Bicep Gap

What does facebook have to do with anything? My facebook profile isn’t associated with this site. I think you’re mistaken on that one…

At one point they stopped supporting the forums because they wanted everyone to meet up and discuss their articles and supps on facebook which is a much bigger audience.

Maybe its fixed now but every browser i tried it would log me out everytime i changed a page. It was unusable. I’m only here now because i’m getting notifications all the sudden on this old thread on my email.

Lol there’s nothing wrong with asking that I don’t mind. I’m 5’6" 135 pounds 18 years old and have very low fat levels and I’m pretty fit been doing Calisthenics casually for about a year and a half and strictly lifting for half a year but before that I used to lift casually like one to three times a week here and there, I started doing a 5 day split half a year ago and now have an olympic benchpress at home so I can hit chest and squat and deadlift at home, but the main thing I can’t and have been trying for the past year or so is gain mass, I’ve gained a little bit of mass since I’ve been strictly lifting but I feel like I’m hitting a peak even though I’m still not big enough, I’ve also been eating at least 3000 calories a day and watching my carb and protein intake but that still doesn’t seem to work because I have a very high metabolism like I would need to eat atleast 4500 cals a day to gain some mass but I just can’t eat that much, I went from eating 1500-2000 a day to 3000-3500 a day and that was already hard enoguh

Flipcollar, just go to any “article” on T-nation and at the bottom if you want to comment, you have to do so on Facebook. To me, it’s a horrible mess and it really degraded the service the site offered, but I’m only 1 person out of x members. When I don’t like something, I just move on…

Happy lifting!

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Velvetwalrus, pizza is your friend…

Unless you’re trying to eat a ‘clean’ 4500 cals, then it’s pretty tough and you’ll be supplementing with a lot of shakes. The site used to have a few good articles on how to pack on weight and one of them I referenced a lot in my posts - god knows how to search for that now though…

Good luck!

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Dude, you need to worry about your biceps gap like I need to worry about missing my period.

[quote=“velvetwalrus, post:63, topic:145992”]
I’ve also been eating at least 3000 calories a day and watching my carb and protein intake[/quote]
You’re young, skinny, and lean. You shouldn’t be “watching your carb intake”. You should be eating egg salad sandwiches and burgers and mashed potatoes and milkshakes and pretty much anything you want. You need to learn how to overeat and force your body to gain weight.

You can. Plenty of guys have. It sucks and it’s harder than any workout you’ll do, but you can. Tons of threads have discussed tips for getting in more calories. But first, make sure you actually are eating as much as you think.

A huge problem with skinny guys is that they eat one or two big meals and let that stuffed feeling carryover and trick them into thinking they ate more than they actually did. What, exactly, did you eat yesterday? (Actually, now would be a good time for you to start a new thread so we can sort out the real issue instead of hijacking this very old thread.)

The default discussion area is now on Facebook, but there’s never been anything stopping members from discussing articles on the forums. As always, just start a new thread and get talking. But for whatever reason people don’t seem to want to do that.

Now that I’m here… they seem to of really overhauled the forums. Props for that. It’s about time.

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I see what you’re saying now. I used to read the articles, but I stopped reading them awhile ago when they added so many contributors. It seems like anyone can write an article these days. I’ve never tried to post on articles, just the forums, so I had no idea what you were talking about. The forums format has been substantially upgraded in the last few months. Took a minute to get used to it, but they’re quite user friendly. You can do a lot more in posts, more easily, than before.

Dude, you’re tiny. You have not hit any peak. Are you ACTUALLY eating 3000 calories, every single day? Or do you miss some days? How are you tracking calories?

I was smaller than you when I was 18. I was 130 lbs, and 5’10 when I started lifting. So I can relate to where you’re at. If you really want to get better at lifting, get bigger and stronger, you need to eat more. As much as you can stomach. I used to eat til I felt sick, and I did it often. I’m 200 lbs now, and still lean. YOU CAN DO IT!!! It’s just hard :slight_smile:

I also suggest eating A LOT of carbs along with a lot of protein.

I’m gonna check out that Forced Metabolism article, The problem is that I think I have some digestive problems because I’m usually full for 2 to 2 and a half hours or so after I eat a big meal, but what I’ve tried to do is wake up earlier and stuff my face like I’m talking 2 or 3 eggs, 2 small cups of lactose free milk, a big bologna and cheese sandwich and 1 or 2 servings of 8g protein oatmeal, and sometimes eat a bunch of baby carrots If I’m feeling it. Ik that might not be much for some of you. But then after that I wait until I can get another meal in and eat as much as possible faster then get another 2 big meals in for the rest of the day while snacking in between. So that’s 4 big meals sometimes 5 but I don’t track calories every day, just track like every once in a while but I’m pretty confident I get like 3000 average, I’d say lowest day 2500 and highest like almost 3500

I responded to Chris, that should answer some of your questions, and ya I agree I’m still not big at all that’s what I’m confused about, I know at my age and couple years training there’s no way I’d be at a peak already but it just feels like I am, I can’t gain any fat and barely build muscle even while training a lot. I went from 130 to 135 in like 4 months which is very slow and that was basically all muscle because I’m still just as skinny my triceps and quads just got a tiny bit bigger but enough to where I can notice it, My whole inner chest is lacking no matter how much I close grip bench incline and decline or do chest dips, the only thing that seems to pack on a little bit of muscle on my chest is doing pushups every day. Oh and you really need to teach me your ways man, I don’t even want to be 200 just wanna get to like 165 lean, but Idk maybe It’s because I’m still 18 and need to wait until I’m in my early 20’s to fully develop and have my metabolism slow down, the thing is I’m scared it will take a while because I’ve been told by my doctor that I have a really fast metabolism since I was younger.

I can almost guarantee you’re not eating as much as you think you are. That’s why I asked about calorie tracking. Most small guys overestimate their food intake, often by thousands of calories per week. Eat more. EAT. MORE.

I had some of my best gains when I was your age. I added nearly 30 lbs in the first year I was working out. I ate a lot of pasta, eggs, WHOLE milk, chicken, protein shakes, rice, bread, etc. As much as I could. I didn’t count calories, but I ate until I felt sick as often as I could afford to. Gradually, I was able to eat more and more by pushing myself. I have a fast metabolism too. It’s always hard for me to add weight. But it’s not impossible. You will never get stronger if you don’t start eating more, no matter how good your workouts are.

I like to share this picture because it gives a clear picture of what I started with. I was NOT built to be big. The picture on the left was when I was 18. If I can do it, you can do it!

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Nobody who weighs less than 140 pounds needs to worry about their biceps peak or their inner chest or quad sweep or any other similar detail unless they’re on stage in pro-tan wearing a speedo trying to win a trophy.

I will say, your avatar is better condition than I expected. Still, if you want to build muscle, you need food, plenty of it and often. I agree with Flip that you’re almost-certainly just not eating as much as you think.

Take the time to make a super-simple food log for a week or so. Nothing about weighing, measuring, or counting. Simply write down what and when you eat. Use rough estimates if necessary. “Handful of carrots”, “half a plate of ham”, “Large Mountain Dew”, whatever. Either use the notepad on your phone or text it to your own email, whatever’s easy, as long as you actually do it.

Feeling very full after a very big meal isn’t the sign of a digestive problem. It’s a sign of just having eaten a very big meal. Which is why I said the required eating can be harder than any workout, because it takes willpower, discipline, and some discomfort, multiple times a day everyday. Chewable papaya enzymes can help, popping a few with each meal.

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Damn. your arms were way smaller than mine are right now, I think I’m gonna start eating pasta because I barely do, I eat rice a fair amount like 3 or 4 days a week but I might start eating it everyday as well as lean chicken and and steamed vegetables because I haven’t eaten chicken in a while, oh and how far apart are those two pics? That had to have taken you at least like 3 to 4 years, right?

So just log every meal for a week straight, should I be looking at the amount of calories each day and see how much more I need and fit that in the day? oh and the digestive problem thing isn’t just a guess, I have these things called Polyps in my stomach and intestines, they’re basically noncancerous growths, I got an abdominal surgery almost 2 years ago to remove the more serious Polyp, but people with polyps usually have like abdominal issues and stuff so I’m inclined to think I may have trouble digesting quick enough, I also wake up every day feeling full and bloated and usually have to wait an hour before I can eat breakfast, that’s also one of the reasons I started waking up earlier.

12 years.

But, to be fair, I didn’t lift weights all of that time. In college, I put on a fair amount of muscle, but in my early 20’s, I developed a drug habit, and lost most of it. In my mid 20’s, I re-dedicated myself to the gym. The picture is when I was 30. In the picture I think I was like 190 lbs. I’m 32 now, and I’m about 200, and leaner.

I haven’t had polyps, but I do have trouble with breakfast. It usually helps me to just try to eat SOMETHING, anything when I wake up, even if I don’t have an appetite. It helps to stimulate my appetite so I’ll be hungrier about an hour later.

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Lmao - there was a good South Park where Cartman got his first period.

This is quite possibly the funniest analogy I have ever seen in answering a “don’t sweat the small stuff” issue. I’m so stealing this one Chris.

S

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Holy shit, I thought you were like in your early 20’s in the second pic haha. So does that mean I’m gonna have to wait a while or do you think a goal of like 165 or 170 achievable for me before I’m 22 let’s say, that’s 4 years from now and I’d have to put on at least 25-30 pounds of muscle, I wouldn’t mind putting on a little bit of fat unless I have to dirty bulk but idk I’m really not for a dirty bulk people say it isn’t worth it, what I wanna do is just put on a reasonable amount of muscle and a little fat but still stay under 10%