[ARCHIVED THREAD] - three weeks in! (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 12/24/2012 7:22:22 AM EDT
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Based on my lifestyle as of two weeks ago, I predict I would have died of a heart attack by age 55 or 60. I am almost two weeks in to not smoking and appear to be pretty much over it. I got a particularly nasty case of bronchitis that was so bad I physically couldn't smoke for a week. And then, wallah, I have no desire to smoke anymore. I figure, while I'm at it, now that I have an extra two hours of time to do stuff every day, I should consider exercise and fitness. I am still in school, which means I have access to a very nice gym for free. There is also a gym at my apartment complex. My main problem is I am skinny. I am so skinny it is painful to do normal gun owner things. For example, if I wear the wrong belt and holster (kydex instead of leather), I get severe bruising on my hip bones after a USPSA match. My hip bones kind of "stick out" of the fatty parts of my hips. I get severe pain shooting prone position at NRA high power matches. My knees and hips get bruised, and my wrist (about as skinny as the average 5th graders) is in pain for a week thanks to the sling. I also appear to be losing weight. When I started undergrad, I was 135. I gained 10 lbs my freshman year and kept it on until now. I'm down to 139. When I get stressed out about school I tend to forget to eat.  The thing is, I don't know where to start. No one in my family is athletic. No one really goes to gyms. At 6' tall and 140, I have so little muscle mass and fat that fucking something up could very easily lead to severe injury. I've posted similar threads in the past, but since I successfully quit smoking, I feel like I actually mean it this time. My goal is to increase strength (primarily endurance), and increase my weight so that I don't get bruised due to protruding bones, and so that I don't resemble a prisoner at Dachau circa 1943.  P.S. Based on the disgust of my friends when they watch me eat, I eat twice as much as a normal person. I am the kind of person that can order a giant ass plate of food that most can't finish, devour it in 2 minutes, and get seconds. A common sentiment is that if most folks ate like I do, they would gain 100 lbs in a year. So I don't think caloric intake is the problem. |
| I'm in a similar boat. I'm 5'10" and the other day I noticed had crept under 140. My problem is that if I'm not exercising, I lose weight. I've been trying to get off my ass and eat as much as humanly possible. I'm usually in the mid 150's when healthy, but in the 160s is probably a good "fit" weight for me. |
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If you are in it for strength, read the above sticky on starting strength. Drink a gallon of milk a day and eat like you normally do. You will put on mass. P.S. do pendlay rows instead of power cleans. Not only are they easier to learn, I really see no point in doing power cleans unless you are playing a sport or doing olympic competitions.
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I seriously doubt you are eating as much as you think you are. Sure you might stuff a whole pizza in your belly one night but you probably didn't eat anything else that day. I have casually observed many a skinny "hard gainer" and this has been the case 100% of the time even with the ones that claim they eat so much and can't gain weight.
Like soonerborn said do starting strength and GOMAD. Good on ya for quitting smoking. |
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Yeah.. Pendlay rows are NOT the same or a viable alternative to Powercleans... Powercleans teach and work on explosivity... which is useful for things beyond sports... Jesus, Lifting weights is a sport... Penlay rows are just a good exercise in general. Powercleans aren't difficult to learn. it's the full clean that is a skill move. Power/muscle variants aren't too difficult. =================== SKinny? Drink a gallon of whole or chocolate milk/day. Do Starting strength. Enjoy getting REALLY huge REALLY fast. and don't be a bitch about it. "I'll just do leg presses instead of squats, it's the same muscles"... Shit like that will derail your gains like none-other. |
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When I say I'm starting from square one, I also mean I have no clue what the technical jargon is. I'm looking through the links in the faq and it is not helping. ETA: When I get back to NC I'm going to research and see if there are any physical trainers available through the school. |
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Quoted: Yeah.. Pendlay rows are NOT the same or a viable alternative to Powercleans... Powercleans teach and work on explosivity... which is useful for things beyond sports... Jesus, Lifting weights is a sport... Penlay rows are just a good exercise in general. Powercleans aren't difficult to learn. it's the full clean that is a skill move. Power/muscle variants aren't too difficult. =================== SKinny? Drink a gallon of whole or chocolate milk/day. Do Starting strength. Enjoy getting REALLY huge REALLY fast. and don't be a bitch about it. "I'll just do leg presses instead of squats, it's the same muscles"... Shit like that will derail your gains like none-other. I'll concede to your knowledge on lifting. It just seems after I switched to rows my lifts started progressing better. I know cleans are supposed to help my dead, but the row seems to have helped bench and squat. |
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If you are in it for strength, read the above sticky on starting strength. Drink a gallon of milk a day and eat like you normally do. You will put on mass. P.S. do pendlay rows instead of power cleans. Not only are they easier to learn, I really see no point in doing power cleans unless you are playing a sport or doing olympic competitions. Link appears to be goofed up. Mods, any way to get that fixed? I'd like to see it. |
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Quoted: Yeah.. Pendlay rows are NOT the same or a viable alternative to Powercleans... Powercleans teach and work on explosivity... which is useful for things beyond sports... Jesus, Lifting weights is a sport... Penlay rows are just a good exercise in general. Powercleans aren't difficult to learn. it's the full clean that is a skill move. Power/muscle variants aren't too difficult. =================== SKinny? Drink a gallon of whole or chocolate milk/day. Do Starting strength. Enjoy getting REALLY huge REALLY fast. and don't be a bitch about it. "I'll just do leg presses instead of squats, it's the same muscles"... Shit like that will derail your gains like none-other. Further, you could even do clean pulls which are even easier...a retarded monkey could learn them in 20 minutes- and you'll get a lot of the same power benefits from them. |
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Okay, I thoroughly read this. Man, I hate milk, and its a little expensive to drink a gallon a day.  I suppose its time to start getting creative in how to fix beans. Anyway, most of these exercises I put in the "dangerous if you don't know what you're doing" category. what weights does one generally start with? |
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Quoted: ANY exercise is dangerous if not done properly, and a hell of a lot less useful than squats and DL. If you don't know what you're doing try to find someone that does to help you out. Watch the "so you think you can squat/bench" videos and Mark Rippetoes videos on youtube. Video yourself to compare and post here and we can help too. Okay, I thoroughly read this. Man, I hate milk, and its a little expensive to drink a gallon a day. I suppose its time to start getting creative in how to fix beans. Anyway, most of these exercises I put in the "dangerous if you don't know what you're doing" category. what weights does one generally start with? |
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When I say I'm starting from square one, I also mean I have no clue what the technical jargon is. I'm looking through the links in the faq and it is not helping.
ETA: When I get back to NC I'm going to research and see if there are any physical trainers available through the school. Couch, I have some videos uploades I'll IM you. Watch the technique carefully Then get out there and do it. Look around in the gym and see how little people actually do and you're about to do weigh (pun) more. Ha. GOMAD = gallon of milk a day Gunguy, roland, and darktide provide tons of help. Maybe some of them will IM you a number to help. I think I still have your phone number. If you got mine hit me up. I'm a newb though. |
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Based on my lifestyle as of two weeks ago, I predict I would have died of a heart attack by age 55 or 60. I am almost two weeks in to not smoking and appear to be pretty much over it. I got a particularly nasty case of bronchitis that was so bad I physically couldn't smoke for a week. And then, wallah, I have no desire to smoke anymore. I figure, while I'm at it, now that I have an extra two hours of time to do stuff every day, I should consider exercise and fitness. I am still in school, which means I have access to a very nice gym for free. There is also a gym at my apartment complex. My main problem is I am skinny. I am so skinny it is painful to do normal gun owner things. For example, if I wear the wrong belt and holster (kydex instead of leather), I get severe bruising on my hip bones after a USPSA match. My hip bones kind of "stick out" of the fatty parts of my hips. I get severe pain shooting prone position at NRA high power matches. My knees and hips get bruised, and my wrist (about as skinny as the average 5th graders) is in pain for a week thanks to the sling. I also appear to be losing weight. When I started undergrad, I was 135. I gained 10 lbs my freshman year and kept it on until now. I'm down to 139. When I get stressed out about school I tend to forget to eat.
The thing is, I don't know where to start. No one in my family is athletic. No one really goes to gyms. At 6' tall and 140, I have so little muscle mass and fat that fucking something up could very easily lead to severe injury. I've posted similar threads in the past, but since I successfully quit smoking, I feel like I actually mean it this time. My goal is to increase strength (primarily endurance), and increase my weight so that I don't get bruised due to protruding bones, and so that I don't resemble a prisoner at Dachau circa 1943.
P.S. Based on the disgust of my friends when they watch me eat, I eat twice as much as a normal person. I am the kind of person that can order a giant ass plate of food that most can't finish, devour it in 2 minutes, and get seconds. A common sentiment is that if most folks ate like I do, they would gain 100 lbs in a year. So I don't think caloric intake is the problem. Install the free MyFitnessPal app on your phone and track your calories for a given day or even a week. I bet you aren't getting as many as you think you are. I was a "hardgainer" until I was 29 and decided to do something about it. I thought I was eating a lot because I would eat a ton once or twice a day. Best bet, that's 2k a day. It takes much more than that. I put on 46 pounds in 2012 by tracking calories and upping them when the weight gain stops. You can do it too, if you really want to. Good luck and congrats on quitting smoking. |
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Quoted: Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell. Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie.  |
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Quoted: Quoted: Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) <~~~(Bullshit Excuse #1 What's an extra $2-3/day (gallon of chocolate milk) considering you were a smoker dropping $4-7/day on cigs?) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. <~~~ Bullshit Excuse #2 Cuz you're afraid of picking up heavy items? http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 Dude, you already look like a holocaust survivor. You need to stack some muscle on that frame of yours... I'm not saying go "Mr. Universe", but shit... As the "thin is not in" thread so inspired me: Eat a fucking sammich... --> Choose to be Stronger WITH muscles--> Chicks dig muscles. ================= Your life, your goals, your choice. ~Mir egal |
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Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell.
Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 You're not going to get significantly stronger unless you add some weight. |
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Quoted: Don't want to be significantly bigger? Dude you look like you are sick. Like AIDS or cancer sick. You need to EAT! My dad decided to count my calories while I was back home for Christmas break. He estimated I eat around 5000 a day. My dad was also equally skinny at the start of grad school and weighs about 240 now. I want to gain strength while avoiding the ballooning affect which plagues my family. |
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Don't want to be significantly bigger? Dude you look like you are sick. Like AIDS or cancer sick. You need to EAT! My dad decided to count my calories while I was back home for Christmas break. He estimated I eat around 5000 a day. My dad was also equally skinny at the start of grad school and weighs about 240 now. I want to gain strength while avoiding the ballooning affect which plagues my family. Keep a food journal for 1 week. Document EVERYTHING you stuff in your food hole. That means weighing and/or measuring portions. Labels that say "about X" servings per container are bullshit. Do the math. .51 servings = "about" 1 serving. Time Calories Fat grams Protein grams Carbohydrate grams Then calculate totals and %'s each contribute to your total. |
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OK, I'll throw my hat in the ring...
Eating more doesn't have to be that hard. A 5lb tub of cheap Whey protein can be had for around $40, typically around 75 servings, typically around 23-26g's of protein. Eggs, nothing is a cheaper and better source of protein and fats. a few 18 packs are under $5, hard boil them, some with breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks if needed. Tuna, doesn't have to be the Solid white, chunk light will do just fine. Don't eat this every day but eat a few cans a week. Milk, like has been said. Drink a lot of it for plenty of calories. Mix all your protein drinks with it. Cheap lunch meat and bread, done... Can you afford a chicken breast for dinner each night? A pack of 6 only cost around $10's. Pasta? Olive oils? Peanut Butter? Potato's, sweet potato's? Eating enough good food isn't very hard, just takes planning. As for lifting, well any fool can bench, curl, front press, row, french press, deadlift and squat... Sure deadlift and squats can be scary but start with the bar if even that for a while and watch yourself do the movement in the mirror. Rows, keep your back straight. Squats, chest out, back straight, squat down, push up from your heels, done. Deadlifts, depends on which ones you want to do but basically, keep your back straight, knees slightly bent, chest out, see a pattern? www.ExRx.net this website will show you all the perfect form you need. It's not hard at all. You just need to be patient and stick to very light weight for a few months imho until you are comfortable with your form. Pushups are great and all, lord knows I've done an ASS TON of them and while they keep a guy like me in a maintenance mode they will not really build much real strength nor size. Good when you don't have access to something else or time to go. IMHO doing anything under weight will bring you the desired results. I wouldn't worry for 1 second about whether or not you should be doing "Starting Strength", "Volume Training", "HIT", "5/3/1", "100 this or a 100 of that". Just get under some iron and lift something. Shit, doing the classic 3x10 will be just fine for the first year of your lifting life should you stick with it. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell. Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 Dude. No. Seriously. No. Just No. Lift. Eat more. I'm not a huge guy and I lift and eat quite a bit. You're NOT going to get big without SIGNIFICANT effort. Doing some extra lifting and eating some will put some muscle on you but you're sure as hell NOT going to wake up looking like Jay Cutler one morning.
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell. Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 Dude. No. Seriously. No. Just No. Lift. Eat more. I'm not a huge guy and I lift and eat quite a bit. You're NOT going to get big without SIGNIFICANT effort. Doing some extra lifting and eating some will put some muscle on you but you're sure as hell NOT going to wake up looking like Jay Cutler one morning. My goal is to go from emaciated looking to slender without being emaciated looking. |
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Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell.
Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 Dude. No. Seriously. No. Just No. Lift. Eat more. I'm not a huge guy and I lift and eat quite a bit. You're NOT going to get big without SIGNIFICANT effort. Doing some extra lifting and eating some will put some muscle on you but you're sure as hell NOT going to wake up looking like Jay Cutler one morning. My goal is to go from emaciated looking to slender without being emaciated looking. So another 30lbs? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell. Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 Dude. No. Seriously. No. Just No. Lift. Eat more. I'm not a huge guy and I lift and eat quite a bit. You're NOT going to get big without SIGNIFICANT effort. Doing some extra lifting and eating some will put some muscle on you but you're sure as hell NOT going to wake up looking like Jay Cutler one morning. My goal is to go from emaciated looking to slender without being emaciated looking. Then you should lift and eat more. |
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Sigh.... a potential cyclist, wasted. Okay, I decided I don't really want to be significantly bigger. I just want to be stronger. I also don't want to have to drastically increase my caloric intake (food is expensive!) With this in mind, I decided to follow the challenges on this site instead of weight training. http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.BldQWSGN.dpbs I did the "first day" of the 100 pushup challenge, the 200 situp and 200 squat challenge last night. And boy did it kick my ass. My pecs and thighs are sore as hell.
Does this sound like a good approach to increasing strength without trying to drastically increase body mass? ETA: I took a "before" picture this morning. As you can see if I lost 10 lbs I could easily be the star of a holocaust movie.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a225/Couch-Commando/arfcom1_zps914f9be5.jpg?t=1357415569 Dude. No. Seriously. No. Just No. Lift. Eat more. I'm not a huge guy and I lift and eat quite a bit. You're NOT going to get big without SIGNIFICANT effort. Doing some extra lifting and eating some will put some muscle on you but you're sure as hell NOT going to wake up looking like Jay Cutler one morning. I lost. 
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OP, I am a little guy, I lift heavy, eat big, and no one would mistake me for some huge roid head muscle freak. You won't become huge by accident, I promise. Eat 1.5-2 times what you are now, every single day, and get under the bar. I should listen to this guy. Too bad St. Louis is so far away. |
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OP, I am a little guy, I lift heavy, eat big, and no one would mistake me for some huge roid head muscle freak. You won't become huge by accident, I promise. Eat 1.5-2 times what you are now, every single day, and get under the bar. I should listen to this guy. Too bad St. Louis is so far away. 80 miles south of the Lou 
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OP, I am a little guy, I lift heavy, eat big, and no one would mistake me for some huge roid head muscle freak. You won't become huge by accident, I promise. Eat 1.5-2 times what you are now, every single day, and get under the bar. I should listen to this guy. Too bad St. Louis is so far away. 80 miles south of the Lou Well maybe you can join Hank, TS, and me next time I'm up that way. 
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OP, I am a little guy, I lift heavy, eat big, and no one would mistake me for some huge roid head muscle freak. You won't become huge by accident, I promise. Eat 1.5-2 times what you are now, every single day, and get under the bar. I should listen to this guy. Too bad St. Louis is so far away. 80 miles south of the Lou Well maybe you can join Hank, TS, and me next time I'm up that way. Sounds like a plan! |
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OP, I am a little guy, I lift heavy, eat big, and no one would mistake me for some huge roid head muscle freak. You won't become huge by accident, I promise. Eat 1.5-2 times what you are now, every single day, and get under the bar. I should listen to this guy. Too bad St. Louis is so far away. 80 miles south of the Lou Well maybe you can join Hank, TS, and me next time I'm up that way. Sounds like a plan! 
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Well, I "fell off the bandwagon" big time, have not been to the gym, and am back to chugging coffee like a long distance runner in Phoenix chugs water in July. I've been so stressed out that I forget to eat. 
Life will get much easier after core year. So I guess it wasn't a decision as much as an idea. You should edit your post title so the guys that go out of their way to help, can decide which people to help. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Well, I "fell off the bandwagon" big time, have not been to the gym, and am back to chugging coffee like a long distance runner in Phoenix chugs water in July. I've been so stressed out that I forget to eat. Life will get much easier after core year. So I guess it wasn't a decision as much as an idea. You should edit your post title so the guys that go out of their way to help, can decide which people to help. Well, it was a decision before the shit hit the fan, now the decision has been reversed. I'll edit the title. |
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all good. weights 'n food will still be around when you're done w/ your other priorities.
“Once upon a time, two frogs were sitting on a log in the middle of a lake, and one frog decided to jump off, how many frogs were left sitting on the log?” Answer: Two frogs.
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Well, I "fell off the bandwagon" big time, have not been to the gym, and am back to chugging coffee like a long distance runner in Phoenix chugs water in July. I've been so stressed out that I forget to eat.
Life will get much easier after core year. It's okay. I make excuses too. Fuck it, I'm about to force down some chicken. Ugh. 
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CrossFit Football for the win...... (After starting with Starting Strength)
DO Starting strength for 3-6 months, then transition to Crossfit Football (Amateur SWOD, which is basically Starting Strength) or a hybrid strength/conditioning program to add in the conditioning. But for now, you need to focus on putting on mass, and Starting Strength plus GOMAD plus whey will do this for you. If you want, you can also use whey post workout. You need lots of calories, especially when starting out. You can do skill work as part of your warm up or cool down. I recommend the Crossfit warmup for this, and you can also follow the Gymnastics WOD and Mobility WOD. But stay away from bodyweight movements and METCON for now (Except for pullups as part of the Starting Strength routine). |