Advice please

demolitionman

Hi all.

Im 22 5'6'', 140 lbs-ish. not much fat on me but not a massive amount of muscle either. im of slight build.

Ive been going to the gym now for the past three weeks.

I suppose my goals are:

- just to put on some muscle mass, i dont want to get massive, but i suppose Id like to get built up to some extent - maybe get to 150/155 lbs of muscle.
- to get ripped up aswell, to get my abs showing.

(not sure if its even possible to get ripped and built at the same time...you have to eat extra to get built and eat less to get ripped, right?)

The other thing I have to consider is that I play GAA and soccer and am quite pacy. I dont want to put on too much muscle that i would become slower/sluggish.

So have been hitting the gym without supplements for the last three. trying to focus on building up my arms chest and abs. just focusing on the upper body.

typical routine is:
-Bench 4 sets 45kg (12.5 kg on each end of the bar) (5-7 reps) (started at 40 kg but now slowly moved up to 45)
-shoulder press dumbells (12 kg) 3 sets - 10 reps
- shrugs 12kg 3 sets 10 reps
-seated dumbell curls (12kg) 3/4 sets - 6 reps...sometime i change to 10kg and do ten reps.
-then abs, do 3 sets of crunches 30 reps, 3 sets of bicycle manouever 15 on each side, then do the plank 3 times for a minute each time.
- then run for two/three miles.

do this routine 3/4 times a week.

so i decided to invest in some supplements so that i could bulk up, just gain lean muscle mass really. i know absolutely nothing about supplements, but i had intended on getting a protein supplement as i had heard that would be the one to go for to help building muscle.

so i rung one of my mates and he told me to go for USN Muscle Fuel Anabolic. he said he put on 1.5 stone of muscle in six weeks off it. and then i asked the guy in the shop about it and he said itd be the one to go for if i wanted to get built. but now after reading the back of the tub it looks like this is more a creatine substance and im not sure it is exactly what i should have got. this seems to be as if its for professional bodybuilders. what do you guys reckon?

so i dunno if ive explained myself properly.
i want to gain muscle mass but only to a certain extent. i suppose the taylor lautner look is what id be aiming for, that build size. he's built but hes no ronnie coleman either

http://www.take40.com/news/17327/tay...ut-weight-gain!

all advice appreciated.

Inspector Coptoor

1st off.
You need to start doing more compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, dips, chins and overhead presses.

You say you do that routine 3-4 times a week and dont ever work lift weights using your back or legs?

You will NEVER see the gains you want in muscle mass and the ripped abs you;re looking for unless you start squatting and deadlifting as these exercises produce more testosterone than any other and this natural way of increasing testosterone will help you pack on muscle.

There's no harm in taking supplements, be it protein, creatine, fish oils, zinc etc.
remember that they supplement your diet and shouldnt compensate for it

Try them, if you make gains, keep taking them.

While its true a lot bodybuilders take creatine, so do a lot of regular gym users, rugby players, powerlifters etc. It;s a good supplement.

As for putting on a lot of muscle and this somehow affecting your pace, that's not something Id worry about unduly.
If you start squatting and doing hamstring work, you can increase the size of your leg muscles allowing for more muscle contractiong which means increased power output and ultimately (hopefully) more speed, not less.

try to figure out how many calories you need to consume per day to keep you going, then increase that by 10-15%, make sure you;re eating 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, in your case 145g or so and for god's sake, start squatting.

colly10

- just to put on some muscle mass, i dont want to get massive, but i suppose Id like to get built up to some extent - maybe get to 150/155 lbs of muscle.
- to get ripped up aswell, to get my abs showing.

To get that you will need to bulk then cut. So basically to begin with you want to be taking in more calories than you burn a day, judging by your current weight I assume you probably have a pretty good metabolism so -

If you skip breakfast stop skipping it.
Drink lots of milk (I always drink full fat milk)
Eat plenty
Take a supplement like serious mass blended with milk
Train hard and lift heavy

When your doing this for a good while and your happy that you've gained a nice amount of muscle then cut your calorie intake back down, making sure your still getting plenty of protein, continue to train hard. After a while you should have the physic your looking for

The other thing I have to consider is that I play GAA and soccer and am quite pacy. I dont want to put on too much muscle that i would become slower/sluggish.

Your pace shouldn't be affected, used to play sunday league and was always one of the fastest if not the fastest player I came across. Since then i've given up, taken up boxing and weights. I'm just turning 28 now and despite having put on around 1 3/4 stone of muscle since I gave up the ball I still think i'm as fast as I ever was. I felt a little more sluggish while I was gaining the weight but once my weight stabalised I felt fine.
Also you'd be suprised the difference the extra strength will do to your game (especially GAA), when I used to play I was brushed off the ball easily, now when I play I can cut in in front of lads and brush them off with little effort cause i'm more solid on my feet. I never thought it would make much difference but it really does

trying to focus on building up my arms chest and abs. just focusing on the upper body.

Don't do this, i've seen plenty of people who put in the work that do this and make **** all gains, don't pick and choose what you do, build all over. You make bigger gains on your upper body if you also do your lower body.
Building the muscle in your legs is said to increase testosterone which helps with building the rest of the body, I don't know how true that is but I know by watching the people who don't do it train that they're not getting the gains that they should

he said he put on 1.5 stone of muscle in six weeks off it

Not possible, I don't know what kind of gains ye can make on the juice but you certainly can't gain anything like that naturally in that kind of time frame.

-Bench 4 sets 45kg (12.5 kg on each end of the bar) (5-7 reps) (started at 40 kg but now slowly moved up to 45)
-shoulder press dumbells (12 kg) 3 sets - 10 reps
- shrugs 12kg 3 sets 10 reps
-seated dumbell curls (12kg) 3/4 sets - 6 reps...sometime i change to 10kg and do ten reps.
-then abs, do 3 sets of crunches 30 reps, 3 sets of bicycle manouever 15 on each side, then do the plank 3 times for a minute each time.
- then run for two/three miles.

I'm not great on routines cause I train totally different to most but i'd definitely drop the curls and the shrugs (avoid isolation really). I'd add in chin ups, squats and deadlifts

Transform

demolitionman wrote: »

Hi all.

Im 22 5'6'', 140 lbs-ish. not much fat on me but not a massive amount of muscle either. im of slight build.

Ive been going to the gym now for the past three weeks.

I suppose my goals are:

- just to put on some muscle mass, i dont want to get massive, but i suppose Id like to get built up to some extent - maybe get to 150/155 lbs of muscle.
- to get ripped up aswell, to get my abs showing.

(not sure if its even possible to get ripped and built at the same time...you have to eat extra to get built and eat less to get ripped, right?)

The other thing I have to consider is that I play GAA and soccer and am quite pacy. I dont want to put on too much muscle that i would become slower/sluggish.

So have been hitting the gym without supplements for the last three. trying to focus on building up my arms chest and abs. just focusing on the upper body.

typical routine is:
-Bench 4 sets 45kg (12.5 kg on each end of the bar) (5-7 reps) (started at 40 kg but now slowly moved up to 45)
-shoulder press dumbells (12 kg) 3 sets - 10 reps
- shrugs 12kg 3 sets 10 reps
-seated dumbell curls (12kg) 3/4 sets - 6 reps...sometime i change to 10kg and do ten reps.
-then abs, do 3 sets of crunches 30 reps, 3 sets of bicycle manouever 15 on each side, then do the plank 3 times for a minute each time.
- then run for two/three miles.

do this routine 3/4 times a week.

so i decided to invest in some supplements so that i could bulk up, just gain lean muscle mass really. i know absolutely nothing about supplements, but i had intended on getting a protein supplement as i had heard that would be the one to go for to help building muscle.

so i rung one of my mates and he told me to go for USN Muscle Fuel Anabolic. he said he put on 1.5 stone of muscle in six weeks off it. and then i asked the guy in the shop about it and he said itd be the one to go for if i wanted to get built. but now after reading the back of the tub it looks like this is more a creatine substance and im not sure it is exactly what i should have got. this seems to be as if its for professional bodybuilders. what do you guys reckon?

so i dunno if ive explained myself properly.
i want to gain muscle mass but only to a certain extent. i suppose the taylor lautner look is what id be aiming for, that build size. he's built but hes no ronnie coleman either

http://www.take40.com/news/17327/tay...ut-weight-gain!

all advice appreciated.

all of this will help you greatly - maximum muscle 101 - http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/maximum-muscle-nutrition-101/

Tattude

I agree with the previous advice, to build muscle you gotta up your caloric intake but not with junk, gotta be complex carbs for energy and 30g of preoein per serving. Train with heavy weights so your reps are lower, no more than six reps on your finishing sets, if you can get the weight right so you're struggling on rep number four then even better, remember... heavy weight/less reps build muscle, light weight/high reps shape muscle. Supplements are a good idea, protein is broken down into amino acids in the body which in turn are used for growth and repair, when we train with weights we damage the muscle at the cellular level so aminos are used for repair.

Finally don't 'suppose' about your goals, set definite goals you want to achieve and go for it, best of luck.

chadmustang

Just eat lots and lift heavy... 150lbs is in no way built unless you're about 3ft tall! Stop the bench/curl workout and start squatting and deadlifting.
Get your diet sorted too before worrying about nitro anabolic intense pump or whatever it was called? Supplements are there to help you get an extra few calories or a couple more grams of protein that you're not getting from food, so don't worry about them just yet!

demolitionman

Lads thanks very much, appreciate all responses.

Started my new routine today.

Squat - 3 sets 10 reps (20kg, just the bar, will put weight on slowly, just wanted to get used to it today)

Deadlift - 3 sets 10 reps (40kg - the bar plus 10kg on each end)

Overhead Press - 4 sets 7 reps (20kg just the bar, will put weight on slowly, just wanted to get used to it today)

Chin Ups - 3 sets, palms facing away, did until failure which was admittedly only 3/4 each time (not sure whether my arms was tired from my new exercises or im just as weak as sh*t, lol)

Tricep Dips - 3 sets, 6 reps

Bench Press - 45kg, 4 sets, 7 reps.

abs - same routine: 3 sets of crunches 30 reps, 3 sets of bicycle manouever 15 on each side, then do the plank 3 times for a minute each time.


Think i might hold off on taking that Anabolic Muscle Gain shake for a while.

gonna try and eat loads of protein each day though.eggs tuna chicken etc.

Ill see what kinda gains i make first with this routine, and then if i feel like i need the shake ill go for it.

Any more changes you think i should make to the above??any more exercises i could do with adding in?

thanks again appreciate the advice.

Inspector Coptoor

ok.
good start.

If you;re gonna train 4 times a week try breaking it up into a day for each lift and instead of doing 3 sets of 10, try doing 5 sets of 5.

Although I agree with you that for the first couple of weeks its no harm to go very light and get used to the movements. Once used to the movements, move on to a more strength building sets & reps scheme like 5 sets of 5 reps.

You could try a programme like this

Monday
Squats 5 sets of 5
Lunges - 3 sets of 8 per leg
some sort of direct hamstring work like good mornings or leg curls - 3 sets of 10
+ your ab circuit (if its something you want to do at the end of every workout)

Tuesday
warm up - YTWs
Bench Press - 5 sets of 5
Incline DB Press - 3 sets of 10
DB Rows - 3 sets of 10
Ab circuit

Wed - off

Thursday
deadlifts - 5 sets of 5
Back extensions - 3 sets of 10
Another direct hamstring exercises - 3 sets of 10
Ab circuit

Friday
warm up - YTWs
Overhead Press - 5 sets of 5
Dips - 3 sets of max reps
Chins/Pull ups - 3 sets of max reps
Ab circuit.

The idea here is to concentrate on your main lift first in the workout and then do the assistance exercises

make sure you warm up with much lighter weights before doing your 5 sets of 5.

If you get your 5 sets of 5, increase it the following week by 2.5kg
eventually you'll hit a plateau where you'll get something like 5,5,5,4,3 reps in the 5 sets.
thats fine. stay at that weight until you get all 5 sets of 5 reps and then increase by 2.5kg again.

Dont be afraid to throw in bicep curls, tricep pushdowns, front raises, lateral raises at the END of your workouts IF you have time.

If you dont know some of these exercises, use google or youtube and to find instructional videos.

Good idea to eat more chicken etc.
Tesco are doing 3 packets of 2-3 chicken breasts for 10 euro.
put on 4 at a time in the oven for 22-25 mins at 180 degrees. set a timer on your phone and go about whatever you do at home, surfing internet, having a shower whatever
eat two at dinner, put the others in tupperware, eat one at lunch the next day and one immediately after your workout.

always have tins of tuna in the cupboard, I find the John West with sunflower oil easier to eat out of the tin than the tuna with brine.

Always have a fridge full of tomatoes, lettuce a fruit bowl with grapes, bananas etc and buy unsalted nuts for snacking on.

Hope this helps
you should start a log in the fitness log section and record your workouts and progress

Best of luck