Conditioning or Bulk?

[MizuRyu]

It's NEVER impossible to gain size. It just takes a lot of dedication and hard work. I'd recommend, as always, to stick to the large compounds. Squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, chin ups, lat pulls... etc. Lots of quality protein and no sugar.

[UseoForce]

I agree with elbows. Instead of working out 1 specific muscle group per day, I have 2 push days, 2 pull days, and a leg day. Each push and pull day has different emphasis than the respective push or pull day before it.

[Toby]

Yikes. You sure o eat differently from us Yanks. Though you and I share a love for tea. Green would be my choice.

It's your diet that is your main issue. You need a heftier breakfast and lunch. Eat a midmorning snack. Less food in the evening. More protein at every meal (buy yourself a protein powder supplement and take 2-3 servings per day). No raw egg yolk--you can salmonella from it.

Get a trainer or a good book to learn a proper weight training plan that focuses on basic multiple joint movements. If you can't afford that, do this (each set has increasing weight):

Mon/Thur:

Bench Press: 4 sets of 10 (warmup), 8, 6, 8 reps

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8 reps

Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 8 reps

Barbell or Dumbbell Biceps Curl: 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Tues/Fri

Squats: 4 sets of 12 (warmup), 10, 8, 10 reps

Lunges with Dumbbells: 3 sets of 10 reps per leg

Calf Raises with Dumbbell: 3 sets of 15-20 reps per leg

And save the pushups for a warmup, nobody gains bulk from pushups.

Hope this helps.

Cheers::

Sohan

Thanks Sohan, this plan seems easy and effective... One question though. What should my starting weight be? (I guess i'll start at 25% of my max and build up by 25% for each set.)

And as well as doing your workout plan, should I still include the bike riding, rowing? Or do you think that's too much?

Thanks again,

Toby.

[Smitty]

I'm no expert, but I was in exactly the same shape. I was 5'7" and 145 pounds.

Have you tried pyramid lifting? My body responded positively to that. Not saying it'd work for you, but it's a thought.

[Aodhan]

Yikes. You sure o eat differently from us Yanks. Though you and I share a love for tea. Green would be my choice.

It's your diet that is your main issue. You need a heftier breakfast and lunch. Eat a midmorning snack. Less food in the evening. More protein at every meal (buy yourself a protein powder supplement and take 2-3 servings per day). No raw egg yolk--you can salmonella from it.

Get a trainer or a good book to learn a proper weight training plan that focuses on basic multiple joint movements. If you can't afford that, do this (each set has increasing weight):

Mon/Thur:

Bench Press: 4 sets of 10 (warmup), 8, 6, 8 reps

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8 reps

Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 8 reps

Barbell or Dumbbell Biceps Curl: 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Tues/Fri

Squats: 4 sets of 12 (warmup), 10, 8, 10 reps

Lunges with Dumbbells: 3 sets of 10 reps per leg

Calf Raises with Dumbbell: 3 sets of 15-20 reps per leg

And save the pushups for a warmup, nobody gains bulk from pushups.

Hope this helps.

Cheers::

Sohan

Thanks Sohan, this plan seems easy and effective... One question though. What should my starting weight be? (I guess i'll start at 25% of my max and build up by 25% for each set.)

And as well as doing your workout plan, should I still include the bike riding, rowing? Or do you think that's too much?

Thanks again,

Toby.

No, starting at 25% of your max won't do much good at all. You need to figure out your max (either one rep or 3 rep will do), and start at about 70% and go to about 85% by the third set. Start a little higher if you want to work bulk a little more.

25% of max you could do reps for 10 minutes before you got tired

Aodhan

[Sohan]

That's right, Aodhan.

Toby, typically a warmup on a basic multijoint move is about 40-50% of your top set. For example, if I were doing 300 for 5 as a top set, my warmup would likely be 135 or so. Then increase to about 70-75% for the next set, then 80-85 for the next. Pyramids are great too (say 10 reps, 8, 6, 4, 8, 10--I usually skip the last set of 10).

The heavier your top sets, the more warmup you need. A guy doing a 400 x 3 bench needs more warmup than a guy doing 175 x 4. No need for extended warmup for biceps curls or tri extensions--they usually follow multijoint movements anyway. And watch your rest periods--longer rest for building strength, shorter rest for hypertrophy (muscle building). Make sure you do workouts with longer rest periods and heavier weight. As you get stronger your training volume will increase which will help you get bigger. Many lifters make the mistake of never utilizing longer rest and only doing short rest periods--they never reach their potential.

Also, if you're trying to build bulk and lean mass, keep your cardio to a minimum. Cardio training will keep you from making your gains. It's a necessary to help keep you lean and your heart healthy, but it's a trade off. You'll rarely see a bodybuilder do much cardio in a mass building phase.

Respectfully,

Sohan

[Aodhan]

That's right, Aodhan.

Yes, I know.

I spent 4 years plus an internship getting a degree in exercise kinesiology. What a pain in the tookus, but it does come in handy now that I teach.

Aodhan

[Sohan]

That's right, Aodhan.

Yes, I know.

I spent 4 years plus an internship getting a degree in exercise kinesiology. What a pain in the tookus, but it does come in handy now that I teach.

Aodhan

Humble, too.

Where did you get your degree? I received my Masters in Exercise Science from Georgia State University. I am also certified by the NSCA as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (since 1995) and ACSM (Health Fitness Instructor--since 1996).

It comes in handy for me because it is the way I put food on my table.

Respectfully,

Sohan

[Aodhan]

That's right, Aodhan.

Yes, I know.

I spent 4 years plus an internship getting a degree in exercise kinesiology. What a pain in the tookus, but it does come in handy now that I teach.

Aodhan

Humble, too.

Where did you get your degree? I received my Masters in Exercise Science from Georgia State University. I am also certified by the NSCA as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (since 1995) and ACSM (Health Fitness Instructor--since 1996).

It comes in handy for me because it is the way I put food on my table.

Respectfully,

Sohan

Never got to the Master's level. Got my bachelors from the Univ. of Northern Colorado, but I got sidetracked and ended up in computer programming. I do some fitness prescription and diet/nutritional analysis part time, but mostly it's programming and teaching at the studio.

Aodhan

[FlameThrower]

If you wanna bulk you gotta eat more.