Thread: Help Me Build Muscle Please

Your maintenance should be somewhere in the area of 1,890kcal/day (135x14).

So eat a minimuim 2,500kcal/day

check out this site to help you build a custom diet:
www.swole.me

As for lifting, it is one of those things that you will personalize as you grow, but to start a basic 5 day split would be as follows.

day1- Chest/Calves (You should have a few pressing exercises and atleast 1 fly movement)
day 2- Lats/upper back (pulldowns, db pullovers, either underhand bb rows for lower lats or overhand for upper lats, 1 arm db rows)
day 3- Quads/hams/glutes/lower back [Ideally quads and hams should be in 2 separate workouts but you are a beginner so it makes no difference] (squats, leg press/hack squat, quad extension, SLDL, hamstring curl, lunges)
day 4- Delts/traps (atleast 1 pressing movement, atleast 1 lateral raise movement, atleast 1 rear delt movement ie reverse flyes, and heavy shrugs for the traps)
day 5- bis/tris/forearms (3+ tricep exercises, 3+ bicep exercises)

All in all it does not matter a whole lot which exercises you choose, so long as you stimulate that muscle. Exercises vary widely from person to person, it is entirely personal preference, just make sure you hit all parts of every muscle, focus on the contraction, not on the weight.

Watch some bodybuilding videos, they will help you learn proper form. Hany Rambod and Flex Lewis have some great stuff out there

when i was 19 i had the same problem bro i was 5'10 137 now im almost 24 5'11 180 best advice ive ever got was mass starts in the kitchen and ends in the weight room.. eat all you can and dont slack in the gym youll get results.. good luck brotha

I was told to do 1900 on workout days with HIIT and workout and 1400 on rest days, I think that might have been wrong, but yours sounds great

Should I do 40/40/20 in pro/carbs/fats or 40/30/40 carbs/pro/fat?
How many meals a day? 6 or 8?

What?!?!?! I used the 40/40/20 formula and the stuff that came out on the diet plan said with 2500 callories I would be having:
Cumulative Stats:
315.3g Carbs
24.2g Fat
251.7g Protein
2485.8 Calories

Im no expert but I am sure thoes calculations arnt correct.

you won't grow on 1900kcal. 2500 is a MINIMUIM. Ideally you should be gaining 2lbs per week at the most, anything above that will most likely be fat gain.

at your macros, protein should be the bulk of your macros, followed by carbs, then fat. You are not Jay Cutler pounding 800-1000g carbs per day, you don't need to worry about how many meals you eat a day. 3-4 is fine, hitting your macros is what matters. If you get hungry again, pound down another meal it will only help.

you will be at a caloric surplus, you will gain fat, but the muscle you will gain over 6 months on a consistent caloric surplus will make it worth it. You can always cut the fat off at the end of 6 months/ whenever you quit your diet.

but to answer your question, 40/40/20 pro/carb/fat is fine.
-Carb sources should be low GI with the exception of post workout. (low gi= brown rice/sweet potato, high[er] gi= white rice/pasta)
-Intake Carbs 1.5 hours before you lift
-Your biggest meal of the day should be post workout


Skip the cardio while bulking, if anything you should walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes 2x/week post workout to help keep bf down.

So the values I have listed above are correct? I put in 50/30/20 carb/pro/fat and got
Cumulative Stats:
316.6g Carbs
57.3g Fat
176.6g Protein
2488.5 Calories

Looks a bit more suitable because fat is closer to half of body mass (lb) and pro is about 1-1.5x body weight, is this any better or will the other one be better? I am asking you because you designed the workout for me, others who say 50/30/20 is better may only be doing 2-3 wokouts a week.
Also am using skim milk, should I be drinking whole milk or skim?
Also should I be doing exercises like squats and dead lifts? What day would these go under? What exercises are definatly needed in the workout plan.
Also I dont have any whey yet, so I use 10oz skim milk with 1 tbs nesquick choc milkshake power because it has dextrose in it and simple carbs, is that okay?

eat food

Are you anorexic? Serious question. You're tiny as shit and running miles every day. For what?

You want to grow? Eat tons of protein, carbs, and healthy fats. Lift heavy. Do moderate cardio. Not the shit you're doing now.

If you want help, feel free to PM.

With a couple diet and lifestyle changes, you could see big differences in a couple of months.

Originally Posted by bigbenj

Are you anorexic? Serious question. You're tiny as shit and running miles every day. For what?

You want to grow? Eat tons of protein, carbs, and healthy fats. Lift heavy. Do moderate cardio. Not the shit you're doing now.

If you want help, feel free to PM.

With a couple diet and lifestyle changes, you could see big differences in a couple of months.

too much common sense

I get flashbacks of Blue...

I am saying...I used to do that a while back and saw results, but the results I was seeing were not fat being reduced...it was MUSCLE by the time I had realised I found out that I had no muscle left, I could only bench 30kg!!! I used to work in a car garage before I started loosing weight and lifting 30kg....if I couldnt do that then I wouldnt have had a job, I used to be able to move engines around by hand my main job as an aprentice was to move stuff around (HARD work moving tyres and gearboxes around all day). I am so annoyed I didnt listen to anyone and kept on dieting and joging, I overdid it and lost it all now I have learnt from my MISTAKES and am going to listen to all you and do my research before I do anything that could effect me and my health.

I just want to make sure this time round I dont do anything stupid and I want to have a plan (SOMETHING I DID NOT HAVE BEFORE) once I have a plan I will logg all foods into a macro and see the %'s and continue eating loads, I am not doing it because I will eat over the limit, I am doing it because I dont want to eat under it.
I dont mind cutting out sugar because I havent had much in he past either, I dont mind eating loads of eggs because I like eggs and can get liike 100 for £3, meats I can get but would rarther have more lentils since I have been eating like 3 chicken breasts or more and take time to cook.

eat everything....dont run...walk....dont walk...sleep

if you can lift something 12 times in good form raise the weight next time

push pull legs

So if I eat at a 50/30/20 ratio will it be okay for the workout set up above with 2500 cals a day?
I know you say eat everything but I eat too little or too much I just want a rough estimate so I wont over or under do it

You are 130 pounds

Do you have a vagina? That is the only way I can see you worrying about over eating

You really should eat, eat, and eat. It all depends on how much you can stomach at a time and how far you're willing to go. Here's a simple one:

M1: bowl of oatmeal and eggs
M2: protein shake in milk with peanut butter and oats
M3: large turkey or tuna sandwich on wheat bread. Greek yogurt.
M4: same shake
M5: dinner. Lots of dinner
M6: same shake, no oats

I don't know how far you're willing to go, so I'm not going to say chicken breast and brown rice all day.

I heard I get fast muscle gain on the first 6 weeks, I have high bf% and would rarther not add more to it, I have little to no muscle, I dont want to look really fat while I am bulking.

R u blue country?

ok thanks I will be geting shakes soon, at the moment all I am using is 10oz milk with choc powder for dex after workout. o is it ok to follot 50/30/20 on your workout?

I only have a barbell at the moment so can I do this:

day 1:
chest fly 6x3
close grip bench press 6x3
bench press incline 6x3
Press ups 12x4 (at the end of the workout)
ANY MORE?

day 2:
bb row 6x3
bb overhand row 6x3
db pullovers 6x3
bent over db rows 6x3

day 3:
db or bb sqauts 6x3
hack squat 6x3
SLDL 6x3
db lunges 6x3

day 4:
reverse flys 6x3
bb shrugs 6x3
ANY MORE?

day 5:
bb or db bicep curls 6x3
db concentration curls 6x3
db hammer curls 6x3
bb tricep extensions 6x3
db bicep extensions 6x3
bb reverse bench press 6x3
bb wrist curl behind back 6x3
bb wrist curls 6x3

I dont have any single hand bars at the moment but geting some on tuesday.
That is what I am going to start from tommoro, is it ok? should I add or change anything?

So I have had a look and made a sample diet of what I would like to eat also this is me stuffing myself because being on a 1200 cal diet I didnt eat much and slowly building my apatite:

M1: 1/2 cup oats 2 cups whole milk
M2: 1 cup measured raw lentils cooked
snack: banana before workout
M4: 10 oz whole milk 1 tbs nesquick choc milkshake for dex and pro post workout(not got any whey yet)
M5: 4 wholegrain breads cucumber tuna 130g (1 can) sandwiches
M6: 5 egg whites in omlete with mushrooms maybee change it around a bit so I dont eat 2 omletes a day.
M6: 5 egg whites with mushrooms in omlete

Total:
Calories: 2400
Fat: 50g
Carbs: 307g
Protein: 170g

I will eat some nuts and snacks to make that a bit higher.

I am sorry I know this isnt the diet forum but just wanted to ask you guys because in the diet forum they all say eat 1400-1900 cals and I know that is JUST WRONG!

Thanks for the help so far learnt so much and feel so good that such big bodybuilders are helping me bulk!
THANKS

Turn meal one into a shake. If you're going to do oats and milk, might as well add protein powder and peanut butter and mix it all up in a blender.

Also, get rid of the nesquick for some real protein powder. Lentils are fine, but get some protein in there. Protein is like testosterone, it's always included. Always the base.

Will this diet be alright until I get my shake and substiturte for the oats in the morning and the post workout milkshake? think I might change the omlete on the night with some lean meat too like pork or lamb, got loads even chicken all from christmas, also should I lower the fats and increase the protein?

Here's a sample workouteverything is 3 sets, 8-12 reps)

Chest and Tris:
Flat bench
Incline bench
Db flyes
Skull crushers
Overhead db extension

Back and Bis:
Deadlift
Pull ups(if you have something to do them with)
Barbell rows
DB rows
Barbell curls
Hammer curls

Shoulders:
Military press
Side laterals
Bent over rear raises
Shrugs

Legs:
Everything you mentioned looks good.

8-12 reps because IMO, your set and rep range will not give you what you're looking for.

Ahh ok great thank you, so 4 days, should I add another day for something else or will 4 days a week be good for a nice bulk?
Also should I lower the fat by changing small things like less whole milk and get skim milk and get more protein in the diet?

Fats are cool where they are, for now, but up the protein at little. Try for at least 200g. At your body weight, I don't think you need much more than that for the moment.

Whatever you decide to have for the last meal, leave carbs out. Most people say carbs before bed make them store more fat(just going off what people report) and carbs before bed also blunt your bodies release of gh.

If you want to add a fifth day, you could do accessory work.

Forearm work, calf work, and abs.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, I dont belive it, I have spent about 2 weeks on the diet forum and had nothing but eat 1400 cals and dont do more than 2 day workout...Im saying to them, I want to work hard and gain faster than what they say and I dont think that 1400 cals will bulk me up and come here for few hours and you help me with EVERYTHING, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!