Bulk up/gain muscle fast...? *Experienced*

[Danny_123]

Ok, call me lazy for not doin my research or what ever.
But among college, work, the gym, boxing and thai boxing.
I wouldnt say i have enough spare time to do proper research into this...

Basically, i am going to take a while off boxing and thai boxing, still do a bit of bag work and skipping at the gym, but not as much.
And i want to bulk up with muscle as fast as possible, im not expecting a 3 week magic deal or anythin, im willing to put in the work.
I can get to the gym 3 times a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This will give me rest days in between which is good right ?

So what i'm asking for is a routine for each major muscle group of the body so i can bulk up good, with good proportions.
Chest, shoulders, core, legs.
Then arms and even the neck - (boxing purposes) - if you found a way to slot that in...

If anyone can help me and recommend a way to max my size in these 3 sessions a week then please post suggestions to routines. Reps and sets etc.

Also dietry advice would be a good bonus.
Thanks in advance.

[andrewcuff]

One of the best ways to gain muscle quickly is the 20 rep squats program.

3x a week:

20 Rep Squats
3x10 Pullups
3x10 Dips
3x10 Shoulder Press

Each session you must increase your squat weight by 5lbs.

[andrewcuff]

Also make sure you eat BIG as well ^^^

[Banderivets]

Lift heavy, eat BIG!

You have to eat big, but as you eat big you will gain enough fat with all the working out too.

So you'll gain 10-15lb and think its all muscle and youll look much bigger, but when you actually get back to a normal diet and continue your work out you will loose half that weight and you wont fill out your shirt like you used too.

Gaining muscle is hard work...


Look at NBA guys...they work hard in the off season, and these are professional atheletes with pro trainers that are paid big $$$ and whose diets are custom tailored and these guys put on 10lb max in the off season...it takes a lot of these rookies years to fill out their bodies.


But you can always get some roids or stick some HGH up your ass and gain lots more a lot quicker.

[FLYBOY]

they say the best way to gain strength and muscle is by doing 5 sets of 5 reps... 4-5 exercises for each muscle group once a week and by increasing 5 pounds each week.

[Landon S]

You wont get big from the workout, nutrition should be your primary concern. Try to get about 1-1.5grams of protein per kilogram that you weigh each day, this will give your body the "building blocks" it needs for hypertrophy. Also dont just go eating all meat and protein powders either, eat a balanced diet, veggies/grain/fruit/nuts are your friends and you need vitamins so your body can recover properly and go through all the processes it needs too (recovery is where you grow, NOT when your lifting the weights). Shoot for about 3000ish calories a day (more if your heavier than I was, I was 165) at least with about 15% of those calories coming from protein (4 calories per gram of protein or carbs, 9 calores per gram of fat) you dont need to spend all your time figuring this out but try to keep track of it for 1 day at least so you can get a general idea of how you eat and make adjustments. The way I did it in the past was I ate what I call "tuner meals" to tune my diet, if I needed more protein Id eat a tuna sandwhich with some orange juice for example, just to get my calories, vitamins and protein I needed.

Another little tidbit, you need at least 1000 extra calories for energy for your body to go about building 1 pound of muscle, dont go overboard however.

The time you take in your food also makes a big difference. Eat some good quality protein before a workout, depending on the type the ideal time will vary but if its real meat, give it at least a half hour, for whey protein you can take it right before. Generally you wont need to take whey protein if your eating right but what I found works is taking a half scoop a half hour before to saturate my blood with protein, a scoop right before (this was a total of about 40grams of protein for both shakes I took) and after I hit the weights Id eat supper. I gained 14lbs this way in a month and only about 3 pounds of fat (estimate).

Once your done working out you need to restore muscle glycogen and get more protein in your body so thats what supper is for, you get carbs, protein, fat and vitamins that way when your body needs it. As for the routine its coming in my next post, this ones getting pretty lengthy.

[Landon S]

I did have a huge post with a routine but I figured **** it since I only focus on strength now I kinda lost the knack for hypertrophy routines which was evident as I was making the routine, was unsure wtf I was doing.

Just stick within 8-12 reps for true hypertrophy, 5-7 for both strength and hypertrophy and for certain body parts such as legs and forearms you need higher reps. Do big compound movments, heres a short list: DEADLIFT, SQUAT (and variations), bench press, bent over rows, weighted pullups, weighted dips, overhead pressing, high pulls, power cleans, snatches. Those are in my opinion (and many others) the best exercises, add some isolation if you want but keep in mind most of your size and strength will come from the compound movments and isolation exercises should be used last to finish off the muscle in question. Hit every plane of movement you can with compound moves before you use isolation. Calves should be hit freakin hard with supersets and such.

For hypertrophy 8-10 sets for small muscle groups and 12+ sets for larger muscle groups is the template I used.

[Trrmo]

Good post Landon, but...

...Try to get about 1-1.5grams of protein per kilogram that you weigh each day...

Shoot for about 3000ish calories a day (more if your heavier than I was, I was 165)

Should be about 1 gram protein per POUND you weigh, not per kg, or about 1.7 + protein per kg.

3000 cals could be too much, it depends on the person, IMO its better to increase cals little by little. I only needed about 2500 cals at 165 to bulk.

In response to those who say "Eat Big" thats true to an extent but often people go overboard and are left with too much fat too burn. Sure increase the calories but be careful about it! I ended up getting fat by eating too much!
see this article

[Landon S]

Good post Landon, but...




Should be about 1 gram protein per POUND you weigh, not per kg, or about 1.7 + protein per kg.

3000 cals could be too much, it depends on the person, IMO its better to increase cals little by little. I only needed about 2500 cals at 165 to bulk.

In response to those who say "Eat Big" thats true to an extent but often people go overboard and are left with too much fat too burn. Sure increase the calories but be careful about it! I ended up getting fat by eating too much!
see this article

The 1 gram thing is pretty much a myth, you dont actually need that much because when you get to that amount you end up pissing it out (seriously), test any bodybuilders urine that eats 1gram per pound and he will have protein in his urine as well as fat turds lol funny but true. So less protein is easier to do for 1, cheaper, and it doesnt end up getting wasted.

On average people need about 2000-2500 calories to MAINTAIN weight (this is with a healthy diet, not a high fat typical diet), this is a typical person (175ish or more I think is the average, not sure on that 1) that is pretty much sedentary, never mind if you train. I eat about 2.5-3k each day and I dont gain weight (8% bf) but I also train hard and often, likely more than this guy does or ever will TBH, I just have alot of time on my hands.

True it COULD be too much but I doubt it, he mentioned that he would still jump rope and such. Its just an estimate, Im probably half way around the world from this guy Im doing the best I can cut me some slack will ya :P. Its probably better to start off eating a little too much and if need be too cut back when your goal is to bulk up.

EDIT: I just skimmed that article, (I'll read it completely later) but I found the table about optimum intake for growth and a 165lb man should take in 3260 calories according to that so I was pretty damn close.

REEDIT: Thanks for that little "challenge" (it wasnt really that but, you know what I mean :P) makes me think a bit deeper on the subject and I think I'll learn something from that article. Good posts as always dude.

[Trrmo]

Well not totally disagreeing with you. I just know that lotsa of people start weight training and eating lots thinking that they are gaining muscle really fast but before they know it they find they are getting fat, then they spend a long hard time losing the fat. So for that reason I believe it is best to increase the cals carefully and not overdo it.

For me, I was gaining weight easily at 2500 cals, and thats properly measured food intake. But I was only doing weights, virtually no cardio, and in my 30s. So depends on the person and activity level. Even now with quite alot of cardio I only need about 2300 cals to maintain weight.

About the protein level I have to slightly disagree, the bodybuilding sites exaggerate and misquote the experts on how much protein people need. But as much as I can find out the research says it should be 1.3 - 1.8 gms per kg. Which I just worked out is about .6 to .82 grams per pound, (okay so I was wrong about 1 gram per pound, but right about 1.7 gm per kg). So according to the data here 1gm per kg isnīt enough, it is just a small thing but I would rather shoot for the range that the experts give.

From EFFECTS OF PROTEIN AND AMINO-ACID SUPPLEMENTATION ON ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
A considerable amount of research has evaluated dietary protein needs of athletes. Although there is some debate, most studies indicate that in order to maintain protein balance during intense resistance and/or endurance training, athletes should ingest approximately 1.3 to 1.8 g protein per kg body mass per day (Butterfield, 1991; Lemon, 1998; Kreider et al., 1993; Kreider, 1999)


One of these experts, PW Lemon,1988 (who is an often cited expert on protein intake on bodybuilding.com) recomends 1.6 to 1.8 g of protein per KILOGRAM of body weight


By the way the bodybuilding protein calculators say 1.6-1.8 g per POUND and then refer to the research by PW Lemon, who actually says 1.6 -1.8 per KILOGRAM, quite shameless really.