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how long do you have to workout to get a heavier build

like im sorta skinny (not like anorexic skinny but just kinda skinny)

and i want to work out but I don't know how much I need to work out, how long, and what equipment I need to use

is anybody an expert on working out?

Consistently, but know one really knows, everyones different, but at LEAST 5 times a week, and if you should have some fat to turn into muscle before working out, I dont work out, as in goto the gym and shit, too much time i just do 400 pushups throughout the day... and sometimes sit ups but if i wanted to work on my abs id go swimming, but seriously consistency is the key..

Saif's right. Consistency is key.
However, I'd have to disagree about the 5 times a week thing. If you're seriously working out at a gym or something, and you're pushing yourself to the limit, the next morning, usually you should wake up sore. It's best not to work out and push yourself after that until you've recovered. I usually tried to hit the gym three times a week, and gave it my all those three times. Now I'm doing wrestling, and it's everyday, but we don't go at a 100% everyday, so I'm not extremely tired after every session. I think I read somewhere that if you're sore, or hurting, and you keep trying to exercise, that can only hinder you.

Dystopia's also right about not having to go to the gym. You don't need some fancy $1000 machines to get into shape. At the very most, just go and buy some $15 dumbbells. You can work out quite a bit more than you can imagine with them.

It truly is a satisfactory feeling when you look up in the mirror to see you've lost all your fat, and built up muscle.

5 times a week 2-3 hours(depending on what u do)
heavy weights less reps=big fatty arms
lighter weights more reps=lean arms

if ur skinny and get heavier I would say to work on your shoulder. its hard for skinny people to build up ''big'' but you get better looking muscle since you dont have fat covering them

Heavier Weights less reps < Lighter Weights more reps

And if you want to take a giant leap from skinny to buff, take protein shakes, but theyre not for everyone..

wouldnt start going for shakes pills ect..
all natural imo

If you want to build up muscles, you'll need to eats enough proteins.
Low fat meat would be the best source.

BTW iirc there is a building muscle thread somewhere in the off topic lounge.
A quick search and you'll have a nice source of information.

Im no expert but i know what works, first of all you need to take it easy, perhaps join a gym and get a programme. If you arent able to do that then you can manage quite easily with press - ups and sit - ups. There are many variations of these excersizes and you can focus on certain areas, but id suggest with anyone who wants to tone up and look good you must mix in plenty of cardiovascular work! Also if you want perfect tone and an all round balance id suggest sticking to free weights.

I can elaborate more on excersizes if you so wish.

I dont know from my experience.. but i know a friend who was fairly skinny.. started going to the gym 2 days a week for around 2 hours.. now he looks like Duke Nukem >.>

I do 6 times a week, you feel it the next day. But, you won't see significant results until 4-6 weeks.

The first day after is the best day. I could feel every muscle tighten and it hurt, but in a good way, everytime I moved. The confidence boost you get is the most important part.

well if you're skinny and want to be buff, you need to first change you diet..eat protein before and after a workout

in the first 2 weeks let your body adjust.

Jesus Christ, nobody here knows what they're talking about at all.
To get buff, you only need 9 minutes a week, no joke.
But that's like in literal terms, in total it should sum up to about 4:30 hours a week (Including legs, back and chest. For just arms, you only need an hour).

Here's the way to do it:

Monday-biceps & chest.
Tuesday-Rest
Wednesday-triceps&back (Most important day imo)
Thursday-Rest
Friday-Legs
Weekend-Rest
Repeat.

You don't need to go to the gym for 3 hours or 6 times a week, like some people claim. That isn't going to get you results, you'll see negative growth if you do that, because you're going to be overworking yourself to the max.

The way to workout is to have medium weights and do them a medium number of reps.

Like for me, I do 120 lbs (not including bar, I don't know how much it weighs, lol(yeah, it's not that much, but I'm only 14 and like just started)) benching. I do anywhere from 7-11 reps. The way to do it is to just keep going, until you CAN'T go anymore, if you were to try another, you wouldn't be able to lift it off your body (that's actually happened to me a few times, lol).
Curls & Presses are way easier, because you can REALLY push yourself, because if you can't do anymore, the weights aren't crushing you.

Dystopia claims to do pushups & situps throughout the day which are fine, but freeweights are MUCH better.
Would you ever do a set of rows with no weight? I don't think so. So why should you do pushups and situps with no weight? It's the same thing. If you DO use weight though, that's good, but it's never as good as freeweights.
Dyst said that for abs she'd do swimming... Hmm, that's good... But if you just wanna get abs, then you should do weighted crunches.
Swimming is good overall body workout, but it doesn't specialize in anything.

Yeah.

2 hours - 6 days a week (monday-saturday), and it works for me. As in for sundays i always play voleyball with my friends, so that's kinda a work out aswell.

if your doing it well then everyother day is what iv'e heard O.o

THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO IS GAIN SOME WEIGHT !

after that: make ur own workout schedule

You should give reasons.

Because you're right, you want to gain weight before working out and while you're working out, but I don't know if you know the reason why.

Mon-sat,2 hours sport in school,additional hour on mon,wed and fri for high achievers fitness.Get home 35-45 min run,every other day 1 hour of free weights.
Tht suits me fine too play and run at high levels and gettin 13.5 on bleep test.
Dont go jumpin into a programme just break yourself into it.
P.s Banna+ milk smoothies before exercise

you need some weight before you can make muscles. If you're skinny, you won't get any muscle shapes, no matter how much you work out.

thanks for the information guys!

i dont want to look like a football player, just look a bit better

so Im planning to do 1 hour of working out my arm muscles and shoulders and do situps as well

as for dumbbells, how heavy should they be for a starter like me? Is it a good indication that my arms are sore when I go to bed? im also going with the lighter weights and more reps instead of fewer reps with heavier weights

Yea,if your'e naturally an Ectomorph,u probably wanna start looking at gaining some pounds aswell to bulk up a lil.

That's not really the reason, lol.

When you're heavier, you gain more muscle because your body has the extra weight to carry around, and it prevents stretch marks. If you're really thin then bulk up, then you can get stretch marks.
But yeah, being heavier generally promotes hypertrophy as well. That's not really the main reason to do it though.

ATTN: grade 4 health class does not make you an expert

Also, i'm not over working. I'm doing ~30 minutes 6 times a week. That's shoulder + back day, chest + bicep day, abs + leg day, day off. You don't need rest days between targeted muscle groups, because when i'm working my legs, my shoulders, back, chest, and biceps are all on rest.


lol @ credibility



And just to clarify, your body is very different from the body of an adult. We gain muscle and lose weight very differently.



Personally, I love the soreness. That's why I workout, it just makes me feel better about working out. When I started I did 100 lbs, then increased it each week. Normally, your weight + reps + sets combo should make it that you are exhausted and unable to do more after you're done your workout.

Currently I use 250lbs for most of my workout. I do drop to 150 for my curls though.

ok cool

Ill try like 50 lbs first and see how I can handle myself

I don't get my info from grade 4 health class. I get it from bodybuilders and my brother who is a certified personal trainer, and he's not just a PT, he works out himself. 19 inch arms as of a week ago
I do what he does, and my "just started" is alittle bit of an understatement. Started like 6 mos ago. 15 and a quarter inch now... I wanna get to at least 16, because 15 is like really standard for amateur bodybuilders.
Well, you really were misleading in your first post. I thought you worked out like every muscle group for 3 hours a day (that's what it sounded like).
You're doing it fine though, but why do you wanna go every day (well, almost every day)? You should just group some muscle groups, it's easier that way because most exersizes aren't isolated trainers.

Whatever.

@Topic Starter
You should just start out with light stuff, and keep getting heavier until you find something you can do like 8-12 reps with.
8-12 reps is what's known as hypertrophy, it'll give you alot of muscle mass. 2-5 is strength though, so if you wanna get really strong do that. But be warned, if you just do like 2 reps, you might hurt yourself.

Make sure not to overtrain!
The only thing worse than getting weaker because you're doing nothing is getting weaker because you're doing too much.

My dad invented personal training and my mom has huge pecs. My sister is an astronaut and she taught me how they work out to be able to lift heavy things in space while repairing the shuttle.

There is no gravity in space.

go einstein go

Your talking about using 2 50 pound dumbells? Good luck. For a beginner you should start at like 20 lol.

Dom what are you using at 250? Benchpress? How much do you curl with dumbells?