Building muscle - how best to, and the pros and cons

Hi,
This isn't related to a specific event I'm training for, but I'd like some advice on best to build muscle. I am 5ft 7" and currently weigh 56kg (9st), and am of slight-to-medium build. I'm thinking of trying to increase my weight to ~60-61kg (~10st).
I do not want to add 1st weight in 4 weeks, but perhaps 2/3 months, and am more concerned with building quality muscle (fast and slow twitch) rather than just fast-twitch muscle. I would also like to add the weight evenly across all muscle groups, legs and upper body.
What is the best way to do this please? Having looked at supplements and shakes from what I can see there seems to be some whey protein products which let you gain lots of weight very fast, and some other products which seem to let you gain weight in quality muscle and over a slightly longer period - what I'm after.
Would anyone recommend any supplements? (Had been looking at some trisource protein cycling recovery drinks - would these do?) What sort of impact would 1st extra going to do to the rest of my body?
Also I am currently well-conditioned and have a great power to weight ratio on the bike. Would I obliterate this by adding 1st extra of muscle? Or would the benefits make it worth doing?
Cheers,
JJ
This isn't related to a specific event I'm training for, but I'd like some advice on best to build muscle. I am 5ft 7" and currently weigh 56kg (9st), and am of slight-to-medium build. I'm thinking of trying to increase my weight to ~60-61kg (~10st).
I do not want to add 1st weight in 4 weeks, but perhaps 2/3 months, and am more concerned with building quality muscle (fast and slow twitch) rather than just fast-twitch muscle. I would also like to add the weight evenly across all muscle groups, legs and upper body.
What is the best way to do this please? Having looked at supplements and shakes from what I can see there seems to be some whey protein products which let you gain lots of weight very fast, and some other products which seem to let you gain weight in quality muscle and over a slightly longer period - what I'm after.
Would anyone recommend any supplements? (Had been looking at some trisource protein cycling recovery drinks - would these do?) What sort of impact would 1st extra going to do to the rest of my body?
Also I am currently well-conditioned and have a great power to weight ratio on the bike. Would I obliterate this by adding 1st extra of muscle? Or would the benefits make it worth doing?
Cheers,
JJ
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best bet is probably to base routines around compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts for legs and chest press, rows and pull ups for upper body. These work the large muscles and also the supporting muscles around them.
Shark Aero Pro
Px Ti Custom
Cougar 531
Sab single speed
Argon 18 E-112 TT
One-one Ti 456 Evo
Ridley Cheetah TT
Orange Clockwork 2007 ltd ed
Yeti ASR 5
Cove Hummer XC Ti
You won't be able to choose the fibre type when training for increased muscle bulk. You will pretty much just increase the size of the fibres you already have. For the most part, that sort of training reduces aerobic metabolic capabilities through mitochodrial dilution.
Which means you'll go slower on a bike, up hills in particular since your aerobic threshold will fall (since your weight training will cut into your endurance training, either because of a reallocation of time resource and/or because you are too fatigued for quality aerobic work) and your mass will increase.
You can attain some hypertrophy through endurance training, and in that way maintain muscle mitochondrial density.
As for simply buying and drinking some sort of supplement, then sitting around waiting to get big, well, that works too. Only problem is you'll probably just get fat, but you knew that? There is no supplement that adds muscle(or fat) to a specific area. In any case don't count on supplements for muscle, count on work.
If you want to get big the way to do it is through explosive training i.e. pumping iron, short bursts of very high effort at running, cycling, etc. If you're not a track cyclist then you probably won't put on a bunch of muscle.
In the end what I'm saying is you can't be Arnold and still win the TDF. Get into a sport you enjoy and enjoy it. Ya can't do it all.
And you are so much kinder and gentler these days.
Nice to see you (for real). :oops:
Nothing much....
Putting on just muscle is tricky- you will need to work eat & rest in a very focussed way to avoid just getting fat(ter). I would suggest that you try to add protein to a level of 1.5 g per kg bodyweight, shared out over the day. You could easily get this from protein rich real food - tuna, other fish, meat etc & dairy products ( or vegetarian equivalents)
Whenever you exercise make sure you do not do so without good glycogen stores (the body's on carbs) - eat on the bike and /or afterwards and include some protein.
A stone over 13 weeks means a calorie excess of 500-700 kcal a day in broad terms....for some of us putting on weight is easy peasey - but I think your goal could be tricky, especially if you have a lightly built frame.
your cycling may well suffer too - at least short term but if you can eventually up your power output to keep up with the extra weight you would be ok - its not as if you will be overweight at 5' 7" an d 10 stone!
Granted - it's just reminding the school of cycling that says you have to be a skinny fecker that we've had rather a lot of success as a nation in the type of cycling for which being skinny isn't the way to go.
Shark Aero Pro
Px Ti Custom
Cougar 531
Sab single speed
Argon 18 E-112 TT
One-one Ti 456 Evo
Ridley Cheetah TT
Orange Clockwork 2007 ltd ed
Yeti ASR 5
Cove Hummer XC Ti
Adding 5/6kg of lean mass when you only weigh 56kg will take a long time, much longer than 2/3 months. Probably 1-2 years.
You will need to be in the gym 2-3 times a week lifting moderately heavy weights for 8-12 reps and 3-5sets using exerciss such as deadlifts, squats, presses and rows. This is a big commitment and will interfere with your cycling training in terms of time and recovery, cycling / aerobic activity will also impede strength gains and hypertrophy from this training.
Supplements such as protein shakes are mainly about convenience as timing of nutrition in relation to training is important. You should be aiming to take in approx 1.5-1.8g/kg body mass of protein each day.
If you just want to appear bigger and aren't interested In strength gains then you could take creatine which will increase the water content in your muscles and make them appear larger, probably adding 2-3 kg to body weight. This may also improve repeated sprint ability. But the effect creatine has Is dependent on the individual. Some people respond to it others dont.
Some halfwitt here is lifting weights to improve his cycling i wonder if he is any good?
I thought coaches were there to work with each client as an individual,if thats not the case then we should all train the same shouldn`t we? well that puts all coaches out of business doesn`t it.That would mean the sale of self coaching books and premade plans are about to rocket.
professional athletes do. Exercise is for the rest of us.
Want to define by what YOU mean by training? For me it's working towards a specific event or series of events. I exercise for sure - just generally drifting towards better fitness.
For the next two months I will only be doing 1-2Xendurance rides a week (around 3 hours). 3X weight training (mainly lower body/back) a week and 2x shorter rides at a higher pace, some will be hill training based. I also commute 3 times a week of 15 miles eacy way.
Don't eat any (or at least extremely little) junk food. Consume lots of pasta and rice. For me eating a bowl of pasta/rice/jacket potato at night after dinner.
A rough diet for me is breakfast (cereal + fruit).
Snack of nuts + fruit mid morning.
Lunch, normally 2 sandwiches with fruit etc or chicken & pasta dish.
Dinner, anything as long as it's home cooked/healthy-ish for me.
Then pasta or jacket potato.
Interspersed by pieces of fruit throughout the day.
After every ride/training (including commuting) I also take 'Myprotein' recovery XS, prefferably in milk.
I did this before and within 2 months gained 1.5 stone. Cut half a stone and was more powerful and fitter with a lower bodyfat % than before this.
As to whether it's good. Depends on what sort of riding you do and what you want to achieve as well as how successful your training is.
He's not lifting to put on weight though. I'd say there's a difference between weight lifting and strength and conditioning.
PTP Runner Up 2015
Agreed - plus he's carrying WAY more weight in that video than he raced with. He had to work really hard to lose a lot of that muscle!
Thats the trouble with not being very good at grammer i find it hard to spell correctly and express what i`m trying to say,And i understand the fact that I`m not always right.It would be alot nicer place on this forum if a few other could see things that way too.
POKERFACE why you selling all your assos gear?
- At the moment I have great power:weight, and a couple of you have pointed out how this would be demolished if I added extra weight. I love my power:weight, it's why I can bound up hills on a bike.
- I had no idea how long it would take to gain 4/5kg in muscle. Seems it would take a long time and - combined with the point above - not worth it for me.
- Gaining strength not weight is what I would like to do. Preferably strength with no increase in muscle size/weight!! Is this possible?!? Also gaining strength aimed at my disciplines.
- I try take lots of protein in my diet, and will just keep this up I think - but not obsessively, having read all your things (and how I love my P:W I'm not sure I want to gain any weight!)
Sooo...
Other than consistent aerobic/cardio training, any tips for strength (but not weight) gaining and also pushing the P:W up?
Thanks again guys - much appreciated!
JJ
Just selling the 'extra' stuff I had. That's part of the problem with being an unemployed cyclist - the bills don't pay themselves!
You've made the classic mistake of confusing strength with power. 2 completely seperate things.
PB's
10m 20:21 2014
25m 53:18 20:13
50m 1:57:12 2013
100m Yeah right.
Without sounding wanting to sound like a pedant, that's not strictly true - they are related.
POWER = FORCE (strength) x DISTANCE ÷ TIME
My point being the OP will have more than enough strength to turn the pedals but needs to increase power to do it for longer.
PB's
10m 20:21 2014
25m 53:18 20:13
50m 1:57:12 2013
100m Yeah right.
And if he has no more power to give how will increasing strength help?
The question I quoted was about increasing power/weight. You either need to increase power [not strength] or decrease weight.
PB's
10m 20:21 2014
25m 53:18 20:13
50m 1:57:12 2013
100m Yeah right.