Questions about working out

I recently started working out in the gym and I want a few questions answered about it.

I'm 150 lbs and 5'9. My goal is to be 180 lbs with muscle. Not looking to be a body builder or have a body builder body, just looking to be average.


What would be the best way to bulk and get swole? Free weights or machines?

Are protein shakes efficient and a good source of protein on top of eating 3 meals a day?
What are the best things to eat and how much should I eat? (Only limited to 3 meals a day however I can add snacks within meals and eat as much as I want during each meal.)

How many times a week should I run for someone wanting to bulk?

Also looking to have a few tips for beginners.

 

I eat over a pound of chicken a day, a bunch of eggs, a protein shake, and a few other things. One general rule to keep in mind is you want to eat about 1-2 grams of protein for each pound you weigh every day. This did wonders for my muscle growth.

I do a push/pull/legs split at the gym. A big thing you have to remember is your body works as a unit. Yes, curling will increase your biceps, but you know what'll probably increase it just as much? Squats, deadlifts, bench press.

Machines are for targeting. Do you want to get that crazy bicep or tricep popping? You'll be into machines. Do you want to increase the strength of all your muscles? Free weights are your best bet.

One of the biggest tips I tell newbies is to EXPLODE when you push/pull and hold for a second or two and then RELEASE SLOWLY and REPEAT. Holy moly, this makes all the difference.

DO NOT STRESS THE WEIGHT. It matters zero how much you can lift, everyone is different and if you follow the last tip I gave, the amount of weight you can lift will quickly increase.

Warm up. Jog a mile or two before you workout. This loosens and warms your muscles up. Also stretch or you'll get like me and your muscles will get so tight and cut of optimal circulation when you lift heavy.

People will tell you that you can eat whatever you want as long as you keep track of the nutrients, this is true to a extent, but not entirely and definitely isn't worth the cost. Your overall health will decline. Eat clean, eat healthy and your thirty old self will love you.

Try to add 2.5 to 5 pounds more weight every time the same exercise comes back around in your split, you can do it!

That's it! There's more you learn as you go, but if you do the simple things I mentioned here you will get ripped I promise. Yeah they sound easier than they are, but the results are crazy. Good luck!

 

zyzz ate steroids for breakfast lunch and dinner. I'd pick a little more realistic goal.

Andy Samberg has sent pretty good basic advice

I had a lot of success with sticking to a PPL program

 

One of the biggest beginner advice i can give you from what ive seen is not to do too many reps and lift heavy.

Basically if u dont lift atleast 60% of your 1 rep max you wont make any gains. So my recommend for a beginner is to do 4x8 or 5x5. Secondly the most efficient way to make a muscle grow is to work it 3 times a week. So dont do any crazy splits recommended to you by steroid fitnesscelebs. They can afford to hit a muscle 1-2 times a week only cus well they are on roids.

I personally recommend full body training for a beginner but you can also do for example push/pull/legs&core and keep rotating this.

let me know if u have any specific questions

edit: also yes syph is right, zyzz abused both steroids and party drugs which lead to a early heart attack death. You cant expect results like him. You have to go in with realistic expectations

 

Thanks for this brah, love this and will keep note of this.

Word bro. Thank you. Maybe it'll be a long term goal. Definitely going to get there one day.

 

4-5 days a week, bro split, chest tris, back bis, shoulders, legs and cardio day.

 

Probably the best advice on here in my opinion. Lift heavy weight. Don't skimp out on deadlifting or squats, those are your meat and potatoes for putting on weight. My metabolism from around 16 was retarded. Until I was 23 I could eat whatever I wanted and not put on weight and still have nice lines on most of my muscles. I'm talking donuts pre workout and protein shake and pizza afterwards. Eat a lot for putting on weight. Make a benchmark for your carbs and proteins and steer clear of sugars and dairy and you'll be on swole street in no time. This is from someone who started at 145 at 18yo and sit around a semi lean 215-220 at 25yo most days without counting every calorie I consume.
Patience and consistency are key.
IT DOES NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT

 

Andy put it spot on....

If you want to quickly add pounds I would say bulk up on 4k cals until you reach your goal and start to cut.

 

i would probably recommend that to start you take a book and pen to the gym.

= how regular can you attend the gym on a weekly basis. (suggest 3-5 days a week)

= write up the days you can attend and have the days you cant as rest days.

= assign specific routines/parts of your body to target on those days (example: Mon - legs/arms. (research others gym rota's for help and keep 1 big muscle group with a smaller.)

= now, we need to know what you can do to start off. do not go into the gym expecting to match others or struggle to lift certain weights. the hard part is knowledge of the gym, correct lifting techniques and making sure you get your sets completed. simply start your first week by pre planning a week program on paper and have sections to write down your weight in that area you can lift. if you can exceed your reps in sets then up your weight and continue

= the type of training is key, i do German Volume Training, this consists of lifting heavy, and putting as much focus and pacing my self slowing through each rep. (example when bench pressing instead of count 1-2 seconds, i drop my weight slightly so it remains heavy and count 3-5 seconds. by pacing myself and slowing myself down, i actually build strengh, work a sweat and also painfully get results.

= if you want to burn fat, i would recommend giving around 8-12 reps at a lower weight so you can manage and by upping your sets you will slowly burn fat off as your workout will slowly take course into circuit/crossfit routines. these can be good for balance and definition for your body but again i only do this whilst cutting to really shred up.

= the BIG ONE .... EATING. to get big you need to eat big, and by eating big you need to eat the right stuff. this includes cutting out the poor stuff such as bread, fizzy drinks, alcohol etc.. up the intake of protein and carbs to fatten up build a solid core and body overall. when you reach limits of bulking and working against your gym rota stuff shredding. i personally bulk for 5 months and cut or 1. this differs for some people but for me, my motabalism is very good and my body burns fat very fast.

=BULKING AIM FOR 3-4K CALS A DAY , SHREDDING = UPPING YOUR PROTEIN AND CUTTING CARBS, PROTEIN INTAKE FOR ME IS 0.8G OF PROTEIN PER POUND OF BODYWEIGHT.

there are so many people on this site and bodybuilding forum where you can sit, read and observe their videos so go build your known and your body!

thank you for reading and sorry for my rushed thread.

 

Set a goal. Take creatine. I am currently 5'9 @ 168, I am trying to get to 160. 160 would put me very lean... I feel like you're goal shouldn't be putting on 30lbs of mass. 180 and 5'9 isn't pretty. I was heavier at 178ish

 

If you want to look like zzyzz or Jon Skywalker its going to take tons of effort and commitment, more than 99.9 percent of the world is willing to give tbh. Also steroids.

 

4 months later and still going strong hooooah. Can't wait to see where I'm at in a year.

 

KICKING ASS! Hope your progress is a good measure of your success! Good stuff

 

Glad you're smashing it man! Hearing people succeed with their fitness goals really motivates me to get back into it and going strong.

 

1,8 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight
Sleep well 6-9hours
Train heavy and do a lot of compound movements (Dips,Push up,Chin up,Bench press,Overhead press,Deadlift)
have a calorie surplus (google it)
Drink a lot of water
Use creatine and whey only if in budget if not take glutamine and multivitamins and fish oils as well

This is a long journey each day will take you from point A to point B ....


ps only drink whey if u cannot get enough protein in from meals

1 chicken breast > whey protein

 

Yeah I've actually stopped drinking whey and started eating chicken breasts regularly.

 

I have gained over 25kgs in the past 2 years in a natural way

Im currently 19 years old 109kg 194cm tall, if you have any questions about my daily routine, exercises hit me up