Gaining Weight w/o supplements?

[Jakanden]

I am currently bulking up and many threads i read, other people here bulking are using supplements (Creatine, L-Glutamine, etc..)

I personally do not want to use these (For one, I cant afford them and two i just dont want to). Is it still possible to gain muscle without them? I "know" the anwser is obvious yes, but I mean will it be so much more difficult w/o the supplements? Has anyone here bulked up succesfully using only protein powder?

Sorry about all the noob questions. I realized that, while I know
quite a bt about losing weight, I do not know anything about gaining it lol.

[Shmackey]

The only "supplement" you need is lots of high-quality protein--and a multivitamin.

In my opinion, the only other one worth a damn is creatine, but you certainly don't NEED it. For that matter, you would only need protein powders if you can't eat enough protein otherwise--which is often the case.

Apart from the holy trinity of protein, creatine, and multivitamins, I am pretty convinced that the rest is snake-oil BS. I don't think I'm alone here.

[MuscleMama]

Jakanden:

YES! You can definitely get "big" and "bulk up" without all the supplement crap. Trust me on this: If you train hard, get plenty of rest, and eat very clean - and a lot of it - you can certainly make great gains. I've been supplement free for a long time now, and I'm still growing at 5'8.5"/164 pounds.

Good luck!

Get huge,
MuscleMama

[ebon00]

Of course you can. Protein powder didn't really exist as a commercial product until the late 60's and then it was a foul-tasting brew that most didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Other than that the only real supplements that were used were kelp and desiccated liver tablets. There were plenty of kick-ass physiques built in those days. If anyone on this board manages to get a build like Larry Scott's or Sergio Oliva's even when using all the supplements in the world... Sure, those guys were genetic freaks but if you're even half as commited as those guys were and eat properly, you'll see results.

[Jaster]

Take FOOD!!

[Jakanden]

Yeah I realized it today. I went to the gym and bumped up my sets and rep amounts (I am doing Cursor's 4-day split) and I was able to hit more reps and more sets with the same (And in some cases more) weights than last week.

So i am seeing good improvement after all thanks to the help from this board. Let's just hope It keeps going in the right direction heh

[MuscleMama]

Jakanden:

If you're trying to gain weight and build muscle mass, why would you do more reps and sets? For gaining muscle, keep your workouts brief and intense. Volume work (more sets and reps, etc.) will only hinder your gains.

Get huge,
MuscleMama

[Jakanden]

I don't know what my body responds best to so I am starting out with Cursor's suggestion and will tweak it from there. I was still pushing 100% and keeping it intense, but I just started so I am still learning heh.

Should i just continue the split at 3 sets of 4-6reps? Wouldn't my body get used to that and stop responding to it?

[MuscleMama]

Sooner or later (unless you're some sort cyborg or something), your body will adapt and stop responding ... to ANY routine. It's always good to have a few routines that you know work for you and keep shuffling them around and mixing things up. Personally, I change my routine every four weeks or so. Some people can go on the same routine for longer before their body stops responding. My body seems to have highly efficient adaptation abilities because I usually stop seeing dramatic results after the first four weeks. Then, it's time to do a different routine.

Happy training,
MuscleMama

[Todd]

Sure you can gain weight without supplements, but when you have supplements readily available to you, why not use them. I am sure if the dudes back in the 60's and 70's had the whey protein blends we have today, they'd too would be all over it! So don't short change yourself. Yes, you have to make sure that a solid food diet is the mainstay of your everyday diet, but don't neglect something that can actually help you or make things easier for you!

[ebon00]

Originally posted by Jakanden
Should i just continue the split at 3 sets of 4-6reps? Wouldn't my body get used to that and stop responding to it?

If I'm not listaken cursor often recommends cycling your sets so that you'll do 3 sets the first week, 4 sets the second, 5 sets the third and then back down to 3 sets for the fourth week.

[Jakanden]

Yeah that's what I was doing. That was in response to MuscleMama's:

If you're trying to gain weight and build muscle mass, why would you do more reps and sets?

[ebon00]

MuscleMama tends to err on the side of caution when it comes to volume. That's not a bad strategy but it might not be the best.

[MuscleMama]

Ebon:

It wasn't an error. As you just said yourself: "That's not a bad strategy, but it might not be the best."

I was merely trying to help the kid. And when someone comes to me wanting to gain muscle mass, I'm certainly not going to send him to the gym to do high reps and high-volume training.

You might not agree with me, but that's really irrelevant here. He asked a question, and I provided him with an answer that I thought best.

Bottom line: Whether you're a low-rep advocate or a high-volume advocate, you have to experiment with different techniques and find what works best for YOU.

So, Ebon, it's really not about "erring" or "opinion." It's about finding your niche in the gym ... and GROWING.

~ MuscleMama ~

[massive]

take nlarge 2 ,600 caliores and 52 grams of protein