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02 Jul 2009 11:46
Yesterday, my cousin asked me what he should do to gain weight.
It’s a simple question but it stumped me.
I am so used to reading things to help me progress towards my goals I have completely forgotten how to help people who are just getting into this.
So, my initial reaction was to tell him that firstly it would take time and secondly, it is more about what he fills his stomach with compared to what he does in the gym.
I am not big on nutrition but I have been eating right (or trying to) for the last 6 months and it is all thanks to Leigh Peele’s awesome Fat Loss Troubleshooter eBook series. I think the $77 I invested in those books is one of the best investments I have made so far.
So, I firstly told him to download those books, read the Troubleshoot guide from front page to last page.
Next came the topic of training.
But, like I mentioned earlier, I am so used to only grasping information regarding my own training I have no idea how to get a skinny-fat guy from weighing 120 lbs @ 5’7 to his desired 180 lbs.
So, step two was to tell him to come here and read Eric’s articles.
But this got me thinking: this is a site about strength training and fitness in general. There is a helluva lot of information regarding these aspects of health. However, we don’t have a cookie-cutter “Gain 20 lbs in 5 months” program out here.
Next I was going to tell him to start doing all the exercises that I am struggling with right now on account of trying them out too late into my training. For example, Pistol Squats, Overhead Squats, Front Squats, etc – basically the non-conventional exercises are a pain to learn when you have spent years wasting away on simple 5x5 programs and whatnot.
But that’s not the right approach, is it? He wants to get big. How does learning to do Pistol Squats translate into getting bigger? It doesn’t.
Eric is very big on the fact that most people are enthusiastic about training, but we here at GUS pride ourselves in being enthusiastic about results.
So, my approach was way off. I paused and asked him to start recording his calories onto FitDay and then get back to me in a couple of days after he has browsed this site and read the eBooks. It would give me time to think.
Well, thinking I have done. I think that doing these sorts of exercises is good because the pros outweigh the cons completely (the only “con” here is that is this exercise going to result in a weight gain?).
I figured that for someone who weighs 120 lbs @ 5’7, eating is more of a problem compared to training – especially since he is a complete vegetarian.
So, I figured training three times a week would be good for him. But the approach would have to be different. He isn’t trying to get strong like the rest of us – but getting stronger for him would mean more muscle being added to his frame. So, I was thinking of a bunch of exercises to put together for:
- Lunges
- Pistol Squats
- Deadlifts
- Shrugs
- Pull-ups
- Push-ups
- Dumbbell Presses
- Plank Variations
- Mobility Drills
The point of this post is not to gloat about how much knowledge I have but to consider that sometimes, we have to take a step back and think things from a different angle while trying to help others reach their goals. This isn’t me thinking about how to get my Deadlift to the next level – this is about getting a skinny guy to add weight to his frame. So the approach must be different.
Perhaps this is why some trainers at the gym really suck – they are not able to use what knowledge they have which as helped them achieve their own goals and adapt it to the goals their clients have in mind. Maybe I am one of those trainers who sucks – either way time will tell but it is important to realize that you must tailor your own arsenal of information to help people reach their own goals which are very likely to be different than your own.
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