General Advice/Information much appreciated

[Snookingator]

I was just looking for some experienced people that may be able to offer me some quality advice. I'm a you're average toothpick/hard gainer and looking for something to aid me in adding some mass. I've been working out steadily for 5 or 6 months along with a healthy diet and I believe enough protein (not protein shakes either) along with trying to get 8 hours of sleep per night. I've read many many many threads on pro hormones or "legal steroids" but I'm just looking for something to aid me in my search for gains. I was looking into buying something like chlorodrol 50 but realized that's probably too advanced for a beginner like myself. Is there anything y'all would recommend in the "legal steroid" field that may work. Any and all advice is much appreciated.

 

[Rodja]

Post said diet. This is the first, and most important, step to gaining mass.

 

[Snookingator]

2 Eggs 9 a.m.
Snack 10 30 (usually almonds or some form of easy protien since i'm at school)
Chicken breast at lunch with an apple or some fruit
2 Peanut butter sandwhiches around 2ish along with another apple
Dinner includes some form of protein a vegetable and usually rice/pasta/potatoes
Usually drink a protein shake after i work out at night before bed

Hopefully that is in depth enough? Again thank you for any and all advice. I'm 21 years old by the way.

 

[Snookingator]

Also usually a few pieces of bacon with breakfast...if that matters?

 

[Rodja]

2 Eggs 9 a.m.Add in 2 more whole eggs and at least some fruit and, preferably, some potatoes as well
Snack 10 30 (usually almonds or some form of easy protien since i'm at school)add a protein shake to this
Chicken breast at lunch with an apple or some fruitadd some potatoes
2 Peanut butter sandwhiches around 2ish along with another appleThis needs some work
Dinner includes some form of protein a vegetable and usually rice/pasta/potatoesThis is fine
Usually drink a protein shake after i work out at night before bedpost-WO needs carbs as well

Hopefully that is in depth enough? Again thank you for any and all advice. I'm 21 years old by the way.

Recommendations in bold.

 

[Rosie Chee]

I was just looking for some experienced people that may be able to offer me some quality advice. I'm a you're average toothpick/hard gainer and looking for something to aid me in adding some mass. I've been working out steadily for 5 or 6 months along with a healthy diet and I believe enough protein (not protein shakes either) along with trying to get 8 hours of sleep per night. I've read many many many threads on pro hormones or "legal steroids" but I'm just looking for something to aid me in my search for gains. I was looking into buying something like chlorodrol 50 but realized that's probably too advanced for a beginner like myself. Is there anything y'all would recommend in the "legal steroid" field that may work. Any and all advice is much appreciated.

Since you're a beginner, you do not need any supplements but the Basic Staples (creatine, multivitamin/antioxidant, good fats, protein, and BCAAs) - at your weight, you can almost get all your good fats, protein, and BCAAs requirements from your diet. I don't recommend using anything else until you're older and have built up a solid training base. NUTRITION AND TRAINING are what are going to get you results.

If you want gains, then you need to eat enough for them, and no supplement is going to help you gain muscle if you're not eating for it, period! At your age NUTRITION and TRAINING are the two factors that you need to focus on. FOOD, FOOD, and MORE FOOD is going to be IMPORTANT - if you want muscle gains, you needs to EAT for it!

Next to nutrition for mass is training. You have to be training correctly for mass - check out the article How To Maximize Mass Through Weights And Adaptation for an idea of how to train correctly for mass. And although The Essential 8 is in the fat loss section, the same exercises that are best for fat loss are also the best for gaining muscle! You also need to NOT lift almost daily - your body NEEDS recovery, since it's in your RECOVERY that you GROW (if you are eating enough).

I recommend having a training programme (AND nutrition plan - can't forget your nutrition, since that's what is going to make or break your success with gaining muscle mass!) written specifically for YOU for your goals and needs. If you can't afford a professional trainer, then take some time out to research and look around, because there is a TON of information on training for mass!

~Rosie~
The Primordial Woman

 

[Snookingator]

Alright I will check out that link and also add some more food into my diet...thank you.

 

[Snookingator]

Recommendations in bold.

Thanks man.

 

[Snookingator]

Rosie,

Something I was wondering, looking at the workout you provided the link to (which I plan on trying) is there any reason there is no incline/decline for bench press? Hopefully that isn't too idiotic of a question and you seem to kjnow what you're talking about so please don't take this as questioning you...

 

[TateFTW]

I'm of the belief that there really aren't hard gainers. Just under-eaters. If you're a toothpick, then stop worrying so much about eating healthy. Yeah, trans-fats are always bad, but you need fats to help your body do it's thing, and right now you're only getting them from eggs and Peanut butter. The suggestion of adding 2 more eggs is just the beginning IMO. If you want to know how much food you need to grow, first you have to know how much you're eating now. I use a website called myfitnesspal to keep track of what I eat. I believe AM actually has a similar feature, but I haven't looked into it. Once you are dutifully tracking every calorie and gram of fat, carbs, and proteins you're consuming, you can adjust accordingly. If you find you're consuming X number of calories and you're not gaining, then up it 500/day and adjust up or down from there based of how much you gain/don't gain over a number of weeks.

Steak and red meats are also a good source of the fats your body needs when your trying to gain, so don't be afraid of them.

Remember, if you're a stick now then you can LOSE weight whenever you want to, so don't fear what you might think of as over-eating. You can always lose a few lbs if you go overboard (which I doubt you will) and gain too much fat. You can even get crazy and have an "unhealthy" meal every now and then, if you need to in order to get your cals up where they need to be.

 

[TateFTW]

Rosie,

Something I was wondering, looking at the workout you provided the link to (which I plan on trying) is there any reason there is no incline/decline for bench press? Hopefully that isn't too idiotic of a question and you seem to kjnow what you're talking about so please don't take this as questioning you...

Although I haven't looked at the workout, I CAN tell you that if your trying to add mass, you don't need to worry about "shaping" the muscle. Just lift, hard, and keep adding weight.

TBH, a good form bench press will mostly hit the mid-lower pecs, and incline benches mostly just shift the weight to the front delts and away from the chest.

(just my thoughts)

 

[Rosie Chee]

Alright I will check out that link and also add some more food into my diet...thank you.

No worries

Rosie,

Something I was wondering, looking at the workout you provided the link to (which I plan on trying) is there any reason there is no incline/decline for bench press? Hopefully that isn't too idiotic of a question and you seem to kjnow what you're talking about so please don't take this as questioning you...

You're trying to gain mass. You don't need to use an incline or decline bench press - a flat bench press done correctly will give muscle mass gains.

Since you're still a newbie, I wouldn't recommend following the programme in my article - as it mentions, it is "Recommended only for experienced and more advanced lifters".

As a beginner, six a days in the week doing heavy and intense resistance training is going to be too much, and I'd actually recommend starting off with 3-4 days a week. Something more along the lines of the programme below (I saw the best gains of my life re upper body (doesn't take much to gain in my lower body) so far using these resistance sessions):

Monday

Weights: 20 reps total per exercise of sets of 4-5RM (30 seconds recovery between sets)

1. Underhand-Grip Barbell Bent Over Rows
2. Overhead Barbell Squats
3. Weighted Dips
4. Barbell Ab Rollout

Tuesday - DAY OFF

Wednesday

Weights: 40 reps total per exercise of sets of 8-9RM (45 seconds recovery between sets)

1. Wide-Grip Lat Pull-Downs
2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
3. Barbell Romanian Deadlift (plates to floor)
4. Close-Grip Barbell Bicep Curls
5. Hanging Straight-Leg Raises

Thursday - DAY OFF

Friday

Weights: 25 reps total per exercise of sets of 4-5RM (30 seconds recovery between sets)

1. Barbell Front Squats
2. Flat Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press
3. Close-Grip Supinated Reverse Rack Pulls (feet on bench)
4. Barbell Push Press

Saturday - DAY OFF

Sunday

Morning Cardio: V-Burn Challenge Circuit (no recovery between exercises; 1 minute recovery between rounds)
3-7 x rounds of

1. Jumping Split Squat x 10 reps
2. Hand Walkout (from toes) x 10 reps
3. Single-Leg Deadlift (with twist and lateral reach) x 10 reps per side
4. Push-Up (with alternate side rotation) x 10 reps
5. Jumping Jacks x 10 reps
6. Side Lunges (with over head reach) x 10 reps per side
7. Handstand Push-Up x 10 reps
8. Squat Thrust (jump and reach) x reps 10

~Rosie~
The Primordial Woman

 

[TateFTW]

lol, I love the overhead and front squats. That'll give any newbie the form he needs, along with the correct form-over-weight mentality. Everybody should start that way.

 

[Rosie Chee]

lol, I love the overhead and front squats. That'll give any newbie the form he needs, along with the correct form-over-weight mentality. Everybody should start that way.

Everyone should start with the basics, and even experienced lifters should still use the basics as the base of their training, IMO.