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Accessories For Your Home Gym

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You have learned how you can setup a gym at your home without spending much money. I limited that post to the most important items of any gym i.e. free weights, rod & barbells. In this post, I will be writing about the accessories that you will need at home to lift properly & safely.  So, let us start! Ensure Proper Ventilation or  Cooling:- If you can afford to have an AC in your home gym, it's better to have one. Otherwise, at least have a fan or cooler there.  It might sound funny because everyone has a fan in every room ( well, at least everyone where I live ), but my point is that you need to keep your room/gym cool. Too much humidity & heat is quite dangerous while lifting and it will also limit your intensity. It also explains why I am against setting up a gym on the terrace. If it's cold out there, it's great. Otherwise, it's too dangerous to work out when it's hot outside. Gloves: - While I don't personally like to wear gloves

Setup A Gym at Home With Minimum Efforts, Cost & Investments

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So you are equipped with some basic knowledge of how weight-lifting increases your muscle mass & now it's time to start lifting weights. But before you do that, one question might be in your mind & that is what will you do if you don't have a gym nearby or gym membership is too expensive or you just don't have time because of your hectic schedule?  Should that be a reason for not lifting weights? Remember that eating too many calories & proteins without working out is waste of time & resources. It will definitely bulk you up but in form of fat & not muscles. And I know, no one wants a big belly & flabby appearance. So, you DO need to lift weights & for that you need a gym.  The good news is that you can set up a small ( or big, if there is space ) gym at your own home!! And it won't even burn a hole in your pocket. You will not need any sophisticated machines & equipment to get in proper shape. Think of the comfort & convenience of

Little Science Behind Muscle Building

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Now that I have told how you can eat/drink more calories so that you can bulk up, it's time to crank up a little bit & start hitting the gym or in other words , start lifting weights. We have all seen bodybuilders/athletes/models/actors lifting weights to gain their strength & muscle mass and get THAT look.  But first of all, it's important to understand how muscles are built. This is because, if you don't understand it properly, you will end up either under-training or over-training and that will drastically limit your gains. I have myself been a victim of a lack of knowledge that kept me from reaching where I should have been. Otherwise, I would have definitely made much more gains in muscle mass & strength. That being said, let's discuss it. There are around 650 muscles in the human body. They are formed of small protein filaments, so you need enough protein for muscle mass. There is no surprise here. So, how do muscles grow by lifting weights? When

How To Increase Calorie Intake i.e. How To Eat More?

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Know how to increase the calorie intake/how to eat more to make the gains you want. Now that you have a basic understanding of Diet & Nutrition & the importance of increasing calorie intake, it's time to incorporate this knowledge into your bulking-up plan. Whatever I am posting here is based on what I have done and still doing.  As you know I had been extremely skinny for more than 23 years ( weighing at 46 Kgs and standing 6 feet tall ) & underweight till June 2016. At the time of writing this post, I weigh 74 Kgs. The problem with me is & was that I can't eat large portions at a time. My stomach sends out a signal to stop eating once the threshold is reached in a short time. So, I changed my eating habit and I started eating smaller portions but more frequently. Before you even start to lift weights, make sure you are eating more, eating healthy & eating well.  Below is how to increase your calorie intake so that you can gain weight. I assume you a

Second Step - Diet & Nutrition

Now that you have ascertained there is no liver, digestion or thyroid related problems (or if there were, you have taken action to treat that first), it's time to move on to the second step. I will start with diet & nutrition first because, as they say , muscle gain is 60% diet (& rest) and 40% exercise. The importance of diet is indispensable.  You don't need supplements and mass-gainers to bulk up if you can eat well. A fairly basic principle states that if you are eating (and drinking) more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. At this point of time, you don't have to think about muscle mass or protein intake.  Y ou just have to eat more & more. And you have to eat healthy foods. A little bit of junk food is alright, but you should get into the habit of eating healthy.  I have always had trouble eating large portions. I still can't eat too much at a time. But I eat frequently. That makes it quite easy to up your calorie intake. This post doesn

Starting the Journey

It is important to understand why you are skinny in the first place. If you are too skinny (like I was), chances are that you will have to first look at the reasons why you are skinny. You might think that you are eating enough but still can't make any gains. There can be numerous reasons for skinniness. Before lifting weights, please consult your physician.  Skinniness could be because of iron deficiency, thyroid gland dysfunctions like more thyroxine hormone being secreted, liver ailments ( liver secretes bile which helps in digestion of fats by emulsification ), or other reasons like burning more calories than consuming, taking in fewer calories than the normal value aka eating less food or zero muscle definition on the frame. You may be thinking that you are eating a lot but still not gaining weight. Well, chances are that either you are burning more calories by doing extra physical activities, or your body is just not storing fat. So, the best bet would be to first unde

Where To Start From - Skinny To Healthy

Now that I have introduced you to both the blog and the author, it's time to kick things off. What do you actually need to transition from being extremely skinny to healthy? Just 5 things. Will. Diet. Weight lifting. Consistency. Rest/Sleep. You have to have a firm belief that you can do it. No matter how old you are. No matter how much you earn. No matter how skinny you are. No matter where you are. You must have the will to lift weights and eat well. I will cover diet and training in subsequent posts. This post prepares you to feel motivated and start lifting. You can do it. If you are really willing, you will see improvements in a little time. Just be consistent. Never lose hope. I have felt the misery of skinniness for good 27 years. But the patience has paid off well. You too need to be patient and consistent with your training. And results will be more than fruitful. Believe in yourself. Good luck!!