Need to Gain Muscle Mass (P90X)

ahinski

Okay, I lost two pounds in my first week of P90X... sounds great I know (and don't get me wrong I still appreciate weight loss), but right now I wonder if it might be best to try to maintain my weight by losing fat and gaining muscle. I'm 5'9" and have the tendency to turn into a string bean. I do want to lose the spare tire around my waist and the saddle bags on my hips, but what I really want to do is gain some muscle, especially in my arms, which really tend to have the string bean, skeletal look, that I just don't find sexy. I am a vegetarian who sometimes eats fish and tries to limit dairy. I added egg whites to my breakfast (I don't want to do yolks since I tend to have high cholesterol), and I drink a protein shake as a mid-morning snack. I have some sort of protein with every meal (nuts, tofu, quinoa, spirulina, you name it). I'm also taking a very, very small amount of creatine.

but is it enough during a strenuous workout like P90X?? Should I add another scoop of protein to my shake? What worked for you (especially the females)??

Am I even right in thinking that by adding protein I will gain the muscle I want (that's just what I always heard, but I've also always heard a lot of other things that ended up not being true).

Thanks for the help (and I hope I didn't sound like a jerk--I am NOT complaining about losing 2 pounds...)

Edit: I believe my food diary is public (but I haven't been very good at logging my intake)

tangal88

your protein aim should be roughly 1 gram per pound of lean body weight. You can use food sources or protein supplements - whatever gets you there within the calorie goal you are using.

I personally need protein supplementation, as my calorie range with P90X/P90X2 is about 1600. If I do less cals, I lose strength, and muscle gains, and also stop losing fat. ON 100% Whey Gold Protein Powder is about 120 calories with 24 grams of protein.

To figure your lean mass use this:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/body_fat_calculator.htm

I have manually adjusted MFP (use custom setting) to a 40/30/30 macro ratio. And I aim to eat roughly 100 grams of protein a day.

To Gain Muscle:

Lift heavy, low reps, 2-3 times a week (aim for 6-8 or 10-12 rep)
Have high protein intake (at least 1 gram per lb lean muscle mass)
Have adequate calorie intact, ideally at a surplus, but there is a bit of room for twaeking in those ranges
Not to low on carbs, so you have energy to workout
not to low on fats, so tissues and body, and joints function well

Bump up weights , when you can consistently perform exercise at good form, and can do additional reps beyond your max (with good form)

Helloitsdan

your protein aim should be roughly 1 gram per pound of lean body weight. You can use food sources or protein supplements - whatever gets you there within the calorie goal you are using.

I personally need protein supplementation, as my calorie range with P90X/P90X2 is about 1600. If I do less cals, I lose strength, and muscle gains, and also stop losing fat. ON 100% Whey Gold Protein Powder is about 120 calories with 24 grams of protein.

To figure your lean mass use this:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/body_fat_calculator.htm

I have manually adjusted MFP (use custom setting) to a 40/30/30 macro ratio. And I aim to eat roughly 100 grams of protein a day.

^^^^^^^

also look at zig zagging on days you train.
Go up 10-20% above TDEE on days you work out and -20% TDEE on rest days.
This will create a surplus if you train 5 days a week but its slight.
Gains will be quite slow but fat gains wont be an issue.

ahinski

This really helped! Thank you so much!!!

How do I change the settings so I have a 40/30/30 protein, carb, fat ratio?

tangal88

Click MY HOME / GOALS /CHANGE GOALS then CUSTOM. depending on your exercise and such each day, it will actually give you higher protein on some days then others. But I know for me (for example) my lean mass amount is roughly 100 grams, so I just aim for that each day. Some days I get more, which is fine, some days I get a bit less. As long as I am not consistently way less, it all balances out.