GHoosdum's Fitness Goals
As I mentioned in the 30 pound challenge thread, my goal is not to lose weight, but to gain it. However, I'm trying to make my gain in muscle mass, which is easier said than done.
My original weight was right around 140 and my target is 150.
Since I began, I went through a few hard times (divorce and whatnot) and dropped ten pounds all the way down to 130. This turned out to be an advantage, because when I started working out again I pretty quickly gained that ten pounds back, and based upon the increases I was seeing in my weight routine, I'm fairly certain that ten pounds was mostly muscle.
At this point, however, I'm pretty much back to square one on my original weight goal.
Here's my routine:
Exercise 3-5 days per week split between the following exercises:
(all weight machines are hammer strength machines unless otherwise specified)
workout one:
5 sets 5 reps press on upright bench, increase weight each set to failure
5 sets 5 reps press on decline bench, increase weight each set to failure
3 sets pushups to failure
5 sets 5 reps deadlift squats with dumbbells
5 sets 5 reps lateral pulldown
3 sets 10 reps seated row
3 sets 10 reps chest butterfly on nautilus machine
workout two:
5 sets 8 reps leg extensions on keiser air machine
5 sets 8 reps leg curls on nautilus machine
3 sets 10 reps adductor on nautilus machine
3 sets 10 reps leg lifts on some kind of free-standing frame
5 sets 5 reps shoulder press, increasing weight to failure, on nautilus-style machine
3 sets 10 reps lateral raise with dumbbells
5 sets 10 reps shrugs with dumbbells
workout three:
5 sets 5 reps EZ-bar curl, increasing weight to failure
5 sets 5 reps hammer curl with dumbbell
3 sets 10 reps arm curl on hammer strength preacher bench
5 sets 10 reps tricep pulldowns on adjustable weight stack machine
5 sets 5 reps dips on free-standing frame
3 sets 10 reps reverse tricep pulldown
3 sets close pushups to failure
every Saturday:
Bike trail 8 - 16 miles
I just added a spinning class to the routines, had the first class yesterday. I enjoyed it. I felt that I worked myself pretty hard yesterday, but I either didn't work hard enough or stretched out well enough after that I'm not feeligng sore today. I might need to increase the resistances ("gears") on the bike next time. I plan to continue this at least through until spring, when I will be buying a decent road bike and training for the MS 150 next year.
I do the weight lifting with a friend of mine who has a similar body structure and similar problems gaining weight. The spinning and bike riding is with Zanthian, who also plans to ride the MS 150. I also recently made a vow to never turn anyone down when they invite me along to exercise, unless it conflicts with work or another workout.
My diet typically consists of about 2500-3000 calories per day with 100-150g of protein and as little as possible sugars and saturated fats.
Unfortunately, my body weight seems to have reached a plateau, even though the amount of weight I can lift is still increasing. It's all I can do to eat enough healthy calories to maintain 2500+ calories per day, and I think I'd probably throw up if I tried to add more. I also find that it is much easier to eat this much during the work week, by eating three meals at work and a protein shake before my workout and then a protein shake and a meal afterward. On the weekends, however, I'm just not bored enough to eat that much.
Do you guys have any healthy recommendations for how to continue to make the weight gains I'm trying to achieve?
My original weight was right around 140 and my target is 150.
Since I began, I went through a few hard times (divorce and whatnot) and dropped ten pounds all the way down to 130. This turned out to be an advantage, because when I started working out again I pretty quickly gained that ten pounds back, and based upon the increases I was seeing in my weight routine, I'm fairly certain that ten pounds was mostly muscle.
At this point, however, I'm pretty much back to square one on my original weight goal.
Here's my routine:
Exercise 3-5 days per week split between the following exercises:
(all weight machines are hammer strength machines unless otherwise specified)
workout one:
5 sets 5 reps press on upright bench, increase weight each set to failure
5 sets 5 reps press on decline bench, increase weight each set to failure
3 sets pushups to failure
5 sets 5 reps deadlift squats with dumbbells
5 sets 5 reps lateral pulldown
3 sets 10 reps seated row
3 sets 10 reps chest butterfly on nautilus machine
workout two:
5 sets 8 reps leg extensions on keiser air machine
5 sets 8 reps leg curls on nautilus machine
3 sets 10 reps adductor on nautilus machine
3 sets 10 reps leg lifts on some kind of free-standing frame
5 sets 5 reps shoulder press, increasing weight to failure, on nautilus-style machine
3 sets 10 reps lateral raise with dumbbells
5 sets 10 reps shrugs with dumbbells
workout three:
5 sets 5 reps EZ-bar curl, increasing weight to failure
5 sets 5 reps hammer curl with dumbbell
3 sets 10 reps arm curl on hammer strength preacher bench
5 sets 10 reps tricep pulldowns on adjustable weight stack machine
5 sets 5 reps dips on free-standing frame
3 sets 10 reps reverse tricep pulldown
3 sets close pushups to failure
every Saturday:
Bike trail 8 - 16 miles
I just added a spinning class to the routines, had the first class yesterday. I enjoyed it. I felt that I worked myself pretty hard yesterday, but I either didn't work hard enough or stretched out well enough after that I'm not feeligng sore today. I might need to increase the resistances ("gears") on the bike next time. I plan to continue this at least through until spring, when I will be buying a decent road bike and training for the MS 150 next year.
I do the weight lifting with a friend of mine who has a similar body structure and similar problems gaining weight. The spinning and bike riding is with Zanthian, who also plans to ride the MS 150. I also recently made a vow to never turn anyone down when they invite me along to exercise, unless it conflicts with work or another workout.
My diet typically consists of about 2500-3000 calories per day with 100-150g of protein and as little as possible sugars and saturated fats.
Unfortunately, my body weight seems to have reached a plateau, even though the amount of weight I can lift is still increasing. It's all I can do to eat enough healthy calories to maintain 2500+ calories per day, and I think I'd probably throw up if I tried to add more. I also find that it is much easier to eat this much during the work week, by eating three meals at work and a protein shake before my workout and then a protein shake and a meal afterward. On the weekends, however, I'm just not bored enough to eat that much.
Do you guys have any healthy recommendations for how to continue to make the weight gains I'm trying to achieve?
0
Comments
Peanut butter (2 tablespoons), mix it in with your shakes.
Handful of almonds before you sleep (unsalted).
Cottage cheese.
Low-fat yogurt (try to get one without high fructose corn syrup).
Gaining weight is all about more calories, cutting things in your routine you may not need and getting more calorie dense food.
Costco has a great deal on unsalted raw almonds. It's a huge bag for twelve bucks. I'll pick one up.
I eat about a cup of cottage cheese each day, alternating between low fat and fat free (when I can find fat free that has as much protein per serving). I was eating more when I substituted it in for yogurt with breakfast, but then I had a bit of a regularity issue for the first time in my life, so I swapped the yogurt back in...
Also, try drinking more milk (Skim to 2%), about three glasses including your shakes. If you don't already mix your shakes with milk do so. Easy way to get extra protein and calories.
For your shake there are other things you can do too. Add frozen fruit or a banana with the peanut butter to the blender and you'll get a nice smoothie. Some people add oats, but I don't really recommend it. They have a tendency to settle at the bottom of things.
If you don't like the taste of your shake, try changing brands or different flavors. Chocolate is my standby, and through all the shakes I've tried I like ON Whey a lot more than EAS (Costco brand) or anything else.
Where can I find the ON Whey?
GNC, some Rite Aid pharmacies will carry GNC products too and will carry ON Whey at a lower price than the GNC store will. Kroger's nutrition section may have it too.
Good luck, just eat enough and train hard. You'll get there.
That said, the increase in protein will help with lean muscle gain. I've personally stuck to drinking SAN meal replacements. They're expensive (roughly $100/mo or so), but certainly worth it when you have a hard time fitting in 6 smaller meals (recommended by many trainers and nutritionists).
I'll start with a question, how tall are you? Thats just to get a better picture of your frame and overall size right now. If I understand your post correctly you want to gain about another 10lbs of muscle right?
I hope you don't mind me making a few observations about your routine. Might give you some insight, or you could tell me to kiss off, you decide. You seem to be doing a LOT of sets overall. Your rep ranges are good so it leaves me wondering why so many exercises and so many sets overall?
I read somore and I see you do most of your exercises are being done on machines. Just curious as to why? Not knocking machines in the slightest, I use them myself. However, I think if you incorporated somore steel into your routine you might find it fatigues your muscles faster. Instead of leg extensions why not try squats or a leg press?
If you're wondering why I'm advocating this its because I gather from what you wrote here that you probably have the metabolism of a blast furnace based on what you said you're doing. You're tearing through calories like a rabbid hamster on a wheel. Thats a great thing. It means you're healthy and fit but it also makes it harder for you to put on weight because you need THAT much more in excess calories to be able to add some muscle.
Think of it this way, calorically you need enough calories to survive (heartbeat, breathing, walking, etc) and then you need another slew more to support all the lifting you're doing 3-5 days a week, and then you need even more for the biking and the spin classes you're doing. Thats just to maintain your weight. You'll need even more to add mass. So the reason I suggest trying to incorporate more dumbell and barbell exercises is because I think it will wear you out faster. Hopefully you can get the same sense of fatigue but with less exercises and less sets.
Now you would be starting to lessen the number of calories you're burning off through sheer exercise. Spin classes are great, but they're another calorie burner. A big one if you're really hitting it. You want to back off the cardio a bit if you want to add lean mass. If when you reach your mass and strength goals you feel as though you picked up some fat along the way (pretty likely) thats when good eating and spin classes will get you down to where you want and hopefully with a minimal loss of muscle.
Another observation is that you increase your weight with each set until failure. Suggestion to go along with the observation: Try warming up with a light set and then starting off HEAVY and reduce weight as your muscles fatigue. Obviously you'll be able to lift more weight when you're fresh so I think it makes sense to lift heavier at the start and reduce the weight as you fatigue than starting low and trying to work up.
I'm a big fan of the less is more approach. Its not really necessary to spend 2 hours in the gym in order to stimulate muscle growth. I did legs earlier this week. I did three exercises for a total of 10 sets. I warmed up light for my squats and did four sets. I did three sets of stiff-legged deadlifts and three sets of standing calf raises. Usually takes me between 30-45 mins tops depending how busy the gym is and my legs are DYING when I'm done. I squat 220 for reps, I can leg press 500+ for reps, and I max out the standing calf raise machine if the seated is busy.
I'm not trying to brag, quite frankly I don't think thats really that great but I'm still packin' on size so I'm not finished yet either. The point in throwing out numbers is to try and lend some credibility to what I'm saying. I probably do half the sets and exercises you do and its still more than adequate to stimulate growth. I'm not telling you to change anything. You know your body better than I do. I'm just suggesting you try a few different things and see if it works for you.
Are you incorporating creatine into your diet? If not I suggest you pick some up at GNC. Its pretty affordable and you can get it with a transport system already mixed in. Do a loading phase when you bring it home. 5g serving 5x a day for five days and then just go with a single 5g on days you aren't working out. Do one serving before and one serving after on days you are lifting. I'd be willing to bet just adding creatine if you aren't already on it will boost you another 10lbs in 4-6 weeks.
Or you could disregard all of this and if thats the case say so and I'll bow out.
Well, I think there's some difference, dextrose and glucose are both helpful in delivering protein to appropriate muscle groups after exercise (sugar also helps creatine if you're into that), but you shouldn't be having large amounts of it.
Agreed.
Yes, I still value your opinion and thanks for visiting this thread. Your last response in prime's veggie thread put things into perspective. I just read your prior responses with more bias than you put into them. My bad.
I'm 5'10" and 140 pounds currently, and you read the post correctly; I'm trying to gain another 10 pounds of muscle.
This workout was set by one of the former trainers at the gym. I think he started us on the machines as a way of breaking us in. We're ready to change up the routine here pretty soon, and since we almost always partner our workouts, adding some freeweights is potentially in the cards because we've got built-in spotting.
In the case of the leg extensions vs. squats, we're forgoing the squats because my workout partner was told not to do squats or leg presses by his doc and we have been trying to work the same routine for efficiency's sake.
That's a great idea, and you're right that fatiguing faster would probably get me to my goal sooner. Getting there by more eating alone has been difficult at best.
I'm a little reluctant to stop the spinning for three reasons: it's basically the only aerobic exercise that I get, I still have some visceral fat that hasn't burned off through my other routine, and I'm training for the longer bike rides in the spring.
I have found that warming up allows me to lift more afterward, so I can see the value in doing a warmup set and then starting heavy and working down to failure or exhaustion. I plan to give this a try.
I hadn't considered creatine yet, I thought the protein would be enough, but I'll definitely look into supplementing with it.
No Worries.
Understandable. Why is his doctor telling him not to do squats or leg presses? Some kind of knee problem?
Understood, but keep in mind what I said about calorie expenditure. Adding muscle and losing fat are are diametrically opposed goals. The better shape you are in, the harder it is to do both at the same time. I'd recommend adding the mass first then going after the visceral fat as the added muscle will contribute to the calorie burn needed to go after the fat.
Try not to look at is as whats enough. Its just another tool in the box. It'll help repair your muscles faster after a workout and it will boost your endurance while you're in the gym hitting the weights.
I think it has something to do with IBS actually - something about putting pressure on his body while it's all folded up like that. Yikes!
Also for your lifting I would do more isolation. Example:
Mon - shoulders, traps, abs
Tues - bi's & tri's
Wed - legs
Thurs - cardio, abs
Fri - Chest
Sat - Back
Sun - Off
Its all about hitting each group until failure and letting that muscle rest until you hit it again. Super sets are awesome too.
Any suggestions for getting rid of this?
Ghoos -
Yes, this is a very common occurance for such a diet..
Beano helps a lot..
Also, try to increase your fiber intake in the morning... This works well for me...
As for the odor, not much you can do... Protein is the worst when you sit down to catch up on your reading! ...This is great place for a Stick-Up!
BTW: Don't think of it as rotting, more like fermenting! EWWWW!! rofl!!
I tried the workout yesterday (chest workout day) with the warmup set followed by as much weight as possible concept. It seems to have worked. Today is the first day I've felt sore the day after a workout in a few months, and that's a good thing.
I also tried my post-workout protein shake with a banana and two tablespoons of peanut butter mixed in the blender. Not only did it mix more thoroughly than the shake by itself in milk, but it also tasted a lot better as well and had a couple hundred more calories.
Thanks for the suggestions guys!
Key Lime Pie Shake
Vanilla Flavored Protien powder
3 TableSpoons of Frozen Limeaid concentrate
4 Nilla Wafer Cookies
A few ice cubes
To your protien powder, add 2/3rds of the liquid (skim milk or water) you normally use, add a few ice cubes, and the Limeaid concentrate, and blend till smooth.
After the mixture is smooth, and well blended, add the 4 Nilla Wafer cookies, blend again, but use 3 or 4 - 1 second pulses, just to break up cookies, its better if the cookies are a little chunky...
Enjoy!
100 calorie snack packs are great ways to add some variety to the monotonous sameness that protien powders can become.
I use 1/2 of the Oreo snack (the whole thing makes the shake too thick) with the vanilla shake mix to make a really good cookies-n-cream shake....