Nick's bulk to a healthier me

[nmsk80066]

Hey everybody, i've been thinking of starting a log for some time so here goes - i'm Nick and have always been a "skinny" kid. pretty active throughout my whole life (love to skateboard, do parkour and other stuff). about mid last year i just seem to have lost my appetite, strangely. i lost alot of weight and didn't notice until i went to the doctors.. i was ruled underweight. i do not have an eating disorder, nothing like that, i just wasnt thinking about food basically and lost alot of weight. it didnt help that at this time i was just getting into being healthier, as i realized some of my idols (jackie chan, bruce lee) were very in shape and was inspired to eat healthy and workout more often. i lost alot of muscle and what little fat i had due to working out with lack of calories - even though the ones i were eating were from the right sources. i've now been trying to bulk for a few solid months. attempting to due it slow however, and only about a month and a half ago did i try to really focus on making the scale move. pathetically i'm standing 5 foot 10 inches tall weighing in at about 116 pounds on a full stomach. my lifts are next to nothing, so if i decide to post the weight used on some exercises please do not criticize. here's some more about myself:

lifting history- messed around for about a year now. but actually set up a good routine and have used proper form ect ect about say a few months into this year. i train at home with alot of equipment that i have (yes, i've bugged my grandmother into buying me many things, i am spoiled but i love her)

supps-
1)Optimum whey and casein proteins, whey in the morning/post workout and casein before bed. i may occasionally use these in recipes too.

2)Scivation xtend- 3 scoops during training, has helped noticably with endurance.

3)Muscle Milk light RTD's 14 oz- take these to school and they suffice for two meals (i down them in between classes) due to my cafeteria being basically all junk food. no wonder why obesity in america is soaring

4)Controlled Labs orange triad- great multi, also noticed improvements with digestion (things are running alot smoother in you catch my drift) and less joint pain

5)Controlled Labs green magnitude - creatine, good stuff. take a serving about 20-25 minutes before training or first thing in the morning on off days.

6)Controlled Labs white flood - just started this a week ago. great product my lifts have gone up so far and fantastic energy, not jittery, clean energy. take 1 scoop cause thats all i need about 20-25 mins preworkout.

that's all for supps- now diet:
well, the scale was stuck for a while when i first got really serious about gaining weight, i was at about 2100 calories. i'm eating around 2300-2350 now, and have gained a few pounds but i might up that by maybe another 100 or so in a week maybe because i think i've stalled again. remember, i'm 115 pounds i don't require like 3000+ to gain like some do, yet at least

my sources of protein are basically:
fat free milk, greek yogurt, and cottage cheese
chicken breast
turkey breast
tuna or any fish but most of the time tuna because it's cheap and canned
occasionally 93/7 ground beef or 99% lean ground turkey if i feel like getting some
eggs/egg whites

carbs:
oatmeal or other whole grain cereal like shredded wheat
rice (white sometimes immediately post workout, brown sometimes as my carb of choice with dinner)
any fruit- love em all
any vegetable- love em all
100% whole wheat bread
whole wheat pastas
kids cereals, lol, immediately post workout- gotta love this stuff
sweet potatoes

fats:
get some indirectly from everything
nuts like cashews and almonds
all natural almond butter and peanut butter
sometimes egg yolks

training split-
sunday- chest/tri's, a few sets for bi's
monday- quads/hamstrings
tuesday- shoulders and forearms
wednesday- abs/calves or just calves if i feel like more of a down day
thursday- back, and a few sets for upper chest and bi's
saturday and sunday - off and maybe a bit of cardio for fun

start with the heavy compounds of each workout of course.

also do 20-25 mins of cardio after every workout like moderate speed walking, even though i'm bulking i feel cardio is important and helps with recovery (for me at least) so also might do 1-2 mins of jump rope and running as well to get the heart pumping. plus i enjoy it.

a sample day might look like this but it varies with the day and my choices arent always the same, except for always having oats/milk/whey/fruit in the morning and sweet potato/turkey/lettuce for lunch. i have a food scale so i measure my stuff too to know how much i'm getting so i can adjust accordingly. eat every 2-3 hours

1) 6:45 - 40g (1/2 cup) oats, 1 cup milk, 1 scoop whey, medium fruit like an apple
2) 9-9:30ish when i'm switching classes - 14 oz muscle milk light
3) 12-12:30ish switching classes - 14 oz muscle milk light
4) 2:45-3:00 - medium sweet potato, 4.5 oz turkey, huge amount of lettuce like 2 servings (around 12 large leaves, i like lettuce) salsa or maybe a bit of hummus on the sweet potato

train 4:30 - 5:30 on average

5) 5:45 - some carb like kids cereals or white rice or bananas or a mix of a few of those, 1 cup milk or 6 oz greek yogurt or a serving of cottage cheese, scoop of whey
6) an hour later - protein (chicken, tuna, ect) and carb (oats, brown rice, ect. depends on how many calories i need) and usually a pound of broccoli
7) 9:00 - 30g (2 tbsp) of almond butter or 32g (2 tbsp) of peanut butter, scoop of casein

just aim to hit about 2300-2350 calories or so on training days. eat just over maintenance
on non trainging days (saturday and sometimes wednesday) and maintenance on sunday since its a second consecutive non training day.

more: i love music, play guitar, try to do well in school, juggle, like local sports (red sox, patriots, bruins - i'm from massachusetts) umm yeah.

i guess i'll end my rant now and start this thing right - posting up my chest/tri and a little bi's workout from this morning!

if you read alot of that i congratulate you, i'm going to try and be as consistent as possible with my updates- hopefully daily. i hope you enjoy my journey if you decide to follow.

[nmsk80066]

todays workout:

incline bench - 4 sets
flat benc - 4 sets
incline flys - 4 sets
decline bench - 3 sets
pec stretch in a fly position with light dumbbells - 30 secs
close grip bench - 4 sets
skull crushers - 4 sets
seated overhead dumbbell extensions - 3 sets
alternating DB curls - 4 sets
incline pushups SS flat pushups - 2 sets

good workout, hit a few PR's for weight and or reps

will end today at about 2300 calories
not posting exact measurements but heres how it has gone so far and i have planned what i'll eat later
1)oats, milk, whey, currants
2)whey, milk, cookie crisp, golden grahams, banana
3)lettuce, salsa, sweet potato, turkey
4)cottage cheese, kashi golean crunch, shredded wheat n' bran, peanut butter
5)cottage cheese, casein, oats, cheerios
6)93/7 ground beef, broccoli
7)casein, almond butter

would upload some food porn but i dunno how to post pics lol

quads/hammies tomorrow- had a knee injury for a week (small case of water on the knee, discomfort is still there, pulled a ligament i think but swelling is down) so couldnt train legs last week or deadlift. might be a bit down with the weights tomorrow but we'll see how it goes, i'm psyched to squat it up!

[nmsk80066]

about to destroy legs!

couldnt train legs last week due to knee so cant wait for this!
white flood should be kicking in in a few mins - lets see how this works for one of the toughest days o' the week!

will update in a few hours

[nmsk80066]

raped legs today in a great way of course! more details at bottom but heres how she went:

(... = 10 second rest)

squats - 5 sets - 5, 4, 4, 3, 3 reps
leg press - 3 sets of 15
hack squats - 3 sets - 10, 8, 8 reps
lunges - 3 sets of 5 lunges per leg
leg extensions - 4 sets - 8, 6, 5 (drop some) 2 (drop some) 2 (drop some) 2, 9...3...2...2
lying leg curl - 4 sets - 7...4, 6...4, 6...2, 6...2
stiff legged deadlift - 4 sets - 12, 10, 6, 6
good mornings - 2 sets - 6, 6

extra activities - 25 mins moderate intensity walking post workout.

thoughs/notes - no knee discomfort! great workout! hit some amazing PR's today - bodyweight squat, 1 plate a side for hacks, and leg pressed all the weights i have lol. think i might switch those to front squats before i order some more weights.

also, ate the most calories today since i have started bulking. will end the day at about 2435 give or take 30 or so cals.

another thing- huge bowl of white rice, greek yogurt, whey, capn crunch, kix, lucky charms, and golden grahams is totally full of win immediately post legs

also good day because only had some writing (english) and studying to do for a spanish quiz and hooge biology test tomorrow, so not too time consuming homework today.

slight soreness in tri's and quite sore in chest from yesterday

have shoulders and forearms up tomorrow, pumped. gonna go eat some sludge now

peace out girl scout.

[nmsk80066]

about to go do some shoulders and forearms in a few mins, getting psyched for some MP's!
will workout, eat, cool down, eat, homework, shower, then update how she went

[nmsk80066]

WELL. workout started like shhhh but ended up being amazing.. i'll explain in notes

waaaaay too much volume, i'll explain that in notes as well

standing MP - 3 sets - wasnt feeling these, switched to:
seated DB press - 4 sets - 7, 4, 4, 4, these went great!
standing side laterals - 4 sets - 9, 8, 7, 7-drop some-5
front plate raise - 4 sets - 10, 9, 8, 8
one arm rear delt fly bent over - 4 sets - 8, 7, 6, 6
two arm rear delt fly (head supported on bench to keep strict) - 1 set - 6...2...2
arnold presses - 4 sets - 7, 4, 4, drop some 6...1
DB snatches - 2 sets - 5/5, 5/5
shrugs/behind back shrugs - 5 sets - 6, 6, 5, 5, 5...2
upright rows - 4 sets - 4, 4, 3, 3
behind back BB forearm curls - 4 sets - 8, 6, 6, 6..2
DB wrist extensions - 2 sets - 10/10, 10/10




notes:
hokay, so.. way too much volume i know i know. overkill. wont happen again. the reason for this however was that i started my workout with my standing BB MP's like i normally do and i was just weak shhhhh today. i got wicked frustrated so decided to do seated DB presses..wow! the weight i chose went up easy! havent done those in a while so will stick ;with those for now. after that i just got on a role and broke PR's left and right. w00t!


other: did 20 mins (2 min run 18 min moderate walk) post workout

had a bio test today which blew.. not feeling confident, meh well.
made a nice whole wheat flour/oat/whey/egg/egg white pie/packcake type thing tonight for dinner with broccoli. topped with a few raspberries, was good but a little dry. think next time i'll add some blueberries to the batter or something for moist-ness.

diet: will end the day at around 2310-2330 cals. prob higher on that end b/c i'm about to have some sludge but i think i'll top it with a quarter serving of cheerios. carbs before bed ftw

gdnite, tomorrow just gonna do calves and a few mins of jump rope. rest and grow!

[nmsk80066]

just taking it easy today, mini abs+calves

air bike - 1 warm up set of 50
weighted leg pull-ins (hard to describe) 4 sets of 10
standing calf raise - 4 sets - 20, 20, 20, 15
calf press - 4 sets - 12, 10, 8, 6

cool down:
2 1/2 mins jump rope
2 1/2 mins jog
intense calf stretch - 60 seconds each calf

20 mins PWO slow-moderate walk because my legs are SORE from monday lol

diet: will end the day around 2175 cals since not that intense of a workout today, but of course want to be slightly over maintenence for the calves and my recovering muscles from earlier this week.

notes: hitting back and mini bi's/chest tomorrow. pumped for some good lifts. dont think i'll include deadlifts since i sorta fear them since hurting my knee 2 weeks ago and my back is sore for some reason. might get some wraps for extra support. i'll slowly work back into them though



i love puffins

[watermelon_2001]

Hello brethren! Nice to see you've got a log up and going; consider me well and truly subbed!

Good to get to know a bit about your background too, and to see your training split and diet in detail

Diet seems spot-on. Two things to remember about diet- firstly, it needs to give you enough energy to get through your workout. If it doesn't, change some things around, eat some different things before lifting, or simply just eat more. Secondly, if those scales aren't moving, you just ain't eating enough- I agree with what you said that you right now you probably don't need 3000+ calories a day, because of your weight, but don't be afraid to start increasing towards that. Sometimes you have to take the plunge and bump up by 500 or so to finally see some new gains

In terms of your routine, there does seem to be a LOT of volume- perhaps even too much. I would say to try upping the intensity of your workouts- really push yourself to failure and choose weights that really challenge you. If you're aiming for 6 reps, by the time you reach the 6th you should just be able to push it out, before having to end the set. I used to be similar, in terms of volume, but I found that by pushing myself in each individual set, it makes up for not going as intense on additional sets or exercises I would potentially do later (if that makes sense...) Since I've taken this approach, I've seen pretty consistant strength increases, my weight has increased (although it has currently stalled,) and there are definite differences on my physique from 1-2 months ago. I would also say to drop the few bicep exercises you do with your chest/tri's, and save it all for your back/biceps day (by this point in your workout, if you've still got enough energy to do them you could probably push yourself more on your preceeding chest/tricep exercises. Alternatively, your energy could have decreased, but you continue on to do them, and so are not getting the full potential benefits from working your biceps.) On the Thursday, I say drop the upper-chest exercises and focus totally on back/biceps. Stick calf work in with your leg routine too; I say this because there's a LOT of volume in your leg workout, and a lot of heavy lifts, so take out a couple of them and place a calf exercise in there, thus reducing the workload you're doing (especially on tougher exercises) and also giving you the day off when you would be training your calves (asides from any cardio you decide to do.)
I've also noticed you seem to have a lot of drop-sets and rest-pauses in there too; my advice with these is that they should be used more sparingly. As higher intensity techniques, they're taxing on your CNS, so over-using them could just lead to burn-out (it happened to myself.) If you find that drop-sets are necessary because you're often failing before you reach your desired rep, then choose a lighter weight, and hit your target without having to drop down mid-set (I know what I said earlier about going heavy, but do so to your known limits.) I've been in these situations myself- I trained with many sets, many exercises, and my workouts would take waaaaaay over an hour. I've learned that by keeping things more simple, I can train harder and train smarter. What you're doing isn't stupid, if anything it shows your eagerness, but my advice would be to use this eagerness to better potential in a smarter routine

I'm sorry that I came in here and gave out some pointers- I didn't mean to suggest you're doing anything wrong, I'd just like to help you not to make some of the same mistakes I did, and to try and help you see the progress you want to see

[watermelon_2001]

Oh, and I read that you wanted to post pics, but didn't know how...

Go to...

http://www.imageshack.us/

...and register. Then you can browse through photo's/ pictures saved on your computer and upload a resized version of them. Once it uploads, you then choose which link to use. Copy that link, then paste it on a thread between these...

[IMG] [/IMG]

...then that should be it!

Bring on the food porn!

[trav333]

yeah dude, you do a lot of volume, so maybe you should just cut down sets and up the intensity....

anyway, where in Mass do you live, cause i also live in Mass

you have a leg press at your home?

[nmsk80066]

Oh, and I read that you wanted to post pics, but didn't know how...

Go to...

http://www.imageshack.us/

...and register. Then you can browse through photo's/ pictures saved on your computer and upload a resized version of them. Once it uploads, you then choose which link to use. Copy that link, then paste it on a thread between these...

[IMG] [/IMG]

...then that should be it!

Bring on the food porn!

thanks for all the advice man! VERY happy to have someone following me, makes me even more motivated

yeah dude, you do a lot of volume, so maybe you should just cut down sets and up the intensity....

anyway, where in Mass do you live, cause i also live in Mass

you have a leg press at your home?

yeah i normally dont do that much volume, honestly.

i do have a leg press and it doubles as a hack squat its awesome. and thanks bro for commenting!

i live in gloucester, yourself?

[nmsk80066]

today's workout! good stuff. PR's. kinda want to go to sleep though so not posting reps

rack chins - 4 sets
bent over BB rows - 4 sets
one arm DB rows - 4 sets
t-bar rows - 3 sets
behind neck pulldowns - 3 sets
deadlifts - 4 sets (really dropped the weight and focused on form. dont want to hurt the knee again. made sure to not bow knees in, kept abs tight/back flat and didnt get any rebound on the weight - paused before the next rep. felt awesome, will slowly work these up continuing with this form)
seated simultaneous hammer curls - 4 sets
slight incline bench press - 5 sets

great workout. and thanks guys for commenting on my log think next week will start posting weight used. next two days are good ol' rest though

notes - sore traps/calves/legs. did 22 mins moderate intensity walking PWO.

diet - will end day around 2380 calories. lol i remember a few months ago i was gaining on quite less calories, now my metabolism is alot faster. my dinner a few months ago had 16 carbs, tonight had 77!

[trav333]

thanks for all the advice man! VERY happy to have someone following me, makes me even more motivated



yeah i normally dont do that much volume, honestly.

i do have a leg press and it doubles as a hack squat its awesome. and thanks bro for commenting!

i live in gloucester, yourself?

i live in southbridge, it south central MA
leg press that doubles as a hack squat...thats ****ing sick!

[watermelon_2001]

today's workout! good stuff. PR's. kinda want to go to sleep though so not posting reps

rack chins - 4 sets
bent over BB rows - 4 sets
one arm DB rows - 4 sets
t-bar rows - 3 sets
behind neck pulldowns - 3 sets
deadlifts - 4 sets (really dropped the weight and focused on form. dont want to hurt the knee again. made sure to not bow knees in, kept abs tight/back flat and didnt get any rebound on the weight - paused before the next rep. felt awesome, will slowly work these up continuing with this form)
seated simultaneous hammer curls - 4 sets
slight incline bench press - 5 sets

great workout. and thanks guys for commenting on my log think next week will start posting weight used. next two days are good ol' rest though

Again, I'll offer some advice on your workout, and once more it concerns volume. Even for very advanced lifters, 22 sets for back is pretty extreme. I have a feeling that what you're trying to do is to incorporate all these different lifts because you're wanting to cover all areas of your back, and each one is said to target a specific part- I was exactly the same. Trust me, you do NOT need to be doing all those rows- pick the one which you find you feel works you most and stick to it for a number of weeks, then choose a different one. I'd suggest either the barbell rows to begin with, to ensure a more balanced development (rather than doing one-arm rows, and progressing assymetrically as one side will be naturally stronger and able to lift more weight or manage more reps.)
I would also suggest either doing rack chins OR the pulldowns; essentially they're doing pretty much the same job. Rather than finishing with deadlifts, try sticking them first; from my experience it's only really since I began doing deads/ rack pulls than my back has begun to 'fill out' more, and their benefits will be increased by doing them first, when you feel fresher and stronger. You could finish off with another row, such as cable rows, which would focus in on your mid back (the middle + lower traps and rhomboids.) I do something similar, and after 12 working sets my back is totalled- I would pretty much guarantee that if you focused on each individual set, and busted your ass on every single rep, you would be done by your 12th set. I totally appreciate that you're trying to emphasize each part of your back, yet even just by focusing on the real mass-builders that's exactly what you're doing! Do you mind me asking why you're doing incline bench work on your back day? Honestly, there really isn't a need for it- after 26 sets, there's no way you'll be able to summon enough intensity or strength to see any benefits from it, and it'll only risk making you weaker when your next chest workout rolls around, as you won't have recovered. Again, I really am sorry to come in an make suggestions for change, but I truly am just trying to pass on my own experience from having taken years to actually realize all this myself, and I would hate for you to see as slow a rate of progress as I did, and for your efforts to go to waste

diet - will end day around 2380 calories. lol i remember a few months ago i was gaining on quite less calories, now my metabolism is alot faster. my dinner a few months ago had 16 carbs, tonight had 77!

That's a good bumpin' up of the carbs there! Give it another few months and it'll be double that

[nmsk80066]

notes - just a rest day today, chilling out. slight sore calves/legs/bi's. lats pretty sore from intense stretching PWO yesterday.

[nmsk80066]

Again, I'll offer some advice on your workout, and once more it concerns volume. Even for very advanced lifters, 22 sets for back is pretty extreme. I have a feeling that what you're trying to do is to incorporate all these different lifts because you're wanting to cover all areas of your back, and each one is said to target a specific part- I was exactly the same. Trust me, you do NOT need to be doing all those rows- pick the one which you find you feel works you most and stick to it for a number of weeks, then choose a different one. I'd suggest either the barbell rows to begin with, to ensure a more balanced development (rather than doing one-arm rows, and progressing assymetrically as one side will be naturally stronger and able to lift more weight or manage more reps.)
I would also suggest either doing rack chins OR the pulldowns; essentially they're doing pretty much the same job. Rather than finishing with deadlifts, try sticking them first; from my experience it's only really since I began doing deads/ rack pulls than my back has begun to 'fill out' more, and their benefits will be increased by doing them first, when you feel fresher and stronger. You could finish off with another row, such as cable rows, which would focus in on your mid back (the middle + lower traps and rhomboids.) I do something similar, and after 12 working sets my back is totalled- I would pretty much guarantee that if you focused on each individual set, and busted your ass on every single rep, you would be done by your 12th set. I totally appreciate that you're trying to emphasize each part of your back, yet even just by focusing on the real mass-builders that's exactly what you're doing! Do you mind me asking why you're doing incline bench work on your back day? Honestly, there really isn't a need for it- after 26 sets, there's no way you'll be able to summon enough intensity or strength to see any benefits from it, and it'll only risk making you weaker when your next chest workout rolls around, as you won't have recovered. Again, I really am sorry to come in an make suggestions for change, but I truly am just trying to pass on my own experience from having taken years to actually realize all this myself, and I would hate for you to see as slow a rate of progress as I did, and for your efforts to go to waste

i appreciate all of your input man. few things:
1) i will lower my volume a bit, i think what i'll most likely do is either one arm rows OR t-bar rows OR cable rows, instead of two of them.
2) i do bi's twice a week just basically they are one normal bicep routine split in half. i normally do some heavy curl for a few sets. i do a few sets for upper chest because i feel it's lacking compared to the rest of my chest, actually not so much anymore since i started doing this. i don't feel like it affects my recovery or performance on my next chest workout.
3) i honestly do have intense workouts. they rarely exceed 70 mins even with changing/moving weights so much and i always make sure i'm really struggling for those last few reps or failing to get them
4) it may seem like overtraining, and i plan on cutting down a few sets, but i honestly am consistantly getting stronger, and don't feel run down. i actually am seeing pretty good gains at the moment with what i'm doing due to proper diet/rest.

no offense man - i really am happy for all of this advice. and i am going to use it btw you have a great taste in music

[nmsk80066]

hello world. just relaxing again today. its raining like hell right now. getting my hair trimmed a little later, then going to SUPER STOP AND SHOP tonight! hooray for grocery shopping lol.
probably wont get much but i'll post what i do.

quick question.. due to having a small kyphosis (relative to scoliosis) i used to not have very good flexibilily before i did physical therapy and started stretching to help the curvature in my spine (which i guess helped me get into fitness actually). i'm alot more flexable now and my back is much better, however my chest is still a little tight. i still stretch it and everything but my question is when i'm benching i cant "touch" my chest with the bar, not saying you should bounce it off your chest but i can't lower it 100% (also doesnt help i have long arms- long distance for the bar to travel). do you think stopping say 1-2 inches before the bar reaches my chest is limiting my development? i dont feel it has, guess that was just a thought.

and watermelon, i'm gonna try imageshack.us in a minute

[nmsk80066]

alright i'm not positive on how to post pics directly in here, but heres a few nice lil pics.
i'll upload some more of "normal" meals, but this is an oat-banana pancake with sludge, and a PWO bowl of whey, milk, lucky charms, golden grahams, kix, and cookie crisp. gotta luv it

[the59sound]

hey dude keep at the hard work. Just a few suggestions, use less volume and start to try pushing heavier weights, also eat MORE. At your age, your hormones are going to be going crazy and this is a beautiful time for you to build muscle. I know you are worried about fat, but dont be, the body especially in our youth is amazing at adapating. I suggest you have a high amount of calories and lift your ass off and run around and have fun. god speed.

[watermelon_2001]

alright i'm not positive on how to post pics directly in here, but heres a few nice lil pics.
i'll upload some more of "normal" meals, but this is an oat-banana pancake with sludge, and a PWO bowl of whey, milk, lucky charms, golden grahams, kix, and cookie crisp. gotta luv it

Duuuuude... There is a severe sense of wanting-ness here! What's the recipe for the pancake??? Also, do you know the macro breakdown of them?

If you're down with using imageshack, you could stick up some pics of yourself too. Makes it easier for yourself and others to see progress and offer advice

[nmsk80066]

hey dude keep at the hard work. Just a few suggestions, use less volume and start to try pushing heavier weights, also eat MORE. At your age, your hormones are going to be going crazy and this is a beautiful time for you to build muscle. I know you are worried about fat, but dont be, the body especially in our youth is amazing at adapating. I suggest you have a high amount of calories and lift your ass off and run around and have fun. god speed.

i think i'll cut back on some volume. just trying to take it slow with weight gain but yes, you are right i'm going to consistantly eat 2400 cals on heavy workout days, and i'm gonna cut down PWO walking from 20 mins to 15. i'll see how that goes because i weighed myself yesterday and was only 115. need to get that up. i dont even care about a little fat gain anymore because i want to get BIG! lol. thanks so much for your comment!

Duuuuude... There is a severe sense of wanting-ness here! What's the recipe for the pancake??? Also, do you know the macro breakdown of them?

If you're down with using imageshack, you could stick up some pics of yourself too. Makes it easier for yourself and others to see progress and offer advice

recipe for pancake:
40 grams (1 serving) oatmeal pulsed a few times in blender to get oat-flour type thing.
1 whole egg, then 2 egg whites (or probably 1/4 cup of egg whites would be fine)
blend 1 banana.
1 tsp of baking powder.

mix everything in bowl, PAM skillet and pour in. cover and cook on medium heat for a few mins then flip and cook covered again for a few mins. top with a scoop of whey mixed with juuuuuust a little water. last step: enjoy, any probably make another one because of how mouth watering they are lol

the one i made had about 36g protein, 58g carbs, 9g fat. so roughly 457 calories in the whole thing. you can use any fruit you want though and optional top with nut butter, they all taste amazzzzzing
try it out and tell meh how it goes!

the cereal bowl i believe was 1 scoop of whey, 1 cup of milk, 6g kix (1/5 serving), 13g cookie crisp (1/2 serving) , 15g golden grahams (1/2 serving) and 13g lucky charms(1/2 serving). it amounted to be about 35g protein, 3g fat, 55g carbs. so roughly 387 cals in all.
very..very..very yummy.

hope this helped!

and i know it sounds stupid, but i'm a little self concious of posting pics of myself right now at this weight.. maybe one in a shirt i'll do lol i know its a good idea, so i'll think about it. it would help for constructive critisism and motivation though. maybe i'll post one shirtless and send it to you in a PM later today. thanks buddy!

[watermelon_2001]

i think i'll cut back on some volume. just trying to take it slow with weight gain but yes, you are right i'm going to consistantly eat 2400 cals on heavy workout days, and i'm gonna cut down PWO walking from 20 mins to 15. i'll see how that goes because i weighed myself yesterday and was only 115. need to get that up. i dont even care about a little fat gain anymore because i want to get BIG! lol. thanks so much for your comment!

That's the sort of attitude you need to keep with. I'll tell you now, at that weight you don't need to give two sh*ts about adding fat! I was at 120, and even after I added a stone there was still next to no difference. I don't mean to sound rude at all but 115 is basically just plain undernourished, especially since you were heavier before and lost weight. And if you're working out, your body is gonna be screaming for calories so that it can grow- at 115lbs, by trying to limit what gains are coming from fat you are essentially also limiting what gains you're going to get from muscle. You have NO fat on you, and your body NEEDS fat on it, therefore is more likely to initially put on a little fat before it slaps on a tonne of muscle. With your workouts, the volume that you have in them, and at the intensity at which you say they are, means that you're going to fry a boatload of calories (both during the session, and also afterwards with the rise in your metabolism,) which is one other reason I would suggest re-configuring your routine. I would offer the ultimatum of EITHER lowering the volume, or adding 500 daily calories to your meal-plan. You said you were still 115 yesterday, how many weeks in a row was that?? Bump 'em up, mate, I'm telling you!

[nmsk80066]

That's the sort of attitude you need to keep with. I'll tell you now, at that weight you don't need to give two sh*ts about adding fat! I was at 120, and even after I added a stone there was still next to no difference. I don't mean to sound rude at all but 115 is basically just plain undernourished, especially since you were heavier before and lost weight. And if you're working out, your body is gonna be screaming for calories so that it can grow- at 115lbs, by trying to limit what gains are coming from fat you are essentially also limiting what gains you're going to get from muscle. You have NO fat on you, and your body NEEDS fat on it, therefore is more likely to initially put on a little fat before it slaps on a tonne of muscle. With your workouts, the volume that you have in them, and at the intensity at which you say they are, means that you're going to fry a boatload of calories (both during the session, and also afterwards with the rise in your metabolism,) which is one other reason I would suggest re-configuring your routine. I would offer the ultimatum of EITHER lowering the volume, or adding 500 daily calories to your meal-plan. You said you were still 115 yesterday, how many weeks in a row was that?? Bump 'em up, mate, I'm telling you!

thank you alot man, i kinda enjoy my routine at the moment so i think i'll stick with it, just a few less sets, and 5 mins less walking after the workout. would you say maybe 2500 would be good on heavy workout days? i'm thinking of probably doing that on days when i go to school and workout since i probably burn alot at school due to walking. and on sunday, tomorrow, since i won't be at school but it is a heavy workout i'm thinking 2400? and i'll stick with these numbers and check the scale at the end of next week?

i'm very glad to have your input here. i'll most likely be taking a pic of myself later and PMing you

[nmsk80066]

soooo..... went shopping

thought i wasnt going to get much but ended up with multiple boxes of cereal, little thing of honey, multiple breads, some vegetable soups, nuts, cottage cheese, a few other things, and peanut butter and co mighty maple and dark chocolate dreams! never had these before! pumped!
got a few clif bars as well, and little organic snack bar things made out of just nuts honey and dried fruit. also bought some things i havent had any of since i've started being very healthy. i decided that since i really need to start getting more calories, i wanted an easy way to do it. i eat 99 percent healthy, that 1 percent can't kill me. i picked up some 70% cocao dark chocolate which i might nibble on, some organic gelato, and even some ice cream! not saying i'm going to start a "dirty bulk" or something, but i guess i could be a little more lenient. super excited to get the scale moving up.

[watermelon_2001]

thank you alot man, i kinda enjoy my routine at the moment so i think i'll stick with it, just a few less sets, and 5 mins less walking after the workout. would you say maybe 2500 would be good on heavy workout days? i'm thinking of probably doing that on days when i go to school and workout since i probably burn alot at school due to walking. and on sunday, tomorrow, since i won't be at school but it is a heavy workout i'm thinking 2400? and i'll stick with these numbers and check the scale at the end of next week?

i'm very glad to have your input here. i'll most likely be taking a pic of myself later and PMing you

I would say 3 working sets per exercise (after maybe one or two heavy-ish warm ups) and drop an exercise or two; e.g. in your back routine, drop one of the rows and the b-t-n pulldowns. Also I would nearly IMPLORE you to not do the incline chest exercises on your back day! Again, I don't mean to sound rude (and I can't say that I know this for 100% because I've never seen a picture) but when you weigh 115lbs and you say you're upper chest is 'lagging', I find it hard to believe, as it's going to be doubtful you have much chest development at all (really don't mean to offend you by that)

In regard to calories, you're eating around 2400 on a lifting day, right? If that's not getting you gaining, then 2500 ain't gonna cut it either- that's only 100 extra calories. Shoot for nearer 2700 for starters, as that's 200-300 extra, and if that doesn't work then go for nearer 2800 or 2900

[watermelon_2001]

quick question.. due to having a small kyphosis (relative to scoliosis) i used to not have very good flexibilily before i did physical therapy and started stretching to help the curvature in my spine (which i guess helped me get into fitness actually). i'm alot more flexable now and my back is much better, however my chest is still a little tight. i still stretch it and everything but my question is when i'm benching i cant "touch" my chest with the bar, not saying you should bounce it off your chest but i can't lower it 100% (also doesnt help i have long arms- long distance for the bar to travel)

I'd be interested to know, would you be able to tell me what sort of stretching you did, and perhaps gimme some examples? I don't have any spinal curvature, but could do with increasing flexibility...

I hear what you're saying about your benching too. I've got long arms, and it is hard to get it down to your chest, especially with poor flexibility and also without putting too much stress on your shoulders. I say that if you try to get so your upper arms are perpindicular to the bench at the lowest portion of the lift, and you're getting a stretching feeling in your pecs, then it should be okay

[nmsk80066]

I would say 3 working sets per exercise (after maybe one or two heavy-ish warm ups) and drop an exercise or two; e.g. in your back routine, drop one of the rows and the b-t-n pulldowns. Also I would nearly IMPLORE you to not do the incline chest exercises on your back day! Again, I don't mean to sound rude (and I can't say that I know this for 100% because I've never seen a picture) but when you weigh 115lbs and you say you're upper chest is 'lagging', I find it hard to believe, as it's going to be doubtful you have much chest development at all (really don't mean to offend you by that)

In regard to calories, you're eating around 2400 on a lifting day, right? If that's not getting you gaining, then 2500 ain't gonna cut it either- that's only 100 extra calories. Shoot for nearer 2700 for starters, as that's 200-300 extra, and if that doesn't work then go for nearer 2800 or 2900

alright i'll drop back volume by a few sets. i kinda like my volume though no offense so not tooo drastic of a change, just enough. and no offense taken on anything you say man, i appreciate the advice. i am shooting for 2400 today and already have it mapped out so i'll reach that, then 2500 on school/heavy lifting days. i'm dropping the cardio by 5 mins or so, so i dont wanna make too much of a bump in cals as i wont be burning as many either. if i get restless today and end up doing a few mins of jump rope or something for fun, then i'll eat another 50 cals and try 2450.

I'd be interested to know, would you be able to tell me what sort of stretching you did, and perhaps gimme some examples? I don't have any spinal curvature, but could do with increasing flexibility...

I hear what you're saying about your benching too. I've got long arms, and it is hard to get it down to your chest, especially with poor flexibility and also without putting too much stress on your shoulders. I say that if you try to get so your upper arms are perpindicular to the bench at the lowest portion of the lift, and you're getting a stretching feeling in your pecs, then it should be okay

yeah i go till i get a good stretch, and i really feel i'm getting a proper ROM so its ok. normally the main stretch i do is stand inbetween a doorframe and put my forearms up against the sides of it, flex my abs to keep the back flat and step with one foot forward and push my whole body forward. you can put your arms higher or lower in the doorway to stretch diff parts of you chest better. also during my chest workout once i finish chest i hold some light DB's in an incline fly position and it helps for a good stretch too. feels good when you got a pump.

[nmsk80066]

alright i'm about to take my green mag/white flood. will be hitting chest/tris and a lil bi's hard today in about 20 mins! looking for PR's! this log - even though i only started it like a week ago - is serving as great motivation. PUMPED right now!

will post in a few hours...

[clemelin13]

Good job man stick with it. Looking forward to seeing some massive gains soon!

[ashylarryku]

just read through a lot of your blog, good stuff man. don't be afraid of posting your lifting stats. everyone has to start somewhere man. that's why your in the gym, to get those numbers up! lol

keep up the good work bro