6'4 140lbs - Need Advice

[DP2525]

20 year old male. I want to start working out because I hate being this size but I'm in a tough situation because I live in a rural area with no gym. I'm thinking of buying a barbell online, I already have a bench. It'll probably be a 30kg one, I'm skeptical though because I'll probably quickly surpass that. Maximum I could buy is 50kg. I'm thinking of doing the 5x5 Stronglift btw

I know the importance of diet and I'm not one of those skinny guys who blames everything on their metabolism. I used to do that, then I realised I simply don't eat enough. I'm actually a decent cook, know a lot of recipes, it's just I'm lazy when it comes to food. It's why I'm underweight. With protein shakes and a planned diet, I'm confident I'll hit calorie targets of around 3000.

I guess my questions are:

-Will I get any gains with just barbell exercises?
-Should I use creatine? (I've read 5grams is the daily recommendation)
-When will I see visible progress if I stick to everything?

[sandcar3]

Depending on your age (I assume you aren't 49) and your goals, you probably need more than 3000 calories per day.

- You definitely can get gains from barbell exercises, even if you quickly max out on the amount of weight you have you can always do things like more reps, less rest between sets, more sets, negatives, etc. to keep making progress.

- Creatine wouldn't hurt, but probably wouldn't make a noticeable difference either. I'd imagine your best bang for your buck supplement would be a high calorie protein.

- Progress depends on what exactly you are talking about, but going from not working out to something like a solid 5x5 you should see some gains (strength, energy, body composition, etc.) fairly quickly.

I was 6'3" 145 when I started lifting as a teenager and have been up to 230 at my biggest, so it can be done, but you have to stick with it and realize you won't put on 50 pounds of muscle overnight it will take time.

[DP2525]

Thanks a lot for the insight. Yeah I'm 20, not sure why it's saying 49 lol

[SuffolkPunch]

1. of course
2. why not, it's cheap and works for most
3. I don't know. Better to take measurements, then you aren't reliant on the vaguaries of bodyfat measurements. Given that most seem to need to gain a significant amount of muscle before they are able to get to a point of good definition, it might take a year or two.