I want to be a tank!

[Stonejaw]

Ok well I will start off by saying I am no stranger to the gym I am 24 and have been going to the gym since high school. I am currently 6' 3'' and 175lbs. I know I am skinny but I am defined. I have always had an extremley tough time putting on wieght and gaining muscel although I have been able to do it to some extent. I even have a average to lower end 6 pack (meaning you can see all six if I kinda flex a bit).

What I want is to gain 15lbs of muscel at least and to get stronger on the bench press and stronger legs. I have a small chest and skinny legs and no matter what I do I cant really increase the wieght I do on those exercises. My MAX on Flat Bench is 205lbs once. I usually end up doing 175lbs on bench of 8reps 3sets.

I have a protien shake after my workouts but I think I need to eat alot more in general.

I try to go to the gym 5 times a week and I do only 1 muscel group each time Im at the gym and do Abs every other day. I have a workout partner but hes kinda lazy and gains muscel alot easier then me so he is less motivated to go hard everyday if you know what I mean.

Latley I have taken up running for 20 minutes each time at the gym but I dont know if I should do that as obviously I dont do it for fat burning but I just was thinking I should improve my cardio so I dont get winded easily.

So my question really is how can I really improve myself? I really appreciate any tips and suggestions anyone has.

Thanks!

 

[purbeast0]

here are a few suggestions.

1. eat more and eat more! i had that same problem of putting on weight (was 155 - 160 lbs @ 5'11 for a long time, like 3 years) until I started eating more (well and i was overtraining)

2. cut out the cardio for 20 minutes. cut it out completely or if you feel you have to do it, do it like once or twice a week.

3. don't do your abs every other day. they are muscles just like any other muscle in your body and should not be treated special like most people think. it's a misconception.

that said, what is the order you do your different muscles? you say you do one a day on a 5 day schedule and i'm curious what muscles you do before/after others. some of your muscles that are used secondarily may not be fully recovered when you are doing other compound exercises.

 

[Stonejaw]

Well generally I dont have a set order, it changes as sometimes I have to comprimise with my buddy on what to do each day because sometimes I will miss a day or he will miss a day and not want to do the same muscel 2 days in a row of course.

But generally I will do Chest, Back, Legs, Arms, Shoulders, while putting abs into end of workouts whenever.

What order do you suggest would be best? Also how often should I do the abs? Only once a week?

 

[purbeast0]

personally i work on a 4 day schedule and have done so for the past year or 2 and have seen positive results. here's my schedule

Monday - abs/shoulders/traps
Tuesday - back/biceps
Thursday - chest/triceps
Saturday - legs

that is what i suggest as it's always worked positively for me and i'm only spending about 4 hours in the gym total per week. i do chest/tris and back/bis (in that order too) because while doing chest/back, you are using your tri/bi as secondary muscles. so by the time you get to the focus exercises on your tri/bi they are warmed up very nicely.

i also spread out shoulders/chest as far apart as possible because if my shoulders are sore on my chest day (and vice versa) then it will make for a workout that is not to my fullest potential.

if you don't have a set order/schedule that is the first thing you should get setup and you have to stick to it. if your friend can't do it the same day as you, go without him. i've been lifting alone for like 5 years now and i like it better than when I used to workout with someone because I just get straight to the point and don't BS at the gym.

EDIT:

you will hear a lot of other suggestions and there is not only 1 right way to do stuff because different methods work for different people.

 

[everman]

Have you made sure that you're eating enough and enough of the right stuff?

 

[williewillie]

Check out this forum.
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/