advice on bulking up with lean muscle

fatgavin
fatgavin Posts: 5
edited September 30 in Introduce Yourself
I'm trying to build myself up without putting on excess weight through fat, a lot of men think bucking up means lifting heavy weights and eating everything insight, I know this isn't the right way to go about it but at the same time I'm not sure of the best way of building lean muscle

Replies

  • Elanesse100
    Elanesse100 Posts: 30 Member
    Adding lean muscle is not relatively difficult. You actually do the same thing the guys who lift lots of weights for size do. However, instead of lifting the heavy weights that max you out at 8 reps, you should be lifting lighter weights that max you out at 15 reps. Keep increasing as you need to. If you reach 15, go higher until you reach 15 with that weight.

    Also, eat as much protein a day as you weigh. This means lots of meat. It's not over eating. There are a lot of good quality meats out there that are high in protein and low of calories and fat. Ex. turkey and chicken.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    I'm following this plan for my diet:

    http://stronglifts.com/fat-loss-101-how-to-lose-fat-fast-with-free-fat-loss-diets/

    I think I have put on a little fat, not nearly as much as if I ate everything in site, but there have also been a lot of cheat days as well (wife loves going out to eat :grumble: ).

    I don't have this book myself, but I've heard of people that have had success with this book:

    http://www.burnthefat.com/
  • DianaPowerUp
    DianaPowerUp Posts: 518 Member
    Eat quality food, lots of protein. Lift heavy (I fatigue by about rep 10, personally). That will make you lean and give you great muscle definition.
  • fatgavin
    fatgavin Posts: 5
    Thanks for all the advice, especially aiming for 15 reps
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    15 reps is not a recipe for lean mass gain, it's a recipe for muscular endurance fatigue, 4 to 10 reps is a recipe for lean mass gain. That said it's not an all or nothing thing with weight training, you won't NOT gain lean mass doing 15 reps a day, but I have never seen a study that shows that it's better for you than small/heavy.

    With regards to gaining lean mass, it's essentially the same thing (in the opposite direction) as weight loss. You want to eat at a caloric surplus, a very small caloric surplus (100 to 300 calories above maintenance) with a slightly raised protein consumption (anywhere from 1.5 g/kg to 2.2 g/kg lean body mass, or 0.7 g/lb to 1.0 g/lb lbm). All the while doing 3 days of full body resistance training and 2 days of cardiovascular training.

    Now, that's the basic routine, but within that structure, you can do many different techniques depending on your available time, desired goals, and habits. The average man can gain between 1 and 2 lbs LBM per month, sometimes 3 if you're really dedicated, and all of us have a genetic predisposition to a certain muscle type and size, so you'll be limited in your development by that, a good trainer or sports medicine professional would be able to be more specific.
  • buell1200
    buell1200 Posts: 11
    Keep up your protein intake about 1 to 1.5 gram per lb. of weight. Keep the bad carbs out. Limit your carb intake to mostly before a workout and after. (not crazy low). Stick with vegetables, yams, whole grain pasta etc. and you wont put on fat. If you want lean but also be a house keep your max rep range to 5-8. Lift heavy. And consume a protein shake before you go to sleep.
  • Elanesse100
    Elanesse100 Posts: 30 Member
    15 reps is not a recipe for lean mass gain, it's a recipe for muscular endurance fatigue, 4 to 10 reps is a recipe for lean mass gain. That said it's not an all or nothing thing with weight training, you won't NOT gain lean mass doing 15 reps a day, but I have never seen a study that shows that it's better for you than small/heavy.

    Take a look at P90X or Beachbody.com. Those guys have done their homework. 8-10 for Size, 12-15 for Lean
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    15 reps is not a recipe for lean mass gain, it's a recipe for muscular endurance fatigue, 4 to 10 reps is a recipe for lean mass gain. That said it's not an all or nothing thing with weight training, you won't NOT gain lean mass doing 15 reps a day, but I have never seen a study that shows that it's better for you than small/heavy.

    Take a look at P90X or Beachbody.com. Those guys have done their homework. 8-10 for Size, 12-15 for Lean

    look really closely at what you just wrote.

    They mean (the beachbody people) lean as in, trim fat, not grow lean tissue. Trust me, as a certified personal trainer, someone who's completed P90X, run my own boot camp, Certified in Olympic Power lifting by the USOC, and done years and years of research on this stuff, I'm not just guessing.
  • Elanesse100
    Elanesse100 Posts: 30 Member
    15 reps is not a recipe for lean mass gain, it's a recipe for muscular endurance fatigue, 4 to 10 reps is a recipe for lean mass gain. That said it's not an all or nothing thing with weight training, you won't NOT gain lean mass doing 15 reps a day, but I have never seen a study that shows that it's better for you than small/heavy.

    Take a look at P90X or Beachbody.com. Those guys have done their homework. 8-10 for Size, 12-15 for Lean

    look really closely at what you just wrote.

    They mean (the beachbody people) lean as in, trim fat, not grow lean tissue.

    Sorry, I totally assumed that's what they mean. At least that's what I think I here them say. Tony says in every strength work out if you want bulk, then plan to max out at 8-10 reps, and if you want lean then 12-15. If he does not mean lean muscle what does he mean? Just lose weight? I'm still working out with strength training does that not gain muscle?
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    15 reps is not a recipe for lean mass gain, it's a recipe for muscular endurance fatigue, 4 to 10 reps is a recipe for lean mass gain. That said it's not an all or nothing thing with weight training, you won't NOT gain lean mass doing 15 reps a day, but I have never seen a study that shows that it's better for you than small/heavy.

    Take a look at P90X or Beachbody.com. Those guys have done their homework. 8-10 for Size, 12-15 for Lean

    look really closely at what you just wrote.

    They mean (the beachbody people) lean as in, trim fat, not grow lean tissue.

    Sorry, I totally assumed that's what they mean. At least that's what I think I here them say. Tony says in every strength work out if you want bulk, then plan to max out at 8-10 reps, and if you want lean then 12-15. If he does not mean lean muscle what does he mean? Just lose weight? I'm still working out with strength training does that not gain muscle?

    Yes, What you need to remember is there are different ways to train muscle mass. Train it "light and long" (I.E. less weight, more reps) and you're training muscles to isolated fatigue, like HIIT training, train it "heavy and short" (I.E. more weight less reps, to failure) then you're pushing muscles past their point of failure before you exhaust the energy source in the muscle, which triggers hormones that trigger growth, it also causes microtears in the muscle which need to be repaired, in which case the body will repair it stronger.

    When Horton talks about lean he means, you're triggering your existing muscles to become more efficient, while burning calories, which makes the muscle more dense (as more muscle fibers are activated and require fuel around them), this causes you to burn the fat, and do some small muscle growth, but generally you won't build a lot of mass this way.
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