This article I made is for a forum Im currently building. This is the first article I made and I just want to see what you guys think, or if you have any suggestions on what I should add.




There are 4 simple rules for bulking up. They are the best and proper ways to increase mass.

*Eat healthy and clean

*Workout hard and intense

*Drink lots of water

*Get plenty of rest

Nutrition

The key to body building and increasing mass is nutrition. To increase mass, you got to consume lots of calories. But you have to eat healthy and clean in order for that to happen. Be sure that you eat 6 small meals everyday, you need to eat this much because your body needs the constant supply of nutrients and energy in order to go through the day. The three improtant requirements in food that you need are:

-Protein: Protein is very important when building up your body. Protein works as the building blocks for stresse muscles, eating the right amount of protein will repair damaged muscles and increase their size. You need at least 1 gram of protein per lean body weight. So if you weigh 120 pounds, you need atleast 120 grams of protein to increase mass.

The best sources for protein would be: Chicken, Fish, Nuts, Red Beans, and Red Meats (Don't eat to much of this).

-Fats: This is the most feared, FAT! Remember though, your body needs fat as an energy source. Be sure to get plenty of unsaturated fats, and not to much of Saturated fats.

Unsaturated Fat Sources: Fish oil, Peanut Oil, Olive Oil, and Vegetable Oil

Saturated Fats: Beef, Pork, and Eggs

-Carbs: Very improtant, carbs give you energy. You need about 3 grams of carbs per lean body weight.

Carb Sources: Rice, Noodles, Bread, Cereal, and Oat Meal.

Another important ingredient for good nutrition is water. Water has to probably be the most neglected. Water gives your muscles and the rest of your body fuel to go through the day. It keeps your body clean and healthy, even too much protein can damage your kidneys. Drinking water can clean out the toxins and waste in your kidneys. Be sure to drink at least 1 gallon of water every day. Do not drink tap water, drink natural spring water.

Working out

Among the most improtant, you must workout. The proper way to work out is, you must workout each muscle group in a different day. DO NOT workout the same muscles every single day, especially the major muscles, or larger muscles which are your upper legs, your chest, and your back. Excerising these all at once will overstrain your muscles and make recovery slow. Also avoid just working out one body part, excersise each one. To get the best work out, you need to do 8-12 reps and 8-9 reps. You also need to excerise 3-4 days a week, proper form is also very important. Get a 2-5 minute break between each excersise. Almost forgot another thing, STRETCH BEFORE EXCERSISING!!!!! This is very important, and many beginners tend to skip this part. Its important to stretch, helps prevent damamge when excerising, and it speeds up te recovery process. SO STRETCH!!!

Sleep

The most, and probably the #1 most neglected part is sleep. When you sleep your body grows. Your body recovers the muscle fibers that were stressed during excersise, get atleast 7-9 hours of sleep everyday.

[edit on 2-10-2005 by Striker122]

[edit on 2-10-2005 by Striker122]

one of the biggest things omitted was the fact that what works for one person, may not work for another. May want to add something about supplements. The train hard and intense part might want to be know your limits and train within them. The workout section, working major muscle groups on the same day is a good thing occasionaly, the whole push pull ideal in supersets. Reps, reps can be from 5-50. Should probly put something in about getting to know proper form and technique, i see people everyday that have no idea what muscle group they are working on certain exercises because they do not know the proper form.
Well, all of this depends on what your target audience is in the forum. If you are going after people just starting out, then what you have is a good basic overview, but if you want to go for people that have been at it for 2 yrs or more, then more research in the workout section is in order.
Overall it covers all the basics, good work. That was more than i knew when i first started. If you need any additional info or anything u2u me, i`ll help ya out.