If your serious about it, take a month or two of all other exercise. Do the weights as recommended. Lots of rest in between sessions. And eat eat eat...
You could always read the Four Hour Body. Skim read it though, you can ignore all the motivational stuff 🙂
I've done weights a handful of times in my life, and very rarely even done stuff like press ups, but I don't think anybody could suggest I have a lack of upper body muscle
That can be genetic too though. I lived with a guy who did no exercise but looked like Michaelangelo's David.
but looked like Michaelangelo's David.
He had a very small penis?
Genetics, eh?
I'd go all body building forum here and post an upper body photo, but I'll save myself the embarrassment 🙂
Small terrace house, no garage, not much space.
Which one?
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Both look like they need to get in the gym.
He had a very small penis?
Possibly, judging by his track record with women.
I'd go all body building forum here and post an upper body photo, but I'll save myself the embarrassment
Come on - I posted my 'before' photos.. you can do it!
Here is me:
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😉
As you can see, the perfect physique for mountain biking.
So that's who nicked my tin of Ronseal!
and I found it seriously uncomfortable
You're going to have to push yourself to build muscle...no pain, no gain and all that.
Sounds like you're too busy with the other exercise to give it a try. Quit playing football one night a week or something.
Is MTFU what you're all looking for as the answer? 😉
I know that I need to make time for it, and 30-45 minutes is all that is required 3 x week.
so from the above....
eating in the region of 4-5K cals per day*
lay off your existing OTT aerobic exercises
train twice a week
wait for a year.
bask in your results.
*from personal experience i can tell you that 'bulking' your balanced diet from 3K to 5K with tangfastics and fizzy pop will only increase your gut.
Do free weights/kettlebells twice a week. Take a protein shake first thing every morning and after every training session. Try and eat healthy the rest of the time. I am about a stone heavier than this time last year, I'm probably training slightly harder but the big difference has been the protein shakes.
Er, and all this talk of protein shakes, I'm fairly sure the OP was just after a bit more normal muscle, not bodybuilding. A normal diet is perfectly adequate for that.
I'm with aracer on this one. Don't bother with the protein shakes.
Just get 80-100g of protein in your diet everyday. It's alot easier than you might think.
To be fair aracer, protein shakes have only been mentioned twice in 3 pages. You are right though, protein shakes should always be eschewed, imho, for proper food sources of protein such as MEEEEAAATT!
Just get 80-100g of protein in your diet everyday. It's alot easier than you might think.
I wonder how much protein is in that particular can of worms tho? As protein intake is a hotly disputed topic.
...saying that Molgrips will be along shortly to tell us we are all wrong 😉
ME...ME...MEEAAATT?
I've got some of these:
[url= http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/weights_dumbbells_and_bars/bowflex_1090lb_selecttech_d_bells_pair/9616_p.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Froogle&utm_campaign=Froogle ]Bowflex Adjustable Dumbells[/url]
which I use at home if I can't get to the gym because of work etc.
They are awesome. One of the things I used to hate about sticking to any sort of plan at home, was the time it took to change weights. With these you can do it in 2 seconds.
I got them direct from the manufacturer and they were much less than £450 btw.
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I got them direct from the manufacturer and they were much less than £450 btw.
About £400 less I hope. 8)
I'd post a picture of myself to prove I'm right 🙂
think i paid about £120 or something like that. I got the heaviest ones, which in hindsight was a bit pointless, because i doubt I will ever be lifting that sort of weight!!!!
saying that Molgrips will be along shortly to tell us we are all wrong
I know nothing about body building. Apart from how silly it is 😉
I'd post a picture of myself to prove I'm right
How do you photograph that which does not exist?
Kickboxing? I went to a class last week, and my entire upper body still aches, so it must be good.
It's proper good fun too. Mixed in with the circuit training stuff are the fighting bits. I haven't properly punched and kicked someone since I was a kid, really cathartic (doesn't hurt, you're holding up pads).
Popular with the girls too, in case things don't work out with your current GF Colin...
I am the internet Jamie, I can be whatever I want!
Taking up climbing will probably help a little bit, but I dunno how much it'll bulk you up - I've lost weight and got stronger since I started climbing, but not got that much bigger. Bloody great fun mind!
I know nothing about body building. Apart from how silly it is
I suspect it's a lot sillier (or scarier) than you imagine. 😉
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I quite like the look of those. When I have the space (which hopefully won't be long) I'd like a full rack of dumbbells rather than having to mess around with plates.
I never had any arm muscles until I learnt to juggle 5 balls, and practiced it a lot. Doesn't give you massive bodybuilder / muscle Mary type muscles, but doing thousands of very quick repetitions of a very small weight is a surprisingly effective way of getting less skinny arms and shoulders.
Recently, I've been pulling 35+ kg of bike trailer a lot whilst riding up derbyshire hills, that also has made my upper body more muscular,
fwiw I've found squats have already been very beneficial to my riding - before I started my legs seemed to be struggling very early on in a ride, but I'm now about 3 weeks into 5x5 (next squats will be 75kg) and riding a lot further before getting tired legs 🙂
Boxing training, heavy bag work. Wow!
+1 for swimming for all round upper body strength. Great all round CV exercise and good to do after a hard day on the bike. Good for core strength too.
Or, pay a personal trainer for a session or 2 to give you a routine. Won't cost too much...
swimming doesn't build muscle, not now, not ever
Swimming in a pool is so boring too.
swimming doesn't build muscle, not now, not ever
What a silly statement. Of course it does, just not huge amounts. Good enough if you want to get rid of the stick arms, not so good if you're after the bodybuilder look.
Do a bit of swimming and eat a scrambled egg once a fortnight.
I cant really be arsed with the gym either so I'm ona pay as you go system at the moment at my local college for £2 a go. I've got a couple of pairs of dumbbells kicking around at home and also I have a chin up bar and some stretch tubes too. A stability ball is also pretty good but it does take up a lot of room. My latest addition is a punch bag although I've fixed it outside and the two times I've tried using it the neighbour has peered over wondering who the skinny pale guy is getting beaten up by a punch bag!
any swimmer/triathlete you see who is well toned/muscled trains in a gym as well as a pool
swimming doesn't build muscle, not now, not ever
Might not give you massive muscles, but then what do you need massive muscles for, unless you're lifting heavy stuff all the time for a living?
Swimming is a brilliant form of exercise. And it does help to strengthen and condition certain upper body muscle groups. Plenty of swimming can lead to a lean, toned well buff physique like mine. 🙂
Swimming, running, cycling and stuff like press-ups, sit ups and a few weights is all you need to achieve buffness. Bulking up just slows you down and ends up as fayt if you don't keep exercising. Stay slim, it's healthier. Body builder types can suffer from all sorts of health problems, like high blood pressure and joint problems and that from over exerting the body beyond it's reasonable natural limits. Best to just stay the same sort of body type, but just tone up and be fit.
Plenty of bulky blokes down my local gym, but most of 'em can't do much with all that bulk. Utter waste of time, all that if you ask me.
Body builder types can suffer from all sorts of health problems, like high blood pressure and joint problems and that from over exerting the body beyond it's reasonable natural limits. Best to just stay the same sort of body type, but just tone up and be fit.
elf, no one was on about making the OP gain 'massive muscles'. he doesn't want to look like a body builder and no one tried to make him into one. he got (mostly) sensible advice about making his muscles a bit bigger.
and no one said not to swim, but swimming alone won't make the OP's arms much larger, which is what he asked about specifically.
iDave I can only assume you are an athlete of supreme ability with all the breath you waste on here...
a few weights
Elf.. it's what you DO with those weights that's critical!
iDave I can only assume you are an athlete of supreme ability with all the breath you waste on here...
Odd response.
How so?
He tirelessly tells people about diet and exercise, repeating the same thing again and again and people refuse to listen.
I sometimes wonder why he bothers.
Ah, I see. I thought it was a put-down, but all is clear now.
Carry on.
Nooo, iDave has sorted out my routine.
iBeliever.
[i]He tirelessly tells people about diet and exercise, repeating the same thing again and again and people refuse to listen.[/i]
oh they listen alright, they just refuse to change their ways.
Kev
Elf.. it's what you DO with those weights that's critical!
It's not really [i]critical[/i] though is it? I mean, it's not like if you do something slightly wrong, that the Large Hadron Collider will fail causing The End Of The World, is it?
Critical in terms of the required outcome 🙄