New to Building, Need advice

[DRauch]

Hey,

I'm currently 18, about 5'11" and 130lbs. Yea, real skinny, I know. Recently, I decided that I want that to change drastically. I no longer want to be skinny, and would much rather gain muscle mass as well as strength. However, I am unsure where to begin. I know it probably won't be easy and definitely won't be quick, but I am up for the challenge. I am more focused on upper body/chest/abs/back. I am currently reading through the stickies on this forum, as well as doing some searches to see if anyones had the same scenario as me.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Pitysister]

Originally Posted by DRauch

Hey,

I am more focused on upper body/chest/abs/back.

that mentality is going to have to go if you want to grow body grows best as a whole...

read all the stickies...even if you don't think it pertains to you...because you will learn something and start eating...lots.

[Cradler]

^^ pity's right, body grows best as a whole... and it's a good thing, too, because it'd be weird as hell to see a guy with skinny little legs and 20" arms. better to keep it balanced, i think.

[john917v]

Hey, Drauch, welcome to bbing! Don't think about your size, think about where you want to be. I would say to try to grow all together. Then, you won't have any weak links. Eat 5-6 small meals a day, rather than 3 big ones, eat some ype of protein w/ each. Your dedication level (training, diet, etc) WILL determine your results.

[hvf522]

Since you have a slender build, you're going to want to eat a lot. But don't go eating all the junk in your cabinets...you need to eat a lot of good/healthy food. You want to make sure that you take in a lot of calories. You need to make sure that the number of calories that you intake is greater than the number of calories that you burn during your workouts; that's how you grow. Simple, but no.

With a healthy diet and exercise routine, you should be good to go.

DO NOT expect immediate results. Body transformation is something that may take many months...even years. Patience is the key to many things in life...bodybuilding happens to be one of them.

Good luck.

[stakd]

i was in the same place as you a couple years ago, 130 and skinny
do push ups and hold your stomach in, they'll build your strength and start your abs off well
it was a lot better doing push ups as opposed to lifting weights at first because i just didnt like seeing myself struggle on what seemed like really low weight
and to me its good to be able to move your body weight easily

[stakd]

and plus, if you're trying to get and look bigger, you definitely want some legs in there too
no big dude looks like an upside down triangle with a huge upper and small lower
and when you look like an upside down triangle, you look like a vagina
dont be that guy

[widdoes2504]

Welcome. You have started on the right foot by getting on the site and reading the stickies. Before we get too in depth with the advice I would like to know what your current diet and routine looks like. With this info we can better tailor a response to you. Good luck on meeting your goals.

BTW you gotta work legs in order to truly grow.

[john917v]

The man above me doesn't lie.

[nickysoprano]

as i said to someone else recently listen to these guys they really know what they are talking about and really set me on the best path i am now 5 weeks into a starting strength routine and i squat 3 times a week and really do believe that this has had the greatest impact on my gains so far. legs are the biggest muscle in the body, you want to get bigger get the biggest muscles to grow. check out the threads on the rippetoes starting strength its excellent and doing me proud.

oh yeah the guy posting before me saying the guy above him doesnt lie, thats true there are some real wise people to listen to and hes one of them