Hey everyone...new fella here

[matt_77]

Hey everyone. Obviously, I'm matt. I'm 18 years old and I'm REAL skinny...121 lbs skinny. So yeah, I've been reading around here a while before I joined, I read almost everything by Mark Rippetoe (I've got all his 3 books). Would his simple approach to training be conducive to getting bigger AND stronger?

[Phaedrus49er]

Combined with a clean surplus diet, yes.

Welcome.

[Kevin T.]

Hello Matt.

Rippetoe knows his stuff. Follow his methods and eat a lot and you'll be on the road to getting bigger and stronger.

[matt_77]

Thanks guys. About the eating a lot thing, I'm real busy with college and stuff so I don't have that much time to count calories and grams and weigh food. Can't I just stuff myself with eggs and chicken and meat and fruits and veggies (along with the gallon of milk)? Or do I have to count everything I eat?

[Steer810]

How tall are you?

[dmw]

Originally Posted by matt_77

Thanks guys. About the eating a lot thing, I'm real busy with college and stuff so I don't have that much time to count calories and grams and weigh food. Can't I just stuff myself with eggs and chicken and meat and fruits and veggies (along with the gallon of milk)? Or do I have to count everything I eat?

In my opinion, if you're "stuffing yourself" and not gaining weight, then you have to keep track for at least a while. From what I've read combined with life experience, most thin people don't eat as much as they think they do.

fitday.com is a fairly simple site that will track your calories, protein intake, etc. If you have time to check out the internet enough to get here, you can use it. Make yourself convenient snacks in your backpack, whatever you can do to eat more and more food. After a while, your body will respond with an increase in appetite and you'll be eating far more in regular sit-down meals than you used to.

John Berardi is a good author to check out on the nutritional side, and this forum is very encouraging.

[matt_77]

I'm 5'6. Some of my friends who were skinny recommended me a product by Vince DelMonte called "No Nonsense Muscle Building". They tried his program and gained a lot of weight and strength. Also, his program looks like fun. Any input on this?

[Phaedrus49er]

Keep it simple. Lift hard and heavy, and eat a lot. Tweak as needed.

[matt_77]

Ok, I checked out the Vince DelMonte program with my friend. There were a lotta calculations and ratios and what-not and I really don't like that stuff. I mean, what's so hard about just eating a lot? I also checked out the Rippetoe Q & A at strength mill. He advised that the best post-workout drink is chocolate milk. Now that, I like.

[diamondpete]

Hi Matt

Welcome. I agree with a simple approach and do not like counting calories. What I would suggest is do one of the Rippetoe programs, and eat alot and sleep. If you do not gain weight within a month, then you are either not eating enough or you have a tapeworm. If you have a tapeworm, go to the doctor (you may want to save the tapeworm for a cutting phase) and if you do not have a tapeworm, you probably you should count calories for a bit to get an idea of what you need to eat.

Good luck and welcome

[Kevin T.]

There's a saying that's been thrown around a lot of us here like. The skinny guys think its their training that needs work, when really it is their diets. The big guys think its their diet that needs work, when really it is their training.

Go with Rippetoe's stuff and just eat and eat and eat. You say you're REAL skinny, so it'll take a lot for you to get fat. Improve your big compound lifts, keep adding weight to the bar, and food to your diet. Keep the protein high, and don't get all caught up in nutrient ratios or breakdowns. Just eat good food and eat a lot of it. For now, don't worry about some junk food. That Big Mac might not leaving you feeling so hot pre-workout, but it's not going to kill you at this point. Get used to eating a big amount of calories. There's been some of us here who have downed 4,000 to 5,000+ a day. Check out Paranoid Android's old logs to see how he went from 135 to somewhere around 200. Frank knows a lot about eating and lifting big.

Eat. Lift. Sleep. Repeat.

[Steer810]

To add to what Kevin said, EAT!

And DO count calories. At least for the first couple days or week to see what your number of calories looks like. Counting calories does suck but its necessary, at least for a little while, if you want to gain or lose weight.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Steer810

To add to what Kevin said, EAT!

And DO count calories. At least for the first couple days or week to see what your number of calories looks like. Counting calories does suck but its necessary, at least for a little while, if you want to gain or lose weight.

Totally agree here. If you don't monitor what you take in, it's easy to say "I eat a ton". If you've been skinny a long time, I think you must force feed yourself until your appetite goes up.

Unless you've never worked out before, then maybe you could get away with a carefree diet and still get newbie gains.

[Terry Monk]

Massive Eating by John Berardi

Read it, learn it, live it.

John Berardi - Search Results

[Irishdazza]

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal

[Isaac Wilkins]

Welcome! You could do a lot worse than Rippetoe's stuff combined with a lot of food!

[Tom@foresight]

Welcome!

TOM