I need advice for muscle building...

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Okay, so I just recently lost about 50lbs, but now I'm rly skinny at 158lbs being 6 foot tall. During the whole time I was losing weight I was also lifting and working on core; to no prevail which I know was due to a calorie deficit of 1000 or lower a day. Now I eat 2000 or around 200 less a day to little to no results on arms or abdomen... I eat plenty of protein and I am in football 3 hours once a week and soon to be 3 hours 5 days a week. I lift EVERY day with a bowflex set to 130 at 100 reps (it's like a lap pull down) and I lift weights in general at 15lbs per arm. For core I cycle through my own hand picked ab workouts ranging from Sit-ups to piking. 50-60 at a time for each exercise except pike; I do 20 of those at a time. I also fit in a few holds where I maintain a sit-up with my head to my knees. So with all this, how come I'm not seeing much result or none. I'm also out of nowhere getting slightly hungrier slightly faster. I eat tons of protein or try to, and eat little to no carbs/sugars. My workouts add up to about an hour everyday. Advice would be amazing lol.
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Replies

  • Lofteren
    Lofteren Posts: 960 Member
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    You need to start a real weight lifting program that is based around heavy squats, front squats, deadlifts, bench presses, overhead presses, barbell rows and pull ups.Lift 3-4 days a week. Eat a lot of GOOD food (2000 cals a day isn't a lot). Gradually increase the weights and focus on getting stronger. The muscle will come.
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    Thx, football requires us to use their weight liftting rooms for an hour and has all of the equipment and exercises mentioned. How many cals should I be consuming if Im 6 foot at 158lbs?
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol

    Do it slowly if you need to. Maybe add 150-250 cals every other week or every month until you reach that calorie goal.
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    I honestly think my appetite may have increased a bit already, over these past three days Ive developed a more efficient way to do lifting and situps etc. Apparently flexing the muscles while doing it works them harder. I also increased weights on everything. Now I get hungry after 2 hours opposed to the usual 3-4 hours
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol

    Do it slowly if you need to. Maybe add 150-250 cals every other week or every month until you reach that calorie goal.

    Yeah I was gonna say xD
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol

    Do it slowly if you need to. Maybe add 150-250 cals every other week or every month until you reach that calorie goal.

    Yeah I was gonna say xD

    Another idea is to also focus a bit more on calorie dense foods if you are worried about quantity. Make sure you aren't doing diet type foods (low fat, low calorie, etc), maybe increasing your meat intake if you eat meat, look into adding stuff like olive oil, avocado oil, breads, oatmeals, ice cream, etc.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    There is a really great group on MFP run by Sidesteel and Sarauk2sf called Eat Train Progress -
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

    Maybe head on over and check out their links/stickies. They have a lot of info and studies especially in regards to strength training, protein intake, etc.
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol

    Do it slowly if you need to. Maybe add 150-250 cals every other week or every month until you reach that calorie goal.

    Yeah I was gonna say xD

    Another idea is to also focus a bit more on calorie dense foods if you are worried about quantity. Make sure you aren't doing diet type foods (low fat, low calorie, etc), maybe increasing your meat intake if you eat meat, look into adding stuff like olive oil, avocado oil, breads, oatmeals, ice cream, etc.
    That hasn't occured to me... I used to only ever eat light/low cal foods because I was losing weight. Im still eating like that tho, it would be kind of cool to eat normal food again lol, might do that :D
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    What Lostren said above.

    Basically for you maintenance calories is approximately 2300 calories with 3 days of strength training (Starting Strength schedule). I would suggest starting at 2800 calories (2300 * 1.20 (+20%) rounded to 2800). You can add 20% as you go along, you'll kind of need to judge for yourself based on strength gains and change in body composition.
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    What Lostren said above.

    Basically for you maintenance calories is approximately 2300 calories with 3 days of strength training (Starting Strength schedule). I would suggest starting at 2800 calories (2300 * 1.20 (+20%) rounded to 2800). You can add 20% as you go along, you'll kind of need to judge for yourself based on strength gains and change in body composition.
    Thx all this info is beyond useful
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol

    Do it slowly if you need to. Maybe add 150-250 cals every other week or every month until you reach that calorie goal.

    Yeah I was gonna say xD

    Another idea is to also focus a bit more on calorie dense foods if you are worried about quantity. Make sure you aren't doing diet type foods (low fat, low calorie, etc), maybe increasing your meat intake if you eat meat, look into adding stuff like olive oil, avocado oil, breads, oatmeals, ice cream, etc.
    That hasn't occured to me... I used to only ever eat light/low cal foods because I was losing weight. Im still eating like that tho, it would be kind of cool to eat normal food again lol, might do that :D

    Yeah, try and focus on calorie dense foods as much as possible. Stay away from light / low call foods as they're typically junk. You would probably benefit from eating as much as 1.40 times your body weight in protein (1.40grams of protein per lbs of body weight). Keep your fat around 25% to 30% of your daily calories, fat is important for various body and hormone functions. Now you have your protein and fat, fill-in the rest with carbs.

    Carbs
    Apples, strawberries, blueberries, bananas (lot of sugar, good for training days)
    Red Potatoes, sweet potatoes
    Brown Rice
    Black Beans

    Lean Protein
    Salmon, tuna, hadock
    Eye of Round steak
    chicken breasts
    cottage cheese
    whey protein (try to eat most of it from food though)
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    his maintenance is higher due to football as well. I'd put it closer to 2800

    I put his stats in iifym.com (w/ 5 days exercise) and for an aggressive bulk he should be more 2900-3000.

    But this is if he's doing TDEE (which would include exercise calories).

    OP, when you did your stats on MFP, did you choose to gain? Did it give you a net calorie goal?
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    his maintenance is higher due to football as well. I'd put it closer to 2800

    He's not going to be doing any major training during football, 1 to 2 days tops. Football isn't a factor in the off-season, the calculation was based on 3-days a week of strength training. Also, I suggested starting at 2800 and building by 20% from there. Going from what's he's eating now to 3200 calories would be a difficult transition and may not have a good impact on his body composition. His initial gains from training will be neuro-muscular in-nature anyway.

    @ OP: Since you're training to be an athlete, please make sure you're doing some kind of plyometric jumps with Starting Strength (assuming that's what you choose). This will help with speed and power development. Do 15 to 20 before you start lifting.
  • caesar164
    caesar164 Posts: 312 Member
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    You look a lot younger then 22? Is that your real age? You are very active, so your defenitely not eating enough at the moment; I would aim for about 4000 calories to see any actual results. Focus more on strength training and compound lifts.
  • NagromXIV
    NagromXIV Posts: 56 Member
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    That would be a huge difference :/ I would have to get used to that lol

    Do it slowly if you need to. Maybe add 150-250 cals every other week or every month until you reach that calorie goal.

    Yeah I was gonna say xD

    Another idea is to also focus a bit more on calorie dense foods if you are worried about quantity. Make sure you aren't doing diet type foods (low fat, low calorie, etc), maybe increasing your meat intake if you eat meat, look into adding stuff like olive oil, avocado oil, breads, oatmeals, ice cream, etc.
    That hasn't occured to me... I used to only ever eat light/low cal foods because I was losing weight. Im still eating like that tho, it would be kind of cool to eat normal food again lol, might do that :D

    Yeah, try and focus on calorie dense foods as much as possible. Stay away from light / low call foods as they're typically junk. You would probably benefit from eating as much as 1.40 times your body weight in protein (1.40grams of protein per lbs of body weight). Keep your fat around 25% to 30% of your daily calories, fat is important for various body and hormone functions. Now you have your protein and fat, fill-in the rest with carbs.

    Carbs
    Apples, strawberries, blueberries, bananas (lot of sugar, good for training days)
    Red Potatoes, sweet potatoes
    Brown Rice
    Black Beans

    Lean Protein
    Salmon, tuna, hadock
    Eye of Round steak
    chicken breasts
    cottage cheese
    whey protein (try to eat most of it from food though)
    This is excellent, Ive heard some of this stuff before, but youve added some more to my knowledge, thx. I guess Ill stray from low cal varients of food, and thx for the list man. One last concern: at 158 that would mean I should eat 221g of protein a day? Thats 442% DV thats immense, never came any where near to that; what would be some protein rich food, since I cant just eat nuts of protein bars all day?