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Hi guys I'm a 16 year old smallish guy, I've been vegetarian all my life and have been working out the last year or so.

I've gained muscle, but not increase in overall size.

so if i look in a mirror with my head chopped off i look ripped but as soon as i stand back my head looks huge.

im not sure if my head is big, or my chest is small, so whats the best exercises for bulk, and what would you eat.

as a vegetarian i eat some eggs but would rather move away rather than start mixing dozens into smoothies

 

sugestions would be appreciated :o

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Count yourself lucky you apparently have a high metabolism. Given your age, you could probably eat everything under the sun, and if you're lifting heavy, grow insane amounts of muscle. So, congrats! I'd recommend focusing on compound exercises (bench, squat, deadlift, shoulder press, rows, pullups) and supplement with HIIT cardio. For food, it depends on how you feel about consuming larger quantities of tofu/tempeh, and other higher protein veg sources. If it's organic, I think you'll be fine. Just make sure you get your greens, and supplement with fruits and other veggies like broccoli and sweet potatos for energy. You'll be fine. If you want to gain mass, figure out how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight, and add 250-500 calories to that per day. You'll be huge in no time. If the gains are slow, eat more, lift more, and cut out some of the cardio. The cardio is there to minimize body fat.

 

Make sure you rest up too.

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thanks, i like to stay away from soy. but i came across a hemp protein powder, are they all gimmick for people that just don't want to lift, and professionals or is it worth supplementing with protein .

i never stop eating, so ye i must have a fast metabolism or some thing.

im also finding this interval fasting thing interesting. I'm no expert but could a fast metabolism be cased by eating to much for to long, I thought it was a bad thing when it comes to lifting ?

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thanks, i like to stay away from soy. but i came across a hemp protein powder, are they all gimmick for people that just don't want to lift, and professionals or is it worth supplementing with protein .

i never stop eating, so ye i must have a fast metabolism or some thing.

im also finding this interval fasting thing interesting. I'm no expert but could a fast metabolism be cased by eating to much for to long, I thought it was a bad thing when it comes to lifting ?

 

Nothing wrong with soy, if you can find organic/non-gmo. Anyhow, I've always found myself leaner when taking in a good amount of protein. So, no, protein powders aren't really a gimmick. Some people think so, such as those on the 80/10/10 diet. But they are of a different breed.

 

As far as interval fasting, I'm guessing you mean only eating in a short window of time each day, and then eating as much as possible, or whatever you want. I've never tried that. I've always been happier when consuming six smaller meals per day, which keeps my metabolism humming along. I wouldn't recommend you toying with fasting. I don't remember how old you are, exactly, but you might have considerable growing left to do, and I wouldn't want you to mess that up just by trying something out.

 

Fast metabolism for you is predominantly due to your age. For you, given your age, you could probably consume everything under the sun, and as long as you are lifting regularly, and heavy and hard each time, you'll do nothing but build muscle. I wish I had known that when I was your age. I'd be a hell of a lot bigger now. People can alter their metabolism by exercising. The more exercise, the more active the metabolism. The more muscle, the more calories required to maintain that muscle, and fuel activity.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi, me again, I'm after ordering organic hemp protein powder, and Creatine online, i don't want to be one of them guys that spend all there wage on supplements, but i thought id give it a try, i also herd Creatine gives you mad dreams which would be cool, regarding soy id rather stay away from it, i think 98percent of it in the US is GMO and with pollen and all that, so if you could let me know if there any thing I should know about taking supplements that would be great.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Sean

 

I was against using supplements up until few months ago, but as ive mentioned on my log and elsewhere, since including glucose, pre digested BCAA's and creatine pre, intra and post workout my rate of recovery and workout productivity has improved immensely. Post workout the glucose is as important - if not more important than the BCAA's, without it, the BCAA's are used to replenish glycogen stores.

 

Btw, the hemp protein is great in energy balls, I make mine with coconut oil, flaxseeds, cashews, organic dried blueberries, maple syrup, and the hemp protein, tastes great:)

 

Hope this helps

Rob

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Thanks, I've a friend that doesn't workout, but swears by glucose he says it makes you smarter, do you take it for energy ¿, I've fond my self yawning a lot lately when working out, iv never had that problem before. i forgot to mention the brand of creatine i bought was optimum nutrition, is that a good brand, i read some where it can make you sterile, ''that kind of put me off a bit'' but then i read the opposite, and that it increases testosterone, then i read it decreases T, the the opposite again. if i could only get my hands on people that spread misinformation.

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Your friend is right Sean, glucose is the primary source of fuel for the brain....as well as high intensity muscular contractions, which is why I take it pre and intra workout, post workout I take it for glycogen replenishment and to spar the BCAA's.

Good point on the creatine, ive been reading similar things, one study i read about on sciencealert.com, found that men have up to a 177% chance of developing testicular cancer, of course there were other factors involvedsuch as diet and lifestyle, but it made me think, its made me reduce amount I use (3g per day).

 

Best

Rob

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  • 1 month later...
All that plus eat more FOOD.

 

I'm not so sure about that anymore, I've seen and spoken with far too many that have increased their lean mass without any dietary changes. They were training hard, getting adequate rest, staying well hydrated and they were consuming a well balanced diet. It makes sense to me given that there's research that's shown lean mass can be increased on a near starvation diet.

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I'm not so sure about that anymore...It makes sense to me given that there's research that's shown lean mass can be increased on a near starvation diet.

 

What BS research demonstrates that? That is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

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There has been studies conducted at Harvard University that indicated that muscle can be built on a starvation diet...IF, and only IF a the first requisite of building bigger and stronger muscles, ie a proper training stress is present. The first concern of the body with regards to growing bigger and stronger muscles, is that it must be taxed / stimulated by way of a threating stress, only then does nutrition become a concern.

 

The notion that bodybuilding is 85% diet or that we should consume 6 or more meals a day, or that we should consume thousands of calories above our maintenance level (bulk) is simply retarded. As I mentioned, I seen and spoken with far too many individuals that have transformed the physiques with no real dietary changes.

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The research shows a degree of muscle can actually be built on a starvation diet (albeit fairly short term research), as long as the proper training stress is present AND a sufficient recovery period followed. But this is not my point, the point is, people have transformed their physiques with no addition to their diets. Ive a friend who's been powerlifted in the same weight division for years, hes now a bodybuilder (same weight) and he looks completely different, hes leaner, stronger than ever, and his muscularity is outstanding,YET he has never upped his calories.

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The research shows a degree of muscle can actually be built on a starvation diet (albeit fairly short term research), as long as the proper training stress is present AND a sufficient recovery period followed. But this is not my point, the point is, people have transformed their physiques with no addition to their diets. Ive a friend who's been powerlifted in the same weight division for years, hes now a bodybuilder (same weight) and he looks completely different, hes leaner, stronger than ever, and his muscularity is outstanding,YET he has never upped his calories.

 

...but he likely has a very different workout regime...which could greatly affect TDEE, which in effect is manipulating the intake vs expenditure ratio. Even changing a job can do this.

 

Building lean body mass on starvation...complete nonsense in the practicality application of that concept. In the interest of building muscle relative to other competitors (even competing against yourself...for those who have no aspiration of getting on stage) starving yourself to build muscle is probably the worst approach.

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Absolutely, but point being, he did it without any changing his calorie intake.

 

Just to be clear, am not advocating people should go on a starvation diet here, am merely pointing out that there is research that's been done showing that a degree of muscle can be built on a starvation diet. Point being, i now feel that consuming a vast number of calories above are maintenance level (ie bulking) is not the best way to proceed.

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Absolutely, but point being, he did it without any changing his calorie intake.

 

Just to be clear, am not advocating people should go on a starvation diet here, am merely pointing out that there is research that's been done showing that a degree of muscle can be built on a starvation diet. Point being, i now feel that consuming a vast number of calories above are maintenance level (ie bulking) is not the best way to proceed.

 

agree with that...you definitely do not have to pile on the calories to build muscle...but I do think you need to be operating very close to maintenance level.

 

Aside from the naturally occurring catabolic state of operating in a caloric deficit, I think it's additionally counterproductive because it's difficult to maintain energy levels to consistently challenge your body to the point of hypertrophy, and I've found that I'm far more prone to injury in a calorie deficit.

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I started lifting when I was 14, 5'6" and 95lbs and really got serious at 15, 5'7" and 105 lbs. At 17 I was 5'10 1/2" and 197 lbs at <10% bf. Everyone at school thought I was juicing but I was just efficiently harnessing the hormones that were naturally surging in my body.

 

I did that by lifting heavy and often. Squats, pull-ups weighted and unweighted, dips weighted and unweighted, bench press, bent rows, overhead press, and deadlifts. I wasted no time on machines or isolation movements besides throwing in some biceps stuff once in a while.

 

AND I ate like a freaking horse 7 full meals per day. I ate so much my parents made me get a part time job to pay for the extra food I was eating. At 17 I was benching 265, pull-ups with 90lbs, dips with 90lbs, squatting 350 and deadlifting 450. Not crazy numbers but decent for 2 years of focused training and EATING.

 

If you want stale progress and injuries listen to HitRob's advice not to increase calories while training hard.

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Stale progress? Injuries? Yes, that's what your tradition based free weight, high volume, bulking diet approach did for me and many others.

 

Btw, this is not a pissing contest, I couldn't care less how much you can lift at whatever age, Just because someone can bench a certain weight or has a 20" arm does not make that someone an expert in the field.

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