Tips for "Bulking up"

This is an EMS forum. While we have a health and fitness section, most of EMS has proven itself a poor resource for fitness information.

That said, direct yourself here for all the answers you seek.

Www.Forum.bodybuilding.com

Furthermore, invest in a membership to a REAL gym (not a place full of machines I.e planet fitness) or invest in an Olympic bar and 225 lbs of assorted plates.
 
Crossfit has worked well for me in terms of building muscle, dropping weight and improving cardio. I like the varied work outs and the high intensity.

I was extremely out of shape when I started. I covered well at work with brute strength but I was destined for injury and sweat like a pig doing stair chair lifts.

Seems popular with emergency services around here. My CrossFit box has a lot of medics and a couple of cops. The one my partner goes to is owned by a couple of cops and has a tonne of medics, cops and fire going there.

I can't speak too much to bulking up. Just make sure you're not loading up on junk. You don't want to increase your weight blindly versus adding muscle. Adding 50 lbs of pure fat isn't any better than 100 lbs of lean bean pole.
 
Screw the workout at this point. Calories in vs calories out. You need to eat more. A lot more. Consider a weight gainer but GNC is the last place I would buy it. And if you do workout do compound exercises as suggested.
 
Anonymous said:
Screw the workout at this point. Calories in vs calories out. You need to eat more. A lot more. Consider a weight gainer but GNC is the last place I would buy it. And if you do workout do compound exercises as suggested.
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Screw the workout? That's just called getting fat... Don't listen to this guy, except for the Gnc last resort thing. Much more expensive than a small nutrition store, or online.
 
The man is 100lbs, has a manual labor job and everyone here is suggesting workouts for him to further increase his energy expenditure?

Getting fat is the last of his worries at this point unless you really think a 23 year old 100lb bean pole with a physical job has no more lean body mass to put on.

Also, because food to most EMS personell means burgers and fries does not mean that is what I was implying.

Funny thing is he is ALREADY working out and not seeing progress. Hmmmm I wonder why. Could it be he is not eating nearly enough to support growth?
 
Do we know it is a man?
 
Veneficus said:
Do we know it is a man?
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Touché

In fact I have a lot of questions for the OP such as height, bodyfat, current diet, current lifting program, medical conditions etc; however, I don't want it to be interpreted as medical advice.
 
Anonymous said:
Touché

In fact I have a lot of questions for the OP such as height, bodyfat, current diet, current lifting program, medical conditions etc; however, I don't want it to be interpreted as medical advice.
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That is why I said what I did and didn't go there.
 
NYMedic828 said:
This is an EMS forum. While we have a health and fitness section, most of EMS has proven itself a poor resource for fitness information.

That said, direct yourself here for all the answers you seek.

Www.Forum.bodybuilding.com

Furthermore, invest in a membership to a REAL gym (not a place full of machines I.e planet fitness) or invest in an Olympic bar and 225 lbs of assorted plates.
Click to expand...

Half of what came after this was not as useful.
See your doc, make a plan, follow it. Do nt depend upon anonymous chuckleheads like us to address failure to thrive ;) in an adult. Get well, be happy!
 
If you do go to bodybuilding.com, check out Skip LeCour's stuff. He also has quite a bit on youtube as well. Bulking up in a good way has much to do with genetics. From the sound of it, gaining size will be a challenge and may take some time.

Skip advocates a low volume style of training that uses 3 sets per exercise with 3-4 exercises per bodypart.

Key factors in making gains will be to train with Intensity as the number one factor. This doesn't mean lifting the heaviest weight you can, but rather using a load that makes it challenging to finish each and every set, except warm ups.

As mentioned before, caloric intake is very important. Diet makes up 75% of the picture. Multiple, clean meals, balancing carbs, proteins and fats. Maybe a couple of protein drinks with a piece of low glycemic fruit a day, the rest of the meals and snacks made up of real foods (avoid the processed crap every chance you get). Water is important, 8-8oz glasses a day, this doesn't mean coffee and energy drinks. I'm not against them, but use them in addition to the water.

Sleep makes up 15% of the program Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.

That leave exercise at 10% of the picture. Follow a routine like Skip's, stay with it for six months without changing to something else. It takes that long to know if the program really works for you.

Remember, training is simply a stimulus for change. It's what happens between the workouts that makes it all come together.

Good luck to you.
 
Exercise
Lift heavy. Heavy means a weight where you max at 4-8 reps per set 3-4 sets. Split your days into muscle group (i.e. mon-chest & triceps, tues-legs, wed-back/biceps, etc...) and hit about 4-5 different lifts per day.

Nutrition
Lean meats, complex carbs, and healthy fats. If you're having trouble adding calories keep in mind it is easier to drink your calories than to eat them. I juice fruits/veggies, low sodium V8 all day, and such. Peanut butter is good in between meals too.

Supplements
Whey protein shakes are a must. Drink a shake in the morning, post-workout, and right before bed. If you want to add more cals, try blending two cups of milk with the protein powder, banana, and a scoop of pb, (raw egg optional). Tastes great.


I went from a scrawny 150 to a muscular 192 in about 5 months. It's simple but not easy. Good luck.
 
TheGreatBakedPotato said:
Usually around 2000 to 3000 calories.
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That sounds like your problem right there, especially if you lead an active lifestyle. Increase your caloric intake, healthy foods of course, and you will see progress. It can be difficult for some people to cram all that food down your gullet, but that's how you gain weight, period.

Limit your cardio, focus on compound lifts, and eat big.
 
Hit up your local GNC or Max muscle for some protein and mass gainer and hit the gym
 
GNC is way over priced. Max muscle, nutrishop, and vitamin shop will have everything you need. I wouldn't recommend GNC to my worst enemy.
 
TheGreatBakedPotato said:
Basically I am a 23 year old, 100lb bean pole! I am attempting to bulk up in hopes of getting a job with a fire/EMS service. I have been working out but I haven't seen much progress as far as strength, I have the endurance part down! Contantly eating doesn't work either, I have been doing that for years! Any tips are helpful!!
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Hey bud,

I'm 6'2 and 188 lbs, so your 100 lbs needs to be taken into consideration with your height, as well as your body mass index. It sounds like you're a classic ectomorph like I am, and we require special considerations for gaining weight because our metabolism (or at least yours) is high and you'll tend to burn 2,000 calories just being you each day.

My big suggestion to you is to take in at least 1.5 grams of quality protein per pound of body weight per day as a start. Consult bodybuilding.com for lots of recipes for shakes and blogs for ectomorphs and hard-gainers. I also include a casein protein shake at night because it is a slow digesting protein and feeds your growth all night long.

Essentially you're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way: increase calories, decrease cardio, take in lots of high-quality protein. It'll still be tough, and expect to put on a little body fat in addition to muscle, but that will come off during the "cutting" phase when you increase your cardio and decrease weight-lifting.

Again, bodybuilding.com is a good resource.

Cheers,
E.M.
 
simply follow two points to bulk up
1 increase your calories intake
2 try some exercises which boast your metabolism and help to gain some weight
 
What I have to say is this: 1.5 grams of protein per pound is a LOT of protein. Try something more like 1.5 g/Kg for daily needs for protein. Make sure it's high quality, complete protein. Also increase your fat intake, not by much, but that can help add calories. You don't want to add calories by adding carbs. Those are used relatively quickly and what's not immediately used is stored as fat. Chances are good that you're getting more than sufficient exercise, so try to calculate your daily calorie needs and then add about 500 Calories to that.

You really should consult a sports nutritionist and you've gotten some good advice here about bulking up. Just make sure you do your research and take a look at the typical "exercises" that EMS does as part of the daily routine of moving patients and equipment around. I think that since you're eating between 2,000 and 3,000 Calories per day and maintaining your weight at about 100 lbs, you probably just need to add some calories. Also, if you're male, you'll be able to put mass on without too much difficulty. If you're female, that's a whole different deal. You won't bulk up like the guys do and if you're considering supplementing, try to avoid proteins that also are precursors to testosterones (anabolic steroids) because those can do much bad stuff to you as they have a nasty habit of masculinizing females, not just in adding muscle bulk but also can cause some of the cardiovascular problems that plague males too.
 
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