Advice for a beginner

Leprachaun

Hey,

I've decided that I need to pack on a few pounds(preferably muscle than fat :pac:),but I have no idea what kind of diet/excercise regime I need. I eat and eat but I can't seem to put on any weight. I'm 19,I weigh just under 60kg and I'm about 5 10 / 5 11.

I've bought myself some free weights,a pull-up bar,a mat for crunches and I'm contemplating either a treadmill or bike for a little cardio.

My diet is like this at the moment. Any advice would be great.

Breakfast : Wheat and fruite cereal ; orange juice ; bannana.

Lunch : 2 brown bread sandwhiches,usually chicken or turkey.

Dinner: Veg,potatoes and either chicken,pork,lamb,beef(depending on the night).

Misc : I usually have another bowl of cereal, 2 boiled eggs, a pint of milk and lots of fruit and veg throughout the day.


Basically,any tips on excercises to get me started would be great,as would any advice on my diet.

I also wouldn't mind some advice on suplements. I've heard this website ( http://www.thesupplementfactory.com/ ) is very good but I have no idea which products I should be looking at.

Cheers in advance,
Lep.

FunkZ

Hey man!

Start doing deadlifts, barbell rows, t bar rows, pull ups, chin ups, hack squats, stiff legged deadlifts, shoulder presses, lunges, front squats. Not all in the same workout though!

As for what ya eat, go to the stickys and find out how much calories ya need to gain weight and just try and eat good food!!

Jonny303

Id start with your breakie anyway. Quite a bit of sugar in there, between the cereal, orange juice and a bananna. Obviously eggs arent a problem for ya, so maybe try and get some in then. Read the stickies is the best advice and look down through the older posts.

Chicken, tuna, eggs and lots of them!

Good luck

EileenG

Agree with the lifts. Lots of compounds lifts using free weights will give the best results.

You've got a lot of empty calories in your meals. Try to make sure that each meal contains a quality protein (especially breakfast), a healthy fat and a green vegetable. After that, it's up to you, but try to eat the best quality of whatever you are eating. Go for the food with the least amount of processing. Bread, even brown bread, is far less nutritious than people think. When possible, replace with vegetables.

Leprachaun

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Could any recommend what kind of suplements I should be taking? Protein,mass gain etc.... I've very little knowledge on them,so I'd have no idea what to buy and what suplement does what.

Cheers.

FunkZ

Leprachaun wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Could any recommend what kind of suplements I should be taking? Protein,mass gain etc.... I've very little knowledge on them,so I'd have no idea what to buy and what suplement does what.

Cheers.

None, just eat loads of good clean food

EileenG

Agreed. Lots of good clean food should be what you are most concerned with.

If you are determined to buy something special, then a good multi-vitamin and some fish oil should be a staple for everyone, particularly if they are making high demands on their bodies.

The basic supplement for bodybuilding is whey protein. Take a scoop of whey after lifting with plenty of cold water and a small amount of high-gi carbs. Eat real food the rest of the time.

Leprachaun

Thanks a lot everyone.

One last question. If I'm doing the majority of my lifting in the morning, should I do it before or after I've eaten breakfast?

WolfForager

The thoughts of lifting before i've eaten in the morning make me feel sick, let alone doing it :P

Your diet's pretty much the same as mine, and i've lost 2.5% BF and gained a KG in 3 months, so looks good IMO! Remember, always eat the egg yolk as well as the white, no matter what anyone else tells you...

Leprachaun

WolfForager wrote: »

The thoughts of lifting before i've eaten in the morning make me feel sick, let alone doing it :P

Your diet's pretty much the same as mine, and i've lost 2.5% BF and gained a KG in 3 months, so looks good IMO! Remember, always eat the egg yolk as well as the white, no matter what anyone else tells you...

The yolk is my favourite bit.:p

celestial

Leprachaun wrote: »

Thanks a lot everyone.

One last question. If I'm doing the majority of my lifting in the morning, should I do it before or after I've eaten breakfast?

Have something light to eat beforehand - a bowl of weetabix and a banana and/or apple would be good options.

Leprachaun

Cheers.

Right,well I started today. So far so good. I guess I'll set up one of those fitness logs in a week or two when I get into the swing of things.

billyhead

Milk and Squats will pack on some size.

EileenG

Definitely eat first. Lifting weights on a empty stomach is miserable. I like a couple of scrambled eggs first (including yolks).

BossArky

Eat++

Leprachaun

By the way. What's to stop me simply getting 'fat' from eating all the extra food. I mean,is it possible all the food will go to my stomach and I'll stay skinny(overall) but with the added suprise of a beer belly.

Even is my aim is to bulk up, I'd like to do by gaining muscle and not fat. Are there any tips I might have missed? Should I be doing crunches along with weight lifting in the morning.

Cheers.

EileenG

Crunches don't stop you getting a beer belly, all they do is strengthen your abs, they do nothing about the fat covering them. Not saying not to do crunches, but don't rely on them to give you a tight belly.

If you are bulking, a bit of fat is almost inevitable, but it should be worth it for the extra muscle. If you are skinny, any fat shows up badly, but if you are muscular, you can carry quite a bit of fat and still look great with your t-shirt off.

If you eat clean food (meat, fish, eggs, chicken, tuna, lots of vegetables etc) and go really easy on sugar and pizza and beer etc, AND you lift hard you should find that your gains are muscle, not fat.

Leprachaun

I'm up 3.3kg since last week. I now weigh a 'massive' 59.3kg. :pac:

WolfForager

Leprachaun wrote: »

I'm up 3.3kg since last week. I now weigh a 'massive' 59.3kg. :pac:

3.3kg?? How many tubs of protein have you can through man? :P

You been using the same weighing scales?

brianthebard

Leprachaun wrote: »

By the way. What's to stop me simply getting 'fat' from eating all the extra food. I mean,is it possible all the food will go to my stomach and I'll stay skinny(overall) but with the added suprise of a beer belly.

You are quite underweight, you don't need to worry about gaining body fat. Chances are it would be a good thing. Just eat, as has already been pointed out, and don't go crazy on the junk food.

Leprachaun

WolfForager wrote: »

3.3kg?? How many tubs of protein have you can through man? :P

You been using the same weighing scales?

Yep,same scales. I have been eating a lot though. Perhaps the first few kilos were easy to put on because I didn't weigh much to start with. Is 3.3 a lot to put on in a week? I doubt I could keep increasing at that rate though, I'm stuffed enough at the end of the day as it is.

WolfForager

Leprachaun wrote: »

Yep,same scales. I have been eating a lot though. Perhaps the first few kilos were easy to put on because I didn't weigh much to start with. Is 3.3 a lot to put on in a week? I doubt I could keep increasing at that rate though, I'm stuffed enough at the end of the day as it is.

I've ben eating like a horse for 6 months and taking regular protein supplements, and i'll be lucky if i've put on a kg.

itsallaboutheL

I think you should possibly consult a doctor before starting anything, you are in my (fat) eyes incredibly underweight ATM, like if someone my height came in and said they were 40kg heavier than me id say the same.

Leprachaun

Everything's going fine so far. I've hit 61kg. The weights I had before and really doing the job anymore. I'm having to do a ridiculous amount of reps to feel any stress on my muscles so I'd like to buy some dumbells that are a little heavier. Does anyone have any recommendations? Also if I was to take any mass builder,what make is good? I've heard mass builder contains protein,just not as much as if you buy just protein,is this true?

Thanks in advance,
Lep.

EileenG

Most mass builders are protein and creatine and sugar. Much cheaper to buy everything separately and mix your own.

What lifts are you doing with your 61kg?

kevpants

Holy jaysus you're the same height as me and you're only slightly over half my weight! The fact that I was eating pate (ladeedahhh) out of a tub with my finger when I read your stats is as good a metaphor as any for the reasons why I suppose.

You have access to a gym or is it just dumbells at home?

Leprachaun

EileenG wrote: »

Most mass builders are protein and creatine and sugar. Much cheaper to buy everything separately and mix your own.

What lifts are you doing with your 61kg?

I'm lifting just under 10kg per dumbell.

kevpants wrote: »

Holy jaysus you're the same height as me and you're only slightly over half my weight! The fact that I was eating pate (ladeedahhh) out of a tub with my finger when I read your stats is as good a metaphor as any for the reasons why I suppose.

You have access to a gym or is it just dumbells at home?

Nope,don't have access to a gym,just have some dumbells. I'm looking at buying new weights though. Any advice on these.

So I'm better off just buying some protein instead of mass gain then?

unregged.

You've gained less thank 2Kg in a month? :eek:

TBH thats shocking and very bad progress. You are STILL underweight.

I'm not gonna give you any advice because I'm sure you KNOW what to do now at this stage, but if I was you I would be making every effort to bring that weight up.

Leprachaun

unregged. wrote: »

You've gained less thank 2Kg in a month? :eek:

TBH thats shocking and very bad progress. You are STILL underweight.

I'm not gonna give you any advice because I'm sure you KNOW what to do now at this stage, but if I was you I would be making every effort to bring that weight up.

Ah,made a typo. I've actually reached 64kg,not 61. And whe I said I started out just under 60kg,the exact weight was 56.

And yeah,I think I've got the general jist of routines,excercises etc... The only thing I'm looking for advice on now is suipplements.

Cheers for all the advice everyone.