Yeah man, the biggest and safest thing to do it is all within your diet. Meal timing is key, try to eat every 2-3 hours, with the proper ratios of carbs/protein/fat, winding up with about 6-7 meals a day and still meeting your caloric requirements. You can sub a good protein shake for a couple of the meals, make sure it has the proper ratios. Optimum Nutrition is a great brand. There is a fat-loss section that goes more in depth on this in the Forums over at www.bodybuilding.com that you should check out, a wealth of information over there, for whichever goal you have. Just remember, be consistant, and you'll reach all your goals in no time. You don't need to rely on any of the exotic supps out there other than the staples, diet's the key, the lifting comes in close behind.
Steroids won't increase your metabolism...so you aren't missing anything there.
Like Nik said, eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day is one of the best things you can do. Sounds like you already have some cardio in there, but not sure it is enough. I try and do cardio 6 days a week even when I'm "bulking" so that I can try and keep fat gains to a minimum. 30 minutes should be the minimum and you can stick to a moderate pace (incline treadmill at 2.5-3mph for example).
Like Nik said, eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day is one of the best things you can do. Sounds like you already have some cardio in there, but not sure it is enough. I try and do cardio 6 days a week even when I'm "bulking" so that I can try and keep fat gains to a minimum. 30 minutes should be the minimum and you can stick to a moderate pace (incline treadmill at 2.5-3mph for example).
You can be like me, but i am in track. I am an 800 runner but in practice i run 4-6 miles each day and that will drop any fat you got and turn your muscle into more toner looking. You will be skinnier and then your muscle volume will decrease but it will grow stronger and look a lot more tone. If i was you the weight lifter would be good but if you really wanna burn weight do Endurance things. LOTS OF REPS, not much weight and do curcuits so go around to 15 diff. machines doing as many as possible for 1 min. and switching and repeating for three times you will start to notice differences. My diet doesn't affect me and i drink a lot of pop and eat a lot of food. I don't eat candy though! or greasy food!
Like above... I find the best weigh to increase metabolism is to go running. I run 3-4 miles every day when the weather's nice, or I do 30 minutes on a stationary bike if its too cold. And get some kind of MP3 player, it helps a ton.
Coupled with that I lift 1 muscle group per day for 5 days.
Monday - chest
Tuesdays - Biceps
Wednesdays - Shoulders
Thursdays - triceps
Fridays - Back
I'll toss in abs 2 or 3 times a week. This doesn't really bulk but it does work on definition.
Sometimes on the weekend, which is when I'm "off", I'll go running just because, or my dog, who I run with daily, will put the leash in my lap and I can't resist that. He loves to go running. Plus chicks dig it.
Adam
Coupled with that I lift 1 muscle group per day for 5 days.
Monday - chest
Tuesdays - Biceps
Wednesdays - Shoulders
Thursdays - triceps
Fridays - Back
I'll toss in abs 2 or 3 times a week. This doesn't really bulk but it does work on definition.
Sometimes on the weekend, which is when I'm "off", I'll go running just because, or my dog, who I run with daily, will put the leash in my lap and I can't resist that. He loves to go running. Plus chicks dig it.
Adam
Well...I will put my 2 cents in...since I consider myself to be quite large
1)steriods are for idiots
2)I would work a split like this
Monday- Chest/Tri's
Tuesday- Legs/Calves
Wednesday-Rest
Thursday-Back/Bi's
Friday- Traps/Shoulders/Calves
I would also agree with the above for metabolism. I would try to eat small meals constantly throughout the day...6 or 7. As far as a supplement goes I would stick to whey protein(very safe, natural) and by far...by far the best brand is NitroTech by MuscleTech. I have tried them all over the past 12 years and that has given me the best recovery and overall gains. But most importantly...gains should come in moderation. When gains come quick, something is fishy. You want your body to grow with your muscles. Strech marks don't look very nice. Now that I have written a novel I wish you luck.
1)steriods are for idiots
2)I would work a split like this
Monday- Chest/Tri's
Tuesday- Legs/Calves
Wednesday-Rest
Thursday-Back/Bi's
Friday- Traps/Shoulders/Calves
I would also agree with the above for metabolism. I would try to eat small meals constantly throughout the day...6 or 7. As far as a supplement goes I would stick to whey protein(very safe, natural) and by far...by far the best brand is NitroTech by MuscleTech. I have tried them all over the past 12 years and that has given me the best recovery and overall gains. But most importantly...gains should come in moderation. When gains come quick, something is fishy. You want your body to grow with your muscles. Strech marks don't look very nice. Now that I have written a novel I wish you luck.
MysticKeith50 said:
1. Steroids have their place so I wouldnt go stating that they are only for idiots. I however dont use them.
2. Muscletech sucks and is a waste of money.
3. Why should gains come in moderation? I have plenty of stretch marks and i could care less. If you are going to put on muscle I wouldnt be complaining about how fast it comes.
Heres my weekly routine:
Mon: Chest and triceps
Tues: Biceps and a little forearms
Wed: Shoulders, traps and back
Thurs: Repeat monday
Fri: Repeat tues
Sat: Repeat wed.
Sundays: off
I do 2-3 sets of crunches each work out at the end. I use muscle milk for my protien shake. Tastes really good in Vanilla.
Diet is also key. I stopped drinking soda and started bringing a healthy lunch to work. I usually bring grilled chicken cut up with carrots and fat free yougart. I also take a multi vitamin every day.
Im trying to gain muscle weight and get a little bigger. Been at it for 6 weeks now.
Mon: Chest and triceps
Tues: Biceps and a little forearms
Wed: Shoulders, traps and back
Thurs: Repeat monday
Fri: Repeat tues
Sat: Repeat wed.
Sundays: off
I do 2-3 sets of crunches each work out at the end. I use muscle milk for my protien shake. Tastes really good in Vanilla.
Diet is also key. I stopped drinking soda and started bringing a healthy lunch to work. I usually bring grilled chicken cut up with carrots and fat free yougart. I also take a multi vitamin every day.
Im trying to gain muscle weight and get a little bigger. Been at it for 6 weeks now.
I mostly keep it to plyometrics (trying to play collegiate soccer here)
I'll lift light enough weights to get my reps to 16.
I also run and bike daily.
I would definately say don't over do it, I tore my ACL, MCL, Meniscus because I would go balls to the wall on my leg exercises and at a soccer tryout tried to cut while going full speed.
Also I've had a nagging left shoulder problem, and once you tear ANY ligament, it is WEAKER and will FOREVER be more prone to injury.
And yes I would go with Optimum, but for me all I take are vitamins and whey every once in a while.
I'll lift light enough weights to get my reps to 16.
I also run and bike daily.
I would definately say don't over do it, I tore my ACL, MCL, Meniscus because I would go balls to the wall on my leg exercises and at a soccer tryout tried to cut while going full speed.
Also I've had a nagging left shoulder problem, and once you tear ANY ligament, it is WEAKER and will FOREVER be more prone to injury.
And yes I would go with Optimum, but for me all I take are vitamins and whey every once in a while.
SeventyMach1 said:
I was a 4 year wrestler and i am now a head wrestling coach at a high school. I dont see what is so unhealthy about the way wrestlers work out. Just plain hard and long. But there are unhealthy parts about they way we sometimes lose weight very quickly. The workouts are just really hard and strenuous and i would say wrestling is one of he hardest sports out there. Not eating and losing water weight ot make the weight class is not a healthy way to go. But nothing is unhealthy about the way we work out.
I wrestled all 4 years of HS as well. And freestyle in the off season.
That's what I was referring to. I guess I should have worded that differently. I wrestled 125 for 3 years ... so yeah, I was always sucking weight. The new laws that were passed my junior year (some Wisconsin crap dealing with college wrestlers dying) made it so I couldn't really suck weight the way I used to .... so my senior year I wrestled 135.
I remember standing in a 4' x 4' closet, wearing 6 trashbags, had a propane heater blasting, and spitting in a bottle. I would eat very light & run 8 miles a day. Then condition / practice. Wow .... I'm lucky to be alive.
So retracting my statement .... the "work out" of a wrestler isn't necessarily unhealthy.
WhiteDevil said:
That's what I was referring to. I guess I should have worded that differently. I wrestled 125 for 3 years ... so yeah, I was always sucking weight. The new laws that were passed my junior year (some Wisconsin crap dealing with college wrestlers dying) made it so I couldn't really suck weight the way I used to .... so my senior year I wrestled 135.
I remember standing in a 4' x 4' closet, wearing 6 trashbags, had a propane heater blasting, and spitting in a bottle. I would eat very light & run 8 miles a day. Then condition / practice. Wow .... I'm lucky to be alive.
So retracting my statement .... the "work out" of a wrestler isn't necessarily unhealthy.
Yeah i did 171s for a year and then 189s for the next three. I also would do stuff like that. I would finish football season weighing 208ish pounds and then drop to make 189s in just a week or two. That was tough stuff. I am doing freestyle open weight class now, 211s, that way i can lift and eat all i want