Hi, I'm new, need advice.

[Eccentric_man]

OK, so I've never trained before and have been wanting to make it a major part of my weekly routine for some time now. I'm 21, male, 6'3, 165lbs. I consider myslef to be in good shape, no body fat to be seen since I'm so tall and thin. I have an amazing metabolism, in which I can eat all the food, and drink all the beer and get no gut (and I do love beer).
I'm planning on getting a membership at a local Gold's Gym, and doing my workouts in the morning before class and work, during the week 4-5 times a week(excluding weekends), and then having the rest of my day for whatever. Eating breakfast before I train, and some kind of creatine afterwards. But, I'm wondering what kind of results I'm going to see, due to being so lanky and having such a monster fast metabolism. Of course I want to put on the muscle weight, and I'm not very concerned at this point about cardio, since I'm naturally skinny and stuff. If anyone has any advice on how to spread out a workout regiment for someone like me, focusing mainly on upper body, but mixing in other things so I don't hurt myself in a morning time basis, 4-5 days of the week (excluding weekends) this would really help out my lifestyle right now. Thanks

 

[BiggT]

What I would do if I were you (actually, what I still do after 13 years of lifting) is to center my training around getting good at squats, pulls, and presses. Basic, compound lifts, with the goal being to simply add weight to the bar.

Your height is a blessing.....the taller you are, the more muscular bodyweight you can carry when you fill your frame out. Your metabolism is a blessing too because you can cram in ungodly amounts of good tasting calories and have all the weight go to the right places.

The reason you're so light for 6' 3" is simply because you aren't eating enough. You may not eat as much as you think....OR you may eat more than most people......it doesn't matter, because if you were eating above maintainence, you'd gain weight.....maintainence for you might be 5,000 cals.....it might be 8,000.....you'll just have to find out. I am 255 at 6' and I eat 6000-7000++ cals a day, if I scaled back to 3,000 (even 3000cals worth of absolute garbage) the scale would tumble down dramatically and I'd be about 200lbs before I knew what hit me.

For the training, check out the stickies pinned at the top of the board and read through MadCow2's website linked in there.....it is dense, so ask any questions you may have......also, what does your eating typically look like? Thats the most important thing, you need to eat to move the scale.

 

[platinum ice]

Biggt is right. For you, it is all about food. Take in all you can, about 6 or 7 small meals a day. Or a few meals and a few MRP's. Cut out activities that burn calories except lifting. Gotta take in like 6000 calories a day. I was about your size when I first started, only about 6'1" but about 155. You have to force yourself to eat, even when you are not hungry. Like every 1 1/2 hours. I always liked the 2 days on, one day off, 2 days on workout plan. I would do something like chest/tris, back/bis, off, shoulder/calves, legs, off, start over. That is a very simplistic routine, but it always seemed to work for me. You will find many different opinions out there. Don;t worry about what you eat, eat everything. With your metabolism (like mine) you need calories.... burgers, pizza, fried chicken, ice creams, ect, ect.. Throw some whey protein in with, or between meals, and creatine should help. Good luck. And yes, after awhile, you will be sick of eating. There are times when I wanted to go for two days without eating anything, cause I was so sick of force feeding myself, but that is the dedication it takes for a hardgainer.......

 

[Madcow2]

Here's the Training Primer I wrote, this is good stuff to get your head around. Read it and let it sink in: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/Topics/Training_Primer.htm

Here is the diet piece: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/Topics/Diet.htm

In a nutshell, this is pretty much what you need to know. After that, it's about getting better in the gym at things that matter and eating to move the scale.

Consider Mark Rippetoe's book Starting Strength. Lots of fans of this book here and as a trainer of novices (especailly guys who have never lifted and are skinny) I honestly don't know of anyone better. His book will teach you the basics, the lifts (the best source for this anywhere - and this is crucial stuff), and provide an intro program. www.startingstrength.com. That is by far the best $30 you can spend at this point and with that information you will far outperform a 30 day supply of the monkey ass oil supplement of your choice. You will not be disappointed and although I am not the type of person who believes throwing money at something will do much to improve plain old hard work and time under the bar, I don't know of a better way or a way to get close to the info for less than $30. If I was starting out, this is what I would give to myself or if my son was ready, this is what I would have him read. Take that for what you will.

 

[Eccentric_man]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll start eating, lol. And I'll look into the book.