Mussels
July 14, 2010 12:36 PM Subscribe
For a few days every week, I am a mover, and I spent about 12 hours lifting boxes and running up and down stairs. How do I translate these extended workouts into some muscle growth?
I am not a "workout" kind of person. I can really only exercise when it serves some kind of purpose (I.E.: I ride my bike to work every day). But now I have a fairly regular regimen of running up and down flights of stairs a couple days a week (the purpose being that I make money). However, I'm not really developing any muscle mass. I assume this is just due to my not eating the right stuff while I'm doing the work, but I don't really know much about this, so I'm turning to mefi. Any help you can give me on how I can build and retain muscle mass would be most appreciated. I'm not looking to turn into a hulk, but it'd be nice to have some guns to show off!
I am not a "workout" kind of person. I can really only exercise when it serves some kind of purpose (I.E.: I ride my bike to work every day). But now I have a fairly regular regimen of running up and down flights of stairs a couple days a week (the purpose being that I make money). However, I'm not really developing any muscle mass. I assume this is just due to my not eating the right stuff while I'm doing the work, but I don't really know much about this, so I'm turning to mefi. Any help you can give me on how I can build and retain muscle mass would be most appreciated. I'm not looking to turn into a hulk, but it'd be nice to have some guns to show off!
Drink a whey protein shake with milk before and after strenuous exercise to add mass to your body.
If you want to develop 'guns', try doing chin-ups (palms out), 4 sets of 10 twice a day (morning/night). It takes less than 10 minutes, and you can see noticeable gains in just a few weeks.
posted by axismundi at 12:52 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you want to develop 'guns', try doing chin-ups (palms out), 4 sets of 10 twice a day (morning/night). It takes less than 10 minutes, and you can see noticeable gains in just a few weeks.
posted by axismundi at 12:52 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
axismundi, chin-ups are plams-in. pull-ups are plams-out. Which did you mean? (Not snark -- I want to know!)
posted by JohnFredra at 12:55 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by JohnFredra at 12:55 PM on July 14, 2010
Ok so first: don't neglect genetics.
I have spent three solid months with little else to do working out almost every day with a friend. At the end of those three months, his upper arms (which had already been bigger than mine) were straining to escape from the sleeves of his t-shirts. I, meanwhile, got stronger but not bigger. I was doing everything this guy told me to do, eating the same food, and definitely putting up more weight. He got big and I stayed about the same.
So no matter what you do, you just may not have the genetics for it. Sorry.
Second: that sort of work out is, from all I've read, honestly not going to make you big unless you are predisposed to mighty, rippling thews. The best way to build muscle mass is sets of high-weight, low-rep exercises. Further, you have to target specific muscle groups. So one day you blow up your chest for an hour (not 12 hours) and at the end, when you poke your chest, it's weird and gross because it's full of all the blood that's been rushing oxygen to your pecs and associated muscles. The next day you do the same thing to your arms, etc.
The sort of exercise you're doing is what I think of as "real world" exercise. Think of the Khoi San hunter gatherers that still live on the plains of Africa. Those guys can run an antelope down like a pack of wolves, and they're in amazing shape. But they are certainly not big. 12 hours of warehouse/moving work will make you stronger, but it's probably not going to make you big, no matter what you eat.
So that's the bad news. The good news is that if you're fit, it will show, and that's hot regardless. Peoples' tastes differ, of course, but I personally don't actually think it's more or less hot if a guy's got like 16" biceps or 19" biceps.
On preview: protein shakes can't hurt, of course. Just make sure it's not loaded down with six million grams of sugar (many are).
I take issue with the chinup/pullup recommendation, on a couple grounds:
1. Palms facing you makes more use of your biceps while palms facing away makes more use of your back muscles.
2. If you want Big Guns, work on your triceps: they're bigger than your biceps, period. The easiest way to do this without a gym is diamond pushups (the diamond refers to the shape made by thumbs and forefingers).
posted by kavasa at 1:05 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have spent three solid months with little else to do working out almost every day with a friend. At the end of those three months, his upper arms (which had already been bigger than mine) were straining to escape from the sleeves of his t-shirts. I, meanwhile, got stronger but not bigger. I was doing everything this guy told me to do, eating the same food, and definitely putting up more weight. He got big and I stayed about the same.
So no matter what you do, you just may not have the genetics for it. Sorry.
Second: that sort of work out is, from all I've read, honestly not going to make you big unless you are predisposed to mighty, rippling thews. The best way to build muscle mass is sets of high-weight, low-rep exercises. Further, you have to target specific muscle groups. So one day you blow up your chest for an hour (not 12 hours) and at the end, when you poke your chest, it's weird and gross because it's full of all the blood that's been rushing oxygen to your pecs and associated muscles. The next day you do the same thing to your arms, etc.
The sort of exercise you're doing is what I think of as "real world" exercise. Think of the Khoi San hunter gatherers that still live on the plains of Africa. Those guys can run an antelope down like a pack of wolves, and they're in amazing shape. But they are certainly not big. 12 hours of warehouse/moving work will make you stronger, but it's probably not going to make you big, no matter what you eat.
So that's the bad news. The good news is that if you're fit, it will show, and that's hot regardless. Peoples' tastes differ, of course, but I personally don't actually think it's more or less hot if a guy's got like 16" biceps or 19" biceps.
On preview: protein shakes can't hurt, of course. Just make sure it's not loaded down with six million grams of sugar (many are).
I take issue with the chinup/pullup recommendation, on a couple grounds:
1. Palms facing you makes more use of your biceps while palms facing away makes more use of your back muscles.
2. If you want Big Guns, work on your triceps: they're bigger than your biceps, period. The easiest way to do this without a gym is diamond pushups (the diamond refers to the shape made by thumbs and forefingers).
posted by kavasa at 1:05 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
so based on some of the talk in here, i googled around a little for pullup/chinpu bars... omg there's a million different ones! any specific suggestions for apartment dwellers? are there (could there possibly BE) any feature differences that matter? $15 at walmart?
posted by radiosilents at 1:47 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by radiosilents at 1:47 PM on July 14, 2010
If you can do it for 12 hours it's not nearly intense enough to build muscle in the sense that you're talking about. The people in the gym that are rippling with muscle got there by doing (for each muscle group) 3 to 5 sets of 5 reps each with the resistance being set so that they're just at the edge of failure on the last rep. This is not an 'area under the graph' kind of situation where lots of light exertion is the same as a small number of reps at near maximum.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:02 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by Rhomboid at 2:02 PM on July 14, 2010
radio: most of the apartment ones I've seen are tension bars that you put in doorways. I've never done any actual research, but I've always been suspicious that they'd have a hard time holding up a grown person. Are there any parks with playground equipment near you? Playgrounds in general are like free outdoor gyms, and they often have something (monkeybars!) you could do pullups on.
posted by kavasa at 2:02 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kavasa at 2:02 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
@radiosilents: I use something called a hangboard to do my pull-ups, specifically this one. I have never used a chin-up bar that just sits on a door frame so I would get one that mounts above a door directly into the wall studs.
posted by axismundi at 2:20 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by axismundi at 2:20 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
But now I have a fairly regular regimen of running up and down flights of stairs a couple days a week (the purpose being that I make money). However, I'm not really developing any muscle mass. I assume this is just due to my not eating the right stuff while I'm doing the work
You're right that it isn't exercise that makes you get bigger, it's eating. Eating for muscle growth requires 2 basic things -- sufficient protein (1g/lb. of bodyweight is often recommended), and sufficient caloric intake. You don't have to eat anything special, or use any fancy powders or products, although protein shakes can certainly help, especially post-workout. But really you just have to eat a lot. Lots of guys who lift and don't grow aren't eating enough. There are lots of articles about eating for mass gain. Here's one.
Having said that, the exercise you're doing doesn't sound conducive to growth. Anything that you can do for 12 hours is likely not intense enough for muscle growth -- otherwise everybody would get huge leg muscles from just walking around. If you want to get big you've got to lift big and eat big. If you want to learn more about how this all works, read Starting Strength.
Finally, if you're interested in lifting/strength training and have further questions you'll have much better luck posting them on an actual lifting forum than doing so here. Here are a few forums you can check out.
posted by useyourmachinegunarm at 3:03 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
You're right that it isn't exercise that makes you get bigger, it's eating. Eating for muscle growth requires 2 basic things -- sufficient protein (1g/lb. of bodyweight is often recommended), and sufficient caloric intake. You don't have to eat anything special, or use any fancy powders or products, although protein shakes can certainly help, especially post-workout. But really you just have to eat a lot. Lots of guys who lift and don't grow aren't eating enough. There are lots of articles about eating for mass gain. Here's one.
Having said that, the exercise you're doing doesn't sound conducive to growth. Anything that you can do for 12 hours is likely not intense enough for muscle growth -- otherwise everybody would get huge leg muscles from just walking around. If you want to get big you've got to lift big and eat big. If you want to learn more about how this all works, read Starting Strength.
Finally, if you're interested in lifting/strength training and have further questions you'll have much better luck posting them on an actual lifting forum than doing so here. Here are a few forums you can check out.
posted by useyourmachinegunarm at 3:03 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am not a "workout" kind of person. I can really only exercise when it serves some kind of purpose (I.E.: I ride my bike to work every day). [...] Any help you can give me on how I can build and retain muscle mass would be most appreciated. I'm not looking to turn into a hulk, but it'd be nice to have some guns to show off!
As others have said, you're not going to get much growth out of this; the sort of work you're doing is great for endurance and good for strength (to a point, until you adjust to the weight you're lifting), but it won't do much for mass. Pull-ups are similar -- they're great for endurance and great for strength, but only to a point. When you do bodyweight exercises, resistance (i.e. your weight) does not increase along with your strength, and that causes diminished returns over the long run. You can do more pull-ups to compensate, but once you can do them easily, you'll be training more for endurance than strength and/or size. That isn't a bad thing -- endurance is important, too -- but it won't make you bigger.
I think you might be better off if you re-framed the issue of workouts: "guns to show off" is the purpose of weight training. Or maybe your purpose could be to add weight each workout (this is achievable for most male beginners once you learn the proper form). Besides, weightlifting is a surprisingly useful activity; it has tangible side benefits (especially in mood and well-being) which tend to become a purpose in and of themselves. And it doesn't take much time -- two or three 45-minute sessions weekly for six months will make a noticeable difference in most beginners. Starting Strength or Stronglifts are a couple of free and very effective beginning programs you might look into.
I apologize if this isn't the answer you're looking for, but the best answer to "how I can build and retain muscle mass" is tons of protein combined with low-rep, high-weight compound exercises. If the average human being could get big from doing day-to-day work, we'd all be big.
posted by vorfeed at 3:06 PM on July 14, 2010
As others have said, you're not going to get much growth out of this; the sort of work you're doing is great for endurance and good for strength (to a point, until you adjust to the weight you're lifting), but it won't do much for mass. Pull-ups are similar -- they're great for endurance and great for strength, but only to a point. When you do bodyweight exercises, resistance (i.e. your weight) does not increase along with your strength, and that causes diminished returns over the long run. You can do more pull-ups to compensate, but once you can do them easily, you'll be training more for endurance than strength and/or size. That isn't a bad thing -- endurance is important, too -- but it won't make you bigger.
I think you might be better off if you re-framed the issue of workouts: "guns to show off" is the purpose of weight training. Or maybe your purpose could be to add weight each workout (this is achievable for most male beginners once you learn the proper form). Besides, weightlifting is a surprisingly useful activity; it has tangible side benefits (especially in mood and well-being) which tend to become a purpose in and of themselves. And it doesn't take much time -- two or three 45-minute sessions weekly for six months will make a noticeable difference in most beginners. Starting Strength or Stronglifts are a couple of free and very effective beginning programs you might look into.
I apologize if this isn't the answer you're looking for, but the best answer to "how I can build and retain muscle mass" is tons of protein combined with low-rep, high-weight compound exercises. If the average human being could get big from doing day-to-day work, we'd all be big.
posted by vorfeed at 3:06 PM on July 14, 2010
A set of adjustable dumbells with star lock collars will do you far, FAR more good than a pull-up bar.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:26 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:26 PM on July 14, 2010
radio: most of the apartment ones I've seen are tension bars that you put in doorways. I've never done any actual research, but I've always been suspicious that they'd have a hard time holding up a grown person.
Oh they can hold up a grown person no problem. Maybe not a hugely enormous person, but my ~200lb boyfriend can use mine with no issues. The IronGym one that they sell all over the place is great.
And to the op: adding to the eat more contingent. If you don't eat, you can't get big.
posted by ch1x0r at 4:03 PM on July 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh they can hold up a grown person no problem. Maybe not a hugely enormous person, but my ~200lb boyfriend can use mine with no issues. The IronGym one that they sell all over the place is great.
And to the op: adding to the eat more contingent. If you don't eat, you can't get big.
posted by ch1x0r at 4:03 PM on July 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
@radio - get on woot.com right now. They have an iron gym setup for $15. This is identical to the one hanging on my door frame right now, and I've used it fat (260 lb) and now (200 lb) with no issues.
@kavasa - if you were not growing in size, you weren't eating enough.
@orville - you can use this to get bigger, but you're going to have to eat - and you're going to have to do silly things like carry 2-3 boxes at a time. Building muscle is all about lifting HEAVY weight, short distances. When you move, you have a tendency to carry lighter loads longer distances.
If i were you, I would read starting strength and stronglifts - I wouldn't let the posts here (and mine) discourage you - a lot of the core exercises you can replicate with moving - squats, deadlifts are all essentially "moving heavy things" exercises.
That being said, you need a caloric excess to build muscle. You really need to eat. Cannot stress that enough. If you're working hard, your muscles are sore, and you're not gaining weight, you need to be eating more.
posted by unexpected at 5:04 PM on July 14, 2010
@kavasa - if you were not growing in size, you weren't eating enough.
@orville - you can use this to get bigger, but you're going to have to eat - and you're going to have to do silly things like carry 2-3 boxes at a time. Building muscle is all about lifting HEAVY weight, short distances. When you move, you have a tendency to carry lighter loads longer distances.
If i were you, I would read starting strength and stronglifts - I wouldn't let the posts here (and mine) discourage you - a lot of the core exercises you can replicate with moving - squats, deadlifts are all essentially "moving heavy things" exercises.
That being said, you need a caloric excess to build muscle. You really need to eat. Cannot stress that enough. If you're working hard, your muscles are sore, and you're not gaining weight, you need to be eating more.
posted by unexpected at 5:04 PM on July 14, 2010
If i were you, I would read starting strength and stronglifts - I wouldn't let the posts here (and mine) discourage you - a lot of the core exercises you can replicate with moving - squats, deadlifts are all essentially "moving heavy things" exercises.
I hate to be a debbie downer, but I think this sounds like an extremely bad idea, unless you're already proficient at properly performing heavy squats and deadlifts. "Read starting strength and stronglifts [...and] do silly things like carry 2-3 boxes at a time at your 12-hour job" sounds like a real good way to get tired, lift with poor form, and hurt yourself.
There's a reason why people with physical jobs still go to the gym, and it's not because lifting a bunch of boxes at a time never occurred to them.
posted by vorfeed at 5:26 PM on July 14, 2010
I hate to be a debbie downer, but I think this sounds like an extremely bad idea, unless you're already proficient at properly performing heavy squats and deadlifts. "Read starting strength and stronglifts [...and] do silly things like carry 2-3 boxes at a time at your 12-hour job" sounds like a real good way to get tired, lift with poor form, and hurt yourself.
There's a reason why people with physical jobs still go to the gym, and it's not because lifting a bunch of boxes at a time never occurred to them.
posted by vorfeed at 5:26 PM on July 14, 2010
This is actually a lot simpler than people are making it out to be. Your body responds to stimulus and although there are better ways to go about muscle building you still can "get in shape" from everyday moving. You don't need to "run out and buy a book right now!" to figure this out. If you really need to do supplemental reading you can find more than enough info on the internet for free.
Start with the protein shakes. I assume you have one of those jobs where you go out and eat at whatever fast food joint is on the way? Stop that. Make two or three protein shakes everyday and put them in a cooler. Shove ice in the ones you aren't going to chug for a couple of hours. Add peanut butter and ground flax meal to them. Berries go well into them also.
Buy some EFA supplements and pop those morning and night.
Creatine is a great muscle building supplement that is backed up by tons of research and would be smart to add to the shakes you are going to drink within the next six hours.
Find high protein meals that keep and that you like (hard-boiled eggs, chicken in all it's cooked variety and glory, etc.)
Other than that, be the guy who volunteers to move the heavy stuff.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:42 PM on July 14, 2010
Start with the protein shakes. I assume you have one of those jobs where you go out and eat at whatever fast food joint is on the way? Stop that. Make two or three protein shakes everyday and put them in a cooler. Shove ice in the ones you aren't going to chug for a couple of hours. Add peanut butter and ground flax meal to them. Berries go well into them also.
Buy some EFA supplements and pop those morning and night.
Creatine is a great muscle building supplement that is backed up by tons of research and would be smart to add to the shakes you are going to drink within the next six hours.
Find high protein meals that keep and that you like (hard-boiled eggs, chicken in all it's cooked variety and glory, etc.)
Other than that, be the guy who volunteers to move the heavy stuff.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:42 PM on July 14, 2010
radiosilents, I got this one, and it's pretty neat in that it doesn't need to be bolted on, so you can put it up and take it down really easily - good for apartments, I think. (I liked using it, until I lent it to my boyfriend, who apparently thinks it makes a better pant hanger. sigh)
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:18 PM on July 14, 2010
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:18 PM on July 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by not_on_display at 12:46 PM on July 14, 2010