Hey all..
I'm 5'7" and 144 pounds and am looking to jump to 175 pounds. I don't have a deadline on this and am not in a huge rush, but I do want to start putting on weight quickly. I've been using parts of Daniel Craig's full body circuit training workout (http://www.squidoo.com/daniel-craig-workout" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) since early August. I've noticed that I've toned up a great deal and have increased strength by a large margin, but I haven't put on much weight and am looking to get bigger. Unfortunately ive been training for a half marathon, so this is a huge setback to putting on weight, but come October 15th, i'll be done with cardio for the most part. Here is current exercise plan..
I go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 20 minutes after taking Cellucore C4 Extreme. I'll use current numbers, but know that they fluctuate a bit as I repeat the circuit.
Clean and Press: 8-12 reps at 100-110 pounds.
Bench Press: 8 reps at 205 pounds - *on the second circuit, i have to lower this to 195-200 or do less reps. Could use some advice on how to do a better job with this.
Pull Ups: Done to exhaustion (usually 10-15)
Dips: 8-12
Standing Bicep curls: 8-10 reps at 35 pounds *would I be better off doing barbell curls here?
Ab Strap Hanging knee raises no added weight, front/left side/right side 10-12 reps. Would it be better to focus on less reps and use a dumbell between feet?
Incline pushups: to exhaustion - usually 30-35
I run through these with little downtime and do the full circuit 3-4 times. After one completion, I wait 3-4 minutes.
I used to include Squats between bench/pull ups, but i found it hard to complete running when i was preparing for the half marathon. I'd like to add these in again. hip flexors experienced quite a bit of pain when I was doing squats, even after stretching and doing warm up sets. Maybe this is a stance problem?
Now.. goal is to get weight up to 170-175 pounds. I'm aware that the workout plan I use has a lot of holes in it so i'm looking for advice. Some questions I have..
Should I stick to three days a week - full body workouts? And if so, what should I change/add to what I'm doing now. Should I add deadlifts or replace the clean and press?
Should I focus on high reps (12-15) and less weight, or higher weight and lower reps (4-8)?
Is circuit training effective in putting on weight or should I have more downtime between sets? Also, would it be better to do all 3-4 sets of each exercise back to back with small breaks between each set?
Can anyone recommend a comprehensive ab workout? One that focuses on definition.
Diet: I've got a lot of work to do on diet. I usually grab something small for breakfast and will be fixing this. I'm a school teacher and don't have many opportunities to sit and eat, but I keep a jar of peanut butter in desk and usually take a banana with me. Any other thoughts on good foods to take with me to school?
I take ON Whey Protein with water post workout. I don't take it on days I don't go to the gym, but I should probably start. I also take ON Casein protein before bed most nights. I've got Ultri-Omega 3 fish oil and Opti-Men vitamins that I need to do a better job of taking! I mentioned earlier that I take Cellucor C4 Extreme before workouts. Should I add a mass gainer powder? If so, any recommendations on a specific product? Any advice on other supplements?
I've got a lot of work to do but the most difficult part is planning, which is where you come in! I'm a rookie when it comes to most of this, so please tear workout schedule a part and help me build a new me, 30 pounds bigger!
Help needed - Mass Gain questions
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
-
StephenM88
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 4:45 pm
Re: Help needed - Mass Gain questions
Firstly you don't need that cellucor poncy product, it's just ingredients and hype mainly. The effectiveness I can't be sure of though. Take something simple like Gatorade or Powerade, not stuff with loads of micronutrients, Caffeine and a few herbs. Most of those things almost certainly don't offer any serious improvement over things like Glucose drinks or even water.
They would do that if you usually drank water than drank one of those and could suddenly go from half marathon fitness to full marathon fitness after one or two servings, then that would be some darn drink, but they almost certainly don't do anything significant compared to water or glucose / dextrose drinks, except cost more usually, or if they cost the same you probably get all the fancy shmancy ingredients, but less fluid content per bottle can or serving, so the main aspect of the drink doesn't last as long.
If you let them, many supplement companies will mug you of your money and potentially give you mediocre or terrible, value for money products, when you spend big.
A Protein powder with Carbs is all you need after workouts. A good cheap effective one will do. Concentrate is a bit cheaper than Isolate, but you could have an isolate with Carbs and around 3-4 additional ingredients.
The Fish Oil and Vitamin are fine.
I'd say you could go for the full body workouts, 3x a week, 8-10 reps per set and include major compounds like Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Press, Chins, Lunges, Bent over Rows, chuck in some direct stuff like Reverse E-Z Bar Curls, Shoulder Presses, Weighted Dips etc as examples and then do Cardio on 2 of the other days.
So your schedule could look something like this.
Day 1. Weights
Day 2. Cardio
Day 3. Weights
Day 4. Day off
Day 5. Cardio
Day 6. Weights
Day 7. Day off.
If you wanted an Ab workout, do something like Planks for 2 minutes if you can take it, Leg Raises and Roman chairs and do about 20 reps of each of those two things.
Many of the compounds would give you indirect Abs work anyway, so you wouldn't need to be blitzing it on direct stuff anyway, with a 3x a week TBT schedule.
Foods to take to school. Boiled Eggs, Peanuts, Low Fat Cheese, Nuts, Seeds, Sandwiches, Yoghurt, Low Fat Cheese, Apples, Bananas, (you already stated those).
They would do that if you usually drank water than drank one of those and could suddenly go from half marathon fitness to full marathon fitness after one or two servings, then that would be some darn drink, but they almost certainly don't do anything significant compared to water or glucose / dextrose drinks, except cost more usually, or if they cost the same you probably get all the fancy shmancy ingredients, but less fluid content per bottle can or serving, so the main aspect of the drink doesn't last as long.
If you let them, many supplement companies will mug you of your money and potentially give you mediocre or terrible, value for money products, when you spend big.
A Protein powder with Carbs is all you need after workouts. A good cheap effective one will do. Concentrate is a bit cheaper than Isolate, but you could have an isolate with Carbs and around 3-4 additional ingredients.
The Fish Oil and Vitamin are fine.
I'd say you could go for the full body workouts, 3x a week, 8-10 reps per set and include major compounds like Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Press, Chins, Lunges, Bent over Rows, chuck in some direct stuff like Reverse E-Z Bar Curls, Shoulder Presses, Weighted Dips etc as examples and then do Cardio on 2 of the other days.
So your schedule could look something like this.
Day 1. Weights
Day 2. Cardio
Day 3. Weights
Day 4. Day off
Day 5. Cardio
Day 6. Weights
Day 7. Day off.
If you wanted an Ab workout, do something like Planks for 2 minutes if you can take it, Leg Raises and Roman chairs and do about 20 reps of each of those two things.
Many of the compounds would give you indirect Abs work anyway, so you wouldn't need to be blitzing it on direct stuff anyway, with a 3x a week TBT schedule.
Foods to take to school. Boiled Eggs, Peanuts, Low Fat Cheese, Nuts, Seeds, Sandwiches, Yoghurt, Low Fat Cheese, Apples, Bananas, (you already stated those).