Muscle and Weigth gain

[Haui]

Here is my delima. I am 6' 170 lbs and pretty skinny (by my standards). I am going to Miami in about a month and want to put on a little weight and muscle before I go. I am planning on going to the gym every day except Sunday's to maximize myself until then.

I want to gain some weight first. I am planning to go to GNC later, but before I take their advise....I thought I would ask you guys.

What should I get when I go to GNC to help me gain weight and build muscle while working out? I was thinking some Whey protein, but not sure if that is what I need. I used to workout hard in college and high school...so I know how to do that well....I just want to gain the weight back and build muscle.

Any suggestions?

 

[Special K]

First of all, there isn't much you can do in a month. Assuming your diet and training are perfect, you might be lucky to put on a pound or two of actual muscle.

Whey protein works fine as a subsitute for sources of whole food, but be aware that you need to be consuming enough total calories to grow. Do you have any idea how many calories you eat each day? If not, time to start tracking on Fitday.

I assume you already have a solid lifting routine. For advice on any of this, check out the board in my sig or PM me.

Honestly though, there isn't much you can do in one month. Creating noticeable changes in your physique takes months and even years of hard work.

Oh yea, and GNC is probably the most overpriced place to buy supplements in most cases. I buy most of mine from DPS Nutrition

 

[etech]

Go here.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/index.php?

Read the workout programs and nutrition forums.

You can't make much change in a month.

You can use some extra protein when working out hard.

Muscles need time to recover and grow, working out every day is counter productive. Look at the Rippetoe program.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

Might as well get started now for next summer.

Don't mention GNC on the BB site, they'll laugh you off of there.

 

[sash1]

HST would probably be a good choice if you've only got 1 month to grow

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/...php?s=&threadid=280813

or look for Rippetoe's starting stength guides

 

[KoolDrew]

I am planning on going to the gym every day except Sunday's to maximize myself until then.

First of all, your body grows OUTSIDE of the gym, not in it. There is no reason to go every single day. As a novice (I'm assuming you're just getting into lifting?) your best off doing a full-body routine 3 days a week. The routine outlined in the book Starting Strength is perfect for the novice:

Workout A:
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Workout B:
Squat 3x5
Military Press 3x5
Pendlay Rows 3x5

You;d rotate between both workouts. So Monday would be A, then Wedsneday B, then A, then B the next Monday. The original routine has Power Cleans in it, but unless you have somebody who knows what they are doing teaching you the lift, Pendlay Rows is a perfectly good substitute. Also, who doesn't love a nice thick back?

What should I get when I go to GNC to help me gain weight and build muscle while working out? I was thinking some Whey protein, but not sure if that is what I need. I used to workout hard in college and high school...so I know how to do that well....I just want to gain the weight back and build muscle.

Do not rely on supplements to make progress. Just make sure you are eating a lot of good, clean food. Buying Whey protein can definitely help you meet your protein requirements if you find it difficult to do it without it. Generally you should be aiming for at least 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass.

Train hard. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

 

[happyhelper]

don't go to gnc, go to the grocery store. buy a lot of steak, hamburger, pork chops, bacon, fish and anything else made of meat. whey protein is ok, but meat is better. eat that stuff all the time (remember to eat like double the total amount of food you usually eat). the whey protein is cheaper at the grocery store (or cheaper yet at walmart) and you could drink that instead of whatever you usually drink, if you want.

you won't get fat if you are working out. work out for an hour or so in the gym every 2 days on as many machines as you can to get all your different muscles (put weight so you can do ten reps without killing yourself and do a few sets on each machine), run on off days (do a couple minutes stretching, five minutes jogging, 15 minutes of sprints (sprint hard a minute, jog a minute, last few times sprint really hard) then jog 10 more minutes to cool down. You'll look good at the beach after a month of that, trust me. if all you eat is meat, and lots of it, you'll look better even if you don't work out. they sell creatine at the grocery store too, it's the only thing in gnc worth buying, but it's cheaper at the grocery store. It's only good if you are really pushing yourself as hard as possible on the weights tho. Personally I think caffeine is more useful than creatine, and much cheaper (like a couple cans of mountain dew or red bull, along with a steak, before a work out)

 

[flyfish]

You will not gain squat for muscle in a month.
Your only chance is to eat like a pig and load up on Creatine for the next month. At least you might look a little bigger.
Oh yea, and drink a sh!tload of water.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

I am planning on going to the gym every day except Sunday's to maximize myself until then.

First of all, your body grows OUTSIDE of the gym, not in it. There is no reason to go every single day. As a novice (I'm assuming you're just getting into lifting?) your best off doing a full-body routine 3 days a week. The routine outlined in the book Starting Strength is perfect for the novice:

Workout A:
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Workout B:
Squat 3x5
Military Press 3x5
Pendlay Rows 3x5

You;d rotate between both workouts. So Monday would be A, then Wedsneday B, then A, then B the next Monday. The original routine has Power Cleans in it, but unless you have somebody who knows what they are doing teaching you the lift, Pendlay Rows is a perfectly good substitute. Also, who doesn't love a nice thick back?

What should I get when I go to GNC to help me gain weight and build muscle while working out? I was thinking some Whey protein, but not sure if that is what I need. I used to workout hard in college and high school...so I know how to do that well....I just want to gain the weight back and build muscle.

Do not rely on supplements to make progress. Just make sure you are eating a lot of good, clean food. Buying Whey protein can definitely help you meet your protein requirements if you find it difficult to do it without it. Generally you should be aiming for at least 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass.

Train hard. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

As others have said you will not notice much difference in Muscle Mass over the course of one month.

Kool- he can certainly go the gym every day (You generally want a day off though and after a month or two take a week off), he just needs to focus on specific muscle groups. Workout A and B are generalizing way too much. You need to focus on specific muscles much more and rotate them. For instance:
Day 1: Abs, Obliques
Day 2: Biceps, Triceps, Forearms, Deltoids
Day 3: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
Day 4: Pectorals and Chest
Day 5: Laterals and Back
Day 6: It is safe to restart the cycle here, but aerobic exercise (Running, Biking, Swimming) will do much better than to just continue to stack more weights on.

In each of those sets it is only about 30-45 minutes a day. Do power sets (4-6 reps, 3 sets) as opposed to endurance sets (Pyramid sets, Sets in excess of 10 reps).

Whey Protein 3 times a day (Once with Breakfast, Once after Workout, Once with Dinner) will help muscle mass gain. Additionally, continue to pick foods high in protein (Tuna is excellent).

Stay away from Creatin and the like for now- you shouldn't use those unless you have been lifting for a while and hit a plateau that you need to overcome.

You won't notice too much in the first month, but if you stick to it you will definitely begin noticing changes in the coming months.

-Kevin

 

[KoolDrew]

on as many machines as you can to get all your different muscles (put weight so you can do ten reps without killing yourself and do a few sets on each machine)

This really isn't good advice. Your body works as a complete system. Thus, it likes to be trained that way and will grow that way. This means it is best to do heavy compound movements, not isolation work. Especially on machines. Free weights are much better because more muslces would be involved in the movement for stability and control. Also, everybodys body is different. From limb length, muscular attachment position, flexibility, etc. Forcing a person to move the weight in a specific pattern like a machine does is not optimal, for those two reasons.

As a begineer all you need is a full body routine three times a week dealing only with heavy compound lifts. Once you get a little more experience you can add isolation work to work on weak points, but compound lifts should always be the bulk of your routine.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: flyfish
You will not gain squat for muscle in a month.
Your only chance is to eat like a pig and load up on Creatine for the next month. At least you might look a little bigger.
Oh yea, and drink a sh!tload of water.

Oh and don't listen to this guy. Creatin aids in muscle mass growth, it does not create muscle, and is mainly water weight retained in the muscle. As I said in my post, stay away from Creatin since you are just starting out (Use Whey Protein (Preferably Whey Isolate) liberally though).

-Kevin

 

[KoolDrew]

Kool- he can certainly go the gym every day, he just needs to focus on specific muscle groups. Workout A and B are generalizing way too much. You need to focus on specific muscles much more and rotate them. For instance:

Once you get more advanced, maybe a split would be a better option. However, not as a novice. As a novice he will see much better gains on a full body routine three times a week.

The less experienced an athlete is, the simplier the routine should be. Nothing gets simpler than a full body routine three tims a week with only three lifts. Also, it may not seem like much, but go heavy on them and you'll realize it definitely is. As you get more eperience you frow more susceptible to overtraining, and thus a bodybuilding type split may be a better option. However, as a novice you are not strong enough to tac yourself beyond your ability to recover, meaning you can be trained to the limit everytime you train and its not necessary to split up body parts. Not only is it not necessary, but he's see better progress not doing that.

As he becomes more advanced he can worry about enough variability in the intensity and exercises to prevent overtraining. However, not as this point. Also, like I said above the bulk of the routine should be compound movements.

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

I am planning on going to the gym every day except Sunday's to maximize myself until then.

First of all, your body grows OUTSIDE of the gym, not in it. There is no reason to go every single day. As a novice (I'm assuming you're just getting into lifting?) your best off doing a full-body routine 3 days a week. The routine outlined in the book Starting Strength is perfect for the novice:

Workout A:
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Workout B:
Squat 3x5
Military Press 3x5
Pendlay Rows 3x5

If he's aiming for size i'd say sets of 8 or so reps, any lower and the size gains won't be so big, but the strength and power ones will, i'm not sure thats what he's aiming for.

Also, only 1 set of deadlifts?

I'd throw some chin-ups in there too, although i don't know what pendelay rows are.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Kool- he can certainly go the gym every day, he just needs to focus on specific muscle groups. Workout A and B are generalizing way too much. You need to focus on specific muscles much more and rotate them. For instance:

Once you get more advanced, maybe a split would be a better option. However, not as a novice. As a novice he will see much better gains on a full body routine three times a week.

The less experienced an athlete is, the simplier the routine should be. Nothing gets simpler than a full body routine three tims a week with only three lifts. Also, it may not seem like much, but go heavy on them and you'll realize it definitely is. As you get more eperience you frow more susceptible to overtraining, and thus a bodybuilding type split may be a better option. However, as a novice you are not strong enough to tac yourself beyond your ability to recover, meaning you can be trained to the limit everytime you train and its not necessary to split up body parts. Not only is it not necessary, but he's see better progress not doing that.

As he becomes more advanced he can worry about enough variability in the intensity and exercises to prevent overtraining. However, not as this point. Also, like I said above the bulk of the routine should be compound movements.

Well his body should be fine- but I completely understand what you mean about experience and knowing how much his limit is. I still think he will notice much larger gains by training each muscle group- Specificity; but when it comes to inexperience I would have to agree with you there.

-Kevin

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

on as many machines as you can to get all your different muscles (put weight so you can do ten reps without killing yourself and do a few sets on each machine)

This really isn't good advice. Your body works as a complete system. Thus, it likes to be trained that way and will grow that way. This means it is best to do heavy compound movements, not isolation work. Especially on machines. Free weights are much better because more muslces would be involved in the movement for stability and control. Also, everybodys body is different. From limb length, muscular attachment position, flexibility, etc. Forcing a person to move the weight in a specific pattern like a machine does is not optimal, for those two reasons.

As a begineer all you need is a full body routine three times a week dealing only with heavy compound lifts. Once you get a little more experience you can add isolation work to work on weak points, but compound lifts should always be the bulk of your routine.

I completely agree. Very good advice.

I see people spending hours in the gym doing every possible excercise for every muscle, and see quite little gains compared to what they could get if they just did compound excercises.

 

[KoolDrew]

If he's aiming for size i'd say sets of 8 or so reps, any lower and the size gains won't be so big, but the strength and power ones will, i'm not sure thats what he's aiming for.

Five reps is a good balance between both for size gains and strength gains.

Also, only 1 set of deadlifts?

Yes. After heavy squatting, one heavy set is sufficient for deadlifting. Just remember to always try to push yourself. Obviously start off light at the beginning, but always try to up the weight next workout.. As a novice, strength gains should come along fast. You could even go up 20 pounds each time you deadlift at the beginning. As you get more experience, this won't happen though. I recommend keeping the weight the same through each set and then increase next workout. For example, if your squatting say 200, do that for all three sets, then up it next time if you completed the sets. Remember, it's a much better idea to make small jumps and sustain progress, rather than increasing the weight too much and getting stuck.

I'd throw some chin-ups in there too, although i don't know what pendelay rows are.

Chin-ups can certaintly be added and I actually highly recommend they be added. However, not at the beginning. Work on the form and moving up on the main ones and a couple weeks down the road, add chin-ups to Workout B. When you add them you could also add dips to Workout A. I think for a novice its best to start with a minimal amount of heavy compound movements and slowly adding more movements.

Also, if/when you add dips and chins, do them weighted. I would suggest 2 sets of maybe 8-12 reps for those. Also, ab work could be added from the beginning if you wish. The same thing applies here, do them weighted.

Pendlay Rows:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=di3sVtkdQR8

Very strict form and not bad looking either.

 

[TallBill]

Squat, bench, deadlift, EAT, EAT, EAT, squat, EAT, squat, EAT, EAT, bench, EAT, deadlift, EAT....

Make sure you eat too!

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Haui
Here is my delima. I am 6' 170 lbs and pretty skinny (by my standards). I am going to Miami in about a month and want to put on a little weight and muscle before I go. I am planning on going to the gym every day except Sunday's to maximize myself until then.

I want to gain some weight first. I am planning to go to GNC later, but before I take their advise....I thought I would ask you guys.

What should I get when I go to GNC to help me gain weight and build muscle while working out? I was thinking some Whey protein, but not sure if that is what I need. I used to workout hard in college and high school...so I know how to do that well....I just want to gain the weight back and build muscle.

Any suggestions?

Don't train everyday. 3 days a week doing power lifts is fine for a beginner. Then eat and sleep.

GNC is expensive, check out bodybuilding.com first. Use their forums and pick one of the programs that suits you (like westside, etc...all based on putting on quality muscle and size).

I need to get back into lifting; I have been off for almost a year due to destroying my right arm...I do power lifts but also the specialized movements. I probably overtrain a little, but for me half of the gym experience is getting away from everything and working out stress and free-thinking. All I would really need to do is probably 5-10 core lifts and get even better results.

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Pendlay Rows:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=di3sVtkdQR8

Very strict form and not bad looking either.

Oh i see, yea good excercise although its very easy to lose form on those and injure your back, especially at the end of a workout. I sometimes do straight-leg (or near straight leg) deadlifts, and it gets REALLY hard to keep a straight back in the last couple of sets! Granted you probably won't be doing the rows with the same amound of weight.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: flyfish
You will not gain squat for muscle in a month.
Your only chance is to eat like a pig and load up on Creatine for the next month. At least you might look a little bigger.
Oh yea, and drink a sh!tload of water.

Oh and don't listen to this guy. Creatin aids in muscle mass growth, it does not create muscle, and is mainly water weight retained in the muscle. As I said in my post, stay away from Creatin since you are just starting out (Use Whey Protein (Preferably Whey Isolate) liberally though).

-Kevin

It's Creatine . Also I like your plan to work pectorals and chest the same day...it, hmmm, makes sense.

Creatine is great even for beginners as I find it helps my recovery. Most of muscle and your body is water to begin with as well.

I believe in whole foods are >>>>>> anything, but most of us can't do it at the level needed for real growth so I believe in supplementation as well. A couple whey shakes a day goes a long way stacked with whole foods. A few vitamins and minerals gives you things food processing has taken out. etc.

I have been a long time lifter (almost 20 years)...the biggest advice I can give anyone is everything probably works for someone but somethings probably don't work for everyone.

I can't diet myself thin unless I starve myself....my body wants to load up to a certain weight. I cut my diet and I don't lose nothing really. Put me in a gym and I have burned off 90lbs in 3 months. I can drop 20-30 in a month very easily. My cut weight is about 175-185...my body wants to stay around 220-225. In about 1 month I can dramatically change my appearance.

 

[KoolDrew]

Oh i see, yea good excercise although its very easy to lose form on those and injure your back, especially at the end of a workout. I sometimes do straight-leg (or near straight leg) deadlifts, and it gets REALLY hard to keep a straight back in the last couple of sets! Granted you probably won't be doing the rows with the same amound of weight.

That's why I actually recommend deloading the weight after each rep, just like you should for the deadlift. By deloading the bar it should help you keep strict form, help build explosiveness and take a bit of strain off of the lower back. Which is definitely a good thing after heavy squatting.

This video is actually a good demontration as well. The only thing I'd recommend is keeping your head up during the movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUg8nDVEFs

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Oh i see, yea good excercise although its very easy to lose form on those and injure your back, especially at the end of a workout. I sometimes do straight-leg (or near straight leg) deadlifts, and it gets REALLY hard to keep a straight back in the last couple of sets! Granted you probably won't be doing the rows with the same amound of weight.

That's why I actually recommend deloading the weight after each rep, just like you should for the deadlift. By deloading the bar it should help you keep strict form, help build explosiveness and take a bit of strain off of the lower back. Which is definitely a good thing after heavy squatting.

This video is actually a good demontration as well. The only thing I'd recommend is keeping your head up during the movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUg8nDVEFs

Yea, once again i agree

 

[Haui]

So when you guys say don't go to GNC, can I go to Wal-Mart and get there Whey protein?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Haui
So when you guys say don't go to GNC, can I go to Wal-Mart and get there Whey protein?

You could. I never have so I have no idea what their prices are or what they stock. You would do best with just ordering it online.

-Kevin

 

[Haui]

Can you link me to a product I should buy online?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Link 1

Link 2

Just look for Whey Protein Isolate on those sites

-Kevin