[jaydow11]

You are about the same build as me when I was in high school. I'm about 5'10 and was about 175lb's and pretty cut. At my peak in 1st year university I was able to curl 70lb dumbells, bench 2 plates (225lb) and could do wide grip chin-ups and dips with a plate and a half strapped to my belt!

However, I stopped working out because university got too crazy or I just got lazy (probably the ladder)

Now I'm still 5'10 but weigh around 185lb. I got pretty fat and was up to about 201lb at one point.

Then i went to Thailand for two months and lost 30lb's!

[Tbagger]

to put it to you lightly, your not going to "GAIN" by not "GAINING". If you want to "bulk" up then you're going to have to eat. I don't care what supplement you take food is the best.

Supplements are basically for recovering for example your creatine. You should have cycled that off and on, not stuck with it for a year straight. The recommendations of shakes as filler meals are good ideas. I eat about 7-8 times a day about 250-400 calories a meal. I powerlift in 180lbs class and hold my own.

I'd recommend 6 meals a day with 1gram/pound of bodyweight of protein and double that of carbs. The type of carbs are the important thing. Fast acting and slow acting carbs are just like fast and slow proteins. Recommendations from me which I could care less if you listen too;

Breakfast:
oatmeal with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, apples)
eggs (1 or 2 whole and 4 whites)
vitamins (multi mega mans or whatever)

Snack (2-2.5hrs later)
whey shake with milk (2%, 1% or skim whatever you like)
granola bar or wheat toast with peanut butter
fruit

lunch (2-2.5hrs later)
chicken sandwich or tuna or roast beef (I like to stick to the three main meats. Stay away from processed crap like bologna or salami or anything - add veggies like green peppers and tomatos too.)
yogurt
fruit

snack (2-2.5hrs later)
I usually do another sandwich OR you could repeat meal 2

Gym Time!
Right before you go in make sure it hasn't been a long time since you ate. Half a whey shake with some toast or fruit or something carby

After Gym Time
Whey shake and PLAIN Bagel. You want fast acting nutrients because you just beat your own ass for more than an HR and your body will absorb it quick. Stay away from Dietary Fiber in whole wheat bread and milk it will slow down proteinsynthesis when you want it the most.

Dinner (1.5-2hrs later)
Steak, Chicken, White Fish, Salmon PICK ONE 8 - 10 oz
VEGGIES!!! Spinach, beans whatever (half a cup doesn't matter just eat them)
Brown Rice OR Sweet Potato

Bedtime
Caesine Shake with milk or water

This should get you some bulk. The best time to go on any bulking period is the winter. No one cares about it in the winter and your more likely to not interfere because your not going to the beach or outside or whatever. I could care less because I just like to lift heavy things.

Good luck and make sure you accompany any diet you go on with a CORRECT workout. There are a lot of people out there doing CRAP workouts.

[B4RSTiwsnc]

define crap workout

[dlouie87]

Originally Posted by Tbagger

to put it to you lightly, your not going to "GAIN" by not "GAINING". If you want to "bulk" up then you're going to have to eat. I don't care what supplement you take food is the best.

Supplements are basically for recovering for example your creatine. You should have cycled that off and on, not stuck with it for a year straight. The recommendations of shakes as filler meals are good ideas. I eat about 7-8 times a day about 250-400 calories a meal. I powerlift in 180lbs class and hold my own.

I'd recommend 6 meals a day with 1gram/pound of bodyweight of protein and double that of carbs. The type of carbs are the important thing. Fast acting and slow acting carbs are just like fast and slow proteins. Recommendations from me which I could care less if you listen too;

Breakfast:
oatmeal with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, apples)
eggs (1 or 2 whole and 4 whites)
vitamins (multi mega mans or whatever)

Snack (2-2.5hrs later)
whey shake with milk (2%, 1% or skim whatever you like)
granola bar or wheat toast with peanut butter
fruit

lunch (2-2.5hrs later)
chicken sandwich or tuna or roast beef (I like to stick to the three main meats. Stay away from processed crap like bologna or salami or anything - add veggies like green peppers and tomatos too.)
yogurt
fruit

snack (2-2.5hrs later)
I usually do another sandwich OR you could repeat meal 2

Gym Time!
Right before you go in make sure it hasn't been a long time since you ate. Half a whey shake with some toast or fruit or something carby

After Gym Time
Whey shake and PLAIN Bagel. You want fast acting nutrients because you just beat your own ass for more than an HR and your body will absorb it quick. Stay away from Dietary Fiber in whole wheat bread and milk it will slow down proteinsynthesis when you want it the most.

Dinner (1.5-2hrs later)
Steak, Chicken, White Fish, Salmon PICK ONE 8 - 10 oz
VEGGIES!!! Spinach, beans whatever (half a cup doesn't matter just eat them)
Brown Rice OR Sweet Potato

Bedtime
Caesine Shake with milk or water

This should get you some bulk. The best time to go on any bulking period is the winter. No one cares about it in the winter and your more likely to not interfere because your not going to the beach or outside or whatever. I could care less because I just like to lift heavy things.

Good luck and make sure you accompany any diet you go on with a CORRECT workout. There are a lot of people out there doing CRAP workouts.

very well put. I'm a exercise physiology major and you HAVE TO EAT TO GAIN MUSCLE MASS.

don't expect to tremendous gains fast because it's hard. When i first started to lift i was 5'9 145 lbs. after 2-3 years and a lot of money for food and time to lift and friends to motivate me. I peaked at my sophomore year in college. At my peak, i was 5'10 and a half weigh 186 with 11% body fat.

You have to see what you body adjust to best.

try "bodybuilding.com" there are a lot of stories on there and some of the info is somewhat helpful

[Tbagger]

Originally Posted by B4RSTiwsnc

define crap workout

post up a sample week and I'll tell you if its crap or not. . . .

[B4RSTiwsnc]

^will do

[ou bobcat]

The supplements I've used for the past 3 months that seemed to have worked are:

Pre workout - creatine
Post workout - Glutamine and BCAA (2 times a day morning post workout
Bedtime - Casein protein
Whey Protein shakes thrown in between meals
This is with hitting the gym 5 times a week and following a strict diet.

I've not noticed any

[Tbagger]

creatine is best used when you first wake up and AFTER the workout.
Glutemine should be in your protein. I recommend ON - 100% whey with all your BCCA's

you need to cycle your creatine and see what type it is. I'm guessing it's monohydrate. 5-10grams a day is fine and keep it up on non workout days too. Remember to cycle every month or two switch away from creatine. for pre-workout try to find a blend of creatines, like in a cell mass or a no2 product like that. Like I said though results do not come from your supplements for the most part. They are a result of proper diet and proper routine. Supplements just aid in the recovery process to make sure you maximize the FIRST TWO POINTS!!!

[flatthump]

It's not a bad idea to switch proteins often too.

[GotSTI?]

Originally Posted by SonicBoom

Whoever said Creatine was worthless.. I respectfully disagree.. Over the years, with all the pro-hormones and other test boosters that have come out, Creatine is the only product that is actually proven to work(besides the newer N02 products). Creatine has helped increase strength and endurance every time I've used it. More strength=heavier weights=more muscle.. period. If the OP gained fat from creatine, his diet was off.. plain and simple. The only other product beside vitimins/flax oil caps I use is NO-XPLODE which I think is awesome for a pre-workout boost. Diet wise, I agree with what was said above. 1 gm of protein per lb of bodyweight, split into as many meals as you can fit(I'm at 6)... In the past year I've lost 55lbs of bodyfat and am carrying more muscle than I ever have, the frequent meals + weights/cardio mix works wonders...

Agreed. It put a lot of muscle on me when I hit my peak on whey protein. It definitely adds weight so you do need to keep the cardio going. I found I had WAAAY more energy too.

[B4RSTiwsnc]

tonight I did the following in order

8min run
3x8 60lb on each side decline bench machine
4x8 80lb curl machine
3x8 120lb tricept extension
3x8 90lb Rowing machine
3x8 back/shoulder pull downs (not sure of proper name)
3x10 leg raises for abs

effective or not effective workout?

[Yankeeballer13]

well i respectfully disagree with some of you as well but hey not everybody likes everything that is out there..every body is different and will react to things differently..thats why there is so much crap out there because if there was one magic pill then everyone would take it..all creatine did for me was make me cramp up and tear muscles and did nothing else for me, and yes i did drink enough water with it..therefore worthless imo. and not worth pulling muscles everytime i lifted..never noticed gains in strength, endurance or anything.

[Tbagger]

^your injury could be attriubuted to your workout, not your supplements. Its unlikely that creatine was the result of your pulled muscles.

[Yankeeballer13]

^ well when i had been lifting way before creatine (never got injured lifting) and only got injured while on creatine i would attribute my pulled muscles the that

[Tbagger]

Originally Posted by B4RSTiwsnc

tonight I did the following in order

8min run
3x8 60lb on each side decline bench machine
4x8 80lb curl machine
3x8 120lb tricept extension
3x8 90lb Rowing machine
3x8 back/shoulder pull downs (not sure of proper name)
3x10 leg raises for abs

your workouts seem to be scattered. Depending on when and how long you can make it to the gym will determine a good routine for you.

There are plenty of workout routines that you could follow and everyone likes different things. Its best to switch up your routine too as your body will get acclomated to a certain routine and weight.

Try a four day split:

Monday;
Chest
-Flat
-Inlcine
alternate these two with barbell and dumbell every other week
-Dips
-Tri work (skull crushers, rope pull downs etc.)

Tuesday
Back
-Pull Ups (weighted if it's not too tough)
-Bent over rows or seated one arm rows
-lat Pull downs or close grip pull downs
-Bi work
Preacher curls, close and wide grip
-seated curls

Wendsday
Cardio
Try 10-15mins treadmill followed by 10-15mins bicycle

Thursday
Legs
-leg curls
-good mornings
-leg press (I hate this but most people suck at squats...I love squats)
-lunges
-leg extensions

Friday
Shoulders
-Military press
-Arnold press
-side extensions
-front raises

Saturday and Sunday you can do cardio one of the days or just take both off

This is just a outline of a normal week. Abs can be done every other workout or every workout. You use abs everyday so overworking them isn't a big deal. As far as reps and sets. Always 2 sets of warm up on any first exercise also anything thats a heavy exercise. Cardio can be done on your off days and a lil to warm up with before you lift. You can also mix things up, a good example is on chest day instead of doing tris, switch bi's in and do tris with back. Try to either have a push/push mix or a push/pull mix. aka. bench = push preacher curls pull. As for shoulders, they get worked on bench day so with shoulders you can throw in close grip etc. There are a million ways to setup workouts and it depends on what your going for.

Seeing how you wanted to bulk up I'd go for 4 sets of no more than 8 reps. You can even pyramid the weight to start with;

set 1 = 8 reps
set 2 = 6
set 3 = 4
set 4 = 4

This will focus more on bulking not defining the muscle. Higher reps = definition.

Of course with exercises that move smaller muscle groups you can stick to a 8-10 rep set, tris and bis.

For an example, my workout routine is only 3 days, I lift the "Big Three" in powerlifting Bench, Squat and Deadlift. I lift Mond. Wends. Fri. which is a short week really. It is all in what you're going for.

Here's a link to go checkout some routines.

Best Workout Routines - Bodybuilding.com Forums