Is my diet and workout going to make me bulk up? PLEASE HELP!?!


Question: Is my diet and workout going to make me bulk up? PLEASE HELP!?
Im 17! Skinny and im trying to gain weight, get stronger and bulk up! Basically everyday i eat:
3 big Bowls of porridge with full fat milk. Approx 12 fish fingers. 1-2 chicken breasts. Dinner( Ya know, roast chicken or pasta or sumin :) ) Lots of fruit and veg. 4 peanutbutter sandwiches. Lots of water. Yogurts!
I know i eat alot of fish.. but i like fish :)
I do about 50 crunches everyday. And once every 2 days, i do a 1 hour workout. That consists of push ups, crunches, weight, pull ups, chin ups. With a protein bar afterwards! I have been doing my workout for about 3 months. And this diet for about 1-2 weeks. Is my diet ok? Will i bulk up soon? I dont want to get all fat and flabby. I want to be chunky and muscly.

Answers:

First of all, no, you won't get fat and flabby. I go to the gym 4 days a week myself and I can pretty much eat whatever I want without putting on fat because I burn so much energy at the gym (and I've only got an average metabolism rate AFAIK). The fact that you're skinny also suggests to me that you might have a high metabolism rate so I wouldn't be too worried.

Your diet is, as far as I can see, good. I don't know why you only want to do that diet for 1-2 weeks though. Personally I'd stick to that diet till you're done bulking up. You gotta eat, eat, eat.

The main problem I see is in your actual routine. First of all, I know a lot of people say you should do crunches everyday but that's a myth. Abs aren't miracle muscles, they need to recover as well. Do 'em every other day.

Personally, I'm not a fan of bodyweight exercises such as push ups because, while they'll increase your strength and in particular your muscular endurance, they don't bulk you up (just make you toned at most) so they won't help you achieve BOTH goals of strength + bulk. That, and in my experience I get better results from weights but that might just be me. I recommend just doing weights. Just be sure that you're targeting all your muscle groups (or at least all the muscle groups in your upper body - I'm assuming, looking at your routine, that you aren't interested in working your lower body? Just core muscles and upper body?) Do exercises which will hit your abs, pecs, deltoids/shoulders, biceps, triceps, lats and back. If you don't know which exercises target these things, look them up on Google, or better yet ask a personal trainer (it's very important that you have proper form on your exercises or you'll reduce gains and increase chances of injury drastically!! Warm up sets and stretching are no guarantee that you won't get hurt, injuries are very easy with weights which is why I recommend you get someone with experience to help you get started.)

But since I'm feeling like a nice guy I'll give you a sample workout you can use to start off with. This is known as a 5x5 workout, a very well known routine. You can rather use it or your own routine, whatever works for you:

MONDAY/THURSDAY (upper body)
Benchpress (5 reps 5 sets)
Bicep curls (5 reps 5 sets)
Upward row* (5 reps 5 sets)
Tricep extensions (5 reps 5 sets)

TUESDAY/FRIDAY (core muscles)
Crunches (max reps 5 sets)

* Note that upward rows can be very harsh on your body as they cause you to hyperextend your joints. Alternatively you can do another exercise which targets your back, such as pull ups I believe.

An important thing to note is that the 5x5 workout is VERY harsh on your body. In fact, for the past few weeks I've had a bum wrist from doing this very routine, because you do such heavy weights it puts incredible strain on your joints. I heard that squeezing wet sand between your fingers can toughen your wrists up to handle the heavy weights, but I haven't tried this before so I don't know how well it works. The reason I recommend the work out is because iit increases strength quickly, thus building a good foundation for a beginner weightlifter (there's a reason it's such a famous work out - I can't guarantee it's the best workout for YOU because everyone's different, but it definitely worked for me). Also, it's a very simple and easy to understand routine with simple but effective exercises everyone knows (benchpress and barbell curls).

Anyway... whether you choose to use my routine or make up your own, keep this piece of advice in mind: weightlifting sessions MUST be shorter than 1 and a half hours to maximise gains (some recommend as short as 45 minutes). I learned this through experience: I used to do 4 hour sessions, then once I cut down to 1 and a half hours my gains went through the roof. Also, be sure to change your routine every couple of months or your body gets used to a routine and you stop making gains; this is known as a "plateau" and everyone gets em now and then, they're a real pain. Every couple of weeks try new exercises and differ the amount of reps/sets and you should be fine.

As for whether you'll bulk up "soon", well, you'll have to define "soon". In a few weeks? Nope, your gains in bulk won't even be visible at the beginning. By six months? Yeah, you should be looking pretty toned considering you're skinny. By a year or two you should be looking ripped. In several years you should be a beast.

This is all, of course, assuming that you keep to your training and diet. Good luck and most importantly, have fun. Doing weights shouldn't be a chore.

Gym junkie



i think if you give it some time you will see some bulk. my friend is using the p90x workout or whatever its called and hes getting bigger.

mine please?




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