So I’m not original with thread titles. On to the good stuff!
History: Currently a 19 year old College student, I’ve been lifting for around 2.5 years and have gone from 135 lbs at 6’1" to 179 (as of yesterday.)
I originally started lifting to get bigger and look better but I got a bit sidetracked recently. The past 6 months or so have brought some solid strength gains but little in the way of size so I’ve decided to get back on the focus of size.
The Why: As I said, I started lifting to look better and have always idolized the physique of classic and modern bodybuilders especially Serge Nubret, Dexter Jackson, and Dorian Yates. Over the past six months I’ve kept intensity and focus in the gym spot on but been a pussy in the kitchen so to say.
As a bit of a kick in the pants, this last week, with the start of classes, I was given a rather unusual assignment.
The What: For an English class, we were all asked to set a measurable goal and catalog our progress through the semester. One of the examples for the project was to get in shape and lose 15 lbs over the semester, so I thought, “why not GAIN 15 instead?”
The Goal: 16 lbs gained by late December. Added an extra 1 lb to put me at a nice even 195 if I peg the goal right on. (Not sure on the actual date for the end of the semester, but it’s approx. 17 weeks.) So that’s reasonable including the various difficulties of maintaining solid food/workout habits during the school year.
If I manage to get over the 16 lbs in that time, I’ll consider it an extra bit of success. Ideally I’d like to be around 250 lbs by the time I hit 25 or 26 years old. Of course over this time I’ll expect my lifts to go up as well but that will not be the focus.
The How - Workouts:
I will be using moderate volume and as high of intensity as I can handle for each workout. I’ll catalog what I hit each day here (of course.) The word here is body part split with a few exercises I generally use.
Mon - Legs: Squats, Leg Press, V-Squat, Sissy squat (tried it after reading the article, loved it), Calf work
Tues - Off
Wed - Chest/Tri: Bench (DB most likely, no spotter), close grip BB bench, Dips, Pushup, Fly, Skull crusher.
Thurs - Back: Deadlift, RDL, BB rows, DB 1 arm row, HS high row, Wide or Med. Grip pullup, weighted chinup, cable low row.
Fri - Arms: Curl variations, reverse curls, Zottman curls.
Sat - Off
Sun - Shoulders: Seated DB shoulder press, lateral raise, Military press, DB/cable/band rear delt fly, hang snatch.
Arms and shoulder days are sometimes switched depending on how I’ve recovered from Chest/Tri and Back days.
The How - Food:
Using a food log I figured my regular eating habits put me at approx 3500 Calories each day. This is fairly mixed fats/protein/carbs throughout the day although generally more carbs in the morning. Two biggest issues for me in this category are cost and breakfast.
To circumvent the cost issue, I drink a large amount of milk for calories. Usually around half-gallon each day although for this I will be bumping that up to .75 to one full gallon each day. Breakfast for me is generally an issue due to time and the ability to eat in the morning. I will be trying to add in a protein shake to the morning to help out there.
All around I’m going to try and add around 800 calories each day and will bump that up if I haven’t noticed a change after two weeks. Food intake is mostly beef, chicken, pastas, veggies, some fish, fruit especially in the morning, milk, nuts, and protein shakes.
The How - Supps: I don’t use many. Protein powder is a staple of my diet and while I list it here, I think of it mainly as food. Fish oil and ZMA are my real supplements although I do have about half a bottle of Biotest creatine on the shelf that I plan to add at about week 4 and see if it helps any.
Haven’t noticed anything when I used it before but we’ll see.
Quick stats review:
Age - 19
Height - 6’1" (Been that tall since I was 13, don’t plan on getting any taller)
Current Weight - 179
Goal Weight - 195
Bodyfat - Low enough where I don’t care.
Deadlift - 360 lbs max
Squat - 245 lbs max somewhere between parallel and ATG
DB Bench - 8 reps with 80 lbs DBs is tough, 10 might be my limit. Last hit 185 as max on BB but that was ~1 year ago and I haven’t checked since then, 175x6 on the BB is challenging though.
Waist - 33 in
Bicep - 14 in
Forearm - 11.5 in
Upper leg - 24.5 in
Calf - 14 in
Chest - 40 in
Shoulders - 49 in (need to retake this, hard to measure myself)
If there’s anything I missed I’ll add it in later. It’s shoulder day today and I’m about to head off to the gym!