# newbie advice plz



## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

hi all,

Ive been lifting weights for around a year now aty home just dumbells and noticed ive got slighty larger on the chest and arms however thats it doesnt seem to be growing any more really,ive just moved house now and have plenty of room to use a a home gym,so was wondering are there any decent home gym's out there that will actually work for me to build muscle and a 'bulked up' physiqe?

A link to something on the net would be usefull

cheers guys


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

hey dude-

first things first checkout the stickeyd threads in the beginners area and diet and nutrition:cool:


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

will do,i take reflex instant whey also,what about a decent home gym?is there any out there?that will do what im after??


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

nowt wrong witha trip to argos 

depending on what you want...


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2007)

Lots of decent home gyms mate, ive got one myself. Whats your budget? take a look at Ebay... got my multi gym from there £450, got my full stack of dumbells for £400, bench press saftey machine £120. Had the racks made to put ready assembled bars in... Are you having one room as your gym? if so give me your room measurements and budget... and ill come up with a solution for you to suite your budget..


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

Ive got around £500 to spen i did buy a home gym a while ago for £160 new had all the usual fuctions but i found better results for me were using dumbells,

As long as im not wasting money and if i use it and stick at it i can gain to look like some of you guys i shall get it.But need something that will work everything!As though i was attending a gym.

Thanks for your help


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2007)

eBay.co.uk: THE ENERGIZER MULTI GYM HOME GYM MULTI GYMS (item 260131258862 end time 27-Jun-07 22:15:00 BST)

this is just a cheap basic one but thats all u need as this will be good for back and tri's and a few other bits, nice and cheap and u can lways add weight to it... u now have around £350 left. Could get a decent bench £100.. Ive got 3 proper bars you can have, free to collect. Company sent wrong ones and then sent correct ones but never picked them up..


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

Cheers mate for that,i do have a gym a bit like that but its not all that good to be honest.


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## bulldozer1466867928 (Oct 8, 2006)

I workout at home mate.

Best thing you can get is a training cage, power cage. Whatver u prefer to call it.

It acts as my training partner for squats, bench press, military press.

Its by far better than any multi gym.

http://www.thefitnessstore.co.uk/assets/images/autogen/a_Keys-power-cage.jpg


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Good idea bully! I think that one is out of his price range a bit...

Heres a cheaper one - eBay.co.uk: YORK FITNESS 2800 POWER CAGE,SQUAT RACK ,OLYMPIC 40%off (item 150136471352 end time 29-Jun-07 17:17:26 BST)

If you have a basic home/multi gym already you should be okay using that, just get some weights for the bar which comes with the cage.

Hope that helps.


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

So with these cages,etc i can expect to get the same gain as going down the gym yeah?a few opf my mates who were a lot smaller in me in both height and muscle started their weights 6 months behind me and they are noticeably bigger on the arms,shoulders,and chest where i find that i have really only gained on my chest,i want these same results but cant get to a gym.

I have noticed a slight increase in much chest growing big but my arms have barely grown bigger muscle and are a poxy 14 inch in diameter and have been for a while,Is this cage what i need?i find myself lifting same weights i did 6 months ago and if i try anymore i cant lift them,another thing is my shoulders and traps they havent grown at all.What excercises should i be doing for these?

By the way im 5 ft7 and 11 stone used to be 9 stone but have put 2 stone on over the past 3 months but its not stored anywhere as fat.

Thanks for your help guys.


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## bulldozer1466867928 (Oct 8, 2006)

The squat in the daddy of all exercises mate, followed closely by deadlifts.

Squats work your back, legs and hips. Using possible 70% or more of your muscles in one exercise. They release natural growth hormone, meaning that squats will pack on more mass than any other exercise. And not just on your legs!! on your whole body!!

Big arms, big shoulders and chest are not built solely with curls, bench press etc, they are built in the squat rack mate.

Concentrate on poundage progression on squats and deads and you wont go far wrong!

Just my 2 pence.

p.s

If your serious about packing on the mass and training from home then a training cage is a must IMO.


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

Cheers Buddy lookis like i shall have to get one of these then,

Like i said before as long as im not wasting my time and money i shall get one i did want the same resluts as working out in a gym but now i NEED the same results looking at my mates im so competitive in everything!

Next thing i ned to do is sort my diet out can anyone give me an example


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## bulldozer1466867928 (Oct 8, 2006)

post your diet now mate and we can go from there.


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

At the moment its quite poor,

Breakfast- Toast

Breakfast at work at 9.30am.. 2 sandwiches of chicken tika

Dinner 4 sandwiches of tuna

Tea at 5.30 fish,potatoes,and some veg

I train around 7-8pm and then some reflex whey protein.

And some egg and rice after

My brother works in a gym and used to be quite fat and now 2 yrs on he is big!still has that big fram but with muscle to go wioth it and he keeps saying you are wasting your time at home training if you want to get big get down the gym,But at the end of the day all we are doing is excercising our muscles and geting themn to grow back stronger why do i need to attend a gym to do that,thats my argument with him.


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## bulldozer1466867928 (Oct 8, 2006)

You dont need to goto a gym to get big mate!!

I train at home, if u got the basic equipment you can make as good a progress as working out at a gym.

Yep diet does need some work mate.

I will try and give you the basics, but there is plenty of info out there on the net about nutrition, everything u need to know and more.

Ok, where to start!!

You need to be eating an excess of calories everyday in order to grow. As a starting point use this formula :- bodyweight in lbs x 15.

So lets say u weigh 150 lbs, multiply that by 15 and you got 2250. That will be your approximate maintenance calories. Now add 500 calories to that a day to start growing! hope that make sense.

So lets say for example again you weigh 150 lbs, using that formula your maintenance calories would be 2250, add the 500 = 2750 calories a day

You need to eat small meals, but eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, so that means 6 or 7 small meals a day.

Now you need to break it down into protein, carbs and fat. i like the 40/40/20 approach. 40% of daily calories from protein, 40% from carbs , 20 % from fats.

At each of your 6/7 meals you need a good source of protein, quality carbs and some healthy fats.

Good soucres of protein are :-

chicken

turkey

tuna

salmon

lean beef

eggs

whey protein

milk (if u can tolerate it)

Good soucres of carbs are :-

ground oats

brown or basmati rice

sweet potatoes

wholewheat pasta

jacket potatoe

Heatlhly fats include :-

oily fish

nuts

udo's oil

hope that helps a bit mate.

Its very hard to design a diet for someone as i dont know your daily scheldule or what foods you like/ dislike


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

The best way for you mate is to post what *you* think would be a good diet for training based on the information Bully has given you, and then we can offer advice.

The basics are 6-8 small meals a day, with 30g to 50g of protein per meal, 30g to 50g carbs per meal, and trying to ensure you get your fats over the course of the day.

I like the 40/40/20 (Protein/Carbs/Fats) split, but in reality its more like 40/50/10 for me - can't seem to eat enough Fat.

Try and construct something based around your tastes and timescales and we'll see what we can do to help.


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

Trouble i have is i work in the middle of nowhere in sheepland most the time from 8am till 4pm,And that means just sandwiches and fruit oranges,bannanas etc.

How about this then...

Breakfast

Porridge?

2nd Breakfast at work around 9am...

3 Tuna Sandwiches

Dinner

4 Tuna sandwiches

Tea when i get home

Good feed of fish,chicken,veg,potatoes

Train for around an hour

Reflex whey protein shake

2 eggs,and rice?

Does this sound any good


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

lol okay I'll try and do one for you and we can go from there.

I'd ditch sandwiches personally...

I have no idea what you budget is also...

Everyone else feel free to dive in and offer corrections to mine.

7am: 2 Scoops Whey, 1 Scoop Oats, 1 Pint Milk

9am: Tuna + Sweet Potato

11am: Scoop Whey, 1/2 Pint Milk

1pm: Tuna + Sweet Potato

3pm: Scoop Whey, 1/2 Pint Milk

Tea: Fish/Chicken + Sweet Potato

Pre Workout: Scoop Whey, Pint Milk, 1 Scoop Oats

Post Workout: Scoop Whey, Pint Fruit Juice

8 'Meals' in total

3 Sold Food Meals

3 Liquid Meals/MRPs

2 Workout Shakes

In terms of tupperware...

You'll need two 400ml bottles for your shakes for work.

And 2 clip top tops - about 250ml.

Get a hand shaker to mix everything up in.

Hows that?


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

i can do that no probz when i m off work but like i say im stuck out in the feild all day until i get home so cant prepare any of that unless i cook potatoes the night before and eat them the next day,what will that tast like?lol,is poridge o.k for breakfast then and some protein shake with it?


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

Aha ok

So no microwave etc

I spend sunday afternoons cooking up large batches of food which I then breakdown into tuppaware pots to re-heat at work.

If I'm on site or in meetings I take in a shake with me - most clients are aware that im 'training' now as they call it and dont find me taking in a protein drink an issue... If I took in a box of sliced chicken breast they might...

Long and short it wont be easy for you.

But we can probably do something.

Can you eat cold brown rice? You could try cold chicken and brown rice?

I often eat cold sliced chicken, but I've never tried with cold veg.

PSCarb or TinyTom has done a recipe for flap jacks which will help get your carbs in, they can be eaten 'cold' - I cant seem to find it though...

I'm basically trying to get you to have a varied source of carbs.

Its not porridge on a morning mate - its a protein shake.

You'll need the following:

1 shaker:

Myprotein mixchamp shaker (700ml) - Accessories | myprotein.co.uk

I'm assuming you have a scoop... if not...

Plastic scoop (large) - Accessories | myprotein.co.uk

The whey protein you already have yes?

And some oats:

Ultra fine scottish oats - Carbohydrates | myprotein.co.uk

Throw the whey, the oats and the milk in the shaker and shake up and drink.


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## Pompey Tim (Jun 25, 2007)

TallHeavyAndSkinny said:


> If I'm on site or in meetings I take in a shake with me - most clients are aware that im 'training' now as they call it and dont find me taking in a protein drink an issue... If I took in a box of sliced chicken breast they might...
> 
> quote]
> 
> Sounds familiar, I just got used to being the office weirdo drinking my shakes and scrambling 10 eggs at a time in the site microwave for breakfast, after a while people dont comment any more...


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

lol 

They find it interesting after a while... I've prob got between 5 and 10 people getting to the gym and drinking protein shakes on some level...


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## chh (Feb 1, 2006)

Hey thanks guys for your help!Really appreciate it!


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## Caine1466867933 (Jul 7, 2007)

TallHeavyAndSkinny said:


> Good idea bully! I think that one is out of his price range a bit...
> 
> Heres a cheaper one - eBay.co.uk: YORK FITNESS 2800 POWER CAGE,SQUAT RACK ,OLYMPIC 40%off (item 150136471352 end time 29-Jun-07 17:17:26 BST)
> 
> ...


Hi, sorry for jumping in and hijacking the thread, but I'm in a similar financial position to chriz and was considering buying the YORK 2800 and googled this thread. I did have 1 incident with bench press which I don't want to be repeating, so something is better than nothing.

Although I'm nowhere near lifting weigths heavy enough to crush me yet, I just wondered if this half rack type cage you posted isn't more likely to topple in the event that a bar has to be dumped during squats? Anyone any experience with how safe this type of cage is? I already have a chin/dip station, so maybe it's better to try selling this and use this cash towards a powertec full cage/rack with chin dip attachments?


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## Tall (Aug 14, 2007)

I dont have one, but I'm guessing the weights for the lat pulldown would act as a counter balance.

I hadn't spotted that you need to buy lat pulldown weights though I must admit.

I'd ring York and see what weights the lat pulldown uses - if its standard olympic bar weights then you are quids in.


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## bulldozer1466867928 (Oct 8, 2006)

I have a cage mate and you could drop 300kg on it while squatting and it would hardly move tbh!!

I do have the lat pulldown attachment too tho, so it weighs it down a lot. But even without that it would not topple over mate! Trust me.


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## Caine1466867933 (Jul 7, 2007)

The YORK factory told me that the York 2800 lat pulley can use standard 1" pinhole weights upto max 100kg. Tbh, I've never used a lat machine before, and progress on pullups by sticking plates into a rucksack and throwing it on my back. Does a 100kg pull*down* translate directly to a weighted pull*up* [ie: 78kg(BW) + 22kg in rucksack =100kg]? If that's the case then I won't be long exceeding the 100kg limit on the lat pulldown.

Another question, before I decide on the YORK 2800 half-rack or the Powertec Power-rack. In the Powertec sales pitch they say it can be used for overhead presses. But the height of the rack is only 82". I'm 6'1 and doing military press wo weight I mearured my hands at 89" high. Maybe they mean seated overhead presses. I can't tell looking at the online pics of the powertec whether the hooks can be moved to the front and the bar unracked outside for military presses without hitting the top of the rack. Has anyone used or owned a Powertec?

Thanks a lot for all the help so far btw lads. It's much appreciated.


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## Owain1466867937 (Jan 29, 2008)

i find free weights work best for me espech at home, as you can always use more expensive equip at the gym. go for full set of olympic weights, and a squat rack you can use in conjution with flat/incline/decline bench Fitness Equipment | Treadmills, Exercise Bikes, Elliptical Trainers, Exercise Equipment and Accessories, home gym equipment - Powerhouse Fitness Bodymax PS320 Squat Stands - YELLOW

Bodymax PS300 Multi-Function Utility Bench - YELLOW

bench and squats


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## Owain1466867937 (Jan 29, 2008)

i find free weights work best for me espech at home, as you can always use more expensive equip at the gym. go for full set of olympic weights, and a squat rack you can use in conjution with flat/incline/decline bench powerhouse-fitness.co.uk Bodymax PS320 Squat Stands - YELLOW

Bodymax PS300 Multi-Function Utility Bench - YELLOW

bench and squats


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