new to forum! Goal - GAIN WEIGHT!

[cutsforkisses]

Hello! I'm excited to finally have a gym membership again after a two year break! I'm 23, 5'1" & 92lbs. I am looking to gain 8-12 lbs. The last time I was in the gym, I was able to gain about five pounds before I quit going. I am currently taking CYTOSPORT: Complete Whey Protein, DYMATIZE NUTRITION Super Amino, HIGHER POWER NUTRITION: L-Lysine.

Here is a little of what I've got going for a routine so far,

Monday- cardio
Tuesday - lower back & biceps
Wednesday - shoulders & triceps
Thursday - OFF
Friday - chest
Saturday - lower back & cardio
Sunday - OFF

I'm just getting back in the swing of things & will decide on exactly which workouts to do & adjust my routine accordingly. I will be working on my legs 3-4 days a week (quadriceps with back days, calves with other days).

Any tips would be much appreciated!

[medjen]

I have two questions for you.

1. Is there a reason you're doing lower back 2 x week but not working your upper back at all? 2. Why do you want to work your legs so often? 4 x week is a lot.

[cutsforkisses]

I have two questions for you.

1. Is there a reason you're doing lower back 2 x week but not working your upper back at all? 2. Why do you want to work your legs so often? 4 x week is a lot.

meant to put upper back for Saturday. As for legs, two days a week for calves & two days a week for quads has worked pretty well for me in the past. On my deadlift day, I do a lighter quad workout.

[darkangel]

I'd suggest dropping the cardio completely until you hit your goal weight. Make sure your workouts include most, if not all, heavy compound lifts, slow tempo, low reps.

What's your diet look like? In my experience, eating enough of the right foods - protein and healthy fats - is more than half the battle.

[cutsforkisses]

I'd suggest dropping the cardio completely until you hit your goal weight. Make sure your workouts include most, if not all, heavy compound lifts, slow tempo, low reps.

What's your diet look like? In my experience, eating enough of the right foods - protein and healthy fats - is more than half the battle.

I'm pescatarian (I eat seafood on occasion). I haven't been able to start eating this way yet (just got back from a weekend of camping), I am planning on following this sort of diet:

Breakfast:
whole grain cereal OR oatmeal
whole grain toast
& a protein shake

Lunch:
sandwich on whole grain bread with veggie meat slices
& a protein shake

Dinner:
undecided on that so far, as we usually eat out. (I'm going to opt for Mexican this week for some rice and beans to go with whatever food I get)

***That, AND plenty of snacks in between (raw almonds, roasted soy beans, fresh fruits & veggies, smoothies, protein bars)

Thanks for the advice. I will probably replace the cardio with some soak time in the whirlpool. My workouts always consist of low rep, slow tempo, & heavy workouts. Thanks again for the advice. Please let me know what you might think would help my diet.

[SpittfireDA]

If you're only working quads and calves, you're going to be neglecting the other HALF of your leg muscles, including the largest one ...

[cutsforkisses]

If you're only working quads and calves, you're going to be neglecting the other HALF of your leg muscles, including the largest one ...

I guess I should be more specific and say exactly which muscles I'm working out. I'm grouping all of the muscles together (quads, hamstrings, etc.) and working them out accordingly. If I hadn't known, maybe you should have tried EXPLAINING which muscles I would be neglecting, instead of just telling me my routine was wrong.

[SpittfireDA]

Glutes and Hamstrings ... don't get pissy at me there, you're the one asking for help. If you didn't want the critique, don't ask for it. If you're going to split up legs and only list quads and calves, everyone will assume that's all you're working.

Calm down on the attitude.

[cutsforkisses]

Glutes and Hamstrings ... don't get pissy at me there, you're the one asking for help. If you didn't want the critique, don't ask for it. If you're going to split up legs and only list quads and calves, everyone will assume that's all you're working.

Calm down on the attitude.

lol, whatever

[partsRheavy]

Try adding some eggs and olive oil in with a meal or two.

When lifting, keep the reps to 10 or below. I would say to cut out gym cardio and just do the occasional outdoor cardio that you would do "anyway" for fun i.e. walk, hike, or whatever you are doing on weekends.

If your job involves standing, you consume more calories than someone in a desk job. Adjust accordingly i.e. with nuts, the EVOO etc.

[Amanda76]

When you say "lower back" do you mean you're doing pulls to the hip region (bb/db/cable rows)? So, "back thickness" exercises rather than "lower back" exercises?

[cutsforkisses]

Try adding some eggs and olive oil in with a meal or two.

When lifting, keep the reps to 10 or below. I would say to cut out gym cardio and just do the occasional outdoor cardio that you would do "anyway" for fun i.e. walk, hike, or whatever you are doing on weekends.

If your job involves standing, you consume more calories than someone in a desk job. Adjust accordingly i.e. with nuts, the EVOO etc.

I just starting eating eggs again yesterday, but I will have to work some olive oil in!

I'm staying between 8-10 reps, depending on the exercise. darkangel (above) suggested the same when it comes to cardio. I am going to be doing a lot of hiking this camping season, which will already be overkill! I was using the stair stepper machine for calves when I was going to the gym before (stepping without using the ball of my foot). Do you think that would be ok?

And, I only work one day a week. I'm on my feet the entire time & my knees throb for two days after because of how much walking back and forth I do. Thanks so much for the advice!

[cutsforkisses]

When you say "lower back" do you mean you're doing pulls to the hip region (bb/db/cable rows)? So, "back thickness" exercises rather than "lower back" exercises?

I just got back in the gym on Saturday after a two year break..so, I haven't gotten too into the lower back exercises yet. I started off with some dead lifts & back extensions the other day. I'm open to any tips though.

[momthebomb]

A few tips from my perspective and it's up to you...

I'd forget the whole lower back/upper back idea. You should be able to do some key compound exercises (seated row, wide grip pulldown, etc) by focusing on just your back.

I'd avoid isolation exercises and bodyparts like biceps and lower back and focus on the basics, such as squats, bench press, seated row, shoulder press, incline press, deadlifts, etc.

For what it's worth, here's the split that I'm doing right now...

http://www.missfitchick.net/FullTrainingSplit1.html

[cassie121]

This may sound really crazy BUT if your trying to put on weight why would you lift 8-10 reps? 3 sets of 5 reps usually does the trick much better. (Keep in mind the weight you lift will be much higher.)

[cutsforkisses]

momthebomb & cassie : I will look into your tips. Thanks for the advice.

[Amanda76]

I just got back in the gym on Saturday after a two year break..so, I haven't gotten too into the lower back exercises yet. I started off with some dead lifts & back extensions the other day. I'm open to any tips though.

Now that I understand that you really meant lower back when you said lower back...LOL It sounds like a lot of things you consider "lower back exercises" may be compound movements that happen to be great for the lower back but aren't primarily a lower back exercise. Traditional deadlifts, for example are sometimes used as a back thickness exercise on back day or as a ham/glute exercise on a leg day (just depends on where you want to put it). If you're talking stiff-legged deadlift, that's considered a hamstring exercise. Sooooooo...design your split knowing that your low back will be taken care of while focusing on entire muscle groups without dedicating entire days to such a specific area.

I think you should go with either an upper/lower body split or maybe a push-pull split with a leg day as you get back into the swing of things instead of trying to separate things out too much. It'll be important to give yourself more rest as you ease back into all this as well. Once your body is ready, you can get into more complicated splits from there. I would suggest that if you're going to split up back in the future, that you do it by splitting up back width (vertical pulls) from back thickness (horizontal pulls) instead of upper and lower, maybe working rear delts in with back thickness day and doing shoulder presses on chest day in an attempt to give your shoulders the rest they need (3 days where shoulders are heavily involved plus a dedicated shoulder day might not be such a great idea).

It looks like your diet could be too low in calories if you aren't careful (I'm a person with more of a tendency to undereat than overeat if I just "go with the flow" so that's where my concern comes from). It would be good to see more complete sources of protein in your diet (like fish, eggs, cottage cheese and greek yogurt) and it would also be good to see at least one more planned meal, preferably more...especially if you have a hard time ensuring you get enough protein in. I suggest coming up with a hard-core plan that ensures you'll be eating enough to gain mass and then making sure you're eating at least that every day. Since I don't see "planned' healthy fats (avacado would be another great addition) or fruits and veggies in your meals (they're just listed as though they'll be random), make sure you're getting plenty of those as well.

I agree with the "10 or below" rep range suggestion. Using different schemes between 4 and 10 reps has done great things for me. Well, for my upper body at least. My legs are slow to respond to anything, so far. Slow response is better than no response, though. LOL

[partsRheavy]

Kudos for whacking those eggshells! :-) You can always sautee 'em in olive oil, or another trick with the olive oil is to put some on a whole-grain cracker (like RyVita with the sunflower or pumpkin seeds) as a topping. Or, use it on a salad, or drizzle it on fish...

No need for the stair stepper if you're going to do lots of hiking. Spending time on the stair stepper will just burn calories off, some of which will be the muscle that you are trying to add. This is especially the case since you are doing some cardio during the one day/week at work. Probably better to not worry about calves and focus on compound exercises like squats, hack squats, leg press.

I read somewhere that if you walk using the balls of your feet, it will help build calves. Hiking up hills ought to do the same thing.

To gain weight (i.e. muscle), like the others said the best thing to do is compound exercises, and you can do 5-8 reps if you're sure that you are using the proper form to avoid injury. So, do things like rows, benching, incline, overhead press etc.

Start your w/o in the free weight area and do most of your exercises with the free weights. You can sometimes vary between dumbbell exercises i.e. db rows and barbell exercises (i.e. bb rows or t rows with the barbell) and switch it around depending on how your body responds.

Then, do the machine-type exercises more toward the end of your w/o.

Keep a log book and record stuff to see whether you're making progress with weight, sets and reps.

Good luck! Maybe think about doing a log! :-)

I just starting eating eggs again yesterday, but I will have to work some olive oil in!

I'm staying between 8-10 reps, depending on the exercise. darkangel (above) suggested the same when it comes to cardio. I am going to be doing a lot of hiking this camping season, which will already be overkill! I was using the stair stepper machine for calves when I was going to the gym before (stepping without using the ball of my foot). Do you think that would be ok?

And, I only work one day a week. I'm on my feet the entire time & my knees throb for two days after because of how much walking back and forth I do. Thanks so much for the advice!

[cutsforkisses]

ladies, thanks for all of the advice! I will be taking it all into consideration & working to see what helps. Thanks again