Beginning Bodybuilding

Read this article about getting started on a bodybuilding program:

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/article/113

Best of luck to everyone.

Post any questions here and I as well as others will do our best to answer them for you.

Robert

Hello my name is Kollision. Like Robert kindly offered, I would also like to help those in need of nutritional (caloric intake, cant offer a program because of legal reasons), exercise, veganism, support, or anything else that you would like to know. Get to questioning

Hey there. I just started seriously training about 2 weeks ago.

24 y/o

6' 1"

162 or so lbs

approx 20% body fat (I think) according to Composition Tracker

My goals are to get bigger by about 20lbs. Then to lower my BF%. It would be nice to feel more confident this summer.

I try to eat about 2500 calories and 160g of protein.

Right now I work out on Mon, Wed, Fri. I have completed 1 full week so far. I do 3 sets of each. 12, 10, then 8 reps.

Mon:

Bench

Bicep curl w/bar bell

Shrugs

Wed:

Bent over row

Seated Military press

Seated French press

Fri:

Lunges 3x12 each leg

Crunches 3x20

Any tips, advice for me?

Looks like a good plan Riley. You may need to up your calories in the coming weeks as you get settled in to your routine. Lifting weights and building muscle takes a lot of energy. I usually eat 3500+ when trying to gain.

Also, make sure you don't cut your fat intake too low and include a source of essential fatty acids such as flaxseed oil.

As you gain some confidence with the weights, you may want to add some heavy compound lifts such as deadlifts or squats. Both are great whole body workouts and mass builders!

Riley,

How long are you working out? It looks like on Friday with the lunges and crunches, that could be a very quick workout. Perhaps you could add some more exercies in there. Leg extensions, leg presses and like Michael said, once you're ready, to start doing some squats as well.

You might want to put one more day of training in there and hit the gym with weights 4 days a week.

You can break up your workouts a bit to hit specific muscle groups on a certain day and work it out so you train each one about once per week. If you spend enough time on the muscle group, you'll need that entire week to recover. If you don't train the muscle group with a lot of intensity or for very long, than you could train that muscle group 2 or even 3 times a week if you wanted.

But if you want to gain some muscle, I'd recommend about 4 times a week with 45-60 minute training sessions focusing on 1-2 muscle groups during that session.

Keep the Calorie intake high and protein intake high and do a little cardio occasionally just to keep the joints and muscles nice and loose. But don't over do it and prevent yourself from gaining mass.

Best of luck man and keep us updated.

Keep in mind I work out at home because I can't really afford a gym membership. I'm a kennel attendant at a veterinary clinc, and it's 20 hrs/week, minimum wage.

But, I do have a bench, curl bar, 2 dumbells and olympic size weights.

Could you give me some ideas to make a better routine? I would be willing to work out a day or two more, but I don't want to over train.

I go jogging/walking with my girlfriend about once a week.

I have a goal of 8 weeks to get bigger, and lose excess body fat.

Hey Riley,

That's cool that you have weights at home. I'll think of some things you can do based on the equipment you have.

I had a question about getting in shape without a gym membership a while back and wrote a response in my Ask Rob Column.

I wrote it quite a while ago, but here it is:

What can I do to get in shape and gain muscle if I don't have a gym membership?

by robert on June 5th, 2003.

6/5/03

What can I do if I want to get in shape and gain muscle but I don’t have a gym membership?

Sarah N.

Boston, Mass.

This is a common situation for a lot of people. Gym memberships can

expensive and you usually need some means of transportation to get there.

So if you are in a situation where at the present time you can’t afford a

gym membership, you don’t have a way of getting there, you live too far away

from a gym, or don’t “make” the time to get to the gym, here are some

suggestions for you.

Keep these questions in mind. Do you need a treadmill to run? Do you need

a stair-stepper to climb stairs? Do you need a stationary bike with a TV in

front of you to cycle? Do you need a stretching room to stretch your

muscles? Do you need a special machine to do pull-ups or sit-ups? Do you

need dumbbells to curl weight? Do you need barbells or machines to move

weight?

I grew up on a farm, where I had access to countless muscle-producing tools,

although I didn’t realize until I became a bodybuilder. Now when I go back

to the farm, I take the opportunity to shrug buckets full of dirt or water,

jog outside in the fresh air, and do pull-ups from a tree limbs.

Here are some exercises you can do for different muscle groups outside of a

gym. They can be done at home, at a park, or anywhere that you have access

to some of these “tools.”

Cardio is something you can ALWAYS do for free and do anywhere. Running,

jumping, walking, are things you can do in nearly every situation. Biking,

swimming, and climbing stairs, are great cardio exercises that are also

pretty easy to come by.

First of all if you want to warm-up, just go for a jog, climb some stairs,

or even a bike ride. Stretch out your muscles and decide what you want to

do in your workout.

Back—Pull-ups are a great exercise for the back. All you need is something

to grab onto to pull yourself up, a sturdy pipe, a tree limb, or even a

structure at the park. Variations can be included as well, close-grip,

wide-grip, partial reps, etc. You can perform bent-over rows with buckets

full of sand, dirt, gravel, or water. Use them like dumbbells. You can do

deadlifts the same way. Find heavy objects that are not too awkward to pick

up and perform your exercise. One-arm dumbbell rows can be done kneeling on

a park bench using a heavy bucket, or other device with a handle on it.

Chest—Push-up variations are something that can be done easily, close, wide,

one-arm, super-sets and drop-sets included as well. Dips aren’t too hard to

come by outside of the gym either. Find a structure at home, at the park,

on the farm, downtown, that you can grip and lower yourself, and push

yourself back up. You can do flys with gallon jugs filled with water. Lie

on a bench and perform the fly movement you would if you had dumbbells.

Other objects can be substituted for the gallon jugs, whatever you can find

that is heavy enough to get the job done.

Shoulders—Shrugs are one of the easiest things to do. Find heavy objects,

my favorites are large buckets filled with something dense, and use them for

shoulder shrugs. Lateral and front raises can be done with the gallon jug

filled with water, or even buckets, just vary the weight. Shoulder presses

can be done with a heavy piece of wood, heavy box, an old car tire, or

anything of the sort, be creative.

Arms—Bicep curls with heavy buckets, wood, gallon jugs, pipes, or even

random items like a vacuum, bicycle, wooden chair work just fine. You could

even find a rope and tie a heavy object at the end and use it for biceps and

many other muscle groups. Find objects to curl with one arm and two arms.

Select a grip to perform concentration curls, hammer curls, and supinated

bicep curls. Triceps kickbacks can be performed with the filled gallon jug,

or even a heavy tool or wood or metal object. Overhead extensions can be

done with the same items. Dips for triceps can be done as well. Just

change your grip and position to take the stress off the chest and direct it

to the back of the arms.

Abs—Hanging leg raises are probably the best exercise you can do for abs.

Hang from a tree, steel bar, pipe, or wooden ledge and perform this

exercise. Sit-ups on the floor, in the grass, or any other soft surface can

easily be done anywhere. I have even done them on the side of the freeway

on long road trips. There are countless variations of sit-ups so this is a

muscle group that can really be targeted anywhere.

Legs—Free squats without weights can be done as well as with weight. Lift

up an object and place it over your shoulders. Perform squats just like you

would in the gym. In this case you won’t be able to go as heavy as you

could in the gym, unless you build a devise to rack the weight on to allow

you to walk under it to get started. Lunges can be done with the heavy

object over your shoulders as well, or with weight in your hands. Buckets

would probably be too tall and hit the ground when you lunge, but filled

gallon or 2-gallon jugs would be fine. Supersets, and rest-pauses can be

implemented to get a burn since the weight won’t be as heavy. Calf raises

can be done on stairs, one or two legs at a time. You can add weight to

this exercise by using your weighted bucket, gallon jug, or other object you

find at home that has significant weight to it.

Keep in mind that these are just a few exercises that I came up with. You

can also take these exercises and apply them with different strategies using

drop-sets, supersets, rest-pauses, partial-reps, isolated movements, High

Intensity Training, and other training principles. Use your creativity to

find objects around the house, at your workplace, or in the park to build

your physique and achieve your fitness goals. Remember that nutrition is

more than half the battle, so refer to some of our nutrition pages for

guidance for the most important part of the equation.

Good luck, invent some new exercises, and build your body, no matter where

you live or what your situation is.

Big Rob

Cardio question:

I've gotten conflicting information from the two trainers I've had- Should I do cardio every day I work out and should it be before or after my weight training?

Also is there a way to calculate about how many calories you should be consuming?

Riley- what formula are you using on the composition tracker and how accurate do you think it is? I noticed that I have three pretty different estimates using the three different formulas. Should I just stick to using the same formula and use it as a guideline? (I prefer the Weltman & Tran formula even though it didn't give me the most favorable estimate)

Cardio question:

I've gotten conflicting information from the two trainers I've had- Should I do cardio every day I work out and should it be before or after my weight training?

Also is there a way to calculate about how many calories you should be consuming?

it just depends on what your goal is I guess. Most people say before your workout to warm up is good. Really the point of cardio is to get your heart rate up for an extended period of time. I would suggest hiit training before your work out.

goedesslissa, I am training for a personal training certification at ISSA. Tell me what your goal is (lose weigth and gain muscle, gain weight and gain muscle) and I will give you our formula. Its called the Zig Zag approach. It is effective at keeping off the fat.

goedesslissa, I am training for a personal training certification at ISSA. Tell me what your goal is (lose weigth and gain muscle, gain weight and gain muscle) and I will give you our formula. Its called the Zig Zag approach. It is effective at keeping off the fat.

Most immediate goal is to get rid of the "squish" that's accumulated in the months since I've been to the gym! (abs to thigh area primarily) I'd prefer to lose weight and gain muscle, but I'd be happy just converting it to muscle if I could lose some inches in the process! I need that toned look I used to flaunt!

Lisa here is what I wrote to VeggieBurger:

As for gaining 10 pounds, here is what the ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association) recommends. Its called the Zig Zag approach and it is effective. BTW this is in accordance to you, so the numbers werent at just random. I am just putting it in a quote to make it look more organized. The amount of calories to add and minus is for your body.

To increase total bodyweight by losing fat and gaining muscle

 

For 4 to 5 days each week (training days), add 2 calories per lean bodyweight and spread it amount 5 meals.

 

So basically you need to get your bodyfat, which is 8 %, and multiply it with your body weight which is 155, and you get 12.4 which is the amount of pounds in fat. Minus the pounds od fat by 155 and you will get 142.6 which is your lean bodyweight. Then multiply the lean bodyweight, 142.6 x 2 and you get 285 calories. So add 285 calories to your current diet.

 

For 2 to 3 days each week (training days), minus 2 calories per lean bodyweight and spread it amount 5 meals. So what you do here is minus 285 from your current diet.

 

(Hatfield 526)

This is just a general guideline and does not include what to eat, it is just in speaking of calories in general. As for what to eat, most would start at a 1-2-3 ratio. 1 part fat, 2 part protien, and 3 parts carbohydrates. That means you would calculate this out of your entire daily caloric intake.

Bibliography:

Hatfield Phd, Frederick C. (2004) Fitness: The Complete Guide (Eighth-Edition)

Just substitute the numbers in with yours, I tried to make it as straitfoward as possible. If you are confused, just ask. THis is all from a nutrition standpoint.

goedesslissa, I am training for a personal training certification at ISSA. Tell me what your goal is (lose weigth and gain muscle, gain weight and gain muscle) and I will give you our formula. Its called the Zig Zag approach. It is effective at keeping off the fat.

Most immediate goal is to get rid of the "squish" that's accumulated in the months since I've been to the gym! (abs to thigh area primarily) I'd prefer to lose weight and gain muscle, but I'd be happy just converting it to muscle if I could lose some inches in the process! I need that toned look I used to flaunt!

hahahaha....

the squish. Even I have the shquish and I was just at 7% bf. The squish comes and goes and with enough cadio and light weight/high rep work yours will be gone.

goedesslissa, I am training for a personal training certification at ISSA. Tell me what your goal is (lose weigth and gain muscle, gain weight and gain muscle) and I will give you our formula. Its called the Zig Zag approach. It is effective at keeping off the fat.

Most immediate goal is to get rid of the "squish" that's accumulated in the months since I've been to the gym! (abs to thigh area primarily) I'd prefer to lose weight and gain muscle, but I'd be happy just converting it to muscle if I could lose some inches in the process! I need that toned look I used to flaunt!

 

hahahaha....

 

the squish. Even I have the shquish and I was just at 7% bf. The squish comes and goes and with enough cadio and light weight/high rep work yours will be gone.

Yeah! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

Lisa here is what I wrote to VeggieBurger:

 

As for gaining 10 pounds, here is what the ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association) recommends. Its called the Zig Zag approach and it is effective. BTW this is in accordance to you, so the numbers werent at just random. I am just putting it in a quote to make it look more organized. The amount of calories to add and minus is for your body.

 

To increase total bodyweight by losing fat and gaining muscle

 

For 4 to 5 days each week (training days), add 2 calories per lean bodyweight and spread it amount 5 meals.

 

So basically you need to get your bodyfat, which is 8 %, and multiply it with your body weight which is 155, and you get 12.4 which is the amount of pounds in fat. Minus the pounds od fat by 155 and you will get 142.6 which is your lean bodyweight. Then multiply the lean bodyweight, 142.6 x 2 and you get 285 calories. So add 285 calories to your current diet.

 

For 2 to 3 days each week (training days), minus 2 calories per lean bodyweight and spread it amount 5 meals. So what you do here is minus 285 from your current diet.

 

(Hatfield 526)

 

This is just a general guideline and does not include what to eat, it is just in speaking of calories in general. As for what to eat, most would start at a 1-2-3 ratio. 1 part fat, 2 part protien, and 3 parts carbohydrates. That means you would calculate this out of your entire daily caloric intake.

 

 

Bibliography:

Hatfield Phd, Frederick C. (2004) Fitness: The Complete Guide (Eighth-Edition)

 

Just substitute the numbers in with yours, I tried to make it as straitfoward as possible. If you are confused, just ask. THis is all from a nutrition standpoint.

Yup- I'm officially confused. So do I add or subtract the 248 calories on days that I'm training? (my calculation figured from my lean bodyweight based on what you posted)

Ok you need your bodyfat percentage and your body weight. We need to know how much lean body mass that your body has. The bodyfat percentage can tell you how many pounds of fat your body has. In return we can subtract the pounds of fat from your body and whatever weight is left would be your lean body mass.

On traing days, add 2 calories per lean bodyweight. So whatever pounds of lean body weight you are, multiply that by 2. THen you add this to your current diet schedule. SO if currently you are consuming 3000 cal, you would consume 3285 cals on training days, and 3715 on light training/cardio days. I hope that made sense, if not, feel free to ask. Again Im not a specilized nutritionist and shouldnt be taken as an advice like one. Also, it is all based from caloric standpoints, you may need to modify the types of foods you eat (eg, if you eat saturated fats).