I want to gain muscle and have a nice toned body! I need some help!

benhead280
benhead280 Posts: 7 Member
in Getting Started
Well as the title says, I want muscle. I want a nice pair of abs and nice muscular arms and all that good stuff. I've lost weight before and I knew what to do, but gaining muscle it's so much different! Like instead of eating less (like when you lose weight) you have to eat more.

So what exercises and routines should I do/get into? How many times a week should I do it?
How much should I eat in a day? What foods should I should and shouldn't eat? What are the best weights I should get because I know I'll need to use them. And of course any other advice or tips you can offer me will be very much appreciated! <3:D

If this helps, I'm about 5'0"-5'1"and about (106-109 lbs.) I've recently lost some weight. I can't go to the gym anymore, I can only workout at home.

Replies

  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    Gaining muscle is all about eating at a calorie surplus while following a linear progression based program. If you are not knowledgeable enough to understand what exactly you should be doing, then your best bet is not to ask these questions you asked, but rather "what program should I be following?"

    If you are training at home and do not have access to a large selection of weights then your best bet is to follow a bodyweight based program such as You Are Your Own Gym (available as a book or as an app for smartphones) or Convict Conditioning (book only).

    If you are willing to make an investment on some decent home equipment then your best bet is to pick up a set of adjustable dumbbells. Do not make the mistake of buying one or two pairs of fixed-weight dumbbells in the beginning as you outgrow them VERY early on (as in over the span of only a couple of workouts).

    You must observe the rule of linear progression, which means you must constantly increase the load/resistance/difficulty of the exercise so that you keep hitting failure/form breakdown within the same rep range every workout. Simply adding additional reps to increase the difficulty because you don't have more weights will not get you any closer to your goal and only provides an additional measure of cardiovascular/endurance work.
  • LiveLoveSwimming
    LiveLoveSwimming Posts: 129 Member
    I would get some free weights and a kettle ball and a medicine ball. You can do so many exercises with just those few things
    I would do squats and lunges with the medicine ball.
    Free weights you can do almost anything with.
    Exercise for about 30-60min a day for 4-5days a week.
    You should probably be eating around 1700 calories a day mainly whole, and nutrition dense foods.
    Also look into IIFYM (if it fits your macros) It allows you to still eat things you love, and still lose weight and gain muscle. (www.iifym.com)
  • fredgiblet
    fredgiblet Posts: 241 Member
    All you need: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/
  • 2thesexydress
    2thesexydress Posts: 54 Member
    I am just this minute reading this article, it might help.
    http://www.coachcalorie.com/how-to-build-muscle-fast/
    xx
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    fredgiblet wrote: »
    All you need: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

    And why are you recommending stronglifts to someone who just said they can't go to a gym?
  • redfisher1974
    redfisher1974 Posts: 614 Member
    contingencyplan wrote: »
    Gaining muscle is all about eating at a calorie surplus while following a linear progression based program. If you are not knowledgeable enough to understand what exactly you should be doing, then your best bet is not to ask these questions you asked, but rather "what program should I be following?"

    If you are training at home and do not have access to a large selection of weights then your best bet is to follow a bodyweight based program such as You Are Your Own Gym (available as a book or as an app for smartphones) or Convict Conditioning (book only).

    If you are willing to make an investment on some decent home equipment then your best bet is to pick up a set of adjustable dumbbells. Do not make the mistake of buying one or two pairs of fixed-weight dumbbells in the beginning as you outgrow them VERY early on (as in over the span of only a couple of workouts).

    You must observe the rule of linear progression, which means you must constantly increase the load/resistance/difficulty of the exercise so that you keep hitting failure/form breakdown within the same rep range every workout. Simply adding additional reps to increase the difficulty because you don't have more weights will not get you any closer to your goal and only provides an additional measure of cardiovascular/endurance work.

    The best advice I have seen on here in a while. Good work.

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