i wanna get big

draps

hi all im after a bit of advice. i have been training on and of for about 2 years and i really want to start adding some real size to myself. i have a small problem, im in the army so i cant afford to get fat and i still need to be able to run. :? so what do u recon can it be done? my stats are - hieght 5ft 7
wieght 78kgs
arms 14 inches
chest 44 inches

Anonymous

hello draps welcome to the musclechat board

your in a tricky situation mate,whats your current protein intake like?

also what is your current training like.

i dont no alot about the army,but do they let u have a good choice of foods.

let us no mate

cheers steve

draps

my current protien intake is ok i think, i eat loads of tuna, chicken and ive just started taking progain which i thought id already finished( i found it in my wardrobe). i take this first thing .

my training consists of a four day cycle where i do a diffrent body part each day.
mon chest
tues arms
wed shoulders
thur legs
i try and do a bit of cardio but its just trying to find the time.
food wise there is no problem as im married and i live out of barracks so the choice is mine. we try to eat a clean healthy diet but you know the score we all slip from time to time.
so any thoughts on what to do,or changes to my diet or training would be appretiated

Anonymous

hello mate,

u eat plenty of protein which is good,the progain u take is this the one by maximuscle?i belive this is designed to put weight on,

do u eat many carbs?

to gain muscleweight

u could try slowly increasing the amount of carbs u have each day,once you reach a sticking point ,try just upping them about 500 calories a day,
until u reach another sticking point,then up it again.

and just eat the same amount of protein each day,i go for 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight.

my tip is to just play around with the carbs.

i notice u did not mention back in your training,do u train back?

your training seems alright,a bodypart each day,i do this aswell.

i tend to have a cheat meal a couple of times a week now,this keeps me sane

anything else please ask mate,im more than happy to help u out.

cheers for posting

steve

draps

i eat carbs but dont really know that much abuot them to comment on whether im eating enough or not, i basically just eat potatoes,pasta and rice. but i dont know thier content :? so a bit of pointing in the right direction would be appreciated
cheers, draps :?

Anonymous

at first calculating carbs can look quite hard but really it is very simple.

what i do is look at the back of food packs,for the nutiritional bit.

here u will find all the info.

there is 4 calories per gram of carbs,so to get a extra 500 calories a day.

u would need to eat 125 grams of carbs.

in a 100 grams of brown rice there is about 70 grams of carbs(depending on the make u buy)

just basically calculate it to the desired amount u need,

a good set of scales is a must.

rice and pasta are quite similar in content i think(i only eat rice)

im unsure about potatoes,

it might say on the pack u buy.

i hope this helps draps

probably sound like a load of mumbo jumbo

steve

garethxxx

Welcome to the board draps, great top have new people!

Interms of gaining size and muscle, the basics are if you want to gain weight, then a heavier fatty diet is needed. Dont go any higher than 50g of fat, but increase your carb intake by a further 100 - 150g.

Just like Steve said, this is the best way of gaining size.

Protein helps develop and sustain your muscle mass. Protein shakes will help keep the form and size after a workout, and plenty of water will keep your muscles full.

Keep your protein intake high, as high as you want really. You wont gain any weight by eating pure protein, but this will help pack on the muscle.

For carbs, stick with Brown pasta and rice. However, pasta does retain water. As for potatoes, they are ideal as they dont retain water, but the problem is you can gain weight very quickly with just eating them, they lie in your stomach and can take a while to digest. Eat them once or twice a week, this will help keep the weight down, and eating the right foods, will help you bulk out.

Best of luck, and keep us informed my good man!

Bungee

Hi Draps
all good advice from Steve and Gareth, my experience with diets are a little different in some areas, I eat as little carbs as I can get away with .
for some reason I'm assuming that coz you're in the army that you are training drug free, dunno if thats the case. anyhoo, you wont need to get fat or 'bulk up' to build muscle, I've been there and dont recommend it to a natural.
you will, however , have to experiment with your diet to see how your body responds unfortunatley, everyone is different.
I would recommend a starting point of 6 meals per day, with 3 hours in between each. Like Gareth already mentioned its the protein that builds muscle so you're gonna want to get enough. As a natural, however, I would put a limit on the intake.
this is only from personal experience, I know guys who take in between 500 - 700 grams of protein per day BUT I have had better results on 250grm than I had on 350grm.
anyhoo, at 78KG bodyweight, I would aim for around 200grm of protein per day, to see how your body reacts. split this into 33 - 35 grm of protein per meal. I'll have to defer the quantity of carbs to the other guys coz I hate 'em (the carbs, not the other guys)
food wise I thin Gareth covered the rice/pasta/ potato thing. out of all of them I would go for the brown rice.
a great source of carbs is oatmeal, not the instant flavoured stuff but the old fashioned whole oats.
if you've gotta eat bread make sure its not white. multi-grain aint too bad.
stay clear of meals which are both high in carbs AND high in fats. if you're eating a meal wich is high in fat (which is ok imo) like say eggs/bacon make sure the carb content is low.

the diet is the hardest bit to get right and will take a bit of arseing about but its the only way to make decent gains. good luck bro, I'm sure you'll nail it

draps

thanks for the advice guys ive not been in for a few days coz im away parachuting. im not getting in till late then its bed time so im not training much neither but i will be back in full swing in around 2 weeks. ive just orderd some stuff from affordable supps,have n e of u tried the following?
san v12
san trivbuvar
reflex instant whey
if u havent tried the site go check it out affordablesupplements.co.uk
it is a good site i think
but still keep me posted about stuff i appretiate it
cheers draps

mark

Carbs and diets baffle me aswell mate, I made the mistake of getting carried away cos I was putting on weight and ended up putting on loads of fat. Currently trying to eat few carbs after 1 o clock (or thireteen hundred hours to you Army guys!) and lots of protein, luckily I like Tuna which is high in portein and really cheap!

Keep us informed of how you get on mate.