What I've Learned to Build Muscle

[MFS_is_me]

Hey everyone, from the books that I've got I've come up with a conclusion on how train and eat for muscle and strength. Would you mind sharing your comments and if there's something that you see is false would you mind pointing it out and sharing your point of view? Thanks.

Eating:
In order to get big you must eat big. However, one must do it with patience and intelligence. If you go on a "see-food" diet you WILL gain muscle. However, you might gain more fat than muscle. So, in order to gain MOSTLY muscle, you have to eat big, but not too big.
If you're a skinny guy try to get most of your carbs around your workout period and breakfast. You're also allowed to have some carbs through-out the day. However, vegetables should be a staple at every meal, just try not to eat a large amount of them as they can fill you up and that would be counter-productive for size. Lean, complete protein with every meal. Also, eat a good amount of healthy fats but try to keep them away from your workout period.
As for calories, don't worry about it. Start eating healthily and plenty. If you see that after a couple of weeks that there's no gain, increase your carbs at your workout period. Still no progress after 2 weeks, increase breakfast carbs, etc. There's no "set in stone" rule for increasing calories or counting calories. I pretty much prefer increasing portions than measuring and counting every bit of food that goes in me.
As for what types of food to eat. I think you're pretty much smart enough to know that a broccoli is better than a large fries at McDonald's. But, here's what I prefer:
Carbs: brown (wild) rice, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fruit juice (for workout carbs), whole wheat pasta.
Proteins: eggs, lean ground beef, turkey, salmon, boneless chicken breasts, water-packed tuna, protein powder.
Fats: Almonds, olive oil, fish oil, unsalted nuts.
As for the supplements that I take, I take fish oil (6 capsules a day) and protein powder to drink with my fruit juice before and after my workout. I sip on water during my workout.

Training:
Now, I'll talk about training. First of all, I'll talk about exercise choice. Try to choose mainly compound, multi-joint exercises over isolation exercises. Compound exercises are the ones in which more than one joint is used in the exercise, hence more muscle is used. Isolation exercises are the ones in which only one joint is used, hence not so muscle being used. Some isolation work isn't harmful, but try to keep it minimal compared to compound exercises. A biceps curl once a week for 2 sets won't be harmful to you. But a biceps curl 3 times a week with plenty variations and a dozen sets is another story. It's a huge list to write the compound and isolation exercises that I use and I guess most people on this board know them so I guess there's no need.
As for frequency, I try to train 2 days a week or 3 days every 2 weeks. With each multi-joint movement being trained once a week or once every 8-10 days. I also perform low-intensity cardio on my off days to try to keep fat gaining to a minimum.
Volume, is something that I keep referring to my book that I'm using (Stuart Mcrobert's Brawn). It's a bit confusing to me so I'll try to explain it in a very simple way. Most of the exercises are used for 2-3 sets, no more. As for reps they always fluctuate, I try low reps for the upper body then high reps later, same goes for the lower body. I keep trying most rep ranges until I find one that works great for me.
Intensity is something that I cycle in my training cycle. Early on, I keep intensity low so I can practice good form then I start increasing the weights and intensity little by little. By the end of the cycle it's usually all-out sets. Also, while increasing intensity I eliminate un-necessary exercises until it's at the bare minimum of 2-3 exercises per workout.
Those are the main highlights...Also, I include neck, calf and grip work in my schedule along with shrugs and pull-overs.
Progression can come in 2 forms, either SLOWLY increasing the weight or choose a rep range and start from the bottom and work your way to upper range then add a little bit of weight and go through it again.


So I guess that wraps up my conclusions after studying Stuart McRobert's "Brawn", "Beyond Brawn" and "Build Muscle, lose fat, look great". As for nutrition, it's mainly influenced by Precision Nutrition by John Berardi. I do have a question if you don't mind.

1) Although what I currently know is that a compound exercise done once a week would be the best option. Why does Rippetoe recommend squatting 3 times a week?

Now, a little about me (I know this should've come way up but hey...). I'm 18 years old and weigh 55 kg. and I'm 172 cm tall. Guess that's about 120 lbs. and...5'6 - 5'7 tall. For an 18 year old in my status it's pretty hard. When my pals keep wrestling or pushing around I try not to get into it. When girls always go to the big guys and consider you a "sweetie!!" . Sorry, wasn't the time to rant. Just saying that if you guys have any comments that would benefit me to get bigger AND stronger, please don't hesitate.

Also, my intention isn't for this to be a guide for other skinny guys to come and learn. This is a question (sorta!) and an ask for help and an opinion. Although, if after a few modifications, why not come and learn from this thread?

[PowerManDL]

The best thing to remember is that all rules are contextual, not absolutes. What holds true for some of the time doesn't always hold true all of the time. I can point out valid exceptions to everything you wrote.

Trying to pigeonhole everything into neat little packages is what gets people into trouble.

[dmw]

I will make a point or two on your post. I read a lot of McRober's stuff when I was 6-4 160 (feet and pounds) and convinced myself I was a hardgainer. Now, this may be specific to me and may not apply to you, but that stuff about working out every 8-10 days did not work. He's right that compound excercises are key, but unless you are somehow overtrained presently, squatting and deadlifting two to three times a week should not be a problem. Put it this way, I read that stuff and thought I was a 'hardgainer' that might overtrain and the fact was I was undertraining and undereating and that program sure didn't help the former.

I'm a big fan of Berardi, but instead of precision nutrition, I would focus on his articles called "massive eating" on his website. At 120 pounds I don't think you need to worry about skinless chicken, and other superlean foods. Again, in my experience the gains did not come until I ate several small meals a day and built up my appetite to where over time I could consume far more calories before I got "full". Yeah, a lot of tuna, yogurt, peanut butter, etc. But my choices were made not to avoid fats, but to get cheap and convenient calorie-dense foods. Unless you have a gut, why worry about going with super-lean food choices only?

Just my .02 cents

[Simon C]

Pffftt.... hardgainer, genetics.... LOL

Yeah that was pretty random for one of your first posts...

[MFS_is_me]

Well, I see what you're saying now. I shouldn't try to over-complicate things by setting rules. But I should be a bit more flexible, am I right? Well, I get your point about the not-too-frequent workouts. About nutrition, I'm skinny. But if I let myself eat junk, trust me, I get a belly in a week or 2. So I'm just increasing my intake while eating healthily. Also, massive eating and PN are almost alike. Except that there is more detail in PN.
Ok, let me define my goals a bit more. I'm skinny (guess you already knew that) so I want size. But I wanna move heavier weights at the gym. Also, I like the idea of powerlifting. So, I guess it's strength first then size as a side-effect (of eating big, of course!). Hmm, maybe I shouldn't stick to one point of view in training all the time. I'll give Rippetoe's workout a shot, I've got his Practical Programming book so that'll make planning ahead easier.

[PowerManDL]

Dude....you're me at 18, like, almost to a T.

In hindsight, if I'd have Rip's book back then, I'd have gone a lot farther a lot faster.

Take it, use it, live it.

[MFS_is_me]

Wow, so there were people who were like me once. Ok, I don't spend that much time online because I've got college from 8 am - 4 pm. Sucks, I know. But hey, what can you do? So I won't be using an online log because I probably won't be able to post a lot. So I'll just log in a diary and post results every 6 months or so.

[PowerManDL]

Ya.

Me at 18 = 125-130 lbs. Me now = 201 (as of last night, I've dieted down from an even more spectacular fatass weight of 215 and been as heavy as 220-225). I'm only 5'9, so you've got some hope.

Being a skinny-ass like I was, the best advice I can give you is to think less about your workouts and think way more about your diet, esp. if you're a broke-ass college student in classes all day.

The workouts in Rip's book are all you need; but tissue doesn't grow out of thin air. You need to find ways to make sure you're getting the calories; that was the hardest lesson for me to learn.

[MFS_is_me]

Thanks, I never caught your name though. Or should I stick by calling you PMDL? Anyways, counting calories is a drag for me. Honestly, I doubt if most people have the time to measure every morsel of food they get. Don't you think eating according to Berardi's PN and Massive Eating principles while increasing the portions every 2 weeks is a good idea? Thanks again man.

[Simon C]

Counting calories would be unnecessary for more people. Just actively try to take in more calories each day, you shouldn't need to count.

[PowerManDL]

Originally Posted by MFS_is_me

Thanks, I never caught your name though. Or should I stick by calling you PMDL? Anyways, counting calories is a drag for me. Honestly, I doubt if most people have the time to measure every morsel of food they get. Don't you think eating according to Berardi's PN and Massive Eating principles while increasing the portions every 2 weeks is a good idea? Thanks again man.

Matt, PMDL, that jerk on the forums, whatever you want to call me.

You don't have to count calories per se, but it's a good idea to have some kind of system in place to make sure you get enough food in.

Massive Eating tends to grossly over-estimate the number of calories you need; whether this is an intentional psychological trick I don't know, but if you stuck to the guidelines you'd get fat.

Getting fat is fine for skinny guys, to a point, but once you've been at it awhile you'll really want to avoid the fat.

I tend to just measure protein intake; as long as I'm getting enough (1-1.5 grams per lb of bodyweight, generally), I can manipulate the rest pretty easily. Add in carbs and fats at each meal and I'm usually at least in the neighborhood. Likewise, remove them for dieting purposes.

Really though you'll just have to find a system that works for you. Just don't neglect it.

[johnst_nhb]

Originally Posted by MFS_is_me

Carbs: brown (wild) rice, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fruit juice (for workout carbs), whole wheat pasta.
Proteins: eggs, lean ground beef, turkey, salmon, boneless chicken breasts, water-packed tuna, protein powder.
Fats: Almonds, olive oil, fish oil, unsalted nuts.
As for the supplements that I take, I take fish oil (6 capsules a day) and protein powder to drink with my fruit juice before and after my workout. I sip on water during my workout.

You won't get big eating like this...

[Simon C]

Mmmm... I like that idea/strategy, make sure you're getting enough protein and the rest should fall into place pretty well.

[Waittz]

interesting. This is what I have learned to build muscle.

Eat more than you burn. Lift weights, heavy ones. Sleep. Repeat.

[MFS_is_me]

Hmm, thanks again guys. I also like PMDL's idea about measuring protein and the rest should come around by itself. Hey, I'll give it a shot. What have I got to lose?

[MFS_is_me]

Ok guys, I have a few more diet and training questions. I'll divide them.

Training:
1) About abdominal work, any good exercises to implement in the program? and when? Before my workout or after or in-between?

2) How can I incorporate conditioning work into my program while my main focus is strength and size?

3) I've got Rip's Practical Programming book but I don't have his Starting Strength book. And I can't afford his book. It's either his SS book or a gym membership. And I'm going with the latter. So, do I NEED his SS book or could I look up EFS's website for exercise form?

Diet:
1) What do you guys think about Rippetoe's idea of drinking a gallon of milk a day? And should it be whole fat, low fat or skimmed?

2) I know I should focus on getting a lot of carbs. But whole wheat grains fill me up QUICK. And that's not good. Are white grains a good plan to "up" my carb intake? Also, I may be reducing veggie intake a bit and increase my fruit intake, is that ok?

[Waittz]

Training:
1. squats and deadlifts.

2. be active on your off days.

3. you dont NEED anyones book.

Diet:

1. I think its stupid.

2. no, no.