I need some quality advice...

[HAWK23]

alright, I need some advice... I'll give you my specs and routine first:

22, male, 6ft 4in, 182 pounds


Average Eating routing:

8am, 11am, 2ishpm, 6ishpm, 9ishpm, 11:30pm

8am- one piece of ruit, shake (consists of one banana, 2/3 cups oats, 1 tblspoon peanutbutter, 1 cup milk totaling about 475 calories)

11am (when i get back from working out) 2 eggs, yogurt, piece of toast with peanut butter, piece of fruit, glass of milk

2ish- Sandwich with salami/ham something like that, piece of fruit, carrots/celerary, chips (low sodium), glass of milk

6ish- Chicken breast, 2 pieces of fruit, piece of bread, glass of milk

9ish- 2 eggs, glass of milk

11:30ish- Same shake as above (consists of one banana, 2/3 cups oats, 1 tblspoon peanutbutter, 1 cup milk totaling about 475 calories)


Average workout routine:
4 days a week I work my chest and arms (about 8 exercises a day)
2 days a week I work my stomach/back/legs (about 6 exercises a day)
1 day off

On the 2 days I work my legs I also bike ride about 13 miles (i bike to summer class)


Now.. here's my story... I started with a fullblown eating/working out schedule in the middle of may... at that time I was 6ft 4in and weight about 170 now it's the beggining of july and I'm at 182... so this schedule has been working quite well but I'm afraid I'm coming to a point where my routines need to change to continue to gain...

I've always been a tough gainer and my goal to begin the summer was to reach 190 pounds by the middle of August... which seems very doable since I'm only 8 pounds away and it's just the beggining of July...

According to some of the calorie calculators online I've estimated that I need about 3100 calories to MAINTAIN my weight (of 182)... so here is my list of questions that I would appreciate help with:

1. First of all does my workout and eating routine look okay or should I make some changes to one or both? I'm not a novice to this stuff but I'm sure 90%of the people here know more than me.

2. How many calories do you think I should be taking in to gain if I need 3100 to maintain? About 3600-3900ish?? Seems like a lot, any additional tips?

3. For gaining muscle and weight in my situation... is it better to do more reps with moderate weight or less reps with heavier weight? I usually do 3 sets of 10 for most everything...

Thanks a lot, I'll appreciate any help!

 

[Woodt]

alright, I need some advice... I'll give you my specs and routine first:

22, male, 6ft 4in, 182 pounds


Average Eating routing:

8am, 11am, 2ishpm, 6ishpm, 9ishpm, 11:30pm

8am- one piece of ruit, shake (consists of one banana, 2/3 cups oats, 1 tblspoon peanutbutter, 1 cup milk totaling about 475 calories)

11am (when i get back from working out) 2 eggs, yogurt, piece of toast with peanut butter, piece of fruit, glass of milk

2ish- Sandwich with salami/ham something like that, piece of fruit, carrots/celerary, chips (low sodium), glass of milk

6ish- Chicken breast, 2 pieces of fruit, piece of bread, glass of milk

9ish- 2 eggs, glass of milk

11:30ish- Same shake as above (consists of one banana, 2/3 cups oats, 1 tblspoon peanutbutter, 1 cup milk totaling about 475 calories)


Average workout routine:
4 days a week I work my chest and arms (about 8 exercises a day)
2 days a week I work my stomach/back/legs (about 6 exercises a day)
1 day off

You should really try a 3x week full body workout. At the moment that split really isn't effective. Search around.

On the 2 days I work my legs I also bike ride about 13 miles (i bike to summer class) On these two days obviously you are going to need to consume around 1000 calories more to make up for it.


Now.. here's my story... I started with a fullblown eating/working out schedule in the middle of may... at that time I was 6ft 4in and weight about 170 now it's the beggining of july and I'm at 182... so this schedule has been working quite well but I'm afraid I'm coming to a point where my routines need to change to continue to gain... Take it your bulking up then. Are these gains mainly muscle, or is the majority fat? If it's not broke don't fix it.

I've always been a tough gainer and my goal to begin the summer was to reach 190 pounds by the middle of August... which seems very doable since I'm only 8 pounds away and it's just the beggining of July...

According to some of the calorie calculators online I've estimated that I need about 3100 calories to MAINTAIN my weight (of 182)... so here is my list of questions that I would appreciate help with:

1. First of all does my workout and eating routine look okay or should I make some changes to one or both? I'm not a novice to this stuff but I'm sure 90%of the people here know more than me. Your eating looks good, your workout needs changing. You should be doing 3x week full body workouts, like I said search them, but I am in no way one to give advise on nutrition, so I would wait for somebody elses opinion

2. How many calories do you think I should be taking in to gain if I need 3100 to maintain? About 3600-3900ish?? Seems like a lot, any additional tips? Like I've said, if your gaining sufficiently now, don't change your diet until you start to slow.

3. For gaining muscle and weight in my situation... is it better to do more reps with moderate weight or less reps with heavier weight? I usually do 3 sets of 10 for most everything... 3x8 is the general number for bulking up. There are a few good articles on Testosterone Nation. I'm sure somebody can recommend you some

Thanks a lot, I'll appreciate any help!

So basically.

Diet, keep the same unless your gains start ceasing to happen altogether. Eventually they will start to slow down a bit, but that's part of training. Just don't let them stop altogether. Some others might have something to say though.

Workout. Definitely change. Full body.

Good luck.

 

[HAWK23]

thank you very much woodt... and yes I believe the gains are mostly muscle... I can see it in my upper body, I'm very encouraged by it

A few things... when you say change to full body workouts 3 times a week... I'm assuming you mean something like

M W F


Is there anything additional I can do on Tues, Thurs, Sat, or Sun or do I need to strictly rest on these days?? It's just frustrating because I finally have a lot of time to really focus on this... it just seems like those days would be going to waste.

 

[Woodt]

thank you very much woodt... and yes I believe the gains are mostly muscle... I can see it in my upper body, I'm very encouraged by it

A few things... when you say change to full body workouts 3 times a week... I'm assuming you mean something like

M W F


Is there anything additional I can do on Tues, Thurs, Sat, or Sun or do I need to strictly rest on these days?? It's just frustrating because I finally have a lot of time to really focus on this... it just seems like those days would be going to waste.

Really annoys me too. You could just work out every other day, but sometimes having the 2 day break helps. Pressups, pullups, cardio etc. could be done on off days. Also core works pretty good.

 

[Adler1983]

Couple of suggestions.

You seem a bit light on protein. Shoot for at least 1 gram per pound body weight.

However, I disagree with the 3 total body workouts per week. I recommend, for your goals, performing upper/lower splits. You'll target your upper body Mon and Thurs, and your lower body Tues and Sat. This gives you the absolute maximum amount of rest time between workouts.

The reason the I don't have my 2nd set of workouts on Thurs and Fri is because those are the days I choose to do larger compound movements (IE: Deadlifts, Clean/Press), so the extra day off between give my muscles an extra day to rest.

Doing 3 full body workouts per week gives each muscle group one day between workouts (2 on weekends) with an upper/lower split your upper body will have from Tuesday and Wednesday to rest.