Skinny Beginner - Gaining Muscles

Hey guys, first i want to apologize for my bad englisch, im from germany. hopefuly you get the point anyways :wink:

i read a lot of articles on T-Nation and they were very useful and interesting.

some facts about my person:
18 years old
149.6 lbs
1 meter and 85 centimeters (6’1" i think?)
im lifting for about 3 months and gained about 11 lbs

the reason why i ask you guys for help is: i want to get real :smiley:
i want to squat ands deadlift to make some serious gains in the future (my current plan, an fullbody workout, doesnt contains this exersices), im very motivated and ready to eat and train a lot.
my problem is i dont know where to start, i think my diet is not that bad im already eating a lot and mainly clean since i started to train. in fact i already reduced the calories of my diet plan to not gaining to much weight + fat.

more important is the trainings routine, im simply lost in the amount of informations. i know i should focus on the basics and progression and that stuff but i want a good approved bodybuidling routine for beginners, not just a few guidelines. i know those sentences like “its not that important how you train at the beginning, because you will make gains anyways” but thats not enough, i want to get the best out of my spent time.

very important: i read a lot about people in this forum who want to become stronger with routines like 5x5, starting strentgh and 5/3/1 but thats not my goal, i just want to gain as much muscles as possible, strength is very secondary. im young and also a bit afraid stressing my joints etc. to much if i would lift heavy with low reps.

if important, supps i take:
whey + dextrose in Post workout shake
casein-shake before bed
i also got creatine at home (will start taking it these days, hopefully with the routine i get out of this thread)

the final question is: wich approved bodybuidling routine for beginners would you guys recommend me to follow for maximal gains in the beginning. :wink:

thanks for reading, my text must sound very weird to you, but i hope its understandable :smiley:

If you’re looking to build muscle cutting the calories because you’re afraid of gaining a bit of fat will get you nowhere. You need to be eating a lot to gain muscle, probably more than you can imagine. Try this four times a day:
meat/fish/eggs
a carb source (rice/pasta/potato/sweet potato)
some green veggies
glass of whole milk

Try that for two weeks and then weigh yourself again. If you haven’t gained up the portion sizes/add an extra meal keep upping your calories until you are gaining a few pounds (about a kilo) per week. Get your diet in order before you start adding in supps like creatine.

Keep the protein though, and have four shakes a day; one when you wake up, one before training, one afterwards, and one right before bed (keeping this one as a casein shake is up to you.) Perhaps take the dextrose out for now and if you’re not gaining weight once you’ve started eating consistently you can add it back in.

In terms of your program, what you need right now is a strength program. To build big muscles you need to be strong, only once you’ve built a solid foundation of strength can you start training like a bodybuilder with focus on mmc and good form as opposed to the weight you’re moving. Buy the new edition of Starting Strength and read it, a lot.

Even if you don’t use the program it’ll teach you how to squat and deadlift and how to bench and press properly because you probably aren’t doing those right either. If you’re feeling brave you could also learn the power clean, which I would thoroughly encourage you to do.

So pick one of the established progams and go at it hard. As long as you train hard and eat hard the program you’re on doesn’t matter too much, but being on an established program will help you avoid any imbalances. If you’re really obsessed with hypertrophy at this point do 5/3/1 with the boring but big assistance template (the one in the book not the three month challnege.)

Buy that book and read it a lot to. If you are concerned about fat loss Wendler does recommend conditioning and sets out ways you can work it into your training, another reason to choose 5/3/1.

As for the stuff about stressing your joints, good form with weights that are heavy, but not too heavy for you, will not stress your joints. Maybe you should also man up a little. That and take fish oils.

Now go out there, lift big, eat big (and fairly clean) and you will see the results you seek.

[quote]Welsh_Lifter_91 wrote:
If you’re looking to build muscle cutting the calories because you’re afraid of gaining a bit of fat will get you nowhere. You need to be eating a lot to gain muscle, probably more than you can imagine. Try this four times a day:
meat/fish/eggs
a carb source (rice/pasta/potato/sweet potato)
some green veggies
glass of whole milk
Try that for two weeks and then weigh yourself again. If you haven’t gained up the portion sizes/add an extra meal keep upping your calories until you are gaining a few pounds (about a kilo) per week. Get your diet in order before you start adding in supps like creatine. Keep the protein though, and have four shakes a day; one when you wake up, one before training, one afterwards, and one right before bed (keeping this one as a casein shake is up to you.) Perhaps take the dextrose out for now and if you’re not gaining weight once you’ve started eating consistently you can add it back in.

In terms of your program, what you need right now is a strength program. To build big muscles you need to be strong, only once you’ve built a solid foundation of strength can you start training like a bodybuilder with focus on mmc and good form as opposed to the weight you’re moving. Buy the new edition of Starting Strength and read it, a lot. Even if you don’t use the program it’ll teach you how to squat and deadlift and how to bench and press properly because you probably aren’t doing those right either. If you’re feeling brave you could also learn the power clean, which I would thoroughly encourage you to do.

So pick one of the established progams and go at it hard. As long as you train hard and eat hard the program you’re on doesn’t matter too much, but being on an established program will help you avoid any imbalances. If you’re really obsessed with hypertrophy at this point do 5/3/1 with the boring but big assistance template (the one in the book not the three month challnege.) Buy that book and read it a lot to. If you are concerned about fat loss Wendler does recommend conditioning and sets out ways you can work it into your training, another reason to choose 5/3/1.

As for the stuff about stressing your joints, good form with weights that are heavy, but not too heavy for you, will not stress your joints. Maybe you should also man up a little. That and take fish oils.

Now go out there, lift big, eat big (and fairly clean) and you will see the results you seek.
[/quote]

I disagree with everything written here.

There is a sticky in the bodybuilding forum full of information for people looking to put on muscle as their main goal:

If you’re looking for a routine, then click on the very first link in that thread “Do This Routine Instead of That Dumb One
” and pick any of the ones laid out there.

thanks Welsh_Lifter_91, i will type some more specific answer later, im currently at work.
im still looking for an bodybuilder(!) routine, there cant be just the strength-method


[quote]Highland3r wrote:
thanks Welsh_Lifter_91, i will type some more specific answer later, im currently at work.
im still looking for an bodybuilder(!) routine, there cant be just the strength-method
[/quote]

Here is an example of an routine for bodybuilding for a beginner.

Day1: Chest and triceps.
Flat bench with DB or BB: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
Incline bench with DB or BB: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
Dips or close grip bench: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
scullcrushers: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.

Day2: Lats and biceps.
BB or DB row: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
chins/pulldowns: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
Pullover/pushdowns for lats: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
BB or DB curls: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.

Day3: rest.

Day4: Legs.
Squat: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
Legpress: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
RDL: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
Legcurls: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.

Day5: delts and upperback.
BB or DB OHpress: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
lateral raises: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
rear raises: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.
shrugs: 3-5 setts x 6-12 reps.

You can alternate between finishing your sessions off with either calves or abs.

Progression, sets and reps etc: Build up to one or two topps setts with 6 to 12 reps on all compound movements. The first week you can build up to a weight you are only able to get 6-8 reps on and then stay on that weight for the upcomming weeks untill you are able to get 12reps on it. Then you find your new 6-8rm.
On isolation excercises you can do all 3-5 setts on the same weight.

If you use this split, then feel free to substitute excercises if you need to, but try to find similar excercises, this split is based on variations of the most common and basic excercises. If you feel you need conventional deadlifts, you can add it in on your back day.

You can also read all articles here about program design for beginners and make you own, you will probably learn alot from that.

Just and idea.

thank you very much florelius, thats exactly the kind of help i was looking for. im just wondering why you suggest an 4-day-split routine? in german boards the most user say its much better for an beginner to start with an full body workout or an 2-day-split. im interestet in 3 or 4 day splits but i would like to hear what your thoughts are about that. :slight_smile:

[quote]Highland3r wrote:
thank you very much florelius, thats exactly the kind of help i was looking for. im just wondering why you suggest an 4-day-split routine? in german boards the most user say its much better for an beginner to start with an full body workout or an 2-day-split. im interestet in 3 or 4 day splits but i would like to hear what your thoughts are about that. :)[/quote]

Well if your goal is to gain mass and build a good looking body, then it makes sense
to tailor the routine after that aka focusing on building up all your muscle groups instead
of focusing on bringing up some particular lifts. I am myself training to get stronger in the four big lifts, so my routine is geared towards that, meaning I dont train a bodypart split myself. If your goal is to become strong as fuck then stronglifts, 5/3/1 etc are probably better than a bodypart split like the one posted above.

In the end it the type of routine you do dont matter much if your diet sucks and you dont do it for a long period of time. You dont get a super body in 8 weeks, it takes years, so consistency and diet is also important aspects of training.