Last year I gained 18 pounds of muscle which I am very proud of. This year I plan to continue to gain muscle and following in Athletic gentleman’s philosophy that fitness should enhance your life not consume it, I plan to make sure I am enjoying my life.
Before I started paying attention to what I was eating and lifting weights consistently I weighed a whopping 145 pounds (on a good day) and as of this morning I weighed in at 163. My family and friends have all made comments at this point about the transformation in my physique. Additionally I feel more confident in social situations, especially around women.
So how did I gain 18 pounds of muscle in a year?
I followed Athletic Gentleman’s Skinny to Built plan. I lifted weights 3 days and aimed to get some physical activity (ultimate frisbee or hiking generally) 1-2 of the remaining days each week. The programs I’ve tried in the past we’re 4-5 days a week in the gym which was hard with work and school and I eventually got discouraged because I missed several workouts (I knew I shouldn’t give up but I couldn’t maintain that schedule). Getting to the gym consistently 3 days a week was do able and I gained more muscle than when I was previously lifting 5 days a week so this was a win-win.
Opposite from programs I’ve followed in the past, I lifted my heavy set first, while my muscles were fresh, and followed that up with a few dropsets. I made great strength gains using this method! Adding 80 pounds (125 lbs to 195 lbs for 3 reps) to my bench press in a year. A went from doing 2 pullups (bodyweight) to weighted pullups using 35 lbs for 5 reps.
As for nutrition, the program outlined a range for the mix up of my macro intake. I aimed for my calories to consist of 25% protein, 35% fat and 40% carbs. I didn’t follow these ratios exact but generally aimed each day to get within a 10% margin.
In order to build muscle your body energy (calories) but there is a diminishing return above ~400-500 excess calories. So in order to stay lean while building muscle I increased my calorie intake by ~300 each day, which provided the extra energy my muscles need to repair and grow but was not an excess that would get turned into fat.
The biggest thing that my success can be attributed to is being consistent with my workouts and nutrition. Hitting the gym even 3 days per week is not always easy but mentally letting go of I must go Monday, Wednesday, Friday and adapting as needed to fit my schedule allowed me to be consistent.
Eating inline with my planned macro ratio was challenging at first but meal prepping (cooking 2-3 meals at a time) was a savior. Making a crockpot of Chili or getting a rotisserie chicken and prepping the fixings for tacos for a few days made it possible to make this nutrition plan a lifestyle change and not a “diet”.
Overall I am proud and very happy with the muscle gains I made last year. Like I said at the start, this year I want to focus on continuing to make gains and ensure fitness is enhancing my life not taking over it.
Healthy Dan 