Working out

[Cbrider]

So I made a New Year's resolution to do something with my body since I have been mostly dormant since hanging up my cleats in competitive soccer a few years ago. I have made good on my promise to myself so far, I have been taking protein and going to the gym 6 times a week. My problem is that its been so long that I have pretty much forgotten what I use to do.

I wasn't happy with how much I had deteriorated when I first went back, but my body seems to recover and rebuild much faster than I remember. My Biceps and legs recovered really fast and my core never deteriorated that much to start with.

I really have two questions here:

1.) Can you guys suggest a guide online to come up with an effective routine that works in a sensible order to warm up and use muscle groups.

2.) I have never been a bulky build, I am built like a sprinter, long legs and a thin build. I want to bulk to an extent, but I struggle to do it. What can I do to try and jump start bulking?

[lovesjoyajm]

I don't think I've ever seen a picture of you. You should post one.

Anyway, I don't exercise, so I'm not one to ask.

[Cbrider]

I don't think I've ever seen a picture of you. You should post one.

Anyway, I don't exercise, so I'm not one to ask.

There's a few in my profile I think.

[lhn]

There are some great workouts on Youtube. I am really struggling to remember the ones I use but will update once I find them.
Bulking up takes time obviously. All I can suggest is working on every part of your body. Remember, if you want to lift heavier weights whilst doing bicep curls for example, then you also need to work on building your forearms and wrist muscles (wink wink).

PS... its called Football, not soccer

[Gigabitch]

Send Neoseminole a PM about it- he may not have seen your thread. He knows how to bulk up without looking like the Hulk.

[Coco]

Yeah this is definitely Neo's Expertise. I would hit him up and ask for some advice.

[MVPlaya]

You look naturally skinny. The basic answer is you need to eat a shit ton. I'm not just talking upping your protein intake, you need to take in a pretty serious dose of carbohydrates as well. I get fat quickly and build muscle easily, for me to bulk up I eat no more than 2800 calories and my muscles sprout. One of my buddies has a body type close to yours and he has to eat 4000 calories a day to get the same job done. On the bright side of things I do cardio 7 hours a week to stay lean, he could eat doritos while watching TV and stay lean.

If you want to bulk up, focus on large muscle groups, these would be legs/back/chest. These muscle groups tend to grow faster and need a little more food to get the job done. Personally, I work out pretty hard, and my work-out schedule is usually as follows (you probably don't need nearly as much cardio based on your body type, it might even slow muscle growth for you, if anything).

The past few days.

Friday: Chest + 1 hour cardio
Saturday: Back/Legs + 1 hour cardio
Sunday: Biceps / Triceps
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Abs + 1 hour cardio
Wednesday: Chest + 30m cardio
Thursday: Back/Legs + 1 hr cardio
Tomorrow: Biceps / Triceps + 1 hr cardio

Basically, I prefer the following formula for any five day period:
Day 1: Upper-Body #1 (Chest or Biceps/Triceps)
Day 2: Lower-Body #1 (Abs or Legs)
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper-Body #2 (whichever one you skipped first time around)
Day 5: Lower-Body #2 (whichever you skipped first time around)

Some people prefer to group things differently (Back & Biceps, and Chest & Triceps), I pick my routines because I don't like to overwork the same musclegroup too much, biceps and triceps allows me to alternate musclegroups in a work-out, letting me work out longer.

The important thing is that you have a plan, that you don't just get in the gym thinking "I'm going to lift some weights" - look up some routines, and get serious about it.

There's a couple rules I recommend whenever you work-out:

#1: Push yourself to maximum weight. Form is womderful, but good form + reps doesn't wear the muscles out the way a solid 8 reps at your max weight will. Always keep pushing your max weight. You're benching 165? Push it to 175, then 185, and so on. Make sure that every week you are moving up in weight. If you plateau, its alright, let the muscle rest a couple days and go at it again.

#2: Don't bullshit around too much at the gym. I know pretty much everyone in my gym, so its hard not to get suckered into conversation every time I try to work-out, don't give excuses to rest too much between sets. Someone wants to chat, tell them to have a nice work-out and go back to your sets. Don't rest 5 minutes between sets until you feel your muscles are perfectly rested. Rest no more than one minute between sets.

#3: Alternate body parts between sets. Say you're doing Biceps / Triceps. Do hammer curls for three sets, then tricep extensions for three sets, then preacher curls, then skullcrushers. This way, you allow one muscle group to rest while you work-out the other, allowing you to perform at a higher level and keeping you from needing to rest.

#4: Eat well. Eat well before you work-out, eat well after you work-out. Whenever I want to eat crappy food, I eat it early in the day so that I can burn it off during my work-out, never eat garbage at night, it won't help your work-outs or muscle growth and it will turn into fat. Make sure you eat plenty of protein and carbs early in the day so you can fuel your work-out, and be sure to get either some orange juice or something else to give you the necessary blood sugar and metabolism boost. I have a blender and juicer, I make fresh OJ / grapefruit / whatever other fruit happens to be in my fridge mixes whenever I'm about to leave for the gym. This helps me have the necessary energy for the work-out. When I come back, I make sure I have lean protein ready.

So plan out your eating schedule. You don't have to micromanage your food, but you should have a general strategy to get in x amount of proteins and nutrients. If you train hard but are sloppy in your eating, you won't build muscle, especially if you're naturally skinny (hint hint). You need to get a lot of protein in. Your body has a sweet spot of where it likes to be, if you want to be more ripped, you are moving outside of that sweet spot and it takes a lot of effort. For me, my sweet spot involves a spare tire, so I do cardio 5-6 hours a week (on top of weight-lifting), if I don't do the cardio and plan my diet carefully, my body will transform in ways I don't like. For you, your sweet spot is skinny and not too muscled, maybe lean, but not muscled. So if you want muscle, you need to give your body a constant supply of protein, and decent amounts of carbs as well (you need carbohydrates to build muscle).

And lastly, just stay with it. Working out for a week or two is nice, but if you really want to see good changes in your body, building muscle will take you a solid 6-months to achieve. You'll certainly see progress each month, but long-term goals are a 3-6 month time-frame.

[Cbrider]

Thanks for that reply MVP, that is what I kind of figured I would have to do in a nutshell. People bitch about losing weight....gaining is just as hard for me ~_~

4000 GOOD calories in a day means I literally have to eat constantly....its roughly 20 cups of dry rice.

[MVPlaya]

Yeah its a ton, it feels like you're forcing yourself to eat. I'd recommend trying out "weight gainers." Not a big fan of supplements, but I have some skinny friends and they swear by em for working out, since its hard to get the necessary caloric intake.

[Cbrider]

Might try that, because I really don't know if I can force myself to eat that many calories. A high concentration supplement may be helpful.

[Coco]

Damn MVP! Visit my Just Saying thread. Haven't seen you post in a while. Catch up?

[Charlie Boy II]

haha Coco.... what are you doing?