What Should Be My Next Step?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Ok my story is kinda long in summary I’m 6 foot 3 170. August 2011 i began bodybuilding, I was doing 3 day split push pull legs, I was 146 at the time. I was probably annorexic and I was disguisted with myself because I was so skinny, I was on vacation and I felt lile shit the whole time, so I started and to my surprise my gains exceeded what I expected. In 4 months I was 176 pounds and I couldnt quite beileve it, I thought I was going to become a monster. But then the gains stopped and I have been maintaining that weight for about 10 months. Now I’m getting really frustrated and I need help. I wanna be somewhere between 200-230 pounds. Just solid, not very large or something like that(not that it’s easy but…).

I’m ectomorphic, never above 13% BF, skinny kinda fragile. Wanna get strong and solid, I don’t count calories but I eat 4-5 times a day, always oatmeal for breakfast and some type of protein with some type of carbs the other meals, I fill in with about 1l of milk and a few bananas. I also smoke cigarettes and weed (yea stupid I’'m planning on stopping). So what should be my next step diet or training wise? Im doing SS right now and my maxes are as follows:

Squat - 265
DL- 305
Bench - 205
OHP - never tried maxing but I’d guess 120
Bent row - 5x 165, dont know max

also besides being 200-230 lean, I’d want an BW OHP and a solid bench, im having trouble on those. So if anyone reads this whole shit and answers me I’m gonna be a happy camper :smiley: also sorry for the english

THX in advance

2

What is your diet exactly as close as you could get so like list from start to finish what you had today.
A couples of generic tips that might help you…

  1. Eat right before bed something high protein lower Carb. When trying to increase weight quickly I will have protein shake with cottage cheese a d peanutbutter.
  2. Make sure your getting more than just oatmeal for breakfast 4-6 eggs oatmeal and milk every morning.
  3. Protein and Simple Carbs immediately after your training sessions.
  4. Stop smoking as soon as possible. This is not because its bad for you but, think between figs and weed your probably spending atleast 100 dollars possibly alot more that’s could be spent on buying steaks and protein powders and getting bigger.

Starting strength is a great program for exactly what it says strength but you need more volume and some higher Rep training in order to induce hypertrophy at fastest possible rate. I would think about switching up to Jim Wendlers 5 3 1 or Westside for Skinny Bastards. Either of these programs will allow you to continue making great strength gains and have higher reps in the assistance exercises for size. I highly highly recommend WS4SB. If you have any other question by all means ask away I will help as I can.

3

Congrats on the great progress, I think we all had certain sticking points, mine was 195 to 205. Try to think of creative to bust out of it, thinks that worked for me were…

  1. Switched from 2% milk to drinking a gallon every 2 days
    2)Some guys will look down on this, but natural pb and sugar free jelly sandwiches
    3)Snack on an assortment of nuts
4

Definitely solid info so far.

[quote]NastyCais wrote:
In 4 months I was 176 pounds and I couldnt quite beileve it, I thought I was going to become a monster. But then the gains stopped and I have been maintaining that weight for about 10 months. Now I’m getting really frustrated and I need help.[/quote]
That was a pretty good bump of progress right out of the gate, but you’ve been the same weight for 10 months and now you’re getting frustrated? :wink: Not for nothing, but weren’t you getting little antsy after the second month or so?

At your/our height (I’m 6’2"), your not going to look “solid” until 210/220-ish and above because there’s just more space to fill out.

Ectomorph or not (and even that’s a debated category), if you’re not gaining bodyweight, you need to take in more calories. Try focusing on the foods in this article. Don’t be scared of carbs or fat:

And check the tips here, especially the “Power Hour”:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_interviews/roundtable_the_cure_for_skinny

Like Reed and Chobbs already said, simple tweaks like having eggs with breakfast (protein is a must!) and increasing your milk drinking should spark some progress. But thats a really vague diet outline, “some protein and some carbs”.

What, exactly, did you eat yesterday?

How long have you been doing Starting Strength?