My (incomplete) Journey from Skinny to Muscular

Discussion in 'Fitness, Health & Nutrition' started by sirbrandon101, Jul 8, 2011.

  1. I'm making this thread with the intention of updating it in a few years time when my body transformation will be very apparent compared to my old self. I will be posting my workouts and progress along the way as well as my current goals and new ones that I set for myself in the future.

    At my worst I was 120lbs @ 5'10", running 60+ miles a week and eating less than 2,000cal/day. I was a walking definition of 'skin and bones'. This was me finishing a 10 mile race in 58:25 with minimal training(please excuse the shorts, at least I wasn't wearing my purple ones :laughing:). I should've ran a marathon that year when I was at my peak.
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    After high school I stopped running and over a time of around 3 years I reached 140lbs and I'm assuming it was just hormones and me maturing and filling out a little.

    In February of this year I started working out at my house(mind you I had never touched a weight in my life before this) but that was very half assed and didn't yield any noticeable strength or mass gains. At the beginning of April I just woke up one morning and decided it was time to change my life. I went out and bought a 2 year gym membership and I've been going 5 days a week ever since then.

    In the last 12 weeks I have gained 14lbs and my strength gains have been very good during that time.

    Current Stats/Lifts


    • bodyweight - 154lbs @ 5'11"
      [*]bench press - 175x3
      [*]squat - 245x1
      [*]a2g squat - 135x6
      [*]rack pull(below knee) - 305x3
      [*]running vertical jump - 32"



    Goals for 2011


    • bodyweight - 165lbs
      [*]bench press - 205x1
      [*]squat - 275x1
      [*]a2g squat - 185x1
      [*]rack pull(below knee) - 375x1
      [*]running vertical jump - 36"


    Long Term Goals


    • bodyweight - 190lbs
      [*]body fat - under 10%
      [*]big 3 lifts - over 1,000lbs
      [*]running vertical jump - over 40"


    Here are some current pictures for reference

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    [​IMG]


    At the very least I hope this thread can inspire someone to embrace a healthier lifestyle. Getting in shape will improve many aspects of your life. I have a lot more energy throughout the day and I've already become more confident in everything I do. Life is too short to settle for mediocrity. Thanks for looking and I genuinely appreciate any and all comments you guys have.
     
  2. You can probably be more aggressive with your squat and bench goals. If you keep going like you have been you should easily exceed that. I think you could put up 205 benching in the next couple of weeks if you can get 3 of 175 right now. As for the squat, that lift goes up in weight so quickly that you'll be at 275 before you know it. That's my goal as well for the end of the summer.
     
  3. Any tips on to keep motivated to keep working out, i was doing a workout routine and done it every other day for 2 weeks, then after that , i just keeped putting off workout days, until where i dont workout any more, my current interest is to lose body fat, but i would like to build muscle aswell
     
  4. Get on creatine bro, last summer (before i did it) i weighed 125, my squat was 275 and my bench was 195 and after i got on it im now 140lbs and my squat is 375 my bench is 255. and i didnt get to lift a lot because I was losing weight for wrestling, if ur trying to gain weight and muscle try this. but make sure you stay hydrated
     

  5. Nothing worthwhile comes easy in life. Just tell yourself that everyday you workout you're building a better future for yourself. Another thing that motivates me is that I paid for a 2 year membership and I'm a broke college student so I'll be kicking myself if I don't take advantage of that time.

    Whatever you do, you should ENJOY working out. I'm taking a physics class right now over summer and it's 4.5 hours everyday so I go to the gym right after and just release all that stress and energy.
     
  6. Damn, any tips haha? Those shoulders are gnarly guy (in a good way lol)
     
  7. Wow looking pretty jacked!

    Congrats man! :D
     
  8. Stopped by a small nutrition shop before my workout today so my friend could get protein. I started talking to the guy working there and found out that he's the owner. He was a really cool dude, extremely knowledgeable. I didn't even buy anything and he gave me a free t-shirt, two samples of C4 and a bottle of water to try it out for my workout, plus coupons for another free t-shirt, 20% off any purchase, $10 off a $50 purchase, and $5 off a $30 purchase. Local businesses FTW, I would never get hooked up like that at a place like GNC or some other chain.

    Anyways today's workout was pretty good by my standards. I'll be doing a lot more dumbell exercises from here on out to hopefully fix some of my muscular imbalances.

    db bench press - 50x10, 60x7, 65x4, 65x4, 60x6, 55x8
    db incline press - 45x8, 50x6, 55x4, 55x6, 50x6, 45x8
    db decline press - 55x3x6
    db flys - 30x6, 32.5x6, 35x6
    tricep dip machine - 210x10, 225x8, 240x6, 255x5
    seated cable flys - 50x6, 45x6
    dips - 9, 7
    tricep cable pulldowns - 110x10, 120x8, 130x6, 140x5
    one handed tricep pulldowns - 45x6(6 reps on each arm), 50x6
    skull crushers(immediately followed by close grip bench press until burnout) - 45x2x6 and then 15 reps of bench press

    decline crunches w/ 25lb plate - 2x15
    weighted crunch machine - 140x2x10
     
  9. Well done.. I'm putting off lifting till next year when I'm done cutting. Seems foolish but the cardio I'm doing takes up a lot of time as it is and it's tiring too.
     
  10. leg extensions - 115x2x10
    seated calf raises - 45x10, 80x2x10
    box squats - 115x8, 155x8, 185x4, 205x1, 185x4, 155x6, 135x8
    lunge squats - 135x12, 155x12, 175x8
    leg press - 270x8, 360x6, 410x4
    box jumps w/ 25lb dumbells - 10 jumps

    This was my first time doing box squats and they're like a completely different workout. I'm sure these will help increase my vertical. 175 was also the heaviest I've gone on lunge squats before.

    back/bis tomorrow.
     
  11. rack pulls - 135x8, 225x6, 265x4, 295x2, 295x4, 275x6, 225x8
    lat cable pulldowns - 120x8, 135x6, 150x6, 165x4
    one handed lat pulldowns(right arm only) - 40x8, 50x8, 60x6, 75x4
    seated cable rows - 90x8, 120x8, 150x4, 135x6
    lat pulldown machine(inverse grip) - 70x8, 80x8, 90x6
    seated row machine - 70x2x8, 90x2x6, 115x4
    seated hammer curls - 30x2x6, 25x8
    bicep curl machine - 60x8, 45x8, 45x6(inverse grip)
    bb curl - 55x6

    I just ran out of protein so I'm gonna load up on more milk and peanut butter until I buy another tub.
     
  12. standing military press - 75x8, 95x6, 75x6
    seated db shoulder press - 40x8, 45x6, 50x2x4, 45x6, 40x8
    seated cable shoulder press - 60x2x10
    cable front raises - 80x10, 100x8, 120x2x6, 100x8, 80x8
    seated side raises - 65x2x8, 80x2x6

    Legs tomorrow. I will now be cycling through heavy/half squats, box squats, and deep/a2g squats to really hit everything. Going heavy tomorrow and I'm hoping to hit a pr, would be really stoked if I can get 260x1.
     
  13. Yo dude, good on you man, im impressed with your results. Im a pretty lanky guy: 6'1ish and 160. Worse then that though, i feel my health (both mentaly and physically) are starting to suffer. In my mind i imagine myself a certain way, and lately i have just done nothing to achieve it.

    Anyways, I just started doing a lite workout when i get home from work this week, and im gonna be kicking it into gear once next week.

    Any tips for someone starting out? I have some free weights at home that i have access to until i go back to school in September (where ill have access to a full gym).
     

  14. I'm not sure how limited your collection of free weights is but I'd probably do some circuit stuff. If you don't have a bench you can lay on the ground and do dumbell press, flys, skull crushers. You can do shoulder press, front/side raises, bicep curls, hammer curls. A pullup bar would be really good to hit your back. When you don't have a lot of equipment to work with you just have to be creative. Good luck with your routine.

    Hit a new pr on squats today, old one was 245x1. Knees started to turn inward a bit on the 265 and 2nd set of 245 so I'll stay under that weight for a while until I can hit it with perfect form.

    calf raise machine - 70x2x10
    squats - 135x8, 185x6, 225x4, 245x3, 265x1, 245x3, 225x6, 185x8
    leg press - 270x8, 320x6, 360x4
    calf raises(on leg press) -360x3x25
    leg extensions - 145x10, 160x8, 175x6, 190x6, 205x6
    lunge squats(on smith machine) - 90x16, 140x2x12
     
  15. db bench press - 50x8, 60x6, 65x5, 70x4, 60x6, 55x8
    bb decline press - 135x8, 155x4, 155x5, 135x8
    db incline press - 45x8, 50x5
    weighted dips - 25lbs x 6, 25lbs x 5, 25lbs x 4
    cable flys(burnout and then move weight down and continue) - 60lbs-->50lbs-->40lbs-->35lbs-->30lbs-->25lbs-->20lbs
    tricep cable pulldowns - 110x10, 130x7, 150x5
    skullcrushers - 45x2x8
    plyometric pushups - 10, 8

    Hit a pr on db press
     
  16. I played 2hrs of full court ball last night. Hit legs today.

    squats - 135x8, 185x6, 205x6, 225x2x6, 205x6
    box squats - 135x8, 175x5, 175x4, 155x6
    lunge squats - 135x12, 155x12
    good mornings - 95x8, 115x6
    leg press - 270x8, 320x6, 360x4
    calf raises(on leg press) - 360x40, 410x30
    leg curls - 100x10, 130x6
     
  17. rack pulls - 135x8, 205x6, 255x6, 265x4, 245x6, 235x8
    bb rows - 90x8, 115x6, 135x4
    pullups - 3x8
    lat pulldowns - 120x8, 135x6, 150x2x6
    one hand lat pulldowns(right hand only) - 60x2x8

    don't remember all the weights and sets for the rest but did a lot of other lat/back exercises on machines and cables.

    Finished with biceps

    hammer curls - 25x2x6
    seated bb curl - 55x2x6
    bicep cable curl(reverse grip) - 60x3x6
    bicep curl machine - 50x6, 45x8
     
  18. db shoulder press - 40x8, 45x6, 50x2x5, 45x7, 40x8
    shoulder press(smith) - 70x8, 70x6, 80x4
    front/side raises
    cable upright row - 60x10, 80x8, 100x6, 120x6
    cable shoulder press(burnout) - 50lbs-->40lbs-->30lbs-->20lbs-->15lbs-->10lbs-->5lbs
     

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