For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Jicent]

If you want to speed up your metabolism boost your caloric intake to about 1200ish calories a day spread out among 4-5 meals. Also start doing interval workouts such as fartleks {sprint for 30 to 60 seconds then jog for 2 to 3 minutes and repeat} or do a hill workout. Should work pretty fast about a month to 2 months you should see great results.

[Tyche]

I start another physiology class on Monday. I'll be sure to tell professor furbush that all this mess is inexact nonsense.

[Atreides]

if you're eating such a low amount of calories for extended periods of time you probably see weight gain for 2 reasons:

1) you have BDD

or 2) your body is in starvation mode from not getting enough calories

either way you need to eat more

[Tyche]

I thought of BDD soon as they mentioned having a double chin...I laughed at the thought then, but after reading the last post, it's probably correct.

[Woozie]

I start another physiology class on Monday. I'll be sure to tell professor furbush that all this mess is inexact nonsense.

Speaking of people who need to eat more calories...

[Zelduh]

.

[Tyche]

Speaking of people who need to eat more calories...

I'm up to 130. I haven't ran in about a month.

[Kilhart]

http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961?blend=1&ob=4

[RakEx]

I'm not looking for help, so please don't give me advice or tell me what to do. I was making a point that everyone is different and it's not one-size-fit-all. I'm fine the way I am. And no, it's not starvation, through years of trial and error I've found it's the only way to maintain my weight. End of story. Feel free to poke around in the Real Life Picture Thread if you feel like bashing me. I was actually trying to be helpful here, lol

Most of the people who made suggestions do so with the average person in mind or a person that is similar to their own size and weight. Your case is extreme and rare and the exception rather than the rule. Its pretty obvious that all the info in this thread is not made for everyone. Use common sense.

[Serif]

I'm up to 130. I haven't ran in about a month.

Surprised you aren't down to 100 with all that shit you threw up.

Tyche finally revealed why he is so skinny. He is a PURGER

[Zoolander]

Rather than make my own thread, figured I would just put a question here:

I am naturally a pretty small guy (5'11 155 lbs), but I run a lot and don't really wish to stop, however I also realize it would be nice to add a little bit of bulk and muscle. Nothing crazy, since my body isn't really made for that...but my arms are pathetic lol. Obviously running isn't conducive to this, but I don't have a great understanding of the science/mechanics behind it all.

If I alternate running one day and doing weights another, is that far enough apart to at least get some muscle growth? Or even possible to work out early or late in the day and run way before or after I work out?

Also...I am really curious about protein. I know everyone says to do like a protein shake immediately after working out, but I am wondering about protein from something like tuna, how long does that shit stick around for the benefit of feeding muscles? Like if I ate 50 grams of tuna protein at lunch, would that help me out at all if I worked out later at night?

Just trying to understand this a little bit, thanks for any insight.

[Atreides]

If I alternate running one day and doing weights another, is that far enough apart to at least get some muscle growth? Or even possible to work out early or late in the day and run way before or after I work out?

Also...I am really curious about protein. I know everyone says to do like a protein shake immediately after working out, but I am wondering about protein from something like tuna, how long does that shit stick around for the benefit of feeding muscles? Like if I ate 50 grams of tuna protein at lunch, would that help me out at all if I worked out later at night?

Just trying to understand this a little bit, thanks for any insight.

alternating one day to the next isn't really enough time, since most of the muscle growth occurs the day following the workout. There are people who have had success with alternating low calorie/cardio periods with weight training (google intermittent fasting if you want more info on this) but as a general rule you can't really do both things at the same time.

Doing too much cardio while trying to bulk runs the risk of cutting into your muscle gains, so it's best to keep it to a minimum (once or twice a week, maybe?) and dealing with whatever (inevitable) fat gain you have until you've gained as much weight as you like.

Personally I think protein timing is more than little overblown on forums, but if you're bulking up you want to eat 1-1.5g of protein per lb. of body mass. To do this requires you eat protein with pretty much every meal as well as use supplements/shakes, so I wouldn't worry too much about not having it available for workouts.

[RakEx]

I can see how running a lot would slow muscle growth and development but it also helps break up the lactic acid that will build up in your muscles from lifting and therefore makes recovery time a bit quicker/less painful.

Assuming you are doing little to no lifting now, any sort of lifting you do start doing will only help muscle growth. You may not gain mass and size as quick as if you were upping your calorie/protein intake and not running so much but you will notice the difference im sure.

Basically running alternate workout days may slow the noticeable size gains but it wont hurt you in your overall fitness.

Also, large amounts of protein does help with muscle growth and recovery but really its for lean muscle/getting cut. At your size I think somewhere around 100 grams would do give or take 20 or so. And the tuna you ate at lunch would definately help some but taking in protein after working out will be more beneficial.

[Atreides]

if he's lifting and doing cardio at the same time (or just lifting for that matter) he's not going to see any muscle growth whatsoever unless he eats more calories than he burns

[sephir]

Theres nothing wrong with doing Cardio before or after a workout. Personally I find myself more effective in the weight room if I do about 20 minutes of intense cardio before I start lifting weights.

I would suggest googling Lance Armstrong's weight training videos (a good deal of them are free). I find these immensely helpful in not only gaining raw strength, but in increasing my overall endurance for lifting weights and running/cycling/swimming.

If you want to add some bulk, lift medium weights in reps of 13-18 three times. Remember to not simply drop the weight or let gravity take the weight down, lower the weight slowly. Its been found that it is slightly more effective when you are lowering the weights than when you are lifting them. As for protein, you don't need those powders. Quite a few of them will add some bulk quickly, but on the flip side that bulk will often fade away into fat quicker than if you simply ate a balanced diet (with a bit more protein) and just worked out more effectively.

[Zoolander]

if he's lifting and doing cardio at the same time (or just lifting for that matter) he's not going to see any muscle growth whatsoever unless he eats more calories than he burns

Yea that is a given. I am skinny, but I have no problem packing on the calories if need be, although I do need to cut out the fried food from my diet. Might grab one of those weight gaining supplements to make it easier, although that many calories in one serving is kinda scary. With my body type and physical activity though, not much risk of getting fat or anything like that.

Was mainly just curious about what kind of timing I need to at least get some muscle growth. Pretty busy this semester so just want to make sure I'm not wasting too much time due to being too inefficient with my lifting/running scheduling.

[BerenTebogo]

One of the misconceptions I think you may be under is that bulk = strength, or at the very least applicable strength. Or maybe you just want to look buff, idk.

The reality is though at 5'11 155lbs you can be healthier, more limber, more physically fit, and overall a better representation of physical fitness than someone 6'2 220lbs who is all bulk.

If you truly just want bulk then whatever, up to you, but strengthening your body and conditioning your muscles, in the long run, is far more important than how much you can bench. As an example, say you normally do free weight upper body exercises with 20lbs comfortably in 3-4 sets of 20 reps, instead of aiming to do 3-4 sets of 20 reps with 50lbs aim to do 3-4 sets of 100 reps (as a long term goal) with 30.

You won't bulk up or put on more than probably 10lbs on the high end, but that excess bulk also wont turn into pudgy-fat should you ever not be able to keep up with your routine AND more importantly your bodies ability to perform in the areas that really matter (sex, sports, daily activity) will outshine the enhancements from bulking up.

Nothing wrong with being skinny, especially if you're in good shape.

Edit: and to the no chance of you getting fat because of your body type - I don't know how old you are so I cant give you any assurances, but if you bulk up and then slack off you will most likely end up fat.

[Zoolander]

Yea, when I say "bulk" or get bigger I mainly mean just grow the muscles a bit. With my current physique there really is no losing fat, so all muscle growth pretty much becomes noticeable. I just said the arms because that is the most obvious thing I do want to change, I won't ignore everything else like core strengthening and all the other areas. I've got no delusions, I couldn't become jacked even if I wanted to (which I don't) so its a moot point. Juts looking to be as efficient as I can be while still doing cardio several times a week.

[In Flames]

Rather than make my own thread, figured I would just put a question here:

I am naturally a pretty small guy (5'11 155 lbs), but I run a lot and don't really wish to stop, however I also realize it would be nice to add a little bit of bulk and muscle. Nothing crazy, since my body isn't really made for that...but my arms are pathetic lol. Obviously running isn't conducive to this, but I don't have a great understanding of the science/mechanics behind it all.

If I alternate running one day and doing weights another, is that far enough apart to at least get some muscle growth? Or even possible to work out early or late in the day and run way before or after I work out?

Also...I am really curious about protein. I know everyone says to do like a protein shake immediately after working out, but I am wondering about protein from something like tuna, how long does that shit stick around for the benefit of feeding muscles? Like if I ate 50 grams of tuna protein at lunch, would that help me out at all if I worked out later at night?

Just trying to understand this a little bit, thanks for any insight.

Some solid advice from Atreides, and here's my insight:

If you haven't done any weight training before you're going to see at least a small amount of gains no matter what, people usually call this "beginner gains" or some variation of that. This is simply because you're working with a blank slate. If you have done weight training before then I assume you already know this, so next thing.

It is VERY hard to put on large amounts of bulk and muscle unless your diet/supplements/regimes are near perfect and have been training for a long time. I wouldn't worry about it all.

As for the weight and running split, it isn't a problem. I would personally prefer to do both in one day; weights first then cardio, then have a rest day, then same again but it is your decision. Just make sure you have days where you're not doing either as these are the times when your muscles undergo the most growth. The problem comes when you're not eating enough calories to compensate for the cardio you're doing and you drive yourself into a calorie deficit. Basically, if you're burning more calories than you're eating, you're not going to get any decent gains from your weights.

What you can do here is to take a very rough reading of how many calories you require in a day while resting or exercising.
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-ca...dict-equation/
The calculator for it is at the top of the page. Once you have your Basal Metabolic Rate(BMR), times that by your activity factor and you'll know roughly how many calories you need in a day to maintain your current weight. On a day where you're not doing cardio, you can lower this a little but it won't do any harm to keep it at the same value. Of course if you're aiming to build muscle, overshoot your required calorie mark. You're doing a decent amount of cardio, so I wouldn't worry about putting on too much fat.

Regarding protein and meal timings; ~1g of protein per lb of body weight is the rule of thumb if you're wanting to put on muscle. For your weight, 155g of protein may seem a lot but it's really not that hard to achieve. Don't think you have to eat 6 or 7 meals a day either, as this is something else along with the protein rule that is usually blown out of proportion. Just eat when you're hungry and make sure you're getting your daily numbers, be it in 3 larger meals or 5 smaller ones. As for the timing, I try to eat a meal with a decent amount of carbs and protein 1-2 hours before my routine and then 1-3 hours afterwards, including a shake almost immediately after the routine. Protein synthesis is at its highest after a workout, so a shake full of protein or a full wholefood meal afterwards will do you a world of good. As for the rest of the day, timing isn't such a major issue.
To answer the tuna question specifically to give you an idea: Eating that at lunch and then exercising say 6 hours later would not do as much as eating it an hour before the workout. However a can of tuna is still a good 30g or so of protein and is a good food to have at any time of the day while trying to bulk.

I apologise if that's a little lengthy but I tried to answer each question specifically .

[BerenTebogo]

Well a lot of what I said still holds true. Smaller increases in weight and larger increases in amount of rep WILL build more muscle for you.

The important thing is that the bulking up with protein can REALLY backfire on you and I honestly think you should avoid using protein shakes unless advised to by a doctor or a licensed nutritionist (not someone who busted their knee playing college ball so now they just help you weight train)

Tuna, chicken, lean red meat, soy, nuts, etc etc etc are all very good sources of protein and will aid in the healthy growth and repair of muscle tissue without adding an insane amount of unnecessary calories to your diet.