Need help gaining weight/muscles

[Bryan R. Tyler]

It's the worst feeling when you're on your last lap and you suddenly can't get your shoulders to raise your arms above the water

 

[Poop-Loops]

ONLY 1 to 2 hours befor a work out (same as BLACK coffee) NEVER after a work out thats what peanut butter and tuna are for

Ludicrous. Like Aaron said, these rules are idiotic.

You need carbs to work out. They get used DURING the work out. Hence you need them after you work out, because your body doesn't have them anymore.

And this BS about you needing a protein ZOMG RIGHT AFTER a workout? Completely baseless. Your body has other things to worry about after a long work out. It takes care of muscle repair/growth at night when you are asleep. As long as you get enough protein throughout the day, you'll be fine.

Before you try to say anything: Gatorade. Why do athletes drink it over regular water? It has carbs. QED

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

creatine can also help you to lift heavier, the extra water weight you retain can help give your body a slight mechanical advantage- although when i'm on it i don't notice too much extra strength.

Ive never noticed that effect personally, but I didnt use creatine monohydrate for very long before moving to creatine ethyl ester (which is works in faster, doesnt need a carb loader and doesnt cause the extra water retention)

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Ludicrous. Like Aaron said, these rules are idiotic.

You need carbs to work out. They get used DURING the work out. Hence you need them after you work out, because your body doesn't have them anymore.

+1

But I guess it works as a good sleeping aid if you go to bed straight after a work out

 

[mlowe]

I find lifting heavy weights builds muscle. I thought the diet varies depending on the person.

 

[69nites]

I find lifting heavy weights builds muscle. I thought the diet varies depending on the person.

diet does vary and you should always get advice from people of your body type.

BUT without the proper amount of protein you can lift all the weight you want you're not going to gain any muscle. In fact you may lose some.

 

[AmazingGracePlayer]

Wow, this many posts in one day? Anyway... How much protein/carbs is enough? What type of food provides most amount of proteins and/or carbs?

Also, to Bryan R. Tyler. I've been practicing my butterfly, although I still haven't mastered the coordination... or rather, anti-coordination of the arms and the legs. Can you give me some tips? Do I kick ones when my body's the longest, and kick again before I pull my arms out of the water? And I can't seem to lift myself up high enough to breathe either... Should I get the lift from the kick or my back muscles?

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

You should be able to get you head out by the motion of your body alone, but the degree you raise your shoulders will determine how high your head comes out of the water. While it's easier to breath if your head's up high, it's best to keep it as low as possible.

Getting the kicks and strokes to work together is tough- your instinct is to do two kicks that sort of disassociated from the next set of two kicks. It's much better if you have a steady body movement that includes steady, rhythmic kicks, and then work your strokes into that. You want to keep your body moving like a dolphin- smooth transitions. Stick your hand out of a moving car and make it dip and raise with the wind- that's how you want your body moving. The thing that helped me the most when I started getting serious with it (outside of building up my stamina), was swimming lengths of the pool just doing the dolphin kicks and getting my body moving in the smooth curving flow- no kickboard- just put your hands in front of you and allow yourself to dip above and below the water with the flow. Your kicks will determine when your head comes up, which will also time when you should stroke.

 

[69nites]

Wow, this many posts in one day? Anyway... How much protein/carbs is enough? What type of food provides most amount of proteins and/or carbs?

Also, to Bryan R. Tyler. I've been practicing my butterfly, although I still haven't mastered the coordination... or rather, anti-coordination of the arms and the legs. Can you give me some tips? Do I kick ones when my body's the longest, and kick again before I pull my arms out of the water? And I can't seem to lift myself up high enough to breathe either... Should I get the lift from the kick or my back muscles?

Link Removed

 

[Tsal]

Wow, this many posts in one day? Anyway... How much protein/carbs is enough? What type of food provides most amount of proteins and/or carbs?

 

[AmazingGracePlayer]

You should be able to get you head out by the motion of your body alone, but the degree you raise your shoulders will determine how high your head comes out of the water. While it's easier to breath if your head's up high, it's best to keep it as low as possible.

Getting the kicks and strokes to work together is tough- your instinct is to do two kicks that sort of disassociated from the next set of two kicks. It's much better if you have a steady body movement that includes steady, rhythmic kicks, and then work your strokes into that. You want to keep your body moving like a dolphin- smooth transitions. Stick your hand out of a moving car and make it dip and raise with the wind- that's how you want your body moving. The thing that helped me the most when I started getting serious with it (outside of building up my stamina), was swimming lengths of the pool just doing the dolphin kicks and getting my body moving in the smooth curving flow- no kickboard- just put your hands in front of you and allow yourself to dip above and below the water with the flow. Your kicks will determine when your head comes up, which will also time when you should stroke.

When your head just enters the water, should you glide downward a bit (along with gliding forward) and then raise the head up? I still don't know when to kick... Is it once while the arms are in the front and once while the arms are about to come out of the water?

Link Removed

Thanks, 94 grams for me..

 

[louieeadg]

Just to throw something out there...and to give you a quick "I'm fairly knowledgeable in this area sentence"...I'm fairly knowledgable in this area.

When comsuming protein...
One word...fish. It is the best protein the human body can consume. Period.

Bird, cow, lamb, pork can be tasty and loaded with protein but by the time your body spends the energy to digest that stuff, you're hurting yourself more than helping. When consuming fish, the body actually uses every gram of protein. For cow, its only around 60% or so that the body uses...and that's cooked medium rare. It gets worse the more you cook it...(and yes, peanut butter is delicious and loaded with protein but eating that stuff too much...you don't need it everyday...) And don't forget your legumes!

Cook your meat properly! Esp. with fish, always when the fish flakes easily. This country is horribly unhealthy because of the way we consume meat...always overcooked. Eating overcooked meat will generate calcium deposits in your joints. No bueno!

Moving on to...
Variety variety variety variety variety!!!!!!!! They say its the "spice of life" but that's a massive understatement! Just like working out, you can't do the same thing everyday and expect optimum results. The body can get used to a certain type of food...on top of that, the best reason for variety is the slew of different vitamins in different types of food. Variety is the best way to ensure proper diet in leu of gaining muscle mass and optimum fitness...which is what you need to gain the mass...

Carbs...
Stay. Away. From...REFINED! CARBOHYDRATES! And REFINED! SUGARS!! Can never say this enough...get your carbs from fruits, veggies, and whole grains!

just a couple pennies...
cheers

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Eggs are also a great source of protien, with almost 100% used.

No use to me as they make me sick, but anyways

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I should say egg whites actually, they are the better part for you.

 

[louieeadg]

I should say egg whites actually, they are the better part for you.

There you go...all protein in that part.

 

[AmazingGracePlayer]

I try to eat a lot and excercise on a regular basis. But I still don't know how much I should eat... I used to just eat a plate of pasta, a salad, and one or two pieces of chick breast per meal... But now I roughly double everything I eat - 4 pieces of chicken ( sometimes 2 pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of steak). Sometimes my college dining hall has salmon, I always get 2 or 3 pieces; along with pasta/rice and salads and fruits. I had a big dinner two nights ago. It was lobsters night here, and it's an all you can eat buffet (it always is). I had 3 lobsters, a piece of gigantic steak, a big piece of salmon, a big salad, and 3 apples.... (And an ice cream waffle for dessert that night) But for some reason, I never feel FULL. I always feel I can eat more no matter how much I eat... Hahahahaha

 

[louieeadg]

I try to eat a lot and excercise on a regular basis. But I still don't know how much I should eat... I used to just eat a plate of pasta, a salad, and one or two pieces of chick breast per meal... But now I roughly double everything I eat - 4 pieces of chicken ( sometimes 2 pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of steak). Sometimes my college dining hall has salmon, I always get 2 or 3 pieces; along with pasta/rice and salads and fruits. I had a big dinner two nights ago. It was lobsters night here, and it's an all you can eat buffet (it always is). I had 3 lobsters, a piece of gigantic steak, a big piece of salmon, a big salad, and 3 apples.... (And an ice cream waffle for dessert that night) But for some reason, I never feel FULL. I always feel I can eat more no matter how much I eat... Hahahahaha

Precisely...with the amount of exercise you do, you're always going to "feel" like you can eat more. Its a common misconception in our society about food. You're not supposed to eat to fill up...you eat for the amount of nutrients you need. You're metabolism is so high you're body processes the nutrients because of the calories you constantly burn...completely normal.

Only thing I would suggest is to get more whole grains and vegetables/fruit...grains stick to your ribs more than just meat by itself as well as giving you "good" carbohydrates. The protein you're getting is good but you need to start getting it from more places than just meat...like I said earlier, don't forget about the legumes! The body only needs so much protein and what it doesn't use gets deposited in places that you don't want...joints, organs, and such...don't set yourself up for bad cholesterol and arthritis when you're older just because you're trying to get some extra muscle right now...

cheers

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Precisely...with the amount of exercise you do, you're always going to "feel" like you can eat more. Its a common misconception in our society about food. You're not supposed to eat to fill up...you eat for the amount of nutrients you need. You're metabolism is so high you're body processes the nutrients because of the calories you constantly burn...completely normal.

I would say that varies from person to person. I basically had to force feed myself when I wanted to gain weight as I will feel full off of a relatively small amount of food. When I was gaining in college I would have to eat in the vicinity of 3700 calories/per day. Getting that many calories eating a clean diet and getting a sensible amount of vegetables and fiber adds up to a lot of food.

Only thing I would suggest is to get more whole grains and vegetables/fruit...grains stick to your ribs more than just meat by itself as well as giving you "good" carbohydrates. The protein you're getting is good but you need to start getting it from more places than just meat...like I said earlier, don't forget about the legumes! The body only needs so much protein and what it doesn't use gets deposited in places that you don't want...joints, organs, and such...don't set yourself up for bad cholesterol and arthritis when you're older just because you're trying to get some extra muscle right now...

cheers

I haven't seen anything to indicate that excess protein is deposited in the joints and organs, only that it is excreted and that consuming protein above a certain level is basically pointless. In regard to joint and organ problems, I've only seen that linked with consumption of red meat. I don't see AmazingGracePlayer eating that much red meat... he seems to indicate that he's mostly eating chicken and some fish, which I haven't seen linked with high cholesterol or rheumatoid arthritis in the way red meat is. Maybe there's something I've missed in modern nutrition indicating that excess protein is deposited in joints and organs... if you could link to something so I could read about it that would be great.

 

[AmazingGracePlayer]

Still need help with butterfly...

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

When your head just enters the water, should you glide downward a bit (along with gliding forward) and then raise the head up?

Your head should glide downwards a little bit- just enough to maintain that wave that you should be making with your whole body.

I still don't know when to kick... Is it once while the arms are in the front and once while the arms are about to come out of the water?

For me, I'd have one kick be the push to shove my head and arms out of the water, and the other be when my arms just start pushing down my body for the next stroke. Again, work on going back and forth across the pool just doing your kicks (making sure your whole body is creating the wave-type flow), and once you get the rhythm of this down, the place to pull your stroke out will naturally come to you. Think less about when to kick- you should always be kicking If you can maintain a steady rhythm with your kicking, then the only thing you'll have to worry about is when you stroke. If all else fails, go to YouTube- I'm sure there's some slo-mo vids of Mark Spitz or the like where you can see their rhythms.