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| Gaining Mass Gaining muscle mass, weight and bulking up |
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10-23-2008
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#1 (permalink) |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11
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Help Gaining Weight
Hello, I'm new to the board and was hoping some of the more experienced members could help me out.
Current Stats: Height: 5'8, Weight: 125-126, Not sure what body fat percentage but its real low, Age: 23 Goals: To gain 5-10 lbs of muscle. I have been working out for the past 4-5 years and I have been trying to gain muscle and weight, but have not had much luck. I am currently on an exercise program and am doing cardio (25-30 mins) about 5-6 days per week (even on my lift days). I am consuming around 2200-2400 calories per day. I have not been following the BFL program and was wondering if this type of program could be followed to gain weight/muscle? It seems as though the program outlined in the book is for losing weight. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, are there any supplements that might be beneficial to help me reach my goals? This is my current meal breakdown: Breakfast: 3 1/4 cup egg beaters (sometimes with some steamed spinach) 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey (100% Optimum) protein 1/2 sliced tomato Snack: Myoplex Original with 1/2 cup of skim milk. Lunch: 8oz chicken breast w/ 1 cup brown rice. Salad Post-Workout (Will start this meal tomorrow) 1 Myoplex-Lite shake and either yogurt, apple, or a banana. Dinner (same as lunch) 8oz chicken breaks w/ 1 cup brown rice. Salad Before Bed 1/2 cup of non-fat cottage cheese + 3 egg whites I am extremely conscious about my body. I am constantly worried about gaining body fat, but I know that I probably need to in order to gain weight. I think that I will feel much better if I can get up to 130+ in weight. Also, I have not had a "free-day" in literally years. Is it still recommended to take a free day if you are trying to put on some lean muscle mass? Any suggestions or comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks. |
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10-24-2008
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#2 (permalink) |
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Astoria, NY
Posts: 55
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Hey man,
My goals with Body For Life don't include gaining mass, so I have less experience in this area than some of the other posters. However, here are a few things about your program that stood out to me. You said you do 20-30 minutes of cardio, even on your weight days. While cardio is a good thing, there is such thing as overdoing it; especially if you're looking to gain mass. In fact, doing high intensity cardio for longer than 20 minutes can actually burn muscle! According to the BFL way of doing things, you don't need to do more than 20 minutes of cardio three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday in my case). You said you were worried about gaining body fat, but if you do 20 minutes three times a week and keep your intervals intense and challenging, you have nothing to worry about. I think you need to consume way more calories if you want to bulk up. Michael Phelps ate as much as 12,000 calories a day and he's probably only 3% body fat! Though 12,000 is an extreme example, I think 4,000+ might not be unreasonable for you. For starters, you could switch to regular Myoplex, which would also give you more protein. There are sample meal plans for the challenge winners on bodyforlife.com. Check out some of the champions that put on significant muscle. Many start their day with 5 egg whites and 1 egg and a bowl of oatmeal, which is a pretty solid breakfast. You didn't say anything about your weight lifting program. Are you adding significant weight to your lifts from week to week? Do you change your routine every four weeks to encourage muscle growth? Do you take any supplements? Creatine may be worth investigating for your purposes. If you're acne-prone, it may not be the best bet for you, but it's a widely used bodybuilding tool that is worth investigating. Hope some of this helps and good luck!
__________________
Challenge #1 (10/19/04 - 2/28/05): Went from 186 lbs to 164 pounds (avatar) Challenge #2 and #3 (2006 and 2007): Not as successful as the first time, but still lost an average of 18 pounds both times. Challenge #4 (9/14/08 - 12/6/08): Went from 194 to 170 pounds! Challenge #5 (1/1/09 - 3/28/09): Goal weight of 164. DAY 1: 173 lbs |
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10-24-2008
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#3 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
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You're eating about 19 calories per lb on your high days. A general recommendation is 20 when trying to gain mass, so you're pretty close. You should be putting on mass with this diet... But since you're not, here are some suggestions.
Take your calories up to 20-21 per lb of body weight. Do this by adding in some more fats. Things like olive oil, flax oil, saturated fats (boost testosterone too), nuts, etc. Eating fat doesn't make you fat, eating more calories than you burn does... You should also consider doing less cardio. I would say cut it back to 3x per week. You will gain some body fat when putting on mass, but it doesn't have to be a lot. Get yourself some calipers and a tape measure, and start taking notes. You should be putting on about 1-2 lbs per week by eating 20 calories per lb... since you're not, then you may be too active. If you don't want to slow down, then eat more!  Check out the other posts in this section (gaining mass) for some tips on what to eat and when. Here are 2 quick pointers: simple carbs and quick burning whey as soon as you wake in the morning (this is before breakfast). Second, take 1 scoop of whey and a piece of fruit immediately prior to your workout, then 2 scoops of whey and 40-60 grams fast digesting carbs (i.e. sugar, gatorade, white bread, etc) immediately after your workout. Eat a "normal" meal about 1 hour later. Oh, 1 more thing.. casein protein before bed (cottage cheese). It's much slower to break down and will help you avoid burning muscles while you sleep. Good luck!
__________________
"Half ass effort gets you half ass results." "Negative people can clear a room quicker than a fart." "You don't think your way to a new way of living. You live your way to a new way of thinking." |
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10-24-2008
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#4 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
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...just thought of another tip. YOU (and not other people, those trying to lose weight) ditch the skim milk and start drinking low fat (1-2%). You'll want the boost in calories and saturated fat. I drink milk with at least 3 meals per day to boost my caloric intake.
__________________
"Half ass effort gets you half ass results." "Negative people can clear a room quicker than a fart." "You don't think your way to a new way of living. You live your way to a new way of thinking." |
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10-25-2008
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#5 (permalink) |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11
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Hello, thank you both for the detailed responses. Regarding my workout program, I just started the program suggested in the book. I like his setup since it can be easily changed to fit many different types of gyms. Would this be a good workout to follow for mass building? My goal is go gain about 5-10lbs of muscle over the next several months.
Would aiming for the 2200-2400 calories/day and cutting the cardio on the days I lift be a good place to start? I also notice that I eat less on the days I don't lift weights. I try to get around 2000 but w/ cardio I probably net around 1700-1800. Also, the 2200-2400 was gross, not net of the 300+ calories I would burn doing cardio on lift days. Also, any thoughts on the free day when you are trying to put on mass? If I'm worried about putting on bf, should I even take a free day? Thanks, Griff |
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10-27-2008
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#6 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
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Free day: Yes, take it! Make sure you eat MORE than you do on regular days, and it helps if the bulk of your calories come from carbs on this day. It's all about filling glycogen stores and over loading your metabolism. In your case this will help you put on the weight. Freedays also help when losing weight. They are generally a very good thing to participate in.
Routine: The BFL routine is good. I focus on multiple exercises in the 6-8 rep range (3-4 sets) for the bulk of my mass gain workouts. I train a different body part each day with this method. But, the BFL routine will work fine. Pay attention to the 1 minute between sets and you'll really shock your muscles into growth. You can shorten this time as your fitness allows. Calories: 20 calories per lb should already take into account strenuous exercise. That is, you don't need to subtract for calories burned. Just eat 20 cals per lb and follow your routine. Cardio: Yes, drop the cardio on lifting days. This is a great place to start. You may also want to consider lowering the intensity on your other cardio days. It's primarily for aerobics and cardiovascular fitness. Don't worry about doing it for fat loss right now. Bodyfat: You will gain some body fat. With this plan (that I'm describing) you'll put on 1-2 lbs per week. If it's more than this, then you'll put on too much fat. Watch your measuring tape and track your body fat. If either is growing quickly, this you should either cut back a little on the food or increase the cardio intensity. The real trick to putting on quality mass, is to EAT! And, you have to be very consistent with it. Your metabolism gets used to burning a lot of calories. When you cut your calories (like, oops I didn't eat enough today) you can easily run a deficit and result in weight loss. You want to be in surplus or at maintenance calorie levels. Keep at it and remember to eat (eating slightly more than is comfortable at each meal is another helpful trick to remember, that's usually a surplus reaction, eating after you feel full). Now go to it!
__________________
"Half ass effort gets you half ass results." "Negative people can clear a room quicker than a fart." "You don't think your way to a new way of living. You live your way to a new way of thinking." |
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11-13-2008
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#7 (permalink) |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11
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Chris,
Do you know of any good weight lifting programs for gaining weight (mainly muscle)? I was hoping you could point out a good program for lifting 3x per week (for about an hour or less) that follows a similar formula as BFL (where you increase intensity, etc). I have been following the program and thought that I should be adding mass building excercises more, like pullups, deadlifts, more squats, bend over rows, etc. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks. |
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11-13-2008
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#8 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
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BFL is a good template to start. You can incorporate the exercises you suggested into a BFL routine though. Pullups and deadlifts are good back exercises, so are bent over rows. You can do the squats on leg day.
One option is to do 2 exercises for each body part. You can do 3 or 4 sets of 8-10 of each.
__________________
"Half ass effort gets you half ass results." "Negative people can clear a room quicker than a fart." "You don't think your way to a new way of living. You live your way to a new way of thinking." |
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11-15-2008
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#9 (permalink) |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11
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Thanks for the reply. What do you think about a breakdown something like Chest/Back Monday, Legs Wed, and Arms and shoulders on Friday? Also, do you suggest cycling up in weight on days like this? For instance, on Chest days when I do two excercises of chest, do you suggest following the same pattern of 12, 10, 8, 6, then 12 and 12 to rep out? Then do one more cycle like that using completley different chest excercises?
I really like the idea of hitting the high points but I'm not sure how I would do that by just using different excercises and trying to stay in the 6-8 rep range. Do you think you could provide an example of an excercise regime on a Chest/Back day? The main excercises I would choose would be dumbell bench + incline bench. Would it be advisable to throw in dumbell bench + flys at the end, then incline and maybe cable crossovers at the end of that one and use the rep amount (12, 10, 8, etc?) or should I try more like (10,6,8,4)? Sorry I'm just a big confused. Again, your insights would be much appreciated. Thanks. |
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11-15-2008
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#10 (permalink) | |
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Banned
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 15
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Quote:
i noticed that u use myplex lite and myplex origional. myplex lite should never be used by someone who is looking to gain mass. myplex origional is acceptable but even better is myplex deluxe as it is designed for people trying to gain mass. also before bedd u are having 2 protions of protein. firstly u are only supposed to have 1 portion of protein per meal and secondly were are the carbs ? its very important to have carbs in every meal , even for people wanting to lose weight and especially for people wanting to gain weight. your body uses the carbs for energy and the protein to feed the muscles. if theres no carbs available then the protein will be used for energy and hence your muscles wont get fed. without doubt the biggest problem ive noticed with wot uve sed is that not only do you do six cardio sessions per week but u also do it on weight training days also. cardio on weight days is a big no no for anybody no matter what their goal is. and 6 sessions per week , thats just going too far. even people who are trying to lose weight are only advised to do 3 cardio sessions per week. i only do 3 cardio's per week (20 minute sessions) and ive lost 2lb per week so 3 sessions is deffinately more than enuf. do too musch cardio and u'll overtrain and hamper muscle growth sometimes people who want to gain mass will do a 4 month program. the 1st 2 motnhs they wont do any cardio at all and then theyll introduce it for the last 2 months i'd advise you to still do cardio and not cut it out at all but just stick to 3 per week and make them 20 mins max instead of 25-30 and also do them on seperate days to weight training ok so thats the problems out of the way. now onto the good stuff. to gain weight you do not have to gain body fat. if you eat a lot of calories per week and you make sure that the food you are eating is healthy and you combine it will an exercise programm then the overload of calories will not cause you to gain body fat, it will cause you to gain muscle and weight. as long as theres no junk in your diet you dont have to worry about againing body fat. anthony ellis, a former body for life champion, gain an immense amount of weight and muscle but no body fat (infact i think his body fat is either below 10 or 5 %). on the body forl life dvd anthony says to bill ''id say 90% of what i gained was muscle not body fat'' to which bill phillips replies ''i'd 100% of it was muscle''. after looking at anthonys pictures myself id have to say i agree with bill cos there is not an ounce of fat on this guy. body for life can be used for all sorts of goals. if you look at the catagories i think they go something like this: size and strengh lean and toned lean and strong fat loss so basically you can use body for life for major fat loss, for muscle and tone or for gaining weight. the exercise routine stays the same for each goal but the diet and nutrition changes for each goal. my goal is to pack on muscle as well as lose a lot of fat and tone up so i suppose i fall into the ''lean and strong catagory''. to reach this goal i spmly follow the body for life exercise programe but adjust my diet in a way that meets my goal. i make sure i stick to 1 portion of carbs and protein per meal and i use cla for fat loss and creatine for muscle gains. if i was in the ''fat loss'' catagory then again id stick to the exercise program but i'd have half a carb protion in each meal instead of a full one (i think thats is what myplex lite is all about , doesnt have that many cals or carbs) and id use a fat burner say cla. if i was in ''size and strench'' then id consume more calories and id use products like creatine and myplex deluxe got to shhot off now but ill be back later to give you advice on supplements etc... later |
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11-15-2008
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#11 (permalink) | |
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Banned
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 15
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Quote:
the supplements i would suggest are either myplex deluxe or progain (progain is a maximuscle product not eas but its the best weight gainer ive ever came accross), a creatine product (if you like eas then phosaghen hp or beategen). as for the diet you need to eat a lot more. for this youve got 2 options. 1- count calories. 2- have 2 protions of carbs, instead of 1, for your first 3 meals. if you count calories then you need to be consuming about 20 calories per pound of body weight. so an 180lb man would consume 3600 calories (20 x 180 = 3600) if you dont want to count calories then just add an extra protion of carbs to your first 3 meals . now this might seem hard . 1 prtion of rice followed by 1 portion of pasta is a bit hard to stomach but the way to do this is use fruit. fruit is a carb so instead of having say a bowl of porridge (1 carb portion) and a whey protein shake (1 portion of protein ) then you could also have a banana (2nd carb portion). here is an example meal plan : breakfast - (2 P0RTIONS OF CARBS) porridge (carb) whey protein (protein) banana (carb) snack - (2 PORTIONS OF CARBS) myplex deluxe or progain (carbs and protein) apple (carb) dinner - (2 PORTIONS OF CARBS ) rice (carb) chicken breast (protein) orange (carb) snack - (1 PORTION OF CABRS) myplex deluxe or progain (carbs and protein) tea - (1 PORTION OF CARBS) tuna (protein pasta (carb) vegtables before bed - (1 PORTION OF CARBS) 200g cottage cheese (prtoein) 2 slices of brown bread (carbs) i would also suggest that you do your weights workouts in night fueled by carbs and protein 60-90mins before workout. so have your tea as nrmal and then 60-90 mins later workout then have your post workout meal and after that wait 2 hours before your before bed meal. i work out in morning on empty stomach but thats no goo for someone aiming for mass. post workout have a creatine supplement immediately after you workout then wait 30 mins and have protein and carbs (muplex is perfect for this). i have my creatine first and give it chance to absorb and digest then i have my protein and carbs 30 mins later. so to round things of *eat more by either counting claories or adding an extra portion of carbs to your 1st 3 meals *cut cardio down to 3 sessions per weeks on seperate days to weights and make them last no more than 20 mins *use the right weight gainer e.g progain or myplex deluxe *workout in the night fueled by carbs and protein *use a top quality creatine supplement |
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11-15-2008
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#12 (permalink) | |
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Banned
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 15
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Quote:
if you use a routine were you do chest, back, shoulders on monday, legs wednesday, arms friday then each muscle group only gets worked 12 times over the 12 weeks . working them 18 times instead of 12 deffinately makes a difference. my advice would be to try body for life for 12 weeks and then if you feel like changing the routine do it after the initial 12 weeks |
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11-17-2008
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#13 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
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I agree with the above advice. Give the BFL method a try for 12 weeks. The modification I was suggesting would be instead of doing 12, 10, 8, 6, 12, 12.. You can do 10, 8, 6, 10 of one exercise then do 10, 8, 6, 10 of another.. but I wouldn't make this adjustment until after doing 12 weeks of the usual BFL routine.
__________________
"Half ass effort gets you half ass results." "Negative people can clear a room quicker than a fart." "You don't think your way to a new way of living. You live your way to a new way of thinking." |
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11-20-2008
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#14 (permalink) |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11
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Hey guys,
Thanks a lot for the comments. I am going to try the suggestions that you have made. I updated my eating schedule on lift days as follows: Breakfast 1/2 c oatmeal + 1 scoop protein 1/2 sliced tomato with 3 1/4c egg beaters I tried adding flax seed oil in here as well. 1 tsp Snack: Myoplex Original + 1 Tbsp 100% natural peanut butter Lunch 1 Tuna sandwich with 2 slices of whole wheat bread. 1 Tbsp reduced fat mayo 1/2 c 2% cottage cheese After Workout: 1 Myoplex-Lite shake with 1 Yoplait Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt mixed in and 1/2 of a banana. Dinner: 1 c brown rice 8 oz chicken breast 1/2 tomato with salad Pre-bed 1 cup cottage cheese (1/2 2% and 1/2 fat free) 3 hard boiled egg whites How do you think this is looking now? The reason I have myoplex-lite after working out is that the deluxe has a ton of protein in it and I read that its better to get more carbs after lifting. The myoplex lite shake all in is about 320+ calories. I started to incorporate more fats into my diet. What do you guys think of doing this? I incorporate them through the flax and pb in meal 1 and snack 1. Do you think I should do something a little different for lunch instead of the cottage cheese? Also, how does my post workout shake look? I figure its about 30G protein and 50+ carbs. Also, before bed I read that its better to lighten up on the carbs (the cottage cheese I buy has about 6-8g per half cup, so its about 14g carbs anyway). I would guess that this entire eating plan is about 2200-2300 calories. Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks |
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11-20-2008
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#15 (permalink) |
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Senior Member
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This looks great! But, don't "guess" the calories. Look it up on Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate and see for sure how many calories it is...
Also, as long as we're discussing optimum diet for mass gain, here's how I'd tweak your post workout shake: Ditch the myoplex lite. Instead drink 2 scoops whey protein mixed with about 50 g of fast digesting carbs (things like gatorade, sugar, soda, white bread, candy, etc.). You want a spike of insulin to drive the protein into your muscles. Post workout it's all about getting the fastest blast of calories you can manage. This involves quick carbs and quick protein (simple carbs and whey). Even if you don't have a blender, you can use whey powder, powdered gatorade drink mix, and one of those shaker bottles (which are fantastic btw). Your diet looks great. Watch the scale closely now, I bet you'll start putting it on now!
__________________
"Half ass effort gets you half ass results." "Negative people can clear a room quicker than a fart." "You don't think your way to a new way of living. You live your way to a new way of thinking." |
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