I was sitting around with some friends tonight and we decided to arm wrestle. Boyyyy did I get smoked. Couldn't even budge them. I have decided it is time to set my mind on putting on some weight and muscle. I've maintained the same weight for about 2 years, give or take a couple of pounds. I need some tips. I'm going to start eating a whole lot more along with some weight lifting. I don't know how much later I should work out after I eat, or vice versa, and all that other junk. Fill me in guys.
Eat a healthy balanced diet. Protein, carbs, veggies... Dont go on like a carb free diet. Your body need balance to work right. Work out upper body on monday, lower on tuesday, etc., do lots of running on sunday. run a little everyday, that will help with your muscles. Don't take Creatine. It works, you get stronger fast, but there are side affects and it isnt worth it. When I took it, i lost my appetite and couldnt eat until weeks after i stopped. Good luck.
LOL I knew someone was going to ask me that. I know I sound kinda childish for getting all psyched just because of a stupid arm wrestling match, but I'm not doing it just because of this. I am extremely underweight, almost to a point where it's unhealthy. No, i'm not annorexic. And the women don't dig skin n' bones.
Good question. Go to GNC and get the 'Sports Supplement Review, 4th Issue'. Particulalry if you are young, forget most all of the supplements mentioned, and just read about protein and insulin. It discusses how much of what to consume and when, and how your body recovers from workouts. If you buy supplements, be careful about GNC. IMHO, many of their products and prices suck. Poor values, and their salesfolk get commissions on their crapiest products. Some supplements really screw with me, but creatine did not bother me at all and it worked surprisingly well. I felt the difference in workouts and other people noticed the difference (under my suit jacket). It takes a while for some people to get used to it (how do I say this delicately...it clears their system out).
The ONLY supplement I take is a multi-vitamin. The most important thing to remember in working out is to just eat HEALTHY. No junk food, no fast food. I eat a lot of fruit, vegetables, and I drink a TON of water. Once I got used to it, I found myself craving those things. Especially if you're weight training, eat lots of protein. Baked chicken is a great source. I'm getting ready for Army basic training. I'm running every day (1 mile) and doing push-ups and sit-ups every other day (5 sets of 10 reps and 5 sets of 15 reps, respectively). I eat right and (I can't stress this enough) drink a TON of water with a bit of lemon juice in it. I'm seeing results very quickly. I'm to the point where I HATE eating crap, I LOVE that. I've got to eat a good burger every once in awhile, but I only do that about once a month. Good luck.
Rocketkid, if you want to increase mass, you must eat foods high in protein such as fish and baked chicken as Lynus mentioned. Increase your vegetable and fruit intake. It's hard to do that, but if you have a juicer than it is really easy to get your daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. Take a multi-vitamin. Cohen mentioned GNC is kind of a rip. From my experience, I must agree. DNC is better, if you have one in the area. Creatine is effective, but it gave me high blood pressure. Not worth it. It's always more effective to work out with someone else. I hate going to the gym by myself. Plus, you need a spotter if you plan to get stronger anytime soon.
Ok. Thats were most teens start to workout. You say you are really skinny and weak? Do you easily gain weight when you eat fattening food? Like most other people said here, just eat a healthy balanced meal. Eat fruits and vegetables a little more and drink water alott. Chicken and Fish are really good. When you start to lift weights, dont start off with some amount that you cant even do. Start slowly and add more each week. Work on your biceps and triceps one day. Next day go to chest and etc.
Thanks for the info! No, I do not gain easily when eating fattening food. I don't gain weight easily PERIOD. Like I said, I've maintained the same freakin weight for 2 freakin years! It was gettin sad. My main diet has been meat (beef, chicken, pork). Didn't eat much veggies or fruits. Better add to the list. Again, thanks all!
Francis3 is right. If you have never weightlifted before, start out <b>extremely</b> light. In fact, I would recommend going through your first ever workout just using the empty bar with no added weight. This is mainly just to get your body accustomed to that type of routine. It will be easy at first, but I guarantee you will still be sore the next day! Hey Lynus... I thought I was the only one who drank water with lemon juice! Your regimine sounds almost identical to mine. I drink tons of water and have cut out all junk food and most fast food. The only fast foods I eat now are Subway Sandwiches and the occassional slice of pizza. I lift weights 3 times a week, alternating between chest, arms, shoulders/back, legs. I also do 50-75 situps with each workout. The best way to monitor your water intake is to buy a couple of 1 liter plastic Gatorade or Evian bottles and just fill them up and drink from those all the time. I generally consume about 6 liters of water (with lemon juice) per day.
No Problem. Keep us informed on how its going. Also do the same amount of lifting on your right and left arm. Dont do more on right and leave ur left empty. Start slowly, even if you dont feel like you are doing anything, like fadeaway said , your body is going to get accustomed to that routine and it will help out later on.
There are more reasons for this than you can imagine, and not just pertaining to muscles. Your muscles will recover quicker than your joints, bones, tendons and ligaments. If you injure any of those, you will be dealt a lengthy setback in your workouts. For a more specific example, when you place your body under stress it will steal calcium from your bones (hey Lynus302, pay attention, that is why there are so many stress fractures after about 2 weeks into boot camp). I started lifting when I was about 12 and I was a stick. Military presses made my shoulder joints hurt for months. Also, be sure to warmup and be sure to stretch...ALOT. You don't want to reduce your range of motion.
Full Body Motion Exercises... ...are the way to go. Deadlifts, Clean and Press, Squats, etc. A lot of people shy away from these exercise due to fear of injury -- but getting injured in the gym has everything to do with not controlling your motions. If you start out slow and listen to your body (ie. Not continuing when you fell that little twinge in your back), these exercise will build strength and mass quicker than anything else you're going to do. Work hard. This is key -- if you half ass it in the gym, you're wasting your time. How hard should you be working? I'd say if you could finish three or more exercise in a session, you just aren't working hard enough. You should give your everything in everything that you do. Every exercise should be approached as a personal challenge -- or better yet, personal war. You vs the bar. Bring a friend -- you'll need the motivation. Having someone there to keep you going makes all the difference in the world. Keep your workouts short. There's no need to spend 2 hours in the gym -- 45 minuutes to an hour is more than plenty. You should be dead by that time anyways. Diet is key -- everything said thus far has been spot on. Avoid consuming too much fat because it can make you feel heavy and 'drain' you. This will affect your workouts. Give yourself an hour after eating before you hit the gym. Ummm....thats it for now. I'll post more if I think of it.
Oh yes. Form is everything. Forget heavy weight, if your form isn't perfect your wasting time. Use your first couple of weeks to get your form picture perfect. If you have any doubts -- ask someone to watch you. Usually gym rats are more than willing to help a fellow lifter.
Naw, mostly all I did was military press, chin-ups, and arm curls. Also, I couldn't gain much weight until I was almost 20 (but I did shock the hell out of some large guys in college when my skinny arms could curl more than them). It also made it diffcult to fit suits, because my waist was about 12 inches off from my jacket size (wide shoulders from the workouts).
