This being my first post, I should probably give you all some background before going any further. I am 21 years old, 6’2" at 199lbs (as of last Thur). I started lifting about 3 1/2 months ago. In that time, I have gained 15lbs and my strength has increased substancially. I have no idea what my BF % is; Im not all that concerned about it because(1)Ive always been a little too skinny and (2)I can still see my abbs. My main goal is to put on size.
As to my first question: is 15lbs a decent amount of weight to have gained in 31/2 months? i dont exactly know how many calories I consume each day but I do eat 4-6 times a day and I take in 200-230 grams of protein. I know I should probably be eating more but it is difficult with my schedule (full time student and work).
My second, and most important question involves my split. Currently I am on a one bodypart per day split. it is structured as follows:
I think it might be helpful for you to figure out how much you should be eating to see appreciable gains. I want to say 15 pds in 3 and a half months for a beginner is a bit low.
I think your volume is a bit high, too. With chest, I wouldn’t concentrate on the flat, incline, and decline at the same time. I would pick two and follow those two with flys of the same degree. I might also be inclined to change your chest choices every 2-4 weeks, such as weeks 1-2 do incline and flat bb+flyes and then on weeks 3-4 do pullovers and declines or something to that effect.
I’m also not to keen on the deads the day after your leg day.
For tri’s, I would up my dips and do close grip bench, skull crushers, and 1 arm db tricep extensions…perhaps some JM presses.
On your bi’s, I don’t think you’re getting enough angle attack. You might try something like this: close grip bb curl, preacer zottman curl, reverse incline db curl, and supinated rotating db curls. For your arms, you might pick 4 exercises for bi’s and 4 for tri’s and do a 5X5 or 5X6 set.
Assuming those 15lbs are solid muscle and not fat, Id say those gains are pretty good! Last time I checked, most people make substantial gains in strength shortly after they start working out, but increases in size tend to take a little longer.
It probably would not hurt to get a little more protein, but I think as long as you’re getting at least 1 gram per pound bodyweight, that’s enough to continue to make decent progress in size and strength. If you’re really trying to lean up, you might want to count calories and pay more attention to what you eat, but if you’re just trying to put on some muscle, I would just eat whenever your hungry and leave it at that.
I personally do not like the routine you’re doing - I think you’d make more progress by working muscles more frequently with less volume. Look up some routines here on t-mag for some ideas. I believe there’s an article called “Westside for skinny bastards” (I hope that’s the right name for it…), which I believe would be a good routine for someone who is still relatively new to weightlifting.
Your gains are good. Being a beginner I would choose a full body routine using the “golden six” exercises:
Squat,Deadlift,Bench Presses (bb or dbs), Pullups/Chins, Barbell row, Behind the neck or Military Presses. You could use two workouts (3 times X week):
Day1: WA: Deadlift, Bench Presses, Barbell row, some abs, calves, grip work.
Day2: off
Day3: WB: Squat, Pullups/Chins, Shoulder Presses, some abs,calves,grip work.
Keep on alternating WA and WB, weekends off. Try always to add 5% more weight to the golden six.