Re: I want to put on weight!
There;s some good stuff on here, but also some nonsense. If you're a hard gainer like me, then listen up. I weighed 135 pounds when i started lifting and a few years later, i was a ripped 190. (some was natural growth as i grew 2 inches as well).
The biggest mistake hard gainers and non-pros make is OVERTRAINING. the routines in the magazines that steroid-infested meatheads use is NOT the proper way to plan your workouts. Their bodies are used to the abuse of tearing down and rebuilding and they have testosterone levels that are several times over the natural levels of a Joe Shmoe like you. So here's the Bible of Beef according to me - its a summary of what i have learned in about 12 years of lifting and training:
(1) For MASS, stick to the basic exercises. You MUST learn to squat, deadlift, stiffleg deadlift, bench press, shoulder press (i prefer the clean and press as a starter. Also consider lunges and bent over rows. These are the most essential mass exercises and they will tax your body and force it to grow. After 3 years of lifting i included these in my workouts and ballooned. It was amazing. Some say these exercises actually have some direct tie in the production levels of Growth Hormone in your boyd. Whatever. . they work.
(2) Keep it simple. Other than calves and abs, hit each body part only once per week and for only a few sets. I switched to a High Intensity Training program as pimped by Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates (tailored to m'self), that had me perform only two sets per exercise, all out intensity. Each set is really a drop set where you will go to failure, cut the weight in half and hit it again to failure without a rest. That is ONE set. Then you do it again. So really it's like 4 sets. (make sure to do a warm up set).
(3) Protein. You cant build a hgouse without bricks. You cant build muscle without protein. Use a hyigh quality shake after lifting and as a snack in the middle of the day. I would advise against using Creatine. Long term effects have never been studied, never approved by any federal drug agencies, and bottom line, when you come off it, your body and workouts will suffer. I did it for 2 years so that's my experience.
(4) Sleep damn you! You only grow when you're at rest. Increase your sleeping hours by at least an hour.
(5)Go to
www.bodybuilding.com and read the forums and articles on Hight Intensity Training to get more info.
(6) Train serious. Dont go to the gym to make friends. It got to the point where i dumped my gym budies cuz they wanted to joke around more than lift. The shizz is serious if you wanna be intense. I could get my workouts done in literally 30 minutes and leave with my drop sets and be on my way before i broke a sweat.(except on squat and deadlift days).
Anyway, keep it simple with power lifts as your foundation (get a trainer to show you the proper method or you'll be sorry!). Dont' overtrain, rest yourself and you'll see great results in two months. PEACE