Help???

[K.I.S.S]

Ok so I was making this really long descriptive post and all of a sudden I'm not logged in so I lose it all damn it. Just the basics then.

Hi, I'm 19, 6 foot tall, 150 pounds, skinny, can see ribs. I need a crash course on building muscle, please help me make a plan?

I currently have day A: Arms

Tricep Extension (Or Arm Extension, is that its clone?)
Bicep Curl
Tricep Press
Shoulder Press

And day B: Chest, Abs, Back, etc

Compound Row
Bench
Chest Press
Incline Bench Machine
Pec Fly Red
Pec Fly White
Abdominal Machine
Lower Back Machine
Pullover
Lat Pull Down (Replaced by Pullups)
Vertical Chest

I need 4 of those, which do you recommend?

Someone told me to only pick 4 of each group, and go to the gym each day, alternating the groups. And to stick by each and every one, don't deviate machines at all. Seems boring. Is it right?
He also told me to stay off the free weights, only use machines. I need more opinions.
Also, that I should start at the heaviest weight I can lift only to 10, collapse, and then without any break, lower the weight and collapse, and do that 3 times, and that's the "sets". I always thought there were breaks inbetween sets. He says the only break is when changing machines.

I used to take an hour or 2 or 3, doing all the machines I could, he says I shouldn't take more than an hour, ever.

I hold you guys in higher authority than him, so if you'd please help me out with the best exercises you can recommend, and if should keep following his method, it'd be much appreciated.

One more thing, I figure that once you can do 10 lateral pulldowns (underhand grip) at 90, you can do an actual pullup or 4 (I can do 4). Same type of principle with the bench and pushups. True?

How much is enough protein? I eat 2 meals a day usually, try to eat eggs and chicken and this soy shake with 20g protein in it.

I probably have many more questions, but I'd like answers first (K.I.S.S "Keep it simple stupid" is irony.)

Thanks!

 

[Dutes]

OK, first of all, with the exception of "avoid training more than an hour", all the advice your friend gave you is complete crap. All of it.
Arms don't need there own day if you're a skinny guy just trying to build mass.
Avoid free weights? Ha. Unless you're handling an injury (shoulder, knee or back) and a physiotherapist has told you to replace a specific free weight exercise with a machine exercise then you should ALWAYS use free weights if possible.


Go to this page and pick one of the beginner workouts. I would personally recommend starting strength. Here's a direct link.

Second, if you want to gain mass you need to eat a hell of a lot more. Like A LOT more.
Read this article regarding nutrition.

Third, remember that knowledge is power. Effort without knowledge is wasted effort. There is so much great information out there (this forum is just one, excellent, source) waiting to be plucked like fruit from a tree. READ!


Best of luck!

 

[K.I.S.S]

Hi Dutes, thanks for the quick reply. I knew his advice was weird ha

The twist is that this guy was actually my father, who was in the military, and thus I'd expect him to know something about this. But his whole thing with routine contradicts what I'm now learning about adaptation, so I figured I'd question everything.

So, instead of the machines, I should do freeweights you're saying? I think the reason he told me to stay off freeweights is because he saw me try them and my form sucked. Any pointers? He also said one thing I agree with though about the bench (which someone else said was my "best friend"), better to use the chest press machines then to wind up stuck under the bar because nothing was restricting it (I don't usually go with a friend to spot me)

As for eating...I have no idea why, but no matter what I've eaten I've been at a constant 150 pounds...I think I have extremely fast metabolism or something. I'm never really very hungry often, I just eat because I'm "supposed to", or hungry. Currently, I have about 2 meals per day, breakfast, and dinner. I wake up at about afternoon though...so breakfast is more like brunch. It's usually multigrain cheerios with OJ, or, recently (upon learning of protein intake) scrambled eggs and toast. Then I just eat something else like a sandwich if I'm hungry after that (which I should..since I slept so long.)
I notice no real problem with this habit...but I know it's bad. But if I try to eat more than that, I immediately feel sick. Throughout the day for a snack I usually have oreos, an apple, or both...it's weird to me. OH and on top of that, for the past month and a half since I've started working out I've also been drinking these soy shakes with 20g protein in em with breakfast. They were my only big source of protein, but they won't be for long, we've run out, and now I've switched to chicken and eggs.

The reason I'm in such a bind now is because now I'm stuck with 4 different charts with different workouts that I don't know which one I should follow. Used to be this.

A = Chest, Abs, Etc
B = Arm

A:
Pullover
Pec Fly Red
Lower Back
Abdominal
Pec Fly White

B:
Compound Row
Overhead Press
Biceps Curl
Triceps Extension
Chin Up
Pull Up (Same thing?)

AB: (Yes, because I didn't realize the alternating thing fully.)

Lat Pull Down
Vertical Chest
Bench

He came, argued for a few hours, changed it to this.

A:
Pullover
Compound Row
Pec Fly Red
Pull Up
Lats
Vertical Chest
Bench
Pec Fly White

B:
Bicep Curl
Tricep Extension
Tricep Press
Overhead Press

Told me to pick 4 from A, stick with only those.

So, should I just abandon the charts and machines entirely and do the freeweights instead?

Also, is 10 minutes or a mile, whatever comes first on the ellipticals or bikes, followed by at least 20 minutes of free shot basketball, and stretches, a suitable warmup?

Thanks again! I'll read the posts you gave me

 

[Dutes]

A sample workout I would recommend would look something like this.

Workout A:

Squats
Bench Press
DB Row
Abs

Workout B:
Deadlift
Overhead Press
Chin Ups
Abs

Alternating workouts on non consecutive days (ie. A on Monday, B on Wednesday, A on Friday, B on Monday, A on Wednesday, B on Friday etc.)

Also, you need to eat more. Try to eat small meals every 2-3 hours rather than several really big meals.

Free weights are preferable to machines because they require you to stabilize the weight, which in turn stimulates more muscles, in particular in the core.
Bench Press can be done safely without a spotter, if you can't push it up roll it down to your waist and sit up. Google 'bench press without a spotter' for lots of solutions to the challenge of not having a spotter.


Pointers as to form, look up the exercise on youtube. There are loads of great 'how to's' and tutorials which provide some good instruction as to form.

As for the warm up, 10-20 mins of cardio is sufficient. Stretching should be dynamic if done as part of the warm up. Static stretching immediately prior to exercise reduces power. This is only a temporary reduction but nonetheless is not really ideal before lifting weights.
Free shot basketball doesn't strike me as a conventional sort of warm up but anything that raises your core temperature and gets you puffing a little bit should suffice.