Gym Plan 2014

Schedule

March 2014 – gain body weight, gently increase weights lifted, ease back slightly on CV, new routine from
Dom. Minimise pain.

April 2014 – begin creatine supplementation, keep weights lifted constant, go for high reps comfortable
weights, reduce CV further, continue weight-increasing diet. Minimise pain

May 2014 – carefully build more mass, gradual move over to higher weight and fewer reps. Re-check with
Dom for variety. Try 5x5 pure strength, compound, powerlifting exercises for strength? Technique!

June 2014 – try to increase frequency / length of gym visits, final push for Portugal.

Body weight

Sunday March 3rd – 68.5kg!

Aim to increase weight 2kg/month – target 76.5kg for holiday. (Long Term 80kg – see below)

Eat 3,000 cal/day; reduce CV.

Sat March 16th – 69.5 gym (10st 13). Home scales in t-shirt + boxers = 11st 3.

Sat April 12th (CR1) – 71.0 gym. Home 11st 7.

Sat April 26th – 72.25, 11st 9

Weight plateaued in May, stayed around 72, due to lack of training through injury + 2 big weekends

Thu 5th June - ??

Diet Tips

Shakes – whey, ready brek, milk. Can make a few hours before using.

Liquid in first if using shaker bottle, add whey and oats/ crumbs, shake and add more liquid if nec.y

In general – need to eat every 3 hours, and straight after workout.

Snacks. Mixed nuts, fruits, dried fruits, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, sandwiches, milk, protein shakes

Gym Tips
 Be careful with hyperextending elbow, don’t go full range of movement if irritating

Elbow flex exercises most worrisome – lat pd, lat close grip, biceps.

Shrugs are NOT GOOD – some r.elbow strain after two sets with 12/14kg. Use with caution.

Lat pd behind neck 30/40/50 – ok for elbow, don’t hyperextend.

Shoulder press – on smith machine gave some slight ache/pain – 3 sets 5 / 7.5 / 5kg, then db press later
still painish.

Front cable raises – ok with elbows slight bend

Tricep extension (parallel, ropey grip) ok, not too bad, 5 / 7.5 / 10

Squatting – 10 20 10 ok but right elbow other outside strain next day (remember from squatting before)
did biceps, abs same time so may have exacerbated squatters elbow!

Close grip pec flys seemed quite unpaining. 6 / 8 / 10 / 10. Better than wide cable?

Narrow grip back mac. ok but don’t extend. Lift seat up and in, bit easier for shorter motion. 25 / 35 / 45?

Seated shoulders lil pain but not too bad, no full extension 8 / 12 / 16

Squatting – next time round (15/3/14) 10 / 20 / 25 / 15 relaxed right arm, no squatters elbow

Try not to extend knees too far forward, bar over feet, hips back a bit on way down

Use gravity for seated conc curls, start hunched forward so no full range of extension.

-- 4x3 concs not good, elbow doesn’t like twists. Just do single movement with these.

Close grip flys harder to initial pull this time, some lower back tension, try wider.

Pec machine 35 / 50 / 60 / 60 / 40 – only 8 and 5 reps on 60, good muscle ache afterwards.

Vibrapad press ups, ok but wrist vibrating possible problem pain.

Shoulder sitting getting more paining as weight increases. Rotating arms seems to hurt less on doing BUT
MORE AFTERWARDS. Did 10 10 14 14 18. Stick to one action, don’t extend. Try smith next time?

Shoulder raises lateral and front not too paining.

Lat pd wide grip to front. Lil pain, not too bad, keep right elbow back, gradual weight increase. 35 45 55

Normal (wide) cable fly. lil pain, keep elbows bent, be aware of range motion @ high weight 5 7.5 10 12.5

Pec mac 40 55 65 (7) 50 (8) elbow ok, again high weight potential strain, think good form

Did S T Bi day, bit potential pain elbow but manage the range of motion, shoulder mac poss iffy

Calf raises/leg ext poss elbow as need to grip hard on heavy weight, lower weight more reps?

Squat 30, Sh db press to 20, Sh mac to 37.5, bi cable curl to 12 (x 2 x 12), fr raise cable up to 15? (or 12.5)

Did C B day, bit elbowy also l.back pain from before (work box move) ok but elb bad next day (bad sleep?)

Remember upright rows for shoulder variety. Smith sh press to 12.5.

Did S T Bi A – some pain from S into Bi, keep separate if poss. Low weight high rep Bi better if pain

Db shoulder up to 22 (10 & 9rep) db bench press up to 28 – hit 40 by holiday??

Some longer-lasting elbow ‘pain’ late april, think cumulative effect of 4 sessions in 6 days before easter,
but came back strong (see below) when rested for a couple of days. Think quality sessions, not quantity!

Sh db press up to 24 (8), cable raise 15, leg mac 150 (10), great after lots of squatting.

Some crossover elbow pain between C and Bi. C is quite fore-arm / elbow / Bi intensive – separate? Or
just do less Bi on right arm? Good strength though, C db 30 (9ish) and mac 75(8), L.arm cable Bi 15 (10)

End April – strong (squat 35 [15] then 20 [15], db chest 32 [8] and mac chest 80 [7] but more persistent
pain continues. Avoiding all exercises that aggravate (bicep cable, wide flyes) and minimise work elbow
effort. Might have to cut back on sessions, revert to low weight, high rep?

Early May, still daily pain continuing – seems worse in mornings after sleep. Have to stop antagonistic
exercises, maybe stop all upper body except ‘proven’ non-painers. Be realistic, have to choose pain-free
over strength. Still strong (squat 40 [10], smith chest 27.5 [9] db shoulder 26 [8] but at what cost???

Have a break around Brighton weekender and see if things improve.

Elbow pain still bad through May – didn’t do much gym due to two big weekenders (Brighton and
Yumtwee bank hols spesh!) and easing ever so slightly end May but still pain there. Ramping up if poss
from now – got three weeks until holidays so trying to pump. Not doing any poss elbow-painers, almost
nothing with wide action, nothing bicep-specific (or left arm only).

Apart from that (!) quite strong at end May following break. Leg mac 150 ok, db chest 34 [8], sh fly 12 [10]

Doing a two-day split for final push. L B (Bi) one day, C S (T) A the other. Limited exercises only, nothing
wide unless proven pain-free. Db chest 36 [7]

Compound exercises good – squat a lot

If elbow paining, rest for 5 mins. If still paining, STOP! Better to rest and return than continue and
damage.

How to Gain Weight for Skinny Guys (with Weight Gain Diet)

1. Track Calories. Skinny guys often overestimate what they eat. Read the labels, use a food scale and
track your daily caloric intake using FitDay.com. You need at least your body-weight in lbs x 20kcal daily to
gain weight.

Rough Daily cals

Early breakfast – ½ banana (60) small nuts (50) 100g milk (45) 155

Normal breakfast – big mix cereal (350) fruit, nuts, choc (100) 250g milk (115) 565

Snack – 2 x choc bisc (170) ½ banana (60) sug (20) small nuts (50) 300

Lunch – bread (300) meat (75) cheese (110) tom (22) cuc (2) mayo (100) drink (72) apple (116) choc (140 av.) 937

[Post gym shake – whey (80?) milk (150) oats/cereal (20)] or milk (150) and ½ banana (60) 210 – 250

Din – main meal (500 av.) bread (100) carrot (10) pud (250 av.) drink (25) 885 Total: 3,072 (av.)

2. Target weight. A rule of thumb is at least 1kg for each cm above 1m (use this converter). Anything less
you’ll always look skinny. Examples of minimum goal weights:

1m80/5’11″ at least 80kg/176lbs 1m85/6’1″ at least 85kg/187lbs

3. Eat Every 3 Hours. You need at least your body-weight in lbs x 20 kcal to gain weight. That’s
2700kcal/day if you’re 135lbs. If you have a physical job or move a lot, you’ll need even more. Eat every 3
hours.

Breakfast. Get calories from the first hour. Read how to build the habit of eating breakfast and try these
breakfast recipes.

Lunch & Dinner. Prepare double portions while making breakfast. 1 portion for work/school, 1 portion
when you get back.

Snacks: Mixed nuts, fruits, dried fruits, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, sandwiches, milk, protein shakes…

Post Workout. Physical activities burn calories. Eat post workout to get that energy back. Check this post
workout shake recipe.

4. Eat Calorie Dense Foods. 100g raw rice is 380kcals. 100g raw spinach is only 25kcals. Getting your daily
calorie intake is easier if you eat foods high in calories. Your best options:

Pasta. 100g pasta is 380kcal and easier to ingest than 100g rice. Whole grain pasta is healthier, but takes
longer to digest. Eat white pasta.

Whole Milk. If you don’t bother gaining some fat, drink 1 gallon whole milk per day on top of your
current food intake. I’ve seen guys gaining 60lbs/year drinking 1 gallon per milk per day while Squatting
3x/week.

Nuts. Mixed nuts & natural peanut butter have +500kcal/100g, about 50% healthy fats and 25% protein.
Use mixed nuts as snack & throw peanut butter on sandwiches for work/school.

Olive Oil. Protects against heart diseases & cancer. Sip it like vodka (it’s not that bad, really) or use it for
tomato pasta sauce. 1tbsp is 100kcal.
5. Get Stronger. You want to go from skinny to muscular, not from skinny to chubby. Get into strength
training. More strength is more muscle. If you don’t know where to start, check StrongLifts 5×5. Some
tips.

Free Weights. Force you to stabilize the weight and allow for natural motions. Start light, focus on
technique and add weight progressively.

Compound Exercises. Do exercises that work your whole body. Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead Press, Bench
Press, Pull-ups, Dips, Barbell Row, …

Squat. Leg exercise stressing your whole body. When you can Squat 1.5x your body-weight for 1 rep,
you’ll no longer be skinny. Squat often.

Rest. Muscle grow when you rest, not when you work out. Don’t train daily. Sleep, drink 1 gallon water
daily and eat fruits/veggies.

6. Plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail. You don’t have time to cook 3x/day, and the food at work/school
is often low quality/more expensive. Prepare your food in advance and take it with you.

Do The Grocery. Avoid skipped meals because you don’t have food available. List everything you need for
1 week and go buy it.

Cook in Advance. Prepare all your meals once per day: while preparing breakfast or while preparing
dinner. It takes about 40mins.

Keep it Simple. Make double portions, take leftovers with you, use cans of tuna & mixed nuts, 1 gallon
milk per day, …

Take Food with You. Food containers for work/school, mixed nuts at the movies, eat before going to
town, take protein shakes to the gym, …

7. Track Progress. Success breeds success. Knowing that you’re losing your skinny look will keep you
motivated. Track everything.

Track Calories. Continue tracking your daily caloric intake using FitDay so you get a confirmation of how
many calories you’re eating.

Weigh Yourself Weekly. Gaining weight? Don’t change anything. Not gaining weight? Increase your daily
caloric intake by 500kcal.

Take Pictures. The mirror is subjective. Pictures don’t lie. Shoot pictures bi-monthly so you have objective
measurements of your progress.
 Track Strength Gains. When you can Squat 1.5x your body-weight for 1 rep, you’ll no more be skinny. Use
the StrongLifts 5×5 spreadsheet.

Weight Gain Diet. 3500+kcal example diet for a skinny guy who wants to weigh 180lbs/81kg. This can be
too much at once if you’re only 135lbs/61kg or not enough if you’re very active. Individualize the diet
based on your needs.

Breakfast: 100g oats, 50g raisins, 1scoop whey

Snack: 100g mixed nuts or 1 litre milk or tuna sandwich

Lunch: 200g white pasta, bolognese sauce, parmesan cheese

Snack: 100g mixed nuts or 1 litre milk or tuna sandwich

Post workout shake: 1.5scoops whey, 60g oats, milk, banana

Dinner: 200g white pasta, bolognese sauce, parmesan cheese

Pre bed: cottage cheese, berries, flax seed, fish oil

StrongLifts 5x5 Sets & Reps

Workout A Workout B

Squat 5x5 Squat 5x5

Bench Press 5x5 Overhead Press 5x5
Barbell Rows 5x5 Deadlift 1x5

How would you like to learn how to gain weight fast? If the title of this article caught your attention, there is a
good chance you are sick and tired of not seeing the weight on the scale budge. Most likely you just got home
from the Mandarin buffet and still can't budge the scale.

You could live on McDonald's and Pizza Delight and your Ferrari style metabolism would simply burn it off. In
a world that is obsessed with losing weight - you are interested in gaining weight!

Are You Sick & Tired Of People Telling You How To Gain
Weight?
Don't throw me to the wolves quite yet. There is certainly truth to these statements and some of these analogies
can prove quite powerful. I think I'm even guilty of preaching a few! But the problem with this advice is that it's
usually followed up with the same old regurgitated blah, blah, blah advice that only tells you what to do and
does not reveal real-world, practical how-to action-steps.

If you are someone who has struggled their entire life, trying to pack on extra muscle mass and still consider
yourself underweight, then you are not alone. I was once skinny and underweight myself...
People predispositioned to skinniness are commonly referred to as "hard gainers." This is the cool way to label
your scrawny frame despite the fact that your body turns into a Number 2 pencil when you wear yellow!

It's Not Totally Your Fault You're Skinny

In the skinny guy's defence, the reality is that you have been cursed with traits like Lamborghini-type
metabolism, giraffe like limbs, and the strength of a senior citizen. You have to fight with every bone in your
body to do something about your small frame and to keep up to your male buddies who seem to grow muscle
just by sneezing - those muscle freaks piss me off just as much you!

Even though you might think your genetic deficiencies have sentenced you to a life of frailty and surprised
looks when you tell others you lift weights, I am living proof that hard gainers with very 'muscle-unfriendly
genes' can fight back against their genetics and gain muscle weight.

I defeated my skinny genetics just after college and I am about to show you four tips that helped me climb from
a 149 pound weakling to a rock hard 190 pounds in six months.

Trust me, nobody has worse genetics for building muscle and gaining weight than an ex-long distance runner
who abused his body with 60-80 miles of running a week (for over 10 years).

Skinny Guys have to play by different Of Rules

If you are underweight, then your first step to gaining weight is to understand that you must play by a different
set up rules. I have said this before and will say it again,

"TAKING ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN GAIN MUSCLE WEIGHT EASILY IS LIKE
TAKING MONEY ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO INHERITED A FORTUNE OR IS
MAKING MONEY ILLEGALLY."

You must think outside the box and give up the excuse of being a "hard gainer." It is time to stop listening to all
the naysayers who have told you that is impossible to gain weight because of your genetics. Regardless of what
you have been led to believe, you do have the potential to build an impressive physique that turns heads and
even intimidates!

If you have read this far, I am guessing you are ready to longer resemble a microphone stand! You are prepared
to overload your metabolism for muscle growth, to ensure you are never referred to as 'underweight' or 'skinny'
ever again. Start following these simple steps and don't be surprised if you gain an extra ten pounds of muscle
weight in the next four weeks.

Simple Steps To Start Growing Like A Skyscraper!

Double It Up
One of the most practical steps you can take is to double whatever you are currently eating in the kitchen right
now. If you are eating one chicken breast per meal, then cook up two. If you are only eating two slices of bread,
then make it four. If you are eating one handful of nuts, then make it two. If you are using only two scoops of
protein powder, then make it four.

Most likely you are only a few dozen meals short of filling out your underdeveloped body parts and attracting
the attention of that sexy girl at your gym. I assume you are already in the kitchen and have the food out. So
would you agree, you really have no good excuse not to shovel down a greater percentage of calories by
doubling it up?

Live Your Life Around Food

Sure, you know that you must eat every 2-3 hours, but how well do you execute? Set your clock on a countdown
timer to go off every 2 and 1/2 hours so that you reinforce the habit of eating literally not a second late for each
meal! Don't turn off the damn beeper until you start chowing down.

Ensure you are eating your first meal within 15-30 minutes of waking up - absolutely no later. This first meal of
the day should always consist of REAL food to flood your body with quality nutrients. I question anybody's
commitment to gaining weight if they are too lazy to wake up 15 minutes earlier to eat a real meal.

Lastly, don't be surprised if you are not gaining weight if you do not find yourself spending more time preparing
food, more time eating food and more time cleaning your kitchen. You should notice you are spending more
time in the grocery store and you should also notice a larger grocery bill each week!

Use BIG Eating Equipment

If you want to bulk, then you have to eat like Hulk. Do you think Hulk eats out of a small plate, or a small
bowel, or a small cup? If you are aiming to get big and huge, you are going to require large amounts of food,
most likely close to double of what you are currently eating.

So get BIG eating equipment! Get a BIG cup, get a BIG bowl, and get a BIG plate. Surround yourself with BIG.
Most of the time hard gainers are nothing more than "under eaters." If you struggle to complete a meal, then a
bigger serving on a bigger plate will look small!

Never Train Hungry

How many times have you woken up, whipped up a protein shake and then headed off to the gym? Or maybe
you had a long afternoon and missed a few meals and then attempted a weight training workout after work?
I thought this was common sense to avoid, until a few of my skinny clients confessed that they were showing up
for their workouts having only eaten a piece of fruit and some crackers within the entire day!

After dropping the 45-pound plate on my foot out of shock, they reassured me: they were not hungry. I
sometimes screamed back, "Yeah, that's because your metabolism is in starvation mode and shut right down,
you skinny pencil neck!"

I understand that training in the morning is the only time for some, however, I recommend to aim for a
minimum of at least three solid meals in your system prior to training. Or eat the biggest meal of your day
immediately after your AM workout.

Would you take your car out on a long trip with a half empty fuel tank? Not unless you wanted the car to die and
you push it the rest of the way. So why would you take your body through a gruelling training session on an
empty stomach?

Eat Nutrient Dense Foods

Focus on caloric-rich foods that are loaded with nutrients. Avoid foods with empty calories, which means there
is little or no nutrient value in the calories you are eating. Why would you consume a 500-calorie plus meal that
is loaded with fat and sugar which does nothing but make you feel sluggish and soft? Instead, eat a high caloric
meal loaded with slow releasing carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Here are some of the best choices.

Carbohydrates

 Oatmeal Rice Breads Yams Beans Potato

Banana Veggies

Proteins

 Steak Chicken Lean Beef Cottage Cheese Milk

 Eggs Salmon

Fats

 Olive Oil Flax Seed Oil Avacado Almonds Pea Butt

Extras (High Calorie Cheat Food)

 Ice Cream Raisins Dried Fruit Trail Mix

Drink A Carb & Protein Drink While You Workout

How hard is to sip on a calorie-rich drink during your weight training sessions? Simply mix up a 2:1 ratio of
carbohydrate to protein with one liter of water and you instantly have a few extra hundred calories per day.

Now have an extra workout drink before your workout and extra workout drink after your workout and that's
easily an extra one pound per week. Only use this technique if you are weight training at a very high intensity.

Live The Motto, "Never Stop Eating"

Did I hear you say, "But I'll throw up if I eat all day?" Maybe... Is it necessary? Of course not. But this is a part
of pushing your body's threshold.

Don't worry, you will get used to it and your body will require more food as you gain more muscle on your body
and your metabolism increases. Just think that if you are not eating, then you are not growing, and if you are not
growing then you are staying the same. Is that what you want?

Conclusion

There you have it and as I promised, learning how to gain weight fast is quite simple. Executing is a whole
different story. It will really come down to how truly committed you are to defeating your skinny genetics and
gaining the muscular body you deserve!

Here is my promise to you. You have the ability to gain at least another ten pounds of solid weight in the next
four weeks by simply applying the advice above. If you are truly committed to your goals of gaining muscle
weight and no longer being known as underweight, then I believe you will rise to the challenge and take action!
Are you with me?

YES