Wanting to put on Muscle...

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Hey folks, does anybody have any ideas/programmes for putting on muscle in relative speed, just im going to be finished school in 1 and a half months and i want to start working out as i will have some extra spare time!

MANY THANKS

i think any program is as good as any other, as long as you do it consistently, and are realistic about the possible results.... don't expect to add VISIBLE muscles in one month, but you'll definitely feel the change.... don't make the error of doing more in order to speed it up, you'll only end-up tired and bored, and possibly injured. Good luck!!

I've been lucky enough that my roommate has a Bowflex and we've been using the thing religiously (him and our other friend have been at it for about a year, I've been at it for maybe 3 months now). I have been taking it a bit light, just in the sense that I'm working out three times a week but it'll be different muscle groups every time - partly just to, as coyote put it, build a good force of habit and keeping myself enjoying it rather than working out 6 times a week and feeling like its a hassle when it interferes with everything else too much.

The one bit of advice that I can't stress enough though - protein. You want to get something to take after working out, to drink later that night, possibly on the inbetween days as well just to help you rebuild. I've been using the Whole Gain whey protein and I'll probably be buying a huge jug of Muscle milk - the Muscle Milk is cheaper and better for inbetween supplementation while the Whole Gain is better just used right after a workout (its a little pricier). When I first started I was also using Arnge Krush as a motivator - it has Cre-Alkalyn (unlike creatine monohydrate its no-load), nitric oxide, and L-Argenine I believe as well. Motivators are good for that first month when you want to feel up to working out but your muscles aren't quite used to it yet, I'd just take a scoop of the Arnge Krush about half an hour before I worked out - and when I did my body feels like its ready to take on the world (so in that sense, if you've had a long day at work and really feel like falling asleep instead of working out - this'll get you through it and then some).

You don't have to, of course, do all the supplements, but you do want to get a lot of whey protein where you can (milk, cheese, etc.) and stay away from soy protein for a source as it quite often lacks the sorts of proteins that are good for repairing muscle in comparison with whey. Also, if you do drink shakes be sure to take no more than 30g of protein at a time as anything over that usually goes to waste.

Putting on muscle takes awhile. You need to learn how to do the exercises properly, exhale as you lift the weight, hold for 3 seconds, inhale as you put the weight back down. Basically lift as much as you can while maintaining proper form (straight back, etc) without hurting yourself. Do 8-12 reps per set, I usually do about 4 sets per muscle group. Give your muscles one day of rest in between. Also, you need to eat a lot. There is no quick way, but eating lots of vegetables, protein, carbs, and drinking lots of water all have been helpful to me. Protein is probably the most important one. You need to be persistent, and at 18 you are still growing, it will take years before you completely fill out. That's all I can think of.

start slow, get to know the gym, the exercises, and yourself. when you're comfortable, throw on more weight. if you're looking to build muscle you'll want to use a weight that you can push for about 8-12 reps but no more. make sure you're eating, you won't build muscle if you aren't eating enough.

I like free weights a lot. the only machines i use are the leg press (i also do squats), lat pull, and bench pull. free weights will work your stabilizers and can help prevent injury because you're using all the muscles involved in lifting something, versus just using the one muscle used in that specific range of motion.

make sure you're resting. it's much better to undertrain than to overtrain. overtraining can lead to injury, fatigue, and can prevent gains. you should have at least one full day of rest between workouts on one muscle. you can still lift weights on your rest day, just don't do the muscles you worked the day before. when i'm doing my own workout plan i like to break it up into 4 sessions a week. monday and thursday will be lower body and back, tuesday and friday will be the rest. i throw in cardio in there when i want.

if you really need a plan, i can send you the one my coach gave me. it won't be ideal for building muscle because it's meant for an endurance athlete (rowing) in the off season, so it starts off with building symmetry, then building muscle, then building power, over a 7 month span. it also has a lot of cardio in there.

This program is really good: http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html

hey folks thanks for the advice i'll keep it all in mind when i begin to work out more seriously!

I have mostly been exercising to stay in shape but now I want a little more muscle.

Another thing with my first post, the supplements I was talking about - not really needed. You can get all these things dietarily (at least the protein and what not) but this also does take a lot of careful monitoring on your part so far as making sure that your getting enough of the right nutrients. If your already a busy person and adding a weight-lifting/hypertrophe routine in then yes, sometimes its still a good idea to get a good whey protein supplement.

I KNEW another aspie was gonna recommend Hypertrophy Specific Training! This is the only totally scientifically based training program in existence.

I've been doing this routine off and on for years and the times that I do it I gain a lot of muscle. Every time I do it I have to buy new clothes, and people accuse me of being on steroids.

You do have to do it right though.

BTW - I am "The Long Run" on that forum, and you'll see me post on there every now and then.

Also, don't work out every day, as you want to give yourself plenty of time for your muscles to rest. Realistically, you only want to work each muscle group once, at most twice a week.

Monday - Chest
Tuesday - Bicepts and Shoulders
Wednesday - Tricepts and forearms
Thursday - Back and shoulders
Friday - Legs

I'll admit though I get lazy on my lower body

You can possibly work out every other day, but use this as last resort. Only if you don't notice any results within two months.

For a beginner (at least your first year of lifting), the only supplements you need are food and sleep. At this stage, about any sort of routine would work for you, as long as you're doing enough work. Experiment with how much food you need to eat, and try to gain about two pounds per month. Two pounds sounds like nothing, but it adds up. You could be fifty pounds bigger after two years if you want to get that big. I've been lifting for a little more than two years now, and I've gone from 157 lbs. to 205 lbs.

If you don't have someone teaching you all the good exercises, you might find that you don't yet know enough good leg exercises. Do what you can now, but squats and deadlifts are the most crucial exercises for most anyone trying to get bigger or stronger. You'll want to eventually learn how to do those correctly, and you should try to do learn them the way a powerlifter does them (I do powerlifting). We compete with those lifts, so we do them in the most efficient and safest way (safest because every powerlifter plans on having at least a twenty-year career in the sport). If you want more information, I wouldn't mind elaborating or pointing you toward useful resources.