need a bit of advice

hello there guys,

i dont normally post on the steroid forum but reading thorugh it it seems alot of you guys have some great knowledge on building muscle and basically keeping fit.

So heres the story, im 21 years old, used quite alot of stims through the years and lost alot of weight going as low as 9 1/2 stone . I stopped taking stims and i have began putting weight back on, gaining to 11 stone which i am quite happy with, i am 5 '11 and have hardly any muscle whatsoever apart from some on my stomach.

I have been going to the gym about 3 weeks now and im lifting what some people think is quite light weights but i am pushing myself to my limits. i have noticed some nice defintion in my muscles, nothing great but its making me feel good, i know its making me stronger.

A big issue with my lifting is i am a vegetarian and the food i eat is quite low in protein because i am missing essential things that meat contain, I eat eggs, low fat cheese with brown bread, potatos, rice, pasta, , salad lol, and cereal with full fat milk and quorn(which contains quite alot of protein) like 20g of protein in one quorn burger which is alot compared to anything else i am eating.

I do sometimes have pizzas and other junk food things usually at a weekend, i would like some real advice on what foods to watch out for and foods i should be looking at intaking ?

I would like some advice on any supplements or foods (vegetarian that is ) that will help aid muscle growth and basically help me in my quest to become fit again

all answers appreciated

hiya, have u looked at some of the complan type drinks - like banana etc that body builders drink? you use a mixer to blend them up apparently coz my fella is afta one of those + he trains and builds a lot; make sure ur iron levels are ok - being female i dropped dangerously low wen i was veggie and spotted it wen i kept falling asleep as it affects energy; i feel u need 2 build ur body up strong & solid to compensate 4 ur stimulant use of ur body but in a good strong balanced way - its harder being veggie but there must be great body builders/trainers on the wider internet too who are veggie u can learn from

Since you eat milk products, the obvious supplement would be whey protein shakes. They're an easy (and generally quite affordable) way to boost protein intake. If you care for it, milk itself can also be an easy source of a bit of extra protein; a large glass (500 ml) contains about 15 g of protein.

If you're lifting weights seriously, aim for at least 100 grams a day of protein (and increase that as you gain muscle mass.) All the exercise on earth won't do you any good if your body doesn't have enough raw ingredients to build muscle with.

eat! you need protein to build muscle... why are you a vegetarian? you wasn't born that way it was a choice! My sister started that shit for awhile, then she realized that it wasn't in her best interest. Animals were put here for us to eat, we are the dominant ones that's why we live in houses, drive cars, and communicate with words. animals have no rights EAT them and you will grow!
FOOD high in protein in the only way to pack on muscle
if you do not like that advice, which is in your best interest
your going to have to be on a highly EXPENSIVE liquid diet drink many protein shakes again, i would use milk instead of water.

Some vegetarians eat fish and chicken, if you do....try and eat tuna and other white meat fish and chicken breast. These are high in protein.

As DEA pointed out, you want to use whey (since you use milk products). Whey is prob your best bet next to real food. Try and have a shake with each of your meals (instead of supplementing a meal for a shake) . Other idea for protein is peanut butter, makes a great snack. Keep a jar next to your bed and office draw, every so often, take a few tablespoons worth and wash it down with a glass of milk.

i dont eat fish or chicken, no meat whatsoever , it was something i chose when i was young (about ten) and have never eaten meat since, i have got a load of peanut butter, gonna start eating that and drinking more milk..

Defiantely going to look into getting some whey protein shakes. what sort of price do i want to be paying?

I am currently going to the gym for days a week working on :

Monday: chest and biceps
Tuesday: back and triceps
Wed: Rest
Thursday: legs
Friday: shoulders and chest

seems to me thats ok for a beginner?

cottage cheese - takes some getting used to (lots of people find the texture real weird at first). But quickly you adapt to it and then it tastes freaking delicious.

Whey powder - you can make into smoothies. 50 bucks for 5 pounds of pure whey (don't buy that crap with sugar/maltodextrin in it because this is a rip-off pricewise).

Pizza is alright for you...main thing is getting lots of good calories into you. You want to eat above what you need just to maintain your weight, since you're trying to GAIN. Simple physics there.

Check out the book Starting Strength for a good program. That program you listed doesn't seem very good to me, but if you're making decent gains with it then so be it. I would think you'd be better off squatting 3x a week personally if its mass you want.

well i obviously want to gain some mass, but more defintion more than anything. What is it about that program you think isnt very good? i really would like to learn the basic concepts of lifting and what muscle groups to work on and pair together if you know what i mean? i mean why is certain parts like back and triceps or chest and triceps mixed together and why are they paired?

I think that thinking in terms of body parts is the wrong way to approach it.

Instead you should think in terms of compound lifts. Squat, OH Press, Deadlift, Clean, Pullups. Lifts like that. Try to make a balanced program for you centered around those lifts. Maybe then throw in some accessory stuff once you get your stamina up, like curls, skullcrushers, hypers, crunches, and rows.

hiya, my fella tends to pair stuff up i think or def just does like Legs one day coz he can hardly walk for a few days, so then he is able u see to focus on like his back, or as u say arms and smg else - ive asked him for any ideas on ur programme

^ just my opinion, but if you are doing legs 3x a week then the DOMS you're talking about goes away after a few weeks (ie you get stronger).

the reason doing legs make you hurt so much is that you don't do them enough (ironic huh?)

And whether you're a girl or a guy I don't think there is anything hotter than a nice pair of strong legs/hips/core

myprotein.co.uk is the cheapest place to buy whey in the UK

MP67483 use that for 5% off too.

Catch me on MSN if you have any questions

eDDe9 said:

myprotein.co.uk is the cheapest place to buy whey in the UK

MP67483 use that for 5% off too.

Catch me on MSN if you have any questions

Click to expand...

eDDe9, are you affiliated with them or just a really happy customer? I'm about to stock up again so I checked out their site, but it says they're relocating and will have some teething difficulties (or words to that effect). Do you by any chance know if they're running ok now?

They're running fine, I got an email saying there may be some delays, but only by a few days max.

I'm just a happy customer, and I'm fed up with people buying into advertising, these people rely on word of mouth.

stbizzle said:

eat! you need protein to build muscle... why are you a vegetarian? you wasn't born that way it was a choice! My sister started that shit for awhile, then she realized that it wasn't in her best interest. Animals were put here for us to eat, we are the dominant ones that's why we live in houses, drive cars, and communicate with words. animals have no rights EAT them and you will grow!
FOOD high in protein in the only way to pack on muscle
if you do not like that advice, which is in your best interest
your going to have to be on a highly EXPENSIVE liquid diet drink many protein shakes again, i would use milk instead of water.

Click to expand...

I'm 5'9 over 200 pounds and I'm a vegetarian, there is a fair bit of fat, but that's due to alcoholism and not giving a fuck about my diet.

When I used to care about the gym, I gained muscle faster than my non vegetarian friend, i know that it doesn't mean much. but vegetarians can make pretty impressive gains.

I was born into vegetarianism via religion, now it's just a habit, but i can't imagine why you'd feel it necessary to attack someone's choice to limit how many animals they eat.

thanks ostrich,that gives me some confidence , i have been at the gym nearly 4 weeks now and i must say i am quite impressed, i have always been athletic but lost alot of any potential muscle. i am finding that my muscles are defiantely becoming more prominent, i feel good after my work outs, i think its giving me so many benefits, i am going to order some whey protein, creatine and some ultra fine scottish oats i think, can anyone else reccomend anything else to help build muscle?

That'll be fine now, once you've been lifting for 4 months then there's other stuff to look at, but none of its important

Training - split sets

Bare_head said:

thanks ostrich,that gives me some confidence , i have been at the gym nearly 4 weeks now and i must say i am quite impressed, i have always been athletic but lost alot of any potential muscle. i am finding that my muscles are defiantely becoming more prominent, i feel good after my work outs, i think its giving me so many benefits, i am going to order some whey protein, creatine and some ultra fine scottish oats i think, can anyone else reccomend anything else to help build muscle?

Click to expand...

hiya, right, finally had a chat w my fella bout ur routine and he recommends this:

chest + triceps
back + biceps
shoulders + upper back
legs

he recommends one day on, one day off 4 u, he says reason for the pairing up above is to train the same muscle group at same time, same day

not to overtrain if u want 2 build more, & to try 2 eat 5 or 6 meals a day of anything that seems right bearing in mind ur veggie, still u should eat lots!

Ah a vegetarian, you may want to get some L-Glutamine, it isn't required if you eat meat because you get a load of it naturally.

Split sets are a bit naff to be honest. For now I'd recommend big heavy full body workouts to get the test pumping every other day.

Bench
Squat
Deadlift (once you start getting heavy on this, then start looking to do split sets as you don't want to do it too often)

Then add your presses and upright rows after you've done those three, maybe some curls if you're that way inclined

What are ur goals? If ur a vegiterian its pretty hard. I have a vego friend wanting to get bigger but i told him its almost impossible. If you want to get muscle and bulk up dont worry about what u eat. I eat a shitload of carbs and protein (meat) and thats enough. Ive gotten really good results. Ive been off the juice for 2-3 years now. Eat heaps, bulk up and tone down at the end.