How to gain muscle?

[Mr. Bunglesmith]

You need to lift weights and eat alot. Basicaly, if you weight 165 lbs, you need to eat a certain amount of calories to maintain that weight. To gain weight, you need to eat more than this amount.

So if your body needs 2000 calories a day to stay at 165, you want to be eating 2500+ calories a day to gain weight. You will put on a little bit of fat, but you will also be putting on alot of muscle if you lift hard.

Also, dont work the same muscles all the time. Many people make the mistake of bench pressing everyday thinking it will get them big and strong fast. Your muscles need time to recover though, so this is unwise. Each muscle should be worked 1-2 times a week for best gains.

www.Bodybuilding.com is a great site for what you need to know.

[Vulgar Language]

have you ever noticed that most swimmers are generally lean?

it's better to be lean and strong as opposed to bulky and strong. staying lean keeps your movements quick, bulking up would give you more power, but it would slow you down too much in the water. swimmers need to GLIDE through the water.

i'd go to a personal trainer to get a regimen that's right for you as a swimmer, to build up strength, but keep you swift.

[Nathan]

I'm not trying to get ripped, just a little extra muscle would be nice . I have pecs, big arms, abs but my legs are skinny as a hell.

[sayyeah]

CYCLE CYCLE CYCLE. mash up hills! get a fixed gear bike and attack hills like you'll die if you don't!
i'm sure a normal geared bike would be fine, but on a fixed gear, you pull up and push back with your legs A LOT more. it's not just about pushing down with your feet, but with toe clips and straps, it's more about pulling up with your feet-- full leg workout!

my boyfriend just started getting in to fixed gear cycling and he lives in the middle of a huuuge hill, all he does is go up and down hills. it's been like 3 months and his legs are JACKED. it's kind of scary, actually.

[kishou]

L-glutamine

[bdubs360]

Originally Posted by Nathan

I'm not trying to get ripped, just a little extra muscle would be nice . I have pecs, big arms, abs but my legs are skinny as a hell.

Lookin for legs? Squats will be your best friend. Your next best friend? Deadlifts. Deadlift variations are a close friend, too. Power cleans and snatches, too. Olympic lifts. Focus on compound lifts, using free weights. I promise, thats the way to go. Oh, and speed squats. If you can get through 3 sets of those your a real mothafucka, straight up.

[Big_Jay]

you swim alot so your burning alot of calories off so you have to take in more then you burn and get these from good sources

for the protein, take your body weight in lbs and times it by 1.5 (lbsx1.5) and this is your daily protein intake. and take in a good clean carbs and avoid and fat sources.

for your calorie intake, take your body weight in pounds again and times it by 17 and this is a bulking routine.

make sure you eat of alot of good sources of protein and carbs and protein shakes is a must. whey protein digests quicker then other proteins so this is essential fro muscle repair otherwise muscle building will be reduced.

whey protein is good but only good for getting cut and keeping muscle stable. i would recommend for adding muscle you get a weight gainer in your diet for a good source of clean callories, protein and carbs so i would go for this.

as for the kidneys, they will only take strain if too musch protein is taking in and not worked into the body, this is where a workout rountine comes in. i would recoomend a four day split fir this:

chest triceps
back, biceps
day off
shoulders, traps
day off
legs and abs
day off and repeat.

you can mix this up to help the body confuse itselfs so it doesnt become acustomed to a rountine and compensate for this. this will help you not plateau which gains.

and all important rest! dont overload to begin with but step up intesntity every week with weight training.

and dont worry about getting fat because your swimming will trim your fat and keep ya body conditioned.

what i put is just a guideline and i you can research a little more but its a sound routine.

if you choose to take protein supplements, i would cycle a weight gainer with whey protein. cycle the weight gainer for a month and then cycle whey for a month until you reach your ideal size then cut out the weight gainer and stick to whey protein to help with keeping what ya got.

also, if you can, get some arginine and l-glutamine, these are some good amino acid supps which will help aid muscle growth and recovery. and make sure when whey protein is taken after a workout that you get around 40g of carbs with this otherwise some of that protein will go to waste and may store as fat.

hope this helps

[GaNJa420Pimp]

Eat alot. Run less. Pump Weights more. Dont be a pussy. Lift weights more. Lift till you are in pain every 3 days with smaller workouts inbetween. Do a shit load of pushups. When you run get a backpack and fill it with weights. It will jack your testostorone level up bye working your legs more. Also when you do upper body it will feel better.

You should have at least a little bit of body fat to gain some muscle.

[Overflow]

I am also 6'3 and around 75/76 kg, im a boxer and have visible muscles so im wondering why you don't? I hit the gym a couple times a week and train 3 times a week. Resting on saturdays and wednesdays.

I don't think its too necessary to build muscle (especially as your a swimmer) but it is even more necessary to tone up. Start hitting the gym, medium weights, high reps - start eating more proteins too - eggs, tuna, nuts etc.