I have been working out for a out 2 years. Took me a while to get comfortable in the gym and develop a routine. I had been doing good toll an injury set me back. I am now back at it. I am a skinny go who has always had trouble gaining weight.
I take a few supplements I take(protein. Gp3evo creatine mixture And bcaa.) I know I need to eat a lot to gain weight with a lot of calories and good carbs. I have researched to get some foods to help with that.
So my 2 questions are. Any tips on what foods or supps will help me gain weight?
I have started doing superset isolated routines on individual muscle groups. So my 2nd question is
Should I be doing isolated or compound exercises.
Thanks
Paul Carter guaranteed muscle mass routine, or a simple push pull split.
Try eating 2 slices of bread and a glass of whole milk after each meal. Cheap and very effective.
Or add 100g of mixed nuts a day.
Add blended oats and olive oil to your shakes.
What does your current food intake look like? An honest daily intake.
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I posted this on my log a while back so thought I would add it in here as it may help.
if I was asked by someone wanting to build a more muscular physique what I would consider to be the key things they should be doing to achieve that goal, based on them being a lift long skinny bugger I would answer…
- hit your calorie targets
Work out what your daily calorie intake should be and consistently eat above that day in day out no excuses.
- eat mostly whole foods
Lots of good meat, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit, good quality carb sources like rice, potatoes, brown variations of foods, whole grain stuff ect… You don’t need to be 100% clean, just eat as good as you can but if you need some crap to hit your calorie targets, so be it. Hitting the target will make or break you.
- drink lots of water
No explanation needed!
- follow a simple routine
A simple push/pull split is ideal.
Push day
Squat, bench, overhead press, leg kicks, tricep isolation.
Pull day
Chin up, deadlift, row variation, ham curl, bicep isolation.
5 **8 to 12 reps **
The 8 to 12 range is ideal, most of your time should be spent here.
- slow eccentric
The magic happens lowering weights, use a 4 second controlled negative on all but deadlift. Stick with it every rep, if you can’t maintain it lower the weight until you can do every rep of every set in this fashion.
- forget your ego
Having an ego will severely hinder your ability to carry out point 6. You will be disappointed with how little you can rep for 10 with a 4 second negative, you will feel like everyone is looking at your puny weights, you will want to forget tempo and form and prove you can lift heavy. Don’t do it, stay strong and stick with the plan. It’s all in your head, Nobody actually cares what your lifting, and if they do that’s there issue not yours.
- leave the gym feeling trained but not half dead
Stick to your program, don’t add more because you still feel fine, don’t do 100 extra sets because you can still feel your arms. Don’t aim to leave the gym beat, anyone can tire themselves out.
- progression
You have to be making progress, you could progress by doing more weight, more reps,more sets, less rest. Pick a preferred method of progression that works for you, just make sure there is one. If your following a tried and tested set program, use the progression they prescribe.
- keep a journal
This will help with progression and self assessment. The faintest of ink is clearer then the most vivid memory. Not sure where I read that but I like it.
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Food intake is
3 eggs and a big bowl of oatmeal
Chicken and rice or a pasta for lunch
Mac and cheese salad
Protein bar. That’s while at work. I drive a truck so it’s hard to get food in me(no excuse I know)
When I get home it’s usually just a supper. Pork chops,chicken,pasta or steak.
I got a few tips online as what I should be eating to help me so once I start to get into the habit of doing it I will re-evaluate how it’s going. I appreciate your help.
Thanks
The Paul Carter routine I found looks like it takes a long time to do. I have about an hour an a half each morning before work
What is you height and weight?
When just starting out it is best to track macros.
1 hr and 30 min is more than enough time. How often can you train? How many times a week would you prefer to train?
5’8 150
6 days a week
It won’t take 1.30, I’ve not been in the gym that long ever no matter what routine I’ve been doing. The simple push pull I posted above added a lot of muscle to my frame without anything fancy. It’s so simple that people assume it’s not enough, but if you keep extremely strict to the 4 second negatives and keep slowly progressing with the weights you will grow.
Dropping down to 3 days a week, 4 days tops would be beneficial. Give your self time to recover and grow. Training too many days and eating too few calories is a recipe for no gains. Train less but smarter and eat more.
The bread and milk thing or the 100g nuts could really work for you, no cooking and easy to consume on the go. Just for reference 100g of macadamia nuts is close to 1000cals.
I appreciate it. Thanks.
Run through a bunch of templates from The T Nation part of the site over the course of the next year. Anything by Dan John , Wendler, Waterbury. and Carter as mentioned.
Until you hit say 170 do Defranco’s hour of power here…