More Strength for a hard gainer

Turbo_diesel

Alright lads new to the forum. Just looking for some tips. Here is my profile.

I'm 5"10 & weigh 154 pounds. I am quiet fit & currently do a bit of jogging & also some kick boxing. I am basically looking to improve my overall strength while also adding some bulk. Ideally going to buy a bench & some weights rather than using a gym. Going to concentrate on core exersizes such as squats,dead lift & bench press. Was thinking of starting the 5*5 routine? Anybody have any advice on a particular programme for improving strength or bulking? I am of slim build so I would presume I must be a hard gainer.I take it I should eat like a horse lots of protein etc while eating smaller meals but more frequently.

With regards to supplements etc was just going to use some whey protein by body fortess from Holland & Barrett not sure if much difference between the brands?

Remmy

You seem to have a good idea of what to do already.Id add in weighted pushups,dips,chinups and pullups to your routine.I only tried the one brand of whey yet so could'nt comment on the differences.Drink lots of milk!

ajk24

I bought Body Fortress - as a first try at whey - v.expensive relative other brands and had a very 'gassy' effect. Myself and my brother both use Big Whey from nutrition-x and buy from fitness ireland. €99 for 2x6lb tubs. vanilla is v.tasty

http://www.fitnessireland.ie/product_info.php?products_id=447

I have no connection to either fitnessireland or nutrition-x.

As regards training - def start with core building exercises. try doing curls, shoulder presses with relatively light dumb bells on a bosu ball. also squat jumps on the bosu.

http://askthetrainer.com/bosu-ball-exercises.html

great for building stability and core strength before starting into heavy lifting if you haven't been lifting before.

BobbyOLeary

As regards training - def start with core building exercises. try doing curls

My sweet jesus. I realise its late and I shouldn't be posting cranky but my god. Curls as a core building exercise? Come off it, heavy squats, deads, and shoulder press will give you a hell of a lot more 'core' than curls. If you can explain how curls are a core building exercise I'd really like to hear it.

OP, you're looking for strength, you're a similar height and weight to what I was last year at this time, I'm 5'11" and I walked around at about 73kg. Now I'm 82kg and a good bit stronger. Personally I'm not experienced with 5x5 but I found the 3x5 structure of Starting Strength worked very well for me, and other guys too. I can't think of the wiki link right now but I'll post it up tomorrow for you or google starting strength wiki.

Strength training is inherently scalable so there is no real reason as long as you're injury free to do some other exercise first. Hit up the big compound lifts, eat like a horse (good food!) and the strength will come like an express train.

Curls and swiss balls..... if only I'd known before I started all this back squat nonsense

ajk24

"great for building stability and core strength before starting into heavy lifting if you haven't been lifting before."

note the 'before' and the 'if' parts of the sentence. if someone hasn't done any lifting before it is important to develop good form, posture and balance first. doing any exercise on a bosu or a wobble board or any uneven surface will work lots of muscles for stabilisation. I can't imagine any trainer/instructor would get someone to step into a squat rack before doing some basic stabilisation work first. the link I posted contains plenty of specific core work.

it goes without saying that compound lifts will build the muscle and a real solid core but you have to start somewhere. safer to assume OP is a novice to lifting than to say jump straight into heavy stuff.

brianthebard

Why would you get someone to do lifts on an unstable surface if they aren't even used to a stable one? ffs don't be filling the op's head with nonsense, he seems to have a decent grip on things. The one thing op would be not to assume you are a hard gainer if you haven't done weights before and are doing a lot of cardio (jogging and kick boxing) there will be a reason why you are light, it doesn't necessarily mean you aren't able to gain weight.

BobbyOLeary

it goes without saying that compound lifts will build the muscle and a real solid core but you have to start somewhere.

Exactly! With the same core exercises but with a lighter weight. He could do air squats if things are that bad. There is no conceivable advantage to performing these bosu ball exercises over the big compound ones. None. Scale the weight of the compound exercises and he'll do just fine, no need whatsoever to use an inflated piece of rubber in the name of "stabilisation".

Colm_OReilly

We've a 2Kg bar from argos that 4 years olds can lift up. We've .5Kg weights that people can start on. Pretty much any gym I've been in has those reebok weighted bars that weigh light enough and light barbells if someone couldn't handle the 20Kg bar first.

OP, here's the link to the starting strength wiki: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki

Plenty of vids (particularly on deadlifting) over at http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html#Power , not enough on the back squat imo but on Rip's (Mark Rippetoe is the author of Starting Strength) forum there's a whole host of back squats and critiques: http://strengthmill.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1334

Weight gain requires a degree of uncomfortable eating. You'll feel a bit stuffed at first, maybe a bit bloated too with all the milk. This is necessary for weight gain, there's really no other way around it.

When starting 5x5 (I presume you're talking about strong lifts) or Starting Strength there's really no need to rush into very heavy weights. The weights do get heavier and heavier each workout, and before you know it it does require a degree of mental toughness to get under the bar.

Best of luck. Any questions feel free to give me a shout.

Colm

Turbo_diesel

Cheers for the info lads. Can anybody reccomend where to buy a reasonably priced bench & barbell? So far I would be looking at argos?

rubadub

Turbo_diesel wrote: »

Cheers for the info lads. Can anybody reccomend where to buy a reasonably priced bench & barbell? So far I would be looking at argos?

Argos is the cheapest and probably best price at that end. Not neccessarily best VALUE, but cheapest. If you want something built to last then go with www.irish-lifting.com

The 50kg argos CAST IRON york set is alright. Avoid the vinyl/plastic/cement sets, they degrade over time, and hte bars are hollow and rated to feck all. I just noticed my hollow ez-curl york argos bar is bent right out of shape, though I did have 100kg on it, rated to 60kg I think.

I have a cheap argos bench and never use it anymore, I work my chest with various weighted dips and pushups.

Arsenal1986

just a quick note....you said you were going to get a barbell an bench instead of joining a gym and intended to do 5 x 5 well you wont be able to squat without a squat rack so maybe rethink the gym?