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Originally Posted by mexicanonabike
ah cool stuff.
i have a question for you: i'm super thin but i'd like to get toned up on my upper body(arms and stomac) how do i gain muscles there? what sports or excersises and what type of food would work best? if this is too much to ask, let me know.
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I battled the same problem for years, too skinny and gaining mass was hard for me. I know...good problem to have. I would suggest the following for your upper body. For your chest, do a flat bench. This will work your chest and triceps in a serious way. For your arms, if you have access to a pull up bar, grab it with your palms facing inward. You want your forearms to hang perpendicular to the ground, this usually equates to 8-10 inches between your hands. For abs, you can elect to do sit ups or crunches, which ever is most comfortable. Make sure you use proper form. Form is essential for abs.
The best activities for fitness are swimming, biking and running. Do either of these for 30 - 60 continuous minutes at a high intensity and in two months you will love the results, as long as your diet is helpful.
Some diet suggestions would be limited sugar, nothing fried. Try and eat very few processed foods and cook your own meals (that way you know what is really in them). If your diet isn't right, your physique won't be either.
Hope this helps.
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Originally Posted by noahfor
i know i'm not the thread starter, but i might as well throw this in here, and the thread starter can add or subtract from what i've said, or correct me if i'm wrong:
i'm assuming by tone you want to build muscle, since that's really the only thing that's going to change the way your muscles look, since you said you're already super thin
your upper body will gow faster if you work your lower body as well. build your routine around heavy compund lifts: deadlifts, squats, dips, pull ups, rows, bench press, military press. pick weights that you can only do between 6-15 reps with, and just do a couple sets per exercise 1-2 times per week. take it slow. learn good form. try and increase the reps, weight, sets, or time in between sets every workout.
eat clean and healthy, whole foods: meat, fish, chicken, turkey, yams, sweet potato, brown rice, oats, corn, nuts, peanut butter, cottage cheese, boiled eggs, lots of veggies, fruits, stuff like that
1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight, .4 grams per pound of fats, and toy around with carbs until you are gaining ~ a pound per week.
i'm writing this assuming you're a guy, i didn't look at your name, but even if you're a girl i bet you'd be happy with the results of this kind of training, maybe play with the diet so you're only an ounce a week or something like that
remember abs are like any other muscle, if you want them to show lose fat, if you want them to grow use low reps and heavy weight, only do 100's of crunches if you want muscular endurance in your abs
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I agree with this, very good. For beginners, overhauling your diet is very tough and should be done over time to lead to longevity. The foods you eat and crave are very much a part of your lifestyle. This needs to develop over time. Any one can start with small goals, no fried foods, little sugar, no late carbs. Have a long term goal and remember no one is perfect. One thing I have done for a while is through out the week, eat like you should to gain your goals, then once a week for dinner eat what ever you want.
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Originally Posted by noahfor
i have a question as well: i want to get better at rock climbing, specifically bouldering. what is the fastest way to accomplish this? should workout besides climbing, or will that hinder my gains? any tips will be appreciated. if you don't know about climbing specifically, that's cool.
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You want to focus on the muscle groups that you will be using constantly while climbing. I would certainly suggest a specific workout for it, but different than what most do in the gym. All the normal routines are fine, bench, squats, etc, but for climbing you need endurance. I recommend organizing a workout based on specific muscle usage.
Start with a wrist curl, hold a dumbbell and curl your wrist all four directions. Then a preacher curl. For endurance you can do 10 sets of 10. Light weight of course, your last few will be tough.
Then various pull ups with different grips. Palms facing towards, then away, then palms facing each other. The last one you will have to do twice. Right hand closer then left hand closer.
Hope this helps.
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Originally Posted by ironman
I'm a beer lover, usually i drink 1 beer every night when i get home. I started doing the MAX OT routine 2 weeks ago after a year of no weight lifting. Should i cut off the beer? Should i cut of the alcohol ingestion?
I'm not interested in bodybuilding, just having a nice lean body.
Thanks.
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Alcoholic drinks are empty calories, meaning there is little or no nutritional value. Consuming more than moderate alcohol could make it harder to attain your desired physique. I would recommend limiting your alcohol if you notice weight gain given you are working out and eating right; or an inability to fall asleep. Otherwise, if it is something you like to do and you don't notice any consequences, don't sweat it.