I used to be extremely thin, about 160. Yeah, I was a stick.
Now 23, after a few years of off/on lifting I’ve gained about 25 pounds. Though I feel like I’m bigger and in the mirror I feel like I am, whenever I see photos of myself I realize just how thin I still am.
For the past couple years though I’ve kept my calories very clean and diet very strict. I’m wondering if I am still considered a “skinny bastard” and should be a little more lax on my diet?
Anyone? Thoughts?
[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:
I used to be extremely thin, about 160. Yeah, I was a stick.
Now 23, after a few years of off/on lifting I’ve gained about 25 pounds. Though I feel like I’m bigger and in the mirror I feel like I am, whenever I see photos of myself I realize just how thin I still am.
For the past couple years though I’ve kept my calories very clean and diet very strict. I’m wondering if I am still considered a “skinny bastard” and should be a little more lax on my diet?
Anyone? Thoughts?[/quote]
There is such a thing as an eating plan that is clean, strict AND big.
[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:
I used to be extremely thin, about 160. Yeah, I was a stick.
Now 23, after a few years of off/on lifting I’ve gained about 25 pounds. Though I feel like I’m bigger and in the mirror I feel like I am, whenever I see photos of myself I realize just how thin I still am.
For the past couple years though I’ve kept my calories very clean and diet very strict. I’m wondering if I am still considered a “skinny bastard” and should be a little more lax on my diet?
Anyone? Thoughts?[/quote]
Just think about what your asking. You have made some good progress…Keep it up and keep gaining. Fuck what other people think and keep gaining. Just keep doing what your doing according to the goals you want.
JW
Thoughts? Yeah, don’t be more lax on your diet, just eat more of the clean foods that you have been eating.
At 6’4" and only 185 lbs you’re still pretty skinny. I realize that it’s going to be harder for a tall person like you to “fill out”. But, honestly 25 lbs is just scratching the surface. See how you look after you’ve added 50 lbs.
I’m only 5’9" and weigh about the same amount as you (I’ve added about 50 lbs since I started) and I still wouldn’t consider myself big. My guess is that you’re going to need to get to around 250 before you really start to fill out.
Lucky for you this website is full of some great information that should help you on your way. Read everything by Berardi that you can and get yourself on a good proven effective strength training program (once again, lots of them on this site). Stick with it, be consistent and you will see results.
Good training,
Sentoguy
[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:
I used to be extremely thin, about 160. Yeah, I was a stick.
Now 23, after a few years of off/on lifting I’ve gained about 25 pounds. Though I feel like I’m bigger and in the mirror I feel like I am, whenever I see photos of myself I realize just how thin I still am.
For the past couple years though I’ve kept my calories very clean and diet very strict. I’m wondering if I am still considered a “skinny bastard” and should be a little more lax on my diet?
Anyone? Thoughts?[/quote]
If you are thinking about adding fat to your frame, don’t…!
Besides, look at it this way: many men wish that they were 6’4" or, at least, taller than they are (I’m 6’1", but wish I was 6’2-3"), but they can’t do anything to increase their height. You, on the other hand, can slowly add to your muscle mass, and have many years to do it. So don’t be impatient. You’re making good progress, just stay the course, and it will happen…
-james
I am 6’3" and 210pounds and I am a skinny bastard. So yes, you are one too.
But hey, just because life didn’t make this easy for you (or me), doesn’t mean the goal is any less worthwhile. In fact it’s more impressive when you do get there.
Keep on looking for those extra 2 reps. Relax on the diet. Get f’ing strong. It will happen.
I think if you ate more you would make bigger gains. Check out ‘The get-big diet’ for a clean bulk.
I’ve been real skinny most of my life, 8 months ago I was 58kgs/128lbs, now I’m 71kgs/156lbs at 176cm/5’7 tall. I’m aiming for atleast 80kgs/176lbs.
You should forget about having the six pack for a few months and reward yourself with some gains for your hard work.
make sure you attacking your legs and eating big only time you should back off of anything is overtraining and sugar pick a fight or get some pussy it always makes me feel better
Yes, Inner Hulk, and same story here. I’m 6’4", started around 150, now I’m up around 210 and still skinny. My target is 225-250 and seeing how I look there. Just keep eating and training. It takes time. As said, squats and deads will help you pack on the weight.
Thanks for the responses guys.
I’ve always incooperated big compound lifts into my routine and I just got back on a 5x5 program to up my strength and hopefully pack on some more weight.
I’ll just have to up my clean food intake and maybe give myself a few more cheat meals during the week. It’s just hard because my appetite isn’t that large. A blender helps though.
[quote]Sxio wrote:
I am 6’3" and 210pounds and I am a skinny bastard. So yes, you are one too.
But hey, just because life didn’t make this easy for you (or me), doesn’t mean the goal is any less worthwhile. In fact it’s more impressive when you do get there.
Keep on looking for those extra 2 reps. Relax on the diet. Get f’ing strong. It will happen. [/quote]
I’m curious, considering your height and size, what kind of lifting program are you on? What has worked best for you?at kind of lifting program are you on? What has worked best for you?
You’ve gained quite a lot, at your height you will start looking different at a glance when you get to over 200lbs and more so at 210 plus. A couple of years of determined effort and you’ll be there, especially as you’re only 23.
Just think - you can go around being a muscular 210+ from age 25 to 45 and beyond. Sounds pretty good to me!
When tall people get jacked it’s a lot more intimidating then when people less tall do.
[quote]Rasslore wrote:
Yes, Inner Hulk, and same story here. I’m 6’4", started around 150, now I’m up around 210 and still skinny. My target is 225-250 and seeing how I look there. Just keep eating and training. It takes time. As said, squats and deads will help you pack on the weight.
[/quote]
Trust me, When you reach 250, you’ll want to add more. My current goal is 265. I’m doing it a little cleaner this time.
Squats and Milk really did help.
I am 6’4" and 215, prob around 13% bf I would guess. I have been doing alot of squats, deads, pullups, cleans, overhead press, you know basics. Gotten quite a bit stronger, but, and this is at least the way it is for me, My legs are getting very thick, good density, alot more muscle in the glutes, now my upper body strength is really coming around well too, the only thing is, since these movements are so good for the entire body, you are gaining weight everywhere and it takes quite a bit of weight when you are gaining it everywhere to start to show. Especially where most people think of, the chest shoulders lats arms.
It will get packed on, its just getting distributed over the whole body so the effect takes awhile.
[quote]Inner Hulk wrote:
I’m curious, considering your height and size, what kind of lifting program are you on? What has worked best for you?[/quote]
Right now I prefer full body training. I like hitting body parts 3-4 times a week as opposed to once a week. I’m not married to full body training though. I switch around when i get bored or when progress stops. All styles of training have their benefits, I’m not addicted to any one method.
I rest for a minute max and use an alarm to time myself. I feel that resting more helps strength gains, but not so much size wise. I like to hit the muscle while it’s still recovering, to stimulate muscle fibers than haven’t been fatigued yet.
I pick a weight that I can hit at least 7 good reps with, and do my best to get over 10 with excellent form. I concentrate on the prime muscles involved and squeeze them on the way up and the way down. I don’t go to positions where the force is on my joints, often I only use 4/5s of the range to ensure that the muscles do the work.
My Current program is:
Training Session 1
(First 3 exercises done as a circuit twice)
Push ups
DB Shrugs
Standing Ext. Rotation
Next 3 ‘core’ exercise done in straight sets.
Leg Press. 2 sets. 1min rest.
Seated Row. 2 sets. 1 min rest.
Inc. DB Press. 2 sets. 1min rest.
(next 3 exercises are done once with no rest)
Calf Press
Standing Single Armed DB Curl
Concentration curl
Training Session 2
Back Squats 2 sets. 1min rest.
Cleans 2 sets. 1min rest.
(next 2 exercises alternated with 45secs rest)
Neutral Grip DB Shoulder Press. 2 sets.
Pull Ups. 2 sets.
(Next 2 exercises done as superset with 45secs rest)
L-Raise. 2 sets. (a lateral raise with elbows at 90degrees)
Lying Ext. Rotation. 2 sets.
(next 3 exercises are done once with no rest)
Calf Press
Standing Single Armed DB Curl
Concentration curl
I rest at least a day between sessions.
The best thing I ever did was start working legs a couple of times a week. Being tall with long legs, I did quarter squats for a long time. These days, even though the weight is much lighter, I really concentrate on the lowering portion and I keep going down until my quads feel like they’re going to explode, then I pause and squeeze my legs to reverse the movement. I only come up 4/5s of the way. I do the same thing on leg press.
I feel that if you want to be strong, you look for numbers. More reps. More sets. More weight. But if you want to get bigger, you have to make the quality of the movement as high as you can. So it doesn’t really matter what your numbers are, but how hard the muscles are worked.
The things I emphasise are choosing quality exercises, controlling the movement eccentrically, visualising the squeeze to get the movement started and making sure the muscle does the work, not the joints.
The biggest mistakes I made when younger were 1)training like a wuss - You need to keep a log. If you did 8 reps last time, you need 10 reps this time. Yes it will hurt. We need to deal with that. Yes it burns. But it’s something you have to go through. I used to also drop the weight. Slow eccentrics hurt. I don’t do that anymore. I control the weight, even though every fibre of my being is screaming for me to put it down.
That’s just what’s worked for me. Many people have developed better physiques than mine doing other things. There’s no one right way. But there’s definitely a few wrong ones. Unfortunately it’s a case of trial and error sometimes until we find one that works for us.
[quote]natural59 wrote:
<<< If you are thinking about adding fat to your frame, don’t…!
<<<>>> You, on the other hand, can slowly add to your muscle mass, and have many years to do it. >>> [/quote]
Look, you’re not an idiot and I appreciate the fact that your progress is right where you want it, but is it possible to fathom that somebody might not want to take “many years” to achieve what could be accomplished in a few? I’m not going to spell out again my precise views on this, but giving this guy the unqualified advice not to add any fat to his frame in the quest for size is just not physiologically sound.
You MUST have a caloric surplus to gain anything like significant size, that is a metabolic law and a guy who is 6’4 and 185 is probably going to have no choice, but soften up at least some if he has any designs on real size before we colonize Mars unless he has virtually no muscle on his bones at all.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Thoughts? Yeah, don’t be more lax on your diet, just eat more of the clean foods that you have been eating. >>>[/quote]
Yes, not enough more to get yourself fat, but enough more to maximize your growth potential. Good grief, like Sentoguy was saying, you have room for decades more on that 6’4 frame and unless you plan on telling your grand kids about how big you could’ve been you are going to have to eat. This is a matter of prioritized mindset. When a trainee looks in the mirror the first thing he looks for will dictate all else, make no mistake about it.
If you look in the mirror trying to see how lean you are that will be your focus whether you realize it or not in everything else you do. If you look at yourself and start flexing around to see if you can detect any more size anywhere then that will drive the rest of what you do.
Unless you are actually fat and or a complete noob you CANNOT focus your mortal energies on both at once. That’s just the way it is. The guy looking at how lean he is all time will not be gaining at anything like his maximum potential rate and the guy who is looking for size will not panic if an 8th inch of fat materializes between his abs.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
Thoughts? Yeah, don’t be more lax on your diet, just eat more of the clean foods that you have been eating. >>>
Yes, not enough more to get yourself fat, but enough more to maximize your growth potential. Good grief, like Sentoguy was saying, you have room for decades more on that 6’4 frame and unless you plan on telling your grand kids about how big you could’ve been you are going to have to eat. This is a matter of prioritized mindset. When a trainee looks in the mirror the first thing he looks for will dictate all else, make no mistake about it.
If you look in the mirror trying to see how lean you are that will be your focus whether you realize it or not in everything else you do. If you look at yourself and start flexing around to see if you can detect any more size anywhere then that will drive the rest of what you do.
Unless you are actually fat and or a complete noob you CANNOT focus your mortal energies on both at once. That’s just the way it is. The guy looking at how lean he is all time will not be gaining at anything like his maximum potential rate and the guy who is looking for size will not panic if an 8th inch of fat materializes between his abs.[/quote]
Unfortunately, too many people ARE listening to your unqualified advice, and are paying for it over the long haul. If you want to carry around 30+lbs. of worthless adipose, while bulking (so-called), that’s your prerogative, but stop pushing this malformed mindset on unawares…
Undoubtedly, there is a point of diminishing returns, which varies from person to person, but that point is nowhere near where you profess it to be.
I’ve been saying this since I joined T-Nation, and will continue to counter those, like you, who insist on preaching this ill-conceived notion of mass building:
The next time someone tells you that you have to “bulk” to get big, stick your fingers in your ears, say, “la la la la, I can’t hear you,” and run (don’t walk) away…
I’m embarrassed that I feel compelled to quote a reference, but I fear that no one is going to listen to my views on the subject, so I offer the following T-Nation article to those who have enough sense to digest its’ contents, without getting fat between the ears:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1268956&cr=bodybuilding
-james
p.s. The above article had nothing to do with my views on the subject. I, in fact, read this long after (today, actually) I had already discovered the veracity of this viewpoint for myself.
Yup, you’re a skinny bastard. But at least you’re tall. You can make very solid gains with acceptable and not excessive increases in fat. What’s your current diet like?