Weightlifting Guys

[94 formula]

I'm beginning to get back into weight lifting hard again and need some advice. I started lifting heavily about 3 years ago which was my junior year in high school I was 17. I started out at 6"4 165lbs and could bench 155, about 5 months later I weighed at most 170lbs and could put up 255. That was at the height of my lifting the problem was I did no lower body and really wasn't in good shape. Since then I haven't lifted nearly as hard but I have done more of a full body workout on and off and recently I have been lifting atleast 5 times a week and want to get bigger. I honestly have no idea what I can bench right now but I know its close to the 255 I put up in highschool plus I've been working more on lower body and other things upper body other than just bench, I feel much better and know overall I'm much stronger than I was then. When I was lifting before I took creatine and a weight gainer from GNC (I forget the name) and the creatine worked but I hardly gained weight other than water weight from the creatine. I'm around 190 now I'm finally starting to gain the weight that went with my growth spurt and would really like to bulk up. What do you guys recommend? I've tried about everything. I can literally take in over 6,000 calories a day and I don't add weight, the only time I have is when I take creatine and thats just water weight as soon as I get off it I just loose it. As long as I keep lifting I keep going up on my bench and overall with everything else but physically I don't get bigger. Any suggestions?

[Joe 1320]

In part, you will be dealing with genetics. If your body is not genetically aligned to gain mass, you will be hard pressed to change that. That being said, if your metabolism is so high that you can take that many calories in and not be a profession athlete, people would want to know your secret!

Part of the problem may be your form when lifting, the routine itself, amount of rest, etc.... there are a ton of things that you can do incorrectly and not get the desired results. Short of that, do a search on the topic of workouts and you come up with a few interesting discussions.

http://www.f-body.com/forum/showthre...hlight=workout

http://www.f-body.com/forum/showthre...hlight=workout

http://www.f-body.com/forum/showthre...hlight=workout

http://www.f-body.com/forum/showthre...hlight=workout

[wolfdogs]

sups are ok...but real food with real cals are the way to go.

egg whites..... 12-20 a day or more... and a protien shake, 3 times a day....

it'll do ya

[blackthunder50]

egg whites..... 12-20 a day or more... and a protien shake, 3 times a day....

That will work very well, however you have to be extremely devoted and consistence with this method. Three shakes a day means three shakes a day for about a month to see some good results. I would lift Mon, Wed, Fri, and condition on saturday mornings. We had a state championshp football program and it made all of us as big as we could get and it was all Cut-muscle, not fat.

I havent done that program for a year and a half now, I havent lost a pound, i ve kept the same look. I just havent been consistent with lifting to see more results.

[raroZ28]

no offense man, but if you're taking in 6000 calories a day, and you're not gaining weight, something is wrong with you. You could have a parasite. Either that, or you're not eating as much as you think. Ronnie Coleman takes in like 6000 a day. Why are you putting on water weight with creatine? What were you taking? With a 100% pure creatine, you shouldn't put on all water weight. If you're taking some crap like Cell tech you will. When I took cell tech I put on weight and mass. But it has like 150 grams of sugar in it, lotta calories, etc... Which is why I think I gained weight, which isnt' the kind of weight I wanna gain.

Take Creapure.

Remember, supplements are not good without a healthy diet. My diet looks something like this, I threw this together a while back.

Meal 1
1/2 Cup oats, whey shake, Banana/Fruit, yogurt, Creatine

Meal 2
Salmon fillet, Baked Potato, 1/2 Cup Rice, Vegetable

Meal 3
muscle milk, Fruit

Meal 4
Chicken Breast, Baked Potato, 1/2 cup Rice, vegetable

Meal 5
Post workout Whey Shake, Creatine

Meal 6
Chicken Fillet, Baked Potato, 1/2 Cup Rice, Vegetable

Meal 7
Salad

Total Calories: 2652+, less salad and vegetable
Total Carbs: 352g less salad and vegetable
Total Protein: 273g Protein

1/2 Cup White Rice: 45g Carbs
1/2 Cup Oats: 150 Calories, 27g Carbs, 5g Protein
Muscle Milk W/Milk: 638 Calories, 12g Carbs, 32g Protein
Salmon Fillet: 272 Calories, 0g Carbs, 41g Protein
Baked Potato: 100 Calories, 26g Carbs, 4g Protein
Whey Shake: 120 Calories, 3g Carbs, 24g Protein
8 oz Chicken Breast: 220 Calories, 0g Carbs, 66g Protein
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese: 110 Calories, 4g Carbs, 13g Protein
Can Tuna: 150 Calories, 0g Carbs, 33g Protein

I didn't take into account fat. Those foods don't have a lotta fats. Notice all the rice, oats, potato's, etc...

Protein is KEY. But carbs are almost just as important. You want about 300G of protein a day, and 600g Carbs. Carbs are very important. They give you the energy to workout and help add mass. My calorie figure at the bottom is off. I'm taking in slightly more than that. For example, my whey shake calories is if I take it with water, I take it with milk which adds a couple hundred calories. I just am too lazy to change it. I also eat a can of tuna or two throughout the day.

You have to eat like this everyday. YOu can't expect changes over a week. But if you eat the diet above for a month, you can add about 5 pounds of solid muscle.

I went from 150 to 175-180 in a couple months. My bench is up to over 250, etc...

It takes time, just be patient.

[raroZ28]

Oh yeah, drink a lot of water. Take in like two gallons a day.

[94 formula]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was actually to the doctor about 20 times from Sept-Dec. I ended up having 5 pollups in my digestive tract that may have had something to do with me not gaining weight I guess time will tell. And I was saying about taking in around 6,000 calories a day I did that at the height of my lifting and a friend and I went to school with a kid who worked at Mcdonalds and gave us free food so for 3 straight weeks we got a large double quarter with pounder meal with an extra quarter pound patty on it. We ate 3 of these a day plus fries mon-sat we ate whatever we wanted on sunday. I also took my weightgainer then too so I had to of been close too 6,000 calories. I didn't gain any weight from that just felt really sluggish, but my friend did put on like 15lbs.

[raroZ28]

Eating mcdonalds is the worst thing you can do. How can you expect to add muscle when you are just eating trans fat, and nasty calories? I wouldn't even have the motivation to workout after eating that much fast food.

Pushing weight is the easiest thing in the world. Guys you see that are big and look good, are like that because they have a solid diet. To get big you gotta eat big. Try to cut fast food out of your diet completely. That is not the right way to gain weight. And don't waste money on supplements unless you're going to eat a ton of food. You want chicken, fish, veggies, carb foods like rice, oats, potato's, etc... Supplements are only there for a quick fix of protein and calories. They're useless without a big diet man.

You might already know that, but when I was younger I was fooled into believing that I could eat the way I always did, usually 3 meals a day, sometimes less, and take a supplement before and after workouts and get big and strong. Not the case. I wasted a lot of time and money, and saw very little results. The very fist week I started my diet I hit the gym and I was psyched at how much energy I had. I worked two main muscle groups, used a ton of weight, and it felt great. I felt like a machine.

Sleep is a must too. You can't be tired in the gym. You'll be useless!

[DJ Taso]

sups are ok...but real food with real cals are the way to go.

egg whites..... 12-20 a day or more... and a protien shake, 3 times a day....

it'll do ya

Ken, if you eat 12 - 20 eggwhites a day, wouldn't you s**t all that out the same day? I tried eating a bunch of protien bars at once....boy did I learn my lesson..

[Joe 1320]

Ken, if you eat 12 - 20 eggwhites a day, wouldn't you s**t all that out the same day? I tried eating a bunch of protien bars at once....boy did I learn my lesson..

The key is to be taking in nutients every couple of hours. This is what helps regulate your metabolism. And yes, if you eat nothing but protein bars your innards will reverse themselves.

[Nightrage]

Try eating 1-2 grams of protein per lb of body weight per day. If you weigh 200lbs, eat between 200 and 400 grams of protein per day. When you raise your protein intake, make sure you start drinking a LOT more water. When you don't drink enough water, it puts unecessary strain on your kidneys. Your urine should be as clear as the water you're drinking. When it's that dark yellow color, it's usually not a good thing. Make sure to get healthy fats too, such as those found in nuts. A few scoops of peanut butter a day will do you a world of good. Learn to love oats. Ask any bodybuilder. Once I asked body builder, "how important is it to eat oats?" His response- "How important is it to breathe air!?"

Watch your sugar intake as well. Sugar is basically delicious poison. If you're bulking, try to avoid activities that provide a hard cardio workout. That will burn essential calories. Save the cardio for your cutting phase down the line.

To add to what Ken said, some guys have 12 egg omelets for breakfast. They usually have a maximum of 2 whole eggs, and even that's pushing it. It's usually more like 11 egg whites and one whole egg. The yolk has the majority, if not all of the bad stuff, like excessive cholesterol.

[raroZ28]

Yah, if your piss is orange or yellow, that's a sign of dehydration. Drink some water! Like said above it should be clear.

And do add to what Joe said, yes it's very important to break the calories and protein up throughout the day. Your body will only use so much of the calories and protein you take in. If you eat 200 grams of protein in a day, but 100 of them were in your breakfast alone, and then you only spread another 100 thinly throughout the day, it's not as effective.

And yes, oats are a great carb! Eat them Not very flavorful but it's cheap and fills you up pretty good for breakfast. Slow digesting.

[thomas]

food food food food!