Tips to unbitch yourself:

1) Compound Lifts
2) Eat
3) Repeat

If you aren't gaining weight...YOU AREN'T EATING ENOUGH
If you aren't getting stronger... YOU AREN'T EATING/LIFTING ENOUGH
If you are a "hard gainer" ... YOU AREN'T EATING ENOUGH
If you use the word "tone"... YOU ARE A BITCH

Extra Un-Bitch tips:
Eat ~ 1.5 grams of protein PER pound of body mass (lean).
Lift 3x+ a week (Lift similar muscles Non-Consecutively, IE: 1 day between benching)
Lift Heavy


THE END

I'm 5'8 and weigh 159 lbs. I gained 10 lbs of lean muscle by going on a high protein diet. The rule of thumb is to consume 1.5-2 grams of protein for each pound you weigh. I get my powder from trueprotein.com because they come in large bulk sizes, have good prices, and its flavorless. I take 2 scoops in OJ (48 grams) in the morning and another 2 scoops after a workout. You can eat 4-5 small meals a day 2 hours in between each and consume servings about the size of your fist. Ranging from chicken breast, egg whites, almonds, tuna, etc....Don't forget your fiber.

For workouts and due to limited time (classes), I work out 3 times a week:
warm-up: push-ups, dips, shoulder pull-ups
-chest, shoulders:dumbbell flat/incline/decline bench, chest curls, arnolds, sungods, etc..
-bicep, triceps:21's, reverse preacher, nosebreakers, weighted dips, etc..
-back, legs: deadlifts (favorite), row, lunges, squat/jumps, etc...

For the fun of it, I think my bench max is 250 lbs. Always change your routine after 3-4 weeks by changing muscle groups, reps, and weight. One of my biggest problems is taking too long of a break/rest. You breaks (depending) should comprise of 30-45 seconds.


miataspeed2005: how on earth do you fit in a miata? lol

Also, lifting noobs shouldn't play around with "bulking" or "cutting"

The trick is..."CLEAN BULK"

Eat lots...but don't eat alot of SHIT.

When people "bulk" they almost always end up with alot of extra fat in their weight gain (cause they suck). Then they "cut" which is going at a calorie deficit with cardio (optional), which usually fucks up gains made while bulking.

Do it right from the start... Bulk with healthy foods.

(If you are competition BB, Cutting is going to work for you, but for the rest of us that do not have, or do not want sub 8% BF, cutting is for bitches)


Please join a BB forum. There is already some dumb ass info in this thread, at least find a place where there are members dedicated to removing "bro-science".

You are swole. But I think your BF% is off.

Calipers give you that number?

He used the bear man meat stick meter method... I dunno :hustler:

lots of good advice here man. Back when i worked out a ton i would eat atleast 5-7k calories aday and maybe pack on 10-15 lbs of muscle. but i see my bud miataspeed already took care of your nutrition so maybe some pointers on some excercises that will make you strong.

First do some damn dips, they will give you definition in your tri's and chest, 4 sets of 25 to start and then you can go to sets of 45 and even wieghted. These are a great warm up excercise for your upper boddy days and realy get the blood pumping.

Next i personally always like to train with wieght while i walk around it used to be in the form of a 40 lbs backpack that i would sometimes stick a 25 in there from time to time while i was at school. This build endurance and lower body strenght the same can be done with a weight vest etc. Doing this effectivly harness the work you do via walking around all day and you will be surprised at how quickly the results show themselves.

Do not skimp on your core excercises hundred and even thousands of situps perday might be tedius but you will notice how will you muscles work together doing most anything once you get into a habit of doing them. So try to work in stuff to work the core man it pays off you might not have the 6 pack bodyfat wise when you are done but the thicker stronger muscle wall is hella nice.

Go light on the cardio until you have reached a strength you want to be at. The more cardio you do the less energy for your muscles to build strenght and in turn size. You need to be able to run, but overall it is easier to get as strong as you want to be before you get to where you can run fast and over a good distance.
Cleans are good but they can get rather dangerous if done with bad form no spotter or simply to much weight.

To issolate your delts etc incline, and simple dumbbell excercises can do alot for you.
I am a tried and true bench press fan myself, lots of wieght and as many reps as you can handle.
And all of this is going to be rather hard unless you find someone to work with you. Becouse i dont care what people say working out alone sucks. And they dont have to be comperable in strenght either. Most of the best workouts i have had have been with smaller and weaker people working with me. It just seems the most people at my strenght lvl didn't have the enthusiasm, and energy as everyone else. This is very important man, becouse working out is very much a state of mind. Esp if you lift heavy on bench etc. Cause trust me if you dont trust that the mofo spoting you is gonna catch any stupid shit going wrong your gonna psyche yourself out and not be able to give it your all. Dropping 200+ lbs on your head is not fun, and being pinned under 300+ isnt a picnic either.

To combat this claustrophobia i found it helps to just do a few sessions with the bar sitting on your chest with progressively heavier weight. for a few minutes at a time. This conditions your mind to not panic when you feel the pressure on your body and gives you just one less thing to worry about. Well im sure this will be thrown out as poorly written and punctuated i wish you the best of luck man hit me up if you get stuck if its 2 things i know its miatas and working out.

oh and for the record 5"11 230 lbs atm at one time just my bench+deadlift was 1k lbs ;)

For those who have dedicated such a large part of their lives to bulking up, what's the primary benefit (besides being able to lift heavy things)?

Well I am in the military. The past year I've climbed mountains with 100+lbs on my back. Other then that it is just healthy. And as long as you are not grossly huge women tend to like it.

yes, Rick the owner of golds gym did it.
BTW Go to a real mens gym not some bullshit place like planet fitness, ballys and all that shit.

I go to a privatly owned golds gym that has meat head weight that are all old and the dumbells go up to 200 lbs. a bunch of BB go there and so does evan centopani. If you go to a gym where the equipment is all nice and new then i would switch. when you see big guys you will get motivated and they will help you out too. and if your gym as fitness in the name dont go( planet fitness, fitness edge,etc)

you hit it right on the mark the old rusted weight in the back solid iron no treadmills ect... if your going to the gym to impress the women there don't even bother.
when i first started working out some 17 years ago i got into a pretty hardcore powerlifting group. if you could only press 315 on flat bench you were considered a bitch.
every day was like a compititon heavy max weights every fucking day!!!! no three day routines everyday if you benched we all maxed out back arms maxed out ect... no light days. it was great when i moved to arkansas i weighed 200lbs and had a 475lb bench no spotter.
i found a few gyms nothing like i worked out at before.
now i have my own bench squat rack preacher bench dumbells up to 100 lbs and around 1200lbs free weights and i work out at home in my garage still hitting around 455lb bench trying for 500lb this year if my shoulder allows me to.

I'm 5'11. In the past two years I've gained and lost around a hundred pounds. Started "shredded" at 130lbs 5% BF, and was happy. Then I decided I wanted to be larger and went up to 195lbs while gaining the wrong way (eating like shit, and not lifting enough) ended up at like 20% BF. Been slowly "cutting" and am around 170lbs 8% BF now. I'm stronger now then I was at 195lbs. Am currently trying to lean up back down to 4%-5%. I got sick of being a pudgeball at 195. Next year, I would like to work my way up to 195lbs but have 4% bodyfat not 20% with goals of looks, power, and strength- priorities in that order.

I work out a decent amount--- Crossfit a few times a week, MMA sparring and BJJ a few times a week, kettlebell and heavy weight training and olympic lifting once a week. Also do trail run/mountain bike/snowboard for fun. The leaning out process has taken a while since it's hard to do all the cardio type stuff I do without carbs. Most of my workouts are so I can be a strong martial arts fighter and crossfit is fantastic for that.

If anyone cares, I'm a vegan and have been just fine building strength, muscle, stamina etc. I think that a balanced diet (not too much protien carbs or fat) and a metered caloric intake are critical for fat loss or muscle gain. I think diet and pushing yourself hard at the gym are the most important things.

heavy things inludes motors etc. and turning stuck and rusty bolts, as well as being able to be self suffcient for most 2-3 man jobs. the most obvius draw back is that well i cant fit my hand's/forearm in alot of place most people can and i have to buy relaxed fit pants that are atleast 2 inches bigger at the waist so my thighs and calves dont rip em and even then they sometimes do if i lift something kinda heavy. I always ust wanted to be strong though.

For me it was always about confidence and reaching my goals.

Being out of shape this past year or so has affected both of those, so I know it plays a major role. Confidence is down, and I don't work towards my goals like I used to.

Weight training is a mental exercise as well...and I'm a LOT more motivated recently since I've gotten back in the gym.

Only the stupid irrelevant ones. This thread would be 8 pages long if I left all the BS in.
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there really isn't one other than self-esteem. When i was younger i wasted an incredible amount of time working out trying to get bigger, now i just don't care enough, plus all i have left to show for it is stretch marks in my armpits and groin. I'd love to work out and get back into shape but both my shoulders are torn, have 2 bulging discs in my neck, and soft tissue damage in my lower back. plus getting back under 10% body fat would be hard since i love to eat

Stretch marks FTL. I didn't know until recently that you could get stretch marks only from gaining 10-15lbs over a 6 month period. I thought they were only for pregnant women and very overweight people.

I guess some people just care about looking their best. I want to look good, just not at the cost of being able to enjoy living life without a strict schedule and not being able to eat the foods I like. I also think lifting in the long run is bad for you. I would blame some of my joint problems on it, but it was mostly hard manual labor that did that.

sorry your pretty much dead wrong there after 30 your muscles and bones start to detiorate. the only group this not happen to is groups of people who either due weight training or have labor intensive jobs. and people who do start weight trainimg showed to grow muscle and stop the break down due to age.
being i use extreme heavy weight 400lb plus everyday has made my bones denser to acomadate what i do that will pay off down the road. not to mention men with higher bodyfat than muscle have a higher estrogen count which effects your sex drive and stamia and the ability to get it up.
theres a good book by tosca reno clean eating for men goes through the effects of clean eating and weight lifting on the body she kind lays it out there no woman wants to bang a tub of lard.

btw, I pushed 245x8 last night.

weak

your joints will be really glad your bones are dense. And there is a difference between working out to stay in shape and body building. i don't subject myself to a workout regiment but i do plenty of physical things, ask your girl about my stamina.