Help! I want to gain muscle..

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Help! I want to gain muscle..
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flag pouik
Posted: Jun 22, 2011 at 8:50 Quote
Hi everyone, I'm 15 years old, 6 feet and 143 lbs. As the title says, I want to gain muscle mass. I used to workout 3 days a week at the gym, for 7 months, but didn't see any results. Probably because I was doing something wrong. I don't want to be bulked and look like a body builder, just well-shaped and cut.. Obviously, I need to workout everything in my upper body, especially pecs and biceps (see pics below). Also, I would like to have wider shoulders! I won't work on my legs because I do alot of road cycling so my legs are strong and toned. Btw, does the fact that I'm doing cardio pretty much everyday burns muscle ? Just wondering... I don't follow a diet but I'm not eating junk food or things like that. I know diet is something very important and if someone can proove me that I can gain muscle, I'll follow one for sure!
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flag crazzybiker
Posted: Jun 22, 2011 at 10:37 Quote
Go heavy weights !! I know you said you don't want be like a body builder. But going heavy weights will build your muscles. I joined the gym a year ago or so and I was super skinny too and 6 foot. But go heavy till you like the way you look, then switch over to high rep low weight to keep the areas nice and toned. Also do some heavy weights in between your toning to keep your strength up.
flag PLC07
Posted: Jun 26, 2011 at 5:28 Quote
Like crazzybiker said, lift heavy. Longer sets are working muscle fibers into endurance which doesn't get much mass as opposed to strength which gives more. 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps are what most people use for str gains. Read on str training, you don't have to become a master of the subject but knowing the general rules and how it works is always good.

Cardio is good. Make sure you eat enough though, as if you don't eat enough, your body will "eat" your muscle to get its energy. You'll want to do your cardio AFTER you lifted weights though, to keep power for the lifts. You said you roadbike, if you think you get enough cardio with that you can forget cardio in the gym entirely. During the winter I can't bike outside so I train 3 days a week with cardio but I focus on biking during the summer. So I only train in the gym once a week to maintain what I gained during the winter and I don't even do any cardio, as I do it with DH/road bike during the rest of the week.

A lot of people working on getting bigger will tell you that the hardest and most important part is eating. Train hard, eat hard. You need a lot of proteins to make those muscles grow. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day, eat smaller meals every 3 hours or so. It will ensure a constant intake of proteins for your body to repair muscle fibers. The general rule is 1g of protein for every pound you weight. So at 143lbs you'd need to eat 143g a day. Some say it's not enough, some say it's too much and everybody is different. Personally, I don't really obsess with that, I just make sure I have a decent amount in every meal and it worked fine for me so far. Eggs, dairy products, grains (quality breads/cereals), nuts, meats, fishes and legumes are your friends.

And of course, rest. Rest is very important. Make sure you sleep enough as it's when you sleep that your body regenerates the most. I know it's not always easy find the time to sleep a good 8 hours but it's important to do it.

As for being cut, well you're skinny so you seem to have the genetics for that, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Keep in mind that skinny people tend to have a hard time getting bigger but it is not impossible.
flag PLC07
Posted: Jun 26, 2011 at 9:33 Quote
Oh and muscles tend to be overrated. If you're aiming for good overall fitness then you can use more muscles. If you feel weak for whatever task or sport then you could use some more also. But being too bulky in general hinders performance in a lot of sports. Most athletes except lifters aren't all that big. Why? because they'd have to haul their useless big carcass all over the place which results in being slower and also wasted energy. People who run marathons, do ironman or whatever other endurance sport don't get huge pectorals and biceps that makes women giggle when they go clubbing because carrying that extra 15 pounds all over the place is pretty much like if you'd put a 15lbs backpack on your back. They don't want it because they don't need it as it would be a burden more than anything else.

Just look at the guys on the world cup, they mostly aren't very muscular, some of them are barely not scrawny if anything. You don't have to look like a mutant to perform well. Of course, it might be intimidating in the gym but keep in mind that most of those people have been training for years only to get bigger and bigger. Outside the gym, most of them don't do much sport except for beach volleyball here and there so they aren't a reference when it comes to performance.
flag mcmbike
Posted: Jun 26, 2011 at 10:30 Quote
If you're only riding road, pretty much anything you do to your upper body will hurt your climbing and make you slower, but a strong core is really important. Do a lot of situps at different angles and hold some weights while you do them. Also bench presses, pull ups, and push ups will get you that "overall tone" you're going for. Eat right and get a lot of sleep and protein.
flag Mtn-Bik3r
Posted: Aug 3, 2011 at 1:02 Quote
I agree with what the above posters said. Also you need to work your legs, even if you road bike. Biking is a cardio/endurance exercise and cannot replace lifting for muscle growth and development. I highly recommend squatting, free weight squats are the #1 exercise for overall muscle gain. This is because your quads/hamstrings are huge, and if you work the hell out of the large muscles in your legs, it forces your body into a recovery mode. This makes you release a lot of testosterone, which really helps in overall muscle gain (if you're exercising other muscles too of course!). You will get larger much faster if you squat.

Also, do not isolate too much. So don't do mainly exercises that target very specific muscles (like bicep curls). Isolation is fine if you're body building, but a sports athlete such as yourself would benefit more from larger movements that incorporate a lot of muscles. This is because sports don't use many isolated movements, anything you do in a sport requires several muscles. You will have more usable strength if you stay away from heavy isolation.

You should definitely have these 5 core, large movements in your workout:

1. Bench (mainly chest, also shoulders and triceps)
2. Squats (mainly quads, also hamstrings, glutes, and abs)
3. Chinups (mainly upper back, also biceps)
4. Deadlift (mainly lower back, also quads and abs)
5. Military Press (mainly shoulders, also triceps and upper chest)

Check out http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/ for proper technique videos. Better to do less weight and do it correctly than injure yourself with bad form. Injuries keep you off the bike too, so don't mess around with technique!

Also a lifting partner, preferably one who is experienced, is great when you're staring out. Having someone doing it with you helps you progess faster and keep with it.

I've been lifting for a while now. I'm 19, 6'5", and 230 lbs without much fat. I won't post flexing photos online, but this is the closest thing I have:
Learning my first BMX trick the footjam.
Lifting has improved my life, my health, and my riding. Good luck man!
flag mcmbike
Posted: Aug 3, 2011 at 7:57 Quote
Also, when you get to the point where you can do one-legged squats, that will massively help you. Learn them first off of a platform with your free leg straight down, then try flat ground with the other leg pointed forwards and backwards. Gradually build up weight, but don't worry if it's only 5 or 10lbs because this is more of a balance exercise than anything
flag spud3
Posted: Aug 10, 2011 at 13:42 Quote
most of the stuff that has been said is correct, main points are you wanna be doing a weight which means you can only do 12reps maximum, otherwise you aren't lifting enough. get a good diet, and pretty much just eat and eat, the more you consume the better. stay away from very fatty foods (fast food is a no go) you want to eat fat yes, but not saturated as that is stored directly as fat. don't do cardio for more than 20 mins, if you wanna make the best gains. in those 20 mins you wanna work harder, but obviously for less time. you could invest in a supplement, i would suggest getting a weight gainer as they do as they suggest. what i have notice with them though between me and my friends (all use same product) is that i am leaner and stronger than them because they eat "worse" food than me. so diet is key. i use Anabolic mass (not a steriod as any people think and has nothing to do with them) and in around 3 months of training i have put on so much muscle i am surprised. work hard, eat hard, gain hard. hope this helps you buddy
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