Ok this is for the young guys; a common goal they seek from working out is to become, “yoked”, or “dieseled”, “pumped up”, etc. In essence, to become more muscular without getting fatter. Challenge is, young guys often are on a budget, and lazy about food prep.
Make no mistake; building muscle or burning fat requires keeping track of your eating. To build big muscles on a small budget: here is a way to get it done.
0. Take your body fat %. If you are over 12%. STOP. You are too fat to focus on building muscle. Get under 12% first. When you get this done:
1. Take your present bodyweight and add 20lbs to it. Then multiply that number by 20. That is your initial calorie level. So, if you want to be 200lbs. then is 200×20=4000 calories.
2. Zone it. E.g. 4000 calories, 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat= 400 grams carbs, 300 grams protein, 133 grams fat. This is how much if each macronutrient you should consume each day.
3. Good food choices. Organic, free range, gluten free, and low glycemic are the key words you look for in the qualities of the foods you eat. Sure you will break this rule, but only occasionally.
4. Don’t waste money. You can get your 400 grams of carbs from brown rice, potatoes, beans…and it won’t cost you much money. A lot of your fat intake can come from grass fed butter and olive oil. That is 70% of your calories for not much money. What is gonna cost you money is proteins and produce, especially if you buy organic…but it’s worth it.
5. Eat fermented foods. The probiotics in them will improve your health and help your body absorb the nutrition from the food you eat.
6. Proteins and produce. Meat, eggs, etc are at all time high prices. A good protein powder will make it convenient and less expensive to get the protein you need for the workout I will recommend. Hemp protein a great option. Lots of other good brands that can be bought in bulk. Underline this: eat enough protein or you will waste the effort you put into your muscle building workouts.
7. Eat 4 to 6 times a day. Just divide your macronutrient totals by your meals.
8. Do 25-40 reps total in sets of 5 or 8 in the basic moves: squats, bench presses & military presses, deadlifts, and pull-ups. For instance, bench and deadlift on monday, pull-ups and squats on wednesday. Never to failure (save the last 2 reps), never with more than 75% of an estimated 1 rep max…and most of the time stay closer to 25 total reps than 40. You are not training to hit a PR in a lift. Focus on learning and master the lift, not chasing numbers. Use whatever you have available; barbells, dumbbells, kettle bells. Workout 3 times a week for 45 min. This is 80% of your routine, throw in a couple of sets of 8 for your arms, abs, calves, neck…and you are done.
9. Check your progress twice a month. After a couple of weeks of 4000 calories, back it off by 25% for 2 weeks. Alternate. You should see an solid 10 pounds in 10 weeks. The next 10 will take longer take the rest of the year…but you will get there.