Starting from scratch- Lifting/Muscle building for general health?

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RustyCrackleford

Bluelighter
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Hey Chumps and chumpettes,

Im a 35 year old dude in i suppose generally good health, im currently on methadone and still dabbling on top of that while im working to get my dosage to the right level to maintain me. Ive always been relatively small in terms of weight and muscle mass. Ive always floated around 120-125 pounds, 5'10. Currently im sitting at about 140 pound, 5'10. Ive always had a problem with my appetite and ability to gain weight or muscle. Im one of those people that could eat a cake 3 times a day and seem to gain no weight.

Im hitting a spot in my life wherein im starting to care about my general health more, and want to lift and eat well enough to push into a healthier body state. Plus one of the other big motivating factors in this, is that ive always wanted to have the strength and stamina to hold my girls body weight up for long periods of time, if you catch my drift.

Overall i really have no clue where to start, how hard i really need to go, what exercises and lifts to prioritize, etc. Any good resources or general advice would be baller.



Please forgive me if im postin in the wrong location, it seemed this was the closest fitting area.
 
This is probably a pretty good place to get lifting advice tbh but I'll defer to the SEID mods on their opinions, and maybe their favorite lifts

For general strength as a beginner stick with heavy compound barbell and dumbbell work. Squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press. These will all build great back and core strength for stabilization on top of the primary muscles getting stronger just make sure you always use good technique, never sacrifice technique just to lift more. Earn those gains the right way and get jacked

@Serotonin101 @Genetic Freak


Edited to add:

Tons of great info on this YouTube channel going years back. Diet/nutrition for gain, maintenance, and loss as well as planning and technique advice aimed at building muscle

www.youtube.com

Renaissance Periodization

RP Strength (Renaissance Periodization) is a company with one mission: to get as many people as possible into the best shape of their lives. We help people transform in 5 specific ways: 1.) Customized hypertrophy training for less than a dollar a day through our RP Hypertrophy App. 2.)...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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If your on methadone get your test levels checked. That shit nukes your testosterone. My friend was on it for years and it fucking killed his testosterone
 
Agreed with what PA said about test levels and overall get a good physical done if you haven't as getting clean doesn't necessarily eliminate health Consequences or you may have some things that got masked over the years.

First thing I'd recommend is tracking your caloric intake. I've noticed that people who say they "just look at food and get fat" often underestimate the calories they consume and the people who say they "can't gain weight for the life of them" overestimate what they consume. That way you have objective numbers to work with.

Next is estimating daily activity levels. If you're working/doing more demanding activity throughout your days, more rest is often required and also can affect how you train. I say that coming from a background of basically contest prepping working 10-12hr days in a factory lifting 100lb pieces of steel. It taxed me and sometines I had to reel in the training volume or skip certain body parts to avoid overuse injuries.

After that's all accounted for, I'd argue focusing on compound lifts that focus on 2+ muscles to aquire a basic level of conditioning to reduce DOMS, reduce injury risk, build confidence, and gain discipline while also reaping the most benefit. For me, 5x5 training was good for me at the beginning. Enough weight to comfort my ego, enough reps that it helped muscular endurance to a degree, but enough overall volume (reps x sets x weight) to stimulate adaptation.

That's all I got off the top of my head. My professional focus has shifted from sports and performance to clinical/cardiopulmonary fitness and rehab so my brain is still in "advanced heart failure rehab" mode. So if I'm missing anything large, I know GF will add in his valuable information too to cover the bases
 
Hey There.... You're not going to gain skeletal muscle eating cake.. I'm a big fan of keto, but adding a carb source post workout such as white rice..
There's enough info on keto with a Google search, but a basic guide would be: Meat, fish, chicken, eggs, hard cheeses, raw milk. Avocado, olive oil, butter, nuts, seeds. Some berries. Green leafy vegetables..
Look for unprocessed, organic options when possible..

Zero sugars, Zero processed grains, Zero vegetable oils...
 
Yea I'll just expand on the carbs after workout a little because its a good idea

Eating carbs usually causes a pretty quick insulin response which is hugely anabolic and that helps shift from the catabolic workout state to an anabolic state repairing muscle right away
 
This is all fantastic. Thanks boys. I spend a lot of time at my computer here at the office so i brought in a 10# dumbbell to be able to do some minor work switching hands. Im such a beginner i dont even know what half of the lifts mentioned above are but im going to start looking into them.

I definitely underestimate what i consume, i have always had difficulty eating, and sometimes ill go a few days before i realize ive had nothing but cigarettes and coffee. A Typical day would be something like

Morning
-Coffee/cigarettes-
-Fruit scone-

Lunch
-More coffee-

Dinner
-Coffee/juice-
-Autistic fixation turkey sandwich-

This is obviously nowhere near enough calories for a grown man, But ive always had an issue where most foods make me feel ill after a few bites. Im making a concerted effort lately to monitor what i put in though.

Yesterday was:

Morning
-Coffee-
-Rhubarb scone-
-2 tangerines-

Lunch
-2 bananas-
-3 clementines-
-Peanut butter crackers-

Dinner
-3 clementines-
-2 shitty microwave chimichangas that i regret-

Even after just that one day of not having fast food or just coffee or nothing at all, i sleep better and longer than usual, and i feel over all a bit better
 
Oh you definitely need to get in way more protein and calories in general. Try a protein shake, some suck but some are good

Also protein before bed for sure like a casein shake to provide protein while your body repairs overnight
 
1 g/kg of protein/day is good starting point but if you train hard, you might want to consider intake of ~2 g/kg for maximum benefit. Research has shown that in some really intense resistance training regimens going up to even 3 g/kg brings additional benefit, but it is not necessary and you should consider it maybe later if you get really addicted to exercising. Muscle grows 1-3 days after exercise. Remember rest. That is when you grow. And have fun! Fun increases exercise!
 
if you can’t eat a lot, eat high protein high calorie food so you can get in as many cals as possible without making yourself uncomfortable/sick. over time your appetite should increase. being at a higher weight & exercising increase appetite, and exercise usually makes you eat more cals than you burn which is great if you’re trying to gain weight.

u mentioned ur autistic so i understand it’s hard to make changes to foods, so maybe try having whatever ur fixation is but adding smth high cal or having snth high cal on the side (like putting some mayo on the turkey sandwich, or a protein bar with your scone). liquid cals can be really great if ur appetite is low. protein shakes r optimal but u could also do milk or soy milk if u don’t like the taste.

there’s a lot of shit to learn w muscle building and there’s a shit tonne of youtubers (gonna recommend Jeff Nippard cuz his shits always science based cuz he literally studies exercise science) but u don’t need to be doing the optimal thing to make good progress. as long as ur eating in a cal surplus with enough protein and exercising ur gonna put on muscle. 0.8g/lb is optimal but u can gain muscle on less, if u get what i mean.
 
insufferablenerd said:
if you can’t eat a lot, eat high protein high calorie food so you can get in as many cals as possible without making yourself uncomfortable/sick. over time your appetite should increase. being at a higher weight & exercising increase appetite, and exercise usually makes you eat more cals than you burn which is great if you’re trying to gain weight.

u mentioned ur autistic so i understand it’s hard to make changes to foods, so maybe try having whatever ur fixation is but adding smth high cal or having snth high cal on the side (like putting some mayo on the turkey sandwich, or a protein bar with your scone). liquid cals can be really great if ur appetite is low. protein shakes r optimal but u could also do milk or soy milk if u don’t like the taste.

there’s a lot of shit to learn w muscle building and there’s a shit tonne of youtubers (gonna recommend Jeff Nippard cuz his shits always science based cuz he literally studies exercise science) but u don’t need to be doing the optimal thing to make good progress. as long as ur eating in a cal surplus with enough protein and exercising ur gonna put on muscle. 0.8g/lb is optimal but u can gain muscle on less, if u get what i mean.
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Haha its funny, i didnt mention that i was autistic, but i guess its pretty apparent huh?

So far ive been able to cut out all fast food, and most processed sugar. Ive also cut my coffee intake back from 5/6/7 cups a day to 2 max. Ive also been buying/carrying around a 5# bag of clementines all day, which seems to be one of those foods i can eat endlessly without feeling sick. Just in the last few days of doing this, i feel drastically better. Been sleeping better, more stamina, clearer headed, etc. Im planning on starting to add in liquid calories as much as i can too, ive hated every protein shake ive ever tried, but when i got most of my teeth pulled out i lived off of that carnation instant breakfast stuff for almost 2 weeks, and never felt hungry. This shit >>Carnation It cant really be that great for you, but i figure at this point getting calories in as best i can is more important than the quality of those calories right?

Pissed_and_messed said:
1 g/kg of protein/day is good starting point but if you train hard, you might want to consider intake of ~2 g/kg for maximum benefit. Research has shown that in some really intense resistance training regimens going up to even 3 g/kg brings additional benefit, but it is not necessary and you should consider it maybe later if you get really addicted to exercising. Muscle grows 1-3 days after exercise. Remember rest. That is when you grow. And have fun! Fun increases exercise!
Click to expand...
So if i got this right, at roughly 140# im looking for about 65g-130g of protein a day?


someguyontheinternet said:
Oh you definitely need to get in way more protein and calories in general. Try a protein shake, some suck but some are good

Also protein before bed for sure like a casein shake to provide protein while your body repairs overnight
Click to expand...
So the idea is to stick to high protein high calorie foods pre workout, and then switch to carbs/complex sugars in recovery?
 
Pissed_and_messed said:
red lentils are great option for replacing low-protein starch sides. also generally really pleasant to eat and easy to digest properly cooked.
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Mung Beans are super soak em at least 8 hour s before use, flush thorough.
Like any Nut, Bean, Lentil, grain, .. should be soaked. There tables with times.

https://madewholenutrition.com/blog...times-for-grains-beans-lentils-seeds-and-nuts

Then your ready to go, Nut s of course you dry. But most is cooked.
Way tastier, and healthier. You flush out the enzyme inhibitor s.
That keep them from sprouting but when you ingest them.
They are hard on the digestive track/ system.
It forces the digestive track to use body enzyme s.
And those are precious !

https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1750-3841.13985

So better wash em out, much eassier on your constitution.
Soaked Nuts taste BTW the same as unsoaked.
But it won t work on heated Nuts, only on raw ones.
 
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RustyCrackleford said:
Haha its funny, i didnt mention that i was autistic, but i guess its pretty apparent huh?

Im planning on starting to add in liquid calories as much as i can too, ive hated every protein shake ive ever tried, but when i got most of my teeth pulled out i lived off of that carnation instant breakfast stuff for almost 2 weeks, and never felt hungry. This shit >>Carnation It cant really be that great for you, but i figure at this point getting calories in as best i can is more important than the quality of those calories right?
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i swear u mentioned it in a reply or smth 😭

icl yeah in this situation quantity over quality. if you’re underweight or undereating, you will have negative effects very quickly and those suckers can stick around. if you’re eating processed food, you’ll feel the effects in like 30-40 years. also if the choice is adequate protein or less processed food choices, choosing adequate protein will lead to overall better health. sure processed foods do have some health consequences but the ones that aren’t high in salt, saturated fat and sugar are OK if not consumed in excess and you don’t seem to be consuming *anything* in excess.

if it’s really a concern you can worry about food quality once your weight & calorie intake are where you want them.
 
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