Bodybuilding and P/U Part 1

[El Fenix]

This thread was spawned by talking with another PUA about working out and its effect on P/U. "Muscles on a guy are like boobs on a girl." As long as neither is insanely large, more is better.

Ever look at the jocks in school, or AMOGS in a bar and wonder how they got beefed out? Well, from my limited knowledge, I'm going to tell you. So instead of picking up a lot of mags, and doing a LOT of reading, the homework will be done for you here. Are you ready? Yes? Good.

First, is the place to go work out at. A decent gym membership runs in the $35-50 a month range. This is less than most folks monthly cell phone bills, so its not a huge expense. Pick a gym that convenient. Let me repeat that, pick a gym that's CONVENIENT. Why? There will be days you dont want to go, but know you should. If the gym is halfway across town, the odds of you sticking with it are very low. Also, most of us are pressed for time, and added driving time, will cause you to go less often.

Second, make your goal public. If you're bros know what your trying to do, they will help keep you accountable, and you may even workout together. That's kinda like having a good wingman in a bar, and is very useful.

Third, develop a routine that works all your major muscle groups. Many of us have seen the "upper-body builder" that looks like a flamingo. All top, no bottom. You dont want that. Many serious guys use what's called a "split routine." This trians differing bodyparts on different days. Here's an example from a top Bodybuilder to illustrate my point:
Day1: Chest, triceps
Day2: Quads, hamstrings
Day3:off
Day4: Back
Day5: shoulders, biceps, calves
Day6: chest, triceps
Day7:off

This specific split allows one to train differing parts on different days to allow them time to recover. He also trains the same parts twice in his split, meaning they are a lagging area, and he wants to bring them up to speed.

Fourth, is nutrition. No one has ever gotten bigger while actually in the gym. You get bigger AFTER you workout and the muscles are rebuilt bigger and stronger than before. The rule of thumb is to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. Twice this amount per day is not unusual for the pros. For example, you currently weigh 200 pounds. You would need at least 200 grams protein every day for good muscle growth, and maintence. An easy way to do this is to eat 5 or 6 smaller meals per day, instead of 3 large ones. And not all need to be a full "meal" in the normal sense of the word. For normal meals, tuna, chicken and red meat are staples of the diet. Protein shakes are also a quick way to get your calories in. My personal favorite is from Optimum Nutrition. Designer Protein is quite popular also. I make mine with milk, peanut butter, and some fresh fruit, often strawberries. Tastes much like a liquid PB&J sammich from when I was a kid. If you have frequent nightmares from some foul tasting protein powder in times past, fear not, much has improved in the past few years.

The timing of when to eat is also important. Your body is in an anabolic state for roughly 4 hours after eating. This means muscle is being built. After that, your body is catabolic, which is the opposite, if it is not fed. I've heard of stories of pro bodybuilders literally waking up in the middle of the night to down a shake, then going back to bed! Eating a high protein meal before and after working out, has been shown to greatly increase gains.

[H_Raja]

Excellent advice. I've been considering starting up a workout regimen and have really no clue where to start up. Just came back from this new gym in my area that my friend's a member of, really nice machines...wish I knew what the hell they did

[Rhody]

I really wish I had more time to work out. Actually, I have time, but being a single parent makes it difficult. In the past, I hung out with some pretty good bodybuilders... and some bad ones. In college I shared a house with a guy who was one of those flamingos. Ridiculous looking. Always find time to work your legs, especially your calves since they are very dense muscles that require a lot of reps for growth.

I got to know my way around the gym. I can easily put on 15+ pounds of muscle if I put my mind to it. Knowledge of kinesiology helps. I used to read Muscle & Fitness to learn how particular exercises contracted certian muscles. Since I can only go to the gym two or three times a week (when I actually go), I do a push/pull regimen. That is, I do push exercises one day (e.g., shoulder press, bench press, dips), pull exercises another day (e.g., lat pull down, rows, upright rows) another day, and legs (e.g., leg press, leg extensions, leg curls) a third day. I don't do triceps extensions or biceps curls very often as this push/pull regimen really works those muscle groups. But if I have an extra day, I'll do just arms. Every time I work out, I ty to end the session with some calf raises and some abs routine if there is time, because those muscles require high reps, so it's good to do them often.

I used to do a size-focused regimen that was made up mostly of deadlifts, squats, and bench press. These three exercises work all of your major muscle groups. Your body can lift a lot of weight with these exercises. However, if you don't use good form, they can be dangerous, particularly deadlifts. I would definitely recommend working out supporting muscles in the abs and back before doing deadlifts and squats. Some people think a weight belt helps, but I have read that using a weight belt prevents those muscles from developing, which can lead to injury later on. I have found that most people can do just fine without deadlifts and possibly squats (doing leg press, hack squat, or some other machines instead, plus roman chair or other back exercises). If you want to look like Brad Pitt rather than Lou Ferrigno, then you can achieve your goal with much safer exercises.

I don't have anything to add to Fenix's nutritional advice. I'm not the best with nutrition anyway. I pretty much cut soda out of my diet, I don't eat sweets much, and I don't drink alcohol much. However, I do eat a lot of carbs and fat. I love pizza and burgers, and I'm not going to stop eating them. I don't have a problem with controlling my body fat, so I'm lucky in that respect. In fact, if I stop working out (like now), I get skinny, not fat. There are a lot of products out there that don't do anything. But one thing that is a must-have is a protein shake. I personally like Muscle Milk right now.

[tpxgloveboy]

I don't have anything to add to Fenix's nutritional advice. I'm not the best with nutrition anyway. I pretty much cut soda out of my diet, I don't eat sweets much, and I don't drink alcohol much. However, I do eat a lot of carbs and fat. I love pizza and burgers, and I'm not going to stop eating them. I don't have a problem with controlling my body fat, so I'm lucky in that respect. In fact, if I stop working out (like now), I get skinny, not fat. There are a lot of products out there that don't do anything. But one thing that is a must-have is a protein shake. I personally like Muscle Milk right now.

Hey guys. I'm new here on the scene.....for those of you that don't know me, the name is tpxgloveboy. I'm pretty much up on the bodybuilding scene. I go to the gym 5 days a week and focus on one bodypart a day. As far as adding to the nutrition info, soda and alcohol are definite DO-NOTS for they are just empty calories and fat builders. Pizza and burgers and other fattening foods dont' need to be cut from the diet altogether....I cheat 2 or 3 times a week on my meals.....won't really affect your weight if you've been good on eating all week. As far as some tips go, the best times to do your cardio are early in the morning after waking up or after you've finished up your weight workout. I personally use whey protein from The Vitamin Shoppe ($25 for a 5 pound container) which lasts me about a month. It's not a good idea to eat right before going to bed because your body won't digest the nutrients since your body is "shut down" while sleeping, so try to get in something 2 - 3 hrs before going to bed....if you must eat something before bed, cottage cheese is highly recommended. Hope this helps guys. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. I've been experimenting with all this nutrition/bodybuilding for about a year now.

[MagicBalls]

Another reason to work out your lower body is that it's where most of your muscle mass is. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism, and the leaner you will be. If you're just working out your arms and filling yourself up with meat, you're just going to get fat.

In addition, working out your legs by doing the leg press, working out the abductors, and other such exercises, releases the chemicals and hormones that you need to build muscle. This has the effect of helping build your upper body as well. Plus all that testosterone will make you feel alpha, whether you like it or not. You'll want to punch the wall a few times and tackle people. I sometimes do. (Punch the wall, that is).

And about the post-workout shake... that's my meal of the day. I use Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt, frozen strawberries, bananas, 4 raw organic eggs, honey, a little bit of ice and water. It's an all-natural smoothie that is sooooo fucking good. The only ingredient that I add is Creatine Monohydrate. It's basically a big breakfast in a glass. You want to be sure you get a good blender for this.

As far as supplements go, I take a men's multivatimin, a vitamin B complex, fish oil, and a combined glucosamine/protease supplement. This all after the work out.

Another thing to remember, is that if you're in the gym, don't be embarrassed to choose the smaller weights. The most important thing is form. I've seen some guys at the gym that have poor form. They may have bigger weights, but they don't realize how amateurish they look when they start swinging their whole body just to do a curl. If you don't have good posture, lock your joints, and lift weights that you are not ready to lift, not only are you not getting a good work out, you are going to get injured, and that will put you out of commission for weeks.

[TheAwakened]

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that I'll never exceed 140 lbs. until my metabolism slows down.

[JohnnyBravo]

Guys...be careful with the protein. Too much will f*ck up your kidneys. Trust me, you don't want to be on dialysis when you get old.

[El Fenix]

Forgot about that. When you eat a lot of protein, you have to up your water intake too.

Theres so much more that can be said on this. That's why I posted mine as Part 1.

[El Fenix]

Resurrecting this thread due to my recent posts and interist from a few members.

[Smile]

"Guys...be careful with the protein. Too much will f*ck up your kidneys. Trust me, you don't want to be on dialysis when you get old."

Increasing intake [protein] leads to increased excess of ketone bodies (waste) and other metabolic waste. This waste is filtered out of your blood by the kidneys and converted to urine (urine = water + waste). Yes, you will more than likely drink more water when you ingest more protein/food but also remember the ware and tare on the body. Think of the body as a molecular machine. While you increase the fuel, output/waste will be increased as well. Remember though, there is a limit to a machine and just like you can burn out a combustion engine (or any other machine), you can burn out your body. The point is to be careful. Too much of anything is not good.

Even though there has been research indicating that an increase in protein intake leads to better muscle growth, there has aslo been recent studies concluding that the normal recommended intake of protein (according to the food pyramid) from an individual is sufficient for muscle growth. Professional bodybuilders/powerlifters are the exemption to this and should have an increase (although not drastic) in protein intake. With that being said, normal protein intake should be suffice (for weight training) but for someone who wants to train hard and get results (as in bodybuilding/powerlifting results and not just weight training for exercise), then a slight - moderate increase in protein intake should be ok/good. I can't say right now the specifics on how much is too much or how much you should ingest (because it ranges and I can't remember) but ask a doctor/dietician/exercise physiologist. In addition, I am talking about protein intake and not total calorie intake (total caloric intake = another topic). One's protein intake will vary depending on the individual/training as well as total caloric intake. Also, the epithelial cells lining the internal stomach and intestines can only digest 30g of protein per feeding. With that being said, remember to spread out your protein intake throughout the day and like what El Fenix said, "5-6 meals a day" will achieve this nicely.

Plus, the main reason for drinking protein shakes and the only reason if you ask me is for faster absorption of protein and amino acids into the bloodstream. Liquids are digested faster than solids and there is a key window time for muscle growth (can't remember window time, about 2 hrs post workout I think) where your body utilizes the [protein] the most efficiently for muscle growth and repairing. If you were to ask me about taking non FDA approved substances then I would not do it. Whey protein (milk is good too but is high in fat) is the only "shake" that I take due to the fact that it is only about 100 calories (depending on brand) and is nothing but amino acids and protein. Who knows what is in the other substances?!

I have tried non-FDA approved shakes before besides whey protein and have not seen any better results than just taking whey protein or drinking milk. I am not an expert yet, a 23 year old biologist who has been working out on and off for about 7 years now. We could go on and on about specifics on this topic but this is enough for now. My point in writing this is: be careful and be smart. What you put into your body you will get out (in performance, strength, aesthetic properties, health, etc.) Educate yourself before making broad assumptions about your health.

And yes, the point is to not only be careful and smart but even though not necessary for a PUA, muscles are as to guys as boobs are as to girls. I doubt that a woman would complain about a good male physique.

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