Alright I broke up with my gf where do go from here

[steve86]

6’3 157 pounds currently looking to gain weight and be more fit, for my height I should weigh around 180-220 area so trying to get up there and wanting to build muscle.

-Nutrition
Currently according to calorie calculators i need 2900 calories to maintain my weight. I have been trying to hit 3500 calories a day to hopefully gain a pound or 2 a week. I am eating mostly healthy a lot of chicken breasts, salad, eggs, but also using unhealthy foods to easily add calories to my diet when needed. Is a 600 calorie surplus good enough to add weight? Is it to much?

As far as my work outs go I’ve only just begun doing some body weight fitness at home this is what I’m doing daily as follows
3x10 pike push-up
3x12 decline push-up
3x50 bicycle crunches
3x20 sit ups
3x20 lying leg raise
3x10 incline push-up
I know I need to add more to my workouts. I’m just doing this at home to work into a daily routine and mindset of working out consistently before going to a gym and spending money on a membership. I’m considering the PPL route for weights but truly have no idea where to start at the gym and looking for guidance. Is there a solid YouTuber you trust? Or a beginners workout plan? I’ve tried to research a lot of this stuff but there’s just so much information and so many differing opinions and it’s all very hard to try and sort through.

-Goals
I’m just unhappy being scrawny and underweight I want to bulk up and fill out. Looking to be around 200 pounds hopefully not necessarily jacked but I’d like to be muscular and fit.

I started all of this April 9th 2024 I weighed myself at 148 pounds as a 6’3 26 year old male, today l I weighed myself at 157.6 I think I’m doing something right but unsure. If you have any guidance I’ll gladly take it. Thank you for your time

 

[dinafrancis]

@steve86

I have been trying to hit 3500 calories a day to hopefully gain a pound or 2 a week.

Gaining more than 1lb a week is gonna just be a gain of pure fat. I wouldn't exceed 1lb a week gained. A 500 calorie a day surplus will gain 1lb a week. Once you hit your protein goals and your fat minimums, you can really eat whatever you like, but of course healthier food is better for your body.

If you are gonna be doing home workouts, I'd look into r/bodyweightfitness for some better options since you're missing so much from there. While you are only doing these workouts, I definitely wouldn't be aiming to gain a whole lot of weight. If anything, focus on just improving your diet and getting plenty of protein in and then start gaining weight once you have a gym membership.

Give this a read over: https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/

There's a list of routines linked from there. Pick one of those. If you don't know how to do an exercise, search for that particular exercise on youtube and go from there. Start light and figure out your form and build up. You don't need to super hard right out of the gate.

 

[alenajoy]

@dinafrancis Hi, im 6,2 and 145lbs and some other people in the gym community have told me to just start gaining 2 pounds of weight a week and that i would need the fat because of how skinny i am.They also told me that since im 6,2 i can easily cut the excess fat gained by going on a calorie deficit, i also want to see fast results with 3 months so i was thinking about what you would advise me to do.

 

[dinafrancis]

@alenajoy While yes, you can afford to gain some fat... Why gain extra on purpose? While bulking, you'll still gain fat regardless, so eventually you'll have to cut. If you keep your weight gain to only a pound a week, you'll be able to bulk for longer before needing to cut.

And 3 months isn't gonna do much. If you put on extra fat, you'll be filled out more, sure, but you'll just be squishy. I'd say give up on the 3 month goal and just start working on good habits that'll last you a lifetime. Work on your diet and start eating more while still trying to be healthy. Track calories to start if you need to, but try and get to a place where you can do it without tracking. Get in the gym and start lifting, build that into consistent habit.

If you haven't already, give the r/fitness wiki a read

 

[steve86]

@dinafrancis Thank you very much for the detailed reply ! I will look into those resources and pick a routine that works for me. I’m mostly using the body weight fitness now as a stepping stone to getting more into working out, although definitely still plan on doing it probably on my rest days from the gym. However I’ll look into that subreddit and get some better information on what to add to my home workouts

 

[zombimansimp]

@steve86 Fellow skinny guy here back a couple years ago.

Homemade protein shakes.

Make them how you like, but they are easy to shove a bunch of calories and protein down, and don’t need to have an appetite for it.

Here is what I put in mine. Sounds absurd, but roughly 1100 calories and 70g protein.

I am 6’4 and 200 lbs now.
I use to be 6’4 and 167 lbs.

• 1 premier protein shake
• 1 scoop of protein powder
• 4 tablespoons of powder peanut butter
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 4-6 tbs of avocado oil (tons of calories per tablespoon, load up on this as much as you want)
• A couple strawberries

I gained weight pretty quick when doing this consistently along side working out.

Best of luck

 

[steve86]

@zombimansimp Honestly the hardest part of this journey has been actually eating all the calories I need to gain weight, the protein shakes sound like a good idea im going to look into it because I’m just not hungry a lot and it’s not easy trying to eat when I’m not hungry

 

[zombimansimp]

@steve86 I had the same issue previously. For the most part they are easy to slam down. I give a lot of credit to doing those smoothies once a day.

Avocado oil is great for extra calories. So incredibly high for such little amount m.

 

[randomelement]

@steve86 Just start studying weight lifting and get into a good rhythm with it. You'll be getting those newby gains in no time.

I found for me I started really packing on the pounds (of muscle) doing deadlift. Your mileage may very.

 

[steve86]

@randomelement Thank you will do I’ve been doing a lot of research but I don’t know anyone personally to ask these questions

 

[speed112]

@steve86 Up, you go up from here.

 

[sittingathisfeet]

@steve86 for YouTubers I recommend jeff nippard and Dr. Mike (renaissance periodization)

 

[pmcr63]

@steve86 The gym is not going to help with your break up. You're just going to be a ripped depressed kid at the gym like everyone else. You gotta go out there and date again, nothing serious.

 

[o2bjenni]

@steve86 Truth is, being thin is just hereditary. Weight isn't a true measure of health. Eat a balanced diet and exercise for 20 minutes a day 3-4 times a week. You'll stay healthy. Learn to love the way you look

 

[idkmyname]

@o2bjenni That’s not really true tho you really can gain/lose weight no matter your genes all they do is make it harder as long as your getting calories and working out your gonna gain weight cause your body needs somewhere to put those calories

However you should definitely learn to love how you look but that doesn’t mean you can’t better it

 

[o2bjenni]

@steve86 You can eat a bunch of crap work out and get big. You will eventually wind up skinny. We all end up being who we were in the beginning.

 

[kentrasso]

@steve86 Go to bed, the day is over.