How to gain muscle?

[Nathan]

First off, I'm a swimmer. I pratice 5 times a week for 2 hours (7,000 yards a pratice). I have almost no fat, so I don't need to work on loosing it. I don't know what to do to gain muscle (no steroids). Any tips? I don't want to use protein shakes because my doctor said that puts too much strain on my kidneys. I'm 6'3 165lbs.

[king_43]

I am the same way... the more I work out more cut/lean I look.. Dont ever really bulk up.. I've tried different work out methods for only increasing muscle mass but to no avile

[TenMac]

Originally Posted by Nathan

First off, I'm a swimmer. I pratice 5 times a week for 2 hours (7,000 yards a pratice). I have almost no fat, so I don't need to work on loosing it. I don't know what to do to gain muscle (no steroids). Any tips? I don't want to use protein shakes because my doctor said that puts too much strain on my kidneys. I'm 6'3 165lbs.

The only way to gain muscle is to train. You have to lift weights and muscles will break down and more muscle will grow. And for that you need protein, the building blocks for muscle. You don't have to drink shakes but you must consume at least your body weight. For you that is 165g of protein daily.

Its that simple really. Your muscles have to be exposed to heavy weights so that when you work out, they tear and in turn will grow more to accomodate that weight strain you put on them. Hence when you reach a plateau in your training, meaning you are not able to gain any more muscle despite lifting, you have to increase the weight. That is because your muscles get used to that same weight. Its practical sense, keep putting your muscles on heavy stress and feed yourself with adequate amounts of protein daily so that they grow and form more muscle.

Of course you need a lot of rest and sleep. Your muscles won't grow when your in the gym, only when you are asleep. So make sure your getting enough rest to let the muscles grow.

[MJ_Expert]

Don't listen to your doctor. Protein shakes are fine, like whey protein, etc etc, just make sure you drink water after you take the shakes and maybe before and you'll be fine. If you have a fast metabolism and eat a lot of food but don't ever gain weight, then protein shakes are the way to go. Just don't take/try any of the pill products or stuff like that, THOSE are bad on your kidneys and hormones and everything else.

Oh ya, also lift heavy weights, and eat high protein foods like, fish, beef, eggs, oatmeal, etc etc.

[bdubs360]

Do compound lifts to stimulate whole-body muscle growth. Squats and deadlifts are first priority if you wanna bulk up. Also bench, military press, cleans, power cleans, and snatches. And do pullups, don't use a pulldown machine. Always use free weights. DON'T USE MACHINES. If you do some research you'll be able to develop a routine that fits your body type and lifestyle. Maybe start out with full body workouts using compound lifts maybe 2-3 times a week, and after a few months you'll start to see results. Just make sure you work your whole body. Calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, traps, lats, deltoid(especially rear deltoid), bi's, tri's, pecs, abs, intercostals, obliques, rhomboids, forearms, and possibly some rotator cuff exercises, but I think as a swimmer you probably have a powerful rotator cuff. Eat a shitload. You need protein to build muscle, but it's harder for your body to process protein, and in turn you use up a lot of calories breaking the protein down. Eat at least 6 meals a day, and try to strive for a .5/4.5/1 fat/carb/protein ratio. That's how you get big

Summary: Do only compound lifts (or at least do hella squats and deadlifts), whole body routines, and eat a shitload. And do research. The more you learn the easier it is to tweak your routine to suit you. Try learning about glycogen supplies, fast and slow twitch muscles fibers and the like. Last thing, if you do negative reps and forced reps you will see a nice increase in strength.

[hobartt]

Eat big, lift big, get big. You say you're already swimming for 2 hours a day, that's a lot of cardio. If you want to gain more lean muscle mass you're going to have to eat A LOT. Your also 6,3 so by a lot I mean A LOT. Find out what your consuming already protein and calorie wise and adjust. To gain optimal muscle mass while training you need to eat between 1 and 2 grams of protien per pound of bodyweight. When you first start out you may not gain much weight if you dont diet correctly and you may attribute that to having an extremely fast metabolism which may be true but it wont be the reason you arn't gaining weight. Many first timers that try putting on muscle mass that were already extremely skinny have a hard time putting on weight and they think it's becuase of their metabolism. Your metabolism only plays a small role in lifting the real reason is becuase contrary to what they may believe, they simply arn't eating enough. The most important part of weight training is your diet. Since you're already training cardio 2 hours for 5 days a week you're going to have to eat a ton most likely 3500 calories plus a day, probably closer to 4000 becuase your 6,3.

[sayyeah]

take ibuprofen right after your workout. or tylenol or advil or any NSAID. it helps you gain like 40% more muscle mass because your body can work normally right after working out, instead of being tired.

i don't know all the details but my boyfriend just read some article about this. sounds legit, though. and it can't hurt, at least.

[UU_ood]

Originally Posted by sayyeah

take ibuprofen right after your workout. or tylenol or advil or any NSAID. it helps you gain like 40% more muscle mass because your body can work normally right after working out, instead of being tired.

i don't know all the details but my boyfriend just read some article about this. sounds legit, though. and it can't hurt, at least.

At first I thought this was BS, but you're right.
Muscle Mass/Strength Increased By Ibuprofen Or Acetaminophen In Long-Term Resistance Training

If you're going to do this, don't take tylonel. Very bad for your liver. I'd go with ibuprofen.

[Stangfriik]

Originally Posted by Nathan

First off, I'm a swimmer. I pratice 5 times a week for 2 hours (7,000 yards a pratice). I have almost no fat, so I don't need to work on loosing it. I don't know what to do to gain muscle (no steroids). Any tips? I don't want to use protein shakes because my doctor said that puts too much strain on my kidneys. I'm 6'3 165lbs.

Are you still swimming competitively? If so, I'd strongly suggest finding a swimming forum to ask such questions as I'm sure you know, too much muscle or muscle in the wrong places will slow you down.

If not and you want to continue to swim that much, you're going to have to eat an insane amount of food. Hell didn't Phelps eat something like 12,000 calories a day?

Originally Posted by sayyeah

take ibuprofen right after your workout. or tylenol or advil or any NSAID. it helps you gain like 40% more muscle mass because your body can work normally right after working out, instead of being tired.

i don't know all the details but my boyfriend just read some article about this. sounds legit, though. and it can't hurt, at least.

Completely false unless there is some new scientific study to contradict this

Effect of ibuprofen and acetaminophen on postexercise muscle protein synthesis

T. A. Trappe1, F. White1, C. P. Lambert1, D. Cesar2, M. Hellerstein2, and W. J. Evans1

1 Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory, Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging, Departments of Geriatrics and Physiology and Biophysics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the Central Arkansas Veterans HealthCare System, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205; and 2 Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3104

We examined the effect of two commonly consumed over-the-counter analgesics, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, on muscle protein synthesis and soreness after high-intensity eccentric resistance exercise. Twenty-four males (25 ± 3 yr, 180 ± 6 cm, 81 ± 6 kg, and 17 ± 8% body fat) were assigned to one of three groups that received either the maximal over-the-counter dose of ibuprofen (IBU; 1,200 mg/day), acetaminophen (ACET; 4,000 mg/day), or a placebo (PLA) after 10-14 sets of 10 eccentric repetitions at 120% of concentric one-repetition maximum with the knee extensors. Postexercise (24 h) skeletal muscle fractional synthesis rate (FSR) was increased 76 ± 19% (P < 0.05) in PLA (0.058 ± 0.012%/h) and was unchanged (P > 0.05) in IBU (35 ± 21%; 0.021 ± 0.014%/h) and ACET (22 ± 23%; 0.010 ± 0.019%/h). Neither drug had any influence on whole body protein breakdown, as measured by rate of phenylalanine appearance, on serum creatine kinase, or on rating of perceived muscle soreness compared with PLA. These results suggest that over-the-counter doses of both ibuprofen and acetaminophen suppress the protein synthesis response in skeletal muscle after eccentric resistance exercise. Thus these two analgesics may work through a common mechanism to influence protein metabolism in skeletal muscle.


What this means is that your muscle will not absorb protein properly thus leading to inhibited muscle gains.

Originally Posted by UU_ood

At first I thought this was BS, but you're right.
Muscle Mass/Strength Increased By Ibuprofen Or Acetaminophen In Long-Term Resistance Training

If you're going to do this, don't take tylonel. Very bad for your liver. I'd go with ibuprofen.

when they tested over the course of months, they failed to mention whether they continued to test the placebo group which is paramount to such a study

Looking for more info now though

[sistermol]

Originally Posted by Nathan

First off, I'm a swimmer. I pratice 5 times a week for 2 hours (7,000 yards a pratice). I have almost no fat, so I don't need to work on loosing it. I don't know what to do to gain muscle (no steroids). Any tips? I don't want to use protein shakes because my doctor said that puts too much strain on my kidneys. I'm 6'3 165lbs.

are you in highschool or college?

ask the wrestling team if you can practice with them
a few football players and swimmers practiced with the wrestling team at my school

[MJ_Expert]

Originally Posted by sistermol

are you in highschool or college?

ask the wrestling team if you can practice with them
a few football players and swimmers practiced with the wrestling team at my school

Umm, I wouldn't be too sure if that's a good idea. I'm not sure about other high schools but at ours its usually hot in the wrestling room and most people lose weight and sometimes muscle instead of gaining it, not all the time though, but most the time it is pretty hot.

[UU_ood]

Originally Posted by Stangfriik

when they tested over the course of months, they failed to mention whether they continued to test the placebo group which is paramount to such a study

Looking for more info now though

What? Did you even read the first sentence?

Taking daily recommended dosages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen caused a substantially greater increase over placebo in the amount of quadriceps muscle mass and muscle strength gained during three months of regular weight lifting

[Nathan]

Just gone done with a pretty hard pratice. What should I eat and is drinking a lot of milk a good source of protein?

[MJ_Expert]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Just gone done with a pretty hard pratice. What should I eat and is drinking a lot of milk a good source of protein?

Eat peanut butter & drink that milk, or a hamburger, pizza, or any other high protein food, you said you have low fat so don't worry about that.

[blazedandcrazed]

eat.

protein shakes are fine doctors these days have a habit of turning their patients into frightened babies