[MikeCF]

I've been as low as 163 (boxing weight) at six foot (6'1.5" if I lie about my height and add an inch or two like everyone else does). Got fat and been as high as 265 (fat) and fit and approaching bigness.

Losing fat is easy.

Gaining muscle is hard. Really hard.

There is fit and then there is fit. Fit is when you look good in a Henley, people can tell you train even when you're wearing clothes, and you start getting hated on by other guys.

Big is when you start looking scary. People will just start touching you more often and your body will be a focal point of any interaction.

You can get fit after 3-5 years of consistent training.

To get big, unless you're a genetic mutant (being black helps, too), you'll need gear after that.

Until then there are no secrets. Train hard. Eat consistently. That means 5 meals a day, a gram of protein per pound of body weight, sleep, and listen to the bros who have done it rather than the Internet geeks who theorize all day with their 13" arms.

P.S. Scooby is not all natural and while he offers a lot of good info, you really need to know what to ignore. For example, ignore his claims about being natural.

If you can't articulate why Scooby isn't all natural, you're still a newbie. There are several tell-tale signs.

[Mentavious]

(04-17-2013 09:22 AM)reaper23 Wrote:  

been a week. no pics. surprised?

If I would of known I would of put on this much muscle then I would of taken a few pics along the day.

All my exercises were geared towards power. Shit that football and basketball players do. Legs were my focus.

I've got no explanation at all but eating healthy, adding meals, Olympic workouts, cardio that focuses on shorter distances are what got me here.

Genetics is a big factor.

[MikeCF]

(04-17-2013 12:46 PM)CThunder86 Wrote:  

(04-17-2013 09:22 AM)reaper23 Wrote:  

been a week. no pics. surprised?

If I would of known I would of put on this much muscle then I would of taken a few pics along the day.

All my exercises were geared towards power. Shit that football and basketball players do. Legs were my focus.

I've got no explanation at all but eating healthy, adding meals, Olympic workouts, cardio that focuses on shorter distances are what got me here.

Genetics is a big factor.

Hah. Guys lie on the Internet, so I don't personally care. However...

You were never at the gym, getting a good pump when you think, "Holy shit, I look really fucking good right now."

And then you've never busted out the smart phone for the gym rat douche bag pic?

You never said, "I need to send a text pic to a girl who is on the fence. This will get her interested."

You think we will believe that?

[WestCoast]

How do you go from fit to big? You've met me IRL and seen the before + after shots (I think I have good genetics).

Besides just work hard, do guys start doing legs 3x a week? Or what, to make muscle gains. My routine is too generic I blv.

Not going to load up on gear until test levels drop in mind 30's.

[NY Digital]

I have some good genetics body wise(broad shoulders thin waist long, big legs.

I don't gain weight usually but now that I've been lifting, I literally don't even eat more than before, somehow I'm still putting on pounds. I guess I put on muscle easy? I've gotten some pretty good gains in the last 7 weeks that I've been lifting.

p.s. my brother just gained 20 pounds of muscle/fat in the last 6 weeks by eating a lot more than me. I think we have good body genes.

Am I going to hit a plateau soon or is it a little way down?

Do I have to bulk and cut like most people? I really don't want to the whole bulking cycling thing as I just want to gain some natural weight as I've been doing so already. (I've gained around 7 pounds in the last 7 weeks). Note I take creatine, protein, preworkout, zinc, l arginine.)

[Mentavious]

Haha no douche bag picture.

I don't blame y'all for nothing believing but I got no reason to lie.

No juice, no creatine, but I did drink chocolate milk after every workout. Maybe that's the secret.

[Lights]

(04-17-2013 01:30 PM)WestCoast Wrote:  

How do you go from fit to big? You've met me IRL and seen the before + after shots (I think I have good genetics).

Besides just work hard, do guys start doing legs 3x a week? Or what, to make muscle gains. My routine is too generic I blv.

Not going to load up on gear until test levels drop in mind 30's.

Are you squatting, deadlifting, benching? The more progress I make in these and the more I eat the bigger I get. Not big like a balloon but big like a Mack truck. Dense.

Weighted pull-ups, weighted dips?

Weighted abwork? Clean & Jerks, Rows?

You gotta eat a lot and drink a lot of weight gainer.

[MikeCF]

(04-17-2013 01:30 PM)WestCoast Wrote:  

How do you go from fit to big? You've met me IRL and seen the before + after shots (I think I have good genetics).

Besides just work hard, do guys start doing legs 3x a week? Or what, to make muscle gains. My routine is too generic I blv.

Not going to load up on gear until test levels drop in mind 30's.

Time.

If you go to a serious gym, look at the big guys.

Most of the bigger guys are older guys...guys in their 30s and 40s.

Unless you juice up and get hulked out really quick (or have natural muscle building genetics - for exaple, Arnold at 19 is bigger than I'll ever be and Dorian Yates looked better after training 6 months than most any of us will ever look), most guys are putting on 5-10 pounds year after year.

Doesn't seem like much in a given year, but after 10 years, that adds up.

Some guys start training seriously in high school but most get into a groove in college, at 19 or 20 or even afterwards.

There are some genetic mutants and younger guys on gear. For the most part, though, guys don't start looking big until late 20ish and they keep putting on size until hormone levels start dropping (though now a days most smart guys are using hormones to mitigate that).

[WestCoast]

Cool thanks, time it is.

[Giovonny]

Time and effort and the right game plan.

[reaper23]

(04-17-2013 01:40 PM)CThunder86 Wrote:  

Haha no douche bag picture.

I don't blame y'all for nothing believing but I got no reason to lie.

No juice, no creatine, but I did drink chocolate milk after every workout. Maybe that's the secret.

bro - is your phone broken right now?

[Mentavious]

(04-17-2013 03:05 PM)Lights Wrote:  

(04-17-2013 01:30 PM)WestCoast Wrote:  

How do you go from fit to big? You've met me IRL and seen the before + after shots (I think I have good genetics).

Besides just work hard, do guys start doing legs 3x a week? Or what, to make muscle gains. My routine is too generic I blv.

Not going to load up on gear until test levels drop in mind 30's.

Are you squatting, deadlifting, benching? The more progress I make in these and the more I eat the bigger I get. Not big like a balloon but big like a Mack truck. Dense.

Weighted pull-ups, weighted dips?

Weighted abwork? Clean & Jerks, Rows?

You gotta eat a lot and drink a lot of weight gainer.

My leg workout consist of squats, dead lift, clean and jerk, and lunges. You're legs, butt, and lower back will get jacked.
I alternate between benches with the bar and dumb bells. That includes all three main benches in one day and then same thing except using dumbbells the next time.
For back alt between machines and barbells one day and diff forms of pull-ups the next.
I love close grip bench for the triceps and reverse press for chest.
I do two diff body parts for one day.
Eat some ice cream or chocolate milk after you workout. I hear it helps with glucose intake or something.

Fuck treadmills. Those are for the birds. I run outside no matter what. Mile repeats or 400 meter dashes and below.
Cardio after you run. Keeps the muscle vs cardio before a workout.

Remember to take a day or two off after a hard week.

Change up the rep count helps with gains too.

[Mentavious]

(04-17-2013 01:38 PM)NY Digital Wrote:  

I have some good genetics body wise(broad shoulders thin waist long, big legs.

I don't gain weight usually but now that I've been lifting, I literally don't even eat more than before, somehow I'm still putting on pounds. I guess I put on muscle easy? I've gotten some pretty good gains in the last 7 weeks that I've been lifting.

p.s. my brother just gained 20 pounds of muscle/fat in the last 6 weeks by eating a lot more than me. I think we have good body genes.

Am I going to hit a plateau soon or is it a little way down?

Do I have to bulk and cut like most people? I really don't want to the whole bulking cycling thing as I just want to gain some natural weight as I've been doing so already. (I've gained around 7 pounds in the last 7 weeks). Note I take creatine, protein, preworkout, zinc, l arginine.)

Your bro sounds like me. I think I put on 20 lbs within that same amount of time. It was seriously overnight.
Salmon is the shit. I was lucky enough to have access to that and other high protein foods for free during the summer and fall of last year.

[reaper23]

I guess player doesnt have a smart phone with a camera on it. or a regular camera. or a polaroid. or any means of documenting such astonishing growth.

how do you get your game on without a phone dude?

"Eat some ice cream or chocolate milk after you workout. I hear it helps with glucose intake or something."

These are the words of a man who gained 45 pounds of LEAN MASS in 9 months!

That should be the header on his website.

[Hotwheels]

(04-17-2013 10:20 AM)MikeCF Wrote:  

I've been as low as 163 (boxing weight) at six foot (6'1.5" if I lie about my height and add an inch or two like everyone else does). Got fat and been as high as 265 (fat) and fit and approaching bigness.

Holy shit Mike. A 100 pound spread is something else.

Out of curiosity, do you have a big frame and what do you figure your "normal" weight would be? Without all the heavy lifting?

The reason I ask is I hover around 195-200 at 6'4" with a slender frame. Have a bit of a belly but not much. Was around 160 20 years ago but I was real beanpole then.

[el mechanico]

Quote:

The reason I ask is I hover around 195-200 at 6'4" with a slender frame

Do you even lift?

[Hades]

(04-18-2013 06:57 AM)reaper23 Wrote:  

I guess player doesnt have a smart phone with a camera on it. or a regular camera. or a polaroid. or any means of documenting such astonishing growth.

how do you get your game on without a phone dude?

"Eat some ice cream or chocolate milk after you workout. I hear it helps with glucose intake or something."

These are the words of a man who gained 45 pounds of LEAN MASS in 9 months!

That should be the header on his website.

I was almost sure that he was going to steal some pics from bodybuilding.com transformations, mspaint a big black box over the face, and post them up here.

[MikeCF]

(04-18-2013 09:55 AM)Hotwheels Wrote:  

Holy shit Mike. A 100 pound spread is something else.

Out of curiosity, do you have a big frame and what do you figure your "normal" weight would be? Without all the heavy lifting?

The reason I ask is I hover around 195-200 at 6'4" with a slender frame. Have a bit of a belly but not much. Was around 160 20 years ago but I was real beanpole then.

It's hard to say what my normal weight would be. I like to eat a lot of food, man, people who see me eat can't believe I'm not fat.

If I didn't train so hard, I'd probably be fat if I ate that way. Indeed, I got fat because a major training injury kept me out of the gym for a couple of years.

I haven't bought a suit in years, but think my jacket a 44R or 46R. So my frame isn't huge or anything.

[garygroundwork]

(04-08-2013 07:45 PM)Hades Wrote:  

(04-08-2013 03:23 PM)Tresdus Wrote:  

train legs because of an accident and 2 surgeries.

They're also usually young (under 25) and lean. Put them on a diet of heavy lifts and lots of food and they just explode to a healthy body weight or somewhat higher. Genetics is not always a big factor. Enough training volume and sufficient food can play a huge role.

genetics will ultimately determine how much weight a person can put on and hold...so it is a big factor.

get two guys who train, lift, eat the same..the one with good genetics will look better at the end and maintain gains better.

[DVY]

In light of MikeCF's 100 lb spread, my postworkout meal was 2.5lbs of steak last night + brown rice+ desert of blendtec smoothie of 0% greek yogurt, frozen strawberry, almonds and chocolate whey blend (total volume 32 oz).

[FretDancer]

I've been reading this thread and this thread. I also made a thread a while back and recieved really good input.

Anyways, I feel like I need to work even harder. It's really hard for me to gain weight and really easy for me to lose it, it sucks but I guess I have it better than some people.

I am gonna start working even harder. Eating more, recording calories, taking before-after pictures (something I've never done but can clearly see the difference of how I was many years ago compared to now, fitness and physically wise).

What I want to focus on is the calorie intake recording. I've never really cared about this but I wanna change this. I feel the best way to do this would be to record them on an app that is designed for this purpose. Anyone have any recomendations for an app like this? Would really appreciate it.

[Young T.R.]

An app would be pretty cool. I've just been putting it in a word file and formatting it like this:

3/15/2013 – 4304 calories

meatloaf (369) fruit (31) carrots (10)

1 cup greek yogurt(120), fruit (28), ginger (36)

1 colossal bar (410)

apple (120), 8 tablespoons peanut butter (800)

velveeta (220) tuna and crackers (300)

8 eggs, 3 tablespoons coconut oil /2meals (920)

curry chicken (650)

coconut milk (140) muscle milk (150)


3/16/2013 – 4184 calories

1 cup greek yogurt(120), fruit (28), ginger (36)

1 colossal bar (410)

apple (120), 8 tablespoons peanut butter (800)

velveeta (220) tuna and crackers (300)

eggs w/ curry chicken (760)

coconut milk (140) muscle milk (150)

2 mcgriddles (1100)


Usually I write the whole thing the night before when I plan my meals for the next day. Then I update it at the end of the day if anything didn't go to plan. I shoot for a range (4100-4400) or a minimum rather than setting a strict number.

Getting a small digital scale can help you figure out how many calories are in foods that don't come with labels or vary in size. You can also find approximate numbers if you google 'calories in x food'. You don't have to get the numbers perfectly accurate.

One thing to be careful with is to not change your diet too quickly. At least for me this can cause problems. One time I suddenly doubled my calories and went really protein heavy (2 grams per lb of body weight lol) and I started having bad acid reflux problems -- belching for hours, nausea, coughing, sore spots in my throat, coughing up acid. That stopped my progress totally for a couple months while I got that sorted out. I had to cut down to a really clean diet of 2800 calories and then started adding 200-300 calories a week. Then I started to gain weight again.

Drastic jumps might work for others but not me. I think I have a shitty digestive system though. Probably why I was 5'10", 115 to start with.

Good luck! Try to make it fun too. If you cultivate an interest in cooking and food it will make it easier and also improve the quality of your lifestyle.

[Vaun]

at age 31-33 I went from 155lbs to 200+. I was a bicycle racer that was constantly getting injured, hit by cars, etc. I gave up the sport and started doing crossfit in 2005. After crossfit I got into power lifting and did the whole gallon of milk a day routine. I went from 140lbs lean body mass, to 170lbs lean body mass, where I am now. I am now 190lbs and 13%ish body fat. Eating 4000+cal/drinking milk/weight lifting every other day will do this fairly quickly.

[Screwston]

Ive gained 12 pounds in the past 2 1/2 months from working out, stuffing myself and lifting shit at work. Im still a skinny fucker but can definetly see the transition from scrawny to skinny. Im pretty much eating whatever i want when my stomach starts growling. I would have a skinny-fat type body fast with this diet so Im jogging a few times a week. I think i probably have the worst body type to work with but what can you do.

[Jasper]

Huston,

Another skinny guy here trying to put on some size. Impressive weight gain over 2 1/2 months. I've put that on in 4, I really need to increase food intake.

Now I'm far from an expert in the field but for purely putting on size I'd say maybe you should ditch the jogging/cardio for now. Just focus on lifting heavy ass weights 3 times a week and eating right. Now I'm not saying jogging/cardio is bad, it's great for you in many ways... But when focusing on increasing muscle size all it's going to do is tire you out more (affecting recovery) and burn more calories (you will have to eat even more).

If your worried about getting fat then don't eat way too much (or really unhealthy). Either calculate your required calories, or adjust your intake based on how your body retracts. I.e your putting on a little too much fat then reduce your intake, your not gaining weight then increase intake.

That's my take.