No More Scrawny Guy!

[DIESEL]

safari,

I don't understand this "..because of my frame, I'll never be able to lift huge weights..."

Just because you aren't lifting Schwarzenegger weight, doesn't mean you shouldn't go heavy. If you got to 176, I can't see why you shouldn't be able to hit 190.

"Going Heavy" is a relative term. i.e. failure between 4-7 reps for you. Who cares what everyone else is doing? They won't get you big.. that's up to you. That's pretty much the recipe for putting on mass.

The skinny guys have to stop using that "skinniness" as a cop out.

 

[dip]

great post man...

im deff. going to start eating more, and recording what i do from now on...good job

 

[xanderbaz]

Originally posted by Zircon
"Well, I gained first 15lbs last fall in about 10 days of nothing but eating like there was no tomorrow"

No offence, but :

1. Sounds improbable. THat's a hell o a lot of weight.
2. If you gained that much, how much of it was fat? 80%?

It took me about 6 months to gain that - but it's all muscle

Well, I missed out on the fact that I lost most of it (yeah, most of it was fat, too) after I had to stop working out. But when I came back, I gained all of it again and added some too, so my total now is 35lbs in about 45 days now. It's a wonder what happens once you start eating properly. I always thought I was a hardgainer, but now I'm quite sure it was because of my improper diet.

 

[Ricky]

My problem is skeletal structure, I look skinny because of shoulder width, but am anything but.

People are amazed at how much I can lift in the gym (because once again my skeletal structure is narrow).

When I lived in a warm weather climate, it paid off to be in such good shape.

Here as they say, some of the fat guys get more attention.

For those who have good skeletal structure (wide shoulders, you have a good advantage)

I don't make excuses though. I am strong as **** and muscular.

 

[Safari]

Diesel-

I don't mean to suggest my frame is a cop out. I'm on target to weigh 190 within the next six months. Then I'll decide if I want to go further, or if I'll switch to cutting what is there.

You are right, lifting "heavy" is relative. Earlier, I was speaking in absolute terms, and perhaps caused a misunderstanding. Skinny guys shouldn't use "skinniness" as a cop-out, but they also should not judge their success based on the amount of weight that people with broader frames can move.

If a person with short arms was curling 60 lbs, they have a mechanical advantage versus someone with longer arms and possibly shorter insertion points at the elbow. Then the same 60 lbs requires more work.

I think we agree. All I meant was for skinny guys to set appropriate goals.

 

[StuartScott x 2]

Ha, I used to think I was an ectomorph back in HS, I was always skinny. My senior year of HS, I had a goal to get to 190 b4 b-ball season, b/c I weighed 170 and was 6'3", I got stronger but never gained any weight, I never gained weight until I got injured about a year out of HS and didn't play any sports, that's when the fat really started building up. I went up from about 180 when I got hurt to 212 over about 4-5 months. Then I always thunk back to when I was in HS and realized that we ran like 3 miles a day 2 times a week in the off season and I played basketball 24/7 on other days. That's why nowadays when I'm playing, I try not to play more than 2 hours b/c I'll start losing weight.

I dunno, what I'm trying to say though is that for those of you that have problems gaining weight, maybe it's because you do a lot of running or physical activities and you burn all of the fat you've eaten. If you take about a month off and just eat everything, you'll gain weight.

p.s. A little side note about fast food like Whoppers and Big Macs, they're actually kind of healthy for you. Ask me how I know.

 

[Zircon]

Cool Xanderbaz - at least it sounds like you're on the right track for gaining. Can you give me an idea of your diet? Maybe I should PM you.

 

[Hot Ice]

StuartScott x 2:
"p.s. A little side note about fast food like Whoppers and Big Macs, they're actually kind of healthy for you. Ask me how I know."


Im asking how do you know?
Okay, fast food got lots of calories and stuff..
Mostly fat.

BUT fast food contains more of those unhealthy fat.
I don't still deny eating fast food would be really bad for a scrawny guy...



Ah, at weekend I know how my 1.5 week 'eat! eat! eat!' -diet has worked on me..

 

[StuartScott x 2]

Ok do you always see those big ass dudes in your school that all they do is eat hamburgers and pizza and lift and are strong as hell. Well some of it is due to good genetics but a lot of it is due to the fast food they eat. Whoppers contain about 35 grams of protein in the hamburger. That's a lot of damn protein, and protein is what builds muscle up. It contains a lot of fat also but when you lift weights and play sports and stuff, you burn the fat off though.

 

[Hot Ice]

Originally posted by StuartScott x 2
Whoppers contain about 35 grams of protein in the hamburger. That's a lot of damn protein, and protein is what builds muscle up. It contains a lot of fat also but when you lift weights and play sports and stuff, you burn the fat off though.

WOW! 35 of protein each...
That's a lot.
*starting to eat some hamburgers*

Yea, fat isn't dangerous if you burn it.
Put the energy on lifting!

 

[Olympian]

Originally posted by Hot Ice
WOW! 35 of protein each...
That's a lot.
*starting to eat some hamburgers*

Yea, fat isn't dangerous if you burn it.
Put the energy on lifting!

a pretty small can of tuna contains about 30gs of protein and hardly any fat.

and about fat, u need to eat good fat, like that comes from nuts etc.

do some serious research about dieting if u wanna do some decent lifting.

 

[Ricky]

Get your body fat checked. Even if you look skinny, you could have high body fat.

I put on a belly by eating bad. It is alot tougher to burn it off and still stay strong!

 

[Hot Ice]

Originally posted by Olympian
a pretty small can of tuna contains about 30gs of protein and hardly any fat.

and about fat, u need to eat good fat, like that comes from nuts etc.

do some serious research about dieting if u wanna do some decent lifting.

Oh!
I'm eating tuna right now from a can weights 180g (140g tuna).
It's by the way in oil.
Sadly the nutrient numbers aren't shown

Thanks for reminding me of those nuts, Olympian!




BTW. Guys!
I changed my diet to Pook's 'eat eat eat' diet.
I got 6kg(13.22772 lbs) more mass in just 1.5 weeks!
I did much workout too... So there's not much fat.
Actually I got some visible results. wow.

Today is hard workout day, because last time was three full days ago.!

 

[Olympian]

i think there be more fat if the tuna is in oil.

the kind i eat (and see everywhere) is packed in water.

btw, 6kgs of mass in 1.5 weeks? -
u say u're seeing results - what do u see, cuz that sounds like a lot of fat.

 

[Hot Ice]

Yea, there's more fat if the tuna is in oil but sunflower oil shouldn't be so bad. And if you are scrawny guy little oil shouldn't be a big problem...
I've been eating those packed in water too though.

I've been working out for like half years now and my muscles never seemed to grow. I just got more strenght, but not mass much.
That's why even I ate much fatty shiet, I didn't ate really much before. Now my diet is healthier and I eat twice as much as I used to.

Some of my muscles seemed bigger after those 1.5 weeks.
There can be some fat, but I don't think there's much


Anyways what's the ideal weight for a guy who is 6'2" tall???

 

[Fred Da Head]

Yeah, that 6kg of lean mass is BS. You probably took a bit of lean mass, but most of it is fat.

If you could gain lean mass that easily, why would pro bodybuilders go on cutting cycles?

 

[Fred Da Head]

From the program DietPower:

"People of average build at your height tend to be healthiest around 167 pounds. You can add as much as 10 percent to this, however, if you're big-boned or muscular -- or subtract that much if you're unusually slight."

That's probably taken from BMI-like charts, and doesn't account for extra muscle or such.

By the BMI chart, I'm grossly overweight, so don't take it for gospel. According to it, I should weight about 150lbs. Even if I had absolutely no fat it'd be impossible for me to be at that weight. Everyone's different, and your weight doesn't matter that much compared to BF% and muscle.

 

[Hot Ice]

Even if my gain was be pure fat, I still have way to go to my ideal mass if it is 167lbs.

How can you calculate your BF% easily?
And what should it be?

 

[V6VQ]

if u ever go to a deli or get a sub... ALWAYS GET TUNA!!!!
i dont care how u feel about he smell or taste, those .05mm sliced meats and gonna do u dam thing. TUNA IS UR FRIEND!!

 

[Templeton]

Fair post, if a little obvious, but sometimes the very basics need to be emphasised judging by some of the guys on here clearly focusing on insignificant details.

No mention of carbs though. The scrawny guy of all people needs to take in large quantities of good quality complex carbs along with ample protein. The scrawniest dudes will need a carb to protein ratio of at least 2:1 and probably more.

Diesel's sticky on gaining is still a very solid post (if not perfect) and would be where I would start if I was a newbie.