New Here! Any Tips?

Josh1993h
Josh1993h Posts: 742 Member
edited June 2016 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hey everyone! I'm Josh and new here! I'm looking to put on weight and stay lean while doing it, so no excessive bulking I guess. I'm up to around 155lbs and I would like to eventually be around 170lbs to see what that looks like before going further. My arms and legs have always been small since I'm tall and skinny. I'm focusing on legs, back, and chest so I can build the base muscles. Any other tips from the fitness fam? Here's a pic of where I'm at now. Feel free to add me anytime, I love to meet new people, especially those in the same journey as I am!

Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    if you want to go from 155 to 170 then about half of that is going to be fat, no way around it...

    eat in a surplus for .5 pound gain per week
    follow a program with progressive overload built into it
    take measurements
  • Josh1993h
    Josh1993h Posts: 742 Member
    That's true...my hope is that since I'm not in a hurry to put on weight, that I will add on less fat
    The measurements part I definitely need to do! Thanks man!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Josh1993h wrote: »
    That's true...my hope is that since I'm not in a hurry to put on weight, that I will add on less fat
    The measurements part I definitely need to do! Thanks man!

    There is a point where you will be spinning your wheels. The question is, whats more important, staying lean or being 175? If you want to stay lean, have a small surplus, bulk for 10-15 and cut to get lean again. And then run another cycle. But since you are already lean, it should help you.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.
  • DeadliftsandDonuts
    DeadliftsandDonuts Posts: 178 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.

    How do you determine max genetic potential? I'm 5'11", 209 lbs, 15% bodyfat and I've been training consistently for about 3 years. I would like to bulk up to 220 over the next 6 months. I know I'll gain some fat, but my main goal is to get stronger.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited June 2016
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.

    How do you determine max genetic potential? I'm 5'11", 209 lbs, 15% bodyfat and I've been training consistently for about 3 years. I would like to bulk up to 220 over the next 6 months. I know I'll gain some fat, but my main goal is to get stronger.

    You can read more here-
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/
    http://www.weightrainer.net/potential.html

    there are four widely accepted methods for determining this. All of them should give you a similar result.
  • DeadliftsandDonuts
    DeadliftsandDonuts Posts: 178 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.

    How do you determine max genetic potential? I'm 5'11", 209 lbs, 15% bodyfat and I've been training consistently for about 3 years. I would like to bulk up to 220 over the next 6 months. I know I'll gain some fat, but my main goal is to get stronger.

    You can read more here-
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/
    http://www.weightrainer.net/potential.html

    there are four widely accepted methods for determining this. All of them should give you a similar result.

    Thanks for the links! The calculator gave me a maximum muscular weight of 230 and a maximum bulked weight of 239 based on my measurements.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.

    How do you determine max genetic potential? I'm 5'11", 209 lbs, 15% bodyfat and I've been training consistently for about 3 years. I would like to bulk up to 220 over the next 6 months. I know I'll gain some fat, but my main goal is to get stronger.

    You can read more here-
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/
    http://www.weightrainer.net/potential.html

    there are four widely accepted methods for determining this. All of them should give you a similar result.

    Thanks for the links! The calculator gave me a maximum muscular weight of 230 and a maximum bulked weight of 239 based on my measurements.

    good! :)

    You can also see the information about how much you can reasonably gain depending on how long you've actually been lifting. You can see that after about 4-5 years the return on investment is minimal. :)


    Year of Proper Training Potential Rate of Muscle Gain per Year
    1 20-25 pounds (2 pounds per month)
    2 10-12 pounds (1 pound per month)
    3 5-6 pounds (0.5 pound per month)
    4+ 2-3 pounds (not worth calculating)
  • Josh1993h
    Josh1993h Posts: 742 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.

    How do you determine max genetic potential? I'm 5'11", 209 lbs, 15% bodyfat and I've been training consistently for about 3 years. I would like to bulk up to 220 over the next 6 months. I know I'll gain some fat, but my main goal is to get stronger.

    You can read more here-
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/
    http://www.weightrainer.net/potential.html

    there are four widely accepted methods for determining this. All of them should give you a similar result.

    Thanks for the links! The calculator gave me a maximum muscular weight of 230 and a maximum bulked weight of 239 based on my measurements.

    good! :)

    You can also see the information about how much you can reasonably gain depending on how long you've actually been lifting. You can see that after about 4-5 years the return on investment is minimal. :)


    Year of Proper Training Potential Rate of Muscle Gain per Year
    1 20-25 pounds (2 pounds per month)
    2 10-12 pounds (1 pound per month)
    3 5-6 pounds (0.5 pound per month)
    4+ 2-3 pounds (not worth calculating)

    All of this is awesome!! The calculations are great! I'll have to run them again when I have exact measurements of my wrist and ankle, but so far this is great! Thanks so much for all the help!!
  • DeadliftsandDonuts
    DeadliftsandDonuts Posts: 178 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    DeadliftsandDonuts wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You don't say how long you've been training or your height (so we can determine your max genetic potential), but i'm going to guess you're a beginner and your size is small compared to your potential.

    In that case, you can max gain 2 pounds of muscle per month. I agree with the .5 pound gain per week recommendation. Yes, some of it will be fat but i think this is the right balance of maxing your potential gains and not consuming TOO many cals for fat gain.

    I would recommend doing a couple bulk/cut cycles if you're worried about getting too fat.

    How do you determine max genetic potential? I'm 5'11", 209 lbs, 15% bodyfat and I've been training consistently for about 3 years. I would like to bulk up to 220 over the next 6 months. I know I'll gain some fat, but my main goal is to get stronger.

    You can read more here-
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/
    http://www.weightrainer.net/potential.html

    there are four widely accepted methods for determining this. All of them should give you a similar result.

    Thanks for the links! The calculator gave me a maximum muscular weight of 230 and a maximum bulked weight of 239 based on my measurements.

    good! :)

    You can also see the information about how much you can reasonably gain depending on how long you've actually been lifting. You can see that after about 4-5 years the return on investment is minimal. :)


    Year of Proper Training Potential Rate of Muscle Gain per Year
    1 20-25 pounds (2 pounds per month)
    2 10-12 pounds (1 pound per month)
    3 5-6 pounds (0.5 pound per month)
    4+ 2-3 pounds (not worth calculating)

    Yes, those estimates are pretty spot on for me too. I've gained 25 lbs since I started lifting, but I'm not sure my first year or so would be considered proper training since I was just learning and not as consistent as I am now. My future potential gains don't look too promising though!!! :/

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