Looking to gain muscle weight. Help with nutrition advice.

[Linas]

I would have posted this in the workout thread, but i couldnt find it doing a couple searches, oh well....

I am 21 years old. 6'00 tall, 150 lbs. I am pretty scrawny and am looking to gain some weight. I have a workout plan that i am going to do, but what i am not sure about is the nutrition aspect. Im not necessarily looking to count calories, and i know i have to eat a ton. What kind of foods should i be buying, and with what frequency do i want to be eating them. Does anyone have any guidelines i should follow to gain muscle, yet burn fat?

Thanks

[benthughes]

I wouldn't worry about cutting fat at first, rather eating well enough to support increased needs. I'm not an expert by any means but have found the following things to work for me.

In the morning I'll usually eat yogurt with fruit and oatmeal with some coffee. This helps give me energy to work it a bit harder. I try to get to the gym within a couple hours of that.

For the first couple months you probably won't notice yourself getting bigger but you will get stronger. I like to do cardio before and after because I'm not necessarily looking to get bigger due to my job.

I have a designated day for Legs, Back, Chest and shoulders/arms. I incorparate core exercises into most workouts.

Afterwards I'll dring a muscle milk or myoplex drink to boost my protein intake ( I shoot for 150 Grams a day....rarely actually happens) . I also drink tons of water.

I'd reccomend getting advice from someone experienced with weight training as you're starting.

[jokn388]

I too am trying to gain weight. Problem is I do too much cardio, so I burn any fat that I put on my body. So yeah, keep the cardio limited. Don't worry about gaining fat at first, as this fuels the muscle growth.

Do squats. That is a full body workout. It will hit every muscle in your body one way or another. Stick to double jointed excercises as they will hit more than one group of muscles. Pull ups are also great.

Try to get your protein but don't overdo it. Excessive intake of protein is rough on the liver, and is just converted to glucose and/or waste. And you should be aiming for whey protein which is found in dairy. Eat lots of unsaturated fats to increase your calorie count. Salmon, tuna, whole milk, that type of stuff is great. Nuts for a snack...

And most important is just to consistently exercise. With bass it is better to get in 15 mins per day than to do 4 hours on one day per week. Same deal with lifting. If you can't make it to the gym on your "push day" then do pushups..that kind of thing.

[sarcastro83]

Hey man. I'm new to the whole working out thing myself. I'm actually trying to lose weight, but am looking to build muscle and gain strength while I'm doing it. As far as muscle building goes, I've been instructed as follows.

- Eat protein with every meal. Chicken, fish, lean beef, nuts, whey protein (you can buy this stuff in massive jugs and mix it into smoothies/shakes etc). I've been told to eat 6 smaller meals per day, decreasing the meal size as the day goes on (Eat like a King in the morning, prince in the afternoon, and pauper in the evening as the saying goes). A handfull of nuts like almonds, peanuts etc. are a great way to satisfy one of those mid day meals. Also, be sure to eat protein AFTER you work out. I've been told that this helps the muscles you've stressed while working out to repair themselves better.
- Cardio is great for burning fat, but lifting weights is what is going to tax your muscles the most. Again stressing the importance of a steady source of protein to nourish those muscles. Squats are, as stated above, a good exercise. You'll want to work as many muscle groups as you can, at dedicated times. Be sure you're workouts are balanced in this way. I've been going in to do weights 2-3 times a week, giving my muscles time to recouperate in between. The days where I'm not lifting, I'm trying to get in some cardio.
- When I do weights, I'm always working beyond what's comfortable but still staying well within what's possible for me. If something stops being a challenge and I don't feel myself working to lift something, I'll either do more reps, or I'll increase weight. Basically, you work yourself without hurting yourself, common sensical as this must seem.

Either way dude, good luck. Hope to find some of my own, as well.

[iamlowsound]

If you are looking for some interesting cardio, take up playing squash on you cardio days. Super intensive cardio workout.

lowsound

[steve21]

MUSCLE MILK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PROTEIN!!!!!!! POWERBARS!!!!!!!!!!

[Linas]

i can get all of that over the counter. Send me a PM reguarding HGH!

[Armueller2001]

Definitely eat 5-6 meals per day. Counting calories is the easiest way to make sure you get in the amount that you need to...

[NJL]

WEIGHTGAIN 4000!!!! BEEFCAKE!!

[shamus63]

Originally Posted by NJL

WEIGHTGAIN 4000!!!! BEEFCAKE!!

LMFatAO!

[bassist 4 life]

Originally Posted by steve21

MUSCLE MILK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PROTEIN!!!!!!! POWERBARS!!!!!!!!!!

MOMMM WHERES THE PROTEEEIN

[qunndo]

www.johnstonefitness.com seems like a pretty good source for you to get started gathering some information. www.t-nation.com is also pretty good. You generally have to eat more calories than your body burns to gain lean mass. Alot of people focus on eating 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat daily. Just do some research and know exactly what you have to do because its so easy to sit spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere. And be mindful that good nutrition is 80% of muscle gain.

[spark_chaser]

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...ed_and_Revised

arguably the greatest book for any bodybuilder/weightlifter

[varunkapahi]

subscribed. i was thinking about the same thing myself

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Squats and Milk will work ,

make sure you have a lot of carbs and protein in your diet. Try to get it mainly from real foods too (powders have their place, but try and get your eating right first).

When lifting weights go for higher reps.

Originally Posted by qunndo

www.johnstonefitness.com seems like a pretty good source for you to get started gathering some information. www.t-nation.com is also pretty good. You generally have to eat more calories than your body burns to gain lean mass. Alot of people focus on eating 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat daily. Just do some research and know exactly what you have to do because its so easy to sit spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere. And be mindful that good nutrition is 80% of muscle gain.

Wouldnt say eating more calories than your body burns will put on lean mass. Joe F.B. who eats a pile of big macs each day would be eating more calories than his body burns, he'll put on mass, sure as heck won't be lean mass tho!

Originally Posted by spark_chaser

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...ed_and_Revised

arguably the greatest book for any bodybuilder/weightlifter

Good for bodybuilding, yes, but doubt it covers anything to do with weightlifting.

My favourite all-round lifting book is:


I don't have anything specific on bodybuilding, but I do have a few others on weightlifting, but, that's really something different

[spark_chaser]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Good for bodybuilding, yes, but doubt it covers anything to do with weightlifting.

Actually it cover everything from cardio, nutrition, weight-lifting, body building, the history of the sport, proper technique, different body types and eating for your body type, it is an all around great book! It has every weight lifting exercise that i am aware of and proper execution of each technique. At 836 pages it is a massive book that i read in about 3 nights it is very interesting and informative

[qunndo]

Wouldnt say eating more calories than your body burns will put on lean mass. Joe F.B. who eats a pile of big macs each day would be eating more calories than his body burns, he'll put on mass, sure as heck won't be lean mass tho!

No arguments from me on that. Thats why i mentioned GOOD nutrition being so important, and mentioned the macro split that alot of people focus on. But there's more to be learned when it comes to this stuff than will be found on TB.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by qunndo

No arguments from me on that. Thats why i mentioned GOOD nutrition being so important, and mentioned the macro split that alot of people focus on. But there's more to be learned when it comes to this stuff than will be found on TB.

Fair game, I thought that is what you meant, but just wanted to clarify it, for any "beefcakes" out there

Originally Posted by spark_chaser

Actually it cover everything from cardio, nutrition, weight-lifting, body building, the history of the sport, proper technique, different body types and eating for your body type, it is an all around great book! It has every weight lifting exercise that i am aware of and proper execution of each technique. At 836 pages it is a massive book that i read in about 3 nights it is very interesting and informative

Must admit for all purposes I thought it was mainly a bodybuilding book, as you could probably fill that many pages on proper weightlifting technique, excersises and programs etc ! Will have to give it a look! Have been looking at buying a book called The Weightlifting Encyclopedia (A. Drechsler), meant to be good, and is 576 pages, but wouldn't help the OP.

Will probably end up buying both "encyclopedias", have plenty of books on lifting, but I like reading different peoples approaches and such

[spark_chaser]

there are three basic body types endo-, ecto-, and mesomorph

Endomorphs have a naturally slow metabolism(Fat guy)and can build muscle but can not loose fat

Ectomorphs have a naturally fast metabolism(thin guy) and can burn fat but not gain muscle

mesomorph are in between ecto and endomorphs. they can build muscle while burning fat

There are many mixtures of all of these types but these
Three are the base types. I'm not an ectomorph so I'm not to familiar with what the diet regiment and workout routines for the ectomorph but if you google ectomorph diet and workout routine you might find an abundance of information for what you are looking

[Swin]

mail order some of this stuff...http://endura.com.au/
its what all the pro athletes use!!! and its one of the only brands around that uses pharmecuitical grade ingredients.