Project: Fix Lazy (Skinny) Bastard

[KezR33]

Read a few of these build threads on other forums but have never tried to do one myself, but since I know a few people on this forum and see them from time to time in person I figure I may as well give it a crack.

Guess I'll start with the basics:

Age: 26

Height: 183cm

Weight: ~63kg

Short term goal: Hit 75kg.

Long term goal: Reach 80-85 with low body fat %.

As you can tell I'm a fairly skinny bastard. I've actually gained and maintained about 5kg since I first started going to gym, so I'm usually even skinnier. My biggest problem is self discipline, I'll go into the gym 3-4 times a week, see pretty good results and then after a month or so I'll stop going for whatever reason, usually sickness, exams or maybe a batch of assignments rock up. Basically, if I miss a week I lose all motivation and stop going.

Routine:

I'll be doing the PTC Begineer's routine for at least 3 months, then see how I'm going there. For those that don't know the routine looks like this:

Full Squat 10x3

Bench 8x3

Bent Over Rows 8x3

Stiff Leg Deadlifts 8x3

Overhead Press 8x3

Bicep Curls 8x3

This is done three times per week, with a day of rest between each session.

More info can be found here: http://ausbb.com/strength-training-power-lifting/9460-beginners-program.html

Supps and Diet:

Diet is one of my biggest weaknesses. I can be quite a fussy eater, and I don't eat much. I generally eat quite well (no junk, sugar etc), but I find it hard to force feed myself especially when I'm not hungry. When lifting I tend to eat a lot of pasta, rice, etc. I'll often make a huge batch of pasta with mince and sauce, eat that for dinner and put the rest into bowls in the fridge which I'll eat constantly over the next day or so. I also try to drink like 2Ls of full cream milk a day.

I also have like... 10kg of weight gain powder sitting in my room. The stuff is pretty cheap and tastes alright. They have a ratio of like 5:1 complex carbs to protein. I also have some creatine sitting around, I figure I may as well use as it has no major drawbacks and pretty good benefits.

Feel free to criticise my plan, I'd appreciate any feedback. I plan on starting this afternoon so wish me luck.

P.S. Ignore the hour that I'm posting this, I work nights and this is a normal hour for me. I still get 8 hours.

[xALmoN]

omg, dude, you're lighter than i am, and taller than me too.

good luck on the weight gain.. it helps to EAT EAT EAT, the more you eat, the more you can eat in future..

[vspecIInur]

When your an ectomorph, usually increasing your calories way above your BMR is about right. I find that eating plenty of protien, moderate carbs and fat is a good start.

As for training goes, a beginner normally starts off with full body workouts so that your body is conditioned with resistance training. The best approach is to try and lift heavy as possible and always try

to improve on a weekly basis; of course you will reach peak points but your body responds best with heavy weights and compound movements.

The excerises you got listed there are a good starting emphasis for building.

Also for training your arms, try doing close grip bench press or heavy weighted dips for tricpes and for bicpes, barbell curls or heavy dumbell curls. You can even superset these exercises for greater stress on the muscles.

Oh and don't worry I work night shift too hence the time of posting this haha.

[grandmasterb]

Post up your exact diet for a start as there is no point doing the program without the right diet really as you wont see the full potential of the program.

If you put in the effort you will see the gains and the beauty of the program is its simple but effective. DONT deviate from the list of exercises (unless its to change an exercise for another one as you cant do it but it still works the same muscle/s) and dont take on any advice ^^^^^^^^^^^ for working individual muscles as well unless your training to be a pretty boy with nice biceps and abs

Get that diet up and go from there.

[Birds]

Isn't that a bit contradictory? You complimented the program which includes bicep curls, then go on to say you shouldn't listen to advice for working individual muscles?

Isolation has benefits beyond looking "pretty".

[KezR33]

Bicep curls are purely to develop elbow health which is apparently needed to safely lift the kind of weighs this program will rapidly lead you towards.

Slight update, I only got one chance to go to the gym last week and it was pretty pathetic (I'm so damn unfit, let alone weak) so I won't bother posting up the results. I'll post tomorrow's though.

[xALmoN]

why don't you get some cardio put in as well.. dont wanna end up having chicken legs.

[Birds]

Squats will take care of that...cardio can be very counter productive when you're trying to get some weight on you.

[KezR33]

Okay so yesterday's workout:

Squat: 22.25 x 10/10/10

Bench: 20 x 8/8/8

Row: 25 x 8/8/8

SLD: 55 x 8/8/8

Overhead Press: 15 x 8/8/8

Curl: 12.5 x 8/8/8

All weights are in kilos, and I don't add the bar weigh (+~10kg). Overhead press and BB curl however I use the pre-set up bars which I assume acount for the bar's weight. Just starting light and will increase my weight each session till I reach failure. Should I max out before completing the number of reps, I'll repeat that same weight the next session with the goal of getting at least one more rep out.

[dezz]

Never understood why people don't include the bar weight. It's not ego stroking.

If you bench the bar with no added weights, you're not benching 0kg. Same goes for all other exercises

[Dani Boi]

2L of full cream milk a day? That's a lot of saturated fat and sugar, switch to Skim milk and remember too much calcium causes kidney stones over time so make sure you're drinking a lot of water.

[KezR33]

Never understood why people don't include the bar weight. It's not ego stroking.

If you bench the bar with no added weights, you're not benching 0kg. Same goes for all other exercises

Laziness/ease thing for me. I don't know the exact weight of the bar (closer to 8kg I think than 10kg), but I know it'll never change, plus its one less addition to think about (I record every set as soon as I complete it).

[xALmoN]

Laziness/ease thing for me. I don't know the exact weight of the bar (closer to 8kg I think than 10kg), but I know it'll never change, plus its one less addition to think about (I record every set as soon as I complete it).

not that hard to add 8kg/10kg to whatever final number you're adding bro.

[iamhe77]

Okay so yesterday's workout:

Squat: 22.25 x 10/10/10

Bench: 20 x 8/8/8

Row: 25 x 8/8/8

SLD: 55 x 8/8/8

Overhead Press: 15 x 8/8/8

Curl: 12.5 x 8/8/8

All weights are in kilos, and I don't add the bar weigh (+~10kg). Overhead press and BB curl however I use the pre-set up bars which I assume acount for the bar's weight. Just starting light and will increase my weight each session till I reach failure. Should I max out before completing the number of reps, I'll repeat that same weight the next session with the goal of getting at least one more rep out.

Add as many Tricep pushdowns/cranium crushes as curls.

Muscle imbalance is not what you'd be after and stronger tri's aid with all press movements.

Never understood why people don't include the bar weight. It's not ego stroking.

If you bench the bar with no added weights, you're not benching 0kg. Same goes for all other exercises

But if you use the same bar, why would you bother writing down the bar weight?

I guess if you are trying to impress your mates with how much you lift, the extra 10-13kg would sound better.

2L of full cream milk a day? That's a lot of saturated fat and sugar, switch to Skim milk and remember too much calcium causes kidney stones over time so make sure you're drinking a lot of water.

Please.

Full cream milk is generally 3% fat as opposed to 1% for skim. Makes f**k all difference even if you are trying to lose weight.... and it tastes like crap and generally carries less nutritional value compared to whole milk.

[Dani Boi]

Please.

Full cream milk is generally 3% fat as opposed to 1% for skim. Makes f**k all difference even if you are trying to lose weight.... and it tastes like crap and generally carries less nutritional value compared to whole milk.

Erm it's more about quantity, in 2L there is like 20g+ saturated fat and 100g+ of sugar...please

[Birds]

Never understood why people don't include the bar weight. It's not ego stroking.

If you bench the bar with no added weights, you're not benching 0kg. Same goes for all other exercises

He's right, it's proper gym etiquette to include bar weight. Barbells will most likely either be 10kg or 20kg (olympic style). Have not really seen any in-betweens.

Laziness/ease thing for me. I don't know the exact weight of the bar (closer to 8kg I think than 10kg), but I know it'll never change, plus its one less addition to think about (I record every set as soon as I complete it).

Once you get properly into it you'll start including the bar weight, because you'll start comparing yourself to what friends and other people are pressing, whether you like it or not...and inclusion of the bar is the standard. When you start plateauing, you won't need to do as many calculations and you won't even think about the weight...you'll just know it by how many plates of what physical size are on there. All becomes very habitual.

It's useful to have the total weight for calculating ratios, doing comparos and tracking progress.

[iamhe77]

Erm it's more about quantity, in 2L there is like 20g+ saturated fat and 100g+ of sugar...please

lol... did 1.5-2L of whole milk for years when I was in my 20's. I guess it all depends on your output.

[dezz]

He's right, it's proper gym etiquette to include bar weight. Barbells will most likely either be 10kg or 20kg (olympic style). Have not really seen any in-betweens.

Once you get properly into it you'll start including the bar weight, because you'll start comparing yourself to what friends and other people are pressing, whether you like it or not...and inclusion of the bar is the standard. When you start plateauing, you won't need to do as many calculations and you won't even think about the weight...you'll just know it by how many plates of what physical size are on there. All becomes very habitual.

It's useful to have the total weight for calculating ratios, doing comparos and tracking progress.

Yep, that was my point... Including the bar weight is the 'industry standard' if you want to call it that. At the end of the day, you're pushing/pulling the weight of the bar in every exercise.

[Birds]

Case in point, if you swap to a heavier bar, you're no longer going to be lifting the same "weight" if your estimate doesn't account for bar weight.

[IOWNU]

Routine looks good.

Good idea with the milk, it is great for bulking.

Post up your diet, specifically what you're eating and how often.