Hi guys,
After some advice. I'm 6ft 2 and weigh in at about 72kg. Trying to gain a fair amount of weight, in the form of muscle obviously. I'm eating 4 or 5 meals a day, making sure that it's all healthy and contains high amounts of protein so lots of tuna and chicken.
I'm also trying to increase my cardio fitness so I'm doing 2 pretty brutal spinning sessions a week, trying to run once or twice a week. I'm also having a protein shake after I've excercised. I'm doing weight training twice a week.
Any ways to speed up the weight gain? Doesn't really seem to be doing a huge amount.
sounds to me that your not doing anywhere near enough weights i would double what your doing, also make sure you don't get stuck in a routine of doing the same set and reps mix it up do super heavy low reps one week then change to super high reps and low weight the next. for example a typical heavy bench session would be....
start
70kg x 8 reps
75kg x 6 reps
80kg x 4 reps
85kg x 2 reps
90kg x 1 rep
90kg x 1 rep
85kg x 2 reps
80kg x 4 reps
75kg x 6 reps
70kg x 8 reps
reapted twice
you should allow decent recovery between sets
then light weight bench session would be..
40kg 20 to 30 sets 10 reps per set
on this session only allow a max of 30 to 40 seconds between sets.
obviouly ajust the weight to suit yourself, but make sure its heavy enough so that you can hardly finish the sessions. you can apply the above seesions best to compound exercises so bench pess, bench pull, standing press, deadlifts, squats ect... compound exersizes will have have the biggest effect on your size and strength.
That set list-do you mean he should complete that number of sets in one session? If so I think thats way too much... the muscle would be too fatigued after 4 sets of 80% total liftable weight for the other 10 or however many there are to be of any use. I think that will undoubtedly lead to over training, and you wont see any results... just for the opposite reason of why you aren't at the moment. Do 3 sets on all heavy exercises... its been used and proven for so many years by so many people-why change it? Remember to lift at 70-80% of your biggest liftable weight on each exercise, more and you will likely injure yourself through poor technique, less and you wont make any significant gains.
Id say dont do any cardio sessions if you want to put on muscle, just do a warm up and warm down like rowing or jogging or cycling but not too strenuous, just to keep cramping and locking to a minimum. And seeing as though your posting on sdh... im guessing you ride your bike like once a week or more anyway, so warm ups, riding, warm downs, weights and good nutrition will allow you to put on muscle not fat.
Eating protein is good, but you need carbs and everything else too. Most weightlifters/bodybuilders have an average intake of like 250g protein a day... obviously more if they're bigger or less if they're smaller. Look into ZMA also, (potent but natural mixture of magnesium, zinc and vit b6 that basically increases your bodies ability to digest and break down protein in a useful way-theres no point eating or drinking more protein than you can digest as you'll just waste money like so many people do on protein shakes etc.
Not to get too technical, but you may want to look into cortisol too... To give you a basic outline of its effect on humans and possibly yourself ill summarise it below.
Cortisol is a hormone present in male and females, and acts an opposing force to testosterone. Its a nightmare for people trying to gain muscle because It is a catabolic hormone that reduces protein synthesis and prevents tissue growth. Too much cardio causes more Cortisol to be released by the body so don’t over-do it on the treadmill and remember any cardio should be combined with a good diet. Try to eat at least 5-6 small meals each day as it has been found that eating more frequently helps to control Cortisol levels keeping them lower than if you were eating larger meals less frequently. The most important meals are breakfast and your Post Workout meal. Make sure you eat in the morning as Cortisol levels are shown to be higher at this time and maintaining a proper diet including protein, carbs and essential fats help to control Cortisol levels.
AND REMEMBER DONT EXERCISE FOR ANY LONGER THAN AN HOUR. Testosterone peaks halfway through an hour workout, after your warmup, and usually dissapears after 50 minutes, at which time cortisol takes over, after which you will make no good or lasting effect on the muscle tissue.
Wow, long post... sorry, hope it helps though as I dont think anyone has mentioned cortisol yet.
