Hey, I just started working out about a week ago because I needed to get myself in shape. I am 24, 6 feet tall, and underweight at 156lbs. I went through a TUFF time emotionally and lost a bunch of weight. Now I find I pretty much have ZERO strength to do good lifting. I am taking protein, eating right, and taking NO Xplode to help put on muscle. I don't want to get HUGE, I would just like to get cut and develop some strength. I have been doing all body workouts to try and get my endurance up, and I will probably stay on this approach for at least the 1st month. I just don't know how to gain some weight so I can start packing on the muscle. Thoughts?

First of all, remember that muscle when not worked out turns into fat. So if you try to get huge then stop working out, it could hurt you in the long run. Granted, at 6 feet and 156lbs you do have a lot of room to add muscle. I personally would read a previous post I made. Go to forums = fitness and it's called "Working out entire body in one day? Effective?" In addition to that, you need to make sure that you spend more time focusing on muscle tone. In other words, make sure that you are doing atleast8-12 reps for each workout. Typically, if I was specifically trying to increase muscle mass, I do 5 or 6 sets of 5 or 6 reps, and it's very effective. But if you do it for a long time and then stop working out, as stated earlier, it turns into fat. So I would stay with 3 sets of 8-12 reps. Also, increase your carb intake. Most people think carbs are bad because of all the diets that are out. But if you are actively lifting multiple times a week, protein isn't the only thing you need. Eat a lot of carbs for breakfast, fewer for lunch, and not many for dinner. This will give you the energy necessary for a full and effective workout each day. Let me know how it goes.

Yea, I Don't want to get huge, I just want to get cut and gain some strength.

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Originally Posted by jeffatl

Yea, I DONT want to get huge, I just want to get cut and gain some strength.

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In this case... you might want to check your BF levels and exercise accordingly. Also, don't forget about your meals. Eating right is one of the most important things in bodybuilding.

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Originally Posted by jeffatl

Hey, I just started working out about a week ago becasue I needed to get myself in shape. I am 24, 6 feet tall, and underweight at 156lbs. I went through a TUFF time emotionally and lost a bunch of weight. Now I find I pretty much have ZERO strength to do good lifting. I am taking protien, eating right, and taking NO Xplode to help put on muscle. I dont want to get HUGE, I would just like to get cut and develope some strength. I have been doing all body workouts to try and get my endurance up, and I will probably stay on this approach for at least the 1st month. I just dont know how to gain some weight so I can start packing on the muscle. Thoughts?

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You must give your body rest time, or your hormone levels will not recover.

For weight lose:
I prefer to work out for 10-30 minutes then rest 5-20 minutes. On a 6/10 mile circuit when going as slow as you can keep walking. Slow walking gives balance, and constantly works your muscles to more defined.

For strength building:
Isometrics, and working with a weight that is 85% of your maximum, at a constant medium speed for medium number of reps works your muscles but does not strain them too much. Many people expect too much too soon, just work out in a moderate way, and you will get results soon enough.

Workouts must be moderate length, or hormone levels drop and stay low.
After you start to work out, after 45 minutes or an hour, stop. Allow time for your hormones to recover (20-30 minutes of sitting, having a shake; protein or whatever), then go back to work out and see that you will greatly improve. But work out in spurts of 20-45 minutes (even an hour) at a time, do not overdo. Too long or too much exercise at once can tear down the body

Nice post eadwoodall. Thanks for your great input.
You are so right: everybody who starts to build his body, wants fast results and quite often the results are not as they would expect. The next step is to give up which is the dummest they could ever do. Just my 2 cents...