Best muscle building excersises at the gym... (muscles, lifting, arms)

[the city]

What are the best muscle building exercises to do at the gym? I was thinking squats four days a week. Then do like 10 minutes of free weights. 15 minutes of running. I usually avoid free weights and use the machines much as possible. I also I like to drink a protein drink before and after my work outs. I usually mix protein powder with egg, vanilla shake, and soy milk.

And I also eat alot of fish for extra protein.

I weigh at 140oz and some of that is fat and at 5.9ft.

Ideally id like to be at 150lbs but i will settle with getting 145oz

[StaggerLee22]

You should not squat 4 days a week.

3 basic movements:

1-Squat
2-Deadlift
3-Benchpress

Tom Platz said waaay back in the 80s:
"I squat and deadlift to make my arms grow--that's how important those exercises are"

500lbs for 23 reps!

[Lancered]

Any weight training will build muscle. Try upping your strength training time and drop the cardio, running won't give you muscle gains.

First: You need to be eating enough. Find what your daily caloric requirement is, and add 500-1000 calories to that.

Second: Find out how much weight you can lift for one single repetition (1 rep max) for your upper body (bench press usually) and lower body (usually squat), then weight train at about an 75-85% of that amount. 2-3 sets (try a routine in circuit) and as little rest as possible in between.

Third: Drink plenty of water, eat plenty of protein, sleep 8 hours if possible, and eat clean.

That's the gist basically.

[stan4]

Your muscles will not grow if you don't

a. challenge the hell out of them (those last reps count the most)

and

b. get enough rest to let them repair and build/grow

[hooligan]

I would strongly suggest something like the Westside Barbell Club for Skinny Bastards workout.

Westside for Skinny Bastards A modified lifting program for "Hardgainers" - DeFranco's Training

I have to agree, squatting 4x a week is WAY too much. Stay away from the machines, you don't need 'em. Free weights are much better as they recruit FAR more stabilizer muscles and require much more concentration/focus.

[alphamale]

Heavy weight, low reps, 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps per muscle group once a week.

Legs one day, biceps one day, triceps one day, etc.

Your muscles need to rest and repair themselves.

Over working the muscle is no good.

Nutrition is very important.

[grmi66]

I'm doing the Mass Made Simple workout by Dan John right now. Only doing two workouts a week in the gym on Mondays and Fridays. It's a very squat based program and so far I've put on 5 solid pounds of muscle in just over two weeks. The program emphasizes high rep squats, so it takes about 2-3 days to recover.

[hooligan]

Originally Posted by alphamale

Heavy weight, low reps, 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps per muscle group once a week.

Legs one day, biceps one day, triceps one day, etc.

Your muscles need to rest and repair themselves.

Over working the muscle is no good.

Nutrition is very important.

One day for a major muscle group like "legs" and then another day dedicated to just biceps? Which program is this?

[wcu25rs]

Originally Posted by hooligan

One day for a major muscle group like "legs" and then another day dedicated to just biceps? Which program is this?

that kind of programming(one day devoted to one or two muscles) is fairly common in the BBing world.

However, like others have said, stick with heavier compound lifts. those have been proven to be the best strength and mass builders.

[hooligan]

Really? Bodybuilding workouts devote a whole day to a comparatively tiny muscle group like biceps? No wonder they're in the gym every day of the week. Might as well devote one day to lower abs and one day to upper abs. Sheesh!