If you want to build muscle then the best advice is simply to lift hard and eat big. I stopped lifting over the summer and I feel like a bum now that I'm not working out. I'm definitely gonna get back into it, because I've lost nearly everything I gained before. I did lots of research before I started lifting last time, so I know a good amount of what I'm doing. I can't remember all of it, but here's the gist of it. Some of these are strictly for if you're looking to build muscle mass. If you're trying to cut, then don't eat the million calories you'd eat if you're trying to gain, and vice versa.
For Muscle:
- Eat a ton of calories a day (good calories, not two #3's on the McDonald's value menu)
- Lift 70-90% of your max with a low amount of reps.
- Don't forget cardio!
- For protein, try to eat as many grams a day as you weigh in pounds. If you were to start lifting now, start with about 140 grams of protein/day, and move up to your weight, 180 (grams).
- Grab some protein powder, and even creatine if you feel like it, because they're the only supplements that actually work aside from illegal steroids when you're looking for big gains in muscle mass.
For cutting:
- Cardio, of course. Do this a lot. There's not much else to say.
- Keep lifting. You don't have to go all-out, but why would you not lift if you're already at the gym?
- Don't shave off too many calories from your diet. Still keep your protein intake fairly high. You should be eating with a calorie defecit of 200-400 only. Check this
calorie thing to see what your BASE caloric intake should be based on your weight (ie. the calories your body burns over the course of a normal day). From there, subtract the 200-400 calories.
- If you're into supplements, try the ECA stack (ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin). I used this for a little bit, and it works fucking wonders. Doing HALF of your normal cardio routine on ECA burned more fat for me than a full routine without it. Some people don't want to mess around with ephedrine, though.
For both:
- Mix up your muscle groups, because it really is important to let your body rest.
- Carbs aren't bad for you, but there are good ones and bad ones. Eat lots of whole wheat/whole grain stuff, because the carbs in those are different than those in the white breads. It has a lot to do with your body's sugar levels and insulin, but I don't feel like typing about it just as much as none of you feel like reading about it.
- Eat 6 smaller meals a day as opposed to 3 bigger ones. This increases your metabolism.
- Make a routine and stick to it. No wandering around wondering what to do next.
I can't really think of anything else. I'm glad you posted this because it gave me another reason to start thinking about a new routine, and after typing all this I feel like it's time to get back into it. This is just the shit I used to do at the gym, and it worked very well. Again, all of this just boils down to eating a lot and lifting hard.
EDIT: Don't do the vegetarian thing. The only reason you lose weight on that is because it's unhealthy. Veggies have tons of carbs, and if you don't burn the carbs off your body converts them to sugars which make you fat. You might look skinnier or weigh less, but that's because you lost all your muscle and replaced (some of) it with fat. That's where scrawny guys get their bitch tits. Anomaly or vegan?
