I have been reading this site for about a month now and am quite impressed with the quality information and awesome community. I think you guys might be able to help me get bigger
I am 19 years old, 6’3" or so, and currently at about 175 lbs. I have been lifting on a regular basis for the last 6 months or so, and have seen some nice gains (about 25 pounds so far).
However, I think my program might need a little tweaking. Before I mention my splits I just want to note my lower back problems. Last summer I was very stupid and was doing squats with terrible form. I was “hunched over”, and as a result really messed up my lower back.
I have to be very careful stressing my lower back nowadays, and am working to strenghten it and increase hamstring flexibility before charging squats again.
Currently I do the following splits:
Day 1:
Romanian Deadlift 5x5
Tricep Extension 5x5
suplanted (spelling? Barbell Rows 3x8
Day 2:
Deadlift 5x5
Chin Ups (Negatives) 8x3 to failure
Standing Dumbell Press 3x8
Day 3:
Good Mornings (Squats eventually) 5x5
Bench Press 3x8
Bent over Dumbell Row 3x8
As for nutrition, I am taking 60 grams of whey protein each day, and 120 on training days (60 immediatley following training). I try to eat whatever I can get ahold of, but I am on a very limited budget for the time being. I always start the day with a 60 gram shake and some carbohydrates (ideally a shake, 4 eggs and some oatmeal), and will have at least 2-3 more meals throughout the day.
I’d say you have to eat more if you want to gain weight. 60 grams of protein a day (I believe that’s what you wrote) isn’t going to cut it. At least double it and then add some. You may want to check out “Massive Eating” (search for that article) as that will provide much more information than I can. Instead of 3-4 meals a day, try 5-6 with a good protein source (min. of 20-25 grams) at each meal. Like I said, “Massive Eating” can provide you with better information.
Training-wise, you may want to replace tricep extensions with some dips. Check out some of Waterbury’s workouts…search for “The Waterbury Method” or any others by him. I think your rep scheme has to be tweaked some. There are better schemes for your goal than 3x8. 10x3 and 5x5 (which you have) immediately come to mind. But yeah, Waterbury has made some very effective workouts for your goal of gaining size.
Blue
No other way to say it, as it has been said ad nauseam, eat man eat. Eat more and eat more often. Add good fats to your diet to bump up calories easily and healthily. Fish oil.flax, and olive oil or something similar will do you good. Your workout is ok your hormones should be off the chart, just keep working.
Also read TBT. I think it is a good thing that you are doing full body type workouts but you might want to alter your rep scheme within the week so as to keep seeing results. Also it will make things more interesting.
Ok, you must have been anorexic because I am 6’3" 195lbs and I am a skinny bastard. I am terrified to think what you lookied like 25lbs ago. AHHH!!!
Anyway, eat eat eat eat eat. And then when you get done, eat some more. Ditch the whey and get some Grow! and some Surge PWO, it is stuff of the gods. Good luck bro!
I’m not sure if you take days off between your training days, but if they’re all consecutive, you might not be giving your lower back enough recovery. Romanians, deadlifts and good mornings on consecutive days will probably lead to overtraining your lower back.
As for the diet, eat as much as you can. Try to keep it clean, but don’t worry about a little junk. You want calories and a lot of them. At your age, you’re in the best period of your life to put on mass, so don’t worry about adding little bodyfat along the way, you can always diet it off later.
I guess you’ll pretty much get the same or similar advice from everyone here: Train heavy, rest a lot and eat! eat! eat!
[quote]analog_kid wrote:
Ok, you must have been anorexic because I am 6’3" 195lbs and I am a skinny bastard. I am terrified to think what you lookied like 25lbs ago. AHHH!!!
[/quote]
My first year of college, I was 6’3" and 155lbs… My best friend at the time was 6’1" and 130lbs. I looked hyoooge next to him.
@engerland66:
So I should do 2 shakes a day on non training days, and 3 a day on training days then? BTW I do try to eat about 200 grams of protein total each day.
Regarding dips, I tried doing those and get a significant ammount of elbow pain. Strange business. Anyway, I tried doing bench dips, but those were definatley not good on my shoulders… pehaps my form was incorrect?
@everyone else
Like I said, college student, $150 a month or so - so getting lots of GROW isn’t really an option at this point. I definatley agree that I need to eat more, though!
On another note, my training days are Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday for days 1,2, and 3 respectively. (Just got back from doing a bunch of deadlifts… my back fucking hurts, I think my form is off)
And yes I was a skinny bastard at 145, and no I wasn’t anorexic… The damn dining hall food here got so greasy and awful last year that it just went straight through me.
