I just finished reading “Scrawny to Brawny” and started my new diet today. I’m a 20 year old man, short (5’6"), and 138lbs. I’ll be increasing my calorie intake of course, but was just wondering if this was a good start:
Everything I ate was healthy (fruits, veggies, salads, whole wheat bread, eggs, plain yogurt, lean skinless chicken breast, etc.) I also took 3 flax oil capsules, 3 fish oil capsules, whey protein (54g), a small amount of weight gainer (157 cals), and creatine (all numbers are included in “final nutritional numbers” shown above).
Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!
Any idea how much you NORMALLY eat? I’d guess for a guy who weighs 138 that’s a pretty good nutritional breakdown to gain some weight, but it depends on your maintanence caloric intake.
When I weighed that much, it took 3-4K calories a day for several months to gain weight. If you keep at it, you will definitely pack on size. Just be sure your training allows for enough stimulation (intensity) and adequate rest and recovery so you will grow.
Also, if you are already quite lean (<10% bodyfat), then you could be a little less strict with your food choices. Definitely go by JB’s recommendations, but don’t forget to include good fats (raw nuts, oils, peanut butter, etc.) and other meat (beef, fish, etc.). You can always drink milk (skim or 1%) for the extra calories and protein.
GraphicsMan-
I normally eat between 2000 and 2500 calories, so this increase is obviously significant. But after figuring out how much I need based on my weight, activity level, etc. it came out to 3545 cals. So I think that’s a pretty good start… hopefully.
Nate-
Yes, I eat LOTS of peanut butter (peanut butter & banana sandwiches… yum) and a couple servings of cashews and/or almonds. I also drink at least a couple glasses of skim milk a day. I have one question about olive oil. Is it fine to just add a tablespoon or two to my protein shake? That seems like the easiest/tastiest way of doing it.
[quote]osubucki2 wrote:
Nate-
Yes, I eat LOTS of peanut butter (peanut butter & banana sandwiches… yum) and a couple servings of cashews and/or almonds. I also drink at least a couple glasses of skim milk a day. I have one question about olive oil. Is it fine to just add a tablespoon or two to my protein shake? That seems like the easiest/tastiest way of doing it.[/quote]
Be sure to stick with natural peanut butter (should only contain peanuts and salt). Stick with RAW nuts. These are usually in the baking aisle (or can be purchased in bulk at Sam’s, BJ’s, etc.). They are healthier for you than typical roasted nuts that are robbed of all the good stuff. Almonds and walnuts are better choices of nuts, but variety is the spice of life, and other nuts are always a nice treat.
As for olive oil, you can easily add it to a shake, but stick with the Protein+Fat combo and leave out the carbs in that shake.
Well crap, I’ve been eatin Peter Pan peanut butter… Tastes good and is fairly cheap. But I’ll look for the natural/organic kind next time I’m at the store.
To me, the lifting routine seems to be the most confusing aspect when trying to pack on pounds. I’m a relatively experienced lifter, and it’s difficult to get away from isolated lifts like bicep curls, leg extensions, shoulder shrugs, etc. I just have that feeling like I’m not doing enough without those workouts. Moreover, isolated exerces always seemed to be the more “intense” workouts and seemed to give me a better “pump” post-workout. I guess it’s just hard for me to grasp the concepts involved in gaining weight for a “hard gainer” when no one else seems to be following those guidelines (I’m not belittling those concepts at all, I’m just trying to get a better grasp of them.)
Nate-
You said you were eating 3,000-4,000 cals a day for several months when you were about my size. I was wondering how quickly you were seeing gains, and how significant those gains were. I’m sure our body types, diets, workout routines, etc. were/are much different, but it would be cool to use you as a comparison during my weight gain process.
Thanks again for your comments guys, you’ve been a lot of help so far.
[quote]osubucki2 wrote:
Well crap, I’ve been eatin Peter Pan peanut butter… Tastes good and is fairly cheap. But I’ll look for the natural/organic kind next time I’m at the store.[/quote]
It doesn’t have to be organic. Just go to the same aisle in the grocery store where you get the Peter Pan, and look for the store brand (old fashioned) or Smucker’s Old Fashioned. Look at the ingredients and see if it contains peanuts and salt. That’s all you need. The other stuff is loaded with sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil! Not good.
If trying to get bigger and stronger, you need a good dose of compound exercises to build the most muscle mass and use the most muscles (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, rows, chins, power cleans or other olympic variations, etc.).
Isolation exercises “seem” intense but they won’t stimulate enough muscle for big gains in size and strength. Sure, you can still use them. But save them for the end of the workout after you’ve done the compound lifts. Seriously look into programs like CW has written (SFM, ABBH, TBT, Waterbury Method, Lift Fast, etc.). They are based on compound exercises for the best gains.
Don’t worry about what others are doing. Some people can get by on poor nutrition or poor training if they have the genetics. While others need to stick to the basics, keep it simple and put in the time and effort. Look at the Tip of the day that CT or CW posted yesterday about using three full-body workouts for hardgainer’s to pack on mass.
[quote]Nate-
You said you were eating 3,000-4,000 cals a day for several months when you were about my size. I was wondering how quickly you were seeing gains, and how significant those gains were. I’m sure our body types, diets, workout routines, etc. were/are much different, but it would be cool to use you as a comparison during my weight gain process.[/quote]
I put on 15lbs from July 04-December 04 using CW’s programs and just eating like I normally do. The first 10lbs came during the first two months. The last five pounds came much slower over several months. Since then, I’ve gained more, lost some when sick and dealing with personal issues, then gained more. I’m actually trying to get a bit leaner right now, but I am still gaining weight!
Your diet seems perfect to me. I have a similar one but I go with at least 100 Grams of Whey between pure powder and meal replacements (MRP in AM or if I did not eat enough).
I NEVER used to gain weight or got more than 135 untill I figured out the food part. Once I stuck to that, the workouts did not matter as much. I still grew. I’m shocked and amazed at how quickly I have grown on the right nutrition. I saw gains almost immediately. First 2 months was about 1-2 lbs a week. (Some was old muscle memory).
Nate-
Great info, thanks man. It definitely makes sense to use complex exercises as the backbone of my workout, and I’ll be sticking to it.
Rockscar-
Congrats on your weight gaining success, that’s great. What weight were you at when you started, and what are you at now? Any extra tips?
I’ve never been able to make very significant gains in the past, but it seems like the tips on this site could really work. My goal is to get my weight up to about 150-155, which would be a gain of about 15lbs. How awesome would that be?
[quote]osubucki2 wrote:
Nate-
Great info, thanks man. It definitely makes sense to use complex exercises as the backbone of my workout, and I’ll be sticking to it.
Rockscar-
Congrats on your weight gaining success, that’s great. What weight were you at when you started, and what are you at now? Any extra tips?
I’ve never been able to make very significant gains in the past, but it seems like the tips on this site could really work. My goal is to get my weight up to about 150-155, which would be a gain of about 15lbs. How awesome would that be? :)[/quote]
The scarey thing was that I was always a hard gaininer…or nogainer. With the same diet you have more or less, I was able to go from 135 to 155-160 (This week and last week, in AM) I seem to have leveled at 155. But going from 130 to 155 in 10 weeks was incredible to me. I also failed to metion I had quit smoking and partying 10 weeks ago too.
I had trained pretty heavily 10 years ago, but never had a good diet or healthy lifestyle and I did not gain, only ripped my smallish muscles.
I am a testimate to the fact that nutrition is key.
Your diet’s looking pretty good - definetely follow Nate’s reccomendations on the nuts and stuff.
The calorie level is a good starting point but don’t be afraid to increase it. The best thing would be to monitor your fat % weekly with calipers or something and keep increasing your calories until the percentage of fat gained isn’t acceptable. Just to let you know, my maintenance is (or was at that weight) around 3500, so be aware that if you’re not gaining you’ll need to eat more.
I can’t stress this enough - the more you eat, the more you grow. Obviously depending on the quality of program or how much cardio you do will determine the fat:muscle gain ratio, but if you want faster - eat more! Depending on how lean you are you could get away with a 1000 cal surplus and still have a 75% muscle gain. This would be about 2 lbs per week. Track your weight daily - it usually fluctuates but will go up by jumps - not steadily. So if after a week or so you haven’t gained anything - eat more!
At your weight (pretty low) you’ll be able to pack on mass quick. I went from 130-150 in 8 weeks eating about 4500 cals - I did no cardio except walking to class. I was on the HST program. I’m sure the program in Scrawny to Brawny (I haven’t seen it) is top notch - but the best thing is to track your progress. Determine your weight gain each week and acceptable % muscle and if you don’t reach it - tweak your diet/training.
You’ll get there. Even though you’ve been training awhile - I’ve seen many get the “newbie gains” going just by getting their diet on track.
Thanks for the post, goldin. Always nice to hear that someone with a similar weight & height was able to put on some pounds pretty efficiently.
My biggest obstacle is going to be getting all these good calories in me with my work & school schedule this summer. I’ll be working as a summer camp counselor from 8:00am-3:00pm then taking classes from about 4:00pm-7:00pm every weekday. It’s going to take some good planning, that’s for sure.
Good luck!