BryanZ
New member
Hi everybody. I'm 27 years old, I'm 6'4 200lbs and I am trying to bulk up.
I am a total rookie to lifting and would appreciate some advice. I will let you guys know what I have done and what I plan on doing.
I go to the gym about 3 times a week right now, that will change soon as right now I am very busy. I don't have much organization, I just do whatever muscle feels like it is the most heeled. It's usually takes me like 3-4 days until the muscle feels totally healed. I just quit smoking about a month ago. I have put on about 10 pounds since then. So I was 190. I would say half of the new weight is muscle, half is fat (just a guess)
My plan is to get to about 230-240, and then lean myself down to 220 with a strict p90x routine. From my brief time on the forum, I've pretty much discovered I have to ditch my arm workouts. I just started quating about 2 months ago, and it feels spectactular. My chicken legs are now normal legs lol.
I was contemplating cheating with some stuff that is not exactly legal. I fear that if I use this stuff, and never learn how to properly bulk naturally, I will not be able to maintain my weight once I put it on.
Couple problems I've been having at the gym.
Chest....I cannot bench anything. I can do 135 like 4 times. This is much less then someone my size should be doing. All of my other workouts are fairly normal for my size. My biceps, triceps, back, quads, everything seems to have no problem lifting a decent amount of weight, but when it comes to that bench, or any other chest workout, I am having a lot of trouble. My chest is not that small either, I definatly have some muscle there (not nearly as much as I should), I am a pretty athletic guy as well. With free weights, I can put up 55lb'ers about 10 times but I can't put up the first rep, I need a spotter to push up on my elbows. I can't tell if I'm just being a girl about benching, or there is a certain muscle on my body that is very weak and is preventing me from benching. I doubt my form is off, benching is not very complex.
Another problem is I don't know proper form for olympic style lifts. I was taught how to squat with the bar behind my head. My squat seems to be on point, I love doing them. From what I understand, olympic style lifting is basically what I need to do to put on the pounds. Once I figure out what I'm doing.
Lastly, I do not have a very diverse routine. I've never had anyone with a lot of experience teach me how to lift. The way I learn my form is basically common sense.
I've been going to the gym for about 7-8 months now, if I was weaker mentally, I would probably assume I've hit a brick wall. I'm pretty confident that I haven't actually hit a wall, I think I just hit a point where I need to get serious about my workout and diet, I don't know where to start though.
Before I spend several days reading up the forum, where do you guys think I need to improve/change? If you need more info please ask.
I am a total rookie to lifting and would appreciate some advice. I will let you guys know what I have done and what I plan on doing.
I go to the gym about 3 times a week right now, that will change soon as right now I am very busy. I don't have much organization, I just do whatever muscle feels like it is the most heeled. It's usually takes me like 3-4 days until the muscle feels totally healed. I just quit smoking about a month ago. I have put on about 10 pounds since then. So I was 190. I would say half of the new weight is muscle, half is fat (just a guess)
My plan is to get to about 230-240, and then lean myself down to 220 with a strict p90x routine. From my brief time on the forum, I've pretty much discovered I have to ditch my arm workouts. I just started quating about 2 months ago, and it feels spectactular. My chicken legs are now normal legs lol.
I was contemplating cheating with some stuff that is not exactly legal. I fear that if I use this stuff, and never learn how to properly bulk naturally, I will not be able to maintain my weight once I put it on.
Couple problems I've been having at the gym.
Chest....I cannot bench anything. I can do 135 like 4 times. This is much less then someone my size should be doing. All of my other workouts are fairly normal for my size. My biceps, triceps, back, quads, everything seems to have no problem lifting a decent amount of weight, but when it comes to that bench, or any other chest workout, I am having a lot of trouble. My chest is not that small either, I definatly have some muscle there (not nearly as much as I should), I am a pretty athletic guy as well. With free weights, I can put up 55lb'ers about 10 times but I can't put up the first rep, I need a spotter to push up on my elbows. I can't tell if I'm just being a girl about benching, or there is a certain muscle on my body that is very weak and is preventing me from benching. I doubt my form is off, benching is not very complex.
Another problem is I don't know proper form for olympic style lifts. I was taught how to squat with the bar behind my head. My squat seems to be on point, I love doing them. From what I understand, olympic style lifting is basically what I need to do to put on the pounds. Once I figure out what I'm doing.
Lastly, I do not have a very diverse routine. I've never had anyone with a lot of experience teach me how to lift. The way I learn my form is basically common sense.
I've been going to the gym for about 7-8 months now, if I was weaker mentally, I would probably assume I've hit a brick wall. I'm pretty confident that I haven't actually hit a wall, I think I just hit a point where I need to get serious about my workout and diet, I don't know where to start though.
Before I spend several days reading up the forum, where do you guys think I need to improve/change? If you need more info please ask.
