Bulking up

[Pandora23]

My boyfriend is trying to bulk up and is getting extremely frustrated because he just hasn't been able to. He has a muscular build but is very lean. He does weights about 5-6 days a week and I don't think he really does any cardio. Are there any suppliments that can help or books I could tell him to check out. I think he drinks whey protein and was taking creatine(I probably spelled that wrong) but was not having any luck. Thanks for any suggestions!

[Dodger]

Pandora23,

It is possible that he is over-training. It is important to give the body time to rebuild the muscles damaged by the lifting.

If he wants to build muscle, then he shouldn't be doing cardio.

The only supplements I know of that work are only available on prescription, steroids and human growth hormone.

[lilli]

he isn't resting enough.
is he lifting heavy? he should be.
My BF takes creatine and thinks it helps him. That's the only supplement, though.

If he doesn't know of this site, show it to him:
www.t-nation.com

And tell him to do a search on this guy:
Louie Simmons, of the Westside barbell club.

[Iluv2cook]

the best supplement is food. and he shouldn't lift more than 4 hrs a week.

[lilli]

he shouldn't lift more than 4 hrs a week.

why so few hours? I never heard that one before.

[Iluv2cook]

lifting only provides the stimulus, muscles actually grow during recovery, that is why rest is extremely important...and enough food.

[kbfunTH]

At 5-6 days a week of training, he's going to need an optimum protein intake. If he's not growing, he's not consuming enough. It is also possible that he could be overtraining. The amount of training he is doing can work, but he'll need to structure it correctly.

[BP85]

I lifted 5 days. Did 45 min of cardio on an empty stomach 4X per week and ate 20X my weight in calories. tell him to incorporate creatine.He will need it, trust me. Here is the diet I used for 12 weeks and gained 14lbs and dropped 2%bf:
meal1 pro/carb
meal2 pro/fat
meal3 pro/fat
pre workout pro/carb
WORKOUT
PWO 40g of whey, 40g of maltodextrin, 40g of dextrose, 5g or creatine within 20min of workout
PPWO pro/carb 1 hour after PWO
meal7 pro/fat
meal8/pro/fat preferably 2 scoops of whey, 2 boiled eggs, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1tbsp of flax oil, 1tsp of olive oil

Eat like this m-f, on the weekends eat whatever you want, pizza, donuts, etc., make sure you are getting sufficient amounts of protein in.
*add 500 calories on cardio days, make sure one of the days is on a sunday

Lifting schedule

M-chest,back, calves
T-legs,shoulders,arms
W-calves,abs
TH-chest,back,shoulders
F-legs, arms, abs
lift for about 1.5-2 hours

sleep 8-10 hours per night

It seems like hell, but it willl make your weekends that much better. With the procarb meals his insulin will be spiked, the pro/fat meals will increase his testosterone, and the high protein will increase his growth hormone. Those are the 3 biggest muscle building hormones.. .................hope this helps.

BP85

[BP85]

do 4-5 sets for major bodyparts, 3-4 for minor. Lift in the ranges from 4-8 on major bodyparts, 10-12 for minor, then every 2 weeks, do the exact opposite. He will grow like crazy!

[BP85]

forgot to add.......an wednesday, when the day is designated to abs/calves, ALWAYS perform in the 25-100 rep range.