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Start Going to the Gym

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by BlackKnight, May 28, 2016.

  1. BlackKnight

    BlackKnight Fapstronaut

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    I'm 6'1" 165lbs and bench 160 and squat 170 and I believe that that is too weak for me and I want to go back to the gym but I don't know what workouts to do to get stronger in the body; like full body workouts and such. I personally like free weights but if there are machines that are useful to get me stronger, i would like to know what they are. Also I'm trying to gain at least 20 pounds of muscle this summer, but want to look lean, and don't know what protein shakes I should use.
     
  2. BlackKnight

    BlackKnight Fapstronaut

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    The reason why my squat is so low is because before I never saw the use in squatting becasue I wanted to just build my arms up, but I noticed my folly too late
     
  3. The Progressive One

    The Progressive One Fapstronaut

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    Work on the mid section. I don't mean just crunches and sit-ups. Do kicks and punches and twists to really tone and cut the abdominal area. Also, start focusing on flexibility. Anything that gets blood flowing into cold, neglected regions of your body (quads, thighs, hamstrings, shoulders) will increase your overall power. And of course cardio. Push yourself running and keep chipping away.
     
  4. Find a workout program and follow it. Trying to make your own routine/program will often leave you imbalanced in certain areas, or not progressing as fast as you could be - while the popular programs (like Starting Strength) have years of thousands of people trialling and gaining success with them - so you know they're solid.

    I've not been working out for long - but I have been reading up and studying the process for quite some time now, as I'm one of those types that likes to be 1000% read up on anything I do. For strength, work on compound exercises rather than isolation exercises - keep increasing your overall base muscle. Focus on progressive incremental increases in the size of the weights you're lifting.

    20lbs of muscle probably won't happen over summer. Expect ~1-2.5lbs a month of muscle gain if you're new to working out, or 0.3-1lbs a month if you've been doing it for longer. Anything above that will mostly be fat. If you train hard with a good program, eat well, and still have some newbie gains under your belt you can probably get a good 5-6lbs~ by the latter half of September though. The only exception would be if you're using hormones/pro-hormones - which, you shouldn't be if you care about your health or stuff like NoFap benefits (since steroid use will shut down your male hormone system 100x worse than even PMO will).

    Check out this page about Starting Strength: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/novice-lifters-start-here.html

    Don't worry about protein shakes, you don't necessarily need them. Just try to get 1g protein per lb of lean mass - if you're not veggie or vegan, that should be easy enough with eating plenty of meat etc. If you are veggie or vegan then okay, perhaps invest in some whey/pea/rice protein powder and add in enough to compensate for any you aren't getting each day. Focus mainly on your diet.

    Building muscle is all about energy in vs energy out. Your energy in == calories from food consumed. Your energy out == calories burned eating, sleeping, breathing, moving, exercising, using the computer.. basically, everything. You need to be eating at least as many calories are you are expending if you want to build muscle.

    If you're on a calorie deficit, you'll lose fat, but you'll either maintain the same muscle mass, or lose muscle mass (depending on your protein intake) - and won't be able to build any muscle. If you're around maintenance calories (i.e. expending the same as you eat) then you'll lose a tiny bit of fat and gain a tiny bit of muscle - but at a slow pace. If you're looking to build the most muscle, eat between 100 and 500 calories (more if you're new to working out, less if you've already lost newbie gains) over maintenace, and you should start building muscle with very little fat gain. If you go > 500 over, you'll start to see quicker fat gains, with no real noticeable improvement in muscle gains.

    To work out the amount of energy you expend each day, it's simple.

    First, get yourself a tape measure, and work out your body fat % using the Navy Method.
    http://www.thrivepersonalfitness.com/bodyfat-calculator/

    Now with that number, take your total weight, and subtract that % from it. So say your body fat % is 10%, and you weigh 160lbs like you said, that's 16lbs that's fat. So 160 - 16 = 144lbs lean mass. Divide that by 2.2 to get your lean mass in kg = 65.45kg

    Now using that number, we can calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) with the following formula:
    BMR = 370 + (21.6 * lean mass in kg)
    = 370 + (21.6 * 65.45) == 1783.72 calories

    This is about what you'd burn if you were in a coma, and completely inactive.

    Now you times that by your level of activity.

    Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
    Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
    Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
    Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
    Extr. Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2 X day training, marathon, football camp, contest, etc.)

    If you're working out hard for 3-4 days a week, I'd put you in the "Very active" category, or ever so slightly below that, but around 1.7-1.725x

    So 1783.72 * 1.725 = 3076.92~ calories.

    At 10% body fat, that's the amount of calories you'd need to eat each day to maintain your current weight. So for building muscle you'd want 3176-3576 calories roughly. Of course, these calculations are with an assumed 10% body fat - so do the calculator above to work out your actual body fat %, then redo the calculations, and you'll have the ideal amount for you to eat. Then you can eat just right and stay lean while putting on 1-2lbs of muscle a month :)
     
    SkinnyBeard likes this.
  5. BlackKnight

    BlackKnight Fapstronaut

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    Have you heard of the StrongLifts 5x5 program, and if you have should I also do that along with Starting Strength?
     
  6. BlackKnight

    BlackKnight Fapstronaut

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    What does the 1g of protein for 1lb of lean mass mean?
     
  7. I have, I can't speak for which is better - since I actually don't have access to a gym at the moment due to my location and am using a dumbbell/calisthenics mixed program myself - my advice is pick one or the other - overtraining will lower your results rather than increase them - one program will be all you need. :)

    1g per lb of lean mass means consume 1 gram of protein per lb of your weight - minus your weight in fat. So someone who weighs 150 pounds, with 25lbs of fat, has 125lbs of lean mass, and would need 125g of protein. Someone who weighs 200lbs, with 75lbs of fat, would also have 125lbs of lean mass and eat the same 125g of protein each day.

    If you don't wanna worry about specific numbers, just make sure you get a lot of protein, 3-4+ high protein meals a day, and you'll be good. Meat/fish is the best if you're non veggie/vegan. Eggs and cottage cheese are best as a veggie. Beans are best if you're vegan.
     
  8. StewartSays

    StewartSays Fapstronaut

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    I would go to the gym but I'm gay and doing NoFap and spending time in a male locker room/shower would be disastrous! Enough said.
     
    Nouvel Homme likes this.
  9. DrRobotronic

    DrRobotronic Fapstronaut

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    I can see your point, but honestly going to the gym is one of those things where if you go on a regular basis, you would get used to seeing bodies and it wouldn't even affect you. I'm bi and even though there are plenty of attractive people at the gym, I've never found a distraction or something that leads to relapse. I noticed the same thing when I used to draw, practicing drawing nude models actually made the naked body less sexual, at least in a negative, loss of control way.
     
    StewartSays likes this.
  10. StewartSays

    StewartSays Fapstronaut

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    Wow I admire your will power. Honestly though my attraction towards men is overpowering at times - erections are hard to hide in the locker room, particularly when the gym is full of incredibly attractive guys.
     
  11. DrRobotronic

    DrRobotronic Fapstronaut

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    Well I'm more on the straight side than the gay side so maybe that helps, I'm not sure. But even when hot girls are working out around me it doesn't really bother me.

    I just realized after my first message that if you're unable to workout around other people I'd really recommend a bodyweight workout, since you can do it from home.

    I used to do the Reddit bodyweight fitness routine, they've got a pretty good subreddit and the mods are friendly, I used to do Google hangouts with them on a regular basis. I've moved on to doing barbell training because I'm underweight and want to bulk up, but if you find people are a distraction that is a very good routine. There are obviously other bodyweight routines and you can play around with what works for you.
     
  12. StewartSays

    StewartSays Fapstronaut

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    I read that weightlifting causes hair loss so I'm quite resistant to the idea of possibly losing my hair haha. Cardio all the way
     
  13. DrRobotronic

    DrRobotronic Fapstronaut

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    I've never once heard that before, I'd be interested in the science of that. I would think if anything it would make you grow more hair because of increases in testosterone levels. I don't lift as often as I should but my hair is quite thick, never noticed any hair loss or thinning from it, or heard of it happening to anyone.
     
  14. StewartSays

    StewartSays Fapstronaut

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    I read this article a few weeks ago which alarmed me haha. Congrats on the thick hair!

    I will send you a link to an article I read.
     

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