Quick Note to Tom C about Weight Gain Article

[Tom Campitelli]

I need that button! Tom, I didn't meet little Tom but I'm glad that you became big Tom.

The mighty Dwayne Wint, ladies and gentlemen.

[Michael Wolf]

skinnytom.jpg

(From the IG account @squat.bench.deadlift)

[Ryan82]

As far as rates of injury, I think that experience is probably a more likely variable in terms of hurting yourself instead of tissue quality. We are learning how to move under a load as we do this and we get better at it as we go. We also get stronger, so both of us may be right.

I agree with you about experience and technique being great for injury prevention, and probably best in terms of weight training. But, it is interesting that it is easier for an untrained and weak athlete to get injured than one who is trained and strong, even though they both can have equally as good experience and technique in a given sport. Also, I recall that Rip once said that a novice can actually break the process bones on the spine if trying to do heavy shoulder shrugs too soon in their progression. But that an intermediate lifter can do heavy shrugs with much less risk of breaking those bones.

[Brodie Butland]

Well that's encouraging. What's your height? Any advice on how quickly to gain weight or how to avoid exponential gut growth in the process?

5'11". Yes, I was a praying mantis at one point.

Keep in mind, though--that occurred over a somewhat long period. I went from 130 to 175 in about four months doing bodybuilding routines, and stayed at that weight for a while--never getting over 185. After I discovered Starting Strength in 2011, I then got to around 210 lbs around a year to a year and a half later when my LP went to a little over 300 lbs on the squat. Slow gain of weight after that, with periodic limited cuts since then.

Point being--I didn't just swell up from 130 lbs to 230 lbs in a year. I probably could have come reasonably close had I done an honest run of Starting Strength LP and intermediate programming at the very beginning, rather than fuck around with bodybuilding routines...but I don't even think SS first edition was out when I started lifting.

What I learned in the initial weight gain process was that you just need to eat to gain...you can't out-train a bad diet. Even on a sub-par bodybuilding routine that I did sub-parly, I still put on 30 lbs of mostly muscle in less than three months. I drank a lot of milk, ate Chipotle at least three times a week, housed a minimum 1,000 calorie breakfast each day, and put four slices of cheese over my daily wok of steamed vegetables...and this is the 130 lbs version of me, not the current version. I've gotten a little more refined since then...having a wife who knows how to cook good meals from scratch has really helped.

The principles in Jordan's To Be a Beast article are really, really helpful to gain without becoming a fat fuck. I used those and four months of online programming with him to increase my lifts while doing a cut to fit into a weight class. Although I don't precisely count macros right now, I have a rough idea of what they need to be because of those few months where I did count closely, so I'm usually at least in the ballpark of what my ideal macros should be. Unfortunately my training has been very inconsistent for the past several months, so I've pudged a little bit...but not enough that I feel compelled to lose weight (can still see my upper abs sometimes when I cough), but enough that I know I really need to get back to at least two days a week plus an HIIT session.

[Sean Herbison]

Any advice on how quickly to gain weight or how to avoid exponential gut growth in the process?

Try getting taller while you do it.

[Polishdude20]

I still put on 30 lbs of mostly muscle in less than three months.

We've all heard of the 0.5lbs of muscle per week maximum bro science number but come on, 2.5 lbs of muscle added per week? Woah, is this even possible?

[Brodie Butland]

We've all heard of the 0.5lbs of muscle per week maximum bro science number but come on, 2.5 lbs of muscle added per week? Woah, is this even possible?

I lived it. Though I did say it was mostly muscle--certainly some fat got added as well, along with bone matrix and other soft tissue. 2.5 lbs of muscle per week is probably prohibitive difficult, perhaps impossible absent extraordinary circumstances--but 2.5 lbs of mostly LBM is very do-able, especially for someone who was basically in a caloric and nutritive deficit for many, many years before that.

I can't say my results will be typical, but they also aren't unique. Rip had a trainee that averaged over 2.8 lbs of LBM a week, precisely measured through a 7-point caliper method. The Novice Effect | Mark Rippetoe

[Dave Hahn]

We've all heard of the 0.5lbs of muscle per week maximum bro science number but come on, 2.5 lbs of muscle added per week? Woah, is this even possible?

I doubt it. Perhaps 2.5lbs of lean tissue, which is everything but fat. Bone, tendon, organs (think intestines. I think they have to adapt to all the food you're eating), etc.

Check out Jordan's nutrition seminar on Vimeo as he talks a little about this.

[Polishdude20]

Well good on you man! I'd love to increase my intake that far but I'm already having stomach issues with the 3500 cals I eat right now so I gotta keep it easy!

[Beau Bryant]

Our timelines match up pretty well, Tom. I went to the old SS CrossFit cert in 2008. I weighed 167 pounds 6'1". Did the program correctly and went to 245. Over the years I've settled in around 230. I need to be bigger but at 40 plus years old I think I'll just stay here.