Workout Program

College Confidential Community
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<p>Hey, I usually don't post but I had a question maybe some people could help me with. I am currently quite thin, and I was interested in gaining weight. For people who have been to the gym, what advice do you have as to:</p>

<p>a) workout program: there is always the debate between HIT and volume, does anyone have advice for people trying to gain weight? i don't care about toning right now, just weight gain.</p>

<p>b) power exercises v. others: many people say that the power-lifting exercises like deadweight, bench and squats yield most gains. what are your opinions on this, how do you incorporate these into your routine?</p>

<p>c) supplements: do you take creatine or whey? if i have to choose, which would you recommend for someone trying to gain weight initially? also, do you have any good names in mind, especially one's that don't cost too much money?</p>

<p>d) diet: any idea on a good diet? also, what do you use to measure protein in your diet (i.e. sometimes i don't know how much protein is in that piece of grilled chicken i ate).</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

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<p>a) workout program: there is always the debate between HIT and volume, does anyone have advice for people trying to gain weight? i don't care about toning right now, just weight gain.</p>

<p>The HIT vs. volume isn't even a debate. HIT/heavy duty doesn't work for most people. You will stall so fast going to failure on every set and you won't have sufficient volume for good gains. Mentzer was big, but he was a genetic freak who was also a crazy meth addict.</p>

<p>Maybe start out with something like Rippetoe's starting strength for a couple months. Get your lifts up and develop a solid base and then switch to a bodypart split with higher volume.</p>

<p>b) power exercises v. others: many people say that the power-lifting exercises like deadweight, bench and squats yield most gains. what are your opinions on this, how do you incorporate these into your routine?</p>

<p>Stick to compound (multi joint) movements. Make sure that you do squats, but barbell bench press is expendable (for db press, dips, incline/decline bb press, etc.). Deadlifts can be substituted for rack pulls, but you should have one or the other in your routine.</p>

<p>c) supplements: do you take creatine or whey? if i have to choose, which would you recommend for someone trying to gain weight initially? also, do you have any good names in mind, especially one's that don't cost too much money?</p>

<p>Whey. That's it. You don't need creatine, NO, or any other product like that. Waste of money. Best brand for your buck is optimum nutrition gold standard.</p>

<p>d) diet: any idea on a good diet? also, what do you use to measure protein in your diet (i.e. sometimes i don't know how much protein is in that piece of grilled chicken i ate).</p>

<p>You can find calorie counter sites on the internet that say how many grams of protein, how many calories, etc. in pretty much anything. A good bulking diet consists of oats, peanut butter, chicken, tuna, steak, other meats, whole grain bread, peas, broccoli, potatoes, cottage cheese, milk, etc. Pretty much any complex carb and any protein source without a lot of saturated fat.</p>

<p>How many calories you should be aiming for depends on your weight... how much do you weigh? Count your calories and protein intake. Aim for 1.5 grams protein per pound of bodyweight. Too many people say "I eat sooo much" but when they count their calories only take in 2500.</p>

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<p>I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine. In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the tips. I'm small, so I'm especially concentrating on bulking, no cardio for me. Also, great tip on the whey v. creatine, I'm still debating the whole thing since both supplements cost so much money.</p>

<p>I've heard that it's good to vary your routine after four weeks, to avoid getting used to the lifts. Any ideas on what some good routines are, or what some basic routines are? I've gone on Bodybuilding dot com, but they have a billion different routines that all say that you will "bulk up." Any basic well-worn workouts?</p>

<p>Pierce& Pierce, I'm a guy, so I don't know how much I want to follow an herbal mint facial mask routine. ...thanks?</p>

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<p>^Dude its a great line from a great movie, American psycho. Ok, to answer your questions, here it goes. Oh, Russel's answer is great. You should follow his advice.</p>

<p>Great place to start: Build</a> Muscle & Lose Fat through Strength Training | StrongLifts.com</p>

<p>My thoughts, act on it if you want to get somewhere</p>

<p>i) You are small, so you are correct in not doing cardio.</p>

<p>ii) You are a beginner. You DO NOT need creatine now. In fact, you won't need it for another 6 months-1 year. In fact, if you have to ask if you should be taking creatine vs protein, you aren't at the stage where you need either. You don't need a protein powder now, by the way. Or any supplements, no matter how lucrative the claim. Take some fish oil though, its good.</p>

<p>iii) You are a beginner. Forget about doing anything under 5 reps. Your body and nervous system are not primed for heavy lifts. </p>

<p>iv) Squat. Squat. Squat. </p>

<p>v) Learn the compound lifts (squat, overhead press, bench press, deadlift, row, dips, pullups). </p>

<p>vi) Learn proper form. Injury is worse than your ego getting bruised. You will squat 500 lbs someday, not when you start</p>

<p>vii) EAT. This might be the most important thing you will head. You are bulking. You can have the best workout program, but you won't accomplish jack **** until you have a good caloric surplus. I am talking AT LEAST 20x your bodyweight in pounds as a minimum caloric intake. If you are 150 lbs, 3000 cals a day minimum. 1 g/protein per lb of bodyweight is minimum. </p>

<p>viii) MILK: Drink a gallon of it a day. Not even kidding. In beginners a gallon of milk will give you better gains than anything.</p>

<p>ix) Learn: TESTOSTERONE</a> NATION | The World's Fastest Growing Nation of Bodybuilding and Strength Training Enthusiasts, RossTraining</a> - Bridging The Gap Between Ordinary and Extraordinary, EliteFTS</a> - Powerlifting and Strength Training Products and Knowledge for Lifters, Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers, Strength</a> Mill Forums - Powered by vBulletin, westside-barbell.com:</a> The Best Search Links on the Net
. Read those websites. Read the following books: Starting Strength, Rock Iron and Steel, Infinite Intensity</p>

<p>x) SQUAT: This lift will make or break you. There is no big strong guy in the world who isn't a master of the squat. Squat heavy, squat often, squat hard. As a beginner, you can squat a lot and recover fast. This lift will put on more muscle mass than any out there (other than the deadlift). Do not be a upper builder. Do not be like 90% of the morons in the gym obsessed with benching and curling all the time.&lt;/p>

<p>xi) Sleep. The old mantra goes. Eat like a horse, sleep like a baby, grow like a weed. Your hormones (GH, IGF-1, etc) spike during sleep. Get 8-10 hrs a night. </p>

<p>xii) Discipline: Here is the choice. You can go out every night and get smashed, but in a decade you will still be a 150 lb weakling. Or, you can work hard during the week, have a couple nights of fun, and in 10 years you will be so much stronger than your friends that they will accuse you of using steroids.</p>

<p>xiii) Find a partner: Ask someone who is more advanced than you if you can train with them or similar. I have learnt more about training from my strong friends than anywhere else.</p>

<p>ix) Consistency: Again, you are a beginner. Do us a favor and don't follow Arnold or Ronnie Coleman's routine. Stick with a linearly progressing program (i.e. Starting Strength) and stick with it for 4-10 weeks. PM me if you are unclear about programming AFTER you read stronglifts or starting strength.</p>

<p>x) Follow the advice I gave.</p>

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<p>
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Eat like a horse, sleep like a baby, grow like a weed.

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<p>I'd never heard this before, but I'll definitely have to remember this one, haha. Excellent.</p>

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<p>If you've got the equipment, (and you'll need a lot of it, including a track), follow [url="<a href="http://www.crossfit.com/%22%5DCrossFit%5B/url"&gt;http://www.crossfit.com/"]CrossFit[/url&lt;/a&gt;]. It gives a varied and different workout every day.</p>

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<p>I haven't seen American Psycho, sorry for the confusion. These tips are great, I'll check the websites before I ask more questions. AeroEngineer, I used to do Crossfit for a while, and while it was good, I wasn't bulking up. It's an excellent program to get in shape generally.</p>

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<p>1) Volume...HIIT is seen more in cardio workouts to keep weight down with minimal time.</p>

<p>2)Depends what you mean...the exercises you listed are all very good compound exercises. You want those. You want to work all parts of your body. Of course you focus on your legs when you squat, but it works almost every other muscle in your body too. The only time you should really be isolating is when you do biceps or triceps.</p>

<p>3)Don't take a bunch of supplements. You SHOULD take a multivitamin and fish oil every day. Thats it. I have whey and a bcaa powder that I mix in an after-workout shake...but nothing else. Sometimes you can even get whey with bcaa already mixed in, but it's costly. You need a multivitamin because your body cannot work at optimum anabolic levels without the proper amount of vitamins...they are the building blocks, regardless of what protein buffs say. Fish oil should be taken just to stave away atherogenesis, reduce heart disease, and keep blood pressure low, but also helps to regulate fat around the waist and other problem areas. I take whey after workout just because its the fastest and easiest way to get protein to my muscles when they're starved for nutrients. And I take the bcaa because they're essential for protein to be used to the max in your body, I can go into long definitions...but your body doesn't produce them, yet it still needs them.</p>

<p>4)I go by the food pyramid. It actually works. The new one, not the old one. Build muscle...just increase everything. 50% carbs, 30% fat 20% protein. Don't overdo protein. When you see guys in the gym who are huge, but not really ripped...it's because they overdo protein (or are just lazy with their diet). A lot of times your body doesn't use the bodybuilding 'recommended' dose of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight and stores it away as fat. Once it's fat...it can't be turned back. Some of it converts into glycogen, but glycogen stores are limited (usually only 1800-2100 kcals) so the rest turns to fat. Carbs are used fast and not stored unless you take in a massive amount at once. Don't forget fruit and vegetables!!!!</p>

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<p>seriously build your core. a strong core is what helps atheletes perform well. thats the most important part to gaining strength and muscle. buying an exercise ball is a good investment.</p>

<p>i have a strong core because i focused on strengthening it last year and i feel like it helps me when i go to the gym to lift now.</p>

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<p>just go to LA Fitness, take the classes there, make sure your carbs/calories arent that high, and just pump iron while drinking protein shakes. if you need more expert advice/help, hire a personal trainer.</p>

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<p>1) Volume...HIIT is seen more in cardio workouts to keep weight down with minimal time.</p>

<p>He said HIT. HIT and HIIT are two different things.</p>

<p>4)I go by the food pyramid. It actually works. The new one, not the old one. Build muscle...just increase everything. 50% carbs, 30% fat 20% protein. Don't overdo protein. When you see guys in the gym who are huge, but not really ripped...it's because they overdo protein (or are just lazy with their diet). A lot of times your body doesn't use the bodybuilding 'recommended' dose of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight and stores it away as fat. Once it's fat...it can't be turned back. Some of it converts into glycogen, but glycogen stores are limited (usually only 1800-2100 kcals) so the rest turns to fat. Carbs are used fast and not stored unless you take in a massive amount at once. Don't forget fruit and vegetables!!!!</p>

<p>You don't know what you're talking about. Protein is the macronutrient most inefficiently stored as fat. As long as his caloric intake is reasonable, excess protein isn't going to do anything to hurt him. Carbs spike your insulin which promotes the storage of fat. </p>

<p>The guys that have been in the gym that are big and not ripped have obviously been bulking and have put on some fat. It doesn't necessarily mean that their diet is bad, but putting on some fat in a caloric surplus is inevitable. Some endomorphs also have a really tough time getting body fat low enough to be ripped.</p>

<p>The only time you should really be isolating is when you do biceps or triceps.</p>

<p>No. Calves? Forearms? Abs? Side delts? Hamstrings (leg curls)?</p>

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<p>Oh, and here is an article stating why the "high protein diets cause fat storage" claim is a myth.</p>

<p>High</a> Protein Diets Clearing Up the Myths - FitCommerce.com</p>

<p>
[quote]
n actuality, if you were to eat a meal containing only protein, carbs, or fat, the protein meal would cause the least amount of weight gain. You see, a large percentage of calories from protein are burned off in the digestion process. This is called the thermic effect of food. Of all the macronutrients, protein has the highest thermic effect, burning off approximately 25 percent of protein of the calories consumed. In comparison, only 15 percent of the calories from carbs are burned off in digestion; fat has virtually no thermic effect whatsoever. Thus, all other things being equal, a high protein diet would be less likely to cause fat deposition than either a high carb or high fat diet.</p>

<p>Moreover, unlike carbs, protein doesn't stimulate a significant insulin response. Insulin is a storage hormone. While its primary purpose is to neutralize blood sugar, it also is responsible for shuttling fat into adipocytes (fat cells). When carbohydrates are ingested, the pancreas secretes insulin to clear blood sugar from the circulatory system. Depending on the quantities and types of carbs consumed, insulin levels can fluctuate wildly, heightening the possibility of fat storage. S*ince protein's effect on insulin secretion is negligible, the potential for fat storage is diminished.*

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