Hello guys. I really need some guidance here from all of you. I'm a very skinny boy aged 20. 174cm tall and 50kg weight. I think I've "minor" (trying to be positive here) pectus excavatum. Will post pics of that later. Anyways, I'm currently very eager to gain weight so I'd look better and have more confidence level.

I found out from the net that the surest way to gain weight is to do the squat and milk program. Yeah, I also do know that in general I'd have to have more meals per day. So now I really need to know the best equipment to do this.

Dumbbells or barbells? From what I've read, they said that you have to increase the weight each set. So my next question is, what is the starting weight to lift for a person like me? And how many kg should I add after the first set? My aim is to reach at least 70 kg.

Last but not least, my left chest seems like a little smaller or in other words, less muscular.

Please give me your views and suggestions to help me achieve my target. Thanks so much in advance.

If u r skinny, wats ur diet like?

5 - 6 meals per day.

Breakfast - 1 to 2 chicken eggs boiled with microwave for 30 secs (no oil used). 4 slides of bread with peanut butter. Milk or horlicks. Sometimes nasi lemak instead of bread.


Lunch - 1 bowl of rice with chicken egg. Vegetables. Banana. Chicken drumsticks. (i just figured out chicken breasts contain more protein, but I don't like that part ) Milk or plain water.

Tea - Scrambled eggs with bread and cheese. Usually 4 slices.
Milk.

Dinner - 1 bowl of rice with chicken egg. Vegetables. Chicken drumsticks or fish or meat (based on availability). Milk or plain water.

Supper - Chicken nuggets with cheese or chilli sauce. Milk or plain water. Sometimes bread with scrambled eggs with cheese and mayonnaise and chilli sauce.

This is my plan and yes, sometimes it doesn't go very well. I mean, sometimes I skipped one of these. Have to be more disciplined.

Lemme help you here. First thing you need to know is.

Eggs do NOT cause high cholesterol. Now I'm just giving u some free advice, I charge my clients, so that's why they get a detailed explanation. You don't

Rule 2: If you want average results, do what the average man does. Eat 1 egg a day. Eat more rice than meat. If you want awesome results, do what the awesome guy does.

Rule 3: You do NOT want to gain weight enough if you believe the things you eat daily, is enough. If you really wanted to gain some solid muscle, you'd change the way you eat. There is NO questions asked on this.

Rule 4: http://www.kued.org/uploads/photos/639-386...digenousWEB.jpg

This guy, didn't know about squats and milk, so it isn't just ONE way to get a good physique.

Okay that's the 4 things U need to know first to clear stuff up.

Now another 4 things to know about eating.

- If you see meat, vegetables, fruits, poultry, seafood, eat it. If you can't afford it, steal it.

- If you've an allergy or dislike that meat, veg, fruit, poultry, seafood, find another meat, veg, fruit, poultry, seafood to eat.

- If your ancestors could eat it during their times, you can eat it. If your ancestors didn't eat it, don't. Did your ancestors have access to "timtams" and "cereal bars"?

- If you're rich enough, get supplements. Vitamins are far more important than a protein shake. Get vitamins.

And then do some squats.

it's pretty awesome how pizzaboy dispenses good advice here, FOC. yet people just refuse to search threads and keep asking the same questions.

oh man, i got the same situation with u... 173cm 48~49kg, with minor pectus excavatum..

spot on! u hav to keep increasing ur weight to beat ur previous records and change ur routine every few weeks to stimulate muscles growth. adding weight after each set sounds like ur talking about pyramids, which is a great way to build muscle. make sure u do them safely and don't overload the weight. one-rep-max calculator (google for more info) should come in handy for this. u can add 2.5-5kg or 5-10lbs every increment, depends on which part of ur body. in fact, do powerlifts like bench, dead and barbell back squats (not dumbbell squats). if ur aim is muscle gain, start with 50% weight of ur 1 rep-max then work all ur way up to heavier until you can't go beyond 8 reps without breaking form. high intensity + low reps workout this is what you should b looking at.

This post has been edited by Berrymore84: Nov 2 2010, 03:42 PM

Squatting with dumbells makes you look like you're taking a crap with your pants on. Do it with a barbell and be a man.

Your diet up there, frankly, is bad. Coming from me is a bit hypocritical, cos I just ate 10 biscuits. BUT, I'm your height and a good 30 kgs heavier than you. Why? Because I ate, ate and ate. I try to at least eat "clean"; no fast food, no oily food etc etc bla bla 5 times a day. Chicken breasts are supposed to be your friends. Drop them drumsticks.

Have you tried squatting with the bar only? Do that first, then, once you're comfortable and able to knock 10 reps with GOOD FORM then slowly add weight. Form over weight is paramount. Don't give a crap about others when you're squatting with 5kgs plates on each side. Safety first. Work your way up, never let ego dictate the number.

Also, a squat is exactly what it is, a squat. Don't do half-assed reps. I've seen skinny buggers load the bar with weight twice their own bodyweight yet they squat 3 inches. And they wonder why their legs aren't growing. Sheesh.

Happy squatting, mate.

Wanna see me do magic? I'll increase your bodyweight by a cool 7KG in about a month and a half. No weights. All we need is a playground.

ALL my clients go through the "playground" initiation. This is to teach them how to move again. They're so de-conditioned, you can forget about lifting weights. Just get them to move without pain is a challenge on itself.

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Added on November 2, 2010, 4:17 pmAnd as for the whole chicken breast and thigh thing, that perked my curiosity....I did a search and found this;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11190839

There you go! So, what conclusion do U get? Ntg significant right.....Just eat lah. Breast, fat, whatever lah.....if you're skinny, just eat. If you're already fat, watch the carbs. Simple idiot science 101 by Pizzaboy cuz I'm such an idiot, I can't decipher complex things.

This post has been edited by pizzaboy: Nov 2 2010, 04:17 PM

Yeah, ppl who squat with empty has a priority to laugh at the skinny dude who dont squat and do lots of lat pull down

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it. I decided to gain weight via the method mentioned before coz actually I have been trying to gain weight before but not serious enough back then. So I thought this method might help me since I'm a hard gainer.

Is that pointed at me? Well, I just wanted a personal, custom answer for me. =p


Well at least, we are not alone. How was the shape of you rib cage? I mean, which part of it appear to be abnormal? Mine was curved horizontally inwards right under the chest in between the stomach like where the arrow pointed at. Some people got vertical inward curve in between the left n right chest muscle.

Oh thanks. Barbell, wait, what is the difference between barbells n dumbbells? I thought the function was just to add weight and dumbbells offer higher freedom since it was smaller (but can add weights) and can move independently. This site also said the dumbbells can do what barbells do.. Hmm, confused. Even though the site also mention barbells is 'convenient' when doing dead-lifts n squats, meaning what I will face with dumbbells is just some 'inconvenience' to do the same exercise, no? What did I missed, dear seniors of this sports/hobby?

80kg, wow, salute.. That's my dream weight. What was your weight 5 - 10 years ago?

Playground like the children playground? Manipulate the toys there you mean?

This post has been edited by fifty2seventy: Nov 2 2010, 05:26 PM

Think about it this way.

If you've a car, which has a 600BHP engine, but your clutch is old, would you be able to have peak performance?

If you've a structural issue with your body, shouldn't you fix it first?

That's why for me, all my clients go through a minimum 4 week phase of training with emphasis on structural correction. It can't be stressed enough on the importance of having good structure. That's why they all go to the playground for their "initiation" to good form.

Er, you mean pectus excavatum thing? I don't think it can ever be corrected. Unless you were saying about something else which I don't get.

Never mind......

ur right, dumbbell indeed offers more freedom and convenience but u can't do certain killer exercises without using a barbell because it holds more weight. u shouldn't get confused between a dumbbell squat (isolation) and a back squat (compound) because u can't simply perform a back squat using dumbbells the back squat aka barbell squat seems to be much harder and puts more stress on ur back, quads, hamstrings, gluteals, hip and calf muscles. therefore it's a compound exercise as opposed to dumbbell squat where it works mainly ur quads. u can read my comment regarding how compound exercises promote muscle growth on the thread posted by Ice BabY.

mcbarney666 has got his point there btw.



actually i'm clueless as to why would you choose only the squat exercise to start with, why not try out a full-body workout routine if you wish to get a ripped body? look at this example to catch my drift:

This post has been edited by Berrymore84: Nov 3 2010, 12:12 AM

horizontal, vertical??i don't get it bro...the only thing i know is the sternum goes inwards which causes bones to be sunken. but my case is as severe as cases seen on the internet...

At his weight, he'd need more mass and strength beyond anything. He would benefit from the squats more than any other movements because the squats do teach the fundamentals for everything. If his squats are good, his pulls will be good, his posture will be solid, he'd build enough base and strength than a million crunches ever could He'd be badass. And also, with squats, and only squats, he'd recover fast enough for the next session and continue to make awesome gains for a long period of time. He wouldn't have to waste his energy and recovery for less useful movements at this current point.

http://lifthard.com/?p=87 <-Here I write about pausing in a squat for those who are confident of trying this out.

i see, good explanation and write up you've got there but i'm not sure if he was referring to the squats we're talking about. yeah i have to admit squats are unarguably important to build a strong core than anything else.

It doesn't matter. I doubt anybody would be dumb enough not to notice that after a while, the load provided by a pair of dumbbells would be insufficient for continued gains, both in hypertrophy and strength. And the "issue" on whether to use dumbbells or barbells, isn't even an issue. If someone can constantly progress using a dumbbell, then go ahead. But once the plateau has been hit, you either mess around with T.U.T or platform height, or R.O.M or the most convenient way? Use more weight

Pizzaboy, Can you explain T.U.T for hypertrophy? izzit 40 sec so we have to finish our set within 40 sec?
Thanks.

If you spend 30 seconds in your entire set of say overhead presses, you're exposing your muscles, joints, ligaments and brains to 30 seconds of load. If you increase that to 40 seconds, you're exposing those variables to an additional 10 seconds, per set. In 3 sets, you've an additional 30 seconds of load if compared to using 30 seconds per set.

Essentially, you're giving yourself an extra set, without going through that extra set.

This is very beneficial in hypertrophy, because as we know, increased duration of load, increase the amount of hypertrophy potential.

If you don't have an additional load to use, or cannot use an additional load because it's too heavy, increasing T.U.T. is a beneficial variable to use, as it continues to stretch the fascia and enable more hypertrophy.

It can be 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 60 seconds whatever. As long as the T.U.T was longer than the previous session, you'll probably reap a good amount of hypertrophy benefits out of an increment in T.U.T.

It is just ONE of the many variables that can be played around with to grow muscle.

Another method is to increase repetitions in a set, but that's another story. Generally, in BODYBUILDING, , it's a good idea to stay within 8-12 repetitions. Anything more, you're not using sufficient load. Anything less you're using too much load.

HOWEVER, this IS not SET IN STONE. There are plenty of professional bodybuilders out there, who go for sets of 20 even. This however, isn't easily achievable for the common gym-rat because you've not had enough sarcoplasmic hypertrophy to enable tolerance to such workload in a set.

I may have deviated, but that should get the idea in.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and information. Well there are very much for me to learn in this area. And no (reply to berry), I'm not really keen to get a very defined or ripped body. I have been this skinny for a decade and it's very depressing and tiring and boring and embarassing when people say "u r just a lil too skinny dude", "you'd look better if there's some fat over here n there" and bla bla.. So actually, my first goal is to get the ideal weight, to get a round elbow, normal body. You know the look of the bones of the elbow of a very skinny people right? I'm so ashamed of it to the point that all my clothes is a long sleeve. Just gotta hide it. And yes, with the weird rib cage I have, I've difficulty to expose my body when I have to go to shower at my hostel. Always wear shirt till I reached the cubicle. And I'm just mad at people who have a nice built but act like a girl or in other words, soft. No offense. Sorry you had to read my rants. I can't help it and I felt better now, hehe..

T.U.T = Time Under Tension
R.O.M = Range of Motion
got it.

Well, previously I did my workout with a fixed 4.4kg dumbbells my brother bought years ago. Seems like I have to buy a barbells now. Anyone wanna sell one to me? I prefer second hand since it'll be much cheaper.

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Added on November 3, 2010, 10:43 amI see. Well, hope you can do something about it.
Mine was well, I think not that bad. Maybe I'm just being optimistic. I looked more like in this picture, Horizontal inwards of the middle rib.


This post has been edited by fifty2seventy: Nov 3 2010, 10:43 AM

Do 30 negative pull-ups, 50 pushups, 100 bodyweight squats now. Everyday add 5. Do this for a month. Eat right. Come back and tell me what happened.

Great! This is useful since I don't have barbells yet. Wait, meaning just do it for complete 30 days without any resting day? Ok, will do it. So, by the 30th day, I should've been doing 180 (-) pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 250 body weight squats right?

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Added on November 3, 2010, 11:35 amOne last thing, western squat or asian squat?

This post has been edited by fifty2seventy: Nov 3 2010, 11:35 AM

5 years ago I was about 60+kgs. Mind you, I was a fat kid all throughout my childhood and teenage years. When I had enough of all the fat jokes and wanting to have a much healthier life, I stopped eating all the junk. And I really mean, I stopped ALL junk; roti canai, char kuey teow, nasi lemak, carbonated drinks, sugary food, oily food, fried food, you name it, I stopped eating it. It's been a trying period to get where I am now but there's nothing like the present.

My diet right now isn't the prettiest but I've said before, I try to make it "clean". My body type is crappy too, meso+endo (google Body Types and you'll know what I mean) which is great for building muscle. And retaining fat. \

Western squat or Asian squat? What the heck? Just squat, man!

Actually the pull ups, you merely add ONE pull-up a day. Sorry, I missed that out.

And to the last question, why don't you try doing the western squat for 250 reps and see if anything blows out. It'd be funny as fuctk and I'd certainly laugh till my stomach explodes when it does. Some questions, you don't have to ask.

yeah you couldn't be more right about it. i have a question regarding arnold press and dumbbell shoulder press, i see some people push the dumbbells all the way up while others just bend their elbows a little, does this make any significant difference on the workload or just a matter of keeping some tensions onto the delts? tqvm

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Added on November 3, 2010, 6:12 pmwell i'm sure everyone has his own purpose of practicing bodybuilding because no one is perfect that's why we gotta do something about it. your dedication really speaks volumes about your success and if you stick to your goal i'm sure something good will pan out soon. wish you the best of luck then!



haha just spit it out, we're all ears

This post has been edited by Berrymore84: Nov 3 2010, 06:38 PM

Insert Sarcasm: Don't worry, if you spit it out, we won't even read it. Still, it'll make you feel better, so why bother? Spit it out! Or not. Hmm hmm, think think hunny bunny!

Arnold press, shoulder press, military press, push press, bench press, konek press, haiyah......Just press the bloody bar lah.

Here's smtg interesting. There has been some coaches in Europe that have meddled with the idea of REDUCING flexibility for certain athletes. Now what sport require this? I'm unsure myself. Maybe ...I don't have a clue honestly. But how they've done this, is by making the athletes do partials. Partials, is believed to increase muscular tightness at certain angles, and I'm certain this is the case when you do partial reps as well.

My suggestion, add both partials and full range repetitions. More full range, partials to supplement and assist the prime movement.

konek press??? to make konek bigger izzit LOL

that was sound advice, thanks!

Why thank u. I always give sound advice. I think.
Maybe....
I'm not sure.....
Well maybe not....
Fine fine.

Wow, all parts of my body is aching.. You sure I can just continue to do the workout the very next day? Some says give it time to recover bla bla a day or two then only resume.. I'm confused, it's not too clear for me, bro.

Hey,TS,are u just doing squats now?Or what?Sorry,I lazy to read through the thread la

use some common sense. if some parts of your body is sore after one day of exercise, work on the other parts you didn't work on the previous day.

Well after some reading and searching in the net, I found out squats is one of the surest way to gain weight even for hard gainers provided with some plenty consumptions of milk and hence the name 'Squat n milk'.
After explaining to pizzaboy my actual goal (simply gain weight, not really into defined body YET), he suggested those workout. I take it as the workout to help me gain weight. And so I followed.

I still haven't work on abs and triceps. But then I remembered what he said about my current condition and goal, which is to gain weight. He said squatting will help tremendously and it can heals much faster than other workout. At least, that's what I get from his posts.

So I guess abs and triceps are the 'less useful movement at this current point'. Which leaves me nothing to do but to wait for a reduced/healed sore of my biceps, chests and thighs.

Please correct me if I got things wrong.

This post has been edited by fifty2seventy: Nov 4 2010, 06:30 PM

Hey TS, just thought you should know this other method of gaining weight which is proven, its called GOMAD. Gallon Of Milk A Day. A gallon is like, 4 litres. I've personally tried it before earlier this year, and it works, packed on 7-8kg before I stopped. If you're interested, go search it up.

This method is purely dietary, doesn't touch any workout plans. See if it suits you.

Thanks for spending some time and thoughts to reply, suggests and answer my questions, guys. Appreciate it. Alright, gotta GO MAD about it.. =)

This post has been edited by fifty2seventy: Nov 4 2010, 10:15 PM