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What exercise to do to gain muscle mass/weight?

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Original post by ivy.98
Someone who started out doing SS before transitioning to BB split would end up looking better, and be stronger compared to someone who started BBing from the very start


Fascinating.
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Reply 22
Make a plan, look at the top rated exercises on bodybuilding.com for each body part and try out what works best for you. The majority of gaining mass is to do with eating well so eat alot and drink lots of water :smile:

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Original post by SY123
Make a plan, look at the top rated exercises on bodybuilding.com for each body part and try out what works best for you.


No. Firstly, stay well clear of bull**** broscience websites like that. Secondly, a novice should not be deciding on what exercises to do for what body parts and seeing what works for them. They should stick to the basic compound movements and time proven methods.
The way to gain weight is to just eat more, atleast 2-3 times what your eating, also weights and benching helps also
Reply 25
@ivy.98 Have you read 'Starting Strength'? You run it until it stops working, not just for 4 weeks.

For me, my personal opinion is that for people who think they have a fast metabolism, run Starting Strength. Because as part of the program, you need to be eating way over 3000 calories for your typical skinny male. If you're not, the author claims 'you're not doing the program'. You'll soon see most people shoot up in bodyweight, shoot up with their strength, also look pretty terrible after a few months. But they'll be 'strong'. And then have to go on a cut and suffer.

I recommend a small surplus, OP, Write down what you eat in terms of calories and macroes or use a website like MyFitnessPal. As most sensible people have said, stick to basic compounds to begin with. They are the hardest lifts and will teach you things about yourself that no amount of bicep curls will. They are hard for a reason. They are particularly uncomfortable, but the iron will soon become your friend. I don't recommend compounds because they are 'functional' or because they 'mimic real life movements'. Who cares. One of the important reasons for me is the way your skeleton is loaded during these movements. Improved bone density etc. The way your muscles work in synergy is beautiful, and they'll grow together (at different rates depending on technique/genetics, later on, isolation work can address these issues)

Compound exercises cover a lot of muscles. Some guys I know have great abs even though they've never done any ab work in their life. Combination of heavy compounds and good cutting/bulking cycles.
You're incredibly skinny for your height, I weigh 3 stone more than you
(edited 8 years ago)
Simple, just do 3 things for your upper body, Dumbell press, Shoulder press and Tricep extensions.. Do those exercises in the gym for a month, in addition to dips and the occasional bicep curls, and you'll gain weight, so long as you eat right.. Which to gain weight at your age can be anything.

Watch the hodgetwins on youtube, they give good fitness advice
Original post by david_94
Simple, just do 3 things for your upper body, Dumbell press, Shoulder press and Tricep extensions.. Do those exercises in the gym for a month, in addition to dips and the occasional bicep curls, and you'll gain weight, so long as you eat right.. Which to gain weight at your age can be anything.

Watch the hodgetwins on youtube, they give good fitness advice


Has to be :troll:
Reply 29
Original post by JD1lla
@ivy.98 Have you read 'Starting Strength'? You run it until it stops working, not just for 4 weeks.


There are different versions of the Starting Strength program, maybe the one described in the book is bs. I wouldn't know because thats not the one I completed. The one I did gave me good results, maybe because it was consolidated into 4 weeks?! But my point was that OP should start with something simple. Although the things you mentioned sound pretty good
Original post by theone2498
ICF 5X5, 3000 calories a day, sleep well, don't fap (I know, but this has so many benefits), protein intake of at least 100g a day (no need to go over 150 or anything).

Do that for 6 months, if you're not a hench man by then I'd be shocked.


I've gained over 70lbs of mostly muscle over the last few years barely going a day without either fapping or having sex :lol:

P.S. ICF sucks :biggrin:

P.P.S. Nobody's getting hench in 6 months :tongue:
Original post by ivy.98
There are different versions of the Starting Strength program, maybe the one described in the book is bs. I wouldn't know because thats not the one I completed. The one I did gave me good results, maybe because it was consolidated into 4 weeks?! But my point was that OP should start with something simple. Although the things you mentioned sound pretty good


What program did you run? I'm curious since these programs are linear progression, not some sort of peaking or periodised program, so there shouldn't be a 4 week timescale.
Reply 32
Original post by ivy.98
There are different versions of the Starting Strength program, maybe the one described in the book is bs. I wouldn't know because thats not the one I completed. The one I did gave me good results, maybe because it was consolidated into 4 weeks?! But my point was that OP should start with something simple. Although the things you mentioned sound pretty good


What was the 'starting strength' program you undertook?

Starting Strength is a program of longgg history, and Mark Rippetoe wrote a book about it. The original program was written by Bill Starr (could be wrong here)

Anything other than the programs written here http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program

are not Starting Strength.

What you are saying is "I've got an iPhone, it's not made by Apple, but it's still an iPhone. Maybe the iPhone you bought from Apple is BS"
See the analogy?
Reply 33
Original post by WoodyMKC
I've gained over 70lbs of mostly muscle over the last few years barely going a day without either fapping or having sex :lol:

P.S. ICF sucks :biggrin:

P.P.S. Nobody's getting hench in 6 months :tongue:


Why do you think that?
Original post by ivy.98
Someone who started out doing SS before transitioning to BB split would end up looking better, and be stronger compared to someone who started BBing from the very start


:lol: Sorry ivy but from personal experience, I wholeheartedly disagree. I never really did any type of 5x5 or strength routine myself (tried it for 6 weeks after already lifting for about a year I think, but I got bored and wasn't impressed). From day one I was doing a warmup set followed by two sets to failure in the 6-10 rep range for every exercise, doing 2-3 full body workouts a week to start with. It was a dumbbell only routine though so all freeweight exercises, mostly compounds too of course. But BBing has been my focus from the start, I've made better progress than most people around me in that respect and I'm pretty strong too :wink:
Original post by JD1lla
Why do you think that?


30 ****ing sets on a low rep workout, just doesn't even make sense. Not surprising since it came from Blaha, one of the biggest idiots to ever grace you YouTube "fitness" community :biggrin:
Reply 36
Original post by WoodyMKC
:lol: Sorry ivy but from personal experience, I wholeheartedly disagree. I never really did any type of 5x5 or strength routine myself (tried it for 6 weeks after already lifting for about a year I think, but I got bored and wasn't impressed). From day one I was doing a warmup set followed by two sets to failure in the 6-10 rep range for every exercise, doing 2-3 full body workouts a week to start with. It was a dumbbell only routine though so all freeweight exercises, mostly compounds too of course. But BBing has been my focus from the start, I've made better progress than most people around me in that respect and I'm pretty strong too :wink:


People misinterpret the research when it comes to 5x5 or 3x5 or the whole low reps/sets vs 3x10 thing.

It's nowhere near that simple. To be honest, f*ck reps. Your body doesn't understand the concept of reps, it's so arbitrary. Volume and frequency people. You get enough volume and frequency, and implement progressive overload, anything you do will work especially if you hit em with compounds.

After injury/illness, I stopped ICF. I think it's a good program for students or people who have quite a bit of time to spare. On a good day (not busy in the gym) it took me 2 hours to finish it. My gym plays the same music everyday. I was going insane. So boring. It's more of a BB'ing program anyway with an 'emphasis on strength'...as if being strong only means Squat/Deadlift/Press ha.

What are your lifts if ya don't mind me asking?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by JD1lla
People misinterpret the research when it comes to 5x5 or 3x5 or the whole low reps/sets vs 3x10 thing.

It's nowhere near that simple. To be honest, f*ck reps. Your body doesn't understand the concept of reps, it's so arbitrary. Volume and frequency people. You get enough volume and frequency, and implement progressive overload, anything you do will work.

After injury/illness, I stopped ICF. I think it's a good program for students or people who have quite a bit of time to spare. On a good day with empty equipment it took me 2 hours to finish it. My gym plays the same music everyday. I was going insane. So boring. It's more of a BB'ing program anyway with an 'emphasis on strength'...as if being strong only means Squat/Deadlift/Press ha.

What are your lifts if ya don't mind me asking?


This part is very true. Must add though that it's not only this but also volume/intensity-of-effort balance - you can do a 30 set workout, you can do a 12 set workout, either will work if you train according to volume, i.e. you're going to have to put more effort into your sets and go closer to complete muscular failure the less volume you do, but if you can do that, you don't need much volume.

I do always stand by the idea that you're better off going higher into the moderate rep range to build muscle, but if you don't build your strength as well, it's not gonna work either way. People are always asking me for tips on how to make their arms bigger - they're all probably prepared for a specific program that's been the ticket to my gains, or the old "I was told just do compounds and my arms will grow" which I think is BS, if you're training to build muscle and your arms are taken to failure from compounds alone then you're doing them wrong, they should only be assisting the main muscle. On the other hand, I don't do anything special for arms - I've merely just made an effort to get them stronger. Even when people add in arm isolations to their routine, they just tack them on the end, get a pump and it's job done they reckon, but IMO any exercise added is worth doing properly or you might as well not do it. You should be making just as much of an effort to get stronger on arm exercises as you should a bench press or a squat. First thing I ask is, how much are you curling or lifting on skullcrushers? The answer is never impressive. I started out curling 30kg, now I'm curling 60kg. I'm eating to grow, I'm being strict with my form to isolate the muscle and I'm giving it enough work to stimulate growth - it has to grow, simple as.
Original post by WoodyMKC
I've gained over 70lbs of mostly muscle over the last few years barely going a day without either fapping or having sex :lol:

P.S. ICF sucks :biggrin:

P.P.S. Nobody's getting hench in 6 months :tongue:


looool of course its possible without fapping but it will be much easier without it, thats for sure.

ICF definitely does not suck and if his diet is on point and his training is exactly what the program specifies, he is definitely gonna put on noticeable size and strength in 6 months.
eat doughnuts

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