Im sure this thread has been done before, I just caught myself in the mirror and damn I'm lanky... My arms are not very big at all I work out 2-3 times weekly I eat a lot I admit not necessarily good stuff but I try , exercise daily and my body shape never changes at all. I took in a parcel of protein shake stuff for my sisters boyfriend who is a marine and he really is in a similar situation he isn't a naturally bulked guy and seems to work for him. Des anyone have any recommendations to what stuff works for them?
I've tried plenty of stuff over the years (hard gainer, whey protien etc) in the end I just stick with unflavoured stuff from myprotien.com. Tastes of nothing and is easy to digest.
Another backer of myprotein here. For morning intake, I would definitely recommend Instant Oats here. Couple it with egg whites (either in powder or naturally separated form) for a big carb and protein pump when you wake up. If you're looking for protein shakes for workout recovery, Impact Whey is the most popular. I put 250ml of skimmed milk in, two scoops of impact whey, shake for 10 seconds and down the lot. Mix in Creatine for extra bulk on the muscles and L Glutamine for recovery aid. Evening-wise, have a good, proper meal. About a fist-sized portion of protein (take your pick here. I tend to steer towards steak, tilapia or chicken), then green veg (Broccoli is my pick) and brown rice to fuel the recovery. Before you go to bed, take a Casein-based protein shake too. That should see you in the right direction. Whilst I'm no expert, I've been weight training and street dancing now for 2 years, and I weight-lift 5 times a week, whilst dancing twice a week.
I use both the chocolate flavour shake and the creapump from myprotein.com and its great, would reccomend in terms of helping speed muscle mass increase (i weight train between 2-4 times a week depending how busy i am). Good value for money too, the creapump is excellent for giving you a boost before a session
Hi Jordan, you say you work out 2-3 times a week (as well as exercise daily) but what kind of workout are you doing?
+1 to this. I've been using unflavoured on and off for 3 years and it's great stuff... the results speak for themselves. Prior to that I used Holland & Barret stuff, and it just stinks (literally, once it's passed through your system). Just don't rely on supplements to give you bulk; a well tailored training routine and a good balanced diet are an imperative foundation. Any supplements you take will only be of benefit if your training and diet are in check.
If you want to get real serious, then there are a few things that made me balloon when I was training. Mass drol (celtic dragon) is a testosterone supplement, basically puts bazillions of the stuff into your system, and you can take it 2 caps a day for 4 weeks, with your other sup's like a pre-work out (i like no xplode or super pump or jack3d) and protein (I always seem to get met-rx protein) and this over a month you can put on 4 - 5kg of lean muscle, though you have to work out really quite hard, and then afterwards you have to do a course of equal length for PCT as your natural testosterone production will have basically shut down, you can use novedex XT for this or any other testosterone booster/estrogen suppressive. Its knocking on the door of being a steroid though, it's all legal and legit, but not too far from being illegal I reckon. I know a few people who cycle it a couple of times a year, I did 2 cycles of it over a year, and both times had great results. But yeah, is strong potentially nasty stuff.
All good stuff in here! myprotein.com seems the way to go Im thinking of possibly writing up a timetable for the week in order to keep me on track with diet and training. I walk/run/cycle once a day depending on what im doing if its just a walk it can be a quick 30 min power walk or couple hours. I don't have alot of time on my hands but my workouts generally consist of basic weight training, situps, pushups etc I used to do alot more in the week but became so dissatisfied with the results and the work i was putting in i got super demotivated. I want to draw up a timetable from the time i wake up to the time i go to bed, I have a pretty consistant week now so its easy to pinpoint chunks of time during the day. So i can see what free time i have what i should be eating what excercises i should be doing when i should be doing them and for how long. My biggest problem is i have no structure to the way i workout its all based on "shall i do some weights today while i have an hour free?"
If you're spending that many days training, you would do well to find a 3-way split on your muscle groups for weight training and target each one. As you're aiming for bulk, I'd recommend working sets to failure, including FST-7 and/or 21's on the weaker muscles. I train a 5-way split with multiples and singles of muscles on each session, incorporating super, giant and dropsets in, but that's not needed to such an extent for bulking, as it's more about pure bodygrowth rather than overall power to start with. If you need a hand with anything, I've been prepping plans for years for mates, with very good results, and am actually looking to become a full-time personal trainer in the next couple of years, so as I said before, I'm no expert (yet!), but I'm happy to help create a routine for you that would help you target what you're after. You've got the cardio spot on though. I normally recommend 20 minutes unaided (ie. walking, running) twice a day during cutting and 20 minutes with apparatus (ie. cycling, rowing, stair-climbing) once a day during bulking. The big part of bulking though is what you consume and what you train in weights.
I train three times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 1 hour straight from work. My friend is a bodybuilder and Sports Nutritionist and it's where I get my information from. I use MyProtein.com for all supplements. Some other well known brands are ludicrusly expensive. Impact Whey shakes ( 2 Scoops Twice Daily ) Creature ( 5g Before & 5g Afterworkouts ) Ideal breakfast: Porriage + Unflavoured Protein Mixed. Lunch: Tuna and Pasta / Rice Dinner: Your choice Beef/Chicken etc. My biggest point to make is don't be afraid to eat what you want. My friend and I have seen over the years many people go at it for the first month / two months extremely hard and burn out quickly. The diet does get boring and some people give up because of it. The main thing you need to do is enjoy it. Get a training buddy or write a blog on your progress. Good luck with the bulking progress. Let us know how you get on. I'm bulking myself through until February where I will start cutting ready for Summer (if we get one).
don't take mass drol if that's your work out! hehe i think it would do more bad than good. I was specifically building muscle mass so working out for 2 hours + per night, 5 days a week. Its a kind of supplement that requires that kind of commitment. How heavy are you? As I haven't got a gym membership anymore, I have been mainly doing workouts with my body weight at the moment, with a pull up bar, the ledges in my kitchen and a chair! I do elevated pressups, with my feet up about 2.5 foot on a chair, and 30 reps in a set, 3 sets, and then a set to fail - also to spice things up i move my hands closed together for each set, with the third set having my hands touching in the middle, set to fail I can normally get out about 60 - 70 reps, but thats with my hands shoulder width apart. Pull up bars are good for lats, and the wider you have your hands apart the wider you will get in the back. I'm not very good at pullups as I weigh 100kg and my lat's aren't all that at the minute. I use the ledges in my kitchen for doing dips, though, I have found out recently that dips are actually quite bad for you, and my friend has actually ripped one of his shoulder muscles doing dips, so I'm not doing nearly as many of these anymore. Finishing a work out with some protein is near on essential though if you want your muscles to grow, as is having some down time after exercising that muscle group.
Creating a routine sounds great! im currently researching food options I am a student although i live at home, money is tight i can't afford fancy foods and im not a great cook! I checked out some videos of scoobysworkshop on youtube his motto is "If it taste good spit it out" which i hate, i don't want to live eating stuff that tastes like crap in order to get a big bigger. I weigh roughly 13 stone or so... my biggest problem is i find it really difficult lifting my own body weight I mean i can but i can't see much benefit at this early stage with it. Super helpful stuff carrie! That looks like a good starting point
I've tried almost every kind of weight gainer out there (wasting disease) but I always thought that a diet high in protein while I was working (or working out ) heavily did the best. Granted, my caloric intake went up to about 8000 during those times, but that's where I weighed the max I've ever weighed-not when I messed about with supplement this or that. (To be perfectly fair, though, I have Marfan's syndrome, and they tell me if it gets close to my mouth, eat it. I've been on 6000-6500 calories for a while, and I feel like they're going to bump me up again, as I'm losing again. Most I ever went up to was 10k and that required help from supplements.)
Do you think drinking a serving of protein shake 2 times daily will radically change your strength and body composition? Do you think derek poundstone owes it all to the shake? You know your not doing enough, so change that first. Buying a product won't fix it. PS. Margo, You know Drol is a prohormone?
PM me if you'd like some help mate with it. I can make routines customised to what equipment you have available and the lifestyle you need. No need to spend money on things that aren't a lifestyle choice.
I used to workout 4-5 days of the week with weights for around 2 hours a day while watching my diet and making sure i was getting the right stuff and although i lost pretty much any fat i had on my body and muscle was defined i never got any bigger at all. It actually started to look unhealthy so i cut it back a bit eating more what i wanted. Im honestly not in this for the quick fix i understand it takes years of hardwork and diet watching but i need something to supplement the way i workout because i was'nt getting anywhere with doing it the way i was. Im researching food getting in some new weights and stuff and looking at getting a consistant workout going
Squat Deadlift Overhead press Bench Pull ups Drink lots of water. Sleep 8 hours a night. Eat a calorie surplus of fresh meat, fish, eggs, milk, vegetables, nuts and pulses. Cardio; swim, run, cycle etc. I find it hard to believe you were working out correctly, eating correctly and looked unhealthy. You would be the worlds first. You don't need lots of money to eat fresh. Fresh loose veg' are one of the cheapest things in the supermarket. Substitute packaged food and snacks for fresh meat and your food bills should be cheaper. I'd be happy to provide a sample shopping list. Learning to cook seems daunting. But if your motivated enough to workout, cooking is child's play. Again, happy to provide simple recipes. Does this not suggest to you, what you were doing was flawed?
