<p>As you guys can tell from my profile (an PR), I go to a jock school. And it's had an influence on me to want to get more serious with weight lifting. I'm in shape, however I'd like to put on some more mass. Within the first two months I was here, I put on about ten pounds simply from eatting more and weight lifting. Should I just continue eatting more (no, not junk food), and lifting, or would taking a supplement be worth the effort?</p>
<p>what kind of supplements? the injectible kind? :)</p>
<p>I don't think you should get any supplements, unless you wanted to add a protein shake, because to add mass, you're going to need 1.5grams of protein per pound of body weight.</p>
<p>160 lbs x 1.5=240g of protein per day.</p>
<p>Possibly a weight gainer if you have trouble gaining weight, but I don't think you do, because you've already gained 10lbs. Creatine is something that you could think about, although it's not a miracle supplement like some say, but when I took it, my gains as far as how much I could lift started to increase more. In HS, I was benching 285 at 180lbs. Now I weigh 165 :( and can't do half that, haha.</p>
<p>I don't think you need creatine. The fact that you are already able to mass up (despite it being fat) indicates your body type. You should focus on what granted_business said, i.e. taking in AT LEAST 1.5 grams of protein (non soy) per pound of body weight. This nutritional change will single handedly morph your efforts to bulk. </p>
<p>Then, you want to start logging your lifts. Looking at a (10 week cycle)... Depending on what you're pushing/pressing now, you should begin for the first three weeks with no more than 10 excercises per workout with 3 sets of 10 reps each. After you have built up this endurance base, for the next two weeks drop to the 5-6 rep range with higher weights. For the next five weeks of workout you should be going at 4 reps at 70-75% of your max each set. </p>
<p>Try not to do isolation excercises, rather compound lifts because you are not trying for a pure athletic/sport specific purpose. An example of this would be doing barbell curls rather than individual dumbell curls or doing standing calf raises rather than seated (calf isolating) raises.</p>
<p>Good thing I'm just running and not lifting now. Instead of 4 days of lifting, I just have 70 mile weeks.</p>
<p>What do you guys think about using the machines rather than old fashioned weights? My friends keep telling me to do some bench presses and curls, but I'm progressing using the machines.</p>
<p>Do that program. Register at bodybuilding.com. Ask questions. Don't do machines. Do free-weights.</p>
<p>makshim- why shouldn't I do machines? I can't do squats because it's bad for your knees and I'm a runner. I do free weights, but no more than 20 pounds. I'm 5'11 155 and don't won't to go above 165-170. I don't want to get too bulky, I want to stay pretty flexible.</p>
<p>Free weights work stabilizer muscles; whereas, machines have a hard time hitting them, because they "help" you with the weights with their pulley systems, etc.</p>
<p>If you're a runner, why are do you want to get into that kind of lifting in the first place? But granted_business is completely right: free weights work additional muscles than machine exercises. </p>
<p>On a different note, depending on the type of runner you are (sprints vs. mid distance), you can still squat, or do the alternative, lunges. With squats, keep minimal weight, no more than 135lbs, and go for 5 sets of 15 reps. What I was doing while training this summer was 115 lb. squats with 5 sets of 25. I gained not only muscle strength, but endurance->helped stave off lactic acid buildups during pre-season races this semester.</p>
<p>That's a strength workout. You'll put on size but not so much. And squats are only bad for your knees if cracking knuckles gives you arthritis and shaving makes your hair grow thicker. Get what I mean?</p>
<p>The squat is the most important exercise in existance. It will help ALL your lifts increase. Even bench. Nothing releases growth hormone like squats.</p>
<p>how much size he puts on is more of a function of diet, not the routine....</p>
<p>Right, but the routine matters as well. 3x5 or 5x5 strength training won't give you the size that a bodybuidling workout will, at least not as quickly, or maybe even not ever.</p>
<p>First of all, you don't do squats because you're a runner? Who the hell's your coach? Sprinting or long distance, squats and even upper body workouts can positively affect your times.</p>
<p>Want to know what the best supplement is? Food.</p>
<p>If you want to bulk up, eat 6000 calories a day. You sound like an ectomorph with high metabolism, and you're probably eating 2,000-3,000 calories right now. Eating 6,000 calories will be hard to do, but it's the best way to bulk. However, I don't understand why you want to gain mass while you're a runner; gaining weight may slow you down. But if you want to, I just told you the #1 supplement. (I realize the irony of calling it a supplement, but ppl often overlook their diet).</p>
<p>Number 2 supplement? Water --- drink tons of it; 8 bottles a day. If you're running every day you'll probably need even more than this. Hey, if you're trying to bulk, you MUST do this. Diet is equally important as your actual weight lifting routing when it comes to gaining mass.</p>
<p>Essential #3 ------ Sleep: 8 hours a day.
You know your muscles don't grow at the gym, when they're getting ripped, but rather as they recover as you sleep. Lack of sleep is common at college, I know. So are skinny guys who go to the gym 5 times a week and complain "I can't bulk up!! It must be all genetics!!"</p>
<p>Finally, 4: the routine. Yes, we've all heard that lower reps give more of a focus on strength while higher reps (6-10) focus more on hypertrophy (size). Libraries can be filled with the debates on this subject. However, if you are progressively putting more weight on the bar, your muscles will get bigger. So simple theory: load up the godd(a)mn bar! Btw, want to know the most common mistake in weightlifting? Overtraining! I have rarely heard of undertraining. Keep that in mind. </p>
<p>Most guys only focus on step 4: the routine, but they end up overtraining anyway. Hope you've learned something!</p>
<p>Supplements are bad, mmmmkay?</p>
<p>If you want to supplement, do what the guy above me says and drink lots of water. I also advise to eat a lot of meat.</p>
<p>If you can't get 8+ hours of sleep I guess downtime would work as well. Just a thought though. I rarely get 5 hours, let alone 8.</p>
<p>Try checking out t-nation.com and elitefitnesssystems.com, the both put out good, free information. The other posts had solid advice too, but I say take the creatine if you want, its $10 for 200 servings, and it's definately on the short list of good legal supplements.</p>
<p>While at t-nation, search for chad waterbury and john berardi; chad has simple but effective workout programs, and berardi has excellent and concise diet advice (search for the 7 habits of nutrition, or something to that effect).</p>
<p>OK, Creatine and those kinds of supplements weren't developed for the average guy who just wants to lift a few times a week. Unless youre a serious athlete/bodybuilder and are spending many hours in the weightroom, dont waste your money, it wont do you much good. </p>
<p>What you should do is develop an effective lifting plan, drink water throughout the day, and eat a ton of small meals (5-7 a day). Its as simple as that. Oh, and squats are very important, theyre one of the essential lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, clean) you must do to increase your strength.</p>
<p>Exactly what niddumas said. If you're an on and off lifter, you're gonna get nothing. The biggest thing in lifting is CONSISTENCY, and I'm talking months of it. People stay consistent for two weeks, see nothing and stop lifting. I also see alot of cats staying dedicated to their diet for about the same amount of time, and then cheating big...and I mean big, after about 2 or 3 weeks. Stay away from these mistakes.</p>
<p>Ectomorphs serious about bulking up will probably need supplements to reach their goal...unless you have a damned good nutritionist. Creatine works and you're gonna want weight gainer (lets face it, 5,000 cals of just food is pretty hard to get in a day). </p>
<p>Endomorphs will probably want BCAA's just for the fact that you guys are trying to lose weight so you'll be doing a lot of cardio. BCAA's help to preserve your lean mass through all this. It's impossible to get BCAA's through food so you have to supplement it.</p>
<p>I would also suggest a multivitamin for anyone. You want the ideal environment for you body to grow, sculpt...I believe you can't get this if you don't have the right vitamins and nutrients in you...it's just easier to take a multivitamin then to coordinate a bunch of different foods to get the 50+ vitamins in you. Everyone trying to change should also shoot for 1-2 gallons of water a day...you'll **** like crazy for the first week or two but you'll get used to it</p>
<p>Rest is as important as the lift. Don't work the same muscle groups on consecutive days(for ex. don't bench squat two days in a row).</p>
<p>As for creatine, you can take it if all you're looking for is to get bigger, but I became slower and less athletic after using creatine because of all the extra weight I put on.</p>
<p>To the OP,</p>
<p>I also recommend t-nation.com</p>
<p>They have great articles.</p>
<p>At most university gyms (and gyms in general), you'll see a lot of people curling and benching. You'll see very few people doing squats and fewer doing deadlifts.</p>
<p>Yet, squats and deadlifts are among the best exercises out there. They use so many muscles (c.f. dumbbell curl) and have huge carry over to sports and health in general.</p>
<p>Now, there's nothing wrong with the bench press; it is a great exercise. There is something wrong, though, when one's upper body is massive yet one's lower body resembles that of a four-year old.</p>
<p>Yeah, buy a good whey protein or Muscle Milk if you have the spare cash...whey isn't some gimmicky supplement, it's essentialy food that allows you to get more protein...I would suggest (as would most body builders) drinking whey with fruit juice directly after a work out, it will help feed your muscles when they need it most by giving you an insulin spike and shuttling BCAA's to your muscle cells. </p>
<p>If you want to try creatine, buy regular old creatine monohydrate in bulk, don't waste money on trendy products.</p>