cant bulk up. are protien bars a good option?

fret_wimp

Here's my story.
I started the gym last January and went 2-4 times a week every week until until september. In all that time, i lost a lot of fat, and became reasonably fit, but never bulked up.

I done 25 mins of cardio (running) each session and the last 35 mins on weights and muscle building(various types of sit ups, recommended by instructor, chin up's, weights for arms, weights for pecks).

In all that time though i barely bulked up at all. my arms did a little bit but my chest stayed as is. I was told by a friend that i prob wasnt eating enough protein. Even though i ate a good breakfast(with egg), lunch(chicken/beef) and dinner(chicken/Beef stirfry) it wasnt apparently enough.

In september i injured myself and am only now able to get back to the gym. I want to start properly this time as i have a good idea of the exercises i need to do , but i want to bulk up a bit. I tried to do it naturally without special foods but it just didnt work.

So, are protein bars good for this, and if so, what do you recommend?
I have always been afraid that taking protein, but not exercising enough meant putting on excess fat. Can you tell me if this is true? As you can see im a total n00b when it comes to these specialty foods.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

BossArky

Bulking up is not the same as stuffing yourself with protein.

Read the stickies for a detailed overview on nutrition.

Create an account on www.fitday.com. Enter all the food you eat for a week, then come back and report how many calories in total you are consuming each day.

If you are doing 25 mins of cardio each time you train then that is not going to help your bulk.

rubadub

A short warmup of cardio is OK, 25mins of running and you would be so knackered I dunno how you could lift to the best of your ability. I cycle 20mins to work and sometimes arrive so shattered my legs are like jelly.

Nothing special about protein bars, just overpriced protein really, whey powder is just another dairy product, eat/drink too much cheese, milk, whey or any food and you will get fat.

What height & weight are you, and how much do you eat -in calories. If you do not know how many calories you are taking in then thats your very first problem.

Are you doing squats & deadlifts?

fret_wimp

Height : 5foot 4' ish ( 160-162cm)
weight : 59kgs ( a shade under 9 stone)

Ive only started doing squats, as my physio recommended them to me. Im currently only doing them with small dumbells, and not with a bar. maby this is something i should look into. il talk to the gym instructor about this. never done them in my old routine. Deadlifting is not an option as the reason i stopped going to the gym for the last few months was due to a back injury and deadlifting will just cripple me again.

Caloriewise, your right, i have no idea how much i eat. I try not to be too bad, but in no way do i scrimp on food. since i stopped going to the gym, so as not to get fat, i controlled my intake:

Breakfast : bowl of fruit ( peaches, bananna flakes, grapes, oranges, rasberries) with a spoon of natural yoghurt.

Lunch: wrap with chicken, stuffing, lettuce, tomato, relish, cheddar cheese
or
braised beef and spuds
or
some form of chicken, salad and spuds.

Afternoon snack: bananna (and occasionally a milky way, i know its not great but only 98calories if i remember correctly).

Dinner: Chicken stirfry or Beef Stirfry or chicken in pita or something like that.

Thats only a very rough guide to what i eat. i am pretty full after all that in a day, and as i was sedentary all day, i found i didnt get too soft eating that. Now that im back in the gym though i need to change all that as il be more active.

Edit - using FitDay ive very very roughly calculated my daily calorie intake. its somewhere between 2300 and 2600ish depending on the day. its difficult to be specific, as i dont know the exact weight of each type of food that i eat daily so im guesstimating.

Transform

so you can do lots of different types of sit ups but you cant deadlift correctly?

Emmmm something tells me you either do not want to do deadlifts or squats to any kind of intensity or you need someone to show you better technique. If you have rubbish flexibility this is going to be a major issue when teaching squats or deadlifts and you need a trainer that can spot how to work around this and possibly do lunges, split squats, GHR's etc instead.

Basically you will never get bigger if you -

A) do not work your legs hard enough
do not eat enough (you are not eating enough- if you were you would be getting bigger)
C) you think you are working hard but you are quite likely need someone to stand over you and keep telling you to do another rep with good form
D) do no more than 10mins of cardio in the gym and the rest of the time is for hitting the weights e.g. pull ups, bench press, shoulder press, lunges, core work and hamstring work

Best of luck

Rosedale6

Dont waste your money on protein bars. If you wanna bulk you should be looking at 6small meals a day. between 25grams and 35grams of protein in each meal remember too mush protein can be bad for you. You should have about one one and a half grams per every pound of your weight ie im 170pounds and so have about 35grams of protein in six meals working out at 210grams per day thats what you should be aiming for. Its best to do hitt cardio for about 15-20mins if your bulking as if you do longer you could start to lose muscle as well as fat.

fret_wimp

Transform wrote: »

so you can do lots of different types of sit ups but you cant deadlift correctly?

Emmmm something tells me you either do not want to do deadlifts or squats to any kind of intensity or you need someone to show you better technique.

I could barely walk for about a month and was in significant pain for the last 2 due to back injury, i really really really dont want to risk more damage, putting me out of the gym for another 3 months, and this is why im adverse to deadlifting. Reading about it online though and it seems if its done in any way incorrectly it can cause significant lower back injury. that does not suit me at all.


Il have a chat to the gym instructor and see what he says about it but i really will not risk bringing that injury up again. Regarding my routine , was at the gym this morning and done:

15 mins on the cross trainer.

3 x 10 chin ups, with arms widely spread to increase difficulty. on last rep can only make it to 8.

3 x 10 bench press. unsure of weight as its not labelled on the machine, but on the last rep, again my arms turn to jelly around 8.

3 x 20 elbow to knee situps

3 x 20 of double situps ( lifting your legs and upper body at the same time, just balancing on your ass, tough stuff)

3 x 20 lunges using 5kg weights to increase difficulty

3 x 20 one leg squats (recommended by physio to build up the gluts)


I know i can add some leg weights in here, but as its only my 2nd time back since the injury i was not pushing to absolutely kill myself. Il add those the next day(Friday).

Regarding food, after the gym today i had two poached eggs, beans on 2 slices of wholemeal bread for breakfast and spaghetti boliginase for lunch. much more filling than i usually go for. Il try to keep the protein levels up in my afternoon snack and evening meal.