i work out hard. as often as possible. i eat a shitload. i have stopped supplementation of all forms over the summer because i cant afford it while im trying to build my ATM for college, but i may splurge on some Beta7, Surge, and creatine when i go to school.
i am seeing results, but i want more. i feel i have a well developed back shoulders and chest for a skinny guy, but my arms are lacking in size(roughly 14" when measured 2 months ago), though well defined.
all skinny guys who have become “big” (open to interpretation) without westside or any of those structured programs, how did YOU do it…what lifts, numbers of sets/reps, specific exercises how many days per week…please inform me on anything and everything that you feel has had a considerable effect on your progress…
Changing to a upper/lower split two days a week I think was the biggest boost for me. ie:
Upper day 1
chest 5x5
back 3x10 and shoulders 3x10 superset
arms 5x5 superset
chest 3x10
lower day 1
squat 5x5
dead 3x10
calf 5x5
leg ext or leg curl 3x10
day rest
upper day 2
shouders 5x5 and back 50 reps pullups superset
chest 3x10
arms 3x10 superset
shoulders 3x10
lower day 2
deads 5x5
squat 3x10
calves 3x10
other leg ext or curl 3x10
Next two days off. Ate a lot of PB&J’s. Used Surge, Grow!, Spike and Carbolin 19 only. I wouldn’t say I’m “big” at 225, but I’m getting there.
I started at 203 in January, and got to this size by April. I’ve stalled since then due to unexpected situations, bad decisions and I stopped my PB&J cycle. When I get a clean bill of health, I’m going crazy on those sandwiches.
i work out hard. as often as possible. i eat a shitload. i have stopped supplementation of all forms over the summer because i cant afford it while im trying to build my ATM for college, but i may splurge on some Beta7, Surge, and creatine when i go to school.
i am seeing results, but i want more. i feel i have a well developed back shoulders and chest for a skinny guy, but my arms are lacking in size(roughly 14" when measured 2 months ago), though well defined.
all skinny guys who have become “big” (open to interpretation) without westside or any of those structured programs, how did YOU do it…what lifts, numbers of sets/reps, specific exercises how many days per week…please inform me on anything and everything that you feel has had a considerable effect on your progress…[/quote]
Why do you not-include structured programs? Are opposed to knowing what you are going to do in advanced or something?
Seriously, why leave out “structured programs”. Even if the program is not written by a coach from these parts, if it has some logical pattern, chances are it will perform better than just randomly picking up weights.
I ain’t big by any stretch, but what size I do have is basically built from a football offseason program. All the good basic shit, bench, squat, dead, cleans, rows.
I’ve only been using the knowledge on here for about a year.
EAT: eat alot of food, probly even more than you think you should eat. if your weight arent going up and your not weighing more your probly not eating enough
LIFT: train smart and work hard in the gym. dont be a pussy when it comes ot lifting weights
SLEEP: sleep 8+ hours of sleep per night. you dont grow in the gym. you need time for your body to recover and grow
EAT: eat alot of food, probly even more than you think you should eat. if your weight arent going up and your not weighing more your probly not eating enough
[/quote]
I think this one here is realkly hard for some people to understand. No, if you STILL weigh 150lbs after three months, no matter what you think, you aren’t eating enough.
I’m not “big” by any means, but I went from 175 in August 2005 to 215 currently (less than a year). Yeah, there’s some fat gain, but whatever.
EAT. Beef (1lb burgers), cans of tuna, protein shakes out the ass, cheese, pizza, oatmeal, peanut butter blah blah blah. Eat BEFORE BED. Like right before.
TRAIN HARD BITCH. And I don’t think “Westside” is a “program”. What you’re refering to is a template. Dave Tate said it at the DC Test Fest, you don’t want to be stuck in a program, have something to guide you, but listen to your body and think for yourself damnit (paraphrased).
You know when I made my “breakthrough”? At the fucking DC Test Fest when I saw all the big guys and realized that I was a bitch, and then had a chance to talk one on one with some amazing trainers from this very site. YOU SHOULD GO TO THE LA SEMINAR. Seriously. I’m not kidding. You would benefit from it. I made my next breakthrough at the Syracuse Strength Spectacular (anouther seminar) when I was surrounded by big powerlifters and realized that I was STILL a pussy. So, the moral of the story is: Don’t blame it on a lack of supplements or a program. You KNOW what you need to do. Now get out there and fucking train like a damn animal (squats, deads, bench etc.) and eat rediculous amounts of food.
EAT: eat alot of food, probly even more than you think you should eat. if your weight arent going up and your not weighing more your probly not eating enough
I think this one here is realkly hard for some people to understand. No, if you STILL weigh 150lbs after three months, no matter what you think, you aren’t eating enough.[/quote]
Yes, what Prof said. That and concentration curls. Swiss ball work is critical as well.
Since the beginning of August, I’ve gone from 190 to 200 pounds. Granted, some of that is water because I’d been eating a low carb diet up to that point and am no longer shy about my carbs. Plus I’ve begun using creatine in that time as well.
I’m just eating a shitload of food right now, probably at least a couple pounds of meat a day plus a shake for breakfast, one right before bed, and one in the middle of the night. I’ve basically got food in my mouth all the time. The funny thing is, even though I’ve had to go back into my bigger pants again, I don’t look fat. If anything, my wife thinks I look skinner.
I’m following the Westside template and have made some terrific gains, far beyond what I’ve been able to do before now.
Like the experienced guys say: eat big and lift big. If you can get those two things down, you can fill in the details more easily. If you don’t do those two things, you’re just spinning your wheels.
Hmmph. I know I’m not big. It’s a bit of a piss off really.
The biggest I’ve gotten (outside of being a FFB a while back) was just over 230 lbs, bulked. Since I don’t have the luxury of youthful testosterone levels, I think the key is finding what works.
Do I need more sleep? Do I need more food? Am I making progress? Should I be in the gym more often or less often? Do I need to switch things up again? How is my nutrition? Any lagging areas?
It takes a lot of time. I see some people making fast progress and I wish I could do that. I guess that’s the price I pay for getting into the game so late.
As long as I can keep making progress I know I’ll get there.
I am not enormous by any stretch, but when I was bigger (when playing sports), my rules were:
Eat a huge amount of protein before bed, and fat too. Big protein shake mixed with natty peanut butter. I switched to cottage cheese when I got tired of the above, but only for one night at a time.
Eat mixed nuts throughout the day, constantly. And I mean constantly. Some people swear by eating carbs - I had great results with constantly stuffing my face with almonds, walnuts, and cashews. Add dried fruit to add sweetness if you want.
Eat as big a breakfast as you can stand, of the healthiest stuff you can (egg whites, oatmeal, etc.). My appetite is always raging when I eat a big breakfast.
Deadlifts and/or cleans, of either the power or hang variety.
On big lifts, do the 8x3 stuff instead of the 3x8 stuff. I found that to be effective. More traditional high volume on more isolation-style moves.
Do some cardio - it always increased my appetite, so it was easier to eat more.
Eat a ton, train hard and then rest. Repeat forever. I’m 5’10 and I went from 154 to 205lbs in two years or so. (I joke that I went from being skinny to being average) I’m in my thirties so give me a break:)
Stick with basics and you can’t go wrong. Full body workouts three times a week. Stick with these types of excercises: compound movements, compound movements and more compound movements.
Don’t be afraid of deadlifts, weighted pull-ups and other things that you probably rarely see at the local health club.
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
I am not enormous by any stretch, but when I was bigger (when playing sports), my rules were:
Eat a huge amount of protein before bed, and fat too. Big protein shake mixed with natty peanut butter. I switched to cottage cheese when I got tired of the above, but only for one night at a time.
Eat mixed nuts throughout the day, constantly. And I mean constantly. Some people swear by eating carbs - I had great results with constantly stuffing my face with almonds, walnuts, and cashews. Add dried fruit to add sweetness if you want.
Eat as big a breakfast as you can stand, of the healthiest stuff you can (egg whites, oatmeal, etc.). My appetite is always raging when I eat a big breakfast.
Deadlifts and/or cleans, of either the power or hang variety.
On big lifts, do the 8x3 stuff instead of the 3x8 stuff. I found that to be effective. More traditional high volume on more isolation-style moves.
Do some cardio - it always increased my appetite, so it was easier to eat more.
Just a few thoughts - best of luck.[/quote]
Great advice, especially the nutritional stuff. I’m not big, 205 on a good day, but am much heavier than I would be normally, and for me when I was really bulking for football, it all came down to the diet. I’d add milk here, if you’re lean and really trying to pack on mass and training your ass off, I’d say a 1/2 gallon a day will do more good than harm.
