Bummer. I was hoping for flexing or something silly.
Nice pic. Good luck to you.
Acid Lamp, I wouldn’t do this regimen if I was you.
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15 minutes of exercise a week is going to do absolutely nothing for you. If you gain weight it’s going to just be fat, not muscle mass.
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Based on your picture, your height, and your weight, you really don’t need to put on 20 pounds of fat. I don’t think you look too skinny at all. If you put on 20 pounds of fat, you’re going to look fairly chubby.
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There’s nothing wrong with a high protein diet when you are trying to add muscle mass. But do yourself a favor and work out for more than 15 minutes a week. Honestly, people should work out for more than 15 minutes a day.
I’d say you are not a classic “hardgainer” or ectomorph. There are three general body types, ectomorph (hardgainer), mesomorph (naturally muscular, gains muscle easily, doesn’t gain fat easily) and endomorph (solid but soft and gains fat easily).
Now people don’t always neatly fall into one of the three categories; rather can have bodies that are somewhat combinations of these three types. I’d say you are primarily an endomorph, however, with characteristics from the ectomorph category as well.
I think many people confuse not going about things in proper ways which will produce gains in muscle mass with being a naturally hard-gainer. A lot of the people who claim to be hardgainers would actually put on muscle relatively easily if they focused on the just plain hard work necessary (mixed with a little intelligent training info) and the discipline outside of the gym to get there, rather than always seeking out the next “experiment”.
ANOVA. Experimental designs which rely on changing only one variable at a time can take forever and a half. Mind you, normally experimental designs are performed on samples greater than one.
Tell you what, Let’s just wait and see no? I actually have little problem dropping fat, so if I start seeing significant fat gains, I can either stop or edit the program to address that concern. This isn’t about magic bullet thinking, it is about one well known author’s specific claim which I am choosing to test. If you search around you’ll see it’s hard to find anyone who actually stuck to the program properly. Many gave up, most altered it in some significant way, and many binged like crazy on their cheat day which to my mind cannot help but affect their final results regardless of what the author suggests.
Jaime, here is the thing. I’ve read Arnold’s book from cover to cover too, and have trained before. I’m aware of what traditionally worked for me in the past to get me from 110-155. That was a low rep, high weight set three times a week (10-8-6) coupled with a high calorie diet. (300 cal/daily get 'em however you can) This just seems to be a stripped down version of the workout with a more specified diet. Gym time is only useful if you are DOING something while there. If your hour thrice a week is only 20 minutes of lift time then you’ve only worked out an hr a week. The program here seems to just focus this down into intense short chunks.
As to your second point, a trim endomorphic physique is pleasing to my eye. Provided I’m not carrying a spare tire, I don’t mind not being defined, nor is that my goal. It is to add muscular solidity to my frame. I greatly prefer this look to This look.
snip. I appreciate your thoughts, but I really do view myself as still underweight and reedy. I’m doing this for myself, not for anyone else, or to show off a gym physique. I’m keeping a close eye on the fat percentage. So far though It would seem that the opposite is occurring at least in these early days. That inch off the “pooch” (I didn’t know that was a word, but apparently it is) has stayed off, while my weight is static. I don’t know how to account for that other than losing fat in one place and adding weight somewhere else. Nothing else seems changed dimension wise though.
Something I was thinking about this morning, and I’m not sure if it’s been brought up in this thread, but Acid Lamp, another option for legs is to do single leg activities. The weight load is a lot less - so it’s more sparing on your joints - and it’s a lot more difficult.
I remember listing to the fitcast 6 months ago (give or take) and single leg training was all the rage.
Again, I’m just spit balling ideas for your future use in case you want to change your leg workout up. You could also ‘burn out’ your legs after you do your leg presses by dropping the weight and doing one legged presses until your legs are a quivery sack of jelly… 
Weigh- in : 156.75 lbs. No change noticed on other measurements. Abs seem more defined.
Weigh-in : 157.25 Pic sorry, grey shirts are in wash, had to use black.
Technical Notes: Weigh ins are consistent in morning before breakfast. I just post when I have time.
Other notes: TMI Ahead:
Upped weight by ten lbs on all exercises today with little trouble. This is nice improvement. Visually seem to appear thicker, but this could be due to fat loss/conversion. Measurements holding steady, only slight gain >.25 inches in all dimensions except abdomen. Cannot attribute such minor change to actual muscular gain yet. Will compare critically on day seven. Sweating more, but was never heavy sweater to begin with, usually accompanies a work out cycle anyway. Getting tired of chili mac.
Using bathroom less frequently then in past, still within normal range of 1-2 times daily, no constipation. Sex drive improved somewhat. Energy levels up generally. Last night crashed after last meal for some reason, slept extremely deep. Generally deeper sleep, usually am interrupted at least once a night for bathroom call, or other disturbance. Hasn’t happened in three days. Bizarre dreams on this diet. Only minor aches and muscle tightness so far, pleased with that. Loss of abdominal fat holding steady.
Which Arnold book did you read? Because the Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding definitely did not suggest three one-hour workouts per week. (Nor did it recommend a 300 calorie diet, but that was clearly a typo.)
Yeah 3000 not 300. :smack:
The workout was gleaned from other sources, I was referring to the body type comment.
Nashiitashii is on the opposite program to lose weight. Like myself, she started on Sunday. Today she had a chance to weigh in and has lost 6 lbs! :eek: I wouldn’t have credited it. It seems this program can produce fast, short term results at least. We will weigh in again on Sunday for a final week’s check up.
Hey guys, Acid Lamp told me to check in and tell you about what I’ve been up to on this. Honestly, I’m eating more than I usually do, but instead of carbohydrate content, I’ve been bulking it up with legumes and veggies. I cut out caloric beverages (other than coffee, which I modified-- instead of my usual 1% milk, latte style cup of coffee, I’m now using a couple of teaspoons of half-and-half and a packet of stevia to counteract the bitterness) and haven’t eaten bread or other “obvious carbs” all week. I’m eating more often, with four meals on an average day, the fourth meal usually being more of a heavy snack than a full meal.
The biggest change really is breakfast: I eat two eggs with fresh spinach cooked in, and a 1/2 cup or less of cooked lentils within the first hour I am awake. It sucks, especially because I don’t want to eat and lentils taste evil at 6 in the morning, but I am full for longer and have more energy. I am, however, looking forward to an off day where I can consume some pitas or something, as I kind of miss being able to incorporate that into some of my meals. I’m still learning more about cooking beans, and have found that some methods appeal to me better than others (cooking dried fava beans sucks, as it reheats into an unappetizing mush, even with seasoning-- the texture is just bad), but because of the legume requirement to keep me full, I’m finding that Mexican-esque foods tend to work a lot better for me than trying to alter a lot of the stuff I’d normally eat with breads or grains. I haven’t done any stir fries yet, but I do know that I can and do enjoy stir fried veggies with soy beans as the legume portion. I’m still eating meat every day, I’m probably consuming more protein than I usually do between the addition of legumes and eggs, and I’m not anywhere near as tired at the end of the work day as I was a couple of weeks ago when I decided to look into changing my diet for a while.
Allright, it has been seven days since beginning our respective diet plans as outlined in The Four Hour body. My goal was to follow the muscle building and weight gain plan, while Nashiitashii followed the one to lose weight. Both of us have had unexpected and measurable results within this short time. I’m going to do the reporting for us both this week, and she has graciously decided to post her stats for this thread.
Nashiitashii began the experiment at age 28, 5’ 9.5" in height and weighed in at 220 lbs, most of her fat being centered in her stomach and hips. At the end of week one, she has lost a little over 6 lbs, and has decreased her measurements around her stomach and upper thighs/ hips by a small, but varying amount. Because we didn’t really take serious measurements for her, we only can report that there has been around a half inch to an inch of loss all around. We will take accurate ones and report back next Sunday. She reports more energy, and is now used to eating her “yucky breakfast” and does not find the diet overly difficult though it is a bit boring. While exercise is not required for weight loss according to the book, she has decided to incorporate a little cardio into the plan this week.
I began my portion at age 31, 5’ 7" in height and 155 lbs in weight with around 11% body fat. At the end of week one, I now weigh in at 158.75 lbs. My measurements have changed incrementally also and I will detail them below.
Body fat: 10.75 % (call this unchanged as getting very close on this is difficult without medical confirmation.)
Stomach - 1.25" from 35 to 33.75" Ab definition is improved from before, but still soft.
Waist: No change
Neck: No change
chest: +.75" from 40" to 40.75"
Biceps: +.2" from 12.0" to 14" :eek: wtf?
Shoulders: No change
Forearms: + .25" from 11" to 11.25"
Thigh: No change
Calf: + .5" from 13.75" to 14" Nice! 
Ass: No change
Lift increase: Up 10 lbs in all exercises from starting point.
So far, so good! It seems that replacing a good bit of my calories with protein has shaved a bit of fat off my lower stomach and overall my measurements, and weight has increased as predicted in the book. Color me impressed.
Changes moving forward: Slightly more variety in my meals should be fine provided I assure the protein intake. I am adding in the optional exercises to the workouts this week and will be experimenting with replacing the leg press with a weight assisted squat. (Thanks meatros!) This seems a more effective exercise if I can perform it without overstressing my knees. I have reduced the milk from Gallon a day to one half gallon a day and simply mixing the protein shakes stronger. The reduced liquid intake is helping me out with being able to eat the rest in real food. Supplements remain the same at a men’s multivitamin and glucosomine tab three times a week. Thanks to everyone who is following along and offering advice!
I don’t think the sleep differences are unexpected. One of the biggest favors I ever did myself was to begin a daily exercise regiment five years ago - and yes, I’ve kept it up - and since then I’ve slept better than I ever did before. Getting to sleep takes significantly less time than it used to, and I sleep through the night better than before too.
Here’s my husband at 5’7" and 175 lbs. Whoo, whoo, so fat. I’m personally right at the edge of “overweight” and wear a size two.
Thanks for sharing this experiment with us, Acid Lamp and Nashiitashii. Hope it works for you!
Whoo, whoo. I wasn’t trying to say that Acid Lamp was the verge of being fat, but rather that those stats did not strike me as “thin” either. Looking at his picture he is certainly fit, but I don’t think most people would think “hey that guy could use to put on a couple pounds”. Based on the picture he posted later on of his “ideal” ,he is shooting for something a bit beefier than average, which is his prerogative, of course.
On topic, regarding the weight loss side of things, the diet sounds a lot like any number of high protein diets (Adkins, South Beach, etc). Is there anything that differentiates it from those other diets?
Sorry, didn’t mean to come off as bitchy. BMI kind of pisses me off. It’s a personal issue.
Are the other high protein folks allowed to have beans/legumes? I’m eating them at just about every meal outside of my “off” day. At the immediate moment, I’m having lentils, eggs and spinach for breakfast, or at least trying to-- I’m finding food quite unappetizing at this hour. The major restriction seems to be “no sugar, no fruit, no grains” for six days out of the week, which isn’t too bad. On my “off” day, it mentions strategic bingeing, but I am not comfortable with the idea of completely overdoing it on one day a week. I had a few “not good for me” foods yesterday, but not huge amounts of them, and I still had a little bit of a stomachache because my body was already used to not eating it.
Renee, I can understand your issues with the BMI, as at my current weight, it places me firmly in the “obese” category, and 174lbs is where they place the starting mark for “overweight” for my height. I have been 180 and a reasonable size before, but I do think that it can be a very poor predictor of a healthy weight range for a lot of folks.