Guys I need your advice!!

[HighlyFanatic]

Weight

I want to gain some weight, but I¡¦m skinny¡Kreally skinny.

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Height: 5¡¦10
Weight: 132 lbs
Body Fat: ??
Age: 19
BMI: 19.8
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Working Out

I haven¡¦t really worked out seriously before (only half-assed attempts), but I¡¦d say I¡¦m fairly fit. I decided to finally start working out, now that I have access to a gym and a supermarket ƒº. I wanna hit about 170-175 lbs. My goal is to gain lean mass and be well defined: nice striations, very cut, and big. My bench is a pathetic 75 lbs, and 85 max.

PROPOSED workout schedule A: (for the first 2 months, taking a break in the last week of each month)
I¡¦m doing 3 sets of 8 repetitions, and each repetition is 80% of my maximum weight that I can do¡Kso that by the 8th rep I¡¦m exhausted.

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Monday:
1) Underhand-grip lat pulldown* (3x8)
2) Weighted chinup (3x8)
3) Overhand-grip lat pulldown (3x8)
4) Underhand-grip seated row (3x8)
5) Overhand-grip seated row** (3x8)
6) Biceps Curl (strip set)***
7) Wrist-to-Knee Situps

Tuesday: 30 minutes of intense cardio + abdominal workout

Wednesday:
1) Squat (3x8)
2) Deadlift (3x8)
3) Stiff-legged deadlift (3x8)
4) Dynamic Lunge (3x8)
5) Hip lift (3x8)

Thursday: 30 minutes of intense cardio + intense abdominal workout

Friday:
1) Bench press* (3x8)
2) Wide-grip bench press** (3x8)
3) Shoulder press (3x8)
4) Upright row (3x8)
5) Triceps pressdown (strip set)*** (3x8)

Saturday: 30 minutes of intense cardio + intense abdominal workout

Sunday: Rest.

* Slightly more weight on the second work set.
** Slightly less weight on the second work set.
*** "Strip" weight-drop 5 to 10 pounds per set-and continue with as little rest as possible.

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PROPOSED workout schedule B: (for the first 2 months, taking a break in the last week of each month).

I¡¦m doing 3 sets of 8 repetitions, and each repetition is 80% of my maximum weight that I can do¡Kso that by the 8th rep I¡¦m exhausted.

Monday, Thursday, Sunday:
1. Squat and press Muscles worked: entire body
2. Good morning Muscles worked: lower back, hamstrings (or DO LUNGES!!)
3. Bent-over row Muscles worked: upper back
4. Upright row Muscles worked: shoulders
5. Biceps curl Muscles worked: biceps

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 30 minutes of intense cardio + intense abdominal workout


Diet

Here¡¦s my proposed diet ideas:

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Breakfast (8 AM)
-2 Bowls of Vector Cereal w/milk

Lunch (11 AM)
-2 bagels with Nutella
-Hansens Energy drink (Carbs)

After-school Snack (3 PM)
-12 Perogies
-4 Pizza Sticks

Dinner (7 PM)
-Yellowfin Tuna Burger
-No Name Chinese Chicken Meal (Frozen)

Post-Dinner Snack (9 PM):
-No Name Bowl Soup

Total Protein: 135 grams
Total Fats: 52 grams (14% of total calories)
Total Carbs: 600 grams
Total Calories: ~3500

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Thoughts and comments on which workout schedule plan (A or B) I should go with¡Xand would you modify it at all??

Thoughts on my diet, and would you modify any of it. I measured my average caloric intake per day for the last 2 weeks¡Kit was at about 1500¡Know I¡¦m increasing that to 3500 calories per day+working out starting Wednesday September 5, 2001.

Thx in advance guys,

Tony

[Nights]

Change some of those carbs into protein. You've got 13% fat (actually), 15% protein.. and.. how much does that leave for carbs? 72%? You need protein. A lot more of it. (Grab a chicken breast. Some eggs in the morning. Protein shakes/bar seeing as your in school.. you can take them between class). I'd also say that your calories intake is way to high. I'm 175, an inch taller then you.. so my AMR should technically be higher. And I'm doing 300 cals less then you? The cardio is going to knock some of the gain (fat and muscle) off, but that's still a lot.

I'd also say that your overworking yourself in proposal A (too much each day. Also uneven spread among muscles), and are not getting enough time for any muscle group to heal in proposal B. I'll leave it up to oldies here to tell you.

And.. tell me if I'm wrong here, but the abs need just as much time to heal as any other, right?

B.

[HighlyFanatic]

Originally posted by Nights
Change some of those carbs into protein. You've got 13% fat (actually), 15% protein.. and.. how much does that leave for carbs? 72%? You need protein. A lot more of it. (Grab a chicken breast. Some eggs in the morning. Protein shakes/bar seeing as your in school.. you can take them between class). I'd also say that your calories intake is way to high. I'm 175, an inch taller then you.. so my AMR should technically be higher. And I'm doing 300 cals less then you? The cardio is going to knock some of the gain (fat and muscle) off, but that's still a lot.

I'd also say that your overworking yourself in proposal A (too much each day. Also uneven spread among muscles), and are not getting enough time for any muscle group to heal in proposal B. I'll leave it up to oldies here to tell you.

And.. tell me if I'm wrong here, but the abs need just as much time to heal as any other, right?

B.

I was thinking that my protein intake is high already?? should i up it to 180 grams per day?? i thought carobhydrates would serve as a glycogen reserve...

In Proposal B...each workout day is seperated by 2 days:

So its Monday Thursday and Sunday for my major workout days. The in between days are just cardio?

[vpy]

Originally posted by Nights
And.. tell me if I'm wrong here, but the abs need just as much time to heal as any other, right?

B.

Yup Yup, treat those ab muscles the same as you would any of the other muscles... let them rest.

Off to play basketball right now, so don't have time right now to dissect the routine(others can do it better anyways..) but something that stood out to me was:

Originally posted by Nights
Wednesday:
1) Squat (3x8)
2) Deadlift (3x8)
3) Stiff-legged deadlift (3x8)
4) Dynamic Lunge (3x8)
5) Hip lift (3x8)

If you're doing 80% of your 1RM each set, no way you should be able to do 3 sets of squats, 6 sets of DLs, etc. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty much fried after 3 heavy sets of squats... much less have the stability to keep standing for 6 more sets of DLs afterwards

oh, and if you want to gain some weight, get rid of all that cardio It will only hinder you in making muscle gains... If you want to stay healthy, on the other hand, and work that heart muscle, then 40 mins of light intensity cardio/week should suffice. well... off to play some hoops before I lose the light!

[HighlyFanatic]

its tough setting up a practical routine!! dammit, anybody wanna attempt to use the basic plan i setup and modify em slightly so that i get a practical routine?

[Nights]

...seperated by two days? So it is. I must've been drunk.
B.

[vpy]

http://www.wannabebig.com/wbbroutine.php

check out that routine and ask any questions you may have after that.... give it a try for a few months, and I'm sure your body will respond well.

[HighlyFanatic]

Originally posted by vpy
http://www.wannabebig.com/wbbroutine.php

check out that routine and ask any questions you may have after that.... give it a try for a few months, and I'm sure your body will respond well.

cool thx

...what do you think bout the diet though?

[vpy]

Originally posted by HighlyFanatic


cool thx

...what do you think bout the diet though?

I agree with nights... thats alot of carb cals... I'd go with some more protein and fat cals....

some quick suggestions in the time I have right now: add some egg whites for protein, add some fiber, and add some essential fatty acids(you look like you're scared of fat), and add a post-workout protein shake(not sure when you work out in the day)

to incorporate those new cals I suggested, get rid of the bagels/nutella, chinese chicken meal, and soup. Hmmn.. as I take a closer look, that is one strange diet to change.. we should have just started from scratch

Just base your diet around egg whites, tuna, post-workout protein shakes, steak, chicken/turkey breasts, natty peanut butter, oats, EFAs, etc and you'll be eating clean in no time

[HighlyFanatic]

Originally posted by vpy


to incorporate those new cals I suggested, get rid of the bagels/nutella, chinese chicken meal, and soup. Hmmn.. as I take a closer look, that is one strange diet to change.. we should have just started from scratch

one strange diet! lmao!!

okay...how much protein can i go up to (max) too much is too bad?? is 180 grams a day okay? and i guess i can up it to 25% fat a day of my total calories...and lower the carbs.

why take out the chinese chicken meal? it says on it 50 grams of protein and 101 grams of carbs (403 gram serving) yikes thats good isn't it

and that WBB routine is simple and understandable!!

[HighlyFanatic]

i also want to seriously increase my chest size.....somethin thats never worked for me.

bench presses seem to do more for my triceps/biceps: my chest becomes more cut!! but never ever added size...any solutions? like isolation techniques that are effective

i have a 38 inch chest, and my neck size is also small...15 inches

blah

[vpy]

Originally posted by HighlyFanatic
i also want to seriously increase my chest size.....somethin thats never worked for me.

bench presses seem to do more for my triceps/biceps: my chest becomes more cut!! but never ever added size...any solutions? like isolation techniques that are effective

i have a 38 inch chest, and my neck size is also small...15 inches

blah

don't worry about isolation techniques... make sure you work on getting a nice proportional body. I don't know about your chest getting more "cut" - you either build muscle or you lose fat.. thats it.

Just stick to the WBB routine and see how that treats you... if you haven't done dips before in the past, I'm sure those will hit your chest nicely. For me, dips have done wonders.

[vpy]

Originally posted by HighlyFanatic


one strange diet! lmao!!

okay...how much protein can i go up to (max) too much is too bad?? is 180 grams a day okay? and i guess i can up it to 25% fat a day of my total calories...and lower the carbs.

why take out the chinese chicken meal? it says on it 50 grams of protein and 101 grams of carbs (403 gram serving) yikes thats good isn't it

and that WBB routine is simple and understandable!!

180g protein is fine. nothing to worry about...(as long as you're getting some fiber... or you'll be hating life).. make sure you're getting nice unsaturated fats.... get yourself some flax seed oil and some natural PB....

I don't really know about that chinese chicken meal... I'm just usually a bit suspicious of anything in the frozen section.. I always figure that half the ingredients are preservatives and the other half are low quality crap.

[Nights]

While your rebuilding the diet (if you are), I'd also drop the energy drink if it's just for carbs.

I like his question, though. How much protein is too much? I'm currently doing about 275g (about 35%) of it.. (Break down is 35/44/21).. At what point does protein turn into a bad thing?

B.

[vpy]

Originally posted by Nights
I like his question, though. How much protein is too much? I'm currently doing about 275g (about 35%) of it.. (Break down is 35/44/21).. At what point does protein turn into a bad thing?

B.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong... but I believe that you should think about it as calories going in vs calories used up. At any given time, your body needs energy to function, replenish glycogen, repair muscle, etc. As far as this excess protein is concerned, it may be turned into fat once your body doesn't need to convert it to anything else. I seem to remember that its the least efficient macronutrient to be converted to fat, however.

I forget what your BW is Nights, but most ppl when bulking take somewhere btwn 1g to 2g per pound of BW. and I don't know how much you're taking in one sitting. I seem to recall something about ppl only being able to digest 30-50g protein at a time, but that it was highly variable depending on the individual.