So, did Diesel's advice work for you? Compare that to Skinnyguy.net

[Oxide]

I just reached my 6th month of bulking, using diesel's guide. Overall, i've gained 13 pounds... i dont care if it is water weight or fat..i know that my weights have increased quite a bit... so i do have more muscle.

What kind of results have you guys had ?



Oh yeah, fukking walking to gym, and start talking to this guy who lifts with me sometimes. he goes to meets, is very good at what he does...anyway.

i tell him i try to bulk, and he says i should eat huge meals 3 times a day.... so my metabolism stays low, and doesnt eat my protein and carbs away... i was like "wtf, i thought i should eat 6 times a day?" and he says "nope. 3 times"..

 

[FlyGuy]

Stick with 6 meals a day, it will regulate your insulin levels and provide your body with a constant flow of nutrients which is very important when trying to gain muscle.

I just started the skinnyguy.net program, its a lot more detailed (especially in the diet) than Diesel's "program" but overall is very similar. One other thing that is great about the skinnyguy program is he tells you how to monitor your bodyfat percentage so you will know how much of the weight you gained was fat vs muscle. Without keeping track of it you really have no way of knowing.

Must be working though, in two weeks I've lost 6 pounds of fat and gained 4 pounds of muscle To top it off, I'm only on the fat loss portion of the skinnyguy.net program - which has a restricted calorie diet, cardio 4 times a week, and moderate weights. Just think of what I will achieve with higher calories, no cardio and heavy weights! I'll share my results every month if anyone is interested.

 

[Oxide]

nice nice, how much is that program again?

how do you measure your bodyfat?

 

[FlyGuy]

The program is 90$, check it out:

http://www.skinnyguy.net

Make no mistake, it IS a lifestyle change. You have to cook and/or prepare all your meals ahead of time, that's the most difficult thing about it. But it works.

It comes with a caliper that you use to measure your bodyfat. Everything is explained in the manual. If you decide you don't want to invest the time or money for the program you can get the calipers here:

http://www.bodytrends.com/acm.htm

I would suggest getting the little book that tells you how to take the measurements too.

There are also electronic scales and whatnot that are supposed to be able to measure your bodyfat that you can get at Target, but from what I've heard they are not accurate.

 

[Oxide]

how are your gains so far?

i figure i can work with deisel's program as long as i get the results i want (165 in a month). if that fails, ill buy it.

 

[FlyGuy]

Cool, just remember that the most important thing in any program is consistency! I was on Diesel's program for about 3 months last year and actually made some decent gains, but I didn't keep track of them and lost my motivation. A few months later and I had lost everything! That's one of the reasons to keep track of your bodyfat levels, so you can keep a record of how much muscle you've gained vs fat and it will help you stay motivated. Plus you'll know if you need to eat more or less.

There's two parts to the skinnyguy program, a mass gaining and a fat loss program. When I started three weeks ago I was at 22% bodyfat (skinny fat!) so I decided to start up with the fat loss program. As of yesterday, my bodyfat is down to 17%, I've lost 8 pounds of fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle. I'm pretty happy with the results so far, most of the time you won't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time - especially on a restricted calorie diet. I can't wait to finish the damn fat loss

 

[Oxide]

shiet, i think i just might invest this summer. how often does he recommend you go to gym, anything else that is kind of unusual that he recommend you do?

oh yeah, how much protein does he suggest you eat, 1g/1lb?

 

[FlyGuy]

There is nothing too unusual about the skinnyguy program, as I said its quite similar to Deisel's but with some important differences.

The diet is the most difficult part. Without going into too much detail, basically you eat around 18-20x your lean body mass in calories and divide those calories into ratios of protien, carbs, and essential fats. It almost always works out to at LEAST 1g of protien per pound of bodyweight.

You have to take a few hours up front to really plan out your diet but once you do it get significantly easier. You cook all your meals 3 days in advance (which makes it MUCH more manageable) and eat 6 times a day.

You workout 3 times a week, working each body part once per week. If you're on fat loss you also do 3-4 cardio sessions per week. The weight training sessions are also cycled to prevent your gains from slowing down.

 

[Oxide]

3 days in advance? whoa.. i usually make hot dogs on george forman, those would be quite dry in 3 days

are you using whey powder or just eating a lot of tuna to hit that rate? Are you also keeping a journal?

 

[blackbirdbeatle]

I followed diesles guide roughly(I already was on a similar plan before coming here). Anyway I eat constantly BUT the bulk of my calories is consumed in three meals. I just ate about .8-1g protein/lb and 600 calories over my maintenance(including exercise) each day. Never ate more than 30% of my calories as fats and tried to not eat trans fats(funny thing about saturated fats is that people think it's the devil but you only get 20% from food, your liver makes the rest so if your having troubles from sat. fats you should look into how your body processes it not limit foods like butter since your liver is not going to stop producing it) Most of the carbs pre workout was simple like gatorade, fruits and honey. The rest of the day I ate tons of complex carbs. No 'white' carbs just whole grains. A lot of vegetables was consumed as well for the nutrients.

The end result was a gain from 160-195 in about 7 months(I'm 6'1"). I didnt' gain much fat at all. I still had visible abs(don't want to restrict my enjoyment of food so much that I have to have a ripped 6 pack), and my other muscles looked fairly ripped as well(don't know my BF but I know my muscles don't look plump like they do when there is more fat around them).

Gaining weight is a science but for the average guy just looking to pack on muscle and not get too serious into it doesn't have to be a complex one. I didn't even really follow my diet that strictly(just the macro and calorie breakdown) and I still came up with good gains I think(and I'm a hard gainer). PLus now that I'm doing short bursts of sprinting for cardio like lines my heart rate has dropped to that of a fit person(it was fairly high when I was skinny and unfit).

My advice is read up on this board and other boards and sites on the net with fitness because it's all there for free. Save your 90.00 and buy a crap load of frozen chicken breasts or something.

 

[FlyGuy]

My advice is read up on this board and other boards and sites on the net with fitness because it's all there for free. Save your 90.00 and buy a crap load of frozen chicken breasts or something.

This is true, all the information is available (though not all of it online, he extensively refers to medical texts that aren't available online for free).

However, I put a lot of my own time into researching and planning before and never got even CLOSE to having the detail and comprehension that is in the skinnyguy program. Its not like he just threw together a bunch of quick tips and articles and sold it. Diesel's guide doesn't come close to the clarity, depth, or organization of it (sorry, not to rip on Diesel's program but its simply the truth).

If not for the skinnyguy program I would not have even bothered to track my bodyfat %, measurements, macronutrients, and I would not have known what to do at trouble spots. I am eating more healthy than I have my entire life. Basically, the skinnyguy program saved me a few years worth of trial and error and tons of self study. Why reinvent the wheel? $90 isn't that much

Plus there are other things about the program that make it worth it like the fitness software (makes it really easy to plan diets, track progress, etc.) bodyfat caliper, etc. Also, for me at least, buying the program made me get serious about it and helped motivate me which is half of the equation.

Obviously you can get results without it, like I said I was getting results with Diesel's program before. But if you aren't getting the results you want on your own, its worth the price.

 

[FlyGuy]

3 days in advance? whoa.. i usually make hot dogs on george forman, those would be quite dry in 3 days

are you using whey powder or just eating a lot of tuna to hit that rate? Are you also keeping a journal?

Haha, well hot dogs aren't the best source of protien either way. I usually cook up salmon, halibut, steak, chicken breasts, etc. and they keep just fine. I avoid canned tuna now because of the high mercury content in it of late (thanks Bush for not enforcing clean air policies ) I do supplement with whey 3 times a day, only for the convenience though. Part of the program is to keep track of everything (diet, workout reps, body measurements) so yes I keep a detailed journal.

 

[Oxide]

i got to stop being lazy and keep journal every day. but sometimes, when you got to TGI Fridays or eat out, you haev no idea how much protein/carbs u actually ate.


WHAt do you guys do with chicken? i like fajitas (tortilla+cheese+cheicken+salsa), chicken breast +bbq sausce sandwich. or some potatoes+chicken.

 

[FlyGuy]

That's exactly the reason behind making all your meals - so you can control EVERYTHING that goes into your body and when! Studies have shown that the amount of testosterone in your body is chiefly influenced by the type and amount of foods you eat. The aim is to maximize testosterone and growth hormone levels, and to control insulin for maximum effect. Testosterone is the primary hormone responsible for muscle growth - and its pretty much the only reason men can pack on so much more muscle than women.

Controlling everything you eat can be pretty difficult though, so once a week i give myself a free day where i eat anything I want. That's when I go to TGI Fridays

I'm too lazy to cook up ellaborate dishes. I usually just eat whole chicken breasts with BBQ sauce, or like you I put it in a tortilla + salsa I absolutely LOVE salmon though and don't mind eating it plain. I could eat it every day for years and not get sick of it! For me its more important to have a simple dish that's easy to make, and just mix in a variety of different protien sources.

 

[Oxide]

how does slamon cost comparing to chicken breasts? i usually just use george forman, and you wont beleive how much **** is leaking from that breast

i dont know anything abotu mercury, but i love tuna+mayo+green onions salad .. i just eat it with plain white bread and water.


i drink about a gallon, if not more a day, of water...well i guess a lot of it is milk too,but do i have to drink a gallon of WATER, or liquids a day?

 

[semag]

i drink about a gallon, if not more a day, of water...well i guess a lot of it is milk too,but do i have to drink a gallon of WATER, or liquids a day?

Water....

I shoot for about 5 liters. Just because water bottles are .5 liters, and it makes it easy Just bust out 10 of those bottles a day and you're set.

 

[FlyGuy]

how does slamon cost comparing to chicken breasts? i usually just use george forman, and you wont beleive how much **** is leaking from that breast

i dont know anything abotu mercury, but i love tuna+mayo+green onions salad .. i just eat it with plain white bread and water.

Salmon isn't that much more than chicken actually, sometimes its cheaper if its on sale! I use the forman grill too, that thing rocks!

Mercury is extremely poisonous, and it goes without saying that its something you want to avoid eating. But do what you want. There's not enough in tuna to kill you, but it can't be healthy...

If I were you though I would avoid Mayo (or at least use the light mayo) as its filled with saturated fats and is basically just empty calories. Then again not everyone has what it takes to be strict with diet You have to find a balance for what you can sustain. Personally I like the all-or-nothing approach, and have no problems being strict with diet.

A gallon of water a day is good! Basically you should drink at least .66oz times your weight a day. A gallon probably more than enough

 

[Oxide]

hell yeah, i always got my water bottle everywhere i go.

lately ive been getting hungrier much more often tho. 2-3 hours and im starving again, so my metabolism is working like mad.

i try to drink a lot of milk as well (6-8 cups a day). usually start a day with PBJ and 2 cups of milk, then lunch with some eggs and meats or chicken... but everytime i consume a bevarage it is usually 2 cups, why? well, becuase the only cup i have in my house is the measuring cup, so i alwasy know how muhc im drinking ghetto, but it works for me.

 

[FlyGuy]

lol, I do the same thing... more out of laziness though. Measuring everything you eat takes enough effort without the extra dishes

 

[Oxide]

shiet guys, so school is over and i came home. my goal was to gain from 150 to 165 till end of school year (june), im at 163 right now...hehe..the thing is..i am growing a stomach a little bit.

my arms and chest is starting to look much better, but stomach is keeping up as well. from what i understand this is natural becuase i am bulking, but how hard is it to loose this when cutting kicks in?


another thing, i am 6 feet, what weight should i stop gaining at? or just go as far as i can?



but anyway, so i come home and my mom goes "you are getting a stomach.. you know your dad used to have a big stomach (bull****, when i was skinny she kept telling me he was skinny and i had nothing to worry about. Now im getting bigger and he was big too? wtf woman!?)"


my step dad goes. "I see you grew" i am like - 13 pounds in 6 months, hell yeah. damn, that belly is getting big indeed.