Ok, I've posted this a lot on the "Post Your Pictures" forum, so I thought I'd make it permanent here:
Due to the complexity of muscle tissue, it often takes years to develop quality muscle mass. The key is to be consistent and be aware of the following principles:
Bodybuilding & body shaping are built on three factors:
1. Nutrition
2. Consistent and Intense Exercise
3. Rest
If you leave out any of those 3, your gains will be minimal.
Nutrition is the most important factor, and sadly most people neglect that part of it. I did for years when I started. The majority of people focus soley on weight training. Although weight training is a large component of adding musculature, better than average nutrition is extremely important as well.
By going to the gym frequently, and training your muscles to the point of "momentary muscular failure", you create microscopic tearing in the muscle tissue and this stimulates them to grow, strengthen and improve. You want to hit failure at some point between the 8th and 12th rep. If you're using a weight that you can do 15 reps on before failing, the weight is too light. If you can barely get 6 reps before failing, the weight may be too heavy. As your muscles get stronger, you can add more weight to keep you in the 8-12 range. Frequently you can switch your routine so you do heavier weight with fewer repetitions, but make sure your form stays strict. Consistency is also very important. Weight training gains are analgous to pushing a car up a hill. If you stop, the car starts to roll back. Muscles only grow and improve if they're constantly stressed. When the stress stops, or stays the same, they stop improving or even shrink. Change your routine frequently, but don't take too much time off from the gym. At most a week or two if possible.
Here's a website with great information about muscle groups and the exercises that train them:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Now that you've stressed your muscles in the gym, you have to provide them with quality building materials to repair. This is where the nutrition comes in. Building muscle is like building a house. The food you eat are the bricks and mortar for building the house. If you plan out your meals in advance, eating every 2-3 hours while you're awake, and carefully monitoring your protein, carbohydrate and fat intake, you can maximize your muscle growth without gaining noticeable bodyfat. You've heard the saying "you are what you eat". What would you rather build your house with, concrete or PlayDoh?
Here are two websites that you may find useful regarding nutrition:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm/printable
http://www.nutrition-factor.com/buildingmuscle.htm
Lastly is rest. The "builders of your house" need time to make the repairs. Not only do you have to allow at least 48-72 hours between sessions where you train the same muscle groups, but you should do your best to get a good 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Your body starts releasing growth hormone about 2 hours after you go to sleep. This prompts the body's systems to repair themselves. The more you sleep, the more work can be done.
To help you organize all this, make sure you keep two journals. One for your nutrition, the other for your workouts. A simple spiral notebook will do (however if you want to be fancy, you can use a spreadsheet program on your computer). In the nutrition log, you'll keep track of the meals you eat, the times you eat them, how many grams of protein, carbs and fats each meal had, and by doing that you'll be able to know at a glance how many calories you're taking in and you can adjust it accordingly if you're planning to gain, or lose weight. The other journal will help you keep track of your workouts, poundage, exercises, # of reps per exercise, muscle groups trained, etc. This will allow you to see how you're progressing and help you avoid plateauing or having stagnant workouts.
To get you started, here's an additional article written by Matt Danielson which goes into more detail regarding the concepts I've mentioned above. Matt's a professional personal trainer and he writes articles routinely for bodybuilding.com. His article is particularly great for beginners or bodybuilders who've been away from the gym for a while or might be plateauing and trying to get a new routine going:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt88.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/printworklog.htm - Bodybuilding.com's Free Printable (and customizable) Workout Log
Anywho, I hope all this helps. Keep on working hard. Remember, we skinny guys can get big too! We just have to work a lot harder at it.
For example:
This was me at 16:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...&postid=238257
This was me 7 years later (at 25):
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...&postid=238258
This is me today (over 18 years later, at 36):
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...postid=2130937
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...postid=2365428
Hang in there, you can do it.
Need one more piece of motivation? Here's a before/after video that Fletch made using my progress pictures and some well chosen music:
http://www.skippypodar.net/Movies/Sk...t_11_21_02.mov
Oh, and here's one final movie I put together for fun:
http://www.skippypodar.net/Movies/Sk...-numberone.wmv
- Skip "Applied knowledge is power!"
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12-07-2003, 12:33 PM #1
- Join Date: Apr 2002
- Location: Alachua, Florida, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 8,638
- Rep Power: 4282
The 3 Principles of Gaining Muscle Mass
Last edited by Abdominator; 08-16-2004 at 04:05 AM.
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:14
http://fitness.podarco.com
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12-09-2003, 05:23 PM #2
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12-11-2003, 10:27 AM #3
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12-12-2003, 08:58 AM #4
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12-12-2003, 06:49 PM #5
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12-13-2003, 09:42 PM #6
Re: The 3 Principles of Gaining Muscle Mass
Originally posted by Abdominator
Ok, I've posted this a lot on the "Post Your Pictures" forum, so I thought I'd make it permanent here:
Due to the complexity of muscle tissue, it's going to take years to develop quality muscle mass. The key is to be consistent and be aware of the following principles:
Bodybuilding & body shaping are built on three factors:
1. Nutrition
2. Consistent and Intense Exercise
3. Rest
If you leave out any of those 3, your gains will be minimal.
Nutrition is the most important factor, and sadly most people neglect that part of it. I did for years when I started. The majority of people focus soley on weight training. Although weight training is a large component of adding musculature, better than average nutrition is extremely important as well.
By going to the gym frequently, and training your muscles to the point of "momentary muscular failure", you create microscopic tearing in the muscle tissue and this stimulates them to grow, strengthen and improve. You want to hit failure at some point between the 8th and 12th rep. If you're using a weight that you can do 15 reps on before failing, the weight is too light. If you can barely get 6 reps before failing, the weight may be too heavy. As your muscles get stronger, you can add more weight to keep you in the 8-12 range. Frequently you can switch your routine so you do heavier weight with fewer repetitions, but make sure your form stays strict. Consistency is also very important. Weight training gains are analgous to pushing a car up a hill. If you stop, the car starts to roll back. Muscles only grow and improve if they're constantly stressed. When the stress stops, or stays the same, they stop improving or even shrink. Change your routine frequently, but don't take too much time off from the gym. At most a week or two if possible.
Here's a website with great information about muscle groups and the exercises that train them:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Now that you've stressed your muscles in the gym, you have to provide them with quality building materials to repair. This is where the nutrition comes in. Building muscle is like building a house. The food you eat are the bricks and mortar for building the house. If you plan out your meals in advance, eating every 2-3 hours while you're awake, and carefully monitoring your protein, carbohydrate and fat intake, you can maximize your muscle growth without gaining noticeable bodyfat. You've heard the saying "you are what you eat". What would you rather build your house with, concrete or PlayDoh?
Here's a website that you may find useful regarding nutrition:
http://www.nutrition-factor.com/buildingmuscle.htm
Lastly is rest. The "builders of your house" need time to make the repairs. Not only do you have to allow at least 48-72 hours between sessions where you train the same muscle groups, but you should do your best to get a good 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Your body starts releasing growth hormone about 2 hours after you go to sleep. This prompts the body's systems to repair themselves. The more you sleep, the more work can be done.
I hope this helps. Keep on working hard. Remember, we skinny guys can get big too! We just have to work a lot harder at it.
For example:
This was me at 16:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...&postid=238257
This was me 7 years later (at 25):
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...&postid=238258
This is me today (over 18 years later, at 36):
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...postid=2130937
Hang in there, you can do it.
- Skip "Applied knowledge is power!"Make your own homeade weight gainer.
lift heavy.
do no cardio.
eat when you are hungry.
eat when you are bored.
eat when you are tired.
eat when you are full.
eat when you wake up.
eat before you go to bed.
eat instead of talking.
sleep at least 8 hrs a day.
take a multivitamin.
BE PATIENT, YOU WONT GET MASSIVE OVER NIGHT.
"Eat big to get big" - Uninspired
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12-16-2003, 04:39 PM #7
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12-21-2003, 06:53 PM #8
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01-03-2004, 08:39 PM #9
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01-05-2004, 11:19 AM #10
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01-05-2004, 12:01 PM #11
- Join Date: Apr 2002
- Location: Alachua, Florida, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 8,638
- Rep Power: 4282
Originally posted by AJbuilder
hey skip, do you have any more videos of you and fletch, it's weird but i find them to be a very motivating factor for me.
- Skip"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:14
http://fitness.podarco.com
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02-04-2004, 07:15 PM #12
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02-24-2004, 03:32 PM #13
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03-15-2004, 04:07 PM #14
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05-13-2004, 02:49 PM #15
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07-04-2004, 10:52 AM #16
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08-01-2004, 11:44 AM #17
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08-12-2004, 10:17 PM #18
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08-16-2004, 10:52 PM #19
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08-24-2004, 09:31 AM #20
- Join Date: Apr 2002
- Location: Alachua, Florida, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 8,638
- Rep Power: 4282
Re: common principle
Originally posted by ¾ü_ÈËÉú_ÂÃ
the 3 principles are the basic rules of bodybuilding.
but people cann't use it strictly.
- Skip"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:14
http://fitness.podarco.com
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08-30-2004, 09:34 AM #21
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09-16-2004, 02:50 PM #22
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09-28-2004, 07:23 AM #23
- Join Date: Apr 2002
- Location: Alachua, Florida, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 8,638
- Rep Power: 4282
Originally Posted by hepennypacker52
Between 18-21 I supplemented with a weight gainer.
At 21 years old I added amino acids and dumped the weight gainer.
At 25 years old I got a full time job and started eating better.
At 30 I started taking creatine off and on.
At 35 I began to routinely have protein shakes (with creatine or glutamine).
Currently I supplement with whey/soy protein, branch chain amino acids, a daily multivitamin/multimineral and occassionally glutamine and/or creatine.
Keep in mind, supplements are just that, supplements. They add nutritional elements to your daily meal plan. They are not designed to replace REAL food. Your physique is more greatly effected by what you eat, than what supplements you take, although supplements do help a lot.
- Skip"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:14
http://fitness.podarco.com
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10-08-2004, 09:42 PM #24
- Join Date: Apr 2002
- Location: Alachua, Florida, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 8,638
- Rep Power: 4282
I noticed that the "Nutrition-Factor" website link is dead, so I'm posting a mirror link to the same page here:
http://www.extreme-athlete.com/buildingmuscle.htm
- Skip"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:14
http://fitness.podarco.com
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10-25-2004, 09:43 PM #25
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10-27-2004, 03:19 AM #26
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10-27-2004, 03:25 AM #27
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04-13-2005, 09:50 PM #28
This is a really good article, I'm glad I found it and am very impressed by your physique as well as your ned flanders sweater and trekky side You are very good-natured, something I think is quite adament in the truly professional bodybuilders who make the better teachers and motivators. The goers of this forum should try and learn from that.
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07-28-2010, 09:13 AM #29
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07-28-2010, 11:26 AM #30
- Join Date: Apr 2002
- Location: Alachua, Florida, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 8,638
- Rep Power: 4282
Thanks Ashton!
This was my original version of the article. Here's a more updated version (with pictures!).
http://www.podarco.com/fitness/content/view/57/82/
- Skip "Success is easy to find. It's 'down the street' from discipline and 'around the corner' from consistency.""I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:14
http://fitness.podarco.com
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