Building Muscle

[USMCHokie]

Its just simple genetics....

 

For the OP to be what I would consider to be "jacked" he'd have to weigh a lean 230-250...At 18 he is still young, but really at that age you kind of "are who you are"..

 

I guess we have to define "jacked."

 

Though I definitely agree with you on his age. He'll start hitting his stride in his mid-20's if he starts now and develops a good consistent training program.

[steveT95]

As for diet..

 

I should be getting about 3000 calories, right?

 

Going to find it difficult to hit that I bet..

 

Any tips?

[steveT95]

I'm going to count calorie intake as well as intake of grams of protein and carbs. anything else I should keep an eye on?

 

cheers guys

[tman666]

I'm going to count calorie intake as well as intake of grams of protein and carbs. anything else I should keep an eye on?

 

cheers guys

 

Get some fats in your diet too... (avocados, fish oil, olive oil, nuts, coconut oil, some animal fats are ok)

[steveT95]

Can the bit fats such as crap food like biscuit and cake or fast food? Y'know, general stodge.

 

Anyone know what amounts of each I should be aiming for? Been googling but there are very few clear answers out there.

[tman666]

Can the bit fats such as crap food like biscuit and cake or fast food? Y'know, general stodge.

 

Anyone know what amounts of each I should be aiming for? Been googling but there are very few clear answers out there.

 

Just eat a handful or two of almonds or cashews per day, or use a few tablespoons of olive oil in your cooking, etc.

 

If your goal is to feel good, perform your best, and look your best, I would do my best to stay away from fast food, cake, and biscuits.

 

As far as your macronutrients go, shoot for at least 1 gram of protein per lb of desired bodyweight per day. For you, I would shoot for 150-200 grams per day. The remainder of your calories would come from fats and carbs.

 

I personally like to eat more carbs on the days that I train, and eat less carbs on rest days.

 

If you're looking to calculate macronutrient amounts, remember that 1 gram of protein contains roughly 4 calories, 1 gram of carbs contains roughly 4 calories, and that 1 gram of fat contains about 9 calories.

[steveT95]

Might make a new diet thread.

 

I THINK today, so far I have consumed about 1000 calories. That's including 68 grams of protein and 91 grams of carbs. I haven't had a protein shake today.

 

Does anyone know of a good food diary online? One that monitors protein and calories etc. I have lost my mind trying to find one.

 

This is been a real headache doing the numbers behind what I eat.

[Mr Scorpio]

OP, have you been training during the course of this thread? I fear you might be getting bogged down in details. Details are importantonce you are into the swing of things.

 

I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong, but for now stop worrying about macro-nutrients, split-sets and all that. You want to build muscle? Get to lifting.

[thefooloftheyear]

Might make a new diet thread.

 

I THINK today, so far I have consumed about 1000 calories. That's including 68 grams of protein and 91 grams of carbs. I haven't had a protein shake today.

 

Does anyone know of a good food diary online? One that monitors protein and calories etc. I have lost my mind trying to find one.

 

This is been a real headache doing the numbers behind what I eat.

 

Dont get buried in it...In a few weeks you will have it figured out.

 

You can get a lot of calories from high protien/high carb protien shakes.

''

I eat a lot of egg whites. 12/day with a few yolks mixed in. Drink a lot of skim milk.

 

I also make dishes such as ground beef, black beans and brown rice.. Its got a lot of protein from the beef/beans. and high quality carbs. I eat a lot of fish. Fresh fish is best, but tuna in a can is a good, cheap way to get quality protien-just look for the low sodium variety.

 

I try to keep my diet clean and limit sodium wherever possible. Sometimes when I am in a pinch and fast food is convenient Ill order 4 hamburgers(no mayo or ketchup and eat only a half of one bun and the rest of the meat. Its not fun, but its cheap and easy. The only problem with this is that they load it up with salt and the beef probably isnt a great grade. Dont make it a habit, but if in a pinch you can get away with it without killing your deal.

 

I maintain 5'6" 200# with 12% bodyfat on 5,000 cals a day spread out over 6 or 7 meals. I wont gain any fat(or lose any) on this "diet". I never touch pizza or any other types of cake or desserts unless I am at a function and I dont want to be a jackass.

 

You are getting good advice. Start working with it and you will find your groove.

 

TFY

[steveT95]

Just building knowledge until I get some proper weights, I only have some 5kg dumbbells at the moment.

I am doing a bit of working out but not a lot.

It has only been a couple of days since I decided I would take this seriously. Tried focusing on diet today after deciding on my routine.

I do admit, I have really confused myself with all this. Could probably do with starting over

[steveT95]

TFY - thinking of picking up some additional foods. Not sure whether I am going to be able to monitor what I eat very closely (just can't figure out how.) So I am thinking of going down to the shops in a minute and getting some things to top up what I am eating.

Thinking of getting some protein bars, peanut butter (hopefully I like it) and honey, as well as sticking to the shakes.

 

Gah! This is confusing!!

[tman666]

OP, have you been training during the course of this thread? I fear you might be getting bogged down in details. Details are importantonce you are into the swing of things.

 

I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong, but for now stop worrying about macro-nutrients, split-sets and all that. You want to build muscle? Get to lifting.

 

Absolutely this. None of the details will matter if you're not training hard, Steve.

[Emilia]

 

Gah! This is confusing!!

Not really. Why cant you ask your stepfather?

[steveT95]

He doesn't live with me.

 

So far he has just said, buy cheap weights and eat protein.

 

If all that information isn't confusing, do you fancy breaking it down for me then?

Edited May 7, 2013 by steveT95

[Emilia]

If all that information isn't confusing, do you fancy breaking it down for me then?

Nope because if you were serious, you would do it yourself and you would pester your stepfather.

[Mr Scorpio]

I do admit, I have really confused myself with all this. Could probably do with starting over

 

Try not to overthink it. Your goal is simple: build muscle. To do that, lift weights and eat more. When you plateau after your body adapts to exercise in general, then you can worry about the rest.

[steveT95]

I'm just going to get me some weights and gear and go from there. Do the program posted a couple of pages back as well as eat plenty and see where that takes me.

[Pisces13]

I'm a big fan of volume training, and I've had the best gains following it.

 

Chest day for example, on dumbbell chest press i'll start with 3 x 4 with 40kg dumbbell's, then 3 x 6 on 35's, then 3 x 8-10 on 30's. I'll do similar sort of routine on incline as well, then on my remaining 3 exercises i'll drop it back to 4 sets of 8-10 reps on whatever it is I'm doing (usually dips, dumbbell flys and cable flys). I like mixing it up, a combo of lifting heavy, then following it up with lighter weights to really nail that form and feel the burn.

 

It can get a bit tedious, I'll spend 2 hours in the gym some times, but you get sick pumps and build strength/size quickly. From November 2012 to January 2013, I jumped from 82kg to 88kg once I implemented this sort of routine. Unfortunately through February I got quite sick so dropped back down to around 81kg, but since March I've gained back a lot of my strength, and I'm a lot leaner too, back up to 83kg now

[steveT95]

Probably going to buy this set here:

Buy York 35kg Vinyl Barbell/Dumbbell Weights Set at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Weights and dumbbells.

 

Do I NEED a bench to start off with?

 

Cheers

[Pisces13]

Probably going to buy this set here:

Buy York 35kg Vinyl Barbell/Dumbbell Weights Set at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Weights and dumbbells.

 

Do I NEED a bench to start off with?

 

Cheers

 

YES. Get an incline bench, that way you can work your upper chest, lower chest and shoulders too. Might cost a little bit more, but well worth it.

[hppr]

TFY - thinking of picking up some additional foods. Not sure whether I am going to be able to monitor what I eat very closely (just can't figure out how.) So I am thinking of going down to the shops in a minute and getting some things to top up what I am eating.

Thinking of getting some protein bars, peanut butter (hopefully I like it) and honey, as well as sticking to the shakes.

 

Gah! This is confusing!!

 

If you want to gain and are currently an underweight male the shakes and protein bars are a joke. What you need are real meals. Like 5-6 a day. If you are already doing that then you aren't eating the right foods for your body.

 

Fast metabolism you may have to experiment with what to eat in order to gain, protein may run through you but carbohydrates not so much it all depends. Read bodybuilding forums for suggestions.

 

Weakling, best workouts are just as many situps and push ups you can do. The technical term is 'gravity exercises'. Once you find yourself gaining weight steadily look up stronglifts 5x5.

 

Don't do steroids when you're young, don't even consider them until you are 22-25 and have a solid workout regime as well as weight gaining plan.

 

I was a skinny teen too that is about all I've learned so far.

[hppr]

Probably going to buy this set here:

Buy York 35kg Vinyl Barbell/Dumbbell Weights Set at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Weights and dumbbells.

 

Do I NEED a bench to start off with?

 

Cheers

 

IF you are just getting started on the cheap like I said sit ups, push ups etc. Dumbells are good too you don't need a bench for them if you get creative, curls, overhead, seated overhead, that kind of stuff. Beyond that a weight bench is really a necessity.