Skinny guy trying to build muscle

[Ritchie]

Hey guys, I'm 18 years old weighing a low 140 pounds. I'm generally skinny and weak with not much muscle. For the past month and a half I have been eating lots, taking 2 protein shakes per day and working out reguraly at the gym.
However, I have noticed little change in my physique and still weigh 140 pounds, the same as when I started.

Does anyone have any ideas on why I'm not putting on as much weight? Or have any tips to improve my results?

Thanks.

 

[JamieOleBoy]

Hey man, good job on getting in the Diet section it seems like a lot of guys our age (I'm 19) like to head to the anabolic section when they don't realize that food is the most anabolic thing you can put in your body!

There is a sticky in this part of the forum called 3J's diet advice (something like that), read through that and post up on there and you'll get everything you need, 3J is a guru with diet bro!

 

[cyto33]

your young and this wont happen over night. or a few months. it is a long road. you must eat and rest eat work out rest fuck a chick or dude what ever your into hand job what ever. work out rest eat. thats the style of this here.
i work all day long and i eat all day long sit on my ass at the office i get home i change and work out for up to 2hrs. get home pounfd the protien and eat a whole meal around 9 pm and eat one more time at 11pm
food is the best thing to build you up. if you eat shit like fast food thats all you do is shit it right back out. dont even think of roids until your much older.

 

[Ritchie]

Cheers for the advice.

 

[mankind_230]

Do a full body routine 3x a week.....with mainly compound exercises...dont focus right now on sissy cable or machine exercises...1-2 exercise per bodypart 3x per week will do the trick.
Make sure u include:
squats for legs
deads, pull ups,barbell row for back
presses (shoulder n chest)
lateral raise for delt ( which i consider essential if u want those wide look)
After having done the above....your arms will be pretty much K.O...so 1 exercise for tricep and biceps each will be enough,,,

Ofcourse, dont forget cardio ...but keep it only for about 20 mins... as ur goal is to condition the heart, not to lose calories...

Keep eating small meals every 2-3 hrs..with good proteins (egg whites, tuna, chicken breast...) and carbs ( oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes...) and plenty of greens!

Take whey proteins pre and post workout and some slow digesting casein protein before bed along with cottage cheese.

Remember...go heavy on all the sets...use a weight that you can perform for minimum 5 reps but not more than 8 reps..
My personal opinion is that those sets of 10 are pure crap (except for legs, forearms,etc)
Go heavy but keep the form..dont swing around or shake your whole body while performing...
Keep ur ego at home before hitting the gym..Dont worry abt that fat guy swinging around heavy weight with a grin on his face.

Sleep for atleast 7-8 hrs daily..

I cant see how you wont gain weight if u follow the above

 

[Ritchie]

Do a full body routine 3x a week.....with mainly compound exercises...dont focus right now on sissy cable or machine exercises...1-2 exercise per bodypart 3x per week will do the trick.
Make sure u include:
squats for legs
deads, pull ups,barbell row for back
presses (shoulder n chest)
lateral raise for delt ( which i consider essential if u want those wide look)
After having done the above....your arms will be pretty much K.O...so 1 exercise for tricep and biceps each will be enough,,,

Ofcourse, dont forget cardio ...but keep it only for about 20 mins... as ur goal is to condition the heart, not to lose calories...

Keep eating small meals every 2-3 hrs..with good proteins (egg whites, tuna, chicken breast...) and carbs ( oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes...) and plenty of greens!

Take whey proteins pre and post workout and some slow digesting casein protein before bed along with cottage cheese.

Remember...go heavy on all the sets...use a weight that you can perform for minimum 5 reps but not more than 8 reps..
My personal opinion is that those sets of 10 are pure crap (except for legs, forearms,etc)
Go heavy but keep the form..dont swing around or shake your whole body while performing...
Keep ur ego at home before hitting the gym..Dont worry abt that fat guy swinging around heavy weight with a grin on his face.

Sleep for atleast 7-8 hrs daily..

I cant see how you wont gain weight if u follow the above

Do you mean work one muscle a day? Or various muscles per day?

 

[Larrybird]

Hey man! Welcome aboard. Good to see someone else that cares about their body.

Man, let me tell you something. I have a friend that's 6'2" 150lbs wet. I got him involved in the gym scene and it took him one whole semester to put on 5lbs. The kid ate like a horse! I swear, ate like a fucking horse. Was weird though. He has this condition where he eats too much in one sitting he throws it up. Guess his stomach is too small. Poor dude.

Anyways my advice to you. Concentrate on strength training and increasing your big 3 lifts: Bench, Deads, and Squats. There is a thread titled 5 x 5. I would follow the advice of that thread until I put on some good gains. Do as little cardio as possible, but be sure you do some. The heart is a muscle too.

Some of us go from small to big, and some of us go from big to small (my situation). It all starts with your nutrition! Best of luck to ya brother.

 

[mankind_230]

I mean all bodypart per day...1-2 exercises per bodypart (2 for the larger). 3x a week.
Your muscles are still small..so they will recover easily rapidly.


lemme give you an example:

Monday- Squats
Bench press
Pull ups
Military press
Barbell curls

Wednesday- Deadlifts
Bent over row
Db decline bench press
lateral raises
Db tricep extensions
Hammer curls

Friday- Lunges
Dips
Chin ups
Push ups
seated calf raise

Feel free to add ur abs exercises


You are wondering...why is this full body routine better than a split workout?|
For example, in a training split program you may perform 3 chest exercises in one workout. By the third exercise, your chest will have accumulated a significant amount of fatigue and you would no longer be able to lift near maximum weights.

In a full-body workout only one exercise is performed per body part so each muscle is fresh and you can lift heavier weights each workout.
Thats why its the best for rapid growth..

 

[Ritchie]

Cheers guys I'll be sure to take this advice on board.

 

[Ritchie]

I mean all bodypart per day...1-2 exercises per bodypart (2 for the larger). 3x a week.
Your muscles are still small..so they will recover easily rapidly.


lemme give you an example:

Monday- Squats
Bench press
Pull ups
Military press
Barbell curls

Wednesday- Deadlifts
Bent over row
Db decline bench press
lateral raises
Db tricep extensions
Hammer curls

Friday- Lunges
Dips
Chin ups
Push ups
seated calf raise

Feel free to add ur abs exercises


You are wondering...why is this full body routine better than a split workout?|
For example, in a training split program you may perform 3 chest exercises in one workout. By the third exercise, your chest will have accumulated a significant amount of fatigue and you would no longer be able to lift near maximum weights.

In a full-body workout only one exercise is performed per body part so each muscle is fresh and you can lift heavier weights each workout.
Thats why its the best for rapid growth..

For this program how many sets / reps would you recommend since I'm just starting off?

 

[hockeyfan2185]

I mean all bodypart per day...1-2 exercises per bodypart (2 for the larger). 3x a week.
Your muscles are still small..so they will recover easily rapidly.


lemme give you an example:

Monday- Squats
Bench press
Pull ups
Military press
Barbell curls

Wednesday- Deadlifts
Bent over row
Db decline bench press
lateral raises
Db tricep extensions
Hammer curls

Friday- Lunges
Dips
Chin ups
Push ups
seated calf raise

Feel free to add ur abs exercises


You are wondering...why is this full body routine better than a split workout?|
For example, in a training split program you may perform 3 chest exercises in one workout. By the third exercise, your chest will have accumulated a significant amount of fatigue and you would no longer be able to lift near maximum weights.

In a full-body workout only one exercise is performed per body part so each muscle is fresh and you can lift heavier weights each workout.
Thats why its the best for rapid growth..

this is a great routine. but the best training style for Size/Strength is DC Training IMO. i started DC back in April and I'm as strong as i have ever been...DC is the way to go

 

[mankind_230]

4 heavy sets for the big muscles...
3 heavy sets for the small ones.
Dont forget the warm up set and to stretch well before and after the workout.

Concerning the reps...like i said..5-8 reps..
Incase of legs , 8-12 reps

As for DC training,,i agree its great indeed! but imo...its more for the very highly experienced bodybuilder..

 

[Die$eL~Man]

a bombs

 

[fvp05]

Great advice mankind. Time and time again I see young kids in the gym doing concentration curls or forearms with a straight bar as if that's going to add mass to their frame. Although I applaud them for being disciplined enough to be in the gym I also wish someone would tell them to drop that shit and do some dead lifts, squats, and bench presses.

 

[juced_porkchop]

Hey guys, I'm 18 years old weighing a low 140 pounds. I'm generally skinny and weak with not much muscle. For the past month and a half I have been eating lots, taking 2 protein shakes per day and working out reguraly at the gym.
However, I have noticed little change in my physique and still weigh 140 pounds, the same as when I started.

Does anyone have any ideas on why I'm not putting on as much weight? Or have any tips to improve my results?

Thanks.

2 protein drinks? how much protien per drink?
I tak in 3-4 at about 40g protein each and blend it up with peanutbutter, oatmeal and a banana.
here read this:
http://www.steroidology.com/forum/a...s/152196-five-reasons-youre-still-skinny.html

 

[Ritchie]

4 heavy sets for the big muscles...
3 heavy sets for the small ones.
Dont forget the warm up set and to stretch well before and after the workout.

Concerning the reps...like i said..5-8 reps..
Incase of legs , 8-12 reps

As for DC training,,i agree its great indeed! but imo...its more for the very highly experienced bodybuilder..

This has been working great for me mate, I'm using the heaviest possible weights I can lift for each exercise and I can really feel it working.

 

[mankind_230]

Good to know buddy. Im myself feeling great after having put on 16 lbs already in just 5 weeks into my first steroid cycle!
Keep it up. Be sure to change around 2-3 exercises once every 4-5 weeks just to prevent your body from adapting..

 

[Ritchie]

I have a question.
Does increasing weight (e.g from 15kg Dumbbells to 20kg Dumbbells) build muscle?
Or is it the number of reps / sets you do?

 

[Miss Muscle]

Doesn't matter what your program is at this point. It's your diet. Almost any program will get your results.

Your problem is you aren't eating enough. It might seem like enough to you but your body won't grow unless you eat enough food. EAT UP.

 

[mankind_230]

As she said, diet should be ur main concern now..dont worry abt ur abs disapearing and all..
As for ur question, yes...both increasing reps and increasing weight will build muscle...
The theory behind that is that your body,,,when challenged with a heavier weight ,will, in response to the stimulus, build larger muscle inorder to be able to lift the weight next time....For that u should eat,eat and eat..
But the increase in weight should be gradual...
Increase weight only if u are able to do more than 6-8 reps easily with a weight..
If the weight is heavy and u cant do more than 3-4 reps with full range, complete the exercise with partial reps...that works aswell.