I lift weights for 5 years already, but i seriously cannot start doing it SERIOUSLY. Sometimes I do it 3 days a week, now I switched to 1 day a week just to keep myself in shape. I think I need to bulk up, since I am 176/69 and I want to be at least 80 kilos. What do I do? I already switched 4 training buddies, since all of them give up after 2-3 months. :doh:

If you can't find a training buddy you might just have to lift alone...

Other than that I don't really know what you expect from this thread. You have to create a plan of action that will include both the training part and the nutrition part and then you must follow through with that plan.

...

GL

Shahar.

BD said it. We can help and encourage you, but the real motivation has to come from within yourself. Only you can make you take training seriously. As for your goal of putting on some muscle, it's going to depend on more than just weight training. You'll have to eat to support weight gain, and you should be more consistent in the gym. Just because your workout partners don't show up doesn't mean you don't have to. If you'd like, you can post your current meal plan and workout program and I'm sure somebody will help you out!

Thank you guys. You're right, I gotta put up a plan. I am going to do it today.

The men speak the truth. You owe to yourself to begin again and to stick with it!!!:bb: We support you!!

Well, seems like too many obstacles are on my way. But, nevertheless, here's my plan:

Goal: bulking.

Monday:
Breakfast - coffee, bread and butter, 3 boiled eggs.
Dinner: rice, chicken, potatoes, coffee, juice.
Supper: horse meat, potatoes, milk.
Workout: upper body.

Tuesday:
Breakfast - coffee, bread and butter, 3 boiled eggs.
Dinner: rice, chicken, potatoes, coffee, juice.
Supper: lamb meat, spaghetti, milk.
Workout: none.

Wednesday:
Breakfast - coffee, bread and butter, 3 boiled eggs.
Dinner: rice, chicken, potatoes, coffee, juice.
Workout: soccer for 90 minutes.
Supper: horse meat, potatoes, milk.

Thursday:
Breakfast - coffee, bread and butter, 3 boiled eggs.
Dinner: rice, chicken, potatoes, coffee, juice.
Supper: veal, potatoes, milk.
Workout: volleyball for 120 minutes, sauna.

Friday:
Breakfast - coffee, bread and butter, 3 boiled eggs.
Dinner: rice, chicken, potatoes, coffee, juice.
Supper: veal, potatoes, milk.
Workout: lower body.

Saturday:
Breakfast - coffee, bread and butter, 3 boiled eggs.
Workout: volleyball for 150 minutes.
Dinner: none.
Supper: veal, potatoes, milk.

Sunday:
Breakfast - none.
Workout: none.
Dinner: whatever I can eat.
Supper: whatever I can eat.

What do you think?

Go and read the stickies on bulking! :)

Well, seems like too many obstacles are on my way. But, nevertheless, here's my plan:

(stuff)

What do you think?

I think your main obstacle is your desire to change. Looking at your plan, you aren't eating very often, and probably not nearly enough to bulk. You don't have but generalities on what you do on certain days. You need to work your plan down to what exercises in what order at what set/rep scheme. You might not yet know the weights, but you should have a good idea. As for diet: how many calories, what are your macro ratios, what are your portions.

You do need to read the stickies and work on getting more meals in a day and get a good basic lifting plan. I'd recommend a good off the shelf plan for lifting to start with. I personally like full body workouts, especially for people in the position you seem to be in. Around here, Chad Waterbury seems to be a common guy to read up on on t-nation.com for those basic plans. However, there are some good splits around like "Westside for Skinny Bastards" that rely on upper/lower splits if you think you HAVE to do a split. I'm sure that would give you great gains as well, considering the diet is dialed in.

As soon as you get a plan, start tracking your training in a journal as far as sets, reps, weights, rest times, how you feel, etc. Until you can see your progress overtime in an objective way, you won't tell if what you are doing is working.

Until you decide you want to overcome whatever obstacles you THINK you have, you won't likely make good progress.

Good luck. The stickies here do have a lot of great information to help you get started, so read them, flesh out your plan some more, and repost with more detail. You'll get great help here, but you have to decide yourself that what you think are "obstacles" are just minor challenges you WILL overcome.

Thank you all, guys. Yes, the problem with me seems to be that I don't eat enough. Now I am digging for a good calorie-calculator.

I just had salad and chicken for supper, so let's see:

a) 250 grams of cucumber + 250 grams of tomato + 2 spoons of sunflower-seed oil;
b) 3 chicken shins.

According to http://www.calorie-count.com, this should be:
a) 40 + 50 + 200 = 290;
b) 3 x 100 = 300.

So, I had 590 calories in.

Am I right? :confused:

Hey, I'm pretty much a beginner to but I'll give you my two cents. Try this calorie counter: http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/Index.html

Also, I'd recommend taking this free 5 day course http://www.scrawnytobrawny.com/ It's very helpful and rigorous, I wish I had taken it when I began. Even their outcome based decision making is great.

http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scrawny2mq.jpg

Lastly, I'd recommend buying a skinfold caliper. This way you can accurately keep track of your lean muscle gain and adjust your diet/weights/exercises accordingly, to match your goals.

http://www.scrawnytobrawny.com/

Wow, man, thanks, but too much traffic..

Lastly, I'd recommend buying a skinfold caliper.

I will.

I find www.nutridiary.com to be very useful in tracking my calories.

How does your workout look like (exercise, sets and reps) ?
working only twice a week looks a little low to me, but maybe you
are doing a lot of volume in each session. If that is that case decreasing volume and moving to 4 workouts (2 lower and 2 upper) may be a good idea.

Assuming your sample meal of 600 calories is a normal meal size for you that means you are getting under 2,000 calories a day.
That while bulking you eat less than what I eat cutting. I may have 30lbs on you but I got plenty of fat in those 30lbs.
You probably need to seriously increase your food intake. Track your calories for a week and than you will have a better idea.
Trying to learn to eat more often may also be a good idea.

* Edit : 69kg is 151lbs or so not 171~ and also don't bother counting veggies on a bulking diet. It will just give you an headache
for the sake of adding ~200 daily (maybe) calories to your official intake.

Good luck.

Shahar.

I find www.nutridiary.com to be very useful in tracking my calories.

Thanks, pal! That really helps.

I just wonder now, as I'm facing it, how do you guys deal with psychological obstacles? I mean, finishing your job in time, then doing homework, then your ex calls and is getting on your nerves, then your parents need your help.. And you have a workout and meal-cooking planned? Missed quite a lot of time on this all.. :doh:

Thanks, pal! That really helps.

I just wonder now, as I'm facing it, how do you guys deal with psychological obstacles? I mean, finishing your job in time, then doing homework, then your ex calls and is getting on your nerves, then your parents need your help.. And you have a workout and meal-cooking planned? Missed quite a lot of time on this all.. :doh:

Welcome to life. We all have challenges and time constraints. You have to learn to be more efficient and set your priorities.

On cooking for instance, batch cook enough for several days and refridgerate/freeze meals so that you can have something ready in a few minutes for most meals.

If you want to do this, you will find a way. It isn't easy for any of us, especially at the start.

Welcome to life. We all have challenges and time contraints.

Yeah, man. The more years pass, the more 'welcome to life' lessons take place :)

One more question: what is the difference between 'clean meal' and 'cheat meal'? Why is pizza bad?

One more question: what is the difference between 'clean meal' and 'cheat meal'? Why is pizza bad?

A clean meal is when you eat, well, clean. That would be something like chicken, brown rice, and vegetables for a meal.

A cheat meal is when you stray from eating clean, be it McDonalds or Oreos. There is nothing wrong with a cheat meat once in a while (I try to do it once a week) sometimes you have to give in a little to cravings. But it also doesn't mean eating a whole bag of Doritos either. Just like a clean meal, portion control is key.

Pizza "can" be bad, depending on how it is made. I've had some in the past where they swim in grease, or the toppings on it can make it bad. There is nothing wrong with making one of your own though and ensuring good wholesome ingredients (I've done this with whole weat dough, tomatoe sauce, low/fat free cheese and topped w/ some pineapple and chicken :drool: ).

that sounds nice IceWater! mind posting the exact quantities for the weat dough?.

and toomuch you can do it! keep it up

Personally, I think you're probably better off without a workout buddy - unless that person is as serious as you are. Newbies make bad gym buddies. I used to go to the gym with my roommates, and they insisted we go in the mornings (which I hated since I'm kind of a night owl). And they'd always want to quit early). Just ask someone to spot you on certain exercises and you'll be fine.

Also, as far as out of the box workouts go, I've found this one to be great:

http://www.leehayward.com/workout_programs/

I started it about 5 weeks ago and have consistently made progress. I'm pretty thrilled. It's only 4 days a week and takes around 45 minutes to an hour. You could probably fit it in Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (before vollyball), and Friday.

[QUOTE=boLa8;435747]that sounds nice IceWater! mind posting the exact quantities for the weat dough?.
/QUOTE]

If I remember right, it was a small (maybe 6" round) premade by Boboli. At my grocery store, they kept it in the end of the bread isle.

I entered March 100 challenge.
My plan is simple, but.. small steps, small steps! :read:

I lift weights for 5 years already, but i seriously cannot start doing it SERIOUSLY. Sometimes I do it 3 days a week, now I switched to 1 day a week just to keep myself in shape. I think I need to bulk up, since I am 176/69 and I want to be at least 80 kilos. What do I do? I already switched 4 training buddies, since all of them give up after 2-3 months. :doh:

you are 171lbs and you want to be 176lbs???? That shouldn't be a problem. eat more. Workout with weights more. Try three days a week. fullbody.:gl:

No, I want to be 200 lbs ;)

Just finished my second meal. Man, the 'meat and potatoes' part was hard. My body was all like 'I'm gonna throw up!', but I forced myself to eat it all. Tomorrow, I'll take a double meal! :eat: :mad:

Man, today was a hard day. The 3rd meal went down REALLY hard. I am not used to eating like this (too much). But I FORCED myself and ate everything. At the start of my workout I felt nasty chest pain (I guess it's from all-day sitting on chair at the computer), so I first warmed up, then did lower body workout and after that some nasty deadlifts! And it went perfect!

Today was a hard day. Problems at work, unpleasant news.. At the evening I was all like 'Screw it, I ain't gonna workout'. But then again, I didn't want to lose a point in 100 challenge, I went there and worked out and absolutely KILLED my legs at the treadmill. And there was some moment when I was running on treadmill when I felt like 'I did it!' :bb::D

No, I want to be 200 lbs ;)

My fault, You said you wanted to be 80kgs and I thought that 80 kilograms = 176.36981 pounds. Or at least that is what my calulators says, I don't talk metric. What did the " I am 176/69" mean, so I understand problem?

Whatever the problem is, it boils down to your desire, your choices and your actions. :gl:

"Too much".....it may not be the amount you have to eat but rather the calorie density of "what" you're eating.

For instance, 12 helpings of lettuce a day isn't going to calorically do you much good for bulking.

You could eat by "volume" or you could eat by "caloric density", which means you could eat less and still maintain the caloric quotient for a bulk.

IMO you're first posted overall fitness plan was not "optimal" for a bulk anyway.

The resistance training seemed to place "second" to cardio-type activities.

How to stay motivated for weight training?

Well, if weight-training conjures up mental pictures of you being in the gym day-in, day-out, all week then try re-thinking it.

For a bulk you don't need dozens of specialty ex's. So you can pare it down quickly to some basic moves. e.g.:- Squat and/or Deads, Bench, Mil Press for example.

Since you're doing other activities as well you don't need to "volume" train...

All this could be accomplished in 3 short sessions a week and as you progress then 2 sessions a week.

All sessions could be less than 25 minutes.

A lot of guys give up lifting because they want too much too soon, so they train like hell...piling on the poundages faster than they can recover resulting in burnout and no gains after a few weeks or a couple of months. They see no result for their hard work.

If you leave the gym totally exhausted every session and have to spend your "off' days prone on the couch savoring every bit of energy and wishing it didn't hurt so much to lift your fork, you're probably not going to want to do this for any prolonged period of time unless your a maniac die-hard with the genetics of Atlas.

" Intense" lifting does not mean "burn-out" lifting.:)

My fault, You said you wanted to be 80kgs and I thought that 80 kilograms = 176.36981 pounds. Or at least that is what my calulators says, I don't talk metric. What did the " I am 176/69" mean, so I understand problem?

Oh my, looks like I totally screwed my calculations.

I am 69 kilograms now. 176 centimeters in height.
That is 151.8 pounds / 70 inches, right?

And I want to be 80 kilograms. That is 176 pounds.

wheeww.. :D This math is killing me.

I was surprised to see horse meat listed on your post as I've always heard it was either A) tough or B) nearly inedible.

How are you cooking it, and what part of the horse does the meat come from?

I was surprised to see horse meat listed on your post as I've always heard it was either A) tough or B) nearly inedible.

How are you cooking it, and what part of the horse does the meat come from?

Nothing special, really. I just either boil it or fry. It is very tasty and eadible.
And I don't know about bodypart detail..

Looks like I failed. Missed workout, had beer, bad workday.. eww. Don't even want to talk about myself. :whistle:

Ran 10 km on sunday.
Sounds like a bounceback.

Just finished my second meal. Man, the 'meat and potatoes' part was hard. My body was all like 'I'm gonna throw up!', but I forced myself to eat it all. Tomorrow, I'll take a double meal! :eat: :mad:

This is just a mere observation. Feel free to take it or leave it.

It has been said repeatedly in this thread that if you want results, you have to want it and work for it. This goes for everybody, not just you.

Part of wanting it and getting serious is adjusting your attitude. IMO, if you have to force the food down and think about vomiting, there is a problem somewhere. Double meals are not going to help as then you'll be overloading your stomach which will make you throw up. I'm not going to assume anything, but instead of thinking "I'm going to throw up!" think of it as "I'm feeding my body what it needs. When my body is fed properly along with with exercise and good rest change will come." or something to your liking.

If you are eating one meal that makes you feel too full, you need to re-adjust your macos and spread out your calories more so that you get them all in. If one version of your diet doesn't work, you need tweak it until it does. There is no magic food forumla or exercise plan that comes out of a box or book that works for everybody.

There is tons of good information about how to put together a plan custom made for you, but even the people that put that information out there cannot state for fact that their ideas or plans will work for everyone as everyone is different. I'm lactose intolerant, so for me to eat cottage cheese is not a good idea as it would literally make me sick while others can eat it by the buckets full and never have a problem. That's okay as it isn't a big deal. Eating cottage cheese because somebody told me to isn't worth spending a weekend in bed with nasty stomach cramps for. I'd rather be up and getting things done instead.

There is some thought and planning involved beyond the physical aspect of it. Is it worth it? Only you can answer that question but until you adjust your attitude, you won't get far as it's too easy to think and speak in the negative.

*Ends mother hen speech*

3.8 km yesterday..

Ran 13.5 km 2 days ago.
Gonna kick some serious workout today.. :flex:

The workout was killer!
My legs are really pumped!

If you really want to get serious. research a good trainer (look ar references and credentials) and hire them for a month or so. The money spent will force you to put some more effort into what you're are doing because you are paying for it. They can help you with diet and training as well. A good investment to help you towards your goal. While you have that resource, utilize it. Ask lots of questions and take notes.

The rest of the motivation comes within. What kind of program have you been doing? If you don't have a lot of motivation to go to the gym, your program likely suxs becasue you haven't made any progress and you're spinning your wheels, thus lising motivation.

I would suggest a strength based program for now instead of pure hypertrophy (bodybuilding) because you'll see results quicker.