Ok, It’s been a few weeks since the support group “disappeared” so I figured that I would continue the quest. Since the conception of the ORIGINAL SBSG I have moved up from 163 (disgusting) to 171lbs. This was in the period of a month! (don’t know how it is possible to gain so much weight but I aint complaining.) Thanks to guys like the big man whopper and the other SB’s like Timbo Dre and Nate Dogg. I am very interested to see how you other SB’s are doing with your holy quest to be offensively large!
Yo what up guys. About time this damn post came back. I am 6"3 and 160 lbs. Struggling to gain weight. So any help, training info whateva u guys wanna put would be helpful. Thanks
Good work puppy. I think whopper has been busy of late (and hope all is well at home if you read this bg guy) but Id recommend you for a promotion from “puppy” to “dawg”. Since the last SB post Ive actually been on a holy quest to get … holy. Been reading and thinking heaps and just got back from a 1000 mile car pilgamige to climb the 1000 foot core of an old volcano, gaze over the horizon and take stock and give thanks (the volcano was more of a 10 mile trek with minimal climbing and ladders and chains for the timid but when we got to the top our mobile phones gave our location as “heaven”). Im glad to say my lagging soul has caught up having shot from 90 pounds to a ripped 175 since the last SB post and the female firm options have gone from none to 3 (which Im sure is no coincidence). Ive still trained with weights 2x per week minimum and made progress (my proudest being 8x220 bench, 8x110 bb curl, 18 chins, 200 bw squats, 120 pushups) and am in the progress of coming up with a training “guide” with Timbo (where you at bro?). Having said all that, in a few days the next bulk starts with massive eating (Im staying on it anyway but i will up the calories) creatine (2nd cycle) and chest and calf prioritisation (luke saunders). I hope nate, timbo, whopper, hoser and the others are doing this or are ready to “get serious” as arnold said in pumping iron.
I’m still around boys. I’m having to take a week off from the game though. Went to a wedding this weekend and partied a little too hard. It was the first time in a while that I’ve been with some of my old boys from high school, so things got a little out of hand. 3K cals from Coors Light and white wine doesn’t do many favours for one’s physique. I feel like crap and am holding a few extra pounds (I’m sure it’s just water though). So I’m going to use the week to catch up on some rest and prepare mentally for the next 10 weeks, in which I will go all out and hopefully get up to 180 lbs. I’m at 164 right now. So until next Monday, adios SBs.
Puppy…way to go, my man. You’re working hard and things are paying off. Stay confident, focused and driven. Above all, stay enthusiastic and energetic and the gains will keep coming your way. I like Dre’s idea of a promotion to Dawg
Dre...interesting events of late for you, eh? That's wonderful that you've expanded yourself in so many directions, and realized the spiritual aspects of life...it will no doubt have a great influence on many aspects of your life--including your training...way to go with the ladies too, my man. I'm still working on *Lookin' Good Nekid*, bro. Sorry, but I just moved into a new apartment, started summer classes and have had just a thing or two going down...hope ya understand and realize I didn't forget about ya or our proj, bro. I did contact Shoogs and we have the thumbs up!
As for Timbo…I’ve been as focused and confident as ever in the weight room and in the kitchen. I’ve been back in the gym for just over two weeks, following a week of active recovery. I’m doing a first–training only four days/week, with cardio on two of three recovery days. My weights and reps are increasing nicely, although the numbers on the scale aren’t so cooperative. I’m still an SB, but I’m driven, excited, enthusiastic, and most importantly I’m really confident in my methods and have the right attitude. I will continue to add the calories until I get to the sacred 1 to 2 pounds per week. Dre, the mind is a wonderful tool, and in the middle of sets getting serious is a breeze when I visualize guys like arnold and use awesome techniques like that. Nate’s in Hotlanta this week…Hoser’s a hung over mofo…and I too hope my man, double Whopper with cheese, is good to go and the sitch on the homefront is looking on the up and up.
I’ve been tracking all of you guys since I joined the forum, and also because my boy Timbo is involved. After sitting back, and soaking up everything that is going on with you scrawny bastards, I figured I owed it to all scrawny bastards to help them out. So I am prepared to give my $0.02. Hell, I was one of the founding fathers of the scrawny bastards, and have already set two fellow brothers straight here at home since school ended. So now, I’ll weigh in on this subject with some of the things that helped me get from a 6’ 155lb scrawny bastard to a solidly built 6’ 206lb beefcake.
First of all, Timbo how much cardio are you doing? Twice a week sounds a lot, especially for a hardgainer. For me, I cut cardio out. Not completely per se. I would do ten minutes on the bike, moderately, after two workouts throughout the week. The key for hardgainers is to limit caloric expending activities outside of pounding the weights. Your calories are like loot brothers, HOLD ON TO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!! Secondly, as far as food goes, eat more solid food meals as opposed to supplementation. For instance, I would eat 7 times a day. Five of these meals would be solid food (the other two, one shake after training, the other an hour before bed). Don't be afraid of beef. Love beef, respect beef. It should be your friend. If all solid food sounds too difficult, then compromise with calorie dense foods/supplements. For instance, my mom is a nurse. While I was bulking, I literally slammed two-three cans of Ensure Plus (the drink of Grandparents) each has 13 g pro, 50 g carb, and 360 calories. They taste damn good, but they are expensive, and I got them for free. Milkshakes with whole milk and peanut butter work as well.
I'm not gonna preach to all of you. I am sure you are eating like mofos and training your azzez off, but like I said, I know what worked for me and thought the knowledge I gained from being a scrawny bastard would come in handy...laters.....SCREEL
Aight, my name has changed as a result of my promoiton from the 160’s class to the 170’s but other than that its the same old me. I have been noticing that I am getting a little role of fat around my gut. It’s nothing serious… I can still see an “outline” of my abs and I can see a two pack (you know, the top two abdominals that never get any fat on them). My lagging bodyparts are my legs and my chest. I can barely do 135 for 15 reps on squat ass to grass of course. I never did any powerlifting, all I EVER did was bodybuilding stuff, so I am weak as hell but look alot stronger than I actually am. My friends can not beleive that my 1rm in bench is only 200. (they all are smaller with little chests and can still bench more than I can). I will try some of the suggestions in the “MY CHEST WON’T GROW” post to help with that. last I heard, MB Eric was struggling with his chest too. The good news is that I have been making consistent gains with my “Eat till ya vomit then eat that” policy. 1 gallon of milk per day and about 5 eggs per day and two cans of tuna in addition to my other 4 meals also alot of whey protien shakes. No REAL supps at this point, as in androsol or anything. Anyone have any suggestions on how to beef up my legs cause I really think that my legs are what’s holding my back. I have been doing 2 warm up sets of 100lbs for 10 reps and then 1 set of 130lbs for 15 reps and then 2 more sets of 135lbs for 15…then out at the track I do 3 sprints. I am crying and puking all over the goddamn place by the end of this workout. any leg beefing suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
hey dawg well here is ma first suggestion keep the name as puppy on the porch i belive when you hit 190 thats when you should call your self it ne ways my lightest when i first got into it was 163 at 12% bf i am now 186 at 15% bf so am about to start a cutting phase tomorrow i think i will, ne ways for your legs try this ; it worked for me
start off with some stretching for at least 10 mins stretch everything, not just your legs.
do a set of 20 squats with just the bar with a 323 tempo rest for 2 mins
squat (wide stance) 1 set 8 reps
32X tempo
rest 1 min
squat (wide stance) 1 set 1 rep at 90 % maximum
( 1/4 squat ) 21X tempo
rets 2 mins
squat (wide stance) 1 set 8 reps
222 tempo
rest one min
standing with bar in squat position on shoulders 1 min at 150 % of squat
max
rest 90 secs
1 min at 200% of squat
max
squat (shoulder stance) 1 set of 8-10 reps
515 tempo
finished
x being explosive.
Been lifting for 6 years. At 5’7" I weigh in at 172# @ 8% bf (±1%). People think I’m “larger than the average guy”, but when I look at myself, I get depressed. I think my main problem is that I was always fat, so I’ve never really dedicated myself to getting huge. I was up to 20% bf in January due to winter bulking and strength training (yes, I know I did it wrong to gain so much fat, I know better now), so in three more weeks, when I’m done with my cutting phase and hopefully about 6% bf, I’m going to spend 10 weeks totally dedicated to mass building and I expect to gain 10# and will settle for nothing less. Good luck to the rest of y’all, which are also never satisfied and probably have skrawnophobia like me.
FFB, those have to be the most confusing directions I have ever read. Interesting though, as I am about to start the leg part of my workout program today(just started yesterday) and squats are what I am doing first. Think you could explain it a tad better?
Chalupa…I’m 5’6 175, so why don’t you earn your namesake, go to Taco Bell, and eat some f**king Chalupas!!!
Thats good news Timbo - now we just need to get it technically sound and to a polished tmag standard. Excellent advice screel - Id agree 100% and honestly eat beef by the pound when I bulk ($5 per pound from a local takeaway). On that tip, im a huge creatine fan (I really think everyone will respond to it and gain to some degree if taken properly) and hear you can get 5 grams of creatine from only 2 pounds of beef. Sup FFB - another old school SB from previous sb threads. Dawg - I think the name is deserved (whopper permitting ;). Your reps for squats are at the upper end of the hypertrophy range (ie 10-15). Lower reps and more sets will increase your squat strength alot faster (eg 5x5, 6-1) and will allow you to get more weight on the bar to force further adaptations (and increased size if your nutrition is adequate right through the recovery phase). My best strength gains have come from triples (sets of 3 reps) for 6-10 sets although Id go for slightly higher reps on squats and stay tight. Generally, the lower the reps the more sets you need so I try to get at least 20-30 reps all up. For my part, I did a “push” workout yesterday and all the poundages are more or less the same as before my pilgramige. Im scheduled for a 10 mile run tonight with a 6 foot honey (ill be sure to fall back and zone out on the size 8 butt) and also plan a pull workout (of some form ;)).
Screel, my man, wassup! Every time I type Screel or see it, I can’t help but think of supa fly Screech from Saved by the Bell…don’t take offense, bro, just playin’! Thanks for droppin’ some knowledge on us…now it’s just a dayum shame that I am so ignorant and didn’t catch up with ya long ago at the beginning of the year…you coulda taken me under your wing and shown me the T-man way long ago…cardio? 2 times/week on non-training days for 20-30 minutes, mix of biking and/or joggin/running on T-mill, at varying intensities from 60-75% HRR; I was previously doing cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, but this has been abolished. I also do a 10-minute cooldown after weights at 60-65% HRR. beef? Beef is my friend, Screel, I love beef–but I stick to eye of the round and top round–Pay Less had a hella sale last week and I got my hook up. solid food? It’s my pride and joy. I currently get my grub on 7 times/day and only PW Surge comes in liquid form–sometimes a whey and PB shake–but I love food and enjoying what I eat, so I get as much real food as possible–I have no problem taking the chicken and rice into class:-) Thanks again, Screel, and keep your eye out.
Dawg...you're an inspiration, kid. Keep fighting the good fight. As far as your leg dilemma...I think Dre's makes a great point. 15 rep sets are a hella lot, bro. How 'bout doing a couple sets in the 6-8 range, then maybe a couple in the 10-15 range...nice to hear you're going arse to the grass, though:-) I would say even go parallel on some of your heavy sets. I'm sticking in the 5-7 range on the big exercises right now. For squats, I like to treat each rep as a mini-set...by that I mean, as I near the end of the set, I may take an extra breath before descending--not in a lock-out, tension always on the quads--I may be shaking like a leaf, but stay focused and be an animal. Also, I like the sprints, maybe every other workout though. Are you doing a hip-dominant day also (sorry for the short-term memory:-)? Good luck, Dawg!
since the “real” puppy on the porch has been promoted, im gonna take his handle. For i am also one of the 160 lb bastards. Im doing what i can_eating alot and lifting hard. i got a question though, what rep range should i lift in. Whopper,dre,timbo, and dawg on the porch, ur advice would be aweseome
Dre, I approve dawg on the porches promotion…nice job. I have yet to see Timbo weights…so to me he is just doing some empty talking…I DONT HEAR YOU TIMBO!! Well, yes lately life has been hell, but it is starting to settle down a bit. As far as my weight…256 up from 248. I will respond to a few of the newbies when I get a few seconds…welcome aboard guys!
Timbo, when you say to do 6-8 reps and then 10-15 reps is this to train all of the types of muscle fibers in my quads to total death? You think that would be more efficient whopper? Oh yeah, I also train my hamstrings in the 6-8 rep range all the time cause those are fast twitch dominant…I only found out about that recently by shuffling through some of the things polquin has said in previous t-mag issues…so i am just starting to incorporate that, I used to do 10 reps for hams.
Pup on the Porch…Capitalize the P in Pup and the P in Porch, aight, hate to give ya a hard time bout that but hey, you use my old handle, you gots ta do it right. AAAAAnnnyways… Pup, what was your old handle, like mine before I changed it was BigDog (no relation to the current BigDawg)…just curious. How old is everyone of us SB’s here anyways? Me, 17.5 yrs
Welcome back Whopper. It’s good to hear from you, your advice is always killer. By the way, this is really Hoser, I’m using a new handle for the time being, man I was wasted :). I’ve put in a few sessions of cardio at the gym for damage control and I think everything is back to normal. Bulking resumes Saturday!
Dawg on the porch, I am not big on sprints for leg growth. I am a lucky guy in the leg department, it is my guns that are a bitch…but they are coming along. For hammies, I like to do leg curls followed by deads…I feel preexausting the hammies helps save my back from strain when it comes to deads. Squats will hit your ass and quads…so preexaust again with some leg extentions first. break up quads and hams on different days, and do supersets, using higer reps on the preexaust. For example, leg extention set to 10-12 then squat set to 6-8. Always worked like a charm for me.
Dre bro, I wanted to let you know I am trying something new based on your post reguarding keeping the same workout. I am going to try this for 3 months and let you know. Basicially it is a heavy compound movement program with a twist. The basics are Day 1 Chest/Tris Day 2 Back/Shoulders Day 3 Hams/quads/bis Day 4 rest. The twist is that the first workout is logged and is designed to max out each time. The second workout for that bodypart…is 100% instinctive, no logging, doing whatever exercises you want that day (including foo foo excercises). So for example Chest/Tri day consists of: 6 sets bench (looking to pyrimid and max out on a 2rm) close grip 3 sets, DB (touching DB the whole time) press 4 sets, pressdowns 3 sets and rvs pressdowns 2 sets. Now this excercise group you are always looking to max out on, and this will be my staple program for the next 3 months. However, the chest workout 5 days later after the max one, is 100% instinctive, doing ANY excersizes, any rep scheme…just a free for all, with NO recording of weights or reps or anything. 5 days later you do the above program again…looking to max out and beat all previous rep records logged above. My theroy is that the free for all workout every other time will add enough muscle confusion (besides keeping it fun) that you shouldnt get stale, and yet your “fixed” workout day you can constantly improve your progress without changing your routine. I will let you know how it works.