You need to set yourself targets to reach and design a plan of action for those targets. You also need to know what effect the exercises will have on you i.e. repitition range to work in, intensities etc. This will all depend on you experience in strength training.

Nutrition is also very important. You need to consume enough or more calories to help the muscles grow and get heavier/bigger.

These are all considerations if you want to get bigger. But if you are only trying to look better, there is no need to start piling on weight. You can tone and sculpt your body without having to put on lean muscle mass. Address yours goals carefully then decide what s the best type of training for you.

Hi,

Maybe you could try this site for a few more ideas www.weighttraiining-advice.co.uk

Cheers
Micky :P

in simple terms you need to eat more calories than you are burning. Combined with a bisic weights program targetting the major muscle groups, (agonists and antagonists), you can make sure most of your weight gain is in muscle.

Sounds lto me that any excess calories in your system that could be used to build new muscle is being used up for your cardio training, maybe try stepping down on the cardio.

Hi Redarnet

I used to have a similar problem a while ago... I weighed 65Kg, am 5'8" and used to train for rowing 7 times a week - most of that was cardiovascular work (on the water and on the indoor-rowing machines) with only the odd weight-session mixed in.

Protein drinks, I thought would help me put on muscle but instead I lost a lot of body-fat (now at 5.5%), was always low on energy. I looked at what I was doing wrong because my weight would not increase at all (which is something I was aiming for increasing lean-muscle-mass!).

I looked at what I was taking (supplements), eating (calorie-intake) and the actual training undertaken. I have since switched from 7 (mainly) cardio-sessions per week, to two proper weight-sessions in a gym (about 1 hour each) and 4 cardio-sessions (mainly on the water).

Supplement-wise I now do the following, have a full breakfast with a supplement from Maximuscle called "Progain" (500ml of Water with two scoops), then if I am going to the gym I use creatine and mix 250ml water with one scoop of Progain, then another 250ml water +1 scoop after the gym. Have a nice dinner (usually pasta, being a rower) and then a protein supplement-shake.

The Progain-stuff contains a lot of complex carbs (about 450kcal)... as well as 32.40g of Protein. During the day I look to drink about 2 Litres of water to ensure really good hydration, and take food in small quantities often (for a faster metabolism).

I would recommend wearing a heart-rate monitor to see how many calories you are burning up in a session, that way you can more accurately judge what you need to take in per day (Kcal-wise). With my protein supplement, I am aiming to fulfill a ratio of 2g of protein per 1Kg of body-weight.

I have since managed to get my weight up to about 72Kg (11stone) and my body fat has increased only slightly to a more healthy 10%. My definition has thankfully improved.

In summary

= Reduce the cardio-sessions

= Wear a hear-rate monitor (like the Polar M32 which shows calories burned per exercise session)

= Train at least twice a week in the gym with a proper programme

= Look at supplementing you diet with extra complex carbohydrates (for example Maximuscle's "Progain" - www.maximuscle.co.uk)

= Aim to get 2g of Protein per 1Kg of body-mass every day.

= Look into using Creatine for your weight sessions and ensure you stay hydrated when you are using it!

Hope this helps....

L.

Litew8,

Thank you so much that sounds great. I will try my best and look into those protein powders. I find i feel quite full after protein drinks

What are the best weight sets I can do? Squats and deadlifts, benchpresses etc?

Any info I really appreciate.

redarnet

Hi Redarnet

I made up my own programme but am not a gym-instructor/sports-coach... so my ideas could not be the optimum ones for you. But here is what I do

I do two sessions a week, one for strengthening the muscle, and the other to increase their size (Hypertrophy?!). Both sessions use the same machines/free-weights but differ in their weights-loading.

The strength sessions are lower weight (about 60-70% of my max on that machine) but with higher repetitions (aiming for strength-endurance).

Session two, I use to build up, so I aim for 90- 100+% of my max trying to do the last set on each exercise to failure.

The exercises I do are

Rowing machine warm-up for 10 minutes
Narrow-grip bench-pull 4 Sets x 10 Repetitions
Wide-grip bench pull 4x10
Chest-press 4x10
Lateral-pull-down 4x10
Shoulder-press 3x10
Leg-press 4x15
Leg-extension 4x15
Abductors 3x20
Adductors 3x20
Sit-ups 5x20
Warm-down (Rowing machine for 5 minutes)

Because I am looking for increasing and strengthening muscles in most areas of my body, I use a programme that tries to cover them all though I know a lot of people who split their work-outs into upper and lower body so that they spend one session on upper and one on lower..... I have only two sessions per week in the gym, the rest is training on the water/crew so I am trying to get the most out of the session.

Each session takes about 1 hour and it goes quite quickly, so I try to keep the chatting to other people there at a minimum.

It might be worthwhile for you to speak to a Trainer/Coach at your gym, he/she will be able to provide you with a better approach than mine!

Either way, I wish you the best of luck! Let me know how you get on!

L.

i would like to point out something very good that Alexwolf said.

He said to address your goals very carefully, maybe fat-burning might be a solution too.

For example i spent my first 5 years of training just trying to build muscle, i thought this was the solution to looking better... and therefore feeling better.

I made gains yes but looking back now there was always a significant layer of fat laying over the muscles.

After this i burnt away all my excess fat, and even though i actually lost a bit of muscle in the process, i look much MORE muscular now. A fact that i didnt realise in my early training days.

So dont just rush headlong into building muscle without questioning what is right for YOU.

Litw8 and white,

I thank you both very much for your input. The weights programme I have just put together is quite similar so I think I am heading in the right direction. Most important for me is more protein in my diet. I live in Australia and cant seem to find Progain but have found something called Nitro-tech is this okay? Or stick to a more common protein powder.

Thanks guys

reds

Hi Red

I have been advised that Whey protein is better than for example Egg-protein/Cassein/Soya protein.

I have not heard much about Nitro-Tech to be honest so can't really say. As long as you get on ok with it, you like the taste and it provides you with Protein. Please don't forget that you also need to get plenty of calories into you! This is why I use two products, one for the Kcals as a supplement to my normal meals, and another for the extra protein.

When I used the protein on its own, I didn't really achieve much of a result!

L.

Putting leam muscle mass(LMM) on may effect your ability/technique of cycling if to much is put on. As white reinforced, look at what you will achieve from the LMM. Also the amount of cardio is very high for effective hypertrophy. body building weight training (i.e. lots of hypertrophy) is not condusive for sports performance. It is ok in a phase of training but not for a single session per week every week.

Remember to progress with training - 3 sets of 15 is ok but where is the overload? if you consistantly use the same reps and sets, there will be a limited change in loading and progression. You should be ablr to increase volume of training by 20-30% per year plus make strength gains year on year. You need to set cycles and programmes that look at increasing vol and intensity (depending on cycle). For sports performance, look at phasing training - anatomical adaptations, hypertrophy, max strength then closer to in season, develop the strength needs ie power/strength endurance etc.