I haven’t been working out seriously for very long, but considering I used to be a scrawny nothing, I think I’ve made some decent progress, but with a lot left to go. Wanted to know if you all had some suggestions for what I type of exercises I should be doing by looking at my weak(est) points.
Stats:
Height: 5’5"
Starting Weight: 136 lbs
Current Weight: 150 lbs
Key Lifts (All 5x5):
Bench: 170lbs
Dips: body weight + 50lbs
Deadlifts: 265lbs
Squats: 230lbs
Military Press: 90lbs
These two I do until failure
Pull-ups: body weight + 20lbs
Chin-ups: body weight + 20lbs
[quote]Makavali wrote:
Purely from a physique standpoint, I’ll say 4, even though I’m tempted to go for 3.
All I’ll say is your chest and back seem quite small and overall mass needs work.[/quote]
Overall I think I’m not eating even close to enough. I’m not getting the protein and calories I need to really put on the mass. I’m trying to figure out a way to cook some food to take to work with me.
Basically I’m getting a shitty breakfast, a mediocre lunch, and then whatever is for dinner. I also do a whey protein shake after workout sessions.
But yeah, I appreciate the honesty. Like I said I used to just be a little meat slapped on some bones. This is kind of like my base line starting point, I’ll come back with pics in 6 or so months, we’ll see if I improve.
[quote]BoS wrote:
Overall I think I’m not eating even close to enough. I’m not getting the protein and calories I need to really put on the mass. I’m trying to figure out a way to cook some food to take to work with me.
Basically I’m getting a shitty breakfast, a mediocre lunch, and then whatever is for dinner. I also do a whey protein shake after workout sessions.[/quote]
What’s your typical breakfast? I have a pretty rushed morning, so I’ll usually have Metabolic Drive Complete + Water or Oatmeal + Milk.
If you want to get more food in, the best thing to do (IMHO) would be to start trying for 6 meals a day, all with some form of protein, and tapering off the carbs as you progress through the day. If you can afford it, Low-Carb Metabolic Drive + 2x Z12 capsules before bed works for me.
If you can dial in that diet, I give you about 6-8 months to be a big step up from now.
I agree with Mak. You are not at a point where you need to nit-pick points. Overall mass gain would probably be in your best interest. Decent physique, and good job giving us all the pics.
What’s your typical breakfast? I have a pretty rushed morning, so I’ll usually have Metabolic Drive Complete + Water or Oatmeal + Milk.
If you want to get more food in, the best thing to do (IMHO) would be to start trying for 6 meals a day, all with some form of protein, and tapering off the carbs as you progress through the day. If you can afford it, Low-Carb Metabolic Drive + 2x Z12 capsules before bed works for me.
If you can dial in that diet, I give you about 6-8 months to be a big step up from now.[/quote]
Yah, I wake up with about an hour to get from out of bed to out the door on my way to work. My breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal, or an English muffin with some cheese on it while I make my turkey and cheese sandwich lunch, yogurt, and some carrots, sometimes an apple too. I need more protein. I’ll look into what you’re talking about there. I need to get some friggen chicken.
[quote]BoS wrote:
Yah, I wake up with about an hour to get from out of bed to out the door on my way to work. My breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal, or an English muffin with some cheese on it while I make my turkey and cheese sandwich lunch, yogurt, and some carrots, sometimes an apple too.
I need more protein. I’ll look into what you’re talking about there. I need to get some friggen chicken.[/quote]
Turkey ain’t bad - keep it in your diet if you can afford it. Some people claim it’s better than chicken! My typical diet is as follows:
Breakfast: Oatmeal & Milk (Or M-Drive Complete & Water) with 2 glasses of water + Vitamin Tablet (Can you get Berocca over there?).
“Brunch”: Low-carb Metabolic Drive & Milk with 2 glasses of water.
Lunch: Anything with chicken or turkey + copious amounts of fibrousgreens with 2 glasses of water.
Afternoon Tea: Low-Carb Metabolic Drive + Milk with… wait for it… 2 glasses of water.
Dinner: Some form of meat (chicken breast, lamp/pork chop) cooked on my trusty George Foreman grill, with a small side of green vegetables with 2 glasses of water.
30-60 minutes before bed: Low-carb Metabolic Drive + Water with 1 glass of water. Yes, 1 glass.
And I throw in a limited amount of various “snacks” in there i.e. Almonds, Cashews, etc.
Turkey ain’t bad - keep it in your diet if you can afford it. Some people claim it’s better than chicken! My typical diet is as follows:
Breakfast: Oatmeal & Milk (Or M-Drive Complete & Water) with 2 glasses of water + Vitamin Tablet (Can you get Berocca over there?).
“Brunch”: Low-carb Metabolic Drive & Milk with 2 glasses of water.
Lunch: Anything with chicken or turkey + copious amounts of fibrousgreens with 2 glasses of water.
Afternoon Tea: Low-Carb Metabolic Drive + Milk with… wait for it… 2 glasses of water.
Dinner: Some form of meat (chicken breast, lamp/pork chop) cooked on my trusty George Foreman grill, with a small side of green vegetables with 2 glasses of water.
30-60 minutes before bed: Low-carb Metabolic Drive + Water with 1 glass of water. Yes, 1 glass.
And I throw in a limited amount of various “snacks” in there i.e. Almonds, Cashews, etc.[/quote]
That all seems very doable… would you say you’re getting good mass gain results from all that? There’s no pics of you in your profile, but I’ll take your word for it if you’re seeing good gains and I’ll try to work out something like that. Thanks for the tips.
[quote]BoS wrote:
That all seems very doable… would you say you’re getting good mass gain results from all that? There’s no pics of you in your profile, but I’ll take your word for it if you’re seeing good gains and I’ll try to work out something like that. Thanks for the tips.[/quote]
I didn’t put the quantity, simply because I eat a lot of food, and it can be off putting to some people. But that works for me, just get a decent amount of food in at Breakfast & Lunch and don’t be cheap with Dinner!
I didn’t put the quantity, simply because I eat a lot of food, and it can be off putting to some people. But that works for me, just get a decent amount of food in at Breakfast & Lunch and don’t be cheap with Dinner![/quote]
I always have a sizeable dinner, but that’s also probably because I have such a shitty breakfast and lunch. I can definitely eat. I have no problem packing in the food, it’s just a matter of availability of said food.
I just realized that my leg shot got taken down or something. I definitely put one up. Ah well, I think you get the idea of my legs from the calves shot.
Your dinner should never be the biggest meal of the day. I agree with the 6 a day program, you won’t feel super hungry and have the need to gorge during dinner (I used to be like that). Try eating a higher fat meal at the beginning of the day, like cold cut salmon and cream cheese. It sits heavier and fills you up.
My days are long too and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t deviate from my diet from time to time. When you have some time off, make a gigantic pot of whole grain pasta. Mix in your fav trimmings (mine are chicken, tomatoes, spinach, onions, mushrooms, etc.) Use an olive oil/vinegrette or another sauce of your choosing. Put it a big bowl or single serving containers and you got your lunches for the week. Saves time. Anyways a clean diet is key to bulking properly, so take the time to research and ask lots of questions. Cheers
way too early to be posting here. and as i often say to the countless premature posters - at least you’ll have some great “before” photos should you manage to make some genuine progress in a year or 2.
[quote]pachell wrote:
You going deep on your squats? For 5x5 @ 230# your wheels don’t look right (same thing with chest, form/tempo/etc?).
Eat, sleep, train, and put a ton of mass on all over.[/quote]
I knocked 40lbs off the squats today and did basically ass to ankle deep squats. I think I can go a little heavier, but it was a start because I wasn’t going nearly as far down with the 230lbs. So I’ll work my way up from there.
One more quick question… in order to put on actual mass, should I be doing more than 5 reps per set? I keep reading that 3-5 is for strength, 6-8 for strength/hypertrophy, and 9-12 for hypertrophy…
Is my 5x5 program going to help put on mass or should I up the reps?
