Yahoo Answers – Just Starting Out Exercising

I am a somewhat frequent "best answerer" on Yahoo Answers in the health- and fitness-related categories. This one comes from a newbie trainer who wanted to know how to build his body and what were the best foods to eat in order to do so.

Muscle-Building Foods and Exercise Program

The best and cheapest foods are REAL food like milk, eggs, beef, chicken, fish, and pork. Stick to high protein, calorie-dense foods if you're having trouble putting on weight. Don't worry about getting fat at this stage of the game – build up your muscle size and then cut down when you've built the size you want.

Stick to compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, bench presses, and chinups. Forget about doing curls, calf work, and ab exercises.

Start with one set of 10 reps for each exercise, done every other day. Graduate to 2 sets after a week or so; then 3 sets after 4 weeks, and finally 4 sets of each after 8 weeks.

Work out for 3 weeks, then rest a week. When I say "rest," I mean "do next to nothing." Let your body recover. Your metabolism will also slow down and be ready to hoard all the food you eat the following week.

Eat 6 times a day, minimum. Concentrate on the protein foods mentioned above and add in raw, leafy green vegetables, nuts, oats, and other whole grains. Potatoes and pasta are good, too.

Supplement each meal with a glass (8 ounces) of whole milk and one scoop of a high-quality whey-based protein powder.

Get at least 8 hours of sound, restful sleep each night, preferably during the same hours (i.e., 10 to 6 or 11 to 7). Consistency is key when it comes to all 3 facets here (training, eating, and resting).

Source(s):