BS. 4's totally adequate. Probably not a great idea for a beginner but it's definately possible to put on quality size eating 4x a day.

lmtduffy

The diet thing is something I totally agree with,
I drink alot of milk if that makes a difference,
are the excersices im doing adequate?
I generaly do the highest weights I can,
and work down,

Andrewf20

davyjose wrote:

You do 40 reps per set? That's waaay to high for building muscle. It's excellent for endurance training, but I daresay you're looking for size. you want to take it down to 8-10 reps (effectively doing the same amount of reps but taking breaks between). This means you should be able to use higher weight, ergo giving your muscles a higher workload.

Disregard if I've picked you up wrong, and you are doing this already.

Agreed. And if your more of an Ectomorph (tall and thin), rather than a Mesomorph (naturally stocky), Id even drop down to 5-6 reps and do 4-5 sets of this. Thats what I do and it works wonders.

lmtduffy

So I should run through my whole routine about 4 times, doing 5 or so reps each time,

davyjose

Hmm .. it might also be advisable to work different muscles on different days. The reason is twofold. Firstly, because if you dedicate a single day to legs, it means you can put everything into it. Rather than having to worry about your shoulders, bench press, or whatever, afterwards and saving energy for it. You can KILL yourself on legs and go home. Secondly, it allows you to give your body sufficient time to rest. Working a muscle every single day will NOT cause it to grow. Rest is as important as diet and training.

davyjose

lmtduffy wrote:

So I should run through my whole routine about 4 times, doing 5 or so reps each time,

Yes, but keep in mind, this isn't to make life easier - you should still be hurtin afterwards

rubadub

lmtduffy wrote:

I would like to build up more muscle so I am trying to eat more,
so any advice on what exercise I do or my diet,

Increase the weight until you are in the 8-12rep range. Get some squats in! A few heavy squat sets would probably do more for your core/abs than all those situps. I would get some standing military presses in too, and pull ups.

lmtduffy

I do break up the 40 into about 5 reps with rests in between,
I use weights at home so squats are out for the mean time,
but when I go back to college i'll join the gym there,
should I add the military presses or replace something else with them,
and do any of ye think any of what I do isnt neccesary or that I should do something else instead of something,