Best ways to put on mass and size? Muscle of course?

[Lane13]

I'm an amateur body builder and having trouble gaining.

[Mcore]

Hello @Lane13! I realize this response is a long time coming, but did want to take the time to address your post. I found a group that you can join to get some friendly tips on how to gain muscle and keep up with great workouts. @6PackDreamer created this group, here is the link:

https://www.fitbit.com/group/2222PN

I hope you get the best results! 

[Romey20]

Glad to help! Been lifting 4-6 days a week for several years now. Here are some tips that I have found helpful.

1-Get your protein in- minimum .7 to 1g per bodyweight in. Whey protein is vital to getting up to that number. I recommend ProJym by Jim Stoppani and Dymatize Iso-100. Both are high quality, mix/taste great, and are legit products without fillers and aminos to spike the protein amount to bogus levels! Also, remember that the only way to get big is to have a caloric surplus so track what you eat and make sure you are taking in more than you are burning off!

2- Pick a good split that allows time for recovery. It is very common for beginner bodybuilders to overtrain- size gets put on during recovery AFTER the work is done with the weights. Here is a good routine to try (one I started with)-

Day1: Chest/Triceps

Day2: Back/Biceps

Day3: Active Rest (walk, light cardio)

Day4: Shoulders/Abs

Day5: Legs/Lower back

Day6: Active Rest (walk, light cardio)

Day7: Rest completely

Pick no more than 7-8 exercises per session of 3-4 sets. To increase size, aim for 10-12 reps before failure and to increase strength, aim for 5-8 reps. Rest-pause or Drop-sets on the last set of each exercise. Also, put your big compound lifts (bench press, deadlift, squat, shoulder press, rows) towards the beginning of the workout and be sure to do 1 or 2 light warm-up sets on the first exercise of each muscle group.

3- Limit cardio. Instead of long sessions of endurance, steady-state cardio, try to do short 20-30 minute HIIT (High intensity Interval training) where you would go, for example, at a slow pace for 2 minutes and then sprint for 1 minute until you reach your time goal. This will not only burn more calories in a shorter time, but it will keep muscles from going catabolic and being burned up during the session.

4- Bodybuilding.com, just check it out if you haven't allready. Great site with lots of workouts, supplements, motivation, and ideas.

[Mcore]

Excellent @Romey20! Thank you for taking the time to help @Lane13.