Anyone here know about bulking up?

[dankok8]

I'm 5'11'' 160 lbs (72 kg) and want to bulk up to about 170 lbs (76 kg) but I want to put on that weight as muscle. I figure I should eat what I currently eat since I'm maintaining plus intake an extra 500 cals through protein powder to fuel muscle growth. Does anyone have a good workout plan for arms/shoulders/ chest/back? These are the muscle groups I want to focus on. I think my goal is realistic to achieve in 3-4 months.

[diamenz]

keep it simple - presses, pulls, squats and deadlifts in moderation, three days a week. increase weight by small increments each week.

just eat dude. cut down the fat later. unless you have the patience and tolerance to eat shit like chicken breast and rice all day.

[8Ball]

I've bulked up from my skinny ass days of 5'11, 134 lbs to a now 185lbs.


- You won't gain 10 lbs in 3-4 months of muscle unless you use steroids. You will only put around 3-4 lbs of muscle in 1 year naturally max. You can gain 10 lbs in a year but it will be a mixture of mostly fat and part muscle. Trust me on this.

- It may take even longer if you are focusing only on upper body.

- You need to be in caloric surplus. So 500 extra calories is of lean protein / lean carbs is good.

- If you want size, you need to hop on a hypertrophy weight training style. Everything 6-10 reps or 8-12 reps. At least minimum 8-10 sets per body part / per week that you are trying to grow.

- FOCUS on full range of motion and contracting the muscle through the movement. This is super important since muscles grow primarily through time under tension and contracting from a stretched position.

- Start with linear progression (add 5 lbs per workout and progress), and when linear progression stalls, do double progression (add more reps per exercise until you hit 12-15 reps and then you add more weights)

Pick 2-3 exercises from below for each muscle. Do minimum 8 total sets for each muscle, max 12. You aren't advanced enough yet to do more than 12 sets, nor do you need to.

Biceps - Everything full range of motion, slow and controlled on eccentric and concentric. No jack rabbit sets.

Barbell Curls
Dumbell Curls
Preacher Curls
Cable Curls

Triceps - Everything full range of motion, slow and controlled on eccentric and concentric. No jack rabbit sets.

Cable Rope Pushdowns
Single arm Rope pushdowns
Overhead rope extensions
Skull crushers (if your elbows allow it)
Close grip bench press

Shoulders - Everything full range of motion, slow and controlled on eccentric and concentric. No jack rabbit sets (I hope you get the idea now)

Seated overhead press
Seated overhead Dumbbell press
Standing Overhead Press (OHP)
Bench Press (only hits the front of the shoulder)
Lateral raises - This is for the middle head of shoulders

Chest - Everything full range of motion, slow and controlled on eccentric and concentric. No jack rabbit sets.
Bench Press
Dumbbell Bench Press
Slight incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Chest dips
Chest Flies with DB or
Pec Deck machine

Back:

Pullups - Non negotiable, do these. Full range of motion, no cheat reps. Full stretch at bottom, contract through and try to go chest to bar.
Lat Pulldown
Seated Rows
Dumbell Rows
Barbell Rows

Pullups and pulldowns build the lats primarily, rows help with building back thickness.

Throw in deadlifts in there to build overall mass in the back.


For legs:

Romanian deadlifts 100% to build hamstring size.
Squats 100% to build quads.



For routines / workout plans, google any kind of 3-4 day upper / lower split and get started.

[diamenz]

^that's too much isolation and singular focus for a beginner. he's better served just sticking to compound lifts.

[8Ball]

^that's too much isolation and singular focus for a beginner. he's better served just sticking to compound lifts.

Problem with just sticking with compounds is that it doesn't have body building focus. So, yes he will gain muscle size, but the areas where he wants to gain size in won't gain in size with just compounds.

If you want bigger arms - you have to do curls and tricep isolations.


The benefit with sticking with compounds like Starting Strength program is that its simple and easy to get started with.

[Axe]

Don't use steroids, op. It's much better to bulk naturally.

[KNOW1EDGE]

Have you heard of the nine ancestral tenants?

[AlternativeAcc.]

Perfect Bulk meal:

1 pound of ground beef 80/20
2 medium sized avocados
Fist of brown rice
Fist of black beans
Mexican cheese blend
Onions, peppers, seasoning


Melt avocados slightly at end of cooking beef. Mix all in bowl and cover with your choice of hot sauce


Eat twice a day.

[dankok8]

Some golden stuff in here especially from 8Ball who wrote a long post.

Thanks a lot guys!

[Lebron23]

Post a picture of you.

[Lebron23]

Don't use steroids, op. It's much better to bulk naturally.

OP is almost 40. Why does he needs to bulk up?

[dankok8]

My pecs are non-existent. Those will take the most work.

And I'm 35. Why does it matter? I want to level up and my current girl and I are doing it together. In fact I've formulated a workout plan based on what some of my friends said. 8Ball's post I really appreciate as it was full of good info. Thanks bud.

This forum should probably have a fitness thread that is stickied though. Anyways I'll post some progress pics in a few months hopefully.

[Axe]

OP is almost 40. Why does he needs to bulk up?

Idk. Maybe because football?

[Lebron23]

My pecs are non-existent. Those will take the most work.

And I'm 35. Why does it matter? I want to level up and my current girl and I are doing it together. In fact I've formulated a workout plan based on what some of my friends said. 8Ball's post I really appreciate as it was full of good info. Thanks bud.

This forum should probably have a fitness thread that is stickied though. Anyways I'll post some progress pics in a few months hopefully.

Fair enough. Just posts to Bodybuilding forum. But alternative account gave a good advise. I think he is a bodybuilder/fitness guru in real life.

[AirBonner]

Axe knows about bulking up. Guy is fully bulked