Starting again

oceansize

Hi there,

OK basically sick of being the skinniest bloke i know etc, have no motivation to do anything. I've recently joined a gym i used to go to when i was a tiny bit bigger to counter this.

Details:
5ft 10, small hands, wrists, slim arms, ok sized shoulders (when there's some meat on em) i look very skinny (my mate calls me philidelphia...) legs are very skinny as well, but i know i have a highish % of body fat. size 32 waist. When i put any clothes on in the shops, nothing suits me because i'm so skinny i think, and it's upsetting me.

I'd like to know what i can do to gain weight again at a decent rate and gain some nice muscle tone. With very skinny wrists and arms is it possible to gain size on them to be able to look a bit better in a t-shirt etc?

I'm trying to change alot of stuff in my life at the moment and this is my first step, i remember having alot more get up and go after i started in the gym.

Dont know what i should be doing though, i'm gonna hit the gym again for the first time tomorrow about 6ish, and i waant to know what i should be doing for the first month or so, then what i should be eating while doing it, and how much water i should be drinking etc...

i'm looking for fitness and increased size of limbs, visible muscle tone but not body builder stuff.

cheers

Colm_OReilly

Sound like a perfect candidate for Starting Strength.

Buy the book as well, very very useful.

Really anything beyond that I tell you is going to come from Rip (the author) paraphrased through me.

Roper

Was talking to a lad who trains with me who went from 9stone to 13 stone in the space of a couple of years, all bulk no flab. It's not easy but it is simple if you get my meaning.

That programme is the cheese, anyone who wants to get bigger or stronger I just lend them that book.

tits

oceansize wrote: »

Hi there,

OK basically sick of being the skinniest bloke i know etc, have no motivation to do anything. I've recently joined a gym i used to go to when i was a tiny bit bigger to counter this.

Details:
5ft 10, small hands, wrists, slim arms, ok sized shoulders (when there's some meat on em) i look very skinny (my mate calls me philidelphia...) legs are very skinny as well, but i know i have a highish % of body fat. size 32 waist. When i put any clothes on in the shops, nothing suits me because i'm so skinny i think, and it's upsetting me.

I'd like to know what i can do to gain weight again at a decent rate and gain some nice muscle tone. With very skinny wrists and arms is it possible to gain size on them to be able to look a bit better in a t-shirt etc?

I'm trying to change alot of stuff in my life at the moment and this is my first step, i remember having alot more get up and go after i started in the gym.

Dont know what i should be doing though, i'm gonna hit the gym again for the first time tomorrow about 6ish, and i waant to know what i should be doing for the first month or so, then what i should be eating while doing it, and how much water i should be drinking etc...

i'm looking for fitness and increased size of limbs, visible muscle tone but not body builder stuff.

cheers

monday

Squats

12 reps

8 reps

6 reps
6 more reps

another 6 reps

4 reps

then as many as you can with a heavy weight.


wednesday

benhc press

same reps as squat

back rows

same reps and sets as bench and squat

friday

shoulder barbell press

same reps again as squat and bench

skull crushers

same reps

barbell curls

same reps again

super set the barbell curl with the skull crushers



diet

breakfast: weight gainer shake

2 hours later have a massive roll like a subway roll and then a few yogharts a bar of snickers and some milk

3 hours later have a big carvery dinner

3 hours later have a weight gainer shake

hours later have some fish and vegtables

then before bed you can drink a load of full fat milk.


if you do the above, and focuse on lifting with correct technique with heavy enough weight, then you will get bigger and stronger.

after 3 months then you can change the routine up.

you should lift basic and heavy, there is no need to get into fancy programmes. the most important thing is feeling your muscles working hard and powerfully in the big lifts. your technique should be decent

stay away from machines, they are uncool and dont produce the goods you want.

try to be happy with the way you look and think of training hard as a means to get stronger. that way you will not over analyse tthings and you will slowly and surely get big.

you should gain 30 pounds in a year

and dont be thinking about being small. i have 6 inch wrists and upper arms are 17 when pumped.

all these rules for wrist size or bone structure dont really mean anything. my friends used to call me afro man because i was skinny like a somalien.

take it and laugh at yourself, and get on with it.

about water, drink as much water as you can. i drink about 3 litres when im training. when you are taking protien shakes then you need more water for your kidneys or womething like that.


anyways, you will get a better pump when you are trianing when you drink water.


dont be thinking " i want to tone up" there is no such thing.

toned guys are usually guys who dont train hard but are naturally lean. strive for bodybuilding and if you feel you are getting too big and icky and muscly, then stop. simple as that.

but i can promise you that you wont gain that fast, growing size and strength can be a tough so goall the way then make minor adjustments if you feel like your making too much progress.

personally i dont think theres such a thing liek too much proggress but whatever.

oceansize

ok thanks for the help, so i should be concentrating mainly on bench pressing and sqauts? I dont have the strength at the moment to do any pressups or pullups, maybe a couple.. arms are quite weak.

and i should be eating lots every day? i dont really have much money so what could i eat thats quite cheap (lots of) instead of going out and buying fish and vegetables every day? Pasta maybe? chicken?

i may have a small back injury, when i do lots of situps i get a pain in my lower back, and kinda gives me a pain like when you get pnuched in the stomach softly.

cheers again

Procasinator

oceansize wrote: »

ok thanks for the help, so i should be concentrating mainly on bench pressing and sqauts? I dont have the strength at the moment to do any pressups or pullups, maybe a couple.. arms are quite weak.

You could do press-ups with knees to get some initial strength.
Gyms usually have special apparatus to allow you to do assisted pull-ups/chin-ups, where you can adjust the lighten the assisted weight as you progress.

oceansize wrote: »

and i should be eating lots every day? i dont really have much money so what could i eat thats quite cheap (lots of) instead of going out and buying fish and vegetables every day? Pasta maybe? chicken?

I'll just throw a heap of foods out there: eggs, nuts, chicken (not neccessary that cheap I suppose), fruit & veg, turkey bacon (loving this recently), etc.

oceansize wrote: »

i may have a small back injury, when i do lots of situps i get a pain in my lower back, and kinda gives me a pain like when you get pnuched in the stomach softly.

cheers again

Look up other exercises. For instance, planks can be good and simple to do. Leg (well, knee at least in the beggining) can be pretty hard hitting.

Brian?

oceansize wrote: »

ok thanks for the help, so i should be concentrating mainly on bench pressing and sqauts? I dont have the strength at the moment to do any pressups or pullups, maybe a couple.. arms are quite weak.

i may have a small back injury, when i do lots of situps i get a pain in my lower back, and kinda gives me a pain like when you get pnuched in the stomach softly.

Concentrate on squats, bench, press, deadlift, row and pullup/latpulldown.

Follow Colm and Ropers advice, pretty much anyone on here is going to reccomend you get Starting Strength. I have it in ebook myself and re read it in work all the time.

Stop doing situps altogether, there's far better excercises for your abs.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/WaistWt.html

shels08

oceansize wrote: »

i may have a small back injury, when i do lots of situps i get a pain in my lower back, and kinda gives me a pain like when you get pnuched in the stomach softly.

forget about doin lots of sit-ups, they contribute little or nothin to a good 6 pack