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Gaining healthy weight


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#61 sentinel

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Posted 10 May 2007 - 01:16 PM

I've only got about $150 to spend each month (study grant), $40 of which I use to pay my internet, and a gym card costs $45/month,


Do you live in the world's most expensive town? Who in hell pays that for internet, especially as a student? Get a new ISP, it shouldn't be chewing up a third of you allowance. As someone else mentioned that's also an impractical amount to pay out for gym membership which leads us to:

If you can't join a cheap eg subsidised college gym with basic free weights (you have cardio covered with the cycling at home) then buy the best bench (preferably with integrated squat rack) with a barbell, dumbells and as much weight in decent divisions (ie more 10kg, 5 plates rather than loads of 2.5 and 1.5 plates that cheap sets often come with). At 132 pounds you won't b edoing mega lifts for a while so you dont' need to buy excessive plates at this stage.

Millions of people take up weights and join gyms, but millions also give up so hedge your bets ie if you join a gym you might be comiites for a 1 year membership which will sting if you don't keep it up, weights you can at least re-sell. The other upside of this is that you should be able to buy weights second hand off some other optimistic "get buff for summer" mug who has done nothing but stub his toe on them for the last year. Put an ad on the notice board or get them off ebay etc.

To gain the most muscle focus on the lifts that exercise the most muscle (in priority order):
1) Squats or leg press
2) Deadlifts
3) Bench or dips
4) Military press
5) Weighted chinups, pulldowns, or rows


Sounds about right but I would do Bench rather than Dips initially and don't worry about weighting you chins at first until you get used to them and build a bit of technique. Do all movements slowly otherwise you'll be training your connective tissue more than your muscles.

For the first couple of months just do the above exercises for 4 sets each, 1st set at a weight you can do 12 for then up the weight for the next 3 sets you can do 8-10 reps on. Rest 2 minutes between sets, so should take c60 mins for a full body workout which you should do every 4 days at first. You can up the frequency and lower the reps once your body (Muscles, Tendons, CNS etc) has adjusted to the initial culture shock.

Before people jump on me with "reps too high" and split systems etc, I am keeping this simple, easy to understand (I hope) and not so hardcore that's it's going to burn someone out/be time-impractical/cause an injury. This guy is just starting out and is not built like a barn.

I have been upping my food intake, as well (about 2100 (weekends, 3 major meals/day) to 2500 (school days, 4 major meals/day) kcal/day now, with more lean meat, as well as lots of whole-grain food (which I already ate before) for breakfast and supper), and no snacks, sodas, french fries etc. whatsoever. I do eat some red meat, though, but that's because I live with my parents and I don't cook my own food. If I had the option, I would eat something else instead


Fine, try and keep it to the 2500 end whilst focussing, as you are, on quality protein and complex carbs with moderate fat.


If you're still at it in 2 months report back and let us know if you have made any progress and/or need a more advanced approach.

#62 Shepard

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Posted 10 May 2007 - 07:39 PM

Do you live in the world's most expensive town? Who in hell pays that for internet, especially as a student? Get a new ISP, it shouldn't be chewing up a third of you allowance. As someone else mentioned that's also an impractical amount to pay out for gym membership which leads us to:


I don't know, my cable runs around that much and I keep it at the low-end. As far as the gym, that sounds about right. The problem is that you can't find true gyms anymore that are cheaper. Everything is a "health club" and caters to the fitness magazine crowd. I remember an article from some magazine I read last year that stated the average gym membership ran around $75/month. Which I found completely ridiculous.

#63 sentinel

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Posted 10 May 2007 - 08:10 PM

That suprises me on the Broadband side, here in the UK I pay £10 per month uncapped for an 8 MB connection (at best). Also there is more spread on the gym side, I've paid from £25-100 over the last few years. Still that's irrelevent, let's see how our friend has got on...

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#64 Johan

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Posted 11 May 2007 - 08:59 AM

Do you live in the world's most expensive town?

Apparently, I do. I pay SEK 300/month ($44.15, to be exact) for a 54 MB broadband connection.

Buying second-hand weights sounds like a good plan, but then there's the problem of having to fit them into my room, which is pretty small (15 m²). Unfortunately, I don't see a feasible solution to that.

I have upped my daily calorie intake to aronund 2500 now as well.

If you're still at it in 2 months report back and let us know if you have made any progress and/or need a more advanced approach.


Of course :)

Thank you for your answers.

Edited by namingway, 14 June 2007 - 09:48 PM.


#65 Johan

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Posted 30 July 2007 - 06:31 PM

Ok, so I'm back. Took a little longer than two months, but still. I have been exercising using bodyweight exercises and biking, and so far I have achieved at least some results. I feel more fit and energetic than before, and I recently noticed that my strength seems to have improved (my bike felt much lighter than usual when I lifted it up some stairs :)), as well as my endurance (I don't get as tired when I bike, run, etc.). My weight seems to stay the same (130-135 lb.) but I'm happy with that.

On top of that, I got a summer job 5 weeks ago (I'll be working there until the 17th of August) at a warehouse, involving some lifting, dragging and pushing of heavy things, so as long as I am careful not to injure myself, I can get some decent training from there. I take the bike to work and home every day too, so that's some additional training as well.

My diet stays about the same, though I am trying to work in some more vegetarian and pescarian foods, at the expense of red meat, though it's not easy when you live with your parents and you can't really decide what you'll have for dinner.

Well, that's it for now. I'll update with any other changes.

#66 niner

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Posted 30 July 2007 - 07:03 PM

Wow, this is a very low quality thread.

Messy thread.

OK, let's try to add some useful information.

Yeah, beer tastes horrible to me. I cannot understand why people drink the stuff. I think people would drink rotting yard debris if it had the same effect. Sometimes I like the buzzed effect, makes me more social I suppose. But too much is no good. And no matter how little I drink, I am never back to 100% the next day

.
I used to be really into rotting yard debris. I found that it made me feel cooler and more rad, and I know that women were more into me when I had a good grass clipping buzz on. I also liked the fact that it was an all natural high. (Except for the weed-n-feed.) Then I discovered Pabst Blue Ribbon, and learned the true meaning of Ben Franklin's most important quote:

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.



#67 sentinel

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Posted 03 August 2007 - 09:13 AM

Well, despite the fact that you haven't carried out a lot of the advice people gave you I think you have got the most important point that was made earlier in the thread ie You're in good shape and unless YOU really want to be bigger, it's not worth the hastle.

Stay lean, good luck with the job and keep in touch :)


Sentinel

#68 meatwad

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Posted 04 August 2007 - 04:53 AM

Here is how I have gained some weight: Every day I make 2 quartz of steel cut oats mixed with at least 2 lbs of deer meat.

I'm gaining weight very fast. I also clean out a teriyaki dinner pretty fast. I am going through meat like mad. It feels good.

Vegetables and fruits seem disgusting to me. I only want to eat meat. I do take my supplements but god... newbie gains are amazing.

#69 shadowrun

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Posted 04 August 2007 - 03:07 PM

2 Lbs of Red Meat a day is pretty insane...
Why don't you try Fish, Eggs or rice and beans -

#70 ajnast4r

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Posted 04 August 2007 - 08:29 PM

Here is how I have gained some weight: Every day I make 2 quartz of steel cut oats mixed with at least 2 lbs of deer meat.

I'm gaining weight very fast. I also clean out a teriyaki dinner pretty fast. I am going through meat like mad. It feels good.

Vegetables and fruits seem disgusting to me. I only want to eat meat. I do take my supplements but god... newbie gains are amazing.


you might as well start reading up on cancer right now...




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