Starting to bulk. Looking for some answers...?

Question

Okay, so I'll give you some basic information about myself first.

I'm 18 years old, 5ft 11in, 140lbs (10st) and have a pretty slim build. I played rugby 2 times a week and trained 3 times a week for 6 years up until last season, when I quit. I wasn't enjoying the training like I used to, and ended up leaving.

Since then, I have been very inactive. I don't do any sport, and I don't eat/drink particularly healthy. I eat takeaway 2/3 times a week, never eat breakfast, and literally never drink water. I always drink energy drinks or soda instead.

Anyway, luckily for me, my fast metabolism has allowed me to stay in pretty decent shape, I'm not fat by any means, but I dislike my body a lot. My legs and arms are thin, and my stomach has has no tone at all, just a layer of flab. I want to CHANGE that.

I am going on holiday in about 4 and a half months from now, and I want to look good when I go. I'm currently in studying in college, leaving myself not a lot of money to pay gym memberships. I do however have a barbell/dumbbell set in my room, and am happy to jog/cycle at the local park.

My question to you guys is. WHERE DO I START?

Here is what I'm looking to do: I'm looking to bulk up. I want to put on around 30lbs, but in lean muscle. I want to have a visibly toned stomach, with built arms, built legs, and I also want to feel healthy. Right now, I get sick quite regularly due to my poor dieting habits.

How do I do this Yahoo Answerers? What kind of foods should I be eating? What kind of exercises should I be doing with my home weight set? What kind of cardio exercises should I be doing? How often should I be doing said lifts/cardio? What supplements should I take (if any)? 

If your answer is in depth and you are happy to talk to me about this, maybe you are an expert or have a lot of experience etc, then feel free to add me on Skype and we can chat! My skype account is: k0bra95

Thanks for reading, I appreciate all help given!

Vanya · Accepted Answer

Hi, I'll just do a few bullet points. If you want more explanation - feel free to add detail to your question, I'll check back tomorrow and answer them if I can

Food - Just eat healthy, that's all I can say. Don't drink sodas, dont eat pizzas. Do eat vegetables/fruits, fish, meat, chicken. Cook for yourself (much healthier than takeaway). Avoid fats. Try to eat high protein foods.

Supplements - Don't do that ****. You can easily do it without damaging your body in the process if you just exert the effort. Only thing I would recommend - get some good vitamins, especially if you diet is bad. A good set of daily vitamins (fish oils+multivitamins for example) will do wonders for you

Cardio - Just do enough to be fit. I personally made it a habit to run 20-25km a week. Varry your runs, stretch and do exercises afterwards if you can. 

Weights. Okay so to get a tone body - first thing to know is sets/reps. For toning 12-15 reps 3 sets. For 'bulking up' and building muscle 6-8 reps 4 sets.
As for exercises themselves, dumbells can be used for hands quite easily (curls and tricep extensions). 
Chest - do push-ups (aim for 30 reps 3 sets). 
Abs - that's easy, do crunches, but also work on lower abs and sides as well. For lower abs - lie flat on your back and slowly raise and lower your legs (without touching the ground). Do 1min sets with 30sec breaks. Side - just touch your knees with opposite elbows. 
Legs - Calves lifts and Squats (with or without holding weights)
Shoulders - hold weight infront at shoulder level (touching the shoulders) - lift them up
Back - for that I would recommend buying a cheap pull up bar which will be a great addition. You can get one for about 10 pounds, easily put it into a doorframe and do 3 exercises (in hand, out hand, wide-grip etc etc)
That's most of the muscles covered.

Train 3-4 days a week. Start out with doing entire body in one sessions, then as your progress - in 2 months start doing 1 day 1 set of muscles and another - another set of muscles.

Have fun.

? · Answer

No, my bulk folder stayed empty besides for my weekly stock data. I answered some variety of a survey and now it will get 50+ messages a day. I do not even investigate to see what's in there, I just empty it.

Anonymous · Answer

difficult step. browse on to yahoo. that could help!

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Starting to bulk. Looking for some answers...?

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