other things I can take to help me build mass

S

specialk12

0
I was wondering if anyone knows something else I could take ontop of my N-large2 protein shake to help me gain muscle.
Are there anyother shakes I can take before a workout or any pills that I can take to help me gain mass??

Another question I have is about soreness. Lately I have been lifting heavy with less reps(about 3-6) and I have been feeling sore the next day. I've really never felt that way before so I guess I'm making some gains. I also weighed myself and I gained about 2lbs since I've been lifting heavy. Some days I feel real sore after working out a certain bodypart and others a feel a little soreness. I workout a certain bodypart once a week.

For example.

Mon
chest/shoulders
Tues
biceps/back
Wed.
rest
Thurs
legs/triceps
Fri(my light day)
try to hit all bodyparts but will lighter weight and higher reps.
sat/sun
rest

Should I switch this routine and instead of giving each bodypart a week rest , give it a 48 hour rest??
So for example if I did the above exercise one week, should I do

Mon
chest/shoulders
Tues
biceps/back
Wed
chest/shoulders
thurs
rest
fri
legs
sat/sun
rest

Can someone give me some advice on this??

thanks so much
:)
 
what are you drinking/eating after your workouts?
 
Specialk12,

You post often with questions regarding your program and I get the impression that you lack confidence or question what methods you are using that include but are not limited to: exercise choice, repetitions, load, rep order, supplements, etc.

As far as are there any things that you can do to gain mass, stick consistently with what you are doing. Give your body some time to adapt, then move on to other repetition schemes and exercises. Monitor and record your progress (weights, sets, reps, your body weight, body fat, energy levels, etc.)

If you are consuming the N-Large post-workout, that is excellent. As far as other supplements, a b multi-vitamin may be helpful, ZMA is also a supplement that is rather cheap ($9 per bottle). It contains zinc and magnesium and can be taken before bedtime. And last, you can consume a high glycemic carbohydrate and protein drink DURING your workouts as well to help increase muscle mass.
 
no offense taken my friend but let me give you some advice.

we come on here to learn and to offer help. no one has to answer your posts or any other posts. we do it to lend a hand, to share our experiences. so its not cool to critize someone who's here to try to help you out.

my question concerned what do you take after your workouts for it is known that if one lacks on postworkout nutrition, they could be compromising their progress.

you answered that you take a protein shake. if you're only taking protein, theres a problem. so i asked if you have any carbs in there because carbs are needed postworkout to refill glycogen levels.

its a step by step process. are you doing this? good, ok are you doing that? great, are you doing the other thing? NO!!!!! there's your problem right there.

you see?

and remember, this isnt only for you. somebody somewhere is also reading these boards. they dont post, they're referred to as lurkers.

yea thats right you lurkers, we know all about you guys and gals. ;)

and that lurker might have the same question you have and read this post and say to themselves, "oops i'm only taking protein postworkout and no carbs. i'm glad specialk12 asked this question. now i know."

it did help someone out and thats what its all about. :)

so if you're pwo shake is good, look to other areas. dont be in such a hurry and start taking a boatload of supplements.

are you eating 5-6 meals a day roughly every 3 hours?

are your workouts sufficient? meaning is you're doing 100lbs for 8 reps and you could have done 15, thats not sufficient.

are you sleeping well?

are you drinking enough water?

how much progress have you made so far?

are you changing up your exericise routine every so often?
 
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In a way I do kinda lack confidence in what I'm doing because I am no expert in exercise. I wish I had taken health science or something in college to help me better understand my body. I do read other peoples post and get some ideas, but their program is different from mine, so i have to take some parts out and try to apply it or change it around to fit my program.
I question my methods because I am seeing some small results. Maybe I'm expecting results to early. But I talk to my friend at work whole also works out and I see that he is in great shape. I mean he has a pretty well defined body. Defined arms, defined chest, back, etc. I just wonder how long it took him to get that. I'm in not hurry to get defined, but I would like to see some results that are noticable. Maybe I look in the mirror too much to see results. hehehehe. I tend to look in the mirror a lot and check out how Im doing and if my program is paying off. Dont get me wrong, I'm not taht guy who checks in the mirror to admire himself. I just do it to see any results. I don't wanna keep doing the same program if I dont see any good results. I'd rather switch it up.

As far as abear's questions, I sleep about 9-10 hours a day. I drink water whenever I can. I try to drink gatorade, becaue my job requires me to walk a lot and I am using up a lot of calories. If I use up more calories than I consume, then I will lose weight.
I eat 3-4 times a day. or every 3 hours.
My morning routine consists of waking up at 11am, eathing 2 packets of oatmeal, and (sometimes) my N-large shake. Then I hit the gym for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I then take my N-large shake and have about 2 eggs. White parts only, and maybe a smoked chicken sandwich, before I go to work. At work I eat protein foods taht consist of beans, and chicken. And a little carbs like rice. After three hours I usually eat myself some oranges. 3 oranges to be exact. I then go home(11:30pm) and either go to sleep or stay up some and eat myself some oatmeal.
As far as my workouts...I am starting to lift heavy and making record of what I do, how much I lift and how many reps I should do.I lift as heavy as I can(without hurting myself)for about 4 sets and until I hit a 1-2 rep limit on my last set.
I switch up routines every 3-4 weeks,but I will prolly switch it up more often so my body doesn't adapt to easily.
I am starting to feel that soreness that you guys are talking about,after my workouts(next day) so I hope thats helping me get bigger. I rest on wed, sat, and sun.
But theres been time where I would weigh myself and I would be at 150lbs(this is in the morning) and about a week later or 4 days later after weighing myself again, I would drop back to 146lbs. It seems that I cant get higher than 150lbs and its frustrating me alot. It seems like alll that hard workout that I do isn't helping me get big and theres been times where i question my workouts.

thats prolly why I question my methods constently.

Sorry for the long ass post. I just had to explain myself a bit. Thanks for taking the time to read it.
 
specialk12, you have a very good thing going for you and that is heart and desire. from reading your posts i can tell you want this and you want it bad. you're in there paying your dues and learning and asking questions. you kinda got on my case when i asked you a question but thats cool.

HAHA, just joking :D

there are some ppl who can see big changes to their bodies in a matter of weeks. for the rest of us, it takes many months. there's also ppl who can train and eat half ass and make great progress while the rest of us work our butts off for little gains. but those little gains do add up over time.

and after all the hard work, when you see the difference it makes it teaches you something. you apply that hard work and patience and commitment and dedication to other areas of your life and it wont be just your appearance that will be improved.

ok, enough of this oprah winfrey crap

when you're trying to gain the last thing you want is for your weight to go down. you're gonna have to start taking in more calories. you dont have to double what you're eating now, but boost up your calories roughly 300 to 500 more.

food provides energy. you say you walk all day at work so thats using alot of energy. you're lifting weights so thats more energy and you're adding muscle and muscle requires energy. so basically your energy (calorie) needs have risen, so you're going to have to provide more to match this.

thats why i didnt want to tell you to buy such and such supplement at first. my opinion is you're not taking in enough calories as shown by your inability to go over 150lbs.

what do you think?
 
im trying to learn about calories also. I have a basic understanding of it and one time I was actually making record of what I ate and how many calories it was, but lately I haven't. The reason behind it is because I dont know how many calories, for example, I am taking when I take out some slices of smoked turkey. I can read the label and make out what its trying to tell me, but I basically have trouble counting my calories.
Maybe thats part of the reason why I've been gaining and losing pounds. Maybe when I was gaining some, I was actually eating 300-500 more calories. When I was losing it, I was prolly eating less calories.

If only I am able to get a better understanding of calories, I'd prolly do better. I know what they are as far as energy and all that stuff, its just counting them and howmuch Im taking in or how much I need to take in, that makes it difficult for me.

As for as what you said abear about having heart and desire, I guess you can say that. I mean, like I said in my earlier posts, I am serious this time. Its not like the last times where I would just go in the gym, do a little cardio, throw around some weights, and bam I'm gone. Its a lot different now. I wnat to know exactly whaat im doing, how much im lifting ,what im eating, etc.
I really have learned a lot from asking questions and reading other peoples posts(as well as looking for info on the internet). I am more knowledgeble now then I was in the past. I am starting to understand more how MY particular body works and how it reacts to certain things I do to it. Like overworking my muscles and lifting to heavy of weights, etc. In a way, I've learned the heard way about it cause I strained my neck a couple of times lifing weights. hehee.I don't do it anymore cause I found out what wrong things I did.

But in all seriousness, I think its the damn calorie intake that is haulting my progress. I wish I could get that damn thing straight.
 
some ppl dont count their calories. i do and i have all my nutrition logs all the way back to 1995 to prove it. does it make a difference? in my opinion it does.

some ppl use

i just use a simple 4X6 tablet. i've been doing it for so long i know the numbers by heart. watch try something. oatmeal, you say?

1/2 cup, 150 calories, 5g protein, 27g carbs, 3g fat

go ahead, try something else. whats that, a can of tuna you say?

150 calories, 33g protein, 0 carbs, 1g fat

what i use to do was write the numbers for the common foods i ate on a piece of paper and refer to that. for some meals you will pretty much just have to make a guess. i remember reading somewhere that a steak with roughly 30 grams of protein is about the size of the palm of your hand.
 
How safe is creatine? Should I talk to a doctor before taking it? I want to gain mass but I don't want any adverse health effects
 
thats really the question right now. its been available as a supplement for around 12 years. so nobody knows the long term effects of it.

personally, i've been taking it since 1995 and i've had no problems whatsoever. but who's to say that 5 years from now something might happen. just dont know.

but i made the decision to use it because its not some foreign chemical substance. its made from 3 amino acids. its found naturally in some foods. thats why it became available as a supplement. instead of choking down all those steaks, you just mix some powder in water and you're done with it.
 
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