bulking up advice needed

[mrs-s]

hi

i play roller derby and i think i could really be better if i bulked up a bit. im already working on leg and ankle strengthening techniques but what else should i be doing?

ive never tried to out weight on before lol!

[Funner]

Do you want to bulk up just your legs?

[mrs-s]

i need more power in my legs but im quite skinny i think an extra inch or two would look good!

[AussieShane]

G'day. I'm not familiar with the nuts and bolts of roller derby and how much agility it requires. But I play Aussie Rules football which requires a lot of strength but not at the expense of agility and fitness.

Squats and Deadlifts are the renowned kings of strength gain as well as muscle gain.
Routines such as 5x5 work are based on squat / deadlifts. They work extremely well for endomorphs (people who tend to put on weight without a problem) and mesomorphs (relatively lean and defined people) in strength gain and muscle gain.

An example of a 5x5 routine would be of the following:

3 sessions per week, with atleast a day rest between sessions.

Day A:
Squats ...............5 sets, 5 reps (2 min rest between sets)
Calve Raises....... 5 sets, 10 reps (1 min rest between sets)
Dips 3 sets, til Failure on each set (2 min rest between sets)
Wide grip pull ups. 3 sets, til Failure on each set (2 min rest between sets)

Day B:
Bench Press..... 5 sets, 5 reps (2 min rest between sets)
Lunges............ 3 sets, 10 reps (2 min rest between sets)
Military Press....3 sets, 10 reps (2 min rest between sets)
Crunches..........3 sets, til failure (1 min rest between sets)

Day C:
Dead lifts............................ 5 sets, 5 reps (2 min rest between sets)
Overhead Tricep Extensions.... 3 sets, 10 reps (1 min rest between sets)
Bicep Curls.......................... 3 sets, 10 reps (1 min rest between sets)
Bent Over Rows.................... 3 sets, 10 reps (2 min rest between sets)


So as you can see there's a pattern where the smaller muscle groups are focused on shorter rest intervals and in the 10 rep range while the Large muscle groups are focused on long rest intervals and are few reps, very heavy weight.

[AussieShane]

the other important thing when you're bulking is make sure you're getting adequate calories. Most preferably, make sure you're in a caloric surplus of 100 - 300kcals. Also ensure you're getting adequate good fats and protein.

[mrs-s]

thanks for the advice! going to have to google what some of those exercises are but im going to try it as i seriously need to do something to impove!

[Funner]

Well before starting to work with weights you should know some important facts;

1- Get enough sleep
2- Keep a watch on your diet (eat eonough legums, beans, soy, toffu etc...)
3- Get a trainer (if you can't afford it you could just get a couple of fitness magazines)
4- Drink protein supplements (if you are a vegan there are some vegan supplements too)
5- Set your goal (in order not to disencourage yourself wich is really easy, you should have a mental picture of how you would like to look in let's say a couple of months)

A lot of people told me I wouldn't be able to bulk up mainly because of ignorance but I find that vegetarians or vegans are more prone to gain muscle mass. I love it when people ask me what my diet is like and they can't believe I'm a vegetarian.

Hope it helped ;)

[AussieShane]

thanks for the advice! going to have to google what some of those exercises are but im going to try it as i seriously need to do something to impove!

No probs. http://www.bodybuilding.com is a pretty good site for routines in general and it shows clips of each particular exercise.

The other thing i forgot to mention is progressive overload. Assuming you have fast recovery, aim to increase the weights slightly each week. And with squats and dead lifts, it's extremely important that your form is correct and that you're 100% focused. Lack of focus and incorrect form has caused people serious damage to their back.