Get Stoked's 6 Months to Solid

Training Beginners
1

Wifes gone for 6 months…I need structure…lets bust this shit out.

I am a 27 year old male, 6ft, 197 pounds, around 15bf.

Goal: Pack on as much quality mass as I can in 6 months, training Naturally, Utilizing well known workouts. Last month may be set aside for a Cut but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Nutrition
Starting with 3000-3500 calories for a couple weeks to see what effect that has. My macros are not going to be micromanaged to much if I can help it, however, I will get around 250 grams protein, 125 fats, and good carbs to fill er out.

I am living on Meat, Eggs, Milk, Nuts, Green veg. The carbs I eat will always be before lunch and around training.

Supps
I am running on the basics: Protein, Creatine, Multi, Fish oil.

Training
Since I really dont have much of a base, I am going to start with Rippetoes starting strength.

I have done two workouts so far, after the first one I needed 3 days to get my legs to work again due to not working out for past 2 months. Any way here are my amazing feats of strength!

day 1
squat 155,155,155x3
bench 3x5x135
deads 1x5x185
decline crunch 3x15 10lbs

Day 2
squat 3x5x165
mil 3x5x80
p clean 3x5x135*
pullups 5
bb curl 1x10x65

Power cleans while not extremely hard, felt totally fucking out of control, I am going to try and get the form down on them over a couple weeks, if that doesn’t happen I am scrapping them for rows…although my traps are sore as hell today so I really want to keep them if I can get em drilled.

Well thats all I got, theres no need for pictures just yet so I wont bother burning your retinas out. I’ll get some measurements up here in a bit so we can tell if I am gaining or just masturbating with heavy things hehe.

Peace out, workout update on monday.

Edited to make readable by humans.

2

Add chicken, fish, lots of fish oil. I’d also add fruit and quinoa to post-workout meals since you are looking to gain. Make sure your peri-workout nutrition is appropriate. Read Thib’s Supplementation For Newbies to get an idea. I think your calories are too low for your goals. But it’s fine to start slow and readjust based on progress.

3

Ok gah…measurements

biceps 14…but thats cold man!
thigh 22.5
waist(navel) 35
Chest 42.5

4

since ive done a few cleans now i kinda get the problem with them. before i always caught the bar almost at chest height…

try this only with a barbell first

sit down, legs pointing forward, inbetween a squat and deadlift position, chest as up as possible so that your arms are in front of the bar just like in a deadlift(just your butt is lower). then you should do a squat up, dont try to deadlift it in a way cause as a newbie you’ll throw the bar forward, so just squat up (keep back arched… in the good way… so straight).

once you pass around mid thigh, maybe higher if you get more experience, you’ll need to turn your hands “in”, in a way so that your arms are vertical to the floor, but if you extended your fingers your palm would be facing upwards… makes sense? this makes the bar go a bit more up.

also shrug your shoulders up as high as possible, this also makes it come a bit more up too. also stand on your toes. im not sure about this but unlike the squats and deadlifts, i think you shouldnt push from the heels but closer to the toes during the olympic lifts.

now hold that position where your palms face up(your fingers dont actually extend, but that was to give you the idea), shoulders shrugged, standing up on your toes (or anyway the front part of your foot)… and then quickly squat down under the bar, while you get your arms/elbows in a front squat position.

DONT push the bar up with your hands/arms, keep them as loose as possible instead of tight cause that can throw the weight up. the point it to learn to squat under the bar.

after that you can just kinda figure it out from there. go slow on adding weight, you need to learn how to balance it

also when you receive a lot of weight after squatting under it, stay down there for a sec or 2 before squatting back up

5

otherwise your routine looks good generally

and since your numbers are kinda low you can probably stay on rippetoe for the whole 6 months, adding some dips, chins/pull ups, abs and stuff later maybe

6

Thanks man! Ya I really want to keep them in because they are an amazing exercise. I am going to reread your post a couple times and then practice with an unloaded bar in my free time. When I do them it feels as if I miss the whole upper part and just kind of toss it.

Another thing I did that I KNOW is bad is add weight so that it kind of forces me to push harder and need the squat at the end, Couple that with not knowing the form and its destined for failure. Oh well chock it up to lesson learned and drill it light will be the way to go.

7

dont worry, its pretty easy to learn, if you already know other stuff (squat/deadlift, keeping your arch tight and straight etc)

of course you wont learn it perfect, but you’ll get the idea in a day or two

oh and be prepared for your shoulders to hurt. cause they will once you add some weight to it. and your legs will get scratched a lot too

after that you just have to keep at it to learn how to balance and stuff, its kinda tricky but you’ll get the idea quick.

the best way to get better is to keep squatting. you cant do a good power clean/clean if when you are at the bottom of your squat you dont have great stability. it should be easy to get there, not make you tremble and be about to fall over.

also get some weightlifting shoes, they help heck of a lot. at least they do for me and they only cost ~70 dollars (55 euro for me which is really cheap for shoes)

8

[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
dont worry, its pretty easy to learn, if you already know other stuff (squat/deadlift, keeping your arch tight and straight etc)

of course you wont learn it perfect, but you’ll get the idea in a day or two

oh and be prepared for your shoulders to hurt. cause they will once you add some weight to it. and your legs will get scratched a lot too

after that you just have to keep at it to learn how to balance and stuff, its kinda tricky but you’ll get the idea quick.

the best way to get better is to keep squatting. you cant do a good power clean/clean if when you are at the bottom of your squat you dont have great stability. it should be easy to get there, not make you tremble and be about to fall over.

also get some weightlifting shoes, they help heck of a lot. at least they do for me and they only cost ~70 dollars (55 euro for me which is really cheap for shoes)[/quote]

get chucks!
I’d run ripp until you stop making gains, then switch to something else. 5x5, ws4sb, etc

9

Take some pics so 6 months down the road you can post before and after.

Good luck, hope you have a surprise worth seeing for you wife when she gets back.

10

Yesterday

3655cal 228F 107C 301P

A decent start, I imagine I will throw on a few pounds as my body has been surviving on maybe 1800-2200 cals a day due to new job and general food prep laziness. On a side note like a total dork I snuck a pedometer on myself and at the end of my shift I clocked 12.5 miles, Now I know thats not totally accurate but I walk a ton at work. I am doing Nursing aide work while working on Nursing degree, so every room I go in is a free squat of an old lady hehe.

Also found out that the kitchen at work will custom build a dank salad made with turkey or ham, and throw on 6 hard boiled eggs. that with 3 glasses of milk one with 2 scoops of protein and some fish caps and work starvation has totally ended. May hide some walnuts and almonds at work too.

So far today I have 3010cal 155F 131C 273P

Still sore in neck and back from cleans, cant wait for monday, weights should come up nicely as I start eating again ha.

Peace out

11

Sounds good.

Just to weigh in here. I’m on the same mission. Trying to shed the skeletal look. I’ve finally made really good gains in the past 2 months. Here’s what I learned. I totally changed my diet, throwing out alot of the crap, eating tons of protein.

The main thing is ramping up the weight and doing sets to exhaustion. Got to go quickly from one set to another. Use good form, try to vary your exercises so your muscles won’t get used to the same routine. Don’t forget the pushups, pullups, dips and situps. Those have really help add definition to my stick frame.

Take protein supplements and Creatine is great for recovery. Stay close to your goals and work through the pain. Remember eggs and peanut butter are your friends.

Peace-

12

[quote]skeletonboy wrote:
Sounds good.

Just to weigh in here. I’m on the same mission. Trying to shed the skeletal look. I’ve finally made really good gains in the past 2 months. Here’s what I learned. I totally changed my diet, throwing out alot of the crap, eating tons of protein.

The main thing is ramping up the weight and doing sets to exhaustion. Got to go quickly from one set to another. Use good form, try to vary your exercises so your muscles won’t get used to the same routine. Don’t forget the pushups, pullups, dips and situps. Those have really help add definition to my stick frame.

Take protein supplements and Creatine is great for recovery. Stay close to your goals and work through the pain. Remember eggs and peanut butter are your friends.

Peace-[/quote]

Hell ya thanks for the good word man, to bad I’m allergic to peanuts though cause they are such a good food for energy. Hell I am now allergic to Tuna, salmon, and sardines too, so there goes another great protein…oh well though as long as I can eat cows and chickens I’m fine.

Today

I am cramming for my final and honestly my mind is all on not failing it. I took an hour to get my lifts in, after falling asleep at my table reading med books heh. Weights went up but it was a pain in the ass, form slipping on last sets of squats, everything feeling heavy. 2 warm ups before all lifts.

squat 177(6 pound collars makes for a weird number here)
bench 145 not as hard as squats, form was fine just slow
deads 200 I can pull more than this, just being conservative

Thoughts for next workout

sleep is shit, got 4 hours last night, shooting for 8-9 soon as I get through final, will suffer on Wednesdays workout…
Going to stay same or 5lb+ on squat and bench until they feel right.

Back to the books, then sleep. Peace out

siderant, ordered practical programming, pretty stoked about it

13

squat 177
mil 85
pclean 135

I am going to catch up on much needed sleep now that finals are over. cleans are feeling more natural, after practicing them with a empty bar the past few days. Squats felt a lot better too. Now I just need to get sleep sorted out and start making some real progress, it will happen.

Peace

14

Nice to see another log coming up, I hope you reach your goal!

I saw that you ordered practical programming, I highly recommend Starting strenght also, if you don’t already have it.

Good luck!

15

Getting back on track now.

Weight this morning was 196.6, need to eat a bit more it seems.

squats 45x10 95x5 95x5 185x5 185x5 185x5…good heavy

bench 45x10 80x10 150x5 150x5 150x5…heavy. I have decided to take one of my bench workouts to the base gym so I can use their dumbbells, anyone think this is a good idea to bring up my bench strength?

deads 1x5x225…still relatively light. Also on deads I am regripping after each rep is that ok to do or should I try and bang them all out once the weight is unloaded to the floor?

Everything felt good, kinda heavy, but its made out of iron so thats about right.

Breakfast

4 eggs cooked in olive oil with about oz of cheddar shredded.
1c oats with 1c of blueberries/raspberries
scoop of protein in 1c whole milk
5 fish oil, multi

Lunch was a huge double sirloin burger on wheat with real cheddar, no mayo and a diet coke.

next up is protein and malto/dex, creatine, fish oil, and an orange as I am becoming addicted to oranges.

dinner to be determined, however, I bet it will be covered in olive oil.

Still light on calorie intake, I didn’t think I was using 3500 but if my notes are right I need more. Going to add in more good carbs, as I am eating over 250 of protein and around 150 fats already.

Peace out, hopefully blow up on monday.

16

Life is happening right now, asked for divorce.

With all the chaos of the past few days I am a wreck. Dont care to ever talk about it again here. Going to focus some of my energy on training to keep a positive mindset.

Went to the base gym today with my bud and did chest/tris. We are going to hit it 5 a week.

This may be on pause for a while, I shall return.