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[Sport] looking to gain muscle mass

tropsobor

Grizzled Veteran
Aug 12, 2006
157
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I don't have enough budget to subscribe to a gym and the only free one is far away from here.

if some of you have had the same problem and used your own body weight (instead of using weighs) to accomplish this please tell me in as much detail as possible how to do it

:eek:
 
Yeah, a good mix of carbs and protein for diet.

For equipment, you can get some pretty cheap dumbells from some stores. Alternatively, check Craigslist, Freecycle, or your local yardsales/Goodwill/Salvation Army for old weight sets. I got a bench and good set of weights for next to nothing. There's always family's trying to clear out thier son's old weight sets that they stuck thier parents with when they moved out. :p
 
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To gain mass you need a combo of constantly increasing weight resistance training and diet.

Bodyweight only exercises wont do it for you.

If you're serious and want to gain mass and increase strength then you will need free weights.

You will get advice on all aspects of weight training/bodybuilding........but bottom line is you need weights, preferably a barbell set that allows you to do squats and benchpress.

You need to work those legs through stomach churning squats for six weeks and you will gain in the region of ten pounds, mainly muscle mass.

Get the weights secondhand......you'll need in the region of a two hundred pound set of barbells.

I'm twenty years training with weights, and I've yet to see a system that increases muscle mass as good as a squat based schedule.
 
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There's all kinds of strenght training you can do without weights (though a pair of dumbells is like bare essentials, you can do almost anything with them).

Going with absolutely nothing, your left with push-up/sit-up type workouts. Obviously Push-ups and sit-ups are a good place to start (push-ups work chest and triceps). Since you have a chin-up bar, you can do chin-ups and pull-ups. That will work the latissimus dorsi muscle (mid-side back) and the biceps (though I think secondary).

After those two, you can do Hindu push-ups and Hindu squats. I've heard these generally work well.

If you can find something the right width, you can do dips, which will also work the chest and triceps. If you can, you can do bench dips, and then just weight yourself with anything heavy.

When you start to get strong, you can do handstand pushups. Basically, get two chairs and put them against the wall, then go into a handstand (on the chairs) and use the wall as supports and do push-ups.

6/18's will work your hip flexors and glute area. These are a variation of leg lifts, which if you can find somewhere to prop up with (same as dips situation) then they very important. Mountain climbers and the like are good as well.

Another good way to build strength is the lumberjack way. Get yourself an old tire and a heavy pole (bat with a donut on it, heavy stick, etc.) Now just chop on it like you would with an axe and log.

Generally, without weights, your going to be doing something called Bodyweight excercise's. Here's the wikipedia list:

Crunch
Dip
Jumping Jack
Press up, or push up
Pull up, or chin up
Sit up
Squat
Pistol, or one-legged squat
Handstand Pushup
Lying Hip Swing
Burpees
Mountain Climbers
Grasshoppers
Side Bends
Squat Thrusts
Plyometric Pushups
Box Jumps
Pike Press
One Arm Pushups
Russian Twist
One Arm Chinup
Diamond Pushups
Hindu Pushups
Planche Pushups
Front Levers

Plyometrics and other things like that are good too (but are generally very hard unless you have some athleticism and some strength and endurance)

With a little innovation, you can also work your forearms very well. Get ahold of a wooden dowel and drill a hole (width wise) throught the center. Shorten it till its a little longer then shoulder width. Now run a thick string through the hole and knot it. On the other end, tie anything weighing around 3lbs (trust me, youll want to start at this weight) to it. Now hold the dowel in your hands and roll it, raising the weight up gradually as the string wraps. Now do the same going down and then up, using the opposite motion. A good goal is to get 3 up/down's before it burns to much to continue (WARNING: It burns a LOT :p)

Really, you just have to be a little resourceful to get a workout in if you can't buy.




NOW, if you do get dumbells, then you can do all kinds of things. Really just check any workout site.

Theres: Dumbell curls, Tricep extensions, Skull crushers, Sprinter squat, Back rows, shoulder shrugs, Arm raises, Dumbell Fly's, Shoulder press, etc, etc.




Really, the best thing to do would be to get some dumbells and do a little of both sections, but if you absolutely must, bodyweight excercises can suffice.

Though your not really going to gain much muscle mass, rather, you'll lose fat and build strength and endurance. It takes heavy weights to just gain pure mass. Generally the rule is (in any one set): 2-5 reps (pure Strength, little mass), 6-10 reps (maximum mass, with some strength), 12-15 reps (pure endurance, little mass).


I've been doing about 3 sets of 5 reps each (pure strenght, little mass) and I'm very pleased. So far the most significant gains I've gotten since I started 3-4 months back was increasing my leg press rep weight (not 1 rep max) from 290 to a whopping 470. And I haven't gained a pound! Still 170, though that can be attributed to some fat loss (not much, I'm skinny by any standard, and most gains was probably nerve type) and such (lots of noticible toning, but not much mass gain aka. waterweight, needless pounds :p, yay) The important thing is repitition and to work at it. Good luck! :)






Edit: Just read some other posts, Yes, your diet is extremely important. Read up on catabolic and anabolic states (before, after workouts) and that stuff to get a little understanding. Carbs, fats (the good kind) and protein in sufficient amounts is extremely important.
 
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finding old sets would take too long and I really can't spare money for equipment

Take too long? You do realize it takes months to build up muscle mass anyway? It'll probably take you like two weeks if you're looking and asking around for an old bench or something. It's worth the investment.

As others have said, non-weight exercises will build up your endurance and muscle tone, but they're not going to increase your muscle mass.
 
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that's what I thought too until two friends of mine told me about the Lafay method which using only the body weight lets you gain decent mass
unfortunately the book is rather expensive and I would have to order it online as it can't be found in stores here...

http://methode.lafay.free.fr/index.php?Musculation

http://methode.lafay.free.fr/index.php?Temoignages here you can find pictures of before and after

I usually don't "buy" these bull**** obscure methods with pictures of before and after, but my two friends vouch for it

anyway, I was wondering if anyone here was into body weight training who could recommend me a diet and a sort of method. for example, how to warm up, what exercises to do to work on biceps, back, triceps, chest, abs, thighs, etc. how many series of how many repetitions, the time to relax between series, whether I should train the whole body during a single session or work on the upper body on day 1 and lower body on day 2, how to proceed on doing the exercises because there are many variations of push ups for example, how to stretch, etc. etc. :D

so far I see everyone believes in weighs only :(
 
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Monday: Chest and Triceps

Bench Press
Machine Press (slight incline and in a seated position) 3x5
Dips 3x5
Tricep machine 3x5

Tuesday: Back and Biceps

Back rows 3x5
Seated row machine 3x5
Dual axis pull downs 3x5
Lat pull downs 3x5

Wednsday: Aerobic

Generally at the fat burning rate, 65% (I've read that this helps with muscle repair and recovery)

Thursday: Shoulders

Shoulder shrugs 3x5
Arm raises 3x5
Shoulder Press 3x5

Friday: Lower Body

Leg press 3x5
Leg curls 3x5
Weighted Ab machine 3x5
Oblique machine 3x5
Calf raises (seated or standing) 3x5
Glute machine (crunch legs outward) 3x5
Inner Thigh machine (crunch legs inward) 3x5
Lower back machine 3x5

Saturday: Aerobics

Same as Wednsday

Sunday: Off day

Heres my workout routine, though Im using heavy weights. Its a strength training routine, since I'm trying to build maximum strength and minimum bulk.

Generally, with this set up of muscle groups on certain days is it lets me workout with as little cross training as possible, which means that I can work each muscle group to its maximum.



What I think you should do is generally try to match this in terms of what you workout and when (though since its bodyweight excercises, you'll probably have to do multiple excercises of the same type a day).


For warming up, just do some stretching (full body), jog a little, get the blood flowing.


As for reps and how long, the only way I know how to do bodyweight is to do it till you cant, then do it again later in the day (any bodyweight stuff I do is 3 times a day, but its only like some push-ups and crunches).


As for diet, theres no secret to it, just eat healthy and balanced. Make sure your getting your protein, fats and carbs. Don't eat to many sweets or saturated foods (your fats need to be like vinergarette dressing or olive oil) and make sure to get the necessary proteins. Egg whites and fish are really good for you. Olive oil and the like are good for you. And something like bran muffins, raisin bran type cereals and such are generally good for you.
 
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