6'2 epic ecto need advice/bf%?

[aaron55678]

Hi,

A bit of background, i have been looking into bulking up and generally gaining more mass for a little while now. Only recently i have had a chance to take this whole thing seriously because i have moved into my own flat and can control my diet more than when i lived at home on my own.I have signed up to my local gym and have been going every other night for just under 2 weeks now. Before i go into any detail ill give you some stats. If theres anything else that would help you get a better idea of my situation then please ask.

height - 6'2
weight - 145
BF% - Not sure (pictures below)

A little background - I have always been active i used to play alot of sports such as football and i used to be a good long distance runner. Recently i got more and more into computer games but i have recently grown bored of them and cancelled a load of subs that i had and joined the gym. I used to study Sports Studies and Human biology at A level so i understand how the body works and a little in depth on muscle structure etc

I have started and done a few weeks at my local gym and feel i am improving. I havent changed my eating habits at all so this means i normally have breakfast - lunch and dinner and maybe something in the evening after i go to the gym but this is only a light meal. So that is definitely something i need to work on, i am also not supplementing AT ALL so this is also something i need advice on.

When im at the gym i normally stay for around an hour and i limit my cardio as im a pretty extreme ecto. I do a 5 minute or so warmup on a cycling machine, then i work my way around machine weights - normally in the order of

Chest press - 30 KG 2 sets of 10 (i normally fail between 6-8 on the second set)
Leg curls? (the one that you straighten your legs from the sitting position) - 70KG - 2 sets of 10
Low Row - 35 KG 2 sets of 10 (i struggle with the 10th rep.. if i find i can do the 10th rep with little strain i normally push another set out)
Leg press - 80KG - 2 sets of 10 - 12 (struggle on the last few)

after this i normally play around with the free weights and just do a few excercises such as bicep curls - Incline shoulder press (i think thats what its called) and dumbell presses. I find that i cant handle much more than 8-9KG with dumbells otherwise i cannot control the weight.

Im basically looking for some advice on how to add mass from what i do now (what do i need to change/amend add or remove) I am looking for relatively fast gains. I have quite alot of leftover money from my work that i can put into this and spend on diet and supplements, Up to £400-500 a month potentially im not sure how much it will cost realistically. Also i have alot of spare time now i am living alone i am planning on going to the gym on a 2 day on 1 day off basis and if i feel over strained at all i will take an extra day off if need be.

Here are some pictures of my current for. I dont know the poses so no laughing.

Basically im looking for advice on -

General bulking
Diet
Supplements
Gym routine and how often etc

[martial-man420]

We all start somewhere. Right first of all put away the £400 this isn't going to cost much. Do you have access to a good gym with free weights and power cages with olympic barbells??

Workout

I think you'd be a good candidate for Starting Strength. It'll improve your strength very quickly which will allow you to increase confidence. I'd strongly suggest if you have all that money you buy the book and read it. Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...=998224&page=1

Follow that at least until you can squat 250lbs, deadlift 300lbs and bench 200lbs probably higher.

[B]Diet[/B

Start at 3000 calories a day with at least 150grams of protein everyday. Try and make as much of whole foods rich in micronutrients. AKA eat your vegetables and fruit. And meats, and eggs and basically anything etc...You can eat some junk as long as it fits into your calories and you get enough protein, but mostly whole foods. Don't be afraid of fats. If you can't eat enough calories get more fats as it's more calorically dense than carbs or protein. Just again make sure you fit your protein target.

If you don't increase weight eating that much eat 3200 calories a day, then try 3400 calories. You're aiming to gain about 1lbs a week so if you stop gaining that eat more. But go steady with it.

Continue eating this much and gaining 1lb a week until you can no longer bare the bodyfat you have put on. Since you're starting so light I would image you can get to about 180lbs within a year without putting on too much bodyfat. If I were you I'd follow this formula until you weigh about 200lbs by which point you should definitely be looking pretty fluffy and not aesthetically pleasing. At this point you can cut and probably be around 180lbs lean. Ask back for more advice then when you need to start losing weight. But at your weight don't be afraid to put on a bit of fat (obviously don't go overboard with it)

[Zorikito]

^This

Don't worry man, you'll get there. When i was a freshman in highschool I was 6' 1" 115 lbs four years later I'm 6' 2.5" 168-172lbs My first year I made newb gains and gained almost 20 lbs in four-six ish months only doing body weight exercise and eating clean. I did body-weight workouts for two years to get to 145 then hit weights and got to were I am now after a year and yet I still look lanky.

The key bro is consistency, for people like us we just have to eat and stay consistent with our workouts. You don't even need to worry about muscle confusion yet you could do the same program for 12 weeks right now just varying exercises as long as you go up in weight.

It's gonna take time, if you're consistent you could add 15 lbs relatively fast but it starts to slow as you gain experience, it's a marathon not a sprint, think of where you could be in a year or two, it sounds far but when you get there and you weren't working out because it sounded too far away you'll wish you stayed consistent.

-edit-
What helped me:
1. consistency
2. eat a ****load
3. heavy ass weight
4. Maybe do an upper lower split alternating days, I know you're an ecto too so just do some light cardio 2x a week on off days, abs on lower days.
5. SUPPS: Whey protien, BCAA, Creatine, N.O., Glutamine, Daily Multi. You can mess around with some beta-alanine, but generally his is whats worked for me and my other ecto friends. good luck!

[Freezerburn]

you steal my pics man?? (im 6'2 150lbs) my body is like the exact same as yours

not sure if anyones told your bf% yet but id say between 10-14%, and make sure to eat A LOT then eat MORE! ive gained 10 pounds in the last month from eating a ****load/lifting, but im sure its mostly fat haha

[aaron55678]

thanks for the nice posts! and no im afraid i didnt steal your pics

We all start somewhere. Right first of all put away the £400 this isn't going to cost much. Do you have access to a good gym with free weights and power cages with olympic barbells??

it doesnt have a power cage no, but it has similar things. It has a few free weights and no it doesnt have a barbell. Im having to make do with dumbells at the moment. This is because there are two gyms that i know of in my area one is more of a fitness gym with weights and machines etc etc( the one i go to) Its open from 6 am to 11 pm 7 days a week. The other gym is only open until 7 pm (i work from 9-5 although i have been trying to get my work hours changed to 8-4) This other gym is alot more weights oreintated and i think they have everything. But they are not really open at convenient times, and im not sure how busy it gets.

[Zorikito]

Great post's from both of the above.

Just to concrete it in It really is about being consistent, keeping your motivation high, smashing it at the gym when your there and getting it right with your nutrition.

I started off at 154pounds 2 years ago, been consistent with my training and good with my food and supplements and Ive now got to my current weight of 196 pounds while loosing 2%bf (and that's lean gain aswell).

Muscle building is one of the most self determination driven sports out there, you've just gotta keep going at it, it takes a long time to get big solid gains, but in time you'll get there.

Start off with the starting strength, get yourself some impact whey isolate protein, creatine, dextrose, omega's, multivitamins.

IMO i PERSONALLY wouldn't use a pre-workout yet in the subject of jack3d, n.o, 1mr etc, otherwise i think you'll have to rely on it to much and further on down the line when you need that extra boost to get your going again, there wont be anything to help.

I agree about the pre-workout shakes. For supps keep it simple in the beginning, get your basics, your whey (with bcaa), creatine, glutamine, and a multi.

OP: I'd recommend starting from a weight you can execute proper form on, for example if you were doing a bench press and your rep range was 4-6 and you could do 150lbs with good form for 6 reps. I'd do the 150. If I could hit 5-6 reps for 5 sets I'd add 5 lbs next week if not, I may stay. The key is that for however many sets you're doing say a 5x5 system you want your form to be great on the first couple of sets but the weight should be heavy enough that you struggle on your last few.

Another muscle building tip is to focus on the whole movement. Things that hindered my growth are not getting a full range of motion in my movement and not focusing on the concentric part of the lift (Where you lower it.) E.X. In bench press I would drop the bar to my chest with gravity and force it up with my strength, this is bad because your robbing your muscles of a whole half of the movement. Gains will be minimal. Similarly for your BICEP CURLS if you use momentum to thrust the wight up and let gravity pull it down you're muscles might only be getting 20% of the benefit you could have by actually controlling the weight.

Just to comment on your thing about not curling much weight. It's fine man, leave your pride at home, lift the correct weight correctly then reap the benefits.

[notJAFA]

thanks for the nice posts! and no im afraid i didnt steal your pics



it doesnt have a power cage no, but it has similar things. It has a few free weights and no it doesnt have a barbell. Im having to make do with dumbells at the moment. This is because there are two gyms that i know of in my area one is more of a fitness gym with weights and machines etc etc( the one i go to) Its open from 6 am to 11 pm 7 days a week. The other gym is only open until 7 pm (i work from 9-5 although i have been trying to get my work hours changed to 8-4) This other gym is alot more weights oreintated and i think they have everything. But they are not really open at convenient times, and im not sure how busy it gets.

If your gym doesn't have a barbell, then join a new gym.

If there aren't any other gyms nearby, set up your own gym in your garage (with a power rack, barbell, bench and weight plates). You can pick up all the gear you need for the cost of a couple of years of gym membership...

There are plenty of articles on this website about lifting programs and nutrition so spend a few days browsing.

The key points are:

1. consistency in your workouts
2. progressive overload (always be looking to increase the weight, or number of repetitions)
3. free weight compound movements should make up the majority of your workout
4. eat

[DavidAM89]

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with any supplements at all yet, just eat lots of meat, veg, fruit, nuts, eggs, milk, whole grains. If you want to buy a supplement I wouldnt even go whey, use micellar casein instead, the whole fast vs slow thing is bull****. Multi vitamins are also crapola, just get your vegies down. The only possible supplement you should even think about using is fish oil, even then you could just eat fish occasionally.

For training, starting strength is a good bet as mentioned before, but I'd also include a fair bit of extra bodyweight stuff on top of that, it will help with co-ordination and core strength which will benefit you later on.

[aaron55678]

awesome, yeah i have attempted to eat above my normal amount recently. I have also picked up some gold standard whey. How many times a week would you reccomend going to the gym? i started off doing every other day on a full body workout as the gym i am currently using is pretty limited on gear. I am moving to a new gym once the months membership is up though which i have been told is alot better and quite well equipped.

I have also ordered the starting strength book (saw alot of reccomendations) so i will be working my head through that when it actually arrives.

Just out of interest this is my general daily eating routine:

morning - Bran with fruit (single bowl)
around 10-11 i normally grab a tuna roll from a sandwich van that comes by my office (baguette kind of size)
then for lunch i normally go to the local superstore with freinds and get either sandwiches or a ready made pasta pot thing + other random food item (i know they arent great but im not sure on what other choices i have from a superstore that doesnt involve preperation)

then mid afternoon is my gap at the moment and for dinner i generally have pasta + tuna and sometimes with boiled eggs.

Could the gap in mid afternoon be filled with a protein shake with stuff like peanut butter and fruit in it? then take another one after a workout at the gym.

[aaron55678]

just bumping up the thread to see if anyone has any advice/opinions on the above

[stinger70]

dude your eating like, nothing. Work it out properly, 3000 calories, 150g protein, then make up the rest with carbs and fats. You've got to prepare your food for the day in advance, dont just buy food as it will never be ideal. Make up brown pasta with tuna, rice and veg, chilli, etc, and take it with you. Calculate exactly what you need to hit the nutrients for the day, and make sure you have the right food with you. Get on starting strength, i started with a workout similar to yours, and made small gains, but after no time you will stop progressing unless you get on a proper strength routine. Definitley join a gym with barbells, learn from starting strength how to do the exercises properly, then do them. Also search "rippetoe squat/deadlift/press/bench" on youtube, there are videos for each lift with detailed explanation on form, these have helped me a lot.

[patrick4588]

here's some motivation for you. I just posted my 1yr thread.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=137562373

[enormousmaggot]

check out my thread i made last night: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=137546073

and pm me any questions. i'm no master but i put on 60lb in a year and you look very similar to what i did after i first started. good progress so far!



edit: lol, guy above also linking to his own thread, didn't mean to sound pushy