Brolympus Member

/end thread

Former (and maybe still slightly) skinny-fat dude here. The secret was heavy, compound lifts, eating an absolute ton, and keeping the cardio down to just a 10-15 min warmup before lifting. That is it. I was using isolating exercises like machines and such, but I didn't have any progress, and attributed it to my body type.…

Well said. Bulking is 70% eating enough, and 25% destroying yourself in the gym. And 5% not freaking out & giving up when you get a bit pudgy lol. Serious mind games await you, OP.

+ glute raises if you have access to a machine like that for some isolation work. These 3 exercises are pretty much all you need OP.

Really? I thought for sure MN would get it longer than that. We get it until early April in Michigan. Lake effect maybe?

Yeah that is just flat out incorrect. Don't listen to this OP. You might have "newb" gains for the first month you workout, where you can build muscle and lose fat, but your body catches on pretty quick and you will need to pick between losing weight by being in a calorie deficit, or building muscle being in a calorie…

Fellow hard-gainer here. Been a skinny dude my whole life. Hopefully I can help you out, about to roll over onto month 8 of my bulk. You are going to gain 2-3 lbs of muscle in 2 months. Max. The "rule" is 1lb per month. That is all your body can synthesize, given you eat enough calories, have enough protein, and provide…

Borderline alchoholic. Skinny-fat. Not happy with how I looked or felt.

Ouch. Didn't see anything wrong with it. Lack of personal preference =/= bad idea in general.

Yeah, no. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol It's a real thing. Not nearly as drastic as some people claim it is, but it's real. You have to do some pretty mean things to your body to trigger large spikes of cortisol production. Being in an excesive calorie deficit is one way to ramp up cortisol produciton in your body (others…

Sounds like you might need to invest a different gym. I ended up paying about $20 more a month to go to a nicer gym, but the time I don't waste waiting around for racks to open (on top of all the other equipment my old gym didn't have) has more than paid for the extra $ per month. As far as being a newb to form....we all…

Yup. After two sessions with my artist, he stopped making me give him a deposit to do drawings. Any new person is going to be assumed to be a PITA until proven otherwise.

There is a lot of good advice and a lot of broscience in here OP. You need carbs, plain and simple. Like all good things, moderation is key. There is a pretty big range where the calories you get from carbs as a % of your diet is considered healthy. If you try to keep it under 60%, that is good. Too much might make your…

Sounds like a fad diet OP. Fads come and go. Your diet should be a lifelong thing, something you can sustain. Just count your calories. That is really all it comes down to.

So you are saying I should just pre-load with vodka and skip the creatine? :p

Creatine is a pretty well documented supplement. Consistent use promotes better ATP upkeep. Essentially, you can workout longer without getting tired. I definitely notice a difference during de-load weeks where I don't take it, especially in the last 30 minutes of my workout.

Hit and miss. Sometimes the stimulants can help you push extra hard on a set. Sometimes it is so much stimulant it can make you physically sick (like lightheaded-ness that leads to neasuea/vomitting). Regardless of what happens, they are "bursty" and last only about an hour, after which there is a giant comedown and you…

Dude, I am you 2 years ago. Started my journey in June at 6'4", 180lbs of skinny-fatness. You are giving me continued hope as I hit month 8 of my bulk. Congrats on your success!!

OP, stop obsessing with a number on a scale. Weight measures everything in your body. Your last couple meals. Water you might be retaining. Muscle you might have added. Keep lifting. Keep doing your cardio. Keep logging. Progress pics help in 2-3 month intervals. But please just stop with the scale. If your goal is to just…

"Toning", as most women seem to percieve it, is an absolute myth. Super low weight at super high reps does nothing for your muscles. Your muscles require an actual challenge to gain shape/definition/size. Deadlifts, barbell squats, goblet squats, calf raises, hamstring curls, crunches will probably give you the look you…

Please tell me in what part of that sentence I said it was possible to gain .5lbs per week. The part where I said "Not possible"? Can you even English, bro?

FTFY .5lb of muslce per week? lol. Even somebody on gear can't build muscle that fast. Not possible. That weight is going to be like 90% fat lol

100% this. If you aren't eating at least 500 calories over your TDEE, you might as well not even bother hitting a protein goal. Proteins are the bricks, exercise is the building plan, and calories are the construction workers. Can't build a muscle fortress without workers. Caloric allotment is kind of a taboo word on a…

I started getting ready for this summer.....last summer haha. when you are a twig, the only place to go is up #foreverbulking

I would be willing to mentor a few people that are interested in increasing strength/size. Would definitely enjoy working with "hard-gainers" like myself; Been training for 5 years, finally figured out how to consistently add muscle to my frame which previously seemed to do whatever it could to prevent gains, despite…

I was actually quoting that guy. He said he thought half of the weight must be muscle, based on his bicep growth. So much broscience I can't even handle it lol.

0.5lbs/week is typcial for newbies, yes, but this period lasts maybe 6 weeks tops. Your body catches on pretty quick and starts to adapt to conserve calories to help you "survive". It is a pretty dangerous idea to base your bulk on 0.5lbs/week gains, which a lot of new lifters seem to do. Even 0.25lbs per week is pretty…

Gah yes I meant TDEE, thanks lol

I love how he thinks he gained 7lbs of muslce in 3 weeks. If it were only that easy BRAH