[britchard]

No one here is a retard. However, comments like "my girlfriend lifts more" really aren't helpful.

You're doing 6x6 for the bench press, try dropping the amount of sets as you will then be able to up the weight, which will encourage more hypertrophy.

[UberBicep]

80% diet
20% lifting

99% resting
1% lifting

Pareto principle. You're doing the least important to gain mass. Eat more food.

Fat people get big by eating a lot of food and don't go to the gym. It's not true the other way round, not that you want to be fat, but you need to pack on some.

[Atlantic]

(11-14-2014 05:26 PM)Hardy Daytona Wrote:  

Currently I stand at 5' 11" and weight circa 60kgs. Sometimes it hovers a little above or below.


-1 Coffee & 1 squash
-Large bowl of cornflakes
-Sandwich (usually all-day breakfast or chicken & stuffing)
-Bag of crisps
-Drink
I don't do lunch very often though due to work.
-Microwave cooked mixed vegetables
-2 grilled beefburgers
-Portion of oven-cooked chips
-Breaded fillet fish/steak pie (alternating days)

Accounting for snacks between meals

I workout 3 times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It's the same routine every day but sometimes

-Stretches
-2's and 20's decreasing from 20kg
-Treadmill run approx. 2.5km in 11 minutes.
-6 sets of 6 reps of shoulder presses at 29kg.
-6x6 leg presses at 86kg.
-6x6 chest presses at 47kg.
-6x6 twist sit-ups weighted with 10kg.
-6x6 seated rows at 41kg
-6x6 bench presses at 25, 30 and 32.5kg.
Sometime I'll throw in some chin-ups or squats to mix it up a little.

I don't take any supplements or enhancements. It's all diet and water.
I'd appreciate any insights.

I am of similar height, was around 60kg for years and also had a tough time making weight gains. I did a lot of different programs and finally start making great gains in both strength and weight over the last two years.

Here are my insights: Both your program and diet are terrible. Don't take it personally and at least you have developed the habit of going to the gym but from now on I would completely change both if you want to see results.

First diet:

No more juice, squash or soda. Only water

Cook everything from raw ingredients and stop eating any form of processed/junk food.

My diet every day is:

Morning:
Supplements (zinc, magnesium, iron, vitamin D, super krill, fish oil x 3, ginseng)
1 Litre of water
6 boiled eggs
Smoothie with protein, banana, spinach, almond milk, peanut butter (natural)

Lunch1 : Brown rice, chicken breast, steamed vegetables
Lunch 2: Bowl of tuna

Snacks: Almond nuts, fruit

Dinner 1: Chicken breast and veg
Dinner 2: Steak/Pork chops/Salmon

I eat only good clean protein, lots of nuts, fruit and veg, and very little carbs (all clean)

No more junk food, crap snacks and microwave dinners!!!!



Next your workout:

I use Zyzz's program I found here:
http://www.simplyshredded.com/exclusive-...rview.html

Monday: Chest/Biceps

4 sets of Incline Dumbbell Press, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Bench Press, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Incline Flies, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Chest Dips until failure
3 sets of Barbell Curls, 8-10 reps
3 sets of Preacher Curls, 8-10 reps, then drop the weight to half, and push out another 8

Tuesday: Legs/Calves

4 sets of Squats 8-10 reps
3 sets of Lunges 8-10 reps
3 sets of Leg Press 8-10 reps
3 sets of Leg Extensions till failure
3 sets of Leg Curls 8-10 reps

Calves are self explanatory, just use some of the machines till failure, a lot of reps, feel the burn.

Wednesday: Back

3 sets of Lat Pulldowns 8-10 reps
4 sets of Deadlifts 8-10 reps
3 sets of Bent Over Rows 8-10 reps
3 sets of Dumbell Rows 8-10 reps
3 sets of Hyperextensions 8-10 reps

Thursday: Shoulders/Triceps

4 sets of Shoulder Press, alternate with Barbell & Dumbell every week 8-10 reps
3 sets of Upright Rows supersetted with Lateral Raises 8-10 reps
3 sets of front raises 8-10 reps
3 sets of Lying Rear Delt Raises 8-10 reps
3 sets of Close-Grip Bench Press 8-10 reps
4 sets of Pulldowns 8-10 reps
3 sets of Skullcrushers 8-10 reps

Saturday: Full Body

3 sets of Deadlifts 8-10 reps
3 sets of Squats 8-10 reps
3 sets of Clean and Jerk 8-10 reps
3 sets of Weighted Pull ups 8-10 reps

I also do Abs three-four times a week:

-Leg to bar raises or leg to waist raises if starting off
-Renegade rows
-Bridges
-Side knee to knee raises
-Weighted Ab crunches


You have to track everything and try add 1-2lbs a week to your lifts(maybe more starting off). Over time you will see great gains.

If you want a program I recommend checking out kinobody.com

I have a great playlist and treat the gym like a church. No talking, getting distracted or half efforts. EVERY lift is all in. I make a lot of noise!

Then lots of sleep, bright light therapy and clear goals and focused motivation.

I don't have a before pic handy but this is a pic of me this morning:

[attachment=22918]

Don't aim for mass, aim for muscle. If you are a hard gainer you should finder it easier to get that 'ripped' look if you are training/eating correct.

[redbeard]

I came here to critique your routine but DAMN ATLANTIC LOOKING GOOD!

Anyone who can work oilfield and stay in shape demands my respect.


Anyway OP: Gio and Atlantic give good routine advice but more importantly: eat more. 2500 a day is not enough for bulking. Calculate your TDEE and go from there. Mine is much higher than 2000, and thus I feel a lot better about eating a shit ton. Check it out, you may be surprised.

[Hades]

One thing that helped me a lot when starting out was to do marathon sessions. The key is here "sets, not reps".

Starting out I could only do like ten sets of doubles on the dip bars. Over time I got to where I could do twenty to fifty sets until I could barely eke out singles. These big sessions could take two or three hours and I never did them more than once a week. That shit works.

If dips aren't your thing, do pushups or pullups, or both. Work up to where you can do it with handstand pushups. Take a big pile of loose change and throw one into a jar after each rep. You can count reps when you're done if you're curious.

Don't use that as an excuse to not go to the gym when you can, however.

For food, try to get protein into every meal. Go to Walmart and buy a huge bag of Supreme or Quest protein bars for 2 bucks a pop and eat at least two of them a day if you need a mini-meal that takes no preparation, or do protein powder and shakes if you can tolerate it.

[Veloce]

(11-16-2014 12:12 AM)sp_johnnyutah Wrote:  

(11-15-2014 11:51 PM)Veloce Wrote:  

(11-15-2014 06:57 PM)sp_johnnyutah Wrote:  

These retards don't seem to comprehend that everyone must start somewhere.

Good luck with that. Might want to tone down the language when you're the new guy on an established forum.

When a poster comes in looking for help without a hint of “know-it-all-ism” or douchiness, and obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing and clearly is at the earliest beginner stage an adult male can be, responses that amplify and jeer at his physical weakness warrant being called out. Especially when the “constructive” criticisms couldn’t be more off-based. When you’re a dick and you’re also completely wrong, I don’t give a fuck if you have 20 posts or 20,000. I’ll call you on it.

It's times like these that I'm reminded just how poorly moderated other forums are. If there are dickheads like this thinking they can show up on a forum with zero respect to the established culture, then it must mean there are a lot of forums out there that tolerate that.

God bless the RVF

[PastTense]

When it comes to building up mass, offensive linemen come to mind and you might do a Google search on:
diet offensive linemen

You will see articles such as:
http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/nutri...-2166.html
http://columbiaspectator.com/2011/03/03/...jeff-adams
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/47164...ve-lineman

[StrikeBack]

When I pointed out that he's weak, I did it to tell him he needs to be patient. When hes still that weak, mass isnt gonna come easy. Gaining quality muscles naturally is a slow process. This gainz muscles fast American mentality has got to stop.

In my first gym session, I couldnt even do a single man pushup. That was pathetically weak. But I wasnt posting on fitness forums asking why I wasnt gaining muscles fast either, because I knew that you dont get huge when youŕe still lifting toy weights. Just focus on getting stronger and having good techniques for now, it will lay the foundation for hypertrophy in the near future.

[Phoenix]

(11-16-2014 01:30 PM)Atlantic Wrote:  

I use Zyzz's program I found here:

If I'm not mistaken, Zyzz was a known steroid user. How can the routine of someone with steroid-assisted recovery be applicable to a natural bodybuilder?

[Atlantic]

(11-17-2014 10:24 AM)Phoenix Wrote:  

(11-16-2014 01:30 PM)Atlantic Wrote:  

I use Zyzz's program I found here:

If I'm not mistaken, Zyzz was a known steroid user. How can the routine of someone with steroid-assisted recovery be applicable to a natural bodybuilder?

Its a gym program! It should work for anyone - steroids or not.
Only thing I take is protein and it has been working just fine.

[Hardy Daytona]

Blimey that's a lot of feedback. Well then, from the top.

I'm 24. Up until joining my gym back in May I was never very physical - I was always the kid who opted to join the rifle team instead of the rugby team. And I gave the fitness suite at college a wide berth for fear of being mocked.

However, some of that changed when I took up Judo. I've been at it for a few years and have made it to 3rd Kyu. Twice a week usually though I've been slacking since the head Sensi admonished me for poor technique of the Uchi Mata.

I'm not looking for a quick-fix solution with my workouts. It's not a superficial "I want a six pack asap so I can score more chicks" get-up.
I do it because it's nice not to worry about life's externalities and instead focus on myself. I do it because I relish the satisfaction I get from setting a new personal best. I do it because it gives me a goal to work towards and a journey of learning therein.

Anyway, that's enough of that.

With regards to diet, I can see some helpful tips in there.
Calorie counting isn't something I normally do - I researched for a figure I could post here to give a rough estimate because it seems to be more informative for people who do. Besides, ask 10 different websites and get 20 different answers.
I could definitely make a few substitutions e.g. squash for milk and cornflakes for porridge. More eggs would seem to be a consensus. And I could add some chicken kievs too.
Also I'm taking to spacing out my meals. I reach the puke threshold quite early so it'd seem to be a good idea to break it up into more manageable chunks e.g. burgers, veg and kievs at 6pm, pie and chips at 8pm, maybe a sandwich or something before bed.
I know it's good idea to drink more water, but I can't hold onto it. Never lasts more than an hour before I start doing the dance.
Most of my food's prepared by the oven or microwave. I avoid frying though - too much oil. Outside of breakfast I'm not much of a chef.

As for my workout I'll take that in stages.
I can't cut out the cardio as that's necessary training but I could limit the duration. Half the distance, half the time.

The weights I listed are pretty close to my maximum threshold. I start and begin at the same.
There seem to be 2 alternatives here:
- I could either add some extra weight and shave off a set i.e. 6x6 to 5x5
- I could keep going but work my way up the weights by degrees.
See, I like to come in hard and fast so that my muscles have to acclimate to the exertion. After however many weeks when it becomes easier then I move up.
But I see a lot of others in my gym instead work by pyramids e.g. 25, 30, 35, 40, 35, 30, 25 for chest presses.
Which would be the best route to take?

The return to investment ratio of energy for an exercise seems to be important, so I should probably focus more on compound lifts.
I can cut out the leg presses for squats and include the chips-ups permanently.
It might help to be more strict with my rest times. Should be a minute between sets but sometimes it's way more.

I see lots of recommendations for protein shakes as well. Unfortunately I know nothing about them - composition, brand, pricing, availability. Where's the best place to start researching?

I think that's about everything.

[StrikeBack]

Regardless of routine, all you need to remember to progress is this:

- Add weights
- Add reps
- Add sets

That the order of importance (for strength and hypertrophy), and also the reverse order of difficulty.

At your level, routine is less important than consistency and progressively challenging yourself with the above steps.

[Giovonny]

Most guys don't have to dietary, nutritional, and exercise expertise to properly "bulk and cut".

It's an advanced bodybuilding strategy that requires specific knowledge and expertise.

Its often not very healthy. The huge swings in weight put unnecessary stress on the body, stretch out the skin, create belly fat, stress the internal organs, puts pressure on our back and knees, etc.

Bodybuilders are often only in good shape for a few weeks out of the year (competitions) and the rest of the time they have large guts.

"Bulking and cutting" is only one strategy. There are other strategies that may be a better fit, for some guys.

=====

This is the kind of guy that I like to learn from:




Lets look at his diet:

(11-16-2014 01:30 PM)Atlantic Wrote:  

My diet every day is:

Morning:

1 Litre of water
6 boiled eggs
Smoothie with protein, banana, spinach, almond milk, peanut butter (natural)

Lunch1 : Brown rice, chicken breast, steamed vegetables
Lunch 2: Bowl of tuna

Snacks: Almond nuts, fruit

Dinner 1: Chicken breast and veg
Dinner 2: Steak/Pork chops/Salmon

I eat only good clean protein, lots of nuts, fruit and veg, and very little carbs (all clean)

Lean meats, eggs, fruits and vegetables, brown rice, nuts, etc.

Get your calories from these types of food and lift your ass off in the weight room.

If you want to have a nice body, this is how you should eat.

If you need to eat more, eat more of this type of stuff.