Hey y’all! I’m somewhat new to working out and would love some tips on muscle gain..THANKS! :)

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tagj1204
tagj1204 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I have always literally fantasized about having a nice body ever since I was a teenager but because of a combination of laziness and then a pretty rough decade of a drinking problem in my 20s, I always felt insecure with my looks. I am 6 foot 4 inches and have always been around 180-200 pounds (lighter when I was younger) and always have had that little bit of chunk man boob where the nipples always show awkwardly in shirts and the big enough to squeeze doughy waistline all the way around that also sticks through the shirt and flops over the belt line. My arms have always been long and thin along with my “daddy long legs” or chicken legs lol basically just an out of shape, but not fat gangly white dude! I’m in a place in my life where I’m extremely healthy especially with what I eat and have been reading up on and practicing some good habits…I’ve been going to the gym 5 days a week doing a combination of weight lifting with dumbbells, bench weights, machines and light cardio. I have a bits and pieces of knowledge and information but I would love other input on what I should be eating, how many grams of protein, fat and calories..what types of foods are good that don’t get boring and repetitive..what are the best upper body workouts? I’ve always just wanted that classic built upper body and I know that I can do it, I just need to figure out all the answers to the formula! Any and all help is so greatly appreciated! That is if anyone is even reading this far hahahaha :-P

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  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,515 Member
    edited May 2023
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    @Retroguy2000 @ninerbuff @tomcustombuilder I’m blanking on Nomoss’s ID spelling

    Welcome to MFP @tagj1204


    Calling on some users I hope will be kind enough to lend advice.

    But…..you don’t indicate any plan to eat. Have you sat down and used the app to calculate a calorie goal? Are you using it to track protein, since you’re lifting? Are you weighing and logging?

    It’s not going to happen by happy coincidence. You’ve got to set parameters and goals.

    There is a board here dedicated to weight training. I’d suggest spending an evening or two reading threads and then participating on them.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,529 Member
    edited May 2023
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    Thanks for the @ Springlering. I missed this because while I'm a regular here, that only applies to a few of the sub-forums. I would encourage @tagj1204 to post in the body building forum or the more active health and fitness forum if they're still active here.

    To keep it brief until then, sounds like you're in a good position for recomp and beginner muscle gains. Eat around maintenance, progressive overload with the weights, get about 150g-200g protein daily. You don't need to train to failure, 1-2 reps in reserve is fine, but you do need to know where that threshold is or you won't be progressing. Too many people pick a weight, do 10 reps, think they've done a working set. Not really, if your form would fail at 11 or 12 reps, yes, but if you can keep going to 15+ and you stop at 10, that's not going to do much for you. Keep pushing weekly on reps then weight while you're starting out.

    When you feel your body fat is lower, add a couple hundred calories.

    10-12 working sets weekly for each of chest, back, shoulders, quads, hams, for a beginner. Arms are optional, focus on the compounds, but sure, add working sets for those too if you want.

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