Autarch

I have been posting here for a few weeks now and I have received some great advice from so many people! Thanks to all!

Anyhow, I am 6'3" tall. When I started working out 3 weeks ago I weighed 158 lbs. I am now following the Max-OT method (the nifty PDF that someone compiled) and seeing amazing results. I now weigh 168 lbs and have greatly increased the weight of every exercise I am doing.

Needless to say I am happy with my results thus far.

Anyhow my goal is to weigh 190-200 lbs. That isn't exactly a lofty goal for a 6'3" frame but I will have to pack on 20-30 lbs of muscle on an extremely ectomorphic frame so I have a lot of work to do.

I have tried to gain weight many times before... this is my 4th or 5th real attempt. In the past I have always eaten like crazy as well as used weight gainers and worked out 5 days a week for 45mins to an hour at a time. The first couple of times I stopped working out from lack of dedication. The second couple of times I gained 10 lbs in very little time but then stopped.

I realised after reading a lot this time that my real problem was the kind of weight I was lifting and the intensity of my workouts. I was working out for almost an hour at a time 5 days a week and that was quite simply too much. I reduced that to 4 days a week, 30 mins at a time with very heavy weights and BAM I am gaining weight like crazy.

I have gained 10 lbs in 3 weeks consequently and I think that at least 2/3 of that is muscle. I have always been skinny and I think that my body stacked on a little fat as well now that I have increased my calories. I have always eaten over 3000 a day and now that I have upped it to about 4000 spread over 6 or so meals it is really making a difference.

Anyhow I will post here every couple of weeks with progress. I know the gains I have gotten so far are the easiest I will ever get but I am so excited about what I have gained that I think it will be easy for me to stay fixed on my goal. I can tell already though that once I hit my goal though that it will never be enough

Current weight: 168lbs
Goal: 200lbs.

32lbs to go.

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fantasma62

Hey Autarch...

Congratulations on starting journal. The people in this place are very helpful and you'll be surprised how motivating they can also be. I hope you reach your goal...
By the way, I can help you out. I can definitely afford to pass on to you an extra 32 pounds. That way you help me and I help you....

Good luck on your goal

-Tony-

HIHT: High Intensity Hybrid Training

Autarch

Thanks, Fantasma!

I want to gain muscle though... unless you want to pass me some lean body mass I would have to pass on that offer

I am getting the best encouragement of all though: My wife is touching my muscles saying "wow... those look great" and "your back muscles seem to have more bulk than they did before" (I am putting more effort into my back than anything else, I think. I don't have an especially strong back and I want to change that so I have been working harder on deadlifts, shrugs and lats than any other muscles).

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Autarch

Well it looks like the "easy beginner" gains are over with. I just weighed myself and I weigh 169 lbs... 11 lbs from where I started about 4 weeks ago but only a lb up from last week (unlike the furious rate that I was gaining weight for about 3 weeks). I think the original bulk came from finally getting a ton of calories and my body tossed on plenty of muscle but I think I probably upped my body fat a little bit as well (which is a good thing because most scales cannot actually read me because I am under 4% body fat).

That's not a bad thing. I could use a little more in the way of reserves anyway.

Now onto the harder part: pressing on and slowly getting gains rather than the easy month. I will shoot for at least 3-5 lbs for the next month but beyond that I have no idea.

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