I noticed that with food too, but if would usually turn out they ate one huge meal and then mostly snacks for the rest of the day, because they felt full.
1 Like
Curious question…. By chance are you physically active? Be it a sport related hobby or have a physical job?
1 Like
With OP being 24 years old, I was thinking he would have more natural muscle that just comes in a man’s early 20’s with some physical exertion. He seems to have the look of someone who only plays video games.
I could be wrong, but if OP is doing some physical exertion his genetics might not be ideal for putting on muscle.
2 Likes
Yes I’ve worked a physical job since I was 17
Ye I probably have bad genetics/low t
I would assume neither of those things, to do so would be starting off handicapping yourself.
You can test T easily and cheaply in most parts of the world these days, if you’re curious, but unless you are genuinely experiencing the effects of low T, at 24 I wouldn’t bother. Pretty sure I’ve had low T all my life and functioned fine, including fathering 2 kids, and getting bigger and stronger - wasn’t until I got very noticeable effects of low T I tested, was low, and started TRT. That may never be on your cards (my dad has higher T than me on Trt, naturally at 70 even after chemo, so it’s not a given).
Hit the weights hard 3-4 times per week with an intelligent program, eat whole foods, 500g a chicken a day is a good start but diversity of sources would help, avoid processed foods 95% of the time.
Other general advice sleep 8+ hours a night, drink plenty of water. Supplements are just that and after training and trying almost every supplement available, I would say really the only ones I’d recommend personally are protein powder (for ease not necessity), vitamin D3, omega 3 and creatine.
Give it 3-5 solid years and see where you are before even thinking about your genetics or T levels, you’d be amazed how much consistency and hard work really do work magic.
4 Likes
at this stage id say untrained and under fed… before you make that call and put yourself into a defeatist mind set get some time under your belt.
3 Likes
Well ye you’re right I won’t know until I actually begun training with consistency
2 Likes
Um… no. I’d actually say you have decent genetics you just haven’t applied them yet. Look at Larry Wheels when he was young. People that start this journey fairly lean put on more muscle without the flab. You just need to legit start training and figure out the nutrition plan that works best for you.
1 Like
Maybe won’t know until I try thanks for the advice anyway
1 Like
Exactly so give it your best shot!
Coming out of sports in my early 20s, i was way more focused on strength than body comp, so take this with a grain of salt. That said:
-
You need to eat a lot more than you think – but if you focus on pre / peri / post workout calories for the added carbs, and mostly added protein the rest of the time, you can get far without calorie counting
-
Counterpoint: I think everyone who cares at all should spend at least a month or two closely counting calories. You learn a lot about what you actually eat, what things actually add calories, and can dial things in and more importantly, build the intuition that makes it much easier going forward.
-
I focused on bulk / strength because i was super lean when i was at 160 – Worked fine for a long time, but i put on significant fat % when i finally got above 185. That was harder (for me) to cut than i expected, I wished i’d been a little more measured and not gone the dirty bulk route. Didn’t help it happened during a time when i transitioned from active work to a desk job.
-
I’m a big fan of the high rep squats (Dan John’s Mass Made Simple, other various T-Nation archive articles) + calorie surplus as a way to jumpstart someone in your position. But there are are lots of good answers here – and with some good effort you will see some significant gains, pretty much regardless of genetics (i mean, the ceiling on those gains is pretty much all genetics – but just about everyone has tremendous untapped potential that they start to see pretty quickly when they start training seriously).
-
physique goals are highly personal. But i think fair to say you don’t need to start with a recomp, and you definitely don’t need to start with a fat loss approach. I’d say check in every 5-10 lbs of scale weight. If you start getting heavier without getting appreciably stronger (and/or more muscular, depending on your goals), that’s definitely an orange flag to adjust something on the diet. But you’ll feel that out when you get there – right now just KISS and focus on putting in the work.
-
this is probably more controversial, but i think when you start, focusing on strength first is ideal. I subscribe to Pavel’s philosophy that “strength is the master skill”. Once you are strong enough to move some decent weight, you’ll get a lot more out of pumping reps with relatively lower weights after. Fwiw.
2 Likes
Is strength and muscle not the same thing ? The more muscle u gain the stronger you get isn’t that it or am I missing something?
1 Like
There is much correlation, but eventually fails.
Consider powerlifters and Olympic lifters who compete in weight classes. Those that become extremely good in, say the 148lb Class, cannot gain more muscle than what would allow them to stay less than 148lbs. Here they are trying to get stronger without adding much muscle. The champions and those in pursuit of becoming champions do an exception job of getting stronger without adding much more muscle.
1 Like
Maybe moreso the other way around.
They are related, but the methods to directly train for these as goals (strength) or (hypertrophy) is quite different. At least for more advanced lifters.
A bodybuilder can do almost everything they need for their purposes (hypertrophy) with dumbbells, cables, and machines. Preferred reps from 6-20.
A powerlifter can do almost everything they need for their purposes (strength) with dumbbells and barbells. Preferred reps under 6.
I always suggest beginners start with a LP strength program like Phraks Greyskull LP or Stronglifts 5x5. Gets you strong fast and muscle recruitment happens at about the same rate for newbies… better to be big AND strong than just big.
From there, I recommend trainees transition over to either a real hypertrophy program like TBJP, or a full-on powerlifting program like Westside Conjugate, depending on the individual’s goals.
1 Like
Why not just start with 3 full body workouts per week
and eat 3 balanced meals a day B/L/D, 33% of all three macros….whole foods
Drink a gallon of ice water a day
Get 7 to 9 hours sleep
then see what happens after 3 months
1 Like