Routine advice please

Hello from a newbie

I live in Tenerife, Spain ans want to put on some weight sowill post in weight gain shortly. We are lucky enough to have a pool, gym and sauna on our complex.

I am 6 feet and 10st 11lbs. My BMI is 20.5 but people always comment on how skinny I look so want to add a few pounds. I am one of those people that can eat whatever they like and never gain weight.

I have good definition and there is not an ounce of fat on me, my question is

In my workout after stretches should I do my workout in the gym first then swim or do gym workout then swim or does it not make a difference before going for a sauna.

Many thanks for any pointers.

Can you define your goals a litte more clearly? (And what's a stone?)

 In general, if you're after maximal muscle gain, you should keep cardio to under 90 minutes a week - partially because you have to eat your head off to compensate for the calorie expenditure, partially because cardio interferes with protein resynthesis for up to a day after your workout and causes you to gain muscle at an appreciably slower rate.

 Swimming is cardio, so don't do a lot of it if you're wanting to gain muscle.

Hi and thanks for the reply. A stone is 14 pounds. So I weigh a total of 151 pounds.

My goal is to fill out my t-shirts a little better and put some weight on. So I want to concentrate on my upper half, shoulders, chest, arms etc.

I do not want to look like  beefcake with bulging muscles I just want to look like I take care of myself if you know what I mean.

I thought the swimming would either relax and make my muscles more subtle before a workout OR if a swam after my workout then my muscles would not ache as much the next day.

Would doing some swimming also give me a little more stamina for the gym after a while?

Many thanks, Karl

Well, to look like "beefcake with bulging muscles" does not happen accidentally, trust me - it takes more disciple and systematic training than you can imagine.

 What you need right now is a beginner's program - like Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength or Sean10mm's "stripped" 5x5 routine - personally I lean more in the Starting Strength direction for beginners to lifting, but there's only minor differences between them.  And if Kethnaab's interpretation isn't enough, check out the actual Starting Strength book while you're at it - it can be handier to take with you into the gym.

 To concentrate on upper body only is a serious training mistake - you'll most likely wind up with "lightbulb syndrome". Toothpick legs and overdeveloped chest/shoulders give you an extremely odd profile, and if you skip working out your back as much as your front you'll also wind up with a serious case of caveman posture. Which is good if you're auditioning for the role of Quasimodo, but not so good if your goal is to look healthy.

 If you don't overdo the swimming it can form part of a balanced routine - dynamic mobility drills for warmup, strength training, a bit of cardio(20-30 min.), and then stretching is a good format - but you also need to pay a lot of attention to the basics of nutrition and exercise when you're starting out. Check out Non-Sexy Training and Nutrition for an overview of the basics.

Thanks, but I think you may have mis-read my post. It said I DO NOT want to look like a beefcake with bulging muscles, just look like I take care of myself.

Thank you for your help and links they are very useful.

Karl

Original Post by tenerifelife:

Thanks, but I think you may have mis-read my post. It said I DO NOT want to look like a beefcake with bulging muscles, just look like I take care of myself.

Thank you for your help and links they are very useful.

Karl

 I think Melkor's point was that you would have to work really really really hard to look like a beefcake, so you don't have to worry about that. In other words, unless you are aiming for it, it won't happen. Go forth, and lift! :)