Goal: Gain 40lbs in 1 Year

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Hello,

I’m requesting your help to reach my goal. I’m an avid reader of T-Nation, but have not applied anything yet.

Current Stats:

  1. 5’8"
  2. 130lbs (really skinny)
  3. approximately 18% bodyfat (mostly in my midsection). You would never know looking at me since I’m so skinny.

Have not worked out consistantly in over a year.

My goals (by the way, I have set a time of 15 months to reach my goal)

  1. Weigh 160lbs
  2. Less than 10% bodyfat (or whatever it takes to make abs visible)

These are my plans:
Nutrition

  1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutrition (Dr. Berardi)
  2. Following the meal plans in the book Scrawny to Brawny

Lifting programs:

  1. First 3 months Total Body traing (Waterbury)
  2. Next 3 months ABBH (Waterbury)
  3. Maybe ABBH 2
  4. ???

My plan is to gain hopefully 40lbs in 1 year and then lose 10lbs of the fat I’ve gained in the last 3 months to bring me to 160lbs of lean muscle with less than 10% fat.

Does this sound reasonable? I’d really like to stick to the 15months as I would like to get this goal by January 2009.

Do you guys or gals have any other suggestions or tips to reach my goal.

Alll your help is much appreciated.

2

I think it’s very feasible. I was 170 pounds, 9% bodyfat in May, and shot up to 208, 14% bodyfat currently. You just have to do your research, workout correctly, eat right, get enough water and sleep, and the proper supplementation definitely helps.

4

[quote]bmitch wrote:
You could gain 40 pounds in a year… although i think it would be better to maybe aim for 35… cause if you go for 40 you’ll probably gain a decent amount of fat[/quote]

I’m not seeing the big difference between 35 and 40, but whatever.

You can gain 40 lbs if you put the work in at at the kitchen table every day. Eat eat eat your way up to a new frame and train in the gym like your life depends on it. If you are eating your protein and overall calories and work on trying to double(or triple) your training weights from now on you’ll be a much bigger boy than you are now.

5

I don’t really care what other people tell you, you’re not going to put on 40lb of lean mass in a year naturally. Not by a long shot.

You’re 18% bodyfat, and 130lbs. I’m guessing you’re overestimating your bodyfat. Otherwise, I’m curious to see a picture, because otherwise you’re only 106.6 pounds of non-lipid tissue.

As far as Rycaltor, you gained 10lbs of fat, and 27.6lb of lean mass in 4 months? What steroids did you use, becaue unless you’re 14 and hit a growth spurt, I don’t buy it.

QBishop: All else aside, lay out some details about your diet (how many calories, protein, carbs, fat) as well as your activity level.

6

Honestly, if you put in the effort, you can gain forty pounds in a year. It won’t all be muscle, obviously, but even if you gain some fat you will look much better because of the added muscle. Here’s my tip for you though, don,t cut at 170, because I’m sure that when you reach 170, you’re gonna want to see 180 on that scale, and then 190, and so on ;).

Just aim for a pound a week, and sometimes take a few weeks off of the force-feeding so that you don’t go crazy, and then start again. Oh, and while i’m at it, you can’t go wrong with the eating plans in scrawny to brawny (even though some things don’t always make sense). Just follow the plan at first, and later on you’ll be able to make your own changes to it once you start to figure out what works for you.

And last but not least, don’t get discouraged if the gains don’t come as fast as you’d like, because even 1 pound a week seems like a lot, it still means 2 and a half months to gain ten pounds. But take it from me, it’s worth it, I went from 135lbs at 5’11 to my current 193 at 5’11 (took three years, but hey, what can you do).

Damn, this post is much longer than i thought it would be, anyway, good luck!

7

It’s definately possible. I started less than half a year ago and gained 40 pds. and remained the same waist size. I’m now 180 pds. No juice. Just do heavy loading lifts (ie: deadlift, bench, chins, cleans) and eat a crap load.

8

[quote]bmitch wrote:
You could gain 40 pounds in a year… although i think it would be better to maybe aim for 35… cause if you go for 40 you’ll probably gain a decent amount of fat[/quote]

I hope you were joking.

OP
If you really want to get big you should realize that 40 pounds is just a number. Get rid of it and concentrate on one thing.

That being to gain as much muscle as possible as fast as possible. However what you posted was 2 goals, not one. You said you want to gain muscle and lose fat. Over time this is possible, but simultaneously the two will hinder each other. My advice to you is to eat as much as you possibly can and workout as hard as possible. Its that simple.

9

[quote]Contrl wrote:
I don’t really care what other people tell you, you’re not going to put on 40lb of lean mass in a year naturally. Not by a long shot. [/quote]

Don’t worry about this opinion, man. I will straight up tell you that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. You must be vigilant of your workouts, diligent in your studying to learn about nutrition/fitness, and dedicated to the plan.

I have barely any fat with my 35 pounds, the 14% is a fairly liberal estimate, based off of REALLY hard pinches for the caliper tests, just because I’d rather think I have more BF% (keeps me motivated to tone).

[quote]Contrl wrote:
As far as Rycaltor, you gained 10lbs of fat, and 27.6lb of lean mass in 4 months? What steroids did you use, becaue unless you’re 14 and hit a growth spurt, I don’t buy it.[/quote]

Realistically, I’d say I’ve gained less than 10 lbs fat, but even assuming that I did, I originally started with a big nutritional change, BSN’s N.O. Xplode, and some EAS Whey Protein. I didn’t know a hell of a lot, but I was very motivated, and hit the gym about 6 days a week, between 1-2.5 hours a day.

The ironic part is that I was out for a month since May because of getting hit by a car at one point and breaking my collar bone, but I’ve gone from a non-lifter at 170, to a 250 bench and ~208 pounds, mostly all lean.

You can speculate all you want, but I train with several powerlifters, including Nebraska’s Strongest Man (do weekend strongman stuff, too), and have at least 30 other people who know for a fact that I’m legit. I do have quite a few supplements these days, but I have made the personal decision never to venture into the realm of steroids.

I am still working on bulking a bit more, because I was rail thin, but I can already tell massive differences in my everyday life because of the changes I’ve made.

If you need, I can talk about diet/fitness and all of the things I did to make the gains, and stay in good conditioning for cardiovascular work, as well.

-R

10

[quote]tveddy wrote:
bmitch wrote:
You could gain 40 pounds in a year… although i think it would be better to maybe aim for 35… cause if you go for 40 you’ll probably gain a decent amount of fat

I hope you were joking.

OP
If you really want to get big you should realize that 40 pounds is just a number. Get rid of it and concentrate on one thing.

That being to gain as much muscle as possible as fast as possible. However what you posted was 2 goals, not one. You said you want to gain muscle and lose fat. Over time this is possible, but simultaneously the two will hinder each other. My advice to you is to eat as much as you possibly can and workout as hard as possible. Its that simple.[/quote]

Very much doubt he was kidding, it that kind of mindset that produces no results, or very poor ones.

OP, you’ve been around on this site longer than many so why have you not been doing anything for such a long time? Also, look over various old progress photo threads, a good share of people have achieved 40lbs+ in a year while keeping relatively lean.

Aim to get progressively stronger week by week, eat enough and get the rest you need, and you will see great results in a year.

11

To go from 130lbs @ 18% to 160lbs @ 10% is a gain of 37.6lbs of lean body mass, and a loss of 7.4lbs of fat. That is under ideal conditions where you don’t gain fat while bulking or lose muscle while cutting.

You said 15 months, so for the sake of argument, let’s assume a forty eight week bulk followed by a seventeen week cut. During the bulking period you would need to put on 1.13lbs of muscle per week, while adding no more than 0.57lbs of fat per week.

That’s not impossible, but it’s VERY ambitious over that long a period. At the end you would be 211.36lbs @ 23.9% bodyfat. Then you would cut at a rate of 2lbs fat per week while losing no more than one pound of muscle per week, ending up at 160.36lbs @ 10.3% bodyfat.

In short, it looks like your goals are extremely ambitious. If you do EVERYTHING exactly right it’s just within the realm of the possible, however unless you hire a top notch trainer and follow his instructions exactly, I think your probability of achieving this is low. If you do it all yourself, and have to figure out things as you go, it will most likely take 2x-3x as long as you’re suggesting.

Still, either way you should be able to make excellent progress over the course of 15 months, so eat heavy and spend lots of time in the kitchen.

12

[quote]blue9steel wrote:

so eat heavy and spend lots of time in the kitchen.[/quote]

In mario brothers thisis the golden key.

13

Ummm. I thought levels was determined by how many Biotest products you have purchased.

Anyway long as you hit puberty tomorrow you should be able to do this fine.

14

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, opinions and tips. I value all of them.

Btw, I’m 29. Eat about twice a day. Sometimes first meal is at 3pm. This is horrible and detriment to my health. Definetly have a lot of potential for change!

RycaltoR: Thanks for your insight and details of your personal progress.

I will check my bodyfat again before I start working out and will implement all your suggestions.

Bottom line from all your replies (and many articles at T-Nation): To get BIG: eat BIG, Lift BIG, rest BIG and either you will reach your goals or you will have a greater physique then you started nonetheless.

Thank You all.

15

[quote]tveddy wrote:
blue9steel wrote:

so eat heavy and spend lots of time in the kitchen.

In mario brothers thisis the golden key.[/quote]

Oops, that was supposed to say LIFT heavy not EAT heavy.

16

[quote]QBishop wrote:

Btw, I’m 29. Eat about twice a day. Sometimes first meal is at 3pm. This is horrible and quote]

You should eat 6-7 or more times a day

18

The point is, if you want to do it, set your mind to it, and get the right people advising you. I’m not saying I’m by any means an expert, but that’s exactly my point.

I’ve served active duty in the marine corps, and played almost every sport out there competitively, so I’ve always been athletic, but I never did any weightlifting (unless you counted USMC calisthenics) until this May, and I’ve seriously put on like 30 pounds lean mass. So, I know it’s possible. I have spent countless hours reading and researching what’s important, and I’ve got some science and biochemical background which helps me understand what works and what doesn’t, but just from doing it firsthand, I know that it’s possible, and I guarantee I’ll put on more positive weight before this whole shindig is over. I can even show you some of the pics I have of the differences in my body already (not that I’m at my final goal, but its a huge step for me to not be a lanky rail anymore).

19

[quote]bmitch wrote:

well no matter what you do i doubt someone would gain 40lbs of lean muscle in a year… [/quote]

Thats why you’re a hundred and thirty eight pounds.

20

[quote]tveddy wrote:
bmitch wrote:
You could gain 40 pounds in a year… although i think it would be better to maybe aim for 35… cause if you go for 40 you’ll probably gain a decent amount of fat

I hope you were joking.

OP
If you really want to get big you should realize that 40 pounds is just a number. Get rid of it and concentrate on one thing.

That being to gain as much muscle as possible as fast as possible. However what you posted was 2 goals, not one. You said you want to gain muscle and lose fat. Over time this is possible, but simultaneously the two will hinder each other. My advice to you is to eat as much as you possibly can and workout as hard as possible. Its that simple.[/quote]

Best advice given!

I would only add that right now you are not fat…you are undermuscled. Start by organizing your meals and know if your metabolism is fat or carb based. Read all Berardi’s articles and then give some ideas on the diet. Diet BTW will be the determining factor wether it will be all mass or all fat.

I come from a similar background and I did from 140 to 189 in 2 years. I had a higer bodyfat than now, but the difference was that I knew nothing of diet.

Focus on strenght and size for a while. Then switch gears and do regular BB style training. Then back into the power and bulk stuff. Once a year take 2 to 3 months to maintain your strength and lower the bodyfat. You don’t need to look anatomy chart but loose any love handles. Then start bulking again.

1.5 years will not be enough. 2.5 doing everything right will reshape you like someone else.

21

[quote]QBishop wrote:
Hello,

I’m requesting your help to reach my goal. I’m an avid reader of T-Nation, but have not applied anything yet.

Current Stats:

  1. 5’8"
  2. 130lbs (really skinny)
  3. approximately 18% bodyfat (mostly in my midsection). You would never know looking at me since I’m so skinny.

Have not worked out consistantly in over a year.

My goals (by the way, I have set a time of 15 months to reach my goal)

  1. Weigh 160lbs
  2. Less than 10% bodyfat (or whatever it takes to make abs visible)

These are my plans:
Nutrition

  1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutrition (Dr. Berardi)
  2. Following the meal plans in the book Scrawny to Brawny

Lifting programs:

  1. First 3 months Total Body traing (Waterbury)
  2. Next 3 months ABBH (Waterbury)
  3. Maybe ABBH 2
  4. ???

My plan is to gain hopefully 40lbs in 1 year and then lose 10lbs of the fat I’ve gained in the last 3 months to bring me to 160lbs of lean muscle with less than 10% fat.

Does this sound reasonable? I’d really like to stick to the 15months as I would like to get this goal by January 2009.

Do you guys or gals have any other suggestions or tips to reach my goal.

Alll your help is much appreciated.

[/quote]

sounds good to me, but I would just strictly follow West Side For Skinny Bastards over the whole 15 months. This will help you reach your goals.

22

I posted on this to other people here but def follow scrawny to brawny and go read westside for skinny bastards (version 3 now)

if you have any questions about it PM me. i follwed tyhe same thing and gained 40lbs in 6 months. it can be done.

And like tveddy said worry about one goal first. in this case gaining muscle.
Then worry about getting down to visable abs