On February 03 2011 06:23 Hikko wrote: I've been trying to gain weight for a while now--and I've been going "hardcore" in eating extra for about three months now.
I started November at 158 pounds, 6 foot 3 inches, 18 years old. Even though I've eaten 4-5 big meals a day, MUCH more than I used to, I've actually lost weight. I run every day at least 4 miles, I try to bike 15 miles at least twice a week, I play tennis and soccer regularly, and I do a ton of push ups (with increased difficulty techniques), a bunch of squat exercises, and ab workouts at least every other day. I was doing all of this before I added extra calories to my diet.
So what is the problem? I've actually dropped to 150 pounds, sometimes even 148.
Even right after Christmas, where I had gorged on desserts all day for a week Somehow, by increasing my caloric intake, I'm losing weight. Is there something else I should do? Should I be eating less protein and more fat (even though I get a good portion of fat with every meal), or should I just give up and accept that I'm going to be an unhealthy looking skeleton for the rest of my life?
Do I need to hit the gym and lift big weights to bulk up, or is there something else I can do? I live about 40 minutes away from the closest gym, so going regularly isn't really an option.
EDIT: I live in Florida, it's 85 degrees with 98% humidity right now, so the snow isn't a problem
if by weight you mean muscle, then yes lifting heavy is a necessity. Only weights that stress your whole body will activate your hormones to build muscle - so something like starting strength is among the best routines you can do. If you cant get to a gym, there are probably good bodyweight exercises you can do at home (ask eshlow about this) You dont have to go to the gym every day, just 3x a week is enough. I would really recommend you do this if you are serious about bulking up. Excess cardio isnt going to help you in that regard, and can actually harm your progress, because it can interfere with recovery. Eating many meals a day doesnt matter either, its how much you are actually taking in. Youre pretty much the same height/weight as me, and i need at least 4k calories a day plus heavy lifting 2-3x a week in order to gain weight.
o ya download FitDay to see how much you are actually eating. you may be surprised
On February 03 2011 06:23 Hikko wrote: I've been trying to gain weight for a while now--and I've been going "hardcore" in eating extra for about three months now.
I started November at 158 pounds, 6 foot 3 inches, 18 years old. Even though I've eaten 4-5 big meals a day, MUCH more than I used to, I've actually lost weight. I run every day at least 4 miles, I try to bike 15 miles at least twice a week, I play tennis and soccer regularly, and I do a ton of push ups (with increased difficulty techniques), a bunch of squat exercises, and ab workouts at least every other day. I was doing all of this before I added extra calories to my diet.
So what is the problem? I've actually dropped to 150 pounds, sometimes even 148.
Even right after Christmas, where I had gorged on desserts all day for a week Somehow, by increasing my caloric intake, I'm losing weight. Is there something else I should do? Should I be eating less protein and more fat (even though I get a good portion of fat with every meal), or should I just give up and accept that I'm going to be an unhealthy looking skeleton for the rest of my life?
Do I need to hit the gym and lift big weights to bulk up, or is there something else I can do? I live about 40 minutes away from the closest gym, so going regularly isn't really an option.
EDIT: I live in Florida, it's 85 degrees with 98% humidity right now, so the snow isn't a problem
1) what kind of weight do you want to gain? because your answer will either be fat or muscle or both, you should know that an absurd amount of cardio (that you do) will hinder that. you're taking in a lot of energy, but you're burning it all off on cardio. to actually gain muscle, yes, you need to hit the gym. pushups and situps won't get you anywhere. if you do the SS program in the first post and cut out a lot of your cardio + drink a gallon of milk a day, i guarentee you'll pack on weight and a lot of it will be muscle
Hikko, it'd be really helpful for you to also document a day/week's worth of eating and post it here.
Often people who think they are eating a lot really aren't. Or they're simply eating the wrong foods (i.e. you aren't going to bulk effectively eating shitty processed foods -- especially if you have a high metabolism, which it sounds like you might).
If we have a good idea about the foods you're eating we might be able to help you improve.
On February 02 2011 08:22 Catch wrote: Went to the gym today. Decided to do something a little fun and deadlifted to my max (favorite lift)
Got up to 255 lbs. Not bad I guess. 225 on squat again (did them on at the end) OHP at 80 lbs, went and did 95 lbs x 1 for the hell of it.
Couple pages back somebody was talking about lifting being something thats always there for ya, and I gotta say thats true. lol thanks for gettin me on board with SS guys :D
Anyways, I recently got an ipod to use when I go lifting. Anyone have any good songs they can recommend? Or even playlists they want to list?
Music you say? For me it is classical during warmup/foam rolling. Like Rachmaninoff or Dvorak or something. But when I try to get stuff done it is hard, heavy metal all the way.
Just some suggestions, hard to know what you listen to when you don't post an example
Good work on the squat. The dead could be a tad higher but it'll race up when you start to do them regularly with heavy eating and sleeping.
Eh forgot about that. I normally listen to rap/country with a little alternative/rock. I listen to whatever really. But when I lift, this kinda stuff goes out the window. like I listened to "let the bodies hit the floor" when I would never listen to that song anywhere else.
But hey thanks lol ill check em out
And yeah, my squat weight was 225x3x5. It is a lot higher than my dead lift (deadlift my was max) for some reason.
I've been trying to gain weight for a while now--and I've been going "hardcore" in eating extra for about three months now.
I started November at 158 pounds, 6 foot 3 inches, 18 years old. Even though I've eaten 4-5 big meals a day, MUCH more than I used to, I've actually lost weight. I run every day at least 4 miles, I try to bike 15 miles at least twice a week, I play tennis and soccer regularly, and I do a ton of push ups (with increased difficulty techniques), a bunch of squat exercises, and ab workouts at least every other day. I was doing all of this before I added extra calories to my diet.
So what is the problem? I've actually dropped to 150 pounds, sometimes even 148.
Even right after Christmas, where I had gorged on desserts all day for a week Somehow, by increasing my caloric intake, I'm losing weight. Is there something else I should do? Should I be eating less protein and more fat (even though I get a good portion of fat with every meal), or should I just give up and accept that I'm going to be an unhealthy looking skeleton for the rest of my life?
Do I need to hit the gym and lift big weights to bulk up, or is there something else I can do? I live about 40 minutes away from the closest gym, so going regularly isn't really an option.
EDIT: I live in Florida, it's 85 degrees with 98% humidity right now, so the snow isn't a problem
Sounds like you're overtraining *and* doing workouts that are - wait for it - tailored to losing weight. Way too much cardio!
A very important quote from SS: you don't gain muscle from working out, you gain muscle from RECOVERING from workouts, notably high intensity, high weight workouts.
Think about it- tennis players and soccer players aren't ever big. They run every day, and they have no reason to lift big weights, so they have the skinny-fit type bodies (which is no problem if that's what you want to be like, but if you want to gain weight, I think it's safe to say their workout template is not what you want to follow~)
Pushups and situps do not add to muscle at all, unless you're at the rank novice point where you literally can't do more than one.
So while what you are doing isn't "wrong", since you say you want to gain weight, you want to look into SS or stronglifts or 5/3/1 instead of this running every day stuff, plus making sure you're eating as much as you need
anyone feel free to bash on me if I'm wrong on anything here
I've been trying to gain weight for a while now--and I've been going "hardcore" in eating extra for about three months now.
I started November at 158 pounds, 6 foot 3 inches, 18 years old. Even though I've eaten 4-5 big meals a day, MUCH more than I used to, I've actually lost weight. I run every day at least 4 miles, I try to bike 15 miles at least twice a week, I play tennis and soccer regularly, and I do a ton of push ups (with increased difficulty techniques), a bunch of squat exercises, and ab workouts at least every other day. I was doing all of this before I added extra calories to my diet.
So what is the problem? I've actually dropped to 150 pounds, sometimes even 148.
Even right after Christmas, where I had gorged on desserts all day for a week Somehow, by increasing my caloric intake, I'm losing weight. Is there something else I should do? Should I be eating less protein and more fat (even though I get a good portion of fat with every meal), or should I just give up and accept that I'm going to be an unhealthy looking skeleton for the rest of my life?
Do I need to hit the gym and lift big weights to bulk up, or is there something else I can do? I live about 40 minutes away from the closest gym, so going regularly isn't really an option.
EDIT: I live in Florida, it's 85 degrees with 98% humidity right now, so the snow isn't a problem
Sounds like you're overtraining *and* doing workouts that are - wait for it - tailored to losing weight. Way too much cardio!
A very important quote from SS: you don't gain muscle from working out, you gain muscle from RECOVERING from workouts, notably high intensity, high weight workouts.
Think about it- tennis players and soccer players aren't ever big. They run every day, and they have no reason to lift big weights, so they have the skinny-fit type bodies (which is no problem if that's what you want to be like, but if you want to gain weight, I think it's safe to say their workout template is not what you want to follow~)
Pushups and situps do not add to muscle at all, unless you're at the rank novice point where you literally can't do more than one.
So while what you are doing isn't "wrong", since you say you want to gain weight, you want to look into SS or stronglifts or 5/3/1 instead of this running every day stuff, plus making sure you're eating as much as you need
anyone feel free to bash on me if I'm wrong on anything here
Maybe his pushup variations look like this:
If that's the case, then you might be wrong, but otherwise probably not
HIkko - I'm 6'5, and I started in august at 135 pounds. I gained easily to 160, but it's been a struggle to put any more on. I still look rather stick-like, but there's definitely potential there. I keep getting told by people who are close friends "if you were just a little bigger, you would be the hottest guy I've ever seen." (gogo decaf mode). Anyway, I greatly increased my eating between August and October or so (stopped skipping meals) and that's what put on the ~25 pounds I gained so quickly. I stalled out until December, took most of winter break as time off, and came back to the gym the second week of January. Over winter break, I decided to start actually counting my calories, as it had been more than a month since I had really gained weight. I downloaded myfitnesspal (free app for my droid smartphone) and it turns out that even though I thought I was eating a lot, I was still short almost 1k calories per day for someone my size trying to gain weight. I just wasn't eating as much as I thought I was.
Since I've been counting my calories, and accounting for fluctuations in hydration level, I've consistently gained between half a pound and a pound a week, in what appears to be almost entirely muscle, eating at a measured 2,800 calories per day. I'm getting that 2.8k from whole milk, chicken, eggs, turkey, the occasional red meat, fruits and vegetables. I HIGHLY suggest that you actually count out what you're eating (it's not hard with technology to do it for you) or at the very least post a typical days food up here and we can estimate if you're eating enough or not. Accounting for you cardio (I actually don't do ANY cardio right now, as I'm trying to gain weight) I would guess that you need to be taking in quite a bit more than 4k calories per day.
Anyway, if you want to gain that weight as muscle, it's necessary that you do strength training. There's no way around it, cardio like you're doing is going to continue resulting in no progress (or backwards progress like you're seeing). If you actually can't get to the gym (IT'S AWESOME. AND WORTH IT.) Try the bodyweight stuff in the OP. Or look into purchasing a home gym setup, you need a bench, a squat rack and a barbell. They're usually quite cheap (even sometimes just "you pick up") on craigslist (especially this time of year) so it would be up to you having space for them.
On February 03 2011 12:00 eshlow wrote: Hikko is overtraining.
Start doing some bodyweight strength work if weights are not an option. Sprinting is likely good as well.
There's some bodyweight strength stuff in the OP
Eshlow, any help for my ophthalmic region
Did you do what sjarl said on page 57? I assumed you were going to answer that before you posted back. :p If the whole distribution is affected it's likely close tot he nerve root you were affected.
Also, generally sensory nerves tend to regrow even if they were severed. If you had some muscular dysfunction I'd be a bit more concerned... but otherwise you can always see a doc if it's that bothersome (unlikely that they would be able to do anything for you though).
tried it...wasnt really sure what i was looking for also, the numbness kinda starts above it like at my eyebrow so idk if the bottom portion of of the nerve region was affected like by my nose.
On February 03 2011 02:28 mOnion wrote: cold as shit, gym was empty, only the hardcore go, and that is me.
I'm worried about my squat form. i'm just about done with the squat chapter of SS and its a fucking lot of information to take in AND I dont have a weightlifting buddy AND I don't trust the trainers at Gold's. One of them critiqued my form saying that it was too wide and that I should point my toes forward, which I know the latter is wrong, but I'm not sure about my width. still trying to feel it out per the SS suggestions.
I'm not lifting shit right now cuz I just got restarted so I don't wanna post a video cuz decaf's gonna laugh so hard the video will get 404'd off the youtubez T_T
Haha don't be scared to post videos. I'm sure dimsum had a chuckle at my expense (or rage) at my retarded snatching and cleaning a couple months ago.
On February 03 2011 05:05 Sinep wrote: third day of oly lifting today. it's really awesome and I love it but i am struggling with flexibility, especially with the snatch squat, can't really do it, hip/shoulder flexilibility needs a loooot of work. should have it down in a few more workouts I think. power cleaned +jerked 50kg today though, wasn't too stressful, getting the hang of the technique.
at this oly place however, most of them hardly ever do real snatches and cleans including the squatting part... they pretty much only focus on power snatches/power cleans and a bunch of other related exercises. since I'm entirely free to workout how i want there, I'm more inclined to do the actual whole movements and maybe use the power versions as more of a supplement. what do you guys think?
On February 03 2011 05:05 Sinep wrote: third day of oly lifting today. it's really awesome and I love it but i am struggling with flexibility, especially with the snatch squat, can't really do it, hip/shoulder flexilibility needs a loooot of work. should have it down in a few more workouts I think. power cleaned +jerked 50kg today though, wasn't too stressful, getting the hang of the technique.
at this oly place however, most of them hardly ever do real snatches and cleans including the squatting part... they pretty much only focus on power snatches/power cleans and a bunch of other related exercises. since I'm entirely free to workout how i want there, I'm more inclined to do the actual whole movements and maybe use the power versions as more of a supplement. what do you guys think?
But yeah focus on the main ones but supplement with power variations to increase your explosiveness.
aight. thanks for the link to cal str - i checked them out the other day. some good stuff there with regards to technique. with regards to the flexibility however, those videos on there weren't too helpful for me, as I really struggle to do that kind of squat atm, I was hoping for some sitting down / lying down stretches to help me out here.
on another note, I really need to count my calories, I think I'm hideously overeating on my workout days (not really a bad thing, but I'm trying to do a leangains body recomp). The kcal values for rice (ie, ~340 kcal, 75 carbs 4g fat 5g protein / 100g) is after it's cooked and taken in water? or is it before?
Oops I didn't see the snatch flexibility question...
For the squat portion get deep in a squat and just move around the areas that are tight with the back in perfect lumbar curve. You will usually find that calves are somewhat limiting, hammies, and maybe adductors as well. Hip flexors may be a bit weak too. Oly lifting shoes will help a lot for this.
For the upper body you're going to want to foam roll /massage/tennis ball your T-spine to get more mobility there. Stretch your lats/teres major/pec major/pec minor aggressively. For pecs a good one is to get a basketball and just roll your chest on it a lot. Lat has a lot of stretches you can google.
You're always going to want to make sure you have the right grip (not too narrow b/c it makes it harder, but not too wide either because tha makes it harder to support weight overhead). And in position you want to make sure you're retracting scaps hard and externally rotating (so your armpit faces directly forwards) your GH joint. If your overhead mobility is still limited we can check to see if you may need some mobilization of GH/SC joints
So I know I'm several months premature, but I've been looking at the "After Starting Strength" section (bodybuilding/hypertrophy; I don't play sports anymore and I really am just doing this for looks ) and the 20 rep squats looks awesomely intense.
Had my first miss ever yesterday. It was strange because it happened on my *first* set of squats (got 4 reps, missed 5th), so I was all wtfuuuu- then when the second set came around, I realized I actually put 240lbs instead of 230 -_- Proceeded to pound out 2x5, so I will increase to 235, but I think I might be hitting my first stall 5 weeks in. Awesome Might also be stalling on the press at 110lbs, depending on how the next 2 press workouts go.
Also excited to switch to the original SS workout with powercleans once my shoes arrive :D
EPT
and I really am just doing this for looks 
