Amateur Weightlifter need help.

[MuscleBuild.]

Hi my names Nathan,

Ive just started to do some weight training and also have started drinking 2 protein drinks per day one in the morning for breakfast one after ive trained around 19:00 .

Ive just been doing 10 reps x 3 of the following exercises:

Bench Press
Shoulder Press
Tri-cep Dips
Dumbbell Curls
Barbell Curls
and Pec Deck.

If someone could give me some tips like how often to train what muscles to train on what days and what exercise to carry out etc i would be very very appreciative.

Some information on myself:

Im 17
Im around 5ft 11in
and weigh around 10st 4"
Skinny for my height.
Not much muscle at all
Have done little bit of weight training in the past.
Looking to start building some serious muscle.

Also tips on nutrition and supplements very welcome. Thank you.

[Off Road]

Hey Nathan, welcome to the forum...

The first thing I notice is that you aren't doing anything for the lower body or the back (the biggest muscles in the body). That is a typical beginner mistake. You will only slow your potential in the upper body by not including something for the legs, hips, and lower back.

Do yourself a favor and read some the routines in the sticky up top titled "recommended routines." They have a lot of good information in them about how to structure a routine and why it works best that way. Pay close attention to the articles in the HCT-12 series and the Mass for Beginners article.

[chevelle2291]

FFS man the stickies are right there.

[neweracat]

The three major things you need to focus on is lifting, eating, and recovery.

Lifting - I would check out the HCT-12 for a solid routine. If that doesn't suit you find one that does and stick with it for at least the first year.

Eating - You should eat 5-6 meals a day. Your caloric intake should be based on a few different factors like genetics, goals, etc. If your trying to put on muscle mass you'll need to maintain a caloric surplus. The easiest way I've found to do this is eat, eat, and eat. When you start packing on a little extra fat, cut back just a little and that should keep you in the ball park for muscle gain, while not packing on tons of fat. You might have to do some adjusting, it'll take a couple of weeks to dial in on what works for your needs. For me I eat 5000 cals, and 250 grams of protein a day, at a body weight of 180lbs.

Recovery - Try to get at least 8 hrs on sleep a night.

If your going to take supplements be sure do your homework of what you're putting into your body. I personally stopped taking tons of supps and just eat like crazy.

These are just general rules.

[chevelle2291]

The three major things you need to focus on is lifting, eating, and recovery.

Lifting - I would check out the HCT-12 for a solid routine. If that doesn't suit you find one that does and stick with it for at least the first year.

Eating - You should eat 5-6 meals a day. Your caloric intake should be based on a few different factors like genetics, goals, etc. If your trying to put on muscle mass you'll need to maintain a caloric surplus. The easiest way I've found to do this is eat, eat, and eat. When you start packing on a little extra fat, cut back just a little and that should keep you in the ball park for muscle gain, while not packing on tons of fat. You might have to do some adjusting, it'll take a couple of weeks to dial in on what works for your needs. For me I eat 5000 cals, and 250 grams of protein a day, at a body weight of 180lbs.

Recovery - Try to get at least 8 hrs on sleep a night.

If your going to take supplements be sure do your homework of what you're putting into your body. I personally stopped taking tons of supps and just eat like crazy.

These are just general rules.

The eating 5-6 meals a day thing is WAY overemphasized and has shown through studies (I'll pull them up if you want) that there was no real benefit to doing so. OP, just consume your calories in a way that is comfortable for you. If that's 3 meals a day, 4, 6, it's fine. It doesn't really matter.

How lean are you eating 5k calories a day with only 250g of protein?

[neweracat]

The eating 5-6 meals a day thing is WAY overemphasized and has shown through studies (I'll pull them up if you want) that there was no real benefit to doing so. OP, just consume your calories in a way that is comfortable for you. If that's 3 meals a day, 4, 6, it's fine. It doesn't really matter.

How lean are you eating 5k calories a day with only 250g of protein?

I'm naturally thin, so as of right now my goal is bulking. When I'm bulking I don't mind a few extra pounds of fat and having "cloudy" abs. That just assures me that I'm maintaining a caloric surplus. When April gets here and I start cutting I'll probably drop the calories back to 4000 and do a lot more cardio. The hard part for me is getting the protein. I'm currently cutting back on supplements and trying to eat 250 cals of protein a day is tough. I've heard of the studies your talking about, but I never seen them myself. This brings up a question I've been wondering about. I've read that a typical human body can only break down 30-40g of protein at a time, and that anything beyond that just gets flushed through your system. Then I hear all these guys talking about eating 75g of protein in one meal, and they count the protein they've consumed. Does some of that protein get flushed, or is that an accurate way to count? I only count 30g per meal, even if I eat more than that. So my daily count is 5-6 meals with 30g of protein each; bringing my total to 150-180g. I drink two small shakes through out the day to get me to 250g. So how grams of protein can the average human body break down and effectively use at one sitting?


Actually, could you post the studies mentioned. I'm sure a lot of people on here would like to see them, including myself.

[chevelle2291]

I'm naturally thin, so as of right now my goal is bulking. When I'm bulking I don't mind a few extra pounds of fat and having "cloudy" abs. That just assures me that I'm maintaining a caloric surplus. When April gets here and I start cutting I'll probably drop the calories back to 4000 and do a lot more cardio. The hard part for me is getting the protein. I'm currently cutting back on supplements and trying to eat 250 cals of protein a day is tough. I've heard of the studies your talking about, but I never seen them myself. This brings up a question I've been wondering about. I've read that a typical human body can only break down 30-40g of protein at a time, and that anything beyond that just gets flushed through your system. Then I hear all these guys talking about eating 75g of protein in one meal, and they count the protein they've consumed. Does some of that protein get flushed, or is that an accurate way to count? I only count 30g per meal, even if I eat more than that. So my daily count is 5-6 meals with 30g of protein each; bringing my total to 150-180g. I drink two small shakes through out the day to get me to 250g. So how grams of protein can the average human body break down and effectively use at one sitting?


Actually, could you post the studies mentioned. I'm sure a lot of people on here would like to see them, including myself.

I should have clarified: I tend to read reviews of many studies done by experts in the field such as Aragon, McDonald, Berkhan, etc. Here are a few of those reviews below, with sources cited if you want to find the original papers. I, however, find scientific papers extremely boring, so for the most part I trust what these guys have to say.

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/in...nt_fasting.htm

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/res...ch-review.html -McDonald does not cite his sources here, but he's a damn smart guy and has written a number of dieting books that have been very successful.

For your protein question:

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-n...a-single-meal/


I tend to shoot for 1.5-2g/lb of bodyweight a day in protein when I am counting calories, however. That's just what I like to do and I feel I gain more muscular bodyweight when my protein intake is high.