HELP! Fitness plan?

[tallskinnydude]

Alright so I have made some gains with a personal trainer in the past couple of months. I have attempted to increase my calorie intake to 5000 a day and find this to be very difficult. I also find it hard to get 8 hours of sleep each night.

I really want a workout plan that I can stick to. I'm thinking about going 5 days a week, resting two days. Currently I am around 180lbs and I am 6'5.

Any ideas on how I get 5,000 calories a day and still be able to eat what I want to eat? What's an easy way to get a TON of calories.

Any other tall guys been struggling with this? It's killing me.

[Talyn]

A few questions for you:

Why 5000 calories? What did you base this on? You may not even need that much.

What are your goals? We can't really recommend anything without knowing what your goals are. Are you a runner, cyclist, lifter??

Have you asked your PT for a workout plan?

If you had to shoot for 5000 every single day, my recommendation would be to base part of it around good quality food like lean protein, grains, fruit & veg, and sink the rest into convenience stuff, high sugar/fat...

But again I ask you why you think you need to eat 5000 calories. Unless you're a construction worker I don't think it's necessary, even for a 6'5 guy.

[baldy]

Talyn is spot on when he says you need to define your goals before getting any advice.

Despite that I have two pearls of wisdom for you.
1) Bulkers Corner read the whole thread, get motivated, get obese. -> viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4518
2) 5 days a week, sounds like a bodybuilder style body part split program, if your looking to gain weight I would try cut that to 3 times a week and do some big movements instead.

[ninearms]

1) Program-wise, a couple of good ones:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... _gains&cr=

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... ade_simple

2) Get your carbs from legumes/beans. Eat avocados and nut butters for fat. Eat protein at every meal if possible. You don't have to eat garbage, but you can get away with it more than if you were trying to lose fat. Doesn't mean you should though.

3) Recovery is good - don't ignore it. Eat, a lot, after training. Go to bed at a reasonable time, read for 30 mins (or even better, listen to an audiobook), then turn the lights out. Take ZMA. Get outside and go for a walk, every day.

4) Drink water.

5) Take creatine.

[baldy]

6) Eat doughnuts & ice cream

[tallskinnydude]

http://www.mostbeautifulman.com/actors/ ... /pic01.jpg

Thats what I want to look like ^^^^^^

And as far as my trainer I am looking to become more independent from him, because I will be moving here shortly and want to be able to do this stuff on my own.

I'm just working out to get the body I want. I am not an athlete.

5,000 calories a day because I made another post and someone said that was minimum for someone young and tall like me. I am 20 also. I can get 2,000-3,000 no problem usually. But I really hate keeping track of my diet. I just like to eat when I am hungry. I eat healthy, whole, organic food...mostly.

[baldy]

http://www.mostbeautifulman.com/actors/marcblucas/images/pic01.jpg

Thats what I want to look like ^^^^^^

1) get a tan.

[tallskinnydude]

Take ZMA.

What does this do?

[baldy]

http://www.mostbeautifulman.com/actors/marcblucas/images/pic01.jpg

Thats what I want to look like ^^^^^^

1) get a tan.

I am sure when I first clicked on that link I got a really tanned waxed looking guy.

Marc graduated Girard High School in 1990. Marc played basketball throughout high school and his senior year. Because of his athletic ability, Marc went on full scholarship to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem North Carolina. After college, he played one year in Europe for the Manchester Giants.

So if you want to look like him, you need to play basketball and be very good at it.
It's never a good idea to try and aspire to look like someone else because your body is unique like a special snowflake. Your genetics determine lots of things about where your body stores fat, how your abs look and how strong you are. I am not saying give up, your body is awesome and can/does look awesome but you just cant craft it to look like someone else.

Take ZMA.

What does this do?

ZMA is a supplement that basically is meant to increase your recovery by aiding your sleep -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMA_(supplement)

So now for the bro science!
1) Using the secret stronglifts formula at 195cm tall if you want to look big you need to weight 95kg. So that is 14kg you need to put on, that will take a while.
2) The guy in the picture didn't look too ripped, abs not really visible, so you need a bodyfat level of between 10-15%
3) I will throw in getting bodyweight bench as this guy looks to have good chest and shoulders.

[Talyn]

So if you want to look like him, you need to play basketball and be very good at it.
It's never a good idea to try and aspire to look like someone else because your body is unique like a special snowflake. Your genetics determine lots of things about where your body stores fat, how your abs look and how strong you are. I am not saying give up, your body is awesome and can/does look awesome but you just cant craft it to look like someone else.

Agreed. Good post.

It could be worse though, I was half expecting the picture to be of Brad Pitt in Snatch/Fight Club mode.

My advice: If you're a novice lifter, get on board with something like starting strength or stronglifts, or any other basic powerlifting routine out there. It won't make you look like that picture, but you'll get strong and big. Then you can cut for a while and review where you're at.

[tallskinnydude]

I just want his tone. I'm not expecting to become someone else. Lol.

He's got the right amount I feel like. And he is actually around my height, though online sources say he is 6'2, he is actually 6'4.

How long does it take to put on muscle? I've been at it for four months.

[sosso]

Looking "toned" (I hate that term) means you need to build more muscle and lose fat so you can see your muscles..

5000 calories might be about right, considering your height, if you want to get big.

If you're not gaining weight, you're not eating enough, or you're not working hard enough in the gym, or you're not sleeping enough.. Or it's a combination of all of those.

Do you find it difficult to sleep 8 hours because you're busy and don't get to bed until really late? Or do you get to sleep at a good time, but wake up throughout the night? If you're waking up, take ninearms' advice and take ZMA or work harder in the gym to make yourself tired.

The routines ninearms showed you are good. Pick one and do it. Don't change it or add anything to it.


Sorry if I seem very blunt and unfriendly with all this, but I'm just trying to keep it simple, because it is all pretty simple, in terms of learning what you have to do. Actually getting out there and doing it is another story. As far as how long it all takes, well I've gained about 35 kg in a bit more than 3 years. Good luck with it!

[chewybaws]

I'm with sosso. It needs to be simple. 5000 does sound good, it's a magic number that works for me and I'm tall and skinny.

Eat shitloads, do heavy compound movements, sleep, repeat.

[baldy]

As far as how long it all takes, well I've gained about 35 kg in a bit more than 3 years. Good luck with it!

Yeah from my experience I would say this is what you can expect, roughly 1kg a month if everything is going well.

[vegan hal]

Sosso, I've seen your progress pics. that's super-impressive gains over 3 yrs.

TSD: definitely follow these guys suggestions. lots of solid bulking going on here.