Slow gainer, slim, not much free time... starting weights from scratch

AARRRGH

Hello

About 5 years ago I used to be a gym regular, and by following a strict diet (tons of food, supplements, and no alcohol or caffeine) I was able to build muscle.

I'm thinking of rejoining the gym (Pinnacle near Harcourt Street.)

I don't have much time - I work full-time, run a business part-time, and I'm doing a masters degree part-time. I also have a girlfriend

So if you were in my shoes, and you were starting from scratch, what system would you use?

This is what I'm thinking -

Remove booze and caffeine (would like to do this anyway.)
Gym two or three times per week. Don't go when I'm tired "just because I'm supposed to".
Little cardio.
Combination of lightish weights (12 - 15 reps until failure) combined with a few very heavy weights (2 - 3 reps until failure.)
Proper breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks in between each meal (fruit, granola bars, that kind of thing.)
Mass gainer every day (probably Progain from Maximuscle - worked for me in the past) and protein shakes immediately after working out.
As much sleep as possible.

And that's about it.

Sound like a good plan? Should I be doing anything else differently?

Thanks for reading!

davyjose

Sounds good enough - couple of things though: you can still drink caffeine in the mornings, it won't hinder your work-outs, in fact it may help. Also in terms of lifting I would go heavy, mainly because lifting light is pointless if you wanna build muscle, but also because your short on time. If you do it right, you can get a good workout done in half an hour.

tribulus

It sounds like you'll be tired a lot of the time. Still go if you're tired, just suck it up, it'll help you get a fitful sleep that night.

I'm assuming you want the usual - build muscle and maybe lose some fat?

Throw in plenty of compound movements - squat, bench, deadlift, chins, presses etc.
I wouldn't worry too much about the reps somewhere around 6-12 is fine, maybe less for the DL's.

Reaching failure on all your sets will probably kill your progress, maybe the last set. It's probably better since you're starting off to just push close to but not reach failure on your sets. If you're hard on time consider supersetting exercises together.

Post up your diet. Get protein in every meal without fail, this also includes your snacks, a small portion of tuna, some olive oil and peppers is a snack, a piece of fruit is not, it's just a piece of fruit.

You should get most of your calories from whole food, however if you need some meal replacement then get something cheaper than maximuscle.

BrianD3

Seeing as you have very little time have you considered getting your own equipment (cage, bench, weights) and training at home. This could save you a lot of time travelling to and from the gym

Sangre

Go if you're tired, only don't go to the gym if you're sick or injured and the gym will inhibit your recovery imo. Or if in a 'rest period' from training. (this all assumes you don't want to miss a session)

If you're tired gym will help wake you up for the rest of the day and you'll sleep better.

Sleepy

Dude, if you're lifting in Pinnacle twice a week or more, you'll get the desired effect. I'm of the opinion it's impossible not to have a good session in there.