How to Bulk?

darreneatschicken

Hello everyone,

I am 19 years old, 5ft 9, and 136 lbs. Thanks to this site, I have just started tracking my food intake, and also have an idea on how many calories, protein, carbs, etc. I need a day. I started working out about a year and a half ago, but due to the fact of not eating enough, I haven't seen the gains that I so badly want. Recently, I have been doing my best to start eating more; simply stuffing myself with food. I have some questions for you guys:

1.

This is my workout routine right now. What do you guys think? Should I keep it? If not, what workout should I then do? The first number is the number of sets, while the following numbers are the numbers of reps for each of those sets. A 10 minute abs routine would be done every second workout day.

Chest and Triceps

Chest

Barbell Bench Press
4 10, 8, 8, 6
Incline Bench Press
3 8, 8, 6
Decline Bench Press
3 8, 8, 6
Dumbbell Flys
2 10
Dumbbell Pullover
2 8

Triceps

Tricep Extension
4 10, 8, 8, 6 adding weight
Tricep Dip
3 10
Tricep Bench Dip
3 8


Back and Biceps

Back

Chin Up
2 8
One Arm Dumbbell Row
3 8
Seated Row
2 8
Bent Over Barbell Row
2 8
Lat Pull Down
3 10, 10, 8

Biceps

Standing Barbell Curl
3 8, 8, 6
Close Grip Preacher Curl
3 8, 8, 6
Incline Dumbbell Curl
2 12-14
Concentration Curl
2 10

 


Shoulders and Forearms

Shoulders

Machine Shoulder Press
3 10
Dumbbell Reverse Fly
3 8-10
Military Press
4 10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
2 10
Dumbbell Shrugs
2 10
Upright Row
2 10

Forearms

Standing Wrist Curl
4 10
Barbell Wrist Curl
4 10

2.

Do you guys have any tips for eating more? As a skinny guy, I never really feel like eating. I'll have a couple large meals a day, and it will fill me up. Also, a lot of the time, I am out and about, and never really get to sit down and have many proper meals. I know I could bring granola bars and sandwiches with me, but those only last a bit, and I can't survive on those all the time! My friends told me that I should just sit at home, watch netflix, and eat all day lol. I have been trying to change; eating more, or else I wouldn't have made this account.

3.

As a skinny guy trying to gain weight, does it matter what kinds of food I eat? I mean I know I need a lot of everything, but is it okay to eat unhealthy food as long as I am eating and getting the required amount of calories, carbs, protein, etc a day?

ChancyW

Your workout routine looks pretty good. Are you making regular increases?

What do you do pre and post workout for food?

Adding raw nuts to your diet can help you get healthy fats as well as adding a good amount of calories. Most have 150-180 calories in each quarter cup.
I've also heard of taking/drinking healthy oils to increase your calorie intake. Sounds gross but from what I've heard it works for bulking.

bodybuilding.com has a lot of great articles on nutrition as well as some pretty awesome workout routines. It may be worth a look especially if you haven't switched up your routine in a while.

Rayman79

...ahem... where's the leg work?

Sarauk2sf

Y u no train legs?

PikaKnight

What Ray and Sara said. Where's the rest of the workout?

Sarauk2sf

As a skinny guy trying to gain weight, does it matter what kinds of food I eat? I mean I know I need a lot of everything, but is it okay to eat unhealthy food as long as I am eating and getting the required amount of calories, carbs, protein, etc a day?

There really is not such thing as unhealthy food per se - you need to look at your diet as a whole. Get a good amount of nutrient dense whole foods, hit your macros, and have treats. Generally it's a good rule of thumb to follow the 80/20 rule - 80% nutrient dense foods and 20%, whatever. However, that is really dependent on your calorie allowance and when bulking the 20% can be higher as you are getting more food.

DavPul

you ain't got no legs?

Hauntinglyfit

Y u skip leg day OP? Not a single deadlift. No squats. I has a sad.

chrisdavey

You can gain weight without training your legs, it's just silly to do that.

You need to eat more. That really is as simple as it gets. Calorie dense foods. The ones that lots of people demonise for making them fat

Progressively lift heavier weights (or attempt to), eat enough, get plenty of sleep. You should aim for up to about 3-4lbs weight gain per month. If you are more than that, then drop a few cals.

Liquid cals are your friend too. Quick and easy. Milk is a good start. Chocolate milk is good too. Ice cream is basically liquid :P

And yeah, make sure you get enough protein.

Be consistent with your training, don't skip workouts. Have patience. It has taken me nearly 5 years to gain 15kg and stay relatively lean.

Hauntinglyfit

Just noticed that while you don't work legs, you specifically target forearms. Please send me a picture when those get bigger than your thighs.

livingleanlivingclean

Another person here who wants to know where the leg workout went...hoping you forgot to write that one out!

Have you considered making smoothies? Easy to drink quickly and you can get in lots of calories. Use fruit, add dates for sweetness, greens to get in some more vegies, protein powder, and good fats (nut butters, avocado, coconut oil), add water, or non dairy/dairy milk

You need to be eating a lot, and if that means packing a cooler bag full of food when you go out, so be it!

I would choose primarily "healthier", nutrient dense options as these will help with recovery and growth.

Do you use any supplements? Creatine?

AverageUkDude

You honestly arent going to gain quickly on your workout program, firstly you arent training legs. Secondly that looks more like a program for someone with a good foundation, which you do not.

Look at Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, JasonDB's 5x5. You need a proper novice system & progressive overload to chuck muscle on your frame quickly.

chani8

You need to add in some core workouts. And what everyone else said.

My only critique on what you do now, is to maybe dump the tricep dips (don't risk a rotator cuff injury) and instead do tricep kickbacks and/or narrow grip pushups. Also, I suggest wearing a weighted vest to do your 'bodyweight' exercises like pushups/chin ups.

For food, I have a son who is trying to bulk, so we're constantly seeking high calorie foods for him. Nuts, especially Brazil, pecans, cashews are all great, especially when roasted in oil. Apparently you can buy "coconut roasted nuts" that are surely packed full of cals.

Did you know that rice, popcorn, and oats have more calories than noodles? Bread is actually low calorie for you unless you can eat a lot of it, or stuff a sandwich full of calories.

Choose cream instead of milk. Use lots of butter, mayo, oil, peanut butter, halva, chocolate or caramel spread.

Instant potatoes are a good one, too. Tuna is diet food unless you use lots of mayo.

Track your cals, even just for a few days to get an idea of what foods are not helping you make your goals. If you're filling up on bread, for instance, switch to fried rice.

chani8

Oh, and you can add a whole lot of calories to your day by what you drink. Juice of any kind is usually high in calories.

I disagree with the suggestion to take 'supplements.' (Especially a 19yo!) Amino acids of any kind affect the brain, not just the muscles/body. You could end up with bigger muscles but anxiety attacks or toxicity. My son who's your age is having much success just working out and eating high calorie foods. You can do it too!

6ronXtreme9

eat and train legs!!
but first find out ur b.m.r and the macros
http://shtrainer.com/

eldamiano

Further to the above, I have started working out a bit too.

I recently went to GNC to ask about the protein shakes. I have always been sceptical about buying them given they are very expensive. I was advised that the contents of the milkshake powder allow the muscles to heal quicker, rather than actually adding anything to the muscle per se. i.e. muscle heals quicker so I can workout again sooner.

Therefore, are they really worth the money? There is clearly evidence that they work and many friends have advocated them, but for the cost, given I have limits on monthly luxuries, would I just be best without them and just bulking up at a slower rate?

6ronXtreme9

Further to the above, I have started working out a bit too.

I recently went to GNC to ask about the protein shakes. I have always been sceptical about buying them given they are very expensive. I was advised that the contents of the milkshake powder allow the muscles to heal quicker, rather than actually adding anything to the muscle per se. i.e. muscle heals quicker so I can workout again sooner.

Therefore, are they really worth the money? There is clearly evidence that they work and many friends have advocated them, but for the cost, given I have limits on monthly luxuries, would I just be best without them and just bulking up at a slower rate?

protein shakes are not magic..buy them if it fits ur macros..even the fittest man on the earth Rich Froning doesn't use any supplements.

darreneatschicken

Oh ya! Totally forgot to post the leg workout! Sorry about that!

Legs

Barbell squat
5 reps of 10, 8, 8, 6, 4

Deadlift
5 reps of 10, 8, 8, 6, 4

Split squat
3 reps of 8, 8, 8

Leg press
3 reps of 8, 8, 8

Leg curl
3 reps of 8, 8, 8

I also enjoy playing ice hockey and snowboarding. It just sucks sometimes, cause if I do, I have to eat more calories to make up for what I lost. Although, after you exercise a lot, you are more hungry.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I take whey protein, although this is only on the days where I am extremely busy; I prefer to eat real meats instead.

I also take a daily supply of fish oils (you swallow them like pills, so they don't taste like anything lol), and multivitamins.

AverageUkDude

Oh ya! Totally forgot to post the leg workout! Sorry about that!

Legs

Barbell squat
5 reps of 10, 8, 8, 6, 4

Deadlift
5 reps of 10, 8, 8, 6, 4

Split squat
3 reps of 8, 8, 8

Leg press
3 reps of 8, 8, 8

Leg curl
3 reps of 8, 8, 8

Your doing way to much volume for a novice, seriously your gonna hurt yourself, your central nervous system needs training properly, you only need to be doing 1 working set of deads to start with.

Please follow a tried and tested program. This one worked fantastic for me : http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/jason-blaha-ice-cream-fitness-5x5-novice-workout

darrensurrey

:drinker:

Out of interest, did you just make it up or are you following one of the established routines? You could do worse than check this page: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

you ain't got no legs?

:laugh:

contingencyplan

OP: No offense but you clearly aren't yet at the level of proficiency where you can get the most out of a program like the one you're attempting to do without injury, and you also don't have the knowledge you need in order to be able to put together a decent program on your own. You should do one of the cookie-cutter novice-oriented programs, such as Stronglifts or Starting Strength, as suggested by other people in the thread.