Took 6 months off, looking for tips

**Island Roots** · 05-21-2006, 03:30 PM

I took about 6 months off; I had been working out for about a year and a half solid. I've lost pretty much all the muscle mass I had gained.

I'm 5'11", 145lbs...quite lanky. This summer I'm hitting the gym hard...the only supplements I plan on taking are whey protein, Muscle Milk, and Kre-Alkalyn.

My basic nutrition plan (I'm not one to count calories, etc) is to eat lots of smaller meals throughout the day (as opposed to 3 larger meals), whey protein when I wake up, followed by another helping post-workout (workouts will probably be in the late afternoon/early evening), then a PB&J sandwich followed by Muscle Milk before bed.

I'm looking to add mass, both muscle and otherwise. I've generally always been on the lanky side and I think part of that is my genetics but I'm hoping by the end of summer to get up to a solid 160 to 170.

Regarding workouts, would it be beneficial to me to break down my workouts into the different parts of my body (back, chest, bis/tris, etc)? Would I see any sigificant improvements over just doing an upper body day followed by lower body day then alternating?

I'm not one of those kids looking to boost my bench by an insane amount; heck I really care less about my bench. I'm just looking to get back to how I was last summer; pretty atheltic and bulked up a little bit.

Opinions/ideas/tips? Thanks.

**Double D** · 05-21-2006, 03:48 PM

Well I would simply keep is simple to start and stay with compound movements..........squats, deadlifts, bench, overhead press, things like that. I would strictly do those for about 3 months then start incorporating more isolation movements. Dpending on your scheledule on how many days you can be at the gym would make it easier to make out a simple workout.

**Seanp156** · 05-21-2006, 05:48 PM

To be honest, from the brief description of your diet, it doesn't sound very good. If you want to gain lots of muscle mass, you need to eat lots of clean/good food. Head to the diet section for advice on that.

**CowPimp** · 05-21-2006, 08:30 PM

Originally Posted by Seanp156

To be honest, from the brief description of your diet, it doesn't sound very good. If you want to gain lots of muscle mass, you need to eat lots of clean/good food. Head to the diet section for advice on that.

Agreed. You're going in the right direction, but diet is paramount. I would spend a little more time getting that straight.

Beyond that, you don't have to do an upper-lower split if you don't want to. I generally recommend people start with a full body routine when they first start resistance training or they are returning from a significant layoff. You don't need the advantage of packing a lot of volume in a single session if you aren't accustomed to a small amount of volume, and it helps get your conditionining and work capacity up so that you can do more when you switch to a split. I say stick to a full body program for about 4 weeks, then switch over to a split if you really want to.

**Island Roots** · 05-23-2006, 12:42 PM

Wow, I went to work out for the first time today. Within 35 minutes, I was completely dead. I can usually go for a good 90 minutes without feeling like this.

I knew I wouldn't be in the best shape but I'm surprised at how out-of-shape I am.

**CowPimp** · 05-23-2006, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by Island Roots

Wow, I went to work out for the first time today. Within 35 minutes, I was completely dead. I can usually go for a good 90 minutes without feeling like this.

I knew I wouldn't be in the best shape but I'm surprised at how out-of-shape I am.

Your conditioning will jump up rapidly. Don't let that kind of layoff happen again and it won't be so bad, hehe.

**overboard** · 05-24-2006, 05:33 AM

Dude, sounds like you need to eat. Your current diet will not get you where you want to go.

Here is a sample:

breakfast - whey and oats
2nd meal - Tuna and brown rice with a veggie
3rd meal - Chicken breast, potaotoes and a veggie
4th meal - whey and oats
5th meal - meat, carb, veggie ( have to use you imagination )
6th meal - cottage cheese is good if you like it.

**CowPimp** · 05-24-2006, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by overboard

Dude, sounds like you need to eat. Your current diet will not get you where you want to go.

Here is a sample:

breakfast - whey and oats
2nd meal - Tuna and brown rice with a veggie
3rd meal - Chicken breast, potaotoes and a veggie
4th meal - whey and oats
5th meal - meat, carb, veggie ( have to use you imagination )
6th meal - cottage cheese is good if you like it.

This diet is totally lacking essential fatty acids.

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