so ive been lifting 4 days a week this summer, and ive stayed the same weight, but definitely gotten a lot leiner/stronger. Ever since i was in Ocean City Maryland a few weeks ago I've been eating pretty healthy (mostly turkey tuna and chicken, a lot of water/gatorade and no pop) and thats helping me slim down too. Heres the thing though. In the long run I want to add about 40 lbs to my body if possible (of muscle). Should i keep eating the way i am, and drink protein shakes and shit. Or should i just eat whatever the hell i want and eat a lot?? BTW id like to stay as cut as possible.. thanks

 

You need to take in lots of calories. You want them to be good calories, lots of protein and carbs, but try not to eat a ton of fat. But you need to take in more calories than you burn in order to gain weight. Keep on with the protein shakes, have a couple a day. When you work out, do short reps with heavy weight. The shitty thing is if you want to gain mass, you're not going to stay cut. You have to put the mass on, and then cut it.

 

I know nothing about getting cut, just building mass h:

I need to put on another 15-20lbs :reechy:

 

Getting or staying cut and bulking up is damn near impossible.


I have always went for the method of bulking and getting a little body fat on me to gain size, go like 10 lbs over what I want my lean to be, then cutting up like crazy. It works. Takes a while but easier the hit and miss the other way.



And 40lbs of lean muscle?

I don't know how big you are now, but thats a lofty goal.

 

Yeah...that could take quite a while of hardcore lifting and supplementing.

 

You need lots of carbs and protein, like Brett said. However, try not to get your carbs from Potatoes, white bread, rice, or anything sugary. These type of carbs break down quickly and won't help you. I recommend lots of wheat breads, leafy vegetables, and beans. These are typically known as "good" carbs.

You might also want to look into some sort of weight gainer powder, but be warned, these tend to have lots of sugars.

 

Glad you agree pato :thumbup:



:werd: No startchy carbs.

Chicken, fish, beans, skim milk, whey, dark green veges, turkey breast, water, if rice then make it brown.


A good general rule too is more carbs then protein in the morn, about 50/50 midday, then high protein and low carb in the evening. Mix in snacks and stuff too.

 

Like these guys said, bulk for a few weeks, then cut for a few weeks, and repeat as necessary. I used to 6 weeks bulk, 6 weeks cutting, and I went from 160lb to about 195lbs. It took a while tho.

For bulking, I did a lot of pyramid sets and tried to stick to the major movements on the free weights (squatting, dead lift, rowing, bench pressing, standing curls, military press). A lot of people reccomend shakes throughout the day, but some people, including myself, don't. Much like the "bad" carbs that RB listed^^, whey protein shakes normally don't last long. They break down quickly. I drank several glasses of milk per day, lots of eggs, chicken, ground beef (the leaner, the better) for protein. For carbs, I stuck with brown rice, whole grain bread (usually rye), and greens. And of course, tons of water, and plenty of rest. I usually ate 4x per day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a high protein before bed snack.

For cutting, I did high rep sets (10+ reps per set), and I did a lot of situps, preacher curls, arnold curls, overhead extensions, and butterflies with freeweights and I did spinning 3x week. The diet was similar, but I drank all water, no milk, egg whites with no yolks, boneless skinless chicken, and ground beef with no more than 10% fat. The carbs stayed the same, but less of it. 6 meals per day, breakfast being the biggest meal, and dinner being the smallest meal, and dinner was always at least 4 hrs before bedtime.

 

Oh thats what I forgot... canned tuna in water.


Best gift ever.


I open the can, drain it, add hot sauce and consume.

 

for bulking up doing low reps of high weight. How many reps we talkin and how many sets. And i know 40 lbs is a lot, but i dont care if it takes a while.. and im 6'1" with a pretty decent sized frame, long limbs, and i weigh 155 now