Advice on a bulking routine

[Midnight Man]

I'm looking for advice on a bulking routine. I suppose I've never really had a set target of 'bulking' or 'cutting' before but I suppose that over the years my workouts could probably be broadly categorised as one or the other.

Lately I've been focusing more on form rather than weight, intense cardio and have integrated circuits into my workouts. I'm in pretty good shape right now. I'm probably the leanest I've ever been and have good endurance. However, I've lost quite a lot of size and muscle mass and am about 20 - 25 pounds lighter than I was around two years ago. I'm looking to bulk up a bit more again to get some of that mass back.

I know I'll have to increase my calorie intake to see gains. I'm also considering starting to take creatine supplements. In the eight or nine years that I've been going to the gym, I've only ever taken whey protein shakes.

I'm trying to come up with a good workout routine to follow to achieve my goals. I know that deadlifts, squats and bench press are obviously the key exercises that I'll need to incorporate into any routine. Can anyone recommend a routine they've used that's given them good results?

 

[WantMore]

This is whats worked for me to bring me up from 57 kilos to 85 over three years or so

All exercises 1-2 warmup sets with about half the weight of working sets, 2 working sets to positive failure only, reps between 5 to 8. More that 8 reps possible, then increase the weight next workout. Always try increasing the weight anyway as long as you're not sacrificing form.

You said you're focussing on form more than weight... that's good, but to a point. Weight will give you the mass, form will help keep you injury free - if it's actually correct form - but wont do squat for mass. If you're too focused on sacrificing weight for form it will actually make you weaker.

Form should stay perfect or close to especially on squats and deadlifts... on other exercises fine to cheat to get the last rep or two out. Use a spotter always only for bench and squat, hands off bar unless you're stuck... in other words, make sure you do it yourself.

I push the weights up as hard as possible - explosive, lower as slow as possible. Breathe out as weight goes up, in as weight goes down.

I use a dip belt for adding weight for pullups and dips, before I could buy one I used to get someone to put a dumbbell between my crossed feet.

Day1
Squats - below parallel, bodybuilding style
Deadlifts - bodybuilding style
Hyperextensions (sometimes)
Leg Curls
Wrist Curls
Reverse Curls

Day2
Incline Bench
Flat Bench
Bent-over Rows
Weighted Wide-grip Pullups, (pronated, chest to bar)
Calf Raises
Seated Calf Raises
Situps - yes, situps, not crunches
Hanging knee raises, knees to shoulders
Sideways crunches off a hyperextension bench for obliques

Day 3
Dumbbell Shoulder Raises
Laterals, from the side of the thighs to shoulder height, hold for a second
Weighted Dips
Weighted Chinups (close grip, supinated)
4-way neck flexion/extension, holding a plate against my head, lying with head sticking out over the edge of a bench.
Shrugs (I usually do them with a very close grip, hits the upper traps and neck better)

Repeat.

It seems to cover all the bases for me, and I'm in and out of the gym within an hour, including warmup and cooldown.

Might want to skip the cardio if you want to put on mass, or at least cut down the frequency. Creatine's always worked good for me, plain and simple good old creatine monohydrate with a large scoop of glucose post-workout.

 

[TurtleProblems]

If you want weight eat everything, take the supplements with test boosters, stop the cardio. Guess you will just have to experiment with different routines because some things may or may not work. What are your stats atm?

 

[Midnight Man]

Thanks for the routine, WantMore. I'll definitely give that a go and see how it works for me. How many reps should I be looking to do in the warmup sets? Also I forgot to ask in my original post, as I've never used creatine before I'm not really familiar with it -- do I just take it on the days I workout or on rest days too?

TurtleProblems, I assume you mean height/weight, in which caase I'm about 6'0" and 185lbs. At my heaviest I was about 225lbs but that was too big. I was around the 200lbs mark a couple of years back and that was a good size for me. I think I got a bit carried away with cardio and neglected lifting. I'm not looking forward to the inevitable fat increase that will come with bulking but it's the price I'll have to pay. I'll look to cut once I get to the size I want.

 

[Pegasus]

This may help . https://www.pegym.com/forums/exercise-health-forum/34497-weight-gain-old-style.html

 

[WantMore]

Warmup sets to me need just enough reps to make sure everything's working smoothly and no joints or tendons are acting up. I still keep the reps below 8, no point tiring out in the warmup. I should have mentioned that I also do yoga outside the gym to maintain flexibility so you might also want to add something to keep everything limber.

Creatine works by getting saturated in the muscles and aiding in both contractile ability and cell volumization because it absorbs water. You don't need as much as some people claim, and it really doesn't matter what time of day you take it - it's not really either a pre- or post-workout supplement as such. I take it post-workout as it helps to have a lot of simple sugar (glucose) with it to aid absorption, and the only time I want to do that is right after a workout to replenish glycogen.

5-10 grams max daily(any more and you'd just be pissing it away), I use about a normal protein scoop-ful of glucose with that and a 1/2 liter of cold water, shake it up in a shaker and down it right after my last set, before the cooldown. Every day, even on non-training days to make sure your muscles are saturated with it. There's some noise on the net about possible kidney problems with creatine usage - which have never been proven - but you might want to cycle with a week off it every month. I don't do that myself, though, and never had any issues with it. If you eat red meat, which I don't, you're already on creatine. Oh yeah, drink LOTS of water when you're on it even if you don't otherwise.

A lot of good info in the thread Pegasus started and linked to, especially on eating right. Unlike what one of the posters on the first page said, you'll gain on any sort of diet, whatever junk you're putting in your mouth, as long as you're lifting heavy and ingesting sufficient calories and macro-nutrients. However, since you're concerned about adding fat, keep your diet reasonably clean so you don't put on more than you need to. Some amount of fat gain is inevitable as you have to be in a positive calorie balance to bulk up, but you can lose it again while maintaining new mass by keeping the same routine and the weights heavy when you go into your cut.

 

[Midnight Man]

I'm only a couple of weeks into my bulking routine and I think I can already feel the difference. I haven't weighed myself yet and don't intend to for a little while. Much like when starting PE, I don't want to get too obsessed with measurements right at the start! I've maintained a good diet and am finding a good balance between work and working out.

Unfortunately I suffered a back injury at the weekend. I was going for a heavy deadlift and *POP* went my back. It was my fault -- my form wasn't quite right and I should've been wearing a weightlifting belt for support. Lesson learned...

I've been resting it for the past few days. I'm desperate to get back in the gym but I know that's the worst thing I could do before I've healed up. I'm planning to see a physiotherapist tomorrow so hopefully they can help fix me. The pain is more uncomfortable rather than excruciating, so hopefully it's nothing really serious. A little professional manipulation should sort it out.

 

[KungFuJoe]

The most important thing is calories...no workout plan is going to work if you're aren't getting the right amount of calories...and of course, with the kinds of food.

For a routine, check out Doug's 4 day workout.

 

[Midnight Man]

Yup, I've upped my calorie intake and cut back on the cardio for now.

 

[beanule]

I was always skinny when i was younger. Almost five years of simple bulking has seen my weight go from 10 stone to almost 14 and a half and im still fairly lean.

I keep it really simple with three workouts. I go as heavy as possible which is most important for getting bigger.

Work out 1: Bench press 4x5
shoulder press 4x5
Skull crushers 4x5

Workout 2:
Squats 4x5
Leg Press 4x5
Smith machine calf raise 4x8

Workout 3:
Deadlifts 4x5
Barbell rows 4x5
Barbell curls 4x5
Hamstring curls 4x8

I have a day off in between each work out. As far as diet goes, 5-6 meals a day, each with 30 grams of protein in. I could go in to detail on what exactly to eat but it would be a chore to type out and read . Just keep it simple and you will gain weight in no time.

Oh and if you manage to complete the sets and reps at a particular weight, next week up the weight by 2.5kg. Sorry to blab on but this simple approach has really helped me out

 

[WantMore]

Glad the routine was helping, sorry to hear about you throwing your back out MidnightMan.. Still, more than using a belt, I'd advocate perfect form on deadlifts and making sure core strength is balanced all around with equal focus on ab and oblique strength to match your lower back. Biggest cause of lower back issues would be tight hamstrings.
Definitely stay out of the gym till the back heals. Hope the physio helped.
Yeah, and don't ever strain to go beyond your limits by cheating on form... the idea is to train your muscles, not strain your joints.

 

[Raider]

Eat a lot and make sure it isn't junk or fast food! That'll help!

 

[ryansambas]

Half a gallon of whole milk or 2% right after the workout. Obv also need healthy diet lean protein chicken fish... whole milk is better than 2%.

You must be on some crazy diet if you drink half a gallon of milk after a workout

 

[SuperDude]

SKinnybulkup.com is a cool site.

Remember bulking is all about eating. You have to have a surplus of calories to gain body weight in order to gain more mass and muscles.