Wanting to gain muscle mass - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

Sir Charles · 09-22-2005, 10:59 PM

I'm really wanting to get into bodybuilding pretty hardcore, but I'm having trouble not necessarily gaining weight, but gaining without putting on too much fat. I'm about 200 right now, I'd like to be about 220 to 230 at a show weight body fat %.

I talked to some body builders here at purdue and they told me I needed to take in more carbs. I was trying to build on protein alone and hoping to burn body fat. I have a question on that though, why would carbs help build muscle, I thought it was protein that rebuilds muscle? Also how many carbs should I be taking to put on muscle without putting on fat? I get about 3-4 days/week of about 45min of intense cardio as well. Also about how long will it take me to put on 20-30+ lbs of muscle?

Thanks for any help sorry for all the questions, but I have one more question. Are reduced fat wheat thins a good source of carbs or is that a no no. If they are good I will be a happy camper, I just love those things hehe.

Sir Charles · 09-26-2005, 11:19 AM

Bump, please can anyone help me if you have any questions on something about my diet etc, just let me know.
Thanks

Sixbells99 · 09-26-2005, 01:09 PM

30lbs is 13kg that’s going to take some doing. A lot will depend on genetics and also diet and your training program and age.
It’s rare to be able gain more than 25lbs of lean muscle in a year even with the very best diet and training program. More realistic in my view would be around 10 to 15 lbs. It’s also normal to put on a little fat with more weight. In fact it’s very hard to have very low body fats and a lot of lean muscle. It’s no coincidence that in the 70’s we started seeing super lean super massive bodybuilders at the same time steroid use became rife. As it’s very hard to almost impossible to be super large and super lean naturally. That’s why many people do bulking programs and then diet after they have achieved the mass. But just experiment with different training systems and different diets and see what works best for you, what may work for one may not work for another; a lot of it is out of your hands and depends on your genetics.

Sir Charles · 09-28-2005, 09:22 AM

Well, I've been mass building now for about a month or so, and I've noticed some gains. My upper arms have gone from 15.5" to 16". Fore arms 12"-12.25", chest has from around 45" to 47", quads from 26" to 26.5". But my waist has gone from 34" to about 34.5" I have gone from about 200-205lbs to around 210-213lbs. I've been getting over 200 grams of protein per day, I have started taking creatine monohydrate, and I've been taking in about 300-400 grams of carbs too. So should I start cutting back on carbs a bit? Maybe to 200g/day or less? Thanks for any more help.

Charles

Sixbells99 · 09-28-2005, 12:12 PM

With the rules of adaptation your going to build muscle faster in the first few months, then it will probably slow down. It may also go in bursts. I find I gain strength before I gain mass, but each person is different.

Creatine may help, perhaps by 10% - 15% although with some people it has no effect at all. Again it’s a matter of trying it and seeing. As for cutting back on the carbs, all I will say is it’s very difficult to build muscle if you body is not getting enough fat or energy. Protein alone is not enough. At the same time I advise experimenting with your diet to find out what works best for your body. Some people are very luck and naturally have low body fat levels and can build mass. Others need to bulk and once they’ve gained the mass then they strictly limit their diets.