Gaining muscle mass

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Ghost02

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Hi guys, I want to gain some muscle mass without the use of suplements (sp). A gym is opening close to me sometime next year. So I would like to know which home routines and diet you guys would reccomend.
Thanks
 
Something with a shed load of protein. I would (in this case) definately recommend a protein shake as this is the most effective way to get that in your body without consuming a crap load of food.

I'd say you'd need 500% RDA of protein a day.

Start out with light cardio for 30min and then do weights. 3 times a week. Break your workout in segments into your body (upper/lower/back etc) and don't overdo it.

I'd say spend some cash to get a trainer to show you the proper way of handling weights and targeting areas. They know a crap load about muscle definition and build. Well worth the money.
 
Oh and don't be suprised if you need to go to the toilet like 5 times a day ;)
 
it also depends what exercise you are into... i swim every morning and do a light weights set at night at home... swimming is great for cardio and an all over workout?
 
Yes but cardio doesn't necesarily build muscle (from what he is after)

It's also more beneficial to consult a trainer because they can give you specific (and show you specific) exercises that should be able to help him build and shape his body.

Cardio is great if he wanted to lose more fat but I don't think he's after that ;)
 
ah sorry misread him there.. thought he was going for the more cut look... i agree tho with the protein shakes for bulk tho... you'll battle to without supplements imho :)
 
Ok, so are there different brands of protien shakes? If there are, which do reccomend. How long should this take? I'm interested in gaining muscle, don't need to lose fat.
 
Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard is an excellent whey protein supplement, but it's pretty expensive. Other good ones are Muscle Tech and BSN. They are all overseas brands.

Locally I'd say try Muscle Science or Evox, but stay away fron USN.

ON is the way to go in my opinion. It has L Glutamine added which will also help with building. Be warned though that while most of what you put on should be muscle some of it is bound to be fat, for the simple reason that a growing body requires more calories and when calorie intake is increased some of it will be converted to fat for later use. That's why most body builders divide their training into building and cutting phases.
 
any reason why you say stay away from USN? I've been using them for a few years now and have got fantastic results? ok lol in my opinion :)
 
TMoose said:
Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard is an excellent whey protein supplement, but it's pretty expensive. Other good ones are Muscle Tech and BSN. They are all overseas brands.

Locally I'd say try Muscle Science or Evox, but stay away fron USN.

ON is the way to go in my opinion. It has L Glutamine added which will also help with building. Be warned though that while most of what you put on should be muscle some of it is bound to be fat, for the simple reason that a growing body requires more calories and when calorie intake is increased some of it will be converted to fat for later use. That's why most body builders divide their training into building and cutting phases.
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How much is pretty expensive? How much do the others cost?
 
This sounds very familiar (my dad was a body builder).

I picked up that you need to go through 2 stages to gain more muscle and defintion:
1) bulking
2) cutting

During the bulking phase you drink the protein shakes and basically eat anything you like, but with a slight bias towards protein. You therefore gain muscle and fat.

During the cutting phase, you go for low-fat, low-carb, high-protein. Skinned, cooked chicken. 7 egg whites per day. Skimmed milk. You get the picture. Warn everyone that you'll be incredibly grumpy during this phase...

Exercise routine: Low repetition, heavy weights. Gym 2 days in a row, rest one day. Repeat. You can cover most of the muscle groups at home with a few bar bells and hand-weights. You'll need someone to show you the correct way of doing each exercise, though.
 
Ghost02 said:
How much is pretty expensive? How much do the others cost?
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For ON 100% is going to set you back about R599 for a month supply from Dischem. USN is the cheapest from around R230, Muscle Science is a bit more expensive but a better quality product I think. Wasn't much more expensive than USN maybe something like R250. BSN and Muscletech is similarly priced to ON, maybe bit more expensive but not better quality. Don't quote me on that though, I haven't used anything else since starting ON about 6 months ago. In all you can expect paying something like R200-R350 for a month supply of local stuff or R500-R700 for a month supply of overseas stuff. In terms of taste and quality nothing beats ON for me. I haven't gotten the same results off anything else.

Some guys on here will tell you that you don't need supplements. I'm telling you that you'd have to eat your lungs out to get the same results. Personally I don't enjoy eating that much, so I do my 5 mini meals a day and then have a scoop of ON with and after my workout. Meaning I sip on it while I work out and finish it after.
 
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before you buy tho.. check out www.springbokpharmacy.co.za not sure if they ship country wide.. but their prices are usually damn good.. i know they by far the cheapest for USN... plus.. free delivery to my office, i think its free all over jhb :)
 
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What would an ideal BMI be?
Just went to that pharmacy site and I just got so confused. Under one brand they have like 50 products
 
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Ghost02 said:
What would an ideal BMI be?
Just went to that pharmacy site and I just got so confused. Under one brand they have like 50 products
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Ignore BMI. It's a tremendously useless way of indicating ideal weight, especially if you want to gain muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, you might even end up a 28 or 30 on the BMI indicating that your obese but be ripped as hell. I'm currently 26 and I have a six pack. A buddy of mine clocks in at over 30, he has 14% body fat and a lot bigger than I want to be, but the point is BMI is unreliable.

You need to look at body fat %. Get your BF to between 8-12%, but that's for the cutting phase. For bulking you just want to add as much muscle as possible. Your routines for the two are going to be completely different. Don't try to do both at once or you'll fail at both and end up with weird results like being skinny fat or big but smooth.

Yes they do have a lot of products, but all you should be interested in right now is a good Whey supplement, possibly L-Glutamine and Creatine. Also get a good multi vitamin and some flax seed oil. That should be all you need. A good Whey Protein is Optimum Nutritions 100% Gold Standard Whey as I've mentioned. It contains L-Glutamine so you'll only need creatine, multi vitamin and flax seed oil.

Ignore fat burners, metabolic boosters, carb blockers, testosterone pills and all the other useless crap that messes up your health and provides minimal results.
 
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i wouldnt completely rule out BMI... i come from a family of doctors and have had this debate with them numerous times.. they still insist its an acurate indication of obesity etc but yes when it comes to muscle.. BMI will be skewed...
 
dinkd said:
i wouldnt completely rule out BMI... i come from a family of doctors and have had this debate with them numerous times.. they still insist its an acurate indication of obesity etc but yes when it comes to muscle.. BMI will be skewed...
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For me personally it is a useless measure. It says I am obese yet this is obviously not the case so in my case and that of several people I know it is a grossly inaccurate indicator. While it might be useful in sedentary individuals who do not have a lot of muscle mass, it is still in my opinion a useless measure when it comes to body building. Body fat percentage tells you a lot more about how fat you are and is something you can use to track progress, whereas your BMI will show you're getting fatter if you're gaining muscle.
 
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