Big mals fedora said:
Hi guys, just been reading through this thread, some great advice. I've recently joined a gym as I'm pushing 50 years old this year, wanted to smarten myself out a little! I've always been active, sports, sprint triathlons etc till about 3 years ago, when I had to have a back op. Done nothing post back op for obvious reasons, till recently joining the gym. My question for you knowledgeable guys is can I tone/bulk up using resistance equipment in the gym?? Also I tend to go to the gym twice early morning, once in the afternoon (3x per week) & not sure if my diet should be the same each day of the week?? Thanks for any info in advance.
By resistant equipment do you mean weights machines? Because all weights are a form of resistance training really.
Although they get a bad rep, you can still do a lot with machines. I'm not sure where you feel your back is, or what your doctor has recommended, but they can be a safer way of carrying out some exercises. Flip side to this is perhaps strengthening your back because of the operation wouldn't be a bad thing either, but that you would have to check with your doctor.
Twice a day 3 times a week is fairly on the high side, you don't need to go that often to bulk up. Bodybuilders may have very specific routines isolating body parts per session 6 times a week but for regular folk just wanting to put on a bit of mass and then trim down a bit it's unnecessary, and also where most beginners go wrong. You grow outside of the gym, so making sure you get enough good rest is very important.
This actually links back in nicely with machines - Lots of machines are isolation by their nature. Which means to hit as many muscle groups as for example, a deadlift, you have to go on multiple machines. Some people like spending lots of time in the gym, some don't. But you get way better bang for your buck with compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, bench press, etc.
As for diet it's entirely up to you and you have two main choices. You can just go for the bulk, eat at a surplus, then when you think you're big enough start backing off the calories to start shedding some of the fat. Tried and tested. Alternatively you could try recomposition, which goes a little more into your idea of eating more on workout days and less on rest days. The idea is that you can swing your body between states of surplus and deficit, usually by the aid of intermittent fasting, to slowly change the composition of your body - Less fat, more muscle. Some people believe it's not even possible, but whatever is possible is slow, very slow. And slow means demotivating, which is crap.
If you've always been active I'm going to guess you're not carrying a lot of excess weight, in which case a slow controlled bulk would likely be best. You'll start seeing results sooner, lift heavier weights sooner, etc. Slow is the name of the game really. Work out your TDEE, ( <a class="postlink" href="http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/</a> ) get a rough idea for what you can eat to hit it, do that for a month whilst tracking your weight - If your calculation was right your weight wouldn't have changed, because you'll be eating exactly how many calories your body is burning. If you're loosing weight, eat more. If you're gaining weight too fast, eat less. Sounds like a lot to take in but once you've done it for a couple of weeks it's a piece of piss.
Would definitely be worth having a chat with your doctor about what you can safely do though. Bulking up without deadlifts doesn't technically count ;)
I will stress again that when bulking up the diet is
very important. If you neglect the diet you can go and kill yourself at the gym as much as you like, nothing will happen. To build muscle your body needs fuel, and to lose fat you have to be consuming less than your burning.
