The Bodybuilders Thread!

[zll]

Uh yeah, Wikkels88 is 100% correct. Before worrying too much about adding mass-builder shakes ect, you do have to get your diet right.

I've been trying to figure it out my diet, but tbh I have no bloody clue. I know I'm eating more, but that's most likely because my body is burning through food to try and build my muscles up. Here's what I eat on an average day (I have no clue what it is in terms of calories).

Bfast (9.00)
Big bowl of pronutro with about 500 mls of full cream milk
glass of full cream milk

Mid morning snack (11.00)
Fruit, usually 2-3 bananas, or apples

Lunch (about 2.30)
Usually leftovers (curry/pasta/roast chicken)
or sometimes takeout (nandos/kfc)

Mid afternoon snack (about 17.00)
Fruit (varies)
or 2 boiled eggs

Supper (about 8.30)
Varies but is usually curry of some kind or pasta

Exercise and then protein shake at about 11.00 at night. Protein shake is about 750ml full cream milk and 2 scoops of evox protein shake.

I have absolutely no idea what that works out to in terms of calories...

 

[zll]

Try GAME, you can buy the plates and build your own barbells and dumbells, might be cheaper than buying already put together items.
A 5KG plate costs R134, 7.5KG plate costs R184 etc

Thanks Hemps. Game have a 20kg adjustable barbell set. I should be able to use the weights from my dumbells with it.

 

[Wikkels88]

I've been trying to figure it out my diet, but tbh I have no bloody clue. I know I'm eating more, but that's most likely because my body is burning through food to try and build my muscles up. Here's what I eat on an average day (I have no clue what it is in terms of calories).

Bfast (9.00)
Big bowl of pronutro with about 500 mls of full cream milk
glass of full cream milk

Mid morning snack (11.00)
Fruit, usually 2-3 bananas, or apples

Lunch (about 2.30)
Usually leftovers (curry/pasta/roast chicken)
or sometimes takeout (nandos/kfc)

Mid afternoon snack (about 17.00)
Fruit (varies)
or 2 boiled eggs

Supper (about 8.30)
Varies but is usually curry of some kind or pasta

Exercise and then protein shake at about 11.00 at night. Protein shake is about 750ml full cream milk and 2 scoops of evox protein shake.

I have absolutely no idea what that works out to in terms of calories...

You got to learn to count calories, start here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ theres a very big food database which you can work off of, so you don't need to physically "count" anything, just got to search it, and add it... At your weight and height I would aim for 3000calories a day to start off with, of which 150g protein, 60g fat, and fill the rest of the remaining calories with carbs.

Lift heavy 3-4 times a week, aim for progression on every single workout, you'll be fueling yourself with a lot of food, so you should recover quickly, watch the scale, if you gain more than 0.5kgs a week, cut the calories back by 100-200 a day, if you gain way less than 0.5kgs add another 100-200.

Be patient, this is not going to happen over night, and also be consistent, 3 weeks on, 3weeks off won't get you anywhere.

 

[Hemps]

Bfast (9.00)
Big bowl of pronutro with about 500 mls of full cream milk
glass of full cream milk

Mid morning snack (11.00)
Fruit, usually 2-3 bananas, or apples

Lunch (about 2.30)
Usually leftovers (curry/pasta/roast chicken)
or sometimes takeout (nandos/kfc)

Mid afternoon snack (about 17.00)
Fruit (varies)
or 2 boiled eggs

Supper (about 8.30)
Varies but is usually curry of some kind or pasta

I would replace pronutro with oats
Space out your fruit intake, except apple which you can eat pretty much any time.
Replace Full cream with low fat.
Curries usually mean fat to me but I'm no chef.
Pasta in the evenings, I try to avoid carbs after 4pm.
Your milk intake in the morning is aLOT.
Cut out the takeaways.

 

[Tinuva]

15kg's weight gain, **** me, well done, thats a **** load, assuming its only muscle gains

Yeah that was over the coarse of 2-3 years, not all muscle, a lot of fat actually, but I wasn't going to gym on a regular basis either. Once I got to 70kg though, and started to lift heavy at the gym on a very regular basis, I believe my body went for a recomp, which is, I lost fat whilst building muscle, so even though my weight didn't change much, I'd say my BF% went down considerably whilst building muscle. In fact, people said I started to look smaller, yet my bodyweight didn't change at all.

My aim however, is to get to 85kg, then cut back to 80kg trying to keep as much muscle whilst cutting fat. At 1.75m I think 80kg should look fairly decent, not too bulky, but quite good.

 

[xrapidx]

I'll eat 7000 calories without mass builders Not that I do though, just saying, I really don't struggle eating, and I'm not fat either, just a healthy metabolism.

There's a big difference in 7000 calories from crap, and 7000 healthy calories,

 

[Wikkels88]

I would replace pronutro with oats
Space out your fruit intake, except apple which you can eat pretty much any time.
Replace Full cream with low fat.
Curries usually mean fat to me but I'm no chef.
Pasta in the evenings, I try to avoid carbs after 4pm.
Your milk intake in the morning is aLOT.
Cut out the takeaways.

The guy comes here and asks advice on gaining weight, and you tell him to avoid this and avoid that, you wan't him to lose more weight Chances are at 57kgs he's got the metabolism of a racing horse, doubt if the extra fat in full cream milk will actually make him gain weight, the extra calories won't hurt. Man I've seen skinny guys doing bulking routines on 2-3 liters of full cream milk a day without gaining fat.

Oh and nandos != takeaways Flame grilled chicken ftw...But yeah avoid kfc

 

[Tinuva]

I would replace pronutro with oats
Space out your fruit intake, except apple which you can eat pretty much any time.
Replace Full cream with low fat.
Curries usually mean fat to me but I'm no chef.
Pasta in the evenings, I try to avoid carbs after 4pm.
Your milk intake in the morning is aLOT.
Cut out the takeaways.

I agree with the oats replacement, but fullcream is solid for skinny guys, in fact its healthier than the low fat stuff, and as a skinny guy I need everything to keep my weight.

However he should keep it basic, every single meal must contain protein, if it doesn't, that is when you take a protein shake with the meal. So for the breakfast, I'd say there is not enough protein, at least the glass milk is not enough.

I personally, react very good at taking in carbs at night, so pastas ect is fine, however I prefer to take it in via potato, sweet potato ect, instead of pastas. The reason being, processed food is still not that great, I don't like how they add bodyfat, whereas potato and sweet potato doesn't. You also need to take in fats, like from fullcream milk.

What to stay away from: Processed food, sodium, sugars
What to take: meat, lots of meat, chicken, and even lots more chicken, get your cabs in via potatos, sweet potatos ect, but most importantly, via oats in the mornings. You need to take in some fats too, some of which you can get via avos ect.

 

[Wikkels88]

There's a big difference in 7000 calories from crap, and 7000 healthy calories,

Haha nowhere did you mention it should be clean eating Nah man I'm just saying, mass builders aren't neccesary for some people, because they're eating enough already (most guys will tell you they gain fat on mass builders exactly for this reason) But you seem to know your thing, and if it helps you fill your daily cals, great stuff

 

[Hemps]

The guy comes here and asks advice on gaining weight, and you tell him to avoid this and avoid that, you wan't him to lose more weight

LOL, my bad had to re-read his post.

I know 3 guys who were "skinny" and wanted to add more weight which they did, they used to eat everything and anything, also into the mass builders and such which was fine when they were in their 20's, they all got big but then came marriage and kids.
Now ALL of them wish they had never abused their bodies so much with Mass builders and such and rather kept everything in moderation, granted they stopped exercising!

What I get from that is the guys that want to get "huge" I hope you realize that you will have to carry on with an exercise regime for most of your life once you gain the weight you looking for.

 

[Tinuva]

Isn't that the truth!

I am well aware of the fact, that once you go into this, you have to keep at it, which is why I believe it has to become a way of life. Far better to stay active and healthy anyways. I look at my Dad, who is in his 60s, and he still has more energy and life in him than most people his age, if I can have at least that when I am 60, I will be super happy. My dad has so much energy right now, if we get into a project, I find it hard to keep up.

Anyways, keeping active has it's advantages, so as long as you enjoy it and keep at it, you should be happy with your body.

ps. What are your friends unhappy about now with their bodies?

 

[Hemps]

ps. What are your friends unhappy about now with their bodies?

Like me, they ate krap and pigged out on Mass Builders, we gymmed hard and long and put on muscle in the end which was the goal.
When we started working suddenly we didn't have time to gym as hard anymore like most people I would think, we didnt take mass builders or shakes anymore and pretty much ate what most people eat and so that muscle we had gained turned pap.
Luckily for me I went overseas and worked in labour intensive job outdoors so I lost 10kg , I lost most of my muscle and remained thin, if I was a desk jockey I might be in same boat as them.
My buds stayed behind and carried on with careers and raising families, anyway the chaps are now huge, lost all that muscle definition and basically FAT with beer boeps and such, the guys eat normally nothing excessive BUT the weight (muscle) they gained in years prior makes them look FAT.
If they had stayed away from mass gainers I would think they would still be thinnish guys and feel much better about themselves.

 

[zll]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'll definitely take some of the new info into account. Also, I'm Indian just so people know, so I don't expect to get that big. The couple of Indian male models I've seen around always have that kind of "lanky" or lean muscular look. It's more about getting to slightly better looking weight, without putting on fat (and obviously I want to get stronger, but that's already happening). Currently I would say that I am heading towards the lean/ripped look, which I don't really have a problem with, but I would like to gain a little bit of healthy weight if possible.

What I get from that is the guys that want to get "huge" I hope you realize that you will have to carry on with an exercise regime for most of your life once you gain the weight you looking for.

Lol. Tell me about it! Am already considering cutting my trip to visit my parents from 10 days to 5 days because I won't be able to do any kind of serious workout!

 

[Tinuva]

Yeah it sounds a lot like my 1 buddy, who used to be skinny like me, but now you can see, after a few years not in the gym, eating as bad as you can as a desk jockey, he definitely doesn't look good at all. We both in our very late 20s.

 

[Hemps]

I am well aware of the fact, that once you go into this, you have to keep at it, which is why I believe it has to become a way of life. Far better to stay active and healthy anyways

+100 its a way of life for me, I might never look like a Mens Health cover model BUT I'm a damn side better than most of the populace.

Currently I would say that I am heading towards the lean/ripped look,

Thats the look most people want, far easier to maintain as well when you get older and have more responsibilities, with right diet and 20min every other day you can sort of maintain that look I feel, all in moderation.





Actually my goal is to be cut like one of those cover models, New Year resolution!

 

[ShaunSA]

OK While we are on diet advice. Every site I have tried gives me a different calorie requirement

I am 1.65, 48kg. Weight train 4 times a week. Max an hour. Jog 3 times a week. Max 20 minutes. How many calories am I supposed to eat to gain weight?

I figure around 2000. But I could be way off base

PS. Also looking for a lean muscled look. Indian genes will ensure I never attain anything else

 

[Kwerty]

Hey all.

I've recently decided that I need to get a gym membership. My 2x10KG dumbbells are still fine for small isolation exercises but I've found are pretty useless for my chest, legs etc.

After some digging on the web I've found the two "best" starting programs, Starting Strength and Stronglifts. These seem to provide a pretty good base to start and grow from.

Both of those say you should start with the bar only. I've read SL's free guide thing as well as the SS book and I get that form is very important but squatting less than 50kg's for the first 3 weeks seems a bit meh.

Age: 22
Weight: 80
Height: 1.83
Bf% is about 18

Based on my stats I'll be trying to eat 3000cals a day (currently around 2300 now).

Am I missing anything? Any critique would be helpful thanks

 

[zll]

OK While we are on diet advice. Every site I have tried gives me a different calorie requirement

I am 1.65, 48kg. Weight train 4 times a week. Max an hour. Jog 3 times a week. Max 20 minutes. How many calories am I supposed to eat to gain weight?

I figure around 2000. But I could be way off base

PS. Also looking for a lean muscled look. Indian genes will ensure I never attain anything else

Firstly, most of the stuff I've read says if you want to gain weight, don't do cardio. I end up doing some cardio coz I don't have a car and I walk, and sometimes have to run, everywhere.

In terms of calories, I am supposed to eat 2800 calories a day if I want to gain 5lbs by the end of November. I am currently eating about 2200.

 

[gustavdp]

Yeah that was over the coarse of 2-3 years, not all muscle, a lot of fat actually, but I wasn't going to gym on a regular basis either. Once I got to 70kg though, and started to lift heavy at the gym on a very regular basis, I believe my body went for a recomp, which is, I lost fat whilst building muscle, so even though my weight didn't change much, I'd say my BF% went down considerably whilst building muscle. In fact, people said I started to look smaller, yet my bodyweight didn't change at all.

My aim however, is to get to 85kg, then cut back to 80kg trying to keep as much muscle whilst cutting fat. At 1.75m I think 80kg should look fairly decent, not too bulky, but quite good.

Im about 1.73 and have the same plan. On about 81/82 now with +- 10% bodyfat. Want to weigh 80ish with 7-8% bf

 

[gustavdp]

Creating a diet for your specific daily calorie needs

To everyone here that struggles with your diets you need to read a lot more. You need to calculate the specific level of calorie intake you need per day to achieve your specific goal. Please read !!EVERYTHING!! on this OP in this thread. This will help all of you a lot, as it helped me.

I am going to show how I calculated mine, using lean body mass calculation methods:

My stats
Age: 22
Height: 1.73
Weight: 81
Bodyfat: 10%
Weight training: 4 - 5 days per week
Intense Cardio: 1 day per week
Goal: Gain weight till 85kg - 90kg

BMR:
To calculate your BMR based on lean body weight (Katch-McArdle Formula)
BMR (both sexes) = 370 + (21.6 x lean mass in kg) - Lean mass = Body weight - (body weight x bodyfat %)

My BMR is 370 + (21.6 x 73) = 1946.8

Multiplier

Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)

I am between these two levels so i decided to take the middle point between them which is 1.638

My TDEE level

1946.80 x 1.638 = 3188.89 calories per day (maintenance level).

Some info

The mathematics of calorie balance are simple: To keep your weight at its current level, you should remain at your daily caloric maintenance level. To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit by reducing your calories slightly below your maintenance level (or keeping your calories the same and increasing your activity above your current level). To gain weight you need to increase your calories above your maintenance level. The only difference between weight gain programs and weight loss programs is the total number of calories required.

A general guideline for a starting point for gaining weight is to add approximately 300-500 calories per day onto your TDEE. An alternate method is to add an additional 15 - 20% onto your TDEE.


Calories p/d to reach my goal of gaining

My TDEE is 3188.89. So I added 20% to it which is 3826.668 calories per day.



I split those calories through 4 meals, and 3 shakes per day.

07:00 - Meal
09:00 - Mass Building shake + Banana
11:00 - Meal
13:00 - Meal
15:00 - Mass Building shake
17:30 - Pre-Workout
18:00 - Gym
NO CARBS AFTER GYM
20:00 - Whey protein
20:30 - Meal
Before sleep a nice scoop of peanut butter (Yellow back cat)

As you can see I try my best to eat every two hours.


This diet helps me gain weight by getting a lot of carbs in during the day, using it as energy while gymming, and by eating very clean after gym I keep my body fat % around 10% while gaining


Please read everything on the OP of that thread, it will help you create your own diet. I have picked up 5 kgs in 2 months while keeping my body fat low