One Hardgainer's Journey to Build Muscle

Less Motivated

2008-05-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

I have been slacking off with my diets. I haven't eaten flax seeds in a while, and I have been going out more with friends to enjoy real food. What I realized is that even though I have been cheating a lot on my diet, I'm not really getting fat. Due to my metabolism, I can cheat more often than others.

I can tell you that I am now 155-156 lbs. I do look a little bit more chunky than the picture I posted about a month ago. I can still see my abs but without much definition. I will post an update of a picture of me soon.

One Week Break

2008-05-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

I'm taking one week off from working out. You might wonder why. Sometimes in life, you just need to take one step back to take two steps forward. I believe I am overtrained because I haven't taken a week off weightlifting since I started working out in August of 2007! I don't see any strength increase meaning I lift the same weights just about everytime I go in the gym for the past 2 months.

Just because I'm taking one week off from working out doesn't mean I stop caring about my diet. My diet will still be consistent. I got asked a lot about my current diet and here it is:

This is how my current diet looks like on an exercise day (notice I said exercise, it can be weightlifting, playing sports, etc.)

(I don't go by calories, I go by servings. The servings should be in the back of the food packaging)
6 servings of oatmeal (usually 4 in the morning and 2 later in the day)
2 cups of fat-free milk (right after exercising; if on a non-exercise day, I drink it with my morning oatmeals)
3 fruits throughout the day
1 fish oil pill
1 multivitamin tablet
1/3 can of tuna (I'm concerned about mercury poisoning so I don't eat the whole can everyday)
2 slices of whole wheat bread
4 servings of brown rice
1 chicken breast (usually eaten 6-7 hours before I sleep)
5 medium sized eggs cooked in 1 tablespoon of olive oil (4 egg whites and one is whole egg usually eaten 3-4 hours before I sleep)
2 servings of any vegetables (usually eaten with the chicken and 4 servings of brown rice)
3 servings of unsalted or lightly salted nuts of any kind
2 servings of flax seeds (these are also food for birds and they are extremely healthy but nasty)
a lot of water
2 servings of whey protein powder (one about half an hour before working out and one right after working out)
2 servings of casein protein powder (one during school, work, or right before going out with friends, etc. and one always right before I sleep)

This took me from 152 lbs to 154 at the moment. I will still stick to it for atleast 2 more weeks. If I stop seeing weight gain, that's when I add something to it like oatmeals, whole wheat bread, etc. Eat a diet according to your weight! If you are 200 lbs, you are not going to see weight gain by following my diet but perhaps lose weight. If you are 120 lbs, you will gain too much fat. The key to gaining muscles or losing fat is to be consistent with your diet and gradually increase or decrease certain amount of food.

Consistent Meals

2008-05-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

I am quite aware that my meals are very boring because it is the same thing everyday and everytime. I do believe that being consistent is the best way to judge whether you are gaining muscles or just gaining fat, and vice versa for losing weight. When I get stuck on the scale for about 2 weeks, I will start to increase my calories by about 300. The increase in calories usually come from whole grains such as oatmeal and brown rice.

I try to stay consistent all the time, but I do have to be realistic sometimes when I hang out with friends so I end up pigging out once in a blue moon. You have to enjoy a great meal every now and then so you won't go insane.

I get a few e-mails asking me what supplements do I take. The only supplements I take are fish oil, multivitamin tablet, and protein powder. I strongly believe that the best supplements out there are food and water. Most of the time you're not seeing muscle gains is because of your diet. Honestly, stop taking millions of dollars worth of "muscle building guaranteed" supplements, and focus more on what needs to be done for your diet.

Picture of my progress

2008-04-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry for taking so long to take a picture of my progress. Today was last day of classes. So here it is...

The previous picture of me was at 162 lbs. This current picture is at 152 lbs. I look more skinnier but more defined now. I am slowly gaining quality mass without much fat (clean bulking). Not a bad start at all.

No longer following Vince Del Monte

2008-04-20T19:29:00.001-07:00

I am no longer following Vince Del Monte's program. I think the best trainer is yourself because you should know your body more than anyone else. Vince takes a couple of supplements besides protein powder, but I believe the best supplement out there is whole food. I still take protein powder, but that is as far as I will go.

I noticed a lot of people are only looking for a temporary beach-body for the summer. I believe fitness is a lifestyle that should last forever. Instead of just looking good for the beach only, you want to look good for the rest of your life. You need a lot of patience to transform your body naturally. I say 1-2 lbs gain on mass per month is impressive. Anything more than that then most likely most are just fat. Same thing when you are trying to lose weight. If you are losing too much weight fast, you are losing a lot of muscles. Take things slow and listen to your own body.

I am stuck on the weight scale

2008-04-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

My metabolism is so fast that even if I think I am eating too much I am just not eating enough. I have increased my oatmeal servings to four and brown rice to four too. If you have been reading my blogs, I have written down my diet on a blog I wrote last month I believe. I am still around 151-152 lbs. Starting tomorrow I will increase my oatmeals to 6 servings (split 3 and 3 servings because 6 servings at once is too full for me). I'm hoping to be 154-155 lbs by end of April.

I still go in the gym twice a week. I've been stuck deadlifting 315 lbs for 5 reps. I'm going to have to do a deload and do 285 lbs for reps. I want to break past 320 lbs for 5 reps.

I can now shoulder press 45 lb dumbells for 7 reps, which was impossible couple months ago. I'll take a picture this coming Saturday. Thanks for reading!

I'm still alive!

2008-04-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't posted here in a while, and I apologize for it! I didn't think many people were caring enough to actually read my blogs lol. I have received a few e-mails, and I try to reply ASAP. I am busy as a full-time college student, and I have lots of tests coming up.

I weighted myself recently at 150 lbs! I increased more brown rice and oatmeals to my diet from my previous blog post. I still workout twice a week with focus on compound exercises like squat, deadlift, and bench press. I deadlifted 330 lbs on saturday, and squatted 195 (full squat - - not half ass one) and benched 155 lbs on tuesday.

Again, I am so sorry for not posting for so long. Wish me luck on my Statistics test tomorrow!

Increasing Calories

2008-03-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

I have added 1 serving of whole wheat bread and 1 serving of brown rice into my diet making 3 servings of brown rice per day. Everything else is the same. I was stuck on the scale so I decided to add additional calories to my diet.

My meal plan so far

2008-03-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

I always start off the morning with 1 cup of raw, plain Quaker oats blended with water.

I eat 3 servings of unsalted peanuts throughout the day as snacks.

I eat 3 fruits throughout the day but no later than 7pm (I sleep around 12-1ish)

I eat 5 eggs at night (usually around 10pm). It's 1 full egg and 4 are just egg whites.

I eat 1 chicken breast with 2 servings of brown rice cooked in 1 tbsp of olive oil. (This meal is usually around 6-6:30pm)

I eat 2 servings of grounded flax seeds between my eggs and chicken breast meal so like around 8:30-9:00. (They are so nasty so I just chug it with water lol)

I drink 2 cups of fat free milk in the morning. If it's a workout day, then I drink the 2 cups of milk post-workout.

I eat 1/3 can of tuna per day.

I take 2 servings of ON 100% Casein. 1 is always right before bedtime. The other one is taken when I'm going to be busy like school, work, hanging out, etc. If I'm just staying home that day then I will take that one serving sometime in the day.

I take 2 servings of ON Whey. On workout days, it's one for pre-workout and one for post-workout. On nonworkout days, I just take it whenever I'm not eating.

I eat 2 servings of frozen mixed vegetables everyday or atleast 2 servings of whatever vegetables.

Clean Bulk

2008-02-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

Last time when I bulked up to 172 lbs. there was a lot of fat. I ate wayyy too much white bread and jams for post-workout nutrition. Now I'm back down to 158 and most of the weight loss is muscles. I wasn't dieting properly because I went cold turkey on carb intake (eating 400+ carbs per day to all of a sudden 120-130g of carbs per day) and I did too much cardio. So I learned my lesson. Next time, I have to gradually decrease my calorie intake, and also increase carbs slightly on certain days every now and then while dieting to restore my glycogen level for my muscles. I will take a pic in two weeks of my journey to bulk back up.

Making changes to this site

2008-02-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

I decided to stop giving out routines or teach people a thing or two about working out because I am not a personal trainer. I will continue to post my progress to let you know how I'm doing. Thanks!

Some of you e-mailed me about what supplements do I take. I take whey and casein protein, fish oil, and Centrum multi-vitamins. The protein brand that I take is Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard. I am strongly against "magical" supplements that promise strength and muscle gains/fat loss. You won't be Mr. Olympia by going natural, but you can pack on lots of lean muscle mass through dedication, motivation, and consistency.

Slowly getting ripped

2008-02-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

I took that picture yesterday. I am currently at 156 lbs. No fat burning drugs - just whey and casein protein. I want to be around 147-148 lbs. and then bulk up clean by following Vince Del Monte's program to the T. You should definitely check his site out. He talks about how to bulk up and how to get ripped.

Reading magazines while on the treadmill

2008-02-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

Why do I see people reading magazines while on the treadmill? Seriously, put some effort to run on the treadmill, and leave the reading at home. My gym is small so there isn't a lot of treadmills. For those of you who are walking on the treadmill, just go outside and walk in the damn park. Oh yea, and I saw this one guy before and he was drinking Frappuccino while walking on a treadmill. That was priceless...

Cheating Sucks

2008-02-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

The picture here is taken on Feb. 11, 2008.

I ate a huge meal in a Chinese restaurant on Feb. 9, 2008, but I do have a life and hang out with friends, and went to the Philadelphia Auto Show 2008. I am also going to stop drinking Gatorade during workout. Being a retard that I am, I have been drinking Gatorade for working out for awhile now. It is high in simple sugar and high in sodium. By getting rid of Gatorade and having less cheat meals, I'll get ripped in no time! With the help of Vince Del Monte's Program, I am pretty sure I'll reach my goal of a nice beach body.

Bodyweight on this date: 160.5 lbs

Following Vince Del Monte's Program to the T

2008-02-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't really been following Vince Del Monte's Program for a month. Now I just got back into it. I will take pictures of my progress every week. I want to be more serious with the program now.

Click Here to Follow the Program Too

Getting Ripped is Difficult

2008-02-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it is much harder than I thought to get shredded. I packed on a lot of fat while I was bulking. I am currently at 163 lbs. Three weeks ago I was at 172 lbs. The picture you see in here is me at 163 lbs.

The picture is dark and blurry, and I
had to flex really hard to look like I'm shredded :) . I am losing weight without drugs, and I think I have lost mostly water weight though. I guess realistically speaking, I need 2 months+ to get ripped without the supplement of fat loss pills. I'm not just doing this to look ripped, but it is a good way to restart my bulking phase by eating clean food this time around. No white bread and jams for me this time. It is easier to pack on quality muscles once I'm ripped than to continue trying to pack on mass while I was getting a lot more fat than muscles.

Good news is that I was able to squat 245 lbs for 4 sets of 5 reps today. I'm still maintaining most of my strength while losing weight. My bench press got weaker I think... but maybe it's because I used up all my energy doing squats. I tried doing 165 lbs on flat bench, and I failed at 3rd rep. Awhile ago, I was able to do 165 lbs for 5 sets of 5 reps. Hopefully I'll regain my strength to bench more when I start to bulk up again.

Still seeing progress

2008-01-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

As I am continuing to lose fat, I am still making some progress on my lifts. Here are my lifts that I've done today:

Clean and Press - 115 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps
Cable Seated Row - 150 lbs for 6 reps, 140 lbs for 6 reps, 130 lbs for 8 reps
Good Morning - 135 lbs for 5 reps, 140 lbs for 5 reps, 145 lbs for 5 reps

I should be 162 or 163 lbs by Feb. 1st.

Burning fat, losing weight, still maintaining strength

2008-01-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

I’m now 164-165 lbs from 172 lbs. All I did was changed my diet and increased cardio. My workout remained the same by doing one lower body, one upper body push, one upper body pull exercise 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). I have more definition than before, and I am still maintaining my strength.

Tonight, I started off with deadlift, close-grip bench press, and chin up.

Deadlift:
315 lbs x 5 reps
315 lbs x 5 reps
285 lbs x 8 reps

Close-Grip Bench Press:
145 lbs x 8 reps
145 lbs x 5 reps
125 lbs x 8 reps

Chin Up (bodyweight only):
9 x 6 x 4 reps

I want to be 162 or 163 lbs by Feb. 1st because I will take a new picture of myself. Then I’ll start bulking up again, but this time around I will eat properly so I don’t gain lots of fat.

Click here to learn more about gaining mass and getting ripped

Update on my progress

2008-01-25T18:33:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated on my progress for a long time.

Today, I started off with Clean and Press.

3 sets of 115 lbs for 5,5,4 reps

Then I supersetted Good Morning with Cable Seated Rows

Good Morning:
135 lbs for 3 sets of 8 reps

Cable Seated Rows:
140 lbs x 8 reps
135 lbs x 8 reps
130 lbs x 8 reps

Finished off with 2 sets of Clean Pull
225 lbs x 8 reps
225 lbs x 6 reps

I was so tired after the 2nd set.

My body weight went from 172 lbs to 165 lbs. I was gaining too much fat quickly from eating too much starch post-workout. I didn't get weaker as I am losing weight, which is a bonus. I can see some definition on my body now, and I won't bulk up again till I see more definition. This time around, I will eat clean and increase my calorie intake a bit slower. I will post a new picture of me on Feb. 1st.

High Reps, Low Weights

2008-01-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be straight forward about high reps with low weights training. It doesn't help build muscles or get you ripped. It only gives you temporary "pump" that makes you look jacked up. Bodybuilders who are preparing for a bodybuilding competition get to a very low bodyfat that they become extremely weak to lift very heavy weights. It is bad to lift heavy when you don't have much bodyfat because it can easily injure your joints. They get "pump" up for the contest by lifting very high reps. My site here is not to teach you how to become a professional bodybuilder, but to give tips on building an athletic body that most women adore.

To really get that long lasting ripped look, you need to build muscle mass first by doing compound exercises. Then once you reached your goal of how big you want to be, you start to increase the days of cardios and reduce your calorie intake. You are still going to do compound exercises to try to maintain as much muscle mass and strength as possible while reducing fat. You will lose some muscles along the way no matter what, but your job is to minimize muscle loss. Doing high reps and low weight won't help you maintain muscle mass, and you will gradually lose a lot of strength and muscle mass because you just keep going for that "pump".

So to summarize all this: build up lots of muscle mass by doing 5-8 reps on compound exercises, and burn lots of fat to get ripped while still doing 8-10 rep ranges on compound exercises. Stop believing in myths about doing high reps and low weight. They are only temporary effects.

Olympic Style Training

2008-01-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

You don't exactly need to know how to do the Clean And Jerk or Snatches like the Olympics do. I wouldn't recommend doing those without professional guidance because they can easily cause injury if done improperly. You can easily learn how to do Clean Pull, High Pull, Push Press, Deadlifts, Squats, and Hang Clean. These moves require a lot of muscle groups, and almost the entire body. Go heavy on these moves for 5-8 reps per set. These moves build a lot of mass because you are using a lot of muscle groups that allow you to use very heavy weights.

Instead of doing upright rows, try doing high pulls. You'll be able to use more weights and also hit more muscle groups. Instead of doing military press, try doing push press instead. Instead of using leg machines, go to the power rack and do squats.

I started doing a Hang Clean/Front Squat/Push Press combo. Basically I do a hang clean, and then at the end of the hang clean, I squat down with the bar in front of me still, which is a front squat, and finally, I explode upwards to do a push press. I just wanted to get the form down. Never let your ego take over and start doing heavier weights when you don't know how to do a certain exercise. I got the form down by doing just the bar. I didn't care if people looked at me. Either you want to gain mass or lose weight, doing compound exercises work best to increase your metabolism.

Exercise alone

2008-01-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

It's best to workout alone than to have a partner or somebody who wants to start working out with you who isn't serious about it. I just started working out with/ training someone today who is having a problem gaining weight. Basically when we got there, he wanted to learn how to run before he even learn how to walk. I wanted him to do no less than 15 reps per exercises because he's a beginner. His body is not prepped for working out so it's best to start out with light weight. But instead, he wanted to increase weight and the weight he wanted to do was more than he could handle. That alone shows me that he has an ego problem. Also he wouldn't listen to me about proper form when he was benching and doing pull-ups. At the bottom portion of the bench, he rested the bar on his chest and bounced it back up. On pull-ups, he was doing more like military kips than a standard pull-up. He was swinging his lower body and he wasn't going all the way down at the starting position. I wanted him to do high pulls as last workout, but he wouldn't do it because he was afraid to do them when there were a lot of "big" guys in the gym. I wanted him to atleast do just the bar to get the motion down, but he refused.

I'm not motivated to train him anymore as he's not putting in the effort for himself. I'm doing this for free to do him a favor, but I don't like to waste my time when he keeps it up like this.

Anyways, this is my workout today:

Bench Press - 165 lbs for 4 reps, 160 lbs for 4 reps, 140 lbs for 8 reps
Pull Up - bodyweight 168 lbs. for 8x6x4 (I did one more rep after 10 seconds rest to make it 5 reps on the last set)
High Pull - 160 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

Another Solid Workout

2008-01-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

I started today's workout with high pulls.

3 sets of 155 lbs for 5 reps each. That was some heavy stuff for me.

Then I supersetted push press with wide-grip behind the neck lats pulldowns.

3 sets of push press at 95 lbs / 100 lbs / 105 lbs (8/8/7 reps)

with 3 sets of wide-grip behind the neck lats pulldown at 120 lbs / 130 lbs / 120 lbs (8/8/8 reps)

(No-xplode 2.71 Lbs Fruit Punch 60 Servings By BSN - this is what I take before I go workout to give me energy and focus to workout at my best effort)

Next, I supersetted squats with upright rows.

3 sets of squats at 225 lbs with 8 reps each

with 3 sets of upright rows at 90 lbs / 90 lbs/ 80 lbs (8/8/8 reps)

I finished off with good mornings at 115 lbs / 125 lbs / 135 lbs with 5 reps each.

I'll mention this again: my whole workout consists of compound exercises, and I don't waste my time on isolation exercises. I finished everything including warmups in less than 70 minutes.

Today's workout

2008-01-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

Today, I did:

Superset - Barbell Bench Press with Pull-ups
Superset - Chest Dips with Bent-over Barbell Row
Finished off with Deadlift

They are all compound exercises. It looks short, and it is. It's not all about going to the gym for hours. Most important thing is to go to the gym and use the time wisely and efficiently. Stick to compound workouts if you want to gain mass!

Lay off the isolation workouts

2008-01-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

I am tired of seeing skinny 120 lb. beginners going in the gym and first thing they do is bicep curls. If lucky, they might even do some cable tricep pushdowns. To gain mass, you must do compound exercises such as bench press, squat, and deadlift just to name a few.

The exercises that I do at the gym:

Barbell Bench Press
Chest Dips
Pull-Ups
Chin-Ups
Deadlift
Squat
Romanian Deadlift
Good Morning
Close-Grip Bench Press
Seated Cable Row
Bent-over Barbell Row
Push Press
High Pull
Lats Pulldown

I probably miss one or two, but those are all that I do at the gym.