So my buddy directed me to this site, and as I have read, there is a tremendous amount of knowledge contained in these pages. I figured a good start for me would be to present my situation, and see what people have to say!
My Body:
I'm 6'0", 176 lbs. I have always been "lean" (aka skinny wrists and ankles). I'd also consider myself a hard-gainer, seems I can eat pretty much anything and my weight stays the same.
My Workout Status:
I've been working out on and off for 4 years. My last break from the gym was this summer and during that time I dropped down to 168 lbs, which was the lightest I'd been in three years. Since september I've been going to the gym four days a week. I've made serious strength gains, in the past three months, and gained a few pounds. I've been limiting myself to 6-8 reps, and 4 sets.
My diet:
Until two weeks ago, I wasn't paying any attention to my diet. I'd estimate my caloric intake was around 2000 cal /day. I wasn't getting anywhere as far as mass building really. However over the past two weeks, I've been counting my calories, and have been consitently taking in about 3000/day.
My Goals:
Basically I'd love to be 200 lbs. I wouldn't say I'm ripped right now, but I have somewhat of a six pack, and there's probably not that much fat on me. I'd like to reach my 200 lbs goal, while maintaining my current physique. I think it's a realistic goal, and although it will no doubt take time and dedication, I'm willing to get there.
From what I've mentioned above, am I on the right track? What can I do to accelerate my progress? I'd love any help I can get, and I'm willing to consider any options/opinions..
Thanks a lot,
Evan
Posted by: Antdan
Buy a protein supplement like whey powder and do less reps like 3 reps for strengh and use heaver weight and eat alot more and try creatine
Posted by: Prince
Let's see your current diet. (meal by meal)
Posted by: plouffe
Increase calories, Increase fat, Increase Protien, Increase Carbs, Heavy Compound-lifts, Be consistant, uhmm.. olive oil in your shakes? lol
gooodluck
Posted by: Powderhoundin
Quote:
Originally posted by Prince
Let's see your current diet. (meal by meal)
Well lets see.. Today was pretty random, because I was at school most of the day, but here it goes:
#1
Bagel
2 eggs
Cheese slice
Protein Shake w/ Hom. milk
# 2
Piece of steak
Apple
Serving of Pringles
#3
Apple
3 chocolate chip cookies
Granola Bar
#4
Huge plate of Spaghetti
1/2 lb of ground beef
Protein Shake w/ Hom. Milk
# 5
Bagel w/ Butter
Protein Shake w/ Hom. Milk
By my calculations that should weigh in at around 3300 calories.
Posted by: Premo55
Dude, with that diet you're going to be packing on the fat in no time....
#1
Bagel
2 eggs
Cheese slice
Protein Shake w/ Hom. milk
>>>>> How many g of protein are in your protein shake? Ideally I recommend you remove the shake and cheese, and have this breakfast:
- One tablespoon natural PB
- 2/3 cup oatmeal weighed before cooking (old-fashioned, large flake)
- 1/4 cup wheat bran cooked with oatmeal for fiber
- 14 egg whites
# 2
Piece of steak
Apple
Serving of Pringles
>>>>>> Add at LEAST 1 1/2 cups of dark green leafy fibrous veggies to this meal, make sure your steak isn't a fatty cut, fattiest you should go is sirloin. I recommend eye of round, inside round, and if you're eating leaner cuts, supplement with one or two teaspoons of a good EFA oil blend like Udo's. REMOVE PRINGLES. When eating steak I typically do not recommend you to mix carbs with the meal, steaks should be used in protein/fat meals.
#3
Apple
3 chocolate chip cookies
Granola Bar
>>>> This is not the best meal you can have, far from it, actually. This is nothing but sugar, which will cause insulin levels to go through the roof, cause lethargy and eventual fat gain. Drop all of these items, I recommend that you workout here, and your PWO shake will be:
...- 40-50g from a whey, casein and egg protein matrix
- 2/3 cup of oats before cooking OR 4.5-5 ounce sweet potato OR 3/4 cup oat bran OR 1/3 cup of listed grains...basically 35-40g of any low glycemic carbohydrate source
- MAKE SHAKE IN WATER...you can cook the grains and mix the shake in for a satisfying post-workout treat, that's what I do...
#4
Huge plate of Spaghetti
1/2 lb of ground beef
Protein Shake w/ Hom. Milk
>>>> Pasta is never a good idea. Too easy to overfeed. Also, you should be keeping recordings of quantities, eyeballing quantities as 'huge' won't help you very much in the long run...And you at the beef AND protein AND milk? That's a lot of protein...Here is what I recommend, consume this meal one hour after your PWO shake:
- 5 ounces (raw measurement) of turkey, whitefish, pork tenderloin or chicken
- at least 1 1/2 cups of raw dark green leafy veggies
- vinaigrette made with apple cider vinegar, Splenda and one teaspoon of a good EFA oil OR 5 fish oil caps
- 1/3 cup (raw measurement) of a whole grain: kasha, bulgur, brown rice, wild rice, brown basmati, orzo, quinoa, amaranth, oat groats, take your pic OR 4.5-5 ounce sweet potato OR 2/3 cup of oatmeal OR 3/4 cup of oat bran (all raw measurements)
# 5
Bagel w/ Butter
Protein Shake w/ Hom. Milk
>>>>This is a terrible last meal of the day. High GI carbs+fat= very bad combination and recipe for instant fat gain. This is the meal I recommend for you as the day winds down:
- 4 ounces of top sirloin or dark poultry meat
- OR 4 ounces of chicken, turkey or whitefish
- OR 12 egg whites
- OR one can tuna
- If you choose the leaner sources make sure you supplement with one tablespoon of EFAs OR 15 fish oil caps
- At least 1 1/2 cups of veggies
You should ideally add one more meal, in the form of this:
- 1 cup full fat cottage cheese
- 15g psyllium husk
- one teaspoon natural peanut butter
These are my recommendationsCut out the dairy from your diet (save for cottage cheese) if you want to gain LBM without bloatedness and fat gain...
Drink at LEAST 1 gallon of water a day. Typically I recommend 1.5 and up.
Stick to compound power exercises like the bench press, military press, power clean, power snatch, clean from the hang, snatch from the hang, deadlift, stiff-legged deadlift, wide-grip pull-up, sternum chin-up, towel chin-up, close-grip bench press, dips, squats, front squats, good mornings, overhead squats, leg press.
Alternate your training to shock your body. Go one week with a 5x5 routine, the next with a 3x8 (high rep), the next with a 4x6, try different rep ranges and use supersets, drop sets, forced reps, negatives etc. and see what techniques work for you. Keep your body guessing with training. Never go to failure with every workout, failure is a concept you should only apply sparingly, typically I only go to failure every other week, sometimes every three weeks, different workouts can stimulate you in ways that you would never have guessed. Try different training programs like German Volume Training, HIT etc. and see what works for you.
Also, once a week I recommend one of your meals should be tofu to reap the benefits of the isoflavones, twice a week you should consume salmon, shark, mackerel or some other fatty fish. These should be protein/fat meals.
I prescribe protein/fat meals and protein/carb/low fat meals because these are optimal to creating an anabolic environment where nutrients are absorbed optimally and fat gain is minimal. Orient your carbs entirely around breakfast and your training routine, and go with lots of veggies, essential fats and leaner proteins the rest of the day, and you will see gain in LBM. It will be slower than someone who spikes insulin after workouts, but your fat gain will be close to nil if you know how to manipulate your diet properly.
Good luck!
Peace.
Posted by: Powderhoundin
Thanks very much for your detailed reply.. I'm not sure if in my current situation (ie. school that's foolishly busy) I'll be able to pull off that exact type of diet. But it should steer me in the right direction! Boy was I off track.. I guess I thought for someone like myself it would be easier to pack on the pounds, and then trim up..
Posted by: leg_press
what is psyllium husk ????
Posted by: chaznad1
1. protein powder is pointless,, get your protein from " real food " ( beef chicken turkey salmon tuna other fish) ,, the only time id suggest it is immediatly post w/o along with carbs
[quote]Originally posted by Premo55
Dude, with that diet you're going to be packing on the fat in no time....
some might disagree with this ,, but those who do may not understand what its like to be a hard gainer
I started working out years ago at 6'4 175 ( talk about skinny ) , definetly a hard gainer .. no matter what i ate would not gain weight...
UNTIL i came across fast food ,,YUP,, you heard it,, i began to eat 5-6 times a day ( burger king, mcdees, wendys ) made sure every meal consisted of at least 50 grams of protein ( never ate fries though , only burgers ) ,, 2-3 double cheesburgers every 3 hours, with a protein shake post workout , if i was at school id buy 6 burgers and keep 3 in a cooler till i got out of class,,and eat em cold, i grew in no time , i reached 240pds about 15-16% bf( no roids at all )
because when it comes down to it a calorie is a calorie ,, eating on a clean bulk can be extremly tough for a hard gainer whos requiring 3500-4000+ cals/day especially if your in college with a hectic schedule
now i sit at 215-220 8-10%bf ,,but now since i have muscle and im pleased with my size i eat in a strict pattern when i bulk or cut and you should do this too when you put your size on
ALSO the good thing about this is youll be so sick of fast food when you put your size on thatll itll be much easier to eat clean
BY THE WAY
train each body part once a week ( NO MORE ) and rest
Posted by: Powderhoundin
Thanks for the alternative view chaznad1..
That may be just what I need. I'm in school and I definitely don't have a lot of time. I have been eating a lot of calories and it's been helping. I guess I should keep up with what I'm doing. Your situation ideally is what I had in mind.
Thanks again
Posted by: Mudge
Being random is what is going to kill you with the diet, it has to be regular.
Posted by: BlueCorsair
Regular, sure, but who the hell is going to shell out enough cash for 14 egg whites everyday?
Posted by: Mudge
14 egg whites costs about 75 cents here in the US, but 14 egg whites isn't anywhere near an entire days diet.
Posted by: sohcvtec66
you are 1 pound more than me, but i am 7 inches taller than u, be happy with ur size, my friend, 6ft 176 isnt to bad, 6'7 170 is bad, i hate it
Posted by: Mudge
I knew a 6'8" 175 guy.
"Be thankfull for what you have, before you complain about what you do not."
After all you could be without arms or eyes.
Posted by: plouffe
3 chocolate chip cookies
Posted by: sohcvtec66
what do u thik i should do in my case to gain wieght mudge?
Posted by: Mudge
Well, writing down the diet is step one, so far so good on that note.
For me if I were desperate to gain weight, pizza, kids cereal, peanut butter sandwhiches, all pack on weight really fast for me. If however this makes you fat then thats a problem. Now on my last bulk I would watch protein, and after that I could eat virtually anything I wanted.
Right now I am eating primarily red meat, I put olive oil in my shakes, and I eat oatmeal without sugar. I am staying relatively lean but it still seems that I may have to eat a little dirty to put on weight quicker. I am about 224 pounds at the moment.
Posted by: sohcvtec66
how tall are you?
Posted by: sohcvtec66
i am gonna stop smoking, and i guess try to eat dirty foos, piazza,big mac,taco bell,lol oil foods,, and run ,and work out, and get some portain diet drinks, i heard something bout my thyroid, a guy at GMC say i reason why i might be able to gain weight is, i might have a thyroid problom,, what do u think?
hell maybe i should just inject steriods in my butt....
Posted by: Mudge
Overactive thyroid could do it yes, you can look at your body temperature as a sign, the next step would be an actual blood test.
Body temp high = highly active thyroid, low body temp = low thyroid output or some problem with the thyroid. Sometimes in low thyroid people TSH can be very high (thyroid is trying hard) but somehow reception is poor. I know someone at work like this, always a bit on the heavy side and dips into the 97ºF range instead of 98.6º
You still need to eat, steroids or not, thats an honest answer. Figure the diet and training out, worry about supplements legal or not later.
Posted by: sohcvtec66
i used to inject steriod for my buddy, , i felt weird ,but he only trusted me to do it,, he's huge 6'1'' 230 , all def,muscle
Posted by: Chad Cena III
I like bulking a helluva lot more than cutting. Usually during a bulking cycle I'll have a cheat meal once a day - 2 times a week. Even while I bulk I do a little cardio ( 2 days - 15 min ea just to keep the breathing good ) . Notice size gain a little when I do this - but the bitch of it is - is finding what works best for you. Its kind of like figuring out the combination to a lock sometimes.
Posted by: weightgain_when
ok u guys complain bout being skiny try this 6'4" 155lbs i eat like u cant belive consume food 8 or 9 times a day im a cook so i can work and eat nothin helps me and hey can some one kick me a w/o plan to help bulk i dont know sh%^ bout this
only know u guys can help
,,YUP,, you heard it,, i began to eat 5-6 times a day ( burger king, mcdees, wendys ) made sure every meal consisted of at least 50 grams of protein ( never ate fries though , only burgers ) ,, 2-3 double cheesburgers every 3 hours, with a protein shake post workout , if i was at school id buy 6 burgers and keep 3 in a cooler till i got out of class,,and eat em cold, i grew in no time , i reached 240pds about 15-16% bf( no roids at all )
