A Fasttrack Guide to Building Muscle and Strength (WIP) There's a whole lot of threads about getting fit, getting strong, getting bigger. Really, there's only one answer for all of them... just with slight variations. There's also a lot of bad advice floating around based on false rumors and poor science. So this is a guide to all you silly people on how to stay fit, become stronger, or become bulkier... in a very, very short time. How short? Well, if you weigh 110 pounds, you can gain about 10 pounds of muscle in only 6 months. Table of Contents Introduction a. Preface b. Requirements Appendix A: Nutrition a. Creatine b. Protein and Amino Acids c. Vitamins d. Nitric Oxide e. Other Appendix B: Before You Begin a. Cardiovascular Exercise b. Stretching Appendix C: Adapting to Your Weight Appendix D: Other a. Bulk Mass vs Lean Mass b. Popular Fitness Rumors c. Tips and Hints The Workout a. The First Month: Warm-Up b. Months Two and Three: To the Limit c. Month Four: Take a Break d. Month Five: Hit Your Max e. Month Six: Round It Out f. Epilogue: Muscle Specialization and Continuation of Training _______________________ Introduction _______________________ Preface Why should you pay any attention to this guide? Why don't you just go to bodybuilding.com and listen to the amateur bodybuilders? The answer is quite simple. Every body is different, and therefor, every body cannot adhere to the same guidelines. If you meet the requirements below (especially #1), and you're able to make the commitment, this guide will probably help you more than any buddy in the gym that you have. Let's face it; bodybuilding and strength building guides aren't written for skinny Asian kids. They're written for Caucasian males with medium to large builds, usually starting out flabby or fatty. If you're looking at your arms right now and you can put your hands around them and touch your fingers together, you've probably never thought that you could weightlift. Requirements 1. Fast metabolism: Since this is a site that mainly caters to Asians, this guide is specifically targeted at Asian males with a normal to fast metabolism. Obviously, if you're white, black, or anything else, it may still apply, but the chance that your metabolism is fast is a lot lower. 2. Access to a gym: It's highly preferred that you have access to a gym. Body calisthenics are good, but they will not build muscle like weights. If you have access to dumbbells and barbells, that is good too. 3. About $60 monthly: This $60 will cover the expenses to buy the supplements you WILL need. 4. 1-3 hours a day: Yes, you will need to devote a good bit of your time. This is required for fast improvement. Obviously, if you really think you've hit your limit, then you need to stop, but if you can continue, you need to. Obviously, if you never try, you'll never know. The fact is, following the correct routines, people like you (and me) actually have it quite easy in the gym. We have several advantages. 1. We start from a lower weight, making weight gain the primary objective, not weight loss. 2. We have a faster metabolism, meaning we can eat what we want and not have to watch our diet as much. 3. What you add to your body from now on won't be fat; it'll be muscle, and only muscle. So let's get started. Popular Fitness Rumors 1. Working out a part of your body will make it more lean. False. Fat is added and removed in layers. Working out a part of your body will build the muscle, but not remove the fat from the area. Rather, it will burn fat from your entire body. 2. If you build muscle and then stop, it will turn to fat. False. Muscular atrophy will occur after a long period of rest, but it will never turn to fat. However, you may look slightly flabby due to the stretched skin. 3. If you don't exercise for a long period of time, you will lose all your progress. False. During holidays and breaks, when you don't have enough time to exercise, you may maintain your current level of fitness up to 6-8 weeks as long as you perform minor exercises... and retain their intensity. Duration and frequency do not apply. 4. If you take a lot of proteins and other supplements, you will become stronger. False. Excess matter that your body doesn't need will turn to fat. In fact, unless you're a hardcore athlete or bodybuilder, your diet should take care of all the vitamins, minerals, and proteins that you need. In addition to this, taking too much protein over a long time will give you liver disease. 5. Bigger is stronger. False. Bigger is bigger, stronger is stronger. The two are distinctly different, and you may choose which way you want to build yourself. Building Bulk vs Staying Lean There are three major different ways to build muscle. By Bulk: This will increase the size of your muscle the most. 6-8 repetitions, medium-high weight. By Strength: This will increase the size of your muscles, but not as much as by bulk. However, it will build your strength. 3-5 repetitions, max weight. By Endurance: This will not increase the size of your muscles as much, but will keep your body lean and burn the most fat, as well as building your endurance. 10-20 repetitions, low-medium weight. This guide will be a combination of all three. We will take advantage of our body's ability to heal quickly by essentially performing endurance-type activities with high weights. What will result is a medium-bulk, high-strength, medium-endurance muscle mass. Nutrition Guide Nitric Oxide Nitric Oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule that is released into your bloodstream in order to dilate your blood vessels; that is, it'll make them temporarily bigger. What this does is allow blood to flow much easier through your body, and also increases the efficiency at which your body can utilize oxygen. If you decide to buy Nitric Oxide (and you REALLY should), you should buy N.O. Xplode, by BSN. A good price is around $30 for a month's supply. Creatine Creatine gets a lot of flak. Read up on the Wikipedia article if you really want the full picture. But the short version is that Creatine WILL make you strong... at a price. What's the price? For some people, they'll get bigger, but they'll look bloated, since it's all water. However, I've been using Creatine, and it's really not made me bloated at all. If you use Creatine, buy BSN Cell Mass. It retails for around $30 for a month's supply. Glutamine Glutamine is the most important and most widespread amino acid in your body. It's especially useful in repairing microtears in your muscles after a workout. Get a good dose of this stuff. Protein You get enough in your food, but if you're a vegetarian or don't eat much meat, go ahead and buy some. Whey protein is the best... you can get the generic Wal-Mart brand. 20g/serving should be enough. Tips and Hints Bring a friend... maybe. One of the best motivations to go to the gym is to go with friends. Working out with a friend is infinitely better than working out alone, especially if you're just getting started. However, if you go with friends, you need to avoid the greatest pitfall of socializing in gyms: not working out enough. It's very, very easy to get caught up in conversation and forget why you're there--to build your body. So if you do go with friends, be sure to CONCENTRATE on exercising! Listen to music. Music is a great motivator. Invest in a MP3 player and good headphones. Turn the sound up so that all ambient sound is drowned out. If all you can hear is your music, you're set. You're in your own world now. And you'll be able to concentrate much, much, more. Keep good form... sometimes. You'll hear the word form being thrown around a lot. People will want you to use good form when performing an exercise... but why? The answer is simple; to avoid injury. When dealing with weights, there will ALWAYS be the inherent risk of injury, especially if you don't perform it right or use good form. Be sure to read the instructions before you use a machine. Watch someone else use it before you climb on. Ask a gym worker to demonstrate for you. This is very, very important. However, once you're strong enough to avoid injury, not following form can also benefit you. For example, when using the butterfly, correct form is to keep your butt to the back of the seat and sit up straight with your arms slightly bent. This way, power is focused to your chest. However, using incorrect form by sitting back and holding your arms straight extend the workout from chest only to include biceps and forearms! But be warned when using incorrect form; even if it helps build muscle, it may be dangerous! Stretching Your Muscles It's very important to stretch your muscles out before you begin the workout, as well as between sets. Not doing so may lead to serious injury. Stretch 1: Arm Rotation Shoulder, neck, chest, upper back. Hold a single 5-10 lb plate, dumbbell, or ball in one hand. Put the other hand behind your back to support your back. Now rotate your arm in a full vertical circle. Perform 10 times, slowly. Stretch 2: Hindu Push Up Chest, triceps, forearms, legs, lower back. Start from a normal push up position. Bend your arms until your chest is nearly touching the ground. Now use your arms and legs to push yourself so that your butt is sticking high into the air and your entire body is in a straight arch (should be shaped exactly like this: /\ ). From there, push back down to the push up position and repeat. Perform 20 times, as quickly as possibly. Stretch 3: Full Body Pull Up and Curl. Biceps, triceps, chest, upper back, abs, lower back. Start from a normal pull up position. Keep your legs locked together and extended and your arms fully extended. Pull yourself up , starting from using your shoulders to your arms. Do NOT move your legs during the arm pull-up. While holding your body up with your arms, pull your legs up into a ball and curl your entire body. Your spine should now be parallel with the ground. Hold yourself in this position for a second. Now let your legs back down, hold a second, then let your body back down. The entire motion looks as if you first pulled your body up, then shot your legs out to grab onto something in front of you (except your legs should be curled to your stomach). Perform 10 times, slowly. Getting the Most Out of a Rep Here's a little secret to make your time at the gym worthwhile: take each rep slowly. Most motions can be separated into two phases: the force-exerting phase and the resetting phase. For example, during a bicep curl, the force-exerting phase would be bringing the dumbbell up. The resetting phase would be dropping your arm back to the original position to begin a new rep. Well, it just so turns out that the resetting phase requires little to no force output. If you've taken physics, you should know; the longer you take to get from point A to B, the more work it takes when you need to exert force. This is very true in bodybuilding. For a normal rep, the focus is to go from point A to B. For a "negative", the focus is to go from point B to A; that is, you're already starting at the peak of the exercise and using your muscles to go back to the starting point slowly. Of course, there's really no need to do normals and negatives separately; just do them within one rep! In short, when you do your repetitions, you should be going from A to B to A slowly, all the while exerting force and working out your muscles. Cardiovascular Exercise I won't be covering cardio in this guide, though you SHOULD be doing some sort of mild cardio. To achieve any gains through cardio, you need to be doing the exercise and elevating your heart rate for at LEAST 15 minutes. Common cardio exercises are jogging, swimming, running, etc. I won't cover jogging and running (there are plenty of sites out there for that), but I will cover swimming. There are a lot of good reasons to take a quick dip before AND after you perform weight training. 1. It forces your blood to circulate and your blood vessels to dilate. This will allow oxygen to reach your muscles easier when you lift weights. 2. It stretches and relaxes your muscles. Swimming is a true full-body exercise. 3. It's a resistance exercise. Not only is it cardio, but water acts as resistance against your body. For a good upper-body endurance and cardio exercise, try performing the breast stroke without using your legs. Keep your body above water at all times and your legs immobile and crossed. It takes up to 100 strokes or more to get across a 100m pool! Repeat this for about 500m, and trust me, you'll feel like a champ! _______________________ The Workout _______________________ Key: Five sets of 5, 1 minute breather between sets = 5 sets of 5 repetitions with 1 minute between sets = 5/5/1 Weight suggestions are optimized for a 120 lb Asian male. The First Month: Warm-Up This period is very simple. You take your supplements, you go to the gym. Nutrition: Creatine every day after workout. Intensity: Low. Frequency: 5 workout days, 2 days of rest. Repeat. Duration: 1 hour per workout. Workouts There will be no special workouts. Just work out every muscle group you have, without tiring yourself out too much. Biceps Bicep Curl: 5/5/1. Triceps Standing tricep extension: 5/5/1. Forearm Wrist Curl: 5/3/1. Plate Pinch: As long as you can. Chest Butterfly: 5/5/1. Bench Press: 5/3/1. Legs Lunge: 5/3/1. Deadlift: 5/2/1. Calf Raise: 10/3/1. Months Two and Three: To the Limit This is where you need to work the hardest. The trademark of this session is that you'll need to work hard, long, and nonstop. Don't worry; you'll start seeing results very, very, quickly. Nutrition: Glutamine every day an hour before workout. Nitric Oxide every day 10 minutes before workout. Intensity: High. Frequency: 6 workout days, 1 day of rest. Repeat. Duration: 2-3 hours per workout. Workouts This will be hard, but as long as you follow it, you'll notice big, big improvements. Upper Body Circuit Days 1, 3, 5. Repeat for 30 minutes or more. You must not rest between the following exercises. Once you finish one, you must go to the next ASAP. Chest Press: 5. 120 pounds. Seated Dip: 5. 120 pounds. Bicep Curl Machine (both arms at once): 5. 45 pounds. Lower Body Circuit Days 2, 4, 6. Repeat for 30 minutes or more. Squat: 3. 60 pounds. Calf Raise: 15. 150 pounds. Leg Curls: 10. 60 pounds. Full Body Circuit Days 2, 6. Repeat for 30 minutes or more. Hindu Push Up: 25. Pull Up: 10. Knee Raise: 20. Crunches: 40. Upper Body Max Day 3. Perform once. Bench Press: 3/1/5. 120 pounds. Bicep Curl Machine: 5/3/3. 60 pounds. Dips: 10/3/1. Lower Body Max Day 5. Perform once. Deadlift: 3/3/5. 100 pounds. Calf Raise: 10/3/3. 170 pounds. Month Four: Take a Break The last two months you really strained your body. Now that your body is in full growth mode, you need to foster that growth properly. Nutrition: Glutamine every day an hour before workout. Nitric Oxide every day 10 minutes before workout. Creatine every day after workout. Intensity: High to medium. Frequency: 3 workout days, 1 day of rest. Repeat. Duration: 1-2 hours per workout. Full Body Workout Days 1, 2, 3. Biceps Bicep Curl: 5/5/1. Triceps Standing tricep extension: 5/5/1. Forearm Wrist Curl: 5/3/1. Plate Pinch: As long as you can. Chest Butterfly: 5/5/1. Bench Press: 5/3/1. Legs Lunge: 5/3/1. Deadlift: 5/2/1. Calf Raise: 10/3/1. Additional Exercises Any days. Feel free to focus on any body parts you want. You'll probably want to do extra bicep curls and chest presses if you're a guy, since guys are usually all about the upper body. Month Five: Hit Your Max This will be another very, very difficult month, and will set the pattern by which you perform the rest of your workout. During this period, you will try to hit your max for each exercise daily. ...I'll edit later to add more.
univi seriously hate going to the gym.. so many strong guys there make me have no confidence and then i have no concentration... its hard for a skinny guy to goto the gym heh... i would suggest to buy ur own dumbel ... well then until u are stronger u can goto the gym. by the way this was a VERY VERY VERY good post.
Thanks, but keep this in mind. No one really gives a damn if you're skinny. Honestly, it may be embarrassing at first, but trust me, no one cares. In fact, most people at the gym are very nice and won't hesitate to help you out. Besides, seeing someone better than you shouldn't reduce your confidence. Rather, look up to them as a model of what you want to be like, or, what you WILL be like.
Wow, this is a really nice guide. Too bad it doesn't apply to me >.< Unlike most Asian guys, I'm not skinny in any sense of the word (I weigh 140lbs...) and I don't have a fast metabolism. But really this seems like a great guide -clapclap
Thanks for the guide, very detailed. Just wondering if you ever got stretch marks from bodybuilding. I only did a few armcurls a few times a week and got some nasty stretch marks, kind of discouraged me to continue.
Well, actually, check back in a few days. I'm going to be finishing up the guide. The guide is specific to what I stated as required, but there are some modifications you can make to benefit yourself as well. I actually have none, despite that my arms have literally grown to 2 or 3 times their normal circumference in a matter of months. As far as I know, there are no 100% proven ways to get rid of or prevent stretch marks outside of dermatological surgery. So sorry, I can't help you here.
ya i dont' go to skool gym cause i see them liftingehavy weights...they're all like biger than me..im only like 125lbs....i mite go one day and not worry about other ppl
dammit.. before university, i did martial arts, and i could do lots of stuff. now, because of uni, i cant even run for a long time.. i hate uni. but thanks for the post. will try it. but 6 months... damn lol i cant even alternate days lol
Argh, stop worrying. Here, I'll tell you how it was for me. I'm 5'5, pretty short guy. I've done muay thai for a while, so I'm no stranger to fitness. However, I never lifted weights. I started weightlifting and bodybuilding last year. Here are my stats... Initial - Current Weight: 112 - 126 Bench Press: 110 - 170 Bicep Curl (One Arm): 15 - 35 Bicep Curl (Both Arms): 40 - 85 Chest Press: 90 - 160 Ab Crunch: 40 - 105 Calf Raise: 200 - 290 Butterfly: 40 - 140 Note that a good amount of the weights I can now handle are actually above how much I weigh. My current weight fluctuates between 122 and 130, so 126 is an average. Just by adding about 10 pounds of muscle over this last year, look how much improvement I made. You can never start too soon.
holy shit.. in six months? ok i better start.. my university fitness center opens for free. but i only go to school 4 times a week.. i guess ill do martial arts on monday, work out fo the next 4, martial arts the last day, then break.
I'll actually get to frequency in a bit. After the initial 6 month workout, when you've achieved the foundation for further bodybuilding, you're free to work on a much more flexible schedule. Right now, I spend about 1 hour in the gym per day, 4-5 days a week. Some of that one hour is devoted to cardio and muay thai training, so not all of it is heavy lifting. The beauty of using this workout isn't that you actually gain the visual results, but that you condition your body to exert large amounts of energy consecutively and frequently. It also forces your body to heal very, very quickly, making it easy for you to work on a muscle group and improve it quickly without the need to wait for it to heal for up to two days, as most workout routines suggest. Obviously, do the math there; it'll halve the time it takes to achieve the results you want.
Heh, trust me, the first few times you'll really think that. But your body is really like a video game, if you want to think of it like that. Most people are willing to devote hours of their life playing WoW and building up their character, spending half their time just grinding away at creeps trying to level up... So what's the difference between doing that and improving your body? Well, your body is the ultimate character =P And believe me, once you get used to going to the gym, it becomes addictive. Nowadays I feel tired and bad if I don't go to the gym!
So true. I started working out for a year now and if I even skip a day I don't feel right . It's like you're cheating yourself. But providence those are some great stats for 6 months, especially the 140 butterflies. Is that really you back?
How tall are you? I am 5'8 and I weigh 142 lbs... I think I am a really skinny guy and I want to be around 160 lbs.... 140lbs is not that much if you are around my height. When doing your bench max, do you take the bar all the way down to touch your chest? If so, my max is 165lbs.
