THE COMEBACK: How I Gained 15 Pounds in 6 Months

I've been gone a while, for which I apologize. We were up to a great start before I vanished into thin air. To keep it short, I moved back home to Bahrain, and settling in has taken its toll on me. However, my goals have not been side lined despite a drastic change in environment along including working a very hectic full time job.

GETTING STARTED:

I decided that it was finally time to indulge in a full fledged bulk. I overcame my fear of gaining weight, and have been slowly adding lean mass to my frame over the last 6 months. To be precise, I am now 15 pounds heavier!

Being a FFB (Former Fat Boy), gaining weight has always been a nightmare. I was extremely paranoid of getting fat or chubby again. However, I was also tired of being "small". Now by non lifter standards, I wasn't small. Not at all. But I felt as though my path to success had hit a plateau. I wasn't changing and I wasn't improving. I was simply maintaining, which got too monotonous after a while. Same old routine, same old diet, same old lifts.

145 lbs, close to the lowest I've ever weighed.
Lean, Muscular, but not particularly "big"

To me, there is no finish line. As they say, be proud but never be satisfied. I may set a goal for myself, but once I achieve what I envisioned in my mind, it's time to set new standards and start working towards them. It took me a while to gather the courage and dive head first into a bulk. But I knew that it had to be done if I wanted to improve.

NUTRITION & REST:

I kept it simple, and didn't follow any particular programs as such. I was in no hurry to gain weight fast, and so I added an extra 250 calories to my diet and was eating 2650 calories per day. This allowed me to gain approximately half a pound per week, or 0.25 kilos. Contrary to what many people believe, I do not live in the gym. I have a very intense job that demands long hours, and I have to create time in between work and rest to hit the gym. I lift 4 days a week, for 60-90 minutes max!

Weighing in at a slightly higher 148 lbs 

If your goal is to add muscle, you need to know that rest is of dire importance. Your body grows while you rest. This is why nutrition and sleep are extremely important on a bulk. Someone that lifts 4 days a week is more likely to add lean muscle than someone that lifts 7 days a week. Your body simply doesn't have enough time to recover and grow.

I didn't maintain the healthiest diet either. I'm an avid follower of the "If it fits your macros" cult and gorged down burgers, pizzas, ice creams, chocolates, chips and soft drinks every single day. As long as I was hitting my protein requirement, I didn't care what went in to my body. At the same time, I also made sure that I didn't exceed my caloric intake by too much. Some days I would jump up to 2800-3000 calories, but I always compensated by training harder the following day.

My macros were as follows: 331g Carbs, 166g Protein, 90g Fats.

2 months  in, 152 lbs

Note: My diet came almost entirely from whole foods. I didn't rely on protein shakes to hit my macros. I'd have one every now and then, but I gathered most of my nutrition from lots and lots of chicken, rice, beans, eggs, milk, bread and peanut butter. I'd drink half a litre of milk, sometimes more every day.

If you're not eating enough, you're not going to gain weight. I shocked people with the amount of food I was eating. Some days I'd be sick to my stomach, others I'd enjoy the luxury of pigging out. Consistency is the key.

Gains beginning to show, 156 lbs

TRAINING:

Now here's the most important part. Training. I dedicated a lot of my efforts towards gaining strength. My core focus was on compound lifts such as the bench press, deadlift, squat and overhead press. I didn't care much for abs or bicep curls. I ensured that my form was right, and that I was improving my lifts as my weight went up. More importantly, I pushed every fiber of my physical being beyond the limit.

To keep things fresh, I changed my lifting routine every month, or at least every 2 months. I'd change the exercises, the number of sets, reps, and even jumble up my schedule in terms of which body parts I worked together and when I worked them. 

5 months in, 158-160 lbs

I did very mild amounts of cardio on rest days. I'd go for a short jog, or walk my dog, maybe do 15 minutes of abs but that was about it. I followed a full body program, lifting 5 sets of 5 reps each for the 1st two months. As my strength went up, I began focusing on isolating the muscle by following the more conventional 12x10x8 routine. I can't stress this enough, but you HAVE to ensure that you're lifting with the right form and squeezing the muscle. I don't care how light weight you need to go, you will start by doing it right, or you will end up nowhere. Lifting irresponsibly leaves you prone to severe injury.

CONCLUSION:

That's pretty much all there is to it. Eat, Lift, Sleep & Repeat. There are no shortcuts. It takes a lot hard work, discipline, patience and dedication. Don't blame your genetics, metabolism, job, life, family or friends. If you have a goal in mind, suck it up and create the opportunity to become great. I balance out my work life, social life and fitness goals because it's something that I'm passionate about. If this is something that you want, you'll find a way around all the obstacles and barriers.

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FUTURE GOALS:

As we all know, you cannot add muscle without putting on a little bit of fat. My new goal is to start working on definition, and cutting off as much fat as I can over the next 4-8 weeks. Once I'm satisfied with my results, I will resume lean bulking for another few months before shedding off the fat again. You have to realize that sculpting an aesthetic body takes time, and you have to be in for the long run. Bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint. Be mindful of your goals, and work your way up towards them.

I know I haven't spilled out much about my diet or training in excruciating detail, which is why you can ask me anything and everything about it here: www.ask.fm/TheHealthNazi