Jimmicrackedcorn
05-05-2006, 01:07 PM
You might have to read through this a couple times to get the jist of it, and I'll give ya sites and shit at the end.
Fats, although, important in any diet as they are important for energy, are not the essential in weight gain (although there are several fatty acids and stuff that help with the absorption of protein, and release a large amount of energy, these are sometimes incorporated in to certain protein shakes depending on the manufacturer). Despite the popular conception of, "Turning fat in to muscle" this is analogous to turning lead in to gold, it can't be done, they are two totally different cells, which have different functions, and different characteristics, if you work out and you are fat, you will stay fat, but muscle will grow beneath the layer of fat, you need to exercise aerobically (when cells are respirating using oxygen), to lose fat.
To gain muscle you need to be exercising anaerobically, so your muscles are somewhat damaged and have a small energy "debt", which they have to accomodate for, when the demand for oxygen is greater than the amount received, your cells respirate without oxygen for a short time (substituting it for lactic acid), this is brought about under conditions of extreme exertion, like lifting weights, or sprinting, short explosive bursts of work, it is under these circumstances that you will prompt muscular growth, and also why you experience muscular failure, as the products of this reaction fail to be removed as quickly as they are building up, because of the products that are released in anaerobic respiration, the pH of the surrounding environment becomes increasingly acidic due to the chemical interactions of the products(Hydrogen atom) with the surrounding environment, which is responsible for the burn. As you lift, your muscle fibres actually tear, and it is the response of your brain to this circumstance, which prompts muscular growth, it releases growth hormones (from the pituitary gland in ure 'ed), and signals the increased manufacture of amino acid chains to be used in the production of more muscle fibre, to repair, and reinforce the existing muscles. This is where you grow, not in the the gym, but sitting on ure arse smoking weed and scoffing a steak :D, remember that even though its a cheesy saying, in this situation "Less really is MORE! :thumbsup: ". To take full advantage of your bodies repairing state, you will want to ply if full of materials which it can use to grow, to grow you need carbs, and most importantly protein.
Proteins are amino acids, which the body use a bunch of to "chain" a variety of other proteins (amino acids) together, to make muscle fibre, and also every other cell in your body, they are the building blocks of life, your muscles are billions upon billions of tiny strands of amino acids, which are proteins, which is muscle fibre.
Proteins, are in a variety of foods like fish and meat, milk, peanuts (also high in unsaturated fats), but there are different types of protein, for different purposes. Slow digesting proteins, such as those found in milk, like casein, take up to 8 hours to fully digest. This type of protein is excellent when it comes to inhibiting catabolism (this I'll tell you about further on, as anabolism and catabolism, are basically the difference between when you are gaining or losing muscle mass, breaking down muscle mass to create useful energy, or using nutrients to manufacture amino acid chains), and is recommended to be taken before bed, as during sleep, your body is at full rest, there is no other time, when your body is as efficiently manufacturing, as your energy can be focussed on metabolic processes and repairation. This is where slow digesting proteins are ideal, as they take such a long time to digest and so the body can use the materials that you are providing it with, instead of breaking down existing muscle to create the energy it needs to respirate (again despite popular belief, starving ureself actually increases the storage of fat, and signals a catabolic state, which breaks ure existing muscle fibres down to produce energy, this happens after as little as four hours after your last meal.) Casein can be brought from bodybuilding shops and a number of health stores, you should consult the internet and research which one is the best, as the quality can differ. A "natural" resource for casein is naturally milk, but milk has a high level of fat unless skimmed, which don't taste to hot imo, and plus you only need to restrict your diet this much if you are really serious about bodybuilding and want to go balls out, ass in a thong, faked tanned to the bollox He-man! taking a shit on stage, in general if you lift, you will grow if you eat, but by eating the right kinds of food, there is a plentiful supply of building materials for your body to utilize in a time when it wants it the most. If you are already fat (like rolls), it is best to begin aerobic exercise, in order to loose that first, but thats if you are working out to look good, as opposed to just for strength. Aerobic exercise, and exercising to loose fat is an entirely different kettle of fish, it will require an entirely different regime of exercise, and eating habits.
Fast digesting proteins, like whey protein, are all over the place, in nearly every health shop and bodybuilding store, and with good reason, as they are the easiest method of supplying your body with a large amount of protein, in a short time. After you exercise, there is, as explained above, a debt which needs to be paid, during this 2 hour gap, your body is very accepting of carbs and protein to help pay this off, by having a protein shake with a whey protein content per serving of around 50g, immediately after working out, you ensure that most of the protein which digests in about 20mins-2 hours, is absorbed during this window, as you will also be in a catabolic state after working out, because in order to respirate you need energy, and if you don't supply it, your body takes it from its own muscles through the process of catabolism. Anabolism is the opposite of this state, and is the goal of sum1 looking to gain muscle mass, you want to constantly be in an anabolic state, this is where smaller strands are linked together to make muscle fibre, and the strands, as explained above are provided from your food.
I don't know very much about carbs, because you only need to really start getting in to eating the right type of carbohydrate, if you are looking to be an athlete, or proffesional bodybuilder. Carbohydrates are used for energy storage, and are stored in the form of glycogen in muscles, as an immediate source of energy. Like I said, you are only the laymen begining to lift, so don't worry about the carbs that make ure sessions fully efficient, as the methods are plentiful, and time consuming, and really just try and focus on the lifting and protein intake, obviously you are gonna need some proper food like fish, and meat products, beans, potatoes, that you cook by hand are the best, but I recommend the whey protein if you are looking to get big in the quickest time, without all the restrictions of food, and eating habits you would have to undertake to get the amount of protein required to build big from food. You would have to eat 6 meals a day, and have a set portion of carbs, and protein. Like chicken breast steak (which is dryer than a nun's mott), and a small serving of pasta, 6 times a day, with some peas or vegetables added in, can become monotonous, quickly, and if you enjoy ure food, will be a pain in the arse, cuz well, its really fucking dry man.
Remember to keep it simple, don't over exert ureself, but don't be a pussy either, work till muscular failure, but regularly rest, only workout one of ure muscle groups once a week, and you want to be looking at working out about 3 times a week, for example, make Monday ure squat and bench day Wednesday ure biceps, giving ure chest and shoulders full time to recouperate by Friday, where you do pull-ups, Saturday, Sunday rest. Obviously there are millions of variations on exercise regimes, and all justified with many different philosophies, but they ALL centre around, explosive, intense sessions, followed by a minimum of a days rest, I can't stress to you how essential rest is to this process, even more so than the lifting at times.
People think that you just pick up weights, do a million reps, every day, for a year, and at the end of it you will be a heaving ball of mass. I used to, I was thick as shit about all this when I first started working out, I was only like 12 when I first started out, and I used to believe that doing just a couple of sets of bicep curls, on ONE arm, EVERY day, would make my WHOLE body fitter. At 13/14, I acquainted myself with the infinite storage of information on the internet and found a site with just about every muscle, and exercise for that muscle that has ever been practiced, so I wasted about a year, acquiring and incorporating exercises as I went along, doing Squats, pull-ups, pressups, bench press, dumbell flys, tricep dips, skullcrushers, tricep extensions and calf raises. I'd be working out 6 days a week, doing all those three times a week, with no knowledge of food supplementation, passed "Meat=protein, pasta=carbs, potatoes=carbs", and I was just eating a healthy british diet of microwaved meals and deep fryed to the bollox reconstituted meat, so of course I grew and got a lot stronger, but I kept getting ill like every month or so, not like a cold, like a short intense shot of the flu, it was fucking horrible, I reckon it was dehydration, as I was hotter than I've ever been but unable to sweat, I'd be hallucinating (like lights were appearing to grow darker and lighter, fucking wierd visuals of being twisted and cut up, intense man, not bad :D) for about 1/2 a day, drifting in and out of sleep the entire day and unable to eat, sometimes violently puking everything I'd eaten or drank, but only for a day, then by the next it was gone, but I was knackard so I wouldn't work out during this period and I'd get better. Around about the 3rd month, I found out about nutrition, just because I was starting to get in to biology and looked it up, and I was fucking amazed how much it really did mean, of course I'd knew, "Wanna get Big? Eat BIIIIIIIIIG!" shit, but what they never mentioned was what the fuck to eat, and how you didn't have to eat a fucking shitload, or workout intensively everyday, because it doesn't build you quicker, you build when you rest, you break when you work, balancing these two things, is the key to building body mass, I can't believe it took me like 3 years to find it out, because its such a simple concept, but the average joe ure asking for tips on working out, doesn't know it.
If you're working towards aesthetics, you are gonna have to wait, this is gonna take a long time, so don't go rushing in and doing all the exercises in the world for the first two weeks, cuz u'll burn ureself out, and it does, and let me make this real clear, FUK ALL! in comparison to having a plan that incorporates full rest days, because the first month, u'll notice nothing, a slight tenseness to the muscles, but around about the same size, the 2nd month again, will be pretty much nothing, a little bit of growth, but nothing spectacular, its around about the 3rd or 4th month u'll begin to notice you are physically changing. I'm impatient, so when I was working with an aesthetic mentality, it was making it very hard to do the lifts, knowing that the lift I'm going through hell for now, isn't going to make itself apparent at all, until a few months down the line, but around about the 2nd/3rd week, I started noticing the lifts were easier, I could lift a further 15lbs on top of that weight, and the weight increased by about 5lbs every week. Then you'll really begin to enjoy it, because you are noticeably improving ure strength, and therefore ure balance, stability and you also become aware of ureself, in that you know ure limits somewhat, for when you are doing any physical activities, you have a boost in confidence. I still can't go a week without doing something which makes me sweat my balls off, since the buzz is sweet afterwards, especially if you got weed on hand.
Some1 said it above, build from the legs up, its not essential, I didn't start out with squats, and it was only about 3 years after initially begining lifting I started doing them, but you will eventually begin to get top heavy, and every other exercise in the world, paaaaaaaaaaales in comparison, to squats, they are the tool of the devil, ask any bodybuilder, and watch there face turn red with passion, when you ask about squatting. They are unbelievably strenuous, and will probably end up with you feeling very nauseous at the end of ure workout, sometimes prompting puking (puking from over exertion is horrible, you feel like ure gonna die lol). They are not only good for ure legs, but ure trunk (midsection) will improve in stability and strength, as will ure posture and overall strength, your ass becomes much more muscular (never realized how much you use ure ass in walking and stuff until the day after squats), your ribcage will widen due to increase strain on the diaphragm from heavy breathing, this is because squats and deadlifts, more so than any other exercise, prompt the release of massive amounts of growth hormone, thats because there is no exercise quite as beneficial, or heart wrenchingly fucking intense as the squat.
Pull-ups, or chin-ups are also a very good exercise, they work basically the entire back (except for the upper traps), and the back of the shoulders (posterior delts), ure lats, traps, rhomboids, teres major and minor, all benefit from this exercise, and give you the appearance of "wings". Like what Bruce Lee was famous for (the man had a fucking GIANT back in comparison to his body).
Bench Press, is the lesbian sister of the squat, another one which is an absolute fundamental on any bodybuilders plan, as it works the chest mainly, but also builds the shoulders (Anterior and lateral delts), and the triceps also get a good burn from this exercise.
Bicep Curl, is for the biceps, u already probly do them if you'd just started out, they are usually the first exercise any1 tries. Your forearm will also get stronger, as the muscles that keep the wrist straight are taking the strain of the dumbell/barbell aswell.
Then there are many, many others, all designed for particular muscle groups, increased flexibility, explosive power, developing balance, but those four are without doubt the most fundamental, and practical to do. You don't even have to leave your home to do any of them, except for the squat which requires a spotter, just incase you loose ure balance, or can't lift the weight over ure head, but another way of building the leg muscles, improving ure stability, balance and range of motion is the one legged squat, also known as the pistol, I think? very difficult to do, and you may need to hold on to something for balance. Also swimming is one of the best fucking things in the world, if you live by a beach, swimming doesn't even feel like exercise, a swimming pool is a bit different, with lap after lap after lap, but the beach is fucking gr8, get stoned, and go swim ure balls off, amazing for ure back, chest, legs, stamina, it really covers every ground, since u judge the resistance by how hard u swim, so you can interchange between aerobic/anaerobic activity, short burst of fast strokes, followed by slow strokes until you have regenerated enough for another short burst, then when ure too tired, lie ure head back and bob up and down on the waves, knackard, stoned and on a beach, the ultimate activity! Also rock climbing, is good for your strength, and co-ordination, and the awkward positions you face contort and contract muscles you didn't even know were there, to think ure shoulder is going to break at the seem, only to pull ureself up over a 60 or so foot drop is a nice feeling, to say the least, overlooking 100's of miles of scenery, is very nice, to be covered in a gallon of sweat, in the blaring hot sun, with a spliff in ure mouth, overlooking it all, is fucking priceless, and could hardly be called exercise :D but it does just the same.
I don't follow the strict dieting regime, I eat pretty much just chicken, bacon, eggs, fish, rice, potatoes, fruit, some chocolate, drink a lot of water and milk. The times you eat this shit, is important, try to keep it relatively small, but frequent, lots of meat, peanuts, high in protein foods, THIS is essential. I've never used the whey protein, because of funds, but it is by far the best method, from internet reviews, and from friends, creatine gets mixed results, and I wouldn't consider it to be essential. If you are going to get any supplement don't waste ure money on the energy crap, or anything that does that shit, because, firstly, just do it you lazy bastard, its not that hard! and the majority don't work and have side effects, like ephedrine and caffeine, guarana and the like, give you the shakes, increases perspiration and dehydrates you, which isn't good when your sweating balls. If you are gonna buy a supplement, make it whey protein, everything else is either shit, or unproven, and you don't need it.
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html Exercise and Muscle directory.
http://www.bodybuilders.com/ Really gets in to the nutritional side of bodybuilding. Has workout regimes, and dietary plans, also sells supplements and equipment.
http://www.lamuscle.com/index.php LA muscle whey protein, which I know from my friend is very high quality, there are a lot of brands, and quality varies greatly, its not only about the protein, but the things that go with it to help aid its digestion, and the quality of the protein because blablabla, and it gets more complicated, but this stuff I can vouch for, well not me but u get what I'm saying.
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