Muscle Gaining AND Staying fit

[agapito]

Just finish basic training and now want to gain body mass and stay fit, can any one give me any pointers on how to even start.

[Stokey_14]

Gaining muscle mass is mostly down to diet if you want lean gains I would shoot for a small amount of calories (250-500) over what ever you're maintenance weight is. Sticking to about 1-2 grams of protein per Lb of body fat. Stay away from simple carbohydrates with perhaps the exception of post work out and as usual be sure to get plenty of water and veggies.

If intensive cardio is done regularly fat gain and loss of fitness should be minimal if at all, I manage to steadily gain weight over the past few year (along with natural growth being a teenager) with out ever leting my fitness drop though at times i guess it could have been better

I take it you'll be using weights? I would recommend using compound lifts (squat, Dead lift, clean and press etc)

First of all read up on Nutritional needs and weight gain... with a solid base of understanding you can put together a decent diet.

Personally if you still want to be 'functional' (hate that word in terms of training) then i suggest going for maximal or explosive strength not hypertrophie ranges as a bodybuilder would.

This means high weight low reps the main goal of this rep range is strength but you will if eating right also gain mass with this.

cheek out this piece of text; (actually check out the whole site if you haven't all ready.)

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/hardcore.html

All the best

Stokey

[jstagg]

Hello Stokey, can you explain these to me?


(squat, Dead lift, clean and press etc)

How many Reps and sets would a guy of 13 and a half stone need to do?

[Stokey_14]

Hello Stokey, can you explain these to me?


(squat, Dead lift, clean and press etc)

How many Reps and sets would a guy of 13 and a half stone need to do?

Try google for exersize discriptions as they will be far better than anything I could explain as for reps and sets... weight has little to do with it... it's more to do with what you're goal is.

A very basic way of looking at it is;

1-5 reps for Maximal strength (ability to lift the greatest load)

6-12 reps for hypertrophy (growth of muscle- there are various kinds of hypertrophy but there's no need to go into that)

13+ for endurance (ability to lift a sub-maximal load for extended periods of time)

That is a extremely basic and there is no one size fits all it's more a case of finding what works for you but these are decent starting point's depending on goals.

Stokey

[agapito]

So lets confirm if i got the basic idea of what you explained Stoke, so when weight training lift heavy in low reps, and introduce a high protien diet with less carbs?

[Stokey_14]

So lets confirm if i got the basic idea of what you explained Stoke, so when weight training lift heavy in low reps, and introduce a high protien diet with less carbs?

Not quite... it's all goal depended... do you want to get stronger as well as bigger? If so, yes, and not less carbs you probably will find you'll need to take on more carbs but cut out simple carbs (sugars such as white bread and rice etc)

Introducing more calories form good clean sources (fats complex carbs and protein) along with a new strength routine especially for a trainer who is new to this style of training will lead to growth (when coupled with adequate rest)

Read up from more reliably sources than someone off a forum first though... after all I don't have a degree or years upon years of experience like some people do, these are just ways I'd go about it. I'd like to think it's the right way and from what I've read personally it is but there more than on side to the coin.

Best advice i can give is read everything you can on the matter and make you're on decision on what you see... play around until you find what works for you and discard the rest.

All the best

Stokey

[agapito]

Thanks, will take what you said into consideration you've bin great help.

[Stokey_14]

Thanks, will take what you said into consideration you've bin great help.

I try my best

Stokey