Dietary and workout advice for weight gain

[The Guvnor]

Alright lads, I'm wanting to add around a stone in muscle over a period of time, mostly to chest and shoulders, I figure my arms will be working in these exercises anyway. I play football so obviously the training I do away from this is going to be cardio and stamina stuff. On top of that I've got a high metabolism and can pretty much eat whatever I want and not add any weight. I'm 6ft and weight 11.5 stones, what sort of diet should I be implementing and what type of workouts should I be doing to achieve my goals? Thanks in advance and I also look forward to the piss take responses, they're always a good laugh too

[viru§™]

Originally Posted by The Guvnor

Alright lads, I'm wanting to add around a stone in muscle over a period of time, mostly to chest and shoulders, I figure my arms will be working in these exercises anyway. I play football so obviously the training I do away from this is going to be cardio and stamina stuff.

I understand wanting to add some muscle to your chest and shoulders but if you play football the majority of the muscle you add should go to your legs and core.

It's nice looking good and having an aesthetically pleasing upper body, but as with any sport that doesn't mean shit if you have weak, skinny legs.

On top of that I've got a high metabolism and can pretty much eat whatever I want and not add any weight.

Maybe you can eat whatever you want... for a day. Consistently consume 500 calories above your daily maintenance every single day and you'll add mass just like every other human being on the planet.

I'm 6ft and weight 11.5 stones, what sort of diet should I be implementing and what type of workouts should I be doing to achieve my goals?

Take what you consume now (maintenance calories) and add a snack or small meal which equates to around 250-500 calories to this amount. It doesn't matter what these calories are from. I found my maintenance calories then to make it easy started eating a different chocolate bar every day ranging from 250-280 calories. I'm adding mass with minimal fat gains.

Once you start adding around 1 pound a week (maybe slightly less if you want lean gains) maintain that consumption and work on it from there.

I know some people will bitch about this with the whole "That's too complicated or difficult" but the main thing I've found for diet is planning. Plan how many calories you need to consume and what time you're going to consume them. If you don't plan it you'll most likely fail. Planning has helped me a hell of a lot with sticking to a decent diet.

[Jdsm]

Track your food intake (protein/carbs/fat) so that you can actually quantify what "alot of food" is. You'd be surprised how many people think they have a very high energy expenditure, but in reality they just aren't eating a lot of food for a consistent amount of time.

As for workout routine, if you're pretty inexperienced go with a novice 5x5 programme

[The Guvnor]

Originally Posted by viru§™

I understand wanting to add some muscle to your chest and shoulders but if you play football the majority of the muscle you add should go to your legs and core.

It's nice looking good and having an aesthetically pleasing upper body, but as with any sport that doesn't mean shit if you have weak, skinny legs.

My bottom half is bigger than my upper half, I'm happy where I am there. I just want that extra bit of size and upper body strength to go with it and I know diet's going to be an important part of that. Thanks for your advice, on the food sides, I've had people telling me white carbs for what I'm trying to do instead of all wholemeal stuff, would that be right?

[The Guvnor]

bump

[brixtonbeat]

Originally Posted by viru§™

Take what you consume now (maintenance calories) and add a snack or small meal which equates to around 250-500 calories to this amount. It doesn't matter what these calories are from.

That's fucking terrible advice. Of course it matters where the calories come from. Eating clean is imperative in gaining quality lean muscle mass.

[brixtonbeat]

I eat around around six times a day. If you are a hard gainer but are lifting hard, I would recommend eating 6 times a day and using supps.

[Jdsm]

Originally Posted by brixtonbeat

That's fucking terrible advice. Of course it matters where the calories come from. Eating clean is imperative in gaining quality lean muscle mass.

No, THAT is fucking terrible advice. There is no such thing as eating 'clean'.

I advise you read this article and educate yourself on proper nutrition before you shoot down others with your subjective food classifications:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[viru§™]

Originally Posted by brixtonbeat

That's fucking terrible advice. Of course it matters where the calories come from. Eating clean is imperative in gaining quality lean muscle mass.

If you went from consuming 2500 calories a day to consuming 1500 calories, those calories coming from chocolate cake, do you believe you wouldn't lose weight?

[Jdsm]

Ofcourse you wouldn't, have you never heard of insulin?

































Notsrs.

[cutthroat22]

I think his point might have been what's in the food. I know you know this but 4000cal from one source isn't always as good as 4000 from another otherwise wed all just eat doughnuts on our bulks. It's not as simple as just hitting a calorie target.

[Jdsm]

Originally Posted by cutthroat22

I think his point might have been what's in the food. I know you know this but 4000cal from one source isn't always as good as 4000 from another otherwise wed all just eat doughnuts on our bulks. It's not as simple as just hitting a calorie target.

I don't think anybody is implying he should comprise his diet of just carbs and fat, I'm pretty sure Virus was assuming adequate protein intake.

Also, my first bit of advice was; "Track your food intake (protein/carbs/fat) so that you can actually quantify what "alot of food" is".

'brixtonbeat' then said 'Eating clean is imperative in gaining quality lean muscle mass', which is just flat out false, as clean food is completely subjective and has no meaning. I'm pretty sure you won't open a physiology textbook and read "You must eat clean".

[deadhead]

I am in the same boat as you, I tried this method and it helped me gain 10 pounds, only thing is if you slack you will lose it fast.

Drink a gallon, yes a gallon of milk a day. Whole milk. if that's to much drink half a gallon. Eat calorie packed foods. I eat every two hours unless im working. Eat some cottage cheese before bed, I liked putting some peaches or some fruit in there. NEVER BE HUNGRY.

I know a gallon seems like a lot, but it will really help you gain the weight.