Help an average joe bulk up

OSB

OSB

OSB

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Heya, my first time in Sports Arena (not that i myself am a couch potato!)

I've got an Average Joe physique (maybe a little fitter depending on how average your view of an Average Joe is!)

I'm 5'11 and 12 stone, 19 (tomorrow) and of average fitness, i cycle to lectures everyday, play footie or touch rugga once or twice a week.


I've recently started going to the gym but i'm pretty relaxed as to what i do. I would mainly like to get some biceps and tone my abs a bit, essentiallt lose a bit of body fat and gain some muscle, so my question is: What should i be doing, in terms of times, weights, frequencies etc.


Any advice greatly appreciated thanks,

OSB
 
OSB said:
biceps and tone my abs a bit,

OSB
Click to expand...

WRONG, MAJOR FAILZ.

This is what you need to do.

1) EAT BIG, GOTTA EAT BIG TO GET BIG

2) your gonna do 4 days a week at the gym, monday tuesday, thursday friday.

3) Its gonna be split into upper lower upper lower

4) Legs day is 2 compounds with 4 aux's, upper day is one compound 4 aux's

5) BIG breakfast, BIG Lunch, BIG Dinner

6) SQUATS, SQUATS, SUQAT - GET TO ****ING PARALLEL TOO. PARTIAL REP, PARTIAL GROWTH

7)
Week 1 - 4 sets 10 reps on everything
week 2 - 4 sets 10,8,6,4 on compound lifts, 8 reps 4 sets on aux's
week 3 - 4 sets 8,7,6,5 on compound lifts, 8 reps 4 sets on aux's
week 4 - 4 sets 8,6,5,4 on compound lifts, 8 reps 4 sets on aux's
week 5 - 4 sets 6,5,4,3 on compound lifts, 8 reps, 4 sets on aux's
week 6 - 4 sets 5,4,2,2 on compound lifts, 8 reps, 4 sets on aux's
Week 7 - Come back here if you make it this far.

8)
Upper day:
BENCH PRESS
Tricep pushdowns
Straight bar curls
Dips

Lower day:
SQUATS
POWERCLEANS
Calve raises
leg press
leg extensions
hamstring curls

Upper day2:
BENCH PRESS
DIPS
Shoulder press
Straight bar rows

Legday 2: same as legday1

Lifts in CAPS are compounds.

8) Sprints on wednesday and saturday

4 x 50m sprints with 100m in between, 2 x 50m with 100 inbetween, 1 x 25m - wednesday
2 x 100m sprints with 200m in between, 23 x 50m sprints with 100m in between - saturday

If you must do abs do them on a day that is not important. Like sunday.




Follow this for six weeks then come back and I will give you a split.

If you do this as I have said, eat big, sleep big and lift big. You will get strong and you will get big.

Dont change this plan, dont alter it. Do it as I have written it and you WILL make progress. dont substitute lifts dont think extra leg press is good for squats. NO, SHUT UP AND LIFT.


edit: I sound like a real meathead :p
 
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That sounds like exactly what i wanted and some!!! Cheers matey! *now where sells treak at this time of night.....*
 
All i'd say if you are doing the routine posted above, is be careful with your form. Make sure all of the big compound exercise's are performed correctly and controlled otherwise you can easily injure your self (I know from experience, starting as a beginner jumping straight into squats and dead-lifts not really knowing what i was doing, badly injured my back)
 
Bloody hell thats quite detailed :p

Excuse me for asking but i'm still umming and ahhing about bulking up and starting this properly myself, although i'm finished my exams soon and i'm think thats when i'll start and i'll try and keep it up over the summer (seems a plan). Anyway, compounds, what the hell are these? Just exercises that target more than one area? I'm not a runner/sprinter at heart (in fact i hate it) but i go biking and swimming a fair bit already, so i'm guessing sustituting those is alright, yeah :p?

Finally i've never been the gym, like almost ever (well not to do weights), and although i have heard of all the workouts i actually don't know what some of them are, i'm hoping the uni gym i plan on using will have someone at hand to help me, but i don't know yet. I've never been a gym guy, just general sports for fun have kept me relatively fit.

Oh actually, also what would you suggest eating, i'll probably buy some cheap whey powder for after workout, but apart from that a fair balanced diet but just lots of food? I struggle for breakfast, bacon and sausage seems so greasy, i can have a few eggs i suppose but there must be something else? Lunch as well, what are we talking chicken/tuna pasta kinda stuff? Do i want to avoid eating horrendous amount of carbs by accident?

//Lots of questions, and sorry OP for hijacking thread!
 
absolute basics - keep these in mind when your planning what to do so you can get the body you want (as far as im aware these are the general rules to follow with your body)

to gain weight in general you should eat a lot more
to gain fat, eat a lot more and dont exercise
to gain muscle, eat a lot more and work out (heavy weights) a lot

if you eat more than you use it turns to fat.


to lose weight eat less and do cardio

basically eat about the same as you use and youll burn up your fat, eat too little and youll start burning muscle and lose a lot of weight and become unhealthy etc

cardio - burns fat ("tones") and builds stamina
weights - builds muscle, heavy weight = more muscle

in order to "tone" though, you will need to have decent size muscles from which to burn the fat off of.

Most body builders, or people with good bodies, tend to get their results by bulking up by lifting heavy first, then once they reach their target weight/look they stick to liftin that weight to sustain their muscle size. Then they add in cardio to their regime to burn away the fat and give their muscles more definition
 
Many places do recommend FB's for beginners and I have recommended them on here before.

What I have found though is noobs tend to get scared off quite quickly by FB's, FB's are mainly used in beginners to induce massive test levels, but doing and upper lower has the same affect while keeping the focus of the lifter.

The reason I gave you such a detailed plan is I know when i first went about bulking up and asked the same question, i got a million answers saying different things and none were complete.

I have literally given you a step by step guide, now the rest is up to you.

I know Morba and freefaller wont like this as i know you guys like the split but at the end of the day, for a beginner any reasonably structured lifting regimen will have a positive effect and will hopefully give you the bug that all us in the powerlifting thread have.
 
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Killa_ken said:
I know Morba and freefaller wont like this as i know you guys like the split but at the end of the day, for a beginner any reasonably structured lifting regimen will have a positive effect and will hopefully give you the bug that all us in the powerlifting thread have.
Click to expand...

I actually fully agree with you. just doing something will bring about results. doing it in a structured way from the start is the best thing you can do regardless of that actual workout that has been built :D
 
Don't trust Killa_Ken, he is really a 13 yr old chav who concentrates on 'rocking' bicep curls ! ;)
But seriously, if you are interested in 'bulking' up and getting stronger, follow the mentioned plan to point. Don't flake out every now and then or change it for something different.
Good luck

Ken - when's your flight on Wednesday?
 
Right so if i follow what you say killa then is it okay if instead of squatting i go for a 26mile bike ride on saturday for legs? The bar hurts my shoulders see.

Oh yeah and should i use the smith machine for bench pressing as it would be safer.

And where you say "protein" can i have toast instead?

What about days off? I have a 2 week holiday coming up and there is no way ill be able to do anything other than sit by a pool. The hotel has a gym but it will be too hot to work out.


*The above is an example of a newbie B****** avoid at all costs. Big people dont need excuses...they have quads!
 
Killa_ken said:
WRONG, MAJOR FAILZ.

This is what you need to do.

1) EAT BIG, GOTTA EAT BIG TO GET BIG

2) your gonna do 4 days a week at the gym, monday tuesday, thursday friday.

3) Its gonna be split into upper lower upper lower

4) Legs day is 2 compounds with 4 aux's, upper day is one compound 4 aux's

5) BIG breakfast, BIG Lunch, BIG Dinner

6) SQUATS, SQUATS, SUQAT - GET TO ****ING PARALLEL TOO. PARTIAL REP, PARTIAL GROWTH

7)
Week 1 - 4 sets 10 reps on everything
week 2 - 4 sets 10,8,6,4 on compound lifts, 8 reps 4 sets on aux's
week 3 - 4 sets 8,7,6,5 on compound lifts, 8 reps 4 sets on aux's
week 4 - 4 sets 8,6,5,4 on compound lifts, 8 reps 4 sets on aux's
week 5 - 4 sets 6,5,4,3 on compound lifts, 8 reps, 4 sets on aux's
week 6 - 4 sets 5,4,2,2 on compound lifts, 8 reps, 4 sets on aux's
Week 7 - Come back here if you make it this far.

8)
Upper day:
BENCH PRESS
Tricep pushdowns
Straight bar curls
Dips

Lower day:
SQUATS
POWERCLEANS
Calve raises
leg press
leg extensions
hamstring curls

Upper day2:
BENCH PRESS
DIPS
Shoulder press
Straight bar rows

Legday 2: same as legday1

Lifts in CAPS are compounds.

8) Sprints on wednesday and saturday

4 x 50m sprints with 100m in between, 2 x 50m with 100 inbetween, 1 x 25m - wednesday
2 x 100m sprints with 200m in between, 23 x 50m sprints with 100m in between - saturday

If you must do abs do them on a day that is not important. Like sunday.




Follow this for six weeks then come back and I will give you a split.

If you do this as I have said, eat big, sleep big and lift big. You will get strong and you will get big.

Dont change this plan, dont alter it. Do it as I have written it and you WILL make progress. dont substitute lifts dont think extra leg press is good for squats. NO, SHUT UP AND LIFT.


edit: I sound like a real meathead :p
Click to expand...
Someone hold me... Im scared :(
 
I'm enjoying my upper/lower at the moment :)

It's good to hit bodyparts with a slightly higher frequency, every routine has its merits and the smart people will change between them to get the benefits of them all.
 
Clipsey said:
Ken - when's your flight on Wednesday?
Click to expand...

6:35 tonight I believe :)

I would assume you have already left?

Im going to try and score an upgrade by going decked in my football stuff and giving her a sob story about how I'm too big to fit in the economy seats :D......just need to make sure I get a nice girl to talk to :D

Ultra_Extreme said:
Right so if i follow what you say killa then is it okay if instead of squatting i go for a 26mile bike ride on saturday for legs? The bar hurts my shoulders see.

Oh yeah and should i use the smith machine for bench pressing as it would be safer.

And where you say "protein" can i have toast instead?

What about days off? I have a 2 week holiday coming up and there is no way ill be able to do anything other than sit by a pool. The hotel has a gym but it will be too hot to work out.


*The above is an example of a newbie B****** avoid at all costs. Big people dont need excuses...they have quads!
Click to expand...


I read this with rage then realised who was posting it :p
 
Hey guys,

I've been pretty much following gordys training plan for the last few weeks but I like the look of this plan. A few questions if you don't mind:

1.) Should one be lifting to failure, or should you lift at a weight where you can always complete the set amount of reps?
2.) Would it make a huge difference if one used dumb bells instead of barbell for exercises such as bench press, shoulder press, rows, etc.
3.) I've been using the smith machine for close grip bench, is it really that bad?
4.) As a matter of course, should one always lift free weights rather than use machines (for example, if the gym is busy)?

Don't kill me, I want to lift!
 
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