Greetings, everyone. Longtime lurker, first time poster.

My Situation - I am 23 years old and just finishing up a 5-year tour in the Marine Corps. For the first time since I was 18, I will have 3-4 months largely to myself, and I'm interested in improving my body via weights. Body type, I guess I'm an ectomorph (skinny, narrow shoulders, long limbs, et cetera). I'm 5'10, weigh 140-145 lbs. I don't eat a lot of junk, but I probably don't eat as much (calorie-wise) as I should be eating. I hope to change all that.

What I'm looking to do - I'm interested mainly in developing my upper body. I'd be happy either buying free-weight equipment - say, up to 500-800 bucks - or finding a cheap gym.

My expectations - I'd like to put on 20-25 pounds of muscle. More would be okay, but I kind of like being thin, just not as thin as I am now. I don't want to spend 2 hours lifting weights every day. Rather, if I could come up with a weight regimen that's an hour a day 4 or 5 times a week, that's what I'm really looking for. I don't know much about the lifts aside from bench pressing, but I'm not an idiot, and if somebody says an exercise I can find a picture or a how-to. I'd still prefer to do a smaller number of xercises...maybe 7 or 10 exercises total rather than 7-10 just for the shoulders.

I don't expect to be a bodybuilding stud, but I'd like to think I'm capable of improving my physique somewhat. For instance, despite being not particularly strong, I went from doing ZERO pullups (big thing in the Marines) to doing 25-30 over-hands. However, I would imagine that pullups are a completely different animal than actually lifting metal weight.


My questions for you -

Is a one hour a day/4-5 times a week regimen a realistic way of adding 20-25 pounds of muscle? Do you have any suggestions for exercises?

Are protein supplements more economical than copious amounts of meat, eggs, and dairy? If so, do you have any recommendations?

Any other advice for a beginner?

Any help you can provide would be most appreciated. Please let me know if I wasn't clear on anything.

Regards

BoP

BirdofParadise said:

My questions for you -

Is a one hour a day/4-5 times a week regimen a realistic way of adding 20-25 pounds of muscle? Do you have any suggestions for exercises?

NOT OPTIMAL IN MY OPINION. NO-ONE NEEDS A 5-DAY SPLIT. 3 DAYS A WEEK IS FINE. YOU CAN GET DONE WITH YOUR WORKOUT IN AN HOUR IF YOU'RE QUICK

20-25LBS IN 4 MONTHS IS NOT GONNA HAPPEN UNLESS YOU'RE A FREAK. THAT's 60LBS IN A YEAR. 25LBS IS A YEAR-LONG GOAL FOR MOST PEOPLE

Are protein supplements more economical than copious amounts of meat, eggs, and dairy? If so, do you have any recommendations?

I'D KEEP THE PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS TO AROUND YOUR WORKOUT ONLY IF POSSIBLE. GRAM FOR GRAM EGGS ARE CHEAPER AT LEAST AROUND HERE (ALTHOUGH THIS WILL VARY ON BRANDS)

Any other advice for a beginner?

DON'T DO TOO MUCH AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO EAT

SEARCH FOR 'THE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO GROWTH' ON THIS FORUM

Any help you can provide would be most appreciated. Please let me know if I wasn't clear on anything.

Regards

BoP

Click to expand...

CAPS

Even if your main goal is to build your upper body, don't shy away from the legs.

hmm WBA's guide probably needs a bump soon, I had trouble finding it

here's the link: http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=110033

even if you decide not to use his recommended lifting schedule, the dietary advice is priceless (literally), and notice the following key elements of his recommended lifting regimen:

- a 3 day split. lifting 5 times a week doesn't give your body a chance to rest & recover. it's a cliche, but growth happens after you eat & while you sleep, not while you're beating your body up for the 5th straight day

- an emphasis on 3 major compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, and a bench variant. why these three? deadlifts in particular will add size to your back, which adds more impression of upper body bulk in months than you can get out of years of dedicated chest work. together squats & deadlifts activate at least 2/3rds of your muscle by mass, which stimulates release of the hormones that make you grow.

- only 4 lifts per day (BoP you were thinking more than this, even on the low side). use the time left over to properly warm up that first major compound lift. if you spend an hour in the gym, it's not unreasonable to spend the first 20-30 minutes warming up for squats or deads (many experienced lifters take so long to warm up for these that they need a nutrition break before their first work set!)

- an emphasis on weighted body-weight exercises (that is, adding weight to pull-ups, sit-ups, and dips as needed). as with the major compound lifts, you're mimicking natural motions that engage more than just the primary movers, but forcing the body to cope with added weight along that same range of motion.

see also A-Unit's sticky thread, and search for his 'squat for big arms'

Excellent stuff, guys. Thanks for the replies.