Home gym

[Apple]

It's called a typo, everyone makes them. No need to be so ignorant.

In addition to your recommendations, I'd suggest even smaller weights such as 0.5kg small circular plates to tie on to your bar. Progressive poundage is key in lifting and some weeks you dont even notice the extra 0.5kg - 1kg.

Also, I'd recommend making your own routine rather than adapting one for the mass, yes some are good for certain people but everyone is different, everyone has a different body structure and genetics. Buy a few books to teach the fundamentals. I recommend BEYOND BRAWN by Stuart McRobert. An author who wrote his entire book for hardgainers, if you are struggling on form and technique buy another book by him called The Insider's Tell All Handbook on Weight Training Technique. Both are around £10, two of the best books you'll buy in your life. It'll teach you how to build routines plus how to train.

Pick core exercises like the Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift (Stiff Legged variant as Squat & Compound DL will cause strain). Then add accessories from there.
I found this out when trying a program, I couldn't do weighted crunches so I now do a weighted plank instead. I also cant lift very well in calf workouts so I now do the squat instead of the calf machine.

One last tip, dont over do it. I find training anymore than 3 days a week will rob you of potential gains. Most muscle growth happens when you are sleeping. So eat big, sleep well and lift big and hopefully you'll start to see some improvement. I've only been training seriously to a routine for the past 6-7 weeks, 2 days a week but already I've seen insane progress, albeit noob gains, I'm still progressing.

just join a gym and buy food

£500 of food will make you hench

You can buy a bench press? Perhaps you should only comment on things you are actually knowledgeable on. @OP If you are willing to buy
A) A decent squat/power rack, if you can't do pull ups in it then buy a pull up bar.
B) Possibly a bench
C)Olympic Barbell, maybe 150kg of olympic plates to start off with (make sure to get some of the micro plates like 2.5kg and 1.25kg) and dumbbells if you wish.

Then hit the compound exercises really hard, along with pull ups/push ups and add in some dumbbell work if you really want. I suggest Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting strength 3x5, you will make ecellent use of your equipment and if done right stronglifts/starting strength can get you a lot bigger as well as a huge load stronger.

Don't buy any machines, machines are COMPLETELY useless and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The benefits of spending and getting this stuff at home means you don't need to commute to the gym like I do and if you are feeling particularly lazy one day (shame on you, you lazy *******) you won't have to face driving/a bus - just go to the basement/wherever.

Thanks for the advice. A mini gym was something my parents had always intended to get for our new house but they asked me to find out what sort of price we are looking at for the equipment that I listed in my first post. The reason being is none of us really have the time to commute to the gym everyday. It would be so much easier to have all the equipment we need right here at home.

As far as my health is concerned, since we aren't moving for several weeks I decided to attempt to gain some weight last friday. My body fat percentage is just too low for my liking so I wanted to up it. My daily diet averages 4.5k calories a day and that consists of mainly: 700 calories from a cadburys boost bar and 2 packs of peanut m&m's on my way to school, 2 chocolate milk shakes at school which comes to around 300 calories, pasta with cheese which comes to around 400 calories, a ham/turkey sandwhich which is around 350 calories, on the way home from school I buy 2 more packs of peanut m&m's which is around 460 calories, first meal at home usually a microwave curry which has around 500 calories, then later on at night either a pack of bacon or a pizza which is about 700 calories then just before I go to bed I eat between 0.5L - 1L of plain vanilla ice cream which is around 800 calories. The rest is made up of numerous hot chocolates I drink. If you bothered to read all that, is that diet doing me any serious harm? I understand that it isn't exactly going to be good but it can't really do me too much harm can it? I have literally had the same meal plan everyday since last friday. On the friday when I weighed myself with just shorts and t-shirt it was 9.5 stone, now it is 9.9, that is excluding today so hopefully tomorrow morning (I always weigh myself in the morning) it should be higher. Can't be doing bad if I have gained around 2KG in less than a week.

[PaulMacC]

Thanks for the advice. A mini gym was something my parents had always intended to get for our new house but they asked me to find out what sort of price we are looking at for the equipment that I listed in my first post. The reason being is none of us really have the time to commute to the gym everyday. It would be so much easier to have all the equipment we need right here at home.

As far as my health is concerned, since we aren't moving for several weeks I decided to attempt to gain some weight last friday. My body fat percentage is just too low for my liking so I wanted to up it. My daily diet averages 4.5k calories a day and that consists of mainly: 700 calories from a cadburys boost bar and 2 packs of peanut m&m's on my way to school, 2 chocolate milk shakes at school which comes to around 300 calories, pasta with cheese which comes to around 400 calories, a ham/turkey sandwhich which is around 350 calories, on the way home from school I buy 2 more packs of peanut m&m's which is around 460 calories, first meal at home usually a microwave curry which has around 500 calories, then later on at night either a pack of bacon or a pizza which is about 700 calories then just before I go to bed I eat between 0.5L - 1L of plain vanilla ice cream which is around 800 calories. The rest is made up of numerous hot chocolates I drink. If you bothered to read all that, is that diet doing me any serious harm? I understand that it isn't exactly going to be good but it can't really do me too much harm can it? I have literally had the same meal plan everyday since last friday. On the friday when I weighed myself with just shorts and t-shirt it was 9.5 stone, now it is 9.9, that is excluding today so hopefully tomorrow morning (I always weigh myself in the morning) it should be higher. Can't be doing bad if I have gained around 2KG in less than a week.

It is bad, if you want to be slim and built. You are putting on fat, which is a no no. Muscles arent built from fat, they are built from lifting big, eating healthily and sleeping well. It'll waste you more time bulking with fatty foods. You can get muscle growth that way dont get me wrong just that you'll be fat. What you want to do is eat clean, healthy and natural. Chicken breasts, tuna, turkey, salmon, beef, lean mince. All good stuff. Get a lot of greens into you too. Peanut butter is also good bulking food for healthy fats and some protein.This way you can stay relatively slim and put on muscle, I personally aim my intake to be around 20-25g of fat a day plus a gram of protein for every pound I weigh. You want to eat healthy as otherwise eating fatty foods means you'd have to bulk and cut. You cant do both at the same time. That weight you've gained is probably fat, not muscle. I'm almost 9 stone and I have put on almost 1 stone of lean muscle in the past 7 weeks just by eating healthily, lifting well and sleeping well. Also invest in some whey protein, it helps wonders.
If you are doing everything right you should roughly be gaining 0.5lb+ of muscle mass a week. Considerably more if you are just starting to lift weights.

Here is a rough guide you can base your diet around. Dont copy it exactly if you dont like it, a diet can be enjoyable if you get the right food substance.
http://www.zshare.net/download/80900203a86059ea/
It's a MS Word document.

[Apple]

It's called a typo, everyone makes them. No need to be so ignorant.

In addition to your recommendations, I'd suggest even smaller weights such as 0.5kg small circular plates to tie on to your bar. Progressive poundage is key in lifting and some weeks you dont even notice the extra 0.5kg - 1kg.

Also, I'd recommend making your own routine rather than adapting one for the mass, yes some are good for certain people but everyone is different, everyone has a different body structure and genetics. Buy a few books to teach the fundamentals. I recommend BEYOND BRAWN by Stuart McRobert. An author who wrote his entire book for hardgainers, if you are struggling on form and technique buy another book by him called The Insider's Tell All Handbook on Weight Training Technique. Both are around £10, two of the best books you'll buy in your life. It'll teach you how to build routines plus how to train.

Pick core exercises like the Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift (Stiff Legged variant as Squat & Compound DL will cause strain). Then add accessories from there.
I found this out when trying a program, I couldn't do weighted crunches so I now do a weighted plank instead. I also cant lift very well in calf workouts so I now do the squat instead of the calf machine.

One last tip, dont over do it. I find training anymore than 3 days a week will rob you of potential gains. Most muscle growth happens when you are sleeping. So eat big, sleep well and lift big and hopefully you'll start to see some improvement. I've only been training seriously to a routine for the past 6-7 weeks, 2 days a week but already I've seen insane progress, albeit noob gains, I'm still progressing.

just join a gym and buy food

£500 of food will make you hench

You can buy a bench press? Perhaps you should only comment on things you are actually knowledgeable on. @OP If you are willing to buy
A) A decent squat/power rack, if you can't do pull ups in it then buy a pull up bar.
B) Possibly a bench
C)Olympic Barbell, maybe 150kg of olympic plates to start off with (make sure to get some of the micro plates like 2.5kg and 1.25kg) and dumbbells if you wish.

Then hit the compound exercises really hard, along with pull ups/push ups and add in some dumbbell work if you really want. I suggest Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting strength 3x5, you will make ecellent use of your equipment and if done right stronglifts/starting strength can get you a lot bigger as well as a huge load stronger.

Don't buy any machines, machines are COMPLETELY useless and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The benefits of spending and getting this stuff at home means you don't need to commute to the gym like I do and if you are feeling particularly lazy one day (shame on you, you lazy *******) you won't have to face driving/a bus - just go to the basement/wherever.

It is bad, if you want to be slim and built. You are putting on fat, which is a no no. Muscles arent built from fat, they are built from lifting big, eating healthily and sleeping well. It'll waste you more time bulking with fatty foods. You can get muscle growth that way dont get me wrong just that you'll be fat. What you want to do is eat clean, healthy and natural. Chicken breasts, tuna, turkey, salmon, beef, lean mince. All good stuff. Get a lot of greens into you too. Peanut butter is also good bulking food for healthy fats and some protein.This way you can stay relatively slim and put on muscle, I personally aim my intake to be around 20-25g of fat a day plus a gram of protein for every pound I weigh. You want to eat healthy as otherwise eating fatty foods means you'd have to bulk and cut. You cant do both at the same time. That weight you've gained is probably fat, not muscle. I'm almost 9 stone and I have put on almost 1 stone of lean muscle in the past 7 weeks just by eating healthily, lifting well and sleeping well. Also invest in some whey protein, it helps wonders.
If you are doing everything right you should roughly be gaining 0.5lb+ of muscle mass a week. Considerably more if you are just starting to lift weights.

Here is a rough guide you can base your diet around. Dont copy it exactly if you dont like it, a diet can be enjoyable if you get the right food substance.
http://www.zshare.net/download/80900203a86059ea/
It's a MS Word document.

I fully acknowledge the fact that the weight I am gaining is 100% fat. I just want a higher body fat percentage as at the moment there is nothing on me. In several weeks I will of cleaned up my diet and be aiming for muscle gains, not fat like now.

[KyoraStryker]

Joining a gym is definitely the better cost alternative. The only downfall to it is that you have to share the equipment with other members of the gym, whereas owning your own home-based gym would allow for only you to use the equipment.

[PaulMacC]

I fully acknowledge the fact that the weight I am gaining is 100% fat. I just want a higher body fat percentage as at the moment there is nothing on me. In several weeks I will of cleaned up my diet and be aiming for muscle gains, not fat like now.

Why do you want fat for? I started lifted at eight stone and even then I could lift a significant weight for my size. Having no fat puts you in a better position. You'll notice it more.

[Wig44.]

I fully acknowledge the fact that the weight I am gaining is 100% fat. I just want a higher body fat percentage as at the moment there is nothing on me. In several weeks I will of cleaned up my diet and be aiming for muscle gains, not fat like now.

Before I get into a 'healthy diet' I just want to say, do stronglifts 5x5, eat lots of calories (doesn't matter if they are clean at your stage imo, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie and you need lots of calories to help you recover, in increase your body weight, and especially to help your strength increase and build muscle mass). Perhpas avoid the worst sources (chocolate, hydrogenated fats) and look at nutrient rich foods like lots of eggs, liver etc. You should be drinking plenty of whole milk, milk seems to help more than its caloric value can account for and it is an easy and excellent way to add calories to your diet. 4.5k sounds good but you can shoot for more if you want. Who cares if you gain some fat now? Gaining strength and muscle at the cost of gaining some fat as will happen with the above suggestions, then losing some of the fat is much faster and more rewarding than gaining muscle and strength at a much slower pace and keeping calories meticulously low to prevent any fat gain. Seriously, a guy like you (skinny) will be able to shed 6 months of moderate fat accumulation in a month of eating a caloric deficit and keeping carbohydrates relatively low.

Right now:
Stronglifts 5x5, do it.
Eat lots, 4.5k calories sounds good. Make sure you get good amounts of protein. You want to consume quite a lot of carbohydrate due to its ability to further stimulate appetite and gain weight.
Don't be afraid of saturated fats, or cholesterol. Neither play a role in atherosclerotic plaque build up, arterial thrombosis, arterial swelling, endothelial damage, or anything else related to heart disease/blood vessel damage in which they are both implicated. Nor cancer, or infact, anything. They have vilified to sell you grass seeds (wheat, gluten grains etc) which make more money than livestock.
Drink plenty of milk (count the calories from the milk in your daily total)

http://www.stronglifts.com for the program and more stuff on gaining weight.

[Apple]

Before I get into a 'healthy diet' I just want to say, do stronglifts 5x5, eat lots of calories (doesn't matter if they are clean at your stage imo, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie and you need lots of calories to help you recover, in increase your body weight, and especially to help your strength increase and build muscle mass). Perhpas avoid the worst sources (chocolate, hydrogenated fats) and look at nutrient rich foods like lots of eggs, liver etc. You should be drinking plenty of whole milk, milk seems to help more than its caloric value can account for and it is an easy and excellent way to add calories to your diet. 4.5k sounds good but you can shoot for more if you want. Who cares if you gain some fat now? Gaining strength and muscle at the cost of gaining some fat as will happen with the above suggestions, then losing some of the fat is much faster and more rewarding than gaining muscle and strength at a much slower pace and keeping calories meticulously low to prevent any fat gain. Seriously, a guy like you (skinny) will be able to shed 6 months of moderate fat accumulation in a month of eating a caloric deficit and keeping carbohydrates relatively low.

Right now:
Stronglifts 5x5, do it.
Eat lots, 4.5k calories sounds good. Make sure you get good amounts of protein. You want to consume quite a lot of carbohydrate due to its ability to further stimulate appetite and gain weight.
Don't be afraid of saturated fats, or cholesterol. Neither play a role in atherosclerotic plaque build up, arterial thrombosis, arterial swelling, endothelial damage, or anything else related to heart disease/blood vessel damage in which they are both implicated. Nor cancer, or infact, anything. They have vilified to sell you grass seeds (wheat, gluten grains etc) which make more money than livestock.
Drink plenty of milk (count the calories from the milk in your daily total)

http://www.stronglifts.com for the program and more stuff on gaining weight.

Thanks, extremely helpful post. You to Paul.

My appetite seems to be getting bigger by the day. Was able to polish off a family pack of m&m's (900 calories) in 15 mins when not so long ago I couldn't even eat half in that time because I felt physically full.

[Wig44.]

Thanks, extremely helpful post. You to Paul.

My appetite seems to be getting bigger by the day. Was able to polish off a family pack of m&m's (900 calories) in 15 mins when not so long ago I couldn't even eat half in that time because I felt physically full.

That's good, you'll also find that whilst a linear progression program like stronglifts is hard (brutally hard after a while) it gets very good results, and if you arent able to progress at a decent pace you either aren't: Eating enough calories, sleeping enough, or you have hit a very heavy weight where progress slows down and you reach the limit of a linear progression program (adding weight every single workout). This should happen (for a skinny guy) at minimum your bodyweight x 1.5 in squats, bw x2 in deadlifts, 1x bw in bench press, 0.75x bw in the press (aka Overhead press) and 1x bodyweight in pendlay rows.

You may stall (read the stronglifts FAQ to get used to these terms btw) a bit getting there, but ultimately you know when to stop stronglifts because you stall 3 times. On stronglifts, staling is defined as: You fail at weight A on squat, try again. You fail for the 2nd workout in a row, try a third time. Fail a third time, this is ONE stall, deload weight on that exercise only by 10-20%. Once you've stalled 3 times you switch to a new program.

[PaulMacC]

That's good, you'll also find that whilst a linear progression program like stronglifts is hard (brutally hard after a while) it gets very good results, and if you arent able to progress at a decent pace you either aren't: Eating enough calories, sleeping enough, or you have hit a very heavy weight where progress slows down and you reach the limit of a linear progression program (adding weight every single workout). This should happen (for a skinny guy) at minimum your bodyweight x 1.5 in squats, bw x2 in deadlifts, 1x bw in bench press, 0.75x bw in the press (aka Overhead press) and 1x bodyweight in pendlay rows.

You may stall (read the stronglifts FAQ to get used to these terms btw) a bit getting there, but ultimately you know when to stop stronglifts because you stall 3 times. On stronglifts, staling is defined as: You fail at weight A on squat, try again. You fail for the 2nd workout in a row, try a third time. Fail a third time, this is ONE stall, deload weight on that exercise only by 10-20%. Once you've stalled 3 times you switch to a new program.

Squat and Deadlift in the same cycle isn't good, at all. It'll ruin your back in the future. At least variant the Deadlift, the conventional will be brutal with the squat. People with good genetics could get away with it

[Wig44.]

Squats and deadlifts with good form are absolutely fine and will strengthen your back. I and many others do squats and deadlift in the same workout, it isn't writhing on the floor difficult but it isn't for ******* either.