I need info on weight lifting

[turbomaxx]

I posted a thread like this a while (few years I believe) back, and got lots of good responses. So I'm counting on my friends here once again.

Here's the story. The first go around with lifting went really well, I did bulk up quickly and was happy with the results, but due to the metal rods and screws holding my spine together starting to really bother me, I had to back off. Well, that was only 2 or 3 years after my surgery. Now, it's been about 5. I feel healthy and confident in my spine to hold up, so I'm giving it another shot.

Here's the rundown:
I am 6'1". Roughly 125lbs. Really skinny. No body fat whatsoever that I can think to mention (I know I have SOME body fat, but what I'm trying to express is that I have no belly, no muffin top, no butt, etc.). I am not looking for cut abs and rock hard legs (at this point anyways). What I'm shooting for right now is the build my biceps and shoulders.

I have a curl bar and dumbbell set only at this point. I can add to this set later if I get a general agreement from people here that something else would benefit me.

What do I need from you guys? Well, a few things really. So I'll list them in no particular order.
1) Eating advice. I've been told to eat lots of chicken and red meat, as well as pasta's and other grains. This is simple enough. Is there something extra I should eat? How much and how often? Is there such a thing as too much? I plan to try to eat salads for lunch, then some kind of chicken or red meat for dinner, with a pasta based side. Good idea? Or bad?

2) I will be drinking whey protein 4 times daily. Once in the morning before work, once on my lunch break, then before and after lifting in the evenings. Is this sufficient? The container says 4 times daily, so that was just what seemed logical to me for a schedule. Should I try to space them out more?

3) Since I don't have much fat, I've been told I'll bulk up really fast. So that would mean more weight and less reps, correct? Less weight and more reps would be for toning and definition and I really don't have anything to tone and define at this point.

4) I need advice on every angle here. I tried google searching, and it's just a clusterfuck of contradicting articles on what eating right is, and what routines give what results. That's why I'm turning to cb7tuner again. I trust that I'll get answers from experience and not just a bunch of shit.

I also think it would be a good idea to track my weight, as well as pictures of my arms throughout this time. Did anybody else do this? If so, if I could see some before and after shots it would be really motivating. If I can get up the courage I'll throw up a pic of how I'm built now. I know that sounds odd, but I'm really pretty self conscious about my size for my height. It's just not normal.


Any thoughts or advice outside of the things I've listed would also be greatly appreciated. I really want/need all the info I can get here. Thanks guys, I always know I can count on my cb7tuner family not to judge.

[owequitit]

Damn dude. You are skinnier than me! I didn't think that was possible.

Make sure you take dietary considerations as well as lifting. Most likely you don't eat enough calories as it is. I know because I have the same problem.

[turbomaxx]

What do you mean?

[crazymikey]

[PakaloloHonda]

A question for you .. Do you have a pool? Or access to one?

[stewie]

ill offer some help, i use juice so i think its fair to say i know a decent ammount about lifting.

by no means am i 300lbs of muscle...im 200 of muscle

eating - average person takes in roughly 2000 calories a day, if your bulking...start taking up to 5-7000 calories a day!!!

in the morning, i suggest to take a weight gainer ( i use one called mutant mass, its 1200 calories per serving i think with 30g of protein or something...and it actually tastes great (peanut butter chocolate flavor)

during the day keep your protein up, eat lots of chicken for protein and carbs for energy

2 - protein, take a weight gainer in the morning, protein shake at lunch, personally i dont take anything before i go to the gym, i wait till im done and then immediatly take another weight gainer, and at night i take a protein shake with casein in it wich is like a slow acting protein...so over night it slowly releases the protein into you...much better.

3 - theres no gurantee that you'll bulk up fast...i used to be 140lbs and at the gym for 2-3 years and i didnt gain a pound...after i started juicing i went up to over 200lbs in a few months.

from your set up that you have, curlbar and dumbell sets, id say for your arms, do bicep curls - wide and close gripped, if you can lay on your back, do skull crushers with the bar or the dumbells (dumbells is called a french press though). for shoulders, stick with regular shoulder press, arnold press and military press.

its gonna take a lot of work, but you'll eventually get there, dont just focus on arms and shoulders though, you gotta work on everything.

[deevergote]

You're going to need to take in a certain amount of calories as you lift. If your body doesn't get enough fuel, you won't gain any mass.

Figure out on average how many calories you take in on an average day. Increase that by about 10%-20% while you're aiming to gain weight and build muscle.
Lean protein is best, and protein supplements are very good (I like Optimum Nutrition products, myself.)
I have to focus on keeping my weight down, so the lean protein is more important to me than it is to you. Still, it's worth keeping in mind. Weight gained from fat is of no use to you.
Do a little reading on proper protein intake. Taking more than your body can use can be harmful, so figure out the proper amount and try to stick to it. Use labels as guidelines only. Don't just assume that every label's instructions will be 100% correct for you, as body types differ.

High weight and low reps will help build mass. Low weight and high reps is more for tone and endurance. Don't overdo either. If you hurt yourself, you'll only lose your progress as you take time to heal.


Honestly, don't be concerned about weight. You'll be burning whatever body fat you have as you gain muscle, so your weight could fluctuate a bit. Once you're on a solid path of muscle building, you can track your weight for your own curiosity... but unless you're trying to put on a specific weight in muscle, it's pointless.




If you can afford it, join a gym and hire a personal trainer... even if you can only afford a few sessions. Have the trainer show you exercises that will build muscle all around.
The last time I hit the gym, I went with a friend that hired a trainer for a few months. That friend showed me exercises that I'd never have thought of doing myself! A trainer will get you on the best possible path the fastest.

The gym i'm about to join is $22/mo, and I can hire a trainer for $100 for 3 months, or so I'm told. If that's still true, I should get all the info I need to reach my own modest goals in that time.

[deevergote]

DO NOT take in 5000-7000 calories a day. That will kill you!

If you're looking to add mass, and your normal caloric intake is about 2000 calories, look into 2300-2500. No more than that. Tripling your normal caloric intake will be a serious shock to your body, and majorly compromise your health!




Also, find a good multivitamin, drink LOTS of water, and eat a good deal of healthy foods that are rich in nutrients. Green leafy veggies especially. I'm a fan of collard greens and kale. Both are amazing for you, and both taste pretty damn good.
You need more than protein and empty calories to put on healthy muscle.

[stewie]

DO NOT take in 5000-7000 calories a day. That will kill you!

If you're looking to add mass, and your normal caloric intake is about 2000 calories, look into 2300-2500. No more than that. Tripling your normal caloric intake will be a serious shock to your body, and majorly compromise your health!




Also, find a good multivitamin, drink LOTS of water, and eat a good deal of healthy foods that are rich in nutrients. Green leafy veggies especially. I'm a fan of collard greens and kale. Both are amazing for you, and both taste pretty damn good.
You need more than protein and empty calories to put on healthy muscle.

well, i went from 2000 calories a day to 5-7000 calories a day and was perfectly fine...it depends how active you are...if your just sitting on your couch all day then yeah, its bad for you and you'll become a tub of lard in no time, but if your out and about doing a physical job AND going to the gym everyday, its perfectly fine for you.

[19dabeast85]

Guys if you use the term "calorie" when talking about weight gain, weight loss, or anything with nutrition of the body period, you're using old, broken theories that have proven over and over to not work LONG TERM. Calories have nothing to do with PROPER weight gain or loss......call me crazy? I think not!

I have been taking part in a 90-day RVLution (revolution) designed by Mark Macdonald (Chelsea Handler's personal trainer, on CNN every week) to work for ANYone to acheive ANY goal (weight loss/gain, muscle tone/build) It is a complete system complete with the highest quality shake (not the junky whey in all the stuff in stores) AND all the vitamins and essential nutrients to increase your overall health.

Check out Mark Macdonald's book "Body Confidence", it's a New York Times best seller, and you will learn why calories have no relevance when talking about this. You'll learn exactly what YOUR body needs to achieve YOUR goals......I've seen awesome results as have my friends who are doing this with me!!

I actually just got home from working out with Mark Macdonald himself and boy did we have a blast!

More details pm me and we can chat, I've partnered with Mark Macdonald to share this with as many people as possible and finally make a long term change in this country as far as health!! That old stuff about calories is physiologically incorrect with the human body! Doesn't work LONG TERM!! Man I get excited talking about this system, hope I made sense, gotta go!

[Junior Smurff]

Red meat is good and all but i suggest chicken breast and tuna. LOTS and LOTS of tuna. Pasta is also good as you mentioned. Eat several times a day(5-6). Stay away from sweets and chips. 4 servings of protein seems a bit excessive imo. 2-3 seems more reasonable. Muscle growth happens while sleeping so if possible set an alarm at midnight and take your protein with a pb&j sanwich. Creatine is also a good substance and you will notice the diffrence from just taking protein. Take creatine before you workout and protein after. Dont worry about weight as of now. Lift what your comfortable with. 3 sets of 10 reps is good for starters. The weight will come. And lastly just have fun doing it, break your diet every once in a while. Bump some waka flocka flame while you lift or something. You can research all you want but all theyre going to tell you is DONT eat this, or DONT eat that or do this many reps and push it. Were all diffrent and since your not looking to become a body builder(just yet) dont take it so seriously. Like i said, the weight will come. I played 4 years of football, ran 4 years of track, played 3 of baseball, and now im in a college weight training club. Just throwing that out there

[GeoffM]

DO NOT take in 5000-7000 calories a day. That will kill you!

Nonsense. If you work out everyday and do it in such a way that you don't plateau you'll be ok.

And by work out everyday, I mean that's all you'll be doing
Seriously. 8 hours of biking and you can eat that.


Btw, I've been biking for 2 years. I started at 240 lbs and now I'm 217.6 .
I haven't been following any schedule. I eat what and when I want. My method is to just exercise so much that I'll have to lose weight.

There is one last thing. Losing weight and getting skinnier(doesn't apply to you) aren't the same thing. I've lost quite a bit of fat. Jut today I saw an Uncle I haven't seen in two years. He literally thought I was half my size. The fat will burn off and be replaced by muscle, which is 3 times denser than fat. Hence the small amount of weight loss.

[8ball]

Oatmeal. #1 thing people that work out eat. Has protien carbs and fiber. #2 Tuna. Has almost no cals and a bunch of protien.

I think you know what your doing honestly, just dont get crazy on the weights Im sure the image I have of you is correct and you prob look like a pencil. Sorry bro but you need to add about 50lbs of mass to look normal.

BeastDrol

[H.M.]

With all due respect to everyone on this forum, this is not the place for qualified advice on weight training, nutrition or steroid use.

I understand that you want to bulk up your biceps and shoulders, so you'll "look good" but At 6'1" and 125lb you are REALLY skinny. This may sound odd, but the quickest way to get strong, including getting bigger arms and shoulders, is to work on the biggest muscle groups in your body. This means doing squats and deadlifts.

The place you want to go for advice is www.startingstrength.com. Its the "cbttuner.com" of the the beginning weight training world.

If you follow the program there you will gain muscle in a healthy manner.

[rexload]

my 2 cents ( I am 190lbs 6' 0", far from fat):

- there will never be any results without consistency and discipline

- always be happy with what you have got and make the most of it.

- do not eat an unhealthy amount of calories as it will cause stretch marks and you WILL get fat. a SLIGHT calorie surplus is all you need to gain weight SLOWLY. you cannot bulk up fast. you can only get fat fast

- do not work any muscle group more than 2 times a week as it will not allow enough time for your muscles to recover and grow

- it doesn't matter if you are doing 6 or 15.5 reps as long as feel that you got a good workout

- it doesnt matter what the online calorie calculators tell you... if you feel like you are overeating, then you are gaining fat.. if you get hungry often and eat too little, then you aint building muscle

- all this being said, you have to have some common sense about proper nutrition.