Trying to add a little more size and definition (pic of me inside)

[Marcus_Prime]

Currently I'm about 5'8" 140, I want to get up to anywhere between 160 and 170, and definition seems to be a bit of a problem, must be the genes....I've tried protein shakes, but I don't seem to gain any weight....

[pliny_2001]

It seems easy enough, but it bears repeating - if you want to get bigger, you've got to eat more. If your diet seems solid for you right now, add in a shake/meal every day for a month and see what happens. If you're not gaining, add in two meals for the next month. I'm a "hard-gainer," and can tell you from experience that you can gain weight, but you may actually become sick of eating.

For the exercise part of putting on size, I found that lifting 3x a week was the best way - any more and I ended up short-changing my recovery time, though other people have prefer a different schedule. I'd rarely do more than 10 reps, and rarely more than 3 sets on an exercise. I'd also do 20 minutes of pretty low-impact cardio 2-3 times a week, as well.

The definition part is the easiest: you've got to lose some bodyfat. You're certainly not overweight, but if you want your abs to pop I'd say you could easily lose 3-4 lbs of bodyfat.

I don't know your age - so these numbers will be a bit off - but younger guys should be able to put on 10 pounds of muscle pretty easily in a year, so I'd say that you're no more than 2 years from your goal. Good luck.

[Marcus_Prime]

Originally Posted by pliny_2001

It seems easy enough, but it bears repeating - if you want to get bigger, you've got to eat more. If your diet seems solid for you right now, add in a shake/meal every day for a month and see what happens. If you're not gaining, add in two meals for the next month. I'm a "hard-gainer," and can tell you from experience that you can gain weight, but you may actually become sick of eating.

For the exercise part of putting on size, I found that lifting 3x a week was the best way - any more and I ended up short-changing my recovery time, though other people have prefer a different schedule. I'd rarely do more than 10 reps, and rarely more than 3 sets on an exercise. I'd also do 20 minutes of pretty low-impact cardio 2-3 times a week, as well.

The definition part is the easiest: you've got to lose some bodyfat. You're certainly not overweight, but if you want your abs to pop I'd say you could easily lose 3-4 lbs of bodyfat.

I don't know your age - so these numbers will be a bit off - but younger guys should be able to put on 10 pounds of muscle pretty easily in a year, so I'd say that you're no more than 2 years from your goal. Good luck.

Thanks I'm going to take your advice and try that, oh and I'm 22.

[KMKfan]

Good luck on your goals Marcus. I was a hard gainer as well (I was 5' 11" 135 when I was your age...currently about 178 at age 34). In addition to what pliny suggested, I would advise measuring and weighing your food if you don't already. Weigh your meats on a small food scale and scoop your carbs and veggies with measuring cups. That way you can be more precise as you need to make changes for bulking up or fat burning cycles. I agree that you are probably within 2 years of your goal or less (especially if you're anal about the diet).

Some advice my trainer gave me about 7 years ago:

You can miss a workout every once in a while, but don't you EVER miss a meal.

Good luck and keep us posted.

James

[Marcus_Prime]

Originally Posted by KMKfan

Good luck on your goals Marcus. I was a hard gainer as well (I was 5' 11" 135 when I was your age...currently about 178 at age 34). In addition to what pliny suggested, I would advise measuring and weighing your food if you don't already. Weigh your meats on a small food scale and scoop your carbs and veggies with measuring cups. That way you can be more precise as you need to make changes for bulking up or fat burning cycles. I agree that you are probably within 2 years of your goal or less (especially if you're anal about the diet).

Some advice my trainer gave me about 7 years ago:

You can miss a workout every once in a while, but don't you EVER miss a meal.

Good luck and keep us posted.

James

I'm not as disciplined as I should be with my diet, but I'll definitely take what you said into consideration and missing meals isn't my thing lol I'm always eating, but I think it's the wrong combination I need to monitor my intake better and definitely I'll keep you posted.

[KMKfan]

Yeah...I wasn't disciplined with my diet until I was 27. I've taken some time off here and there, but I'm back on it pretty strict right now. (I'm older now so I have to be. Trying to get to the upper 180s to lower 190s myself.) Here is a pretty generic diet my trainer gave me 7 years ago. I added 30 lbs in about 3 months and didn't seem to fatten up too much. (This diet was a pretty drastic change for me, so the weight I added isn't typical. If only it always happened that quickly.)

Meal 1: 6-8 eggs (only use 2 yolks) or Protein shake (aim for 40-50g of protein); 2 packs of instant oatmeal (w/ 2 packets Splenda or Sweet n Low) or 2 slices of whole wheat bread. 1 Multivitamin.

Meal 2, 3, 4, & 5: 6-8 oz protein source; 1/2 to 2/3 cup carbs; 1/2 cup of veggies on 2 of these meals. Multivitamin with 1 of these meals...probably meal 4.

Meal 6: Protein shake (aim for 40-50g of protein)...this one will likely be right before bed... make sure you get some slow digesting milk protein (casein) with this one.

For meals 2-5 substitute a pre-workout and post-workout as necessary.

Pre-workout: Protein drink w/oatmeal (see Meal 1)
Post-workout: Protein drink (aim for a 100% whey supplement for this one)

If you're just absolutely sick of eating, at least get a protein shake.

The above diet probably goes a bit overboard on the protein so start at the low ends of the ranges. At first, you may want to adjust lower than the 6 oz of protein sources. I believe if you you are getting too much protein, then you'll probably end up pissing out the excess. Adjust the diet (or you're current one) to fit your needs.

Protein sources: Lean ground beef (90/10 or 93/7...you can probably use 85/15 also.), chicken/turkey breasts, salmon, tilapia (add some lemon juice and pepper or Parmesan cheese for some taste), tuna.

Carbs: I generally use Brown rice. Sweet potatoes are also allowed. I'll occasionally use corn, or mixed veggies just to change things up.

Protein supps I like include: Matrix 5.0, Pro-Complex, and Isopure. You may find some others you like, as well.

Veggies: Breen Beans, Broccoli, etc.

If you are taking Creatine and/or Glutamine, mix that in with the diet as directed on the containers.

Sorry for the long post, but it's been drilled into my head that diet is really the most imortant part of it.

One last thing, remember that how you look in the mirror and how your clothes are fitting is more important than the numbers on a scale.