weight-lifting help (4 weeks)

[breakdirt916]

I have 4 weeks off of school and want to get my upper body as strong as possible

So this is what I was planning:

Diet: Well balanced with variety, up the protein (eggs/chicken every/other day), daily multi-vitamin, no caffeine/soda/alcohol, 8 hours sleep/day

based on my stats (mid 20's, 138lbs, 6', workout 5-7 days/week) my target is 2600 calories per day to provide amply energy

Exercise: spend first 2 days to exercise each muscle group very, very lightly to get my muscles/joints used to the weight, then slowly up the weight trying to peak each muscle group 2-3 times per week (and alternating muscle groups for the 'peak' day).

any other tips?

[Sportygurl131]

i can help.. give you tips on supplements.. pm me

[LaRNZ]

if lookin for supplement info and stuff talk to KillBill

[Pittenger5]

Just spank the money and be sure to alternate hands.

[snwbrdr435]

holy shit 6' 138 pounds! EAT!

[Pittenger5]

holy shit 6' 138 pounds! EAT!

I CAN FINALLY SAY THAT TO SOMEONE!

[WordTooYoMamma]

Wirelessly posted (Tilt: HTC-8900/1.2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) UP.Link/6.3.1.20.06.3.1.20.0)

TK is a powerlifter and probaly a juicer , ill ask him to chime in

[tk]

Eat! Eat! Eat! Depending on what your trying to do, but working out 3-4 times a week is plenty. From what you said 6', 138lbs, you really don't need any cardio! If your going a bodybuilding approach, focus on each muscle group. If your looking to gain strength, Squat, deadlift and bench my friend then pick your accessories that you want to do. PM me if you have any ?'s.

[tk]

Wirelessly posted (Tilt: HTC-8900/1.2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) UP.Link/6.3.1.20.06.3.1.20.0)

TK is a powerlifter and probaly a juicer , ill ask him to chime in

[Cheese]

I have 4 weeks off of school and want to get my upper body as strong as possible

So this is what I was planning:

Diet: Well balanced with variety, up the protein (eggs/chicken every/other day), daily multi-vitamin, no caffeine/soda/alcohol, 8 hours sleep/day

based on my stats (mid 20's, 138lbs, 6', workout 5-7 days/week) my target is 2600 calories per day to provide amply energy

Exercise: spend first 2 days to exercise each muscle group very, very lightly to get my muscles/joints used to the weight, then slowly up the weight trying to peak each muscle group 2-3 times per week (and alternating muscle groups for the 'peak' day).

any other tips?

Monday: Chest and Triceps
Tuesday:Back and Biceps
Wednesday: Shoulders and Abs
Thursday:Legs
Friday:Chest and make-up for any day missed during the week

Repeat

You'll notice that muscle groups aren't repeated for at least 4 days. Building muscle is a tear and repair process which requires recovery. If you don't let them repair before tearing again you'll waste your time.

Also notice that legs happens on Thursday. If you do legs any later than Thursday you'll be too sore to do anything but lay on the couch all weekend.

Abs should be weighted exercises. Nobody has time to do hundreds of sit-ups so find weighted ab exercises much like other muscle groups offering sets of reps that are less than 12.

Good luck!

[WordTooYoMamma]

Wirelessly posted (Tilt: HTC-8900/1.2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) UP.Link/6.3.1.20.06.3.1.20.0)

4 weeks of weight gain supplements and Big Papi's performance enhancing stuff will do the trick aswell.

[Mondo]

holy skinny

Is it bad i weigh about 75lbs more than you?

what about pushups and pullups? can do them anytime anywhere? Look up a good football strength workout, when I played in college they had some awesome ones I might be able to dig up for you! You probably won't see results in four weeks...at least the type your are looking to gain i assume

[Megatron802]

you might want to re-think the no caffeine part. Not only is it a stimulant but it also helps as a pain reliever. just stay away from cream and sugar and you should do fine. plus lots of protein, casein and whey.

[naked-daytrader]

Dianabol for 5 weeks, then start Anavar at week 4, proceed for 3 more weeks all the while eating everything and anything you can get down your throat with protein and fat in it, then at week 10 start Winstrol for a few weeks......rinse, wash, repeat...

1 body part a day for 30-40 minutes. No more than 10 reps per set....2 days on 1 day off......rinse wash repeat...


At your weight and height anything less than shoveling food down your throat, and working out like a mad man, is a waste of time. You obviously have a fast metabolism. Your body will laugh at 2600 calories a day, and you can forget about doing the light weight crap. If you wanna bulk up you need to beat your muscles like they owe you money and then rest them for a minimum of 6-8 days afterwards. If your not sore for at least 2 days after then you're not hitting them hard enough, and don't wait 6-8 days to work them again...

[scorp7]

** Very Important**

Don't over do it on the first week, or you won't be able to do much the 2nd week. The cycle training is pretty good to start to get a thorough body workout w/out overdoing it.

Enjoy

[Hauptman]

2600 cals isn't enough...you need to be at least at 3500 or more. If you can afford clean protein then do it but really its just about intake at your weight. Cheese has a decent plan listed out but move legs to Wed. and do shoulders on Thurs. It is a good break and lets your upper body heal from Tues. to Thurs. Snag some Glutamine and some ON Whey. You should be able to pack on size without too much trouble but with only four weeks you can probably expect about 10-15 good pounds if you force food down your throat. I'd stick to a the normal 10 rep, 3 set plan since it doesn't sound like you really work out much. This will let you focus on technique and give you a balance between size and endurance. It might not hurt to snag some creatine mono-hydrate (about $13 for 100 servings from GNC) but its not necessary. Plus, why only 4 weeks? Just start a program and continue. I'd write out a detailed workout for you but I don't want to list exercises that you aren't familiar with and or have never performed before. PM me if you want some help with a routine.

[spydah]

Lots of good feedback here so far, the only thing I'll add is that it looks like your caloric intake is a calculated RMR (resting metabolistm rate) for your size and weight, which only accounts for what your body needs to operate when resting. It does not account for your day to day activity and especially does not account for aggressive exercise. If you want to put on some serious muscle your going to need to eat your ass off or take a weight gaining supplement.

As pointed out Protein is an obvious must, a good multi-vitamin is a must, and creatine is pretty closely followed behind. They are simply the three most beneficial supplements you can take. Then the other stuff helps but not as obviously. You can them seperate (glutamine, leucine), or you can go with something like the GNC AMP protein which has a bunch of additional supplements pre-mixed, and its actually drinkable.

If you are going to go with an agressive agenda like Cheese has laid out make sure you figure 1 week in out of the month for recovery. Recovery is as important as exercise and often overlooked. If you don't let the tears heal, your just re-tearing them and not actually building muscle.

Another important thing is to keep track of your progress. If your not tracking your results you will get discouraged because you will not see progress. Its time consuming and takes work, so if you don't see progress you will get fed up with it. Make yourself an excel sheet, bring a notebook, some gyms provide sheets for free. Just keep track!!! Every time you go to the gym your should have positive results. 5% is a good rule of thumb, if you just did 100 lbs, next time to the gym should be 105. If your not able to do that then you are not resting enough.

EDIT:

Just for reference, I'm 6' 3" 185 lbs 15% body fat and my calculated daily calorie intake is 3417 on non workout days, and 3922 on workout days. If you want to be similar stats, you'll need to eat at least that much. I would like to actually be around 10% body fat, but believe it or not that would require me to eat more!!! Why is that? Because the lower your body fat, the higher your muscle mass. Muscle burns calories and fat does not. Just by having more muscle your body burns more calories doing nothing (remember RMR).

Theres some good e-books floating around that explain caloric intake and how it relates to muscle gain. PM me and I can "point you in the right direction".

[Hauptman]

Basically what Spydah said. I'm 5'11'' 187-190 depending on the day. I lift 5-6 days a week. It's taken me 4-5 years to put on 40 pounds of muscle. It isn't easy so don't get discouraged if you don't just bulk up. Anyone can put on weight but not good weight. I'm almost as die-hard as it gets without juicing. Just be careful working out. If you can find a partner to lift with then do that. It will keep your motivation and provide you with a safety net. Every lifter has some injury that probably could have been avoided so just focus on technique and listen to what your body is telling you. If you go to the gym and your lifts aren't there then just do something light or take an easy day. It isn't worth a long term injury.

If you're interested in any other supps then just ask away. Right now I take ON Whey, Jack3d, Creatine Mono (mixed with a sugary juice like OJ), GNC multi sport and Milk Thistle.

[Megatron802]

2 more key elements are to drink ample amounts of water, and get plenty of sleep. the water is important if your going to be uping your protien and if you decide to take creatine.

another protein you might want to try is syntha 6 by BSN if for no other reason than it taste good for a protien powder. Ive never used the ON whey so i can't compare.

[virtualbong]

Can't help you here...my goals are completely opposite of yours. I am trying to lean down more. What I have heard and seen from people who want to gain weight is to really cut down on cardio and lift more...at least at the gym. Outside of the gym they were upping their calorie intake tremendously and also drank weight gainer. Seemed to work, but it takes time and 4 weeks may not be enough to see great results.

[xbootlickx]

Well if you decide you want to get back out of shape I have an awsome program that consists of delicious food and alot of lounging around.... Muscle atrophy by bootlick...

[NeverlosT]

definitely find a buddy to lift with, it makes getting to the gym waaay easier.

Im no heavyweight. 6'3" 178lbs. I bike a shitload. Lean muscle mass. Do fun things too like rock climbing at a gym. If you jog or something, stop regularly and do situps/pushups/pullups. Go online, find the navy seal Physical Fitness Test or one for the green beret's or something and make passing that your goal.

My only other suggestion would be use freeweights whenever possible. Sticking strictly to machines is wack and doesnt build you up as evenly. You want to be able to USE the muscles for more than just flexing at the pretties. Lots of homies out there have bulk, but IMO if you cant haul that bulk up a mountain or dominate some fun sports, whats the use?

EDIT: an afterthought, not everyone is designed to look like arnold. I can go to the gym 4x a week for years and I may gain 10 lbs TOPS. I get stronger, but not a ton bigger. Bigger does not always mean stronger. Just eat lots, work out, and be satisfied that you arent a mess like most of fat-arse america.

[Danz19899]

ya your going to need a lot more then 2600 calories

I have a metabolism just like yours i'm 5'10" and was stuck at 150lbs forever. i'm very active and work out but to gain i ended up needing to kick it up to 4500 calories a day. not kidding but i usually walk 15-20 miles a day for work lol

as long as your working out and eating a lot of protein you should be good. I used a powdered form of Whey protein which helped with the recovery time a lot. also instant breakfasts in a milkshake every morning

[Billy]

Not much I can add, but there are a couple things worth noting.

1) Whey Protein Isolate is a higher quality protein then regular whey protein (non isolate).

2) It's important to have some carbohydrates after your workout. I've read that carbs help your muscles absorb the protein more efficiently.

3) I've also read that you're suppose to consume 1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh. I've tried doing this and it's just too hard for me. Right now I take in about 100 to 150grams a day.

Here's my postworkout shake:
50grams of Whey Isolate
5 grams of creatine
30 grams of dextrose

[richw]

Get a physical job like digging or volunteer at a local farm

Eat only at Mc Donalds 4 times a day then drink beer