Help Gaining Mass

[ZachS101]

Hey there. So, Ill try not to bore you with every last detail. I am a 22 year old male, 6' 2", 170lbs and have been hitting the gym for about exactly 1 year now. When I was 21, I was 6' 2", and 140lbs. So I've gained about 30lbs in the past year, but I'm not exactly seeing results I want to be seeing.

The first 5-7 months of working out, I only did Biceps which was the classic "rooky" mistake. Around May, I began working in chest and triceps.

However, again, I am not seeing results that I want to be seeing for how many times I hit the gym a week (Around 5 days per week).

I was curious if anyone had some advice for a skinny kid like me to increase chest size, and especially, arms the quickest. I know it won't happen over night but I feel like I'm training completely wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best,

Zach

[sunsean]

Hey there. So, Ill try not to bore you with every last detail. I am a 22 year old male, 6' 2", 170lbs and have been hitting the gym for about exactly 1 year now. When I was 21, I was 6' 2", and 140lbs. So I've gained about 30lbs in the past year, but I'm not exactly seeing results I want to be seeing.

The first 5-7 months of working out, I only did Biceps which was the classic "rooky" mistake. Around May, I began working in chest and triceps.

However, again, I am not seeing results that I want to be seeing for how many times I hit the gym a week (Around 5 days per week).

I was curious if anyone had some advice for a skinny kid like me to increase chest size, and especially, arms the quickest. I know it won't happen over night but I feel like I'm training completely wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best,

Zach

Well, you've been working out properly (whole body) for about 4 months, which frankly is nothing in the world of liftings. Dudes who are built take YEARS, not months, to get there.

Pick a good routine, lift hard, eat to grow. Be patient.

[sunsean]

Also - more details please...what routine are you following? In the year your weight went up 30lb, how much has your strength improved? In the past 4 months how has your weight and strength changed? How many calories are you eating?

If you gained 30lb with no strength increases, it was mostly fat I'm afraid.

[LactoseTolerant]

The first 5-7 months of working out, I only did Biceps which was the classic "rooky" mistake. Around May, I began working in chest and triceps.

You're still making the "classic rookie mistake". How long before you add shoulders, then back, then quads, then hamstrings,..... ?

[ZachS101]

Well, starting in June, I began following this type of routine:

Day 1: chest & triceps
Day 2: shoulders and legs
Day 3: rest
Day 4: back and biceps
Day 5: rest
Day 6: back to chest and triceps
And repeat

But it wasn’t doing anything for the past 3 months.

As for my increase in weight, I can use about 30’s dumbbells for biceps, 70lb bicep curls, 2 40 plates on each side of the barbell bench, but haven’t been seeing any dramatic strength increase

[maddog352002]

Good job gaining the much-needed 30 lb. I'm not sure how much of it went to your biceps but I'm sure quite a bit went to skeletal muscle and some much-needed body fat. The schedule of muscles that you put up looks okay but what we don't see is the exercises reps sets progression and deload protocols that you need for real program. That's why beginners are better off using a novice routine like in the stickies. But you definitely need to keep gaining weight at about 2 pounds per month period at your height that'll be about 1 pound muscle to one pound fat. At this point don't worry about ABS until you're about 190 and then you can do a small cut and then start all over again.

[ZachS101]

So after looking online, I believe that either the 5x5 or the fierce 5 is a good start. Which do people prefer?

[maddog352002]

So after looking online, I believe that either the 5x5 or the fierce 5 is a good start. Which do people prefer?

Which do you prefer. Both work if you stick to them.

[ZachS101]

I decided to go with the 5x5. However, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday it only tells me to do 3 exercises, 5x5. Should I be incorporating any other workouts into this? Or just strictly stick with the 3 (Bench 5x5, Squat 5x5 and deadlift 1x5) then leave the gym?

[OldFartTom]

By "the 5x5" should I assume you mean Stronglifts 5x5? If so? do it exactly as it says except do some chinups at the end of each session (yes chinups rather than pull-ups) and don't, I repeat Don't, add extra exercises.

It seems totally wrong to start so light and only do 3 exercises each session... but it works.

Enjoy.