new to the board...need a little help...

[thinkbeat]

I'm very glad I found this forum and have been reading for the past 3 or 4 hours. There is a lot of information here.

I was wondering if any of you could help me out. I am 6' tall and 28 years old. I worked out regularly for about 3 years and I had gotten up to 162 lbs using weight gainers and creatine. It was difficult for me to gain but I was pleased with my progress and my body was defined at the time with little fat. I stopped working out and it has been 2 years since then. I have lost 20 lbs in those 2 years. I currently weigh 142 lbs.

I started working out again 3 weeks ago and want to get bigger again. I am still somewhat toned but my bodyfat is a little higher now around my gut even though I weigh less.

I want to get my size back up with mimimal fat gains. Being so thin should I just start bulking again right away? Or just maintain, work hard for awhile, and then bulk? Also... if you could recommend a diet either way that would help.

I would really appreciate your suggestions. Thank you.

 

[beastboy]

EAT EAT EAT....at your weight you can eat anything, but if you are worried about fat eat as clean as possible, but I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

 

[riskybizz007]

I wouldn't recommend you jump into a bulking cycle right off the bat. I would just clean up the diet, workout, get disciplined and then go from there. If you're worried about your gut at this point, it will only get worse once you bulk. You cannot gain muscle w/out gaining some fat along the way.

What you can do, once you have a set diet, add an extra 500 calories/day and see if there are any changes. This will minimize fat gains. If you see no gains in a week or 2, then add another 500 calories and see if you gain 1 or 2 pounds ever week. Again you don't want to gain more than 2 pounds in one week. If you gain 1-2lbs/week you're eating fine. That's my advice if you want to go the bulking route.

For now, I'd stick to weights, diet, cardio, and discipline. Once established shoot for your goals.

 

[Rocket]

Eat good clean food, and a lot of it, 200 grams of protein a day. Do heavy compound movements, ie squat, deadlift, bench, train each body part once a week....see how that works for you, it should if not try something else...we each need to find what works for US!

Rocket

 

[Complete Muscle]

thinkbeat - good for you man! I had a 20 year lay off so don't feel too bad for 2 years. You are so new to lifting again you will probably gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously for the first few months. Muscle gains will level off at some point, at which time you can embark on a true bulking cycle. For now like risky says concentrate on cleaning up your diet and building strong habits to build on.

 

[thinkbeat]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions.