Advice for friend (me losing weight him bulking)

Capt_Inzane

I've been on MFP for some time and my goal is to lose weight and MFP has helped a lot with that (Thanks). I now have a friend who wants to bulk up. We worked out together for the first time last night and he's definitely out of shape and had a difficult time performing exercises with minimal weight which I kept assuring was fine because he's just starting.

I'd like to continue working out together and for now I thought it'd be best for him to do similar to my workout routine until his body gets used to working out (more or less resistance training with low weights high reps) which I believe is the opposite of what bulking up is.

My questions are:
1.) Can we continue to workout the same exercises and as he gets better conditioning just increase his weight to match mine? (I'm a lot stronger than he currently is so my weights are double/triple what his are and I figure as we both workout hopefully I'll get stronger so him bulking would be my light weights)

2.) Are there workouts that I'd do to lose weight that he should avoid at all cost?
My typical workout is 15 minute workout on treadmill then 30-45 minutes of strength training. Upper Back/Arms, Legs/Core alternating days. As I get in better conditioning I plan to isolate more.

3.) Other than complex carbs and protein what would be his diet or (macros) for a 5'9 150 lb person to bulk up? (you can direct me to a website and I'll do the calculations just not sure where to go/trust)

4.) Protein Powder/Supplements Recommendations (if any)?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated. I've read a ton of stuff on slimming down and getting in better shape and he barely has any fat on him he's just never worked out so he fatigues quickly at this point. Any websites you can direct me to, workouts for him (and me), anything really just trying to get as educated as possible so we can both reach the goals we want.

JoRocka

if he's out of shape why is he trying to bulk? Is he trying to just get bigger? put on weight? Or just get in shape??

He should just take advantage of the fact he's not in good shape and just lift like crazy. It won't be a traditional bulk- it'll just be taking advantage of his newb gains- like a faux bulk- but it's newb gains and you are just maximizing it.

yes- you guys can do the same lifts- bulking is about food- I don't change my lifts from cut to bulk- only food- and I increase cardio.

when it comes to bulking- typically amount calories is king. Macros' are important- but they take back seat to calories when it comes to bulking.

I'd say carbs and protein- are important- I bulked on 40/30/30- protein/carbs/fat- and that was a loosey goosey ballpark.
I really stopped caring - it becomes more about eating as much solid food as you can handle before you turn to your favorite treats of "empty calories" to try to up the calories for the day.

Lleldiranne

JoRocka has just about covered it perfectly. The only thing I can add is that your friend can also use MFP, for bulking. He can set it to gain 1/2 or 1 pound per week and track his intake that way. The lifting can be the same for both of you.

JustinHastings

First of all, congratulations on the weight you've lost already. Sounds like you've been doing a great job!

1. I don't see a problem with you both doing the same workout for now, as long as you're both getting results. As you're still trying to lose weight, your goal should be to maintain strength while losing fat. Depending on how long you've been lifting, you could also increase strength while losing weight.

Your friend's goal is to bulk up, so he should be getting stronger every single week. If he's not, it means he's not eating enough and we'll have to take a look at his diet.

2. I'm not the biggest fan of the type of workout you're currently doing, because I prefer to isolate cardio and strength training. I think you'll see better results if you start splitting them up, or at least doing the cardio AFTER strength training. Strength training should come first. How many days do you work out per week? Let me know and maybe I can design a good workout for both you and your friend.

3. Calorie requirements vary for everyone, but for a 150 lb male, I would start with 2750. Here's how to break it down in terms of macros:

150g protein
345g carbs
85g fat

Don't stress about hitting exact numbers, but he should make sure to get at least 150g of protein. Like JoRocka said, for bulking, calories are king.

4. Protein powder if either of you are having trouble meeting protein requirements. Protein is actually even more important for you because you're goal is to lose weight, and you need to take protein intake higher in order to preserve your muscle. Protein powder is great (I like Optimum Nutrition Double Rich Chocolate), but make sure to get at least 50% of your protein from whole foods like lean meats, eggs, etc.

Fish oil is a necessary supplement for everyone, but be careful who you buy it from because most brands are expensive and have so few omega 3s that they're useless.

Capt_Inzane

First off thank you to everyone who replied and the encouragement.
I'll try and answer all of the questions.

Right now he's wanting to get in shape and get more defined. He doesn't want to be a huge guy just gain a little muscle and get more fit overall. He did join MFP and may start posting here on his own so I'll make sure to direct him to this thread.

I didn't realize MFP could help with gaining weight so will definitely tell him that. We talked about his food intake as it's extremely low but he's starting to work on eating more. Just worried about cost. I was going to try and lookup cheap calorie dense foods that would be good for him. I know eggs can be helpful but was worried about the cholesterol so was going to advise him to eat a lot of egg whites. (I'm ignorant in all of this gaining weight stuff so trying to look stuff up on the Internet but there is just too much conflicting information to know what's truthful and what's not I just try and apply common sense).

1. I've been stuck at a plateau for quite sometime and while I'm reshaping my body weight isn't falling off which is fine as I can tell I'm gaining a ton of muscle and my endurance has been steadily increasing throughout the workouts.

2. I workout min 4 days a week but am trying to make it 5 with weekends off. I've been doing the little bit of cardio to get my heart rate up and just loosen up so I wasn't lifting being cold. I'll definitely take any advise as I'm constantly still learning. I'm working on isolation a bit more but just haven't gotten to that point.

I've actually been taking fish oil but started slacking on it. I'll make sure to pick that back up. I've also been using Quest Bars which are really good to me (just bought a ton of them so I hope they're good I read the reviews).

I'll start looking into more protein powder I've been using a cheap Wal-Mart Whey Protein that taste really bad so want to try something new.

Galatea_Stone

Actually, if he's small and weak, it is the ideal time for him to begin a bulk. He needs to look into a progressive loading program that focuses on the major compound lifts and adds in accessory lifts that focus on areas where he needs it most (I'm guessing he needs it all areas). He needs to start with a basic 5x5 or starting strength program and add a hypertrophy accessory program to that. There are tons of hypertrophy programs online (look at T-Nation) that he could consider. If he's as weak as you say, he needs to plan to add 5-15 pounds to the bar every week for all of his major lifts for a while. And work in a 5-8 rep range for the compound lifts and 8-12 for accessories.

If he is eating enough to gain, he will gain strength FAST, and a bulk would be the best way for him to put those newbie gains to good use.

I can't answer the how much food thing because I don't know his overall activity level or how many calories he's consuming to maintain. I'd agree with the poster who said 2750, and start with that basic macro setting. Maybe consider more protein because he will grow quickly if he works hard. Honestly, he will probably need more calories than that. I weigh in the 120s and am female, and I need over 2400 calories a day to gain. If his gains stall, he needs to eat more.

For food, don't worry about cholesterol in eggs. Eggs won't raise blood serum cholesterol. Canned chicken, protein powders, beans, peanut butter, oils, full fat cottage cheese, etc.

Lleldiranne

I didn't realize MFP could help with gaining weight so will definitely tell him that. We talked about his food intake as it's extremely low but he's starting to work on eating more. Just worried about cost. I was going to try and lookup cheap calorie dense foods that would be good for him. I know eggs can be helpful but was worried about the cholesterol so was going to advise him to eat a lot of egg whites. (I'm ignorant in all of this gaining weight stuff so trying to look stuff up on the Internet but there is just too much conflicting information to know what's truthful and what's not I just try and apply common sense).

If he's going to be working out a lot, that will most likely help balance out cholesterol levels (lifestyle tends to be more of a factor in serum cholesterol than dietary intake). So a couple of eggs even daily probably won't hurt unless he has specific risk factors. Avocado, nuts, full-fat dairy, ground beef (80% is pretty cheap), olive oil or butter, etc. are all good sources of calories.

JoRocka

as for food and costs and bulking- yes it goes up.

hit your baseline chicken and veggies and rice and load up on everything else
ice cream (2.50 for turkey hill- 1.99$ sure go for it!!)
peanut butter
oreo's
snickers
MILK- whole fat milk.
more milk
beer.
pizza
bagels
cheese
canned foods- anything high calorie deemed "junk" or empy calories.

all of these things can be purchased on sale and can be high calorie pushing you up into your surplus.
there are other higher calorie things- but they get expensive- nuts are to expensive for me to want to eat regularly so I don't.